Sheepishly Speaking..........

Update.......

2012-02-07T12:00:00.001-06:00

The socks are done! Didn't have to change the toes. They still need to be washed. And the earflap hat still needs to be hemmed and ties sewn on. I'll get to it one of these days. Yesterday I started a sweater with the blues. Only a couple of inches done. I think it'll turn out ok. I'm kind of winging it. You know -- a little from this pattern, a little from that. That's how I roll. Of course, it had to be ripped out once already, just after the ribbing. Pattern didn't seem quite right. Let's hope it's the last rip-out.

OMG!! "Castle" did not disappoint!! What a great show. I wish they'd do more like that. BH and I agree that should the show ever close (tears welling up), Kate and Rick would be great at a series based on the old time "Thin Man" movies (William Powell and Myrna Loy). Anybody remember them? Those were great movies; lots of one-liners; very funny. Anywho, they would be perfect as Nick and Nora Charles! Imho.

Putzing around today. I haven't done any spinning in 3 days. Just haven't had the spark. Maybe tonight. Nothing on the idiot box tonight for us. Tomorrow is a run into WallyWorld. I have come to hate that store, but it's a necessary evil for a few things. Just a few.

You all have a great day. Hope you get to do whatever it is you love to do. Me -- I'm going back to my knitting.

P.S. Lynn, check the replies on the last post. I put the chicken wing recipe there for you. I wish blogspot would let us post replies to replies back at the blogger instead of on our own reply box!!

Just Checkin' In.......

2012-02-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

Not much to report. Glad all the hoopla of the Super Bowl is over; glad the Giants won. I'm not a football fan, but I will sit and watch with BH.

Yesterday was also my oldest's birthday. 44 years old. How the hell did that happen?? These kids keep getting older and I feel the same as 20 years ago (almost). So we called in the morning to wish him a very happy birthday. God, I miss him. I'd pack and move back to NY in a..........NY........minute. If I could. I've missed a lot with him and the grandsons over the 20 years we've been here. Lots of regrets; lots of guilt.   But I digress.......

Other son who lives nearby, never made it over yesterday. He called Saturday night to say some kind of bug had him down. Bummer. But I went ahead and made the chicken wings and the chocolate cake anyway. What the hell. We'll eat it! The wings turned out great! Maybe because for the first time, since I stopped deep-frying them, I actually read the cooking instructions! Who knew! BH said they were excellent. His complaint about wings is when they're too fatty and taste like they're not cooked all the way through. But these were great. Did I say they were great? Sorry.

So we had a nice relaxing day. And evening. I did go watch the installment of "Downton Abbey". What a great show.

A "head's up" if you're a "Castle" fan ---- tonight's episode is going to be the best! Apparantly, according to the commercial, it takes place in the '40's ('30's?). They're all dressed in period costume; the boys are mobsters; Kate is the femme fatale; Castle is dressed like Sam Spade; his mom has platinum blonde hair and Alexis is dressed like she might be a nightclub songbird.   Hope you catch the show. I know I can't wait!!

Did I tell you I received the "Castle" collection of books he "wrote", for Christmas? I'm on the second one. They're a hoot!!

Today we're back into the deep freeze. So. Not doing much today. I finished the socks (can I get an "Amen"!!!). But not so fast. Somehow, the toe on this one doesn't look like the other. I may have to rip. and. start. it. over.    Crap!! I'm backing off from sewing the toe and see what the final verdict is. I shouldn't do that. I should just get right at it. Yeah. Maybe. Today. Sometime.

Well, hope you're all enjoying a peaceful, productive day with beautiful weather for all!

Is It Too Early to Start Spring Cleaning??..........

2012-02-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

Wow! This weather!! It's starting to get to me. I'm getting all giddy; itching to get out the scrub bucket and the gallon of Mr. Clean. I want to paint; scrape old wall paper; put up new wall paper; change the colors of the bathroom towels; the family room curtains and shears need to be taken down and washed; the windows need to be washed. I want to quilt, sew, spin, knit. I want to sing.....dance.......
(slaps face couple of times....) Wake Up!!

It's the beginning of February, for crype's sake. What is wrong with me! But this weather has been totally awesome! I found the name of a yarn shop on Ravelry. So asked BH if he would like to take a day trip maybe next week to check it out. Why, yes. He would. So this is penciled in.

That's one thing I love about him. Though I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone fishing with him, he's always up for a wool festival or a new fiber shop. Or my need to purchase such and related paraphenalia at any given moment. Kind of sounds......like....an.....enabler! Ehhhh.....yeah.

In other news, of course you all know that this is Super Bowl weekend. Yippee! (sarcasm) So son who lives nearby will be coming over for the game. This is a tradition. Pizza and Buffalo wings; chips and dip; nachos and cheese sauce; other assorted snack foods; and Chocolate Layer cake. That's my favorite. And while I make myself busy cooking, serving and cleaning up, my evening agenda also includes watching the next installment of "Downton Abbey" on PBS. What a great series! Both BH and I have been hooked on it beginning with Season 1. But of course, this Sunday there is something that will supercede our evening --- for him, anyway. Thank goodness we have 2 TV's.

I was rummaging through my bobbin tote the other day and lawdy!! I found 3 full bobbins and 3 half-full. Navy blue and medium blue. I was thinking of plying each color with the white now being spun, but thought the better of it. I am spinning the white for an intended project. So, 2 bobbins of med. blue and 1 of navy it shall be. What a find!! And when they're done, it'll free up 6 more bobbins. Funny. Because on the last plying project, I was wondering where the hell all my bobbins went to!

Update on the mint green sock.......I have one more pattern repeat before starting the toe. Good grief!! It seems everytime I count the repeats, there's one more that needs to be done. I'll be so happy when these are finally done!! It seems like it's taking forever. Maybe that's because I discovered that there are 2 other mint green pairs in the stash. It kind of disenchanted me; took the spark out of knitting a pair of socks. C'est le vie.

Well, I suppose I should get back to the spinning. I decided to add irridescent Firestar to the white for the next couple of bobbins. I love sparkle and glitz!! Especially when it's the only sparkle and glitz going for me right now. Ya gotta take it where ya find it.

Busy, Busy, Busy...........

2012-01-24T11:35:00.001-06:00

So, we made it through the Arctic blast last week. Only had water pipes freeze once. That's a plus. Got our first real snow yesterday - roughly 4". It looked like a real storm coming, but tapered off by lunch time. We're supposed to get into the mid/high 30's later this week. Hopefully it'll all melt.

BH decided he was going to get "back on the horse" today. After taking all last week off, he's out doing chores and catching up. Though I don't believe he's cutting wood for a while.

Been at the spinning wheel almost every morning. I skeined, washed and "caked" the 8 1/2 bobbins of the painted/blue/copper yarn. Ooohhhh, I'm thinking "sweater"! Or at least a vest. Anywho, I'm trying to finish up the mate to the pale green sock. Going e-v-e-r s-o s-l-o-w-l-y. Crap. But just keep plugging away, right? Right.

Well, we achieved one of our New Year's resolutions and are working on another. We opened a savings account!! Our first!! A real savings account. Just for me!! For my -- ahem -- widowhood. Not to be touched. Never. Ever. Till the time comes.

We also have a new budget in place. We have a goal to pay off some debts in the next few years. BH wants us to be "debtless" before anything happens to him. So we are going to become "misers"!! We're going to be smart. We're going to be frugal. We're going to "simplify" and "scale down" our life.   Ok. I'm game.

And --- we quit smoking. Yes. I know. Hey, quitting is easy ---- we've done it 6 times! So, we'll see how long this lasts. But I'm determined. Being that we're now both retired, collecting Social Security, I don't intend on spending any more money on my one and only bad habit. Not MY money!!     Adding to the savings account should give me a lot of incentive.

As part of our new budget, we've also decided on grocery shopping once a month. Stocking up. Of course, there will be another gallon of milk, loaf of bread or other perishables to be gotten, but the bulk will be done. And no more looking at the shopping ads every week! I'm a sucker for grocery sales! No more. Done. I hope this works.

We've also informed the kids that we will not be taking any unnecessary trips - i.e: meeting half way (80 miles - one way!) to pick up grandchildren to take home or delivering something you forgot. We can no longer afford the gas money! Hey, if they can't (which is what we hear often), then neither can we. We are on a fixed income!! (This was my mother's mantra for everything! "No, I can't; we're on a fixed income"!.   That, and "I can say that if I want to; I'm a senior citizen!")

I've been trying to keep up with things around the house, keeping every thing neat and tidy. Doing some extra laundry; washing curtains, blankets and such that smell of smoke. Getting rid of as much of it as possible. Hopefully, if the weather co-operates, I can open some windows this weekend. That will definitely help!

Not bad for the first month of the year if I do say so myself! (God grant me the wisdom and strength to make it through the next 11 months!)

So You Want to Live in the Country.........

2012-01-19T06:23:00.000-06:00

So, I woke up at 3:15am, bathroom call. Oh geezz, better check the water faucets.

Yep. Frozen. Only have cold water in the kitchen; the bathroom pipes and kitchen hot water are frozen. Get out the hair dryer.

There is a specific spot in the pipeline, an elbow to be exact, that goes from the main line to the hot water tank. This is where it freezes.

So I worked on it for 45 minutes. Got a bit of a trickle from tub and sink. And then the sink stopped trickling. 15 minutes more; nothing. Time to wake BH. See, this is not my field of expertise. I've only defrosted water pipes once before. But it's not working this time.

BH gets up and takes over. Tries for another 45 minutes. Nope. He's gonna have to get into the closet - to get to the other closet - where the water heater is. I have to clean out the first closet. Boxes, bags, totes, ironing board, telescope -- oh yeah, a real production. After another 1/2 hour, success! Running water! Now to keep it running throughout the day. This will be a challenge.

It is -17 with a windchill of -35. Not to get much better today. Zero degrees for a high, -14 tonight. Through my studies over these 20 years we've been here, I have found that the magic number is -12. At -12 air temp, the pipes will freeze. Not -10; nor -11. But -12.

We were going to stay up all night last night. Or at least take shifts. But by 12:30, neither of us could keep our eyes open any longer. Threw caution to the wind and went to bed. That won't happen tonight. We'll have to take numerous naps today to prepare.

There is another stickler. Because we have no snow on the ground for insulation, there's a good chance the septic pipe is frozen. This is found out while taking a shower. And the bath tub starts filling up with water. Yeah. Frozen septic. We do have the pipeline covered with hay. As a matter of fact, BH really loaded the hay on this year, more than ever. Hopefully that will prolong the freezing effect. We'll see.

Thankfully this blast of arctic air is only supposed to last another day. Then it will be single digits above zero at night. We'll be safe. And pray there won't be any more nights like this. But there will be. We still have February. The first 2 weeks have always been frigid.

I remember one year we had 2 weeks straight that it never got above 0 degrees for a daytime high. 2 weeks straight! I don't know how we did it because we didn't have all the new fangled heaters like we do now.

Speaking of which, I suggested to BH that we put the smaller "SunTwin" quartz heater in the closet to keep the pipes warm. It's one of those heaters that cost an arm and a leg, that you can let your child sit on top of because it doesn't get hot; no heating element, just a quartz something or other that warms the air in the room and blows it back out; know what I mean? There's plenty of air circulation, the closet is open, the water heater closet is open. So that's what I did. We'll see how that works.

I'm on the second pot of coffee; BH is napping in the recliner. I might spin or knit for a while. But I don't know, my eyes are getting very heavy.

I pray we have an early Spring.

What Is Up With This?............

2012-01-13T07:31:00.000-06:00

It's been kind of a quiet week here. Went to daughter's on Monday. We undecorated her apartment of Christmas and went shopping for a new recliner and pair of sneakers. Had dinner - she made a great goulash ("hot dish" in Minnesota). And then I proceeded to change her living room furniture around to accomodate the new recliner to be delivered this Saturday.

Tuesday was a dentist's appointment for me. Yikes - he found a small cavity, so another appointment is required. Next Friday. So goes my idea that all my obligations have been met as of 2 days ago. It's always something.

Got the pictures of the little electric "wood" stove. I wish the flames would've shown up better, but it is what it is.

It's the cutest thing! Love it.

Yeah. See that discoloration on the bottom of the door? There was a "Caution" sticker there. A sticker that did not come off! I wetted it, used cooking spray (which usually dissolves the glue) and isopropyl alcohol. Nothing. Along with scraping it with a plastic knife. To which the sticker just shredded in teeny tiny little pieces. No hunking piece to grab and pull off. Well, anyway, I didn't want to risk scratching the paint, so this is as good as it gets. What the hell was up with that?

I am still plying the painted/blue/copper singles. Yep. Still. Plying. I don't know what is going on here, but I will be starting the 9th bobbin . 9th bobbin. Of 4 ounces of painted Targhee along with the other 2 colors. And the other 8 bobbins are full! I try to get as much on a bobbin as I possibly can. There's gotta be at least 3 1/2 oz. plied yarn on each. I feel like I'm in the middle of the "Groundhog" movie! It's never going to end!! Aaarrrggghhhh!

So to settle my nerves, I pulled out a batt of BFL. White. For the sweater. Of which the aforementioned yarn will be the colorwork for the yoke. Hell, I could switch it around and use the aforementioned yarn as the sweater, and do the yoke in white patterning! Crap.

Anyway, I have rediscovered that I am not a fan of batts. Great. There are 2 more sizeable ones in the storage totes. I don't like unrolling them, dividing, stripping or spinning. Too hard to keep the drafting consistency going with strips of batt. Haven't spun a batt in a few years. How easily we forget that which we are not fond of and swear never to do again!

But, I just started on it, gave it a half hour. So I'm sure once the dreaded 3 ply is done (soon??), and I can concentrate on spinning this mountain of fluff, it'll all come back to me. Everything will smooth itself out and be easy peezy. (hahahahaha!)

Now onto some much needed housework. And then -- tackling these never ending yarns and fibers.

Aaarrgggghhhh............

2012-01-08T07:12:00.000-06:00

Ok. The first 6 days went well. I did get that folding 4 ft. table at the store. Destined to be a sewing table. However, it was not on sale. We see the sign on the store shelf "Was $39.99 Now $29.99". I've got the sale paper in my hands. I tell BH "No. That's wrong. It's $19.99; we'll take it". Up to the register. Gal rings it up along with 4 cans of coffee, also on sale - $8.00 each; Folger's; French Roast. "The table did ring up as $19.99, right?" She looks at the register tape. "No. It's $29.99". "That's not right" says I, showing her the sale paper. She immediately points to the top of the page, "that sale was for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 only, see?"

Oh Crap!!! Yes. I see it. "Did you still want it, or....?" "No, no. I'll take it".    Crap again.

Friday I woke with severe pains through my hips and pelvis again. Damn! What the hell did I do now?? My mind goes through the events of the last couple days. I did not lift anything heavy. I did not twist my body in any contorntionist pose. What is this all about? Anywho, I'm still trying to recover from this episode. Which brings my spinning time to a limited amount. Sitting too long only aggravates the situation. Crap!

During that limited time, I'm trying to finish plying the painted Targhee with the navy blue Merino and copper generic wool. The Targhee is the key because I had only 8 oz. of it. So I spin 2 bobbins of that; 3 bobbins each of blue and copper. I want to make sure that there's enough to insure all the Targhee will be plied. On to the third bobbin of copper and blue. Wait. There is no 3rd bobbin of copper. Wait a minute.....I'm sure there was a third. Looking all over. Check the other wheels. No.   Check the storage tote. No.   Aaarrrggghhh!!!

I never got the 3rd bobbin done because.......Christmas came. All spinning had to be set aside. Hidden from view. Put on hold for the Holiday season.   Crap. I have about 2 ounces of Targhee left to ply. But I have to finish the bobbin of copper in order to continue. Crap!!

This puts a damper on my mood because I was sooo looking forward to pulling out the oatmeal colored batt and start spinning. All of this is envisioned to be a sweater. Oatmeal body with Norwegian patterning on the yoke in the painted/blue/copper yarn.

On the plus side, I did put a new socket on daughter's lamp; gathered up all the stuff to take to her place; re-organized the Christmas wrap/boxes/bows/etc. into a much larger storage tote and pulled out some acrylic (ack;ack;ack) yarn for future dil's slipper boots. She informed me at Christmas time that she loves them; wears them all the time; in fact, one pair is worn through on the bottom.

Really? Funny. I never saw them anywhere when we stayed with you for 5 days this past summer. Not to mention that you never said anything more about them after receiving the 2 pair last Christmas.
Oh well.......I will make her 2 new pair and send them off. Who am I to judge...........

Well, I gotta get off this chair and get into the recliner. So I can........recline. For my hips. Sorry. Tomorrow I want to tell you a couple of stories from "Crazy Town - The Disfunctional Family". Also post the pictures of the "faux" wood stove.

Have a great, restful day!

Organize!.....Organize!.......Organize!

2012-01-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

No. This isn't an "OWS" mantra; it isn't a "Unionize" chant. At least not here. Not at this moment.

There was a post here this week(?) about how everything was put back to normal in the house; Christmas just a memory now. Back to our regular lives. Spinning and knitting on the daily schedule. Two more obligations -- one with daughter, the other with the dentist. Then we're free. Time to hibernate.

But....it seems some things have reared their ugly heads; a "fly in the ointment", if you will.

Inside my head, the movie "Goodfellas" is playing. The scene with Joe Pesci in the restaurant, ranting at Ray Liotta. Except the dialogue has changed just a little, it's myself talking to my brain. It goes something like this:

"Do I amuse you? Do you think I'm done here? You think everything's hunkey dorey, that I'm going into hibernation now? Do I look like a clown to you? Do you think you can fool me with a clean house, bills paid, groceries in stock? You think I got nothin' better to do??..................

Get the picture?

While buzzing around the house doing this and that, I notice "wow, I never did re-glue those loose tiles in the kitchen"; "oh geezz, I need to re-glue that stripping around the tile behind the woodstove". "Oh crap! How did that scratch get on the door frame?" "Yeah, I should really touch up the chipped paint on the cupboard frames". "Oh man! Those closet drapes need to be washed again".

And on it goes. So, to the "list". Make a note of all that has caught my eye this past week. I'm sure there'll be more as the days go on. Then get started next week. "Git 'er done!!" has become my slogan, spoken aloud to BH for a while now.

We went shopping yesterday. Some for BH's wish list using the gift cards; a lot for household items that have been put on the back burner through the Holidays. Got it all. And bonus........we picked up an electric heater that resembles a little wood stove!! Complete with fake logs that light up like burning embers and fake flames dancing in the background. L.o.v.e I.t!! So we set it up in the dining room. One of these days I'll post a picture of it here (gotta put that on the "list). This was not a totally impromptu purchase. We have been talking about getting another heater for one of the rooms. (Remember....we live in a mobile home with a huge addition and heat with the wood stove. Which sometimes just doesn't cut it).

So, with the electric "wood stove" in the dining room, the quartz floor heater in the kitchen and one in the spare bedroom, we're ready for our Minnesota winter. Which is out there somewhere. And will probably show up with a vengence any day now. Hasn't been around yet.

I just finished balling (caking??) 7 skeins of yarn. There are 5 recently plyed bobbins waiting. Still working on finishing up that color - 1 1/2 more bobbins to go.

No knitting as yet. Just don't feel it right now. There is the mate to the pastel green sock that was completed before Christmas that still needs to be started. And, of course, have not finished off the Laplander hat. But it's on the "list".

Today's schedule includes re-organizing the tote with the Christmas wrap/boxes into a bigger one; replacing the socket in daughter's bedroom lamp, so I can get it back to her; and loading up the car with all the paraphenalia that needs to go to her.

Oops. And there's a load of laundry in the dryer to be folded. Laundry is always on my "mental list" vs. the written one. Ehhh, maybe that's why it sits in the dryer for a couple of days until my little brain chucks that job to the front of the "list".

A New Year....New Goals......New Dreams

2012-01-04T07:44:00.000-06:00

A very Happy New Year to you all! Hope it's off to a positive start. Been busy around here for the last week. Had a quiet New Year's Eve, just BH and me. New Year's Day the same; made a nice dinner of Filet Mignon (thank you son in NY!), shrimp cocktail, baked potato, broccoli and garlic rolls. Yummy!! Son in NY sent us a box from Omaha Steaks. Lots of great meats and treats! Love it!

Well then it was on to getting back to reality. Paid bills on Monday and started undressing the house and tree. Of course, with this, you know there's cleaning to be done. Packing away all the decorations, gathering up all the boxes, papers, gifts, etc. A place for everything and everything in it's place! The dusting, vacuuming and a few extra loads of laundry.   Finally everything is done; we're back to normal -- like it never happened. Except when I pay the bills. Then I realize that it did, indeed, happen! Yikes.

Anywho, it's over. A new year has begun. As well as thoughts and plans of things to come. I'm back to spinning. Working on the 5th bobbin, plying. Sunday I skeined and washed 7 bobbins of a medium blue yarn. Last weekend I finished the color-stranded earflap hat (I call them Laplander hats). Still have to turn the hem, attach the I-cords and give it a wash. Thinking about what to spin next; what to knit next; maybe bring out all the dyeing equipment. Hankering to do some dyeing.

But all this will have to wait till next week. Going to daughter's on Monday to undress her apartment. Then shopping for a new recliner for her, as well as new sneakers. I'll be staying overnight there because of a dentist's appointment on Tuesday. The office is halfway between her place and ours. We always try to consolidate our trips to minimize gasoline usage.

Tomorrow we're going shopping -- to spend our gift money!! Woohoo!! And wouldn't ya know it ---- our little big box store has the folding table on sale this week. Oh, it's been on sale a few times before Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money at that time. It's a 4 ft. long resin, legs folding flat under it. Perfect for my new sewing table. Can't wait to get it set up and get started on some projects for next year. Quilts to be exact. I'm itching to quilt again.

BH had a couple of things he wants/needs. A couple of trickle chargers for the vehicles. Hopefully to keep the batteries from going dead when it's -20 degrees. We're gonna give it a try anyway. Neither vehicle has a "plug-in". If you don't know about this, find someone from Minnesota, South or North Dakota and ask them. You'll be awakened to a ritual you probably never knew existed -- an be very, very grateful you live in a temperate climate!! Oh yeah. It's quite the ordeal. If you do live in the tundra regions, I can see you shaking your head "yep" and rolling your eyes. You know what I'm talking about!

This has been a weird winter so far. Weird and wonderful! Just enough snow to cover the ground; cold enough to freeze that snow and make it treacherous for walking and oh so cozy in the house with the wood stove running 24/7. Temps keep fluctuating from cold to moderate. Hey, 40 degrees predicted for tomorrow! High 30's through the weekend. I'll take it!! It can stay like this for the next 3 months.

So my goals for this year, as of today, are such:

1. To spin the wool and knit 3 sweaters - cardigans because they get more use than pullovers.

2. At least 2 of these sweaters will have color stranding across the yoke. You know, like Norwegian sweaters.

3. Make a quilt for everyone. That's 2 couples, 2 singles and 2 grandsons. That makes.....6...quilts. They don't have to be "bed" size. "Lap" size works well too. (see, already I leave myself an "out" to keep the momentum going).

4. To spin at least 1 complete batt and one of the storage containers full of wool.

5. To paint the family room. Yep. I've been trying to get this done for over a year. Always a plan. Never a completed job. But this year......   .   I told BH the other day that I want to get this done in March so when Spring and Summer come, I'm not holed up in the house rather than being outside or traveling. Good plan, eh?

6. Also want to rip off the wallpaper and border in the hallway and re-paper, border and paint it. Want to do the wallpaper that looks like plaster designs; you can paint over it. We did this in the bathroom and it turned out very nice. The current paper in the hallway is on the upper half of the wall only, then the border, then the bottom of the walls are painted. Will do the same with new paper.

7. Clean out the old farmhouse; organize stuff for a yard sale (or many); get rid of all the unused, unwanted crap. ie: throw it out!   This has been on the "to do" list for .....3 years now. But this is the year! I'm serious. Trust me. It's gonna happen. No. Really.

8. We're going to travel this summer. Yeah. We've been saying that for the last 2 years. But this is the year. Absolutely. No question. We're gonna do it. For sure. No "ifs, ands or buts". Come hell or high water. It's a plan.

9. We have these photo albums, purchased many, many moons ago. With the intention of constructing one for each of the kids beginning with their baby photos all the way through the years. For Christmas. One of these years. Well, this will be the year. We're gonna bring out all the boxes of pictures, purchase cases of printer ink, reams of photo paper and carts full of "scrapbook" embellishments. Yep. Check it off. It will be done. This year. For sure.

10. In the same vein, it came to me this season that I would like to put together an album for each one of the kids of my mom and dad -- their grandparents. From the time they were very young, through their 61 years of marriage, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A rememberance for each family. This is a goal I would like to achieve this year. We'll see how it goes. And if it doesn't get done before next Christmas, at least it will be in the planning stage. Always on my mind, on my list. Until it's done.

