Maggie Stories

The other night, Maggie came along to where I was sitting on the couch, with an afghan on my lap. She has curled up in this blanket about a thousand times, but that night, she was having none of it. She walked from the arm of the couch onto my chest (ow), and stood there until I pushed the blanket down, so she could get directly onto my lap.

Where she proceeded to stand, kneading her claws (that need trimming, again ouch) for a few minutes.

Before she finally settled down into a good lap position.

Weirdo.

Last night, she was on the footstool in front of me, giving me a good look at her pretty, pretty fur. She even held still long enough to let me get a non-blurry photo.

So it cut off half her head; it's in focus, damn it.

She got on my lap again later, while I was watching the NHL Awards.

And thus was available to console me when Bergeron did not win the Selke. Oh well.

As she would remind me, I have a cat.

That should be enough joy for any person.

Though she is modest, she just has to say it.

She is a beautiful girl.

Eagerly Waiting

I got an exciting email the other day.

Winner is good, right? And what did I win? Oh, just a book I'm eagerly waiting for, that doesn't come out until September!

Where the Light Enters, by Sara Donati. She writes (really good!) historical fiction; I checked the date of the first one, and it came out in 1998, so I've been a fan for a long time. In fact, I've kind of come full circle by winning this one, since I read the first one as a free advance copy when I worked at Barnes & Noble! Lo, these many moons ago.

This new one is a sequel to The Gilded Hour, which I very much enjoyed, and I look forward to the resolution of some of the plot strands that carry over from that one.

And of course, I will be willfully ignoring the part of the email that says it should arrive in 4 to 6 weeks, and hoping every day for it to arrive.

Off-Center

The title refers to two things. First, how I'm feeling, which I think is just down to a few days with lots of rain and thunderstorms and flooding, and very little sun. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

At least someone is enjoying the results of the weather.

Second is Miss Maggie, and how much she trusts me to keep her from falling off the lap, the shape of which she does not feel she needs to align herself to. Exhibit A:

No kitties were allowed to fall off the lap.

Four Thoughts, Briefly

It occurred to me this morning that if the Bruins had won, they would have had to visit the White House next season, and I was able to summon some consolation from the fact that they will not; it's mild, but it's something.

I have found it rather jarring to go from my playoff-time, consume-all-hockey-media level to not wanting to read any of the coverage, but hopefully that will ebb as a little time passes.

Next week is the NHL Award show and then the draft, which I hope I will want to follow along with, as I normally would.

And it is the weekend.

One Game

The Bruins' whole season comes down to tonight, Game 7, Stanley Cup final. This is it. Tomorrow, will they be the champions? I hope so! Even the Boston Public Library is rooting for them.

Hey, @STLpubLibrary! Tonight is the night. Winner takes all and we ain’t losahs! We’re ready to cheer on the @NHLBruins tonight as they take down the @StLouisBlues for the #StanleyCup! #bookspinepoetry #wewantthecup #libraryfaceoff pic.twitter.com/6WpZGrZwaz

— BostonPublicLibrary (@BPLBoston) June 12, 2019

(Edited to add: No, no they will not. They played a very poor game, and deserved to lose, but it was hard to watch and a disappointing outcome nonetheless.)

Out and About on a Boat

As I mentioned last week, on Saturday I went out on a boat. Want to see? Sure you do!

Heading out on the boat. There were four of us; the boat is for a max of 8 people,but I feel like that would have been kind of crowded, so it suited me fine. Beautiful day!

Approaching the main bridge off the island; it was funny to see it from the side.

Pelican on marker.

Approaching our 'parking' area, and what does that sign say?

No idea what that means! And I'm reluctant to google it, you know?

Peaceful and lovely.

We got off the boat, and leaving the captain (my friend's husband) fishing, went for a shelling walk.

Plenty of birds around.

And shells!

Also, know what this marked-off spot is?

Sea turtle nest!

Simply beautiful.

We came up on a pair of ibis, feeding in the waves.

Taking off, to get a bit farther away from us.

Then more snacking.

Beach-scape with flying ibis.

Eventually they went behind us, so were walking away from them, which made them happier.

Funny bird walks.

Bigger sand dollar!

I didn't only get sand dollars; here is the complete haul.

We walked about two miles down, farther than I would probably choose to do again. After all, one then has to walk all that way back! I can do two easily enough, but four is a bit much for me. And then we took the boat over to a nearby island, and ended up walking about another mile, and while it was all very lovely, my legs are only just now recovering. Lesson learned!

But thanks to the 45-SPF, I didn't get a sunburn, so that's good. And I did have a really nice day, and got to know two new friends a bit better. All in all, that counts for a lot.

Seal of Approval

I don't really want to talk about last night's Bruins game, don't get me started (because I could seriously go on for an hour about the bad play and the missed calls and argh), but I did want to show this.

Maggie was on my lap for a while early on.

But she got down, and later I decided to pull out the blanket I'm knitting. I got one row done, and whump, here comes Maggie.

"Hmm, this seems comfortable."

"Yes, I like this."

And she went down for the count.

And looking far too happy for me to mind the interruption.

The coveted Maggie Seal of Approval.

