Tomorrow.

Rest assured, this isn't an Annie revival.

I have been very good.  I let them stick needles in my wrist.  I've kept the flipping brace on 24/7 (except in the bathroom and when washing dishes).  It doesn't HURT as much as before, but the pain has been replaced by a loud clicking, uncomfortable grinding, and I do not think I will put up a fuss when he says we should set the date for surgery.  Your wrist should not remind you of a rake being dragged across a feckin' blackboard.

I see the surgeon tomorrow.  I am nervous.  I am a big baby, I know.  I think an exacerbating factor is that any other time I've been sick or broken, I have used knitting to keep my head in the game and speed healing.  Without knitting to hold my attention I have more time to spend worrying.

I have a beautiful skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in Periwinkle.  Enough for a shawl.  I figure when this is all over I will have to knit something special with it.  It's good to have a treat.

My Aunt Nan died Saturday morning at around 1:30.  She was 95.  She was out playing cards at my cousin CarolAnn's house -- cards being one of her favorite pastimes -- and she suffered a fatal heart attach.  Anyone's passing is sad, but it is also sort of beautiful that she died doing something she enjoyed tremendously, surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back.  Not bad.

My Aunt Nan had only one arm -- she had lost the other as a small child following an accident.  A vivid childhood memory of mine is sassing her a little and saying to her, "Well, it isn't like you could spank me with only one arm!"  Faster than lightning she grabbed hold of me, swung me around, and, just inches from my face said in the least-joking voice I ever hear her use, "Oh, yeah?  Is that what you think?  Just try me, Buster.  I'll have you over my knee and give your hind end a whoopin' you'll never forget before you even know which end is up."  And I could tell that she meant what she said and I never messed with Aunt Nan.  Lesson learned.

Oh, did I mention that, in addition to cards, she also was an avid bowler?

I won't be going to the funeral -- I have too much riding on this appointment with the  surgeon tomorrow.  I feel bad about not going.  But I also know that if I don't get this done before December 31st, it is going to cost me an additional $2600.00.  And Aunt Nan, ever frugal, would probably sit up in her casket to call me seven kinds of stupid if I canceled the appointment.

I want this.

Stephanie Pearl McPhee has one.  And all week long she has been rubbing it in my face.  I can hear her now.  "Oh, look at this book full of psycho-complicated lace made with painfully thin yarn!  Just the kind Aidan would love if he had this book!  But he doesn't!  Ha!"

OK.  Maybe she hasn't been saying EXACTLY that.  But it is something really close.  Don't you think?

So.  What else is new? 

I made a batch of chocolate and goat cheese truffles, flavored with just a splash of Irish Whiskey.  That was yum.  Oh, did I mention I made the goat cheese?  I'm not back with the goat until a weekend after next, but I expect to make a double batch of cheese -- this time I think I'll make some crottin and some Sainte Maure -- both are aged, mold-ripened cheeses which become sharper in flavor and more complex with age and culture.

I've only knit two rows of my shawl.  It just really hurts my wrist, even with the splint.  I miss knitting.  Oh, and kneading bread. 

I'm Loopy!

OK.  I'm not one to gush about Local Yarn Shops.  I've had some bad experiences.  Especially with LYS owners.   I've always liked Loopy Yarns because their people were friendly, helpful, and they listen to what I want...and then get it!  (Really!  I said I preferred solid sock yarn, 4 weeks later there were 6 colors of solids.  I like the Cascade Alpaca Lace, but I've bought all I like of the colors they have...yup!  4 weeks later there are 12 new colors!  And they have all my favorite needles!)  But I have a new reason to like them.  And I thought I'd mention it.

I've been working a bunch of hours, and I was getting off work after an 11.5 hour day.  The point protector for the circulars I'm using for the Eiffel Tower shawl keep coming off, and I had noticed that they had come off and I had dropped a few stitches.  (Luckily, only a few and I was able to correct it in no time flat.)

