In Which Criquette Finally Resurfaces and Writes a Post

I knew it had been a while since my last post, but I didn't realize it's been nearly 2 months. Bad, bad blogger! I was also surprised that I hadn't continued the story of my quest to see a pileated woodpecker, or of our wonderful long weekend down at the lake, or posted pictures of the pathetically few FO's I managed to finish since the beginning of summer (and let's not count the embarassing number of UFO's and frogs that I created).
First, the Quest for the Pileated WP. I did go back to the arboretum the following weekend and spent 2 hours lurking among the cottonwoods by the creek. I found evidence that I was in the right place, looking at the right trees:

Notice the huge holes in this tree

compared to these holes made by much smaller woodpeckers

The more I looked, the more of the huge excavations I found. There was a tree I suspected they may have been recently using as a nest, but I could only get glimpses of it through the foliage. I looked and waited and waited... Finally, I gave up and started heading back. Then I heard it, right in back of me: the pounding. Two beats, loud and strong, just like what I've heard on my bird sounds cd. It was soooo close, but I couldn't see anything. Some other people were close by and they heard it too. It drummed once more, then called it's kah-kah-kah sound, as it flew further away from us. Arrrgggghhhhhhh!

Some birders will count identifications by sound alone, but for my lifer list, I want an actual sighting. I went back 3 weeks later with a friend, very early in the morning, but didn't see or hear much of anything. The birds all seemed to be sleeping in that day. I've decided that during summer, the forest is too thick and lush to see much of any birds who perch or fly among the canopies. I decided to wait until mid-autumn, maybe October, to go back and try again.

Then, in late June, we headed down for a few days of r&r at the Lake of the Ozarks. We love staying in the quaint family cabin close to the water's edge in a quiet cove, listening to the birds and the gentle lapping of the water. Mr. Criquette, being a Type A personality, has no concept of the word "relaxation". I call him my 2-legged squirrel. He hauls down numerous projects, some of them work, or finds small fix-up projects around the cabin. His idea of fishing is to throw a line off the dock and bustle about doing projects until a fish snags itself on the line. He rushes back to release the fish, throws the line back in and bustles some more. It gets quite exhausting watching him in all of this activity, so I take little mini-naps in between knitting and reading.

I will usually stir myself once or twice a day to take a nature stroll, looking at the various wildflowers and birds that inhabit the area. I was on one of my strolls along the bank of the cove, and had my binoculars looking for the herons that roost in the swampy area at the far back of the cove, when it ocurred to me that the tree I was looking at was a cottonwood - a really big one at that.

Wait a minute! Pileateds love them some big, old cottonwood trees and PWP's are listed as one of the regional inhabitants. I did a quick search around the cove and noticed several big cottonwoods. Best of all, I noticed that the huge, half-rotted tree that sits at one edge of the property is a cottonwood that has several of these:

Holes this big could only have been made by PWP's!

I about peed my pants as I ran off to tell Mr. C. He was very interested and we both kept a close eye on the tree the rest of the time we were there, but, except for a yellow-bellied sapsucker (a lifer for me), some extremely noisy titmice and chickadees, the herons, a mama wood duck and her babies (another lifer!), yellow finches, a phoebe, a great crested flycatcher, and 2 different warblers I could hear but not see, there was no sign of the big woodpeckers.

I was still happy about adding to my lifetime list, but still felt like the PWP's have a conspiracy to elude me. The most frustrating part was when Mr. C returned the key to the owner (his uncle) and asked about the big guys. His uncle, obviously not a fan, said, "Those big pests? They're around all the time. We wish they'd go somewhere else." Such is my luck.

Even though I've not been blogging, I have been knitting (with a little crochet thrown in for a change). I have made several dishcloths, including several for Ravelry swaps:












And of course, there are the ever-present UFO's, always lurking in my knitting basket...



My most favorite project right now is a very special one. One of my lovely nieces, who is majoring in hotel management and tourism, is taking a class in wines. As part of this class, they have to go on a 2-week tour of the California wine country, which of course includes mandatory tastings and gourmet meals. All this and college credits too!

I missed her birthday earlier this year, an important one. So I decided to make my first shawl. As in the kind of project where I must FOCUS and PAY ATTENTION. As you might imagine, my progress on this shawl is quite slow, despite the fact that the pattern is so easy, a toddler could make it.


