A couple of thoughts...

   First, I am making progress on the second of the three cat beds for Sara's cats. It's been very different for me. It took me a while to figure out how to make the sides stand up without crocheting wire into it. So far, it's working.

   The second thought has to do with the weather. It rained all day yesterday, and all night last night. It was still raining a little bit this morning. As of right now, we've only had about 4 hours of the sun shining. Not long enough to dry the wetness of the grass.


    Which beings me to the point. I was sitting here, having my coffee when I heard a lawnmower running. I sat here, thinking about all the rain we had. I wasn't surprised to hear the mower keep cutting out, restarting, then cutting out again. It's very clear to me that this man and his family aren't from around here, they are city folks. Hopefully he figured out that it's counterproductive to try to mow wet grass.


    It reminds me of the time when a couple from New York City moved in next door to my ex in-laws. After the husband mowed the back yard, he took the cut grass an spread it all over the front yard. He thought it would sprout roots and grow there.


    And another couple who moved into the neighborhood that put their garbage out, and wondered why it didn't get picked up. They didn't know that outside of NYC, you have to pay for that service. When my family moved into our house in Wappingers Falls, in 1969, there was a thing called the Welcome Wagon. A person came to your house to welcome you to the town or neighborhood. They had all kinds of information you needed, such as the garbage thing, and coupons for local stores, They gave us all kinds of neat stuff.


    Doesn't this organization exist any more? These days, it's needed more than ever, in my opinion.

an ungrateful cat I have

    And talk like Yoda, I do. That's right, Ozzy won't go near his custom made felted cat bed. So I'm going to take it to daughter Sara's and let one of her cats claim it as their own. In the meantime, I'm crocheting two more, so no kitteh will feel left out. The new ones aren't to be felted, I'm making them out of Lion Brand's Homespun, which I know her cats like to sleep on. She has an afghan I made for her from that yarn, and they love it.


    This morning, I was actually busy. I did some laundry, and went to the store. That was necessary, since we were nearly out of half and half, which is an intolerable state to be in. After I got home and unpacked and put away, I went over to visit my good bud Bonny. We hung out for a while, then decided to go to Michaels. I bought some more Homespun for the aforementioned cat beds.


     After that, we decided to look around in our local consignment shop. They have some awesome stuff in there! But the cast iron cauldron I had my eye on was gone. I guess it was a good thing, because I can't afford it anyway.  I'd better get back to it, or the cat beds will never get done!

Finally Done!

 Friday:  
    That's right, the cat bed is finally done! This time I remembered to measure it before felting. It was 20" across the round base, and the walls were 6.5" tall. Here is a before photo:

    Now, in the photo, the walls curled in, and when I take the after felting photo, they should stand up. As I write this, the cat bed is in the washer, felting. After it comes out of the dryer, I will take the after photos, and add them to this post. I will also take the after measurements.


    After felting, the sides wouldn't stand up, so I took a needle and more yarn and kind of puckered it, and now they stand up. Of course, the stupid cat wants nothing to do with it, even though I told him not to get in it, it's not for him. If you have cats, you know that they don't do what you want, preferring to do what you don't want them to do. So I told him NOT to get in the bed, it's NOT for him, it's another basket for my yarn. I even put some yarn in it.

    Of course, he still won't go in it. But I have hope for the future.  The after felting measurements are: 13" across, and the walls are 3.5" tall.


Saturday:
    So far, Ozzy has shown little interest in the bed. He has stepped with front paws into it, but not all the way. Yet. I just put some yarn in it, and told him to stay out of it. That might work.

First Impressions

    Last month was my Hubs' birthday. I am friends with some of his friends from childhood on facebook.  One of them contacted me, and said she had birthday gift for him, and to keep it a surprise.


    We arranged to meet. Thankfully it was on a day that Hubs was working; I might have had trouble explaining exactly why I needed to go to Stewarts at a certain time that day. It was very exciting for me to finally meet someone who knew Hubs when he was a child. His mom wouldn't talk about it. She had no stories for me of any cute things he did, or trouble he got into.


    I'm afraid I was a little over excited when I met up with her that day. Sometimes I tend to do that. I might have come off as a little hyper. But I was so excited. I realized shortly afterwards that that was how I had appeared. And I feel bad that I made a non-favorable first impression. I would like to become friends with this woman, and possibly meet other people from Hubs' past. She was very nice, after all. And if she's reading this, I hope she sends me another personal message and gives me another chance.

Success

    I got my watch back, and it works! I'm so happy. The jeweler said that it had gotten super magnetized somehow. So the spring inside stayed wound when I wound it. That's what was wrong with it. And there was no charge.


    The jeweler told my Hubs that it needs to be kept away from electronic devices. Hmmm. That might be harder than it sounds. We have cell phones, laptops, and tablets. Heck, even the cable boxes and DVD players have magnets in them these days. So it may be rather difficult to do. I guess I can only wear it occasionally.


    I must say, it makes my heart sing to hear it ticking. And to think it was on the wrist of my Great Grandmother when she came to help my mom after I was born. Mom is pleased too, that it's working again. She told Sara and me that she was going to throw it away! It makes me wonder what else she has stashed away in that old jewelry box of hers.....

Updates

    Well, it never did storm. We had some rain overnight, but no thunderboomers. I took a two day rest from the blog, I just didn't have anything to say. It was too fracking hot to knit, so I haven't finished up the cat bed for Ozzy yet. This morning it was too fracking cold to have to get up and move, but I went and hung out with the Cherub.


    It was even more awesome that she was still asleep when I got there. I woke her up at the prescribed time, to get ready for school. In the entire year and a half that I've been keeping her company, this is the first morning that she's been asleep when I got there. It was actually wonderful, I got to sit and read in the peace and quiet for a while. I had brought my kindle fire with me, since I had gotten a couple of new games that I thought she might like. Maybe next week she'll be awake.


     Remember when I told you all about my great grandmother's watch? That I had taken it to be fixed and cleaned up? I don't remember if I told you about the aftermath. It was cleaned up, but it still didn't work. So Hubs and I took it back to the guy in Fishkill. This was about three weeks ago, maybe more. Well, he just called me a little while ago, and said it was ready. I immediately called Hubs, since he's in Fishkill. I thought maybe he would have enough time left on his lunch break to go and get it.


     He said he would try, but if not today, he would make a special trip just to get it. Now, we have already paid this guy a chunk of change to do the work he already did. And the watch still didn't work. That's why I want him to get it, I wouldn't have the guts to call the guy on it. My Hubs is like his mom that way. She never took any bullshit from anyone. The Sears home repair crew all cringed at the mention of her name. I believe she put the fear of God into each and every one of them at one time or another.


     I look forward to reporting to you on the condition of my 100+ year old watch. I also am looking forward to wearing it!

To storm or not to storm...

    All day, I've been waiting for these "severe" storms to hit our area. I love me a good thunderstorm. The energy is absolutely invigorating. When I went out earlier, I saw dark clouds to the north, I figured Staatsburg and Rhinebeck were getting stormed on.


    So I came home and waited some more. There was a nice breeze blowing, so I pulled the curtains back from our front windows. It actually got kind of dark for a while, and I heard one rather loud, ominous thunder boom. But that was all we got.


    It's now just after 6 pm, and although it did thunder again, it still hasn't let loose on my quaint little town. Every once on a while my Weather Channel app on my laptop lets out a thunder boom, just to let me know that it's possible for a storm to hit us.
You will forgive me if I don't hold my breath.

