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Almonds in Bloom
9:49 a.m. - 2009-02-03


In spite of the frosty nights, the signs of spring are beginning to appear. Also the signs of impending big drought year. Oh, how I hate drought years with the schlepping of water and nasty notices from the water overlords. Anyhow, we drove over to the Peninsula on Saturday to visit with Abby and take her to lunch, and I saw the first almond trees blossoming by the highway. I was able to deliver the completed dotty tote bag, after which we walked around the shopping area near her apartment and had lunch in a little Italian place. The food turned out to be less than stellar, but I was starved anyway. There had been ice all over the deck where we live, but it was so warm there on the Peninsula that I took off my jacket and felt the sunshine. As we strolled down the main street, I looked at the fashions in the windows, and all the colors were drab and depressing. Times are bad, people, cheer us up with vivid colors!

After that little excursion, we came home and the spouse puttered in the yard while I worked in the house. That night was the last episode of Princess Atsu. This historical drama (Japanese) covers the period of modernization in Japan's government when they switched from shoguns and stipends to prefectures and elections. I just like to watch the actresses swish around so elegantly in those heavy kimonos, and try to ignore the historical political stuff in which the leading men tend to hack each other up over their differences.

Only about three weeks until Stitches. I am not sure what I will be buying this year, so I should start planning the lunch I am going to take. Sometimes I prepare a lunch, and sometimes we go to a Mexican restaurant near the giant statue of Mary. This year I would rather spend my limited funds on yarn and stuff, so I should make some calzones ahead of time and have them in the freezer ready to go. Last year I brought some of those no-fat chocolate mint cookies and they were soooo good, maybe I will hunt for those again.

I am now working on the Monkey socks, having just turned the first heel. I am a little bored with sock making at the moment and need to start making a cardigan. Yesterday I traced off a blouse pattern for Abby and need to cut it out in the test fabric to fit it on Betty, the dressmaker dummy. The real blouse will be in yellow with white embroidery in the inset and perhaps on the cuffs, if there are any. Now that I think on it, I think there is just a narrow binding on the sleeves.

I have also restarted my Japanese studies. My book, Japanese for Busy People, has disappeared off the face of the earth, which is puzzling, since the book is bright blue and should be easy to spot. Because of this, I am now using a book in which the lessons are written all in Japanese, starting with the simple kana and working up. My kana is a little rusty, but should be simple to pick up again, and my kanji knowledge is practically nil so nowhere to go but forward. I also found my Pimsleur German CD's so maybe I will start those too, whilst doing the dishes. If I just put in a CD every time I did the laundry, I would be fluent in a week, so much laundry is there. Instead, I am listening to a new Faye Kellerman book-on-tape I got at the library, the name of which escapes me, but it starts with a plane crash.

Well, that's enough fooling around on the computer, time to start the chores.

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