I rang up Loopy to see if it happened to be the night they stay open late.  Vicki, the owner, answered the phone and said that they had closed an hour earlier, but if I hurried, she would wait for me to get there!  And she did!  She stayed late, for me.  And my whopping sixty-six cent sale.  Can you believe that?

You know, I could use a few balls of Alpaca Lace....


OTHER STUFF!

I just took a huge spanikopita out of the oven -- we are having our chavurah (group of friends) of people mostly from our old synagogue over for an informal Kabbalat (Welcoming) Shabbat service followed by a potluck.  We will have about 25 people -- lots of singing, laughing, eating, etc.

Anyway, I've made this spanikopita a lot, but this time is a little different.  Why?  Because I made the feta cheese myself.  From goat's milk.  From a goat I know.  And love.  And milked.

I've been making my own chevre and other soft cheeses, but this was the first "hard" cheese I have made.  Flavor-wise it is a great success, but I was disappointed in the texture.  When it went into the brine it was firm, but after 21 days it was really, really soft.  Almost marshmallow fluff.  So I rinsed it off and the most fluffy part rinsed off and what remained was perfect for the spanikopita.  Good and salty and goaty!  I can't wait!

It's Not the Same as a Trip to Paris

...but it will have to do for now.  Last Thursday I cast on the Eiffel Tower Shawl, which was inspired by the iron work detail in the tower.  I'm half-way through the second chart, and enjoying it.  It is, for the most part, an easy, mindless knit -- which is exactly what I need right now!  The end border will be more involved, which I am sure I will enjoy as well.

Norbert is home from camp.  He grew two inches while at camp and is now 2 inches taller than I.  And he is only 13!  His return is much appreciated -- I didn't realize how much I rely on him for the tie breaking vote on things like going out for Vietnamese or buying ice cream for dessert!  All joking aside, he is a good boy and I am so glad to have him back.

Next week is vacation.  The three of us are going to Shell Cottage.  We'll spend one day in Shipshewana, Indiana, but other than that we plan to stick around and go to the beach, go kayaking, and lay around and read a lot.

While on the subject of books, let me recommend a couple I have really enjoyed:  "The Good Good Pig" by Sy Montgomery is at the top of this year's list.  I enjoyed it immensely and it really touched me deeply.  I'm also re-reading "Miss Mary Bobo's Boardinghouse Cookbook.".  I love the unfussiness of the comfort food.

Gotta run.  Have fun.  Be good.  Stay well.

I've Been Really, Really Busy

But that is really no excuse.

I've been doing the job of two people. Well, except for the 7 weeks when I had help. But he got a better offer and his last day was Good Friday. So I'm back to the job of two people.

When not at work, I've been enjoying Shell Cottage every possible moment. We try to go three weekends out of the month. I've done quite a bit of gardening and can't wait for high season so I can see everything going wild and blooming! I've discovered an absolutely huge..um...vine doesn't seem immense enough, but that's what we'll call it for now -- vine of wisteria growing through/over/in a spray of pine trees in the back yard.! My neighbor, DeeDee, says it is gorgeous in bloom.

One of the trees in the side yard is blooming! I don't know what kind of a tree it is, but it is beautiful!

The other tree in the side yard is the bottle tree. We are up to 12 bottles. Norbert gave me an early Fathers' Day present -- three unusual bottles, including red and yellow, which are unusual colors. You can just see the red bottle near the top of the pic above. DeeDee says the tree will bloom soon, as well, and that the blooms are white. If you have any weird bottles -- unusual colors, shapes, etc. -- send them to me! Nothing makes me quite as happy as adding another bottle to the tree.

We also have a shrub, above, blooming in the back yard. Again, I don't know what it is, but it is pretty.

As for the front yard, all of the raggedy bushes have been pulled, the roots dug up, and 6 hedge roses planted in their place. It looks like six twigs have been stuck in the ground, but give it two or three years and they will be spectacular with blooms of pinkish red. (And in the fall, brilliant orange hips!) This past weekend Myfanwe and I put down landscape fabric around the roses and then a good, thick layer of mulch.

Knitting

I'm a little bitter about knitting, but trying to get past it.

