I am so lucky!!

    I truly have the bestest knitting friend in the world. Kim H. has gifted me with another pair of felted clog slippers. I am truly blessed! This is my third pair, I have worn through two pair already.


    I went to Stitch n Bitch this morning as usual, and when she got there, I was presented with my new slippers! They were unfelted at the time. I was too excited to take a photo of them pre-felting, I wanted to get them right in the washer! I put them in the dryer and after one cycle they were almost done. I tried a second cycle, but the stupid dryer is stopping early again. So I took them upstairs and they are drying on the baseboard heater by the front door.


    That's where I put my slippers every night when I go to bed, and in the morning they are nice and warm. I have to place a pair of boots next to the heater, and then rest the slippers between the boots and the baseboard. I've already turned them a few times.


    Here's how they look! They are so pretty!

 

    And just as I requested, they are a little big. Perfect!! I can't wait for them to be dry so I can wear them.
   

A sad comparison

   This has been on my mind for a while now. I am still not sure how to go about explaining it to you. I have seen, as have we all, the videos of the soldiers returning to their families. The tears, the joy, the surprise of it all. I have no desire to take anything away from that. These Americans deserve to be celebrated.


    However,  I have gradually come to compare these homecomings to the ones that our Viet Nam era veterans had received. Those brave souls were just as deserving of our country's recognition. Instead many of them were spat on, and called names like "baby killer". It seems to me that those soldiers felt that they had to hide the fact that they had served in the military at all.


    It seems to me as if those soldiers homecomings were kept secret, almost like they were snuck in the back door. I'm sure their families were just as glad to have them home, but it was not done in public. And that wasn't fair. Granted, I was still in high school when the war ended, and never personally knew anyone who served in the military at that time.


    It just seems so sad to me. That's all I wanted to say. If anyone in your family served our country's military during that era, please thank them. And once for me. And if you agree with me, share this post. Thank you.

Visible progress!

    At long last, I have actually made some visible progress on the legwarmers. Huzzah! It seems that in the last few days I've had more free time than usual, so I was able to knit up a storm. At this rate they should be done in a flash.


    I have altered my plan for the legwarmers, I've decided that they don't really need to be knee high. They just need to be long enough to cover the part of my legs that get cold, so maybe halfway up the calf. Years ago, I developed the habit of wearing the bottom ribbing pulled over my feet, like a toe-less sock. That was back in the days when legwarmers were actually new, so mid to late 70's?

    Some of you may notice that I am using a different needle. Yesterday My friend Bonny called and asked if I wanted to go to Michaels craft store. Of course I said YES! So we went, and I figured that as long as I was there, I might as well pick up a shorter size 3 circular needle. Now I can return the borrowed one to it's rightful owner. Not that there was a problem, I just don't like having to borrow things, as I tend to lose things, usually my own.


    And lastly, there's an idea for a post that's been rattling around in my mind for a while now. I still need to think about it some more. I'm trying to figure out how I want to say what needs saying. The topic is something I've gradually become aware of over the last few years.

Knitting and memories

    I was thinking about my grandmother a little while ago. The one who taught me to knit when I was 10, whom I lovingly refer to as The Knitting Nazi. I was washing dishes, and she frequently enters my thoughts during that particular activity. Maybe she is the reason I hate doing it so much. She was a particularly unpleasant person when she got old, and I remember telling her I hated her when she made me wash dishes when I had a friend over to play.


    That train of thought reminded me that when I was a kid,  I hated that all the silverware was in the bottom of the sink. Do you know that as soon as I moved out on my own, I found a large plastic tumbler to be kept by the sink, that I put all the dirty silverware in. I put a few drops of dish detergent in there, and fill it with hot water. That way, the silverware isn't all in the bottom of the sink, and if I need a spoon I can wash just that one spoon. I have one there to this day.


    I managed to get some knitting on the legwarmers yesterday. I don't know if I'll be able to today, as Hubs and I are spending the day together, culminating in dinner out tonight. I'm looking forward to that.

Here's the deal

    I must say, it was an absolute joy to drive the Jeep without fear or worry. I had to promise Hubs that the next time I think there's something wrong with my vehicle, I will make him listen to me. You would think he would already do that, considering this is the third time this has happened.


    The first time, I told Hubs that there was something wrong with the Lincoln I'd been driving. I told him it was vibrating really badly, that my butt was going numb. He told me it was probably a bubble in the tire, until he drove it. Apparently something really important like the drive shaft, but not the drive shaft, had broken. I drove that car all the way to Wappingers and back to Hyde Park like that. To this day he says he doesn't know how that car kept running.


    The second time, I was sitting in my car, at that time I was driving a Nissan Stanza. As I sat there waiting for someone, I felt a thunk, and the sound of the engine changed. It had been humming, and after the thunk, the hum was lower pitched. I mentioned it to Hubs and again he blew me off.


    Until one night, I had to drive him to the E.R. because he had burned his eyes while welding. Since he could only listen, he noticed the change in the engine sound. The next day we went to the drub store to get the meds for his eyes. He sent me in, telling me he would check the engine while I was in the store.


    When I came out, he was sitting in front of the store in the car, all grim faced and staring ahead. I got in, and asked him what he found. We drove directly to the garage, where he told me that an engine mount had broken, and the engine was falling out of the car. He fixed it and it wasn't a big deal to fix. But I was hoping he would learn from that and listen to me when I tell him something is wrong with my car.


    With the Jeep, I had asked him more than once to drive it, maybe he could tell what it was from a test drive. He has mad diagnostic skills. But I was unsuccessful. Do you think that maybe he will listen to me in the future? Only time will tell....


    I realize this post may repeat old stories, and I apologize if that is so.

After the storm

   At this point, all I can do is hope the storm is over. We must have over a foot of snow at this point. We have shoveled, and been plowed out. Maybe this afternoon I can get some work done on my legwarmers.


    Yesterday I didn't get to knit at all, we were busy at doctor appointments, grocery shopping, and picking up meds at the drug store. Hubs needed blood work, so that took a while.


    The bad news is that my Jeep broke. I made it home from Sara's house Friday, barely, parked it and swore I wasn't driving it again until it was at least looked at. I didn't get to tell Hubs about it until Saturday evening after he got home from work. With husbands, timing is everything.


    Friday night he was too busy venting about work. I would just have added to the stress, so I made the executive decision to wait. In the end it turns out that once again my instincts were correct. It seems that my right rear wheel was falling off. Two of the studs were broken off, and the whole thing was wobbling when I drove. That would have been the "whoop whoop" sound I was hearing when I drove.


