I couldn’t find the song I was looking for today, so I thought I’d share with you Retro Stefson, a band from Iceland I first heard during our trip there in 2011 (and who broke up at the end of 2016). This is “Kimba,” from their second album, Kimbabwe. This is not the official video, but I do know my audience and suspect you’ll watch the entire video just to admire the sweaters, even if you aren’t crazy about the song. But I hope you like their music, too, which is generally upbeat and fun.
I dozed off last night, forgetting I hadn’t yet published my weekending post. So here it is, several hours later than it was supposed to be:
The weekend was productive in some ways, not in others. I’m not done with my sock, which means I have to knit a full sock, plus nearly half a second sock by Thursday at noon in order to advance. Given I have to work (and sleep) between now and then, that’s not seeming likely. I realized that at some point last night and then thought how I hadn’t advanced past the opening round since the year Gramma died and that thought hammered home that I missed her tremendously, which made me cry, which then made me think how disappointed Gramma would be in me that I was still so upset so many years later. (Which was probably the point at which I should have put down the sock or the cleaning supplies and gone to bed, but which was not.)
However, I did cross several things off my list, besides the serious scrubbing of sinks and counters (there’s a rust stain that does not want to come off). My peas are planted, my overdue books are returned to the library, and my tea canisters are full. My nails aren’t painted, but they have been stripped of old polish so I can paint them tonight. I did see the art installation, but it made me angry, which is another blog post for another time. And I took full advantage of a sunny afternoon by drinking lemonade at a tavern and chai at a coffeehouse with patios that faced west.
So if we chalk up the tears (and the tardy post) to being overtired, I guess we can count most of the weekend as a win. Now I just have to muster the energy to face the week (which includes my annual review and the need to finish building a website) with some sense of positive energy. I think I’d better go drink my tea.
While I have no objection to Daylight Savings Time (no kids; night owl), losing an hour of sleep is painful, even if I do get it back in the fall.
Here’s what I’m hoping my slightly shorter weekend includes:
Complete at least the first sock of the pair for Sock Madness. If I want to advance to the next round, I need to have a finished pair on Thursday.
Finish Strange the Dreamer and get it back to the library. (Or, at the very least, get it back to the library and re-request it, since it looks like there are only two holds on it right now on the nine copies in our system.)
Plant my peas.
Mail checks for my garden dues and my baseball tickets.
Have supper with some friends.
Buy eggs at the farmers market. (We used up the last of them tonight making French toast for supper.)
Refill the tea canisters!!!
Scrub sinks and counters.
Paint my nails. (At some point after the previous item gets finished, obviously!)
Check out an art installation that closes on Sunday.
I feel certain I’m forgetting something important that I was supposed to do this weekend, but I can’t think of what it should be. Hopefully I remember before it’s too late!
1. A woman sings softly (and, I think, unconsciously) on the other side of the Metro platform as she waits for her train. Because of the acoustics of the station, her melodic tones reach me, too.
2. Sarah, Rudi, and I caught opening night of A Wrinkle in Time tonight. I went into it too excited and the screenplay writer/director opted not to include the scene from the book I love best, one essential to my personal understanding of life, so I can say assuredly it’s not perfect. But it was very good, with lush scenery that makes me curious about the 3D version (and green lipstick), a solid reenvisioning of the story, and excellent performances from its actors, particularly Storm Reid, who plays Meg.
3. My yearly supply of tea leaves arrived Monday, much to the bemusement of my office mailroom supervisor, who inquired about the contents when I cheered with glee as he delivered the box to me. Sure, I suppose most people don’t order 11 pounds of tea at once, but most people don’t drink as much tea as we do. I’m really excited to refill all my canisters this weekend, some of which have been empty a long time. (I think my supplier has been out of Gurance when I’ve tried to order it for the past two years!)
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
After getting to preview the album through NPR’s First Listen feature, I was excited to get to pick up Brandi Carlile’s latest album, By the Way, I Forgive You, at my local bookshop’s sale last weekend. (Apparently lots of people were excited about this album, because it was #1 on Billboard’s Top Folk Album chart last week.). This is one of my favorite songs off the album:
