Busily having fun
Dec. 28th, 2004 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
celticdragonflyI'm not getting much computer time this week, but I am having fun with the family.
Yesterday Karl and I took Maggie to go tour some St. Francisville plantations, the ones that were annoyingly far north when my family lived in south Baton Rouge, but are quite convenient now that Mom and Dad have moved to Zachary. Jamie stayed with his Nana, but Maggie was quite good on the tour, good inside and enjoying running around time outside.
We went to Cottage Plantation, one I hadn't heard of before, rather off the beaten path, and got a tour with just us. Wow. 1795 original carpeting and wallpaper, an organ from 1835, etc. Fascinating, enjoyed the history. Maggie enjoyed meeting the 2 friendly lab dogs that met us. Lots of intact outbuildings, including the carriage house with the 1850s carriage.
Then after that we went to Oakley House, the Audubon site. They've added a visitor's center and video since I was last there. BIG group for the tour, rather crowded, but still enjoyable. Maggie got to run around lots outside, on a nature trail, got to see chickens and peacocks and peahens (and a magnificent albino peacock!), a sheep and a pig, got to pet a cow, and got to meet the plantation cat Tomas and pet him, a lovely big orange tabby. I got to ogle the kitchen gear and the WEAVING room, and came popping back out to tell the tour guides, sitting on the back basement porch area waiting for us to finish so they could lock up, "oh cool, you've got a WEASEL!" Which caused a moment of concern on their parts, until we cleared up that no, I didn't mean a small predator had wandered into the building, I was referring to the yarn weasel - oh, yeah, THAT. Yep, like a big swift but with gears, so that when you'd wound the correct length for a skein, it would go POP! Yep, where the song came from.
Maggie got lots of running around today, too. I went down and picked up Robyn (with the kids - the moment she was told we were going to get Aunt Robyn, Maggie started in with "Robyn! Where ARE you?"), and again left Jamie with Nana, and the four of us stopped for lunch and then went up to Rosedown plantation. Which is now another state park, like Oakley House. All of these would give you free entry into each other, IF you did them all on the same day. Whew, nope. We had a very enjoyable tour. I got to PLAY an 1841 piano! It sounded good, too. The tour guides play it regularly to keep it in good shape. Lovely, lovely thing.
I've been thinking about music and such - hard not to, around my family. I really want to get back to playing my harp again someday. And when the kids are a bit older, and childcare isn't quite so intensive, I'd like to see about learning a bit more piano myself, now that I've had the experience with the harp helping teach me to play with both hands at the same time. And since we have the player piano, I already have one to practice on. Maybe I can find some good learning books for adults. Maybe even a class - and I'd like to find a good sewing class, too - although that'll have to wait for budget improvements, too.
On the textiles front - I am determined to teach Robyn some elementary crochet and knitting. Simple, small projects, things she can enjoy and develop confidence with. She has done a lovely latch hook rug (well, many, but that one she kept for herself) that has a matching crocheted afghan she'd like to do, so that's a good motivation, although I want to start her on smaller things.
I'm terribly frustrated with this current sock in the Six Sox Knitalong. It's a beaded sock, and I've gotten the beaded part to go okay, but I DO NOT LIKE THE YARN that I'm working with. Darn it, this is IT, I am NOT buying Wildfoote yarn again. I don't like it. Twists terribly, and it's thin stuff, not nice at all, feels like string, darn it. And I don't get good full coverage, and I feel like the heel is not knitting up solid enough. I'm not even halfway done with the first sock, and I just wish it was over. Bleagh.
Mom gave me a bunch of lovely leftover yarn from a sweater she made herself - blue, plied with variegated yellow, red, and green, she calls it her Crayola sweater. I want to make a kid's sweater for Maggie and Jamie to wear. Ideally I want to do a knit-in-the-round raglan sweater. I tried using a plug-in-your-values and do the math pattern she had, and was starting out, and thinking this neckline was WAY too small - right, they don't allow for oversized toddler heads. So I was facing redesigning a pattern for a garment I've never knitted before and don't grok the geometry of. Agh. I was just about ready to do it somehow, but when I was getting Robyn, Mom ordered a book for me, of top down all-in-one-piece knit in the round sweaters, from kids to adult, so I will wait to see that and go back to the sock (ugh) for now. I would like to see if I can do it - I find sweaters intimidating, there's SO many varieties in the geometry, and I'm going to have to redesign everything for either little kid sizes or plus sizes.
