And feeling much more like myself after a couple days in the mountains.

Being in the woods make me happy! We stayed in a cabin outside of the Boone area and met up with some friends on Saturday to hike Grandfather Mountain. Not too many scenery pictures as we got a lot of rain (but it sure didn’t ruin our time!) - There are a few more on Flickr, but here are a couple:

Tad says it’s time to put the camera away - we could hear the rain coming towards us! Thank goodness for rain gear!

Since it’s Tuesday though, and it’s been awhile since I’ve posted for Messy Tuesday…. How about some Messy Boots?

These don’t have too many miles on them yet - I can’t wait until they’re old & beat up with the memories of this and lots of other hikes and camping trips scratched onto the toes and sides!

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Now playing: Patty Griffin - No Bad News
via FoxyTunes

My kitchen prowess approaches legendary status.

Tad may say (and he might be right) that this is nearly as bad as the time I set the oven mitts on fire.

Had I the good sense to turn off the burner before snapping the shot, I would have prevented the sizzling milk from spattering all over the adjoining counter and appliances.

In my defense, the camera was two feet away on the table… And believe it or not, I have made worse kitchen messes (even the burnt mitts aren’t the worst of it - they just smelled bad).
Hoping your Tuesday was Messy, but safe!

P.S. Thanks all for your well-wishes on my last post - I didn’t mean to give the impression that I was in a big funk - Things have been a little challenging around here this spring, and though I’ve done my share of whining (you know who you are, you who’ve listened, and thank you), things in general are very good, and I am very fortunate to have such great friends, family, and kind readers.
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Now playing: Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
via FoxyTunes

In the absence of knitting, blogging, photographing of messes (or knitting), working on Summer Sky, keeping up with online friends & their activities, and possibly most disappointing - a trip to one of my favorite annual activities, MDSW - there has instead been coughing, aching, sniffling and general yuck. I am almost never sick, but when I do come down with something I am a big old baby (must work on that)! I’m finally resuming normal activities and fortunately, there have been some consolations!

While I was mourning the missed trip to MD, I won Connie’s contest for her brother’s T-shirt! I rarely enter blog contests anymore in an effort to minimize the stuff coming into the house - there is a stream of “stuff” going out as we continue to pare down and filter out the unwanted or unused so that we can actually find the useful and valued, including yarn without a set purpose - so even potential free yarn or other contest swag feels like a burden sometimes - weird huh? Somehow this hasn’t stopped the book acquisitions though. I wish my public library had a better knitting collection. I digress, I digress!! I loved her brother’s illustration so much that I caved on this one. And who would have thought? I won! Check it out here! Talented family, no? Have you seen Connie’s latest IK design yet? Thank you so much Connie (and your brother too! It’s a beautiful design!) I look forward to wearing it!

Other bright spots have been Mathias’ returning strength (funny, I thought it would be the dogs that required us to stay home, not me!), and a resulting brief trip to VT a week ago to join Tad in seeing Tim & Martha and our sweet niece AB, and our little vegetable seedlings taking off in their new bed (built by Tad!) and flourishing with the recent rain and collected rainwater from our growing collection of barrels (the goal is to support the entire water needs of the garden this year with rainwater if we can). Oh, and it’s primary day in NC! We walked to our precinct’s polling place this evening, conveniently located at the edge of our neighborhood. I was very excited to go vote!

So how about a Messy Tuesday pic (taken a week or more ago now!)?

Sad closet shelf with hidden WIPs - Go to Flickr to see the detailed notes.

This is not usually where I store my WIPs - an as you can see, they’re suffering for it - That’s my Festjakke and Riata Tweed Jacket, which looks like it needs some detangling. Ouch. I think these got stuffed here in a quick “cleanup” for company weeks ago - and strangely enough, they haven’t been touched since! But! Belvedere the second has been progressing though slowly, and I’ll have a pair of finished socks to show in a couple days. Some work has been done on Summer Sky, my brain finally felt up to tackling some of the math on Sunday and I think that I’m on target for an end of May/early June release. Taking this step back to rework and revise has been very valuable, if time consuming. Which makes me even more excited for some of the other designs I have on the brain! I hope you’ve all been well and doing fun stuff, knitting and making messes!

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Now playing: The Weepies - Can’t Go Back Now
via FoxyTunes

POTENTIAL

This time of year always sneaks up on me. Although spring is my favorite time of year here in North Carolina (even rivaling Autumn in New Hampshire!) there’s a creeping sadness that comes with it, and sometimes, there’s just nothing to do but make a really excellent mess.

