Posts in ‘2013’

Trygvi poses with his five-day-old indestructible kevlar dog bed. Ain’t he cute? I’ve been doing the early part of the holiday baking: fruitcake, so it can steep in brandy as long as possible. (Yes, I should have done this in November. Much like blogging, it didn’t happen.) The second batch had a loaf and three […]

FFF is this weekend – I hope to see some of you there. This is the eleventh one – wow. I’m teaching a new-to-me class, on Japanese loop braiding. There’s no concrete evidence for the marudai braiding stand before the early seventeenth century, but there are all these braids, including the lacing for the plate […]

Oldest string found: 90,000 year old Neanderthal string. Dinovember. This is just delightful. The eggs! And the crayons… Bookbinding. I was going to email this to Laura, but I thought that some of you all might like to see it as well. While the entire set is amazing (I got the link from an archivist […]

Lessons from my grandfather: Walk your dog twice a day. Eat oatmeal for breakfast. Always have a project going. Tea and fishing may also figure into the plan. I’ve walked the dog and eaten my oatmeal, if with coffee rather than tea, and now I’d like to invite you to join me in wishing John […]

First snow flurries this morning. It was a cold and windy walk with Trygvi. He didn’t seem to mind, but it’s probably time to get the snazzy plaid dog coat out. The couch remains as warm and cozy as ever. We always had a terrible time getting Grendel to take pills, until we hit on […]

Things have been accumulating; let me foist them off on you. Nick thinks I need this to protect me from rampaging nightime kittens. I think it would just make things worse by adding an extra toy to the mix. Trouble-causing cats are not a new problem. My Little Queen Elizabeth I. This is nifty. Modern […]

String. And Halloween. Hm. How about a needle lace jack-o-lantern? Or maybe some medieval ghoulies? Wodewoses, even! Perhaps you need this wonderful early 16th c. German rosary? In much more recent history, that hysteria about Martians invading? It just isn’t so.

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I’m furloughed, locked out of my office since October 1, forbidden to even check my email under pain of fines and jail time. The kittens have been ecstatic. The wonderful Tania sent them a present: a catnip mat. This was met with great approval. Most of the photos are blurry for some reason, possibly the […]

The folk band Sassafrass is doing a Norse mythology album called Sundown: Whispers of Ragnarok and you want to take a look, and a listen to at least “The Futhark Song.” No really. They’ve also put together pretty good Viking clothing for the associated materials (their list of references has some very familiar names). (Grabbed […]