Lucky Star

Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am? Truly, I am one lucky girl. Last week, Jillian was finishing a giant project and was ready for a break. "Threadbear?" I suggested. She jumped on the idea like a thirsty woman in the desert staggering toward an oasis and we set out on Friday for a jaunt to Lansing.

Last time we were there, they had a bunch of bags from Dancing Cat. They were lovely, but not quite what I was looking for. Rob suggested going to the website to pick out my favorite fabric and voila. . Is it not lovely? He ordered it for me and I've been waiting (not so patiently), but it was well worth the wait. I can't fill it yet. Weird, I know, but I just want to look at it and touch it.

Also picked up this accessory bag. I wanted them to match in a complementary way. Dancing Cat has the most beautiful fabrics it's hard to choose just one. Great textures, shiney bits...lots of fun to dig through the basket. I found no less than 3 accessory bags that I wanted and had to narrow it down to this one. Good choice, no?

We actually went to the store in order to sit with the spinners in the back. We did do some spinning, ate Chinese food, and met some terrific spinners (whose names have completely fallen out of my head). J shared her Japanese pattern books and we talked lace spinning and alpaca. Look what found its way into my new bag. It was a toss up between this jet black and some cool silvery/dark gray. I wanted both (of course I did - you would too), but opted for just one. How much more spinning fiber does one need? I ended up with bits of alpaca all over my pants, but it spins beautifully on my little Hatchtown spindle. I will definitely go back for more.

I ask again, Threadbear, spinning, new friends, Chinese food, new bag, 2 hour drive with a cool pal, am I lucky or what?

Let's Start with This

They're still the leaders of the long blue train. Go Lance!!

More eye candy...what could this be? Cashmere from School Products, of course. Courtesy of my friend Jillian who just came back from a jaunt in New York. Does the woman know me or what? All that cashmerey goodness with an orange kicker. It's a boucle and it's lovely and soft. I can't decide whether to knit with it or just pet it forever.


And speaking of pets, a little sympathy here. This is Hub's dog. She's a Brittany Spaniel and quite the little bird dog. Anyway, he took her for a ride in his monster ATV and she got bored. What's a little dog to do? She jumped off...while he was moving. She limped around for a couple of days and when he took her to the vet they discovered a toe so broken that they took it off. Now she just looks pathetic all day. I had to remind her that she's not 20 anymore, but I don't think she believes it.

It's happening

What's that curse about living in interesting times? We've got a Supreme Court Justice retiring. Do I need to tell you how important it is for us to make sure our reproductive rights continue? My daughter is 10 - do I ever want her to have to make this choice? No. Do I want the choice available to her, just in case? Absolutely.

I've thrown money at these 2 organizations:

Planned Parenthood

and

NARAL

Please donate if you're so inclined.

As promised

the floor:



As I said yesterday, it's gorgeous and it has a lot of character. I saw a modern Turkish rug for the living room that's going to look beautiful on it, I'm working on saving the $$ for it now.

Here's an action shot of Hub imparting some of his flooring wisdom on Little Big Man. We were just finishing off the last couple of boards on Monday night when Hub called him over and started telling him the ins and outs of making sure everything was all snugged up before nailing it off. It's funny how interested LBM gets when he's learning something rather than just being a gopher.

Then he decided that we all needed to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I loved that movie when it came out and I still love it. The best part was listening to Little Big Man guffaw at the parts he thought were funny.

Up next in the DVD player? Girl with a Pearl Earring and Ali. I finished the pearl earring book a few weeks ago - beautifully written and very pleasurable to read. Plus, you know, it has Colin Firth in it. Who can resist?

Ali will be feeding my newly minted obsession with Will Smith. I'll let you know how they are.

Floors and Movies

We spent the weekend putting in new flooring all through the house. I had some great pictures of what we did, but they're on the Hub's new camera and I can't figure out how to get them off. Maybe I'll actually read the manual tonight. Anyway, it's been our idea for a while now to re-floor. Hub got a great deal on some gorgeous Australian Cypress that's a little lighter than our pine trim, but complements it beautifully. This is not my house, but it gives you an idea of the character of the wood.