Now I should save this post. So as the jobs get done, I can look back at this and think "well done!"     Or......."well, that wasn't done.....again".

Anyway, it's a new year! Some new goals; some old. But always dreams!!!

Hope your year is off to a fantastic start!

Channeling My Mother??.................

2011-12-30T03:33:00.001-06:00

As you can see by the time at the end of this post, it's after 3:00 am! We went to bed at 11:15pm. I did fall asleep, but woke for a bathroom call. Walked into the kitchen, looked at the clock - 12:30. 12:30! Went back to bed. After much tossing and turning, and feeling rested and awake, I decided to get up. No sense laying there, wishing for sleep. That never happens.

So, to the wheel. Plying for 1 1/2 hours. Oh, yes. And coffee. Turned the pot on. And the radio - low. More wood in the stove. Then a computer game for an hour. And here I am.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before in a blog, but my mother had the same trouble sleeping. But hers was all the time. Thank goodness this only happens to me once in a while. A few times a month. And that's enough.

For about the last 10 years of her life, my mother would get up every morning at 3:00am. She went to bed around 10:30pm. She never knew why, nor could she do anything that would change the time she woke up. She would put the coffee on, turn on the TV and then cat nap for the rest of the morning. Sometimes my dad would get up with her, but he went back to bed about 7:00am until a more reasonable time to get up.

In between, things that had to be done were. But there was always the nap in the afternoon. Me too. There are very few days that I don't take a nap.

But the problem here is that I have things I want to do during the day. Preferably in the morning hours. There's a lot of spinning and knitting to be done. Housework, laundry, grocery shopping and other errands also. And this "up all night" throws a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

I don't know why this happens. I go to bed tired; fall into a deep sleep. But an hour or so later - Bam!! Eyes wide open! BH sleeps. He can fall asleep in seconds. And sleeps very soundly. That's kind of a good thing. I have time to myself. But, geezzz, couldn't it be during regular daytime hours??!!!

Maybe it has something to do with the past weekend. There were a few very late nights, a lot going on during the days, and I have been tired and worn out since the end of all the commotion. Not felt really rested.

Ok. I'm getting tired now. I think I'll put some more wood in the stove and climb into the recliner. If I go to sleep now, I can be up at 7:00. And that will suffice for hours of intended chores to be done. But not all that I had hoped to accomplish today. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. And maybe there'll be regular sleeping hours tonight. Good night, y'all.

Our Christmas in Pictures....

2011-12-28T07:11:00.001-06:00

Grandson with ipod docker. Yes, it's the Justin Bieber look......unfortunately.

This is Lammi, son-who-used-to-live-with-us's 4 yr. old bunny. I love her! She is so much fun. She must be looking for her presents! Oh, she doesn't really have red eyes! Sorry about that.

Daughter received a plaque made by other son's fiance. We all received "heart-made" gifts. She does beautiful work.

Lammi's "dad".....he doesn't have pierced ears; it's an ornament made by future DIL. I wish I had taken a picture of both him and BH with their "ear fobs"!!

BH received a gift card.....talking to.....someone........

Future DIL received hand-thrown pottery pieces from us. Ehhh, not thrown by me....

Son received a box of sauces, wood chips, sauce injector and oven safe mitts. This guy loves his BBQ!!!!

Then there's our tree. The first real tree in 4 years. I love it!!

Lastly, a picture of the deck all "decked" out for Christmas!!!

Where am I, you say?? Well, of course, I was the photographer!! Funny.....nobody said....."here, Ma, let me take a picture of you".........hmmmmmm. Nor did I get a picture of son who got here on Saturday, opening gifts on Christmas Eve. Why?? I don't know.....I think I was catatonic by that time. My bad.

Getting Back to Normal.....

2011-12-27T05:28:00.001-06:00

See, that's Santa saying "good-bye" for this year. Back to the North Pole; back to work. As most of us are, whether for monetary gain or just life in general.

Today the last of our house guests are going home. Son and daughter. I started cleaning out the fridge last night after supper. Leftovers. Again. More tonight. Last night I'm laying in bed thinking if I should start undressing the house Wednesday. The better side of my brain is telling me to wait till the weekend. But my heart is telling me to wait till after January 6th.

My mother never took the tree down till then. January 6th. The Epiphany; Little Christmas. Also, it was her birthday. I think she really wanted to keep the glitz till after her birthday.

Anywho, with the passing years, it seems better to get things back to normal as quick as possible, whilst also showing respect for the season. So methinks next weekend it is. A day before or a day after New Year's. Leaning toward the day after. Because I don't think my energy level will be up to it until then.

Last night we just sat around watching the "idiot box". By 10:30, I called it a day. Isn't it funny how you can have loads of energy, buzzing around doing this and that, people commenting on how "you do too much! Where are you getting this energy from?!"...........and then you crash!! You can't function. Can barely get out of the recliner for the bathroom, or get another cup of coffee. Hence, the need for the bathroom. It's a never-ending vicious cycle. Don't care what meal time it is, everyone fend for themself.

Yes, Christmas is over. It's time for all good family to go home. Time to lollygag around the house. Taking numerous naps throughout the day. Eating PB and J sandwiches for supper. Because you can't bear to look at the stove anymore or wash one more load of dishes.

You want quiet time. Alone time. Stay in pajamas all day time. Bring out the wheel time. Pick up the needles and the ufo time. Your crave it; you dream it.

There's a hitch in this last day. There are a couple of things that need to be returned or exchanged at the stores. Omg. Do I have the energy and want to spend an extra couple of hours doing this? Or do I wait till next weekend? Can we get this done without taking house guests with us? Will it be quick and painless? Maybe all the people did their exchanges, returns yesterday. And the stores will be nearly empty today. And they will have the articles I need to exchange sitting right there in the front aisle as you walk through the door --- and they'll be in the size I need.

Geeezzzz, I need more rest. I'm obviously getting delirious.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:40:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas to you all! May you have a happy, blessed day with family and loved ones. Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus.

Well, it's Christmas morning. All the family is still asleep. It's been a busy couple of days here and more to come over the next few days.

Son and fiance came up Friday afternoon; grandson was dropped off by his mom earlier in the day; we picked up daughter in the morning; and son with bunny came in about 8:30pm. He missed dinner, but at least he made it here. Which some years doesn't happen.

Dinner turned out great - rolled, boneless roast pork loin with sauerkraut; roasted potatoes; green beans with bacon bits and parmesan; glazed carrots with almonds; stuffing; applesauce and pumpernickel bread. Yum Yum!! Dessert was Baklava, Cannolis and Christmas cookies.

Lots of yakking through the night; off to bed about 2:00am!! Yesterday morning, up at 5:00am!; we did some more yakking over coffee and cookies and then got to the serious business of opening gifts. Son and fiance had to leave in the afternoon for home; grandson was picked up by mom to head to the Cities for her family celebration.

BH left at 2:30 to pick up other son. Dinner last night - lasagna, salad, Italian bread. More of the same desserts. More gifts opened. All the gifts, as a matter of fact. I wanted to save some for this morning but was out-voted!! We all received beautiful things and everyone was thrilled with what they got.

Son and bunny left for home at 11:30pm, much to my disappointment. He was originally going to stay until this afternoon, but forgot his medication. He didn't want to go another night without it. And I understood that this would have repercussions for him. So I packed him up with some food and goodies, lots of hugs and kisses, and off they went. Off to bed at 1:00am.

I wake up this morning(7:00am) thinking "1 more day and it's over; we're by ourselves again; peace and quiet". Then it occurs to me........wait a minute......this isn't Monday!!!! It's Sunday! Christmas Day!! We still have a whole day to get through. Phone calls ---- lots of phone calls coming and going; lots of yakking, lots of eating, pots and pots of coffee; another dinner to be put together (leftovers, for sure!) and most likely, another late, late night. Geezz. I'm just about worn out. I really can't take a 3-day Christmas celebration!

Son who lives nearby and daughter will be going home Tuesday. That was the plan a couple of weeks ago. I gotta stick to it, lest BH lose his Christmas spirit in a hurry. But I'm getting very tirrreddd.

And bored. Nothing to do as far as celebrating. It's over. It's done. Let's get on to something else, like routine (something I don't say very often!). So maybe today I'll put some gifts away, fold up the boxes, get rid of the bags of crumpled wrappings, do some laundry. Then relax. Maybe pick up a new book I received and start reading. Maybe pull out a ufo and continue knitting. But I will relax. I will relax. I will relax. (Say it 3 times and it's yours, right?)

Tomorrow will be a "heebie/jeebie" day. Because the anxiety and anxiousness will be setting in big time and I'll be wanting to get life back to normal. Hopefully it will pass quickly.

I do love Christmas, but it's anit-climatic. And I really love the down time, the peacefullness of it all afterwards.

So, may your day be merry and bright; and may your Christmas be......whatever brings you peace and joy!

Ahhh.....Memories...

2011-12-21T07:24:00.001-06:00

My mom and dad went for the Christmas tree together. No kids tagging along. The tree was purchased a couple of days before Christmas and set up on Christmas Eve. I remember my father setting it up in a bucket - a metal, scrub bucket, filled with sand. Yep. Sand. Then pieces of chopped wood anchored in the sand, leaned up against the tree trunk to hold it steady.

My father would put the lights on the tree; they had to be just so! My mom did the ornaments and us 5, then 6 kids would sit on the floor and straighten out each strand of lead tinsel, saved from year to year, scrunched into a ball from the previous year. Yep. Lead tinsel. My father would then, meticulously place 2 strands at a time on tree branches. Yep. 2 strands at a time! To look like long, sleek, glittering icicles. But it was the most gorgeous tree every year! It's what I still aspire to - tinsel and all, though no lead involved!

Christmas cookies were set out by the dozens! Ohhh, my mother's cookies! She made the best cut-outs, frosted and sugared, and her chocolate chip were the best! Of course, my father had to have a big bowl of nuts set out - with the nut cracker and pick. Nuts. In the shells. My paternal grandmother was known for her Fruitcake, soaked with rum every day for a week before Christmas. Oh, how I loved that fruitcake!(hic! pardon....) Nothing has compared since.

And my maternal grandmother always had to have her bottle of "Rock n Rye". Sitting right next to her chair. Which she would pour into a small glass and sip throughout the evening ("just a small glass, Peter", she would tell my dad). For "medicinal purposes; it soothes my throat" she would say to everyone.   Rock n Rye? It's rye whiskey with hunks of rock candy floating in the bottle. Rock candy? it's a concoction of hardened sugar and corn syrup formed into lumps that look like...rocks.

Come Christmas morning, us kids would be up at 3:00 - 4:00am, sneaking down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as we could (not an easy feat - the stairs creaked horribly). Some years Mom and Pop had just gone to bed minutes before. Back then, only articles of clothing were wrapped, not the toys or other paraphenalia. Everything on display, in the open. "Eeekk!!! Wowww!!! Look! Look!! Who's is this?! Can I play with this now?? Let's set it up!!"......were the almost hushed squeals of excitement!

One year, we were instructed not to come downstairs until Mom and Pop called for us. "Or Else!"   Yeah. Right. So, Pop went to work that night. Mom sleeps like Rip Van Winkle. We're in the clear. We have our secret knock on the doors figured out; the plan is set.

Down the stairs we go, 3:00am. (Why do kids always know to get up in the middle of the night on Christmas, but can never get out of bed on time on a school day?!) Again with the quiet squeals of excitement. Picking each item up, eyes all aglow, passing it around for others to see, then it happens.......
we see the headlights of the car pulling in the driveway. "Everything back! Everything back! Hurry! Hurry! Up the stairs!!"   A gaggle of kids running up a flight of stairs like a herd of buffalo, into our beds, all before my father's key unlocks the door and he walks in!!

Hehehe! Fooled him! He'll never know! (Of course he did. But it was never spoken of at the time!)

Ah, then Christmas Day. After the hubbub of drooling over the gifts and cleaning up, kids went to their respective spaces to play, Mom started dinner. After supper, all the relatives came to visit. Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles (14 of them) and our cousins (13 of them). More gifts! More food and snacks! The house was filled with laughter, loud talking, adults getting funnier and funnier with "Christmas cheer" in liquid form!! What a blast!!

The day after, kids would take their most prize possession and go to our friends' homes. Comparing our gifts. Ooohhing and Ahhhhing over each others things, making mental notes "put on my list for next year". During the week, we'd go visit relatives and grandparents. More fun! What a season!

As a kid, I remember the year my grandmother bought and set up an aluminum Christmas tree. A huge tree! I guess it was all the rage back then. She decorated it with pink satin balls. On the floor sat a color wheel that would project yellow, green, blue and red color on the sparkly aluminum tree as it spun around. All the kids thought that was the most beautiful fake tree we ever saw!

One year my mother and father decided that they would come visit each one of us and our families on Christmas Day instead of having the big doings at their house. What a bummer that was! Nobody liked it, not even them. Yeah. They never did that again. We resumed our Christmases at their home for many more years.

Things didn't change much as we became adults and had our own families. Still going to Mom and Pop's on Christmas afternoon. Supper, gifts - oh, the gifts!! Now there were 12 grandchildren of their own. There was not a clear spot on the floor in the living room, scattered with wrapping paper, boxes, toys, clothes ---- and kids. Every age and size. Not too many relatives came to visit -- they had their own grandchildren now, their own family get-together. My parents and aunts and uncles would visit each other's homes during the following week - adults only.

When mom decided in her later years that preparing the Christmas buffet was too much for her, I took over. We lived next door to my parents at the time. So, I would prepare the big feast, all brothers, wives, children and my sister and parents would come to our house in the afternoon. What a time we had!! We lived in a small cape cod style home.

There were 12 adults and 11 kids of all sizes and ages. The house was packed! Kids would fix their plates and go sit on the staircase steps and the basement steps to eat. Adults would be packed around the table and every seat in the living room. After eating and visiting, we would all wander over to Mom and Pop's for gift opening and more celebrating. Sometimes, extended family members would come to visit. Everyone gathered up their clan and their goodies, saying goodnight, thankyou's, Merry Christmas! and heading home around 11:00pm.

As the years progressed, a few of us moved out of state. But those that remained continued the traditions. My sister took over and had the Christmas celebration at her home every year. Still does. The rest of us still baraged our parents with phone calls, laughter, memories, and gifts. We drove back home one Christmas. I always wished we had done that more than once. But situations prohibited it. This regret I will carry with me for all my life.

I wish I could go on and on. SO many memories!! So much family. So much love and togetherness.

Now my Mom and Dad are gone. Our first Christmas without either one of them. Our families are separated. Some by miles, some by attitudes and perceived wrong-doings to them by others. But for those of us still "family", we will once again celebrate Christmas with life-long traditions as well as some recently established ones. And pray that this Christmas, past memories will open hearts and minds. That relationships will be re-established, all will be forgotten and forgiven. That "Family" is the key to the spirit and true meaning of Christmas.

Wishing you all a most blessed, Merry Christmas in the bosoms of all those you love.  God Bless.

Body, Don't Fail Me Now.......

2011-12-20T06:28:00.001-06:00

So everything is going along as planned. The list is getting smaller, things being crossed off as they're completed. 4 more days and counting.

My energy level is ebbing. Big time. The goal of next Tuesday keeps me moving. Right now the days are relaxed, things to do can be taken in stride. No rush, no push, no fuss.

I think I pulled a muscle in my shoulder -- again. Just enough to be aggravating. I know it happened when I lifted a storage tote just about over my head to put it on top of other totes. Should not have done that. But that's me. Never learn!

Everything is right on track. This makes me very happy! Except, now with some free time, I tend to get a bit lazy. There's nothing to be done before dawn's early light; nothing that needs tending right after supper. What to do......what to do......

I was thinking, at 4:30am, that I could uncover a wheel and do some spinning. Or pull out one of the UFOs and work on that. But this would just lead to a slippery slope. I would be playing with danger. My house would be dusty and messy and we'd be having scrambled eggs for Christmas dinner when the family arrived. Best to stick with the plan.

Son from NY called yesterday evening to say a box arrived. The "goodie box" of course. He was eating Baklava while talking to me. "This is great! Ohhhh, it's sooo good. I haven't had Baklava in years". "You're supposed to share it with the family" says I. "Oh, I'll share. But the banana bread is mine, right?" I'm laughing. He yells to his wife "the banana bread is mine, all mine!" I know before Christmas Eve is here, the "goodie box" will be gone! This is one kid you don't have to worry about what to get him ---- just send him lots and lots of goodies!

Baklava:

I've been trying to take pictures of the tree and some decorations, but I can't get the right adjustment on the camera. They come out all blurry or extremely overexposed. Still working on it.

Today is grocery shopping for the weekend. I'll have to go to the local store instead of the "Big" one 25 miles away. BH is having trouble with his foot again. The same one he twisted when he fell last month. So he soaked it in Epsom salts yesterday; plan the same today. He doesn't like me traveling to the "Big" grocery store by myself. Men! (But I can go to daughter's - 60 miles away by myself!.......don't get me started....) Silly man! Anywho, I told him last night that he may have to see a doctor after the holidays. Even he now thinks he may have chipped or fractured a bone. Yikes.

Well, I'm going to get started doing something. Don't know what. BH is still sleeping and I don't want to make any noise that will wake him. I could re-do the shopping list. Or uncover a wheel and..........

Ohhh Spinning Wheel.....How I Miss Ye

2011-12-18T06:43:00.000-06:00

All the hustle-bustle is done. The hurry, the worry - done. Putzing around from now till the Big day.

BH had to move 3 storage totes, filled with rovings, batts and coils, to the van for the time being. This is a small house, afterall, and the closets are already filled to capacity.

Wheels have been covered and moved to safe spots, out of the way; out of sight. Bobbins of yarn waiting to be skeined or waiting to be plied have been put back in their respective storage containers. I am getting the heebie-jeebies. I am an addict. I need to spin. I want to spin. Lord, keep me sane for the next week.

Two knitting projects are sitting on their needles, in their tote bags. They, too, have been relegated to hiding spots. I can't pick them up, because if I do, the putzing won't get done. Geeezzz.

Ah, but don't fret, my pretties. Come December 26th, all will be right with the world again. You will be freed from your disguises, boxes and bags. You will breathe the air of your mistress's home and feel the warmth and love of her excited fingers running over your lovely fibers making you over into something even more beautiful than before.

I think some of you may even get an extra treat. A nice warm bath to bring out the gorgeous color that I just know is hidden within you. Yes. Let's get out the dye pot and all the powders and pastes colors of the rainbow, the squirt bottles, the plastic wrap, the crockpot. We'll make this a real "Welcome Home" party!! Soon. Very soon.

Rockin' Around the Clock.......

2011-12-17T03:25:00.001-06:00

The gifts to be mailed were wrapped yesterday. This morning at 5:30, I began assembling pans of cookies, baklava, banana bread and candies also to be mailed. At 10:00am, boxes were filled, sealed and addressed. We were on our way to the post office and UPS.

The post office charges were a bit of a shocker, but not too much. We haven't seen postage like that for years - when we were mailing out 12 - 14 boxes. Today it was 5. Yep. 5 boxes.

2 items had to go by UPS because of their size. They had to be wrapped in brown paper because there wasn't a box in sight that would accomodate them. However, the gal at UPS tells me they can't ship them with just paper. It gets caught in the conveyor belt and gets shredded. My heart stopped. I have to take these back home and find - or construct - a box??? Ah, but Christmas miracles that there are, she said "no problem; we have boxes here. We'll re-box them for you and get them out". Hallelujah!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are indeed an angel. Or at the very least, an elf in disguise, for sure.

Once the out-of-state family is taken care of, everything else is a breeze!

Went to bed early - 10:30. Fell asleep immediately. Had a very bad dream that seemed to go on forever, but when I woke up, I felt refreshed. Ready to rock! Even thought I saw light outside. Maybe a full moon? Walked into the kitchen, looked at the clock. 5:00am. Good, I can stay up. Flipped the coffee pot on and sat in the dining room til it's ready. 10 minutes go by; go check the pot; not quite ready. Sit down, look at the clock. It looks like 5 after 7:00. Whaaatt??

Looking at the clock, I'm trying to mentally figure out how I got up at 5:00 and now it looks like 5 after 7:00. Did the clock stop last night? Did it stop a few minutes ago? (Now that makes no sense, but my brain is half scrambled). Check the clock on the microwave. Yeah. Check the clock on the microwave.

Microwave says.............12:30......AM! I had fallen into a dead sleep for a little over 1 1/2 hours!! But I feel soooo refreshed --- and the coffee is just about done. What's a girl to do?!

Go grab all the gifts in the spare room and start wrapping. Which is what I was supposed to do last night, but wasn't up to it. So. From 12:45 till 2:45, I wrapped almost every single gift. Except son's fiance. I gotta find a couple of boxes over at the storage house.

I'm so relieved that it's all done, mostly. Today on the agenda is/was housecleaning and laundromat. It's 3:15am. I restarted the woodstove. I've got 1 more cup of coffee in the pot. I'll probably go back to bed soon. And I'll probably be up again within a few hours.

But as far as the agenda goes........yeah. Ummm....things may have to be rearranged.

Don't Let This Train Get Derailed...........

2011-12-15T05:26:00.001-06:00

Things are moving along, picking up speed every day. With the goal in mind of having nothing to do next week, this train is bound for glory!

The cookies are finally done; the Reindeer Nipples turned out great! (thank you, CoopKeeper). The tree was procured and set up Tuesday and took 3 hours to decorate yesterday. Not that I'm anal about decorating a Christmas tree, but it has to look perfect!

Today is wrapping and boxing gifts and goodies that must go in the mail tomorrow. And hopefully getting the cards written out so they, too, can make it to the mailbox. Otherwise, I'll save them for next year. Ah, but they won't be written out, enveloped, addressed and sealed. This much I learned from my Mom.

Let's see. Saturday may be housecleaning; heavy cotton throw rugs need to go to the laundromat; kitchen floor needs to be scrubbed on hands and knees; and the bathroom still needs to be cleaned top to bottom.

Sunday: grocery shopping for the Christmas meal; wrapping the rest of the gifts for the locals.

Monday: Yep. That's right. Nothing.

Oh, there've been a few glitches, trying to derail this train.
**While preparing and baking the last batch of cookies Tuesday, my sister called. We talked for 1 1/2 hours! The cookies, on the pans, and the dough had to go back in the fridge. Instead of finishing the job before noon as planned, it was finished at 2:00pm.

**Son in NY's present -- presents a problem with packaging. It's a rather tall, heavy box. Needs to go into a taller box. By itself. Which means 2 boxes to be mailed out. So BH and I go to the storage house looking for just the right size box. Hehehehe. No. Got nothing. Then I remember the box the pool came in. Perfect! Except I have to empty the hoses, filters and filter housing out of it. And because it's roomier, it will have to be stuffed with paper to keep the gift from rattling around. But it's heavy. So will be sent out via UPS.

**Walking into the family room yesterday before supper, I see my coffee cup is splattering all over the end table. What the hell???......where is this coming from. Mesmerized, I'm watching the drips hitting the cup and splashing out. I look up. The ceiling is leaking! Whaaatt!!! Yell for BH. "The ceiling is leaking!"   He looks. "I'll get up on the roof and see what's going on", says he.

This is a mobile home. There is no second floor. There are no water pipes in the ceiling. We have no snow; there hasn't been a deluge of rain. So, outside we go. There is nothing suspicious. No swamp of water sitting on the roof. But he suspects that maybe the seam in the rubber roofing may have come loose. He gets the bucket of rubber cement. It's half frozen, but he digs out what he can and tries to re-cement the seam. After 1/2 hour, it's determined that tomorrow would be better to attempt this. Bring the bucket in the house and let the cement thaw out.

At this point, I am now starving. Supper was done and ready to be dished out just as this calamity reared it's ugly head. So, back in the house, a quick re-heat, and supper is served.

The leak? Oh, it stopped almost immediately. Don't know where it came from. Don't know where it went. Just pray it doesn't happen again.

**Slipper socks. Need 6 pair. All going to son in NY. Have 4 pair completed, the 5th half done. Can't mail out the box till all 6 pair are finished. So, working like an elf on crack, the last 2 pair were finished last night.

**Sat down yesterday afternoon to pay the bills. Go to the bank's website. Message pops up: "This website's Security Certificate is not Valid. Do not attempt to access this website". Whaaat??? I've got bills to pay!! Today!! It's on my list!! The mortgage is due tomorrow!!   Try again. Same message. Call the bank. The gal informs me their computers are down and they're fixing the problem. "Will it be fixed today?" I ask. "I'm pretty sure it will be; they're working on it right now, but I really don't know", she answers. Great!! Moving to tomorrow. I did check their site in the evening and it was up and running. But the hell with it. It can wait till tomorrow. I've still got time. It's only one thing added to tomorrow's list.

I may be a little slow leaving the station, but this train will not be derailed!!

Tis the Season.......

