These Look Like Easy Crochet Baby Booties

check them out:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/image/17895/newborn_mary_janes_quick_crochet_baby.html?cat=7

and no, no pic for the moment. i'm feeling too lazy today.

River

The Day Is Done

The Day is Done

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is done, and the darkness

Falls from the wings of Night,

As a feather is wafted downward

From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village

Gleam through the rain and the mist,

And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me

That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,

That is not akin to pain,

And resembles sorrow only

As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,

Some simple and heartfelt lay,

That shall soothe this restless feeling,

And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,

Not from the bards sublime,

Whose distant footsteps echo

Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,

Their mighty thoughts suggest

Life's endless toil and endeavor;

And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,

Whose songs gushed from his heart,

As showers from the clouds of summer,

Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,

And nights devoid of ease,

Still heard in his soul the music

Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet

The restless pulse of care,

And come like the benediction

That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume

The poem of thy choice,

And lend to the rhyme of the poet

The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music,

And the cares, that infest the day,

Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,

And as silently steal away.

Just Some Songs I Wish I Had in My iPod, If I Had An iPod

Beethoven Piano Sonata 14, "Moonlight"

Chuck Berry, No Particular Place to Go

Kenny G- Pick Up the Pieces

Manuel Barrueco Bach Suite no. 4

Styx- Come Sail Away

Julian Bream-Recuerdos de la Alhambra

Randy Travis- Two Graves

Gary Allen- She's So California

*Telemann- Recorder Suite in A minor

Lost Trailers- Country Folks (Livin Loud), How 'Bout You Don't

There's another song, but I don't know the words to it, nor the title. Part of it goes, "and I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free." So if anyone here knows it, please tell me the title and singer or the songwriter, and thanks a bunch.

How about you all? Do you have a list of songs you've heard and thought you'd like to have that one?

There's another one I'd like, and it's the Imperial Walk from Star Wars. I'd like it as a ring tone for when Fearless Boss calls me...

Pilón pequeño. Tiny mortar and pestle

Pilón pequeño. Tiny mortar and pestle
Originally uploaded by River Glorious

This is a tiny mortar and pestle (term in English?) that I bought years ago. It was made by a craftsman who has since retired, on account of his asthma. I wish I could get more.

Es un pilón pequeño hecho por un artesano, ya retirado. Es una lástima que no los pueda ya hacer por su asma.

Thanks for looking.
Gracias por mirar.

Blue Double Crochet Shawl So Far

And here is the beginning of my blue shawl. I have experimented with shells, granny triangles, treble crochets, combining it with black sport yarn... You don't know how many years I've had this yarn, and been trying to find SOMEway to use it, it is so pretty and I like it so much.

And it's funny that I end up using the "common" double crochet, just a simple double crochet, nothing else, and it's the best use of my yarn.

I did consider the spider shawl (or whatever it's called) but I don't know that I have enough yarn to make it as long as I would like it. Well, it's probably not enough yarn anyway, but I'll give it a try, and hopefully, it will be ready for my trip to New York. Well, you know, provided that I decide that a large metal hollow object, commonly known as "airplane" (although I refer to it as scaricus airplanae) will not drop out of the sky and actually board one. New York might as well be a million miles away.

It looks greenish here, but that's just the light. It's a brilliant blue, and me, I'm impatient and can't wait for tomorrow to post! Thanks for looking.

River

Posterity!

"Posterity-you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

— President John Quincy Adams

Tropical Storm Bill, Now Hurricane Bill...

is expected to head off into the Atlantic. It's not a threat to Puerto Rico, so far, but, I'm ready and going to keep tracking it, in case it goes more southwest than north.

Granny Square Necklace Instructions in Spanish

Here are instructions for making a granny square, in Spanish. I obviously did NOT invent the granny square, but the instructions are mine and copyrighted. Please don't steal the instructions and then claim them as your own. It's already happened to me and it's truly aggravating.

Collar de Granny Square: Instrucciones en español

© 2009 por Ambar E. Rivera

Tu cuadrito no va quedar como el de arriba, pero se asemejará. Si quieres las instrucciones para hacer ESE granny square, escríbeme una notita y lo traduciré.

Materiales: Hilo de tejer tamaño 10 (bedspread or mercerized cotton #10).
Ganchillo no. 6 ó 7.

