Bird and Little Bird

Alphabet Glue: A Warm Welcome for Volume Sixteen!

 

It took just a bit longer than I was hoping, mostly due to things like busy toddlers, but I am pleased to report that the newest installment of Alphabet Glue is ready at long last. Dawn jumped in with both feet on this one, and I truly could not have built this issue without her. Indeed, I wouldn't have even made the attempt. So a big, big thank you to her. Truly.

 

 

This latest volume of Glue is full of great science and literature inspired projects and printables for all. You'll find migrating birds, mysteries of melting points, libraries sized for matchboxes, and so much more in the pages of this issue, and I sincerely hope that you'll have a grand time doing it.

You can read up on all the details of the latest issue and download a copy of your very own by visiting the Alphabet Glue site here.

Or, if you already know that you're all in, simply click the button below to download the new Glue directly from this post.

Alphabet Glue, Volume Sixteen, $4: 

Alphabet Glue, Volumes Fifteen and Sixteen, $7:

So. Very. Close.

Well. It has taken just a little bit longer than promised, but I did want to poke my head through the door here and let you all know that Volume Sixteen of Alphabet Glue is mere minutes from being finished. I strongly suspect that it will appear on the front page of the site sometime this evening, but if nothing else, let's be sure to meet back here tomorrow morning for a proper launch party of sorts, yes?

See you soon!

The Book I'm Not Writing.

 

If I were going to write a book about quilting,* it would be called something like The Lazy Girl's Guide to Making Quilts and Stuff. It would be about two pages long, and both of them would be dedicated to detailing the dangers of rotary cutters. Because I'm pretty sure that the rest is all just unimportant details. Right?

Hmn.

* I am not going to write a book about quilting, so don't worry.

From the Glue Department: An Update

As I slowly dip my toes back in the waters of blogland, I'm finding that I am getting an ever so slightly increasing number of emails wondering just where the next issue of Alphabet Glue might be hiding out. The answer is, of course, in my brain. And a little bit on my harddrive. But you all have been sweet enough to wonder (thank you for that!) and so I thought I should return the favor by offering a little update.

With this fall and winter having so very much to offer in the Big Life Changes Department, I have to admit that my inspiration for things like whimsical science experimentation and paper folding took a bit of a hit. But a new routine is beginning to take shape, and I found myself missing the creative work of putting the magazine together every couple of months. Knowing that there are still going to be a fair number of ups and downs in daily life around here, I felt ill prepared to do much of anything on my own and asked Dawn if she might be willing to help me knock out Volume Sixteen of Alphabet Glue. She said she would indeed.  And thank goodness- because she is my own personal taskmaster and we are now on track to have a great new issue ready for you all very soon. I'm hoping it will be ready for launch in about a week.

I'll keep you all posted, and in the meantime, I hope that you will accept my true and honest gratitude for letting me know that you'd like to see another issue of The Glue land on your virtual doorsteps. It means quite something. Really.

Yarn Along (A Sock and a Half).

I have been a painfully intermittent knitter of late. Which is not to say that I have been knitting much, because I actually have, but in fits and starts that lead to things like forgetting where I am in a decrease row, neccesitating painfully slow fixes if I am to continue on. I suspect maybe some of you know how this goes?

 

I seem to be settling into my realization that I should really just stick to socks and mittens for the next little while. Or maybe little sweaters for little people. I'm still a bit discouraged by the fact that I spent so much time knitting my Tea Leaves only to have it be way too big. I guess it is all a lesson in being a process oriented (as opposed to product oriented) maker of things?This is something I could use some work on, I suppose, so I'll try my best to embrace the learning, however marginally painful it may be.

2014 is officially the year of knitting the small stuff.

 

Yarning along with Ginny today.

Library Monday: Winter Reading Round-Up.

It has been a bit since I've done the Library Monday thing, and I figured I might flex my book sharing muscles today with a simple post sharing what folks are reading around my house at the moment. Well, M. and me, anyway. The smallest fry is still all about the pigeon.

 

M. has finally decided that she had the necessary literary courage to dive in on the Harry Potter series. I gave her the entire set of books as a gift over the holidays, and she is about three deep at the moment. As expected, she loves it so far. I think it actually helps that so many of her friends have already read them and have spoiled some of the bigger and potentially more stress inducing plot points. She knows that many a favored character isn't going to make it out of book seven alive, and seems okay with this. Big progress in the literary plot acceptance department for my girl.

I've had my nose in a book much of the time lately, I suppose in part because I have had more kid free time in the last few weeks than I have had in the previous nine years combined. I'm in the process of getting my teaching credential transferred to Massachusetts, which in spite of my having a Master's in education, appears to require taking a bunch of tests that prove I know lots of important things. Like what a rational number is and what started World War II. So, there is some reading of that variety going on. But we will skip that business and get to the good stuff.

