New

Sooooo. . . . it's been a long while since I've written here.  In fact, it's been about a year!  A new year, however, deserves a little attention-- especially when the new year is also in a new place called Baton Rouge, at a new church (St. Luke's Episcopal Church), and a new school for the kids, (St. Luke's Episcopal Day School).  There is a new, temporary house, new grocery stores (Albertson's, Whole Foods, & Calvin's Bocage Market), a new Y with wonderful classes & fun folks, new neighborhoods, new parks, and new places to explore.

I don't know much about Louisiana.  I didn't even have gumbo or jambalya until graduate school when I met my future husband, and we took a trip to New Orleans.  Now we are in the middle of the real deal, and I can't wait to see, smell, hear, and taste it all.

I'm not looking forward to the feeling part of the five senses.  It's going to be very humid and hot for a large portion of the year, but I hope it won't be that much different from Jackson, MS.  We might have hurricane days, but we even had these in Jackson-- occasionally. I doubt we'll see snow unless we take a trip to Colorado or Maine.  On the bright side, the gardening is supposed to be wonderful if you can stand the heat.

We will be looking for a permanent house this spring and selling our dear home in Jackson.  The photo below was taken at the base of the large Magnolia tree in our backyard in Jackson.  I snapped it on the day the movers were loading the stuff of our lives onto the trucks (it took two!), because I knew I would miss these roots.

My roots (Sarah, Jennifer, Bonnie, Liza, Eileen, Cherie, Bryan, Beth, St. Andrew's Cathedral, and my school communities at McWillie, Casey, APAC, and St. Therese) have sustained me during my time in Jackson, through this move, and beyond.  I left Jackson transformed by the folks I knew, and I hope that I leave behind some good things, too.  

Here's to a new start in this new year of 2013 on this 12th Night of Christmas.

I'm Back. . .

In November and December, I was addicted to hat making.  I knitted all Thanksgiving break and beyond into the last few weeks of school.  I knitted during winter break, and I still have a few more to finish as the new year begins. 

It has been a good Christmas season, and we are still lingering over the last two days of the school break and preparing for one more birthday on Epiphany.  In our neighborhood, we are one of the last families to put our decorations and tree up, and we are last to take them down-- unless the cats get the better of me.

One of the daily comic episodes in our house has been the game:  "Keep the Cats Out of the Christmas Tree Room."  Every day, at least one or both cats find their way in to be retrieved from branches, tangles of lights, and an ever-growing collection of ornaments on the floor instead of the tree.  I suppose they are slowly helping to un-decorate the tree. 

Bailey has been my constant companion as he follows me around the house most of the day unless he is deep in sleep.  He watches everything, unless he is asleep, with his worried-looking eyes.  He has enjoyed the visits of family and friends.  He has relished extra walks with the slower pace of life.   He has become so deaf  that last night's fireworks did not stir him into trembles of anxiety.  To see another year turn over with Bailey is a gift. 

Finally, I leave you with apologies that I have been absent for so long.  While I'm not making any promises for 2012, I have missed this place for recording some of the things I am doing, making, and thinking.  Happy New Year! 

Seen Around

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (missing some wings on both sides)

Monarch

Pipevine Swallowtail (look at that blue in the sunlight!)

Variegated Fritillary?

Giant Swallowtail

This is a blurry shot of the same Giant Swallowtail in the photo above.  I chased this butterfly around the garden for several minutes because I wanted to get a good photo for identification.  It seemed to be very aware of my presence and eventually tired of me and left the yard.  Doesn't it look ghostly? 

Flurry

Good thing the bees, wasps, moths, humming birds, and butterflies don't mind that my butterfly garden is a complete mess.  This summer has been so hot and so dry that the basil is yellow and wilted.  A morning glory vine wraps around the rosemary, and Johnson grass reaches taller than the lantana and chive flowers.  The sunflower long ago fell sideways and dried up.  Weeds choke the overgrown oregano, but a couple of volunteer zinnias keep blooming brightly in their awkward places against the brick sidewalk.  

The yellow swallowtail caught my eye and lured me outside.  It fed and gracefully danced all morning.  I didn't realize that its wings were damaged until I went outside with my camera.  Then, I saw and heard all of the other buzzy things flitting in and out of the remaining flowers.  An anole crept up a sage stem and leaped to the cover of the lantana.  A dragonfly zoomed in and out of my hearing as I leaned in closer to look at some of the tiny butterflies no bigger than my fingernail. Bees of different sizes landed on flowers in my peripheral vision and directly  in front of me.  Ants crawled into the centers of the morning glories, and the underside wings of the painted ladies glittered in the high-noon sunlight.

So much activity in such a small place.   The light is starting to feel like September.

Accomplishment

About two years ago, one of my new year's resolutions was to knit a sweater.  The year 2011, my friends, is THE YEAR.  I'm giddy with excitement in reaching a goal and bursting with anticipation for cooler weather (it is only 99 degrees right now with a heat index of 104).  The swatching worked because it fits!  In this moment, I feel like I can do anything. 

The pattern is Melissa LeBarre's Tea Leaves Cardigan.  The yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers # 9452.  I used almost 5 skeins with one complete skein left over.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I need a matching hat?

Adaptability

gecko on my window

inspiration from Ed Emberley's
Picture Pie: A Circle Drawing Book

another attempt to "organize"
homework supplies for the beginning of school

a refashioned circle scarf (cut from a t-shirt)
with running stitch embroidery

For the first half of 2011, I have only been posting one photo per day with a one word description.  You have probably seen 365 photo projects on other blogs, and I thought it would be a manageable way that I could keep my blog going (in a minimal way) without giving it up completely or taking an extended leave of absence.  While I remembered to take at least one photo each day most of the time, sometimes it was a chore and sometimes I fudged a little.  In the last couple of weeks, the process completely broke down.  Yesterday, I decided to let it die and go back to documenting, photographing, and writing.

With this school year, I have cut my "working at school" days back from 3 to 2.  I can already tell that having this extra day will ease some of the stress in the house when everyone is going in different directions. The extra day will also allow me to focus on some other projects-- and have a little more time again for this space. 

The photos above reveal a glimpse into my recent days: observing & thinking, planning, organizing, and a little stitching here and there.  I am already back at work, and the children start school on Friday.  Let the 2011-2012 school year begin! 

Visit

7.22.11 Museum

7.23.11: Badmitton

7.24.11: Frog-legs

 

 7.25.11: Cousins