Unraveled Wednesday 3/19/25

 Good Morning!

It's Wednesday - the most fun day of the week when we all link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about the making and all about the reading.  Always inspirational and fun!!

Before I get into the meat of the post, I wanted to let you know that yesterday ended up being GORGEOUS and after lunch I headed out to the trail by the canal.  It was a wonderful walk and on my way back I was rewarded when I just happened to glance to my left:

Magnificent!  And only a few feet away from me.  He/she kept her eye on me as I stopped to take a picture and then move on.  Blue Herons are just so regal looking.  (I love the building reflected in the water.). There were also some turtles to be seen:

Click to enlarge so you can see them all lined up!  And then this little guy:

(Look in the center of the photo.)  I would not have noticed him at the edge of the canal if two women ahead of me on the trail had not stopped to snap a picture.  This little guy is just learning the ropes of life in and on the canal!

On to the knitting!  I am so happy to tell you that Semplice is back in the house and growing!  You may (or may not) recall that I started this shawl last year.  I fell in love with the pattern - the geometric shapes - ordered my yarn and started.  Then I stopped.  I can't remember why.

I had stopped at row 85, but now am ready to begin row 106.  The pattern is easy to memorize, but it also grows by 4 stitches every other row.  It's a soothing knit and my plan is to just continue working on this.  I think I'm better as a single project girl...if I have more than one project going one (if not all) of them will suffer from neglect.  Anyway, we'll see how that goes.  The pattern calls for 200 rows, so I still have a way to go (especially with the 4 stitch increase every other row!).

Reading has been so good!  Thanks to Kat and her mention/review of it, I purchased Lights on a Ground of Darkness: An Evocation of a Place and Time by Ted Kooser.  First, this is the book that got Fletch and me back on track with reading together after dinner!  So, thank you Kat.  This is such a sweet little book (under 100 pages).  If I had been reading it on my own, I would have finished it in a single sitting, but reading it after dinner spread out the pleasure of this little volume (and Kooser's Mother's name was Vera!).

Next up I read Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb.  A novel about (duh) Auguste Rodin and his muse/love Camille Claudel.  I enjoyed the book - especially when it dove into what inspires/urges artists to create.  Claudel was a sculptor like Rodin, though suffered from being a woman and treated differently.  Theirs was not an easy relationship and Claudel had a lot of issues (maybe schizophrenic?), but the book was a fun diversion.

I also read (or rather re-read) Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser.  Reading Lights on a Ground of Darkness prompted Fletch to ask me to pull out some Kooser poetry books for him to look at.  I pulled out Winter Morning Walks which I had recently read and then grabbed Delights and Shadows from the bookcase in our bedroom.  When I opened it I was surprised to see that my Dad had given it to us back in 2005!  That just makes this book even more special to me.  Anyway, Fletch thoroughly enjoyed it and once he was finished, I devoured the book!

Last night I finished Be Ready When the Luck Happens - Ina Garten's recent memoir.  I've always enjoyed Ina Garten - her shows, her recipes, the way she makes it all look so easy!!  I enjoyed the book, found parts of it interesting, though some of it was a bit of a slog.  Definitely a bunch of first world problems, but still it was a fun read.

And that's a wrap for me.  If you've stuck around for this lengthy post, I thank you.  Please be sure to check out what others are doing on this Unraveled Wednesday - you can find the links on Kat's blog.  Happy Wednesday, Happy Hump Day, may the sun shine on us all today!  Have a good one!