And in other news

Very little news today. I spoke to N & found out that the job I applied for last week has been filled. However, the company is thinking of hiring another person or two, and they are keeping me on the back burner (so to speak) for if and/or when that day arrives. In the meantime N is still "marketing" me (her word) and of course I'm still hitting the job websites & sending out resumes.

As you can see, I have not only finished the Weasley Twins, but actually got around to taking a picture of it. I'm really flummoxed, though. With the exception of Hermione, every single square has been knit on size 5 needles (I did her on 7s). With the exception of the Weasley Twins which has one Vanna's Choice yarn, every single square has been done exclusively with Plymouth Encore Worsted. So *why* are no two squares close enough in size that I can sew them together to make a pillow cover? Yes, I know I said I was going to knit backings for them. I even started a backing for Hermione. However, it is such dull work to knit row after row of stockinette without even a color change that I don't know when I'll get around to doing it; especially since I have so many more interesting projects calling my name.

Yesterday I baked an absolutely scrumptious citrus cake. The recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Glazed-Lemon-Bundt-Cake/Detail.aspx I didn't have any lemon extract so I used orange instead as that is what I had on hand. A lot of the glaze drips off the cake when you pour it on, so I moved it over a fresh sheet of waxed paper & poured the excess back over the cake; moved it onto the original waxed paper & poured the excess from the second sheet back over the cake; lather, rinse, repeat until virtually all of the glaze was used up. It made a nice, crunchy sugar coating over it. I just might have to have another slice for lunch. Um, I mean after lunch. Yeah, that's it, after lunch. . .

As the 4th of July gets closer, we've been hearing the pop of firecrackers more & more often. Poor Hali is a bundle of nerves; she hates popping sounds. One went off today and she came over to me for comfort, shaking so badly that I could literally hear her teeth chattering. We plan on visiting friends on the 4th, getting home before dark of course, but if they're being set off now I can only imagine what the actual holiday will be like. We intend to keep all the dogs in the house with the doors firmly shut & locked, running the fans & HEPA filter to act as white noise. That should help keep them from hearing the pops, and I'd rather clean up an accident in the house than put them outside and risk them managing to escape the yard in their attempts to get away from the bangs.

Did I mention that I finally got a library card? I've been getting a lot of reading done; six books in ten days, plus I started another one today. Mind you, they are very light reading--"cozy" mysteries rather than anything in depth. Very relaxing. Plus I can use the card at any & all of the libraries in the City, of which there are about ten or so. That should keep me in books for a while, even at the rate at which I am going through them.

Feeling good today

Goodness, it's been over a week since I've posted. Funny how now that I have lots of time to post, I hardly ever do it. If I'm not careful, I'll turn into Lizard.

Last Wednesday's job interview was rescheduled for today; I got back from it about 30 minutes ago. I feel really good about it. The job sounds very diverse, exciting, and challenging--in other words, right up my alley. I feel the interview went well. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Last Saturday i attended a World Wide Knit in Public Day event. I don't really like referring to it as a "Day" since this year it lasted from June 12 through June 20; it should really be "World Wide Knit in Public Week and a Day." I was originally going to attend one in El Dorado Park (sponsored by the same group that did the one I attended last year) but decided to give another group a chance. I didn't get a lot of knitting done--too busy yakking with everyone! It would have helped if I'd brought a different project, too. I'm working on a pair of lace socks which took more focus than I would have liked for a group event like this. However, the only other projects I have going right now are a small bird that's in the needs-to-be-stitched-together stage, the pony which is at the same point, and a new Harry Potter intarsia square (Snape this time; I finished the Weasley Twins but need to get a photo still). Stitching up is no fun, and intarsia takes even more focus than the lace socks.

Yesterday I took up an invitation from MC from Archery, meeting up with her & one of her friends whom I shall call Knitter C. Of course I brought the same sock project that requires focus on the pattern, so not much got done on them. It was a lot of fun chatting though, and MC bought me lunch which I felt was very kind of her. If I don't get a job soon, we'll probably meet up again some weekday. Knitter C would fit right in with our group of friends, being a gamer of both the role-playing and board varieties, a sci-fi fan, and book lover. She & I have read a lot of the same books, and she's got an old Rose is Rose collection that I would love to get my mitts on :-)

Today's photo is of a California sea hare, a type of gastropod found in shallow waters. We took this a couple weeks ago when we went to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Preserve. Normally we don't see many sea hares, however on this particular visit there were dozens of them. I don't know if it was due to the time of day or time of year. We also saw lots of lizards, a few rabbits, and a nest with a trio of juvenile herons in it.

