A TITillating memory

It was early in the evening of one summer day when I was about ten. My father came in from the barn, where he was milking the cows, and told me he had a job for me. He needed me to go down to town, on my bike, and get a can of teat dilators at the drugstore.

I was excited. I'd never before been allowed to go such a long distance, alone, on my bike.

After being handed the money to purchase the dilators, I was off on the three-mile journey.

It was a beautiful, warm evening and a great time to out on a bicycle, feeling all grown up.

I pedaled alongside the Carrabassett River most of the way. I pedaled past the Newell farm, the Moodys, the Carlson farm, and into town. I pedaled past Elm Street Market, past the town library, past the First Congregational Church, and my destination came into sight.

I cautiously pedaled across Main Street, looking both ways, to the drugstore. As I kicked down the bicycle's stand, it hit me:

I was going to have to say "teat" (or, more likely, as my father said it, "tit") to the man behind the drugstore counter.

Panic overtook me. How was I going to get a can of tit dilators without actually saying the word "tit"?

My mind raced. My heart raced. I reluctantly entered the store.

The clerk asked if he could help me. I hemmed and hawed, then I finally blurted out, "I need some of those dilator things. You know, for cows."

"Oh!" he boomed. "You mean TIT DILATORS!"

He handed me the can, I handed him the money, mumbled a thank-you, and skeddaddled out of the drugstore as fast as my legs would carry me.

Blossoms and boats and basil

On Thursday I decided to go into Portland on some errands. Portland is a lovely, small city with beautiful old architecture, and I always love being there, but I find I don't go in much any more. Not to just browse, anyway. A friend and I keep saying we're going to take a day soon and go to Portland to poke around in the shops in the Old Port area. I hope we do just that.

On Thursday I had specific destinations in mind, though, and more shopping to do once I left Portland, so I used my time wisely. My first stop was D Cole Jewelers, in the Old Port. It's a great jewelry shop full of  beautiful items, much of it handmade by D Cole. I was in search of some Pandora beads for birthday gifts, and I promptly found what I wanted. Actually what I really wanted was to linger in the shop for hours and select dozens of beautiful items for myself, but that was not to be.

After I left D Cole, I drove up to Congress Street and headed toward the east end of the city. KnitWit Yarn Shop (http://www.yelp.com/biz/knitwit-yarn-shop-portland) was my destination. I'd heard of this yarn shop awhile ago and had been wanting to check it out. Mainly I wanted to check out their Quince & Co. yarn, (http://quinceandco.com/) which is a Maine yarn spun in nearby Biddeford. KnitWit is a nice little shop brimming with natural fibers, my favorite. I ended up purchasing a rather elegant sock yarn, which I absolutely did not need. Then I headed out to the Maine Mall area for yet more errands.

I stopped first, though, to snap a photo of these beautiful cherry(?) blossoms at Eastern Cemetery.

Then last evening it was back to Portland, this time with our friends, for dinner at DiMillo's. Since DiMillo's is a boat (ferry, rather), converted into a restaurant, the views of Portland Harbor are always interesting. Here we have some of the more modest boats anchored at the marina. On the other side of the restaurant many very luxurious yachts were moored. Hmm. That lifestyle must be glamorous!

I finished the "Easy but Looks Difficult" scarf (http://luisafelice.blogspot.com/2012/01/easy-but-difficult-looking-scarf.html) on Friday. It's a basic feather and fan pattern, and it's free. I used a Cascade Heritage sock yarn (merino wool and nylon) in a deep teal. It looks royal blue in this photo, but it's a deep teal, trust me. The pattern is a four-row repeat with only the third row being slightly, but not very, challenging. The scarf is 60" long, so that was the challenging part.

And the basil! Yes, the basil! It lives! Not only does it live, it's starting to thrive. I transferred a few of the seedlings into 4 1/2" pots last week, to see how they'd do, and they're doing darned well. I now have about 25 pots a-thriving and will prepare more once I find out the total number who've registered to attend the spring convention on April 28.

To be honest, though, I'll be glad to get the basil out of my house. It's taking up precious space, for one. For another, we had a long spell of little sunshine and chilly temps, and that caused me much worry as to what this basil will look like when sitting in party favor gift bags at the big luncheon. I'm beginning to gain a little confidence in it this weekend due to the lovely sunshine and warm temperatures. It's supposed to climb into the 80's tomorrow.

That's the news from here.  Wait! One more thing. I know it's aggravating to have to type in squirrly-looking letters before posting a comment on my comment page. I'd like to remove this requirement, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to do it. I've combed the inner workings of this blog relentlessly but come up with nothing. If someone can tell me, clearly, how to remove the identifying letters, I'd sure appreciate it. Also, suddenly I can't shrink the size of the header photo. The option to shrink it showed up briefly, then disappeared. I think I have gremlins toying with my blog.

