Snails

JWise Photo of the Day

A snail as drawn by our niece Katharina in Frankfurt, Germany

My brother-in-law, Klaus, from Germany sent this photo of two snails dedicated to Caroline from our niece, Katharina. Caroline’s nickname as a little girl was Schnecke – which is snail in German, so it is wonderful that Katharina thinks of her aunt Caroline and has made such a beautiful drawing of her aunt who lives so far away in America. Sadly, we have not yet met Katharina as we have not been back to Germany in 12 years and Caroline’s sister Stephanie, her husband, and daughter haven’t yet come to America. On occasion though we see some very sweet photos of Katharina, such as the ones I will be posting for the next few days. Maybe one day we will be able to convince Stephanie and Klaus to bring Katharina for a visit so she can go to Disneyland, hike a bit of the Grand Canyon, look for bears in Yellowstone, take a dip in the Pacific Ocean and finally meet her aunt and uncle for the first time.

40

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise on her 40th Birthday in Phoenix, Arizona

If you want to read about Caroline’s birthday, scroll down the page to December 2nd and start there.

Today, my wife became the ancient age of 40! To celebrate this milestone, she is seen here with her dyeing station – not dying station; she’s not that old. This was but a part of the 40 gifts she received to celebrate this occasion. After nearly two months of planning and against all the odds of me keeping the secret, Caroline was genuinely surprised by the forest of gifts that greeted her upon being unceremoniously dumped at home by her co-worker Alan. Tricked into thinking she was going to lunch and nearly oblivious to her surroundings while she was a passenger in a car, Caroline and a few co-workers had left for lunch, ending up at our place. As she jumped from the car to get me to join them, Alan sped off leaving me bewildered and getting an ever more nervous wife to approach our front door (a photo of our door will follow in a subsequent post). Opening the door, Caroline was greeted by the sight of 35 of the 40 gifts hanging five feet from the ground at eye level. All gifts were numbered and wrapped in a unique paper. As for what was in those gift boxes, you will have to check back here on my blog in the coming days as I begin a rundown of how I prepared for this Birthday and what loot my yarn pirate bagged.

What’s in That?

JWise Photo of the Day

A gift wrapped package

There are two questions you might have in mind by now, first, what will you do for Caroline’s 50th birthday – that’s a secret, and yes I have something working. The other question, just what kind of things did you get that you made it to 40 gifts for Caroline’s 40th birthday? Here’s the rundown:

(1) Large homemade birthday card. (2) A box with a note in it. (3) A German music CD from 2RaumWohnung titled 36 Grad. (4) Spin-Off magazine. (5) Dizzy Yarn Gauge. (6) Niddy Noddy. (7) Drop Spindle. (8) Mini Niddy Noddy. (9) The Spinning Companion – book. (10) Kool-Aid for dyeing fibers. (11) Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing – book. (12) One pound Acala Cotton fiber. (13) Spinning Cotton on a Charkha – DVD. (14) Indigo, Madder, and Marigold – dyeing book. (15) Indigo Dye Kit. (16) One pound Pima Cotton fiber. (17) The Rainbow Beneath My Feet – dyeing with mushrooms book. (18) Charkha. (19) One pound Long Staple Cotton – fiber. (20) Half pound Flax – fiber. (21) Half pound Hemp – fiber. (22) One pound Organic Brown Cotton – fiber. (23) One pound Sea Island Organic Cotton – fiber. (24) Puni’s – cotton fiber from India. (25) Ramie / China Grass – fiber. (26) Half pound Bamboo Top – fiber. (27) Half pound Black Diamond Bamboo Top – fiber. (28) Half pound Silk – fiber. (29) Half pound Soysilk – fiber. (30) Half pound Soy Cashmere – fiber. (31) 8 x 10 book of 70 of our photos for dyeing inspiration. (32) Rust and Compost Dyeing – books. (33) Yarrrn T-Shirt. (34) Dyers Garden – book. (35) Dyeing Station. (36) Dye Supplies. (37) Natural and Procion MX Cellulose Dyes. (38) Hot Plate for heating dyes. (39) Crock-Pot for heating dyes. (40) Microwave Oven – because you always have to give some stupid household item as a gift – just kidding, this is a dedicated microwave used in the process of dyeing fibers and yarns.

Harvest Time

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline cutting down one of her 40 birthday gifts

Lumber Jackoline is seen here harvesting from her forest of gifts. Being an eco-freak, there would be no chainsaws whirring in our abode, she resorted to the eco-friendly analog and unplugged version – scissors to cut down the packages. Two and a half hours it took before the carnage of tearing, cutting, thrusting open, ripping apart, gutting, and extracting the booty would be finished. Nearly two months of planning, buying, hiding, wrapping, tieing, hanging was over in an afternoon of perfect romance.

Gift Number 1

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise holding her 40th birthday card in Phoenix, Arizona

Caroline’s birthday card was a 10×15 print on 20×15 paper with an elaborate text printed on the inside. So I told you what was on the door, that doesn’t mean you get to read the words of passionate love that oozed from my hand onto the canvas. Let’s just say it did everything I hoped it would – that’s right, my wife cried on my shoulder she was so touched by my sweet words of undying love. Sadly, she didn’t cry even once while opening the next 39 gifts. I’ll just have to work harder on 41.

Wait on Opening the Door

JWise Photo of the Day

Sign on the door alerting Caroline that something regarding the number 40 is having significance

No time for a witty explanation of the sign on the door, this is too small to read in this photo, so here was the text Caroline read as she approached our front door on her birthday:

40: There must be something special about the number 40. 40 years old – quite the accomplishment. 40 could be considered middle-age. But for you, 40 will forever be a wonderful number. In 40 seconds you have to open the door. You must be thinking of 40 reasons why not to open the door. NO – There are not 40 people in there about to scream Happy Birthday to you. But, 40 figures prominently on this 12th day of December. Take a deep breath – 40 if you need to. Grab the door handle. Close your eyes – No cheating. Open the door. Take two steps forward. And open your 40-year-old eyes to the man who loves you more than ever.