   The good news is that it's now all fixed. And Hubs can return all those other parts he bought before he realized what the problem actually was. After he came home with my repaired Jeep, he was freaking out that he hadn't noticed the problem. And the fact that I had mentioned to him twice that there was a problem.


    So I get to babysit for little Owen tomorrow. I can't wait to see him! I just hope the roads are all passable in the morning.

Back to knitting!

    I've been working on my legwarmers frequently, and have progress to show you! It's helped tremendously to have the circular needle, and things are moving right along. Without further ado, here is today's progress photo!

Laundry Sauce update

   Last year, I made my own laundry detergent from a recipe I found online. I have recently seen the link again on facebook. I thought it was time to tell my experiences with it.


    The first batch I made was the only one that blended properly. I was pleased as punch because it had a mayonnaise like consistency, just as explained in the recipe. The rest of the jars didn't blend completely, there were two layers. It did still work, however. The other two jars I gave away. I used my jar of Laundry Sauce all up, using one tablespoon per load, just as directed.


    It worked well, just as they said it would. That being said, I did have some problems with it. It did not remove stains, as stated. I tried it multiple times. My stains remained. I even rubbed it into the stain and left it overnight, and it still remained. My laundry did smell fresh and was clean, though.


    There was another problem with it. After long term use of the Sauce, my dryer stopped working. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. I would set the timer for an hour and after an hour the clothes were still wet. Eventually I stayed down there while the dryer was running, only to find it was stopping after approximately 5 minutes.


    Upon close examination, the lint screen was completely clogged. Every hole was filled. I remove the lint after every load, and this was the first time this had ever happened to me. I ended up having to take the screen upstairs and soak it in a bucket to loosen the dried up gunk, then take a scrub brush to it to clean out the holes of the screen.


    In my opinion, the laundry sauce was the culprit. In the past, I had examined the screen and it had never been the least bit clogged. I have stopped using the laundry sauce regularly, and only use it once in a while now. Those who use public laundry facilities will have better luck.

A Successful Transition

    I have been working on my two-legwarmers-at-once most of the morning. Using the straight needles was getting really old. I have talked about this before, I am totally spoiled by circular needles. I use them for everything I knit.


   I borrowed a size three circular needle from my good friend Kim H. and have successfully transferred both legwarmers to it. Now I'm ready to rock and roll. There is enough of them done to easily tell which stitch to do now. The first few rows were tough, between the black yarn and the tiny stitches. I was sitting here chanting "knit, knit, purl, purl" over and over again. Gotta love 2 x 2 ribbing. There's going be about 5 or 6 inches of it, so I could very well go insane before it's all said and done.

New Legwarmer Progress

    Yesterday I made some progress on the new legwarmers. I love that I can do them both together. While Owen was napping, I got three rows done, and it's nice and bright there, so I didn't have any trouble seeing the stitches.

                    

    Someone commented on facebook about knitting two things at once, so I will explain. Those of you who know already can skip ahead. First you cast on the stitches for one item (#1). Then using a second ball of the exact same yarn, cast on the same number of stitches on the same needle (#2). You knit the first row of #2 with its own ball of yarn. When you finish that row, drop that yarn. Then knit the first row of #1 with its ball of yarn. So you always knit all the way across, doing each piece with its own yarn.


    This method works especially well with sweater sleeves or other matching pieces, because they will both have the exact same number of rows. I once did this method one better, or so I thought. I did the two front pieces and the back of a sweater all together, but it didn't work out so well. I think I must have gotten confused, because one of the pieces was too short. Perhaps sticking to only two pieces at a time is a better idea.


   If my explanation is confusing, I apologize. If anyone feels they can explain it better, please feel free to comment.


    I am babysitting Owen again today. It's so cool getting to spend time with him when he's so little. Maybe I'll take some photos and post them over the weekend.


10 PM

    I just realized I should give credit where credit is due. My friend Jan Harrington, knitter extraordinaire, showed me how to do the two at once method. Thanks, Jan!!

A Change of Plans..... Again!

   It happened while I was swatching yesterday. You see, the day before, while looking for my size 8 circular needle, I came upon some Malabrigo sock yarn, in black. I have four hanks, so there's plenty for whatever I want to do with it.


    So there I was, swatching, and suddenly my thoughts wandered to the Malabrigo. Suddenly I wanted to make the legwarmers out of sock yarn. Then they wouldn't be so heavy, but they would still be warm.


    I then searched out my tiny little circulars. Those I have in 16 inch lengths. I found the one I wanted, size 3, and set to work casting on for a swatch. I figured I'd better swatch because I have no idea how many stitches I will need to go around my foot. It quickly became obvious to me that working with a 16 inch needle was not comfortable. I don't have one in a longer length. Then I remembered that I have a set of size 3 double points that are about 10 inches long. I got those out, stuck point protectors on one end of each one, and voila! I had myself a pair of straight needles of the desired size.


    The last thing at this point is light. I forgot that with black yarn, especially black sock yarn, it's difficult to see the stitches unless you have a bright light source. I will have to turn my work light up to the level of the sun. But it's doable. Excuse me, I need to get back to my swatch. Here are some photos:

First up is the ribbed pink swatch progress:

 Second is the black sock yarn swatch:

 

       Ooooo! I just remembered something that is a great idea, and will totally work with this project!! Like sweater sleeves, I can knit both legwarmers at the same time!! That should eliminate the "second sock syndrome", only with legwarmers.... 

Happy Dance!!

 

 

Disappointment leads to frogging

    I finished the first legwarmer last night. Let's just say that it shall be frogged. I am currently swatching for a knitted version. I have decided to give the knitting another chance. This time I will knit it flat and sew or crochet up the seam. I know that some people never swatch, but this time I need to know how many stitches in ribbing will go around my foot.


    I was severely disappointed about the legwarmer fiasco. At least there will be more than enough yarn from the crocheted version to make the new and improved knitted one. I have a plan, as mentioned above. I hear that you learn something even from failure, but I can't figure out what I learned from this one.

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.

Time for crochet while babysitting

    I had that for the past two days. I was babysitting for my newest grandson, and while he napped I had time to crochet. I got some more done on the first legwarmer. I think it's about 2/3 done now.


    Babysitting is quite an adventure in itself. First, I really hate having to get up at 5:30 am. I figured that I already get up that early two days a week, what's two more? It wouldn't have been so bad, except after the first day of sitting, I had an awful night of sleep. It was one of those god-awful nights where you wake up every 20 - 30 minutes? I think the best sleep I got all night was the 5 minutes after the alarm went off. I only know I fell back asleep because I was dreaming.


