Kermit had it right....

It's not that easy being green;

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.

When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...

or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.

It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.

And people tend to pass you over 'cause

not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.

And green can be cool and friendly-like.

And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,

or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be

It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?

Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!

And I think it's what I want to be.


Kermit had it right….

It’s not easy being green.

This past weekend, MUC and I got back into the swing of the letterboxing gig. It was really great to get out and see folks at the “It’s Not Easy Being Green” event at Folly Beach, SC. Drgdlg put on a really nice, low key event with plenty of boxes to keep us busy.

Personally, I’m still a bit of a mixed bag regarding my feelings for the whole thing. Not because of the event, but due to my own abilities and performances. It was a real testament to what I *can’t* do right now. My mind was no where near being able to focus enough to sort the boxes by geographical area, much less work on any codes (there were a couple of those). If it weren’t for the very uncharacteristic laidback graces of Eidolon, I don’t know if we’d have boxed at all.

MUC and I have boxed quite a bit with Eidolon, Artemis and the Hitchhiker puppies, and we know what we’re getting into. It usually involves moving at the crack of dawn, hustling all day long, solving issues and clues on the fly, debating and re-debating, no eating (unless it’s along on the trail), and ends with a flashlight at the last boxes. We’re exhausted, filthy, inky messes with lots of stamps to show for our efforts.

This weekend, either Eidolon was in a particularly gracious mood or was ill, because we were practically sedate and leisurely all day long. MUC and I didn’t get there until almost noon, and basically announced to Eidolon we were going to ride his coattails. And we did. After lunch. I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened. We also stopped and let the puppies play at the dog park (which was freakin’ huge, by the way).

We did a little boxing after dark, but it was a guided tour type thing by drgdlg, with Paw Paw and Granny, hawkeye and Jdog, as well as Buttercup and Johnny Quest along for the journey. Other than a brief encounter with an after hours park nazi and MUC’s momentary scary spill, the evening was tame as well.

Most stayed for the weekend, but MUC and I came on home, getting back to Chez McD by about 2 a.m. And, yeah, we were exhausted, inky messes, but not quite so many stamps as I’m used to having at the end of the day.

The day after was rather unpleasant, but Dr. Rheumo finally came over with some pain meds, so it was at least tolerable. It’s also what prompted my late night trip home. We had considered staying the night, but after deciding my pain threshold was just too unpredictable these days, I didn’t want to be away from home if I really needed to medicate myself.

All this, and I forgot my POS camera. So, I’ll leave you with this image instead.

Knitting my life away!

I've got a couple of FO! Woo HOO! And, I've got a few in progress as well. And, I've been letterboxing a bit as well since my last post. So, what's in the mix:

The finished objects:

Tabi Socks.

I am really pleased at how these turned out. I first posted about these here. And, it took me a couple of months to finish them up. Now, they're ready to be washed and blocked. It's a basic toe up pattern, with a lot of liberty taken from a tabi style pattern from Knitty. (Yes, I know the picture shows one cuff turned up and one down, but that was more just to show the socks.) I'm totally excited to wear these during the school year, to which I don't generally wear closed shoes anyway, but it's sometimes too cold for even ME to wear flip flops. And, let's be honest here. That's the REAL reason I knitted the things. So that when the want or need arose, I could do this:

Another Finished object: my take on the Summertime Tunic in the Summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits.

There were several things about the original pattern that I wanted to change, so I did some playing around while I knitted and came up with a bit different top. My yarn was a heavier as well, since I used Blue Sky Cotton in Thistle as well as an accent yarn that I can't remember at the moment. I pulled the ribbing up, shortened the body, changed the body shape to a more fitted one, and came up with my version. And, despite actually taking the time to do a gauge swatch (which I rarely do), the top is still too big. I may go back and do some sewing decreases, but for now, it will stay as is.

A current WIP is some Big Black Socks (BBS) for Socks for Soldiers. They are a really helpful and fun group of people from all over the world who are knitting objects for military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, here's my BBS, in progress. These take more time than you might think, given that it's a basic pattern with a 4x2 rib, as the black yarn is so difficult to see at times. As a result, they are my current pick up/put down project at the moment.

As for letterboxing, I haven't been missing out on that either. MUC and I have picked up the stray box here and there, as well as a couple of gatherings. The first was in Madison at the end of April. Small and cozy, but nicely done by the Smith Family Trekkers. Then was the big south east event at Stone Mountain. Somehow, I neglected to take my camera to both of these events, so I had to pilfer StarSAELS copy of the group photo from SM. Next on the list? More knitting (of course), more boxing (of course) and a lot of beaching! Hopefully, I'll remember to take the camera!

The Everlasting Postal Letterbox

For those of us who are total voyeurs, here's the map to keep us going! This map is to be used only for the Gobstopper postal. Once you receive it, click the globe below and add yourself to the map! Stop by every once in a while to see where Gobstopper's been!

View my Guestmap

Free Guestmaps by Bravenet.com

Spring Break Boxing!

Over the past week, our local school systems (and much of the rest of the Augusta area) completely shut down over Masters (golf tournament) week. Since I work like mad to avoid that section of town, out of town trips seemed like the way to go.

