Hydrangeas

Posted on June 14, 2019 by forstegrupp

We now have many different varieties of hydrangea growing in our yard which is quite shaded by oak, beech, elm, and maple trees.

The range of flower form and color delights the eye!

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What is blooming now?

Posted on May 15, 2019 by forstegrupp

This spring in Philadelphia has been cool and wet which has been wonderful for prolonging the bloom time of azaleas and rhododendrons and other plants.

Here are a couple of pictures of what is blooming in the garden right now: Columbine, geranium, peony, and iris.

Peonies may be my favorite flower of all. I love the large, pillowy flowers with their bright centers. My grandma in Cincinnati had a peony bush in the backyard. It was one of those pink bomb types which weighed the stems to the ground so the peony dragged its petals in the dirt. She would cut those and bring them inside and then the ants would crawl out, marching to and fro across the kitchen table. searching for a way to return to the green grass.

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World War 2 Musical Propaganda

Posted on May 1, 2019 by forstegrupp

Today driving into work, the magic witchbox (iPhone SE) continued playing all my music in alphabetical order. I am not sure how the music got on that setting, but it led to a very interesting contrast this morning.

The first song was “All Star” from Shrek.

But the next three were versions of “All The Things You Are.”

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Look closely at the cover art. It is Frank with a bunch of sailors!

The first two were recorded by a youthful Frank Sinatra when his voice was that sweet baritone, unsullied by age and smoking and drinking. The second Sinatra song came from “The V-Discs: Columbia Years — 1943-1951.” V-disks (Victory disks) were songs which Sinatra recorded during 1942-1944. Sinatra did not earn any money for recording them, but he certainly became well known by the soldiers, because these disks were sent to the American troops overseas.

img_2307.jpgThe third one was recorded by Glenn Miller’s American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and Sargeant Johnny Desmond sang — in German.

Du bist der verheißene Kuss des Frühlings
Der den einsamen Winter lang erscheinen lässt
Du bist die atemlose Stille des Abends
Die am Rande eines reizenden Liedes erzittert

Click here for the German lyrics.

I was struck by the juxtaposition of the same song recorded in English to comfort the Allied forces and then recorded in German to broadcast to a German audience — to persuade them that surrendering to the Allies would give them great music — and peace and love.

 

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How do you spoil high school seniors on your last day of class with them?

Posted on April 30, 2019 by forstegrupp

img_2298Today the senior advanced topic English elective meets for the last time. They requested a “fun” day while they work on their final papers about one of several books which they read in independent books groups.

I remembered my promise to bring them something special at 8:23 pm last night and SH (starter husband for those for whom this acronym is unfamiliar) and I talked about just buying them donuts at the local Giant. Instead after a few minutes thinking, I pulled out my bread machine and started measuring ingredients for sweet rolls.

SH was not pleased because he thought I would be up until close to midnight — which meant he would also be up. He never goes to bed before me.

A regular dough cycle takes 1.5 hours. Then it takes 10 minutes to shape the rolls. Then it takes 30 minutes for the rolls to rise. And then it takes another 30 minutes for them to bake.

I said, “I can do this.”

“No, you can’t.”

“We’ll see.”

The rolls were baked and I was in bed by 11 pm. How? I cut out one of the rises which saved 30 minutes and then put them in a 110-degree proofing oven so they would rise even faster. Usually bread takes two rises so the dough is lighter, and I like a slower second rise so the dough develops more flavor.

For these seniors, they won’t notice the slighter denser dough — the rolls are coated in a vanilla butter frosting after all! I made the butter frosting this morning after walking the dogs and spread it thickly.

But I did pull out one corner roll for my dear SH to prove that I could make those rolls before bedtime!

Update

Here is what was left when the locusts were done. And were they ever enthused: “You BAKED for US?”

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Tulips and Spring

Posted on April 29, 2019 by forstegrupp

Yesterday SH and I took a drive into Delaware hoping to go to Mt. Cuba Center’s spring festival but it was not to be. They wanted us to park about 2 miles from the gardens and take a shuttle bus and we were on a short timeline.

So we started driving home avoiding the highways and the road joined Baltimore Pike right at Longwood Gardens.

Why not go there instead?

It had turned into a sunny but cool day after morning rain. We had a lovely walk through their spring blooming displays and then continued our way home with spirits renewed.

