we (Romeo and I, by way of stepmotherhood) are...in late January/early February...going to become GRANDPARENTS!!! We got the great news a week ago Saturday, when we had dinner with his older daughter and her hubby. We got together to celebrate her birthday and Father's Day - and what a Father's Day gift!!! She asked us to keep it hush-hush until all the family had been told - and texted Romeo last night, giving us the go-ahead to start spreading the good news.
There is MUCH, MUCH knitting to be done in the months to come - a winter baby will need to be kept warm!!
I have made some knitting progress, but have not had time to take pictures. Next time, I promise! In the meantime, here's a great one from Friday night. One of Romeo's bands, The Subterraneans (so named because they play in the basement a lot) played at a reception at the Governor's Mansion. The fellow in the green shirt would be Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio. The First Lady, Frances, is on the far left. Romeo (second from right in black shirt) has played at other receptions in other bands, so he's kind of an old-hat at this...but it was pretty exciting. And a lovely, lovely evening was had by all. Just to show you how lovely, I'll toss in a few other pictures. :-)
Looking out of the tent toward the mansion.
The catering staff setting up for the reception.
Romeo holds up the bottom while Steve jams.
Bandwife Ann, our D.D. (Designated Dancer) gets down.
My best guess (because of the short ears) is that this is The Single Surviving Bunny from Bunnynest 2010. Yes, only one of the five survived. It seemed a no-brainer that two would make it, but we had another big rainstorm and when I went out afterward, one bunny had died. It had left the nest and was right at the doorway to Chez Bun. The other was safe and dry, under the nesting material. Sigh...I was able to protect them from a lot, but I couldn't protect them from DBS (Dumb Bunny Syndrome).
The very next day, the surviving bunster left the nest for good. Here are a few photos:
If I've learned one thing from this experience it's this: DON'T GET YER BUNNY WET!!! I swear they're descended from the Wicked Witch of the West - get 'em wet and they croak. I lost four bunnies to...dampness. The odds for newborn bunnies surviving are only about 20%, so this was a typical nest, I guess.
This morning, as I was eating breakfast, I saw a bunny hop through the yard next door...then another...another...another...another... Yup, FIVE bunnies off to do whatever bunnies do during the day (which includes making more bunnies, I'm certain). One of them was my little bunster. Now, just think...if all five in the nest had survived, there would be NINE bunnies living in the yard next door...and breeding...and at 5-9 kittens per litter, if say, only four of them were bunnettes (er...does...), and they split the difference at 7 kittens, that would soon be (if they didn't get wet) THIRTY-FOUR (check my math...) bunnies living next door and...well, you get the picture. Bunnypalooza... Mother Nature can be a snarky bitch, but she's also quite smart...and our vegetable garden is happy for that fact.
Don't count yer bunnies before they're hatched...it could get hare-y...or something...
Ok, here's my first "10 on Tuesday" post and, wouldn't ya know it, it has to do with children. Of which I have none. I can think of 10 ways to entertain a dog or a cat, but a kid??? Hmmmm....
Read to them
Blow bubbles
Have a bunny nest in the back yard for them to peek at
Have a dog for them to pet and cuddle
Play catch
Feed them
Watch a movie
Cook something yummy with them (cookies?)
Ask them questions and just let them talk about their lives
Have a really big empty box for them to play in
That's really pitiful, but it's the best I can do. A lot depends on the age of the child, too. I worked in the adolescent day program at a psychiatric hospital for ten years, and I could keep a lot of those kids entertained by just sitting at a table with a jigsaw puzzle and letting them listen to music, help with the puzzle, and talk.
I don't know much about younger children...though I think I'm going to be learning... ;-)
that would be Knitter's Connection, which is where I spent a goodly chunk of time last and money last week. I signed up for the Knitter's Market back in March, figuring I'd only go for one day but, just for good measure, registered for two. I was glad I did because a month or so later, I learned that a good friend who I hadn't seen in about ten years was going to be in town with his girlfriend the same week, and they were interested in attending if they could fit it in their schedule.
