Sunday 1 November 2020

First weekend in November


The hurricane tree lost its last leaves sometime in the middle of the week. I had been watching them carefully, but then they were suddenly all gone even before Storm Aidan blasted through this weekend. The skies are steely, the days are getting dark, and it's now November so, while it's not really cold enough yet, I suppose I'll have to start getting ready for Winter!

What I'm still reading then this Winter: Psalms right up to Old Year's Night, and I'm in Psalm 119 now. I didn't know that it's an acrostic poem - every one of those intriguingly titled sections represents a letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and in the original every line of each section starts with that letter.  Also still reading Kierkegaard's Lilies and I should really read the last essays in my William Morris book. I think I'm not going to try to read anything else, except maybe Ali Smith's Autumn and Winter. Oh and I find I'm already looking forward to Rosamond Pilcher's Winter Solstice (I do love that Scottish house with its big Belfast sink). But mostly I'm finding it hard to settle my mind to reading. It was the same at the start of Lockdown - I just couldn't still myself. I feel some of the same unsettled fragility just now.

What I'll be making this Winter: up to Christmas it will be all about Cushla's Comfort blanket. PC helped me do some hard ratio sums today based on the seven out of 26 balls of yarn used thus far and I think it might turn out alright in the end. Still spending Wednesday Hookery zooms on my shawl. Still hoping to make the Harris Tweed Christmas presents pouches before Christmas! And would I be able to make ten crochet bauble covers for the ten teachers in my school department? We'll see...

What I'm doing: the course - first assignment submitted last week - and swimming. I was in the Lough this morning so that definitely feels like winter swimming if I got to November! Will I still be swimming in the first weekend in December? Oh, what an exciting question!

Here's the maple tree right outside our living room window. It's gloriously vibrantly defiantly red, during the day when we can see it glow. So it's my next leaf counting project.


 

4 comments:

Pom Pom said...

Swimming sounds wonderful! I love Winter Solstice. Elfrida is a great character.
I can't imagine what it's like getting those sea storms. Stay warm and cozy, sweet Mags.

Lisa Richards said...

Still swimming? Wow! Proud of you! Not sure what a bauble cover is, but enjoy your wool work! Happy autumn!

Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm said...

You are BRAVE! I can't swim very well; actually, I can just about manage dog paddling. Just. And to swim in the lough? WOW! Mandy, my Mennonite friend, wants to swim in the pond/lake and I told her, "Go right ahead." I want to buy a metal ladder to put on the dock, just in case I fall overboard I want to be able to get back on the dock. Or jetty as you call it.
I'm reading, every so slowing, My Grandmother Said to Tell You She's Sorry and I love it. It's been a while since novel spoke so quietly and so real to me. I've started A Man Called Ove but put it down when I got to the first gasp. Too many memories.
For the Bible, I'm in 2 Corinthians; for some reason, I found Romans easier to understand than I'm finding Corinthians. That's a first.
A tri shawl is on the needles, the horse trainer has both beasts under saddle and, perhaps, this week, depending upon weather, I'll be on one saddle.
Life is good. So is God.
Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm

M.K. said...

Brrr! That ocean swimming sounds so cold! You're courageous :)
I've heard many folks note that their reading has fallen off during the pandemic. Esp. that they couldn't read difficult things or non-fiction, but had to revert to simple novels, light fare. It's normal. Our brains are emotionally exhausted and don't have the capacity to imbibe other people's traumatic tales.

It's reassuring to discover that there IS enough yarn for your project! That's such a worry, but I'm always too lazy to figure out the math on it. Glad you had help :)

Peace to you this season, dear.

Time stands still

 Hello! Sending you all lots of love from Northern Ireland, where nothing much changes just as everything changes, as usual. Time has stood ...