Unraveling

Winter Ramblings

We have been having what we call "cold" winter weather: the thermometer hovering between the high thirties and low forties (Fahrenheit), a "dusting" of snow on the hills, and rain, rain, rain. Not showers, mind you, r-a-i-n. Rain that you can't avoid.  Rain that makes the gutters run wide. Rain that lasts all day. Rain that makes people drive crazy. Rain that keeps you damp, and cold that makes your glasses steam up, even after you've come indoors for a while. This is January in the Bay Area.

Friday's cold, steady rain gave way to high clouds and warmer temperatures yesterday. I ran errands all over town. First, I went shopping for a new, stackable washer/dryer today. The washer, she died the day the Boyo left. It has been a while in coming. You may remember, we had to have the dryer repaired in November. The pump on the washer just gave up the ghost. There is no way to do laundry in this house, except by hand. Mr. Celia, whose tolerance for appliance repair evaporated after the comic opera that was our oven "repair" last March, said, "It's old. Buy a new one." You don't have to tell me that twice.

I purchased the Epic pair, and a stacking kit. I know it's a front loader and I won't be able to felt with it. But I have other felting options, and I recently discovered that I prefer the control I have with felting by hand. So I opted for larger capacity and energy conservation. The appliance store will deliver and install the new units on Thursday and take the old ones away for recycling. Meanwhile, the laundry will continue to pile up. It won't be pretty, but relief is on the way.

I think I put about thirty miles on the car yesterday, just driving around town picking things up.  I ran errands that have been on my list for weeks (I'm surprised I remembered them all!) I made about a dozen stops, and none of them was fiber related. By the time I got home, it was almost dark and I had just enough time to capture the almost clear Saturday Sky.

You can see the clouds hovering in the distance. The rain started in again in earnest when we were getting ready for bed last night. It let up this morning, but my plan to spend a cozy day in, watching movies (Once and Away from Her) and knitting, is lookin' brilliant. As a matter of fact, I better go down and bring in the paper before the next deluge.

Poor Mr. Celia! His golf outing was cancelled. He doesn't seem to mind though, for there is a multitude of puttering to be done around the house, plenty of virtual golf on the TV, and he got to sleep late. So we are set for the day. Puttering, knitting, and watching - the perfect winter Sunday.

By the way, the Girlie and her Beau went to see Juno Friday night. We all LOVED it. The acting, music, writing, and directing all come together to make a sweet film. The Beau's review: "A breath of fresh air." We liked the music so much, we bought the CD immediately (there's a Barnes and Noble next door to the theater), and I listened to it all yesterday as I ran my errands. I still like it. Go see this movie. It's totally worth it. I want to see it again.

And don't forget, next Sunday is Super International Pajama Day. If it isn't on your calendar, it should be.

Saturday

Some things are worth getting up for.

Back on Track

After a week of not walking, my back is in much better shape. Today, I was able to log in 3.43 miles by walking downtown to run some errands.  I'm a bit behind on the weekly mileage, but I think I'll be able to make it up gradually over several weeks.

The sky was beautiful today.

And, though it wasn't warm, it wasn't cold enough for a jacket.  I got by very nicely with a cashmere tee and a cotton sweater.  And I loved getting out and walking again.  Now it's time to go and stretch. We don't want to have a relapse, do we?

And don't forget, it's Super International Pajama Eve, do you know where your pajamas are?

December Getaway

On Saturday, we headed down the long and winding road toward the Mendocino Coast.

We were prepared to head into stormy weather, as we'd been hearing reports of dire weather in the Pacific Northwest.  But the sky seemed to lighten as we headed north. We stopped at this charming place:

It's the tasting room for Navarro Vineyards.  We'd pre-ordered some wine and gourmet grape juice for the holidays. It was worth it just for the scenery, let alone the wine. Check out that gorgeous Saturday Sky.

After we picked up the wine and headed further north, the sky really began to darken, as we'd expected.  We got to the Little River Inn and prepared to hunker down for the storm. 

We got the fire going, opened a bottle of wine and sat down to watch the weather and wave action.  Our view was gorgeous, even though it was gray.  And there's more to the inn than the view.

That's right, something for Mr. Celia.  After his first glass of wine he said, "You know, it looks like I could get in nine holes before that storm hits.  Would you mind?" I wouldn't.

After all, there was plenty else to do. I had these Fetching Mitts to finish, cookies to eat, wine to drink, and a fire to tend.

Not to mention the storm watch.

It was a glorious two hours alone watching the roiling sea, staying warm, and knitting to my heart's content.  Later, we had a delicious dinner at Cafe Beaujolias (coconut cream pie with flourless macaroon crust for dessert!!!) and when we got back to our cozy cottage, It's a Wonderful Life was on the tv. That movie gets me every time.  I don't care how corny it is, it's a classic and I'm always in tears by the end.  Then there was the good night's sleep. Holy cats! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to sleep until you wake up naturally - eight blessed hours - and then wake up to this:

But wait, it gets better.

While we ate brunch (Crab Cakes Benedict!), it completely cleared up.  Completely. So I sat out on the porch in a rocking chair and knit, while Mr. Celia watched football inside.

