Killdeer & dragonfly

Dragonflies, apparently, are territorial. To the right is one of several photos I took of a large orange dragonfly that was hanging out around the pond yesterday. Once in a while he would fly off, but would then return & settle again, often on the same reed or leaf he had just deserted. This went on for a couple hours--until a second dragonfly arrived at the pond. Immediately the first insect chased off the intruder, then began patrolling: around the neighbor's house, back over the pond, around the yard, around the other neighbor's house, back over the pond, back & forth across the yard, searching the trees & for the rest of the time that I was in the yard he did NOT alight on anything.

Saw a killdeer in the parking lot at work today. No, of course I did not have the camera with me.

Big Sis's temp job ended today. I know she was disappointed even though she figured it was not going to be extended. Hope she finds a new position soon.

More for yesterday

Bought a book. Bought an audiobook. Bought new needles. Went to the wetlands, took pictures. Flickred. Read. Played with the dogs. Went to George's for dinner. Did NO housework. Sigh.

Second bunny

Since I didn't feel like working on the orangutan, and my socks have decided to lose & break needles, I decided to make another bunny. This one is smaller than the first, and I stitched him purl side out just for variety. Bigger tail, too (I really must replace the first bunny's tail; it just looks ridiculous compared to the new one!) and I was a lot more careful sewing him up.

Yesterday Ralph & I had lunch with one of his co-workers & her husband. We went to a local Thai place (one of about a dozen nearby) and ate waaaaay too much. We ordered a variety of things so we could have lots of "tastes:" chicken curry, shrimp curry, fish cakes, pad thai, egg rolls, potstickers, chicken satay, and Thai iced tea. Needless to say neither Ralph nor I ate any dinner last night. It was a very pleasant visit, lasting about 2 hours. I knit the square for the bunny while we chatted.

Absolutely MUST do housework today. I took a fun picture of Mudgie last night; he was rolling around on the floor while Ralph rubbed him with his (Ralph's) foot, but the carpet is so full of pet hair and yuck that I was too embarrassed to post the pic.

Zoe has improved her Houdini skills. When I got home from work on Friday & opened the back door, she ran right in. I figured Ralph had just decided not to tether her that day. Well, yesterday Ralph asked me why I decided to take her harness off of her. Uhhhh, I hadn't taken it off. . . we went outside, and there was the harness still attached to the tether! Then a few minutes later Ralph found Zoe's collar on the floor in the living room. Sheesh!

Well, I better go & get started on housework & stuff before it gets too hot.

Now THAT'S a set of knitting needles!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LAeOrnXyqjU&feature=related

Crap.

Know what that is? THAT is a broken needle. From the set that was already missing one. Crap.

worked way too long last night

Yesterday was a very stressful day at work. Some of the things that happened: had to explain to a lender that no, we could not close her client's escrow even though she (lender) hadn't wired the funds yet. Had e-mail from escrow describing how this lender's client had shown up at their office on Thursday night (9:00 pm!) demanding that they (escrow) chase down the courier & add his closing to the packet. Had six contracts arrive at my desk (I hate it when they send them all at once). Spent a good part of the day trying to get estimated HUDs that were correct for lots that had closed on Thursday (why, yes, we ARE supposed to have a correct HUD before we close, but on the other hand I'm not going to tell a buyer "Sorry, I delayed the closing because there was a mistake on the HUD which I knew could and would be fixed"). Turns out one of the reasons escrow was having so much trouble with one is that the buyer had been given a seller-incentive that we (the seller) hadn't authorized; the lender just assumed that we would pay it. They assumed correctly (long story) but of course there wasn't anything in writing authorizing it, so I had to help get the authorization then prepare an addendum; sure hope Sales can get the buyer to sign it at this point. Finally got my closings a few minutes before 5:00 pm, then spent the next 3-1/4 hours trying to get correct HUDs for those & prepare the files to be closed out Monday morning. I am sooooo glad it's the weekend. . .

Still, I should be glad I have a job. Big Sis sent me e-mail late yesterday afternoon; her temp job is only guaranteed through the end of June--yes, that's this Monday--and she doesn't know if it's going to be extended or not. That must really be worrisome!

Knit half the heel on one sock before discovering an error. Tried to fix it. Couldn't. Ripped the heel out again. I hope these don't become The White Socks That Will Never Be Finished.

Insert Title of Your Choice Here

Here's a new picture of the partially-frogged diamond sock. If you compare it to yesterday's pic, you can see just how much I had to rip out. Progress is slow, mostly because I spend too much time on the computer and not enough time knitting. If you're wondering about the weird background, I took this in the front seat of my car; that's the edge of the steering wheel in the upper right.

