Misc.

I didn't check email late enough Friday afternoon: the eruv was up this Shabbat! Hooray! First time since December (they've been remapping, etc). So now I get to think about Shabbat picnics in the park, Shabbat story readings, game afternoons, stuff like that.

The Old Man in the Mountain (NH) fell. I'm so glad I got to see him before it happened, even though I hadn't managed it recently. I wonder what will change in wake of this? New license plate designs? Viewing areas left untended? A shift in the tourist trade? I wonder if some of what made him fall was increased traffic around there, all the vibrations.

Beautiful weather yesterday, just perfect, bright but not hot, with enough of a breeze. The lilacs are just starting to show buds, though I found one which had a couple of flowers open, which I couldn't resist smelling. Lilacs always make me think of my mother.

It ended up being vegan food over Shabbat: rye-wheat rolls; a spicy rice-corn-black bean-red pepper melange baked in spinach tortillas; cranberry relish (not tart enough for me, though); roasted carrots and sweet potatoes; and an Israeli salad with tomatoes, English cuke, red peppers, black olives, dressed with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil (feta would've been nice, had I had any).

Eva Ibbotson writes some fun kid books, a nice balance of the practical and the absurd.

Bits of a weekend

What wonderful weather: bright, breezy, yet reasonably cool. If only the whole summer could be so. I'm glad I got the chance for a couple of walks. Oh, and I spotted another Sonik sign, on Lowell St., near the bottom of the street: a bird, with a phrase that made me think she was glad about open studios.

I looked at far fewer studios than last year, which I am of two minds about. I really liked the art I saw, but wonder what interesting things I missed (it sounds like Prog found some cool things). Hilary Scott's new house is wonderful, of course. Not only his imagination already changing the house, but that he and his wife are so easy to talk to, as well. The other art I couldn't get enough of was the Maher glass studio. Wow. Such amazingly creative stuff. I still drool over the huge fish, with the Lorax hidden inside, a patchwork of styles and images.

Weekend reading (some far better than others...)

• Sons From Afar, Cynthia Voigt
  
• The Merlin Conspiracy, Diana Wynne Jones
  
• Island of the Aunts, Eva Ibbotson
  
• The Secret of Platform 13, Eva Ibbotson
  
• Edge of Two Worlds, Weyman Jones
  
• A Handful of Time, Kit Pearson
  
• Go and Come Back, Joan Abelove
  
• The Silver Pencil Alice Dalgliesh

Some pantry cooking, which was very satifying, but now I desperately need to get groceries. Not only do I not have adequate amounts of flour, I have no onions whatsoever, and precious few other vegetables, fresh or frozen. A sorry state of affairs.

The people who spoke at WWD were excellent (not a surprise), and it was good to talk with people I haven't seen much of recently.
I still am fascinated by the way the little white lights they have on the ceiling grow into odd crystal-like things when I take my glasses off.

Still to do: new sandals, new answering machine, decide which herbs to grow this year... the porch and the windows await!