Working on the Weasleys

Wow! I'm making some good progress on the Fred & George square. On Friday, I was just at the top of Fred's chin (just where the light grey changes to dark; I'm assuming Fred is the one on the left), and look how far I am now. I just finished row 74 out of 111 (not including the border rows). Please ignore the cat barf on Fred's shoulder; it had already dried by the time I discovered it, and I can't wash the piece until it's off the needles. Luckily the yarn is machine washable.

We did our first big grocery shopping trip since I got laid off. We spent more than I had planned, however I can only think of one thing that we probably should not have bought. Plus, since we went to Costco, many of the items will last us a very long time, such as the ground beef (six 1-pound tubes for $15.99) and the huge bag of frozen blueberries. Combined with the other mini-shopping trips, we're averaging about $106/week on groceries. This is still less than what we were spending before, plus we're not eating out and that's a big savings right there.

Ironically, I think we are eating better now than we were before. Since I don't have to prep my lunch 7 hours in advance, I'll often just whip up a bananananananana smoothie in the early afternoon. Dessert is more likely to be a fruit cobbler (I made a fresh one today using some of the frozen blueberries) instead of cookies or chocolates. Normally a kielbasa will last us maybe two meals; this time, I cut it up in little pieces and mixed it with rice. We got two dinners out of it, plus I mixed some with scrambled eggs to make four breakfast burritos, and we've still got enough left for another pair of burritos. Tonight's dinner is chicken baked in the oven with potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic, seasoned with fresh rosemary (we have a rosemary plant in the backyard), garlic salt, and pepper. I added some bullion to the pot so the meat doesn't dry out. That's got to be healthier than eating in a restaurant as we normally would do on a weekend, plus there's enough chicken for at least two meals (more if I mix the leftovers with rice).

Lastly for today, I've got a real job interview lined up on Wednesday. It's a three month temp-to-hire position. I really hope I get it; even three months work will be helpful, plus if it becomes permanent that means the end of job hunting. I'm not counting on it, of course, but it's exciting to think about it. Especially since it's just a bit over five miles from home (for those new among the Teeming Millions, my old job was not quite fifty-seven miles away. Yes, that's one-way, not round-trip). However, I think it would be overly optimistic to expect to get a job this quickly. That won't stop me from trying, though!

Middle of the week already???

Wednesday already. It's been hard keeping track of the day since I lost my job (has it really been only two weeks? Has it really been two weeks already??) so yesterday I pulled out the day-to-day calendar I used to have on my desk. It's just a little thing, however I think it's important to keep on a work-type schedule so it's not such a shock when I do go back to work. It's a lot easier to do that if I know what day it is, LOL! I still get up between 5:00 & 5:30, still pack a lunch for Ralph, and still make a point to be showered & dressed by 6:30.

Today I baked some dog snacks. (Yeah, it's pretty sad when baking dog treats is the highlight of the morning.) I mashed up some leftover cooked potatoes and carrots, added some chicken that I knew we weren't going to eat, mixed it all together with flour, an egg, a bit of oil, and the last couple swallows of milk that I didn't finish at breakfast; then I rolled the dough up in little balls, smashed 'em flat, and baked them at 400 for about 20 minutes. The dogs love them and it's a money-saver, too; cheaper than buying dog treats, plus the leftovers didn't go to waste.

In other news, the person for whom I voted for City Council yesterday actually won. I think this makes the third time in my life as a Responsible Citizen that the person for whom I voted made it into office. I'm either doing something right or something wrong, I can't decide which. According to a news article I read, about 25% of voters registered in my town showed up at the polls. I realize it wasn't a Major Election, but that still seems like a poor turnout to me.

Oh, almost forgot! The flower in my last post is. . . a carrot! I'd never seen one in bloom before. I wonder if it will have seeds that I can plant next year?

Speaking of plants, I think we've gotten the last nectarines off the tree. There are still a few on there, however they are pretty much evenly divided between so ripe that they are rotting on the branch; hard as rocks; and perfectly ripe but full of fruit flies, ants, and/or bird bites. Still, we've used up 12 cups of sliced nectarines to make cobblers, plus have 6 cups in the freezer. That's much better than last year, where we got maybe four nectarines before the birds cleaned the tree.

We don't really have a garden this year. We planted one tomato plant which has small green tomatoes & some blossoms on it; one zucchini which is just starting to flower; and a basil plant. If nothing else, we'll have some nice pasta sauce come summertime.

I actually knit a few rows on my Fred & George intarsia square. I really need to get that finished. The fact that the cat barfed on it does NOT increase my motivation to work on it. Dumb cat. I also finished all the pieces for the pony & just need to sew it up & stuff it. I couldn't get the leg to not gap (see previous post) so I am using duplicate stitch to close up the holes.

Well, nothing else really going on today. Hopefully the weekend will be interesting enough to write about :-)

Boring Sunday

What a dull day this has been. The book I'm reading is not very interesting; good enough to read while eating lunch, not good enough to read for hours at a stretch. Spent waaaaay too much time playing computer games. Did a little job searching; not much new stuff posted on a weekend but I did find one that seemed worth sending out the ol' resume.

Also getting frustrated with my knitting. I'm making a pony, and just need to knit the hind legs before starting the seaming, sewing & stuffing. Halfway through the leg, there's a section where you do a "knit front and back" increase across the four center stitches for about 10 rows. No matter what I do, I end up with gaps (see photo; you need to click on it to enlarge in order to really see the gaps). I haven't had this problem with this type of increase before, and I've even tried using alternative increases. Still gapping. I think the problem might be the fact that there are no plain rows in between, so the multiple tensions on the stitches are pulling things askew. I've set it aside while I consider alterations to the pattern.

Right now I'm sitting at the computer with my back to the front door. The wood door is open & the security screen is shut, so there's light from the doorway shining on the wall in front of me. A few minutes ago, a couple shadows crossed the light as some people walked up to the door. I have no idea who they were, as the dogs started barking and the shadows vanished before I could even turn around. Really fierce, almost vicious barking, too--not at all like their usual "Mailman is coming to kill us all!" or "How dare you walk that dog in MY neighborhood!!??!!" barks. Anyway, I'm not expecting visitors & they wouldn't bark like that at anyone they know, so good girl Hali! Good girl Zoe!

Baked some cookies today. I *knew* that 10 minutes per batch was too long, but foolishly followed the recipe. Only burned the first batch, baking all the others for only 7 minutes. Even the burned ones are pretty good.



Here's a little quiz for you. Take a look at the photo on the left. That's a flower blooming on one of our backyard plants. Can you identify it? Answer will be in the next blog post :-)

Went to a family potluck at Lizard's yesterday. The Girl was there, but The Boy had to work. Dad & his girlfriend were there of course, and Duh with her new husband Happy. We brought nectarine cobbler & vanilla ice cream. There was also chicken, shrimp cocktail, chips, stuffed mushrooms, cole slaw, potato salad, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Oh, and green beans but I didn't have any of those. Lots of talk & lots of laughing. I think everyone had a good time.

I could get used to this

You know, if it weren't for that pesky mortgage payment, I could soooo get used to being at home. I've been able to cook real dinners, the laundry is under control, I was able to slice & freeze an additional 8 cups of nectarines (normally the birds eat them before we have a chance to pick the fruit off the tree), the house is relatively tidy, there's a fresh loaf of banana bread cooling on the dining room table, and I was even able to reorganize the linen cupboard which was badly needed. Even lunch tastes better, because I eat the sandwich as soon as it's made instead of after it sat in my lunch bag for seven hours.

I've gotten some knitting done, too. I finished the octopus juggling balls for Ralph (today's pic), and have cast on for a rather cartoon-ish looking pony. I even did a few rows on Fred & George, which has been on the UFO pile for some time now.

In job search news, I've signed up with a couple temp agencies & sent out a few resumes. I also signed on with a couple online job search websites. Tomorrow I interview with one of the temp agencies and hopefully with a prospective temp-to-hire employer after that. This last bit isn't confirmed yet, so keep your fingers crossed for me. Yesterday I took my assessments at the first temp agency. Did better than I expected at PowerPoint (76% correct, and I've never used that program before) and typing (80 WPM!!) and not as well as I expected at Word & Excel. I was great with the functions I used at work all the time, however I had no idea there were so many functions I'd never used before. Still, I scored pretty highly on everything and I'm sure that can only be for the good.

Going to a family potluck on Saturday afternoon. I plan on bringing nectarine cobbler. Wonder if we should pick up some vanilla so-called iced cream to go with it? It's good on its own, but even better with so-called iced cream. Hmmmm.