Better day at work today. Kind of at the point where we'll either get the closings or we won't, and there's not much we can do about it either way.

Back to knitting. . .

Christmas is a-coming

June 25--only six months until Christmas. Or 183 days, if you want to be more precise. Would have been Mom's birthday today.

Month end at work. Very busy. Very stressful. That's all I have to say about that. At least the A/C is working, and the weather is a lot cooler too--low 90s as opposed to over 100.

Finished frogging the white socks down past the heel, but I think I may have gone too many rows. I could do a heel flap & that would be fine I suppose. I just think a short row heel looks better, and I suspect if I started one at the point I frogged to then the sock would be too short. Don't have any new pictures of them, so I'm posting an old one just to remind The Teeming Millions who read my blog what they look like.

Well, dinner is ready (a home-heated lasagna that Ralph bought) so guess I'd better go.

Can't sleep--clown will eat me!

Why why why am I awake at 4:30 am????

Not much to post today

These mittens are an example of how even a mistake can work out. The pattern is the mittens portion of the "mushroom cap and mittens" from "Homespun Handknit." The pattern looked waaaay too short in the fingers, so I added two stripes. Ooops! They came out too large for me! I kept them in the trailer as emergency cold-weather handwarmers, but really only wore them once or twice. Last April when we went camping with Wes & Andrea, I noticed how long her fingers were and asked if she wore mittens. She said, "Sometimes, but it's hard to find ones that fit." I said I had a pair that I made too big for me, but if they fit her she could have them provided she sent me a picture for my "records". And they fit perfectly! So, I had the fun of the project, she has a pair of mittens that actually fit, and all is well. This is the photo she sent. The colors aren't quite right--the white portion came out a bit blue--but you get the feel of it.

Nothing really exciting happened today. Ate spaghetti & chicken for lunch. For once they put enough sauce on it; I told the server "It should look like road kill." She asked, "Doesn't that gross you out?" and I replied, "No. In fact, that should be a good sign for you. If you look at it and say 'gross!' then you know it's right." Guess that worked because there was sooooo much yummy sauce--perfect!

Sent a couple pictures of the yellow dragonfly to whatsthatbug.com; I am hoping they can identify the species. I'm thinking some sort of meadowhawk, but it doesn't quite match up with anything in my field guide. Yes, I have a field guide to dragonflies, what's your point?



Guess that's about it. .

And it's Monday again

Thought I'd post a few more pictures from yesterday's nature walk. These are all shots that Ralph took. The hawk in the first shot is the one that had the squirrel all spooked. It's a little blurry, but much better than any of the pictures of it I was able to get. We liked the cactus in the second picture because it looks like a cartoon bunny.

Had a frustrating morning. Needed pricing from one person & a report from another in order to do my job; both people said they were "too busy" and that I'd have to wait. Faked the pricing (I knew what it was *supposed* to be, and just made the adjustment even though I'm technically supposed to wait for the price sheet) and waited on the report to do those updates. Since the person who needed the updates was the person who was too busy to run the report, I don't think he had any cause to complain.

A/C at work still not functioning right. We had fans running all day, and maintenance is *supposed* to get it fixed tonight. We shall see. In the meantime, I have the OK to wear my nice alleged t-shirts until it's fixed for sure.

Ralph bought a new fish yesterday, some sort of eel. I haven't really seen it yet as it tends to bury itself in the sand. Now I just have to figure out how to feed the fish through the screen he has over the top of the tank, without removing the two lights and the fan that are on top of the screen. Before you make snide comments, bear in mind that the top of my head is only an inch higher than the top of the tank, so it's pretty awkward for me to have to move everything twice a day to feed, and the fish food is bigger than the holes in the screen.

Not much else today, but then Mondays are generally like that :-)

nature walk

Headed out this morning to go to the Bolsa Chica wetlands. As we passed El Dorado Park we made a spontaneous decision to go to their nature center instead. Took a 2-hour stroll down the one-mile hiking trail, stopping often to look & listen & take pictures. Didn't see many birds, although we could hear them. What we did see lots of were red ear sliders (a type of turtle) and dragonflies galore. Oh, and squirrels, some of which would come right up to you which tells me that extremely stupid people have been feeding them. The only bird we saw was a hawk (I think it was a Cooper's Hawk) which was causing a squirrel much distress. The squirrel was giving an alarm call, which is a very loud chirp like a bird. I took a little video of it (see below). After getting home & getting cleaned up, I flickred the best shots & then read. That's pretty much the whole day :-)

From square to bunny: project finished!

