Books, Blouses and Bad Weather

Photo Link for larger image.

The photo above is from June 22 (see how lax I've been!) and I looked out the north window and was just stunned with the beauty of the light, the clouds, and the ferocity of it all. I am very sorry to say that we only got the few drops on the window to show for it all. We're really starting to wish for rain around here, and my grass is not happy either.

Now that June is over, and with it, the end of the fiscal year, and all that entails, I suddenly feel as though a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I'm getting close to done with a Marfy blouse that I've been forcing myself to work on. Not sure why I have to be forced, as I'm anxious to get it done and wear it, but I think there's something about my ingrained guilt that says if I'm procrastinating about something I don't want to do (like end-of-fiscal-year stuff) then I can't use my wasted time for doing something I really do want to do. Silly, but I've noticed this before. I guess that way, I too, shall suffer.

Anyway, the blouse is the same flounce blouse I did in dark green, except without the flounce, and without the sleeves. It's cute, although the fabric is somewhat of a problem. It's not just exactly what I'd call on-grain. It's silk with an embroidered windowpane check which doesn't seem just exactly square. I think it's going to be fine for this anyway, and I've found the perfect pale, pale pink square antique buttons for it. Only 4, so it's lucky that's what it calls for.

I met with most the the local Sewing Guild officers at the Guild's monthly Charity Sewing night (we're making fleece mittens for the Head Start kids) to begin to think about the next year, and although the programs are all pretty much set, we need to take a different direction as an organization. This has been my feeling for quite a while, and I was so glad that they not only concurred, but had been thinking this for some time also. It's a lovely group of ladies, but it's been very much "stuck in a rut" for a few years. I think the membership is ready to try something new if only someone will tell them what they should try. We are going to start with organized business meetings, no matter how little business. It's been years since minutes have been read of a previous meeting, and even if someone manages to make a motion about something, we don't generally end up voting. Belonging to several groups with semi-rigid parliamentary procedure and this group, the difference has made me appreciate just how far the framework can get you.

I've been knitting away furiously on the Xmas gift sweater, and I've divided for the armscyes and am now getting near the top of the back. Then it's on to the front, the sleeves and then finishing. So, I hope to be done by Fall.

I've also been listening to more Audio Books from my local library.


I really enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It's an unusual construct, but very well-thought-out, and very much a page-turner.



I must wholeheartedly recommend Growing Up Lutheran: What Does This Mean? Janet Martin and Suzann Nelson to anyone who grew up in the Lutheran church, especially if you are Scandinavian. The authors were about 10-15 years ahead of me, and are both Norwegian, and I'm Swedish, but so much is exactly the same. I would really recommend the CD or audio-book, as the presentation is half the fun. This would be a great gift for older relatives who "lived through it." I took a copy to my parents this afternoon, and my mother especially was laughing and reciting with them. "This is most certainly true."