Yesterday Karl and I took Maggie to go tour some St. Francisville plantations, the ones that were annoyingly far north when my family lived in south Baton Rouge, but are quite convenient now that Mom and Dad have moved to Zachary. Jamie stayed with his Nana, but Maggie was quite good on the tour, good inside and enjoying running around time outside.
We went to Cottage Plantation, one I hadn't heard of before, rather off the beaten path, and got a tour with just us. Wow. 1795 original carpeting and wallpaper, an organ from 1835, etc. Fascinating, enjoyed the history. Maggie enjoyed meeting the 2 friendly lab dogs that met us. Lots of intact outbuildings, including the carriage house with the 1850s carriage.
Then after that we went to Oakley House, the Audubon site. They've added a visitor's center and video since I was last there. BIG group for the tour, rather crowded, but still enjoyable. Maggie got to run around lots outside, on a nature trail, got to see chickens and peacocks and peahens (and a magnificent albino peacock!), a sheep and a pig, got to pet a cow, and got to meet the plantation cat Tomas and pet him, a lovely big orange tabby. I got to ogle the kitchen gear and the WEAVING room, and came popping back out to tell the tour guides, sitting on the back basement porch area waiting for us to finish so they could lock up, "oh cool, you've got a WEASEL!" Which caused a moment of concern on their parts, until we cleared up that no, I didn't mean a small predator had wandered into the building, I was referring to the yarn weasel - oh, yeah, THAT. Yep, like a big swift but with gears, so that when you'd wound the correct length for a skein, it would go POP! Yep, where the song came from.
Maggie got lots of running around today, too. I went down and picked up Robyn (with the kids - the moment she was told we were going to get Aunt Robyn, Maggie started in with "Robyn! Where ARE you?"), and again left Jamie with Nana, and the four of us stopped for lunch and then went up to Rosedown plantation. Which is now another state park, like Oakley House. All of these would give you free entry into each other, IF you did them all on the same day. Whew, nope. We had a very enjoyable tour. I got to PLAY an 1841 piano! It sounded good, too. The tour guides play it regularly to keep it in good shape. Lovely, lovely thing.
I've been thinking about music and such - hard not to, around my family. I really want to get back to playing my harp again someday. And when the kids are a bit older, and childcare isn't quite so intensive, I'd like to see about learning a bit more piano myself, now that I've had the experience with the harp helping teach me to play with both hands at the same time. And since we have the player piano, I already have one to practice on. Maybe I can find some good learning books for adults. Maybe even a class - and I'd like to find a good sewing class, too - although that'll have to wait for budget improvements, too.
On the textiles front - I am determined to teach Robyn some elementary crochet and knitting. Simple, small projects, things she can enjoy and develop confidence with. She has done a lovely latch hook rug (well, many, but that one she kept for herself) that has a matching crocheted afghan she'd like to do, so that's a good motivation, although I want to start her on smaller things.
I'm terribly frustrated with this current sock in the Six Sox Knitalong. It's a beaded sock, and I've gotten the beaded part to go okay, but I DO NOT LIKE THE YARN that I'm working with. Darn it, this is IT, I am NOT buying Wildfoote yarn again. I don't like it. Twists terribly, and it's thin stuff, not nice at all, feels like string, darn it. And I don't get good full coverage, and I feel like the heel is not knitting up solid enough. I'm not even halfway done with the first sock, and I just wish it was over. Bleagh.
Mom gave me a bunch of lovely leftover yarn from a sweater she made herself - blue, plied with variegated yellow, red, and green, she calls it her Crayola sweater. I want to make a kid's sweater for Maggie and Jamie to wear. Ideally I want to do a knit-in-the-round raglan sweater. I tried using a plug-in-your-values and do the math pattern she had, and was starting out, and thinking this neckline was WAY too small - right, they don't allow for oversized toddler heads. So I was facing redesigning a pattern for a garment I've never knitted before and don't grok the geometry of. Agh. I was just about ready to do it somehow, but when I was getting Robyn, Mom ordered a book for me, of top down all-in-one-piece knit in the round sweaters, from kids to adult, so I will wait to see that and go back to the sock (ugh) for now. I would like to see if I can do it - I find sweaters intimidating, there's SO many varieties in the geometry, and I'm going to have to redesign everything for either little kid sizes or plus sizes.
