The Year, Phoenix

Fall is the death of the year,  Phoenix.  It dies in a last burst of color.  Winter comes and  its ashes cover the world in a blanket of white.  Everything is hushed and solemn.

As it is reborn in Spring the earth warms, waxing into Summer, the prime of heat and light.

Then the air starts to cool and the Phoenix dies again.

Hibernating Ants

The ants are officially in hibernation.  

Get ready for Winter!

Intarsia

My Newest Knitting Adventure

        I am teaching myself intarsia. Intarsia is a knitting technique that is used to create patterns with more than one color.  It all started when I found a free knitting graph pattern for a lion.  I had to do it!  I came across the word intarsia and looked it up, along with some youtube videos.  It looked easy enough.

     However, my lion is a complicated pattern, especially for a beginner like me.  I'm having trouble knowing when to start a new thread, so there are some connecting strings on the back, which is a no-no in intarsia.  The only help I could find online was for simple patterns, like a heart or square.

It doesn't seem to coming along too terribly, all things considered, and I'm starting to see the legs of the heraldic lion.  I can't wait to see the finished thing and am praying I don't make a huge mistake.

   If anyone out there is a veteran intarsian that would be willing to help me, please leave a comment!  Any help would be wonderful.

   

Music for Cleaning

    I find music inspiring.  

    I have a separate playlist to help energize me when I clean the house.

    Here it is:

"99 Luftballons"  Nena    

"Zwe Dop Zwe Do" from Tarzan

"You Are My Sunshine"

"You're The Devil In Disguise" Elvis

"Wunderkind"  from Narnia

"We Are Young" Fun.

"Touch the Sky" From Brave

"Test Drive" from How to Train Your Dragon

"Sadie Hawkins Dance" Relient K

"Ring of Fire" Johnny Cash

"Boten Anna" Basshunter

"I wish I was a Punkrocker (with flowers in my hair)" Sandi Thorn

Devil Woman Marty Robbins

"If I had $1000000" Barenaked Ladies

"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" from Sound of Music

"Hot Air Balloon" Owl City

"Do Re Mi" Nanci Griffith

"Battle of New Orleans" Johnny Horton

"The Bare Necesseties" from The Jungle Book

I'm sorry I don't know a legal way to play these for you.

What is your favorite song to clean to?

Friend

I'm not a good friend because I am not a good communicator.  

I never know what to say and am a slow correspondent.

I am not very funny, or not courageous enough to share something that might be funny.

I am quiet, and people sometimes don't even hear what I say, or perhaps they are ignoring me.

My stories and ideas must be quite boring, because I am often interrupted.

I'm not good at giving gifts because I don't like giving someone a gift unless it's the "perfect gift".

I'm not good at the social games and graces, the fake compliments, the how-do-you-do's.  I'm more likely to say that the weather is glorious, and I'm not just resorting to small talk.  I really do think the rain is wonderful.  

I so want to be friends, that I probably come across as a fake.  I am so worried I will do or say something that will make you speak to others about me, and lessen my chances of friendship even more.  It's happened before. 

People will say you should just be yourself.  But myself sits outside and puts leaves in her hair and thanks God for each one.  Myself tends to miss the bigger picture and gets caught up watching the ants building fortresses and the rain tearing them down.  Myself gets caught in thought and forgets it is the custom to speak to one's friends, not just enjoy their company.

Maybe I just consider friendship differently. 

Some of my dearest friends are those that I hardly ever speak to.  They are the ones that I watch and pray for.  My heart breaks for them; they never know.  My heart dances for them; they never see that either.

I love watching their journeys.  They probably will never know that I walk alongside them, asking God's protection, inspiration, joy, wisdom, guidance, anything and everything I think might help them.

Your Fall

Picture by H. Daughton

   I have lived in the midst and mists of a New England fall.  The colors are bright and crisp; the mountains transform into mounds of scarlet and gold.  I did not like it.    

   The trees seemed at war against each other, each trying to outshine the other, to draw the most camera lenses.  The leaves did not smell right, and crumbled beneath my steps.  The wind was not playful; it was a working wind, pulling the plodding winter along behind it, hurrying the the slow white beast.  

