I bet some of you will love that tractor, so I picked this shot.
Yet I prefer this one. :)
The temperature's too nice for even the sunset to make one feel melancholy.
My poor neighbors (yes, this tree resides in their lawn)--whoever loved and cared for their large, yet oddly shaped (It's very long) back garden is has been long-gone these 15 or 20 years at least. It's an absolute ruin--and I can honestly say it only shows beauty at this part of spring. Their postage-stamp sized front is clinically tidy with 2.5 shrubs under the picture window--all the "i's dotted and t's crossed". I'm no green thumb, but I do long to go and spruce up that yard of theirs. The lay of the land is such that They are 20 or 30 feet below our little apartment house; anyone walking by peers right down into their back yard as into a goldfish bowl. I used to talk myself out of going and offering to do various yard work tasks for them--"Certainly they'll have a restraining order brought against you for even suggesting it!", I lectured.
Then the end of last summer they started in with my landlord because I hang my linens (sheets, towels, pillowcases, etc.) to dry at my balcony. "It doesn't look nice." "This is a nice neighborhood, not a slum." "What if someone were to see your clean laundry drying!?" If you were raised thinking this way, think again--the average American family spends over $300 a year just to dry their wash! The dryer is one of the most wasteful of home appliances, and it literally pummels your clothing while blasting it with scorching air to get it dry for you. Your things will last longer and look nicer if you hang them out, not to mention how healthful and anti-mold it is; particularly for bedding which takes up a certain amount of moisture from you body and doesn't always get the airing it needs. There is no local ordinance against line, drying, but I gave it up because I couldn't decide whether or not it was a battle I wanted to "choose". Now that the weather is so balmy, It's definitely resurfacing in my mind--hence the ramble. I hadn't even realized how much I was thinking on it until I looked up at all I'd typed! Well, at any rate, here's a website with more details on line-drying, particularly from a standpoint of protecting and promoting the right to do so: Project Laundry List.
Now, for the "Inside" (I had intended to make this a Pict-o-Blog; "Hah" to that!)
It's my progress on Quaker Diamonds! I left the blossom of the center flower 'till last 'cause I was thinking of making it purple rather than red. Now, seeing it "all" I'm leaning red. I'm so loving this piece, but it is enormous and the 14" Q-snaps make it HEAVY! Also, the 3-strand perle is FUN to stitch with, but after a bit the effort begins to tell--you feel like you're yanking the thread through! So, my advice is that it's great fun, but pace yourself unless you're made of sterner stuff! :P
Finally, I'd like to ask those of you who keep a prayer/quiet/reflection time to remember me for an "unspoken" request this week.
I want to also thank all my kind readers; I so enjoy your visits here, and being able to stop in at your blogs as well!
Yours from a Spring Eve,
Berit