More Movies:

The Razor's Edge
I'm kind of "eh" about this one. It's an older film (1984), based on a novel by Somerset Maugham. I have the novel, I just never got around to reading it. It's set mostly in Paris about a man who has been to the trenches of World War I and how it changed his life. Bill Murray stars as the main character. This movie has the distinction of containing the absolute worst death scene I've ever seen in a movie or on television. Hub and I looked at each other and fell out. I really expected much more from Denholm Elliott.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters, thought they were all self absorbed and despite being friends for most of their lives, didn't really seem to know each other at all. Plus, I couldn't quite get Caddyshack out of my mind for quite a bit of the movie. Bill Murray is hilarious, but that's not what I want to see in a serious dramatic role. I give it 3 stars, if only to watch that death scene and laugh hysterically.


The Last September
What the hell is it with English movies that they just start in the middle of the story and expect you to catch up with them? And why the hell do I continue to watch and enjoy these movies, patting myself on the back when I figure out who everyone is and why they're in that particular place at that particular time?

This movie is set in 1920s Ireland about a dysfunctional family (is there any other kind of British movie family?). They're Irish, living on an estate with English relations and friends. Of course, this is during the time of the "the Troubles" and even on their estate, there is much upheavel and clashing of the classes. I love, love, love Maggie Smith and she's the shrewd matriarch of this clan. Just dotty enough so that her bad behavior is excused, but you know she's lived her whole life that way.

Visually, it's a stunning movie. If you love scenes of the countryside, the movie is well worth seeing. Gorgeous greenery, wonderful costumes...I give it 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone who loves those crazy British movies.

Netflix

I joined Netflix (mostly because I hate the Blockbuster store that we used to go to). It's way cool to have the movies delivered right to your house. So, I've been watching a lot of movies these days. {I'm also doing the knitting equivalent of driving in circles - dish cloths. I know, but they're fast and I'm still doing something while watching all these movies!}

Here's what's been in the DVD:

Monster's Ball

I can't say that I really liked this movie. It was powerful and emotional and hard to watch. Halle Berry is amazing. I always thought she was a good actress and after watching this, I'm sure of it. She so deserved the Oscar for this role. Not so much a Billy Bob Thornton fan, but he was interesting to watch.

You know who amazed me in this? Peter Boyle. When he first came on the screen, all I could think of was "Hey, that's Young Frankenstein!" My mother said, "Isn't that the guy from Raymond?" I really hated his character in this film. If you haven't already seen it - go get it now.



King Arthur

Hmmm, yes, I enjoyed watching this movie...if only for the shots of a filthy dirty Clive Owen. I do love me some dirty European boys. Action scenes were good if you like that sort of thing. There did seem to be a lot of gratuitous blood splatter. Loved all the knights of the round table, somehow they seemed like real people rather than all pristine and holier than thou.

Keira Knightly? It was a little difficult to see the white, white girl from Bend It Like Beckham be so...well, blue. She was completely believable in the dialogue and seduction scenes, but the action ones? Please. Her little skinny arms pulling on those giant bows to shoot the arrows that far? I don't think so.

Over all, I liked the director's vision of the times. Again, it seemed more realistic than a film like Excalibur (which I totally loved when it came out, and actually still do). So, yea, if you're into action movies with filthy men, this one is for you.

Life Lesson

Sassy's last day of school was Friday. Since it was only a half day, I took the day off from work and hung out with Little Big Man until it was time to pick her up. Little Big Man suggested we see Madagascar on him! Being the guilty mom that I am, I tried to talk him out of it. "No, let's just go home and maybe when your Dad comes home, we'll all go see a movie."

He was having none of it. We ended up seeing the new Star Wars. Sassy thought it was too long and boring. Little Big Man and I loved it. We called the Hub as we were leaving the theater and he said, "I came home early to pick Little Big Man up and take him to see Star Wars."

"Yeah," I said, "we kinda just saw it."

"Everyone?"

"Well, everyone, but you."

Little Big Man was bummed, "I shoulda listened to you Mom."

I thought "you'd better remember that next time, boy."


So now summer is upon me. Sassy is staying with my parents and Little Big Man is pretty much self sufficient. I'm free!!! Where's the sangria?

Quilting?

I think life is a series of wanting or looking for one thing and ending up with another. The trick is to make sure you're happy with "another."

So, one of the hobbies I never wanted to try was quilting. Mostly because my mother-in-law was a quilter. She even owned a quilt shop for a while. I didn't want to do it, because I didn't want to have to ask for her advice when I got stuck on something.