That lovely lady standing to my left in the new banner pic would be Anne from KnitterlyAnne's Musings. And no...I am not stalking her. Really. She posted on her blog last week that she was coming to Columbus. I commented that I would be at Knitter's Connection on Thursday and would love to meet her. Of course, I commented a day after she posted, at which time she was already well on her way here and didn't see the comment. So...I hoped that somewhere at the market I would see Anne and say hello. And I did. When I walked up to the registration desk, I was admiring the lovely flame-colored shawl on the woman in front of me. When the wearer of that shawl turned around...it was Anne! I was so shocked that I blurted out her name and I think SHE was shocked. But we both recovered, and she introduced me to her daughter and son-in-law, and we had a lovely visit. Her daughter, Meg, is the genius behind Twisted Fiber Art, and they were both wearing gorgeous shawls knit from her yarn. Meg is thinking of being a vendor at next year's Knitter's Connection...and I will be saving my pennies to help make that a worthwhile venture for her.
There were so many wonderful people and wonderful yarns. Again, I wore the Luna Moth shawl and got lots of knitting-ego boosting compliments, especially people asking if it was my design. Of course, I gave credit to the designer...but it got me thinking that maybe it's time for me to take that plunge and try some designs of my own. They're up there in my head (along with the words to 50 million songs, yoga poses, recipes, and various other bits of trivia)...maybe it's time to bring them to life...
One of my first stops was at Karen and Bill Poulakos's booth. Karen was spinning some lovely yellow yarn on a Fricke wheel. I know nothing about wheels (yet!) but I really liked this one and, when I get to that point, I think I'll want a wheel just like hers. I talked to her and Bill for quite a long time about spinning. Wonderful people!
After that, I wandered around a bit and stopped at a booth to admire some amazing yarn. While I was browsing, a yarn label caught my eye - the color name was "Clintonville" which is the name of the neighborhood where I live. "Neighborhood" is the key word since this yarn is from right here in CBus courtesy of Karida Collins' Neighborhood Fiber Co.. Karida is also co-author of Pints and Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter and a really cool woman. We mourned the demise of the WonderKnit shop,
and talked yarn and life in Clintonville, and (mustering all the restraint I could), I walked away with only this:
Isn't it awesome? I've been searching for months for the perfect yarn with which to knit Susan Pandorf's Dragonfly Scarf/Stole. I wanted something deep and seriously dragony, and I think this fits perfectly, don't you?
I also picked up a darling border collie brooch and shawl pin:
I really liked this border collie because he looks like he's kind of in "mosey" mode and not "must herd everything that moves". In short, he looks a lot like my Wilbur.
I ran into Anne again at the Happy Hands booth, and Kim (I think...I'm so bad with names...) took pictures for us. I like this one better even though it's blurry:
Lots of cool yarn here, and most of it is named after great classic rock songs. I picked up these (Stone Cold Fever and Gypsy):
I'd hoped to get a picture of Anne, Meg, and Jeff, but sadly didn't see them again. Next time!
My last stop of the day was at Crafts Meow where it took me forever to decide which of Gwen's beautiful yarns to buy. I settled on these two works of art (Blueberry Sorbet and Blackberry Tea):
Both of these yarns look like beloved old denim, and Blackberry Tea just screams "denim jacket and cowboy boots". I'm in love...so much so that I went right home and wound it and started knitting Sarah Montie's Seaweed Scarf. I'll post pics of it soon, but here is how Blackberry Tea looks when it's wound into a ball.
After that, I was ready to come home and lapse into a happy fiber coma. I came, I saw, I stashed, and I was happy. But there was more!
Friday morning, DK called and said he and Judy would be coming to the Knitter's Market and asked me to meet them there. Oh...I was tired...but I haven't seen DK since 1999 and haven't met Judy, so I wasn't about to miss it! We wandered the market with Judy's daughter and had lots of laughs. DK does woodworking, and Judy raises sheep, so they were also considering coming to the market as vendors next year. We discovered that Bill and Karen Poulakos (who I had spent so much time with the day before) are friends of theirs in Illinois. I bought a couple patterns and a few balls of Noro Silk Garden Lite for about half off, Judy bought some weird but cool paper yarn, then we went to North Market to eat and chat. So very, very good to see them!