I will not have the Cathedral Window Shawl finished in time for the State Fair. Early in the year I had scheduled to take a class at an LYS on knit-on lace edging, since it seems fairly difficult to learn from written instructions. But then, four days before the class, the LYS called, mortified, to say that the teacher's "scheduler" had inadvertently scheduled two events in two different states for the same day. The class was rescheduled, but -- such is my luck -- for a date I couldn't be there. So I'm going to have to put it on the back burner for a bit until I can find a teacher who can teach me.

I hated the Rose Leaf curtains (more than I can say) and ripped back almost to the beginning and decided to design my own using stitch patterns from books. It's only through one repeat and I already know I like it more.

More later. Please don't forget me!

5.5!

We spent the weekend at Shell Cottage, where I was able -- for the first time in weeks -- to have genuine, guilt-free knitting time! And the result?

5.5 rows in 36 hours! That's 6347 stitches! And -- given work demands and the rigors of planning for the bar mitzvah -- I had been averaging half a row a day!

I have 8 rows left before the edging. And I can't begin the (1154 rows) edging until after I learn how to do it. And I won't learn how to do it until April 10th, when I am taking a class on Knitted Lace Edging from Franklin Habit at Loopy Yarns.


So when the body of the shawl is done, I am going to break my "One Project At A Time" rule and cast on a curtain for the front door of Shell Cottage. I have decided to knit Marianne Kinzel's Rose Leaf Curtain (above) in a butter-yellow cotton yarn that will take to starching. Mine will be probably a foot longer than that pictured, but I am going to stick with three repeats of the motif at the bottom. I don't want anything too fussy.

Off the Needles ... err...Boards

I finished this ages and ages ago as a gift for Norbert's bar mitzvah tutor. But -- in classic ME fashion -- waited until the last minute to block it and give it to her.





The Candle Flame shawl knit using Cascade's Alpaca Lace in Flax Heather. The recipient loved it and wore it the night we gave it to an opening at her husband's theater. Many compliments were received. I was pleased.

MORE NEWS!

OK. So we lost The Store in Watervliet.

Never let it be said that when the going got tough, I just crawled in bed, pulled the covers over my head and said, "It's too hard!"

This is our new home in Three Oaks, Michigan.

We saw it on Saturday. We mulled it over on Sunday. We made an offer yesterday. And it was accepted today. (And an hour after our contract was accepted another offer came in. Thank Bob we got ours in when we did!) We close on December 29th. (Record speed. My head is spinning a little.)

I already have plans in my head to dig up the raggedy shrubs in front and replace them with climbing roses. I will enjoy being able to cutmy own flowers to bring inside. And I love the soft, oppulent look of mounds of rose bush.



Three Oaks is a lovely community ninety minutes drive from Chicago. It is 5 miles from Lake Michigan, so the prices are not as steep as on the lake shore, but it is very popular with young, creative, artistic people. It is a town with a population of 1,700 which is able to support a professional theater, an art cinema, a silent film festival, and six art galleries. On Saturday evenings everyone packs a beverage and snacks, grabs their lawn chairs and walks to the park to hear music at the band shell.


Myfanwe really loves the style. It's growing on me. Although I expect I will end up having to learn how to paint furniture so that it fits with the shabby chic cottage decor.

Some day in the not so distant future I will take out all of the upper cabinets, patch the wall, and put up open shelving. The upper cabinets are -- I kid you not -- only 8.5 inches from the counter top. My coffeemaker won't fit on the counter. Neither will a microwave. Or a vase. Or a glass of milk. And I'm thinking of taking an occupational therapy class at the Lighthouse For The Blind before I chop anything on the counter, cuz I won't be able to see what I am doing.


Doesn't this look lovely!


So once again, the inspection is Friday. It's a pretty full day. I will drive to Michigan for the inspection. Meet with the insurance agent. Stop by my real estate agent's. Drop by the mortgage broker. Drop a load of stuff for the house at a friend's place to store until the 29th. And make it home in time to make dinner for the first night of Chanukah! But (ptew, ptew, ptew) I won't have to drive to Michigan again on Saturday!