A Karate Tournament

    Today was my son's Karate school tournament. I believe it was the 2013 New York State Championships. I got a phone call the other night, requesting my help at the front table. Just like last year, I got to take care of the spectators. You know, "You want to watch your kid compete? It'll cost you a modest sum."


    Don't get me wrong, it's fun. I get to meet all these people, and very few give me a hard time. Julie took care of the people who had pre-registered, and Jen Jackson handled the walk ins. That is one job I would not want to do. But they all come in knowing how much it's gonna cost.


    I got to watch my son compete. I enjoy that very much. Truly, the only time I see him smiling at these events is when he's in the ring, ready to spar. Anyway, here are a few photos I took today. My son has had that "Karate face" since he was 10.

    The final results for forms, Jess got 1st in that one:

    In this last one, that's my Hubs on the left, behind him is son-in-law Mike, daughter Sara, and Miss Julie is sitting on the floor. Believe me, it was cooler down there!

Stitch n Bitch and Other News

    This morning, we had our weekly get-together for Stitch n Bitch. All four of us were there. We had a nice breakfast, and got to work. Jan has been working on a hoodie for her son Sean, Kim has started a drop stitch summer sweater in a really cool thick and thin yarn. I am still working on Ozzy's cat bed. It's getting near the end, as I'm running out of yarn. I just have to make sure I have enough left to bind off. I think Cheryl must be too busy these days to have time to knit, I'm glad she finds the time to make it to group. Since her kids are no longer in Karate, this in the only time we get to see her!


    It was so hot yesterday, and it's going to be even hotter today. Last evening after it cooled off a bit, I put our whole house fan on. I love these things. They are big fans in the ceiling in the center of the house. When they're turned on,  they suck air in from outside through the open doors and windows. In the summer, I put it on early in the morning and suck cool air into the house before it gets hot. Then in the evening, after it cools off some, and it's still hot inside, I put it on again. This is assuming we aren't using the air conditioners yet. And we aren't. Yet.


   Anyway, while the fan was on last evening, I could smell my lilacs. That made me very happy. Even Hubs could smell them. I'm assuming it was Miss Kim I was smelling, as she's in the front yard, and I was sitting by the window at the front of the house.


    In other news, I got a call from my son today. He asked me to help out at their Karate tournament tomorrow. I get to "man" the table that sells the spectator bracelets. I did it last year, and it was lots of fun. You get to meet all kinds of people.


    I'm going to try and remember to bring my camera. Maybe I'll get to take some photos this time. But don't hold your breath, just in case.   

Miss Kim Blooms!

    My Hubs sent me a text message as he took his truck down the driveway to empty some stuff out of it. It read - "Miss Kim has flowers!". I ran outside to look at her.


   And indeed, she had bloomed! After several days of rain, the May lilacs arrived! I ran back inside and grabbed the camera, then ran back outside to snap a few photos.

 

     It's hard to see in this photo, but closed, they are a light purple, and when they're open the blooms are white.  Then I went downstairs, and checked the other bush. The one with the Russian name I can't remember. She has blooms too! Only two, and they are a darker purple. Here they are:

    The second one is a bit blurry because the branch was swaying in the breeze. I'm so thrilled that they have all bloomed. And after only one year in the ground. It was worth waiting twenty four years for!

I blew it!

    I remembered to take the camera to the family party, but totally forgot to take it out of my bag and use it!! Wasted opportunity. But wait, it gets better!


    I completely forgot to take it to the parade too. I walked, and about halfway there, I remembered the camera. I wasn't about to turn around and walk all the way back to the house just to get the camera. Especially since I had to stop to catch my breath about three times on the way there.


    The good news is that the parade was good this year! All the usual stuff in it, and even something new! This year we had a woman on stilts marching too. She was very good, obviously had a lot of experience. She walked like it was natural. She even did some dance steps, and leaned way over to high five some of the little kids.


    The better news is that the parade was shorter this year too! I was home by 11:30! I just wish I had remembered to bring the camera!

What a Weekend!

    This has to be the coldest Memorial Day weekend ever. I saw that it even snowed upstate. Unbelievable. I'm sitting here, drinking my coffee, and I'm freezing! I had turned the heat down when it was so warm, and I refuse to turn it back up. It's going to warm up again this week anyway. I was thinking what a difference the sun makes. When it's 64 degrees in the house, that's cold! But when it's the same temp outside, it's on the warm side. And that's all because the sun makes the air warmer outside, and there's no sun inside the house.


    Today there is a family gathering at my daughter's house. Most of my family will be there,  with the exception of my Hubs, who's at work today, and either my sister-in-law or my niece. They take turns looking after someone, and one of them has to be there. I'm looking forward to this, it makes my mom happy to see all her family together.


    I will take my camera, and take some photos for you all to see. It's just too bad that it's so cold outside. We'll have to stay indoors, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.


    Then, of course, we have the town parade tomorrow! I'm excited about that. After all these years, it's still a thrill to see my son with the karate school, doing the demonstrations with the kids. I was going to hang out with my friend Kit, but I hear that she's away. I doubt she will be here for the parade, and that makes me sad. The parade is a big deal here. We have two every year, weather permitting. Memorial Day and Independence Day. Look here soon for photos!!

Being ready for anything

    You know how, when you go somewhere that you might have to wait, you take a book, or your latest craft project? And because you have something to do, you never have to wait? Those are about the only times I think ahead.


    But you know how sometimes, you are living in a strange series of events, over which you have no control? And you find yourself somewhere you have never been, in a situation you never imagined? Well, that happened to me. I was ready; I had my crochet/knitting project with me. But where we went that day had totally inadequate parking. People were parking on the side of the road. And there were cones, and signs up, warning people not to park in front of their house or business.


    So Hubs got dropped off at this particular place of business, and I drove his truck up the road a little bit, to an empty parking lot, of an empty business. I parked in the back of the building, so as not to attract any unwanted attention. Shortly after I parked, and started crocheting, I realized that along side the lot was a road. And after a little while, it became clear that it was a pretty busy road, for being out in the middle of nowhere.


    That's when I started thinking, and imagining all sorts of things. My biggest concern was that a local resident, having traveled on this road a few times, and seeing a strange and unfamiliar vehicle parked near it for a while, would call the police. Eventually they would come, so I started thinking about what I would say to the nice officer.


    That was how I occupied myself as I sat in that spot for more than an hour that day, as I waited ever so patiently for Hubs to come back. Because, if you are ready for the situation, you probably won't have to face it. I had several versions of what I would say, ready to be said. But the police never did come.


    It seems that Hubs might be right, that my mind works in strange ways. But I was ready, and if I ever need a story for the police, about why I am where I am, I'll still be ready!

I'm knitting today / Random stuff

    That's right, I'm knitting today. Even though I am not feeling all that well, I want to get this darn cat bed done. Here is a photo I took just moments ago!

    The black and gray mix is the round crocheted bottom, and the solid gray is the sides. I'm going to knit as far as I can with the yarn I have, to make it as deep as I can. Hopefully Ozzy will like it. Right now, it's huge. After it's felted, it should be just the right size for my fat cat.


    I decided to take it outside, for better light. Just my luck, as I go out the front door, it starts to rain. So I just threw the bed on my stoop, and snapped a photo before anything got too wet.


    Our stoop is actually one big rectangle of stone. It was someplace else when we moved in, and there were just cement blocks being used as steps up to the front door. Hubs made a frame and poured cement in, then placed the big stone in. It's a good stoop.


    Totally off topic, but I'm missing one eyebrow again. Damn Alopecia. Why only one eyebrow? Last time this happened, I lost quite a few eyelashes as well. I need to find someone to wax off the other eyebrow, so I don't look ridiculous for too long. Last time, my friend Bonny did it, but she's currently battling a bad case of poison ivy on her face and hands. Don't think I want her touching me right now.


