Sunday, February 17, 2008







Ingredients for a peaceful Sunday. In my mind, at least today, they include the Sunday paper spread all over, a cat sleeping peacefully on my bed (that is Hobbes) some hot tea with cranberry honey and a pile of knitting that is challenging but not frustratingly impossible. This is my shawl. I have finished the beige rows and now have only the medium brown and then the dark brown rows and the edge will be finished. Then I will pull out as much as I have to of the middle to fix the error. It is satisfying to watch it steadily grow.
Here is an artsy fartsy photo of the gusset of Elanor's socks. This one had the best and most true colors. Sock number two looks different. For some reason, the colors are more stripey and less just there. I have only just started it and maybe it will settle down. I love this color.

Bells read a comment I left on Amy's blog in which I recounted how I do not own a television. That is not strictly true as I do own one but I am waiting for Emily to come and take it away. We got rid of our cable well over a year ago because no one watched the television and I got tired of paying the gouging rates the local company (the ONLY local company) charges for a service we were not using. I have to say, I don't miss it. We had stopped watching when we realized we were just sitting there flipping through channels with no clear destination. We watch movies on the computer monitor in our room and read the daily newspaper for news. I also listen to quite a bit of npr on the radio. When I knit I listen to recorded books or watch a movie. I can access news and information through the computer. We have only ever had one television and it was downstairs in the rec room. There is not one in the kitchen or in the bedroom or anywhere else. I find them annoying in waiting rooms. I do not think of myself as intellectually superior nor do I think badly of folks who watch television. I just choose not to.


We are having another weird swing in the weather. Yesterday it was a brilliant sunny day. PK and I went to the farmer's market to check out the flea market. There were not many vendors as it is the middle of winter and despite the sun, was only 30 degrees and windy. He did manage to find some hand tools. He tells me that the folks who use hand tools call themselves galoots. When I looked up the word it means " a clumsy man, a raw recruit, someone who is oafish". The Wikipedia article says a little differently.
Today is meh. Not really sunny but not quite cloudy either and we are awaiting the arrival of yet another rain storm. I guess I shouldn't complain because I know other parts of the country would love some of this rain. I am going to get up off my lazy butt and bake an apple pie for dinner. We are having chicken with tomatillos and poblanos ( a recipe I haven't tried before but I want to use up some tomatillos that Peter Kevin bought) and I have the urge to bake a pie. The Granny Smiths are waiting in all their greeness for me to come down and whip them into a crusty delight.




And the best thing about this lazy, peaceful Sunday? I took tomorrow off so I still have a day. Tomorrow is President's Day here in the US. Originally we had Washington's Birthday on the 22nd and Lincoln's birthday on the 12th but years ago, someone turned them into one big federal holiday. PK works for a company that gives it's employees federal holidays off but my employer, being a health care provider (and worried about that billable thing) does not. I don't usually take Mondays off because I have two medication clinics but I did this time and I am so glad.


By the way, the lunch on Friday was wonderful. The food was excellent and the company was exceptional. Out of all the people I know, my husband is the one I most enjoy spending time with. He can make me laugh and still talk about serious topics. It was a much needed indulgence.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

13 comments:

amy said...

For many years we'd reduce to basic cable (about a dozen channels) all summer and only go up for football season so we'd have ESPN. Now we have digital cable solely to have the NFL Network (it came as a bundle when we upgraded our internet access). I am not a big fan of the time-sucking aspect of television, and I don't care for them in waiting rooms, either, mainly because my children then sit there and stare at something that, 99% of the time, I'd rather they not be exposed to. What amazes me is how many channels we get with digital cable, and how all of them are usually showing nothing worth watching.

I feel the same way about my husband. Aren't we lucky?!

Dianne said...

Hobbes is such a sweetie! Wow, no TV? I couldn't do it. Mine is always on, mostly as background noise. I even leave it on for the dogs during the day.

Bells said...

I really agree with many of your tv sentiments. We're still not fans of most television. We almost never watch commercial TV, have not got Foxtel (the Aus equivalent of cable) and would prefer to watch DVDs over TV anyday. I don't like it ruling our lives and just being ON all the time so it's not.

And I think it's wonderful you feel that way about your husband afeter many years together. Imagine being married to someone who you didn't care to spend time with? How awful.

TinkingBell said...

What a lovely day! I hope you had a great time and a beautiful apple pie!

Alwen said...

Our son is going to love your Hobbes picture.

It's funny, your two projects are the colors of the mushrooms we got last fall, and the ruffly shawl looks a lot like that Hen of the Woods we found!

We have a television, but it's mainly used to watch videos. The last show I really watched was re-runs of Dr. Who on public TV before we moved here.

Every time I take my car in, if I get the chance & no one is around, I turn off the TV in the waiting room. 90% of the time it's making a big deal out of a nothing (a cat in a tree! live coverage!) and making me glad I'm spending my money on worthy entertainments like Misti Alpaca. :)

Anonymous said...

when i was a young army brat we were living in europe and we had no television. one of our neighbors had tv and we were allowed to watch one show a week so as not to pester too much. it took me 20 years to get inot the television routine but i think now that i am fully into it i could easily give it up as there is nothing on tv but movies! my guy wouldn't stand for it!

Bezzie said...

Yeah if I didn't have the kid, I'd definately toss the tube. Ha ha, that's my great parenting skills there huh? But now that he's finally learning to read, I've got no fear that his brain will turn to mush and start trickling out of his ears because he watches cartoons.

Sheepish Annie said...

I don't think I could survive without the TV, I'm sad to say. It's an addiction! And the cat likes to watch when I'm at work so I really should keep the cable...

I admire those who have broken the spell, though. It must be nice to be able to function without the big, glowing box!

roxie said...

The Hobbes photo is a poster. What complete serenity! Hope your lazy Sunday was perfect, and your Monday off equally so.

Em said...

What a lovely day! I'm supremely jealous that yours got to be so peaceful, while mine was spent listening to other people tell me "I need" or "I have a problem" all day. Ah, well, I got to come home for apple pie at the end of it, and there's something to be said for that.

The shawl is gorgeous,I can't wait to see it finished and on you.

Olivia said...

Hobbes looks so cuddly there. I can't wait to see the shawl finished, and I love your artsy shot of the sock!

I like a bit of TV but I can do without too. I've noticed I feel justified having the telly on longer as I've been knitting more the last few years, but it tends to be more DVDs and some recorded TV shows than just watching whatever up comes next.

Amy Lane said...

Hobbes looks like a total sweetie... and although my tv viewing is getting slimmer and slimmer, I'd miss the big screen to watch movies on, that is for certain! (And there are some shows that I'm just addicted to--not many, maybe five or six in a week, but those six hours are required viewing!)

Hobbes looks like a delightful reading companion--and I"m sure he loves the funnies!

Anonymous said...

On the nights Mr BDK is working late, I don't even bother switiching the TV on. In fact, if it wasn't for him, I would gladly give it away and not miss it one single bit.

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...