    Really, a newborn doesn't require that much work. But I was exhausted none-the-less. He really is a good natured baby, and doesn't really cry unless there's something wrong. The hardest thing is keeping him occupied for 5 minutes while his bottle heats up. But yesterday, he made my day...


    Sara went upstairs to get dressed. When she came back down, she brought Owen, who was still half asleep. She put him in his downstairs sleeping place. I left him alone in case he went back to sleep. After a few minutes, I looked in, and he was awake, so I leaned over and told him that Nana was here to stay with him today. He looked right at me and smiled!


    I was so very tired yesterday, and that's not a good thing. When I am that tired, I get extremely weepy. The littlest things make me tear up. It happened twice yesterday while I was at Sara's. And then again after Hubs got home from work and I was telling him about it. He just chuckles at me.

My first day with Owen

    Last Friday, my daughter Sara went back to work, after having her adorable little son Owen. She was understandably distraught. I got to be Owen's first all day babysitter. I'll be taking Thursdays and Fridays, while his other grandma is taking Mondays and Tuesdays. His daddy is off on Wednesdays.


    He was asleep when I got there. I really hoped he'd stay asleep until after mommy left, I thought it might make it a bit easier for her. He decided to wake up just before she left. So mommy got to supervise my warming his bottle, and we were settled into having it when she left.


    The little guy was pretty good. He complained most of the morning, I think he missed his mommy. At one point he looked right at me, and started to cry. I didn't take it personally. We had some good talks, and after his noon time bottle, he passed right out. He was still asleep when his daddy got home 3 1/2 hours later!


   I kept busy watching a show on Hulu that Sara thought I might like. It's called The Misfits. I watched all of season 1, and a couple shows from season 2.  Just before daddy was due home, I turned the show off, and put the baby tunes on.


    My biggest question is this: I didn't do much all day, why was I so exhausted?  Perhaps it was because I didn't get to have my usual morning coffee. I did bring some of the chocolate chai tea I had found, but only had one cup. I can't wait to see how it goes this week.  

Where did the time go?

    I just realized that a whole week has gone by since my last post. I really don't know where the time has gone. I guess I've been busy.


    I have crocheted on my leg warmer some. I babysat for the new grandbaby Owen twice. Monday for a little while, then Friday all day. That was the day daughter Sara returned to work. It was difficult for her, as it was for all of us who had to do it.


    I've also been reading. I found a new series of books, I'm currently reading the third one. They are about a girl who discovers she is an Elf changeling, and has no memory of her former life as an Elf. They were written by an author named Liz Schulte. I'm enjoying them so far. Check them out if you can. I guess I just haven't had anything Earth-shattering to share with you all.


     

Today's Pet Peeve

    It's been a  while since I voiced any pet peeves. Recently this one has been really bugging me. I have a nook, and my Hubs has a kindle. When I go shopping for new ebooks, I like to read through the whole description. I want to know if it's worth my money to purchase it.


    That's all fine and dandy, except when I go to open a new ebook to read it, and discover I paid good money for a stupid book that's only 100 pages long! And there, dear reader, is my pet peeve. Why can't Barnes and Noble, and Amazon too for that matter, put in the descriptions how many pages a book is?


    I have actually gone to the mother-site of Barnes and Noble, looking for a way to let them know that this would be appreciated by their readers, but could not find any way to get through to them. I haven't tried Amazon yet, I got pretty discouraged by my experience with bn. I'm hoping they will be easier to contact.


    There has been more than one time that I was upset about the page count of a book. This was brought sharply into contrast yesterday, when I opened a new book to read and discovered it was over 700 pages! I actually cheered!


    You should know that I rarely spend more than $10 for an ebook. I even page through all the free and less than $5 selections first. So it really upsets me when I don't feel I got my money's worth.


    Has this become an issue for any of you, readers? If so please feel free to comment and tell me your stories. I would love to hear them.


    OK, OK, I shouldn't have listened to the Hubs. It turns out that Amazon DOES  tell you the page count. He just never noticed... Sorry for the confusion.

Legwarmer Update

    Today I was working on my legwarmer. I crocheted while I watched Arrow on Netflix. I had been interested in that show, but never got to watch it. It was good, I hope there is more than one season. I just finished watching the season 1 finale.


    Also today, I went to watch my grandson Mason, who is 3. He is getting to be quite a handful! Very physical, and I'm so *not* a physical babysitter. Oh well, he'll learn. While he was napping, I worked on my legwarmer. Here are some photos, see if you can see how much more has been done:

    That is the whole thing. The next one is just the top, or knee end. The white stitch markers are where I added short rows to the ribbing to make it wide enough.

    Then the bottom, or ankle ribbing.

    So as you can see, I have made some progress. It's not all Lazy Kim's Cat Toys. I'm getting there; perhaps slower than I'd like, but I'm still getting there!

A busy but productive week

    It has been a busy week for me, crocheting my Lazy Kim's Cat Toys. I ran out of wooden rings, so I had to go in search of more. Joann's was where I found the last ones, so I went there first. They didn't have any.


    The original version of the cat toy was made with flattish plastic rings that I had bought at Joann's. I had even restocked from there. Then they stopped carrying the stuff with which you make purses. I think they call them findings, like for jewelry. That was when I found the wooden rings.


   They didn't have more at Joann's as I said, but Bonny and I went to Michaels, and they had some!! I bought all three packages they had on the hook. That was 15 wooden rings. I also bought some more of the Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn, in colors I thought would be pretty as cat toys.


    What do you think?

    All of these toys were made with the Sugar 'n Cream, except the solid brown one, which was Lion Brand Cotton. Sugar 'n Cream, it turns out, uses 100% grown in the USA cotton. I will be putting that on the tags. The Lion Brand Cotton? I'm not sure, it doesn't say on the label.


   I only have one more color to use, red. That was the color I used for the original toy I made for Ozzy, and I was saving it for last. The reason I'm only making one of each color to start is that each one is a different length. I've kept track of what each one's length is, so I can make more of every color after I write out the individual tag for each one. The lengths range from 10 feet to 13 feet, with the majority being 12 feet.


   And yes, this puts my legwarmers on the back burner. The never ending garter stitch baby blanket for Owen is there as well. I hope to get back to them at some point.


    I would like to point out that I use plastic or wood for the toys, not metal, because metal could hurt the kitteh's  teeth when they bite, and their claws too. Even though metal, being heavier, would go further when the toy is thrown. Oh well, safety first.

