Word Association Knitting .....

Last weekend my thought process went something along the lines of warmer weather - watery sun - green shoots - spring! - blossom ....

- March hares ....

I have been trying for a long time to knit a chicken.  I have knitted them from the tail forward, from the beak backwards, from the feet up, in one piece, in two pieces, with a gusset and without.  It has been something of an obsession and I am unable to decide why it has been so difficult to arrive at a version which pleases me. I haven't had the problem with any of the other birds I've knitted.  Here is the latest idea ( tail forwards, one piece, seperate legs!) with the Easter chicks from few years ago.

Speaking of obsessions, Northern Man's ipad addiction is becoming worse and has spread to include a mini ipad and an iphone.  These devices talk to each other and share information;  what is saved on one, is saved on all.  He thinks this is a wonder of modern technology but I think it's verging on Terminator territory.  I don't want my machines talking to each other;  imagine if the Yeti began to chat to the dishwasher, washing machine or dyson.  They'd share stories about my incompetence and slatternly habits, the way I cut corners, don't vacumn under the furniture or scrape the plates.  They'd begin to laugh about me behind my back, lose respect, refuse to carry out my instructions.  There's nothing worse than an uppity dishwasher ....

Living the Dream ...

Not so long ago, in a women's magazine found not so far away, I read about the modern-day myth of the 'capsule wardrobe'.  I have long attempted to recreate this ideal spending far too much money on the quest and still,  when I am asked to travel for a week taking only hand baggage,  I find that nothing I have matches.  Many of you will ask why I bother to try and the answer to this is Northern Man.  Northern Man likes to be first off the plane, at the front of the queue for passport control, through customs and at the car rental desk before the back row in economy have even thought about unbuckling their seatbelts.  He hates waiting and loathes queuing so he believes that hand baggage will quicken the passage through and out of an airport.  This is true but it doesn't solve the problem I have of not wanting to live in one pair of jeans for a week. From all of this, you will have guessed that we have been travelling again so I expect no sympathy from you for my unresolved struggle with my packing problem.    Here are some of the highlights ...

We stopped in Saint Augustine (pronounced as in langoustine), Florida and came across the delightful Dow Museum of Historic Houses which has been created by the simple conceit of enclosing an entire block of the town and opening its 'historic' houses to the public.  If I sound a  little snide about this it is because some of the houses in the museum were actually built after 1845, which is when our house dates from!  But, the reason I am mentioning the museum is not the buildings but the grounds, which had been turned into a retreat of shady nooks and quiet courtyards filled with moss covered trees, fountains and statues...

Some of the houses are furnished ....

I loved this shadow box with its arrangement of wool flowers.  I've been searching in vain for instructions to make flowers like this from wool.

We travelled on to the gracious city of Savannah with its squares and streets filled with huge live oaks draped in Spanish moss (it ain't Spanish and it ain't moss) .....

Beautiful buildings everywhere .....

Little bits of fun ....

And movie history ....

This is where Forrest Gump sat to say 'my momma always said life was like a box of chocolates'.

And then to glorious Charleston where every turn you make opens up another delightful view.  Charleston single houses are narrow and deep with one end turned to the street.  They are one room wide and have verandas running the length of the house to catch the breeze on hot summer days.  The verandas are known as piazzas and, as well as providing outdoor living space, they shade the windows of the house from the afternoon sun.  But, and here's the fun bit, many of the houses have front doors which open onto to the piazza, not the house itself.

From the front ...

..

... and from behind.

Some of the plots have been subdivided which leads to an interesting numbering of houses ....

So, as you can see, there was lots for me to see and explore while Northern Man played golf with the locals ......