After a meeting here at work the other day, a woman who knows I'm a knitter brought me her knitting to show me. She had the greatest little quilted bag made from coordinating scraps. It was a flat-bottomed smallish bag, about 8 x 11 in size with little handles. She couldn't remember the name of the pattern, but told me where she got it.

I went over to the store, but they couldn't help me because I didn't have the name of the pattern. I wander around a bit and come upon this:



I love it. I want it. I bought the pattern and I'm thinking about signing up for the class the shop is offering in August. Do I need another hobby? No. Do I love the idea of a small* fabric stash? Yes. The last time I took a class to try something out, I was convinced that I'd knit one sweater and hate it so much I'd stop. Yeah, 13 years and a couple of designs later...not so much.


*let's just ignore the huge self-deception at work here, okay?

Complicated Life

Yeah, so it's been a while. Life is more and more complicated every day. I keep expecting things to slow down and they haven't...so I must learn to deal with it better.

Long story short, I was accepted into grad school and will start in the fall. Bad news is, I have to take a Calculus class. The last time I darkened the threshold of a math classroom was June 1983. Somehow, I managed to squeak through undergrad without ever having to take a math class. Anyway, I'm in the throes of hiring a tutor and buying books to get me up to speed in Algebra, Trig, and Calculus. Send me your good math karma.

I was at a ceremony on Monday night for Little Big Man. He received High Honors from his Middle School. He kept trying to warn me that "maybe I'll only get Honors mom." I kept telling him that it didn't matter to me Honors/High Honors - I was just glad he was doing so well. When they announced his name and he got up to collect his certificate, several members of his class cheered for him. That meant more to me than the award, honestly. I was really worried that he would have trouble fitting in with these kids who've known each other since kindergarten. I got a little teary, but managed to hide it well. (Why do I never think to bring tissues to these things?)

I'm knitting (a little), not spinning. I just want my summer vacation to start and it almost has. No more ballet, hockey practice, field hockey games...Friday is the last day of dropping off Sassy at school. I'm ready!

How do penguins get around?

Why, penguin super highways, of course:



This rookery is in Neko Harbor and there are lots of glaciers ringing the harbor which calve quite frequently. This sends waves up the beach, washing out anything that's there. The Chinstraps lay their eggs further up on the rocks and find the easiest way up and down. They all use the same paths - which are about as wide as a penguin body. It was really funny to watch them waddling along and come chest to chest with someone else going the opposite direction. They'd hop from one foot to the other until one of them decided to hop to the side and they could continue on their way.

This is Paradise Bay:



Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. The water was like glass and it was breathtaking to see the mountains and glaciers reflected in it. Every now and again, we'd hear the CRACK of a glacier calving and everyone's head would swivel looking for the ice and snow to fall into the water. I felt like we could fall right off the edge of the earth if we just kept going.

We got up close to some of these:



After a while, I had to stop taking pictures of ice bergs. They're all different - different colors (who knew there were so many shades of white and blue?), different shapes...and every single one beautiful. I expected it to be very quiet in this bay - it's not. Between the Blue-eyed Shags and the calving glaciers, there are the icebergs. When you get up close to an iceberg - all you can hear is the water dripping. It was a little cloudy on this day, but it doesn't take much of a rise in temperature to set the ice melting. There's so much water dripping into the bay, it sounds like wind chimes.

Here's a friend of mine doing a little sun bathing:



This is a Leopard Seal. He (I really don't know the gender, but all these seals look like males to me - something about the sinister grin they have I think) was very aware that we were around his berg, but didn't seem to mind. He let us take pictures and lifted up his head every now and again. These animals get up to somewhere around 11 feet long and they love penguins (which are practically chickens). That's about as close as I ever want to get to one of them.

Were you hoping I forgot?

I think these are my favorite kind of penguins. These are Chinstraps...I love their little pink feet and their black line of feathers under their chins. This is a rookery on Hannah Point. There was one breeding pair of Macaroni penguins in this colony and we were lucky enough to see 1 of the pair.



Doesn't he look like a crazy orchestra conductor? I love those yellow brow feathers! I thought it was cool that penguins of different types can co-exist very peacefully.



Finally, we got to Antarctica itself. It was barely 4:30 am when this picture was taken and it's as bright as day. We had a gorgeous, sunny morning and Nancy and I couldn't wait to get up to the deck to see the place:



I didn't even brush my hair!! The expedition leader happened to be walking past our cabin when we were crowding each other at the port hole and told us later, "You sounded like excited school girls! It was lovely to hear."