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! 

What I've been up to

    I have been working on my crocheted leg warmers, at least the first one. It's coming along better than I anticipated. I decided to do short rows of ribbing for the top, since it has to be bigger than the ankle part. Every 5 or 6 rib ridges, I do the shirt row thing. It's working out well, the top is now noticeably wider than the bottom. And it's curling around the leg nicely.


    You remember my post about roasting chestnuts? Well, I decided to do it again. I felt that the first batch weren't fully cooked. When peeled, most of them were still pretty white. So I bought more the other day, and today I felt the urge to roast them. My mouth was watering for them.


    I pre-heated the oven, and set to scoring all the nuts, as per the directions I read. When done, I put them in the oven on my Pampered Chef baking sheet, and set the timer for 35 minutes.


    After the time was up, I let them sit for about 10 minutes before I began shelling them. They were still pretty hot, but I was able to handle them. This time, I had much less trouble with the shelling. I'd say that about 90% shelled very easily. The other 10% I had to fight with a little.


   Thanks to my due diligence, there was only one ucky one this time. When I was at the store, I examined each nut to look for splitting or holes. Those are bad, by the way. So I purchased only whole, unblemished nuts this time. Last time, I just grabbed handfuls and tossed them into the bag. Now I know better. I should have read the instructions before buying the nuts.


    Anyway, the nuts are delicious. I have eaten a bunch already. Is there anything tastier than a still warm chestnut? I think not!

I want my JACKET!

    Since my Hubs got his Harley, I have been fantasy shopping for a nice leather jacket for myself, in the hopes that someday we will ride together. After much searching, I found the perfect one. It was on a website called LeatherUp.com. Here is what it looked like:

    I really loved this jacket. I read all the reviews, and most of them talked about how quickly theirs was delivered, and how you should buy a bigger than normal size. Unfortunately, they were sold out of my size. I therefore asked them to inform me by email when my size was restocked.


    Weeks went by, and no emails came. I went back to the site, and was informed they would no longer be carrying that jacket. I was crushed.


    Fast forward to December 23rd. I decided on a whim to check the site again to see if there was another jacket I might like. And lo and behold, the jacket, MY jacket, was back. Apparently they didn't inform me because it was now $10 more than the last time I saw it. Believe me, it was still worth the money. I told Hubs, and showed it to him. Then we went to bed.


    The next morning, he told me to order the jacket! That was on the 24th. Of course, I never would have expected to get it in time for Christmas, but when we placed the order, they said it should arrive between the 27th and 30th. Perfect! I happily waited for it, and rushed to get the mail on Friday. It wasn't there.


    Hubs checked the tracking, since the notifications were being sent to his email account. My jacket was still in California. It went from Los Angeles to some other city in those three days. For the rest of the weekend, we checked the tracking every evening, and it showed my jacket was "in transit", but with no location. I had no idea where it was! Then finally New Years Eve, there was a city! My jacket made it to somewhere in Pennsylvania. And now it's in transit again. With my luck, it'll be in my Post Office tomorrow, and with this stupid storm I won't be able to go get it.


    I look forward to posting a photo of me, in my new jacket. Or a reasonable facsimile of me, since I am not find of having my photo taken...  But either way, I'll be ready to ride come Spring!

Happy New Year

    This post has been a long time in the writing. I had a really hard time since the last time, deciding what to tell you about. Christmas was nice this year, with the new baby and all. We have our family gathering after the holiday, due to the many sub-branches wishing to celebrate with their own families.


    This year, we had dinner out on Saturday the 28th. It went swimmingly, even though my older son, his wife and two kids were unable to attend due to the kids being sick. They didn't want to endanger the baby or my mother. The dinner and gift exchange afterwards at son Jesse's house went better than I had hoped. 


    Everyone loved seeing the new baby, and my nephew Christopher really seemed enamored of him. He really is a sweet kid.

 

    And then New Years Eve came along. It just so happened that I was in the grocery store and found loose chestnuts in the produce section. I had been buying the ones in foil bags until I discovered that they are a product of China. And that is a bad thing. So I had vowed to not buy any more of those bags.


   So I was delighted to find the ones in the produce section! I scooped up about a pound of the little buggers and took them home, vowing to look up on the internet how to roast them myself.


    I was successful, finding two slightly different methods. I tried one last night, and it worked. The chestnuts were even better than the ones from China. Next time, I'll try the other method which steams them a little first before roasting. Supposedly it loosens the shell and skin, and makes it easier to remove them.


    Hubs helped me shell the hot nuts. They were very tasty indeed! Kudos to Hubs for helping, since he doesn't even like chestnuts! Unfortunately, we both fell asleep before the ball dropped at 12. We had been watching the Walking Dead marathon nearly all day. We only stopped at 10 pm to watch The Big Bang Theory. It was really fun to watch the first two seasons again.


    Here's hoping we all have a happy and healthy new year! With the "Big Storm" that's heading our way, I hope all the people I care about stay safe. Love to all!


    P.S. I have made some progress on my crocheted leg warmers, the first one is getting quite wide! I try to do at least two rows a day. So far, so good....

The tale of the dryer

    This past Monday, I changed the sheets on our bed. I have another bottom sheet, so I remade it right away. I took the sheets downstairs and put them in the washer. When they were done, into the dryer they went.


    After an hour, I went down to check on them. Sometimes fleece sheets need a second cycle. I opened the dryer door and inside, the sheets were still wet! Hmmm. I cleaned out the lint screen, closed the door and set another cycle. After the second hour, I checked again. The fracking sheets were still wet! Once again, I cleaned out the screen, and started the dryer. This time, I hung out for a minute then opened the door, to check if there was heat. There was heat. Hmmmm again.


     This time I set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes to remind me to do down before the cycle was finished. When the bell rang, I went downstairs. This time the sheets were damp and cold, so the dryer had shut off long enough for them to cool off.  I started it one more time, this time I stayed downstairs. I didn't have to wait long. The fracking dryer was turning off after 5 minutes!


    I took out the lint screen, and reached my hand down into the vent pipe. It was pretty clogged, and my hand didn't fit too well. But I pulled out what I could reach. Then I took a closer look at the screen itself. Almost all the little holes were solidly clogged. I unclogged out what I could, hoping it was enough to at least finish the sheets. I crossed my fingers, and started the dryer again. This last time, the bottom sheet was finally dry enough to fold and put away.  The top sheets, I put back on the bed.


