All the years I've written this blog I haven't taken a hiatus. Although
it doesn't seem like a whole lot is going on right now, I feel like I can't catch up. So it's time for a break.
But first - I have a few likes to share with the
I Like Thursday crew.
This week's like - I went to Kriplau! I haven't been to the yoga center with the gals since 2019. How wonderful! The wildfire smoke even cleared up enough to allow for hiking, kayaking, and Qigong on the Lawn.
There was 10 of us in my group (and not a single group photo!). Two of
the gals I never even saw. (I hope they had a nice time.) Another
two ran into me at afternoon yoga. The rest of us shared a couple of
dorm rooms overlooking the lake.
My sister and I took archery, which was a lot of fun. I haven't handled
a bow in years. The whole class agreed it was satisfying to listen to
the whoosh of the arrow when released and the thunk when it hits
the target.
I managed a few minutes to make a few more diamonds for the quilt. I'm not happy with how it has stalled. But now I have enough on the wall to get a feel on what to do next. At some point I had rejected the darkest pieces, but now they're back in as possibilities as the rest of the colored diamonds are in place.
Most of the trails were in the shade of the trees. The sculptures were a mix of stone and metal. Each piece was a surprise. Some were easy to spot, dominating a clearing. Others were tucked under rocky overhangs or embedded in the ground. We happened to use the paper map, rather than the interactive app, so we didn't know what the sculpture would look like until we found it. Some had a name, artist, origin and date next to it (sometimes painted on badly-faded or rotting board). Most had a little numbered medallion tacked to a nearby tree for reference - it's how we confirmed where we were on the map.
We went to MASS MoCA and Mount Greylock last weekend. It's been years since we've been to the museum and I've never been to Greylock. We managed to get a museum pass from the library and off we went!
I loved the sunlight streaming through the huge old glass windows.
You never know what you'll find: some of it's pretty, some of it's strange. I got a kick out of a table that had instructions to sit at it, put your elbows on the table and hands over your ears. I could hear sounds, but there was no sound standing near it. Very cool.
So let's start off with this week's prompt for I Like Thursday, which is: what's your favorite ice cream? Oh! Ice cream! Anything with chocolate makes me happy. This was Wednesday night's dinner. I have Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl topped with something called Boston Blackout (chocolate ice cream with brownies and fudge). The cup has Moosetracks, which is also pretty good. I've recently become a fan of S'mores ice cream (especially when paired with the Chocolate PB). Whatever ice cream I get, it definitely needs to go with a waffle cone. I love the different textures.
Most of my evenings have been spent in the yard. I planted my seedlings and seeds; admired various plants that have sprouted. Said hello to the hummingbirds zipping around the garden. (And unfortunately sprayed the dozen or so hornets nest that have popped up around the eaves and gutters.)
That has slowed progress on the quilt. I'm trying to get a feel for the dark diamonds on this quilt. Once I get these
pieced together I can do my last layout checks and stitch it
all together. I can't wait - things will cruise at that point!
I headed up to Newbury on Sunday to help pack up the old roll top desk to ship
back to Minnesota with my Dad's brother. We detached the top from the
bottom to help get it out of the house, and in doing so discovered a note
wrapped in plastic glued to the top of the cubbyholes. What a fun
discovery! The note came with two bicentennial coins. It was
signed by my dad and dated 1/23/1976. It said -
To Whom it may concern:
This desk was rebuilt in 1975-1976 after being
removed from Luke's Confectionery in LeSueur, Minnesota. I believe the
street address was 203 South Main Street. Luke, my father, owned the
business from about 1952 until 1974. Before then it was known as
McCall's. To the best of my knowledge the building was constructed in
the 1870's or 1880's. This desk was probably original equipment.
Almost all the glue joints failed in transportation to Minneapolis where I
refinished it. I used mostly a glue called Mastic, diluted with laquer
thinner, to put it back together after stripping it and restaining it with
Char Oak stain by Colony Paints. The final finish is two coats of
Masur Oil by the Masury Paint Co. All parts are original with the
following exceptions
