April Wrap-up

April has been a delightful month, full of people to see, things to do, books to read -- and to a lesser extent, yarn to knit.  At this very moment, as a matter of fact, I have zero project on the needles, and nothing to cast on when the day's work is done.  This will become a more imminent first-world problem as the day draws nearer to evening, when I have a knitting class.  I'll just have to come up with something simple that can use stash oddments. 

Starting off with pictures, we have a record of what I did on April 1st.  April 1st was a beautiful day -- gentle breeze, warm spring air, dry ground.  It was perfect for tidying up the yard, and weeding, and bike riding, and the TKGA newsletter announcement.  Three of those things happen outside, and one happens inside, often followed by troubleshooting via e-mail.

Then, while I was tidying the yard, I had a serious Walking Fail involving a garden rake, an above-ground drainage pipe, and an occupantless wheelchair. 

Ouch.

 This made scheduling the bike ride / newsletter launch much easier.  I skipped the bike ride and opted for ice packs and an elevated leg.  Over three weeks later, I still have a lump. 

The Archives

Because I was sitting down instead of drifting about from place to place doing this and that, I decided to do something useful and consolidate the TKGA archives.  When they came to me, there were 6 sets of index cards, sorted (mostly) A-Z.  One for those in the Master Hand Knitter program, another for those in the Master Hand Knitter program, a third for those who had completed Level 2of the Master Hand Knitter program, a fourth for those who had completed the entire Master Hand Knitter program, a fifth for those in the Master Machine Knitter program, and a sixth for those in the Master Machine Knitter program.  By my judgment, that was four sets too many.  So I consolidated:  One for MHK, one for MMK.

I also knit a pair of socks, and a pillow cover, neither of which are available for photos.  Use your imagination! 

But reading ... our library has a nifty program whereby those who do not live in a town with a library branch can have books MAILED to them.  I heard about a book called Deep Nutrition, thought it sounded interesting, and requested it.  It is FASCINATING.  (Warning: don't read the book right before a major holiday involving lots of baked goods or candy.)  I heartily recommend as fodder-for-thought to anyone interested in making nutritious food choices, or those wishing away a health problem.  Just fascinating.  My mom (who has the book now) requested The Unsettlers, which I also read.  I didn't expect to find Wendell Berry mentioned in it quite so many times as he showed up.  More food for thought, but in a very different way.  My current audiobook is Twenty Years After by Dumas. 

With the advent of spring, we have the advent of gardening.  The kale (Lacinato, not Siberian this year!) has been transplanted, the Swiss chard planted, and two beds have received the fruit and veggie scraps that have been accumulating in gallon ice cream buckets all winter.  (A benefit of Minnesota cold is that you can put such buckets in an unheated back room and they don't become unliveable for a few months, at which point winter is enough over that they can be set out in the garden, waiting for the ground to be diggable).  There's also the advent of stinging nettles.  Last year, I experimented with them as tea for allergies.  This year, I'm diving into Nettles As A Leafy Green Vegetable.  Nettles sauteed in butter?  Yum!  Nettle soup? Delicious.  Mom's yard is my source of nettles, otherwise I'd be having them daily.  If I didn't know how invasive and pesty the things are, I'd be planning out a spot for them in my yard. 

Happy spring to you all!