equilibrium

It's been a week of pretty spectacular weather around here. Being on the mainland, or off-island, in any way, always does me good. Even this week, as I nursed an airline-induced headcold, I was in a decidedly serendipitous state. The sunsets echoed my mood, all golden and vastly improved.

Knitting on Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardi continues, with slow, DK progress. Now it really makes me appreciate worsted weight yarn. But I think I have Blogless Michelle knitting along on this, now, so maybe she'll cheer me on. She was wondering what to start knitting for a long trip out of town, and I found Marilyns' soothing stockinette to be just the way to whittle away thehours on the road.

I've been trying to spin a little each day, in an effort to improve my technique and use up all that white Corriedale I bought last year at the FiberFest. I brought back some beautiful purple colonial roving this year, but want to be a slightly better spindler than I am before I take it on. This shot shows the spindle on the ironing board, but I've moved it to a more fitting place on my altar for the lunar cycle. It's just that the light was better in the studio/ironing room.


I took the day off today in a great bout of malingering. I was feeling crappy; stressed, jet-lagged and croupy yesterday morning, and called a sub for today. Needless to say, the minute I got the sub commitment, my condition improved, and today was positively lovely.

I spent quality time with the dogs, taking Cricket for a long walk, upon which he tugged, barked and generally made ass, thus forcing me to take Ella for a jaunt in the park, to erase the jangled nerves of dealing with Cricket. Had a long talk with our old trainer, Doug, who suggested I try a 4 month, full-court press of starting obedience from scratch with Cricket, working on the flat collar, taking him out in the world, in the presence of other dogs, no matter how aversive he finds it, and just socializing the hell out of him again. He said he'd done this with his old dog, also a reactive beast, and found that it took about that much time before he saw real profound change. Fuck. He is so much work! I love him dearly, but he is so much work. Doug is right, though, and so I gear up for the slog.

I got a new tarot deck last night. The Druidcraft deck. I'd seen it online some weeks ago, and loved the illustrations, and the idea of a pagan themed deck out there besides Robin Wood (which I don't really like) and I had some Borders bucks, and a 30% off coupon, so this deck and its corresponding book were practically free. I've been playing with it a little, and was pleased to find that the card I drew today was the 8 of Pentacles, which speaks of steady effort and focus on the day-to-day work, not losing oneself in over-obsession with the grand goals. I think this is a good thing to keep in mind with my work with Cricket, the spinning, the house, and everything going on in my life right now.

Knit night last night was entertaining, and I feel the need to go more often, in light of my recent absence from the group. At the end of the eve, the Blogless One showed off the new car, a foxy sporty coupe, which merited a delightful spin around the Ward Center parking lot, a tiny taste of its power and speed. I'm no car geek, but this thing is the bomb.

And now, I am going to make a salmon pattie and some broccoli, take a bath in some Lushness and curl up with a dvd and Marilyn's for the eve.