It always seems to me that other people have more hours than I do.  I have no idea where mine go, but other people seem to have things like Lazy Sundays.  Weekends where they stay home and potter about, knit, arrange their handmade cushions on the couch, have afternoon naps,  and hang around with their kids watching old movies.
I only do that kind of thing when we go to the country - minus the cushions, and the knitting.  Mainly because in the country there is no possibility there to do any other chores, no list of friends I haven't seen for ages, no home renos or freelance work lurking on my desktop.
But this weekend, I actually worked really hard to make it a lazy weekend in Riga.  I ignored phone calls, I rejected invitations, and stifled the urge in myself to invite people to our place, I pretended the freelance work had all been finished.  Total lazy weekend.  Well ok, we went to the local craft/farmer's market yesterday, and bought marmalade made from the superfruit - Sea Buckthorn berries.  Yep, you heard it right.  Sea Buckthorn berries are a whole post in themselves :)


Another thing, the most important part of a weekend that I'm suspecting was not quite as lazy as it seems - I went and voted in the referendum about making Russian a second state language.  70% of all eligible voters got motivated and trudged over the ice to the ballot boxes, and in our calmly, orderly, dispassionately Latvian way, voted to maintain and protect our small and precious culture and language from big bullying outside influences.  But I better not get started!  Plenty of stuff on the internet about the referendum by people much cleverer than me...



And we had family come over today - but that was a treat, and not much effort.  A wonderful visit from the newest member of our family.  It snowing outside, and the whole world is white, the little flakes have been swirling by in great drifts past the windows.  Hot cups of coffee, and banana bread.  The snow caps on the fence posts growing, and growing.



On Friday night I actually managed to finish a book I started ages ago - a tome snaffled from my grandmother's bookshelf - Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  Quite an amazing read, when you consider it was written in 1931 - and if you have every seen any movies like the Matrix, or Gattaca or such.  Highly recommended.


Another thing I did yesterday - and I need you to keep me to the following promise, dear reader - was to dash into the local op shop, which was having one of its "everything for 1 Lat" sales again.  Of course, I came home with way more stuff than I need, or want. Stupidest thing I got was a lemon yellow machine-knitted cotton cardigan, which I couldn't leave behind because it was almost new, soft as anything and comfy.  But seriously - LEMON YELLOW?  Of course, I've got a theory which totally justifies the purchase - I'm going to dye the cardigan, not with commercial chemical dyes (oh no, can't make it simple and practical, can we?). I'm going to use onion skins and see what happens.  Because if my theory works, the cardigan will be just the colour for my mismatched earthy wardrobe. I'm blogging the decision so that I can't back down now.  I expect y'all to be asking me about the finished product. If it's not better than the current jumper, I'll eat my hat.  Or maybe those onion skins...