cutting the grass with scissors
This evening I watched my 5-year old son carefully cut the grass in our backyard with scissors, then gather it up and lay it, in little piles, on the sprawled cat. This is one of those moments recently when I wished that I had been ready with the camera. This past weekend we went to Taos. Just the four of us, on a perfect family getaway. We stayed in a little casita with clean white linens, luminous plaster walls and a patio complete with kiva fireplace. We drank Spanish wine and gazed at millions of stars in the clear Taos sky. The best part: we saw no less than 6 shooting stars as we lay there in our loungers.Vacation moments that filled me with regret over not having my camera:
- I bought both boys really cool sunglasses in Taos. The big boy wore his a lot and during a walk along a dirt road, my husband said that he looked exactly like the guitarist for Cheap Trick. This reference was meaningless to me (I have no idea what the guitarist for Cheap Trick looks like) but his comment made me stop and enjoy the odd details of my son's outfit. He wore a cap, cowboy boots, red shorts with racing stripes, his hand-drawn rocket ship t-shirt, and his new blue fish sunglasses.
- I knit a lot on the trip up--indeed, whenever we were in the car. I finished the last few stiches of my lacy malabrigo scarf just as we drove in and parked at the Rio Grande Gorge. It was windy, and I held my little boy close as we walked across the bridge that spans the 800-foot-deep crevasse. The view sneaks up on you--the ground suddenly and dramatically falling away from the plateau as you approach the bridge. My children were silent and wide-eyed. The effects of vertigo and whipping wind made it necessary to hold onto the railing. For warmth my little boy wore my just-finished scarf, and it made him look like a savvy, handsome, European traveler as the scarf billowed about his beautiful face. I wish I had a picture.
- In Taos we discovered Twirl. I was dazzled. Even better than the indulgent selection of perfectly chosen toys, is the fantastic setting. It was like the backyard garden of my childhood fantasies. The ones where I discover that I'm actually a magical princess with my own jewel-encrusted trunk full of elaborate gowns, secret glittery treehouses with real kid-sized pots and pans and morrocan-looking bathrooms decorated with murals of exotic pink and orange flowers. If you have children and you are in Taos, go there.
I also bought several yards of fabric to use on kitchen projects and christmas gifts at A Common Thread, a stunning fabric store. I was inspired by Molly's Handmade Napkins on the purl bee, and I plan to make some of my own with these delicious fabrics. I'm mostly doing the project because I can't wait to get my hands on the bias tape maker! Have you ever heard of anything more wonderful?
My absence lately is turning this into the longest post ever. If you're still reading, here is your reward:
stay tuned for itty bitty sock news...coming soon. Labels: life in general, malabrigo scarf, sewing