My World With Words

(Today’s Bloganuary prompt is “what do you do in your leisure time?” which is remarkably close to the prompt of just two days ago, “what do you do for fun?” So I dug up this post from 2017. I tried reblogging it, but since I already had done that when I posted it on another blog, I couldn’t do that here. So this looks like a fresh post, when it’s really several years old.)

More than 40 years ago, I was watching television with my dad and getting a little agitated.

It had nothing to do with my dad, who clearly saw the source of my problem, even if I didn’t yet. “This is such a waste of time,” I moaned. “I feel like I should be doing something productive.”

My dad suggested doing something creative. “Like what??” I wailed. “I need to relax. I just don’t want to waste time while I’m winding down.”

His suggestion stayed with me, however, and somehow, I landed on knitting. I found a yarn store with an owner who would teach you to knit if you bought yarn and supplies from her, and my journey began.

I still have that first sweater, one of the few I made from acrylic yarn. After that I decided if I was going to spend the time knitting a project, it was going to be with quality yarn. The highest quality I could afford.

Over the years I’ve made some close friends through my knitting, many of them the owners of the yarn stores I frequent. Eventually I began to knit store samples — for store credit — to supplement my yarn budget.

When my niece and nephew were little, I made them dozens of sweaters. In fact, I had just finished what turned out to be everyone’s favorite baby sweater when we learned my niece was on the way. I’d started that project months earlier because I thought it was special, knowing the right baby for it would come along someday.

I don’t typically make anything on spec, although I usually have a few things lying around for gifts. Last year, a young friend of mine moved from Little Rock to Appleton, Wisc., and obviously she was going to need a hat. I had the perfect toque for her, just calling her name.

My mom has so many hand knit pieces in her tiny apartment she doesn’t know what to do with all of them. That includes a half dozen pairs of slippers made from a pattern I designed and named for her. (You can purchase the pattern for Kim’s Slippers at Ravelry.com.)

The only drawback to all of us? Ironically, the creative endeavor I started so I’d be productive while watching television has resulted in me watching more TV than before. If I’m knitting — and I’m always working on something — that damn set is on.

Image Credits: Knitted background and retro TV set–© Bigstock photo; Knitting needles, baby sweater, slippers © Belinda O; Knitting illustration © dariaustiugova–stock.adobe.com

Today’s Bloganuary prompt: Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

As you might have deduced if you saw my post yesterday, I’m an indoors sort of gal. I don’t go much for the big outdoors, at least, hiking in it. Which is too bad in some ways, because the area around me has many beautiful hiking trails.

I don’t mind walking. When I lived in Minnesota, I used to walk around some local lakes on a regular basis. But a dirt trail where the path is uneven, perhaps narrow, and full of ticks? No way.

I confess, it’s the tick thing that really keeps me away. There a millions of them around here, and I have several friends who suffer from the consequences of a tick bite. There’s one disease (I can’t think of the name of it now) that makes you allergic to mammal meat. You can eat poultry and fish, but no beef, pork, and the like.

One of my friends also has celiac disease, which requires a gluten-free diet. And the tick disease is so strong in her she can’t have any dairy products. Which makes me grateful, very grateful, for my health and the very few dietary restrictions I have. For whatever reason, I can’t eat mushrooms or white chocolate. Both make me very ill. However, those are easy foods to work around.

By the way, possums eat ticks. Heavy volumes of them.

So I don’t want to limit myself anymore because of a tick. I’ll get my walking in. It just won’t be on the scenic trails around me.

Image Credit: Hiking trail © Gajus–stock.adobe.com, Possum © geoffkuchera–stock.adobe.come

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I’m losing steam with this Bloganuary challenge–today’s prompt is to list five things you do for fun.

Well, that’s easy. In no particular order:

–-Knit

–-Read

—Write

—Play Scrabble

—Do nothing, nothing at all! Except maybe snuggle with the cats.

Image Credit Have Fun © Josie Elias–stock.adobe.com

Today’s Bloganuary prompt: If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

Well, I’ve written before about how I’d like them to understand that I keep them inside for their own safety, and that would be the main thing I’d want to communicate. But there is one other thing I’d like them to know:

“I’m in charge here, and from this moment on, you’re going to act like it!”

Image Credit: Walter and Mimi Nonchalant © Belinda O

Today’s Bloganuary prompt: “Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.” Well, a good prompt for today as it’s my birthday!!

When I was born, my parents were quite surprised to discover I was a girl. This was before ultrasounds would give you that information in advance (yes, young ones, there was such a time, not so long ago). They’d fully anticipated a boy and hadn’t even considered names for a girl.

So it took them a week to name me. I’ve asked both of them why they chose the name Belinda, and I’ve gotten the same response from each–“we liked the name.” No favorite relative and certainly nothing to do with its meaning.

Over the years I’ve gotten different explanations of that meaning. When I was in high school, a friend brought her parent’s baby naming book to school. Why, I don’t know. We all looked up our own names and those of our siblings, crushes, and any others who struck our fancy. I was tickled to learn that, according to this book, my name meant, “wise and immortal.”

Of course one boy teased me mercilessly about this, pretending to misunderstand and believe that my name actually meant, “immoral.” Another boy said (in all seriousness), “no, no, Belinda means ‘witch.'” Where he got that, I have no idea. I think he saw a movie or read a book with a witch who shared my name.

I looked it up today and learned it derives from an old Spanish word meaning, “beautiful.” Well, that’s nice. Another entry said the first part of my name means “beautiful” but the second part means “serpent.” Well, I’ll be darned. Beautiful serpent. Is there such a thing?

Whatever the meaning, I’ve always liked the name. So thanks, Mom and Dad.

And by the way, if I’d been a boy, I would have been named Mark.

Image Credits: What’s Your Name © Coloures-Pic–stock.adobe.com; Witch © Wiktoria Matynia–stock.adobe.com.