These are the photos I was sketching from today.
Ashley enjoying hot chocolate
Caitlin, age 3 
The photos are of course much better, but it is a lot of fun to try to do a sketch which reflects the joy and wonder shown in the photos.
Another baby sweater completed. For this one I used moss green Mission Falls wool for the front and back and blue Norwegian Heilo wool for the sleeves. The broad neck is designed to make it easy to put the sweater over the baby’s head. I used a pattern from Liz Lovick, who hosted the knitting and spinning and dyeing week in Orkney 2 years ago.
Today my Irish class resumed for the 12 week Spring Term. There were 20 of us, some new faces, and most of the original group dating back a couple of years. It was nice to be back. I do appreciate our teacher’s enthusiasm. We meet in a rather drab room across the road from the new Town Centre. The instant coffee on offer during our break is equally drab and so today I brought my own take-away coffee from Starbuck’s – very enjoyable. I still become rather tongue tied when it comes to saying anything in Irish, but I do enjoy listening to the language and seeing it written down.
Today was also rehearsal day for a small choir with which I try to sing. We are rehearsing to sing at the Ladies Dinner at the Kenilworth Bowling Club. The dinner is scheduled for February 21st – the day after Ian and I are due to get back from our trip to Hong Kong. I hope I don’t feel too jet lagged and can stay awake to participate. Here is our repertoire: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Dublin Can Be Heaven
KWMBAYAH
Night of Stars and Night of Love, Barcarole – Offenbach
Sleepy River
Any Dream Will Do – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Thank You For The Music – Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus
In these days of a winter which does not want to go away, there is hope for Spring, as the daffodils start to come up and the blossoms appear on the cherry trees and the days are gradually growing longer. Today I was going through some old photographs and I found some taken in the month of March – the light looks so much stronger and the trees and foliage so much greener.
Dublin readers will recognize this well-known view of Sugarloaf Mountain, taken from Powerscourt Drive.
In an earlier post before Christmas I wrote about the music the recorder consort group was working on in preparation for a concert with a group of viol players. Well, the date for the concert has been fixed for February 4 and following are the pieces selected for the performance.
Ballet – Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
Riu riu chiu – Anonymous (c. 1550)
Privilegi della corte – Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605)
La Nuvolina (1600) – Floriano Canali
Heth sold ein meskin gain om wim – Anonymous (c. 1520)
Ah Robin, gentle Robin – William Cornish (1465-1523)
Now I must settle down for more practice before the event.
A recorder ensemble, January 2008 – my teacher is the tall player, 3rd from the right
Reading Suggestions: 
I was attracted to this book by the cover, and the title – What I talk About When I Talk About Running. This book is a mixture, part travelogue, part training log, and part reminiscence. It would interest long distance runners and cyclists. Given that the author was born in 1949, it is also an interesting analysis of the aging process and strenuous sports. When I bought the book I didn’t know that Murakami was a well-known author. Now I look forward to reading one of his novels. I have chosen Norwegian Wood.
This is the photo from which I was working today in my art class. It’s an old photo, possibly from Scotland or northern England. I can’t remember where I found it, but it is a nice line-up of girls who worked in the herring fisheries – the herring girls.
This was fun to sketch – the result is nothing to brag about but I had a good time.
Baby Blue (with yellow) is finished – all ready for a baby of about 3 months. Nothing like planning ahead – the baby hasn’t even been born yet.
Over the weekend I made great progress on my current knitting – a baby project. This is the state of it – will it all come together?
My knitting opportunities were at Kilternan Market where I managed to knit and also sell one of my scarves and a pair of socks and 3 of my cards – a good day at the Market. Followed by a good day at the Dublin City Book Fair on Sunday. There was a steady stream of customers and I did well. It’s curious how some obscure books sell and others that you expect would sell just stay on the table – the right person just doesn’t come along on that particular day. And it was a good day for knitting also.
I can certainly recommend reading, or rereading, John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck writes movingly of poverty and fortitude during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The book was published in 1939 and Steinbeck was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Now I want to move on to rereading some of Steinbeck’s other novels.
This is the photo I was trying to copy today in my art class. Dare I show you my result? You’ll see that I need practice! I haven’t done justice to Ashley’s concentrated expression.
Ashley wrapping a Christmas present, 2006
Pictured are two good books which I read recently. Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan and Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith. In Women of the Raj, the author weaves interviews, letters, memoirs and a selection of illustrations to present a vivid cultural and social history of the daughters, sisters, mothers, and wives of the men at the center of the British experience in India. I liked this book very much and so did Ian. I have now loaned it to my 95 year old friend who was part of the British experience in India. She was there with her husband and young baby during the 2nd World War and I have so enjoyed hearing her first hand experiences of life in Calcutta and Darjeeling at that turbulent time.
Letters from Yellowstone is a bit different. It is a novel but it is written in the form of letters and it reads almost like an autobiography. The setting is Yellowstone National Park, in the American West, at the turn of the century. The issues on which the novel focuses are the role of women at that time, the natural history of the Park, and the preservation of the natural environment vs. economic development.