 

I picked up La Tartine Gourmande last week after browsing through it over and over again at my friend Sarah's house a few days before. It is truly lovely, and I'm obviously a fan of the fact that the recipes are all gluten-free (or easily adapted to be). I've already cooked out of it a handful of times, and everything has been stellar thus far. Love.

 

Being a longtime fan of all things Haruki Murakami, I'm surprised that it took me so long to read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Maybe because I wasn't doing all that much running for awhile there? Either way, I am definitely back to running now, and doing five or so miles most days of the week. This book makes a nice complement to my running routine, and I love the way that Murakami writes. Plus, he lives in Cambridge so it is fun to read his words about running some of the same places that I do.

 

 

I recently finished reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and would absolutely recommend it to all my friends and neighbors. A memoir about the author's solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, Wild is really the story of one person finding a way to save herself through self-reliance, courage, and the healing power of nature and solitude. It is pretty inspirational, and definitely has me itching to spend a bit of time on the A.T. this coming summer. I suppose I can do some of those sorts of things if I find myself without hiking companions under the age of ten, right? 

I could certainly use some new book recommendations for the new year, so if you are reading something worthwhile, please leave a comment here and let us know what it is!

Have a Snow Day.

 

 

 

We are having a bit of snow here on the East Coast. Perhaps you have heard? As a recent transplant from Vermont, I was feeling a bit smug yesterday afternoon as I watched all of Boston shut down early to get ready for the foot or so of expected snow. I was not impressed. But I suppose that when I look out my living room window this morning, it does indeed look like there is a good bit of shoveling to be done. So fair enough. More coffee and a bit of sock knitting needs to happen before I'm ready to tackle a two hour shoveling project though.

People of the greater Boston area, let me give you a word of advice: When looking for a rental here, it is a good idea to ask about the snow removal policies of the leafy little suburb in which you find yourself contemplating a residence. For example, will you personally be responsible for shoveling the entire city sidewalk in front of your home each time it snows? By your own self? It turns out that the answer 'round these parts is very often a resounding "yes." Thank goodness for a lovely downstairs neighbor who happily shares the task with me.

Oh! And thanks to all of you who have left comments or sent emails in the last day or so letting me know that you are glad for my sudden reappearance here and wish me well in this phase of transition. I truly appreciate the kindness, support, and thoughtfulness. Indeed.

Hey, there.

Well. It's been a little bit, huh?

The last couple of months have been a time of intense transition for our little family, and although I don't think that I am likely to ever delve into the details of all of it here, I guess I will share that Dan and I have separated, and are sharing custody of the small people. Relatively amicably, I think.

 

For weeks I hesitated to post anything here at all, because there were (and still are) a lot of people in our collective lives who read in this space and may or may not know about what has been going on. But enough time has passed now that I am starting to feel that if someone who should know what is happening doesn't already, it is simply because the pace of life here lately has been such that there truly hasn't been time to make the calls or send the emails to share. And because my being kind of sick of talking about it all is not a reflection on my love for our friends and family in any way. It just means that I needed to stop telling the whole story over and over for a little while, you know?

 

So. I don't know exactly what all of this means for this space, but I think that I am diving back in. At first, I thought that I wouldn't; that this shift in the structure of my life meant that it was probably time to let go of this blog and simply focus on my work with Dawn over at Mud Puddles to Meteors. But the emails and comments from folks out there asking if I would be coming back here (and ever so politely asking me to do so) made me realize that I like showing up here to share random bits of daily life at my house, and that the honest thing to do would be to continue on during this time of change. Plus, despite all that is hard about suddenly finding myself in this situation, and without my kids so much of the time, there is a lot of really good stuff going on as well, including things that I am really happy to be able to share with you when the time is right.

Happy New Year, all. Here's to finding rhythm in change and peace where we can get it.

The Right Sleeve?

Well, I can finally say that my Tea Leaves has one finished sleeve. There were some hiccups here, primarily related to misreading the pattern and subsequently knitting the sleeve cuff in reverse stockinette, instead of garter. Oh, and that bit where I ran out of yarn on the bind off row. There was also that. I guess I am an optimist at heart, eh? I really thought I could make it.

Of course, once you have a finished sleeve, one always feels like it would be nice to try the sweater on and start visualizing what it will be like when it is finally finished. So I did this. And, for better or worse, I started this thing when I was about a year post-baby Z. Baby Z. is now toddler Z. and between the benefits of time and running about 20 miles a week... Yep. I think that the sweater might be too big.

What is it that Elizabeth Zimmermann said about mittens? Yeah. That. I think I need to go back to mittens.

Weekday Morning.

In the rare moments when he isn't hammering something, or building towers up for purposes of knocking them over, or insisting on having another snack, or chasing the cat, he might look like this. And then the house gets so, so quiet. And I think "I should really remember this right here."