I'm using Classic Elite Cotton-Boo in a beautiful light grey, the color of Spanish moss. The entire time I was working on the first 10 rows, I kept feeling like I needed to frog it. But I remembered reading that lacy projects look terrible the first few rows and so I kept going. Now I am past the second repeat and am loving what I am seeing so far!

I'm so excited that all I want to do is spend the entire weekend doing this and nothing else. However, there are massive dust bunnies gathering in force throughout the house, and my closet has become the equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle and must be brought under control, not to mention the mundane weekly chores that have to wait for the weekend. I motivate myself by remembering that we will be going back down to lake soon. And maybe, just maybe, the "big pests" will make me a very happy birder.

What's In a Name?

I have always been someone who is fascinated by names. When I was much younger, I used to entertain myself by making lists of names I liked, names for my future husband and kids (Mr. C's name was not on any of those lists!), names for pets, names of people I knew. When I was really bored, I would sometimes look through the phone book for really silly or weird names. Perhaps this is a strange fixation, but I am not alone. There is even a label for people who are fascinated by names: onamamania. Google "fascination with names" and see how many times this comes up. So even if I'm weird, I'm not weird alone.

I am sure this stems from my early childhood.

From as far back as I can remember, I despised my birth name. It felt ugly and awkward, not at all who I perceived myself to be. For anyone else, it is a perfectly fine name, and I have had many friends and acquaintences throughout my life who have been given this name as well. But it wasn't me. I was pretty angry and resentful as a child and, looking back, I think having the wrong name contributed to my overall lack of self-esteem.

In the summer between 8th grade and high school, when crazy hormones and 13-year old angst were at their peak, my friend (who also hated her name) and I decided to rebel against our parents by changing our names. I had a great-aunt named Katie. She had passed away before I was born, so I never knew her, but she had a reputation in her family as mischievous and fun-loving. This was the name I wish my parents had chosen for me, it felt right and it matched my inner view of who I am. Much more well-suited than the dignified, serious name they stuck me with. And so that day, my true self was born and I became Katie.

I went home and announced to my mom that I was changing my name. This announcement was, I'm sure, made with lots of nasty teenage attitude. I was just waiting for her to challenge me so I could launch into a full-fledged snit-fit. But, to my complete surprise, she agreed that my personality was definitely a "Katie" personality instead of the name I had been given. She started calling me Katie that very day and my siblings soon after. My dad had a harder time with it. Sometimes he called me Katie but more often, it was the original name. He is the only person I let get away with this.

And I started high school a couple of months later and introduced myself to all of my new friends and teachers as "Katie". It was that easy. It helps that it is kind of close to my original name that most people never question it, although it is not a nickname of my original name. I have never changed it legally, and while the original name is on a very small number of the important official documents, my chosen name is on many others. A couple of times, I have been asked for clarification, but I am continually surprised at how easy it has been to go through life with 2 different first names.

It is amazing the immediate impact this had on my personality and self-esteem. I became much more confident and outgoing. For the first time in my life, it was easier to make friends. And I began to like myself, which I had not done before. As a psychologist, I am now aware of the fact that our names can have a significant impact on how others perceive us. It makes me sad to think there may be lots of kids out there who feel this way, but never think that they have the power to change their names, unless they have the kind of name that comes with some decent choices of nicknames.

In the cyber world, we have a chance to choose any name we wish to be called. And it makes sense to have an alias. For instance, I have 4 different email accounts - the only one in my "real" name is the one associated with my practice. Then there is the one I use for ravelry and this blog, the one I use for secret swaps and the one I use when signing up for things where I might end up on a spam list. When I first created my blog, I wanted a place to share thoughts and ideas and a few personal aspects of my life without it showing up when my name was googled. So I borrowed Miss Criquette's name since the others I tried first had already been taken. She says she doesn't mind, as long as I don't do anything to embarass her or her fellow felines.

"This is NOT what we agreed on..."

"That's it, name-stealer! You'll be hearing from my cat-torney on this!"

"Okay, that's more like it. All pictures must show my cuteness at it's best."

(And just for the record, because when I have met a couple of my blogging pals, they did not know that the correct pronunciation is actually "cricket", like the insect. For cultural purposes, I Cajunized the spelling when we adopted her.)

So as you can see, we here at Criquette-world like alternate names. And I ran across something in a forum post on ravelry that is so much fun!!!! I had to share it with you. It is an alternate name generator. You can use it to create a new identity for yourself. You could use it to create crazy names for secret swaps and safe email addresses. Heck, you could even find the name of the "real you" that is hidden inside, just waiting to be released!