2011-12-09T16:33:00.000-06:00

So, how's everyone doing with the Christmas to-do's? Keeping our sanity? Hmmmm.

Baking started on Tuesday - Baklava and cannolis. Not just once. Oh no. Somehow, one recipe creation didn't look there was as much as I thought there would be. Enough to give lots of it away to the kids and still have enough for the Holiday. Why is that?? Why does it always seem the recipe never quite amounts to the pieces it says you should have?? Or you think you should have. Or is it that my eyes are bigger than my goodie platters? Whatever.

So Wednesday was a repeat of the same. This was an all-day affair both times. But I think there's enough now ~~for everyone in the neighborhood~~ for us all.

Yesterday was the cut-out cookies and Spritz. Today was Russian Tea Cakes (we always called them Mexican Wedding cakes); some call them "Rum Balls". And a double batch of chocolate chip. 2 kinds of chips in the dough - semisweet and milk chocolate. And 8 loaves of Banana Bread. Because bananas were on sale last week - 49 cents a pound!! I know!! By this morning, they were all nice, speckled brown; and you could smell bananas through the kitchen. Yeah. Time to mash those puppies.

There's just 2 more kinds of cookies to bake. And the cut-outs to be frosted and sugared. But that won't be till Monday. Tomorrow I go to daughter's to decorate and go shopping.

So in between baking and doing dishes - doing dishes - doing dishes, my hands now look like they've been rolling around in the "sharp knives" drawer. And they hurt. Much needed hand lotion applied. There's been crocheting in the evening. 2 pair of slipper boots done, the third started. 2 more pair to go. Maybe 3. It should be 3. We'll see.

Next week we'll look for a tree; Christmas dinner grocery shopping next weekend. I still have to write out Christmas cards and get them in the mail. And wrap the gifts that need to be sent out by next Friday.

I see by my "to-do" list that I'm just about on track. Only one day behind in the baking. Well, actually, it'll be 3 days. Because there won't be any done for the next 2. But all is good. Moving right along. The goal is for nothing to be done the week of Christmas. Nothing. Just relaxing and waiting for Christmas Eve.

Tonight - bean soup. Pulled the bucket out of the freezer last night. Yep. Bucket. We buy our ice cream in 5 quart plastic buckets. I'm embarrassed to tell you how many buckets I accumulate every year. There's enough not only for freezer storage, but as cleaning buckets, planter buckets, cookie storage buckets, groady-stuff buckets; you name it. I've got the bucket.

Oh. The bean soup. So I thought this would be easy enough for BH to warm up for supper tomorrow night. He doesn't cook. Except to put a TV dinner in the oven. But I didn't buy any TV dinners. Soup it is. I hope he eats something tomorrow night other than popcorn, potato chips or pretzels. Sometimes he even makes a PB sandwich.

Well, keep Christmasing along, all you little elves. It'll soon be here ----- and gone. Have a great, productive weekend!

Ok. That Didn't Go Well......

2011-12-05T07:59:00.003-06:00

So. BH and I get all gussied up. Pick up son and head out to the casino. For my FREE camcorder and FREE $10 slot money. Except for the fact that it's the middle of the afternoon and infringing on my nap time, we feel pretty good.

First stop -- Guest Services desk --- for my FREE camcorder. The gal behind the counter is very pleasant. I hand her my coupons, proudly saying "I'm here to pick up my FREE camcorder"(with a big smile on my face). To which the reply came back so fast, in an inaudible low tone,

        "We ran out of them; we're giving you $25.00 in free play".

"Excuse me.....whhhaat?" She repeats the apparently much-spoken refrain.

"Oh NO. That was a Christmas gift I was planning on giving". She smiles sympathetically. "Here ya go, hon. There's $35.00 free play on your card". She looks to be about 25 years old; I'm 62, paunchy and slightly graying. But I'm "hon".

Stunned, I say a polite "thankyou" and walk away. "Good luck today" she adds.

"Well, HON, if I had any damn luck today, I'd be walking away with my FREE CAMCORDER!".......is what I wanted to say. But I'm 62, paunchy and slightly graying......and was brought up to be reserved and polite. Which, in the scheme of things, has not really benefited me in certain circumstances of my life.

So I meet up with BH and son, my stomach now at my feet, and tell them what happened. I'm deflated. I want to go home. But we carry on......they give me their apologies and empathy.

Both the guys wanted to play some BlackJack for a bit, so I found my favorite slot, sat down and began giving back my Free money. Ah, but the machine and I were on the same wave length......it must've felt my pain. It took some, and then gave it back. But when it started to tell me after some unprofitable spins, "this is it, HON, we're not going anywhere with this".....I cashed out and took my money......my FREE money. And snidely walked away.

On the way home, BH says "what are you planning on getting for the gift now?"   "I don't know. I just don't know. I'll have to think about it; maybe something will come to me by next weekend".

See, this was going to be the gift for son who lives in NY. Son who does quite well for himself and his family. Son who has everything under the sun and can buy whatever he wants. Yes. The same son who bought me a GPS for Mother's Day 2 years ago, and sent me the new EReader for my birthday this year. Who sends me floral arrangements that I know must have cost him at least $100, arrangement and delivery.

There is nothing we can get him, within our budget, that doesn't look cheap or inconsequential. I hate that. I pride myself on planning the perfect gift for each person. One that means something to them. (Am I channeling with Martha?? God, I hope not!) Even if it's FREE!      Crap.

Well, I have to put that all behind me now. There's other things that need attention this week; gotta stick to the schedule; can't fall off the track now. We did come up with a couple of ideas last night. I'm just going to wait till daughter and I are actually in the stores next weekend. Something will hit me as the gift.

But on a positive note, if this is the only glitch in the Christmas plans and accomplishments, then all will be well. As for now, stick to the schedule; get things done; carry on. It'll all work out.

Afterall, it's the Christmas season, right? And miracles DO happen.   Why, yes. There are visions of sugar plums dancing in my head!

Fa-La-La-La-La............

2011-12-04T08:11:00.003-06:00

We're off to a good start! Went shopping on Thursday and.......everything on my list was in stock!! Another Christmas miracle! I couldn't be happier if you tickled me with tinsle. Friday and yesterday was decorating the house. Not too much. But it looks nice. Lights. Lots of lights. Done. Another miracle.

And today is the casino day --- to pick up another gift. (For free!) Now if this goes off without a hitch, I'm gonna find me a red, fur-trimmed suit and wear it for the next 3 weeks! Ho, ho, ho!!

I made out my Christmas schedule the other day; it's hanging on the fridge. I need to do this lest I forget something and think the next 2 weeks are free time! Now I just have to remember to cross off the jobs done from that list. One step at a time.

We've decided on a real tree. Yes, the artificial ones on sale looked --- artificial. Will not do. So, tomorrow we'll go to the local farm and feed store and pick out the tree. I've got the spot all figured out; know how the furniture will be re-arranged. BH gave his approval, so all is good. Then I have to go over to the storage house and get out a couple of gifts, find some boxes, get the cookie tins and the box of wrapping paper. Tuesday starts the baking marathon. First up --- baklavah and cannoli shells. Cookies to follow.

"Tales from the Coop Keeper" blogger, posted a recipe for "Reindeer Nipples" (her post dated Nov. 29, "Holiday Nipples"). No. Seriously. It's a real recipe. Anywho, I'm going to make them this year; it's simple enough. They'll be included in the "Goodies" package for the kids back home. I'm going to label them as such, too. That'll bring a lot of hoots and hollers from them, I'm sure!

Son's fiance called Friday. She said they're planning on coming up for Christmas. This makes me happy. We won't have to go to the Cities. Of course, this is all contingent on the weather. Hopefully it will good for traveling. Another Christmas miracle. That'll mean the 4 kids living in this State will be here. Keeping my fingers crossed.

So, next Saturday, I'll be going to daughter's to decorate her apartment and take her Christmas shopping. I've gotta pick up the last few gifts too. Then I'm done! Except for the grocery shopping for Christmas Eve and Day dinners. Haven't quite worked on the menus yet, but that'll be easy enough.

Oh geeezzz. I forgot about the Christmas cards. I don't think it's on the schedule. I better get that corrected immediately. Yeah. Gotta get the cards written out and to the post office. This reminds me of a funny story.

Every year, my Mom would write out Christmas cards. From the time a was a kid and into my adult years. The only thing is.......they never made it to the post office. We'd find a box of cards every year, in the envelopes, all addressed and sealed, while going through the boxes of decorations. She never sent them out! Every year! For years! I don't think is was forgetting as much as it was not wanting to spend the money for the stamps when the time came. But she would buy the cards -- beautiful cards. She was funny that way! Mother!

Well, I gotta get in the shower and get all gussied up. Grab some breakfast and we'll be off to pick up that free gift. Santa, don't fail me now!!

Happy December 1!!....Let the Games Begin!........

2011-12-01T07:54:00.001-06:00

It's herrree! Hope you're all ready. Been doin' your exercising? Flipping through mail order catalogs; digging out containers of Christmas decorations; marathon cooking and baking (thanks to the recently passed Thanksgiving); working those fingers with the planned knitting and spinning for those gifts; jogging through the snow, slush, rain from store to store; working and re-working the monthly budget (again and again; geeezzz, I didn't think it would cost that much) and don't forget ----- check off each day on the calendar lest you absent-mindly think you have another week before the Christmas Day to catch up on everything!! (I say this in retrospect)

I have big plans, beginning today. We'll just see how many of them come to fruition before I'm running around like a crazy woman, wondering what can be scratched off the list, not really needing to be done.

Well, the outside lights are up - finally. All the decorations storage totes are now sitting in the utility room, waiting to be opened and emptied, their contents placed in every room in the house. Today we are going shopping. Hopefully most of the things on the gift list will be purchased. Our local "medium box" (versus "big box") store still has the items that they advertised on sale this week. We waited until today because today is also "Senior Discount Day" - 10% off all purchases! WhooHoo!!! Yeah. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath. They are notorious for being "out of stock". Thank goodness I have a back-up plan. It requires driving another 30 miles to the "big box" store. Crap.

Tomorrow and Saturday, decorating is the order of the day. Lights will go up on all the windows (we have no gutters outside, so lights are on the inside of the windows) and as much paraphenalia as possible will adorn tabletops, shelves, walls.

Sunday is a trip to the casino. I'm being very sly about this. First, I have $15.00 in FREE play on the slots. There will be no actual money going from my wallet to their coffers!! NO money! But the main reason is I have a certificate from them for a FREE video recorder!!! It's one of those small, digital camera-size models. This is another planned Christmas gift. I checked out the price of it, and it's a $90.00 value!! Omg!! Somebody stop me!! If I can lay my hands on this, the rest is a breeze!

Monday starts the baking. Not so much this year. Thankfully, daughter-in-law and the fiance have been baking their own goodies for a couple of years now. So I just send a couple of extras. But for us, I'm cutting waayyyy back. It's silly to have bags and bags of Christmas cookies in the freezer, eating them in June and July. Although they're very delicious, seriously, do I need more Christmas cookies??? No. My bathroom scale will thank me.

Ahh, but in lieu of tons of cookies and breads, I have Baklavah on the baking list. I can make a couple of pans of it and everyone will be thrilled!! It'll go a long way, taking the place of 3 or 4 more kinds of cookies.

I think we're going to buy a Christmas tree this year. We've been putting up the little 3' tree with fiber optic lights for the past few years; I didn't see the need for a regular tree anymore. Being that if any of the kids did make it up here during the holidays, it's just for 1 day or a few hours out of a whole week. What was the sense?

But this year, I'm really missing a tree. I need a tree. If for nothing else than the memories of Christmases past. For memories of my Mom and Dad.

The store has a 4' artificial for $20. We'll take a look. It doesn't have lights on it, but that's fine. I can put my own lights on. I love tons of lights on the tree - white only. And if the artificial tree looks too ---- artificial (for $20 -- ya think?), we will probably go with a real tree. Of course, this will mean major re-configuring of furniture. Our house is small; we've added a lot more stuff since our last real tree; space is at a minimum; and it can't go in the family room because of the gi-normous wood stove. Rocking chair, endtable, lamp and coffee table may have to be moved into the storage house for the time being.

Wrapping is also on the agenda for next week. Yep. Wrap everything that is acquired. Eliminating the mad rush 2 days before boxes need to be shipped out.

Then I need to get out to daughter's with her totes of Christmas decor. And decorate her apartment for her. That's planned for next weekend. I stay overnight and the following day I take her Christmas shopping for gifts she will give.

There you have it. The plan is -- the week of Christmas I'm done!! I can relax and putter around the house. Nothing on my mind or agenda except planning Christmas dinner. This'll be great! Maybe a little knitting or spinning to wile away the hours.

Yeah. Christmas dreams!!

A Few of My.........

2011-11-27T08:37:00.000-06:00

Part I.

Christmas is just around the corner. If I stay in my own little world, my own little mind, here are a few of my........

Favorite Things:
1. Christmas music. I love Christmas music. It bothers me that on Dec. 26, there is no more Christmas music played on the radio stations. What's up with that??

2. Christmas decorations. If I had a million dollars, I'd spend half of it on decorations. Both inside and outside. I would love to buy a set of those lighted deer for the front lawn.

3. Christmas lights. Lights everywhere!! Inside and outside. White only, please!! They're on all the windows, all around the deck and over the door, wrapped around Canadian garland and festooned above the kitchen cupboards.

4. Christmas trees. We used to search for the perfect tree; not too big, not too small; not too bushy, not too skinny. Just right!! Perferably a scotch pine or balsam because I love to see the white lights and the ornaments hanging delicately from the branches.

5. Christmas cookies. Christmas cookies for breakfast is my favorite!!

6. Lots and lots of packages wrapped in Christmas paper under the tree.

7. Snow. You've gotta have snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Light, fluffy snow.

8. Christmas cards. I love getting oodles of cards to tape up over the doorways. I love sending them, too.

9. Christmas Eve. What a magical time. It seems like all the worries, hustle/bustle, frustrations have just melted away. There's a kind of eerie, but beautiful, peace to the evening. And you realize that everything has been accomplished, everything's in order.

10. Christmas Day. It's all done. Time to relax, to enjoy. Time for long distance phone calls, opening gifts, cookies for breakfast, fresh coffee, Christmas songs on the radio all day, dinner in the oven, and alcohol --- yes, you can now drink yourself into oblivion for the day!! The dinner?? Forgetaboutit!! Someone will take care of it. Who cares if you eat at 4:00, 6:00 or 10:00!

11. The day after Christmas. This is my all time favorite!! Because for the rest of the season, our time is our own!! We can truly enjoy the fruits of our labor. It's done. It's over. Stay in your pajamas all day if you want to!

12. Midnight Mass. Is there anything that makes your heart swell with the true meaning of Christmas more than Midnight Mass? The reverence and beauty of it all makes you feel like you've been granted a new beginning on life.

13. Handel's Messiah - The Hallelujah Choir. I have to turn this up as loud as my cd player will go. I wish I had huge speakers outside the house so the whole neighborhood could hear it!! If it doesn't bring the joy of Christmas to your heart and soul, I don't know what would. It makes you stop, think, reflect, fills you heart with peace and love.

14. A house filled to the rafters with family. All ages, shapes and sizes. The hours and hours of cacophony; laughter, singing, story telling of Christmases past.

15. Memories. Of Christmases at my grandparents' house; my parents' and the traditions we embraced every year; of Aunts and Uncles and dozens of cousins popping in for a visit; when I was a kid; when I was a teen; when my kids were babies; when they were older; when the grandchildren came along; Christmas shopping or crafting for that very special gift for that certain person; the looks of surprise, appreciation and love on everyone's face; the love that permeated the house.

What are your favorite things?

What is Going On??.........

2011-11-27T07:18:00.000-06:00

Is anyone else having trouble with blogger?? This is the second day. Asking me to "sign in". I never "sign out". Then my "dashboard" "blogs I follow" is empty!! What the hell is going on?? This is very irritating.

Just asking.

Onward and Upward.......

2011-11-26T07:11:00.000-06:00

So, Thanksgiving turned out ok. Food was good. Except..........I think there's something wrong with the oven thermostat. Thankfully, the turkey did get done......even if it was an hour later than planned! I was getting pretty nervous. "Oh, please, please, please don't crap out on me now! Pleeeez let this bird get done before you decide to totally die on me!"

.......OMG! This post was waaayyy longer; hit the "publish" button; wanted me to enter my password. Did, 4 times. "not valide password".....???? I had to reset my password, and this is what appeared in today's blog ---- 1 paragraph!! Is anyone else having problems with Google blog?

Anyway, as I was saying before I was soooo rudely interrupted...... so, I started thinking maybe that's why the pies were taking so long to bake the day before. Crap. Now I spent the rest of the afternoon panicking over what we would have for dinner should the 24# bird and stuffing need to be "86'd". Geezzz. Are the restaurants open today?? Should I order a bucket of chicken now? Is there any meat in the freezer I can pull out quickly?? (only hamburg). Ehh, we'll have enough with the sweet potatoes, squash, mashed potates and stuffing. We'll all have a good laugh!!

Well, the turkey eventually got done and we had a nice dinner. Sonwhoisthetechie left for home yesterday afternoon. Sonwholivesnearby and daughter are still here. I suggested to BH last night that we would take them home today. He seemed sort of disappointed. But, hey, I gotta get back to my routine. There are things to be done.

I set up the wheel this morning and spun for about 1 1/2 hours. Yeah. It had to be put away on Wednesday to make room for extending the dining table. The knitting also had to be hidden from "grandchild" bunny, who loves to explore the knitting bag.

While perusing the store ads yesterday, I see that one has a couple of items we planned for Christmas gifts on sale. I would really like to get there today and pick them up. You know. Before they're "out of stock". Yeah. The sale price is soooo good.......you have to wonder if these things are really "in stock"!!

The weather this week is supposed to be mild and sunny. Sure hope we can get the lights up outside. Then I have to go over to the storage house and dig out the acrylic yarn (ack, ack) for daughter-in-law's slipper boots. You don't want to make anything out of wool for this girl.......everything goes in the washing machine....with other assorted articles of clothing (read: jeans, jackets, towels, blankets, etc). I love her to death, but she has no regard for "handle with care".

Well, everyone is still sleeping, so now is the perfect time to slice myself a piece of apple pie and get a fresh cup of coffee. Then it's back to spinning. I love routine.

Letting Go........

2011-11-24T07:55:00.000-06:00

A sad commentary.

This is the beginning of the holiday season, the first without my parents. My father passed away in June, 2010, and last Thanksgiving was my mother's last. Unbeknown to all of us.

We tried to make it a "happy" day for her. My sister did all the cooking and baking; brothers and nephew/family were coming to her house as well as Mom.

Only Mom didn't go. Said she just couldn't do it. Wasn't feeling well. She stayed home, alone, because that's the way she wanted it.

She did get to my sister's for Christmas, but only because she stayed overnight on the Eve with my son and his family and he drove her out there. But after Christmas Day, everything went down hill. And she passed away on New Year's Eve Day at 4:00pm.

This year brings back so many memories of years past. I find myself barely being able to carry this off. I don't want to. I have no festive spirit. This is a real chore for me. I just want to sit and cry and cry and cry. I have not allowed myself to have a breakdown, to let it all out since my father's death and then my mother's. But it's welling up inside me like a tidal wave and I don't know how much longer I can keep it at bay.

Family is not what it used to be. This is not the family I grew up in. This is not the family I worked so hard for my whole adult, mothering life. There are those who don't speak to each other; there are those who don't care to be around another. There are those who have caused hurt and pain but are oblivious to it. There are no apologies. There is no soul searching. There is no sense of responsibility. And, unfortunately, not only is it our kids, but this refers to my siblings as well. Those who know better because they were brought up in the same house, with the same parents as I. The same background, the same memories.

And so, the holidays trigger no emotions, no memories, no thought of putting things right. For the sake of the parents, if nothing else. They have not yet realized that "family" is all there is. Without the unit, your life is pretty much helter skelter; in free-fall; whirling out of control.

So today, with only 3 of the 5 living near us coming for dinner, we will put on a festive "face". Make the best of the day. Turkey and all the trimmings. Maybe there will be a phone call or two from my siblings. And after today, I will forge ahead with plans for the upcoming Christmas. But my heart won't be in it. I will not go crazy with the decorating and baking. Just a few things to say "Christmas". Seriously, I can't wait for January 1. Then it's all over and we can get back to our regular life. No mental, emotional reminders that we are a fractured, frayed, separated family.

For those of you who have the love and consideration of your children and grandchildren still, who have close-knit family ties, who are there for each other no matter what, who have the respect of your offspring as their parents, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. May you always find peace and love in the hearts, minds and arms of your family. May the memories you have created over the years see you through the rough patches and make your family ties stronger with the years, for all generations.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-23T06:49:00.000-06:00

Wishing you and your families a very blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving Day!

So How Was Your Weekend?.......

2011-11-21T06:31:00.000-06:00

Pretty good here. Pretty... pretty..... pretty.. good, to quote Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm").

I finished the first mint green sock; I put the yarn aside and moved on to something else. I've been itching to make another Norwegian hat, so I started on that. Last year I bought a package of plastic bobbins that flip into themselves to hold small amounts of yarn for colorwork. Haven't used them yet. As a matter of fact, I just remembered I had them this morning. So I will attempt to wind the colors onto them; we'll see how it goes.

Also stripped 8 oz. of the copper roving into narrow strips and started spinning it this morning. At least, I weighed out 8 oz. But after tearing it into strips, the bucket is full. And that holds 4 oz.! This should be interesting. I bought 2# of the stuff. Weighed out 8oz, and got 4 balls -- 32 oz. = 2#, right? And I still had 3 oz. left over. That's a plus-no complaints about that!

The roving is a bit touchy to spin. It feels like it's a long wool, so I have a longer drafting zone. If I don't do this, the wool gets too thick and twists past the zone. Then it's hell trying to get it untwisted and draft some more. But I'm getting the hang of it. And I finished plying the blues -- got 7 1/2 bobbins. Add that to the other 5 --- a sweater? Hope so!

Son called Saturday to say he and fiance won't be coming up for Thanksgiving or the weekend. She has to work Wednesday and Friday, and the finances are kind of tight right now. No extras for gas money up here and back. I kind of expected it; he mentioned it last week. So that's 2 less for dinner/weekend. Now we'll see what son #2 has planned. And son #3. It might turn out to be BH, me and daughter ---- and a 24# turkey! Ah, but I have freezers!! I love freezing food. No problem.

Yesterday I had a burst of energy, against my better wishes, and made Chicken Alfredo for supper. It turned out great! Salad and warm Italian bread. Also made Tapioca pudding -- one of BH's favs. Defrosted a dish of strawberries and had them on top of the pudding. Deeeelish!!

I woke up this morning at 3:15 ---- yep, A.M. Turned the coffee on, put wood in the stove and went to the wheel. Don't ask me why. It happens quite frequently. Must have something to do with "old age". My mother used to get up at 3:00am every day! for the last 10 years of her life. Not that she had anything in mind, or was busy doing something. It was coffee, sit in the recliner and cat nap all day. You could be talking to her one minute, turn your head, and she'd be out like a light. This went on all day and evening. Holy crap!! I hope I never get that bad!!

I checked the turkey, defrosting in the fridge, this morning. It's still solid as a rock. It's been sitting in the fridge since late Saturday afternoon. This has me concerned. I think I'm going to have to start giving it a boost --- 2 hours out of the fridge a couple times a day. Don't you hate it when you go to clean the bird and the inside is still frozen?? And you try to hurry up because you fingers are getting frost-bite?? Omg, and then you can barely get the stuffing into it because you have no feeling in your hands?? Yeah. Me too.

Well, I gotta go shower, change the bed linens, make breakfast, do the dishes and then some knitting. Before all this energy subsides. And I pass out. Like right around 10:00 this morning. Thank goodness there's leftovers for supper tonight!

Crap!........

2011-11-19T06:22:00.001-06:00

Um....yeah.....eh....no. Didn't get the Christmas lights up outside yesterday. It started out a sunny morning --- but cold, 17 degrees. No problem. By the time I get done with breakfast, laundry and straightening up, it'll be warmer. BH advises not to go outside til about 10:30 or so. He's always got my back!

Well, as we're sitting in the family room, with our toast and coffee, watching Matlock (love that show), the sun disappears, the clouds take over. It's extremely grey outside - threatening snow - and the temp doesn't seem to be moving any.

I don't function on grey days. Especially not outside. This job gets put on hold for another day. Besides, what am I thinking?? I never put lights up before Thanksgiving!! Please. One holiday at a time. Give it a chance to come and go, let the hoopla subside before moving on to the next big all-encompassing season.

And it did snow. A nice thick dusting over everything. The temps never did get to the projected 39 degrees. The thermometer stuck at 33.

Besides, we always put lights up outside when it's 20 degrees or less, 2 feet of snow on the deck and winds blowing 30 m.p.h. And grey. Definitely grey. It's the challenge that inspires us.

