The End of a Season.........

Aahh, the end of summer is upon us.....big time! Temps have cooled right down - 34 degrees Saturday morning when I got up. 60's, mid 70's during the day. Leaves are turning gold and red and falling off the trees like rain. This is my time of year!! I love Fall. Could stay like this all year as far as I'm concerned.

Work will also be slowing down - at least during the week. We still have a month of weekends that will be very busy - full house.

BH has been cutting the grass - again. He thinks one more time will do it until next year. Silly Man!!

We went to the casino last Thursday; had a great time. Walked out with $70.00 more than we walked in with. Hehehehe. I love it when that happens. I haven't been in a casino for almost a year. I know! I think I really enjoyed it because the week before we took a day trip which didn't turn out as planned. Wasn't that enjoyable. I was bummed.

Talked to my brother in WA. Saturday night. He says he's planning on coming out for my birthday - October. I'm so excited! I love it when he comes to visit. Which is not often. Now I just hope he doesn't tell my brother. They're twins. And my brother down in the suburbs of Mpls. latches on to whoever comes to visit. Therefore, we get to spend one day with our visitor and he takes control and makes them come to his home for the rest of the duration. Really pisses me off. And if he can, he makes sure he comes up here on the day someone gets here. So BH and I have no quality time with family alone. Aggravating!!

I have been spinning. Think I've got almost a pound of the Shetland done; just 3 more pounds to go! Of this wool. Not the whole stash. Don't be silly.

Ah, and I started knitting. Finally found a pattern for the beaded, silky brown that I've tried half a dozen times to make something with. Very simple pattern. 3 stitches, 2 rows for the pattern. And it's very lacy. Keeping my fingers crossed. Now the only question is if I have enough yarn to complete the shawl I have in mind. But, what the hell. Throwing caution to the wind and moving forward.

I think I'm also going to get started on another pair of socks and another Norwegian ski cap. Ah, yes, Fall is definitely upon us!

Doing better with the Facebook thing. I'm conversing a bit more. But I still get the feeling I'm eavesdropping on other people's conversations. Weird feeling.

I have not done any weeding or whacking in the gardens. They don't look too bad. I'm kinda hoping for the hard frost. Then I can just go clean everything out and cut down the perennials. Done.

Also trying to convince myself that it would be better to leave the painting of the family room go until next Spring. Afterall, winter and the woodstove are just going to make everything all sooty again. Spring would be best. Then the guy on the other shoulder tells me "get it done NOW! It'll look so much better for the holidays and you'll feel so much more relaxed and comfy with a new look for the room". But you don't understand. I've got a lot of spinning to do. I've got things I want to knit up with my beautiful yarn. I've got a quilt to sew up for a Christmas present. I've got other things to do. Afterall, it's Fall!!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood......

Well, it's a beautiful morning - promising to be a gorgeous day! Love it! More heat and humidity for the weekend, but I don't want to talk about that now.

BH and I are going for a long drive today. Where? Don't know. Who cares. Just want to get out of the house and enjoy. We are planning on stopping at "Gordy's" restaurant in Cloquet for dinner. Can't wait!

I am still trudging on with spinning the notorious Shetland wool. BH thinks I should just throw it out. Wwhhaatt?! Are you crazy??!! Throw out wool?? Who does such a thing? Why, the spinning gods would make my wheels go all wonky. I'd never be able to spin a fingering yarn again!! What is wrong with you?!

Men. They just don't get it.

Yesterday I had planned on doing lots of constructive things. Nada. My energy level dropped through the floor. I think this is a sign. Fall is definitely on it's way. I have this theory about winter. We are meant to hibernate. To sleep. To eat. To watch TV. To knit. To cuddle. We are not meant to continue our never ending chores that wear us to the bone. I'm just saying. So I think this is the precursor. Slowing down. Getting ready. I wish I had a gigantic cinnamon roll right now. You know, start building up the caloric content in the body for the long winter ahead. But I'm too tired to make any. Ah, that's what bakeries are for! And restaurants. Some people don't get that this is the slow-down time ----thank God!!

I'm still trying to get into the FB groove. Sent messages to 3 family members today and found an old friend I've lost contact with for years. That was a nice surprise. We'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to post some new pictures too.

