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I'm knitting from my stash this summer. Oh, the yarn treasures I have accumulated over the years!
Work In Progress... Boheme (I have the free version from way back when, so my pattern might be outdated.) Unidentifiable yarn from my stash - a yarn that turns out being a bit too colorful for my taste. Nevertheless, it will keep her warm in the Fall & Winter months.I'm going to replace the diaper pin with some precious Paua shell buttons which I recycled from a sweater.

She's a lil' stinker, you know...

Meet Greengirl

I finished something! Yay. Green is my favorite color & the color certainly suits my melancholic temperament as well. I bought this yarn last summer. Swans Island Certified Organic Merino - dyed naturally. Luxury! I was going to knit this shawl (and then 4 more shawls to meet the 10 in 2010 goal) during my maternity leave, but that never happened. So, here it is. I'm so glad I finished something!

80" (200cm - 2m, baby!) from tip to tip. 25" (63 cm) from neck to bottom tip. Fiercely blocked.

I'm loving the lace!

I usually give shawls away, but this one is for me!

Hello Blog...

... it's me checkin' in. - It's still up & down for this Mama. These past few weeks have been tough. I thought the second year would be "easier" - not so. Father's Day was extremely difficult. I wanted to blog a note from Nuriel to Brent to honor the day, but I just couldn't get myself there. But, I've been doing a bit of summer knitting with yarn from my stash. I realize just how much sanity I get from knitting. It's so nice to have time to knit.

I finished an Icarus Shawl. It's blocking at the local yarn shop. I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow. It had been in my UFO pile for almost a year. It feels so good to finish something. I have so many creative ideas, but often I just don't have the time or the energy... So, not yay for beauty, but yay for finishing somethin'. In that spirit...

A Collared Pixie in Malabrigo Rios. It will be a gift for one of Nunu's friends. (If you see dust, please clean your computer screen. It's certainly not dust on my floor! My house is spotless. Ha.)

Erika Flory's "Little Red" in Woolrae. It will be Nunu's 1st Birthday Cape. Time sure flies. She'll be one in 2-1/2 months! It will also most likely be a lil' gnome cape for Halloween. The yarn colors are so vibrant. The yarn is so soft. And the lil' Matryoshka button is so cute, too. Back to knitting aka a moment of sanity.

A Girl & A Hat

Okay, I'm done knitting with this colorway now. I'm finishing up my reports for the year, but it's nice to have some time to pull out things from the WIP basket and add them to the FO side.

 Mama, are you crazy. It's hot. Take that thing off!

Okay, I'll cooperate for a moment.

Nirvana!

If we listen closely, the dead can have profound messages for us. I had such an enlightening moment with a clear message from Brent this morning. It was enlightening on a scary level. Please do read on. I'm getting very skilled at interpreting these messages. With a bit more practice I might soon be able to make a second career out of it, which would end all my financial woes forever.

Crazy? Yes, maybe, but do read on.

You see, Brent loved to wear shirts ironed to perfection - as long as he wasn't the one doing the ironing. I'm not much a fan of ironing clothes, especially not now that I'm on summer break. The iron had been sitting on the floor in the living-room for a week now; since Noah's 8th Grade Commencement a week ago to be specific. Yes, this reveals that there are other "issues" in my home that seep much deeper than not ironing clothes, but let's not go there right now.

This morning the girl got a hold of the cord. (No worries. I did unplug it when I last used it a week ago.)

And while exclaiming, "Mama, Mama, Mama..." without ceasing & in a rather intense way, she "did her thing" with the iron...

... and eventually even started taking her clothes off. Well, okay, just her hat! Nevertheless, today's message from Brent is profound & clear & shall permeate my meditations for the day and infuse them with deep spiritual meaning: "Iron your clothes!" is the message. Thank you, my love. I know the world is alright if you speak to me from your realm! :-)

Nature Study

This was one of my favorite blocks this year. I told nature stories involving Nehemiah the Gnome. I had so much fun making up these stories containing tales about farming, nature in Virginia & also some pedagogical stories. Nehemiah lived up in the mountains of western Virginia & one day he dropped his hat into the lil' Cowpasture stream. He decided to follow the stream to find his cap. His adventures are many and eventually lead him to the James River & on to the Atlantic Ocean! I would love to have the time to publish the stories in a wee lil' book!