Today....I don't know. There's still the bathroom to scrub. There's the comforter from the guest room that needs to be washed. And....it's "Law&Order: Criminal Intent" day. Vincent. All day. Good thing there's plenty of knitting to be done.

Speaking of knitting, I was putting the burgundy socks away the other day and I see that there are 2 other pair of mint green socks in storage. Eeegadsss. Yeah, they're different patterns. One is actually the painted white with green heels and toes. And I'm knitting a 3rd pair of mint green socks....green with painted white heels and toes. Yeah. I'm innovated that way! Geezz. Why? Because it's there! The last 6 ounces of it. And the color doesn't really strike me as being knitted in any other item. A mint green beret? scarf? mitts? I don't think so.

We're under a winter storm warning for today. 2" - 5" of snow predicted. This should be interesting. BH will be in the house with me all day (then I won't have to tend the woodstove! Yay!)

This week our local chain pharmacy is having a sale on Christmas paraphenalia. They inserted a grocery bag in the newspaper: "Fill this bag and get 20% off everything inside". What a deal!!! I need more lights, some pine garland, Christmas cards, candy, maybe I'll even find a gift or two. So off I go........oh, that bag was filled all right! Brimming over the top. A feeling of triumph and satisfaction overtook me! (Usually, the pharmacy is out of everything I'm looking for when they have these sales). I got it all!!

Proudly and somewhat smug, I put the bag on the counter for check-out. The cashier immediately tells me: "You know the 20% doesn't apply to items already on sale". Why no. I didn't know that. I suppose everything I have is on sale....yeah, I think everything I have is on sale.

"Well, let's see how it rings up", she says. "Sale; sale; sale; sale......" On and on it goes. But, it turns out, everything in the bag was at 50% off!!! Hurray!! And we all know from elementary school math class that 50% is much more than 20%!!! Now I'm doing the happy dance in my head!! So, I said to her: "I think I made out better!" She whole-heartedly agreed: "You certainly did!"

When I got home, I relayed this episode to BH. "Wow! Good job!", he says. "Yeah, well you can take this stupid brown bag with the '20% off' written all over it and use it in the woodstove", was my final comment on the subject.

Take that, Pharmacy that thinks you can dupe people into thinking 20% off full price (3x the price of a big-box store) is some kind of a deal!

You don't know who you're messin' with!!

Moving Along.........

2011-11-18T07:28:00.000-06:00

Yep. Defrosted the freezer yesterday; just the upright. The chest never seems to accumulate much ice, so that'll be done next Spring. Now to get all the stuff transferred back.

Well today is supposed to be 39 degrees. I'm thinking we should get the Christmas lights up outside. Do the deck railing, over the door, cut boughs from our pines for the top railing of the deck and whatever else I get inspired to do. This means going over to the storage house and digging out the tote with the lights. Not an easy task. Although the Christmas decorating totes are stacked in one spot, there is a mountain of crap in the way....that will need to be moved to access the specified totes. Because I never did get over to the storage house to clean it out and re-organize. Oh I know where everything is (for the most part), it just takes some military planning to get at it! Anyway, that's the plan for today. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of tackling the bathroom. Get it scrubbed. Then I am truly done!!

The weather people are calling for our first significant snowfall of the season on Saturday. 2-5"s. This'll be interesting. Monday is barber day for BH. Yep, I cut his hair; have been for 20 years. He needs his "holiday haircut". Tuesday will be regular housecleaning; Wednesday, baking and preparing for Thursday. Then the weekend will probably entail more cooking and entertaining. Sunday, everyone will go home; we need to take daughter back home. And Monday, the planning begins for the next 3 weeks to come. Thankfully, I can do this while sitting in the recliner, cup of coffee, TV shows, and notepad on my lap. I will seriously need that recliner.

How's By You?..........

2011-11-17T07:41:00.000-06:00

So yesterday we took the jaunt into town. Picked up 2 - 20# bags of rock salt, 2-40# of black oil sunflower seeds for the chickadees, a 15-roll pack of paper towels, a new battery for the house phone, son's Christmas gift, and some odds and ends. Now I have 2 people taken care of on the Christmas list. This makes me very happy. We know what the others are getting, but that won't be done till next month. The budget, you know.

Then we went grocery shopping for the Thanksgiving feast. The store had a sale on turkeys -- you paid per pound according to how much you spent. Hence, I got a 24 1/2 bird for ------- 39 cents a pound!!!! That's right -- $9.55 for the bird! Of course, you had to spend $100.00 or more. Hey, it's the holiday meal, no problem! Some of the groceries were everyday meal items too. So we're set for the next 2 weeks or so.

And it was cold yesterday! Yikes! The high was 27 degrees (I really wish the keyboard had "cents" and "degree" symbol). The wind was pretty strong, too. So it felt like 14 degrees! Then it started to snow. A light, but blowing snow. Didn't accumulate, thank goodness. I need a few days of local traveling on snow covered roads before I have to venture onto highways for long distance. Gotta get my "snow feet" settled in.

After next week I have to get started on a couple of gifts to crochet -- slipper booties. It's been a standing joke with my daughter in law in NY; has been for about 6 years now. I told her she's in the "Slipper Booties of the Year Club"; 2 pair every Christmas. I made 2 pair for my son last year also. Wasn't sure if he would like or wear them, but he did --- as well as the grandson. He immediately took 1 pair for himself. So, we'll see how much time and stamina I have this year, maybe whip up 4 more pair.

Also hoping to get the gifts accumulated boxed and wrapped. I'd like to get a jump on it so it doesn't have to be done all at once - like the day before packages have to be in the mail.

I'm thinking of defrosting the freezer today. Oh, I got all the seasonal housecleaning done!! Except for the bathroom, but that won't take long. Yeah, so, I need to get that freezer done and re-organized. Before the baking begins. What's that? Defrost the freezer? Well, yes. It's about 50 years old, bought at an auction 18 years ago. And still going strong. Thank God. Because it weighs a ton. If it ever quits, it's going to take an Amish village to move it outta here. Oh, and that's not all. We have another one; purchased 17 years ago. It has the sticker on the inside of the top "International Harvester, 1950". Yeah. 2 monster freezers. Sitting side by side. One is an upright, the other a chest. Both weigh a ton each. That's empty. But there's food inside them. The upright is the "everyday-go-to" and the chest is for "stocking up". Right now everything is helter-skelter. Need to be organized. Will do. I hope.

We got the storm windows up Tuesday night. I scrubbed the metal frames clean on them. After 20 years, the gunk that accumulated was disgusting. Blaahhhgg. Now they're all shiny and clean. BH washed the windows after the scrubbing. He prides his window washing abilities. So I think that's it. We're now officially ready for winter. Bring it on! But....not too much til after all the long distance shopping is completed, I hope.

Still plying the denim blue singles. On the 4th bobbin of plied. Looks like I should wind up with 6, maybe 7+ bobbins of yarn, approximately 3 1/2 ounces each. That's a good thing. Of course, all this playing around will take a back seat in a couple of weeks. The wheels will sit idle til Christmas week, if not after. That makes me sad. Makes my fingers itch. Gives me the heebie jeebies.

Well that's enough fodder for today. Hope you all have a great day, great weather and accomplish all you set out to do.

Catching Up.........

2011-11-15T11:35:00.000-06:00

So, I had a bunch of stuff to do today. Futzie stuff. First let me share this with you - our first snowfall! BH saw it first when it became light outside. It was still snowing; that soft, straight down, big flakes snow. I call it "Rocky Mountain" snow. Beautiful. I started singing the "Sleigh Bells" song. You know, "just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling, ting, ting, ting-a-ling too. Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you........" (I wish I could insert musical notes here).

My day started with spinning at 5:00am. Til 6:15. Then it was check email for pictures my sister has been trying to send me for 2 days. Pictures I need to send to future daughter-in-law. Finally they came through. So I add them to my FB page because I have a whole album there of my parents that f.d.-i-l. wants for a project.

Now I want to send the whole thing through email (she doesn't have, doesn't want, a FB page). Okey dokey, then. That took a good hour and a half. Apparently, you can't send FB albums by email. I had to do all sorts of configuring, moving it here and there, until finally got it to go. What the hell is up with that??? Any moron or psycho can hack into your FB page, put you can't send a damn album by email??!! Agrivating, to say the least. Yeah --- geniuses!!

Moving on........next make the bed, put dishes away from the dish drain, get dressed, make breakfast, wash up the dishes.

BH: "what are your plans today?" ME: "I think I'm going to putz around with wool. I gotta block and press the shawl, wash the burgundy socks and I'm going to try to get whatever those dark spots are in the white tam out. I bought some new stain remover".

He's bringing in wood, feeding the birds, getting the mail, bringing over the storm windows. We plan on putting those up tonight. He washes all the windows for me. Nice, huh? Very!

Back to my plans........so I did exactly what I said. Only now I had to pull a lot of stuff out of the closet to get to my storage bins to put the shawl away and get out the tam. If you could see how much stuff is stored in that closet, yeah. You'd walk away, too. But I persevered.

The discoloration in the tam did not come out. I am pissed. Now I'm thinking it was already in the wool, I just didn't see it when spinning and knitting. And I don't remember anything I did that would cause the stains. I've tried everything: oxy stain remover, White Brite (which whitened up the wool, but didn't touch the stains!), the new Tide stain remover. I even went so far as to put Soft Scrub on the stains (I know. I know. That's liquid bleach!). It didn't harm the wool (thank God), but it didn't....remove.....the....stains.....either. I give up. It is what it is. I'm afraid to dye it because I think the stains will come out darker than the rest of the hat. Aaaarrrrggghhhh!!! Crap.

I may have to knit another tam. Which I'm trying to avoid. Because it has beads. Beads that were added while knitting. I didn't care for that process, and really not looking forward to doing it again! I prefer adding the beads to the singles as I spin.

Anywho, here's the shawl after blocking and pressing the points: (Beads added while spinning)

It measures 58" across the top and 33" long to the center point. I'm happy with it; it turned out ok for my first attempt at a triangular shawl.

So I put all the paraphenalia away, wiped up my messes, laid out socks and tam to dry. I think I'll go sit and knit a while. Ohhh wait a minute!!............there's a mess in the family room. Wood crumbs all over the floor. Crap!!! Get out the electric sweeper and clean it all up --- from one end to the other. Aaaarrggghhh!

Well, I guess I will try to get some knitting in until nap time. I could really use a nap today. Tomorrow we're going into town (57 miles one way) to pick up a Christmas present that is on sale, then to the BIG grocery store for Thanksgiving shopping. I heard a joke on "Ellen" yesterday. She asked her guest "so what're you making for Thanksgiving?" And the guest said "RESERVATIONS!!". Although that was pretty funny, that's something I dream about saying every year.......and that's no joke !!

You all have a great day!

Some Photos..........

2011-11-14T18:50:00.003-06:00

The Targhee roving; "Indian Corn"

The colors don't show up as dark as they are in the roving photo. This is really nice roving. Going to be plied with copper color (yet to be spun) and navy blue singles.

The blues. Merino in the middle; Romney(?)/Columbia on the two ends. Working on plying this now; got 8 bobbins of singles. Hoping for a sweater with 5 bobbins of 3 ply of similar colored blue.

3-ply yarn, first bobbin of those above. Color above is truer - light denim blue. Damn camera.

These socks are soooo soft and squishy! Waffle patterning; I think it's more of the Columbia/Romney wool. (I gotta do a better job of tagging my wools).

UFO; hand dyed, painted Merino, both the mint green and white. So soft! Barred Rib is the pattern.

Apples from our tree; dehydrated. Turned out very well --- according to BH and son --and his bunny!

Still haven't gotten the black shawl w/beads pressed yet; hopefully before the week is out.
That's all for now.

I LOVE Vincent D'Onofrio!!.........

2011-11-12T07:18:00.000-06:00

There, I said it. I've been wanting to say it for a very long time. BH knows it; he's cool with it. He affords me my Saturdays for the "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" marathon. 9:00am to 5 or 6 pm. Depending if there's some sports thingy. Or the station decides to air "The Unit". Geezz. Really??? You put that on instead of another hour of Vincent? Unbelieveable.

Anywho, I try never to make plans on Saturday, especially to be out of the house. Yes, there were the craft shows last week, but that was kind of my way of saying "I do not have a L&O: C I addiction. I can give it up any time". Secretly, I missed it; thought about it all day. What episode was I missing, was it one of my favorites? Can I make it through the rest of the day not hearing his voice and seeing his face? I had to shut my mind off from it completely - I can handle it.

I admit that this might be getting out of control. I now find myself perusing Netflix to see if there's any movies with Vincent that I might have missed. I did find one recently. Oh yeah. It's on my list. Coming here soon. A couple months ago, son was telling me about a movie I never heard of. About an Irish gangster in Ohio. He never heard of the lead actor; I never heard of him. Son started telling me all the actors in the movie. As soon as he said "Vincent D'Onofrio", I said "that's it; I'm sold; don't go any further; I LOVE that guy!" And I ordered the movie. It came in a couple of days and BH and I watched it immediately. It didn't disappoint! I still never heard of or saw most of the actors in it. Who cares.

And it doesn't bother me that he's gotten older, more grey, a bit heavier (haven't we all!). It's all so appealing! He's brash, rough-around-the-edges, no-nonsense.

Unfortunately (and this is heartbreaking), I can only watch the show's repeats. We don't have cable, so I can't tune into the new episodes (if they're even still playing) on the cable network. Damn. I keep trying to convince BH that we should get cable -- you know, for the Yankee's baseball games, boxing matches, old movies. He isn't buying it yet; but I'm not giving up. Still, I can handle this; it's not a problem.

Not to sound fickle, but I LOVE Tom Selleck too! I'm addicted to "Blue Bloods". And, of course, the "Jesse Stone" movies. I've loved him since "Magnum P.I". Oh yeah, he was younger; I was younger. He lived a lifestyle I could only dream about. He was a ladies man. I didn't care. But now that we've both gotten ~~older~~ better, there's just something about his mature, suave, handsome persona that makes my heart flutter. Totally, the other end of the spectrum. So Friday night, at 8:00pm CT, no one calls, no one visits. No one better! I will not be denied! It's my hour to escape, to dream, to...........never mind.

Sometimes BH and I get on the subject of what I will do after he has passed away. It's not as morbid as it sounds. We talk of finances, where I would live, what I would do with my life. And he always brings up "yeah, you'll probably find yourself a big, rich woodsman to marry; you'll forget about me". To which I reply: "Ohhhhh Noooo. No more men for me. I've had enough. No one could take your place; I wouldn't want anyone else. I will live my life alone and stay busy with the kids and grandkids".

But, that's unless I hear from Vincent or Tom, which I don't tell BH. It'll just be my little secret. Right now I'm hearing the song "To Dream the Impossible Dream......" Great. That'll be stuck in my head all day!

Ehhh.....My Bad.........

2011-11-08T07:23:00.001-06:00

So, we met with daughter's Social Security rep yesterday. I was ready.....boy, was I ready. I had every piece of documentation and more. We sat down, she started to explain to daughter the reason for the re-certification, and started about why she couldn't talk to me. Here's were I stopped her.......

"yeah, about that....I called the main SS office and talked with Mr.--------. He said my name is indeed listed as person to share info with. He told me to tell you it's Special Message #2. It's been there since 2007."   To which she responded.....

"Yes, well, that's just a calling center."   WHAAATTTT??!! Against my better judgement and rising blood pressure, I immediately shut down; took it down a few notches. And started listening.

She did this and that, asked some questions, plunked away on her calculator, noticed discrepancies in daughter's SS record. Things that were never changed in her behalf, things that were never explored previously.

It turned out all was good. Daughter will be well taken care of for the rest of her life ----- or until the government really screws it up. We came away very satisfied and happy that all is well. The rep was a very nice and examined everything thoroughly. I felt like a dufus; I was embarrassed by my previous thoughts and voice. But I thanked her sincerely and shook her hand as we left. And I hope this is a lesson I will remember.

Now, about crafters: (I'll try to be nice here, remembering my "lesson")

When I decided to get into crafting, it was not to become a millionaire. I was sick of seeing things I really loved, only to realize that I couldn't afford the price. I am innovative, creative -- I know the costs of supplies; I knew I could do better for others who felt like me.

So I sallied forth. Mostly creating my own designs, sometimes tweaking an object that appealed to me. I took great care in all I made. I put a lot of detail in my work; I asked a fair price.   I had great success over the years. A lady who sold my crafts on consignment once told me my prices were too low, I should increase them. I explained to her that I know what it costs to make a piece, I add a profit for myself, and that's it. If something is fairly priced, I can make more money by volume, quality and variety than by pricing an object that only a few can afford. My goal was to appeal to the masses.

And I did so for 10 years. That's why I have a problem with those who think they can just throw any thing together, call it a craft and put a Macy's price tag on it. No thought, no quality, no detail. There is no "craft" in the process.

When someone says "you couldn't afford what it would cost for me to make this for you", I cringe. Or how about "well, my supplies costs $x, and then I add my time multiplied by the hourly rate." Whoa!!

For me, crafting has always been a love, a passion. Something I wanted to share with others who sincerely appreciated the quality of my work; who became repeat customers, who recommended my products to others.

The beautiful comments I received about my work, diversity and detail is something I couldn't put a price on. Don't get me wrong --- I didn't short change myself.  The money made was very satisfactory to me and I had a lot of pride in knowing customers went away knowing they had something beautiful and they could afford it, it was fair.   It was a craft .

So that's my diatribe.  I decided to give up creating decorative objects and concentrate on spinning and knitting. So what I create, I plan to sell.  Right now I'm trying to stock up until the inventory is sufficient. Hopefully, next year. But if not then, I'll keep on with this passion that has taken over and I'm loving every minute of it. Maybe the time will come when it'll all just be given away. But the love that was put into every piece will fill my heart, if not my coffers.

And there you have it. Wishing you all a beautiful, peaceful day. And may you love whatever you're doing because it brings you happiness.

Craft Show Update........

2011-11-06T09:37:00.001-06:00

Thank you Denise and Judy for your nice comments. So here's what I have to report:

Yep. Just as I thought. In some cases, worse. Our school show has been reduced to a handfull of crafters; the rest were "Home Party" reps - candles, spices, jewelry and home decor. There were a couple knit wear booths; Mostly baby and toddler items, because they can be knitted up quickly. Plain stitches; no designs, no colorwork, no imagination. (I'm sorry this sounds rude; I'll explain later).

There was a couple of piecework booths. I say "piecework" because though the item was created from a quilt pattern, there was no quilting done! The pattern blocks were sewn together and that was it. Oh the front and back were sandwiched with batting and a border added for the finishing. No quilting!! But quilted prices!!

There were a couple of floral design booths, very pretty, but outrageous prices! Moving on........

And, I guess the big craft this year is felted mittens. Not knitted and felted. But made from wool sweaters that are felted and cut from a mitten pattern and sewn together with a felted liner made the same way. Some had a hand-whipped blanket stitch around the opening. Yeah. They were kind of nice. If you weren't a knitter, didn't know wool, never designed and felted your own fabric. Mmeeoorrww...pssst....psssst. Sorry.

Anywho, it wasn't until the 4th and final craft show that my heart went "ZING"! Now this was a Craft Show!!! Oh yeah, there were a couple of "Home Party" people, but just a couple. The whole church hall was packed with crafters and shoppers. Just like the old days! I was like a kid in a toy store at Christmas. And I bought a couple of handmade pottery pieces, a huge covered casserole dish (for moi) and a pedestal cake plate for son's fiance, for Christmas. Beautiful work!

I had intended on going back to the quilt vendor (place mats, table runners, pot holders) and the floral vendor (a railroad lantern w/miniture lites inside and surronded by winter florals - gorgeous!), but the pottery lady and I started talking. She and her husband are retired art teachers. I told her I was a spinner and knitter. She asked me if I've been to The Tin Shack in Isle. "No! No, I haven't, but I've heard about it". "Oh, you would love it", she says. "She sells her own wool; all her sheep have names; she's a very friendly, talkative person. You and her could talk for hours! Besides, she's having a sale today".
I immediately forgot there were any other vendors there. This lady had just hung a carrot on a stick in front of this donkey's face!

Well, alrighty then!! BH says "let's go out there". Hey, I'm already there!!
Off we go. I had a general idea where it was; the sign said "Isle 35 miles". Ehhh, more like 50, but who's counting when there's a wool shop I haven't been to, and there's a sale!!

What a nice proprietor!! What a cute little shop! And yes, we did talk.....and talk......and talk. Definitely on my "go back" list.

So what started out to be a bummer turned into an exciting, gratifying day! Next year we'll only be attending 1 craft show........and a very special fiber store!!

I will explain my rant on crafters in the next post. Right now I've got a bunch of things to get done. Time is short today.

You all have a beautiful, peaceful weekend!

Oh Yeah, Baby!!.............

2011-11-05T07:37:00.001-05:00

Ok, this is a "gold star" moment...I got the utility room cleaned!! A big "Yay"!! Yep. Scrubbed. Ceiling, walls, storage cabinets, shelves (even took all the stuff off, wiped everything), bookcase (did not remove the all the books....5 shelves x 20 mostly hard-cover....I'm not that crazy); removed and washed the window screens, washed the window, wiped all the katchki's hanging on the walls and even moved out the dryer, washing it down, wiping up the floor, washing off the vent hose. Hung the new blind, ironed the curtains and hung them (they were washed a few weeks ago in anticipation).

Alrighty then. And so my reward is.....today we're touring around a few towns for the annual "Deer Hunting Opener Craft Shows". Yep. It's a big thing here. As big as 4th of July celebrations. The idea is, the men go hunting, the women go shopping. Every townhall, school gym and church hall is transformed into a Crafter's Marketplace. This should be fun.

It used to be that our school was the only one to have a craft show on the hunting opener. That was some 30 years ago. I got into it about 18 years ago, shortly after we moved to Minnesota. I did it for about 10 years. It was fantastic! We had shoppers coming from the Twin Cities, Duluth, Wisonsin, and all points N.E.W.S in our state.

Then it seemed like every town started to jump on the bandwagon. It didn't matter that other places had 3 or 4 craft shows a year, some even a couple of weeks or a couple of months after the Hunter's Opener. They saw the opportunity and took it. Competition became fierce.

Our big buyers began to drop off, and in a town of only 400 people, minimum wage or less, that was a big hit to some of the "big ticket" items. People who haven't made a "craft" since summer camp began to make stuff to sell. And I do mean "stuff"!! Like from the latest craft magazine. Imagine 20 crafters all selling the same "hot" craft item for the year! Ridiculous. And, of course, started the pre-made, mass-market people. They bought their China-made knick-knacks wholesale and sold them at "Craft Shows". WTF!! Then there was the invasion of the Avon, Mary Kay, Watkins and the Fuller Brush reps. That's when I quit. C'est le vie! This was no longer a "Craft Show". Serious, conscientious, original, detailed,truly creative crafters were pushed aside.

So today we will peruse the market places. I want to see what is passing for crafts these days and what prices are. I'm curious. I also need a good laugh and a "tch, tch, tch" head shaking. Maybe I'll be surprised. That would be great. I will have a few bucks in my wallet, just in case.

Ehhhh.......No Thanks..........

2011-11-03T08:33:00.001-05:00

Ehhh. Yeah. So I went to the NaBloPoMo website, perused a bit, and signed up. Went back and perused more, reading thoroughly (as much as my brain would allow), checked different links. Ummm......nah. Never mind. Too much work. I don't like contests; I don't like "chats"; I really don't have time for all that fiddlin' around. Not for me.

So that's the end of that venture.

Anywho, we never made it to the recycling center yesterday because a pressing issue came up Tuesday night. My handicapped daughter called to say she got a phone message from Social Security, informing her she missed her appointment Monday; they've been trying to reach her numerous times; and unless she contacts them in the next 2 days, her benefits will be terminated.

Holy Shit!! Now my blood is starting to boil; my stomach is doing flips; I am pissed! Daughter is very upset, to say the least. She tells me there has never been missed calls from them; she checks her caller ID every day, even if the light's not blinking. They said they sent her a letter about the appointment; she doesn't remember receiving a letter. "Ok. I'll call them tomorrow and get this straightened out", says I.

Daughter calls me back a bit later. She found the letter. Yep. Dated Oct. 6; scheduled appointment for Oct. 31. Aaarrrrgggghhhh. I never received a copy of the letter, which I am supposed to get copies of anything sent to her.

So, I begin the foray of contacting SS and arranging for another appointment, and finding out what it's all about and what she needs to do.

After many attempts to reach the office - phone number that rings and turns into a FAX machine whistle and excessive pinging; automated recordings that have nothing to do with what I'm calling about and give me no other options; an extension number for the contact person, that, when her phone is answered on the other end, suddenly disconnects; and when I do get through, it's her voice mail.