   

So far, it's a non-knitting day

    This morning, I got up with the full intention of knitting on the cat bed. It's now 3 pm, and I have yet to pick it up. I took care of my farmville farms while I had my coffee, then made a list for the supermarket.


    I needed to buy meats, and chocolate truffle decaf coffee, so that means a trip to Adams Fairacre Farms. Their meat is of excellent quality, and cheaper than other places. So off to Adams I went, after a shower.  I also had to visit our local supermarket, for a few things that Adams doesn't carry. After Adams, I went to the beer store. I had tried a beer that I really liked, but the beer store didn't have that brand. And I don't ask for help in a store. One of my lovable quirks, I guess.


    After I finally got home, I put away all the groceries, and poured myself a tall glass of very old iced tea. That brought down my core temp pretty quickly. It's very warm and humid out today. And that's another reason I have no desire to work on the double yarn cat bed project. It's very warm on my lap! Maybe tonight, after it cools down a little.


    As for the rest of today? I plan on washing some dishes, and bringing up the laundry from the dryer that was done yesterday. And I'm pretty sure that there's enough stuff in the closet for another full load. Does it ever end?  I don't think so!

A Morning of Galavanting

    This morning, friend Bonny and I went gallivanting. My mother-in-law introduced me to that term, and it fits pretty well. She used to go out gallivanting all the time.


    So this morning, Bonny and I went out, to go to Hobby Lobby because she needed more yarn. Then we went to Michaels, where I found a longer (36") size 11 needle. Points for me! I also bought a new size N crochet hook. I can't find any of my old ones.


    After that, we ran some other errands that she had to do. It's nice to get out once in a while. I got home just before noon, when the new Knit and Crochet Now program was on. Perfect timing!


    So I've been knitting today, working on Ozzy's new bed. I changed over to the longer, bigger needles. I hope to get some photos tomorrow. I've also been working on more secret projects. Let's call them Christmas or Festivus presents. I wish I could show them to you, but they are surprises.


    And just so you know, I broke out Sara's sweater yesterday, and did a few rounds on that too. I stopped because I think the body might be long enough, but I didn't feel like measuring it.


    I also enjoyed the beautiful day we had today! It was so sunny and warm, despite the chance of thunder storms. We didn't get any. YAY! I hope it was nice where you are!

Crocheting and a Memory

    Today I went out with Hubs, we had a series of errands to run. First was dropping my watch off back at the Watchpital. It cleaned up really well, but still doesn't work.


    At the second errand, I ended up waiting for Hubs for over an hour, sitting in the truck. This is why I brought along my crocheting project. Ozzy's bed is really coming along. I finished the bottom, picked up all the stitches around the circle, and have gotten about two inches done in stockinette. I used up all the black, so the sides will be all gray. It looks nice, and since Ozzy is gray, he matches it.


     Now comes the memory part. It's funny how our memory works. In high school, my English teacher, Mr. Reid, gave us a class project. We broke into small groups and memorized part of a poem. We recorded our parts on tape, and Mr. Reid played them for the whole class. The strange part is that I remember my one line from that poem.


    "As far as the eye of God could see, darkness covered everything." After 40 years, I can still remember it! If any of my classmates are reading this, and remember their parts, please tell me them in the comment section! I'd love to read them. What I don't remember is if I had Mr. Reid for junior or senior year. I'm leaning towards senior. It is amazing, what we remember and what we don't, isn't it?

The Smell of Lilacs

    Yesterday I noticed that there were more than a couple of awesome blooms on one of my lilac bushes. I was very happy to see that, since they were only planted last year, and I was given to understand that it may take several years for them to bloom. So that one must be really happy.


    A little while ago, I took my scissors, went out there and cut four branches with blooms on them. There are still two more left on the bush. I wanted to cut them because a couple of them were heavy enough to droop pretty badly.


    I brought them in, and put them in a vase with some cold water. They are in the kitchen, and very quickly I noticed something. When the wind blows in the open kitchen window, it blows the lilac smell through out the rest of the house! Lilac is one of my favorite scents. The other flower scent I like is Lily of the Valley. Mom used to grow them many years ago.


    So I sit here, happily waiting for Hubs to come home, and smelling my lilacs. It's getting a bit late, and Hubs told me he would call me when go finally got on the road. I'm sincerely hoping that he didn't call just so he can surprise me. But I'm thinking more that he got held up at training.


    I got to crochet this morning at Stitch n Bitch. I had to bring it up, I haven't talked about a project in a while. Ozzy's bed is coming along. It turned out that Kim and I were alone this morning. We had a nice breakfast and she knitted, while I crocheted. Any time I get to have bacon, I am a happy woman.


   

In Which I Attend The Spring Concert

    It absolutely confounds me how this happened. I have three kids, all grown up. I managed to mostly escape the horrific experience that is the elementary school Spring concert. With my oldest child, I attended once. I managed to never have to attend another one. In my defense, I was young and foolish.


    They are all, without exception, horrible. No matter how talented we think our children are, and they are, individually; I find that when put into groups called the 4th or 5th grade band, or school orchestra, and in numbers of children greater than 2, things can get really ugly. Musically speaking.


    Anyway, I generally escaped my own children performing in these Springtime rituals. So how is it that I now find myself attending those of my friends kid? The two most amazing things to me? 1, That most of the music was unrecognisable, and 2, That after all these years, it hasn't gotten any better.


    I of course attended tonight's for the benefit of my BKF (best kid friend), since she asked me to attend. I couldn't say no. Well, to tell the truth, the absolutely adorable little Hispanic sisters that were sitting in front of us, and that we made friends with, and played with, during said concert, made it much more fun. They were the cutest little things I have seen in a long time.

   
    Cherub's orchestra was the better of the two that played. As for the other one, let's just say that I didn't enjoy their performance.


    After the orchestras, the chorus came out. My BKF was in both choruses that performed. They were actually pretty good. To get that many kids to sing in tune is a neat trick. And the songs were recognisable.


    I think my favorite part of the whole night was when the Cherub came out to sit with her orchestra, and she looked over at her mom, her Nana and me, and we all waved at her. Largely. She had given explicit orders for us to not do that. I am just not a rule follower. After all, that is one of the perks of being a parent, getting to embarrass your kids in public. And, after all, they are only this young once.


    If this post is in any way rambling, disjointed or unreadable, I apologise. It's late, and I'm tired. And I will attend the concert again next year, because that's what you do for people you care about.  And I do love you, Cherub!

Simplicity

    I really do prefer simplicity in my patterns, be they crochet or knit. By simplicity, I mean all instructions are clearly written, in order, and easy to follow. I dislike having to think, or figure out what to do next. I craft to relax, and if I have to think about something, or try to figure a pattern out, I can't relax.


    I have reached the point with the skull shawl at which I must think about it too hard. I have attached the eyes in the second section of skulls. At this point, in order to continue, I need to have three or four pages of the pattern spread out in front of me, and interpret what I think the designer intends. And not even using the words, but the photos to do so. That's just too darn much work. I have lost interest in this project for now.

 

     And here is a photo of the pattern sheets I need to keep referring to!

    However, my beloved and insane feline friend Ozzy has taken a liking lately to the felted bags I made. I keep finding him trying to curl up inside them. And since I've been using them as project bags, he's usually on top of yarn. So I've decided to make him a bed based on the bag. Bigger base, and shorter sides, with no handle. Something easy and mindless. I had some black and some gray wool in my stash, so I'm using them together. Simplicity at its finest. Maybe now I can relax.

