10 April 2017

Palm Sunday Weekend

Hi there everyone, I hope you are all doing OK, and that you had a good weekend.  I wasn't happy to see Monday arrive, but then again, I'm never that happy to see it.  After a good weekend though, it seems even more puzzling that Monday arrives so quickly ...

I had a good weekend - some fun, some cleaning up, some knitting, some reading.

Friday evening, we had tickets for one of the author talks sponsored by the Free Library.  It was Alec Baldwin, who you may know from, among other things, the TV show "30 Rock," which is one of our fave shows ever ("Good God, Lemon!").  He has written an autobiography, and had been asked to be part of the series.  Even though I think he is entertaining, he's also been a jerk and a douche in the past, so I was wondering how this was gonna go.

Well, it was a great evening.  He was thoughtful, funny, and very honest.  He talked about his childhood, and how he got started in acting instead of going to law school.  He addressed his crap behavior, and talked about how he is working hard to be a better person.  It sounds like his current wife has really been able to keep him focused on the important things.  I do hope so, since I think he can be hilarious.  He went into his Trump impersonation occasionally, which was really fun.  He also talked about the importance of taking breaks from social media (which he credits as helping him behave much more reasonably).  He said that in his household, there's no phones allowed at the dinner table, and for the adults, no phones or "screens" after 10 p.m.

It was all interesting and fun, as well as unusual, since we seldom go out on a Friday night!  Granted, we were home by 9:45, but it was still an evening out for us.

Saturday was a sunny but chilly day, and also pretty windy.  I mostly stayed put, and did some things around here, but I did leave the house to walk up to a little shop near us.  It's one of those tiny shops that has a little bit of everything - cute, funky, pretty, goofy - you get the idea.  They have lovely costume and nicer jewelry, and the one time I was talking to the woman who owns it about how I had two necklaces that needed repairs, but were not going to be something a jeweler would want to bother with.  She mentioned that she made jewelry, so to bring them up and she'd take a look.   So I headed up there, and she's gonna fix them for me! She said they are pretty quick and simple fixes, so I was excited about that.  They don't really have a big monetary value, but they do have sentimental value.

On my way home, I cut over on Delancey Street, which if you know Philadelphia, is a pretty fancy street of extremely large, elegant townhomes, generally costing millions (!) if they hit the real estate market.  Well, it was apparently my day, because I walked past an estate sale, and there was a really nice rocking chair sitting on the sidewalk as an advertisement.  It was skinny, and actually a price I would be willing to pay.  I tried it out, and it was also comfy.  It would be the perfect knitting chair for the room where I keep a lot of my yarn and other crafty stuff!  So I decided that, if I got home and The Tim was available to bring the car and help me bring it home, then it was meant to be for me (I had already asked if I could pay with a credit card instead of cash, which was fine with them).  I want to clean it up, both the wood and the upholstery, just because I want to feel it's as "fresh" as it can be.


My photography skills do not really do it justice - the fabric is a deep green.   The wood is in surprisingly good shape, and there are no issues with the upholstery.  I was so excited to have come across it!

Yesterday was another mostly at home day.  I did go out into the garden and started trying to get it to the point where I can start cleaning it up to enjoy.  I managed to sweep up two HUGE piles of fallen leaves, sticks, and things I prefer not to know about.  I got some of the stuff into trash bags, but ran out of steam.  But it's there, and it's a start, so that's encouraging.

Then, some knitting.


The stack o' knitting in the photo above contains a front, a back, and two sleeves for my Custom Fit sweater - whaaaatttt????  Yep, the pieces have been knit.  So now it's time to weave in the ends. block the pieces, and (gulp) sew them together.  So.  Yeah.  Huh.

It will happen, at some point, and hopefully sooner rather than later.  But I need a little bit of time to plan it out, and to be astonished that I actually am so close to really and truly being finished with this project ...

A big weekend.  A good weekend.  Hopefully this week can keep those vibes going.  As well as the momentum, since I'd like to finish cleaning up the house for the Easter holiday.  Of course, if nothing else, the promise of upcoming chocolate will assist with that endeavor!

18 comments:

Tired Teacher said...

How exciting to find the rocker at the estate sale. I hope it brings you great happiness.

You've done the hard part on the sweater: the seaming will be easier. You've got this!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

That is a lovely chair!

Bonny said...

Your new chair looks exceptional! We had a couple nice finds while poking around some junk/antique shops last weekend, but nothing quite that good. Enjoy your new knitting chair!

Anonymous said...

That rocking chair is simply beautiful! That detour across Delancy was WELL WORTH it.

Araignee said...

I follow Hilaria Baldwin on Twitter and she is an amazing woman. I guess that saying is true-behind every good man...

Lorraine said...

Bridget- That's a lovely chair, nice score.

Vera said...

Love your new chair - beautiful! What a great find. And your sweater is all knit??? You'll be seaming it up in no time. Can't wait to see the finished product. So glad you had a nice weekend.

Kym said...

Isn't it wonderful when all the stars line up and the PERFECT thing ends up YOURS? Love the chair -- and I'll be you will love sitting and knitting there. Your night out with Alec Baldwin sounds delightful!

The Well Fed Wheel said...

Wow.....now that's my kind of weekend! Love the chair!!! I've heard that Alec's new wife is a really good influence on him. Sounds like he gave a fun talk. Can't wait to see all those sweater pieces connected. ;-)

Lilbitbrit said...

Great find on the chair, I'm sure you will enjoy that, just right for sitting and knitting.

elns said...

Oooo new knitting chair! That's going to be good times right there. Your friday night sounds like a good time. The fact that you were home by 10pm? Win win in my opinion. Exciting times for your sweater! Wishing you many good week and weekend vibes!

karen said...

you saw someone famous? that makes you kind of famous...I wish I could have been there. Nice chair and looks perfect for a knitting chair.

R's Rue said...

Great.

Nance said...

What a Winning Weekend!

steph said...

what a score!!!! good for you----and your knitting!!!! enjoy!

Judy S. said...

Sounds like a great weekend! Nice work on the sweater; I can't wait to see it sewn together. Have a wonderful Easter!

handmade by amalia said...

An evening with Alec Baldwin sounds like great fun. He looks to be a man with an interesting story to tell and a bit of glamour thrown in.
Happy Easter,
Amalia
xo

Marie said...

I love your new rocking chair! It reminds me of the one that was always in my grandmother's bedroom after she moved in with us. I got the chair when she passed away, and I used it for pretty much the same thing as she did: reading and crocheting.