Happy Saturday!
A full and happy Saturday (so far):
The child got to go off on a Boy Scout day trip, as a friend of one of the Boy Scouts, so he's off hiking, eating peanut butter sandwiches, practicing archery, riding horses, eating hot dogs cooked over an actual fire, sleeping in the car on the way home.
Or, we HOPE he sleeps in the car on the way home, since it's Pleasant Hills Community Day, and there are fireworks tonight. Yes, that's the name of our particular Pittsburgh suburb (click on the link for news about the exciting life of our volunteer fire department -- yesterday steam set off the automatic fire alarm over at the KrispyKreme), and as the child is fond of pointing out, it's pleasant. And hilly.
And today Sam harvested the basil -- we didn't manage much last year, but we have a big bunch this year, so I'll be making pesto all afternoon.
Most will be put into little bags and stuck in the freezer, to be eaten all year, but we'll eat some of it tonight -- I think I'll broil some tilapia and put pesto on top -- and the feast day of St. Helena (Constantine's mama) is coming up, and we always eat pesto then, because when she found the True Cross it was buried in a hill covered with basil.
We don't care whether this is true or not, since we're so happy about the pesto. We think there was a True Cross, we think there was a St. Helena, and we think there was some basil -- were they all together in the same place once? We don't know. We eat the pesto anyway.
The anniversary issue of Piecework arrived. I had no idea it was 10 years old. I've got every issue; there are few magazines that, as with Piecework, I read from cover to cover every issue year after year (Granta's the only other one I can think of). Lots of needlework history (weighted toward European textiles, but they do try to be inclusive). Articles accompanied by directions for projects which don't, usually, take too much time. Reviews of interesting needlework books. Many beautiful ads seducing you into spending more money than you want to on yet more antique crafts you haven't tried yet.
OK, that's not so good -- but the rest is great.
In the anniversary issue there's a pattern for elegant and fancy cashmere and silk socks with a front lace panel, designed by Nancy Bush. I think that pattern alone is worth the price of the magazine this month. In fact, I was slightly sorry to see those socks, since I immediately desired to buy expensive yarn and knit them.
I am NOT going to even LOOK at the ads this time.
The child got to go off on a Boy Scout day trip, as a friend of one of the Boy Scouts, so he's off hiking, eating peanut butter sandwiches, practicing archery, riding horses, eating hot dogs cooked over an actual fire, sleeping in the car on the way home.
Or, we HOPE he sleeps in the car on the way home, since it's Pleasant Hills Community Day, and there are fireworks tonight. Yes, that's the name of our particular Pittsburgh suburb (click on the link for news about the exciting life of our volunteer fire department -- yesterday steam set off the automatic fire alarm over at the KrispyKreme), and as the child is fond of pointing out, it's pleasant. And hilly.
And today Sam harvested the basil -- we didn't manage much last year, but we have a big bunch this year, so I'll be making pesto all afternoon.
Most will be put into little bags and stuck in the freezer, to be eaten all year, but we'll eat some of it tonight -- I think I'll broil some tilapia and put pesto on top -- and the feast day of St. Helena (Constantine's mama) is coming up, and we always eat pesto then, because when she found the True Cross it was buried in a hill covered with basil.
We don't care whether this is true or not, since we're so happy about the pesto. We think there was a True Cross, we think there was a St. Helena, and we think there was some basil -- were they all together in the same place once? We don't know. We eat the pesto anyway.
The anniversary issue of Piecework arrived. I had no idea it was 10 years old. I've got every issue; there are few magazines that, as with Piecework, I read from cover to cover every issue year after year (Granta's the only other one I can think of). Lots of needlework history (weighted toward European textiles, but they do try to be inclusive). Articles accompanied by directions for projects which don't, usually, take too much time. Reviews of interesting needlework books. Many beautiful ads seducing you into spending more money than you want to on yet more antique crafts you haven't tried yet.
OK, that's not so good -- but the rest is great.
In the anniversary issue there's a pattern for elegant and fancy cashmere and silk socks with a front lace panel, designed by Nancy Bush. I think that pattern alone is worth the price of the magazine this month. In fact, I was slightly sorry to see those socks, since I immediately desired to buy expensive yarn and knit them.
I am NOT going to even LOOK at the ads this time.
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