Erm, riiiight.

So I was bringing in my knitting project yesterday, and my bobbin of white yarn leapt out of the project bag and flung itself at the fan. Before I could catch it, virtually the entire length of yarn had wound itself around the shaft before snapping. Upon closer inspection (see photo, left) it was discovered that little bits of yarn have been winding themselves onto the shaft for some time now. The picture at right is how much was on there. No wonder the fan wasn't running very well.

The talent show last week was a lot of fun. Ralph wasn't too pleased with his singing but I thought he sounded all right. Some of my favorite acts were "Down in the Valley" with two cowpokes and their "mule," and "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" from "Camelot." And, of course, "Weekend in the Country." Afterward about a dozen of us went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner, where I had scrumptious chicken & asparagus crepes served with a cup of chicken noodle soup and some mixed greens with a delicious balsamic vinegar dressing. Much talk & laughter ensued.



I have decided to use two of my Harry Potter squares to make a tote bag. Snape & the Weasley Twins are the closest in size so those are the ones I intend to use. I'll have to find some good fabric for a lining, and I'm torn between making a knitted handle (which may stretch) or buying pre-made handles (which cost money that I'd rather not spend). Since Snape isn't done yet I've still got some time to decide.

Remember I said I baked some fig bread recently? Well, it was totally delicious! Too bad we didn't get much of it, since A Certain Dog Whose Name Begins With "Z" took it upon herself to steal 1-1/2 loaves off the table while we were out! I do have enough figs to bake more, although I need to get more milk & flour first. It's our own fault; we know she steals things and we left the bread too close to the edge of the table. Still, it's very annoying.

OH! And I finished the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat. Photos pending. I absolutely love it.

Chug chug chugging along

I have found the perfect project for the yarn A.L. gave me. Actually, it's a pattern I've wanted to do for a long time & just hadn't found the right yarn for it. It's called the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat, in honor of the Discworld character of the same name. (Wikipedia has some articles on him so you can look him up if so desired.) It's an awesome hat; after the ribbing, you do some short rows to give it a lopsided look. A cable band is knit sideways above the ribbing, the cables deteriorating into wavy strands over the short rows. (Click on the pic to the right for a better view of the short rows & cables.) I had to learn how to graft rib stitch for this project which is an AWESOME skill to have, and easier than one might think. Short rows in the crown allow the hat to fit properly. The pictures posted today are of the cable band before grafting.

Today I picked the first ripe figs from the tree, or rather the first fruits we humans get to eat. I noticed quite a few that have been munched on by birds and insects (notably ants--the tree was swarming with them!) I gathered 21 of them; 14 are in the fridge now, and the others were used to make some fig bread which is currently baking. I've never made it before, since normally the birds don't leave enough figs to bother, and I hope it's good. It smells good, which I'm taking as a good sign.

I've started following a new blog (new to me, that is). It's called Hopes & Dreams & Happy Things (www.hopes-dreams-happythings.blogspot.com) and the title pretty much describes it. Current postings include a photo of an open-mouthed bullfrog (love his reflection in the pond) and some shots of The Magic Castle in LA (an awesome place; if you ever have the chance to visit you should do so). Scrolling through the old posts certainly made me smile.

Ralph is performing in a church talent show tomorrow. Neither of us are members of this church, but some friends of ours go there & one of them asked Ralph to help out as they were short a tenor for "A Weekend in the Country." I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier post. I'm really looking forward to the performance.

Temp work is still holding on. Friday was supposed to have been my last day and they've asked me to stay another four weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Snake!

Took a short hike at Ice House Canyon (Mt. Baldy) this morning. Saw several Stellar's jays, a couple woodpeckers, and this rather handsome little snake. Based on a Google search, I believe he is a striped whipsnake. Pretty cool, eh?

Just some random thoughts

Have you ever done the right thing, and felt like a jerk for doing so? A few days ago, I was knitting in the car at work when a couple young teenage girls came up & asked me if I knew where a certain street was. I said I didn't, but would see if I could find it on the GPS. As I was powering it up, one of them said they were going to Name Of High School. I entered that & discovered they still had 2-1/2 miles to walk. They offered to pay me if I would give them a ride. I looked at them like they'd grown a couple extra heads & replied, "Don't take rides from strangers; I could be a creep for all you know." They were disappointed, but still thanked me for the information & went on their way. Now, I know I'm not a creep. I doubt they were planning on Doing Me Harm. However, a) my car is full of yarn & other things & there really isn't room for passengers; 2) I only had 10 minutes left of my break & would have been late getting back, and most importantly 3) I never give rides to, nor accept rides from, people I don't know--and neither should they. But I still feel like a jerk.

Speaking of knitting, I started a new project today. No, I haven't finished any of my WIPs, why do you ask? Anyway, it's a little tree frog that I'm making in a variegated blue yarn. It's supposed to be done in worsted but I'm using fingering weight so it's going to be really tiny when it's finished. Not sure what I'll do for eyes; it's supposed to have safety eyes but the ones I have are too big for this little thing; the washers that hold them on are wider across than the head.

Did a little cooking today, too. Made a beef roast with a recipe that uses garlic & coffee. Came out OK; a little tough, but maybe I just didn't roast it long enough. Or roasted it too long, I dunno. The gravy is good, though. I also made a lemon meringue pie, and unlike most pies that I make, I prepared the crust from scratch. Not too bad; it was also a little tough, although certainly better than any other crust I've attempted in the past. I may have worked the dough a bit too much.

