Time for the monthly check-in

Well, the holiday season is almost over. I hope everyone had pleasant days & no family dramas.

I had a good Christmas. Everyone seemed to like what I got them, and dinner was delicious as usual. I received several things on my wishlist including an awesome remote control flying shark. I especially like the pirate flamingo we got from my sister; and the ninja-shaped beeswax candle that we received from our youngest nephews & niece. I suspect that they made it themselves with a little help from their mom. Not as many people as usual at The Boy and The Girl's place, which worked out well since everyone had chairs & it was easier to talk to people without having to shout to be heard over the hubbub. All in all, a very enjoyable day.

As you can tell by the photos, I have finally finished the praying mantis. It's an amazing design, which is not surprising since Hansi Singh is an amazing designer. The eyes were the hardest part, I think. If I make it again, I'll pick up 9 stitches across the face & 6 along the two edges, rather than the 11/5/5 configuration called for in the pattern. I'll also use a lighter green for a more realistic look.



I also finished my tote bag, or as I like to call it my "old lady bag." The colors are wonderfully garish, and it's a lot bigger than I expected it to be. As usually happens, the project came to a stall when I had to sew in the lining & handles. I'm always so excited to get started on a project like this that I forget how very, very much I hate to sew. Perhaps next time I can work out a trade with someone who likes it.



I've been on vacation this week & am enjoying it immensely. Most of it I've spent wasting time on the computer, but I've also done a bit of knitting, some reading, and watching "Mythbusters" on Netflix. I even got some housework done, go figure.

Oh! Almost forgot. Our new neighbors had a housewarming party last month. While we were there, much to my surprise two people from our Faire guild walked in! Imagine that--new neighbors move in, and we end up having friends in common. Small world, eh?



Lastly, I got totally spoiled by my swap partner! Gorgeous sock yarn in fall colors, a pattern book, a Frazz cartoon book, raisin-free trail mix, a crocheted bag shaped like an acorn with a little squirrel charm on it, squirrel stitch markers, a crocheted market bag, needle case with two sets of needles in it, and TONS of dog-poo bags. She wrapped each individual item in its own plastic grocery bag since I'd complained that we can't get those here anymore due to a city ordnance. She really put a lot of time & thought into the package.

Shtuffity shtuff shtuff

Things have been pretty quiet around here, as you can probably tell by my once-a-month posts. Still, holiday season is upon us & perhaps things will liven up.

I am participating in another swap. The theme was WTF Holidays, and the participants were to select a holiday (real or otherwise) to be the starting point for our swap partner ("swapner") when picking/making items. My swapner's holiday was Bunsen Burner Day. Yeesh! I had a hard time finding anything relating to that; I wanted to include a Bunsen Honeydew, however that is one hard-to-find figure. The ones I did find either didn't look much like him, or cost more than the swap price limit. I ended up knitting a hat & fingerless mitts with a blue flame pattern which I think came out really nice, then added things that matched her likes (black tea, dark chocolate, a little scented candle, cinnamon candies, scone mix, 2 skeins each of blue yarn & purple yarn, some kitchen towels in a Fall theme, a puzzle, and a Hex bug. I think that's everything). My upstream swapner hasn't sent her box out yet, however she's already let me know she'll be shipping on the first so I'm not worried about it. Oh--my holiday is ADHLAS Awareness Day. Those of you familiar with the comic strip "Frazz" will recognize that as Attention Defi--Hey, Look, a Squirrel!!



Ralph & I were going to go to Disneyland with friends on Veteran's Day, however one of the friends was ill and the trip was cancelled. Since we had the day off already, we decided to head to Downtown Disney anyway and wander the shops. We didn't buy anything (other than lunch at the Rainforest Cafe) but had a good time window shopping. I especially liked the creative candy apples they were selling; I love the Jack Skellington in particular.



Halloween was fun this year. The party theme was "We're Still Here," since the party was held the day after the world was supposed to end again. Not too many people dressed according to the theme (not even the hosts) but Ralph & I did. Our portrayal of Thurston & Lovey Howell won us Most Humorous for the third year in a row. I thought Ralph looked particularly good, with his natty jacket and drinking glass which he made himself from a real coconut. However, if the host hadn't disqualified himself from the running, I'm sure he would have won all the prizes with his portrayal of Conan the Librarian.