1ra Vuelta: Haz cuatro cadenetas al aire y unirlos con un punto de unión (slip stitch). 2 cadenetas al aire (cuenta como tu primer punto alto) dentro de la anilla, haz 2 puntos altos (double crochet), 2 cadenetas al aire, 3 puntos altos, 2 cad, 3 pa, 2 cad, 3 pa, UNA cad al aire, y dentro de tu primer punto alto, vas a hacer un medio punto (o punto bajo).
Tienes 12 puntos altos y 4 espacios.

2da Vuelta: Hacer 2 cad al aire, 3 pa (acabas de hacer la primera mitad de la esquina); dentro del próximo espacio trabajar: 3 pa, 2 cad, 3 pa., 2 veces. En el último espacio haz 3 pa, 1 cad, y en el primer punto alto (o sea, tus 2 cadeneta al aire que cuentan como tu 1er punto alto) haz un punto bajo. Tienes ahora 4 espacios y 24 puntos altos.

3ra Vuelta: Hacer 2 cadeneta al aire, 3 pa (acabas de hacer la primera mitad de la esquina); dentro del próximo espacio (el espacio entre las 2 esquinas, y no, NO hay un espacio hecho con una cadeneta) haz 3 puntos altos. Las prox 3 esquinas trabajar: 3 pa, 2 cad, 3 pa., siempre haciendo 3 puntos altos el espacio entre esquinas. En el último espacio haz 3 pa, 1 cad, y en el primer punto alto (o sea, tus 2 cad al aire que cuentan como tu 1er punto alto) haz un punto bajo. Tienes ahora 4 espacios y 24 puntos altos.

Para terminar: Haz cadenetas al aire hasta que llegues al largo de tu preferencia, y termina con un punto de unión (slip stitch) en la 3ra esquina.
Dejando 4 pulgadas de hilo, corta y esconde el hilo.

Ahora tienes tu collar.

Shawl With the Pretty Blue Yarn

I've decided to make a shawl with my blue yarn. It told me it really wants to go to New York with my black shoes and black blouse, so I said it may.

I experimented with it, and tried making a granny triangle shawl, but it looked horrid. I tried adding another yarn to it, very thin acrylic black yarn, something between baby weight and sport weight, but it was too much black, and it just didn't look right. Too much black, and too much space between stitches, and I tried many stitches, believe you me!

Finally, I decided that I needed to just do something quick and simple, so I'm going to just do double crochets, starting with a foundationless double crochet, just in case I want to do a moebius shawl, so that there will be some give to it. Otherwise, it will just be double crochets back and forth, because the beauty is in the yarn and the shimmery colors it has under the moonlight, not in a busy pattern. It would just kill the yarn.

Here is a lovely crochet shawl by Bonnie Pierce:

http://home.comcast.net/~gandal195/MoebiusShawlPattern.htm

and a knitted one, which is also pretty:

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=94&d_id=16&lang=en

After this, I shall tackle one for Fearless Boss's little mother. I really MUST make one, in case I go to New York. But, if my fear of boarding a plane only to have it suddenly drop out of the sky prevails, then I'll mail it to him instead!

Bug

Came down with something.  Don't know if it's a stomach virus or food poisoning.  I sure feel awful, dizzy, headache, and general achy all over.  No respiratory problems,  though, thanks to the Lord.

I've done a bit of work today, but really, not much.  It's August, I'm in the tropics, but at times I actually feel cold.  I suppose that might be a fever, but then, I'm no medical professional. 

I'm wishing for some of Mom's soup today, but she no longer cooks... Well, back to under the covers for me.  you all stay safe and well.  I'm just reading your entries, nothing else.

My First Afghan

I made this afghan in 1991, I believe. Someone was going to teach me to knit, taught me to crochet instead, and my sister immediately told me to make her a blanket. Well, I ran out of yarn, and now I know that these smaller things are called "afghans".

I was very ignorant and very ambitious. I knotted a lot of the ends and cut close to them, so at some point, this is going to unravel. Too bad. Plus, I didn't use a pattern. I just made single crochets, double crochets, and changed colors whenever I got tired of one. How is that for a pattern, haha!

Loss of Liberty

"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once."

— David Hume, Scottish historian