The plan is still to ring in the New Year in the new home, enjoying the quiet, peaceful nature Harbor Country. I need to make a note to myself -- somewhere betwqeen now and the 29th I need to get up north and buy a mezuzah!

All country homes need a name. What name do you suggest? I think Norbert and Myfanwe would like something Harry Potter-ish -- The Burrow, maybe? It's not hobbitty enough to be Bag End.

KNITTING

I have been making slow but steady progress on the Cathedral Window. I am on row 22 of the last 49 rows before the edging. Pictures soon -- but I'll warn you right now, it looks exactly like a placenta right now. But when it is blocked, I think it will be beautiful.

I think a shabby chic cottage in Three Oaks is just SCREAMING for some hand knit doilies, don't you?

MO PROGRESS

Although I finished this in August on the flight home from Dublin, I didn't block it until today.

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Glazed Carrot. Less than one skein. (I still have 1.25 skeins left. Any ideas what I should do with them?)


This is for Myfanwe. She's allergic to lace, but I think, since it is in her favorite color, she might be able to wear this one.

As usual, I can only see its flaws. I am an average knitter, but I am a below-average finisher. If they had taught blocking at my high school, I would have finished in the lower third of my class.

PROGRESS

OK. I know this must be getting tedious. Once a week I check in with a few words about the Cathedral Window Shawl with no pictures. Well, this is no different.

I managed to get all of the stitches picked back up and have now made it to row 12 of the 24 row repeat. Then I'll knit an eyelet row and do another 24 row repeat. And then I think I will be able to start the 1154 or so rows of edging. And then I will be done.

So, if I stick to the current schedule -- which I rarely, if ever, do -- I will need another 3 weeks before I start the edging.

Edging which, now that I look at it, I have absolutely no idea how to knit. So I should probably figure that out.

IN OTHER PARTS OF MY LIFE


Myfanwe and I have been looking in Southwest Michigan for a second home -- a weekend retreat in a greener setting...someplace quiet, with a fireplace. We found the perfect -- the PERFECT house. A 1960's rach backing up onto woods, 200 yards from Lake Michigan, on an acre of land.

We made and offer. Then an improved offer. And we lost it. And it has nearly broken my heart. We are still looking, but I feel like a mourner at each showing.

SNIT! FUDGE! SPAM! PASS!

I have been working quite diligently on the Cathedral Window Shawl. Earlier this week I executed the next increase to 1152 stitches per row, inserted a lifeline, and began plugging along, knitting happily on the next 49 row repeat.

I was on Row 4

WAS.

As I was knitting this morning, about 30 stitches slid off the left hand needle. And promptly -- given the taste of freedom -- practically danced out of the constraints of the stitches beneath them.

I had to take the shawl off the needles and rip it back to the lifeline. I now have to pick up all 1152 stitches from the lifeline.

SNIT! FUDGE! SPAM! PASS!

P.S. I'm hoping to have some really exciting news very soon. Cross your fingers! Say a prayer!

I CRIED, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY

I grafted the hem on the Lace Dream shawl on Saturday evening, and I blocked it this evening. It is prettier than I imagined -- even with my wanting skills and poor blocking.



I knit this shawl for my dear friend, the Principessa Maxine de Rumball-St. George. Maxine spent the greater part of this year very ill, and I was very worried about her and felt very impotent, being far away from her. I knit this shawl as a vehicle for focusing prayers for her health and well being. I wanted something really spectacular for her. As I neared the end of the shawl I received word that the Principessa's health was, finally, making improvements and that she had passed the first, most important milestone on her way to a full recovery.


I don't know if it was seeing the pattern finally revealed and realizing that it was even more than I imagined, or if it was a sense of relief and gratitude for the Principessa Maxine's recovery; whatever the reason, I was moved to tears.

I couldn't wait to show it to you. It may well be the most beautiful thing I've ever made. I still can't believe I could make something so beautiful. Tomorrow morning it will be off the wires and I will take more pictures. I will probably be working a great number of hours between now and Friday -- when we leave for the de Rumball-St. George's -- so I may not get to post more until after the weekend.