Later that night, Romeo and I went out to a rock club (yes...a rock club...) to hear a friend's band. I really wasn't in the mood to go after traipsing around the convention center for two days, but we had missed his last gig because we decided to take a "short nap" before heading out. Once I got there, I got into it and though my ears were bleeding at the end, they were bleeding in a GOOD way. I loved all the songs and the energy of the band and will definitely come to hear them again.
Oh, and last but not least...I have a wonderful, beautiful secret. Will tell you in a week, so check back!
and I'm sitting on the sofa in my jammies. Teeth are brushed...hair, not so much. I've been here since 8:30am. After two weeks of craziness, I've finally caught up on all my blog reading and MOST of my emails (though not nearly all...). The coffee is cold, and I want lunch.
What's new with me? Well, for starter's, there's this:
I'm drumming! My new djembe arrived ten days ago, and I'm lovin' it! Wilbur obviously approves...and doesn't think it resembles a big purple fire hydrant in any way.
Two weeks ago, TNNA was here in Columbus. I'm not fortunate enough to be "in the business" and attend the show (though it is my goal for the coming year), however, I WAS fortunate enough to take a class on triangular shawl design offered by Miriam Felton of Mimknits and the awesome Knitgrrl Studio. I am not lying or exaggerating when I say the class was exactly what I wanted. Nor am I exaggerating when I say that Miriam is a great teacher and really cool woman. We got to ooh and ahh over her lovely samples and her new book, and went to lunch at North Market with her, Shannon Okey and Annie Modesitt and her lovely daughter. When we got there, we ran into the Ravelry gang and chatted briefly. No...I didn't bring my camera, but here are a few of my swatches from the class (poor substitute, I know...):
I had just enough time after the class to run back home, feed Wilbur, change clothes, grab a quick snack, then head out to Yarn Market for the Ravelry event. You've seen it on the Ravelry home page...and I was there. I almost got killed getting there when a car in the left lane shot across four lanes of traffic and tried to wedge himself into a line of cars exiting on the right. All I can say is thank every deity ever thankable for anti-lock brakes...and the fact that I was last in the line of cars. I doubt I would be here to post if not for those two facts. Seriously. I shook for an hour.
Yarn Market was packed and, though I brought my camera, I was too frazzled to remember I had it. I ran into my friend Kristen and her friend, Brian. I met Kristen about five years ago at a Christmas party. Our husbands were working for the same IT consulting firm and we just happened to get seated next to one another. We try to stay in touch but invariably life gets in the way, then we'll meet at some yarn-related event and pick up the thread again. Oh, and I wore the Luna Moth shawl and got lots of compliments. So many friendly, chatty people - it was a wonderful evening.
What's that? Did I buy any yarn? Well, of course I did!! But I was sane about it. I knew exactly what I wanted and stuck to that. I bought 3 skeins of this:
which is on its way to becoming this (a rug for my room - the existing one is becoming quite threadbare). The pattern is Ten Stitch Twist - love it:
I also picked up some Wisdom Yarns Poem sock yarn in Toast and Smoke and Mirrors. The plan is to make a couple of the Stained Glass Triangle shawls. Oh, and this awesome Lantern Moon shawl pin...
That's all. No great binge buying. Just what I needed. I had also planned to go to a booksigning sponsored by Wonderknit that night...but when I got in my car, I just wanted to go home. I'd had enough driving, and the close-call with potential death and dismemberment had spooked me.
I'm embarrassed to admit I also kind of wimped out on Knit in Public Day. It was hot, humid, and threatening rain, and I knew I'd end up with a migraine if I hung around outside at the "official" event. Instead, I took my knitting to a nice little deli and joined a group of knitters from a meetup group. It was a pleasant afternoon, however, the A/C in the shop left much to be desired, and sitting on a leather sofa for a couple hours didn't help. Ugh...