Making a bunny from a knit square. This pattern is called "Knitted Bunny" by Jackie E-S of Heartstrings Fiber Arts, and can be requested here: http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/bunny.shtm

Pattern is free with sign-up.

Just started--45 stitches across, maybe 10 rows done at this point. The yarn is handspun alpaca/silk blend, knit using US size 4 needles.

The completed square

Beginning to take shape: head sewn & stuffed, front legs sewn.

Back legs sewn & all stuffing completed.

Ready for the ears! The ruler in front is 6" from inside the notch to the right side edge.

Bunny butt!

Done! I may re-do the tail; that pom-pom is a bit small.

Another view of the finished bunny. This little fellow was completed in about 5 hours, including sewing & stuffing.

Good knitting day

Well, my post is, I suspect, going to be a lot like Big Sis's, considering we just spent the day together. Ralph & I met up with her at an IHOP near her place around 9:00 am. Ralph ordered pancakes with strawberries on them. Sis ordered crepes with strawberries. I ordered country fried steak and eggs with strawberries. Should have seen the double-take from the waitress! We all, including the waitress, had a good laugh.

Afterwards we all (except the waitress) headed to Sis's place. Ralph read, and brainsucked, and swam; Sis & I knit and chatted and knit. We put in a movie ("Lady in the Water") which they watched & I mostly listened to (I've seen it often enough that I can follow the story just listening, and I watched just my favorite scenes). Sis is working on this gorgeous scarf; it's a wavy pattern, and the yarn she is using is a green/purple/blue colorway that is spaced just perfectly for the scarf--the colors go back & forth across it in a big zig-zag. If I were a scarf-wearing sort of person I would yoink it from her :-) I should have taken a picture, but maybe she'll post one. I worked a bit on the orangutan: did the last two fingers on the hand, knit the last five rounds on the leg & sewed it to the body, then knit most of the foot. Forgot to bring the stuffing so wasn't able to finish that part, and I didn't really feel like getting started on another arm or leg, so I began another project that's really easy; you knit a square about 6", then with a series of cunning folds & sewing and the addition of ears & a tail, you get an adorable little bunny.

For lunch we ordered the "Thin 'n' Crispy" from Domino's. Ralph liked it, but I wasn't that thrilled with it. The crust is about the thickness of the cardboard in a toilet paper tube, and cooked to a dark brown crunch. Oh, well.

That's pretty much the whole day. It may not sound like much, but I sure enjoyed myself.

Bits & pieces of info

Doesn't that look yummy? Today was the summer bbq at work; this wasn't my plateful, but no worries mine was just as full. I had carne asada, chipsnsalsa, a hot dog, and more carne asada. The food was delish, although the hot dogs were a bit underdone for my taste. The weather was HOT--about 102 or so.

I only got two shots at the BBQ. I remembered the camera, remembered to verify that the memory chip was in it, brought extra batteries--and left the batteries in the office. Camera died after two pictures. I wasn't about to go back up to the fourth floor when food was waiting.

Weird thing happened today. Ralph & I have matching anatomically correct heart pins. I was holding them both, planning to wear one & I asked Ralph if he wanted to wear his. About that time I dropped one. It hit my utilikilt and. . . vanished. I looked in my pockets, on the floor, behind the door, behind the dresser, on the dresser, I even pulled out the bottom drawer & looked under the dresser. Nothing. Finally gave up and went to work. Around 11:30 or so, Mr. Boss Man asked, "Is this yours?" and handed me the pin! It must have stuck to my skirt *somewhere* and eventually fallen off in his office, but how it managed to cling while I crawled on the floor, drove to work, climbed three flights of stairs and went down the hallway to the office is beyond me.

Soooo hot today

Can't believe the weather lately. My car thermometer registered 102 when I left work at 6:00 today. If this is what Ontario is like in June, I am totally dreading August. Didn't help that I stopped to pick up food at Chee Chinese Restaurant (great food, no A/C) then when I got home discovered that we forgot to set the A/C before we left. It was an oven in here--I really felt sorry for the cats, being in the stifling house all day, but they seem none the worse for wear.

Took the picture of this rabbit outside work this morning. There's a better shot posted at my flickr site. Got three photos before he hopped away.

Saw an interesting license plate frame today. It said "Fish don't walk, and Jesus still lives." My first thought was, "Um, yeah, fish DO walk--at least some do!" Guess the driver had never heard of lungfish or mudskippers (and while googling, I discovered that the northern snakehead--a rather nasty mean fish--can also walk).