Get-Away Thoughts

Perhaps because today was the fourth day this week (out of four, but who's counting) that I've been listening to the sounds of nearby tree-trimming* (chain saws and leaf-blowers and wood-chipper, oh my), I found my thoughts today kept slipping to thoughts of getting away, in immediate, longer-term, and far-off ways.
*They were at our property Monday and Tuesday, and then right next door yesterday and today.

The immediate-term planning is for Saturday, when I'm going out on a boat, something I haven't done in, oh, years-if-ever. One of my new acquaintances in this newcomers club I joined here has put together a little half-day trip to go to a tip of the island that is hard to get to on foot*, and has wonderful shelling. I'm excited for it! But I'm also a nervous-planner especially with new things, so I've been making my list and thinking through what I want to be sure to have with me. Pictures to come!
*You can get there without a boat, as long as you correctly answer one of two questions: 1, do you want to walk 5 or 6 miles? Or 2, how about wading through the lagoon? At low tide, it shouldn't be higher than your waist!

The longer-term is my trip up to Boston over 4th of July, which is mostly just thinking about what to pack at this stage, since my flights are already booked, and friends alerted. I'll be there for four full days, which is a nice amount of time, and not planning to "do" a whole lot other that hang out with friends and maybe, if we get ambitious and the weather cooperates, do a day at the beach. I am hoping to see some of my knitting friends, specifically, and look forward to chatting with them about...

The far-off trip, in October, to Rhinebeck! It's actually going to be an Apple Festival\Boston\Rhinebeck trip, so there's a lot of figuring to do. Flight from Florida to NY is step one of the travel planning. Step two is getting from NY to Boston, and unless I want to leave at 5 AM or arrive at 10 PM, it looks like I might be taking the train for that! Then step three is getting home again, when I assume that I will be full up on fun, and ready for my own bed, and my cat, again.

Lots of thinking, planning, anticipating, fun!

Mid-week

I'm working on a report this week, that, well. It has pros and cons.

• Biggest pro: It's in MS Word, and not PowerPoint (I hate editing in PPT, and I was on a streak of those recently).
• Biggest con: The analyst's attention-to-detail level is exemplified by how she managed to spell "fulfill" wrong THREE different ways* within a page or two.

So, it's not Friday yet, eh? Rats.

Well, meanwhile, friend of the blog Mary Ellen had surgery this week, so if you wanted to wish her well, or suggest entertaining shows, websites, et cetera, for while she recuperates, I'm sure she'd be glad to hear it!

*That would be 'fulfil,' 'fufil,' and 'filful,' of course. Why, yes, she did have spell-check turned off; how did you guess?

Cackling

It's time for another entry in the "I don't usually get political here, but look at this" catalog!

(Someone let me know when I get to the point where I should stop saying that I don't usually get political here, would you?)

So last week President Disgrace was in Japan and reports came out that the Navy tried to keep him from being faced with the existence of the USS John McCain.

This week, he's in London to continue his world tour of embarrassing the US, and Londoners, bless them, are giving him an appropriate welcome. Not just the baby balloon, either; look at this (via Twitter).

I cackled.

(More funny signs here, if you're in the mood for more.)

Reporting Back

Three months ago, I said that I was going to try to cut back on the yarn buying, which had gotten kind of heavy-duty for a few months there. How did I do? Not bad, I think. Although, I suppose, my idea of cutting back might be someone else's idea of cutting loose! It's all relative.

But I'm satisfied that I was more mindful of my buying, which is really what I was getting at: not to stop all yarn buying, but to think about it and not Buy All The Yarn!

So, what did I buy?

1. Purple Lamb Sock Perfection.

I saw this on Instagram and there was no way I was passing it up. It's merino and nylon, but so soft, and the colors are to die for.

2. A month later, String Theory Colorworks Continuum Self Striping.

Not only are the colors lovely in the skein, but it's going to knit up like this; I can't wait.

3. A few weeks later, Berroco Millefiori Light, in my colors (blue/green), thanks to a sale at the LYS.

4. Next in was a one-off yarn club, The Retro Five, that I got from Lady Dye Yarns.

I wouldn't necessarily have put these two colors together myself, but that's a yarn club for you!

And of course, I can use them for separate things and make the pattern with something else; who knows how I'll roll. It's certainly nice yarn!

5. And another sale! I'm counting these two together, not just because I bought them together, but because the first one was bought with a very clear recipient in mind to knit it up for, aka, for once it's not for me.

5a is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Glitter Sock.

Knitter, know yourself, right? I'm not much of a pink person, and certainly not into the sparkly. But in fact, the yarn is wound and the pattern printed, ready to get going for my friend! Who I don't think reads the blog, at least often, but I may not blog about the project until it's done and given.

5b, bought the same night, was Malabrigo Yarn Lace.

6. Finally, a sale on Three Irish Girls Springvale Worsted led to this:

I have some of this lush yarn turning into a blanket (I'm about halfway through the last of the four skeins on that), and love how it feels, so when I saw this colorway was marked down and there were three skeins left, boom. I'm thinking a nice cushy wrap, for those chilly winter nights on the lanai.

Conclusion? Some couldn't-resist colors, some couldn't-resist sales, and some that were both! As I said, I'm good with it. In fact, I'm pleased with the (relative) restraint, and delighted with the actual purchases.