Skull Shawl Photos!

    Well, I put on my big girl panties, settled in, turned the light way up and attached the eyes to the shawl. I turned the light up because it's hard crocheting with black yarn in the semi-dark. And here's a photo to show my progress as of yesterday afternoon:

    And here is a closer shot of the skull:

    Since then, I have done more rows, and I'm now ready to add the eyes on the next row of skulls. In fact, I whipped them up this morning when I was hanging out with the Cherub. I know I've done it the once already, but I'm still a bit nervous about doing it. I guess at some point I'll get over it, since there are at least 21 sets of eyes in this shawl.


    In fact, this morning, Cherub and I had a great idea. We decided I should make her a Super Hero mask, like the eyes, only bigger. That's something to think about. I'm pretty sure I could whip something up based on the eyes of the skull. For now, that idea will have to go on the back burner. I want to work on this shawl....

Back to the skull shawl

    The super secret crochet project is done. I just have to put it through the wash, then I can pack it up. So it's time to think about what's next. Again.


    I'm thinking that I should go back to the skull shawl. I know I left it at a place where I wasn't comfortable doing what needed doing. But I just read today somewhere that if you don't do new things, you will never progress. That's very true. So I will dig out the skull shawl pieces, put on my big girl panties, and start work on that again.


    We actually had a frost last night! It was freezing in this house. It's still chilly outside now, and I hear we have another frost warning for tonight. I can't wait for the nice weather to come back.

We missed it by THAT much!

    My youngest child took his grandmother, his sister, and myself out to lunch for Mother's Day, yesterday. His best girl Julie came too! That was a smart idea, since Mother's Day is the busiest day in the whole year for diners and restaurants. We had a really nice lunch!


    After lunch, Sara and I were going to take my great grandmother's watch back to the Watchpital. Unfortunately, we lingered over lunch just a little bit too long. By the time we got there, they were closed. We missed them by ten minutes! We were both surprised that they closed so early. We weren't worried about it, or we would have stopped before lunch. It never occurred to us that they would close so early on a Saturday!


    Today is actually Mother's Day, and I got to kiss my Hubs goodbye, and wish him a safe trip. He's gone for training for work again. This time it's only a few days. So I guess I got what a lot of moms wish for, a day all to myself! He did get me a beautiful card, it made my eyes leak a little bit. I will admit up front that no sooner was he gone, than I broke out my huge jar of dill pickles and had one.


    I wonder what other forbidden things I can do while he's gone? Make some tuna salad? Buy an onion and cook with it? I'll have to put my thinking cap on...

I'm hooked for sure now...

   The other day, as I was playing farmville, they added something new. Normally I can take it or leave it, I do play a lot, because I'm bored. A while ago, they added a dairy, where you make different products to fill orders. Wonderful.


    Well, now they've got me. They added something called the Yarn Barn. Where you harvest cotton, wool, angora, and alpaca fleeces. There's a carder, and other stuff. Just like the dairy, you have to make stuff to fill orders. I am powerless to resist.  Here's a photo of what it looks like:

    This sucks in the biggest way, Hubs already thinks I spend too much time on facebook...  So now I'm fantasy crafting as well as really crafting. Is there a group for this yet?? Thanks so much Zynga.

My Lilac is Blooming!

    Last year for Mother's Day, Hubs went out and got me three little lilac bushes. I had been asking for lilacs for  y e a r s, they are my favorite flower. We planted two on the hill in the back yard, and I had him put Miss Kim in the front, on the far side of the yard, where she would get lots of sun.


   This year, to my delight, Two of the three bushes are showing signs of blooming! Miss Kim is behind the other one, but she does have buds. One of the ones on the hill is blooming nicely! I took the camera down a little while ago, and shot a few photos of them. And here they are for your viewing pleasure!

   

Visit to the Watchpital

    I got the call yesterday afternoon, my watch was ready. I was so excited! I couldn't get all the way down there before they closed, but I did go this morning. I took it to mom's as she requested. She wanted to see it. She's so happy that I like it, and she thinks that her grandmother is watching from heaven and is very pleased.


    While I was there, I wound it and set the time. Later on, when I got home, I looked at it. It still said 11:30. We paid money to get the antique watch fixed, and it doesn't work. Hubs told me to reset it, and we'd wait and see. An hour later, and it still had the time on it that I had set it to. Bummers.


    So Hubs called the watch guy, and told him the watch doesn't work. He wants me to bring it back. It's too far to go all the way back there today. Maybe I'll take it on Saturday, when my kids are taking my mom and me out for lunch. We'll have to drive right past the place. Keep your fingers crossed!! In the meantime, here is the long overdue photo:

   I did take a few on my wrist, but they didn't come out too well. The flash reflected too much on the face. More than the photo above! So hopefully, in the end, my great grandmother's watch, that is over 100 years old, will actually work. Then she'll really be smiling.

Project Update and More

    The secret crochet project is more than half done now. It's been fun, but every single time I make this particular project, I swear it's the last time. I think this one might really be the last one. I can't provide photos as it's a surprise gift.


    As for the "More", I'm happy to report that I finally decided to go and buy some mead. Yup, the medieval wine made from honey. I have even looked into making some myself. But it can take up to a year to age, and I want instant gratification.


    After asking for opinions on facebook, I headed off to the liquor store, and found me some mead. They had two brands, but neither was the brand that was recommended to me. On my way out, I took a look at the mini bottles of liqour, and found that Stoli now has a honey flavored vodka! I purchased a tiny bottle for tasting. I'm excited to try it!


    I put the mead in the fridge to chill. As I was cooking dinner, I opened the bottle and gave it a taste. It's really good! In my mind, my kitchen became my buttery, and my living room, my solar. I poured myself a taller glass after the initial small amount to taste. It's very, very enjoyable. I can see myself purchasing this in the future.  I can't even describe how good it is. Why did it take me so long to try some?

Life with a Curmudgeon

    I apologise for not posting yesterday. The only thing that happened that was blog worthy happened so late, and I was so very tired, I thought I'd just wait until this morning.


    You see, this is the time of year that Hubs and I have what is perhaps one of our greatest conflicts. It's nice outside during the day, and I open the windows. It still gets kind of chilly at night, and Hubs insists on closing the windows. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he's always cold, where I am having power surges that could melt a glacier, should I happen to be near one.


    We have a sliding glass door in our bedroom that goes out to a small balcony that overlooks the pool. Last night, he had that closed, and when I went in there, I mentioned that it was very warm in there. He told me I could open the door, as long as I closed it when I came to to go to bed. I told him I'd rather leave it closed now, and open it when  I come in to bed. He didn't like that.


    At that time, I looked at the thermometer on the wall in the living room, and it was 77 degrees inside the house. I told him that I doubted that the house would cool off more than 10 degrees during the night, which would have caused the heat to come on. He still made me close all the windows. Curmudgeon.


    Well, as long as he's comfortable. I've told him that the TV gives off heat on my back that feel like the sun, but as long as he's comfortable... He wants the windows closed. As long as he's comfortable! We do have a ceiling fan in our bedroom. One of these nights I'll be sorely tempted to turn it on. Then he'd really freak. But maybe, just maybe, I might be comfortable!!


    Don't get me wrong, he really is a sweetie. He is generous, and loving, and kind. But there is just this ONE thing..... The Mother-in-law Curse.... that causes trouble. And it's all her fault! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

New Projects!

    I have two new projects in the works! That's right, along with the two I have started already. And for me, four isn't bad, I've had a great deal more than that going at once in the past. I guess I have crafting ADD.


