spring – Cauldron Comforts

Bluegrass Birthday

I missed writing last Sunday because I was out of town. Last weekend was my Dude’s birthday; I took him to the Bluegrass Meltdown in Durango, Colorado. Durango is a lovely little place to spend a couple days. It’s got a cute little historical district packed with nice restaurants and shops to explore (including at least four bookstores we browsed through), and an easy path beside the Animas river only a few blocks farther along. We were able to park behind our hotel and walk anywhere we wanted all weekend.

The festival itself was fun. It was small, with a lot of little known bands and local talent playing cozy little venues where you could get right up close. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about bluegrass music. I just occasionally like that folksy regional type of music, full of banjos and mandolins and fiddles, and it seemed like a nice excuse to visit Durango. After last weekend I’ve probably heard enough mandolin to last me quite a while, but we enjoyed ourselves. I actually bought Shelby Means‘ album on vinyl and my Dude bought a CD by Michael Prewitt. I guess that qualifies us as bluegrass fans? I don’t know.

My assortment of photos also features the only two western shirts I own. It was the closest I could get to a proper bluegrass outfit. I’m middle-aged and lazy and don’t look all that alternative, but in this crowd I was very much on the young side and the staff seemed just the slightest bit confused by my dark purple hair and spider bites. They were all polite, though, and none of the actual audience seemed concerned.

You can also see our gorgeous room in the Strater hotel, full of cool antique furniture. I like that hotel because each room has different furniture and wallpaper. You never know quite what you’ll get and I like the surprise.

Anyway, after our fun weekend trip, it was back to reality and back to frugality while my husband continues his job search. We had some repairs done in our garage that were mercifully cheap. We played board games with friends. I finished that Alchemist slipover I was working on. I was too busy to take nice outdoor photos but I did pose in front of the bathroom mirror for you. The darkest picture is closest to what the color looks like in person but my phone washes out the color trying to catch the detail. I am good at many things but photography isn’t one of them.

It mostly turned out as expected and I like the fit of the collar. The open sides and breezy fit aren’t what I usually look for but I like it. I think it will be a fun layering piece and I would be excited to try different fasteners under the arms to switch up the look a bit.

I do have a whole lot of yarn left, so I chose a couple of free scarf patterns to use it on. I don’t actually wear scarves that often but I like making them, and both patterns are small enough that I could use them in my hair if I wanted to. My curls are usually pretty tame in this desert air but it’s nice to have a scarf or headband around when they misbehave.

And that’s the last two weeks for you. Hopefully the next few will bring us quiet days, good weather, and a new job. Until next time, I wish you tranquility and good weather as well.

April Showers

March punched us in the gut on its way out the door. Monday morning, my Lenormand pair was the Rider and the Tower. Roughly, the combination means news from a large institution like the government or a corporation. I kid you not, less than two hours later my husband’s company laid him off. They say Lenormand leans toward practical, literal interpretations but this was more than I expected.

I’ve been doing the witchy thing for maybe fifteen years now pretty consistently but honestly, I’m pretty agnostic about it most days. I keep a consistent practice and honor a couple of deities regularly but I tend to treat divination, especially, as a psychological and emotional thing. A way to clear my thoughts and see things from a different perspective. Then I have days like Monday. In the last few weeks I’ve had several wicked accurate readings that make me believe a little harder in cartomancy.

The Tower in Lenormand, by the way, is not a card of disaster the way it is in Tarot. This combination could have been a tax refund or news about the job my daughter applied for or any of a dozen perfectly pleasant bits of news. Even in our case, it’s not a complete disaster. Not yet, anyway. My dude gets two months severance pay and we have some savings in the bank, so he has a few months to find a new job before the lay-off really starts to ruin our lives. For now, we’re trying to stay positive and not panic.

Anyway, the rest of the week couldn’t help but be better than Monday. April brought us some soothing rain to make up for March’s bad behavior. I love the way rain deepens the colors of everything. I love being cozy inside, listening to the rain patter down.

I also made progress on that Alchemist slipover I’ve been knitting. Now, instead of looking like a big test swatch, it looks like an enormous test swatch with a large raindrop-shaped hole in it. Progress! But seriously, I’m maybe three quarters of the way through now and pleased with how it’s going. It’s a really easy knit that’s been soothing to work on. It’s also using way less of this yarn than I was expecting so I’ll have to find a small project for what’s left. Maybe some arm warmers or a little neckerchief. We’ll see.

I’d like to say I’ll be done soon but I’ll be pretty busy with other things. We’re actually going out of town for a few days to attend the Bluegrass Meltdown in Durango, Colorado. Not the best financial timing but we paid for the tickets and hotel months ago so we’ll only need to spend on gas and food. But I’ll tell you all about that next week. Until then, I hope April is treating you right. I wish you spring flowers and magical moments.

First Week of Spring

Ostara was Friday, so spring has officially sprung. I celebrated with food, as I usually do. I made a nice risotto with a spring greens salad. I did not take any pictures so I’ll leave that meal to your imagination. I will admit, though, that I totally cheat at risotto. I live at high altitude, so proper stovetop risotto takes a lot more time and I’ve never been too successful at it. Ever since I found the Barefoot Contessa’s oven “risotto” recipe, I’ve been riffing on that. I’ve drifted away from the original recipe over the years and I switch up the ingredients according to the season and the vibe I’m craving, but the oven method works well and makes things so much easier.

But enough about cooking. Spring is the season of air, and here in Northern New Mexico that’s pretty literal. We get some serious wind this time of year. Still, it’s warm enough to walk the dog without a sweater and the trees are lovely with flowers and new green leaves. Nights are still cold and it’s not quite hot enough for air conditioning, so we’ve had the windows open. I’m typing to the sound of chirping birds. It’s pretty cozy.

As spring warms up I’m, ironically, knitting a sweater. I’m making the Alchemist Slipover by Wool & Pine. I honestly don’t remember saving this pattern on Ravelry but I’m glad I did. So far it’s an easy project and it should be a cute layering piece when I’m done. Right now it’s just a large violet swatch but in a couple of weeks it should really look like something. I’m loving the color, Crow and Crescent’s Midnight Dreary. I love dark subtle violets and blues but I also fell in love with the Edgar Allan Poe reference. I’m a sucker for literary tie-ins.

As usual, my phone has dialed up the brightness on my knitting by a million percent, making the color look a lot lighter than it really is. Next time maybe I’ll borrow my kid’s camera and see if that captures the color better.

From now on I’ll aim to write a bit every Sunday here, and of course my sister and I post reviews every Friday on Darker Books. This week’s post might feel a bit like I’m marketing Ina Garten or shilling for Big Knitting but seriously, none of those people know I exist. I just want to give credit where it’s due and spread the word about things that have worked for me. I hope your Ostara was lush with new beginnings. Until next time.