May Days

Hello!  It’s been a minute.  With so much cacophony on the internet these days, I’m increasingly loathe to add my voice (however small and innocuous) to the overall noise.  There is so much temptation to despair and I just…can’t.*  

The musical at the kids’ school this year was My Fair Lady and I ended up doing all the costuming myself.  Piglet had a main role as Alfed P. Doolittle and he was a scream!  So funny.  There were a lot of funny moments in the play and the production really was spectacular.  

Our Eliza was magnificent, but Higgins and Pickering also knocked it out of the park.  Fun fact: my main backstage role this year was valeting the actor playing Pickering—ha!

Probably our best show to date, and also our biggest.  Costuming was a ton of fun but also a LOT of work.  I’m particularly pleased with how the Ascot scene turned out, but honestly, getting all the Cockney Ensemble folks ready was fun too.  I got to build Eliza’s ballroom jewelry, including the great hair ornament.

I enjoyed it so much and am looking forward to costuming the Shakespeare play in the fall (Boo, Birdie, and Ponchik all have roles).

As soon as that wrapped up in late March, I pivoted back to my book in progress because I wanted to enter the first part of it into a writing competition.  (They wanted the first 5000 words, which I had, easily, but needed to fix some of the flow in that section).  In the process, I rediscovered an editing software I used on All This Without You.  I had used it for line edits on grammar and liked it a lot better than Grammarly (which gives me a pain), so I was inclined to go back to it on this book.  

In these intervening years, the software has had major upgrades and now includes a whole box of analytical tools that are so helpful.  I used it for a manuscript analysis and I was immediately able to dive into substantive editing with a lot of good direction.  My second analysis was similarly useful.  I’m wrapping up the last of that analysis before running another (or possibly running the beta reader function).  I’m hoping to have real beta readers look at it this summer.  

My only complaint is that a lot of my characters are speaking in dialect, and the grammar checker absolutely cannot deal with it.  I’m sure there is probably a way to do something in the settings, but my computer is very elderly (the lady at the Apple store said “vintage”) so I think I don’t have as much functionality as I would on a newer model.  But it still works (except for the keyboard, which is finicky and troublesome, so I’m on a bluetooth keyboard that I do not love, but whatever).  I’m not interested in changing out electronics just because.  My phone is old, my teeth are gold, and now my story is all told.**

I put in some heavy labor at the garden during the last week in April and I need to do a bit more this week on my plot.  I’m on the committee that takes care of the communal areas and I have a section I’m responsible for, so a good chunk of that heavy labor involved dealing with that.  

We are looking to have a bumper strawberry harvest, though!  I bought a couple of tomato plants, a cuke and a pepper, put in seeds several weeks ago and we’ll see what we get.  I was so busy in March and April I didn’t really get to enjoy the spring bulbs much, but that’s okay.  There’s always next year.

And before it gets super ridiculous to share, here’s my Javelin sweater, completed in late January or early February.  I wanted to make this pattern for several years, but I absolutely could not get my brain around the gauge or the pattern repeat, until suddenly I could.  (For the record, it is a twisted rib that is knit through the back loop; I wish she had said that somewhere in the pattern!  I would have made it a lot sooner).  

I also have a hard time figuring out gauge when it has to be over a pattern.  How does one count the stitches?  I’ve done it a few times now and I *think* I’ve figured it out?  But it always throws me for a loop (ha—see what I did there?)

Nothing much to note about the pattern itself; it was very straightforward once I got the pattern repeat down, and Teti’s patterns are all so intelligently designed with short rows to lengthen the back, and other small details like that.  I very consistently get well-fitting sweaters I love from her patterns.  It is worsted weight and I wore it a lot during these past few cold months.

It’s spring now and the weather is drunk, so go home please.  We had some days of 90 degree weather, then it dropped back close to freezing, and then has been swinging between the 80s and the 50s.  I’ve swapped my wool unders for silk ones, but I’m still cold all the time, except when I’m boiling in the 90 degree heat.  Ah, spring.  

Piglet successfully defended his senior thesis last week and now we are in the very fast slide to graduation in about a month.  *gulp*  He’s currently on his senior capstone trip to Europe with his classmates.  