I'm working on several knitting projects at the moment. I still haven't finished the praying mantis I was working on in July, and I've got a tote bag that has been waiting for its handles to be attached for at least a month now. However, I've turned my focus to Christmas knitting so who knows how long those other projects will be sitting. On the other hand, I know someone who would probably like that mantis; if I finish it up I'll have one gift done...



I finally got a chance to make the treacle pudding using golden syrup instead of molasses. It really does have a much different flavor that way. I didn't have much golden syrup left for pouring on each serving, so we've been eating it with agave syrup instead. Not bad, not bad at all. I think it would taste best by making the pudding with molasses and serving it with agave syrup; a nice strong gingerbread-y flavor to the pudding offset by the light sweetness of the agave will work pretty well IMHO. I'll have to give it a try.

Just some photos

Ebelskivers! Ralph & I went to Buellton over Labor Day weekend, and of course no trip to Buellton is complete without skipping over to Solvang for these tasty treats. So yummy!


Of course the horse turned its head away just as I was able to get through all the tourists & line up a photo. Ah, well, Ralph looks good at least :-)


Leaflets three, let it be! Saw lots of poison ivy, especially on the path to the river. This particular bit was directly behind our campsite. Luckily none of us--not even the dogs--got into any & we had a rash-free vacation.


Flying Flags has made some changes since our last visit, including adding a dog park! As you can see, Hali enjoyed visiting it. Zoe is in the background visiting with some other dogs. Sadie was with us, too, but was too far off to the side to make it into this particular photo.


Our campsite. Poor old trailer is definitely the worse for wear and I don't know how many more trips we'll be able to take in it.


Prior to our trip, we had family over for Lizard's birthday. Dad, Ralph, and The Boy played several rousing games of crokinole. Here, Ralph uses a magnifying glass to verify if a disputed shot was a ringer or not (verdict: definitely a ringer).

Hot days

The summer weather is finally upon us. Not nearly so hot as some other parts of the country--only in the mid to high 80s--but definitely a lot warmer than the last couple months have been. Very glad to have A/C, even if it is just an in-window one. The house feels pretty good, especially compared to outside.

Ralph recently bought a pressure cooker, and today we are making our second meal in it (the first being a beef stew that was very tasty). Tonight it's spare ribs in homemade BBQ sauce. It smells wonderful! I think this pressure cooker is going to have a huge and beneficial impact on how we eat during the week, since a proper meal can be cooked up in the same amount of time it would take us to order a pizza or go through a drive-thru. We're both pretty excited about it.



The Alter Ego Swap is just about finished. I was the first person to receive their package, and I was quite pleased with what I received: some origami cranes & an origami bookmark made by my swapner; teas grown local to her area; sock patterns and some scrumptious green/black yarn to go with them; a notebook with a beautiful stained-glass motif cover; and a very nice note in a flight-themed notecard.

My downstream swapner received her package on Friday, and I think she really liked it. She's a Harry Potter fan, so I made a 'super-colossal deluxe chocolate frog' for her, which can be seen in the first photo of today's post. To give you an idea of the size, the pillow on which it is sitting is a little over a foot square. I also put in some chocolate/caramel treats; sock yarn in a blue/grey/white multi; cheese popcorn; stitch markers; buttons; and needle holders. It was fun putting everything together & I'm already looking forward to doing another swap.



Also in today's post are a couple photos from the hike Ralph & I took in the San Gabriel Mountains. The tree is an ironwood, or so we were told by another hiker. All I know for sure is it was very pretty with its red wood and grey-sheen leaves. I wish I'd gotten a better photo. Maybe next time :-)




Yesterday was a very expensive day for us. We took Sadie to the vet as her skin issues were really flaring up again. They've got a new doctor in the practice, and she prescribed new medication in addition to the prednisone, as well as a rather pricey hypo-allergenic dog food. Of course, she hates the new food. Afterwards we went to the Halloween Club & spent a couple hundred dollars on props & costume pieces for the haunted house, including a magnificent animatronic "Demonica" figure for which we have plans muwaaa haa haaaa! You'll have to wait until Halloween to find out what! Oh, almost forgot, we also spent quite a bit at PetSmart getting Frontline & a few other items. Ah, well, it's only money, right?

