Blueberry Fields

I went blueberry picking recently with my parents and aunt. We left home very early in the morning and when we arrived there was still a soft fog all around the fields. It was wonderfully cool and the ground still had dew on it. Each of us was handed a bucket and away we went. I got lost along the forest line, far away from the others, just picking blueberry after blueberry. It was wonderful and so relaxing. The only thing you could here was a crow and I thought I heard a peacock or maybe it was a hoarse rooster.



I even saw a baby raccoon crawl out of his den and snack on some blueberries and then quickly crawl back (very cute). There was also a lot of grasshoppers flying about, rushing for new cover when you disturbed their particular bush. I have to say that its a lot easier to pick blueberries than it is to pick strawberries. The bushes are so much higher and more accessible, bending down in the summer sun is not my cup of tea. But then again the strawberries that are fresh picked are out of this world.



Three hours went by and our buckets were mostly full. All of us went to get our blueberries weighed to pay the owners, but more importantly to see who won (aka picked the most). I was the clear winner with 5.35 pounds of berries! Go me! It turned out that in all we had picked 18 something pounds of blueberries. Clearly more than enough.



We then packed up the car and proceeded to a yummy sushi dinner in town.



Oh and here is a picture of my shetland tea shawl progress (hehe...so close but so far)!

Different Perspectives

I love experimenting with different visual perspectives and materials. Its such a rush finding new things to work with, its still amazing to me what you can make with a ball of yarn. Lace especially fascinates me, its so delicate and ethereal. I'm always amazed that it doesn't just fall apart in my hands, and the intricate patters are breath taking.
But I feel like painting and drawing are my first loves and sometimes there isn't enough time in the day to do everything and while I love knitting sometimes I feel like I should be painting. Since going to college I feel as though I've had painting block. I mean I do a few things during the year but not nearly as much as I used to. One of my friends from college has a similar experience of not being able to sit down and draw. Its strange and sort of depressing but I know that I will get back into it. In fact next year I'm planning on setting up a painting corner in my tiny dorm room. Sure it'll take up lots of space but its worth it.

Stitches

Embroidery and knitting. Baking and dreaming. Oh my free time goes by so strangely like sand pouring through a large sieve, it sweeps through me all at once and I can almost hear the rush. So its nice to make things to see solid evidence of time passing. Soon I'll be out of Florida and starting my internship at a psychology lab in Delaware, I'm really excited. I love the woods up there and the deer and fireflies, its beautiful. I'm hoping to get some hiking and camping done out there.

Home

Home again and its surprisingly nice to be in a warm place. I left Maryland during a huge rain storm, and during most of the day I was in between being soaked and slightly moist. But I had my knitting to keep me company at the airport, which always seems to draw a lot of attention. So now I'm just relaxing at home and fantasizing about spinning and quilting as well as making some ultra healthy blue berry pancakes.

Graduation

Today was Eric's graduation, it was overcast for most of the day and now its raining. My hands smell faintly of cardboard and dust from packing away the last of my things. I walked around town some to forget how much I will miss this place over the summer and how strange it will feel to be alone here next year. I wonder how senior year will feel, will it be mystical like freshman year when the campus felt as though it was under a spell and everything had a glow to it, even the night seemed to shine then. Or will it just be the same, a shuffle of seasons, lots of reading and then the end. And when it is over, will I long for it again? Will I always come back to this place that changed me, that lives in me; the place of my youth where I found a part of myself? I don't want to think of it, but seeing graduation seeing what is before me makes me remember that this place is passing too. The freshman year illusion that this would last a good while is gone and four years does not seem long enough. Oh but I'm feeling dramatic, and part of me does not feel this at all and craves the future.
I'm flying home tomorrow night, with a lot of knitting to keep me busy. The shetland tea shawl is coming along nicely and I'm excited to wear it. Hope all of you are well!

Rainy Days

Its been raining a lot around here recently. The ground is wet and everything seems to be green and lush. Knitting is fast and the shetland tea shawl is coming along, although I have one of the ferns colliding into another (but I'm not going to fix it) and probably live to regret it. But its fun to knit and thats all I ask of it, besides the center while seemingly important really can't be seen when worn (or at least thats what I tell myself).

I'm excited for summer break, which will hopefully be filled with hiking, camping, floating down rivers, along with an internship and lots of application writing. Of course much painting and knitting will be done!

Spring and Summer

My poor poor blog. Neglected, starved and alone. Life got a bit hectic around here recently, my father was very ill and Eric is graduating soon, all the while I'm trying to figure out what life beyond college holds for me. So logging on seemed near impossible, but spring seems to have lifted me up. The petals, falling down like rain, make you forget. And the trees with their new leaves, seem to remind you not to live in tomorrow but rather now, not in years but in moments.
There are flocks of red bellied robins hopping all over campus and little yellow birds that are very shy and seem to climb trees rather than fly up into them. Yesterday I sat outside in a secluded garden and saw a rabbit laying down in the shade, there was so much stillness and yet so much movement as the wind moved the branches, a hushed pulse to everything. Summer is here, and spring a new memory.