So I leave a message, hoping she'll return my call within a half hour. Hehehehe!!! Never happened. At 1:00, I call again. She answers. Hear the "Halleluja Chorus"???? So I start to explain the situation, telling her that I am the mother, I'm listed as the contact/share info person. After a few seconds of her checking my daughter's account, SS woman tells me I am not listed.

And here we go:
"I have been her contact person for many, many years. How did I get unlisted?"
SS rep: "Well, we've changed systems and there are new rules that now apply"

ME: "But I still receive a copy of her monthly benefits statement every month"
SS rep: "It's probably a glitch in the computer system. The only way you can be re-instated as the contact person is you would have to apply to be her "Payee".

ME: "No. no. no. no. I have NEVER been her Payee. She's been on SSI for many, many years. I don't understand why this is such a big problem now!"

(Ok. Take it down a notch. You're speaking with a govenment rep who has the power to screw up your daughter's life.)

ME: "So what do we do? Can we schedule another appointment? What does she need to bring in?"
SS rep: "Yes, we'll reschedule. You can come in with your daughter. She will have to bring in 2 years of xyz and 1 month of abc."

Done. Rescheduled. But I'm not through. Later that afternoon I try to call back to speak with a supervisor. Of course. Automated recordings; none of my subject; "I'm sorry. I cannot understand what you are asking for. Perhaps if I list the categories......." (automated recording). And there is a waiting time of 20 minutes before a rep may answer. I try the main phone number. I just want to ask a question. "Enter your SS number".......I hang up. I'm shaking with rage.

I go to the website. After much bally-who, I finally find that the main office is open at 7:00am. Ah Ha!!! That's the ticket. I will be calling at 7:01!! And I did. I got a very, very nice and apologetic rep. He found it immediately. I AM listed as a contact person, and have been since 2007. How do I tell this woman at our SS office how to find this information? He gives me the "special message" number and section where it's located. "It's right there", he tells me.

Haaalllleeeeluja! Haaallleeeluja!!! Thank you! Thank you! He was soooo helpful, answered a few more questions, gave me some other information. But he apologized -- for the threatening phone call daughter received, and for the local rep's carelessness. He apologized! You know, sometimes that's all you need to feel vindicated; to feel human again.

So, come Monday morning, I will have all my ducks in a row, all the information required, the inside scoop. I will be loaded for bear! And there might even be a request to speak with the Supervisor. Oh yeah. I will get my 2 pounds of flesh!

I'm thorough that way. Haaalllleeejjjuaaa!!!

NaBloPoMo.......What????.........

2011-11-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

So I've been seeing this on everyone's blog: NaBloPoMo (did I get that right?) I had no idea what the heck this meant. It took me several blog sites to finally see what the hub-bub was about. Oooohhhh. Ok. I'm game. I guess we're supposed to blog every day for the month.

Ok. I've just finished writing out some bills; gathered the rest which will have to be paid next week. Because for #1: we had to order propane last week. Usually get 200 gallons; it lasts us 2 years! But this time it had to be only 100 gallons...because.....it's $2.64 a gallon!!   Of course, BH has to remind me that when we first bought the house, 20 years ago, we were paying $.78 a gallon. That's seventy-eight cents. What the Hell!!! Oh, and then there's the separate bill from the propane company for the service call.....when I thought I smelled gas.....yeah. $85.00....to tell me my imagination was getting away with me. Well, it's cheaper than a psychologist to tell me that, so I guess I came out on top on this one.

Oh. And #2: I get my first Social Security check next week!!! Yahooooo!!! Big money, big money!!! Ehhhh, yeah. That should be enough to pay the rest of the bills. I hope there's money left over for Thanksgiving grocery shopping.   No. Really. Thank God the freezer is full; won't need any groceries til then. And we don't mind eating leftovers.....and more leftovers.

We're taking a trip today....to the aluminum recycling center. BH has 4 big bags of cans and stuff. They're paying $.52 per pound. Hey, every little bit helps! Maybe it'll be enough to cover the gas we'll use to get there....50 miles .....one way. BH's thought is that he's getting rid of them; making room in the basement.....for more wood. Okey dokey, then. Whatever floats your boat.

Let's see....what else is going on.......nothing. More spinning, of course. And knitting. I did take some pictures yesterday; want to take more before I post them.   Soon........pretty soon.

You all have a great day! And remember: NaBloPoMo!

Not Exactly.........

2011-11-01T06:14:00.000-05:00

Well we had a good time at the casino. We were there a little over an hour. No big money. No surprise. But......I got my free card swipe; you could win $5 - $500. Pick 1 of 4 pumpkins; I picked #4. $100!! That's right. I won $100!! BH won $5.00. That's five dollars. Hehehehe.

And the best part ---- I didn't spend a dime of it in the casino! Walked out with my money. I did, however, have $15.00 in free play coupons. Oh yeah. That I played the slots with. Their money; not mine. It did cost me $2.00 though. You have to put a dollar in the machine to activate your free money! I messed up the first time and had to put another dollar in. Thank goodness I had 2 bucks on me!!

So on the way home, we stopped for gas: $20.00
Then I had to buy coffee on sale at a discount store, $8.00 a can x 3 cans: $24.00
And pick up a couple of things at the grocery store: $19.00

My net winnings: $37.00. Easy come; easy go. I'm putting that away for the next trip. Afterall, it's still their money!

Housework Be Damned!...........

2011-10-31T07:49:00.000-05:00

You can probably figure out what that's all about. This is going to be my new mantra. Actually, it's always been my mantra. I'm admitting it to all the world right now. Yeah. Didn't do it. I did manage to thoroughly clean through the place on Thursday. That felt really good. But that's it.

I did finish spinning the navy blue merino. Then started on 8 oz. of painted roving - Targhee. Never spun Targhee before. Despite that it felt kind of felted as I was stripping it apart, rolling the strips into coils, it drafts and spins beautifully. Nice and soft. And the colors!! Omg!! It's called "Indian Corn"; deep red, orange, peach, navy blue, dark teal and brown. I have a project in mind for the yarn when it's done.....when it's done .....

I'm going to ply it with the navy blue and a copper that I recently purchased. Gotta spin the copper. Hope to get pictures posted sometime this week.

My 2 shades of blue still need to be plied; 8 bobbins full. I think I'm going to attempt a sweater with a white Norwegian design across the chest and shoulders. Never done that before, but I love the designs.

I washed the poncho, the black shawl and a pair of socks. Had the shawl all pinned and blocked. Going to take a picture. Then son is coming up for fishing. Had to fold it up and put it away. It was laid out in the spare bedroom. I will get pictures this week.

Yesterday I got off my arse and made 2 chicken pot pies. One for supper; one for the freezer. The freezers are getting well stocked. Nothing makes me happier than thinking "what to have for supper? Let's see what I can pull out of the freezer". Love it!!

Today BH and I are going to the casino! I have birthday coupons for free plays and gifts! He says we won't spend any money, just use the free dollars worth the casino is giving us. Yeah. We'll see how that goes. Here's hoping we walk out with more than we walked in with!

Son from the Cities and his friend were supposed to come up for fishing this past weekend. Didn't happen. His company was moving to a new building and everyone was helping. Plus both he and friend's finances were stretched somewhat; so they decided it was undoable. But we didn't get a phone call on Friday or Saturday morning informing us of such. And I didn't call to find out if they were coming up or not. I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped for the best. I have not been in the mood for entertaining for quite some time now.

So that's the end of trout season for them. Try again next year.

Anywho, spinning for at least an hour every morning; got another pair of socks started; bed made, dishes done, laundry put away, garbage wrapped up to be taken out. Some breakfast, get dressed, gather up my coupons and we're off. Just for a couple of hours; we won't spend any of our money. And hopefully come home with a bundle!! A girl can dream!!

Hope everyone has a great day. Happy Halloween!!

New Beginnings.........

2011-10-24T07:50:00.000-05:00

It's the beginning of a new week. Not to be deterred by forces beyond my control, new plans are in order. Well, not new plans. More like replanning what took a detour last week.

Because of BH's injury last Monday, my schedule of things to get done --- didn't. I spent the week keeping him company and waiting on him. As of yesterday, though, he's been up and about. Not too much, just what he can endure.

Saturday I put on a big pot of chili. Turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so. Cleaned the coffee pot ( you know - the vinegar and baking soda thing), changed the bed linens and straightened up the house. Oh. I also had to go get a couple of boxes of firewood and bring it in the house. And take out the accumulated recyclables to the storage boxes. Not my regular jobs. Of which I informed BH: "I don't like doing your jobs; I don't like going outside; I don't like 'messy' things to do; I have enough of my own work to do". I did say it with a smile on my face and a chuckle in my voice. Seriously, a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.

Oh yeah. Son who was coming up for fishing this past weekend (and unknown to him, the aforementioned "man's work", wound up with some health problems and a doctor's appointment. Remember --- "it's always something". So a call was placed to other son who lives up here. Set to come out Saturday and take care of the firewood for us. But ---- no show. He called yesterday to say that he's been down with some bug for a few days. "It's always something". Gotta get a t-shirt made with that slogan.

Yesterday it rained most of the day. BH was taking his hike around the house. Ever so slowly and with much caution. Hanging onto walls and furniture. But he did ok. He even managed to sit at the dining room table for breakfast, which hasn't been done in almost a week.

Anywho, took the free time to scrub out the refrigerator and freezer. Took all the drawers and shelves out, washed everything, threw away questionable condiments. Then I made a pan of apple crisp; went to the store for a couple of things; made BBQ pork chops, boiled potatoes, green beans and applesauce for supper. Yum! Did up the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen and we settled in to watch the mystery series on PBS. Nobody does mysteries like the British!! I try never to miss one.

Today, on the agenda --- I'm seriously going to attempt to get the utility room scrubbed. I've gotta get back to the Fall cleaning. This is my last big, laborious room to do. Then it's just the hallway, bathroom and small guest/wool room. Oh, and then to go back and do regular cleaning in all the other rooms that haven't been touched since they were power scrubbed some weeks ago. Dust? Oh yeah!

I'm still working on the navy blue merino. Thought I had just a couple of ounces to finish spinning last week. Then, low and behold, I found another 4 ounces that had been set aside. Crap. So I try to get an hour and a half at the wheel each morning.

Then there's the burgundy socks. I finished one using a complementary burgundy/grey for the heel and toe. Ah, but I put the toe stitches on holders. I've learned this lesson some time ago. So, onto the second sock. Get to the heel, start with the bur/grey, and realize that the heel is way too thick. I really don't like this yarn. Plus, I don't think there's enough of it to complete the heel and toe. Crap. Rip. Yep. Rip the first sock too. Continue with just the burgundy for the whole sock - both of them. So the one that was done is on stitch holders at the leg, and continuing on the second sock ---- which will now be the first sock to be done.

The poncho, shawl and another pair of socks are still sitting on the coffee table, waiting to be washed. Maybe next week. After the house cleaning is done. Hehehehe.

It's Always Something........

2011-10-19T07:10:00.002-05:00

"As my father always used to say: Roseanne Rosanna Danna, it's always something".........Gilda Radner character on Saturday Night Live

Thinking of that character and the skit cracks me up every time. I even repeat it when things around here get nuts! And nuts they are.

Monday was the day I planned on getting back to the housecleaning. And I did. Worked on the kitchen all day. Scrubbed the ceiling, walls, countertop tiles, cupboards. Moved out the fridge and stove, cleaned behind them, washed them both down. Washed the curtain and odds and ends.

The stove was the last to be moved because.......it's the worst. Never know what I'm going to find back there and what spills have accumulated down the sides of the thing. I have to muster up some courage.

Not too bad, actually. Being that I just did this last Summer, not bad. So all washed, I proceed to wiping up the floor behind it. Wait a minute.....there's a strange smell. I'm sniffing all around like a hound dog on the scent. Aha....it's coming from the connection of the gas pipe into the stove. A very small whiff of gas. Sniffing down the gas line, the in-house connection.....definitely coming from the stove. Panic.

Go explain the situation to BH. He never panics. Everything is ok; don't worry; what're you going to do about it; where's the money coming from......yada, yada, yada. Surprisingly, he was very supportive. "well call the gas company if it'll make you feel comfortable". And so I did.

Well, the tech can't come out until Tuesday. What should I do in the meantime...the stove is sitting in the middle of the kitchen. "Is there a shut-off valve?" Yes there is. "Go ahead and turn off the valve". Okey dokey.

He came out yesterday afternoon. Checked everything. Took the whole oven apart, saying sometimes the oven valve doesn't close all the way when you turn the oven off. Nothing. No leaks. Checked all the connections, using his handy-dandy soap mixture. Explaining that any leak would cause the soap mixture to turn black. Nothing. Well, that's a good thing. Except now I look like a nut job. I tell him the smell of gas makes me very nervous. Still don't know where the smell was coming from, but I will definitely stay alert.

Now I had planned on attacking the utility room Tuesday. That was put on hold. Another day that puts my plans behind. Ok. Ok. No problem. There's plenty of time.

So, finished with the kitchen, it's time to clean up and relax til supper. As I'm walking out the door to empty the cleaning bucket, I hear this crash. What the hell fell over? Look around the corner.......there's BH laying on his back on the kitchen floor. Stunned, dazed and a bit shocked. Oh my God! Oh my God! "I'm ok", he says. "My leg fell asleep but I thought it would be ok if I got up and walked. Just let me lay here for a minute. I think I twisted my ankle".

I got him up and into the family room, to the recliner, with much effort. He definitely was having a bad time walking. Within an hour, the ankle and foot are swollen 3x it's normal size. What's that? Take him to the doctor? Maybe even Urgent Care? ............Don't be silly!

He had a very uncomfortable night Monday. Yesterday he spent in the recliner, leg up, ice bags and ibuprophen. I went to the storage house and dug out the walker. So he used that to get to the bathroom. We'll see what today brings.

The background to this is he was diagnosed with polyneuropathy some 4 yrs ago. The sheathing around the nerves in his legs is disintegrating, leaving the nerves exposed. Doctor said it's like stripping the insulation from an electric cord and having the wires exposed. So sometimes the nerves don't make proper connections. All caused by his body producing too many antibodies. He underwent 6 months of plasma pheresis (using a dialysis machine). Did not work.

So for the past 6 months, there have been changes. He falls a lot more now. He also has a "dropped foot" as one of the effects; he has to remember to pick his foot up when walking, or he trips on his toes. And his hands shake a lot. He has to concentrate when picking something up...like a cup of coffee or dinner plate. It will shake right out of his hands.

I sat with him all day yesterday; helping him get to the bathroom, bringing food and drink, changing the ice bags, keeping the woodstove fired up. Today I'm going to attempt cleaning the utility room. Because it's off the family room and I can watch him and hear him from there. Wish me luck.

Son is coming up for fishing this weekend. So he thinks. Little does he know he's going to be enlisted to do some work outside. Bring more wood into the house, put the lawn furniture away and maybe start putting the hay down around the house.

Thursday I have to go into town for a meeting with daughter's helpers. I had planned on spending the day with her, doing a few things around her apartment. That ain't gonna happen. I'll have to get home as soon as possible. So.....that means another day will have to be set aside and another trip.

It's always something.........

Random Thoughts.......

2011-10-16T18:21:00.004-05:00

Friday, Oct 14:

***I've woke up at 4:00am; 3 1/2 hours of sleep. This is getting to be a regular occurance. Don't know why. So I spin for about 2 hours.

***Thursday I brought out the dehydrator, cleaned it up, washed the trays. It hasn't seen the light of day in....12 years or so(?) And proceeded to wash and prepare Gala apples. They were on sale this week. 10# for $10. I bought 5#s because my best intentions somehow get way-laid. Dried 5 of the 12 apples, because that's all that would fit on the trays. It amounted to a couple of handsful. I will do another 5 apples today.

***I made a huge soup pot full of beef/barley soup also on Thursday. 1/2 is now in the freezer.

***Today my plan is to make Chicken Chow Mein for supper, freezing 1/2 again. Maaaayybbeee......Apple Struedel. I also want to put all the fans away; A/C's went out some weeks ago. And bring out the winter clothes, put the summer ones away.

***Monday I will make a soup pot full of Chili. Same procedure.....1/2 for the freezer. I also want to get started on finishing the Fall cleaning. Nope. Haven't done it yet. Hopefully it won't turn into "Christmas" cleaning.

***I am now knitting the edging of the shawl. 6 more rows to go. And it's done. Then wash and block, along with the poncho and a pair of socks that have been patiently waiting for..... weeks.

***Just about done spinning the navy blue Merino. Maybe 3 oz. more to go. Intended to be plied with 2 shades of blue. But the more I look at it, and the blues, I'm thinking there's a painted roving that the navy could be better plied with and just do the 2 blues together.

***However, that requires spinning the painted roving. Which I'm really getting psyched about spinning. It's a beautiful coloration. It'll make great socks.

I had to put this post on hold Friday. Now it continues:

***I did not make the apple streudel. But I did make a pan of fudgey brownies with delicious chocolate buttercream frosting! Mmmmm.

***Did not put summer clothes away or bring out the winter ones.

***Not too sure about the Chili tomorrow. Maybe later in the week. Did do the Chicken Chow Mein, though. Leftovers tomorrow.

***Still working on the navy blue Merino. Getting there......

***BH worked on the car all yesterday. It quit on me when I went into town Wednesday. Luckily, across from our auto repair shop! Our very nice mechanic came over and jumped it; it started; "thank you so much" and off I went, on to the grocery store. But when I turned the corner, all the dash lights came on, blinking wildly, and the annoying "ding-ding-ding" of the seat belt alarm wouldn't quit. I turned around, went back to the repair shop and told him we better make an appointment. Thursday, 1:30. Came home, turned the car off, turned the key --- nothing. Deader than a doormouse (whatever that means). BH put the slow trickle charger on it for hours. Nada. Thursday he did it again for longer. 1:15 ---- nothing. Call the shop and cancel. We just might need a new battery.

***Today we took off for the big town, to the farm/feed/auto store (it's not the Cities!) and bought the battery. Tomorrow he will install it and hopefully we'll have our car again.

***I finished the shawl this afternoon. Just have to weave in the ends. It looks good! Can't wait to wash and block it. It will relax the lace pattern and probably be a lot bigger than it looks now.

***On to finishing the socks.........oh. yeah. Tomorrow is Monday. Back to Fall cleaning. Crap. Maybe something else will come up that will call for us to make another trip. Somewhere. To kill most of the day. And then I'll knit tomorrow night while watching "Castle". And reschedule for Tuesday.

Another Chapter Ends...........

2011-10-15T06:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday BH and I drove 40 miles to drop off his "fishing" car. A 1984 Olds Custom Cruiser station wagon; purchased 7 years ago for the purpose of....fishing. Something to throw the 12' row boat on top of the roof, load all the gear in the back and off he would go. This was his 3rd fishing vehicle over the past 20 years. Sadly, it's his last.

It also did double duty for hauling logs out of the woods. Stacked to the inside roof, back end just a few inches from the ground, BH would come home with a few weeks worth of wood to be cut and split, keeping us toasty warm during the unrelenting winter. So proud of himself! He's my Hero!

And then there was our son and grandson. When their car was laid up for one reason or another, or totally out of commission needing to be replaced, the 1984 wagon was loaned to them....sometimes for months....many times.

All it ever needed in the years we had it was a couple of tires and a battery. But then things started going wrong. Wipers no longer worked; radio, nada; brakes were questionable; A/C non-existent; 3 of the 4 windows no longer powered down. The interior was torn and tattered, dents on the body were showing signs of extreme rust, moulding was missing from many areas.

A few months ago, we had a serious discussion about selling the 14' motor boat and trailer. His fishing days have taken a nose-dive this past season, and I sensed that something was amiss. He hadn't hitched the motor boat up at all this past summer, and he finally admitted that it was getting to be a chore to put the row boat on top of the car, take it off, put it up and take it off again. I still don't know what the deal was with not wanting to hitch up the bigger boat. But some things are better left unknown!

Last week I heard him on the phone with son discussing the boat. When he got off the phone, he told me son's friend would give him $100 for the car. A few days later, BH tells me son's employer would give $150 for it. He intends to strip it down and sell for scrap metal. The deal was set.

So BH spent Wednesday and Thursday cleaning the old girl out, wiping down the interior (I had to turn away, lest he hear me chuckling when he told me this) and preparing it for the final ride.

We dropped it off; he removed the license plates, and said his final "thank you" for years of service and a last goodbye.

We talked of all the things she had done for us on the way home; how what we paid for her, spread out over the 7 years, had given us our money's worth many times over.

When we got home, I immediately called the insurance agent and had her delete it from our policy. The agent and I had a good laugh when I told her the car had finally given up the ghost. "Finally" was the word that gave us both belly laughs.

Now we'll see what next Spring has in store. It just may be that the motor boat/trailer are the next to go -- to be sold. And BH will be with me every day......all day. No getting away; no reprieve.

It will be the end of another chapter and the beginning of a new one......the 2 of us.....24/7.....all year. I wonder if I could interest him in joining some sort of Senior Citizen's group that goes on day trips.

Cancelling a Negative with a Positive........

2011-10-09T06:31:00.000-05:00

So, we didn't go to the Wisconsin Apple Fest. It was very windy (30+mph) and rain off and on. Besides which, I think I'm coming down with something; little sore throat, congestion, achy.

That's the negative.

While sitting, watching TV, BH says, "ya know, we should tell the kids we're going away more often; no phone ringing off the hook today".

It was peaceful and quiet. We had TV dinners for supper and watched "Gone With the Wind" in its entirety. Straight through......no phone interruptions.

And that's the positive.

Catching Up.............

2011-10-07T06:55:00.001-05:00

Omg, the weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! Buutttt........in the 80's??!! No. no. no. Not in the Fall, please! And so it is.

Last week I finally got all the yard work done. It took me 3 days to cut down the perennials, put the statues and lights away, empty and rinse the planters and finish the weedwhacking. 3 days! I used to be able to do all that in a day. C'est le vie.

Then there were the apples. About 30#s this year from our tree. Haralsons. So those were peeled, cored, sliced and frozen. 5 - 1 gal. freezer bags. A decent haul! There probably would've been 40#s, but the deer discovered them just as we were figuring picking would be by the end of the week. They caused us to move picking up a few days.

Last Saturday was my birthday. You know what that means. 4 more weeks and I start receiving the BIG MONEY!! I will officially be a "senior citizen on social security"; you know. The ones the government says are ruining the country. Me. A rebel. Who knew.

I was reading some topics in Ravelry and came upon a lot of spinners talking about "The Sheep Shed Studio" in Wyoming. So I went to the site. I was blown away!! I asked BH if I could order some wool; "of course!" he said (I knew he would!!) So I got 6#s; 2 chocolate brown; 2 copper; 2 black.
OMG! I love it!! And the price!! Can't beat the price. Plus I got a couple of ounces of something free; don't know what it is, but it is sooooo silky!! I'm going to email them and see if they can tell me what it is.

And to think... just last week I emtied out 2 storage containers, combining different wools into less of them. I was so proud of myself; I'm really making headway on my spinning! Good thing we didn't go to any Fiber Festivals this year. I can finally put a big dent in my supply. And now.....I had to fetch one of those recently freed containers and put the new roving into it. So I may never get all the stash spun up. But isn't it fun? Don't you just love opening containers and staring at the beautiful colors, feeling that wonderful stuff? Dreaming what the lovely yarn will make? Me too!!!

That was last Thursday. It was here on Monday. Couldn't wait to open the box. Oh Yeah!! This is going to be great. I'm thinking......sweaters, sweaters and more sweaters. I have to send them a nice "Thank You" note with a rave review.

Anyone interested should check them out. Also on Thursday I received a package from #1 son and DIL; an e reader!!! OMG!! And a gift card to Amazon.
So I spent 3 hours Friday morning setting it up and downloading some free books from Google. This is going to be lots of fun!

We came home yesterday afternoon after spending 2 days in Rochester. Had to take daughter for some tests. Everything turned out fine; she's ok. Thank God. However, Cha-Ching!!! Yeah. Another hiccup in the budget.

We've been planning to go to Bayfield, WI for the "Apple Fest" this weekend. First it was just going to be for the day. Last week I suggested that we go for a couple of days and do some camping. Especially since son from the cities was coming up for fishing and spend time with his son. They would have the weekend to themselves, staying at our house.

Well, some minor problems on his end put his plans on hold; and I'm not so sure about ours. First, it's supposed to rain all weekend, with thunderstorms and high winds. Next there's the "Cha-Ching" thing; then there's BH saying he thinks one night of camping, coming home on Sunday should be enough. He's worried about the money. I say "if the government can spend money they don't have, then so can we!!" We try to boost the economy, too!!!

Well, maybe he's right. I don't know. We'll figure it out today. There's always spinning to do, right? And what's wrong with that!

I started another pair of socks and another shawl. The shawl is v-shaped, starting at the neck and working down. The pattern is easy enough....after being ripped out 5 times! I think there's about 10" done, but moving along nicely. I'm using the black shetland w/ beads. Probably be done next......Fall.

