“I hope fireflies remember to do exactly what it was they used to . . .”

Birthday Cake 1

I think I’ve mentioned that soon after we moved to the mountains, my father moved up from Texas to be near us. We love that, and I think he does too, but he misses his Texas friends. Well, for his 84th birthday this past week, a couple of them came up to visit him.

We went with him to the airport to pick them up, and I knitted on a new pair of socks while we waited for the plane to land.

Airport Knitting

For Daddy’s birthday, I made Smitten Kitchen’s Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt Cake. It might have been the best cake I’ve ever made. Instead of using three kinds of berries, I used all blackberries. They were some of the ones we picked this summer. And I added birthday sprinkles.

Birthday Cake 2

It was a happy cake for a very happy occasion.

 

Birthday Wish

With visitors in town and a lot of work insanity going on, there could not have been a better time to come across this post on Wool n’ Spinning about getting your knitting in when you can. Wise words right there, folks.

I took the advice to heart and ended up working on Paul’s Checks and Balances sweater in ten-minute spells here and there to the point where the progress on it started to actually offset some of the frustration that’s been going on with work lately.

 

Knitting 1

Knitting 2b

Knitting 3

Another yarn-related thing I read this week was this post on the huge number of spindle whorls archeologists have found buried with female skeletons. Some are from as far back as Neolithic times. I knew about this in a vague way, but the article made me think more specifically about what it means that women were taking their spinning with them into the afterlife. I’m still thinking about it.

Here are a couple of other pictures from my week.

Chocolate

Work was hard. Paul brought me chocolate.

Our little friend Shanti stayed with us while her mom and dad went on an end-of-summer trip. She and Lola alternately played until they couldn’t play anymore and then passed out.

Shanti and Lola

Even though it’s only mid-August, the air is starting to feel like fall. I’ve been working on the porch when I can. Rasta likes to help.

Rasta

The title of this post is a line from Josh Ritter’s “Song for the Fireflies.”

With intermittent rain and shine
the sky re-started six or seven times
It’s blue because it sees
All our infidelities
We both know that it’s been so long
I’m not sure what to say so I hope
Fireflies remember to do exactly what it was they used to

I’ve been listening to Sermon on the Rocks non-stop.

17 Comments

  1. Oh, that cake looks amazing. I just bought some buttermilk with the thought of making a cake — maybe I’ll try this one! Thanks for sharing the links on productivity and craft and those super old whorls! I’m saving them to read when I finish up work for the day. Hope your work has gotten less crazed, and you have a lovely end to the week!

  2. Yum, I agree with all the comments about the cake 🙂 I’m definitely going to bookmark that one and make it for my book club soon. Fireflies always remind me of my childhood. I grew up in Indiana and it’s a very fond memory. I feel sorry for all the kids in the US that never get to see them 🙂 It’s been cooler here too and will get hot as heck this weekend and next week again. I will be glad when the 90’s are finished for the year.

    • melinda

      Aren’t fireflies wonderful? I remember them from childhood too, and we have a lot where we live now. There’s always something impossible seeming about them – like magic. What a an awful thought that some people might never see one!

  3. Pingback: Friday Favorites – fiber and sustenance

  4. Oh my … that cake! I’m glad my husband came home from Costco with an apple pie yesterday – that will have to be my cake-substitute this morning. I’ve been fascinated by ancient women being buried with their spindles as well; it seems very profound.

    • melinda

      Haha! Isn’t it funny how decadent it feels to eat something at the “wrong” time? I saw a recipe for buttermilk biscuits that struck me as absolutely essential to try at about 6:30 yesterday evening. Guess what we had for dinner! Yep – biscuits! 😉

Talk to me!