At Least There Were Loaves

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. --Charles Dickens

And here we are again in March. I feel as though I've been in a boat caught in the reeds and have suddenly been spit out into rushing rapids, only to land in this world a couple of months in the future. Where did all the time go?

I was rather hoping I'd have more knitting to show off this week, but my Mango/Pomegranate sweater looks decidedly sameish this week. I could blame it on my indecision on which increases I wanted to use or the time it took me to wind up a few more skeins, which is sort of true. The real truth is that I barely worked on it at all this week, and I'm not even sure why not:

It's been a long winter for me, not especially because of the weather, but it's not really helping. Our yard is still quite snowy, even though most of the town is nearly clear of the snow. The trees around the house are lovely for shade in the summer, but aren't especially helpful for the whole melting situation:

Luckily, we've had lots of bright sunny days recently, including today. We wandered down to the water this afternoon to try and make the most of the sunshine. I'm afraid I was a bit too optimistic about how warm it was going to be and deeply regretted not wearing a hat and a warmer coat, but Seymour doesn't seem too bothered by it. He was far too busy sniffing every square inch of the beach to pose for a decent photo today. I call this shot, "Silhouette of the Beast:"

I enjoyed a short brisk walk, regardless of the stiff breeze. There are always interesting things by the water:

Even though I haven't felt all that productive this week, a thing-maker like me is always has something on the go. Here's some rye bread I made yesterday. It's the first time I made it and it was quite successful. I think I'll put them in some loaf tins next time. The rounded loaves are quite a pleasing shape, but a bit of a palaver to make a sandwich out of. I guess I'm a bit of a bread snob after all:

Here's a lentil loaf I made today. It's one of my staple lunch dishes, and one that usually makes people come running when I warm it up at work. I love the hearty warmth of it and the texture created by the lentils, rice and oats. You should give it a try, vegan or not:

I want to take the opportunity to thank those folks that reached out to me to let me know that they are still reading this blog and still appreciate my efforts. Honestly, I've felt quite isolated over the past few months and wondered where all the people in my life had gone to. I'm not an especially social person these days, so the chance to have contact with folks is precious to me, even if they are just words on a screen.

I decided to switch up my hermit-like lifestyle yesterday and went ahead and signed up for three, count 'em, THUH-REEE textile workshops in April. And then, I ran into the lady who ran the calligraphy course I took a couple of years ago and found out she's running a brush lettering course in April as well. Three workshops and a lettering course in one month? Whoa. I better get my social-brain limbered up. I'm gonna be all peopled-out. 

Happy Sunday!