   The oaks I grew up under will forever define my Fall.  My Fall should be subtle and soft.  A gentle transition between fireworks and snowflakes.  It can have orange, red and yellow, but they should not be the sole rulers of the season.  There should be solid trees, playing with the buffeting wind, dropping nuts and acorns.  A good oak leaf will smell like rain on concrete, and crunch, but not crumble, underfoot.   The wind should be playful, batting at your hair and whipping your skirt around.  It should not be worried about hauling winter in, but should cavort between the slowly moving beast and the world, letting it arrive at its own pace.  

   Perhaps I am the only person who appreciates the slow moving fall of the Ozarks.  It is a practical slowing down, a time to start thinking of rest, even as we hurry to prepare for winter.    

   What defines your Fall?

Rebel

It is old-fashioned.

It is simple.

It is for words only.

It does not point out my mistakes.

I am a rebel.

I use notepad.

Flip Dictionary

I had never heard of a book like this before, and now I think it's amazing!  

One of my friends is giving one away on her blog, which you can find in the link below. 

The Writer's Lair: Flip Dictionary Giveaway 

I do get an extra slip in the hat for promoting her giveaway.

Actually, I've been meaning to share her blog anyway.

She has a levelheaded approach to Christians in the writing field and an enjoyable writing style.  Her posts are mostly about writing, words, her books, and the like, with truly helpful book and media reviews thrown in.

I encourage you to read it at:

http://enterthewriterslair.blogspot.com

Confession

   I write fantasy.
   I love writing.  I think I actually love creating.  If I was a better artist, I would paint my worlds, and my desire to write would diminish.  I love describing the atmosphere, the surroundings, the set and stage of the drama being performed.  I would trace emotions into the faces and bodies, telling a story with my brush strokes.
   But there is no room for growth in a painting.  Even in a series of paintings, it leaves the mind wondering what happened in between.  What words transpired to bring these two beings together, or what has happened to make the forest grow dark?  I love the progression of the stories and characters, even if I don't know exactly where it will go.
   If I love writing so much, why do I not tell anyone?  
   I'm not sure why I am so averse to sharing.  I can be with other people who write fantasy, listening to them talking about their books, and I will never say a word of mine.
   Maybe it's because I've never finished any of my work.  The book I'm working on with my best friend is sitting at roughly 152,500 words and isn't even a third of the way done.  Or the book I am writing with my cousin on, might or might not ever be finished.
   Maybe it's because I don't want other people to read it, thinking they'll judge me by the mistakes in the grammar and plot, not to mention the amount of magic or myth that may be in woven into the book.
   Whatever the case may be, I don't intend to stop writing fantasy, but I don't plan on sharing any of it either.    At least not until it's finished, which will be quite some time.

Upcycled Shirt

I love this shirt.  It was my husbands, but is shorter than he likes to wear his shirts.

So, I made it into this dress.

I was going to post step by step pictures of how I did this, but I am having trouble with my pictures.  They flip to the side every time I upload them into Blogger.  

From what I can tell this has to do with the orientation of the camera when the pictures were taken, but I have tried everything to undo this.

I downloaded software to strip the exif from the photos and tried rotating them in Picasa.  Nothing is working.

I finally got these two pictures upright by cropping and re-cropping until I got a picture Blogger would take.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

Hard Winter

Thought I'd give you all a heads up that the signs are pointing toward a hard winter in the Ozarks.
I personally have seen the following signs:
-Squirrels building nests close to the ground.  They do this to conserve energy climbing the tree, while flying creatures, such as hornets and birds, build their nests higher up than normal.
-3 woolly bear caterpillars that have had NO brown stripe.  Legend says the smaller the stripe, the harder the winter.
-Thicker than usual tomato skins.  My tomatoes have had extremely thick skins; thicker than I have ever seen before.
-Ring around the moon on multiple occasions. The more rings, the more snowfalls.
-Insects seeming to be on a mission, as opposed to meandering.

Being in the city, I haven't observed anymore signs.  Have you?
Are the pigs gathering sticks and the napes of your cow's neck woolier?
Are the corn husks thicker and the woodpeckers sharing a tree?

Let me know what signs you have seen, for or against a hard winter.