Well worth the early wake up call.

WTF??

Is spring coming to every corner of the world but mine? Jillian and I went to a workshop this weekend and it snowed, rained, or sleeted the whole damn time. I'm cranky as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.

That is all.

South Georgia

This is the cemetery at Grytviken where Ernest Shakelton is buried.





It's a lovely little place, very green...only if you don't think about the whaling station that sits right next to it.



The people were really nice and have a terrific little museum there. It's very nicely done with good taxidermy and great pictures of the animals that live in the area. However, when I think about all the whales that were killed, it gave me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. I couldn't get off that place fast enough.

Here's a typical zodiac landing:



Every landing we had was wet. Waterproof boots and pants are a must. This was a relatively easy landing - nice smooth beach. Some of them had big slimy boulders and we landing in big waves - not so nice.

Many years ago, I had a friend who have a 15 minute hospital rule. If there wasn't a hospital within 15 minutes of wherever she wanted to go - she didn't go. Jane, I'm pretty sure this is outside of the 15-minute zone:



This is Cooper Bay. It was a little protected cove with tons of penguins and more than enough fur seals. The views were overwhelming. The surf was very rough on this particular day and on our way back to the ship, we were heading out of the protected area and crashed into a 20 foot wave. Everyone got soaked (I could feel the water trickling down the inside of my jacket). I wanted to turn around and do it again - more fun than a roller coaster!

And lest you thought I forgot, more of my tuxedoed friends:

Baby Pictures...

This is a young King Penguin. All penguins have to stay on land until their down falls off and their feathers are all grown in. They aren't water proof until their feathers all come in. When explorers first saw these rookeries, they thought there were 2 different species of birds. They look so silly - especially the ones who just have bits of down clinging to their heads or backs.



Not a baby, but a full grown female Elephant Seal. The naturalists called them 'blubber slugs.' They don't move very fast on land, but they're quite elegant when they swim. This one got a little crabby, but put her head back down and went back to sleep right after this picture. Poor thing was just worn out.



From our stop on Prion Island in South Georgia, a gorgeous Wandering Albatross. This bird was sitting on its nest when we came up and its mate flew in right after we arrived. They do a bit of their mating dance to make sure they really know each other and then the one sitting on the nest flies away to feed. This bird was unfolding its wings in preparation for flight.



Demonstrating the wingspan of a Wandering Albatross - they can get up to 11 feet wide! Unfortunately, this bird was dead. Chris (the one in the middle holding the bird) came across it while we were wandering. It was an apparently healthy, young bird and there were no signs of trauma to let him know how it died. He carried it back to the ship as our next stop was Gritviken (a former whaling station) and they had a bird specialist there. The Albatross population is shrinking and there doesn't seem to be any definitive reason why.

Okay, last gratuitous penguin shot:



This is a Gentoo Penguin. Don't you just love his crazy, orange feet?

Slowly, slowly

I have finally put all my pictures in order and I'm actually showing them to people. I really don't like obligating people to look at my vacation photos, but I think it was such an unusual trip that people are genuinely interested (or maybe I'm delusional). In any event - here are a few more:



A view of some of the homes in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands. It was a lovely warm day when we were there, but it did shower on us while we were walking about town. We managed to snag some Falkland's roving at the woolen shop and even found some handspun to take home.



These were my first icebergs (on the right). Actually, it's one big iceberg (in the middle) - you can't see in the picture, but they're connected below the water. The land masses are called Shag Rock. There's a huge colony of Shags that live and breed here. I couldn't help giggling everytime they said "Shag Rock" over the intercom. Yes, I'm the mother of a 13-year-old who loves Austin Powers.



These are fur seals. Yes, they look cute and cuddly. Yes, clubbing them over the head for their pelts is wrong. Make no mistake, these are the nastiest, smelliest creatures on the planet. We had a huge lecture about these animals before our landing on this beach. We were going to see a very large King Penguin rookery, but first we had to land about a mile away and hike over the beach - through the fur seals to get there.

The naturalist told us "It's not the fur seal in front of you to watch out for...it's the one behind you. Don't back up when they charge you." As a result, I was terrified. These things will snap at you for even looking at them cross eyed. Plus, they'll chase you. Was wading through all that worth it?



200,000 breading pairs...you bet it was worth it.