    For those of you who don't remember, Hubs and I have separate covers on our bed. I credit that fact with the success and longevity of our marriage. Anyway, I brought the lint screen up with me, and found a bucket so I could soak it. It took several hours, but finally most of the goop was gone.


    While soaking the screen, it occurred to me that quite possibly the clogging was caused by the new fabulous laundry detergent I had made. I let the screen dry overnight, and the next day put it back in the dryer. This while time, I was pretty upset thinking "What if this doesn't work? How can I tell Hubs I need a new dryer?"...


    I kept my mouth shut, figuring with any luck I wouldn't need to do laundry until after Christmas. Unfortunately, Hubs needed me to wash some clothes Christmas Eve, so he had something nice to wear to our future daughter-in-law's parent's house for Christmas dinner.


    With great trepidation, I put the clothes into the dryer. I even sat down there on the steps for a while to see if the dryer would work. I sat there for 10 minutes, and it kept running!! I think we have success! I also used my old liquid detergent, just to be safe. Of course, Hubs wanted to know what took me so long, so I had to explain the whole thing to him. He told me that he had recently cleaned out the main vent pipe that goes out the wall, so that made me feel a bit better. I was worried that the whole thing might have been clogged solid.


    And that was my pre-Christmas drama. Next time you get to hear my report about Christmas! Lucky you! I'm sorry if you found this boring, but life isn't always exciting.

Merry Festivus Eve!!

    It's finally here. And I finally achieved one of my holiday goals this year, I never set foot in a mall. It was difficult, as my favorite store, the Awesome Store, has a local store here in town, but it's not open all the time. Their store in the mall, however is open all the time. I just kept going back to the local one until I happened to catch it open.


   For most of my gifts, I made use of catalogs, the internet and local small businesses. I am a firm believer in patronizing local businesses. I would much rather not ever have to venture into Poughkeepsie for any reason. Really the only thing I see a need for here in town is a local shoe store. We don't have one at this time. I'm not sure there ever was one. I do remember there was a shoe repair shop, but not one that sold shoes. I mean good quality shoes, not the ones you could buy at the now defunct Jamesway.


    Anyway, Christmas/Festivus is almost upon us. I wrapped all the gifts, and put up our little tree. I did have a scare though. My granddaughter's gift hadn't arrived by this past weekend, and set out for the Post Office on Monday. With great relief, I saw I had two package tickets in our box. One was a coffee mug that I won on facebook from The Cheeky Witch, all the way from England. It managed to get here unbroken! The other package was indeed the missing gift.


    As I pulled up in front of the house, I noticed a package at the front door, as left by the UPS man. Hmmm. I wondered what Hubs had ordered this time! When I got inside with all my packages and the rest of the mail, I saw that the package was addressed to me! I opened it, and inside was another of the same gift. Now I have two.


    I decided to keep the one, and perhaps send it back at a later time. The other I wrapped and will deliver it to my delightful granddaughter on Saturday at our family gathering.


    Tomorrow, on Christmas Day, we have been invited to my new future daughter-in-law's parent's house. We are really looking forward to it! We've been before, and have enjoyed ourselves each time. This year will really be special as our kids just got engaged.


    I may be taking the day off tomorrow, since we'll be busy with holiday things. And I am sooo looking forward to the Doctor Who Christmas special! I can't believe Matt Smith is done already, and I'm looking forward to meeting the new Doctor!


    No matter what holiday you celebrate, stay safe, and remember to tell the people in your life that you love them. Time is fleeting and life is short. I think this time of year, even more than Thanksgiving, is the time for being thankful. Enjoy!!

Leg warmer progress with photos!

    I still haven't gotten to the root of the problem with my laptop, but I haven't gotten the blue screen again either. I decided to chance it, and post some photos of my progress with the legwarmers.


   As a reminder, they are being worked side to side, with ribbing at top and bottom. Here is what the first one looks like:

Computer problems....

    I haven't posted since the 17th, because on that day, after I posted, my laptop came down with the dreaded blue screen. And every time I come back here, I get an error message. I just wanted to let you all know that when I get this resolved, I shall resume blogging. LOVE YOU! Kim

It's appropriate that it snowed today

    Today is our 25th wedding anniversary. Yup, 25 years ago I said "I do" and became the wife of my best friend and soul mate.


    I remember that day very well. We got married at the house where my in-laws were living at that time. There was a big, open, empty apartment in the basement, perfect for the reception. My brother made all of the food we ate, and bought us our cake. It snowed that day too, quite hard; some of our guests couldn't make it. That night was the night that there was an explosion at the Holiday Inn in Fishkill, right down the hall from where my new Hubs' grandparents were sleeping. I believe their car got slightly damaged.


    So I find myself reminiscing about that night, now. It is still snowing here, although lightly now, not so hard as it was earlier. And here we are, 25 years later. Sara is married, and just had a baby. I have reconnected with son James, and our son Jesse just got engaged. Life is good. I hope the next 25 years go as smoothly....

Leg Warmer Progress

    I have to admit, I started knitting a legwarmer. I got through the bottom ribbing, which is long because it goes over my foot. Then I started the body, and I wasn't happy with it. I decided I needed to increase a bunch of stitches right after the ribbing. I actually frogged back to that point, then was unable to pick up those ribbing stitches. I ended up frogging the whole thing.


    That's when I got my crochet hook out. I used the same mm size hook as I had knitting needle. The yarn is a heavy worsted weight. And it's bright pink. LOVE IT! I chained a bunch of stitches, then started back across with 13 or so single crochets, then did doubles until the last 18 or so stitches. I did maybe 3 rows like this before I decided it wasn't long enough. So I frogged that too. Made it longer and started again. This time, I'm happy with it. I think.


    I laid it out on the floor, all nice and flat so I could take a photo and you could see what I was talking about. When I got the camera out, I discovered that the battery was dead. Since we hadn't been plowed out yet, I couldn't go get a new one. That may have to wait until tomorrow.  


    In the meantime, we have other family news. My youngest child, my baby, has asked his long-time girlfriend to marry him. I'm very happy for them both. My eyes keep leaking, I'm a little emotional. after all, he is the youngest. This will be a long engagement, as her sister is set to get married next October, and other events are happening in her family even before that. But everyone is happy, and it will be worth waiting for.

I've got an itch...

   I think I have a really severe desire to make some legwarmers. It's been so cold, my legs are freezing under my house pants, even though my feet are nice and warm in my felted clog slippers. (many thanks to Kim H.)


