Crochet progress, Winter Sports, and Dominoes!

    Today I babysat for my two older grandkids, Chloe who is five and was home sick from school today, and Mason who is three. I actually found time to work on my legwarmers today! And the best news is that the first one is almost done! I'm super excited about it! Then I can start the second one, and have a pair of legwarmers that I actually made myself! I almost hurt myself patting myself on the back!


    I have a favorite winter sport. The only time I ever get to see it in when it's a Winter Olympic year, as this year is. For me, it began when I was very young and we lived down in Putnam County, in a little town called Lake Peekskill. My parents actually rented the bottom half of a lake front house, and we got to use the yard, the giant sand box which overlooked our little private beach, and the dock. We swam in the summer, and ice skated in the winter.


    I remember skating down the lake to near one of the three public beaches. My brother and I used to skate all over the lake. But in that part of the lake I saw people playing some weird game on the ice, where they glided big round rocks and crazy people slid along next to it, sweeping the ice madly. I had no idea what they were doing, but it was fascinating to me. And that's how I was introduced to Curling.


    I love watching Curling to this day. I love when it's a Winter Olympics year. My Hubs thinks I am absolutely barking mad. But it makes me happy.


    The only comparable thing there is, for me, is Dominoes. When Hubs and I were on the west coast for three weeks some years ago, he was gone all day, and I was by myself in the hotel. That's how I found the dominoes tournament on one of the sports channels. I watched it avidly the whole time it was on.


   It was fascinating to me, how the teams from the competing countries played so differently! One country's team put the dominoes down nice and neat, and one was very sloppy. When these two countries played each other, fights would actually break out! Fascinating. Ever since then, I keep looking for dominoes tournaments on the sports channels here on the east coast. I haven't found any yet. I have decided it must be a west coast thing. Maybe someday I will get lucky and find it.

It's here, it's here!

    I checked the tracking on my jacket this morning, and it arrived at our local little post office this morning at 8:10. In small print under that, it said to allow 1 or 2 more days for "processing". That really irked me, as our local post office is really small. What will it take them two days to do to my package? What could they possibly do to warrant even a one day delay?


    As I was going to watch the older grandson this afternoon, I went to the post office first. Lo and behold, my package had somehow not needed the one or two days for "processing". I had a yellow package slip in our box. Yippee Skippee I was so happy! I then went and got some gas, then went on to relieve Mason's regular sitter. I will be needed again on Friday. I have no problem with this, as I welcome the chance to hang out with both him and his sister. Today I got to get her off the school bus. She's in 1st grade now. I am impressed. She is so smart, and well behaved.


     When I got there, Mason was napping, so I started working on a new crochet project. I have decided to make some of my famous "Lazy Bitch Cat Toys" to sell at craft fairs and such places. If you don't remember my cat toy, there is an earlier post in which I talk about it. There are even photos. I got three done during and after  Mason's nap.


    Now I'm waiting for Hubs to get home, so he can see my jacket. Then I'll cook dinner. I'm getting hungry. Later! 

A picture is worth a thousand words

    The other day my daughter had another sonogram. Due to her "advanced age" they want to do all the tests to make sure the baby is healthy and growing properly. So far, all is well.


    This time, they got proof that the baby is indeed a boy.

    And he has the cutest little penis that I've ever seen. I believe his other grandmother will agree with me that we were hoping for a girl. She currently has two grandsons, while I have one grandchild of each sex.


    Either way, this baby will never suffer from lack of love from a grandmother! I can't wait to meet him. And I'm really looking forward to getting to know him.

A busy day

    I was up early today, babysitting the grandkids. I had fun, and I hope they did too. When I got home, Hubs was waiting very impatiently. He was more than ready to go to Kingston, to Woodstock Harley Davidson, and pick up his new toy.


    I know what you all are thinking. And when we were first together, I would have agreed with you. Heck even he said, at that time, that he wouldn't get a bike because he'd kill himself on it. But my beloved Hubs has grown up a lot in the last twenty five years. And for all that time, he's done many things for me, for our kids, for his mom and mine. Even for his job. He always does for everyone else, he never thinks of himself first.


    When he started telling me that he was looking at motorcycles, I was a bit taken back. I mean, seriously? But I could see the longing in his eyes. After much thought I decided he deserves to have this. I want him to do something just for him.


    So we went Harley shopping. We went to two sort of local dealers, on the same day, just to look and see if they had the bike he wanted.  I ended up having to babysit for the grandkids again this week, so I didn't get to go with him for the serious shopping.


    We went together and he got his motorcycle permit, and he went to a two day motorcycle safety class. It was intense training, and at the end of the second day, the class all goes to the DMV and gets their licenses. This particular class is the only one that gives the students a waiver for the road test. Of course, he passed!


    Off he went yesterday, while I was babysitting, and found exactly what he wanted, for a reasonable price. We went today to pick it up. I got to follow him home, as he's riding for the first time, on a road, in traffic. As we got near to our home turf I relaxed a little.