Please note that I am wearing a turtleneck, having shed my heavy sweater because it was just too warm in the sun.

A weekend getaway like that is the perfect antidote to my busy life.  This morning I was seeing color everywhere.

I mean it.

And today has been quite the breeze.  Nose to grindstone, but in a good way.

Saturday: Sky and So Much More!

Saturday was great. Mr. Celia's nephew and his wife had a baby shower to attend in the Bay Area. No kids allowed. So they left the boys with us.  Bwa-ha-ha! I got those boys all to myself.  It was time for some serious spoiling.

You will never guess how I spoilt them first.  Never in a million years. We went...yarn shopping!  Yes, they really wanted to go.  These are boys who knit. We have been knitting together, every chance we get (which isn't that often), for about a year and a half. And their mom tells me that they sometimes knit while she reads to them. But they've been using acrylic yarn. I wanted to buy them some "real" yarn, because I was convinced that they'd like knitting even more if they had good yarn.  We went to Article Pract to see what we could find.

Oh baby, we found so much tempting yarn.  We started filling a basket with the "possibilities".  Ricky was ready to go for some lovely cashmere...until he saw the price tag.   I steered them towards the Malabrigo (which, IMHO is one of the best buys going and a great first-project yarn).  We fondled it for a while, marveling at its softness and the wonderful selection of colors the shop has right now.  Finally, we settled on a budget and the boys figured out how to stay within it.  We also found buttons that said:

Well, they each had to have one of those, too (also available at yarnboy.com).  For me? Lantern Moon needles, size 5.

After Article Pract, we stopped in at Bake Sale Betty's, where I bought the boys their first scones.  Really, their first.  They knew about them, from reading Brian Jaques' Redwall series, but they'd never had one. Well stocked, we headed home for a snack.

M-m-m-m-m-m-m. Scones. Good.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we headed out to the UC Berkeley campus for a little exploring. I wanted to take them here:

(Check out that ).  It's Sather Tower, aka the Campanile, and we went all the way to the top.

You can see a lot from up there.

(Photography by the boys)

The football stadium filled with people.

(Final score: Cal 42, Portland State 16. Go Bears!)

Our neighborhood.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Memorial Glade (there's a library under it).

The roof of South Hall, the oldest building on campus.

And then there's the carillon.

And, of course, crazy Aunt Cici.

What goes up, must eventually come down (and pose for the obligatory photo).

But, wait, there's more...

Mad Malabrigohead (aka Billy) could hardly wait to use my ball winder and swift.

Wow, look at that great yarn!

 

Gray Skies

But that did not prevent thousands of people from invading our neighborhood to see Cal's first home game of the season.  You could tell it was game day, even if you didn't know in advance because nearly everyone you see on the street is wearing blue and gold.  Even hours before the game.  We are within earshot of the stadium, and the traffic on game days is not easy, so we try to get errands run before the hordes descend.

Last week, the Bears were in Tennessee and they were creamed.  This week, they bounced back against Minnesota.  They've been doing really well the past few years, and around here we believe that it's due, for the most part, to Head Coach Jeff Tedford.  This morning in the market, I saw the best t-shirt on a neighbor.  It said "Tedford is God".

There has been absolutely no knitting today because we spent all day getting ready to host a dinner party.  Then we all went out to see the first show of the season at the Aurora Theatre. Salome is FABULOUS! Really.  If you can get tickets, go!

And now it's after midnight, technically Sunday, and I need to go to bed before I drop.

September Sky

Holy Cats! It's September! And this evening, the sky was spectacular.

Transcontinental Sky

Two Saturdays ago, we were here.

We took Mom to the  New York Public Library and up to the reading room, where they have wonderful sky.

The whole reading room is a gem, really.

Later, we were in  Rockefeller Center and the sky looked like this.

I thought it might say, "Surrender Dorothy!"  But instead, it said, "Lower Rates."

We photographed this billboard for the Girlie.

We found a street fair on ten blocks of Seventh Avenue.

Later, that evening, the New York sky looked like this.

Then we went here.

Fast forward to today.  We are back on the Left Coast, in our quiet neighborhood. I'm up in the knitting room, Mr. Celia's starting the barbecue coals, and our  evening sky is beautiful.

I have just one more thing to say.

Totally worth it.

Breakfast

A Photographic Essay

 

Yum!

Oh! And Saturday Sky

This Saturday Sky is brought to you by the marine layer.  Everybody's happy to see that it's back, but I think Jon Carroll expresses it best.

Sweltering Sky

It's not usually this hot here in July.  We are hiding out in the shade.


And drinking cool beverages. We are sweltering, but our Saturday Sky is a beautiful shade of blue.

It's 87 degrees on the first floor of our house, with no air conditioning.  Much hotter on the second floor where, thank goodness, we have ceiling fans to cool us as we sleep. 

Who wants to cook when it's this hot? Not me!  But cook we must, because eight people are coming over to eat and taste Spanish wines tonight. We found one pathetic fan in the basement, which we'll put in the dining room in an attempt to cool our dinner guests.

Tomorrow, we collapse in a heap, or hang out in the cool, cool basement to escape the heat wave.

Where is our marine layer when we need it?