A visitor

 Last weekend was a busy one, with an overnight visit from our six-year-old great niece, Miss V.

We always pack a lot of activities into her visits. This visit was no exception.

Soon after her arrival, she asked if she could "do that trick with the colors." I knew she meant the vinegar/baking soda/water/food coloring activity, so I promptly set it up for her. The most enjoyable part of this activity is playing in the colored water and mixing the various colors together to see what new colors she can create.

 Violet announced before she even got to our house that she hoped Uncle Ken would show her how to build a bird house. The two of them set to work on this project first thing the next morning. Or at least Uncle Ken set to work. That's Violet in the distance, sitting in the back seat of Uncle Ken's Model A. Violet's dad said this is Violet's version of "distance learning."

She did, however, get into the spirit of things once it was time to drive some nails. She'd been hoping to learn how to use a hammer to drive nails, and that dream became a reality.

I found it a tad anxiety-producing to have someone else in the house who enjoyed using my iPad. Ken never uses it, so it's all mine, all the time,...except, I now realize, when Violet visits.

We planted some seeds in egg shells, which Violet took home with her. I hope the cukes and basil sprout and she's able to grow them outside once the weather warms up.

Here Violet is strolling through my larger flower garden, which she calls the Fairy Garden, because she and I built a fairy house there last year. This past winter wasn't terribly kind to the fairy house, so Violet did some general maintenance work around it, hoping to lure the fairies back again.

Violet and I enjoyed a couple of walks in the woods. Violet loves nature, just as her mother does, and keeps an eye out for interesting sights. We think we spotted a tree stump where other fairies are living.

It was interesting to see, first-hand, how well Violet now reads. She's in first grade, after all, so she reads like there's no tomorrow. Late Saturday afternoon she said she'd run out of things to do, so I suggested she read to me while I knit.

And that she did.

In every position imaginable.



Just before she went back home Saturday, evening, I said, "Well, Violet. It's been a good visit."

She immediately corrected me: "It's been a GREAT visit," she said.

I can see again! Fa-la-la.

This past weekend I tried to start knitting a scarf, but I kept experiencing nothing but frustration. I raveled it four or five times after knitting several rows and finally ditched the pattern altogether.

Ken said maybe it is a pattern that requires TWO eyes for knitting.

He had a good point, because I've been "knitting with one eye" for several months. (These socks, finished last week, are from the one-and-only sock pattern I've ever used, by Yankee Knitter. http://www.kyarns.com/product/yankee-knitter-classic-sock-pattern I used Red Heart "Heart and Sole"super fine yarn and size 2 needles, so they took awhile to knit, but as I've said many times before, there's nothing like a pair of handknitted socks to make the feet feel cozy and cared for.

Anyway, on Tuesday I finally had the obstacle to happy knitting, the cataract in my right eye, removed. This creepy photo is me the evening following the surgery. I can hardly believe how much better my vision has become already. I thought it might take several days or even a few weeks before my sight was much clearer, but yesterday, the day after surgery, was like a dramatic scene from a movie for me: images grew sharper as the day went on, and colors grew richer. I was practically skipping with joy. I had all I could do not to run through the fields, my arms outstretched, singing a happy tune. I'd known for some time I had a cataract, but the thing developed so quickly over the past year that I thought maybe I was just being a wimp in saying I could barely see anything from my right eye. The ophthamologist said the cataract was a "doozie" and he wondered how I was able to see out of that eye at all. I said, "I couldn't."

So that's that. Cataract surgery, which was fairly simple from my perspective although no doubt requiring expert skill by my surgeon, is behind me and it's time to move on....(I should admit I felt the need to go to YouTube.com and witness a cataract surgery yesterday, just to understand exactly what had gone on while my face was under a sheet. I can't imagine daring to poke into someone's eye to correct a problem. What skill and knowledge!)

Let me introduce to you the very first blossom (above) from my Christmas cactus, which was given to me last year as a slip from my mother's Christmas cactus. My mother could make anything blossom.

I was so glad to get this slip, because I'd neglected to get one from my mother years ago.

And my African violets are enjoying the return of spring, if this particular one is any evidence.

They're coming into bloom again after a short rest. I discovered finally, after years of neglecting African violets but not realizing I was doing so, that the secrets to successful care are...
1. a North window
2. never direct sun
3. watering from the bottom of the pot (This alone immediately resulted in dramatic improvement in my violets' health) I put each pot in a plastic container with some water and..
4. a light dose of African violet food with each and every watering
5. light misting daily, and perhaps most important of all,
6. not overwatering  I touch the soil to make sure it feels dry before watering a plant, and I know it's sufficiently watered after sitting in the plastic container (margarine tub, whatever) when I touch the soil again and it feels damp. This can take a few hours on watering day.

Ta-dah! Happy violets.