WHAT DID SHE CALL ME?

As my regular readers will attest, I am incredibly fond of buying things. I reserve a greater fondness still for buying books. One of the few things I like more than buying books is knitting lace. And one of the things I like doing most of all is buying books on knitting lace. This, however, is a rare sort of treat, as good books on lace are few and far between. I have only a couple books devoted solely to lace. (I am still looking for an affordable copy of Gladys Amedro's Shetland Lace. Myfanwe refuses to let me spend that kind of money on a used knitting book. But please don't judge her. She's a muggle. She just doesn't understand. )

I recently -- ok, today on my lunch hour -- purchased a copy of Marrianne Kinzel's 1953 book, First Book of Modern Knitting, which has a few interesting patterns. I've already read all of the substantive text and the line by line of a couple of the patterns.

What did I think? Well, it's mostly stuff I would never make -- doilies and tea cloths, each knit out of crochet cotton, starched, then blocked withing an inch of its life. But her technique is good, and her method of blocking is interesting. And I'm thinking that the same pattern for a 64" square tablecloth, knit in a drapey alpaca or silk blend, would be a wicked shawl! And who knows. I might find it in me to knit a doily or two some day. They look to be quick and would make lovely gifts for the 80 year old women on my gift list. (Wait. I'm the only 80 year old woman on my gift list. Hmm.)

The book is a little anachronistic. It was written for housewives. Housewives in the 1950's. Kinzel's stated aim was "...to inspire the needlewoman of to-day [sic] to take up, in a new fashion, the old and fascinating art of lace knitting which enjoyed a tremendous popularity in the 18th & 19th century." (I'm not imagining it, am I? She did just call me a needlewoman, didn't she?)

The dedication of the book reads thusly: "A Dedication to ENGLAND, refuge through centuries of the persecuted, the proscribed, the people without a country, where my husband and I sought haven in exile and found most happily a welcome, a country, and a home."

I don't know where she was from originally, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't Ireland.

It's Like, Cosmic, Man.

My niece pointed me towards this, and while I wasn't quite sure I would find this sort of thing interesting, my niece is pretty cool, so I gave it a shot.

This is a video remixing parts of Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series, setting it to music using autotune on their voices. It is actually really awesome! (I'm not sure what Autotune is, but just go with me.) Check it out!



KNITTING:

Everything but the grafting of the hem done on the Lace Dream shawl. I plan to undertake the grafting next Saturday or Sunday.

I cast on the Cathedral Window shawl. I'm not entirely sure I've got the right needle size. I figure I will wait until the first full pattern repeat is completed, then I'll look at it and see that I think. So far I've done the central few rows, plus half a repeat of the main motif -- at which point it starts over with the motif on row 1 through 24. I'm on 6 now, so tomorrow I should know if I'm going forward or if I'm ripping back and starting over on size 2's.

MORE IRELAND

Knitting at the seaside.


Grafton Street - one of my favorite places in Dublin. I didn't buy much, but the street was welcoming and vital and a wonderful place to watch people.


This is the best pastry I had in Ireland...an apple tart served -- of all places -- in the tea shop at the Newgrange/Boyne Valley visitors center. I never passed up an opportunity to sit down and have a pot of tea!


I couldn't help but think of my sock knitting comrades back in the States! I now have visions of 75 knitters rushing to the interwebs looking for transparent Converse sneakers/trainers!

Norbert took this picture of me knitting at Malehide Castle. I felt very much at home, knitting there. If anyone has a castle they aren't using, let me know. I'll go and knit there.


Myfanwe and I both fell in love. We both want to go back. Now. And every day away is just a little sad.

WHAT ELSE?

The holidays have snuck up on me. I have four days to plan and prepare Rosh Hashanah dinner. My house looks like we are housing the Jodes for the summer.

How long should a generous rectangular shawl be? Really. I need to know.

[Editor's Note: Norbert fell in love with Ireland as well. I apologize for the omission. In addition, he deserves an award for being a real trouper. He is really quite pleasant to travel with. We are, as ever, eternally grateful that G-d gave us Norbert!]