    He told me that he was grinning almost the whole way home. We made a short side trip so he could show of his bike to our son, then we came home. Now I just have to find a really good protection spell..... just as an extra precaution.


    I took some photos, but Hubs doesn't want me to post them, at least for now. But it's a really cool bike.

I TINK I taw a mistake.....

    This morning, as I was babysitting the grandkids, I was knitting along. I stopped to check my progress, and to my horror, I had made a pretty bad mistake about six rows back. Considering it's all garter stitch, it wasn't that bad.


    But I have no confidence, so I can't just take it off the needle and rip it back. I literally had to tink it, one stitch at a time. It took a while, but I finally got it. Now, I'm back on track. I just need to pay closer attention.


    No photos of the project, since it's classified as Super Secret. But I'm excited. It's almost 1/4 done. I know I've said that before, but now it's REALLY almost 1/4 done.....

Almost got it all done

    It was THIS close..... Then I ended up sitting on the side of route 9 after pulling out of the Stop n Shop plaza. It seems my brake problem had decided to come back. The right front brake is seizing or something. Hubs told me before that when it happens, I should pull over and let it cool off, then it should let go and after a while I can drive some more.


    That's what happened the day it took me three hours to get home from Fishkill. I had to stop three times to let the brake cool off. Thank the Goddess that yesterday I was close to home, and only had to stop the one time. I only had to wait a half an hour before trying to drive the rest of the way home. I made it!!


    While I was sitting there waiting, I got a call from my son James. He told me that he had gotten a call from a friend that I was on the side of the road, so he called to see if I needed help. That was so sweet. I told him I was just waiting for my brake to cool off. It really didn't occur to me to call anyone for help, I knew what to do. I mean, my kids are all grown up and busy with their own stuff. And my Hubs will fix it the next day (today). So in the morning, Hubs took me to James and Jessica's house so I can watch the kids, and then he came pick me up afterwards. While I was gone, he fixed the brakes.


   On a positive note, I got some knitting done in the time I was sitting there waiting for the brake to cool off. See? That's why I always have either my nook, or my knitting with me. Sometimes both. You never know. It's almost gotten to be a superstition with me. If I go out without at least one of those things, something bad will happen....


    In fact, I thought the brake had a problem because I had taken the extra skein of yarn out of my bag. When I started knitting, I thought I was almost out of yarn. But I was wrong, there was plenty left.


    So yesterday I got almost all my errands done. I just wasn't able to get to the pharmacy. But I have plenty of that medication and don't need it yet. I can pick it up another day.

Running errands today

    That's my job for today. I have a few things I have to do, and I better get them done since I will be watching the grandkids the rest of the week.  I feel very privileged to watch them, to be trusted with their care. But they do exhaust me. It's weird, it's like they suck the energy right out of me! But they are so awesome, it's worth it.


     So let's see, what do I have to do? I need to get some gas for the Jeep, then I need to head to Adam's, since we are out of chocolate truffle decaf coffee, and nearly out of regular chocolate truffle. Can't have that, can we? I also need meats for dinner, and more little cans of ginger ale. I have found that the meats at Adam's are superior, and not as expensive as other supermarkets.


    After that, I have a scrip to pick up at the pharmacy. And hopefully I will hear from my friend Bonny. She texted me last night, but I had misplaced my phone, and didn't find it until this morning. I sent her a text explaining what happened, but I haven't heard back from her yet.


    I am still knitting away on the super secret project. I'm pretty sure that I have enough yarn now to finish. I just have to find the time.

And at long last...

    Today I had my Hubs take photos of the arm warmers, which came off the needles last week. I finally crocheted the seams a few days ago. And without further ado, here they are!!

    In other news, I am thrilled to report that I am getting to spend time with my grandchildren this week! I sat with them this morning for about three hours, and tomorrow and Friday, it will be all day. Well, until about 2:30 or so, when their dad gets home from work. This opportunity makes me very happy.

Pool dilema part II

    I feel that I need to further explain myself about the whole pool thing. I grew up on a little lake in Putnam County, NY. The apartment (bottom half of a house, really) my parents rented was literally on the water. We walked down through the yard, and there were the wide steps that went down to a private dock. It even had a tiny private beach. We moved away the summer I turned thirteen. I had never been away from the water. Shortly after moving into our first house, my parents bought an above ground pool. They missed the lake as much as my brother and I did.


     So a pool was important to me, and Hubs was willing to do all the work. And really, once you get it up and running at the beginning of the season, it doesn't take that much work. I get in every morning, and skim from the inside. I straddle a couple of noodles, and with the skimmer head in my hand, I go back and forth, working my way out to the deep end, skimming. I also test the water every morning, and empty the skimmer basket when needed. Hubs has to vacuum. It's too hard for me. He finds it relaxing, it's a nice quiet evening activity. That only needs to be done maybe once a week or so.


    I have a wicker chair I keep in one corner to sit in. It's the corner that the shade gets to first.

