I’m going to just come right out and say that things are crazy, scary, and full of grief here in America. It’s hard for me to focus because there is a sense of history that compels me to keep checking the news. Where to start? At this point I am almost beyond words. Maybe I won’t even go there. Instead, let me offer you the good moments and snippets of joy that came to me this week. The leaves are out on the tree over my garden swing, and I can finally sit outside and read listening to birdsong. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, and all of my neighbors were out in their front yards working; I sat in the grass and “talked” to all of them as we shared our latest news. My neighbor next door and I call to each other over the fence these days… This week I tossed her a can of baking powder and a packet of “no contact” cookies arrived on my front porch later on. Instacart delivered all of my groceries to me and I discovered that 25 pounds of rice is a lot more than I thought it was! (Feel free to PM me if you need some…) My neighbor mowed and trimmed my lawn when I wasn’t looking and I snuck over and weeded out all of the weeds in the rocks along his house two days later. (Stealth yard work! I highly recommend it.) I applied for 3 more kittens this week, and SpaceX safely launched Crew Dragon into space this afternoon. See, no matter how bad things sound in the news, there are small moments of joy everywhere.
Knitting
Do you see what got done this week?
This is my last knitted cat for awhile. Maya, my sons Maine coon cat with attitude to spare and undisputed princess status in the home, is finally knitted up. Maya is excessively fluffy… I finally just settled on creating a cat with the correct coloration (using purple with the black for fun) and hoping that time will fluff her up if we brush her. Who am I kidding… the real Maya is too fluffy for words. She does love hanging out draped across the back of my son’s chair at his desk, so this knitted Maya took to the tree for her photoshoot.
The rest of my knitting energy has been going to the Garter Snake Cowl. I think that I am about half way done, and you can see that I am now in the middle of the transition from brioche stitch to garter stitch as I knit up the cowl. I love how these two yarns are looking together!
Garden
Flowers are popping out all over and the roses are right on the verge of blooming. The catmint has just gone crazy with the blooms and the bees are working overtime right now.
Books
Sigh. Still reading The Mirror & The Light. I can’t seem to concentrate on reading at the moment with all that is going on, but has that stopped me from buying more books to read? Nope!! I just keep adding them to my Kindle with the hopeful expectation that I will snap out of my inability to read and race right through them in a few days. My book club is meeting by Zoom in a few days so I have to get Catherine House finished before Tuesday. It’s 314 pages. I probably should start it, huh. After I water the plants, prune the roses, and maybe knit awhile…
Have a great week, everyone!!
Read a little, knit a little, and garden like your heart can’t live without it.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
THAT’S MORE THAN 11 KILOS !!! Did I laugh, or what ?! 😀
Lovely to read about your neighbourhood – you’re lucky, there !
That’s a terrific pattern, that cowl: how did you come across it ?
LOVE the bee, and wish my garden was grown enough to be attracting them.
Keep up these super diary writes – they cheer me up like anything !
About the rice… I know!! It was just a little more than my usual 10 pound bag, so I added it to the online cart. Yowza!! It really is 25 pounds! I checked again after your comment. I have rice for life!
I go to Ravelry almost every day or so and check out the trending patterns. One day this cowl was there and I grabbed it!
So glad the post is cheering; attitude is all these days. 🙂
It made me so happy to see your post with your smiling face pop up in my email just now! Thank you for carrying on. Much love!!
And I smiled as soon as I saw your comment! Love back to you, and stay safe!
Knitted Maya is so cute:)
Thanks! I’m getting much faster at knitting these cats up. 🙂
Maya is just gorgeous!! Good luck getting a kitten. I’m sure you’ll have to knit their doppelgänger too.
That is a lot of rice but the way things are that’s a wise investment.
Your flowers are lovely! I’m glad you and your neighbors are looking out for each other:)
thank you for sharing beauty in this crazy world!
You’re welcome! 🙂
🙂
Good to see that you can focus on pleasanter things, but we do feel for your country and for the world.
Thank you. These are sad days indeed.
Well Maya looks brilliant and I love the picture in the tree. I’m so glad you have such great neighbours. The cowl is looking stunning and I agree those colours really go so well. I’m sure your local food bank or homeless feeding organisation would really appreciate some rice donations if you have some ziplock bags. Maybe call them first and check they’d accept bags you’d scooped. I don’t know the shelf life of rice, but that is more than I could eat for the rest of my life…but I only eat rice once every 3 months lol. Do you eat it most days?
Those are great ideas for the rice! I clearly now have a lifetime supply. I do eat a lot of rice and not very much bread; I tend to cook things in the crockpot that are saucy and easy to combine with rice. I think that I was raised with rice since my grandparents lived in Japan for years and it was the daily staple there. Since I grew up in California with its Asian communities we had access to good rice there too. When people tell me to go gluten free I just laugh at them these days!
I am lucky, mostly, with the neighbors. I also have some MAGA people who aren’t respecting the Covid guidelines; no masks, lots of visitors, and they get too close to me. I avoid them and focus on the neighbors who share my viewpoints on community living in times such as these.
😀
Knitted Maya turned out lovely, and love her photos 🙂 Also that is a lovely photo of the bee with your catmint flowers! Thank you for sharing your moments of joy 🙂
We all need some joy these days. 🙂
You look well. The blooms are a bright spot. My cat mint is thriving and will need to be divided this year. I worked my arse off in the garden this weekend. I am taking before photos. The kitty is adorable in that tree.
Thanks! I spent hours weeding last week and eventually I plant to start dividing and spreading out plants. I love catmint! I’m glad yours is doing so well.
Another beautiful update. Your version of Maya is stunning. What a great idea using the tree for your photo shoot. I’ve done some stealth weeding myself. It’s good for the soul. I’m also unable to read for any length of time. It’s hard to focus. I wonder if you would consider a commission in the future to knit a version of out cat Two faced Tessa? Your work is amazing. Xo
Thank you so much!! My son just sent me a photo of Maya in a garden chair, and I’m getting ready to take a picture of Knitted Maya in the same pose to send back to you. I’m glad you liked the tree shot… I was trying to capture some of her personality. She is a cat who is pretty imperious in her demeanor…
I am still struggling to read due to the same focusing problem. I’m now trying to keep the television off to capture some peace, but it is hard when so much is going on.
I’m trying to use up my yarn and other stashes these days, and I would have to buy more mohair to make another cat. What does Tessa look like?
Tessa has a beautiful split face. She was a stowaway in my husbands Tesla. We’ll never know how she got there, but she’s one of three cats now.
Here’s a blog post with her picture: https://gardeningnirvana.com/2020/03/30/two-faced-tessa-in-the-garden/
If you are interested and have the time, I will of course pay for your time and materials. No pressure at all. It just struck me as a fun idea. Your work is amazing.
Oh, my goodness! She is a beautiful tortie!! I had a picture of a cat like that to use with my biology class. Tessa is more beautiful by far!
I have a bunch of projects already lined up, but by the end of summer I might be able to knit Tessa. We’ll have to see how things are then; between Covid and my advancing illnesses I make fluid plans these days. Hugs from Colorado!
Hugs back. If it happens, I’ll be delighted. I’m glad you are taking good care of yourself. xo