A settlement of leaves

 

Happy Veterans Day!  Thank you to the many heroes who have served their country!

The snakeroot has completely gone to seed now, and trees have shown their skeletons almost overnight.  A settlement of leaves obscures the path and chokes the little stream that feeds the reservoir.  Last Friday, the sun peeked out of the clouds long enough to stream onto the top of the scarlet canopy.  Little M and I watched from the window in breathless amazement.  For a brief minute, the eastern woods blazed with a streak of flame, then the flash disappeared, and in the west the sun melted into a purple and crimson horizon.  

On Monday, I trekked to a little strip mall in Edgewater with exclusively Japanese shops.  I left with far less than I wanted to--Japanese stationery is one of my many weaknesses.  But! I am excited to support a little brick and mortar store in the future.  

This has been a full week, and this coming weekend we'll be staying in the City because of some evening plans, and commuting to Jersey for some daytime activities.  As soon as I can wrap my head around packing lists, I will embrace the excitement!

Pondering

Image via 

The beautiful life of this recently canonized Orthodox saint, whose feastday is November 10.  A friend of mine had the blessing to be able to attend St. Olga's glorification in Kwethluk, and her story of the journey and service were amazing.  St. Olga is the parton saint of midwives in the Orthodox church.

Reading and Listening

• Another Flavia de Luce!  
• My kids--and by extension me because they don't use headphones--have been listening to The Magic of Calvin and Hobbes for the past few months.  The series wraps up in the next episode, but it has sparked a resurgence of Calvin and Hobbes reading, quoting, and giggling.
• Led Zeppelin!  It's a long and windy story, but I've revisited a favorite band from my past, thanks to G's interest.  He and I recently watched the entire "Moby Dick" drum solo from a concert in Madison Square Garden in 1973, thanks to YouTube.  John Bonham was a genius.

Schola ALM

    Oh, dear.  I am slacking!  There are some domestic projects that are my focus right now, but I'm still doing a little Latin every day.

Crafting

• Steek Excitement! 

Several of the ladies at Knit Nite are working on a knit-along that involves steeking.*  The store owner had just received a shipment of felting mats, but there was a lively debate about methods to reinforce the cut edges (sewing, crochet, felting, nothing). I've tried all of them but needle felting, and had already been contemplating it; the ladies convinced me.  So, after binding off the shoulder stitches and blocking, I set to felting with a will.  These stitches are not coming undone and the selvage is simply gorgeous.  Do you get as excited about a tidy wrong side as I do?  

    The sweater has just one step (finishing the ribbing for the second armhole).  I'm so thrilled, I may even skip that second blocking!

Domestic Doings

• Wallpaper removal!  

This is a huge project, since the previous owners wallpapered most of the house and all the bathrooms (including the ceilings).  I'm guessing the wallpaper's been firmly attached for the last 40 or 50 years, and it's been really tough to remove.  I work for one or two hours every day that I am able, boiling water, soaking rags in it, and applying the steaming rags to the paper and glue.  Once it's soaked and steamed, it scrapes off in a very satisfying way!  We're hoping to get a company in to repaint; the biggest expense will be the labor.  Hopefully I can save us some pennies with my time and effort.

Weekly Goals

• wallpaper in powder room 
• pack for G's class trip to DC

* I tried a new method for the steek stitches, too!  Alice Starmore has a bit about the wrap method in one of her books.  I tried it for the tiny steek at the back of the neck.  It was one I probably won't repeat, but it sure was quick.