Scheherazaad

Monday, July 23, 2007

Lazy Summer

I am still enjoying a lazy summer. So much so that I now call myself (whenever I am actually talking to myself) "the world's laziest stay at home mom". Because I feel a little guilty I try to schedule a few chores a day (loads of laundry, dishes etc...), but with a limit of one hour per day. I failed on Saturday when I logged eight hours of laundry (washing, sorting, folding, organizing and putting away). You know that you are really lazy when laundry becomes an event in your life. Today I will avoid house work. Today's event is to complete all teaching related paperwork. Yes it just keeps on coming. This time it is benefits and "ocassional teacher list" renewal. I will also go out to buy the craft rings needed for my Knit The Classics project: a watch pocket from an 1848/49 edition of Godey's Lady's Book. The benefits of all this laziness is that I now have no dark circles under my eyes and a near flawless complexion.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Valerian + Summer = R&R


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I have become very lazy or determined in my rest and relaxation mode. I have not even exerted myself to post for ten days although I have spent a lot of time reading other blogs. My main exertion is to exercise: running two miles a day and lifting weights. I have busied myself with gardening, summer reading (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte) and rediscovering crochet. I have already completed two pot holders and I am eager for more. (Yes I am hooked). I also worked out several sample forget-me-nots, from the pattern mentioned in my previous post. I had to seek out Portuguese needlework suppliers to find cotton yarn fine enough. I am so thankful to live in a multicultural city. I will have to post some crochet photos soon. For now I leave you with a close up of the valerian that grows in my back yard. I'm not sure if it is as intoxicating as valium but as I spend a lot of time in the back yard it may be partially to blame for my summer langour.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Running from Temptation

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Today I drove downtown to buy avocados. Why so far? As I explained to DH (after 20 years you would think he knew already) that I take my avocados seriously (heh I'm from the Caribbean) and I needed a half dozen to prepare for a picnic tomorrow. It was pointless to buy them at the local grocer rock hard or rotting. Downtown where there is a higher concentration of avocado afficianados you can buy them in varying states of ripeness within one greengrocer or amongst three on the same block. For some reason downtown also seemed to be twice as hot as my back yard -- like a concrete oven. Anyway to improve my stamina and disposition for the choosing of perfect avocados and guacamole ingredients I decided to dip into the air conditioned basement of a discount book seller. At one point I picked up a new copy of a baby knitting book that I have borrowed often from the library. I carried it for 10 minutes and put it back (haven't I memorized those patterns yet?). In the basement I was confronted with the ultimate temptation: a table loaded with vintage needlework books. There was a copy of the Simplicity sewing magazine (sewing for teens) that I used when I was learning to sew at the age of 12. There weres two stacks of "Golden Hands" books (I loved browsing through those books as a teen). They are like an encyclopedia of needlework techniques, but each volume contains a variety of techniques with no order that I have ever figured out. It looks like something that may have been sold as a series, issued one at a time, each containing something for everyone (who could hold a needle). There were macrame books and issues of Mccalls magazine. I already own many of these and I began to feel guilty even looking. I thought of my stacks of magazines and books at home, like the one pictured above. It was published in 1952, and still has its 15 cent price sticker from Woolworth's. I don't remember where I got it from but I was attracted by the crocheted "forget-me-not" spiral placemat set on the cover. I love for-get-me-nots. I love them so much that I let them cover the vegetable bed like a blue carpet every spring (I clear them when I am ready to plant but they seed so much that they come back again every year). The forget-me-nots on the magazine cover are crocheted as a braid that is applied to a spiral grid or "filet". Even the idea of a grid that is a spiral rather than a rectangle gives me a thrill of inspiration. Anyway I plan to make the forget-me-not braid and apply it to something this summer.

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Friday, July 06, 2007

Salvia Cambridge Blue

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I'm back after months of no blogging. Salvia Cambridge Blue is also back after a year underground. I planted it from seed two years ago. Last year I had a few blooms and this year it is a small swath in front of David Austin rose Molyneux.

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I love my garden It kept on thriving and producing beautiful things even though I had to neglect it all spring. I am so glad that the school year is over. I feel like I don't want to know the answer to anything or teach anyone anything. Meanwhile I am searching for a new contract for September. Who would like to hire this brain dead teacher? Anyway I am determined to relax, enjoy the summer, and get back to me --"Back into the woman I used to be" (todays music by K-OS, "Man I used to be")