   I have searched and searched my bedroom, and could only find one. The other one is gone. Simply disappeared. You should have heard Hubs laugh when he came home and found me wearing only one leg warmer. I explained I only found one, and was wearing it on the leg that was coldest.


    But now I find myself wanting to make myself a pair. I have spent time this morning perusing free patterns, both knit and crochet. And I'm not finding exactly what I am looking for. I am leaning more towards crochet. Done side to side, with back loop only single crochet(blo sc) on each end, and double crochet(dc) for in between. That would make the ends sort of ribbed, and tighter. It sort of sounds like I've just designed my own, doesn't it?


   I think I may have to experiment. Of course they will probably be done in worsted weight, as I have a well known allergy to hooks smaller than size G. That's OK, since I would probably not wear them out of the house anyway. And they will be slouchy.  I like to pull the bottom ribbed portion over my foot anyway.


    If you'll excuse me, I do believe it's time to go stash diving..... 

Hazelnut Love

    My fondest memories of Thanksgiving are of traveling upstate to my Grandmother's house for the holiday. Every year, she would set out a bowl of mixed nuts. I don't remember at what point I started eating them, but it was probably when I was old enough to use a nutcracker without hurting myself.


   Early on, I zeroed in on the hazelnuts, or filberts, as grandma insisted they be called. I ate all of the different kinds of nuts, I liked the almonds and the pecans, but wasn't fond of the walnuts. I also remember liking the brazil nuts, but they were too hard to crack open, so I usually passed on those.


   But the hazelnuts, oh the hazelnuts! She quickly noticed that they were the first to disappear out of her nut bowl. And every year after that, I would receive a bag of hazelnuts from her for Christmas. I always looked forward to that. After she passed away, I didn't get any more bags, sometimes I would buy them myself.


    So the other day, when Hubs called me from Adams Fairacre Farms, where he had stopped to pick up some of his newest obsession, Fire Balls. He asked me if there was anything I wanted or needed while he was there. I told him no, all I needed was him. He laughed and we hung up.


    Imagine my delight as I opened his lunch cooler when he got home, and found that he had bought me some hazelnuts!! He knows that I adore them, and he isn't at all fond of them. I was totally surprised at his thoughtfulness. Is it any wonder that we've been together for 25(and a half) years? Our wedding anniversary is the 17th, this coming Tuesday. I can't wait to see what surprises he has in store for me. Even if there aren't any, I won't be disappointed. Just having him in my life is reward enough for me. I am thankful every single day.

It's a yucky snowy day

   And I intend to drink my coffee, snuggle up and keep warm. While I am trying to keep warm, I believe I shall knit. I didn't mention that I was knitting at the craft fair Saturday. I got quite a bit done. But I'm still not halfway done. Maybe I'll get there today?


   Even though it's his day off, Hubs decided to go in to work. His co-worker requested his help. It's overtime, and our 25th wedding anniversary is one week from today. I can't believe it's been 25 years already. Seems like only yesterday. Where does the time go?


    I must take this opportunity to thank another one of Hubs' co-workers, he has very nearly talked him into getting a bigger motorcycle for the both of us. I'm very excited about that. Then we can take trips and rides together. I'm really looking forward to that.

A Shameless Plug

    As you know, yesterday I did a craft fair, with my friend Bonny and her daughter Mckenzie. It turns out that Mckenzie has an internet store, where she sells all natural stuff that she makes herself. I purchased one of her lip balms yesterday, and liked it so much I bartered for three more.


    The address of her store is: stuffbymckenzie.storenvy.com . I do hereby attest that her lip balms are da bomb. I got three vanilla flavored and one nutella. I understand that lots of people have requested the nutella flavored balms from all major manufacturers. Mckenzie's are fabulous. Use the link and check it out. I believe that she is no longer using beeswax, but switched to soy wax, as the beeswax smell was too strong.

P.S. She ships internationally as well as within the U.S.

And now it's over

    I am home from the craft fair, relaxing and getting something to eat. I'm hungry. All in all, I'm glad I went. I only sold one thing, and that was before the show even started. My goodest buddy Bonny bought one of my blankets for her daughter, Mckenzie.


    My goodest friend sold lots of scarves, baby sweaters and infinity scarves. She really made out today. I got to hang out with my friends and say "Hi!" to people all day. It wasn't a waste of time. I learned what to make for the next craft fair. I need to make more small stuff.


    We also kind of thought that next time, I would get my own booth, so I could spread my stuff out more. I have to say I was disappointed that there were no Red Hat Ladies in attendance today. I have two blankets(afghans) I made just for them, and no one showed any interest. Maybe it's time to put stuff in my etsy store. I've had a store for more than two years, but never listed anything.

Getting ready

    My friend Bonny, her daughter, and myself are participating in our local high school's annual Christmas craft fair this Saturday. I've been spending time getting ready.


    First up, find all my blankets. They are all crocheted, and all have been put away for just such an occasion. I found them, washed them, and put them in a big bin. However, they are bigger than the bin, so I left the top off.


    Then I took my bin of blankets and went to Bonny's house, where we spent an afternoon pricing stuff. I have only 6 or 7 blankets, but some are BIG, so they take up lots of room. I even made a couple especially for the Red Hat Society ladies, and they are purple and red. I am also going to have a basket of rubber band bracelets that I made, selling for $1 or $2, depending on how many rubber bands it took to make them.

  

 

    This is a photo of one of the blankets, kind of. The actual one is reverse, color-wise. It starts with green in the middle and goes out to white on the border. I looked through all my photos, and this is the only one I have of any of the blankets I made. If you want to see them, come on out to Franklin D. Roosevelt High School on South Cross Rd, in Staatsburg this Saturday, December 7th. I believe it starts at 10 a.m.

 

Apologies

    Apologies to all my friends, I've been understandably distracted this week. My new grandson is now 6 days old, and things are going really well at home. His mommy has really impressed me and made me proud. When I was in her position, I was a big, weepy, bag of hormones. She has all her poop assembled, and is handling everything with more grace and dignity than I ever thought possible.


    In the long run, I'm sure that her Hubs is greatly responsible for this. He takes it upon himself to do things like the laundry and dishes, since she is mostly responsible for the feeding of the little guy. She is a real trooper in that department too. She hasn't gotten frustrated or anything. This is one lucky little boy.


   Almost lastly, here is a photo taken by a family member today. This is the first one I've seen of the new little family. My daughter looks beautiful, and still glowing, I think new motherhood agrees with her.

    And for those of you wondering, yes I took my knitting to the hospital, and did knit for a while, while she was in labor. That stupid blanket is still not quite half done.   