I did manage to go outside yesterday and pull some dead flower stalks. Dead! Already! See what I mean? I intended to weed the gardens and weedwhack. But by the time I finished pulling some of the dead foliage, I was tired. Time for a nap.

Forced myself to make a great dinner. Fried chicken, baked sweet potatoes, peas/carrots and applesauce. I even made the honey mustard sauce for the chicken. Delicious. I was proud of myself. BH was happy. That's what it's all about, after all.

Well, think I'll get back to the spinning wheel before something weird happens. Gotta keep at it! Keep the gods happy!! I've still got plenty of good wool to spin!

No....Seriously...........

This is going to be my new catch phrase...eh....word? "seriously". "seriously?" "are you serious?" "no. seriously".

I've heard it quite often. It makes me chuckle to myself when I hear it in context. I think it takes the place of "Duhh".

I think my age is beginning to show. It is beginning to hit me where it hurts. Cases in point:

While perusing FB, I go to some photos of my stepdaughter. The caption reads "J has his first lemon shot". Ok. It seems my 13 year old grandson is doing a lemon liquer shot with his mother. The apple of my husband's eye; his youngest child, who has brought herself up from the depths of adversity, being a single mom, now in school for her registered nurse degree, daughter of an alcoholic, floozy mother.

SERIOUSLY???

My youngest brother (age 42) has just moved out of the duplex my sister bought so he and his 11 year old son could have a stable place to live, rented another house so he could re-unite with his ex wife, who got pregnant by another man while still married to my brother, and now has 5 kids by 4 different men (including the one by brother) and was a hooker when my brother met her. Oh, but that's not the punchline. He left my sister's house in a shambles. Holes in the walls; cat and dog urine drenched carpeting throughout; bathroom ceiling falling in (which he was supposed to replace a year ago. Sister bought the supplies), a backyard torn up and covered in dog crap, 2 broken inside doors to be replaced, and God knows what else.

ARE YOU SERIOUS??

Son calls Monday night to say the maintainence guys for his apartment complex are coming in to fix the damage from a leaking roof and repaint. He must move all his belongings to the center of the room. He's going to have to take Tuesday off from work. Can't have strangers moving his posessions all around. He found a bedbug crawling up the wall above his bed. OMG! What does this mean? Where did it come from? Are there more? He's gotta move. He's going to have to break his lease. And his paycheck got lost. Payroll dept. doesn't know where it is or how to track it down.

REALLY. SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Our handicapped daughter was supposed to receive her renter's rebate check last week. (it's a Minnesota thing). Stepson got his right on time. Daughter .........not yet!! I keep checking her bank account for the deposit. Nope. So I went to the State's website. Page entitled "Where's my refund?". Filled out the required info. Answer: Amount has been deposited in your account as requested on your rebate form. We are not responsible for the bank's posting of the check. Contact your bank as to the deposit status.

SERIOUSLY? I MEAN, SERIOUSLY??

We were informed yesterday at work that this weekend will be another full house; a wedding in town. We are down to 4 housekeepers. No prospects in sight. Not to mention that next weekend - Labor Day - full house for 3 days. We have a weekend of festivities here in our little berg which anyone from 500 miles around seems to want to partake.

AW C'MON. ARE YOU SERIOUS??

Ah, the Egg Scare. I have a dozen and half eggs in my fridge. The local tv station has been giving us updates and warnings for the past 5 days. They say they have updated their website with more distributors and lot numbers. I go on the site this morning. My egg cartons are not listed there. Good. The lot numbers? On my egg cartons, the print does not show up and most of the numbers are missing!

NO. SERIOUSLY??

The eggs will be going out to the compost pile. The foxes and raccoons are on their own!!

Let's get back to FB. Yes, I admit I've been spending more time there than I ever thought I would. I'm trying to fit in. Not going to happen. These people are mostly my relations. I have nothing in common with them. I have tried. SERIOUSLY. I'm not into the games. I don't care when your dentist appointment is or what time you went to bed last night. My SIL who is on FB chat quite a bit, so I thought "great! at least I'll get to chat it up with her", has announced that she will be taking time off from FB and chat to go full speed ahead with her crafting for some craft shows coming up.

AW, SERIOUSLY??