    So I started a new shawl project I saw on facebook. I like it, it's all skulls, and it's crocheted! The only problem is that the pattern is originally written in Danish, I think. The only other pattern I have that was in another language, the entire pattern was in that language, then further down the page, the entire pattern was written in English. So I could only print out the English version. This one, however, is different. Each row has a photo to go with it, and is written first in Danish then in English. So the fracking pattern is like 30 pages long to print out!


    But it's coming along nicely. I am at the part of the first skull where I have to attach the eyes, which are made separately. I'm putting it off, because I'm doing it in black, and I'm afraid I might have a hard time finding the right stitches they are talking about, for the attaching, because the black yarn makes it hard to see.


     When I get further along, I will post photos. As for the other project, it's another secret. It's also crocheted. My hands hurt now; it's been a while since I've crocheted so much. Maybe it's time for a skip day.  

The Curse of the Mother-in-Law

    Those of you who have read me from the beginning might remember I have mentioned my mother-in-law. She and I passed a stainless steel cream pitcher back and forth for years before she passed away. I put it in the box with her ashes when we said goodbye.


    My Hubs was convinced that I would wake up one morning and find that pitcher on my nightstand covered with dirt. He thought his mom would continue to play the little game with me. Well, he was wrong. It's been two years and the pitcher hasn't shown up yet. But oh no, she was sneakier than that.


    For all the years I knew her, both Hubs and I referred to her as The Ice Queen. She always had the temperature in her house low. In the Summer, her air conditioner blasted Arctic temperature air all day and night. When we went to visit her, I always brought a sweater. In the Winter, the heat was never set above 60 degrees. She was always hot, and needed the coldness to be comfortable.


    Well, recently, my beloved Hubs has come to believe that his mom has passed that particular curse on to me. He's now taken to calling me the Ice Queen. I want the windows open. I'm always hot, while he's freezing to death. I'm sleeping with just a sheet, while he's got blankets and afghans piled on top of him. When I'm laying in bed, the TV feels like the sun on my back. But as long as he's comfortable.... while I sweat to death.


    And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the Curse of the Mother-in-Law. She was so devious not to just bring me back the stupid pitcher. I would rather have found that on my night stand, than be turned into the Ice Queen. Thanks a lot, Betty!

No rest for the wicked

    This really sucks. I again have nothing to write about. It's not like there's nothing happening in my life, it's just that all the good stuff is happening to other people. And that makes it not my story to tell.


    Aaarrggghhhh. I want to tell it all. But I can't. And there's not much going on in my life right now. The most exciting thing that's happened is that I got Hubs to go for a walk with me the other day. Down the road a little and across the street is the back of one of the town parks. There's a nice path through the woods, and it leads to the tennis courts, playground, and skate board park. The skate board park is kind of new.


    On the way, there's another path that leads down to a wide part of the creek that runs behind our house, and there's a water fall down there too. We went down to the falls, Hubs promised there was a less steep way to come back out. He was right!


    My crochet project is done, I've started another knitting project. There is also a crocheted shawl I would love to try it. It's all skulls. Really cool. I have been trying for two days to get the pattern from the website into the documents on my laptop, with no success. My friend has already done it, so I asked her to make me a copy.


    I even have yarn in my stash that I'd like to use for the shawl. YAY! Any time I can not spend money it makes my Hubs happy. And now, dinner is ready, so I gotta go....

My Legacy

    Last night, as we lay in bed, Hubs and I had a discussion. I had mentioned that I had been thinking about my kids, and how I have twisted them. I believe it's in a good way, as they are all superior adults.


    I was worried about their children. I don't see my two current grandbabies very much, and the other two of my kids don't have any babies yet. But my beloved Hubs pointed out what he referred to as the Ripple Effect. My twisted kids will twist the kids they come into contact with. And that could be a lot of little ones, as one of my kids is a pre-school teacher, and one is a karate instructor.


    I know for a fact that Sara, the pre-school teacher, has been sharing her twistedness with her charges for years. She gets them to call her "Your Majesty", and even teaches some to play backgammon. I'm sure there are many other little things that she does in her class and her life that just shout about how I twisted her.


    Jess the karate instructor, on the other hand, has a much stricter environment in which to twist the young minds. But I'm pretty sure he does what he can.


    My older son James may not be as twisted as his siblings, as I wasn't involved in his upbringing, due to his being totally removed from my life at an early age. It's very painful to talk about, so that's all I'm going to say. But, he also is around children. He is a school bus mechanic who also drives routes when needed. And how many of us have school bus drivers that we have memories of? I know that I do!


    And that's what my legacy is. My twisted parents twisted me, and I twisted my kids. I can only hope that they, in turn, twist their own kids too! I feel so much better now that it has been confirmed that I have indeed made a difference in this world.


    Not to even mention all the friends that have witnessed my twistedness over the years, and stayed my friends anyway. Love to you all!

What's next?

    I have finished the secret crochet project, and I'm wondering what's next. There's still Sara's sweater to work on, but I've got a hankering to knit something different. I've been looking on Ravelry, and haven't come up with anything yet.


    I'm also keeping an eye on my lilac bushes, waiting to see if any of the three will bloom this year. I have high hopes for Miss Kim. Only time will tell.


    When I got home this morning, I was not feeling all that well. I was very tired, and decided to go take a nap after Hubs left for work. Today wasn't a scheduled day for hm, but he was asked to come in and help. So I had a small cuppa coffee, ate something, did my farming chores on farmville, and then hit the bed. I got about an hour and a half's worth of nap. I didn't want to nap for too long, or there might be problems sleeping tonight.


    Now it's time to get a move on. I have some dishes waiting for me in the sink.

Signs of Spring

    Finally, Spring has arrived, with all her glory. The grass is turning green again, and the trees are budding. I took a few photos around the house for you to see.

    This is my favorite lilac bush, her name is Miss Kim:

    She is one of the three lilac bushes Hubs gave me for Mother's Day last year. I really hope she flowers this year!  Here is a view of the budding trees to the west of my house. It's a wooded lot.

    And finally, a close up of some of the Anemone buds that are growing under our front window.

    I love Spring so much. It's getting warmer, and I can open the windows to let in the fresh air. As long as I close them again in the evening before it gets too cold. Hubs doesn't like the cold air at night. I, however, love it. I sleep better when it's a little cold in our bedroom.

I'm knitting today!

    Yay, I'm knitting today! At first I didn't feel very well, so I just sat here drinking my coffee. After a while, I started feeling better, so I broke out the knitting. The secret crochet project is almost done, I'm sad to see that finished so soon. But there are more in the planning stage, don't you worry!


    I am knitting in between doing laundry and washing up some dishes, as usual. Or else I'd just knit and nothing at all would get done! It's a beautiful Spring day, and here I sit inside knitting. I have been waiting for the jeweler to call to tell me that my watch is ready. It's been two weeks today.  That's one reason I haven't left the house, I don't want to miss that call. I can't wait to get it back, I want to take a photo so you can all see it.

A little of this, a little of that

    Today, I exercised my 2nd amendment rights, and shot at some targets with Hubs. It was fun, and we had a good time. He says I did pretty good.


    I have a feeling, deep in my gut, that the rest of this year is going to be the longest in history. It's moving so slowly right now, I can't stand it. There are reasons why, which I cannot discuss. My mind is absolutely aflame with ideas of things to create. Maybe I should write them down so I don't forget them.


    I got to spend a few hours today with my BKF (best kid friend) and her mom. We had a good time, hanging out and then going to the mall to build a bear. It was so tempting to buy a bear, bunny, or monkey, but I managed to not splurge. This time.