Next week I'm planning on finishing the Fall housecleaning. No. Haven't gotten it done yet. Next week. For sure. Unless I can figure something else out. Like spinning. Maybe empty another container. Because, ya know, "The Sheep Shed Studio" has this green roving that I just might need.

Things........This is Fun!! C'mon, Join In......

2011-09-27T07:32:00.000-05:00

"kmkat and her kneedles" has posted lists of things: Do, Don't, When alone, When with her sweety....sounds like fun! Play along if you want to. Here we go.....

Things I Do Every Day:
1. Get out of bed
2. Get dressed
3. Thank God for another day
4. Think about what I'm going to do for the day
5. Watch the evening news
6. Eat (probably should be #1 or #2)
7. Nap

When I'm Home Alone: (one of my favorite movies, btw)
1. Wander around the house like I was just dropped into a castle....and it's all mine!
2. Enjoy the quiet!
3. Play rock n roll on the radio
4. Eat
5. Do odd jobs around the house
6. Putz in the gardens
7. Watch craft shows or mindless comedies
8. Nap

When BH and I are home together:
1. Play computer games
2. Watch movies
3. Eat
4. Talk.....about everything
5. Kiss him throughout the day
6. Enjoy each other
7. Nap

Things I don't do everyday:
1. Ditto on the shower
2. Ditto on washing hair
3. Change my clothes. Nothing wrong with wearing the same clothes to scruff around the house in for a few days
4. Laundry (due to #3)
5. Cook
6. Clean the house (I used to scrub, dust, vacuum 3x a week!!)

And a new catagorie: Things I don't do anymore:
1. Cook everyday
2. Work
3. Get up with the alarm clock
4. Bake every week
5. Run to the grocery store every day
6. Grocery shop every week
7. Worry about everything and everyone
8. Babysit

Things I try to do everyday:
1. Knit
2. Spin
3. Be thankful for all we have
4. Be thankful for a new day
5. Thank God for my husband...he's been my partner, my best friend, my lover, my faithful husband for 22+ years now.
6. Straighten up the house
7. Try not to worry about everything and everyone
8. Talk on the phone. I hate answering the phone; I hate talking on the phone...on a regular basis.

How about you? Got anything you would add to the lists? C'mon! Have some fun!!

More Pattern Info for Judy (Happy Acres).....

2011-09-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Judy,
I searched for the pattern. If you enter Red Oak Designs in the search bar, it'll show up in the listings. Click on Red Oak Design knitting patterns...... It'll take you to "I See Spots Farm". There's a whole list of the patterns they sell. "Poncho with Lace" is in there; price is $6.50.

Or their phone # is: 1-866-yarnfun. (I hate it when they don't use numbers!!). The SKU # is: roa18.

Do I sound anal???? Sorry. But I know what it's like to be interested in a pattern and can't find it!

Have a great day!

Answering Comments Questions......

2011-09-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

Hi Sandie (Stash N Stitch)and Judy (Happy Acres),
Thank you so much for the beautiful comments of my FO pix. It inspires to know that they're being viewed.

Sandie - the pattern for the tam is from the book "Homespun Handknit", a compilation of patterns edited by Linda Ligon, published by Interweave Press. I know it's sold in book stores and yarn shops. It's a plain stockinette pattern, but I took a stitch pattern from "365 Knitting Stitches in A Year - Perpetual Calendar"; published by Martingale & Company. I bought it at a wool festival some years ago. You can probably get it at a book store; ISBN: 1-56477-432-5. It's great for finding other patterns to substitute for plain knitting. I've used it a lot!! 365 stitch patterns!! Lots of info, too. This was day Nov. 27, called "Small Twist Pattern".

As for the blue yarn, oh yeah! It takes me a while to spin up 8 oz. or so, especially when I'm plying it with other colors! I'm still spinning blue!! Working on 4 oz of a medium blue now; then there's 8 oz. of a navy blue to be done. Goal --- enough blue for a sweater. That's if the urge to knit a hat, mitts and socks don't take over! I always buy a color in abundance! Don't know why --- I think it's a "hoarding" thing. Hehehe.

Judy, the poncho is a pattern I bought about 5 yrs ago at the Michigan Wool Festival. This is the second poncho I've made with it. But some day, I want to try and change the bottom patterning from lace to something else. The pattern is from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. Website: www.ellenshalfpintfarm.com Designed by Red Oak Designs and the pattern is "Poncho with Lace".

I don't know if they're still in business, or if the pattern is available for sale still. Hope you can find it ok.

Thanks again, gals! Happy spinning and knitting!

FO's......Finally!

2011-09-23T08:03:00.001-05:00

Finally - pictures!

Worsted wgt.; 3 ply. 2-Romeny/Columbia, 1-Merino

This worked out great! Love the patterning. Ski hat and fingerless mitts.

I think this is more Romeny/Columbia in maroon. White is generic wool.

Tam and mitts; merino with beads added as knitted. "Wave" pattern

Sorry about that streak in the middle. Don't know what that's all about!

You can see the beads better on the mitt.

And now - the poncho. Finally got the collar knitted. The colors look a little off in the pictures; sorry. But they are beautiful Fall colors!

This is the true color of the poncho

Wishing you all a great spinning and knitting day!!

Still in Pain........

2011-09-20T07:25:00.000-05:00

After 5 days of the heating pad, ibuprophen and muscle cream, I've given up. It is what it is. My neck and shoulder do have moments of fooling me into a false sense of being healed. But alas, the reality is something different. So I've decided to let nature take it's course. All things heal in time.

But time is the one thing I didn't really want to lose. I was on a roll. I was feeling great. I was proud of my accomplishments and looking forward to steaming ahead til all was done. Crap.

For the past 3 nights I have gone to bed feeling pretty good; visions of getting back to the duties at hand; laying out plans for continuing with the rest of the house cleaning-decluttering day by day. Only within a few hours after getting out of bed, reality strikes again. No - better not attempt that today.

Well thank God it hasn't interferred with spinning or knitting. At least I can still do that without much after effects of pain. And, as you can see, I can still type! Hehehe. Only this does cause more discomfort.

BH and I walked to the back yard on Thursday. We were going to pick the apples. "Ehh, let's pick one, cut it open, taste it and see if it's 'apple-ee' enough", was my suggestion. So we did just that. Nope. Not 'apple-ee' enough. Well, we'll take our chances and leave them on the tree for another week or two. We made that mistake some years ago, the first time the tree bore fruit. Picked too soon; we didn't taste them; went ahead and prepared them for the freezer. Made our own apple pie for Thanksgiving. No taste! No apple-ee taste! What a disappointment. Ahh, but the next time, we left them on the tree until the frost. Perfect!! Very "apple-ee"!!

We had 2 good frosts last week -- 28 and 21 degrees. It didn't do any damage to the apples. So here's hoping that by next week, they'll be good to go. And so will I.

I'm Too Old for This......Seriously

2011-09-14T07:56:00.001-05:00

Well it's Fall housecleaning season. Actually, it's "anytime the mojo hits" housecleaning season. I haven't been one for this seasonal waste of time business for a long while. Spring, Fall, Summer, Holiday seasons....whenever the mood strikes. It has struck this season.

I've been at it for a week now. Dining room - check. Family room - check. Our bedroom - check. However, a couple of slight injuries and a commitment on Friday have now led me to postpone further drudgeries until possibly this weekend. There is still the bathroom, hallway, kitchen and utility room to be done. There's also been little cubbie cabinets that haven't seen a dust rag or cleaning solution in years that have finally been done. Cleaned, cleaned out, re-organized.

The realization is this:

**I am getting too old to be climbing step stools, at least a thousand times, with arms stretched over my head, scrubbing ceilings.

**I am getting too old to be flapping my arms up and down, as if I'm getting ready for take-off, scrubbing down walls.

**I am getting too old to get down on my knees, up again, down again, up again, etc., scrubbing baseboards, bottom of walls and floors. Also scrubbing vinyl blinds in the bathtub.

**I am getting too old to struggle with a caulk gun and a tube of caulk that somehow seems to have dried up in the tube and takes all the might of Hercules to squeeze it out; caulking all the piecemeal woodwork around the gigantic window (from the previous owner). Total time: 2 1/2 hours. Results: Beautiful. Though I ended up with pulled muscles in my shoulder.

**I am getting too old to be running back and forth, hanging washed curtains, blinds, shades, lampshades, blankets, quilts on the wash line and retrieving them.

**I am getting too old to be ironing newly sewn curtains for said gigantic window, once again stretching arms out as far as they will go.

**I am getting too old to be shampooing wall-to-wall carpeting throughout many rooms, stopping, emptying dirty water resevoir, refilling clean water resevoir too many times to count.

**I am definitely getting too old to be pushing heavy, enormous furniture back and forth and lifting smaller (yet unbelievably heavy) pieces.

I do have to say, though, that once it's all done, the results are amazing!! Everything so clean and fresh, a few new adornments here and there. BH even said it all looks great! I told him to enjoy it because it's probably my last "Hurrah"!!

The injuries? Well, there was the pulled shoulder muscles on Sunday. I took Ibuprophen before bed and was much better Monday. But last night I have like a pinched nerve on the side of my neck and something wrong with my thumb - feels like arthritis - kind of numb feeling - hurts like hell. I forgot to take the Ibuprophen last night. So I will suffer in silence today and nurse the sore areas. No cleaning.

There's always next week. I'll start again. Ah, but the apples are about ready to be picked. I'm hoping we don't get a hard frost before I can get to them. We figure about 20#s worth. To be peeled, cored, sliced and frozen. Then there's the perennials to be cut down (lots of perennials!) and weedwhacking for the last time.

I also got my form for the school craft show in the mail yesterday. It's held on the first Saturday in November - deer season opener. I so wanted to take part in that this year. But I didn't knit up as much as I thought I would, and never did get the storage house cleaned out. All the bins of crafts are stored there. I wanted to go through them to see how much and what items I had left from years before. I'm not making crafts anymore, but I did want to get rid of what's left to free up the bins and the space. Aaarrggghhh!!

But, who knows. Maybe that mojo will strike me, I'll get it done, and be on my way to the craft show once more! In the meantime, I gotta take some pain medication and rest. Us old folk have to do that.

New Season......New Plans.........

2011-09-07T07:20:00.001-05:00

Oh, yeah, baby......Fall is on it's way!! My favorite time of year! I've just about had enough of Summer. I'm not a big fan (no fan, actually) of hot, steamy weather. And all the "have to's" of Summer are wearing thin. Don't want to weedwhack, don't want to water, weed, replace batteries (in the solar lights), chemicalize and clean the pool, don't want to hear the constant drone of the A/Cs and the fans, don't want to keep the windows and door closed all day and the shades, blinds and curtains drawn.

Turn me over and stick me with a fork ----- I'm done.

We started emptying the pool yesterday. It'll take about 4 days for all to dry out to be put away. Also gathered up the paraphenalia and stored it. Clipped most of the annuals - too overgrown. But there might be another 2 months of decent weather, so maybe they'll grow back to their bushy, flowering self.

BH thinks he's cutting the grass for the last time this season. Hehehe, silly man.

Today we go to the big box stores. Gotta get some things for the upcoming season. New chain for the chain saw, roof gunk to seal the roof and caulk for -- something.

I've been debating for 2 days whether I should paint the family room. And do some cleaning that was never done in the Spring or Summer. Well, my better side tells me "no. Paint next Spring". Ok then. But I will do some cleaning starting tomorrow. Washing curtains, shades and blinds; window frames and windows. Hopefully I'll get to shampooing the carpets, sofa and recliners. I can also wash down the walls and ceiling in the family room. Do same in the bathroom. The bedrooms are pretty clean, but I do want to change out the bedspreads with comforters and maybe clean out the closets. Oh yeah, gotta put Summer clothes away and bring out the Winter ones.

We're supposed to have beautiful, sunny, warm (not HOT) weather for the rest of the week. This sure spikes the adrenalin!

Today we have a meeting with daughter and her case worker to find another provider for independent living. The group she's been with for the past 16 years has really been boiling my water for quite some time. This past month was the last straw. Helpers who don't show up, cut the scheduled time with her on a moment's notice, or just quit their job without notice. Now they're telling her to take the bus to her appointments and errands; "to make their clients more independent in the community"!!!! Mind you, this organization gets thousands of dollars from the State, every month, just for her, to provide services. Very frustrating and aggravating. Especially when we are an hour from her and can't always get there within a few hours notice. AAAARRGGGGHHHH!!!!! Here's hoping we find a more conscientious, professional provider.

Still spinning 1 1/2 - 2 hours each morning. Doesn't look like much of a dent in the stash, but persistance pays off. Right? Knitting too. Finished a patterned ski cap and fingerless mitts. Got one sock finished, moving on to the next. I still need to knit the collar on the poncho.

Anybody else thinking of Christmas? This has been on my mind lately. What to make for who, when can I get started, how many gifts can I make in time. My brain is scrambled. It'll be here before we know it. And I'll still be scrambled!

I can't think about that now; I'll think about it tomorrow. Afterall, tomorrow......is.........another day! (Scarlett O'Hara, "Gone With the Wind").

You all have a great week! Sure hope Fall is as calming and colorful for you as it will be for me!! (Fingers crossed)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.........

2011-08-25T23:40:00.000-05:00

Soooo, this weekend BH and I went to the Cities to help son and fiance move into their new house. Son had told me earlier in the week that there wouldn't be much for us to do. He had a lot of friends to help move in all the furniture on Friday, so it would be all boxes in a UHaul on Saturday.

I volunteered to make the supper and dessert and bring it down. Sloppy Joes on real hard rolls (not mushy hamburger rolls), home made baked beans, macaroni salad, calzones!!, a chocolate fudge cake, strawberry/rhubarb pie, a blackberry pie, 2 bottles of wine and half case of beer. Along with the paper plates, tableware, plastic cups, table cloth, napkins and serving utensils.   All turned out great and everyone was so appreciative. I felt good.

We also gave them the "Harvest" table and benches that my dad made for me some 15 years ago. When we remodeled the kitchen 6 yrs ago, we put it away; got a small table for the new dining room. The kids were all gone and we didn't feel the need for such a large set anymore. The table is trestle style, and I had woodburned and painted a grape/apple/vines design on the crossbar and outside trestle legs when we received it.

They loved the set! I thought they could use it in the garage for cookouts and such, but they set it up in their kitchen right away!! I felt very happy that they love it as much as I have. It felt wonderful to be able to finally pass it down as a way of remembering their Grandpa.

Ok. Here's what happened. As we're driving I tell BH "this steering is pretty bad. It feels like there's no power steering." He says "we'll stop at WalMart and I'll check it out; buy some fluid". And we did. Yep. The reservoir was DRY. It took almost a pint. So, we were on our way. Much, much better.

An hour and a half later we arrive at the apartment. Told everyone was at the new house. Off we go about 3 miles to the new house. Take care of business. A few hours later, the men are going back to finish getting the rest of the stuff at the apartment. A van, a pickup truck and our big van. Off they go.

When they come back, BH comes up to me and says "I'm gonna tell you now; I don't want you to panic, but we had a small fire under the hood of our van. We put it out with water. It was just a small fire".

Okey dokey, then. I have never in my life ever had a "small fire" in a vehicle. "We'll be ok", he says; "We'll get a fire extinguisher tomorrow for the ride home". Did I tell you he is the extreme Polyanna?!

Sunday morning I tell him I'm really nervous about this; I'm not comfortable driving 3 hours on the freeway to get home. He gets frustrated and argues what else are we going to do?? If it happens again, we'll be prepared!

So Sunday morning, he and son take the van to buy the extinguisher. They come home. The van started on fire again. Ehhhh, yeahhhh, maybe we better have someone look at it Monday.

Thanks to the future father in law, he knows a garage that does very good work; he will call his friend who owns the place and see about getting the vehicle in.

Well, all was arranged. Son and BH took it over there Sunday evening. Monday morning we get the call. Spark plug wires are all chewed up - possibly by mice. The clamp on the power steering hose was loose, leaking fluid onto the bare wires. That caused the fire. The air cleaner is burned up, as is the power steering sensor wire, and the engine block is covered in oil!!! All the hoses need to be replaced, everything under the hood needs to be degreased including the engine or it'll all go up in flames------ oh, and your A/C is leaking freeon.

Estimate? About $1200.00.   I think my heart stopped. BH rolled his eyes and then his head fell onto his chest. If I had food in my mouth, I would've choked to death on the spot.

Sooo, after checking the balance on our 2 credit cards, the OK was given for the work to be done.

Should be done by 12:30 Tuesday we were informed by the garage. 1:30 comes. Son calls. Still working on it; will try to have it done by 5:00.   4:45, son calls again. "We just finished degreasing the engine and rinsing everything down. It needs to sit overnight to dry. I don't want you taking the vehicle out of here until it's all dry. It'll be ready by 8:00 tomorrow morning." was the final determination.

Another night at son's. Not bad except that we packed NO clothes other than pajamas and an extra shirt for me because I tend to spill something on myself every time, and some toiletries. Because we planned on being home Sunday. Sooo, we're wearing the same clothes for 3 more days!! And, of course, by this time Mark Twain's words are ringing in my ears: "Both fish and guests should be thrown out after 3 days"!!!

Well, we picked up the van Wednesday morning at 8:15, said goodbye and thank you, and we were on our way back home. After we met for breakfast with second son who didn't get to see us all that time because he was just getting over strep throat. So actually, we hit the highway at about 11:30am. Got home a bit before 3:00. Exhausted. Mentally and physically. Probably from all the giggling we did on the way home. You never saw 2 happier people going home!

And we're done. No more committments for the rest of the summer. No trips to help anyone. No good deeds to be done. Thank God!! We just couldn't afford it right now!!

The End is Near..........

2011-08-13T07:44:00.001-05:00

Of all the summer hubbub, that is. Thank goodness! Wow, for 2 retired people who don't do much....this has been one heck of a summer. And, as usual, not filled with anything we had planned for ourselves.

Niece's wedding was last Saturday. My sister and "adopted" sister flew in from NY and drove up to our house on Thursday. We had 2 days together before all of us drove down for the wedding.

It was a beautiful wedding, with the usual little hiccups that always seem to come into play. But what would wedding memories be without them!

We came home on Sunday; had to take daughter to ortho doctor Monday morning. A swollen elbow she's been dealing with since October! 12 weeks of therapy, brace, pressure bandage, ice, heat -----and it is still there. No xrays were taken back then (!), just a diagnosis of tendenitis. Turns out it is tendenitis, or so the Doc is pretty sure. But he did schedule her for an MRI just to be positive. Can you say "Duhhhhh"!

This week I've been concentrating on spinning and knitting. I'm plying the light and denim blue together, a 3-ply. I love the color!! I'll wind up with 5 bobbins full. I finished the poncho except for the collar. So that is sitting in the tote bag until that mojo comes back. I started a watch cap and mitts set. Found a nice intarsia pattern. It turned out really nice on the hat. Only now I'm at the point where I need to decide how to finish it off. Decrease to form a rounded cap, or square it, stitch together, form 2 triangle points on the inside, stitch them together, and ------ it forms a squared off ski cap. The instructions are in "Homespun, Handknit" by Linda Ligon. I love this book; lots of good patterns. It's my "go to" book.

Next Saturday, we are due to go down to son and fiance's to help them move to their new townhouse. I volunteered to bring supper and dessert down for all the movers - 12 at last count, including us. I have the menu planned out in my head, I just need to get it down on paper and then write out the corresponding shopping list. And I need to get started with the baking and cooking -- like Monday.

I just pray that next week and the weekend we have decent cool weather! It's been very nice this week; sure hope it continues at least til next Sunday. Then I don't care. We will be done with our summer obligations!!

And for our prize-------we're going to the Wisconsin Sheep Festival the weekend after Labor Day. Can't wait!! Had to miss the Michigan festival AGAIN this year; haven't been to the Wisconsin one in 3 or 4 years. I'm really excited! We're thinking of making it a week-long camping trip. 3 days somewhere and then 3 for the Festival.

Hopefully we'll be able to get a couple more camping trips in before the cold weather sets in. But if not, there's next year. Oh yeah. We're already planning LOTS of trips. Just like we did this year............!!?? Ahhh, to dream!!

And the Beat Goes On...........

2011-07-28T07:31:00.001-05:00

This is the time of year when all the days start running together. Can't remember what I did 3 days ago, don't remember what day this is, need a calendar, a note on the fridge, and notes in my purse to remind me what needs to be done day to day.

I do remember that for the past week, a lot of little tasks have been accomplished. "Little things mean a lot...." so the song goes, as do the days. Housecleaning, to be sure; clean the coffee pot, clean the bottom of the fridge, weedwhacked, pulled the weeds around the pool, re-glued the tiles on the kitchen wall that came loose - due to the high humidity last week, washed the fingerless mitts that were finished a couple weeks ago, filed daughter's paperwork, spinning a couple hours each morning, do some knitting. And round and round it goes.

BH went fishing on Monday, so I took advantage of the time and cleaned the bathroom, straightened up the house, did a couple loads of laundry, paid the bills, wrapped and boxed a gift for grandson, went to the post office, the bank and the grocery store.

Tuesday afternoon went to daughter's, stayed overnight, took her shopping yesterday for an outfit and new shoes for the wedding next Saturday. While at her apartment, I cleaned her A/C filter, fixed her glasses (the screw came loose, and the lens fell out). We also went and got a few groceries, so I put those away for her, fixed dinner for us, did the dishes, went through her mail and took what needs to be filed and responded to. She treated me to lunch while we were out shopping. Had a nice time; got everything accomplished.

Today is a "freebie". I'm just going to putz around. I do have to do some serious grocery shopping and plan menus for the 2 days my sister and friend will be here (Thursday and Friday next week). Gotta figure out when to put that on the list. I do have to write out 3 birthday cards and get them in the mail today.

Gotta go to a graduation party on Saturday.

Wedding is Aug. 6; driving to the Cities on Saturday morning, picking up daughter on the way; staying overnight at the hotel; visiting with family on Sunday at my brother's; Monday, drive back to daughter's and take her for a doctor's appointment. Did I mention she lives and hour from us? An hour there, an hour back home. The oil corporations are very happy.

The weekend of the 20th, back to the Cities to help son and fiance move to their new house. Did I mention that's a 3 hour drive for us - one way? Cha-Ching!! I'm toying with the idea of preparing a supper and dessert to take down there for us all. We'll see........

I think we're free after that. No more commitments. That might change after daughter's doctor appointment, we'll see.

Looking soooo forward to Labor Day weekend. Then it's all over. Summer is done. It'll be time to hunker down for the Fall and upcoming Winter. My favorite time of year. All the tourists are gone from our small resort town; I can finally go to the grocery store on the weekend without spending half the day looking for a parking space and waiting in long lines to check out. Kids are back in school, people are back to their regular routines. Ohh, Happy Day!!

I feel like I'm forgetting something. There must be something else coming up over the next month. I gotta go check my lists.

Somebody Was Pulling Our Leg..........

2011-07-23T10:22:00.002-05:00

Before I get started on this topic, I want to thank everyone for their comments to the blogs. It's greatly appreciated, gals; nice to know you're being read - I try to read about 40 posts every day and comment when I can. Sure hope you gals get out of the heat very soon - it's not good; not good for anyone!

Anywho, we were duped; tricked; lied to. Or someone doesn't know what the hell their talking about. The heat wave didn't end Thursday. It proceeded onto yesterday. 89 degrees; 60% humidity. Ok. Not sweltering. But it was still more heat than expected. A/Cs and all 7 fans running full blast. BH cutting the grass - 6 hours. Sweat pouring off him like a slow running faucet. He came in the house about every hour for a glass of ice tea and put his face into the A/C. The poor guy. I felt so bad for him. Told him to do 1/2 and let the rest go til Sunday. No. He wants to get it done. He's stubborn that way.

Not nice, weather guys! Not funny. Not professional. Or did the weather gods pull a fast one on you? In that case --- never mind.

Ahhh, but today --- it is 60 at 10:00am. We had a bad thunderstorm go through about 7:00am. Still looks like it could return at any time. Temps are only supposed to be in the mid 70's. There's a cool breeze blowing in every direction. Hang on Judy and Heather. It'll be coming your way soon (God, I hope so!).

So yesterday, while BH was killing himself outside, I was putzing around in the house. Wash the tops of the kitchen cabinets and the kotchki's; cleaned the kitchen exhaust fan; cleaned the whatchamacallits on the front/bottom of the fridge. You know. The fins that collect all the dust. Stripped our bed down, washed the mattress cover, hung it outside (never thinking I would eventually have to go back outside to retrieve it!); changed out the blanket; folded a load of wash, did the dishes. "What's for supper?" asks BH. "Ehhhh, Dairy Queen" says I.

Nothing today because I'm definitely anticipating more rain and wind. Tomorrow, weedwhacking and pulling the rhubarb. Maybe more laundry. Hang the sheets outside. It's supposed to be in the 70's!!