When I typed in my first and last name, here is a sample of what I got:

a city ukelele
cake lite yules
tease lucky lei
lacy lee sue kit
ictus la lee key
cute lea lei sky

These are sort of silly and upbeat, like me. Now compare these to my original name:

lunacy sleeker
scaly knee rule
acne seller yuk
ankle securely

Clearly, words and phrases that are Just Not Fun. Now we can see why I subconsciously did not want to be stuck with this.

Finally, let's look at the original Criquette's name:

cutely cirque steel (Addi's?)
celery cut see quilt
query lettuce slice
quest cute lyric lee

Many of her anagrams made no sense to a human, but perhaps would speak more clearly to other cats. But still, we can see from her anagrams that she is a cute, quirky little character.

Do you want to share in the fun? Click on over to the name anagram generator. Then tell us, what's in your name?

Cuckoo in Kansas

(Please note that these pictures all came from various birding organizations on the 'net. )

I love birds and I love watching birds. We put out several different kinds of feeders to attract a wide variety of birds, keep the birdbaths clean and full, and plant lots of bird (and butterfly) friendly plants. all of this pays off because we get a very wide range of birds who visit our yard for food, water or insects (I don't use any pesticides in my gardens and I never have insect problems thanks to my feathered exterminators).

I like to read books about birds and birding. I have narrowly avoided a few accidents due to bird-watching while driving (almost as bad as knitting while driving). Today, I took another step closer to becoming an official bird-geek - I went on a bird-watching walk at the arboretum near my house. Mr. Criquette's jaw dropped when he saw me appear at the coffeepot at the crack of dawn. I am not at all what we call a "morning person". But I was determined to do this because I have become A Wannabe Bird Geek With a Mission. The mission: to see one of these in person:


This gorgeous fellow is the Pileated Woodpecker. I have had 2 dreams about these beautiful creatures this spring. It is currently at the top of my lifetime bird list. They are not only strikingly colored, but apparently are also huge, like crow-sized or larger. Here is a map of their distribution:

According to this map, northeastern Kansas is out of their range. I pouted and started planning trips to visit family and friends who might live in their territory
.

I guess Kansas doesn't have the kinds of thick forests with humongous old trees that they like - oh wait - yes we do! There is a large patch of virgin forest just 20 miles south of my house! Is it possible there may be one or two who venture north from time to time? The arboretum's website actually mentioned pileated woodies as one of the birds that have been sighted there. Be still my heart!

So I went and today could not have been more gorgeous in terms of the weather. It was warm with low humidity and a very nice breeze. We had a very nice young biologist as our guide and he did an outstanding job. We only covered about half of the park today, but I added 4 new birds to my list that I have not seen before!

Great Crested Flycatcher - I am a huge fan of flycatchers. Not only do they eat more than weight in nasty flying critters, but they are also extremely attractive birds. I've been wanting to see one of these.

This is a much smaller member of the flycatcher family, the Acadian Flycatcher. Since the word "Cajun" is derived from "Acadian", these were on my list - I really wanted to see a little Cajun bird. Today, I saw 2. C'est bon, cher.

This one was completely unexpected! I had no clue these little guys even existed, much less in this neck of the woods. But the arboretum was full of the little cuties - the Northern Parula. Right after the guide told us we'd never see one (just hear them), I saw a small bird flit into a tree in front of us. Guess who spotted him first?

I did think there was a chance I might see a Summer tanager, which has been on my bird list for a long time. We rounded a bend, and there they were - a pair. Just gorgeous!

Male Summer Tanager

I never did get to see a pileated woodie today. But I did get the inside scoop. There are a couple of nesting pairs in some huge old trees by the river. The guide gave me exact directions on where to go to see them and where I should look. If I can drag myself out of bed early tomorrow, I'm headed back.

I was only a tiny bit disappointed because I got a fabulous consolation prize, #2 on my lifetime list:

The elusive and rarely seen (around here, at least) Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. We heard it's lovely cooing during parts of our walk, but didn't even see a glimpse. The group was watching a chickadee but I was bored. I was randomly looking around in the treetops with my binoculars and all of a sudden, one landed on a branch not far from me. I (and the rest of the group) was able to get a long, clear look at him. I almost wet my pants I was so excited! As you can see, I am ridiculously easy to entertain.

