A detail from the Mary Tyler Moore house:
An ivy tower – not to be confused with an ivory tower, of course.
This had a lovely witch’s hat sort of look.
A towering fortress?
Ivy, trees, a round porch…
Reminding me of the Tin Man’s hat.
With blue, blue sky…
Ah, poor Chaos – so bored with the windows closed and the air conditioning running!
*sigh* -Chaos
“No one takes me seriously! Everyone is always cooing and saying how cute I am and rubbing my tummy and just generally dissing my inner badass! Well, *blip* all of you! I just killed and ate a boxelder bug and I am ready for more. Bring it on.” -Mayhem
Island Yarn Company is having a charity auction on ebay for Doctors Without Borders and and Kiva – you can purchase a handknit or crocheted blanket, sweater, tote, or scarf and support these organizations at the same time. All auctions close the evening of July 17.
Have I mentioned how proud I am of my dear friend Rebecca?! While her bellamoden sock yarn sells out lickity split at the Loopy Ewe, she does have some available at her etsy store right now.
I have been knitting – just very, very slowly.
“Could it be?!” -Mayhem
“Oh, I think it is!” -Mayhem
“Mmmm… stripey socks!” -Mayhem
“Although they are the perfect place for a bath…” -Mayhem
“I think I’ll just lie here and love on these wonderful stripey socks.” -Mayhem
*uncontrollable purring* -Mayhem
What? Don’t feel as if you actually got to see my finished socks? 😉 I knit them from Regia Banner Color #5451, using the stitch pattern from Charade and achieving near perfect matchy matchy. (You know how I am about the matchy matchy.)
…I’m going outside
I’m taking a walk
I’m just getting by.
– John Prine, “Taking a Walk”
Valerie’s looking for “brand name” ideas for herself. If you can come up with a crafty brand name with the word “mushroom” (or “champignon,” the French for mushroom) by July 20, you could win a box bag made just for you!
Oh dear – I’m thinking #7 could be a real problem…
I didn’t mean to worry anyone Friday with the last line of my post. When I wrote that, I had just finished reading Tink’s post about her fiance’s brother being killed in a car crash the night before and was feeling very sad…
So, back to the title of this post, from the song “Taking a Walk” by John Prine – I’m continuing to walk regularly and am definitely feeling lots better because of it. Taking pictures to share with y’all is helpful, too!
Speaking of which… 😉
Remember the mural on the side of Caffetto Cafe? This is the new mural – an apparent homage to Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer:
The fine print under “GEEK” says “Local Certified Geek.” Huh. What do you think geek certification covers?
Here’s a picture of the “Mary Tyler Moore” house, just for Lorraine:
Who knew map kiosks had their own addresses? Do you think there’s regular mail delivery?
The name of this apartment building amused me no end!
Some purple flowers that struck my fancy – Jeanne told me what kind they were, but I’ve already forgotten. D’oh.
I wonder if my fascination with shrubbery is because of Monty Python or Edward Scissorhands?
“Do you think I’d like going out for walks? I could get closer to the birds!” -Mayhem
Some random Minneapolis pictures… I love little towers and cupolas.
And rampant greenery.
Well, this is actually a St. Paul picture – do not turn your computers or monitors upside down in confusion. This is how I shot the picture. I’m even in the picture.
That would be Jeanne’s lovely but annoyed cat Puddinhead. Just picture yourself, outside, calling for this cat at the top of your lungs, “Puddinhead! Here, Puddinhead! Puddinhead, come home!” Hee hee.
Reading Update
Blood Lines and Night Season (The Lupi, Book 3 & 4) (plus bonus Night Season short story) by Eileen Wilks. Do not read the short story before you finish Night Season! It would be a sad thing. *sigh* The next book won’t be out until March 2009.
Born in Ice and Born in Shame (Books 2 & 3 of the Born In Trilogy) by Nora Roberts. There’s something comforting about the predictability of a Nora Roberts trilogy…
Dance Upon the Air (Three Sisters Trilogy, Book 1) by Nora Roberts. Like I was just saying…
Charmed and Enchanted (The Donovan Legacy) by Nora Roberts. If triplet wizards married triplet witches, what would the extended family be like?
High Noon by Nora Roberts. This suspenseful romance novel has crochet as a (minor) plot point!
From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampires, Book 8 ) and Dead to the World (Southern Vampires, Book 4) by Charlaine Harris. My goodness, the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel had some twists and turns to it! *blink blink* And after all that, I had to go back and reread Dead to the World, to refresh my memory.
Bitten and Smitten and Fanged and Fabulous (Immortality Bites, Book 1 & 2) by Michelle Rowen. Chick lit vampire romance set in Toronto.
Hunter’s Moon (The Sazi, Book 1) by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp. Maybe it was the writing style, but part of this had a very noir feeling… You can’t exactly say a book has a film noir feel – so what’s the right phrase?
Speaking of books… Remember that Romancing the Yarn contest I won? My prize turned out to be a lovely skein of Trekking in a colorway I hadn’t seen (bonus!), romance novel Just Desserts by author and knitter Barbara Bretton, magnets for her forthcoming knitting-related book Casting Spells (excellent title, isn’t it?), and a booklight. Thank you, Barbara et al!