And I have been spinning. Right now I'm doing a black Shetland. About 3 or 4 pounds worth. To be plied with a handpainted singles in fall colors. I bought the Shetland wool a . long . time . ago. Over the internet, from a spinning group who gets it from a zoo, processes it and sells it for charity.

I love the Shetland. It's soft, luxurious, makes beautiful yarn. That is, once you have just about ripped out all your hair and vow on your saved soul that you will never spin again! That's right. It has been carded, but with a lot of teeny, tiny bits of vegetable matter, knots, short cuts, lumps, bumps and anything else that may have worked its way into the wool. Spin 2 inches. stop. remove undesirables. spin. stop. remove. spin......stop........ You get the picture.

Oh and that's not all. I also have about 2 pounds of grey Shetland wool I bought at the same time. It's still sitting in the storage tote. Waiting. Snickering at me. I can hear it.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?? SERIOUSLY?? NO. SERIOUSLY!

Well I guess I better hike myself up by my bootstraps and get at it. I have a feeling it's going to be quite a while before I'm knitting with this particular yarn.

SERIOUSLY!

What a Life.............

Good grief! I have an hour before I have to get ready for work. Work......we just lost another co-worker yesterday. She found another job. That brings us down to 4. During the summer. The busiest season. Full house every weekend; almost full on weekdays. Long hours. No employee prospects in the near future - like by Monday??

BH has told me he wants me to quit by Spring of next year. He doesn't want to spend another summer basically alone and no time for us to enjoy ourselves. OK!! sounds good to me. This is what will keep me going for the next 8 months. Onward and upward!

The heat and humidity is back. Supposed to last for just a few days. I certainly hope so. I am SO ready for Fall!

Still spinning. Grass needs cutting so bad as does weedwhacking. However, we have been having torrential rain storms every other day for about a week now. We could be doing yardwork every other day. Not conducive with my schedule of things I really want to do. Can I get an "Amen!"? Maybe we'll just wait for frost to kill it all. Sounds like a plan.

BH is going to a tool auction today. Egads. I can't be there, so lord knows what he'll come home with. They have laptop computers also. I have a feeling........

Nothing else going on. Just trying to maintain and abide. Boring. Boring. I'm still trying to psyche myself up to get involved in Facebook. I don't know. Everytime I go there, I just can't seem to get involved. And just about all my family participates. I must be getting too old.

I can't wait for the cool weather to come back - permanently. Still got a lot of things to do around here. Cool weather always gives me a great burst of energy.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

The Rise and Fall......

Ok, so last week the temperature kept rising and rising, as did the humidity. I swear it has to go higher than 100%!! I mean, when you sweat just breathing ---c'mon. You know it's higher than 100%. Hate it. Hate. It.

Ahh, but this week -- it is cool. I mean really cool. That's cool! I've had enough of summer. Bring on the Fall. I absolutely love Fall. But unfortunately, not what comes after. (the W word).

I have been spinning like crazy. Almost got one storage tub of roving finished. Not a large tub, mind you, but hey, it's a tub that's just about finished. No knitting yet. But I have been thinking of the next project.

I've also got sewing on my mind. I'm thinking of setting up the table in the spare room and getting started on a quilt that will be a Christmas present for son and fiance.

There are a few things yet to do around the house. I'm thinking after Labor Day I'll get started on that. I do a lot of thinking. Now if I could just put it into action! Geezz.

What else? Well, work, work, work. Very busy. That's another reason I can't wait for summer to be over. People will go home. The work load will ease up a bit. And I'll have more time for --- spinning, knitting and sewing! More "me" time. We never seem to have enough.

Son, fiance and grandson were supposed to come up this past weekend. We had to cancel. Damn! 2 weeks before, they had to cancel. Looks like we may not get together until Christmas! And that depends on the weather.

Why cancel? Well, BH hurt his leg a couple of weeks ago. I think I mentioned that before. Anyway, he tried to go fishing that Wednesday. No go. Couldn't manuever around in the boat. Has trouble walking. Soooo-----called and made an appointment with the doctor on Monday. We went yesterday. He had an xray. Yep. 2 shards of steel in the knee. One on the side and one in the middle of the kneecap. Small shards; 3mm and 2.5mm. The one on the kneecap BH says happened some time ago. (Hmmm, never heard about that one!) The one on the side is the trouble maker. It's not in the bone, but under the skin. How far, the doc doesn't know.