Just another lazy Sunday

Had a very nice time last night. Ralph & I met up with friends at George's Greek Cafe, and we ordered the family-style dinner (platters brought to the table & everyone serves themselves). The food was really good: pita with hummus and tzatziki followed by Greek salad and saganaki (cheese flambé topped with kalamata olives). Main courses were lamb chops, beef gyro, chicken skewers, rice, and sort of a pasta-thing with ground beef & cinnamon, the name of which escapes me. The meal ended with baklava; I had mint tea with mine which was lovely. And, of course, talk talk talk with our friends the whole meal through :-)

Today is the last day of the OC Fair, and we didn't make it even once. Oh, well, LA County Fair is only a month away :-)

I've joined another swap on Ravelry. It's been fun getting the package together for my swapner, although I don't dare go into details here since my blog is linked to my Rav profile & I don't want to give away any surprises. I do hope she likes the package, though. Mailing deadline is 8/24, so there's still time for me to finish things up. I don't want to mail it too soon, since the last time I mailed early on a swap I found more things that would have been perfect to put in the box.

Catching up

So, quite a bit of things going on for a change. First up, as you can see from the bottom photo I finished my "Skew" socks which I made with the yarn Lizard gave me for my birthday. I call these my "Tweedle" socks because the colorway of the yarn is "Tweedledum & Tweedledee," and like that famous pair the pattern is simple, and a little off. I learned a new cast-on for this project, which is an added plus.

In good news, the Neighbors From Mariachi Hell have moved out (these were the people that would start their parties at 10:00 PM (yes, you read that right--PM) and not end them until about 4:00 AM. These parties had live, loud mariachi bands. Calls to the police did no good.) Anyway, they have moved out & new neighbors have moved in. Neighbors K & A had a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" dinner party for them last weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I really like both of them (Neighbor G & Neighbor S) a lot. Neighbor S is rather on the quiet side while her partner, Neighbor G, is very outgoing & boisterous. It was a great party & we're all so ecstatic to have them as neighbors (and hopefully friends, too!).


Two weekends ago Ralph & I went on a looooong (for me) hike at Black Star Canyon. The leader set off at what she called "a nice, slow pace" and what I call "a bloody race up the bloody mountainside." I was exhausted by the time we got to the top of the hill, and there were still two miles to go afterwards. Still, there were some interesting things to see including a wingless wasp, prickly cucumber, and a turkey buzzard nest. I did take some pictures, none of which anyone will ever see because my camera memory card was damaged & I lost all of them. Sigh. I can post some of Ralph's when he downloads his, though. The hike was part of an anniversary event (one year since the land was donated to Orange County as a permanent wilderness area) and there were lots of freebies including t-shirts, water bottles, seeds for native California plants (I got California Poppy), free admission to the OC Zoo, pens, and magnets.

Today we went on a much shorter walk along the San Gabriel River. We brought Zoe with us & she had a pretty good time. The water was *very* cold, and felt good on our hot feet. Zoe wasn't so enthusiastic although she did go into it of her own free will. I picked up a new camera card a couple days ago so I was able to download those photos.



The middle photo is a just-opening hibiscus on the plant in our backyard. I'm not sure why it looks like it was taken at night; it wasn't exactly noon but the sun was completely up. I think it came out nicely, though.

Next week we are having dinner with our friends MS & SS as well as PH2 & MH2. We're going to George's Greek Cafe & plan on ordering the "family style" dinner. I'm really looking forward to both good friends & good food.

Fun weekend

I had a really good weekend. On Saturday, Ralph went to archery while I knit. Afterward we decided to go to the Orange County Fair, but along the way we passed a Boomers and changed our minds: mini golf was calling our name! By means of much cheating, do-overs, and creative scoring we both managed to finish the course only a little bit above par. On the way home we stopped at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, where we both had a wonderful chicken & biscuits dinner. Ralph had cheesecake--well, not for dessert exactly since he asked the waitress to bring it first & ate most of it before the meal arrived--and I had tiramisu for my afters.