So I am off to bed, about 2 hours sooner than usual on a Saturday night. But I have an important date in the morning!

If It's Summer, It Must Be Rerun Time

It is a known fact that, in TV land, summertime means either endless reruns or really bad fill-in shows. The jury is still out as far as which is more intolerable. But the truth is, actors, writers, directors, producers and all of the people who are responsible for bringing our favorite shows into our homes, need a break in order to refresh their creativity. Makes sense to me.

That's why I decided to borrow a page from their screenplay and present a rerun today for my Dogs on Thursday post. I thought I would share one of the earliest posts, when my blog was still in her infancy. Most of my 1 or 2 readers may not have seen it before and I figure it may be better than posting nothing.

The title of the post, "Another of Abbie's Escaping Escapades" alludes to her obsession with escaping whenever possible in order to hunt bunnies. As a beagle/Jack Russel mix she can't help it: it's genetically programmed. It's a good thing she has so many other good qualities (we will overlook her other obsession with snacking from the litter box). Hope you enjoy!

The Pi is done!

This morning started off with an obscenely early rude awakening. Mr. "Refuses To Listen To Me" woke me up 30 minutes before the alarm to tell me he dropped Abbie's leash while on their morning walk. Of course Abbie Bad Beagle, who is suffering a bad case of Bunny Fever grabbed her chance and was off and hunting. Her speed makes Gone in 60 Seconds look like a turtle race. So Mr."Why Won't He Use A Second Leash On Her Like I Suggested" ran home to wake me up to help him find her.
Ha, this is the challenge. Abbie never runs away in a straight path. She zigzags, zogs and zooms on her quest for bunnies. She seems to vanish into thin air and so the first part of the hunt for Abbie is to locate her - she could be anywhere, in any direction. Fortunately God sent the little miracle I was praying for and gave us a break. She had doubled back to a large field near our house and had her full attention on the bunny she had located.

The trick with catching Abbie (assuming you can even locate her) is to be patient and try your best to keep up with her until she has the bunny cornered. Then you stroll up in back of her and scoop her up. Of course she always chooses the day after a storm to escape so she (and you) are covered in mud. So you haul her home, wipe her down, and put her sternly into her kennel for a timeout. And she totally knows she is being punished. She starts howling and singing the blues pathetically. And then when she comes out, she falls on the floor with her head down in the most contrite manner you will ever see in either human or beast.

So of course you have to pet her and reassure her she is still loved and won't be shipped off to the Big House and say a prayer of thanks that she didn't run into the woods where there are wolf-sized coyotes and bobcats looking for a little beagle bagel to snack on, or get hit by one the cars speeding way too fast down the busy street at the front of the subdivision. And tonite, she insisted on lots of snuggling and playing so no knitting today. I had to content myself with taking some pictures of the unfelted Kitty Pi with your choice of either Criquette or Bad Beagle filling.

"Why would you run off when there are such lovely wooly things at home?"

Still looking Very Sorry

Criquette In the Garden

Here at the Casa de la Criquette, spring has finally sprung and I have been as busy as a hive of bees getting the gardens ready for summer. Would you like a tour? Let's start at the front...

This is a very shady and damp bed as it faces north/northeast. It's not good for colorful flowers, but in the heat of the summer, it is a very restful green and white. I grow Limelight and Annabelle hydrangeas, astilbes, chelone (turtlehead) and wintergreen boxwood.


I also have a white dogwood tree, variegated false Solomon's Seal and sweet woodruff groundcover.


Walking around to the west, there is a large berm that runs along the property line and gives us some privacy from the neighbors as well as serving as a windbreak from the wind, which can get pretty ferocious. We grow mainly white pine in the berm, but there is also a Fat Albert blue spruce and a blueberry cobbler viburnum. If you look closely, you'll see that a robin built her nest in this tree. She reared 1 baby, who fledged early this morning.



Our bird feeding station is in this curve of the berm. We have a birdbath, a big cardinal feeder, two finch feeders and a hummingbird feeder.


Moving south to our backyard, we have a patio under the porch, with a small curved bed in front of it. It contains salmon-pink non-stop roses that will start blooming in a week or so. Before that show, the Japanese iris gives us a gorgeous shot of purple for about 3 weeks.

This is one of the earliest perennials to bloom - 'Carolina Dawn' baptisia (false indigo).


