Merrie Days

In Minnesota, Labor Day signals the end of summer. It's when the kids go back to school...but also weather-wise, we don't have too many hot days left. But! The best is yet to come! Cool, crisp weather, leaves changing colors...OMG, sweaters!! Fall in MN is the best!

But, for Ian (who will read this and weep a little (a lot!)), I will redirect this post towards summery things. Like the MN State Fair (which would just not be the same without a heaping tub of Sweet Martha's cookies). And drinking Absinthe on the balcony. And collecting teeny crabapples to make sour-applesauce.

I've been reading a copy of Robin Hood written by Alexandre Dumas. I've read other Robin Hood stories but none have ever held my attention the way this one has. Dumas is really the most amazing storyteller.

The pair of green scarves above are inspired by Robin Hood (the sawtooth edge scarf) and Maid Marian (the ruffle edge). I imagine these would be the perfect scarves to wear in the forests of Nottingham, perhaps while fleeing from (or pursuing!) danger, or better yet, exchanging vows of eternal love. Both do seem to happen regularly!

Between reading this and The Borrowers, I find myself in a perpetual state of longing for a life lived out of doors. Perhaps a house in the trees with a kitchen below, a makeshift table with fallen logs for benches. Of course a tiny cottage would be better for wintertime. Sometimes I think I might prefer a houseboat. Or sailboat?

Oh dear...I know that none of it would be sensible. I mean, would I really want to be covered in bugs and have to wash my clothes in a nearby stream? No, in reality, I would not. But in the perfect meadow that my mind has conjured, there is no need to worry about bugs or how we will cook food or stay warm or make money or stay healthy. There is simply sunshine and flowers and knitting and fawns and crickets and streams and groves and merrie men. That's it.

Sigh. For now at least I have the knitting. And Ian too, although he's not exactly what I would call merrie. He's going to be so annoyed that I don't think he's merrie...and that he came after knitting. Annoyed yet not surprised.