It started with a text message...

    This has been one helluva roller coaster ride. Like it says in the title, it started with a text message, at 8 am on Monday, November 25th. My pregnant daughter texts me that she thinks her water has broken, and she's going to the hospital to get it checked out. She was right. There's no fooling around with this woman.


    She stayed in the hospital, and waited for labor to start. If it didn't start by 2 pm, the medical staff was going to induce it. The labor started on its own. I got my call to come to the hospital just after 1 pm. Her hubs had to run home and do a few things, and she didn't want to be alone.


    By the time he got back, she had been moved from the triage area into a room. She ended up giving birth in that room. The midwife was really great. And at 7:05 pm little Owen Francis Gilroy emerged from his mommy. I was there, and got to see the whole thing. It was so awesome, we were all crying.

 

 

 

     They came home yesterday, late in the day. Even though he was four weeks early, we are glad he came. He was 18 inches long and weighed in at 6 lbs. I can't even imagine how much he would have weighed if he hadn't come early.  One more thing to be thankful for.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It's been a long day and I'm rambling

    When I woke up at 5:00 this morning, I started the coffee maker for Hubs, then went back in to go back to sleep. It didn't work out. I couldn't sleep. I lay there quietly until after Hubs left for work. I've discovered it's better to leave him alone in the mornings.


   Shortly after he left, I got up and drank the last cup of coffee that was left in the coffee maker. I sat here in my chair and vegged for a while. I was supposed to go to Sara's by 10, so I had time. I briefly considered going back in to lay down, but dismissed it. I figured I'd oversleep. I showered and headed to Sara's right on time.


    When I'm tired I get weepy. I cry at television commercials. I warned Sara that I was weepy before I went over there. There is just some stuff going on that I can't talk about. The stories aren't mine to tell. Friends got married, and most of it has to do with them. They have the cutest story I've ever heard. But I can't tell you guys about it. It's not my story. You can't make that shit up.


    So I sit here and think, and weep. I am currently weeping about a very good episode of Doctor Who. I wept last night, at the end of the 50th anniversary special, when Tom Baker appeared as a guest. So I guess it started then.


    Last night was one of those awful nights that take forever to be over with. Waking up every hour, and having trouble getting back to sleep. The whole night sucked, pretty much. No wonder I was already tired when I woke up at 5. Now I'll just wait until it's bedtime. It must be 11 pm somewhere.....

My Day All Alone

   I know, it's only 9:30 in the morning, but I thought I'd better do this while I have a chance. You see, it's also the Day of the Doctor... So I'll be busy watching Doctor Who, and making rubber band bracelets, hopefully to sell at the craft fair at FDR High School on December 7th. Come one, come all.


    Hubs got off to work successfully this morning, but I bet he's not very happy. You see, he forgot his bag of fireballs he bought yesterday. He has become addicted to those little cinnamon flavored devils. After searching all venues in the area, we discovered that Adams Fairacre Farms is the only local source for these candies.

  
    But now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my coffee, pour myself another cup, and enjoy the Day of the Doctor. I might just get in some knitting and possibly wash some dishes and run the carpet sweeper around during the dull bits. 

   P.S I did some thinking after yesterday's post, and realized I was wrong. Hubs has been home nearly three weeks, not two. And I am thoroughly enjoying my day alone, so far. I'm sure I'll miss him later...


P.P.S.  My very favorite Doctor Who episodes of all time are BLINK, with #10, David Tennant, and Vincent and the Doctor, with #11, Matt Smith. It makes me cry every darn time I see it.

The last day

   Here I sit, still waiting for my coffee to finish brewing. As I wait, I harvest my crops on my farms, and it suddenly occurs to me that today is the last day that Hubs will be home with me! At long last, he goes back to work tomorrow.


   At first it makes me very happy, because we've been getting on each others nerves on occasion. But it makes me sad too, because I believe I was starting to get used to him being here almost all the time. It seems a lot longer than two weeks.


    When he went to the Dr. for his post-op visit, the Dr. took his stitches out and Hubs knew to ask if he could ride his motorcycle. If he didn't ask, I would give him a really hard time about it. The Dr. said yes, and I believe it was the next day that it was really warm, so he went for a ride. His hand didn't hurt at all.


    Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to tomorrow, and having some time to myself. What makes it even sweeter? Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Who, and there are going to be special things going on all day; heck, they've been showing episodes all week on BBCA! I can't wait for the new episode that's going to air tomorrow afternoon. And Hubs won't be here to have to watch it.


    Look for my post tomorrow, I will share how my alone time is going!

   

Stitch n Bitch report and more

    This week's Stitch n Bitch went off without a hitch! Everyone showed up, and we had a nice breakfast and got some crafting done. I'm still working on the Elizabeth Zimmermann garter stitch baby blanket, and it's almost half done. It's so cold in my house, it's hard to knit. My hands are so cold. At least my feet stay warm, in my nice wool felted slippers made for me by my best knitting friend, Kim! It pains me to say this, but I'm rearing holes in them already! And this is my second pair!


    Now for the other news. Here is the most recent baby bump photo of my lovely daughter Sara!

    I can't wait for this baby to get here! It's getting closer every day! It certainly looks like he's gonna be a big boy. Already nearly 5 lbs with a month to go.

New bracelets!

     Last time I posted I made a really hard bracelet, this time I made an easy one. It's called the inverted fishtail. Here is the beginning:

    I like it because it's flatter than the regular fishtail. Here it is just before I took it off the loom:

    And here's a photo of it on my wrist, next to an original fishtail. The original one is kind of square, I like the new one better.

    Just so you know, I did knit quite a bit yesterday. I got probably six rows done. I will knit more tonight or tomorrow, I promise... This baby's arrival is getting closer and closer, this blanket feels like it will never get done!

Recent happenings, crafting and otherwise

    I have been otherwise occupied the past days, I'm afraid. With Hubs still in recuperation mode from his surgery, him being home every day and both of us wanting to kill each other at this point, I'm fighting a never ending battle to stop him from doing foolish, possibly dangerous and definitely not doctor approved things, like work on his truck and ride his motorcycle. At least I got him to wear the hand brace for a solid week. After that he would only wear it at night. I'll take what victories I can get at this point. It's only a couple more days until he sees the doctor and gets his stitches out.


   As well as those battles, we had happy things too. Good friends of ours got married, and we got to celebrate with them last night. We had possibly the best dinner ever at Billy Bob's BBQ, owned by our friend Bill's family, whose son Bob is the chef. We have never eaten there and been disappointed. Highly recommended! We love to support our former co-workers in their successful ventures where we can!