The Easter chick in the header photo is from here: http://www.skiptomylou.org/
It's a quick and easy project requiring some felt pieces, a sewing machine, and a bit of your time.

Finished projects...and basil update

The Multnomah Shawl (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/multnomah")is officially completed. As you can see, it doesn't look like much before being blocked.

But after blocking? Oh, my! I do enjoy knitting this pattern. I think this is the third Multnomah I have made, or maybe it's the fourth. The pattern is free on Ravelry. If the designer had charged even $2 per download of this pattern, she'd be one wealthy woman by now.

The Tea Leaves cardigan ((http://madelinetosh.com/store/index.php/patterns/tea-leaf-cardigan.html finally has its buttons. I don't know why it took me so long to sew them on. This was quite an enjoyable knit, albeit a bit monotonous once I finished the neck design. I added a crocheted edge to the neckline to prevent it from stretching.

The Hiker's Waistcoat, a free pattern at Kelbourne Knits,  (http://www.kelbournewoolens.com/hikerswaistcoat.html) finally has its buttons, too. And I know why it took me so long to sew them on: eight of the little buggers. I think this will be a gift for a friend at Christmas. The trick will be to determine, somehow, if it will fit her before giving it to her. She was at my house a day or two after I'd finished knitting this secret project. As she flipped through my latest issue of the WEBS yarn catalogue, she spotted this exact waistcoat, held it up for me to see, and said, "Isn't this a nice vest?"

I can see that I need to block the waistcoat again before giving it away. I had it stuffed into a bag for several days, so the wrinkles are obvious in this photo.

And the Basil Project? So far, so good. The tender little seedlings have been loving the stretch of 80-degree weather we've had for the past few days (and again today). They're out on the sundeck, in fact, sunbathing this morning.

It's going to be difficult to adjust to more typical March weather this weekend. Temperatures in the 40's and 50's will feel brutal, for sure.

For now, I'm headed out to the flower gardens to do some more raking.

The basil project

I'm wondering what I've gotten myself into.

My chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa is in charge of table favors for our big state convention on April 28.

I pondered this for awhile, then I suggested to the group that pots of basil plants would make terrific favors. I mean, who doesn't love basil? I know I sure do. If there were a basil perfume, I'd wear it. I love to break leaves off my basil plants in the summer and hold them to my nose, inhaling the wonderful, sweet scent. I also love to add fresh basil into any type of tomato-based recipe.

I'm picturing healthy, robust basil plants in 4-inch pots, wrapped in green tissue and tied with yellow ribbon, in honor of our A∆K official colors. I think these will look quite striking on the luncheon tables when the ladies arrive for the meeting. I can almost hear the ooohs and aaaahs.

Before I knew it, all the other ladies thought the basil-as-table-favors idea was perfect, and I was purchasing a packet of basil seeds and some seed-starter mix.

I planted the seeds, which are about the size of sesame seeds,  with a set of tweezers last Friday. Laborious work. I set the seed trays beside the woodstove and let nature take its course.

The tiny basil seedlings sprouted within five days. I felt so proud. My little basil project was becoming reality.

The thing is, though, that before long I'll be transferring the seedlings to 4" pots...forty 4" pots. That's right, 40.

Here's what's giving me nightmares: What if my basil crop fails? What if the seedlings don't get enough sunlight to flourish? What if the dog somehow gets into the basil and destroys it? What if I set the 40 pots of basil on the sunny front porch some warm day, forget they're there, and awake in the night to the realization that I've just succeeded in freezing 40 pots of tender plants?

What if? What if? I'm causing myself so much anxiety over this little project, and it's all my own doing. Why didn't I suggest we fill small plastic bags with mints and let those be our table favors? Why did I think it had to be basil????

I need a back-up plan. Something to fall back on in case of basil crop failure. Something quick and easy, not requiring sunshine and warmth.

Who came up with this crazy basil idea, anyway?

Where were you when we needed you?

Dear Blizzard of March 1, 2012,

Where were you when we needed you? In December, I mean. Or January. Or February. When we wanted to put on our cross-country skis and go exploring in the quiet woods....

Today's March 1, for crying out loud. Our thoughts have turned to spring. I've begun planting seeds in peat pots for my summer garden. I even saw a snowdrop in bloom in my little kitchen-corner flower garden a few days ago.

But you chose today to barrel into southern Maine, closing schools and shops and cancelling all kinds of plans.

It looks as if I'll be forced to stay in side and knit on my Multnomah shawl (free pattern on Ravelry; Cascade Heritage sock yarn)...

...and finally weave in the loose ends and sew buttons onto the Hiker's Waistcoat, which I finished last week (another free pattern at Kelbourne Woolens; Linus yarn from Knit One, Crochet too).

Come to think of it, I don't mind being snowbound at all!

But it's about the next storm, predicted for March 3....