Then the doc starts talking about contacting a general surgeon. BH turns white. I can tell his brain is screaming "danger. Danger. Delete. Delete". He asks the question "what if I just leave it alone?" "Well, you could do that and hope it doesn't get infected. If it does, that could mean more problems".

Needless to say, he's going to take the gamble and wait it out. Silly man. I don't have a good feeling about this.

I know you've heard this before, but "it's a good thing men don't have to give birth. There would be no human race"!!

Well, you know the routine. Housework today. More spinning, hopefully. Tomorrow I'm hoping we can take a day trip. I heard about a great restaurant about an hour from here. I would really like to try it out. For you northern Minnesotans, do you know "Gordy's" up in Cloquet? My friend was telling me about the great food and extensive menu. When she mentioned "taco salad", she had me! I would travel anywhere for taco salad!

Need to make an appointment for an oil change on the van. The car has been repaired. Has it ever! $567.00 worth. Holy s**t!! But I can't say I didn't contemplate it was going to be quite an ordeal. So it wasn't a total surprise.

Finally got daughter's new A/C put in and her new dresser was delivered last week. I haven't seen it yet. She said all went well. No scratches or dings. They put it in place for her and she put her clothes in the drawers. God, I hope she didn't pack them in. She says she didn't. But her idea of "packing" and mine are a bit different! Maybe I'll get there next week and check it out.

Anybody on "Facebook"? I was on it for a while. Then I cancelled it a couple of months ago. This week I re-joined. I don't know. I just don't get it. I read all the posts, check out who's there, see if anyone new joined. But I just don't get it!! I guess I'm just not one to report what I had for supper every day, or that the cat just threw up another hairball. Am I missing something?? Actually, I wanted to chat with my SIL, but everytime I'm on, she's not.

Ohhh, another gold star for me!! I finally got the collage frames done and hung on the dining room wall! All I have left now is the collage of fishing pictures for BH to hang in the spare room. I'll get to that eventually.

Hey, does this remind you of "Facebook" blogs and blurbs?? Uh oh.

Tornado......Tomato

Ok, tornadoes have nothing to do with tomatoes, and visa versa. We have been under sooo many tornado watches and warnings these past 2 months, I am sick to death! Enough already! No more with the tornado scare. Pleeassee!

Yesterday's weather alert had warnings and watches until 1:00am this morning. I went to bed at 10:30; BH said he would stay up until the danger passed. I don't know what time he came to bed. He's such a good guy!

And don't get me started on the heat and humidity! What the hell is this?! This is Minnesota, for god's sake. You know, Northern USA; and we live way north. Where's the cool weather, breezy temps, beautiful skies? And the RAIN! Geezz.

We've been swamped at work. Not good on hot, humid days. The energy level drops real quick.

After 3 weeks of running into the town where the daughter lives ( an hour each direction), we finally found out her hip is not out of place; all is good. We also managed to find the much needed dresser, which will be delivered this Wednesday. Which means another trip to her apartment to remove the old dresser. I hope this is it for a while.

Finally got the car into the repair shop. Yep. Not good. The right wheel hub was shot; brakes were bad; rotors bad; tune-up, yes. Ok. Do it. It has to be done. Our mechanic said if we waited for the hub assembly to come in, he could do the brakes at the same time and save us labor costs. Because the brakes have to come off to replace the hub. Ok. Sounds good.

Total cost: $562.00. And the left hub will need to be replaced some time. "They can last a long time or go quickly", says the mechanic. Also "the rear brakes will need to be replaced before the snow flies".

I seriously need to start playing the Lottery! Keep on working.

BH's leg is doing much better. Did I tell you that a piece of steel broke off the sledge hammer while he was chopping wood and hit the side of his knee - right on the bone? Well, it did. Laid him up for almost a week. No infection, thank God.

Son, fiance and grandson are supposed to come up this weekend. I'm taking Saturday off from work. The hell with it. I need some "fun" time. They were supposed to be here 2 weeks ago but she got some kind of bug and under the weather for quite some time.

Now I have to plan Saturday's dinner. There are 4 trout in the freezer. We better eat them soon. Son can show me how to cook them. I did buy steaks (cheapy ones, but very good). We can have "surf and turf" poorman style!

