Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Market bags

Okay, I guess I am obsessed with bags...I have never been obsessed before. I usually function like this- get a bag (or a pair of jeans, or shoes, etc) I like and use it until it just falls apart. I have literally had to throw sneakers into a dumpster to tear myself away from the ragged things. So I have one purse and suddenly about 7 shopping bags! T. has sewn me half and I have knitted the other half. I have also made a number of them for friends and family. It is a very easy pattern- but I love to do it. In a small way, I feel like I really am spreading my personal battle against plastic bags, plus they are pretty.

T. sewed these veggie bags for me and I LOVE them!! They are for items that need their own bag, like beans and peaches. The work wonderfully and people think they are so cute- which they are.
This bag is for my mom.
I know you have been wondering why there haven't been more pics of Sparks lately. So here you are. He has no good reason for his absence- no big project he is working on...By the way, this isn't our couch. Ours is being repaired and this is the loaner they sent us. I feel like we may never see our little beige couch again. In revenge- we are allowing Sparks to sit on the mismatched thing and get his hairs all over it.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Booties

This is the Bootie of the Week gift for a friend of mine who is preggers with her first baby.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Governor's Island

Governor's Island is a small island off the tip of lower Manhattan. Beginning in the 18th century, while the British were in charge, the island has served a military purpose. It has a fort and "castle"- which was primarily used as a prison. It also has many houses for officers and large buildings that resemble dormitories. The Coast Guard returned the island to the city of NY in 1996. It is open to the public for 3 months in the summer. At this point, the development proposals look stalled and the island is rather ghostly. The ferry takes about 5 minutes and you are free to walk and bike about half the island. There are spectacular views of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But, the most interesting thing to me was the feeling that over and over time stopped. The castle looked medieval sitting right next to deserted 1960's concrete dorms. The fort is like walking into a Civil war museum and there are rows of Victorian houses for the officers. We just walked around and peeked into windows, to see empty rooms and debris. It felt like the set of a movie, in a small town that had all the residents sucked out of for some mysterious reason.


One of the amusing things were the Civil War reenactors. Here they are shooting their guns in front of the fort, with Manhattan in the background.
Through a window at the prison.
The library, through another window.