Last week was Knitter's Connection. I'll post about that separately...after lunch and shower...oy...
but every day I marvel at how lucky I was to have you as my Dad. You took off on your next great adventure way too early. Seriously, Dad...you should have hung out here on Earth long enough to have met my Romeo (or I should have met him much sooner). You two would have been the best of friends.
Love you. Miss you still...but every time I look in the mirror, I see your smile on my face and hear your laugh when I laugh and know you are always with me.
And because I am your daughter, and you raised me right, I know I have to throw in this picture (easily offended readers, you might want to stop here). Happy Father's Day to my irrepressible, sometimes impossible, but always wonderful Dad!
Ok, that's probably not entirely accurate, but close. I love reading what everyone has to say, what projects we're all working on. It's one giant cyberspace stitch-n-bitch every day of the week!
However, my clock is reaching critical mass. I dropped out of Creativity Boot Camp (which is a fabulous idea, BTW) after one day because it just took up too much of my time - time I would have devoted to hanging out with my senior doggie, time I would have devoted to exercising, time I would have devoted to taking care of chores around the house (which are not creative in and of themselves, but a clean house does make me feel more creative because I'm less anxious/guilty when we're just this side of condemnation) and most importantly time I would have devoted to knitting, drumming, going over music for an upcoming concert, playing the fiddle or keyboard or guitar - all creative things. I love my one writing assignment and am very proud of it...but it took me six hours to prepare! I hope Maegan leaves the boot camp blog up. I'd love to go through it at a (much) more leisurely pace. And I hope someone (maybe me?) comes up with a Time Management Boot Camp. I'd sign up fer sure! BTW, no, I am not ADHD. I've been tested. I'm not. Really...NOT! Yes, the doctor was surprised, too.
So, last week Anne from KnitterlyAnne's Musings awarded me with a Beautiful Blogger Award. Anne is a wonderful woman, but she clearly does NOT know what I look like in the morning, coffee cup clutched in my hand, when I'm reading her blog. Somewhere way on the far side of "beautiful", if you consider it only skin deep (which I and, clearly, Anne, does not). And now I need to post ten things you probably don't know about me:
I'm an only child. I am not spoiled, though if anyone would like to take a shot at it...yarn would be nice. Lots and lots of yarn. ;-)
I've lived in Ohio my entire life and never left the state till I was 12 (and that was just over the river into West Virginia so probably really doesn't count).
I love Gordon Lightfoot more than just about anything in the world.
Except maybe Mavis Staples.
Or Sam Adams Cherry Wheat Ale.
I spent 30 years of my life believing I couldn't sing. I took voice lessons to prove to my husband that I could not sing. Now I sing all the time.
If you poke around in the branches of my family tree, you'll find a big group of old-order Amish. I tried to trade in the car for a horse & buggy after learning this, but my husband stopped me. Likewise, the shapeless black dress... You'll also find some famous Civil War folks, a couple prominent old-time fiddlers (which thrills me to NO end!) and someone who married into the Welk family. Yes, Welk...a-one-and-a-two-a...
When I was a kid I wanted to be: an NFL player, an Indy car driver, a disc jockey. I am none of those, although I DID serve as "pit crew" to a friend who had a funny car and got to ride with him during a qualifying run. Whoo-hoo!
I believe if you can read you can do anything (except maybe brain surgery...that might require a little more training).
When I was a kid and we had neighborhood football games, I was always the defensive back because I could run backwards better than anyone else. I can still run backwards really well...probably even better than forward.
And here are ten blogs that I love (really, it's hard to limit them to just ten, but since I'm so miserably behind on my reading/commenting, I'm picking the ones with the most unread posts - I've been saving my favorites for a quiet moment - sometime in 2015, no doubt...)
How the West Was Spun Beautiful yarn and projects and...horses!!! #11 on the above list should be "Loves horses and considers them to be supreme spiritual beings. Same with dogs."
Knitspot I love Anne's designs and maybe love her garden even more.
Zeneedle Love Margene's pictures, her humor, and her wicked taste in music!
Alaskan Purl This is a "welcome back" for Allison, who hasn't posted in a long while, and whose posts I've missed.