Having more volume troubles with the car radio. For a few minutes this morning, the manual volume control wouldn't work at all. Then after I used the steering-wheel electronic control to make the adjustment, it started raising & lowering by itself and quite at random. It flickered back & forth between level 24 & 26 for about 15 seconds at one point. Guess I'm going to have to take the car in to make sure there aren't any other electrical hiccups going on.

OK, so I'm an idiot

OK, so it was bring a dish OR make a donation to the meat fund for Friday's BBQ. In my own defense the announcement was ambiguous, stating "We need donations to buy the meat. There will be a sign-up sheet in the kitchen for side items." So. Anyway. There you have it.

The reminder e-mail I sent myself from work (of things about which to blog) says "meeting, BBQ." Sure wish I could remember what it was about the meeting that I wanted to write about. Obviously I need to start sending better reminder e-mails. Oh, well. . .

So I fed the fish in the pond earlier this evening, and noticed how green & nice the lily pads looked with the water droplets from the sprinkler on them, so I went back in the house for the camera. As I came back out, a bird flew up from the grass, over the pond, and into the neighbor's yard. When I got to the pond to take the picture, I noticed a little "caterpiggle" on one of the lily pads. Guess the bird must have dropped it! There are some photos of it on my flickr site. After I took the pictures, Ralph rescued the critter so it wouldn't drown.

Forgot to mention. . .

. . . Ralph's work had a registry worker (medical temp) on Sunday, an RT which is what Ralph does. They got to talking and, long story short, turns out her daughter-in-law works for the same company I do, only in the Corona office. Small world, isn't it?

I wish it were Saturday. With the hour commute & the time at work, I am just beat by the middle of the week. Speaking of work, I really should be packing my lunch, brushing my teeth, and otherwise getting ready to go.

Did a teeeeeny bit of spinning this morning, not even one hook's worth. I'm beginning to worry that I'm not going to have enough fiber to make the shawl as long as I'd hoped. Good thing about a shawl, though--even if it's short, it'll still fit :-)

This morning's picture: close up of a giant bird-of-paradise growing in a pot outside of the local Sears.

Another exciting day

Using Ralph's computer today, so this is actually one of the pictures he took. Isn't Hali an elegant creature? Not sure exactly when this was taken; had to have been some time back since we ripped out the carpet over a year ago. Plus, Hali looks skinny.

Work sucks. That's all I have to say about that.

Working (via e-mail) with a new loan processor. Her name is Lorena Fatica; she signs her e-mails as "LoFat." I found that highly amusing. I think I'm going to like working with her. Doubt I'll ever meet her in person, though, as she is in the Florida mortgage office which is just a wee bit aways from Long Beach CA.

Got a little bit more spinning done. Not much, just "two hooks" worth on the bobbin, but every bit helps.

Ralph is thinking of cancelling his D & D game this Saturday. I warned him that I would NOT be cancelling my "knittering" day with Big Sis, and he was fine with that.

On Sunday we are possibly going to go to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Preserve & see if we can get some good bird pictures.

Always. Bring. The. Camera.

Left the camera at home today, thus missing the chance of getting a picture of a feral cat in the bushes at work. Sigh.

Tried another flavor of that good oatmeal (brown sugar w/pecans). It was even better than the first flavor I had!

Mondays suck, and today was a very long day at work. That's all I have to say about that.

Socks are done. . . now what??

Well, since The Brown Socks That Will Never Be Finished are finished, I guess I should start working on one of my other on-hold WIPs. My choices: the adorable but mind-numbingly-dull-to-knit orangutan (pictured right); the claws-are-a-b*tch-to-knit lobster; or the need-to-frog-3" white diamond socks. Ooorrrrrrr, I could start a completely new project. . .

Last night, I Fulfilled a Lifelong Goal. I used to love watching the Marx Brothers movies when I was in my early teens, and for a while even had a framed photo of Harpo in my room. Read a couple biographies on them, as well. I was determined that somehow, someday, I would actually *hear* Harpo's voice, and now I have. I found a youtube video on which Harpo Marx speaks. He doesn't say much, but I have finally heard his voice. Not every day one Fulfills a Lifelong Goal!

Actually remembered to send Dad an e-mail for Fathead's Day. This is, in and of itself, a miracle.

Went shopping for work clothes today. That trip was a waste of time & a dismal failure. Apparently the only shirts I like are cotton knit, and even if they don't have stitching on the outside I suspect they would be on the "no" list. I'll have to print it up during the week & take it with me on a shopping trip next Sunday. I did see some button-ups that were rather nice, but unfortunately I really can't wear those as manufacturers put the buttons on in such a way that the shirts always gap open across the bustline when I wear them. Having large "bazooms" is NOT an advantage. Anyway, I didn't buy any clothes & instead did a work-clothes-only load of laundry. I've got just enough to get me through the week.

The trip to the bookstore was more successful. I bought "The Lost World" on audiodisk as it was the only one I could find that met my exacting criteria (must sound at least vaguely interesting; must not be abridged; must be at least 10 hours long so it will last a full work week; must be a story as opposed to anecdotes, self help, etc) and a true-crime novel called "Killer Doctors." Wasn't able to see if my other book was at the Indian place as for some reason they were closed. I've noticed that, despite having Sunday hours posted, whether or not they are actually open on Sunday is a bit hit-or-miss. I had already started re-reading "Crewel Yule" at breakfast & will finish that one before starting my new book. Shouldn't take too long, as I'm already halfway through it.

Also got a little bit more spinning done, but not as much as I'd intended. I'm having a bit of elbow pain & thought I should take a break.

Cool "Star Wars" video

A remake, if you will, of the attack on the Death Star: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uwz42NeZWHo

Laaaaaazy day

Nothing to really blog about today, 'cause I did NOTHING today. By nothing I mean I worked on the yarn for the shawl (soaked the first 3 skeins & hung them up to set the twist; spun up another bobbin's worth), finished my book ("The Wrong Track," Book 2 in the "Holmes on the Range" series by Steven Hockensmith), sat in the sun, threw the ball for the dogs, brainsucked, and watched "The Empire Strikes Back." When I'm done blogging I'm going to fix dinner ("what's in the cupboard?" casserole). So you see it was really a rather dull day. I could use 10 more just like it :-)

Tomorrow I will have to go to the bookstore, since I can't find the other book I bought (I think I left it in the Indian restaurant) and the other other book is sooooo boring. Why couldn't I have lost the boring one? Perhaps I'll go to the Indian place for lunch tomorrow & see if they found the book. I had just barely started it, and I'll be darned if I can remember the name of it. . . maybe I can find my receipt. . . Better do some grocery shopping, too, or we'll be having "what's in the cupboard?" casserole for dinner tomorrow, too.

Dress code

Can't believe I forgot to post about this yesterday. I went to HR at work to ask about the "T-shirt." There were three people in the office when I went in. I asked if the shirt I was wearing was appropriate for everyday work wear, and was told "yneos." That is to say, one person said "yes" while another simultaneously responded "no" and the third person said nothing. Obviously the dress code is perfectly clear & unambiguous since even the HR people can't agree on it! Eventually they all came to be of one accord in the matter: I should wait for CL to get back from lunch & ask her. Sigh. So I went back after my lunch & asked CL, who said absolutely not because it was a t-shirt. I said that I didn't consider it as such but rather a knit top, and asked her for the definition of a t-shirt. She said "a cotton shirt with stitching on the outside" (translation: "any shirt that is comfortable to wear in the 90+ degree weather we've been having lately.") Sigh. That describes 90% of my formerly work shirts. Guess I'll be going shopping this weekend.

Anyway, a couple hours later she sent out an e-mail "clarifying" the dress code (apparently I wasn't the only person who had been asking questions about it lately). It had a sheet of pictures of what is & is not acceptable as "business casual." Sheesh, it's even more confusing than the old dress code sheet. The pictures don't say *why* it is or is not acceptable. There was one skirt that was on the "no" list that really had me wondering. It came just above the knee (was it too short?), appeared to be made of light cotton (too casual a fabric?) and had a sort of an "Americana" print (are print skirts not allowed?or was it the "country fair" feel of the pattern?). How can you avoid the "no" if you don't know what part of it puts it on the list? Oh, and both walking shorts AND capris were on the "not acceptable" list.

Speaking of clothes, the Brown Socks That Will Never Be Finished--are finished!! Woo hoo!

OoooOOOo Friday the Thirteenth!!!!

Although I shouldn't scoff, because it obviously it wasn't a lucky day for the driver of this smoky van. Sorry about the poor quality of the shot; the traffic started to move again just as I was taking the picture & I had to snap quickly without really aiming.

Found out today that one of my coworkers, CE, has been kissed by Jeff Goldblum! Mind you, it was on the cheek and she was only seven years old at the time, but still. . . seems her teacher was a friend of his and he visited her class one day.

