I have been experimenting with another sock design. Knitting, ripping, knitting, ripping, and knitting again. But I think I’ve finally worked it out (um…hopefully.) There’s my knitting for the next weeks, exhaustive exploration of the designs’ potential !
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But perhaps the most interesting of things happening right now are the ravens yet again stealing away with my attention in their nest-making work! Photographed (a blurry phone photo) through the window in our tiny house yesterday in the dimming evening light, are the male & female which share the wooded habitat “close in” with us. They are busy tearing up fluff from the packing blanket covering the bath tub and apparently are making a nest! They’ve been at this blanket for about a week now, and I don’t mind, they can shred it up all they like, and in fact, I’ve just now put a pile of yarn scraps in the middle, as an offering to them.
We watch them pull and tear, and fill their mouths with this fluff, then fly off together to some private place near by, and then they inevitably are back, usually to be found up in the limbs close by. Five years ago, back in this post, I photographed and talked about what I assume to be this pair of ravens, and took some good photos of them in the oak trees next to our house. Of course, the wildfire brought on huge concern for a while about what would happen to the wildlife, but as you can see, as we didn’t let the loggers go through our woods, we have many trees left to be the habitat left for the wildlife. Some are not the healthiest trees, but many larger ones managed to not get too injured in the wildfire, showing a number of decades left in them. Did you know that ravens mate monogamously for life, and can live to be over thirteen years? I expect they will be around for years to come (… read more info on ravens.)
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Other news is that we’ve had to cut down the Black Oak which use to shade our original house, and that has been a sad thing indeed. Our original deck was built around it somewhat, and it just seemed a part of the house. 
We didn’t want to do it, but three-quarters of the bark had been burned off, and was nearly entirely dead. We should have cut it down before the house started to be rebuilt, but Jeff wanted to see if it might spring back to life, which it didn’t sadly. Now that the deck is starting to get built, it had to come down ~~~ and it was a huge stress !
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In closing I would like to say that although the rain came late this season, and nearly April it is still raining gobs, and from a fire-ravaged California that desperately needs regrowth of the wild habitat, rain is the new gold. I am very inspired to plant an undergrowth of woodland species, including more fruit trees in the gardens (to share with the ravens of course), and in general have been ready to focus on planting things as soon as the rain wanes off a bit. Making lists and garden sketches in the morning light of the window, with delicious mugs of coffee, is my solid unwavering bliss.