MUC and I attended the The Umop-apisdn & Sdrawkcab Tea Party in Waxhaw, NC on March 31st. We had a great time wandering around Cane Creek Park looking for boxes, including an especially determined snail that eluded us. There was even some bathroom diving involved! I was so busy doing the usual boxing things that I totally forgot to take any pictures. However, some fellow boxers were on the ball and managed to do both. Kudos to NOYDB, who rattled MUC's cage pretty well too! As we were doing our discreet boxing thing, MUC noticed "that man" taking our picture and sitting at some picnic tables about 200 yards away. We continued to go about our business and when it came time to replace the letterbox, MUC was distressed to discover "The MAN" was gone! MUC didn't want to put the box back, lest he be discovered. It took me quite a while to convince him it was okay.

Over Easter weekend, I took a solo trip to visit family in the Brunswick area and got in some area boxing as well. While there, I was vividly reminded why I enjoy the beach so much. On Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island, I took the opportunity to shoot some photos to pass the time waiting on tourist to move on before nabbing boxes. And, I got to visit some really great sites I had forgotten how much I missed. Some of the photos will probably turn up in various incarnations in my future artwork.

Here is a very small sampling of the 75+ photos I took. The picture at the top is of Driftwood Beach on the north side of Jekyll Island. Below are the tabby ruins of Horton House (Jekyll), a shot along the north shore jetty on Saint Simons Island, and a tabby crypt at Christ Church on SSI.

The British Are Coming!

Today, MUC and I went to Savannah River Bluffs Heritage Preserve to plant our part of the Great Atlas Quest Letterbox Exchange '07 (GAQLBE07). We were lucky enough to be paired with a British boxer, UKUSA, and decided to exchange wild bird images as a series. So, MUC and I trekked out and planted in this little hidden gem of a perserve. While we were there, we ran across some of the protected flora in this preserve.

The pictures are of some type of wild lillies (I think rocky shoals spider lilies) which were in bloom while we were there. These weren't the only ones. There was a multitude of bloom about.


I'm not sure about the purple one, but I believe the white flowers are False Rue Anemone, also part of the rare/endangered flora in the area. After a while, MUC got really irritated with me stopping to take pictures of flowers every 30 seconds, so we hiked out of the riverbed. On the way out, we had to cross a powerline easement, where there was a little wooden footbridge.



This is where we saw our only natural fauna of the day.
Today was also a big day for MUC. He officially hit the 100 mark on AQ. We keep records of our own and have him at a few over 100, but as we can't log unlisted finds for him yet, those don't 'count'. Now Greyson has his red ribbon for 100. His response to that was: "I need to get some more!"

I'm Your Venus....

Why Venus of Willendorf?

The truth is, I don’t know, except she’s always intrigued me. Perhaps it’s part of the idea of the importance of artistic object in everyday life even in Paleolithic times. To find out more, the Wikipedia article on her is as good a place to start as any. Check it out here.

It might be that it’s the oldest known artwork, and it’s subject is decidedly female. She looks pretty good for a 25,000 year old woman.

It may be that she very much resembles me! Given today's focus on skinny to the point of unhealthy, it's somewhat empowering to see an image where this was decidedly NOT the valued norm.

Whatever the reason, she’s here.

Be blessed....

I have been told by a certain 'friend' that my blog is boring. Well, yeah. I know that. It's not really intended for mass consumption anyway, but more for me to use as I see fit. That's assuming I actually remember to post to the thing, which, admittedly, I forget to do.

So, to spice things up, and to see who is paying attention, I thought I'd add some info here that might help certain individuals, should they be seeking information about a particular item of jewelry I wear. All I will provide is the picture below. The rest is up to you.

What do you do with a scurvy blog?

Make it walk the plank?

Drink more oj?

Post more?

Probably the latter. So, I suppose I should do that.

What have I been doing lately?

Letterboxing. The family has made a couple of trips over the past month for boxing excursions. One to Atlanta, where we met up with Eidolon and Artemis and the infamous HH puppies, Community and Cemetery. Did a spot of boxing, a bit of planting and a LOT of walking.

Most recently, we went to Columbia, SC. We spent the day boxing, a little bit of planting, eating a spot of bar b que and walking. :-) We planned to go to the Zoo as well, but Mixed Up Chameleon had a bit of a mishap on the trail (MUC fell into the muck), so we decided to make that part of the journey another day.

When we go on these trips, I'm always amazed at the sites we find. These places are so near and having lived in this part of the country/state all my life, you would think I would have known about them. But, I'm constantly awed and thrilled at the new places we see. Some of the more recent ones:

Arabia Mountain Park

Harbison State Forest

Clemson Sandhills Research and Education Center

Here's a shot from the last. I didn't take this, but it definitely expresses the beauty there.



Also today, took MUC and went to check on some of my local boxes, one of which is near the James Brown statue downtown. Given the traffic lately, I thought it a good idea to double check. While we were there, two couples came by to take pictures and such. I did have the foresight to bring my camera, so I made MUC get up there with James as well. He thought that was really cool. Unfortunately, you can't tell that by his expression in the picture.

So, have you heard of letterboxing?

Letterboxing. It's my latest obsession. Along with Jack Sparrow, sleeping, and Rockstar Supernova, that is. At any rate, letterboxing is one of those hobbies that appeals to my artistic side, as well as the adventure/piratical soul.

Here's the skinny on letterboxing (and my thanks to the folks at Atlas Quest who do a better job of explaining than I do).

Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with delightful "treasure-hunts" in beautiful, scenic places that the whole family can enjoy. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by following clues, and then record their discovery in their personal journal with the help of a rubber stamp that's part of the letterbox. In addition, letterboxers have their own personal stamps which they use to stamp into the letterbox's logbook.

Interested yet? If you are, or just want more info, check out my links where there are several letterboxing sites listed.

Then, come on and join the fun!