On Sunday, I went & picked up some needles to make these socks: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter09/PATTskew.php (sorry, I can never get Blogger to link properly). I'm using some white/orange/brown self-striping yarn that Lizard gave me for my birthday. Then it was off to meet PH2 & MH2 for a showing of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which I thought was pretty good. I like the book more, and I thought Part 1 was a better adaptation. Then we went to the pub for dinner. I had a corned beef boxty which is sort of an Irish crepe & absolutely adored it. I was able to get in about an hour's worth of knitting before bedtime and finished the toe of the first sock.

So how was YOUR weekend?

So how old IS Hermione, anyway?

In honor of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, I am going to ramble on about something that has bothered me for a while: How old is Hermione? Here's what we know:

Hermione started at Hogwarts the same year as Harry (source: Sorcerer's Stone; Hermione is sorted by the Sorting Hat, making her a first-year student)
Hermione's birthday is in September (source: Prisoner of Azkaban; Hermione herself states this)
Hermione is older than Harry (sources: Half-Blood Prince; Hermione takes the Apparition exam with Ron, and one had to be 17 on or before the end of April to take it. Harry was still only 16 at that point. Deathly Hallows; Hermione is one of the decoy Harrys, and it is stated that all of the decoys are of age (that is to say, 17 or older) while Harry is still only 16 at that point of the story.)

The only way for all three of these things to be true is if Hermione turned 12 the first September she attended Hogwarts, which would mean either she started school a year late (and with her brains/magic skills, this is unlikely) or you have to already be 11 on your first day of school. But then there's Angelina Johnson. Angelina turns 17 in Goblet of Fire, as do Fred & George. All three are in their 6th year at this point (Fred & George leave the school halfway through their final year in Order of the Phoenix, and Angelina states in the same book that it is her last year as well). However--Angelina's birthday is in October, and the Weasley twins were born in April; both of these facts are stated in Goblet of Fire. So unless Angelina skipped a grade, she was only 10 when she started at Hogwarts, not 11.

Now, Ralph has argued that the re-lived hours via the Time Turner (see Prisoner of Azkaban) is the reason for the increased age, however I disagree for several reasons, not the least of which is she didn't re-live a whole year, only a few hours per school day in order to attend extra classes. Presuming 9 repeated hours per day x 20 days per month x 10 months gives you only 75 days added to your age (9 x 20 = 180, x 10 = 1800 hours, divided by 24 hours = 75). While that might make her older than Harry, it still wouldn't make her old enough to take the Apparition exam when Ron does.

And for those of you who have made it this far, today's photo is of my MIL's pear tree, taken over 4th of July weekend.

Sleeeeepy

So the cat decided to sneak out the back door last night. Again. He came back at 5:00 am screaming for his breakfast. Dumb cat.

Monday night Ralph & I went to a free concert put on by The Band of the California Battalion. It was all Civil War-era music played on period instruments (two of them genuine, the others replicas). All the musicians were in period costumes as well. The conductor gave a little talk about each song before they played it (for example, troop leaders on both sides banned their musicians from playing Home, Sweet Home because it was too emotional). It was a lot of fun.

Planning on seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 this weekend with our friends MH2 & PH2. This weekend also marks the start of the Orange County Fair, although I don't know if we'll be going this weekend or next. Or the weekend after that. We'll go at some point during the run, I'm sure.

Almost done with the praying mantis. All the parts are knit up (except the eyes) and I'm working on sewing it all together & stuffing it. This project has been a real pain in the patootie and I hope it'll all be worth it once it's done.

Such a crankypants

Again, I apologize for the lack of posts. I just need to get a more interesting life so I have things to talk about. Things other than complaining, I mean.

