April, Then Summer

What became of spring? Apparently I blinked, missed it, and now it feels like summer.

Last winter's unseasonable cold made the cherry blossoms in Branch Brook Park start blooming late, then the sudden unseasonable spring heat made them burst and fall in record time. Ah well, some years are like that – the flowers were still pretty the brief time they lasted. These almost-twin trees are among my favorites (note the photographers are bundled up – the photo was taken before it got hot).



As always, DH and I paused to remember old fallen favorites. I marvel at how resilient the trees and their blossoms can be, and also how fragile and fleeting.



Although the cherry blossoms in Branch Brook Park can't hope to rival the formality of those in Washington nor the cherry blossom festival match its scope, there was a fun surprise in Cherryblossomland – paddle boats, including exactly one swan boat. Alas, the line was too long for me to try one, swan or non-swan. Next year!



Galloping along (as the season is doing), this past weekend the heat made MDS&W too hot for handknits, at least for me. Others may have gamely or grimly (or perhaps even grimily) worn theirs; I didn't think to bring my linen Christiana headband and so wore last year's T-shirt unadorned. It would have been handy.



It was so hot I staggered from booth to booth collecting only the most essential items on my shopping list: a heddle hook to replace the one that unaccountably vanished, bringing all weaving activity to a screeching halt; a book on making clothes from SAORI handwoven frabrics, some Into the Whirled roving for later (= Tour de Fleece); and a T-shirt. The tee is a shockingly bright pink, a good visibility color for bicycling. I wanted a sky blue one, on which the sheep looks like a cloud, but my size was sold out on Friday. How can this be?



I'm particularly pleased to have the book as I hope to become sufficiently proficient to weave cloth suitable for making garments, SAORI-style or otherwise. The two gift shawls I've woven so far were well-received, albeit with the humorously blunt critique I need to get a wider loom. The shawls are the full width of my 15-inch Cricket, admittedly narrow, which is unacceptably inadequate to the demanding discerning critic. Talk about heat! Uh, right... I just got the loom, I'm still learning on it, I don't need another so soon – indeed, I don't actually need another hobby. The rabbit hole beckons again.