We're on our way...

to see the grandkiddies on the other coast. T hasn't met Dex yet. It took a lot to get out of the house, to synagogue, to kiss T's mom goodbye and finally we are in LaGuardia on our way to SJC. My esty shop is nearly empty and I must close it temporarily while we are away. I brought: two knitting projects, two books, two bags (one to check and one to carry) and lots of enthusiasm.

Women With Whom I Spent the Evening

These are some of my dearest friends with whom I taught for twenty years in Brookline, MA. They're smart, informed, clever, loving and Devotees.

Women With Whom I Spent the Afternoon

Mifflette Report

Sophia claimed the only unsold mifflette at POD, and I restocked the shelves there with the contents of my etsy shop. Goodie! Now I don't have to worry about sales and shipping while I am away.

As I was Saying...

Insects just love cimicifuga!

So Long, Summer!

Cimicifuga is that last bloomer in my garden. It's drama is stunning, as its luminous wands wave above my head in the twilight of the afternoon. The distinctive scent has replaced the pholx scent. It's a delicious olfactory cycle. It blooms prolifically in my full shade garden. The bees love it! So, in a way, it pleases the ear too, as there is always the sound of buzzing, buzzing, buzzing in its presence.

On the last evening of summer, B and I were determined to have a last drink in our beloved adirondack chairs. We haven't had the usual quantity of such evenings, as the summer was wet, cold and then buggy. I made a cheese plate, we bundled up and Mr. T served us our vodka tonics on the deck. B took a last swim too. I don't think I took more than three swims the whole summer. Better luck next year!

Three Restarts

When Knitting Arts in Saratoga, CA closed their doors, I bought up a bunch of luscious yarns, mostly one skein each of mouthwatering colors. I had projects in mind but now I've forgotten what skeins go with which projects. I took three projects with me to Pretty Marsh and have been battling with them ever since.

I think I got this skein of blue sky alpaca silk to make an odessa hat for Syl. But now it seems awfully loud, awfully chartreuse, and not right for her at all. Maybe I got it to make another Hungry Caterpillar?? This is my THIRD attempt at making up the hat. I had almost finished it on the second go round when I blew it and couldn't fix my mistake. I considered giving it to charity, but then thought that wasn't very nice, to give a hat with mistakes to someone I didn't know. It really should be perfect or else given to kittens to shred. So, sigh...., I frogged it and began all over. This time I even checked to make sure I was doing the ssk correctly and NO, I hadn't been. I had been doing a psso instead.

Not having worked on this one for months, I clutched at the pattern end of the wrap. I felt alzheimers creeping up on me. HOW could I have forgotten this pattern which I had done for hundreds of rows? Finally I remembered, gratefully. Truly this is the easy one to work on and can be done in all kinds of social situations. It's soothing to work on and not quite half way done. It takes 60 of those point-edges to make an entire wrap and I have completed 22 of them. Let's not forget that this is the second project with the very same yarn that was frogged from a Rebecca pattern.

Habu makes this yarn and provides one with a pattern for a scarf called Kusha Kusha. It's Japanese yarn and pattern, made from stainless steel wrapped with silk and extra fine merino wool. It's more like thread than yarn. Subsequently it gets tangled easily and falls off the needles easily as well. It requires addi-turbo needles that are super slick. This is the third try on this project as well. First I used the wrong size needles, then I knit 25 rows in garter stitch before I took a look at other projects on ravelry and realized it should have been done in stockinette stitch. Yes, the instructions said so. Yes, again I didn't read closely enough. Yes, I'm willing to restart. Luckily I am persistent if sloppy.

All this frogging reminds me that it is much the same in life. If we give up after first tries, we won't get far. It's not a waste of time to make mistakes. I like to think that time serves me well in meditative ways and if nothing else, humbling ways.

While they golfed...

I built stone structures on the Pretty Marsh rocky beach.