Caution: the weather guy is saying that the heat and humidity will be returning by the middle of next week and into next weekend. OMG! Somebody BETTER be pulling our leg!!

It Broke!! It Finally Broke!!...........

2011-07-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

The horrible, sent-from-hell heat wave has finally broke! I felt like a new woman today! I actually cleaned the house - and really cleaned; did laundry, used the dryer; the A/C and fans were all off, windows were opened! BH went fishing!

It did get a bit warm in the afternoon, and I did have to turn on the fans and A/C about 11:30am. But the mugginess was at a minimum; temp got to about 85. We probably would've survived without the cooling machines, but I'm a bit paranoid right now. Any time it's over 75 degrees, they're all going on!

We had a quick thunderstorm go through about an hour ago. It left us with a wonderful cool breeze coming through the windows! Ahhh, to sleep; perchance to dream..........

Our work is cut out for us tomorrow. Since the "blast furnace" weather with the humidity that made the grass grow even faster than 3 days of rain, BH will be taking care of that. And then there's weedwhacking - my job. A few more things to do in the house too.

I can't wait for this weekend. We're supposed to have highs in the 60's!! The 60's!! Oh, visions of Fall!! I pray that this last week and some doesn't rear it's ugly head in August.

Is It Cooler in Alaska??..............

2011-07-20T06:22:00.000-05:00

I need cool. Help. I can't stand this heat and humidity another day. I told BH if we wanted this kind of weather, we would've moved down south! This is Minnesota, for God's sake! You know, -60 in the winter; 8 feet of snow on the ground; not 110 degrees with 100% humidity and only dropping to 80 degrees at night. This is insane! Who lives like this?! Who wants to?! The weather people keep saying it's more humid here than in the Amazon jungle. OMG. Bring on November ----- please!

You can't cook in this weather. Even using the microwave makes you feel like expiring from heat exhaustion. Can't clean the house; just getting up to go to the bathroom causes sweat to run from every pore in your body. Can't do laundry. For sure I don't want to hang it outside to dry (would it even dry in 100% humidity?? I think not.) and can't use the clothes dryer with the A/C running - trips the circuits. (Shades of "Green Acres" -- you know, Lisa had to unplug the coffee pot to plug in the toaster....).

Just for the record - and any meteorologists out there - BH tells me if it WAS 100% humidity in the house, it would be raining in here. Yeah.....well........

So we will go in the pool this afternoon for a couple of hours. That helps a lot.
Have homemade subs for supper (gotta get to the store first thing and pick up a couple of items), drink gallons of water, and keep the ice pack on my body, moving it from one part to another.

And praying. Lots of praying. This is supposed to be the end of MN. tropical weather for a while. Tomorrow promises to be better. And through the weekend. I gotta go light some candles and say a novena. Oh wait......candles=heat. Maybe I'll just turn on all the night lights.

Should Be a Great Day........

2011-07-16T08:14:00.001-05:00

Son came up from Cities; he and BH left for fishing about 4:45am. With instructions to be home at 1:00pm!! We are in a heat/humidity warning for the next 5 days or so. In the Cities, they say the heat index could be 112 degrees. We up here in the northland could hit 100. Well, anyway, we'll see who cries "uncle" and comes rolling home before they get fried!! Men!!

It is now 8:00am. I spun for about an hour; boiled pasta for pasta salad; changed bed linens; cut my hair; took a shower; cleaned the bathroom; dumped water from the dreaded A/C; dumped water from the dehumidifier; put the salad together; did the dishes and ran the electric sweeper through the house. Not bad, eh?? Of course, I'll probably pass out about 11:00am. hehehe.

That's if grandson doesn't get dropped off here by his mom. I told her Thursday that if she works today, he can come spend the day here.

Oh yeah, and I have ROCK N ROLL on the radio!! As loud as I want it! Ahhh, it's good to be single!! Even if it's just for a few hours. A Great Day!

For supper? Pasta salad, hot dogs on the grill and grilled corn on the cob. I didn't plan anything for dessert; maybe we'll sit by the campfire and drink a few beers tonight.

Right now, it's overcast; looks like rain any minute. But the humidity is up there; the kind that takes your breathe away. Nice and cool in the house though. Gotta enjoy it while I can; if the sun comes out, it's all over.

I started back on the shawl yesterday; now that the black is spun into yarn. 2 more pattern repeats and it'll be done. This pattern does go really fast --- if you don't run out of yarn in the middle of it!

Well, I'm going back to spinning for a while. Then --- who knows. I can do whatever I fancy; I'm free; I'm single. For a few hours. Ya gotta take what you can get, when you can get it!

You all have a great weekend. Stay cool. (All spinners are cool!)

Success..........

2011-07-13T06:56:00.002-05:00

The birthday party, that is. Everything turned out great; everyone had a wonderful weekend. Only the weather was a problem --- super hot and very, very humid. The "I can't breathe" kind of humid. But we all survived. Half the crowd left at 4:30pm Sunday; the other half at 5:30.

And BH was sooo happy!! He thanked everyone over and over for coming and thanked me many, many times for the party. And he didn't want any celebration for his birthday!! Hehehehe.

Monday, spent the day cleaning up and laundry. Tuesday, spent the day tearing down, stripping down beds, laundry, errands, bills, filing, and re-configuring the fridge by moving leftovers into smaller containers.

I also managed to strip the blue SW merino roving, so now I have a whole basket of it to spin. To be plied with the light blue regular merino. At a later date. Much later.

Today is cleaning up the front yards; we had straight line winds on Sunday night. The yards are littered with tree branches everywhere. Then some pool maintainence and possibly clean out the van. We plan on going camping next week. Don't know where yet. It won't be a State park because ---- the state is SHUTDOWN!! 13th day? something like that.

Anywho, as you may recall, the van is loaded with all the gear we had to extricate from the camper to make more sleeping room over the weekend. It all was put in there willy-nilly. Now needs to be taken out, sorted and repacked.

Today is also supposed to be our last cool day (yesterday was, too). Then the heat and humidity are moving in again. The weather guy said it looks like it could last until the end of the month. OMG! I turned to BH and said "ehhh, maybe we better re-think the camping trip". No response. So I guess we're going. I may need to remind him that heat and me do not get along. I turn into the camper from hell. He might want to re-think this trip.

Besides the onset of the heat and humidity, there is also the issue of Social Security checks for August. Have you heard? The President, in an interview Monday, says that unless congress can agree to a budget next week, he cannot guarantee that recipients will receive their August SS checks. Oh yeah! People better get off their duffs and start calling and writing their congresspeople. Communities should be reserving the buses right now; and protest marches in every town should be forming.

Are you frickin' kidding me?? Millions of elderly and disabled will not get their money because of these freakin' idiots??? I DON'T THINK SO!!!

All I can say is anyone who votes these assholes back into office needs to be put away for their own protection -- as well as the general population's. Both parties need to be thrown out. Start over. Try something different. Could it get any worse? Ya know, there's a saying. "When you've dug a hole too deep to get out of, stop digging!" Yes, and let's all throw the dirt back onto these morons and bury them!!

Sorry for the rant. But anyone who is on Social Security should sit up and take note. Pay attention, people. They mean to do us serious hurt!

Today Is "B" Day!.........

2011-07-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's BH's 75th birthday today. It's 6:45am and he's still sleeping. I'm patiently waiting for him to wake up so that the tornado of activity can start. Vacuuming, a little dusting, changing bed linens, marinating the ribs, finishing touches on the cake, hauling over the coolers for the beer and the air mattress for guests, finish setting up the camper, get the rolls out of the freezer (better do that now or else....), hang pictures son's fiance drew for us and shower ---- definitely shower.

And of course, as the weatherman predicted, it's raining. Sprinkling, actually. There is word that it will only be a morning thing with sun brightening the day until early evening. Then more rain. Of course. Why not. Crap.

My stomach has been upside down over the past few days with all the preparations, anticipation and anxiety. I'm thinking a few beers later will help calm it down. I KNOW a few beers will help. It's much too early right now, so I'll have to hold it together til at least noon. Never want it to be said that I'm a morning drinker!!

BH is going to pick up daughter and son, so that'll give me 2 1/2 hours to fly through all the things that need to be done. Somehow it's always easier and faster without someone hanging around the house.

Son will be staying the night. That's one extra overnighter not planned. Crap. A little more anxiety.

Well, here's hoping the skies clear, the sun shines brightly for most of the day, the kids from the Cities make it up here early enough to have a great time, and that everybody goes home tomorrow early enough so BH and I can collapse and have a quiet evening.

Wish us luck!!

Two Down, Two to Go.............

2011-07-06T07:34:00.001-05:00

Two more festivaties to go........then, hopefully, the rest of the summer will be ours! mmmmwwwahhhhha.

Shower, over. Daughter's trip for a checkup at Mayo, done. BH's birthday shibang this weekend; niece's wedding in 3 weeks.

Got the camper cleaned out, vacuumed and scrubbed. Ready for guests. It didn't take as long as I thought. But then again, I always imagine that a chore I absolutely hate the thoughts of doing are going to take forever! Hence, it gets put off as long as possible.

Tomorrow is the dentist, then grocery shopping for the big weekend. Today will be housecleaning - another chore that keeps getting pushed back. But now my back's against the wall - so ............

We have plans. A camping trip week after next. Where? Who knows. We can't get into State parks because......the State is shut down!! No budget was passed. So, we'll have to dig out the KOA brochure. Or go to Wisconsin. Seems Wisconsin got a LOT of MN citizens' money over the holiday weekend.

We do need to get away for a bit. We're also planning a few more camping trips in August, after the wedding. As we were sitting on the deck the other night, talking about our trip, daughter relayed this insight: " You guys have it so peaceful and quiet here. It's so pretty and relaxing, and yet you want to leave here and go --- camping?!" We all laughed. BH and I have always said we feel like we have our own private campground here. And yet..........ah, the grass is always greener.......

Before we take off on this wonderful adventure, we have to clean out the van. Because in order to clean the camper, we put all the camping gear in the van. Willey Nilley. "Just throw it in there; we'll sort it out later" was the order of the day. Mostly because the weather was too hot to sort, repack and rearrange and because I had to make this as quick and easy as possible given BH's rant about how he doesn't "know why you have to take all the stuff out of there only to put it back again". Best not to make a big deal out of it!

So far, there's rain in the forecast for this coming weekend. Doesn't it figure?! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather pattern will keep moving forward a day or two. Please, please!! There can't be rain with a house full of people including 2 small children, and a party in the works.

To keep my sanity, I've been spinning and knitting as much as possible. Finally got the white beret w/beads done and almost the matching second fingerless mitt. There are about 8 coils of the blue merino to be spun. Moving forward.......

I do believe we finally got the new A/C figured out and working!!! Finally got about 2 quarts of water dumped out of it when the "Full" light comes on and we cut about 8" of the exhaust hose off. Making it shorter (as suggested in the manual....who knew?!) means a straighter hose; the hot air flows out much better, therefore, less condensation, means the tank doesn't fill up as quickly.
Hooray!!!! I still hate the damn thing, though. It's the stupidest design I ever saw. Told BH it obviously was designed by a MAN.

Manual: "Keep the exhaust hose as straight as possible; no kinks or bends".
HELLO: The exhaust connection sits 3" above the floor. I don't know anyone who has windows that go to the floor!

Manual: "To empty the tank, place a pan 1 1/2" deep under the drain plug. Do not move or tip the unit while draining water."
HELLO: The drain plug is 1/2" from the floor. Does anyone have a pan that has sides less than 1/2" deep?? So it is necessary to pick the damn unit up, tip it backwards to get the water to drain out. This needs to be done 3 times to totally empty it. Meanwhile, there is water pouring out from every corner on the bottom. Large bath towels needed to wipe up the water; and my carpet gets soaked for about 6". @@##%%%&&^@!!!!

Enough, already. I gotta get moving or nothing will get done today. "Back against the wall"..........and the wall is pushing back!!

The Party and The Plans...........

2011-06-30T10:07:00.002-05:00

Well, dear friends, the bridal shower on Saturday was a success. Niece was very happy - especially since most of the guests were groom's family. Ours are scattered all over the country. But those of us who live in MN made it. Even techie son who does not participate in social gatherings came.

The shower was held at the groom's mother's home. Right from the beginning, I felt like I was in a "reality" TV show. Holy crap! You would not believe this house! Huge, for one. Decorated in dark burgundy and eggplant color schemes (not together!). One of those wraparound sofas, with the chaise lounge at the one end; pictures of couples in a French artist kind of way; the master bathroom had a whirlpool tub, candles and scented oil warmers all over the place; satins, silks, suedes in every room.

I asked BH: "if we get divorced, can I have a house like this?" Yes, she's divorced; don't know what the ex does for a living. She -- she looks like a "cougar". Yep, I was in the middle of a "cougar reality TV show". I know this because "Snooky" and "Kim Kardashian" were there, too. Actually, I think there were 2 Kardashians; only 1 "Snooky". What the hell is up with that???

Times like these make me sooooo thankful that I am waayyyy past that time in my life. Glad to be a middle-aged Granny. I don't have to put on airs anymore. I don't have to dress, act and talk like all the empty-headed, full-of-themselves "celebrities" in the media. Of course the down side to all this is I feel like ---- my mother. I think I'm becoming my own mother!! Lord help me!

Anywho, the decision was made on Sunday that I will be having a birthday party for BH next weekend. Kind of forced on me because the kids wanted to come up for 4th of July. But after explaining that we have to go to Rochester on Tuesday, and I really want this weekend to relax, I suggested that they all come up next weekend because it's "dad's birthday". To which they all were very excited by the prospect.

And I had to tell BH, because I need to clean out the camper for extra sleeping arrangements. I was trying to do this on the QT yesterday, but he kept fighting me about why it had to be done. "Plenty of room in the house; someone can throw the air mattress on the floor; they did it before. I don't know why you have to move all that stuff in the camper now and then you're just going to move it back. Who's all coming up here, anyway?".......blah, blah, blah. So I had to spill the beans.

Then he tells me that son who lives near us is coming with his friend. I said I thought he would; I was going to invite him and his family anyway. "Yeah, but he's gotta bring the 2 kids because his wife has other plans for the weekend". Well, I planned on the kids being here anyway, with his wife. So it doesn't matter.

Now I'll be planning a big picnic, shopping, cooking, baking; a cookout, setting up the volleyball net, getting out the crokay set(you know - wires, mallets, stakes and balls; the lawn game), the pool toys, the coolers for beer and pop.

And next week is already full of things to do: Tuesday, Rochester; Wednesday, take daughter home; Thursday, dentist appointment and then grocery shopping. Friday, clean house, prepare food, bake and decorate cake, and get everything set up. I'm tired just thinking about it.

All I can say is "God, please don't let it rain!!"

We're supposed to get thunderstorms today. Which is a surprise because according to the weatherman last night, there wasn't suppose to be any rain until late tonight. It was supposed to be very hot and humid, which seems to still be on track. So......that blows the plans for more outside work. Basic housework is done, so I have 7 skeins of yarn to ball up into cakes, and then more knitting. Because then it'll be nap time!

Just Saying..........

2011-06-25T07:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was BH and my 22nd wedding anniversary!! No big hoopla. We had a nice quiet day at home. I fixed Italian chicken breasts w/spaghetti on the side, fresh Italian bread and a salad for supper. Banana splits for dessert - BH's favorite!!

He cleaned up the front yard. Lots of debris on the ground after 4 days of heavy rains and strong winds. I straightened up the house and wrapped gifts for niece's shower. That took me over an hour. Trying to configure how to box up the items; should it be one or two boxes? Should I separate daughter's gift from ours? No, boxed them all together. The card will have all our names on it. Then to figure out a nice bow/decoration for the top. Yikes. I had to go to the old house and rummage through the craft supplies to find netting, irridescent beads, doves on wedding rings (didn't make the cut), and tiny white silk roses (didn't make the cut). Put it all together; it does look kind of cute. I had to use double stick tape to keep everything in place. Unfortunately, the only tape I had is 1" wide and kind of thick. But it worked. I hope it stays in place until gift-opening time!

Anywho, our anniversary and her upcoming wedding bring back tons of memories of "our day". It was the hottest day of the summer so far. The church was not air-conditioned. But everything turned out beautiful. Our sons rented us a horse-drawn coach the night before, and BH and I went for a lovely ride around town for over an hour! What a great surprise that was! Our kids stood up for us. My oldest gave me away; BH's youngest was his best man. (Both our sons were friends in high school and they set us up on a blind date 2 years before!!) Our daughter's were bridesmaids and my one-and-only sister was my maid of honor. My 2 youngest sons, who were 11 and 10 yrs old, were groomsmen. All the girls were dressed in beautiful tea length gowns, and the guys were in tuxes. My gown was "candlelight" ecru, tea length, lace; and my shoulder length veil was held with a lacy "Juliet" cap. Purchased at JC Penney's for $110.00. I love that dress and veil.

I did all the flower arrangements, even for the altar at church. Bouquets, hair pieces, boutinerres, and centerpieces for the head table at the reception.

My twin brothers - one played accoustic guitar sang 2 songs during the service - "The Wedding Song" by Paul Stokey(of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) and "In My Life" by John Lennon. Then he did an instrumental of "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg during communion. The other twin did the video camera of the whole ceremony. We have it on tape.

The reception was great. Everyone had a great time. There was a DJ to play the music. Our first dance was "Just You and I" by Crystal Gayle and Eddie Rabbit. All our family, friends and some co-workers were guests; I think it totaled about 80 people.

Our wedding cake was made by a friend of my sister's (she has her own cake decorating business). It was 3-tier and gorgeous!! Very delicious too!

Then when things really got rockin' and rollin' later that evening, my twin brother(the camera guy) and I jitterbugged to "Let's Go to the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors!!! He's the only one who can jitterbug!!

When all was said and done, I think the whole thing cost us about $2,000. Quite a difference now when couples think nothing of spending 10s of thousands on a wedding! Wow.

Well, the day after the wedding, we left for our honeymoon. Took a road trip down south. Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia. Saw lots of sites, had a wonderful time. And we camped the whole way! Yes. Camped. We're both avid campers, but by the 12th day, the billboards for "Red Roof Inn" were looking mighty appealing to me! I would've given anything for a nice soft bed and a hot, relaxing shower! But we carried on. BH said "won't it be great to be able to say we camped for the whole 2 weeks of our honeymoon?!" Ehhh, yeah.

So here we are 22 years later. Lots of ups and downs; lots of hurts and reconcillations; lots of joys and lots of sorrows. But we've built this life together, through good times and bad. A huge accomplishment in itself. And we take pride in it all. And as the years pass and our time here wanes, we take comfort in each other, we depend on each other, don't want to be apart from each other and we truly, truly adore, respect and love each other.

And I often think how those 4 songs during our ceremony and reception have come to mean more to me every day and how they have defined our life together.

We wish the very same for our lovely niece and her husband-to-be.

More Random Thoughts...........

2011-06-23T06:38:00.001-05:00

**Because we are in our 4th day of rain, cold and darkness, my mind is a globulation of thoughts. One-liners running together that can't be individually thought out.

**Saturday is my niece's bridal shower. I still have to wrap the gifts, figure out what to wear - winter or summer? Trim BH's hair, decide what time to pick up daughter for the trip to the Cities, and how I'm going to respond to the excommunicated daughter who is supposed to show up at the shower. We haven't spoken since my dad passed away. But that's another very long, sad story.

**While on this thought, (hey, I guess I can have more than a one-line thought!), it's also rumbling around in my brain how everything will go at the wedding that ex daughter is also supposed to attend. Not only has she not talked to me, she hasn't talked to her youngest brother, who happens to work for the same company she does (won't acknowledge him at work!), she hasn't talked to my sister for over a year - and never even sent condolences when my mom passed away on New Year's Eve day.

**I've been spending a lot of time spinning and knitting. Therefore, housework has been a "no go". And I was on such a "high" when the weather actually seemed like summer. I was so proud of myself for planning projects and actually getting them done! But with this crappy weather, I just want to hibernate again.

**I started spinning the blue - what I thought was Cormo, but when splitting it yesterday, I realized it's Merino. And not a good Merino. Lots of bumps, clumps and tinnnyyyy pieces of sand-like matter. All to be picked out as spinning. Aaaarrggghhh! But I love the color, and plan on plying it with a striated blue superwash Merino. Of which I have about 2#s. What the hell is wrong with me?! It's my addiction. Well, despite all that, I know it'll be a beautiful yarn.

**I really hope we get back to summer weather soon because I have a lot to get done before my sister comes out here. She'll be here 2 days before the wedding, staying with us til we all go to the Cities on that Saturday. I'd like to have things looking just "spiffy"!! Since she hasn't been here in 5 years!

**BH's birthday is July 9. He will be 75. I'd love to have a big party for him, but don't know how I'd pull it off. July 5, we take daughter to Mayo Clinic for a checkup on her hip replacement; July 7 I have a dentist appointment. So I'm kind of trying to talk myself into having it the weekend after. That way, it'll really be a surprise for him.

**Besides this, to have the kids and brother, sister-in-law come up, some people would have to rent a hotel room. We live in a small mobile home. And they would have to spend more money - being that there's the wedding a month later.

**I don't know if I can muster the energy to plan a buffet/picnic meal, make and decorate a cake, shop for all the incidentals and be a hostess with the mostess. Especially if we're still in the October weather mode. Not to mention the cost of the whole shibang. Crap. I asked him if he would like a party for his birthday (actually I suggested we have a party), he said "no", he doesn't want one; wait until his 80th. Now that's positive thinking!!

**I know BH really wants to get away. We've been talking about doing a lot of camping this summer(?), and he probably would rather do that for his birthday. But we have this "camping rule" -- no camping on the weekends. Too crowded, too noisy, too many kids running around, too many jerks running around.

**Well, I gotta plan some trips, with the bulk of them most likely in August when all the hulabaloo is over.

**Every so often, the thought runs through my head if I'm going to do the Craft Show at the school this year. Haven't done one in about 5-6 years. But I've got a lot of stuff left over that is stored in the farmhouse, that I'd really like to get rid of, and it's been the motivation for all the spinning and knitting. BH keeps asking me "how many pairs of socks, how many hats and mitts, how many scarves do you have made?" I DON'T KNOW! I JUST KEEP MAKING THEM; I KNOW I HAD TO SEPERATE THEM INTO THEIR OWN STORAGE TOTES! Geezzz.

**Oh yeah. I've gotta check the 100 yards of material that is stored, and see if there's something I can make a dress out of for the wedding. This, of course, is my accumulation of quilting material --- which hasn't seen the light of day for -- eh, maybe 4 years.

**Ok. There's no spinning or knitting getting done while I'm on the computer. So, I'm going back at it. Onward and upward. Slow and steady wins the race. This is one amazing race. Dare I say, seemingly with no end in sight!!

Enough Is Enough!!.............

2011-06-22T07:37:00.000-05:00

Ok. Our 3rd day of rain and cool temps. It poured all day yesterday - and I do mean poured!! With winds about 40mph. Our front yard is littered with tree branches; looks like Paul Bunyon went crazy with the ax - but never cleaned up after himself.

Today is the same. It is pouring as I write. Along with occasional thunder and lightening. BH and I had planned on going to Grand Rapids (MN not MI) to shop. Actually just to get the hell out of the house for a while. I'm not too enthused about it right now. I need to take a shower. But I'm waiting for the chance of lightening to pass. I'm paranoid about being in the shower during a lightening strike. I won't even let BH take one.

However, we have a pool almost outside the bathroom window. 1500 gals. of water; and the filter is plugged into the outside recepticle that is -- you guessed it --- right outside the bathroom window.

Well, lightening may blow out the electric, I just don't want it hitting me in the shower!!

And what the hell is this? Washington state?? I don't think they get this much rain! BH just told me we're moving to northern Alaska. He says they don't have this crap up there; it's consistent weather -- cold -- all the time!! Hehehe, silly man.

While I'm complaining, I do want to say my prayers are with the folks in southern MN. They are under a flood watch - again. Apparently the rivers have not receeded much from the previous floods, and they're about to go over their banks again. Some people have been flooded out 3 times already; this will be the 4th. God bless you all.

Well, I finished plying the burgundy. 4 bobbins full and a 5th that had to be Nplied. Oh, and the black Shetland has been Nplied. So maybe later today or tomorrow they will be skeined and washed.

Finished knitting a beret out of the white, which is actually a cream color. Added crystal glass beads to it, a technique I saw on "Knitting Daily" with Eunny Jung. What a great tip this was. I always add beads while spinning a single and then ply for yarn. And though there is some wiggle room to move them to another position while knitting, sometimes not enough. This tip was great - add a bead where you want it. The beret turned out very nice and the beads look great. Now I'm knitting up matching fingerless mitts.

My niece's bridal shower is Saturday. We'll be staying overnight at son and fiance's place; coming home Sunday afternoon. It's a "Jack and Jill" shower, which means the men attend also. Whose bright idea was this??? Probably some insecure little Nellie who wanted to make sure her man wasn't out with the boys while the Hens were oohing and ahhing over household appliances!