I'm Gonna Tell Mom! Kim, Bonnie Jo, and Wendy are always up to something interesting.
JoKnitWit's Funky Life Jo was the first person to comment when I started blogging, so she's special. And she has the cutest dog in the world (other than mine!).
Knitting By the Ocean Love Joansie's projects and beautiful pictures of Maine (#12 on the above list should be "I want to go to Maine.")
Lost City Knits Life on a lavender and fiber farm in Oklahoma. Denise has amazing yarn!
Rosemary-Go-Round I love Romi's designs and enjoy reading about her life in California.
And there are about 20 other blogs I love and read religiously...maybe more. If I've ever left a comment on your blog, you're beautiful and you deserve an award (even if you are reading this at 7am, teeth unbrushed, hair uncombed, in jammies, and desperately clutching a cup of coffee - which is how I look when I'm reading all of YOUR blogs).
This week, I am participating in Madeline Bea's Creativity Bootcamp. It started Sunday. I'm starting on Tuesday. This much is clear - I do not need a creativity bootcamp. I need a time management bootcamp. However, I'm signed up for a creativity bootcamp with the focus on writing. Knitting wasn't going to work well with Madeline's format, and I don't have much going on with knitting right now EXCEPT I have only two more rows to go on Evenstar before I start the dreaded beaded edging. I've ordered my beads and will update you when they arrive. Now, on to my creativity topic of the day (two days ago!): Ivory.
Who is Ivory? I'd heard the name mentioned as a child. Grandma Young talked a lot about Ivory. They were or had been good friends (maybe cousins?), but though I spent a lot of time with Grandma Young, I never met her.
My mother died in 1999, and I inherited the family pictures. I wanted to start tracing the history of my mother's family so as I looked at pictures one evening I was making a list of names for research. I picked up a picture and looked at three young women in their late teens/early 20s. I immediately recognized my tall, blonde grandmother, but my eye was drawn to the lovely woman on the left. She was petite with dark hair, high cheekbones, and a sweet smile. Underneath her name, Grandma had written "Ivory". When I turned the picture over, I saw her full name: Ivory Leslie.
The name "Leslie" rang a bell. Grandpa Young used to talk about a Ralph Leslie who was a friend of his. Was he married to Ivory? Did they introduce Grandma and Grandpa? Were they somehow related to us? Grandpa's middle name was "Leslie". Was there a connection?
Thanks to the miracles of technology (and Ancestry.com), I now know a little bit about Ivory Leslie. Ivory P. Leslie was born in Ohio on November 30, 1907. Some sources say she was born on Hocking County, other sources say Pike County. Since Grandma Young was born in Pike County, I'm betting she was born there, and that's where they met. She was the daughter of John and Cynthia Crabtree Leslie, and the youngest of nine children. Her brother, Ralph, was five years older.
In 1910, Ivory lived with her family on Opossum Run Road, in the southwest corner of Franklin County, Ohio. Her father was a laborer who did odd jobs. By 1920, the family was living on Channel Street in Newark, Ohio, which is near where Grandma Young grew up, however, Ivory's father was not living with them. I checked the census, and her mother's marital status was "Married", so I had do to more research - what fun!
I found John Leslie living on Sunfish Road in Newton Township, Pike County, with the "Swiger" family and working as a farm laborer. I put the family's last name in quotes because the third woman in my picture is named Beulah Sigo. I also located a picture online of John Leslie with the "Sego" family with a very young Beulah Sego in the photo. A little more digging about Beulah Sego revealed that her mother's maiden name was Leslie. So it appears that John Leslie was living with his sister's family and working on their farm in 1920. However, in September, 1923, John Leslie was killed in an automobile accident in Pickaway County and buried in Newark.
Ivory married John Weekly in late 1929/early 1930. In April, 1930, they were living at 240 Union Street in Newark (again, within walking distance of my grandmother's house) and had a one-month old daughter named Lulu. John was a press operator at the big Wehrle stove factory.
