Most of my knitting time was spent making something that I can't share here yet, but I did go to a few classes and make a few things not of the stringy type. First was a delightful class at Bella Vita making mantra bracelets - delightful in that it was really fun to be out doing things with other people, and also I had a table of lovely people to consult and swap beads with. The kids and I made beaded bracelets as part of my spring break craft camp/use up all the craft kits we've accumulated project. The beads I got at Argenta Bead Company, and they had some lovely options! I ended up having to choose a color theme as a way of narrowing down my options. I have accepted that I am a forager and supporter of others' gardening and growing abilities, but someone in a Discord server I'm a part of shared this recipe and I am capable of putting eggs and bacon on frozen puff pastry, so I did these for a first day of spring brunch. They turned out delicious! Also not knitting wa...

My first car was a lightly used silver Scion XA that I absolutely loved. I happily drove Bobby for ten years and he never gave me any trouble and always got me where I needed to go safely. Knowing that someday he would need to be replaced, I kept half an eye on vehicles and settled on a bright green Scion IM as my preferred next vehicle. But you can't fit three carseats in the back of an IM or an XA, so four years ago Bobby went to live with a professional cleaner who needed a reliable car with good gas mileage and a back hatch that didn't require propping open with a broom handle and I ended up with a van. Morrison was exactly what we needed and the kids loved him, but I did not particularly enjoy driving (or parking) something so big. Deciding that we didn't need two gas guzzling vehicles and in preparation for a job that was an hour drive away, my partner traded in his big pick up truck... for a Corolla Hatchback, which is what IMs became when Toyota absorbed Scion five ...

My youngest needed a hair cut but was not feeling the trimmers, so to help him feel better about it he cut my hair and I cut his (and then cleaned up mine). Hence the spring buzz! While driving my middle to his ninja gymnastics class a few weeks ago, he announced, "Mom, I'm tired of our house." Some probing revealed that he was tired of being at home all the time, and wanted to travel ("I just wanna stay at someone else's house. For, like, three weeks.")  I feel like my hibernation project was a personal success, and one I'd like to continue, but we're all ready to come out now. We're cleaning our drawers and closets, and getting ready for my yearly attempt to stay ahead of the bugs (hopefully I'm starting early enough to suppress both ants and mosquitoes), and finding ourselves drifting outside more often. There are still cold days, and will be for awhile, but they're a different kind of cold. Less stern, somehow. We're getting pande...