Late Saturday afternoon, Rudi and I headed down to the C&O Canal Towpath for a bike ride and to see if we could spy any baby animals. I share our success with you: (more…)

I spent four hours at an author event this evening and came home exhausted but happy. But now isn’t the time to talk about such things and instead should be focused on looking back at three beautiful things from the past week:

1. A curly-haired imp runs by. She is wearing a red tutu and sports a yellow SpongeBob umbrella.

2. My dentist and I talk music at my visit this week. As I’m about to leave, he hands me a mix cd. It feels much like getting to pick out a cool plastic gem ring at the dentist when I was a kid.

3. Biking home from the ballpark, Rudi and I ride along a nearly deserted Mall. Peering up into the spotlights aimed at the top of the Washington Monument, I realize that what I initially thought was an aircraft or shooting star or satellite is instead one of more than a dozen bats looping around after bugs hundreds of feet up the air. We stop and stare at the tiny dots so high up (seemingly) peacefully zooming about. As we tear ourselves away, Rudi says, “Definitely a beautiful thing.” Indeed.

Anything beautiful in your world this week? Share with us!

… but the May flowers showed up anyway:

Irises at Mitchell Park

Gradations of purple

A mystery flower. Anyone?

Mini daffodils

Dandelion, gone to seed

I really like this shot, and I just don’t know why exactly. Through the iris stems…

The re-sized shot that fits on the blog comfortably doesn’t really do justice to the picture. I suggest clicking through to Flickr to view them (and a few others) at full size.

This just in:

One Sprite has just been reported to have removed her knitting needles from two (Repeat: TWO) projects. She is alleged to have followed up this activity by weaving in ends.

Onlookers expressed surprise at this turn of events. Rumors had long swirled that Sprite had given up finishing projects, particularly sock projects.

The first socks finished were started back in September and are reported to be Fox Faces by the famed Nancy Bush. Reporters are led to believe this pattern was what is known as a “mystery pattern,” where clues are released part by part until a completed picture is revealed. They are said to be knit in Three Irish Girls Adorn yarn in the Cian colorway acquired in 2009 at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

The second pair were supposedly knit in Shelby B’s Boo yarn, a bamboo/merino blend, in the Knight Bus colorway at the request of one Rudi. He claims to have picked out the yarn himself at last year’s Sheep & Wool Festival. He also says the perpetrator selected the pattern, Snape, herself before renaming the project Snape Boards the Bus in a misguided attempt to be cute.

When last heard from she was plotting about yarn to wind and new socks to begin. Readers are cautioned that the suspect is highly suggestible and should be approached by appealing patterns with caution.

A peek in the basket after the first farmers’ market of May:

• Morels
• Asparagus
• Ramps
• Rhubarb
• Mesclun mix
• Baby zucchini (The farmers are growing them vertically in bags in their unheated greenhouse to harvest earlier.)
• Celeriac
• A greenhouse tomato
• An onion
• Blueberry scones
• Milk — plain and chocolate

Yum!

Tomorrow I’ll share updates and photos from Passport D.C. and the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.