And Now For Something Completely Different

I get Dr. Mercola's newsletters, and today's version referred to this video - if you are at all interested in animal behavior, this is really fascinating!

Now I Ask You...

Who needs criminals when you can get comfortably robbed in the privacy of your own home every month by your friendly neighborhood utility companies?

Brilliant

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's a beautiful day and I'm about to go to the Textile Center with some lovely friends, so life is good.

Let's add a bit of laughter to that. Here is one of my favorite comedians - well, possibly my very favorite comedian, actually. He does intellectual comedy, he does physical comedy, he's literate and loves history and is tremendously talented. Also as a private person, he is shy and tends towards being a bit morose. So obviously we have a lot in common.

Anyway, here's just one bit he's done. If you go to YouTube and look up 'Rowan Atkinson', there's lots more to be enjoyed there. And of course, watch the 'Black Adder' series if you haven't already. While you are at it, check out Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who aren't as reliable, but have their moments.

Enjoy!

Resources

I plan to make a list of (hopefully link-able) resources for breast cancer patients, to make available on my Rose Colored Cancer blog.

If you have links or (toll-free) phone numbers, addresses, etc. for informational, medical, financial, and other practical forms of assistance for those who are dealing with breast cancer - including friends and family - please let me know. I will be listing info for US National, international, and individual state organizations as they come to me.

Thanks for your help!

Speaking of Later...

I wish I had remembered that camera sitting pointlessly in the bag behind our table.

Really, Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wood Festival was lovely. It was a lovely weekend, and our neighbors were even more lovely (hi, Jane & Denise!!). The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the dogs were herding, the sheep were de-fleecing (at the shearing demonstration booth), the llamas were blinking in that adorable way they have, the fiber was bright and beautiful, the vendors were creative and helpful, the classes were fascinating.

What more could you want?

Well, you could want a more organized reporter, for one thing. Someone who actually took photos and got out to talk to more folks and see more things on which to report.

D'oh!!

Luckily, there were people who were more prepared, alert, and responsible than moiself. And some of them posted photos here. And here.

Don't you wish you had been there?

(I can't wait to go again!)

Behind the Times

One of the benefits and flaws of surgery-enforced idleness is that you end up spending much too much time listening to podcasts and videos of one sort or another while you fiddle with string and pointy sticks. You discover new things, and old things you didn't know about - in my case, lots of political stuff, and some fun stuff, and this gal, who I can't understand at all but who reminds me of the best of the folk singers 'back in the day' - Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell - all dressed up in modern music:






Enjoy!

Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival

I'm going! I'm going!! I can't wait!!!




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Several wonderful new friends will be there, too. YOU should be there, if you can... and stop and visit me on Saturday. I'll either be at my parents' table ("The Wee Mad Road") with the few remaining skeins I've got left - just follow the Scottish music and you'll find us - or I'll be wandering around with a stunned-yet-greedy glint in my eye, lusting after fiber treasure. On Sunday I'll be taking the dye class and the novelty yarn spinning class, so I won't be as easy to find, but I'll still be having lots and lots of fun.

You will, too, if you come along. Oh, do come along, I will miss you so much if you don't!!

We Pause For A Public Disservice Announcement

Okay, I know it's totally obnoxious to brag about your kids.

But it's truly charming when I brag about MY kid.

Really. Just ask him.

So I am pleased to announce that the Thug has been invited to be the Op Ed editor for his college paper.

This is a particular coup, given that said Thug isn't even officially a college student yet, and hasn't officially joined said college. He will be the youngest editor the paper has ever had.

A proud mother may permit herself a small 'w00t', may she not?

w00t!

Springtime Means Hello and Goodbye

Spring is a fleeting thing in Minnesota. A friend (hi, Jane!) just reminded me of my beloved grandmother, and jogged a few treasured memories, one of which is this poem. It was one of the hundreds of poems she knew by heart and could recite with great drama and relish, but this one was most often murmured quietly to a sleepy grandchild tucked warmly into bed for a cozy night's sleep. It has little literary value, I imagine, and so has slipped into obscurity - certainly nobody else I know has ever admitted to having heard or read it. But I think it's a lovely little reminder of the brief joys of spring, and of life, so I share it here in hopes that someone else will treasure it and keep it alive just a little bit longer...

Baby Seed Song
by Edith Nesbit, 1858-1924

Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,
Are you awake in the dark?
Here we lie cosily, close to each other:
Hark to the song of the lark
"Waken!" the lark says, "waken and dress you;
Put on your green coats and gay,
Blue sky will shine on you, sunshine caress you
Waken! 'tis morning 'tis May!"
Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,
What kind of a flower will you be?
I'll be a poppy all white, like my mother;
Do be a poppy like me.
What! You're a sunflower! How I shall miss you
When you're grown golden and high!
But I shall send all the bees up to kiss you;
Little brown brother, good-bye.

How To Come Out Of Your Slump

I'm sorry I've been away so long. Lots of changes going on in my life, mostly not terribly pleasant, and I've been pouting a bit. But how can I remain depressed when great artists are creating beauty and inspiration for the world?

I'm proud to be a Fiber Fiend, because now I can present you with this:



Ain't life grand?