While I told these stories to my students, our daily review often involved them reading the story I had written & drawing a picture. - Yes, a bit unusual. ;-) Below are the book covers my students created!

Artsy...

Looking through the books my children created in class is always *the* end-of-the-year highlight for me. Here are my two favorite entries from Nathan's book. His drawings are just amazing. He's only twelve!

Zeus & Athena

[copyright Nathan Thomas]

Prometheus

[copyright Nathan Thomas]

1 A.M. Insomnia

When Brent left in April 2009, he wrote me a 3-page letter, which he left under my pillow. He told me about it at the airport. The idea was for me to find something when I got back home.

When Brent left in January 2010, he left me his favorite shirt under my pillow. I had already had it for a couple of months, but he wanted it back. He told me to look under my pillow when I got home as I was leaving NYC. It was the last time we saw each other...

I keep his letter in one of two books. One is a book he gave me as a gift & the other is for spiritual inspiration. I needed the latter book at school the other day. Before I left home I checked to make sure that the letter wasn't in there. Nope. Didn't see it, which would mean it was in the other book. Well, I got to school & was about to pass the book on, when I realized that the letter was in there after all. I sort of freaked. Well, I did freak. I loose things a lot, esp. keys, ATM cards & my mind. I decided to put the letter into my school-bag. Surely, it would be the safest place - right?! This evening I went to my bag to pull it out. I have the thing pretty much memorized, but I like to read it here and there & I hadn't read it in a while. I pulled the letter out of my bag & then I totally freaked out when I realized that - for some reason - the last two pages were missing. I only had the first page of the letter! I searched and freaked. I was sure it was lost. I thought I was going to go nuts, which is pretty impossible. I'm already pretty nuts these days. Nuttier than nuts... Yeap. That's moi!

In my true "I'm the queen of loosing things" style I had also misplaced one of Nuriel's handknit socks. I had last seen the sock in our bed (she sleeps in the bed with me) last night. I searched in the bed & under the bed... Then I lifted the pillow... and I almost bleeping fainted when the other two pages of the letter were under the pillow! I had not even kept the book in my bedroom! How weird is that?! (I also found the sock under the bed, after I had already looked there four times & not seen it!)

How did the pages of the letter get there? I'm going to go nuts... Oh, no... I already am! - And under the pillow of all places! CraZzZzeeee.

'Twas May

Being a teacher, May is always a crazy-busy month. Here are a few recent pictures. And hopefully I'll be blogging more frequently again now that summer break has arrived! Yay.

With my 3rd graders I visited a city garden, an Alpaca Farm, and spent three days camping at Sustenance Farm in North Carolina.

Nathan & Nunu crackin' up.

Nunu at Mayfaire. The dress, one of those hand-smocked treasures, was a hand-me-down from one of my students. I made her a lil' flower-crown with herbs & weeds from the garden. It lasted for a photo moment. Really, she just wanted to eat it!

Nathan holding the flag for his city-state Corinth at the Pentathlon. His strongest discipline was the javelin. It was a nice day.

Nunu heading to Noah's class play, dressed in a fancy dress a colleague brought back from a trip to India. It's supposed to be a neck scarf, but it looks cute on her head.

Noah as Isaac Newton in his 8th grade class play. Scrambled professor. So totally him! His dream-hairstyle. No doubt. Ha!

In Gratitude

I have been silent & life has been busy. I do want you to know this: We have been overwhelmed with the love & gifts that have been coming our way these past few weeks. Words truly cannot describe how deeply I have been touched by your generosity and kindness. Thank you so, so much!

The end of the school year is a busy time. Amongst other things I took my 3rd grade on a "farm trip" these past few days... to a lovely farm in North Carolina. The farmer there, Harvey, is a great storyteller. One of the stories he told was, "The Begging Bowls." - I was very touched by it in my current situation. It is a beautiful story of receiving & giving. I shall type it up this weekend.I'll post it here.

May all of your love be returned to you manifold! Namaste.