    Today is also my bestest friends birthday!  She turned the big 5 - 0, and she doesn't look like it at all! Her family had set up a surprise for her, and I hope it worked out as planned. I think I was the first of what I hope was many.


    I haven't knit traditionally today, but I have been working on a little something on one of those knitting loom things. I will let you know how that works out.


    I think it's time for me to say goodnight, Gracie, as I need to go pour myself another drink.

No progress to report

    That's right, there's no progress on Sara's sweater to report. To be brutally honest, my mind is on something else right now. But I will pick it up again soon, I think. I know she was excited at the prospect of having a mom-made sweater!


    I was so tired today, I actually laid down to take a nap this afternoon. I could have slept, but I was concerned that I would sleep for too long, so I didn't let myself fall asleep. I finally came out, and decided to watch the latest episode of Lost Girl on demand, I missed it Monday night. I fell asleep before it was over. And just as the program started, Hubs called me, to let me know he was on his way home from work.


    So maybe I was right not to nap. But now I'm extremely tired, so I'll probably go to bed early tonight.

Tuesday doings

    This morning, I went to see the brain doctor to go over the results of my MRI and MRA. It turns out that my brain is fine. And I have it in writing, so I don't care what anyone says.


    After that, I drove down to mom's. The idea was to unpack a few more boxes, and take her to Wal-Mart for a new toaster oven and to look at curtains. When I got there, she had no power! Apparently the workmen in the complex dug through wires that they didn't know were there. We did go to the drug store, but the power still wasn't on when we got back.


    By the time it did come back on, we didn't feel like going out. And we didn't unpack any boxes, since it was so overcast there was not any light coming in the windows, and it was too darn dark in there. Basically we sat around and talked all day. Then Sara came, as she does nearly every Tuesday, to have dinner with mom. This time it was the three of us. Sara brought Chinese with her. Yummy!


    After dinner, both Sara and I headed home. She was really tired, and so was I. So once again, I didn't get to knit. But I have been working on a super secret crochet project. More details on that in a later post.


    All in all, not a bad day, even if I didn't get to knit.

The Super Power Post

    I think, as a kid, everyone chooses a super power they would want. It's only natural, with all the super hero comic books we grew up with!  I have to say that over the years, I've gone through a few different ones myself.


    The first one I wanted was the ability to fly. I used to run down the hill next to our house in Lake Peekskill so fast that it felt like I could take off. I would dream about that, running down the hill, and pushing off with both feet, up into the air. I would fly around the neighborhood, seeing all my friends.


    For the longest time, I just wanted to fly. But recently, I've been rethinking that choice. Especially since I'm really terrified of the dark. So I changed my mind about my super power. I want the abiliy to create light around me. Shoot light out of my hands, even.


    Then today, I asked my question on facebook. I got several interesting answers. But even asking the question made me think about it some more . I mean, it would really be cool to make light around me, but wouldn't it be more useful, given my phobia, to be able to see in the dark? Let's add heat sensing to that too.


    I would love to hear from my readers. Tell me what super power you would want, and why!  I look forward to reading your responses!

Sunday hanging

    Yesterday, I didn't post, I had nothing to say. Sorry about that. I'm all recuperated from my brief intense illness, and back to normal.


    Today, I drove to my daughter Sara's house, and got to hang for a while with her friends Aaron and Christine E., and their new baby girl Nora. She is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time! I got to hold her, and even made her smile and laugh. She made my day.


  After they began their trek back to Long Island, I hung with Sara and her hubs for a while, then I accompanied Sara while she went grocery shopping. That was fun. I enjoy spending time with my daughter.


    I'm home now, and very tired. I was up at the ass-crack of dawn this morning, but my poor Hubs was up even earlier than that. I will probably go to bed early tonight, as I have to get up early in the morning. I'll be honest, I could go to sleep right now, but if I do, I won't sleep tonight. So I'm gonna try and stay awake as long as I can.   

Be careful what you ask for.....

    One boring summer day, back when I was a kid, I was out with my dad. We were on our way home from somewhere, when I remarked that our little town was so boring, nothing exciting ever happened there.


    We turned up the road that went up the big hill to the lake we lived on. At the top of the hill, in the center of our little neighborhood, one of the buildings was on fire! There was much excitement, and firetrucks and everything. It might have been the neighborhood bar that was on fire, I know it was near the tiny little Post Office.


    Ever since then, I have been very careful not to say that things are boring. You never know, I could start another fire.  Until recently, that is.


    You see, yesterday, I believe I said something about how boring life was on that particular day. And I paid the price for that little indescretion. This morning, I had to be taken for medical help. It's a darn good thing Hubs could leave work. I am fine now, after we got home, I took a good long nap. Hubs has even cooked dinner tonight. I believe I've learned my lesson, and will never again utter the phrase "this is boring, nothing ever happens..."


    In closing, I would like to point out that yesterday's non-post was my own little moment of silence for all the recent victims of bombings, explosions, and shootings. Nothing I could say was more important than that.

Knitting update

    I found the time to work on Sara's sweater today, after yesterdays unending headache. It's coming along swimmingly, progress is being made. Slowly but surely!

    I have a definite length measurement that I got from Sara when she tried it on. I need 17 inches from the bottom of the armhole. I am going to add one inch for the curling up. I hope that's enough. Since the two rows of purling done on my sweater didn't work out too well, I won't be doing that on Sara's.


   The idea of the purling was to stop the curling. The curl was supposed to go over the purling, but it didn't work out that way. Oh well. It's my sweater, and I am OK with it.  I want my beautiful daughter to be proud of the very first sweater I've made for her. Over the years, I've crocheted many afghans, but this is my first knitted sweater for her. Let's keep our fingers crossed that she likes it, and will wear it!

A curious development

   As some of you may know, I have Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, and Asthma. I take a few prescription drugs to help me breathe. Note: I just added the Asthma, as an afterthought, since I'm now out of the Asthma closet.... Anyway, every single one of my medications lists "headache" as a possible side effect.


    So I have headaches. Every single day. I take three Ibuprofen when I get up in the morning, and three more when the evening headache strikes. I like to wait for that one, just to see what time it comes. It usually happens between 5:30 and 8 pm.


    Well, twice in the last week, I haven't gotten my evening headache! Last Wednesday, after a long day of helping mom move, I got home, took a shower then made dinner. I realized as I went to bed that my regularly scheduled headache hadn't yet shown up. During the night as I was on my way to the bathroom, I noticed it had arrived with a vengeance.  But I was too tired to go to the kitchen and take anything. It was still there when I got up.


    Last night, at about 10 pm, I again realized that my evening headache hadn't shown up. This time, it didn't come during the night, but I did wake up with a whopper this morning. I took my morning Ibuprofen, but the headache wouldn't let go. I ended up going back to bed about 10 am for a nap. I feel better now, but I am wondering if this is a sign of things to come. I sincerely hope not. I'd rather have an evening headache then getting one in the night, or waking up with it in the morning.


    And next week I'll find out the results of the MRI they did on my brain. Yay, something to look forward to!


   P.S. Another day of no knitting. Not feeling so good today, I might go back to bed again....

At last, knitting time

    Finally, about 5 pm last evening, I picked up my knitting and started in. I think I went around a couple of times. Then Hubs came home, and I put it down. But I took it with me to child-sit this morning, and worked on it some more. So I'm getting there.


    Today, I may knit some more. When I took the sweater for Sara to try on, she remarked that by the time I would finally finish it, it will be well into Summer, when she wouldn't be able to wear it. Oh well, that's the way things work out sometimes.


    I am now having my coffee, and watching Graham Norton on BBCA. Love that show, he always makes me laugh. With just one more thought, I will take my leave for the day.


