Always catching up

I found the start of two posts in my "drafts" folder and deleted both of them. One noted that it was September and no one was going back to school. The novelty of this has sort of worn off, what with kids graduating a while ago and retired professor-husband's recent Septembers being mixed up with sabbaticals and Covid and all that. And we have just been so busy and focussed on dealing with all our stuff, that who can say if it's September or February, really. 

The other was a self-pitying blah blah about moving and so on. It might have been novel for you but it was boring for me! 

Quick note on photos and cookbooks: I chose a hard one for the photo themes -- Inclines. I did have fun with dashes and diagonals a few months back, but now all the things I see that might be inclines have already done their job as diagonals! And it's hard to take pictures of things that are inclined, anyways. (Perhaps that's the point of having a photo theme, to practise something that is difficult and figure it out!) In any case, I am ignoring that for now. October's theme is Joy, and if I get my house sold, there will be joy, let me tell you. 

I have also turned my back on September's cookbook, by Michael Smith. It was fine, there were things I could enjoy, but it was all either common (salads were beautifully photographed, but really, I can figure out beets and fennel on my own) or too much work, like making mousse or ... I don't know. It became a chore and a drag and I couldn't handle it so I gave it away. For October, though, Julia Child! Even though the house will be in turmoil, my book is packed (I've got a hold on it at the library) and some things certainly do require work, I am looking forward to it. 

I could show you some pictures. 

We went to Niagara Falls for a quick break. We saw the falls, of course, and even walked across the bridge to the USA to see them from a different angle. 

The real reason for going, though, was to see the restored old power plant. You can walk down the 2000' tunnel to the river! And you can see the gigantic wrenches needed to keep the place in working order. 

Let's see what else we can find... maybe even some actual knitting content.

Ah! On Sunday I walked up the hill to a park to see Sam Barsky talk about his knitting. Oh, he was great! As you can see, he was almost finished a Toronto skyline sweater. (Click that link for a finished shot.) He gets an idea, maybe looks at a picture, and just knits. Freestyles all the colours and shapes and ends up with a wearable work of art at the end. I knit like that for a while in my twenties, but never so successfully, and then I became more conservative and pattern-following, sorta.

I myself am knitting a grey hat. Lots of ribbing. 

The yarn looked grey in the store and it looks grey in this picture, but out in the sunshine it is sort of faded-denim blue. Christmas is coming, and someone will have a new hat. A hat is easy to pick up and put down, easy to keep track of what I am doing, not hard on the brain. And that is just what I need these days. 

Most of my photos are of things I try to sell on the Book of Faces. We have actually successfully sold or given away a ton of stuff and now we're down to things like the study carpet and the bread machine. Earlier in this Slowest of All House Clean-outs I sold some commemorative coins for the 1976 Olympics. I got a whack of money for them because of their silver content. I also have a 1970 set of pre-decimal money from the UK, which have hardly any silver and as a dealer told me, everyone who wants a set now has a set. So I kept them, rather than sell them for something like $10. 

Now, however, there might be a wee upswing in interest in things with the queen's head on, so I am trying to sell them online, along with the bread maker. We shall see. 

In a few weeks we shall really see what's what. Our realtor is on a holiday right now, and when she gets back the stager comes to gussy us all up, and then... who knows. We have another month or so of stress and busy-ness, and then hopefully a different sort of stress and busy-ness before we move. I shall relax by knitting hats and cooking Julia Child recipes without messing up the kitchen.