Our work is having a BBQ on Friday. It's a potluck, with people signing up to bring the side dishes & desserts, and CK is collecting money to buy the meat. I dunno, it just strikes me as odd that you have to donate money to a company event. . . .I may just pack a lunch that day on principle. I guess bringing money isn't all that different than bringing a potluck dish, but it just feels wrong to me.

Didn't get any knitting done today. I swear those socks will NEVER be finished!

Friday morning

Wow--slept in 'til almost 5:40! What a slug-a-bed.

Forgot to mention yesterday that the Brown Socks That Will Never Be Finished are almost finished! All I have to do is bind off & weave in the ends. I started to bind off the first one yesterday at lunch & only got 24 stitches off the needles before it was time to go back to work. I also cut the bind-off yarn waaaaaaaay too short; good thing I know how to do a decent join.

So, I missed a posting. . .

I had a horrid Sally when I got home last night, plus dinner took so long that by the time we ate & got back from the restaurant all I wanted to do was sleep. Thus, no post for the Teeming Millions who read my blog. Many apologies.

I plied the first three bobbins. Came out much more orange than I anticipated (gosh, what a shock, yellow & red put together look orange. . . )and I hope that I will be able to wear the finished shawl. I tend to look awful in orange; makes me look all jaundiced.

So, filled up the gas tank yesterday. Well, almost--for the first time ever, I set the pump for $40 worth and did NOT get any change back. Yikes! Good thing I get fabulous mileage (drove 503 miles on that last tank) or I would go broke fast driving to work & back each day.

Also had a blast from the past, as it were. The restaurant we went to last night has a cigarette vending machine. Amazing--haven't seen one in ages. It's not in an easily-visible place; kinda stuck in a corner at the top of some stairs. You can really only see it when you come out of the restaurant.

NOTE TO ALL MY READERS WHO WORK IN A BUILDING THAT HAS A RESTROOM FOR ITS CUSTOMERS: If a customer tells you that the restroom is out of toilet paper, it's a good idea to assume that the reason they are telling you this is that he/she needs to pee like a racehorse & would like you to refill the paper so he/she can use the facility. He/she is not telling you this so you can smile & nod & walk off to set up milkshakes for the lunchtime rush that is still four hours away.

Missed another photo op today. I had the camera with me, but I was driving at the time. On the way to work, I passed a mailman in full uniform walking a dog. Usually you think of dogs & mailmen as being "enemies" so I liked this particular scene.

I also discovered yesterday that I am not the only one who was supposed to get an office & was ousted. Apparently the office that JV is in, that was going to be Mr. Boss Man's, was originally to be the office of Mr. Big Boss's executive assistant. Instead she has a sort of office constructed out of cubicle walls, with a really big desk and filing cabinets, but still basically a cubicle.

Hmmm. Even missing a day I don't have much to post. What a fabulous exciting life I lead. . .

Just a few words

How's that for a neat-o shot? I think it's really groovy, in a happening kind of way. It's a picture of the tree fern in our backyard, taken looking straight up from under one of the branches.


I noticed two people at work today wearing shorts. Not overly short (the clothes, not the people), they did come down to the top of the knee, but shorts nonetheless. One girl tried to tell me they were "capris" to which I pointed out that capris come BELOW the knee. She then said that they were "nice" and that made them slacks. Sheesh. So how come they get to wear shorts, but if I wear a knit top it's the end of the world?



I am making good progress on the spinning that I started on Sunday. I knew I just needed to work with the brighter colorway to be inspired again. (The green is pretty, but it's all one shade & I am soooo bored with it.) I have two bobbins completed, and one more that is about 2/3 full. Another 30 minutes or so of spinning & it will be done. I will ply those three up to get an idea of the yardage so I will know how much more to spin. I want at least 1,100 yards as I think that will make a decent-sized shawl. I decided against knitting the one in Spin-Off. A circular shawl really is a lot nicer even if it does take three times the yarn to make one.


I found a really good chiggen recipe online yesterday, if you can call something with only three ingredients a recipe. You take 4 tablespoons of butter, melt it in a pan with 2 tablespoons of chicken bouillion granules & stir 'til it's blended together, then add four boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Fry them for 20 minutes or until cooked through, turning occasionally so they don't burn. They came out a little salty--I think next time I'll decrease the bouillion by half or see if I can find some low-sodium granules--but otherwise were very tasty. We're going to have the leftovers for dinner tonight. Think I'll make fried taters to go with it. Mind you, what I *really* want to have for dinner is a Big Mac. . . wonder if I can call Ralph & talk him into stopping at Mickey D's on the way home? I know, I know--the chiggen is better for me.