Not much else going on. Still at the temp job, at least for one more week. There's a chance I'll be there for another week after that, and some slight possibility of it becoming permanent. I'll say no more as I don't want to jinx things.

Today's photos: Zoe & the neighbor's dog, Sammy, playing "Bite My Head," and the chimney of the marvelous Victorian home we saw at Heritage Square Museum last week.

Busy busy weekend

Wow, what a busy weekend we had! Yesterday Ralph's brother, sister-in-law, and their three kids stopped by for a visit. They had been out from NM on vacation and came by just for the one day. Sis-in-law brought me some yummy grey Corriedale yarn, which I thought was extremely nice of her. We treated the family to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and I think they all enjoyed the food. We did lots of talking, of course, and I found a balsa wood airplane in the game cupboard for the boys to play with. Ralph gave the two boys a ride around the block on the back of his motorcycle. I'm vaguely alarmed by how well my helmet fit them. Baby S is still far too young for a ride, but maybe next time.




Today we went to Heritage Square museum, which is a collection of Victorian-era houses. They don't allow photography inside the houses, so I had to be content with taking a few outside. My favorite from the outside was the gingerbread-covered home in the center photo. The original owner/builder was a land speculator, and he used his own house as a model home, which is why it has so much gingerbread and gew gaws. On the inside, my favorite was the octagonal house (I'll post a photo of that another day). The rooms were squared off inside the octagon, which left spaces for storage. It was also very cool inside, almost as if it were air-conditioned.


Of course for geeky me, the highlight of the trip was the gorgeous green spider in the first picture. I took several shots and only one came out. We came back about 45 minutes later & he was still devouring his butterfly, which was definitely starting to look the worse for wear. We were there for a couple hours & thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I do think I might have gotten a bit of a sunburn, though.

Me and my big mouth

Well, I just had to point out how nice the July weather was, didn't I? Because August has decided it's time to be HOT HOT HOT. Luckily VT at my temporary workplace was kind enough to open the A/C vent for me, since it was way out of my reach. Even he had trouble reaching it while standing on my desk, and he's at least 6' tall.

I also found my other Man From Atlantis book. Weird, eh? Haven't seen it in years, and the day after I mention not knowing where it is I found it on the bookshelf. Don't know how I missed seeing it before.

Did I mention that we got hit with a $377 dollar electric bill last month? This month's bill had a correction on it. Apparently the June bill was supposed to only have been $65. Since we paid the full $377, we now have a credit of over $220 even after this month's bill is applied against it. What a relief! While it would be nice to have the cash in pocket, it's also nice to know that we won't have to pay an electric bill for several months.

July is over

You know, it was a rather cool & mild July this year. We did have one week that was quite hot, however for the most part the temp has only been in the 70s. This, I like.

Spent most of yesterday knitting. See, I joined a "Mystery Knit-a-Long" on July 1st, which had a deadline of July 31st by which to post a photo of the finished object & be entered into a drawing for some cool prizes. Each week a part of the pattern was posted, so you couldn't actually complete it until the last week of July. I got bored around part 3 (and had figured out what the finished object was just by reading the instructions for part 1), and decided to set it aside for a while. As I put it away, I thought, "I will never remember that I am putting this here." Sadly, I was correct. I have looked everywhere for the thing and cannot find it. Sooo, in order to have an entry for the drawing, I did about 5 hours of solid knitting yesterday. My shoulders ache today, and my hands aren't so happy either. However, I did get it done albeit not very well & the result is today's pic. I made several Artistic Stylizations in it, not the least of which was sewing on the head & legs in such a way that the front of the body is now the left side of the sheep. It's supposed to have a little scarf, but I decided to make a shawl instead to help hide some of the sins.

Got in my week of temp work, and have been asked to stay another three. Woo hoo! I don't think it will turn into anything permanent, but one never knows. I do wish it were closer to home, though. The long drive is frustrating and makes for a long day, and of course the housework is suffering because of it. I've got a lot to do today, including a week's worth of laundry & of course the carpet needs to be vacuumed desperately. Oh, crap, I just remembered the vacuum isn't working; the beater won't turn. I'll have to see if I can fix that, or maybe Ralph will take a look at it before he goes off to his D & D game. Ha! I just asked & he's doing it right now. And Ha! again, he fixed it :-)

We've got a fourth dog again, although it's only temporary. One of our neighbors is on vacation for a couple weeks & we've taken in his little Scottie (as well as going over & feeding his cats). She's really sweet & playful. Unfortunately, she's also poorly trained; jumps up on people, doesn't know "sit," doesn't know "stay," doesn't come when she's called, gets up on the furniture & pesters the cat. Sadie adores her, of course. Funny how the oldest, least-playful dog in the house always loves having visits from excitable little pups.

AAAAAND! Lizard was able to get my book signed at ComicCon, so I am now the proud owner of "Man from Atlantis 2: Death Scouts" signed by Mr. Patrick Duffy himself!! Lizard said he showed the book to his son & said, "Look how young your dad used to be." I'm actually kinda surprised I still even had the book in order to get it signed--I bought it in 1977, after all. I used to have the first one also, no clue where that ended up. She also tried to get one of my "Foxtrot" books signed, however Bill Amend apparently was never at the booth when she went by, and he apparently never told the booth people when he would be back (they told her that in all the years he'd been at Con, he had NEVER told them when he'd be available). She felt that was rather rude not to mention frustrating. So, Mr. Bill Amend, if you are among the Teeming Millions, next year would you please make a schedule of when you'll be available, or at the very least let your entourage know so they can advise your fans? Thanks!