I've been remiss in my blogging lately--have ya missed me yet? There has been so much going on both in my little world and the larger one, and the days zip by.
First, my heart goes out to the Japanese. It is almost too much to take in--the physical devastation and loss of life from the earthquake, and now the looming nuclear disaster. I have had a strange and terrifying sense of deja vu as I've read each updated report on the deteriorating conditions of the stricken power plants--I feel as though it is a decade ago and I am learning all over again, step by step, the ways that nuclear reactors are likely to fail. And here we are, very likely with another generation of Japanese children exposed to radiation. We are a brilliant species. We can find other ways to turn on the lights.
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If I am fully honest, it is not only the news--there have also been a series of relentlessly gray days lately where my brain just sits in my skull like a lifeless lump and refuses to focus on anything. Intellectually, I know all about rain bringing May flowers--blah blah blah--but my emotional morale is unable to man-up and face the gray. Knitting is my only salvation (read: productivity) on those days, and I am now well into a sweater--quite an adventure for this accessory-focused, instant-gratification knitter. Once again, the library has enriched my life: I am learning to know and love Elizabeth Zimmerman's work through her books (
The Opinionated Knitter, and
Knitting Without Tears), and it is she who gave me the nudge into designing and making my very own sweater. The yarn is luxurious, hand dyed Misti Alpaca in worsted weight, the color "spring green." I've had it in my stash forever, just sitting there gorgeous and alone, waiting for me to figure out a worthy project.
Now, an alpaca sweater is going to be, er,
warm to say the least, but luckily alpaca is also an incredibly soft fiber and will be fine to wear without a bottom layer. I have recently figured out that I can knit and READ simultaneously, as long as the stitch pattern is extremely simple (as in, just straight knitting!) and you can imagine how happy that makes me:
Finally! A way to read and still feel like I am accomplishing something... I had sore wrists the other day--for the love!
I have been timidly allowing the girls to roam unattended this week, at least for a few hours in the middle of the day when predators are least likely. As you can see in the picture above, they have figured out where the treats originate, i.e., the kitchen, and occasionally linger around the back door in case I might appear with food. I want this for them: the freedom to graze around the yard and do their chicken-thing. It saves on feed costs and makes the hens and their eggs the healthiest they can be, not to mention free fertilization of my lawn and beds...and yet. The hawks. I've done the research; I know how to minimize the risk and I do--but still I worry. We are in a trial period here, and if I see an increase in bird-of-prey presence in my yard we will go back to letting the girls roam only when I am also working outside. In the meantime, though, it is quite a hoot to look out a window and see four fluffy chicken derrieres shimmying in the air as the ladies investigate the bugs in the mulch.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my thesis project is going to be involved with the development of a preschool garden classroom and a curriculum exploring sustainability concepts as they manifest in the garden ecosytem. Doesn't that just sound divine? (!) My biggest worry is how to handle the subject of
poop. Good times...good times. As soon as I have a chance, I will take some pictures of the plot that we will be using in the
Rocky Ripple community garden and get into more detail; at this point things are still being organized and figured out, so stay tuned!
One final note: it is nest-building time! Do your friendly neighborhood birds a favor and donate any scraps of yarn, string, twine, even the gleanings from your hairbrush to the cause:
