Updates

Update Number 1
Yep, the water heater is dead. It's gone and a new one is in it's place. The plumber has to come back tomorrow to put on a something or other but it's functional. Once I write the check, unless there are more charges than the estimate, I'll have $7.48 left in my checking account. Hey that's better than an overdraft! And please, if you have any nice deities that will grant wishes, I'm really hoping the inspector won't find any problems. No pics (and aren't you glad?). However, with my propensity for naming everything, I have decided to name it Jolie...because..are you ready? It's HOT. Ok..don't laugh, see if I care!

Update Number 2
Re my CSI post. The latest info from the newspaper is that police stopped a 17 year old boy for erratic driving..possibly DUI. There was a passenger. Passenger would not get out of the vehicle. Passenger was dead. And although the officer told me it was a 'gentleman', it was a woman from out of state. Cause of death has not been released. The very sad thing to me is that the young man is local but they cannot find anyone to claim him. I mean, no family, no friends. That's just wrong!

Update Number 3
My good friend Katya (yay...you're back out online!) wanted to see my consistent spinning. So I wound some down on the spindle and took it's pic. I never said it was a skein or anything close to it :-). It's a start though.



One thing I have to figure out though. When this spindle gets kinda full it just doesn't want to spin. So I've been winding whatever off on toilet paper cores. But, if I were really spinning well, how would I connect all the different pieces?

And this isn't an update but it is a good example of making do. I was on the loveseat knitting and watching tv with the meezer cat. He was sleeping and I wasn't really paying any attention. But when it was time to put things away, I discovered that Mary had decided to join us. And, since apparently we were taking up all the space, she just piled on top.

Meet Della

No, Della is not this kitty visitor although kitty is quite pretty. And NOT mine. Just one of the kitties who come to visit me. Fortunately, he/she seems to be well fed and healthy so I think kitty must belong to a neighbor.



This is Della. My new-to-me clothes dryer. The real life Della was a hard scrabble lady who, by necessity, clawed her way through life but always had time for a gawky girl. Hopefully this Della will be the same. It's been a long time since a dryer lived here. And wonder of wonders, the city water was clean enough to actually do ALL the laundry at home. So I start this Monday with a pouch still full of quarters and clean underwear. What a concept!



There has been knitting going on. I had to totally rip out the big section of the blanket as somewhere near the the first miter I added a stitch. But it is reknit now and folded up neatly in the drawer. Now I have to get more yarn. There are two unrelated socks on needles as well as two that are related but not much to show yet. More about them maybe this evening.

Last week was a total bitch and I was so glad that I had my yarn to come home to and spend time with..and there are two prepositions hanging in space. Sometimes life is so not fair. But, knit on!

So, what's up with you?

Cleaning and Cats

After putting up the new light fixture and changing out the bulbs in the other one, I realized that the utility room needed some serious tidying. There were odd paint bottles in the cat food bin along with 2 hard drives (how DO you get them to disappear?)The workbench had all sorts of clutter. So under the supervision of the cats, I got busy. Dave's cat has a lovely knitted afghan in a window sill with a view. My guys prefer the workbench which is part of the reason it doesn't get used as such any more. Another reason is that in the winter, it's cold out here and in the summer it's hot! It's really a converted porch (that's about to fall in, but I try to ignore that part) and I think the insulation is quite lacking. You should see the lovely blanket that hangs over the glass doors in the winter! Oh..I'm so classy!

Old and New Things

Old things. Afternoon/early evening thunderstorms. I can't remember the last day without at least a bit of rain. Yesterday it held off until just after a make-up softball game. Which we won. Which was soooo hot. This weather is very weird. I sometimes think perhaps I have been transported to Seattle. But then I realize it would be much cooler there. Not only in temps..

But most mornings are sunny, and Hershey makes the best use of it. He works quite diligently arranging his body and legs to absorb the rays most efficiently. I was supposed to be folding clothes but had quite a nice time watching as he'd look over his shoulder at the east window and then move one foot just a centimeter.




New old things...I got this runner along with a dresser scarf and a tatted doily at a garage sale. I washed and blocked it which was a real trip since it is longer than my bed! There were lots of things I would have like to have purchased but many were out of my price range. I got a real good deal on my little purchases since a friend was the one having it but I didn't want to take advantage. Her inlaws had a big house which they turned into a bed and breakfast. It was just wonderful...not that I ever stayed there, but I attended a party there once. Finally they retired and GAVE the house to their son and his wife..who is my friend. And their moving theory was grand. They took all the things they wanted, and left. Most all of the furniture is still there etc. But one can only use so many sets of china, etc so I'm thinking there might be more sales in the future. I was hoping to purchase a teapot and she had some lovely ones. But I want a plain colored round squatty sort of pot that doesn't hold enough to serve a party.