    I have not had much time to knit, but I have been playing with the Rainbow Loom. After watching some more videos on youtube, I attempted the most difficult bracelet I have seen yet. It requires two looms, which I have, and tons of patience and dexterity. I have the patience, and it seems the dexterity too. I was successful making the bracelet! I figured that if a "stupid boy" could make the video, I would be able to handle making the bracelet!
   

  
    It's very tricky, as when you finish one loomful of bands, you have to take it off, load the loom again, and out it back on to continue. My bracelet took 2 1/2 sections to make. If I were to make one for Hubs, it would be at least 3 sections.


   My knitting self came out, as I used a stitch holder to hold the partially done bracelet while I loaded the loom back up with rubber bands. My bracelet isn't perfect, as the last black part got twisted when I put it back on the loom. But you can't really see where that is. I also messed up the color sequence on the last section. But again, you don't see it until I point it out.


    And I'm still waiting, impatiently, for this new grandbaby to come. I don't know how that will affect my blogging, I hope I will still have time! I will be babysitting two days a week after Sara goes back to work. It goes without saying, of course, that I'll be there as much as she needs me before that!

Another non-knitting post...

    This morning, as I was driving a friend's mom to work, I saw something I thought was unusual. There are several farms between here and there, complete with sheep. I'm used to seeing the sheep cavorting around.


    This morning, however, I was highly amused to see the sheep on one of the farms huddled, heads down, around those big rolled up hay bales. There were two sheep on each side of each bale. It was quite a sight to see the field spotted with bales of hay, each with eight sheep huddled head first into it. It made my morning.


    Also this morning, on the ride up, I mentioned that I had noticed that radio stations never tell you the time anymore! I remember when I was a kid, the DJ's were constantly telling you what time it was. Those of you who have seen Howard Stern's movie might remember that part. Melanie (the mom) and I decided that they probably figured most people have digital clocks both in the car, and on their phones, so they don't need to be told the time by the radio.


    Then on my ride back, I was listening to a local radio station, and the DJ told me the time! TWICE in less than half an hour! I made a mental note to mention it in my blog, and here it is. I figured I'd better get it down now before I forgot.

   It's only 7:30 in the morning! What else does this day have in store for me??
   

    P.S. Thinking about the Howard Stern movie, it wasn't the time he was pressured to tell constantly, it was the stations call letters. But perhaps you remember the time thing. I know I do.

Another Craft Confession

    I have strayed, my friends, from the goodness of the yarn. I have been making those silly little rubber band bracelets. There is a story here, too.


   I had seen the loom things at Michaels Craft stores, and thought the asking price was too high. So I didn't get one. Then last week, after surgery, Hubs and I were in one of the chain drug stores, where they have a lot of the "As seen on TV" stuff. There amongst the junk was a rubber band loom! It wasn't the same as the one from the craft store, but it was about 40% cheaper. So Hubs bought one for me. I think he was probably under the influence of post surgical pain killers...


    We brought it home, and I began playing with it. As part of my learning experience, I went online and watched some how-to videos, produced by the craft store. I managed to make several kinds of bracelets, but it was difficult. In the videos, they were using the more expensive loom, and I could see how it was better than the cheapo one I had bought. I decided I needed not one, but two of those looms.


   I wanted two because the fancier bracelets looks silly with the design part only covering the top part of your wrist, and the rest was just a chain of single rubber bands around the back. I wanted the design to go all the way around my wrist.


    So the other day, when I was out running errands with my beautifully pregnant daughter Sara, we stopped at Michaels and I bought the two looms. That evening, I connected them together and started following the directions for the one bracelet I had already made.

    It turned out perfectly, and wrapped all the way around my wrist. I was very pleased. It's the one on the left in the photo. I just got finished with the other one, when I took the photo. That one gave me a lot of trouble. But in the end I figgered it out.


    My Hubs thinks I am ridiculous for blogging about this. It is crafting, after all, even if it was meant for kids, it's still fun.

A visit with Mom

    Yesterday, I drove down to Fishkill to spend some time with my mom. It was long overdue. I hate to say it, but the price of gas is what really keeps me close to home.


    On the way down, I decided to drive through the village of Wappingers, I haven't driven through there in quite a long time. It looks pretty much the same, except for a few obvious changes. The biggest of course, is the hole left in the row of really old buildings on the main drag, due to the collapse of one of the buildings. I remember hearing about it when it happened. This was the first time I'd seen it.


    I drove past St. Mary's, remembering the times I went to mass there as a kid, with my friend Patty and her family. It was also the place where my best friend Beth got married. Ah, the memories.


    There was Rosemary's Flower Shop, where my parents took little Sara to get her portrait painted. I remember how much she hated the lights shining in her eyes. The artist took photos because she was so young, and worked from those. My mom still has that portrait. I believe it's hanging over her bed.


    I realize I need to really make an effort to see her more. She just had her 81st birthday, and even though she is in excellent health, you just never know. We got to visit for quite a few hours, we talked and talked. As we talked, I got my knitting out and worked on the Elizabeth Zimmermann garter stitch blanket. I'm not halfway done yet. It really is taking forever. Maybe by the time the baby goes off to college...

It's been a busy week!

      This has been one very busy week. Between medical tests, Dr. visits, same-day surgery, and attending sonogram of newest grandbaby, it's been just a total whirlwind. The test and Dr. visits were for me, I still have another appointment tomorrow to go over the results of the test.


    My Hubs had the surgery this morning, to try and repair damage from carpal tunnel in his right wrist. After the procedure, the doctor came and spoke to me, he told he there was a lot to clean up, and he was able to get a squished nerve back in it's rightful place. Hubs should see a dramatic improvement. That was a relief.


    And yesterday I was able to go see my newest grandbaby move around, and put this hand in his mouth. He is gonna be soooo cute!

    I did get some knitting done while waiting for Hubs, in the waiting room. I was surprised that the whole thing didn't take very long! We got there at 6:30, and were outta there by 9:30. Hubs had told me that the doctor had told him the procedure would only take about 20 minutes. That seems a but rushed to me, but I guess this guy has done a few of these procedures.

It's November??

    This morning I actually woke up and thought, Holy crap, it's November already! When I was downstairs doing some laundry, I took my camera with me, and stepped out the back door. These photos are of the view from there, around our pool. I realize that the leaves are past their peak, and some trees are even bare. But this time of year is one big reason we love living in upstate New York.