Helen Mathey-Horn's Blog, page 12

Why Write?

Argggggg with all that’s going on I almost forgot it is the first Wednesday of the month which is the day the Insecure Writer’s Support Group write to a prompt. This month’s prompt is….(drum roll)

November 4 question – Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?

I think I write to get ‘things’ out. Not like traumas from a childhood or such, but ideas that just seem to keep growing and have to be released. Writing them seems to be the release.

I don’t know about you but I love a blank page of paper. It is so enticing. I don’t always know what I want to write or draw on it, but it makes me itch to get going on SOMETHING. But that initial burst sometimes slows so there needs to be additional prods which must come from discipline I guess.

The beginning is inspiration and the conclusion is perspiration. (Almost a Thomas Edison quote.)

So the short answer…writing scratches an itch I have.

If you click Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Thanks to the co-hosts for the November 4 posting of the IWSG:  Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria!

Voting Day

My husband’s comment when we got back to the car was, “It’s all over but the shouting.”

I do want it to be over but I don’t want any shouting. Leave as gracefully as you can tRump. But considering who he is, or rather how he behaves, I don’t see that happening. Perhaps the Secret Service can help him out the door.

I sure hope the numbers are clear when the voting ends today. I don’t see how the US can take another four years of this ___________ (fill in your own word or phrase).

If you are reading this and haven’t voted yet (and still have time), please do your duty and VOTE.

Socktober 30

Well, it’s been a busy day.

Normally we have a lady who cleans come in on Friday…and she did. (I was spoiled when working overseas to have someone come in and clean once a week and to be honest I’m a terrible keeper of a house. I can manage to get dishes done and cook, but the rest, nope. So worth the money in my book and a job for someone else.) So today (Friday) is the day

Then the yard guy came today (it’s been raining all week and today was the first really dry day) so that was a surprise. A cleaner and a yard guy? Well, we have the steep slope at the front of our yard and I don’t like mowing grass and I don’t like the idea of my husband slipping on that slope and what takes us almost an hour takes this man (and sometimes with his son) about fifteen minutes of blitzkrieg and they are done and everything is trimmed and the driveway clean, so definitely worth it and again another job for someone.

Last surprise, the tree guy call. (What is with you…a tree guy?) Okay, this is Oklahoma, if you have trees of any size they are a valuable thing. We have four. A sweet gum in back, two black gums in front and a monstrous oak (white?) in back. The oak was suffering when we moved in and we tried to feed it on our own. We tried but no, so we got hooked up with Mr. Hathaway and Out-on-a-Limb tree company.

Love these guys. We originally called him in to look at the tree, because we wanted to feed it. He took one look and said, ‘We can save it.” And he has. Over the years it has gotten healthier and stronger. We love him because he didn’t say, “Get the chainsaw, we can take it down.” He is a TREE GUY, not an axe man. (Although he has cut, trimmed and helped in that capacity too.) So when the tree guy has a job in our neighborhood he calls to see if we want him to stop by our place also. Since the rain had made everything soft and the cold has kind of shut down the tree growth and he was in the area, it was a perfect combination. And then today it has been dry and sunny so they aren’t getting soggy, wet working.

Nothing spooky today, just helping the economy.

Here they are by the tree that started it all. See the size of that trunk! That’s a lot of shade in Oklahoma, besides whoever is nesting up there.

And another socks-to-be picture.

Zauberball sock yarn. One is variegated reds (Aldebaran) and the other blues (Stone Washed). I think socks, but maybe shawls? Time will tell.

Socktober 29

How many more days of cold and wet this week? Feels like about fifty already. We did need the rain, but with 6+ inches it is time to let it soak in and the to excess run off.

I’m looking to start a new pair of socks…so Top or Bottom pictures?

Top – start cuff from the outside (white) or inside (dark purple)?

Or

Bottom – fall leaf colors with off white.

I’m leaning towards the bottom one. Think I’ll leave the ‘colder’ top yarn for a winter day.

And as Halloween approaches, what are you doing?

I’ll not turn on the lights and will hide in the back. Not a good year for ‘tricks or treats’ with COVID. I do have ‘baskets’ made for two families down the street. If I’m repeating myself…I am getting older. On the other hand, although that sounded bad (getting older) the alternative is not great. I’ll take older.

Two more Socktober days, maybe I can finish a pair of socks. I have one pair ‘on the edge’.

Socktober 28

Cold and Wet and socks feel great. No new ones to share today.

These are the ones on the feet today.

It would be a good day to burn some wood in the fireplace and knit and so I’ll go do that.

Socktober 27 (?)

Not a sock, although I am wearing a pair of my knit socks today. The weather is COLD AND WET with potential for snow this evening. So what could be more tropical than orchids?

This plant has not only these two blooms but another pair on another stalk.

Talk about intense color. I love when I can get the orchids to rebloom.

So although it is cold and wet and very wintery outside, my front window is hosting some flowering beauty.

Socktober 26 (?)

What happened to the intervening days? I really don’t know. I thought I had only skipped one day.

It has turned cold and wet today. Hovering right at freezing tonight, so we’ll see if there is any white stuff by morning. A good day to wear socks.

Knitting-wise I spent a couple of days winding skeins of yarn into balls of yarn (one each day). I do have a swift and ball winder, but somehow I like doing it with the yarn on my lap and winding the yarn into a ball by using the tip of a knitting needle. It is slow but usually meditative, unless the skein decides to snarl, then it is a test of patience.

So I spent time watching/listening to football and winding yarn. Yes, such an exciting life.

I also am knitting another Summer Flies shawl, my fifth. It is such an interesting combination of knitting stitches/patterns.

This is not my picture, but I did one in almost the same colorway, in the past. My current one is in blues, white and purple. With another one of my own yarn (spun) in colors of blues and browns resting (lazy blocking) on the back of a chair.

So Shawltober? The month is almost over, so perhaps I can find a few more socks to finish the month with.

Socktober 23 – Also not Socks

I blame Pete DeLuca. He and his offer of espresso every morning at Livorno American High School. Yes, I caved after the first year of asking every morning. Then I got my own espresso maker when he moved his into his new room across the field. Then I bought a 120V for summers back in the States…it died this week.

A trip to Sonoma-Williams (yeah go high end or go home? In my defense they are the local supplier of my favorite crack uhm coffee brand.)

I bought what looked like it might be a moderately easy machine to use…and read the manual first. (Yes, I don’t who this person is either.)

So this morning I ran it not once, but twice. Okay, I think this relationship might last.

You want to see a picture of my new love?

It’s okay, Don’s still here, but he understands not to get between me and that first espresso of the day.

Socktober 22 (not socks)

What is with the pictures of Irises in September? No, that is not a picture from last May…check the date on the newspaper included in the picture for proof. (Like a kidnap ransom picture my hubby says.)

Irises are plants that are triggered to bloom by lengthening daylight hours (as opposed to Poinsettias which are triggered by shorter daylight hours). So one more proof that 2020 is being a strange year? This plant has not done this before (so not some strange sport of an iris…but we’ll keep this to check on next year to see if it does the same thing).

That right blossom is looking a little past its prime. It and the one one the left are the same blossom. I should have thought of using a newspaper to date this a day earlier. There are still 3 more blossoms on the stem.

So is this a crazy year? Seems like more proof as if we needed it.

More socks tomorrow…probably…unless there is something else unusual to document.

Socktober 21

So variegated green (don’t remember what it is) with a little of the Blarney Stone gray at the top. The two different yarns worked very well together. I still haven’t finished the 1/2 sock I have on the needles. But tonight is ‘nature night’ on PBS and that is always fun to knit along with.