And new new things. The rain is truly making my tomato plants happy. They are covered with little grape tomatoes. Now if the sun would stay out and let them ripen. I love fried green tomatoes but I think I'd get really tired of slicing these babies up. They're just right for a bite..as soon as they get red.





And new socks too. These socks seemed to go really fast considering it didn't seem like I worked on them that often. Do you suppose I'm speeding up a bit? Now I am ready for fall. I'm looking forward to wearing these then. They are very soft. I've had really good luck with the Knitpicks yarn.









I don't know what to do next. I'm really wanting to crochet a baby blanket. I have the pattern. I know how to crochet. I understand the instructions. But I cannot for the life of me get it to work. I know it must have to do with counting. I even swatched a smaller amount thinking that if I could do it over 10 stitches, I could continue on. It still isn't working for me. Maybe I'll wake up in the morning knowing exactly what to do.

In the meantime, I think I'll go see what y'all have been doing. Laters

A Bit of This and That

The sock is tinked back now and waiting impatiently for me to return. But I told it I really needed to get this post done since morning just wasn't a good time for computers.

No more rain today, and I think that's a good thing. Soccer fields looked like little ponds and the creek by my house was rushing merrily along when I left for work. I don't know of anyone flooded here but I'm sure that in some of the low places it was close. Over 3 inches of rain while I slept. And more rain for tomorrow. I'm thinking the drought is over.

Yesterday was just overcast and muggy as all get out. So I stayed inside and worked on the quilt aka Summer Cover. Thanks to Heather Bailey and her (to me) very clear instructions, the binding found its way and the cover is now on my bed. The bright blue something on the bed of my machine?? It's a piece of painter's tape being used as a seam guide. Hey, it could have been masking tape! At least this doesn't make everything all sticky.


I find it odd. I've always had one heck of a time getting anything bound. I've got books that explain, and leaflets and many printed out web pages. But for some reason, when I found Heather's, it finally clicked. Maybe it was the soft colors that relaxed my brain enough that it could finally 'see'. Who knows? I'm just thankful for it and for her.

The bed looks sort of wonky and it is. I needed a bit more padding for these sometimes creaky bones and I folded a double bed size fluffy topper thing in half and it's on the top 2/3 of my bed. So there's a definite dip in the surface at about knee space. /shrug. I just know I felt so clever when I got into bed last night and thought about the fact that I'd actually made my cover. Sprt of Laura Ingalls syndrome, I guess.


And some knitting was done as was noted in this morning's post. But some in this house have other ideas about this knitting business!

I Can't Think of a Title

Well, the wool is relatively clean. It still has vegetable manner in it, and some of it is stained but it smells like wet wool which, to me, is a rather nice smell. Especially if I compare it with the "before" I rinsed it again to make sure that there wasn't any soap or other goodies and the rinse water stayed clean. I thought it all quite fun, but then I enjoy cleaning bathrooms too. >:)

Speaking of bathrooms, it's really clean also. While the wool was sitting in the kitchen sink, I decided to wash the bathroom down including the ceiling. It's all pretty and fresh now and smells like oranges *G*

And I finished knitting a dish rag while watching NCIS. Oh and I saved Mercy, the long haired calico from a disaster. Someone gave me a new candle and I lit it in the kitchen while I was putting the wool to soak. Mercy, sometimes called the Helper Cat was supervising and also trying to distract me with her swishing tail. So I'm trying to smell the wool and I realize I'm really smelling burning hair. Eww! Fortunately with the long hair only the tips were singed and she thought it great fun to wrestle with me as I tried to wet her tail down.

That's enough excitement for one night~ hope yours was fun too! Niters!

Helper (?)Kitty

One more repeat was accomplished with difficulty. Between Hershey, who apparently either likes the yarn or the pattern, and an intense Criminal Minds, it was a toss up as to whether I would go to bed with another round complete. I must be a real creature of habit. The cats were off on their own somewhere in the house, but the minute I picked up the knitting bag, here they came. Pick up bag=she'll be sitting there for a long time so we better stake out our spot quickly.