In November, 1932, they were living on North 11th street and had minor damage from a house fire caused by wallpaper covering a flue. They had a daughter, Ruth, who graduated from nursing school in September 1953 and looked just like her mother. In 1958, Ruth, who had returned to work at Newark Hospital, got married. Ivory died in 1992, John in 1996.
And this is where I lose the trail and Ivory becomes, once again, just a mysterious young girl in a photo with my grandmother. I have some facts...I have some proof that Ivory probably is not a relative, even a very distant one...but I still don't know...Who is Ivory?
A very bittersweet Memorial Day weekend. We started out the weekend with this
As of this morning, we have this:
Despite our diligent oversight and a very attentive Mama Bunny, we lost three of the five babies - two on Monday, and one yesterday. They were doing quite well till Monday morning, when an incredible thunderstorm hit. I had been outside to check on them minutes earlier and was thinking of bringing out an umbrella in case it rained - rain seemed possible, but not nearly as imminent as it was. I was in the shower when the skies opened, and the rain and lightning were too intense for me to run out and cover them.
I went out as soon as it was safe and, luckily, the nest hadn't filled with water. The babies were all alive, but cold and stressed. A couple had left the nest. I tried warming them with my hands, got them all back in the nest together and put up an umbrella for them but, an hour later when I checked on them, I found one had died. A second died later that day.
Yesterday morning, the remaining three looked great but again, a couple hours later, I found the third had died. When I went out, the umbrella had blown away, and they were completely exposed to the elements - and to circling crows who had seen their movement. Mama Bunny and I chased crows and blue jays for a while and, when it seemed they had given up for a moment, I dashed inside, cut one end out of an old laundry basket and fashioned Chez Bun. The crows haven't been back.
The two bunnies in the picture are still hanging in, fat and sassy...but I'm not optimistic at this point. Out of all the rabbits born each year, only a fraction, maybe 5% ever survive. This is a good thing, since rabbits breed 7-8 times a year and have 3-9 kittens each time. If they all lived, we'd be knee deep in bunnitude. But I was hopeful that "my" bunnies would all go on to live long bunny lives. My friend, Cindy, has referred to me as the Hero Giant of "Watership Down". I remember reading that book back in the 70s, but don't remember anything about it...except it had to do with rabbits.
I did a quick peek this morning, but no pictures (the one above was taken yesterday). I have a depressing photo diary of bunny pictures showing fewer and fewer bunnies in each set. Maybe I'll get a few more once their eyes open and they start leaving the nest. In the meantime, there were some other cool critters in my yard yesterday. I found this Brown Hawker drying his wings in the back yard when I went out to check on the bunnies.
And a little later, this Tiger Swallowtail flirted with the camera for quite a while.
Aside from the bunny drama, we had a nice weekend. Saturday, we went to see the Columbus Clippers. I love being at the ballpark - especially when we win! Our new ballpark is so lovely and comfortable...here are a few pictures I took earlier in the season but forgot to post.
On Sunday, I went to an African drumming class. A few weeks ago, I attended a concert by the Columbus Women's Chorus, an amazing group of women that I've loved singing with over the years. As part of their show, they had a women's drum circle, and I fell in love with the idea of drumming. Two days later, I got an email from the music director at my church advertising a drumming class. This has to be a sign, right??? I signed up, I showed up, I drummed...I felt renewed. The running joke around our house is, if we bring in even one more instrument, we will have to buy a bigger house. I am now checking real estate listings and shopping for my own djembe. I. must. drum.
Monday, we went to a cookout at a friend's house (Hi, Mark!) and had a great time. Lots of good food, good company, good beer. And...hardly any rain on his side of town! When we got home to our waterlogged neighborhood after the party, I checked the radar and saw that our side of town (north) got an inch and a half of rain...and the east side of town got less than a third of an inch.
Romeo took the day off yesterday, and we grilled steaks and had the first sweet corn of the year. Yum. He is the Great God of the Grill, that Romeo.
Very little knitting...I have just begun Clue #6 on Evenstar. I hope to buy the beads for the edging this week and have something interesting to show soon.
Yours in bunny mourning, rhythm, and hope for the future, both bunny and human...
Hero Giant
ida is also co-author of 
