Here it is a week later.  A busy week filled with busy things.  But don't ask me what they were, I have no idea what kept me so busy.  I have photos to go with all of this but they are locked inside the camera and the computer here won't accept any kind of download (it IS a work computer after all so I can't get too upset).  I'll have to share the photos later.  Pk has been using my computer to help fix his.  He has been having some problems with his OS and needed to rebuild. 

Last Friday, Pk and I had a lovely lunch in Philadelphia with two coworkers.  The weather was gorgeous and the food was delicious.  I love quiche and this place made one that was buttery and satisfying.  My coworkers went back to work and Pk and I walked the Italian Market for a bit. 

We wandered into a tea/spice shop and bought some dried beans and some orange tea that smelled like you could just eat handfuls of it.  It makes a flavorful beverage as well.  We went into a kitchen/cooking supply store.  It was filled with all manner of gadgets that I didn't know existed and now know I need.  I could get a mold and make my own butter lambs for Easter.  Of course, I have to find a place to store the mold for the other 364 days of the year.  The one thing we were looking for was a "pear case".  I don't know if these things exist but I need something to carry pears to work in my lunch so that they don't get all mushy.  THIS they didn't have.

We chose not to go to the grocery store but to go home and enjoy the rest of the beautiful day.  I spun and Pk did woodcrafting things.  A lovely day.

Saturday, we got up early to travel to Delaware to buy some blades for the bandsaw.  I didn't need to go but I wanted to keep Pk company.  It's about an hour away.  We got there 45 mins before the store opened.  Thank goodness for portable knitting.  I was able to make a good bit of progress on Em's birthday socks.

Sunday, we went to Emily's house for an Easter/Birthday dinner.  She made ham and potato salad and baked beans.  I made her a chocolate cake with coconut frosting which she requested.  The food was good.  Em has learned to cook rather well.  Kate and Pk and I got together and half of Em's gift was handmade.  We got her a large enameled pot (and measuring things) to dye yarn/fiber in.  Kate made an apron with robots on it, Pk made some long handled wooden paddles for stirring the dye pot.  I also managed to finish the burgundy Fox Faces socks in time.

She liked the gifts, although she said "Why do you all bother to ask me what I want and then give me what you want me to have?"   We have no answer for that except that what she asked for seemed boring to us and we had already kind of decided what we wanted to give her.  We should probably just not ask.

I learned something on Sunday.  I am most definitely NOT a whiskey drinker.  For his birthday, Pk's sister and brother in law gave him a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue.  It's the bottle they give the Super Bowl champs.  There was an extra bottle and Harp (brother in law who works for a liquor distributor) got hold of it and they gave it to Pk.  He opened it on Easter to share it with the family.  I only took a sip and there is no way I could become a whiskey drinker.  It tasted like smoke and felt like fire.  Not my thing.

We tried a new grocery store on Monday morning.  A really good time to check out a new place since it wasn't crowded and we weren't in a hurry.  It wasn't perfect but it'll have to do.  Having Monday off has kind of thrown my sense of what day it is off a bit but in a good way. 

Here we are at Thursday and today is knitting group.  Btw, last week?  The room was full.  One new-ish knitter wanted to learn how to make a horseshoe cable. After finding directions online, we figured out how to add it to her piece.  It's ambitious but I like her ability to just strike out and make what she wants.  There were two new crocheters and a few folks from before.  It was cool but it meant that my own knitting sat in the bag, largely ignored.  I bring one pair of plain socks and one slightly more complicated piece with me so in case there's no one, I can knit something fun as opposed to something I can pick up and put down and not lose my place.  I like it when it's crowded and we have a group but I also like it when it's just our regular four people and I can just knit and chat.

Tomorrow is Friday and then we have one of those weekends with no plans whatsoever.  I should probably wash the windows and curtains soon (although it feels like I just did that) but I'll probably just do minimal chores and then putter around with the sewing machine.  I bought some heavyweight denim to make a shop apron for Pk and want to quilt it to make it thicker.  I don't know if my machine can handle it and I need to play with it for a bit.

So, how about y'all?  Is life treating you well?  I'll end with an Emily Dickinson poem I like.

I'm Nobody.  Who Are You?  (Emily Dickinson)

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one's name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!


When I was a kid, I thought it would be a marvelous thing to be Somebody.  Now, as an older adult, I love my anonymous little life.  I wouldn't want to be famous and have people know who I was.  I am special only to a few people and that's really ok with me.  So being nobody?  Not so bad.