I see by the clock on the wall that I better get my arse moving. Breakfast, cleanup and get ready for work. Think "Lottery" tickets!

There Must Be a Full Moon!......

This has been one very weird day! There must be a full moon tonight.

Got the housecleaning done. Yea! But......

I totally forgot to take the car up to the mechanic for an oil change and tune up as well as check to see why it's rumbling underneath! I'll have to stop there on my way to work tomorrow, make my apologies and re-schedule for next Thursday. I hope. Then I'm going to put a big note on the fridge so I won't forget again. (I did have a note next to the phone, on the kitchen counter. I cleaned the counter today and never noticed the note!)

Son and company were coming up this weekend for fishing. So I thought I would make 2 pies for dessert on Saturday - a Dutch apple and a strawberry/rhubarb. Just got the pie dough all rolled out and Son calls. Fiance is down with some kind of bug. She's been fighting it for a couple of weeks. Re-schedule in another 2 weeks.

Hmmm. The apples, strawberries and rhubarb are partially thawed, pie dough is in the pans. Better finish the pies. They can go into the freezer. BH may want to keep one out, though. Ok. I have enough of each fruit to make up another in 2 weeks.

BH was out sawing and chopping wood today. Out of my hair all day. Great. But by 12:00, I finished my work and I don't hear the chain saw or the mallet. Oh well, he's probably puttering around back there. At about 1:45 I hear the outside spiquet turn on. Oh well, he's busy with something. Then I see him coming up the stairs. He's limping. What's wrong? Nothing. He sits down on the deck to take off his shoes. There are strange spots on his socks; there's dried blood on the side of his knee. What happened??

Well, he was hitting the wedge with the mallet when a piece of steel broke off the mallet and flew into his leg. Shrapnel. It hit the bone on the side of the knee. A bloody gash about 2 1/2" long. Dried blood, thank goodness. So it's onto the recliner, ice pack and pillow under the knee. He then proceeds to tell me that when it happened, he washed the blood off and started feeling nauseous, lightheaded. He had to sit outside, in the back yard, for a while before he could manage to come in the house! We are on "wound watch" now. He is still in a lot of pain.

"This is why you cannot be outside by yourself. This is why I'm constantly asking you what you're doing" was my statement. "No more outside by yourself for you" is my ruling. Which he will overrule.

Then I forgot all about the bills that I wanted to get written out tonight so I can drop them in the mail tomorrow morning. Geez. I will have to write out a couple in the morning so they get out on time.

I keep thinking today is Friday.

We sat down to watch "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey, Jr last night. Got our strawberry sundaes ready; put the dvd in. 15 minutes into the movie, BH says "are you sure this is the right movie?" "Of course it is" I spouted out as soon as he finished his sentence. Ten seconds later: "wait a minute. Did you see his name in the opening?" "No" says BH.

I get up, get the sleeve it came in and read the movie plot. Son- of- a- pup! IT'S THE WRONG MOVIE! THEY SENT US THE WRONG MOVIE! This has actors we never heard of and the plot has dinosaurs and a giant squid!! It IS a Sherlock Holmes movie, though.

Go to the computer. Get the movie provider up. Go to our que. Check our listings. Check "Sherlock Holmes" movies. One listed for 2009. Check the plot and actors. Yep. That's the one we wanted. BUT NOT THE ONE WE GOT! The bad one was not even listed.

Clicked on "report a problem". You bet. Checked "rate this movie". WHOA, BABY!! You wouldn't believe the tens of people who got the same wrong movie! Lots of anger out there! So I added my 2 cents. And re-ordered the movie we want. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

Let's see. What else weird happened? Oh. I started putting pictures together for my collage frames. On the computer. Got the first four frames all printed out. 4 pictures each frame. The next 2 frames have 5 picture slots each. The pictures I want for these ----- well, the number 8 total. That leaves me with 2 blank openings to fill. I do not have any more pictures for these. They are supposed to be candid photos of all our grown kids - 8 kids. Crype sakes!

So, on the computer. Look up clip art. Find Irish symbols. Yes!! The "Tree of Life" and the "Claddagh". Perfect! Now I'll just print the pictures and symbols out tomorrow. Geez, I hope the printer doesn't run out of ink!