Had a not-so-enjoyable 4th of July weekend. Our truck had been overheating when pulling the trailer on hills, so we recently had $4,000 worth of work done on it to fix the problem (including new brakes, new radiator, new thermostat, new hoses. . .) Now, bearing that in mind, take a look at today's photo. That, my friends, is the gash the fan belt cut into the new-but-improperly-installed radiator hose, causing the truck to vastly overheat & leave us pretty much stranded in the Mojave desert. I won't go into too many details, but highlights of the nightmare include having to soak all three dogs twice so they didn't get heat stroke as we sat in the trailer waiting for the engine to cool down (something it really couldn't do in the 100+ degree desert weather); finding a place to drop the trailer for the weekend so we could finish driving to Bishop; discovering that we hadn't packed any food (normally the trailer is well-stocked, and we'd planned on picking things up along the way); and basically the 4-1/2 hour drive to Bishop turned into a 12-1/2 hour ordeal. This also meant that the time we'd intended to spend visiting family was greatly curtailed, as we arrived 8 hours later than planned & had to leave at 2:00 am on Monday instead of 1:00 in the afternoon so we could get the truck & trailer through the desert before it got hot. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

And, of course, there was the usual dealing with Halitosis on the 4th of July itself. Last year wasn't too bad, however this year there were a lot more fireworks (and by the sound of it, they were a lot closer to the house) and she was a nervous wreck. Next year we plan to get some sedatives from the vet well in advance & hopefully she will be more relaxed.

Oh, and the pond was low, so Ralph put the hose in it to top it off--then forgot about it. For four hours. Yeah, a 100% water change is NOT a good thing. Every fish in the pond died. Crap.

On the more cheerful side, we've seen two pretty good movies in the past month: "X-Men First Class" and "Green Lantern." I had a little trouble wrapping my brain around Kevin Bacon being a bad guy in "X-Men" even though he *did* do a very good job at it. "Green Lantern" was a lot better than I expected based on the previews. And, of course, we've got some movies that look good coming out soon, such as the last "Harry Potter," so that's something to look forward to. And the Orange County Fair starts in a couple weeks, that should be fun.

Hope to post again soon, and with something not so whiney.

June, lovely June

Today was a very nice day. We saw "X-Men: First Class" which I enjoyed very much. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a familiar name in the credits: Spiro Razatos, who prior to his current career in movie production used to be an aerobics instructor. No lie. After the movie we took a stroll around a car show, then had lunch at the Irish pub nearby. We both had the Guinness meatloaf with bleu cheese gravy & mashed potatoes, then split a peanut butter Nutella brownie which was quite tasty.

Making good progress on the current pair of socks. I was going to make them anklets, however there's a lot more of the green yarn left after turning the heel than I thought there would be. I prefer my socks to be a little longer so this is definitely a good thing.

There is a new bookstore where the old Borders used to be. Actually, it's an old bookstore in that what they sell appears to be primarily used books. Ralph picked up a couple paperbacks. I didn't see anything that caught my interest on this trip, but who knows what they will have next time. It was a little surprising to see that in addition to books they also sell used videos, DVDs, CDs, cassette tapes, and even LPs. It was rather like being at a large specialty garage sale.

Lastly, I came across this awesome list of assault prevention tips. I think everyone can benefit by following these simple rules.

MD 2011

Happy Memorial Day! Hope you are all having a fun & safe holiday. We celebrated the weekend by going to a party held by Neighbors K & A yesterday afternoon/evening. They had so many yummy snacks set out that I was too full to eat when the burgers & dogs were done. We brought a Pita & Dip tray from George's: six different Greek dips and a big plate of pita triangles. It seemed quite popular. Someone else brought mini pigs-in-a-blanket, and I swear I could have eaten them all.

Today has been a quiet day; did a little laundry & grocery shopping, and washed all three dogs. Later we're going to grill up some hot dogs, and have that with some salad, baked beans, & chips. Oh, I should make something for dessert. Maybe the brownie mix that Ralph bought for my birthday & never baked. Which reminds me, I still owe him a birthday cake, too.

Our lettuce had two flowers on it yesterday, and they were already closed up when I went to take a picture of them today. I thought perhaps they would open when the sun hit them, but no dice. Luckily there are lots of buds so I'm sure I'll get a shot at some point. They look a lot like dandelion flowers when they are open.

And the answer is. . .

So , no guesses on the plant? That, O Teeming Millions, is a red oak lettuce. It's getting weirder looking by the day, too.