So I’m feeling all the feelings, natch. I knew it would be like this—like the merry-go-round is going too fast and I really want to get off and let the scene settle in front my eyes for a few moments, but the best I can do is hold on and enjoy the ride.

That’s it for me at the moment.  I just finished the new Count of Monte Cristo series on PBS (very good, highly recommend) and  am trying to finish The Forsytes (not as good, very mixed feelings as I love the 2002 version and this one is…different).  

Discovered the 2008 Sense and Sensibility from the BBC (written by Andrew Davies, who did the 1995 Pride and Prejudice).  I absolutely adore Emma Thompson’s take on the book, and Alan Rickman will always be the definitive Col. Brandon for me, but I really like the BBC's 3-episode series.  The three-hour series is able to cover much more of the book than the movie.  

I’m trying to keep my head down on the editing and gardening and everything else that needs doing this time of year. I started the Orna sweater in January right after finishing the Javelin, but it is going slower because I had to set it aside until last week. It is worsted weight so I won’t want to wear it for a while anyway, and it is good to have an all-over pattern that is engaging but not impossible to follow. It is strange to not have a dozen handwork projects on the go, but that is okay too. Reading and editing are important and enjoyable too.

*Pascha photos courtesy of a very talented photographer at our parish; photos of My Fair Lady from a talented professional photographer parent at our school.

**Riffing on Dr. Suess.  Bonus points if you can name that book. 

So it's November...

Somehow the past six weeks got away from me.  It always seems that way in the fall, though.  The weather has been mostly delightful this fall, and cooled down much quicker than expected.  We've had a few muggy days here and there, but nothing sustained and the temps have mostly been moderate.  I'll take it! 

I pulled my cukes and watermelon vines after the nighttime temps dropped and the plants were withering away and found this monster of a cucumber hidden next to the wall of the house.  I peeled it before using, but it was perfectly fine!  I've been putting off everything else in the garden as one of my pepper plants is still fruiting (!!) and we've not had a hard freeze yet.  I've got spring bulbs to plant and compost to spread, however, so it needs to be done one of these days.

We visited friends in DC over the Columbus Day weekend and enjoyed truly delightful weather.  Our kids and their kids love to write and put on plays when they are together, and this year they decided to make a movie instead.  It was a mash up of Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet (with a little bit of Star Wars thrown in for good measure) and it was hilarious.  

Piglet and Birdie very much enjoyed chasing their 16 month old around all weekend.  Piglet celebrated his namesday right after that.

Finished some knitting that has been on needles for some time.  I started the Beamer shawl in the summer of 2021 and let it languish, but decided to finish it this fall.  I omitted the last repeat since I wanted something slightly smaller than the original, but I'm wondering if that was a mistake.  I may frog the D chart repeat and go ahead and make it according to the pattern size.

I also finished Boo's scrappy sweater at the end of the summer, but finally got around to weaving in the ends and blocking the thing last month.  He wanted short sleeves since he says he gets hot all the time (although he spends most of the winter wrapped up in a blanket, so...kids are weird).  He picked the colors from my stash and specifically wanted that bright green stripe at the top.  It allowed me to use up a bunch of odds and ends that have been hanging in my bins for a while and I think he is happy with it.  I used the Doocot pattern and made it longer in the body and only a few rows of sleeve beyond the separation point.

A dear friend of mine went to get her curly hair done at a salon that specializes in curly hair and her hair looked so good after, I decided I wanted to try it.  It took me nearly a year to get over the cost, but I went at the end of September and had The Treatment.  The appointment took more than 2 hours (they tell you beforehand to expect that on the first time).  The stylist cut about 4" of thin wispy stuff off the ends and then did a bang up job shaping and moisturizing the rest of my hair.  I've been doing Curly Girl stuff for a few years, but I changed my routine slightly after the appointment and my hair seems to be more manageable now (if shorter!)

We have had a fair bit of sickness in the house, however.  Piglet's year has had a rocky start with much more homework than we ever anticipated (or has been historically the case) and we are struggling to adapt.  He basically comes home, works until dinner, bolts his dinner, works until bedtime (or well beyond, as happened last night), showers and goes to bed.  It is nuts and I find myself in a drill sergeant role with him a lot right now and I don't like it.   

