Monet's Water Lilies Shawl and "Track of The Cat"

     I got this beautiful yarn for my birthday gift from me.  A Madelinetosh Euro Sock yarn called "Across The Universe".  It immediately reminded me of Monet's Water Lilies and since I unveiled it on a porch on my birthday in the Adirondacks I have been trying to create a shawl pattern that would reflect the diverse textures found in the Water Lilies masterpieces (there were about 250 of them painted by Monet).  Hopefully, I'm projecting that I can knit it again in perhaps a plain blue yarn and put it out there in the Spring as a pattern on sale.  My goal at least.

     During my vacation, I read "The President is Missing" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson; a quick grab in the airport bookstore and a really exciting read.  But I had intended to finish Nevada Barr's first in the Anna Pigeon series "Track of The Cat".  I had thought the series perfect for a vacation and even though I'm finishing it at home it definitely would be an awesome read for vacation (I'll just pretend I'm on vacation).  The book series is about Anna Pigeon a ranger and each book is set in another National Park.  I'm told that keeping them in order is important and I couldn't find the next book "A Superior Death" anywhere second hand (I love the feel of a previously creased and used book in my hands).  So I just downloaded it and I have a stack of some of the books in the series that I did find.  I think I found the perfect summer reads.  Nevada Barr was a Forest Ranger and you can tell in lush descriptions of fauna and wildlife.  It makes me want to know the names of more plants.  A discussion I had in the Adirondacks, that I'd like to learn more of the trees' names.  I talked about it with my son's significant other Emily as we were rowed down the lake.  Which one was Balsam, or Hemlock?  Trying to identify the different textures of pines and call them by name.  It is like understanding a foreign language that only some do and I'd be able to "read" and define the forest I see.

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