    I call it my Queen Chair, since I'm the Queen of the pool. Some of you may recognize it as the same chair that Morticia Adams had in The Adams Family...  Do you have any idea how hard it is to find these chairs around here? The first one I had came from the neighbors across the street, years ago when they were having a yard sale. This one I found at the Goodwill store in Kingston. We had a Hell of a time getting it home in my Jeep! But I had to buy it. I had had friends scouting yard and garage sales for me for about two years with no luck before I randomly came across this one.


     We also have a table and two chairs that we put out at the far end of the pool. Hubs and I sit there, and have our coffee some mornings. And that's where we play backgammon. The table is tall, with the chairs barstool height.


     Anyway, if we were to fill in the pool, I see perhaps another, much smaller pool out at the far end of that fenced in space. I've even seen a good replacement on TV. It's a lap pool, where you swim and the flow of the water is so great that you don't really move. This one has a little treadmill in the bottom of it, which would be perfect for me to get some much needed exercise. And at the one end, it's like a spa, with bubbles and seats!


    I also see a play area for the grandkids. You know, a castle, or swings, or a big sandbox. And all safely enclosed by the current chain link fence. You gotta keep the precious little ones safe.


    Another thing I discovered about our pool. Many years ago, before there was a pool at Hackett Hill Park, our pool was being used as the town pool. Kids were given swimming lessons here.

to pool or not to pool?

    When Hubs and I first looked at this house, we weren't that impressed. To me, it's laid out similarly to our old apartment, but it has three bedrooms instead of two. The deciding factor for us was the pool.


    It is enormous! 20' x 40', in ground, shallow end is 3.5' with a straight slope down to 8'. It even had a diving board. It was in deplorable shape, but we brought it back. We even kept the old liner for many years. We just kept patching it up. Over the years, we've replaced the filter, from those god-awful fingers, to a very powerful earth filter. We put the return line back underground where it belongs. We've even replaced the underground lines.


    In the beginning, the electricity to the pool was literally strung from the house to the pump house through the tree branches. Totally illegal. We had that fixed. We had to have the entire pool grounded too.


     More recently we replaced the old liner, and the extremely old and very loud pump. Now that liner needs to be replaced. It wasn't quite the right size, and none of the top corners stayed in. Now the sides are coming out too. Hubs started pouring a new surround to the pool. We have three sections done. He hasn't had the time to do the whole thing. He's been doing it himself because to pay someone to come with a truck and pour it all at once would be extremely expensive, and they'd have to take down some of the chain link fence. Not to mention the damage to the back yard.


    Over the years, the pool has gotten lots of use. When Jesse was small, all his friends would come to swim. Hubs and his fellow mechanics would come on their lunch break to swim on hot days. All our friends knew they were always welcome at any time to come and swim. They didn't even have to ask, just come and enjoy. I can't even count the days that I would go down there and find Shannon Fitzgerald already lounging on a raft, or napping on the couch on the patio under our bedroom. He was lots of fun. Jesse loved him.


    These past few years, Hubs and I have discussed filling in the pool. He knows it's getting harder and harder for me to help him take care of it, and this year is the first year I've actually considered it. At this time, I'm the only one who's using it. It's really almost a waste of time. Now Hubs tells me he's concerned I won't be able to get in and out of it, using the ladder.


    So we either close it and fill in the yard, or he can get a new liner, finish the surround, and if he does so, he wants to get one of those fancy covers that an elephant can stand on. I am getting close to telling him it's too much work for him. But then he says that maybe the grandkids would come to swim. So we'll keep it open this year, and then decide. It's been that way for a couple of years now.


    If we were to fill it in, I would want to keep the fence up, and have a beautiful fenced yard for the grandkids to come and play. He insists the fence will come down. We'll see.


    Any comments are welcome, I'm so confused and I could use help deciding. Thanks for listening.

My yarn's here / A promise kept

   Apparently, my yarn was delivered yesterday. Unfortunately, it was delivered to the house in Fishkill. I swear, I changed the delivery address when I ordered it! Anyway, we had to go down to Fishkill today anyway, so I was able, at long last, to get my yarn in my hands!


    I had a picture, but the computer isn't cooperating tonight. Hopefully, I will be able to add it at a later time. I am so excited to finally get my yarn! So far, I'm keeping to my word about finishing the Gamer Gloves before casting on the sweater. SO FAR.....


    As to the promise I kept, Hubs and I got an awesome Schwinn LowriderTricycle for grandson Mason for Christmas. When we were all leaving my brother's house, his big sister Chloe asked if she could have one too. I told her I would look for one, and if one was to be had, G-pa and I would get it for her.


    Today, as we shopped in Sam's Club, they had some!! This is the first time we'd seen them since before Christmas. So now Chloe has a cute, pink, low rider, and Mason has his red one. I brought it to her this afternoon. She was thrilled! I got to spend a few hours with my grandkids, they are so cute.


   Next time I go visit, I'll bring my camera, so I can get photos to show you. If the laptop decides to cooperate.