After some years of mostly good health, Birdie has had a tough year physically, and we've got a lot of medical appointments in the next weeks to explore options.  We've tried a few things since August, when we saw her pulmonologist, but nothing has worked very well.  Not that it slows her down much.  She managed to sprain her wrist pretty badly at a roller skating party two weeks ago!

My parents were here for a week in October and Piglet got very little time with them because of his homework load and was super sad about it when they left.  But when he was still behind on homework later that week, he said with the saddest, smallest voice ever: "Maybe I shouldn't have spent so much time with Grandma and Papou."  It just kills me.  His stress affects me, as you would probably guess, and he has been getting sick most weekends.  

My dad is doing pretty well post-cancer, and his scan this week was completely clear!  He still has a chronic cough, and might always have it, but considering the alternative, and how sick he was a year ago, we'll take it.  

Just before my parents arrived, Birdie and I both got a horrendous cold and mine dropped into my lungs almost immediately, so I was a bit of a sad sack while my parents were here.  But so it goes.  I'm still struggling with massive fatigue and have been taking naps during the day and am still ready for bed at 9:00, which is extremely unusual for me.   

But!  I did finally replace the sad saggy couchlet that has occupied our living room for almost 11 years (and it was very used when we inherited it from Birdie's godmother).  While I was at it, I rearranged the living room to make the seating more productive to conversation and I'm very much enjoying the change (and a loveseat that doesn't make my back hurt!)

Mother's Day Part II

I tried to get this up yesterday, but: mom duties.  (Happy Mother's Day! Enjoy 2.5 minutes all to yourself!)  

With a non-walking Boo and 7-day-old Birdie in the carrier. Oof. Those were hard days.

I ended up looking through baby photos of my kids while looking for photos of my mom, and so in honor of Mother's Day (yesterday), here are some favorite photos of the kids who made me a mom.

With newborn Piglet

Piglet, around 4 months

With Piglet in Moscow at Gorky Park, around 16 months

With newborn Boo.

This is a particular favorite of mine.  Piglet and Boo, 2 and 2 mos. respectively.

Boo, 7 mos. 

Newborn Birdie.

With newborn Birdie. Photo by Emily Photography.  (Em is a college friend and her work is gorgeous!)

Newborn Birdie.  She was such a stinker during this photoshoot--refused to sleep, wanted to see what was going on all the time.  Radioactive brain already at less than 10 days old!  Photo by Emily Photography.

Birdie on Pascha morning, around 8 mos.  This was the first or second time sitting in the Bumbo for a few minutes and able to hold her head up!  She had been on medication for about 2-3 weeks at this point, but still landed inpatient for a week a day later.

Birdie, probably around the same age.

With preemie newborn Ponchik.  She was about a month old here.  Photo by Emily Photography.

Newborn Ponchik.  Photo by Emily Photography.

With Boo at Ponchik's baptism.  She was just over 40 days old.

Birdie and Ponchik, in one of my first sewing attempts for the two of them using a random remnant from my gram's stash.

Birdie, right after Ponchik was born.

With Ponchik, around 2 months old.  Unintentionally matchy-matchy.

Double baby wearing with Birdie and Ponchik.  I did this a lot with Boo and Birdie, because Boo wasn't walking when Birdie was born, but I don't have any photos.  Suffice to say, it was the chief reason for my stress fracture that year.

Da girls.  Ponchik was around 6 months here, I think, and Birdie just over 2.

With Ponchik.  She was my first true Mama's girl (although Boo sort of was/is) and couldn't stand to be separated from me.

Boo and Ponchik around Pascha just before her first birthday.  Boo was close to 4.

The only ultrasound photo I have of Philip.  It is pretty grainy because we received the actual x-ray film and had to photograph through a window.  His head is to the right side of the image.  He was waving his hands the whole time.

Ponchik, about 13 mos.  It was her first time on grass and she was very perplexed.  What you can't see in the photo was Boo sitting nearby to keep her company because he could tell she was nervous.

Boo sitting nearby to provide moral support.

Da boys.  That same summer.  Boo was four and Piglet was 6.

A lot of these photos are or were framed on my photo wall in the stairwell, and remain favorites.  I remember the chaos of having all babies and toddlers, and am glad that the kids are all weaned and potty-trained, and we are now in the "older" kid phase, but sometimes I miss the squishy softness of their younger days.