Off to Washington DC tomorrow

George and I are flying to Washington DC tomorrow to visit Michael and Michelle. We will be on a 7:30 plane, and will meet Mike at 9:11 and spend the day talking, laughing, eating, and having a world of fun. This trip is short, so I don't expect to do much touring around. They always take us to great restaruants and I'm looking forward to Korean food and maybe some Thai food too. I also look forward to one of Mike's grilled sausage dinners. Maybe we can find a birthday cake somewhere. Maybe mommo will bake one. I'm not bringing any crafts, or jewelry tools, or knitting (well...hum...)and I'm packing light. I have a book. We fly back on Monday morning (Happy Birthday, Michael!), and I go to work in the afternoon. Short and very very sweet.

Have a great day.

Duck water

On Saturday the word went out that there was an emergency water main break west of Boston and 700,000 households in communities near Boston would have to boil their water. We didn't react very fast. Then I started to think that I didn't want to drink pond water, where ducks have pooped. We began to think about our options.

People who live near Boston always have big lobster pots, so we just boiled some water. But boiled water in a pot doesn't look as appetising as a nice cold bottle of Spring water from the fridge. Then we started getting thirsty. We made a very quick decision and ran out the door. We hopped in our car about 8 p.m. that evening and headed north. No stores near us has any water left, we knew that. People had done what they often do, and rushed to the store as soon as they heard. As we sat around and watched the Kentucky Derby, it didn't take long for the grocery and drug store shelves to empty.

George and I headed north toward Maine and turned off toward Newburyport, which is a touristy and beautiful oceanside area. We figured that people wouldn't bother to take that long slow road to the ocean. Trouble is, there are no grocerie stores. It got dark. We drove further. It got darker. At one point, it was pitch dark and we were out on a peninsula jutting out into the ocean. Water, water everywhere, but....

So, we meandered more and looked for some bright lights. We stopped at a lobster roll/hamburger shack. They had stopped serving dinner, so we had an ice cream cone and kept driving. Into the dark. Thirsty.

FINALLY we come upon a large town - Haverill - and a BIG well-lit Market Basket supermarket. They had no idea of the water ban. They had water stacked to the skies. We bought several gallons and two cases and gloated and stopped at Wendys for a celebratory burger and fries.

Our little late night venture to the oceanside in search of water will be a good memory long after the water ban is over.

Some great views of Boston if you haven't been here lately.

Pictures from our backyard today

My new Marudai

Marudai in the mail

I am taking at class in Kumihimo braiding at the Bead and Button Show on June 5 in Milwaukee. As part of this class, I needed to purchase a Marudai, which is a frame for making this Japanese braid. We will be using strands of beads to make the braid, and the foam Kumihimo form that I already own would not do. They are made out of wood, and have bobbins which hold the fiber and you move the bobbins around. There are an infinite number of braining patterns that can be used. All very Japaenese. I will try to learn one of two and make necklaces. This is a picture of a Marudai similar to the one that my teacher is sending to me and which is in the mail. I'm almost as excited about this ancient form of braiding on a wooden stand as Michael Shea was about his new Ipad: technology a thousand years or so apart.

Bare branches to little green leaves.

For the past three days we have had the big hard rainy blow in New England. The weather has really been bad, with lots of rain, street flooding and turned up umbrellas. Some people in Rhode Island had 6 feet of water in their basement since rivers overflowed their banks. Streets have buckled with sink holes and people have suffered with two floods in two weeks.

My suffering has been very minor. I had a new heavy duty black umbrella. I left the parking garage on Tuesday, opened my new umbrella, and had it immediately flip inside out. I turned and it went back into place, and back into its case, never to be seen again.

We have a beautiful view of a park and river from the windows at work. The trees are in green leaf. We went from cold brown winter branches to inch long little pale green buds and shoots of leaves. The weather will be sunny and in the 70s over Easter weekend.

Hope Springs.

Today's map of Massachusetts. Enuf said.