I somehow managed to leave my glasses at work yesterday, right at the start of a 3-day weekend. Not the smartest thing I've ever done. It is forcing me to go to Lenscrafters today, though, and I do need a new prescription. I've used those frames many, many times as well, and they need to be replaced. Still, getting an eye exam wasn't high on my list of fun things to do on a holiday weekend.

It's quiz time!

Today's pop quiz is What's That Plant?" Two clues: It's not a weed, and the leaves are edible. Answer will be in my next post.

Zoe is very quiet & subdued today. I suspect she's worn out still from yesterday's adventure. I am so thankful to have her back, and so glad my boss was understanding about me needing to leave early to go look for her. It's such a busy time at work and I know my being gone wasn't the best thing that could have happened.

In knitting news, I finished my hat & wristwarmers set today. There's enough yarn left for a pair of short socks, although I'm leaving the kangaroos off them. Between the hat & the mitts there are twelve repeats of the motif & frankly I don't want to knit it again just now. As long as the colors are the same, the socks should look just fine. And in any case, the 'roos would be hidden by my pants legs so why bother?



Did a little cooking to restock the freezer. I made one small batch of beef over rice (sans rice), and a huuuuuuuuge batch of beef stew with mushrooms. In retrospect I should have made less stew & more beef over rice (sans rice). Oh, well. I'm sure it will get eaten eventually. Still, with 8 cups of stew in the freezer and at least half that amount again in the fridge, it does seem to be a bit much.

Did I say "Pets--fauh!" Well, say it again!

Arrgh, yet another scare with the pets. I got a call at work around 3:30 letting me know that Zoe had somehow managed to get out of the yard. The neighbors were trying to catch her but no luck. I got the OK to leave work, came home, & spent more than two hours searching. The neighbors said the last time they'd seen her she was crossing the busy street at the end of the block, and because of traffic they couldn't safely follow her. She finally showed up at the front door around 7:00 pm. I'm sooooo glad she found her way home! As far as I can tell, she went OVER the fence into the neighbor's yard, which is not fully enclosed. There's some plywood leaning against the fence and I think she used that as a ramp.

No Faire for me this weekend; just have too much to do, including getting Zoe her rabies shot & renewing her license which is a wee bit past due. I'm trying to get it so her tag & shot are due at the same time as they are currently five weeks apart. I can't renew without the certificate, and the vet doesn't like giving inoculations early so there you go. It's only two weeks early at this point so hopefully he'll do it.

I've also been trying to sign up for a notary class. I get as far as the point where you have to actually register, and the website hangs at that point. I called the customer service line & of course they aren't open on weekends. Grrr! I will try again on Monday.

On a more positive note, I bought a loaf of rosemary bread. It's delicious! I used it to make a turkey sandwich for lunch yesterday, then had some with butter for dinner. It's a bit pricey, though, so it's not something I'll buy often.

Pets--fauh!

We've had two scares recently with the pets. The first was when we noticed the puffer fish wasn't looking very healthy. His color was bad & he was very thin. We put him in the hospital tank, but even with flake food he couldn't seem to eat. A little research & we learned that a puffer's teeth never stop growing, and sometimes a bit (no pun intended) of home dentistry is needed. Thanks to youtube, we found a video that showed how to do it. Using clove oil to render the fish unconscious, you then use sharp manicure scissors to trim the teeth. His had grown so much that we couldn't pry his mouth open--the teeth had wedged it as far as it would go. It was a tricky business, and not something I care to repeat. He's eating well now & I think a full recovery is in his future.