IT TAKES A VILLAGE!

...to knit a shawl!

SO, my friend, Cheri, needs some knitting help. Knitting MATH help. And, really, when maths rears it's ugly head, I become that simpering Barbie Doll from the 1980's, whispering in my breathiest baby doll voice, "Math is hard!"

Could you please read the comments to this post and see if you can come up with the answer? I tried, but the answer I came up with -- Eskimo Pie -- didn't sound right to me.

The winner gets a gold star!

[note: edited to include the link. I am such a doofus sometimes!]

Gobsmacked.

It has just occurred to me that I need to have the Lace Dream shawl done in 40 days. I still have 36 inches left to knit, plus hemming the bottom edge and blocking.

Of course, I've been working 11 to 12 hour days since we got back from vacation! But if I knit one inch a day, I can finish the shawl on time. I should be able to do this. Breaking it down into daily segments makes it seem less daunting.

IRELAND. Part One of Many!

Let’s see. Where should I begin? I guess I should start at the beginning. A very good place to start...

Day 1 – which is really day 1 and 2, but we are just going to call it day 1 .The flight to Dublin was awful. None of us slept for more than 5 minutes. I sat next to an obviously troubled older woman with a jerky husband. He complained loudly that the light above him wouldn’t turn off. He kept complaining, even after they offered to move them to two seats elsewhere in the plane. But no, they stayed where they were. Mrs. JerkyMan divided her time between a) commenting on my knitting and saying – at least 100 times – that she only knit wash clothes and only knit them out of “crochet cotton”, as well as giving me a price history for the price of crochet cotton at Wallmart stores in Virginia over the last 10 years; b) leaning over he tray table and whimpering and/or sobbing; and c) twitching in her sleep – especially when her feet were touching mine. (She twitched so actively, if we’d wrapped her in copper we could have generated electricity.)

Our first day in Dublin was exciting, but exhausting. Our hotel – the Ballsbridge Towers, one of the D4 hotels -- was lovely, and our accommodations were definitely first class. Both Myfanwe and I have live in (several) apartments that were smaller! Our suite had a living room and a dining room! (That sat 8, no less!) And a kitchenette. And 3 – count ‘em – THREE flat-screen televisions! We even had a television in the master bath! We LOVED the bathrooms. Norbert had his own, and ours had a great shower and a spectacular soaking tub (with said television). I didn't think we'd use the tub at first, but you'd be surprised how many times we used it. (Our feet hurt a LOT over the week!) The pics don’t really do the hotel room justice, as we always seemed to explode crap all over the room the minute we walked in, but it we certainly couldn’t have asked for more or better or more comfortable. (Myfanwe loved the duvet so much, I think she will miss it most of all!)

Sunday night we were supposed to meet my friend Sinead and her partner, Malachy, for a pint a bite, but along about 4:00 I called and asked if we could reschedule for the next night. I only did this when Myfanwe and I had both fallen asleep at the National Museum of Decorative Arts. (An excellent museum, BTW. Norbert loved the arms and armor exhibit.) We both fell asleep so soundly that, when we woke up, neither of us had a good idea of how long we’d been asleep. Sinead was kind enough to reschedule, and we went home to the hotel where we had every intention of ordering a pizza from D4Pizza in the hotel. Instead, we all passed out. Norbert with his clothes on. End of Day 1.

Knitting. Let's see. This isn't limited to Day 1, but I'll cover my knitting stuff all at once. I took three projects, and I knit on all three. On the way there I mostly knit on the Koigu scarf I'm knitting for myself. Stockinette can be terribly boring, after a while. But I put about 2.5 feet behind me. I also got half a repeat or so knit on the Lace Dream shawl. And I -- drum roll please -- finished the Ishbel I was knitting for Myfanwe. (Only just barely. I finished casting off in the air somewhere east of Wawa, Ontario on the flight home.) I went to a lovely shop, This is Knit, while in Dublin. -- see the pic, above . I didn't purchase anything, but I had a lovely time looking and talking to the staff.