Find Gilly

Off Hiking

We're off on our annual hiking trip in MDI (Mount Desert Island) for the next week. Four unfinished mifflettes should be completed upon return, if there are some rainy days. It sure seems colder than usual, but I passed on taking my winter jacket.

Origin of Mifflettes

A lot of people ask me what the name "mifflette" means. It all started in the seventies (1970s) when my own children were toddlers. Dick Bruna wrote a series of books, beginning in 1953, about a rabbit named Miffy. I think Creative Playthings, our favorite toy label, carried the Miffy books and doll. Our family loved them, as they were simple stories, with equally simple illustrations. Unfortunately we have no surviving books, but I do have the Miffy doll, as you can see.

When I started making soft toys and rabbits in particular, my eyes gazed lovingly on Miffy. The name of "mifflettes," popped into my head as offspring of this beloved doll. Yes, they are MIFFlettes.

Miffy is from the Nethlerlands but she has permeated most of the world now. Isn't she marvelous? Thank you, Dick Bruna!

Bon Voyage!

Only one of the family remains (at etsy.com) as Manzanita mifflette bunny has gone to Chicago and Littlest One....
is off to Australia, my first international sale! Lucky little mifflette. I have never been myself. Little sister is waiting for adoption patiently, with her apron tied and her eyes open wide.

New Tee Shirt

Jessie sent me this tee shirt which a friend of hers designed in Chicago, where she lives. I LOVE IT! I will wear it all week as a response to the Republican VP candidate.

That last line is....AND ESPECIALLY MAMAS WHO VOTE!
Thank you, Jessie!

It's a Small World

This little guy/gal was in the bathroom wall for days. Finally he moved to the floor of the bedroom, right next to my bed. I like him, but I really didn't want to sleep with him. I pushed him under the other bed next door. Today I found him in my closet with my tee shirts. Gosh, I hope he is filling up on all those little gnats that bother me while I read in bed at night.

On another note, I had a Drop-In today! It's my delight to be dropped in upon, but living at the end of a dirt road doesn't really promote this activity. My doorbell rang and sure enough: a friend came to call unannounced. She happens to know my lust for drop-ins, and indulged me, walked the two miles to my house from hers.

She brought a message to me from a friend from a former life. The connection was made because of poetry, teaching, Lovell, Maine and Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline, MA. It's too long a story, but the short story is that it's a small world and it always amazes and delights me that this is so.

Happy Birthday, Dear T, Happy Birthday to YOU!!

Indian Summer, Wayne Maine Style

No Beach, Wish there were No Bugs

It's the time of year when we usually have a lot of beach and no bugs. Instead this year we have no beach and A LOT of bugs. There are more bugs than we had in the spring, it seems. It's so humid today, even three of the four ear tufts on the owls wilted! Who knows what hiking in Acadia will be like next week. We'll see.

Quote on which I keep meditating: We're all bit players in everyone else's play.

Turning Season

Maybe it's the shorter days, or the cooler days, but I've been feeling a change coming on. I don't really feel like knitting, but think I should. I looked at my stash yesterday and there on the top was a sweater that has never fit me right (tight arm holes) yet I love the yarn. No, I didn't knit it. I thought of fellow knitter, Knitnzu. What would SHE do? Unravel it of course! So I began. It might make a poncho for my almost three year old granddaughter. But I must say, it made me grouchy, this unraveling business. My heart is still with the mifflettes and three monkeys are waiting for me to assemble them.
This makes me grouchy too, as it is rotated in iphoto, so why not here? I haven't time to right it. The dental hygienist waits.

Lastly, T is all about produce these days. Despite a tomato blight, he has salvaged some gems that are like candy. HAPPY FOURTH ANNIVERSARY, DEAREST T!

One More Gathering

Another annual party to celebrate the seasonal warmth by the lake was held on this lovely patio. Later we gathered around a fire in the home made fire pit, built by the chef's wife.

It wasn't exactly pot-luck, though guests contributed hors d'ouevres and desserts. T made his famous guacamole.

The Chef! (gourmet French, every time)

Hops, grown for decoration, not beer making