    I heard about Justin Beiber at the Anne Frank house. That stupid boy needs to be reminded that the whole world DOES NOT revolve around him. She would soooo NOT be a "Belieber". Someone please kick him in the ass for me.

Who's keeping track?

    For those of you who like to keep track of such things, I think it's been at least 4 days since I worked on Sara's sweater. I've been too darn busy to knit.


   Today, however, I plan to not leave the house, to not even get dressed. I am going to have my coffee, and knit. Then do some laundry, and knit. Then wash some dishes, and knit some more. I might even have lunch and knit. It's going to be a veritable knitting love fest.


    Well I didn't get to stay home all day, I made myself take back two big garbage bags of water bottles. I got $5 for them. And with that, I was able to get more half and half. And I haven't knitted a single stitch yet. I just don't feel like it. Right now, I think I'll start some laundry...

A day of adventures

    This morning, after having my coffee and taking my meds, I once again headed down to Fishkill to mom's house. There are quite a few boxes to unpack, and some things in the old apartment that she needs me to bring over to the new apartment.


    We unpacked two boxes of food, and rearranged a few shelves of food already put away. Mom made a list of things for me to get from the old apartment while I ran into the Village to get my Hubs some cigars and take a watch to be cleaned/repaired.


    My mom gave the watch to me last week, when I was there helping to pack, pre-move. It was her grandmother's watch, and she remembers her grandmother wearing it when she was a child. I fell in love with the watch. It looks very Art Deco-ish. I took it to a man in Fishkill, who I know would know how to deal with it. He told me it is from approximately 1910. He can clean it up and make it so it works. He will call me in about two weeks.


    I am absolutely thrilled! Like I said, I love the watch, and it fits me. Right now, I wish I had taken a photo of it. Oh yeah, my great grandmother's initials are engraved on the back. E L B. My mom said her name was Edythe Lenore Berry. Her maiden name was Chapman.


    I can't wait to get it back! I will wear it with pride, I can assure you. I just have to remember to take it off then I take a shower or wash dishes. I'm not used to wearing a watch.

Pizza for dinner

    All my life, I have been a pepperoni girl. Loved, loved, loved pepperoni. Over the years, we have occasionally ordered different toppings on our pizza. Sausage, meatball, and some I can't even remember. But pepperoni was the king of toppings.


    This past January, Hubs and I were again contemplating a pizza for dinner. As we perused the menu from our favorite pizza joint, T n F Pizza, we decided that pepperoni was getting old. I was reading down the list of possibilities, when one caught my eye. "Oooo..." I said, "Bacon!". Hubs agreed that bacon sounded awesome, and he remarked, "Extra cheese and bacon!" To which I whole heartedly agreed. We ordered one, and it has become our favorite pizza.


    Now, last week, we went shopping at Sam's Club, and bought a three pack of 1 pound packages of bacon. Later that night, as we were putting things away, we went down to the freezer, and discovered that we had no less than eight pounds of bacon already in the freezer! Then I found one in the upstairs freezer too. These, plus the three pounds we just bought, makes a total of twelve pounds of bacon in the house.


   We also bought a three pack of DiGiorno frozen cheese pizzas that trip. Today, I thought we should cook up some of that bacon for dinner. Then I thought some more, and decided to put it on a frozen cheese pizza for dinner, thus making our own bacon cheese pizza.


    Here is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

    It's too bad that looks can be so deceiving. The bacon, of course, was awesome, but the pizza wasn't. I think we should get points just for trying, what do you think?

Aftermath

    I slept like a rock last night, and I'm stiff and sore today. Mom's phone still isn't turned on. She lost some cable channels last night, but I think that's been fixed. She's really unhappy with the movers. There was a lot of stuff that they didn't move.


    I told her that they aren't going around picking up random stuff, it was all supposed to be in boxes. They even told her, if it's not boxed up, they aren't taking it. Oh well, at least she didn't have to have all her stuff out in the one day. She can take all the time she needs to get it all out.


   Today, I had an MRI of my brain. Of course, I'm worried. I have at least two headaches every day, and I'm used to it now, since every one of my medications lists headaches as a possible side effect. But when I saw the Neurologist last week, she wasn't happy about the headaches. She thought the steroid I take should take care of that. I figured it's too busy in my lungs.


    So there I am, laying on a table, and they slide this cage over my head after putting earphones on me. Because apparently it gets pretty loud inside the machine. I opted for the music in the headphones. Once this procedure started, I could hardly even hear the music! The noise was extremely loud, even with the headphones on.


    After about 40 minutes, and pulling me out twice; once to inject some dye into me, it was all over. I was very grateful that Hubs had come with me, and that I didn't have to drive home. I decided it was time to blog this evening when I got my daily evening-time headache. It comes anywhere between 5:30 and 9 pm. I usually wait for it to strike before I take the Ibuprofen. And it does strike suddenly.


    I even laid down this afternoon, and took a three hour nap! Today was the second day in a row, that I couldn't have my coffee. At least today, I got to have some after I got back from the MRI. I had to fast for four hours before the test. I decided last night that if I got up before 7 am, I could have one cup of coffee. But when I woke up, it was 7:05. SHIT. No coffee for me.


    You really don't want to see me without my coffee, especially on the second day!

Moving Day

    Today was moving day for mom. I was there by 10:30 am, the movers were due at 1 pm. My favorite son-in-law was there already when I arrived. We did what we could to pack things up.


    It's all over now, she's about 95% moved. There is no rush from the apartment complex office. She had to wait almost sin months for the place to be done, so they told her she could take as long as she needed to get all her stuff out.


    Sara left work early, to come and organize everything. She's the organized one in our little family. Mom was stressing out big time, so Sara sent her to her friends apartment to get her out of the way.


    At one point, son-in-law came in and reported that mom was back hanging around the empty apartment. I was voted to go take her back to her friends. They thought I was the only one she would listen to. I drove her back to Carol's, and told her in no uncertain terms to stay there until someone comes to get her.


    That gave us time to get make her bed up, get her living room all straight, and make sure she wouldn't have to do anything before bed. She could just sit and relax and watch her shows. Then go to bed whenever she wants.


    She was thrilled at how her new place looks Don't get me wrong, there are still tons of boxes to unpack. We will be visiting her more often, until it gets done. Now she's in a basement apartment, on the same floor as the laundry room. She's thrilled about that too.


    So I'm exhausted, since I've been up since 5:30 this morning. And I've been going all day. So I'll see you all tomorrow! I'm going to bed soon! 

Dang it all

   Well, dang it all, I missed another fracking day. I was busy again yesterday. Hubs decided to go down to the house in Fishkill, and I was going with him. He thought I should go to mom's and help her pack more. He was right, as usual. So he dropped me off, and we got some more packing done.


    After he picked me up again, we went shopping at Sam's Club. There were some things we were running low on. We ended up spending more than I thought, so I decided not to ask for more pistachio nuts. He noticed, and mentioned it. I told him I felt bad about the cost of our purchases, and he said it would have been OK. I really don't need to have them, anyway. The granola diet seems to be working.


   I've also been so busy, I haven't had time to take any photos! And it looks like I'll be busy the rest of the week too. Tomorrow is mom's moving day, so I'm expected there most of the day. Thursday I have an MRI scheduled. And Friday, all I have is Stitch n Bitch, but anything could change at the last minute.