Places I knit: Dublin Castle, Malaheide Castle, Kilmainom Gaol, on the train, on the bus, at the Guiness Storehouse, a couple of museums, a cemetary, Trinity College, seaside at Dun Laoghaire and at Sandycove.

FINALLY!

We leave for Ireland tomorrow!

Our bags are packed -- for the most part. I still have to decide which knitting project to take with me. I have the Lace Dream shawl on the needles, the Ishbel I'm knitting for Myfanwe, and a scarf I'm knitting for myself out of Koigu KPPPM in #P710. (I loved the yarn in a skein, bought it, then hated it once it was wound into a ball. But now that it is on the needles, knitting up, I'm completely in love with it.) I don't normally knit for myself, but I really do love the way this looks knit.

Anyway, in the morning we will do some last minute tidying -- Lil Myfanwe and Gale are staying with the kitty -- and then leave for synagogue for a bat mitzvah. We'll leave the bat mitzvah 15 minutes early to meet our ride to the airport. And from there? Dublin, Ireland!

I'll post pictures when I can. Until them, here is a topic to discuss in the comments: I wish President Obama would say the following in public: "Sarah Palin is a liar. If you believe her, you deserve to be lied to. Don't ask me to comment on Sarah Palin again. I don't have time for lightweights -- we have serious problems and we need serious minds. And that ain't Sarah."

Omaha!

IT'S NOT JUST FOR STEAKS ANYMORE!

Norbert's best friend from camp, Woodrow, was called to the Torah as a bar mitvah this morning, and Norbert was invited. While I love a good bar mitzvah luncheon as much as anyone, normally this wouldn't be anything to blog about. Except that Woodrow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, which is several blocks from beautiful Hyde Park, Chicago.

I want to have something to counter with when Norbert comes home from therapy and says I never cared for him. So I immediately said, "Great! I'd love to drive to Omaha! This will be fun!"

Mapquest says that Omaha is 7 hours, 52 minutes from our doorstep. And it is. As long as you can hold your water for 7:52, it might even be a minute or two more than you need. But no more. If you are middle-aged, have had a child, or worry about deep tissue thrombosis, it takes 9 hours.

I would venture, though, that it was well worth the drive.

In addition to two synagogue services -- no camera allowed -- a dinner last night and a luncheon this afternoon, we took a little walk on the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. See below.


The Kerry Bridge spans the Missouri River between Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. It's a pretty cool bridge. I don't know that I have ever seen a curved suspension bridge.

We walked to Iowa and back.


After the bridge, we went looking for a Starbucks on the way back to the hotel. Myfanwe was feeling a need. And we came upon a Starbucks in a lovely retail development -- lots of lovely shops clustered together. Myfanwe, bless her, suggested I drive around the shops to see if there was a yarn shop. And there was.

The shop is called String of Purls. And it might well be the most beautiful, comfortable, spacious yarn shop I have ever set foot into. This is just one room.


The owners and staff are incredibly nice women. They obviously love what they do, and they do it well. The shop, for lack of a better description, is sort of a Palace of Yarn. I could easily have spent an entire afternoon there. Everyone was so genuinely nice. If you are ever in Omaha, do yourself a favor and put String of Purl on your itinerary. You won't be sorry.

Don't ask me why I photographed this scarf. The best reason I can come up with is that I loved the whimsy. And I wondered how they made the i-cord off the edge of the scarf. It was pretty cool. I think I'd put some bells at the ends.

I have had a really good week at work. I feel like I'm getting back to my normal work again. (Which I really, really like.) My office no longer looks like the place used paper goes to die.

Blogging may be a rarity the next two weeks. Monday through Friday will, I imagine, be working hard at work, then coming home to get packed for Ireland. (And we will need to tidy up the house -- Li'l Myfanwe and Gale are house sitting for us.) I'll try to blog from Ireland, but I don't know how good the connection to the interwebs will be at the hotel. If the connection isn't good, or if we are having such a wickedly good time that I can't pause for a mo to block, I promise lots of pictures and a travelogue when we return.