Blessed Beltane!

Today is Beltane, the pagan fire festival. It was a gorgeous sunny day for it, too. So far today I have celebrated by sleeping in, lounging around and shopping. Tonight I plan on playing some WoW and tomorrow the big plan is to go to the ren faire. I also start a week of pet-sitting tomorrow night for someone at work who is going on a week's cruise to Mexico. Next week is my birthday, so this was also a day of self gifting... but since I will be 35 perhaps the purchase of a new edition of Dante's Inferno would have been a better choice?

Made a quick trip to Knit N Stitch to sew the purple sweater together, but Linda was teaching so I satisfied myself with shopping for yarn for my new project, the CeCe cardigan. It was nice to see Linda & Pat, to meet some new knitters, and to breathe in yarn fumes. The yarn I picked out is (ironically), nearly the same color as some ingeo yarn I spun a couple years ago. That must mean I like it!

Popped by Borders to use my 40% off coupon and came home with Eddie Izzard's "Definite Article" dvd. I really want the Black Adder box set, but just can't justify spending that much, even with a coupon. As always, the trick is to make sure I find the item I want the most without buying more than I came in for. Eddie makes me laugh, so I know this is a good choice.

Then a quick lunch and off to Kohl's to use my $10 gift card. I bought only things on sale and saved $114 according to my receipt. Found a great pair of slacks, two lilac tops, a comfy bra and a cute white indian-style shirt. That should keep me for the rest of the year. I forced myself to really look at the things that were there, made several trips to the fitting room, and only chose things I am sure I can mix & match with my existing 'wardrobe'. I detest clothes shopping and it is extra-frustrating to end up relegating poor choices to the back of the closet.

Baby bird pictures from 2 days ago when she was 4 weeks old. Today she is even bigger and stronger - she is as big as the parents (but with a shorter tail) and has moved out of the nestbox. I even caught her eating millet seed and climbing onto a perch yesterday! Flapping practice is happening all the time now; today she even let me swing her in an arc. Violet is sitting on a new clutch of eggs already (crazy lady). I am still considering names... Flora is one idea. Or I could keep with the Shakespearian theme... Desdemona? Portia? Gertrude?