scifiknitter

In November, 2008, I wrote about how an early snow storm damaged a very large pine tree on our property. I write now to say that our old friend the grandfather pine is gone, cut down by forces of progress. As you can see, the pine sat right next to the town road, within the right-of-way that the town controls. Our highway superintendent and highway crew undertook a major road improvement project on the road this fall. The objective: a wider road with better lines of sight, so that two vehicles could pass each other safely. The crew blasted away bedrock with dynamite, brought in truckloads of fill, and felled many trees. The old pine was one of the last to go. As it turned out, the tree was probably not long for the world. The inner core of the tree had a crack, and it was infested with carpenter ants. I took photos this fall, gave the tree a pat, and said goodbye. I was at work when the tree came down. The crew dug up the stump with an excavator and pushed it aside...

I was a lucky girl a few weeks ago, and I won a book from the WEBS yarn store. The book is Sock Yarn Studio by Carol Sulcoski, published by Lark Crafts. Carol is the proprietor of Black Bunny Fibers and author of another book in my library, Knitting Socks from Handpainted Yarn that I like very much; by chance, I just finished a pair of socks from that book. Carol also blogs at http://goknitinyourhat.blogspot.com/ , and I’ve followed her blog for quite a while. One of Carol’s regular features on her blog is her series of “No Bull Book Reviews”. To honor the enjoyment I get from reading her blog, her terrific sock book, and the generous gift from Carol and WEBS of a free copy of her latest book, here is my Son-of-a-No-Bull book review of Carol’s latest book. Like Carol, I love sock yarn. Usually tightly twisted, smooth, and strong, sock yarn also comes in a dazzling array of colors. You can get shiny yarns with silk and tencel in the blend, rugged wool and nylon blends, and fuzzy, ...

My sister called me in the early fall in great excitement, with the news that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had announced that they would be playing in my hometown of Rochester, NY, on a special date (at least to me) - my birthday. I’m not one to ignore an excellent coincidence, so I found out what to do to get tickets and decided that this year, my birthday money would not be used to buy a Tom Bihn Swift . This year I would go see Bruce Springsteen, and take my husband with me. My sister and brother-in-law are long time Bruce fans, and have gone to several concerts. R. and I were Bruce virgins, however. This would be our first (and possibly only) time to get the full-bore Bruce experience. J. filled me in on what I would have to do: register with Ticketmaster, and be ready with finger poised over my trackpad button at the moment that Ticketmaster made the tickets available for sale. I was ready at the appointed time, and successfully nabbed two tickets in the nosebleed se...