If we keep heading south, we get to the woods that run the entire back of the yard. I planted a little plant of white violets last spring and the rabbits ate them down to the ground. I was pleasantly shocked to see this big patch. We have several bunnies this spring, but they haven't taken even a nibble.


This is a honeysuckle shrub, which grows wild in the Kansas City area. It is not a native, but is an introduced species that has started taking over native woodlands and so is considered a pest. I think it's lovely and allow a couple of them in my patch of woods. (Warning to the honeysuckle shrubs: I'm keeping an eye on you!).


When the builder first cleared the land, they left a little copse of trees. We love it, and turned it into a little island bed. I'm growing some daffodils and columbines in the shade and there is a beautiful wild white rose. We hung one of the wren houses there. This year, a little male wren worked very hard building a nest in the house. I saw him bring the female to inspect it. She must not have approved, because after a brief look inside, flew away, with Mr. Wren close behind.

Also in the copse, one of my favorite statues. It belonged to Mr. C's parents. I like to think they are looking out for us whenever I see this little guy.

There's more, but I don't want to test anyone's patience, so I'll save it for another day. Happy summer!

Cornus florida (dogwood, 'Cherokee Princess')

Seven Things: Abbie & Chloe Version

When I was over at Chan's blog a while back, she had a fun little meme called 7 things about me. Since I've been running low on anything remotely interesting to post about my canine kids, I thought they could have their very own meme for this week's DoT. So I'm tagging them. Go for it, girls:

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Share 7 things people may not know about you.
3. Tag 7 people to share 7 things and link to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged. (I consider these steps optional since my taggers just noted that if you’re reading this and want to play along, you’re tagged…)

1. Abbie uses her stuffed toys as communication tools. She brings over 1 toy and shakes it while prancing in front of us when she wants us to play with her. When she needs to go out to potty, she stuffs 2 or 3 in her mouth at once then presses the toys hard into our legs. She brings us toys and lays them at our feet to greet us when we get home. This is what it looks like by the back door at the end of the day.


2. When we have special treats that Abbie really, really wants, she does her special "begging boogie". Even the dreaded Collar of Doom can't stop her.



3. Chloe is getting older (we adopted her 9 years ago when she was about 6 months old). She goes a little slower and takes longer to get up when she's laying down and has a lot of white around her muzzle. But she's still as sharp as a tack, especially when it comes to herding the cats and neighbor children. And she still breaks out into little bursts of "happy running", like she did as a puppy.



4. Chloe is so obedient we can take her anywhere outside with us, without a leash (unlike her sister). Last week, she forgot she was getting older when she spotted a squirrel bouncing it's way to the birdfeeders and took off after it. She almost caught it, too. Just because she's getting old doesn't mean she has to act old!

5. Their favorite hobbies are sunbathing and barking at invisible critters in the yard.

6. When they are out on a walk together, people always think they're mother and daughter, or sisters. Not only are they not related, but they're not even mixtures of the same breeds of dogs.



7. They are the best dogs in the world and they are very, very, very loved!

Elderberry Juice

So many things have been conspiring this year to keep me out of the garden. The weather has been very cool and wet, or hot and wet. It has rained (or snowed) at least once every single weekend since early March. Wet clay soil, such as we have here, is Not Fun to dig in. Then there has been the health matter. When I got that nasty flu at the beginning of March, not only did it take a couple of weeks to start recovering, but I think it re-activated the Epstein-Barre virus that I contracted about 20 years ago. So for the past month, I have been having low-grade fever, body aches, headaches and a lot of fatigue. It also gave me a lot of mental fuzziness. Whatever energy I did have was getting depleted by work. So I haven't been able to do much of anything.

Last weekend I went to my local Whole Foods to re-stock my supply of vitamins and other supplements and while I was there, a man who has a small company that produces elderberry concentrate was there giving out samples. I am always game to try something new. It sort of tastes like strong, unsweetened cranberry juice, so I wasn't impressed. That is until I found out that native Americans have used elderberries for hundreds of years because they have so many health benefits. One of those benefits happens to be strong anti-viral properties. Hmmmm, since the epstein-Barre wasn't getting any better with my usual regimen, why not try it?

So I did and after 3 days of taking a tablespoon in a glass of pomegranate juice, twice daily, I woke up in the morning alert and full of energy. I'm almost back to feeling like myself again. You can read more about the healing properties of elderberries here.