Nothing really interesting happened today, so I guess I'll sign off for now.

June the 9th

Yay! The new issue of Spin-Off arrived today! I've just barely glanced at it, and already one article has caught my eye. Yes, it's a shawl pattern! And get this--it uses a two-ply yarn, 18-20 wpi. The yarn I'm spinning right now is about 36 wpi, which means when I two-ply it, it will be about 18 wpi. It's a triangular shawl. I prefer a round shawl, but then again triangular is better than rectangular (which to me isn't a proper shawl at all, more of a wide scarf). Not positive I will use that pattern, of course, but it's nice to have the option.



Had a disappointing lunch today. Having eaten most of my packed lunch as breakfast, I ended up going to an Italian place. I specifically requested extra sauce, and told the person who took my order that if the pasta were visible, it wasn't enough sauce. Well I'm sure you can all see what's coming--hardly any sauce at all! I asked for more, and they brought me this little container which couldn't have held more than 1/4 cup of sauce, if that much. The food was tasty, but I definitely would have preferred at least three times as much sauce as what I had.



Saturday Ralph trimmed a bunch of branches off the nectarine tree. I gathered up a lot of the fruit from it, and yesterday I made a nectarine cobbler. You can't really tell in the picture, but the colors are almost identical to the yarn I am spinning. It tastes pretty good (better than it looks in the photo), which is surprising to me because a) I am not that keen on nectarines, b) the nectarines weren't quite ripe and c) I'd never made a cobbler from scratch before. There is still a lot of fruit left from what I picked; I've put it on the kitchen windowsill to ripen. And, of course, the tree is still loaded. My cookbook has instructions on canning & freezing nectarines; just might have to check that out.

Almost forgot--one of the "keepers of the key" to the supply room sent out an e-mail today, asking that whoever took the key from her desk return it "no questions asked." Why am I not surprised? As noted in a previous post, I didn't think keeping the key where anyone could take it was a good way to secure the supply room.

Sunday spinning

Haven't been doing much spinning lately. The problem was I felt obligated to finish spinning up the bobbin of green I was working on, when what I wanted to spin was the Northern Lights Sunset that I bought in Arizona. Last night I said to heck with it, set aside the green, and started on the sunset. Isn't it gorgeous? I'm thinking shawl and maybe a matching hat . . . if I can find my book of shawl patterns, that is. Thought for sure it was in the red room but couldn't find it this morning. I'm not sure why the camera chose to rotate the photo, but you can see it right-side up on my flickr site, along with a couple other photos of the yarn-in-progress. There is more red and less orange in it than it looks in the pictures.

Big Sis must not have read my blog this weekend, since there was no comment on yesterday's post pointing out my lovely spelling of "prunes." I have fixed the error. . . which interestingly enough, I also made just now when typing "prunes" in the last sentence, and almost did again in this one! OK, that's it; from now on, the official spelling shall be "prunce."

EDIT: I found my shawl pattern book. It was in the red room after all. Found a pattern that I like, and looked at the yarn requirements: 8 skeins of (name of yarn brand) at 150 yards per skein. OK, 1,200 yards although of course I have no idea how thick the yarn is . . . then it says "I bought a 1,800 yd/450 gram cone . . . I used 9.5 oz for this shawl." Must she use THREE different types of measurements (yards, grams, ounces) to describe how much she used? Couldn't she have said "I bought a 1,800 yard cone and had X yards left over (or used X yards)"? Guess I'll have to convert grams to ounces & figure out the yardage that way.

Last night

Well, we ended up going to a Moroccan place for dinner. Not sure I would go again; the food was pretty good but very expensive (after tax & tip, we spent nearly $80) and there was a very long wait between courses. We had a "set dinner" which consisted of lentil soup (delicious!), bread with different veggie relishes, bastilla (chicken in phyllo with cinnamon & powdered sugar), a lamb dish with zucchini, a chicken dish with honey and prunes, and for dessert a small pretzel-shaped fried pastry with honey, and hot mint tea. It wasn't nearly so much food as it sounds, as the servings were very small. They did have a fairly good belly dancer for entertainment, and afterwards she went from table to table doing tarot readings for additional tips. We passed on it, but the people at the table across from ours had their cards read. We weren't close enough to hear what she said though.