    As for my crafting, I got a lot of knitting done this morning, when I escorted my friend's mom to the doctors office. Their car has broken down. After that, I picked Bonny up and we went down to the craft store, where I got some yarn to make my mom a half circle crocheted rug, for in front of her sink in the new apartment. I have started it already. I was going to use a P size hook, but it was too loose. So I went down to an N size. Still too loose for me. I ended up with a K size. And I am using two strands of cotton yarn. I like it better now, it's tighter, still soft and a bit cushy.


    Hopefully one of these next few days I won't be too busy, and I can finally take some photos! Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

Life/Craft Updates

    Sweater - I took the sweater to Sara's house this afternoon, so she could try it on. It fit! So now I can keep knitting on it. I also thought to measure from the armpit stitches down to how long she wants it, so I have a reference point. It will be 17 inches from the pit stitches to the bottom.


   Circle Sweater - I put the armholes in the other day, and I've done maybe two rounds since then. Right now, it's on the back burner, so I can knit on the other one.


   Camera - I broke down and bought the new battery for the camera today. Since it's supposed to be nice tomorrow, I will take some update photos.


    Taxes -  They are all done and sent in. We e-filed those suckers. This year he pulled it off without a single thing being thrown, and minimum swearing.


    As I mentioned at the beginning, I went to Sara's house today. She showed me the new island in the middle of her kitchen. It's nice, and has two stools underneath to sit on. I sat and watched, while she made guacamole. My heart swelled up with joy, just watching her in her kitchen, all homemakery and shit. I loved it.


    So look for new photos tomorrow!

Living a spontaneous life

    I learned a long time ago, that when I made firm plans for anything, that something, somehow, would frack the whole thing up. So I try to live spontaneously. I know that there are certain things that you have to plan. Like Doctor appointments and stuff like that. But I try not to plan too many things. I like to do what comes along.


    As a side effect of this, sometimes there are times that you have to do many things in a single day. Yesterday was one of those days for me. It started out innocently enough, with the Stitch n Bitch ladies meeting for breakfast and knitting/crocheting.


    Thursday, I was supposed to go to my mom's and help her do some more packing for her move next week. I ended up not going, I really didn't feel well. So I told her I'd come on Friday, after Stitch n Bitch.


    Then I got a phone call, and had to squeeze a meeting in between these two things. After the meeting, I was to call mom, and I did some shopping for her. Mom took me over to see her new apartment. It is small, but beautifully finished, and she will be very happy there. In the end I finally got home, somehow, before Hubs got home from work. I was so tired, I went to bed without even writing a post for the day.


     As I am writing this, it doesn't seem like much to squeeze into a single day. But somehow, it was huge at the time. Considering that going to get the mail, or taking out the garbage, is usually the highlight of my day, doing that many things in one day, not to mention all the driving, was a lot to do. I drove from Hyde Park to Wappingers then to Fishkill, and back home again.


     But today, I am back to being spontaneous. I am going to lounge and then go out and run a few errands. I want to enjoy the beautiful Spring day.

Learning something new....

    For this crocheted sweater, I have to learn something new. It's a foundation double crochet. In which you do double crochets while at the same time, you are making the foundation chain. I've been watching how-to videos on you tube, and some are very confusing. But I think I might have the hang of it now. It's supposed to be better than just chaining across for the sleeve hole, then working the doubles into that chain the next time around. We'll see. I need to practice some more.


    This weekend, I may be absent. My beloved Hubs will be using my laptop to do our taxes. So, I will be avoiding him most of the weekend, as he tends to swear a lot and throw things while doing this particular activity. I really miss the days when we paid someone to do them for us. The first guy we had, the year came when we couldn't find him. It turned out that he was in jail. Not related to tax preparation activities...


    Then we had a very nice young lady doing them for us. After a few years, she decided not to do them any more. So Hubs now has to do them himself. Besides the fact that it was costing a lot of money for someone else to do them for us. Personally I think it was worth it, since it kept Hubs' blood pressure down.


    Reading what I've written so far, I have a feeling that Hubs will think I've said too much. But I don't think so. There are no names, and nothing too specific. However, if anyone reading this knows him, don't say anything about it. What he doesn't know, can't get me in trouble. Just remember my adage, "What's written in the blog, stays in the blog."


    I was supposed to go to mom's today, to help her finish up her packing. Yes, her apartment is finally ready! She will be moving next Wednesday. Anyway, I am not feeling well today, so I'm going to stay home and take it easy.


   

Knitting and crocheting news

    I haven't worked on Sara's sweater since we got back from Massachusetts. I think it's time for her to try it on. While that project is on hold, I took a few days for myself. But Monday, I went to see my friend Bonny, who needed my help with a sweater she's currently crocheting.


    I got there, and helped her, and saw the amazing sweater she's working on. I liked it so much, I asked her to copy the pattern for me. I went back and got it yesterday, and started working on it last night. At first, of course, I had to stash dive to see if there was any yarn in there I could use for this new sweater. I found more than enough of Simply Soft, a skein of white and three skeins each of light gray and dark gray. Right now, I'm very broke, and not having to buy yarn is a plus. I decided to use what I had.



    The pattern is basically a big giant round circle, with holes for the arms. You go back after the body, and make the arms. This version is called the Pinwheel Sweater, and it's someones crocheted version of a circular knitted sweater. The crocheted version was a free pattern, Bonny found it on Crochet Pattern Central, I think.



    Now, the pattern that Bonny gave me has holes in it. I started making the sweater according to the pattern. After 4 or 5 rounds, I stopped and took a good look at it. I decided I didn't like it with the holes. So I frogged it, and started over, with the standard circle pattern from Lion Brand Yarn's website. It'll be easy enough to do without the holes, as I've made that pattern before.


    Note: on the Lion Brand site, the pattern is for an afghan. I've made it as an adult size, and a baby size afghan.


    I am using the white in the center, then going to the light gray, then the dark. I decided not to make it all stripey, just solid "blocks" of color. So it will look more like a target. Bonny's  has the holes, and she's making it all stripey. It's really very pretty. I can't wait to see it all done.


    I was going to take some photos for you today. I had my circle all laid out and smooth, then I couldn't find the camera. It took me a few minutes to remember where I had put it. I found it, and turned it on. Or, rather, tried to turn it on. It seems the battery is dead. AND being broke, I don't have the money to go out and buy another battery. They are kind of expensive.  So you are out of luck for now. Hopefully soon, I can buy a battery and take some photos of the crocheted sweater.

Fear of flying

   I have that. The first time I flew as an adult, we went to Florida. It was for a vacation at Disney World, and Jesse had a tournament there. We went with my mother-in-law, she had a friend who worked at Disney and got us a real deal on the rooms. I really loved the Coronado Springs Resort. 


    The very first time I flew was as a teenager. I flew back from Florida after visiting my Aunt and Uncle. That was a pleasant experience, there were so few passengers, I sat sideways with my legs across all the seats all the way back to NY. That wasn't horrible at all.


    Anyway, the flying. I hated it. It wasn't the flying itself, but the conditions in which I was flying that I hated. Those conditions included, but were not limited to, being condensed together with my fellow passengers like sardines. Unpleasant fellow passengers. Not being able to sit next to my Hubs. That was a really big deal for me. I was terrified, having not flown for a really long time.


       Lucky for me that when he got sent to Austin, Texas for training for work, he didn't use the company web site to book his flight. If he had, we would have had to fly separately. Different days, and everything. I told him if I couldn't fly with him, I wouldn't go. So he arranged it. He really is the best husband.


    The last time we flew, it was to Austin. It seems that every time I fly, the experience gets a little bit better. I still don't want to, but I will if I have to. Thank the Goddess for pharmaceuticals.


   P.S. Yesterday's post was my 600th! I just noticed that. I'm amazed. And thanks to all of you who read my adventures!