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Australia — hello and goodbye

Posted on April 2, 2019 by forstegrupp

35CECCA3-F6B7-4396-A141-599BED7416CEOur time together in Australia passed so very quickly, but we created many wonderful memories: hiking through tropical forests, listening to the rushing water of several waterfalls, riding a ferry to Manly, gazing rapturously at the Sidney Opera House, actually seeing various unbelievably alien mammals and brightly colored birds, and eating succulent oysters and fish, and drinking wonderful wines.

Since my return, various folks have asked me what it was like. My answer has been distilled down the observation that most of the people we met were all oriented to the sea: they swim, fish, surf, boat, and live on the coastlines. If they do not live near the ocean, they pass by the ocean every day — or so it seems to me.

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Morris & Sons in Melbourne

Posted on March 23, 2019 by forstegrupp

This morning I walked a few minutes from our hotel to this Australian institution to browse for yarn and ideas. The shop was located inside a gallery. The lower level was a huge bookstore already populated and on the third level was Morris & Sons. Another woman was also waiting for them to open.

I think they take knitting and cross stitch and embroidery and sewing seriously around here.

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Barter Economy

Posted on March 17, 2019 by forstegrupp

img_1628This loaf of bread will be given to the jewelry teacher at my school tomorrow. She fixed an antique bracelet of mine.

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I did not ask her to fix it. I just asked her if it could be fixed. Then it went from there because she is a generous person.

In exchange for her expertise, I am bringing her this loaf of braided challah bread fresh made this morning.

 

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Sunset in stitches

Posted on March 17, 2019 by forstegrupp

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I just finished a piece of knitting which will be going with me to Australia as a gift for a dear friend whom I have not seen in more than ten years.

I started with a pattern which is a variant of Evelyn Clark’s lovely “Swallowtail Shawl,” which is a triangular piece. Clark’s shawl was first published in Interweave Knits, Fall 2006. It was such a popular pattern (as of today according to the Ravelry count, it has been made 12,000 times), that Susan of TheRaineySisters was inspired to create a crescent version. Click here to read the posts about the process of turning the original triangle into a crescent. You will also find a pdf of the pattern available for a free download!

But as I knitted away with a gorgeous gradiant dyed by Brooke of the Painted Tiger, I decided that I did not want the distinct bands of patterns: budding lace, lily of the valley nupps and the pointed lace border. I wanted something after the budding lace that transitioned smoothly into a pointed lacey ending.

After some searching and checking repeat count, I settled on melding the budding lace to the leaves from Katrin Vorbeck’s pattern “Spring Leaves.” And she based her pattern on  “Gail (aka Nightsongs)” by Jane Araujo.

The piece came out very well. Better in fact than I was anticipating. It took most of a 490 yard skein of sock weight yarn. I used sizes 4, 5, and 6 knitting needles. You can find more pictures if you click here.

Now I am thinking about turning this into a pattern to offer on Ravelry but I need to email everyone listed in this post to see if they will allow me to use bits and pieces of their patterns to create a new one.

Wish me luck!

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Am I a political coward?

Posted on March 16, 2019 by forstegrupp

I am sorting through stacks of stuff on my desk and came across these New Yorkers from 2016 and 2018.

The one of the man reading the paper on the subway perfectly captures my utter disbelief at the travesty of the 2016 election.

I am still suffering the aftershocks of that disaster for our nation.

img_1610The cover to the right captures the gulf between two very different Americas.

It is a gulf. I have so few friends who are Republican or who will admit to me that they are Republican. They know my views. One Republican actually visited a couple weekends ago, and she joked that she had to get vaccinated before she came.

I laughed.

But felt a chasm open between us.

Her husband, a former member of the National Guard,  has lots of guns in the house. Apparently, he feels like he needs them in case some “crackhead” tries to break into their home. I was too polite to call her on the coded language.

Was that cowardly?

Maybe.

But she was a guest in our house and I wanted to keep her as a friend. We have been friends for over 30 years. She lived in the house next door to me. We went to college together. We went to each others’ weddings.

I tried to find some common ground on this topic of guns. I think we finally agreed that background checks were an acceptable compromise. And that maybe ordinary folks don’t need bump stocks or thousands of rounds of ammunition.

We did agree that tRump is a disgrace to the office of President. She assured me that did not vote for him. In fact, she did not vote for anyone for president in 2016.

Will that happen again in 2020?  Will the Dems run a candidate who is too liberal and then will this disaster of a POTUS be elected again?

 

 

 

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