I also have had elevated blood pressure on and off for the past year or more (hereditary as well as since I started taking hormones for perimenopause). I've been monitoring it daily, and the numbers have dropped by 10 points (systolic) and 3-4 points disystolic. When I saw my doctor yesterday, she wasn't convinced that this was good enough and really wanted me to start taking Bp meds. Since my sister is going through the same stuff right now, and has had a bad reaction to 3 different bp drugs, I am opposed to going this route without trying a natural approach first.

I already eat a pretty healthy diet, low in fat and sodium, so I can't change much there. But there are some supplements I can start taking and there is one big difference I think I can make, and that is excersise. I used to work out 3 times/week regularly, then about 5 years ago, I had a bulging disk in my lower back that caused me to have foot drop as well as lots of pain. I was determined to avoid surgery, so had aggressive physical therapy and was healed in about 3 months. But at that point, I didn't go back to working out, mostly because we had started builing our house about that time and starting a private practice and literally didn't have a spare minute in the day. When the house was finished, and the practice up and running, I had taken up knitting. And honestly, for me, working out doesn't even have a chance when it comes to how I spend my free time! I did try to figure out a way last year to knit while using the treadmill, but the normally knitting-supportive Mr. C put his foot down.

So this means that, with the exception of taking the dogs on a 1 mile walk about once a week, the most excersis I was getting came from either gardening or walking through a parking lot. Therefore, I think that if I start working out again, keep my sodium intake under 2000 g/day and keep drinking the elderberry concoction that I can get my bp into a healthier range. My doctor has given me 3 months. Once she said that, it turned this into a challenge - she doesn't think I can do it...and I am determined to show her I can.

I started researching my options. We have a workout room in our house, with a treadmill, 2 other evil pieces of equipment that I am not coordinated enough to use, free weights and an exersise ball. It's a nice room, filled with light and there are no current foster babies taking up any space in there. No Excuses. However, I do better working out with people, but I won't go anyplace if it's not convenient, so I am checking out Jazzercise (which I have done in the past), Pilates and yoga classes. Until then, I'm going to walk on the trail near our house or use the treadmill. And since this is the first weekend without the threat of rain, I'll be gardening like a maniac.

Big Thanks To Caroline!

I have been fortunate enough to have the Aussie-loving Caroline as my Mix Makers Swap spoiler in the second round. She and I have very similar music tastes, yarn tastes and snack tastes. I received my last package from her earlier this week and it continued the fabulousness of her first two packages.


First of all was the mix. This time the theme was "Spring Fever ". It's full of fresh, lively music that is perfect for listening to over and over again. I have lots of new favorites on here. I want to point out the cute packaging that Caroline has created for all of the mixes she has sent. I really enjoy these little details.

This time she outdid herself on the yarn - mmmmMalabgigo!!! 2 skeins!!! In one of my most favorite shades of blue! She also sent a pattern (the Drop-Stitch Scarf), which may be what this beautiful yarn becomes. She included some sugar-frosted gummy bunnies - so cute and very delicious! A Key Limeade mix, enough to make a big pitcherful. One of my favorite flavors is lime so this will get mixed up and be gone by the end of the weekend. She also included a cute little memo pad, which I use by the dozens. And finally, 3 packs of very pretty little tissues, polka-dotted and monogrammed. Just right for this time of year, when the dandelion fluffs start flying around and my allergies hit the roof. Problem is, they're too pretty to use!

Thank you so much, Caroline. I love everything and have really enjoyed having you for a spoiler. You're the best!

When Pointy Sticks Become Weapons of Mass Destruction

The basic logic for knitting for afghans 4 Afghans is simple: the Taliban recruits poor, uneducated people from a very young age, taking advantage of the extreme poverty and harsh living conditions that are found in Afghanistan. If international charity organizations can get to them first, with food, medicine, warmth and education, they may be less vulnerable to the brainwashing of the terrorists.

A4A provides the "warmth" part of this equation by collecting knitted and crocheted wool items and sending them along with the other critical supplies, which are then distributed by the organization. There is a strong hope that, by reaching the impoverished Afghans first, they will be better able to resist the propaganda of the Taliban and be strong enough to function independently and ultimately, without recruits, the Taliban will fail in Afghanistan.

Therefore, each big shipment by a4A is like a big, soft, wooly bomb going off. I love the idea that maybe I can make a tiny difference in ending this war, while helping someone in great need.

