hmmmm...

Why haven't I been posting much lately? I've been putting energy into another online project.

I'll tell you where to find it if you email me at

b i r d f a r m 9 2 g m a i l c o m

(remove the spaces and replace the big spaces with the "at" sign and period respectively)

I tend to think of this blog as a group email to some friends from college and some in Madison. I put some code in the template that's supposed to make it impossible to find via a search engine—how stupid to think that that would actually work.

None of this is adequate justification for my thoughtlessness in making a crude and thoughtless joke here at the expense of an old, dear friend, who (unexpectedly) saw it and was deeply hurt.

I feel terrible and know there's no way to remedy this situation. Of course I'll apologize directly to them but it might take a day or two to get their contact info; in the meantime I am posting this heartfelt apology here.

I do wish them nothing but joy and am sorry I marred their new happiness by making a stupid joke.

taken by Rogiro in Tshwane, South Africa.

His translation: "We do anything in and around the house, what your man doesn't want to do or can't do."

Loopy won a door prize at the Sow's Ear! Yay! Ten balls of Dale Heilo yarn--wow!

She saw on one of her lists, someone who has made a gajillion Dale sweaters said that Sirdal was the easiest/funnest (should be a word). I found a picture of Sirdal...



I love it!!! But, I wanted black instead of white. So, through the magic of Photoshop, I made it the colors I want it to be.



Whaddya think?

Then I started to wonder if we should leave off the ribbon and use black buttons... more New York, less Norwegian... I'm remembering how, when I first came here, it took me a while to get used to the Norwegian sweaters; I thought the buttons and ribbon looked strange at first.

Here's what it might look like, more or less:



More New York? Or just more boring?

I'm seeking opinions. I have no fashion sense or taste whatsoever. In case that's not already obvious.

I'm especially seeking the opinion of those of you who still live in a city (since I hope to return to one eventually!) and of course, people like Ang who may not be New Yorkers but have great taste/style.

Another possibility would be to try to find some Dale ribbon that was a different color--I think I used to have a sweater with black ribbon on it.

Any thoughts?

Compliments on my "mad skills" in Photoshop are also welcome. ;-)

Welcome Harper Hipps!

A (formerly) little boy I used to play with in preschool had a baby! Congratulations to the parents and welcome to little Harper MacLaren Hipps. I think she's named after Harper Lee, who wrote "To Kill A Mockingbird." Great namesake...

It's always funny how you mentally "freeze" people in time...even though I know perfectly well that Shane (the father) is (and will always be) just a couple years younger than I, in my mind he's still a tow-headed toddler himself. Fortunately for all concerned, the inside of my mind bears no resemblance to reality!

This family has always been so uniquely wonderful to my family. Sheila, the mother of the "little boy," helped my mother deal with some terrible grief in her life that had oppressed her for years. I'll always be grateful for that and for all the good memories of the times we spent together.

Best wishes & best of luck to Harper Hipps and her whole family, who have been our dear friends for so many years.