Today I took the girls to the vet for the vaccinations, and to have that big lump on Hali's side looked at. They were soooo nervous! But they were good girls & didn't whine or snap or anything like that while they got their shots, and fortunately the lump is only a fatty deposit. The vet said it was nothing to worry about, however if we wanted him to do so, he would remove it when we bring her in for her teeth cleaning.

Ralph bought some lumber today to build a walkway along the fence where Zoe dug her way out last time. We figure if she has to tunnel under 3' of wood before even reaching the fence, we'll be home before she reaches the other side & can fill in the holes before they become escape routes. Eventually we want to have the walkway go all the way around, but for now just that one strip will do. All the other fences have cement slabs on the other side of them so she can't dig out there. Going to be a lot of work, I think, and not as much fun as the events we thought about attending today (a pirate fair in Big Bear; a knitting-for-charity event in Bellflower; a contemporary crafts fair in Santa Monica, and there was something else but I don't remember what it was now), although I'm sure we'll be glad we did it when all is said & done.





Boy, I'm hungry. . . . maybe we'll go to Charley's for lunch. Yeah, that sounds good. . .

Smoke on the . . . Yangtze???

C'mon everyone, sing along! http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1798690

short post for now

Headed to dinner & not sure I can post afterwards, so this may be it for today. Had a weird dream (duh, when has anyone ever said, "I had the most mundane dream last night. . . ). It had similar elements to a dream I had a couple weeks ago. In this one, I was at an amusement park with Big Sis and Duh. We were in line to go on a new ride, and Duh was really excited because in order to ride it, you had to answer a question from the celebrity panel, and the celebrities asking the questions for our line were Davy Jones & Peter Tork from the Monkees. Odd for me to have a Monkees dream without Mike Nesmith in it. . .

Darwin is possessed!

My car has a monitor in the dashboard; changes such as low fuel, changing the radio station, changing the A/C temp, etc. show up on the monitor. So I was driving to work this morning, and suddenly the radio sounded quieter. I glanced at the monitor--and sure enough, the volume indicator is onscreen, and in the second or two that I was watching the volume lowered itself from level 23 to level 15! Very, very strange. . . .

Today I learned A Great Truth. If you want someone to interrupt you 500 times, be sure to tell the person that you are trying to finish an important project.

Remembered to bring the camera to work today. On my break, I took a walk around the block, and saw three squirrels and a rabbit! Too bad the camera was at my desk.

Nothing else really to talk about today.

Does this make any sense??

Today's picture: the one and only rose that is in bloom on the never-has-done-well rosebush in our front yard. It smells so beautiful!


Someone explain this to me. Our company has an in-house lender. There are two branches of the mortgage company. One is in Florida, and one is Arizona. Right now all our files are handled by the Arizona office. However, the mortgage head honchos are rearranging which branch handles particular files. So that means all of the West Coast files are going to be handled by the Florida office, and the East Coast files will be handled by the Arizona office. This means that all our account managers will be going home three hours before the end of our California business day, and all the East Coasters will have been at work for two hours before their account managers arrive for the day. What kind of crazy plan is that?

Another odd thing at work: starting last Monday, the supply room is now being kept locked. Two people have the key, and if you need anything you have to get the key from one of them. The people don't actually go with you--they just hand you the key and you go in, get what you plan on taking, drop it off at your desk, then return the key. One person keeps the key on her desk in plain sight, so if she isn't there you can just take it & not have to wait for her to return. I asked why they are locking the door, and was told that "some things had gone missing." Um, one, how will allowing people to take things out unattended prevent things from being taken, and two, if the items weren't for general office use, why were they in the supply room instead of being in a locked cabinet, or at the very least put in a box marked "Do Not Take"? Whatever!

Got *very* little knitting done today; only three rounds on one sock. Maybe after dinner (Indian food from the local take-out place) I'll get in a few more rounds.

Speaking of food, a strange thing happened today. First, you have to understand that I *hate hate HATE* oatmeal. My doctor told me I am supposed to eat it (cholesterol control, doncha know) and I really did try--I ate a bowlful almost every day until it got to the point that I just could not choke it down. Anyway, when I went shopping last week I bought some "Simple Harvest Multi-Grain Hot Cereal" (by Quaker Oats) thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Well, I had my first packet on Monday & found that I like it. In fact, today not only was I *looking forward* to having my bowlful at snacktime, but I was actually sorry when it was gone! I bought the almond/honey/vanilla flavor; the next time I go shopping I think I will pick up one of the other flavors (it also comes in apple/cinnamon and maple/brown sugar/pecan), and maybe a box of the Simple Harvest granola bars.