The more things change...

Have you ever noticed how the crazier the world gets, the more you want to knit? If the situations in the Mideast, Africa, South Asia, Haiti, and most of Latin America weren't desperate enough, there's so much local mayhem--governmental, economic, social, culinary--that an ostrich's view of the world starts to look pretty scenic.

But wait, there's more!  I'm married to someone who likes to burn up the yard at least once a year.

Sure, why not?  And, being a good scout, he used only one match. Silly me for thinking there might be safer ways to get rid of weeds than a good old controlled burn, right? QED: the house behind the fiery field in the photo is still standing.

Here's a close-up of my pendant et après feu self-patterning sock.  I found it comforting to knit intensely and stare deeply into the fibers while the front yard was under incineration.

On a more amiable note, Quentin's friend Orla arrived yesterday, length of visit unspecified, but based on Q's rather attentive behavior, I sense she may be here for a while.

Orla hails from China by way of Providence.  Like a 1940s movie talent scout, I discovered her, you might say, hanging out at the sign of Frog and Toad on Hope Street.