These are my peaceful bullets, shot from my powerful and pointy sticks of mass destruction:

My first mittens, made from the pattern BB's Knitted Mittens- super easy and went really fast. I wanted to knit flat first, so I could understand the basic construction. I didn't like the bulky seam, so will definitely knit future mittens on circ's. But they're cute, aren't they? (I believe these are going to children who live in the Northeast part of Afghanistan).

The baby blankie, finally finished. My "pattern", if you can call it that. I knitted and crocheted a variety of squares, using common stitch patterns that I sort of winged as I went. I ended by crocheting a single-crochet border in black around each square. This allowed me to use black yarn to join the squares with a crochet slip-stitch. I like the consistent appearance, and, for me, I feel like this went faster and was less tedious than sewing the squares together. Next time, I will be more clever and knit the blankie in strips, picking up stitches along the sides for each new lengthwise row. (My blankie will be given to a baby at the Pediatric Hospital in Kabul).

This project has been so satisfying and makes me feel happy all over! Plus, it used up a lot of my stash, especially my odds & ends. There's actually a bit of empty space in the Rubbermaid bin that holds my wool yarns. And you know what that means...

If you would like to join the effort, there is still time before the May 15 deadline. A4A is still in great need of socks for babies and small children. Friends of a4A is a forum on Ravelry. You can search the recent threads to find more information on the specifics of what is needed. All items must be made from animal fiber, so this is a great way to use up leftover sock yarn! Even if you can't make it in time for this current deadline, you can always make some and keep them on hand for the next campaign. There is also a drawing for 3 $50 gift certificates for any mittens sent before the May 15 deadline.

Greetings From a Bird-Nerd

In addition to all the other ways I like to be dorky, I am also an avid bird-nerd. That would be wild birds - I don't do inside birds, in fact they scare me. But I can use up a lot of time watching the birds who come to our feeders and the ones who inhabit the woods behind my house. I read at least a couple of books each year about birds. Right now I am fascinated by raptors. We have 3 kinds of hawks, a pair of peregrines and 2 kinds of owls who frequent our neighborhood. I bought a beautiful book last week about owls. Mr. C isn't yet convinced of why he needs to build an owl box for our patch of woods, so I am hoping this web site will help convince him.



Klaara is an adorable Tawny Owl who lives in Estonia. (I had no idea where Estonia is located, except I do know they knit exceptionally beautiful lace there. Anyway, it's near Finland. But I digress.) Klaara and her mate, Klaus, are currently raising 4 adorable little balls of white fluff and you can watch them 24/7 on the Klaara-cam. I have been addicted to peeking in on Klaara and company for a couple of weeks now, but especially since I watched her help her third chick hatch last Saturday night. It was amazing and I feel so privileged to have seen this happen. There's a group of us following the action over on Ravelry, in the Bird Lovers group.

Tawny owls are related to barred owls. Our little patch of woods is a favorite hunting ground for a pair of barred owls and this week we've heard them sounding their mating calls, which sound like they're calling "Who-cooks-for-you? Who cooks for you, who?" That's a question I wonder a lot about recently, as I haven't been in a cookerly kind of mood for several weeks now and I would love for someone to cook for me. My neighbors are not as charmed, however, since the male owl likes to sit in a dead tree right outside their bedroom window and serenade his lady just before dawn.



Klaara's little owlets are getting bigger everyday. She can barely keep them tucked under her warm feathers now. In just one week, she has shown them how to eat for themselves. Klaus keeps bringing her enormous rodents, which she keeps re-arranging in the nest throughout the day. These varmints serve as the owl-buffet in the nest. I keep the window open, but shrunk, with the sound turned up when I am not actually watching the cuteness of Klaara's family. Chloe and Abbie have taken to hanging out in my office with me, and there is always great interest on their parts when Klaus arrives at the nest to deliver food, with the rustle of wings and Klaara shrieking and owlets peeping. They both run up to my desk, noses twitching and tails wagging. Our family is so easily entertained.




As the babies get bigger, Klaara will join Klaus in their hunting efforts to keep enough voles and mice available to feed the growing chicks, who will be out of the nest in about 3 weeks.

Fortunately, it is easy to keep an eye on the little brood and knit at the same time. The A4A blankie is finally finished and is blocking right now. I hope to have pictures to show in the next day or two.

An Un-Baa-Lievable Video (With Proof That Border Collies Are the Einsteins of the Dog World!)

I saw this link on a forum in Ravelry. Forgive me if any one has already posted this already, but this is too awesome not to share!