“No, May, I think this gizmo is too heavy to steal as you race through. I’d go with the dash and dine on the yarn.” -Chaos
Have a good weekend, all – and make sure you give everyone you love an extra hug, ok?
For anyone who missed the late afternoon update yesterday, all is well – just lots and lots of tiny cysts leading to something that felt very, very wrong (and very unlike the cysts I’m more used to). Thank you all so much for the well wishes and healthy thoughts! You guys are the best. 🙂
Jane’s having a contest – tell her how many pairs of socks you could knit from the sock yarn in your stash and guess how many pairs she could knit from her stash. Leave her a comment with your guesses by July 11 at midnight, EDT, and you could win!
Eklectika is having a contest to celebrate her birthday – leave her a comment by 7/16, 3:22 am, and you could win a handmade spindle or lucet.
XRX, Inc., (which has a lot to answer for regarding the last several years of Knitters magazine) is having a sock design contest that runs until January 1, 2009. Grand prize is $6000.
“Hmm… smells suspicious…” -Chaos
“Nuh-uh. I’m not moving off this bib because I’m sure you have ulterior motives, Mom. I saw what you did to Mayhem.” -Chaos
“Hey, this is Mayhem. Will you think lucky healthy thoughts for my mom this afternoon? She’s having some tests done and she says it’s probably nothing, but the big kitty and I, we worry. She feeds us! And plays fetch! And gives good scritches! (Although the big kitty would like me to point out that she’s damned stingy with the tuna.) Much appreciated – I’m sure my mom doesn’t like going to the vet any more than I do.” -Mayhem
Update (7/9/2008, 3:45 pm CDT): Thank you all so much for the well wishes and healthy thoughts! All is well – just lots and lots of tiny cysts leading to something that felt very, very wrong (and very unlike the cysts I’m more used to). Whew!
If you know anything about Minnesota, you know it’s the land of 10,000 summer festivals. Amy has a great list of selected July offerings. Curses! Missed the Viola Gopher Count again! 😉
I have now worked for the same company for 12 years, although said company is now on its fourth or fifth name since I started!
Does this lolcats remind you of Mayhem?! And this could definitely be Chaos.
My “legacy” iPod shuffle, Bake Neko, is ok! True, it isn’t as sleek and sexy as the new Shuffles and Nanos, but it is an excellent size for carrying along on walks.
So I walked again last night, with musical accompaniment. Hopefully it will become a habit before I even notice it happened… (Shhh! Don’t clue me in on it!)
Probably I should not bring along my camera for my next 10 or 20 walks, since I took an awful lot of pictures last night. I’ll try not to overwhelm y’all with too many pictures at once.
Aren’t lions more traditional?!
Does Woodrow here (located in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden) remind you of a certain horse that cavorts with flamingos?
Hmm… Embiggen to read the sign on the left!
“No way are you catching me in a compromising picture like you did the big kitty yesterday! I’m going to sit here and do absolutely nothing.” -Mayhem
I hope everyone had a good weekend. I know I did. Many thanks for the wonderful recipe ideas on Thursday – if you’re looking for simple picnic side dish ideas, you should definitely check out the comments. I ended up taking an extremely simple corn and bean salad (drain a can of corn and a can of beans, then mix together with salsa to taste and let chill overnight), which went over very well.
I’ve been trying to take more walks, since I know that definitely helps my mood. (Sadly, my old-style iPod Shuffle, Bake Neko, isn’t with this program and seems to have died. I’m trying one more resynch and charge before I scrounge up a new Shuffle or a Nano.) Although I don’t take my camera along every time I walk, I do like to take a few pictures now and again. Such was the case yesterday.
Isn’t this a gorgeous house? Even amongst the other lovely houses, its Mediterranean splendor is spectacularly out of place on East Lake of the Isles Parkway.
Remember this house? I particularly love that the flamingos wander throughout the summer.
This guy amused me no end – at the lake, on his cell phone, presumably on the internets with his MacBook… That MacBook must have some amazing screen for him to be able to see anything!
I’m sure it’s no coincidence that this drinking fountain is near the dog park.
I liked the colors, the strange cement chair (one of a pair), and the general air of genteel decline.
A lion drain from an old apartment building…
And the last oversized (about six feet tall) Adirondack in my environs – tragically, you must imagine how lavender it actually is, since even my photo tweaking couldn’t achieve the proper shade.
Um… apparently Chaos cannot be reached for comment today… Whoops!
Stumbling Over Chaos will be closed Friday for the 4th of July holiday. The catstaff of Stumbling Over Chaos would be much obliged to anyone who can provide a link to a very simple side dish to go with the 4th of July main course of gluten-free “Cuban sliders” (wee hamburgers with Cuban-style seasoning). No plantains, please!
I hope you all have a great holiday/Friday!
“Mmmm… food preparation. I’m sure that tuna chunks drizzled in virgin olive oil would be the perfect side dish, Mom. They go with everything!” -Chaos