Nothing says potential like bare earth. And not many things feel as good as the tiredness that comes from working it. Combining the compost made from the remnants of last years garden and a years worth of vegetable scraps and turning it into the soil felt like giving back a bit of what we took out last year. Awesome, in the truest sense. With hope that there will be some seedlings soon. I was surprised at how late our frost date is - April 24rth by one account and May 11 by another. So, though I thought I was late, it seems I’m right on time. Some have been started outdoors, and some indoors. The tomatoes and peppers and eggplants I’m not quite sure what to do about as it seems they need a lot more TLC to start from seeds than the rest of them… I may stick to seedlings for them this year and try to set up a better indoor planting scheme for them for next year - we’re learning as we go here!

Hmmm… Veggie or Weed?

Not too many pictures as my hands were messy as can be - though I’m ok with that, I thought the camera might not be. So no pictures of the action or of me tracking my mess into the house (shame on me!) just a couple of dirt. I’ll leave the rest to your very capable imaginations.

I am my mother’s daughter - I love being outside, hiking, playing in the dirt, growing food, and getting up close and personal with the flowers.

Mom’s garden, flourishing.

I’ll bet you all made some great messes in the last couple weeks, I will catch up on your posts shortly here!

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Now playing: Bon Iver - Flume
via FoxyTunes

Ok, so I moved the books a smidge so you can see what’s underneath. Other than that, it’s as is. I like my mess “artfully” fanned out, thank you.

Come on over to the Messy Tuesday Flickr group (and join in if you like) where you can see more pictures and thoughtful and funny captions from the participants, as well as far too much detail about the messes (mine would be the latter, of course).

Happy Messy Tuesday folks. Leave your mess today and go hug/call/smooch someone you love, ok?

I have long felt that there are more important things in this world than housework (my father would attest to this), just as I feel that there are many, many worse things in this world than swears. Maybe these are just excuses for my clutter or potty mouth. Maybe. You won’t find me swearing outright on my blog though, because even though this is my space, it is a public place, and I want you to feel welcome and not offended (and it doesn’t mean I don’t revel in it when YOU swear!). You also generally don’t see me displaying my poor housekeeping skills to company (not the very worst of it, at least!) or here on the blog. I have confessed my messiness before, but find that I usually avoid showing the evidence. I don’t want you to know HOW messy I actually am, but there it is. The truth is that I AM messy. And who wants to see that? Your mess or mine?

I guess I do. Last week, I suddenly felt right at home with some wonderful bloggers, some of whom I’d never “met” before. Felix and KnitWit started the celebration with their thought-provoking and affirming manifestos and invited all to join in. Needled’s thoughts were simply profound - Thomasina’s teacups and Slipped Stitch’s needle jar and as I’ve mentioned, Shannon’s housekeeping techniques, were all too familiar. They all are sticking with me. Gratuitous linking due to the idea that some of you may need to read & see these as much I did - Enjoy! As much as I love beautiful pictures and crafts, and the brief illusion that life isn’t so messy (yours or mine!) I know that even the neatest of us battle the mess in some way, shape or form, at some time or another, or every day even. We all make decisions about how to budget our time and prioritize the messiness right along with everything else in our lives. Most of the time for me, the mess just does not rank high enough. Until it becomes a health hazard, or I’m having company, whichever comes first. So I’m here to join in the party by reveling in my own messes once a week - parties do make the most memorable and happy messes!

Dirty hoof.

This little party starts here at floor level, with the pups added for a smidge of cuteness, but I think it’s appropriate since the floor is where they spend all their time and these particular messes have more to do with them than with Tad or I. I’ll take all the dirt along with the dogs - they provide us with so much joy, unconditional love, and hilarity in return. This is what accumulated on the floor while we had a wonderful weekend (and has continued since - maybe tonight I will sweep. Or finish my spinning project). Notes and all the gory details (paw prints, dog hair tumbleweeds, etc. etc) can be seen larger in my Flickr set, if you’re so inclined!

Dirt, Dog Hair & Debris

Happy Messy Tuesday - Go do something more important than cleaning (and tell us about it!)

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Now playing: Cloud Cult - Everybody here is a Cloud
via FoxyTunes

New Cloud Cult!! Hurray!!