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Many of my readers live in in the Northeast, so I suppose many of us are huddled in our homes or offices today, weathering the big nor'easter that came up over the weekend.
I love that word: nor'easter. Couldn't ever have used it in relation to my life until now. It has such a dramatic, romantic sound to it. Makes me feel as if I should be out by the sea waiting for a ship to come home carrying my love.
I walk along an old stone wall by the sea. My long, dark cape blows and whips behind me, Blu is by my side. We pace to and fro together. Blu is alert, I am determined ... praying silently. The wind blows rain past the hood of my cape, onto my cheek, my hair, my ears. The ship is late, my heart dare not move from its position of absolute certainty he will come home. I mustn't take a breath out of pace with the clear mental picture I hold onto that I will see him this day, that the sea will give him back to me once more. I search the horizon, squinting against stinging ice cold rain. All I find is deeper, darker clouds threatening ...
Oh, but wait ... he's just a few miles away in the village, safely working at his computer while I am safely working at mine. Sharp wind blow rain beats against the window panes on either side of my desk, bringing me back to reality. Whimsy. I'm a writer, what can I say.
I began my day by taking Blu out for his second morning business walk (he goes out with my husband at 4:00 a.m., and I take him out again about 6:30). He was very professional, he knew exactly what was expected of him and he executed it with the swift efficiency of a dog well accustomed to ... well, need I get graphic here?
Later, after tea and biscuits for me and Nutro kibbles for him, we sat together in our fireplace sitting area. I lit candles for extra mood effect, and enjoyed a couple of hours of copy editing for a client with Blu's sweet head nestled in my lap and the sound of raindrops tapping on our windows. It was another of those moments when I just had to take some time to quietly look at my life, contemplating for a few moments the little things I am grateful for. How many times as I sat at home in Los Angeles I longed to live in a place where there would be storms of note, barns, peace, a sweet dog, and a fine husband.
A long sigh, "ahhhhhhh" moment.
It is a little awkward getting back to the business of this blog, after a couple of weeks of absence. Too much has happened in these few short days to relate in one blog. Blu was ill last week, which was very stressful for all three of us. He had eaten something untoward in the yard (evidently) and had a very upset digestive tract. It weakened him and aggravated the back injury he had suffered when abused in his first home. After a trip to the vet and about 48 hours of antibiotics, he surprised us one morning by suddenly being back to his happy, joyful, playful, nippy self. It was a beautiful thing. Going through this experience only makes us love and cherish him more.
I have completed, I believe, three more paintings while I've been "off the air". One is about to end at auction at eBay ... literally within about one hour of this post. Another was purchased already, but I have posted it at my One Painting a Day Blog. I hope you will take a look at it, because I love the way this particular painting glows.
There is also a painting which I painted in oil on an Italian marble tile. It is up for auction as well, along with another of my knitting Thistleonians. Even if you don't have an interest in the auction you should at least take a look at the painting because it is pretty cool for it to be painted directly on a tile. I have four more paintings on marble tile I am working on, and will show photos as they come off the easel.
Featured in the photograph at the top of today's post is a handsome little character my husband and I found in a box in the basement labeled "Easter Decorations" by his mother. The box was old, dusty ... hadn't been opened for many, many years from the looks of it.
I eagerly awaited the opening of the box the day before Easter. Inside we mostly found plastic eggs and plastic grass. There was one ceramic bunny with a broken/repaired ear and the charming dandy of a fellow you see in the photo at the top of today's post. I couldn't share a photograph of him with you sooner because of that unfortunate Internet connection problem we had Easter weekend, but wanted to include it today before Easter is too far behind us for the photo to be relevant.
In today's photos you will also see a photo of my latest handknit "mystery" project. It is a washrag made of worsted weight 100% cotton yarn on U.S. size 6 needles. I couldn't find my little book where I wrote down the directions as I made it up, so I will have to postpone sharing the pattern with you until Thursday of this week. I like this washrag because it is nice and heavy, and the stitch has a good texture to it so it should handle dishes very nicely. It is 10 1/4" square. I haven't blocked it, so I pinned it to the pillow you see it on so you could get a good look at it.
Sweet little Emma, the knitting Thistleonian, has taken quite an interest in my knitting lately. She has decided she is ready to go out on an adventure, so I agreed to put her up for auction at eBay so she could find herself a new home. She is a sweety, and I will miss her. However, she will bring good fortune and excellent mojo to whomsoever she next lives with and I am more than willing to share.
The day is getting away from me now, and I have many other tasks to attend to. If you are in a stormy region, stay warm and safe. I will be thinking of you over my next cup of tea down by the fireplace with Blu, waiting for "the Daddy" (as he is now known between Blu and I) to come home.
~firefly
Copyright © 2007 J.L. Fleckenstein ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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