Ah....glorious weather

So, of course, I took advantage of the day by riding my motorcycle to work. It was a bit chilly on the ride in at 48 degrees, but that's what leathers are for. I shocked a number of my co-workers. I don't look like what they imagine a motorcycling woman to look like. One woman commented that I'm just very interesting and have lots of diverse interests. I pointed out that I really only have one hobby: collecting skills.

Right now I'm sitting on my deck, enjoying the evening. The sun will set in a couple of hours. It's in the lower 70s. The leaves are just starting to lose their green. Some orange and yellow is showing up in the sweet gum trees. The grass is slowing down in its growth rate and turning brown in areas (where it's mostly warm-season grass). The mornings are crisp (in the upper 40s to lower 50s) and the afternoons are nice and warm, but not too hot. The humidity level is actually just about right or a bit low, unlike in July where it seemed to be stuck on "sauna".

The night before last an owl was watching over my yard. I heard him/her hooting for a couple of hours, first from the tree in my neighbor's yard and later from the far corner of my yard. The moon was nearly full too. I was hoping I'd see the owl swoop down and snag a rodent or mole out of my yard, but I no such luck. Having lived in town for the past 20 years, I had forgotten how bright things are when the moon is at least 3/4 full. Tonight is the full moon. I may just hang out on the porch for a while after dark and listen for the owl and coyotes out hunting. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep. I don't know what it is about full moons, but I often can't sleep. I'm just too wound up. The good thing is that it doesn't make me tired. I suppose this is all just a sign that I'm a lunatic in the old sense of the term.

The weekend stretches out before me, awaiting my decision about what to do. I have no adventures planned for this weekend, just the usual mundane domestic chores (mowing, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping).

I managed to plan most of the meals for next week while watching CSI re-runs last night. I was very surprised how planning things a week at a time really simplified my life. I didn't have to come home and stand in front of the open fridge and pantry trying to figure something out while my stomach growled at me. Instead, I had a short list of things to choose from that I already knew I had the ingredients for. Some things I even cooked in advance so all I had to do was reheat something for dinner (always a good idea when you get home HUNGRY). Now that I've said all that, I didn't actually plan this past week so have no idea what I'm going to do for dinner tonight. I may just have a bowl of Cheerios or make some blueberry muffins. I need to write up my grocery list before I go to bed.

Cool blog I found today: Three Beautiful Things. The author writes every day about three things that give her pleasure. Recent entries have included the layer of acorns in the parking lot, the weather being cool enough to eat crumpets and "three littlies all holding hands as they walk into nursery school".

Knitting of the week:
I'm still finishing up my lace scarf. The ball of yarn (KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in color Moss) that remains is about 1 inch in diameter. The scarf is already about 60 inches long.

I have finished the body of my cottage tea cosy. The pattern is from Knitter's Stash. I just need to bind off the stitches and felt it. The roof of the cottage isn't felted. The details of the cottage are embroidered. I've got a whole book of ribbon embroidery flowers. I think it'll be fun to create a garden on the house.

Another nearly finished project is the "Sari Silk" purse I started several years ago. I need to knit a flap for the top and to knit the i-cord strap for it. I also need to sew it up, as you can see. As soon as I finish it, I'll start carrying it as my every day purse. The flap isn't part of the pattern, but I don't like the idea of having only a button closure and would rather not mess with a zipper. I could probably finish it this weekend if I worked diligently on it in the evenings. I don't know that that will happen, but it's a possibility. I probably should try to find the pattern soon.

The rest of the Works In Progress (WsIP) list off the top of my head: red lace socks, gray socks, green polo collar sweater (only needs to be sewed up), black and white Alice Starmore sweater, green and white ski sweater, blue pullover (my own design), different blue pullover (adapted design), orange tank top, purple vest and the lace shawl I started two weeks ago. I can probably finish the first three by Thanksgiving without really trying. The rest, except the shawl, might get done over the next year. I think the shawl will take over a year, perhaps two.

I just got some lace weight cashmere in the mail. It's a lovely camel color. There's about 1170 yards of it. I'll have to find a nice pattern for it. When I bought it, I had decided to dye it a jewel-tone, perhaps a dark sapphire or purple, but I really like the camel color. I'm picturing a snuggly warm rectangular shawl.

CSI quote of the night:
"People don't just vanish, Jim. It's a molecular impossibility."