Man, I liked it better when it was a "hen" party, starting at 1:00pm, ending at 5:00pm, on a Sunday afternoon, and then everyone went home. This soire is starting at 5:00pm, ending--------when the beer is gone, says the invitation. Good grief!

Well, I gotta go make some alternate plans for today. Hope BH doesn't insist on taking that ride today. I know - I'll tell him we'll order his telescope today!! Yeah. That's the ticket! Once he gets on the computer, it's all over. There's cribbage to play. That's good for about 6 hours!

Is There Really Going to Be a Summer??..............

2011-06-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

Oh man, this feels like Fall! Ridiculous. Rain yesterday, today and for the next 3 days. Temps not conducive to a "summer rain" either. Crap.

So today, I will ply the 3 bobbins of burgundy. Got 2 balls of light blue roving on the schedule for the next spinning job. I think it's Cormo. Very pretty. I don't have any blue yarn spun up.

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing Father's Day, despite the weather. Just me and BH. Lots of phone calls from the kids. Which is always a pleasant surprise ----- that they remembered!! You know they're always soooo busy!! So I planned a nice steak dinner, with shrimp cocktail, baked potato, corn and strawberry shortcake for dessert. He was very happy!

For the day, he played cribbage on the computer (his favorite pasttime!), and I worked on Nplying the last of the black Shetland on 1 1/2 bobbins.

I'm hoping this will be enough to get through the shawl on the knitting needles. Had to put it on "hold" because I ran out. Remember the dyeing job last week that was supposed to be black? And wasn't. Well, I remebered about these 2 bobbins! What the heck! It's so crazy, it just might work. More on that later.

Still maintaining the pool. Change filter, add chemicals. I'm beginning to wonder if all will be for naught. Might be 1500 gallons of water that never have contact with a human body! I told BH yesterday "I think the water's warming up a bit". Well, that may be. But the thought of going in the pool during the rain, just doesn't appeal to me! He keeps telling me he thinks July and August are going to be HOT. He's definitely a "Polyanna" - to the extreme.

That's all I've got for today. It's a very blah day. So, back to the wheel. Somehow, there's always sun shining (if only in my head) when I'm at the wheel!!

Whew! What a Week.............

2011-06-17T07:16:00.001-05:00

I managed to get done all I had planned! It's a "Gold Star" week. Few and far between.

Sunday: we did get the pool up - in record time! And considering it hasn't been up for 2 years, we were giddy with ourselves. It even stayed up overnight. This is the test, because it seems that there's never enough air in the ring, or the damn thing is cockeyed, and sure enough, next morning, it's half deflated with water pouring out. Ah, but not this year! And it's still up!

Monday: skeined the 4 bobbins of white yarn, washed and hung to dry. Prepared near a pound of grey Shetland to be dyed. One pot black, one 2 shades of green w/ yellow highlights; the crockpot, maybe a green and burgundy. Do you find that the prep takes much longer than the actual dyeing? Yikes! Anywho, the black didn't turn black -- it became a beautiful dark purple wine color with black and grey striations. Love it! And the green turned out great! The crockpot experiment turned into a lighter shade of the dark purple with more silver highlights. Take a look:

Tuesday: The pot of dye that was supposed to be black had a lot of color left(my bad - I always use too much dye when trying to get dark colors!) So, I thought why not prepare more wool and use up the dye. That's where the dark turquoise color came from. Another experiment that I am very happy with. You know, come to think of it, I shouldn't really say I'm dyeing wool - it's really experimenting!
Also straightened up the house, did a load of laundry, prepared BBQ ribs for supper, filed daughter's paperwork, gathered all my paperwork for Social Security (that turned out to be a waste of time, ie:previous post); changed filter for the pool and added chemicals; ran into town to take care of errands.

Wednesday: Besides the disappointing trip to the SS office, did get all the business taken care of.

Thursday: I contemplated dyeing more wool. Thinking of dyeing some white roving a very dark green; and then I could use some solid yellow and pink. But the weather was crappy, cloudy, rainy, chilly. So, I balled the white skeins into cakes, balled up the dyed roving and did some spinning.

Today: Well, don't know yet. Looks like it's going to be another gloomy day. I should do some housework and laundry. Probably will. Because I love weekends to myself, with no "have-to's". I've already spent 2 1/2 hours spinning the burgundy; just about done. It'll give me 3 bobbins + a little more.

I'm thinking fish fry for supper. Gotta get the fish out of the freezer. Maybe potato salad, too.

Wherever you are, whatever you have planned for today, have a great day!

And We Wonder Why........

2011-06-15T22:33:00.001-05:00

Warning: This will eventually turn into a rant!!.....

Well, today was the day. I went to register for Social Security. BH and I had this planned for a week. And being that it's an hour's drive from home, we consolidated our errands.

Most of yesterday was spent gathering all the proofs needed; birth, divorce, marriage, income tax returns, W2 statement, Unemployment confirmation, SS estimation of benefits, and BH's SS award letter for this year. I was sooooo ready!

Of course we had been checking all this on the internet. The same site said to apply 3 months before you turned of age and "no appointment necessary". I also looked up the street by street directions to get there, and printed out the map as a certainty.

We are ready. The plan was to leave home at exactly 8 am. Stop at the garbage plant and pay our bill; stop at DMV and register BH's fishing car and the boat; next to the SS office; then to Target for niece's shower gifts; on to the home improvement store for odds and ends - and a new filet knife to replace the one BH can't find. Then to daughter's to take care of some business with her. Go to the auto repair shop to have to A/C recharged in the van; last stop is grocery shopping.

So we arrive at the SS office. The guard greats us and asked the reason for being there. "I'm signing for SS", I say politely. He hands me a clip board, "fill out this paper and here is your number. You'll be called shortly". He was very polite.

The little slip from the machine that prints out "next to be served" numbers says mine is 53. BH and I are the only clients in the building. I should have known this was a bad omen. Within 10 minutes, a young lady calls my number. I should have stood up and looked around the room, then looked at my slip of paper. But I didn't think it would end as it did........

We walk over to her cubby hole, sit down. "How can I help you?" she asks. "I'm here to sign for Social Security" say I, manilla envelope in hand, with every piece of paper that would not only prove who I am, but probably give someone enough information to become me - no problem.   And here's the problem.......

"Oh, you can't do that here. You can only apply either on-line or over the phone", says she. "Wh-Wh-What, I can't apply here?" "That's right.  You apply over the phone or internet, then we would call you and make an appointment. All our reps are with other people right now".

With a half smile on my face, because I sure as hell don't want to sound angry or sarcastic, I reply "But there's NO ONE ELSE here".   "Oh, but the reps are on the phones with them; it's a very busy day". "And", she continues, "you can only apply at the office, with an appointment, no more than a month before your birthday; but you can apply over the phone or internet up to 4 months before that".

And here's where it gets REAL good and starts the gray matter in your head to just about explode:

"So when I apply over the phone or internet, how do I show all my proofs of identity??" "THERE'S NO NEED", she says; "IF THE COMPUTER SPITS OUT A PROBLEM WHEN THE REP IS ENTERING YOUR INFO, THEY WILL CALL YOU AND ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS".     That's it. You apparently don't have to show them ANY proof of who you are.   And you'll receive the money you have worked hard for all your life, in monthly installments, til you drop dead.

Now, think about this the next time you want to open a bank account. Federal Law prohibits a bank from issuing you an account without a picture ID, proof of address, and your Social Security card. There may even be a few other "proofs" you need. Even if you live in a town of 400 residents, you've been banking there for 15 years, and you know the bank president by name, and she knows you.

And we wonder how ID theft can be sooo prevelant or how illegals can pass themselves off as a card-carrying, tax paying, hard working citizen using our name.

Think about it long and hard the next time you hear the BlowHard politicians ranting how Social Security is breaking the Country!!

Remember this the next time you go to the doctor's or find yourself in the hospital, the same hospital you've gone to all your adult life, and they STILL need to make a copy of your insurance card, and you STILL have to fill out all the info: name, address, phone number, spouse's name, doctor's name, ad nauseum. AND, they're entering all this on the computer ---- for the umpteenth time!

Oh yeah. I'll be on the computer tomorrow. Social Security, here I come!

We're Gettin' 'Er Done.............

2011-06-12T07:46:00.001-05:00

Another gorgeous weekend! I'm so filled with ambition and energy, I'm giddy with myself! Yesterday I finally got out and scraped the windows. We caulked and painted the frames a couple weeks ago. That was a job that was on the list for last year -- didn't get done til now.

Today is another beautiful day, so we're putting the pool up. This will most likely be an all-afternoon affair. And I'm pretty sure my energy will be zapped for the rest of the day. But that's ok. At least it'll be done.

However, according to the weather report, we're expecting 3 days of rain in various degrees, starting tomorrow. Rats!! Makes me think we should postpone the pool. But I know if we do that, it'll never get done, and before you know it ----- it'll be 98 degrees again and I'll be swearing a blue streak!! Onward and upward.

Tomorrow is being planned as "Wool Day". Perfect if we get said rain. I've got 4 skeins that need to be washed, as well as the "ugly socks" and a hat. Also plan on gathering up my dyeing equipment and get started tomorrow on dyeing some grey Shetland. I'll do kettle and crockpot. I really love to do painted roving, but I'm not in the mood right now for all that. Maybe later this summer.

By the way, check out "Passing Down Crazy"'s blog. Look at the gorgeous skeins she and the kids dyed! Love, love, love them!! What a great first attempt at dyeing!

I was in the old farmhouse yesterday, looking for more lawn ornaments. As I'm looking around, I said to myself "wow, this isn't so bad. We could probably get this organized and cleaned out in no time". Started feeling pretty positive about it. So, this is definitely going on the list. Maybe we'll start this coming week, being that it's going to rain anyway. This job is a thorn in my side! Been wanting to get at it for a long time. But everytime I start thinking about it, I can barely get up the gumption to do it. The thought of going through everything, organizing, throwing out - yuck. There's a lot of crap over there! Not to mention boxes and boxes of craft supplies from back in the day. Most of that needs to be sorted out and re-boxed. Maybe for the yard sale this summer. Another plan that has been going astray for about 5 years --- a yard sale.

I've been collecting stuff for all those years. Good stuff you really don't want to throw out. Everytime we come across something while cleaning out something else, I tell BH "No, no, don't throw it out. Put it over in the house for my Yard Sale". Right now, I could probably run a month of weekend yard sales!

Today is my baby's birthday. He is 32 today. Gotta call him. Probably be on the phone for a couple of hours. We usually talk every weekend, but didn't get around to it last week. I can still remember when he was little. How he loved to dig holes right behind the house, saying he was building his own house - with a basement; he was digging the basement. Or how he used to climb up on my lap, with woobie in hands, curl up and watch "Fraggle Rock". And how, when he started kindergarten, he would hide behind me at the bus stop so he could pop his thumb in his mouth until the bus came! And now he's grown. He's our computer techie; our auto mechanic, our handyman. Nothing this kid can't do! He's absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, he doesn't think so. He could really write his own ticket in life and have a comfortable, prosperous lifestyle if he put his mind to it. But it's not for him. I keep praying anyway.

Update on the A/C: Well, I attempted to drain the water from the so-called "Full" tank. There is no water!! Got a few drops out. I even went so far as to tip the damn thing backward and forward. Nothing. But I moved it to another window, another outlet by itself (as recommended in the instructions), hoping this would end the TV remote interference. Nope. The remote still sets off the settings on the stupid thing. And it's not even facing that direction. I did turn it on once and the "Full" light was off and the condensor light was on. But I didn't leave the machine on for any length of time to see if it was now working properly because ---- it's been in the 60's here. And I'd rather have the windows open, than the A/C on. So the story continues...........more updates to come.

Well, I better get my arse in gear; burning daylight here. Wishing you all a wonderful, beautiful, peaceful weekend. Enjoy!

Pictures......and other Thoughts

2011-06-10T07:42:00.001-05:00

Before and after:

I think it turned out great!

In other news, today is the 1 year anniversary of my dad passing away. A very sad day, to be sure. Filled with lots of memories of this day. My brother and I were with him when he took his last breath. I can vividly remember how he looked. I miss him very much.   The memories of our whole life are both bitter and sweet. But thank God, we have these memories as a family. Sometimes I think it's all that gets us through.

I've been spinning - still working on the burgundy. And knitting the poncho. Which appears that it's going to present a problem. I'm running out of one of the colors. Have no more to spin up. I'm gonna have to come up with Plan B. But I think it'll have to be put aside for a while until I do. Oh well. Guess I'll have to start something else. Not so frustrating right now, because there's other things to get done around the house. No major knitting marathon.

I did finish the "ugly socks"! Thank goodness. I managed to get rid of this superwash Merino thats been hanging around for years. Am not a fan of superwash! However, I do love to ply it with other wools. So, needless to say, oh yeah. I have lots of superwash. I just can't resist the feel and the striated coloring in the roving. Yep. Sucker. But I will never, ever spin a yarn of strictly superwash!

Well, what would a rainy, cold day be without a few gripes. So here goes:

We purchased a new A/C a couple weeks ago. The tail end of winter was still with us, so there was no need to hook it up right away. Did this last week. It is not the same make as the one we already have.  BIG mistake.

We have a Haier that we bought about 5 yrs ago. It's one of those big ones you can roll around (I can not understand the concept of "rolling around" an A/C!) Never had a lick of trouble with it. Love it! Ah, but this time, BH wants to buy the same type from the big box home improvement store. Because we get a year to pay it off with no interest. Okey dokey, then.

Unfortunately, it is not a Haier. It's a name that is just now coming onto the marketplace. And it's half the size, but a 1/4 more BTU's. The salesman assured us that it is a top-notch machine! No problems, no complaints.

Not exactly. First, the window piece to connect the exhaust hose comes in 3 sections. If it doesn't fit your window, you need to cut the extension piece down. No problem; done. Ah, but it's too low in the window; can't connect the hose. Take the cut off piece, add it to the other extension and create a 2-level connection. But now there are gaps where the 2 pieces don't quite sit level on top of each other. No problem. Get out the duct tape. Done. Connect the hose. But it's fashioned like a clothes dryer hose, and you have to make sure the wire is in the 2 little grooves and then twist it around until it's set; do this on both ends. Except, when you get the one end secured and start twisting the other, the set one pops out. Aaarrgggghhh!(This is not the word I used. Let your imagination run wild!)

Finally done. Whew. But later that evening, we're watching tv, go to turn the channel, and the temp reading on the unit goes up. Hit the tv remote again, and a different function on the A/C is engaged. WTF!! The tv remote controls the A/C!! Let me say, the unit is not facing the direction of the tv remote. A little while later, it doesn't seem like this thing is blowing enough cold air. The temp is set at the lowest - 61 degrees ---- because it's 98 degrees outside! AND it seems the condensor is not staying on. Therefore, later that evening, the "Full" light is on. Which means the water tank is FULL!! WHAT??!! Read the manual.

"If the 'Full' light is on, you need to empty the tank. Place a pan, no deeper than 1" under the drain plug, open plug and let the water drain".   You think so? There is no room under the drain plug! It is like 1/4" off the floor!! Shit. Shit. Shit. Our Haier sits in the hottest part of the house, and in 5 yrs., we have never, ever had to drain the tank! And the air flow is great! Very powerful.

The tank has not yet been drained and the unit has been off for the last 3 days. I want to take it back to the store. I want my money back! Despite the big tag attached to the unit that read "DO NOT RETURN THIS UNIT TO THE POINT OF PURCHASE".    Yeah. Right. You don't know who you're messin' with!

Oh, and one more little glitch to this saga. The box. The unit is packed in the box with 3" of styrofoam all around it and a 2" very hard cardboard frame on top and bottom. You can't get the thing out of the box without ripping apart one side. And the cardboard frame on the bottom of the unit? Is also the bottom of the box. There is no bottom to the box. This makes it a bit difficult to pack it up and take it back to the store. There is no box left.

I should have stuck with my 17 fans!

Well, Well, Well.........

2011-06-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

Lots going on here over the past week or so. I wound up with a bad cold last Tuesday, was good for nothing all week. Just what I needed, something else to throw a monkey wrench into my things-to-get-done.

Thursday, I felt a bit better, still congested. Thought maybe some manual labor would work the crap outta my system. So, I went out and planted all the pots for the soon-to-be remodeled flower bed. It looked like rain all the while, but I got 'er done! Then I died for the rest of the day. It didn't work the crap outta my system.

Friday - blah. Saturday, cleaned house (finally!). Sunday was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day. BH and I started outside about 10:30am. He, cutting the grass. Me, weedwhacking and then - I started tackling the flower bed.

This bed is about 28" off the ground. It was built up that way to hide the hitch on the front of the mobile home. The bed is 4' deep x 12' long. I know. But at least I didn't have to get on my knees to clean it out.

I got up into it, weedwhacker in hand, and started mowing the weeds and lily of the valley down (weeds were about 12" high!) Worked like a charm!! No muss, no fuss!! (well, there actually was a lot of muss). I love my weedwhacker. I could probably cut down a decent size tree with it. I know I can cut the cable line with it! (been there; done that).

Anywho, that done, next came the black plastic. Easy peezy. Then the 8 bags of red mulch. Beautiful!! Looks great! Then the decorating. The solar lights; the various flower pots and a couple of my garden angels. Done.

There's just one problem. We have chipmunks. They have holes all over the yard. You'd think we have our own Putt-Putt green. That's not all. This year, for some unknown reason, maybe the munks thought it was time to put on additions to their maze of tunnels, they dug 2 huge holes in this flower bed.

I covered the holes. With double thick black plastic and 4" of red mulch. They're just going to have to rebuild. Ahh, but every so often, one of them is in the flower bed, trying to figure out just how to go about getting through the mulch and ripping a hole in the plastic. I am constantly on guard! Shooing him away when I see him, yelling at him. (I say it's a "him", because even a female chipmunk would understand and appreciate the beauty of the newly remodeled flower bed!)

I did take "before and after" pictures, but have yet to load them on the computer. I will. And I will post them soon.

Right now, I need to be ever vigilant. It's me against the munks!

I Made It!!!!...........

2011-06-02T09:34:00.000-05:00

Well, all most. This is the month I sign up for........Social Security!! Next week, in fact. Can I get a "WooHoo!!"? OMG, I've been waiting for this for seriously 2 years! Can't wait to get my first check in October. Neither can BH. He has big plans. He says his goal is to stay alive long enough to enjoy the benefits of my money for a while! What a dreamer!!

On the home front, both sons came up from the Cities this past weekend; one to fish, one to hang out. Fishing was not the greatest - not trout, anyway. The poor kid. Last week he catches 4 within 15 minutes, but was just testing out the lake. This time he's loaded for bear - eh, trout, - and Nada!

He also brought up bags and bags of groceries to prepare a delicious trout dinner - all the fixins'. He called me at 2:00pm to say they had nothing and he hoped I had an alternative for supper. (uh, yah, I'm a fisherman's wife!) He also said the boat sprung a leak and all their equipment got soaked. Ohhh boy.
He also said he accidently locked his keys in the trunk! And all the car doors were locked. Had to call a locksmith - and it costs him $75.00!!! Double "Ohhhh boy!".   This is becoming one very expensive fishing weekend!

So, we had Italian sausages w/ fried peppers and onions on bakery rolls, baked beans and corn on the cob. I did make the 2 pies for dessert - 1 cherry and 1 blueberry. So all was good. I also ran up to the store and got 1/2 case of beer --- of which I enjoyed a few bottles myself!!

Sunday was much better. Only they fished for Bass. Came home with 5! We had a Bass fry for supper. However, when it came time to cleaning the fish, BH couldn't find his filet knife. "Ryan's got one; use his", says I.   "No, he HAD one", says BH. "Used it to try and get the trunk open. Broke the blade".   Ohhh.

So the fish were cleaned using my filet knife ( which has a serated edge - not good), a steak knife and a paring knife. But they got the job done, and the fish was relatively boneless and delicious!!

Of course, while all this hunting for a proper knife was going on, son yells to me "I hope you had something else planned for supper".   Silly boy. I already had 7 chicken breasts marinating in the fridge!!

Yep, fried fish, baked and grilled chicken, great fried potatoes (a combo of white, yukons, reds and yams(!) with peppers and onions! This is son's recipe, the first time for us, but it was great!! Lots of flavor!   Oh, and he brought 4# of asparagus, which I steamed, and we had watermelon.

So, all in all, it turned out to be a pretty good weekend. Fishing son left at 7:45am on Monday, mainly because of the storms we had overnight and were supposed to get during the day, and to beat the traffic headed back to the Cities. Techie son left about 1:15pm. And it was quiet in the house! We rested for the remainder of the day.

I've been putzing around the house this week. Don't know where it came from, but I got hit with a sore throat and nasal congestion on Tuesday night. So I immediately started dosing myself with medicine yesterday morning. Feeling much better today, thank goodness.

Today I want to get out and plant my flowers --- before the next batch of rain storms (tomorrow). Gotta go to daughter's tomorrow and stay overnight. Taking her clothes shopping on Saturday morning.

Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day, so BH and I are planning on doing the front garden bed. Can't wait! I know it's going to look great when we get it done! Before the next batch of storms -- on Monday.

Happy First Holiday Weekend of the Summer!!

2011-05-28T08:06:00.001-05:00

Well, here we are! Another Summer season is upon us. Can you stand it?!

And it's the opening weekend of Bass fishing! I am officially a fishing widow. Son came up last night loaded for bear -- no. no. Bass. He is so confident of the catch today that he brought up everything to prepare a trout dinner. Yes. I said trout. He is an ~~obsessive~~ avid trout fisherman. Tomorrow is Bass.

Last weekend he was up here for fishing. Caught 4 trout in 15 minutes! But released them because things were too helter skelter. Ah, but trout won't be so lucky this weekend. Dinner.

Also last weekend I was still nursing a bad hip, so moving around a lot was not in my game plan. The pain didn't really subside til Monday. By Tuesday, I was ready to rock and roll! Oh yeah! Finally got into the flower beds. Cleaned, weeded, mulched. Wednesday got out all the lawn and garden ornaments, solar lights, birdbath. BH finished cutting all the grass. I weedwhacked like a crazy woman. NOW I'm ready for summer! Except for the pool --- if the weather co-operates, that will be going up this week. If it's not up by next weekend, that plan will be scrapped. Won't be enough days for the water to warm up and keep it's warmth; not worth the water bill and the hassle. Here's hoping!

We also went to the home center and bought another A/C. The big kind that you vent out the window and can roll around (?). I never understood the concept of "rolling" around an air conditioner. Anywho, we already have one that keeps the main house cool, but needed one for the big house addition. We used to have a window A/C for the family room, but since the new windows went in last summer, it doesn't quite fit without running the risk of denting the window frame. Sooo ----- another "rolling" one will do the trick.

Problem is - we can barely get out of the 60's for day temps. The A/C is still sitting in the box. The other one is not hooked up. And there are no fans in the house either. Oh, yes. I still use fans. One in every room. For a total of 7. I do not like heat! Even in the winter. I need to keep the bedroom window open a couple of inches. And sometimes, the window next to my recliner in the FR. when it gets too warm in the house. Even if it's 20 below 0!

Went to the garden center yesterday and bought annuals for the pots. Of course, it's raining today - and tomorrow - and Monday, so heaven only knows when they'll get planted. We also went out last week and got 8 bags of red mulch. There's a HUGE flower bed in front of our mobile home that currently has Lilies of the Valley. Has had for 18 years. It's time for a change. Especially since they only last for about a week and then I'm fighting weeds and dying plants for the rest of the summer.

So the plan is to cut them all down, dig out what we can and then put down black plastic with the red mulch on top. Then I'm going to place different pots with the annuals on the mulch. I'm very excited about this. Can't wait for those little buggers to bloom and die off. I hope I can remember to take "before and after" pictures to post here.

Techie son is also supposed to come up today for the weekend. He doesn't fish, so we spend the days yammering, eating, drinking and playing with his bunny, Lambchop. I love her! She's soooo much fun and has a great personality! But very, very high maintenance!! It's like all the other grandchildren --- you love to have them come up, but you love to see them go home!

Haven't done any spinning in over 2 weeks - due to the hip. But have been knitting. Got the yoke done on the poncho, but put it aside because now starts the lace patterning. Need to have a clear, conscience mind to start that - and that's not now. So went back to the "ugly" socks. Almost to the toe on the second one, but it looks like I'll be running out of the striping wool for the toe. I'll have to go back and rip out the one on the other sock and re-configure the striping. Geezzzz.

Well, I better get my arse in gear. Planning on making cherry and blueberry pies-one of each. And better pull something out of the freezer for supper ---- just in case. Can always have it tomorrow!

You all have a happy and safe holiday weekend! God bless our troops, near and far, young and old, living and deceased. May we never forget.