Now the next one is really, really gross so I'm going to start out by saying the dog is fine. Those of you with a squeamish personality would do best to skip on to the next paragraph. Last chance to skip this. OK. So I heard Hali walking around in the kitchen the other night, and figured she wanted out. I got up, let her out, and noticed two dark patches on the kitchen floor. Being careful not to step on them I walked over to turn on the light, and saw two of the most disgusting and horrifying piles of--well, I couldn't tell at first what it was. (One last chance to skip ahead and read about the mermaid!) The color was like diarrhea, but it smelled like vomit, and it was full of these pinkish leathery strips about an inch wide, that were kind of twisted & curled. I swear I thought it was strips of intestine or something. None of the dogs seemed to be in distress, although Hali looked a little cowed as she always does when we have to clean up any sort of dog-created mess. The mystery was solved the next day when Ralph found a chewed up package of what had been 20 beef-basted rawhide chewsticks. Apparently the dog swallowed them whole and then after a few hours during which they softened & uncurled brought them all back up again. The beef basting is what gave it the poo color. Scary, but a relief in the end. I'm pretty sure it was Hali, as she wasn't interested in breakfast that morning.

Today's photo is of a patron at Faire last weekend. Isn't that a great costume? She really was having a great time smiling, waving, and posing for photos. I saw her a few hours after I took this picture and she was still having a lot of fun from what I could tell. I think this is one of the best mermaid costumes I've ever seen.

I'm almost done with my hat & wristwarmers set that I'm working on. The hat is 100% finished; one wristwarmer just needs two last ends woven in, and the second wristwarmer has about an inch to go plus the thumb. I think I'll have enough yarn leftover to make either a pair of anklets or some gloves, too. The pattern is called fornicating kangaroos. It's much more subtle than the fornicating reindeer pattern I used on Ralph's hat. It'll be interesting to see who (if anyone) notices. Mind you, with summer coming on it may be months before it's cold enough outside for me to wear them, so it'll be a while before I find the answer to that.

Well, that was cool.

Look what we saw! Yup, it's the Delorean from "Back to the Future." We saw it while driving up Beach Blvd. on the way to dinner on Sunday. Unfortunately all we had with us for photo-taking was a cell phone, I was trying to get a picture from the back seat, the back window is a mess from dried-on dog slobber, and we never were able to get close enough for a really good shot. Still, under the circumstances I think this came out pretty well.

I think I'm done with Faire for the year. There's one more weekend left, however I'm ready for some time at home. Plus as much as I hate doing housework it'll be nice to have a full weekend to really clean the place up. I'm too tired after work & with just one day to get everything done, things aren't as spiffy as I'd like them to be.

It was a nice rainy morning today, the sort of weather where it actually makes sense for me to be a knitter in California. I wore my weird socks, honeycomb wristwarmers, Bloody Stupid Johnson hat, and dark mark illusion scarf. Of course they all had to come off once I was in the office--none of it is exactly "business professional"--but I sure was toasty warm on the way.

Gang aft agly

Yesterday did not go according to plan. I did give the guy a spinning lesson. I should not try to teach people to spin, because they Do. Not. Listen. No matter how many times you tell them, "Don't worry about the spindle, worry about your hands" or "The reason it's trying to spin the other way is because you've put too much twist in it; you don't need to spin it again" or "See how it's kinking up? You've put too much twist in it; you don't need to spin it again," "Draw out some more fiber to take up the twist," every speck of their focus is on getting the spindle to spin as much as possible without drawing new fiber out so that the twist actually has somewhere to go. I think next time I'll have them practice drawing out fiber without the spindle first.

Also, the person I was going to teach to knit didn't show up. There was someone else who wanted to learn how to do a purl stitch, and I did teach her, so that was all right.

And then there's the cortol. This is a fairly rare musical instrument with 13 finger holes. I loaned it to someone who returned it yesterday. Somewhere between where it was returned and St. Cuthbert's guild area, it fell out of my basket. Sigh. I know I never played it, but it still sucks to have lost it.

Needless to say I was pretty cranky by lunchtime. Ralph played so much music his lips were swollen, and we both decided to call it a day around 4:15. Despite being tired, we stayed up way too late watching "You've Got Mail" & now I'm up way too early with a day full of chores ahead of us. Oh, well.

I'm not even going to say how long it's been since I posted

Ok. Confession time. The real reason I haven't posted is because I have no good pictures to add to it. Seriously! That's why you've all been ignored, with no scintillating reading material. Or something like that. Anyway I'm bringing the camera to Faire today so hopefully I'll have some good shots.

Another reason is I was hoping to find a video to link to, but haven't been able to do so. What video, you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago I got to live a dream, and participated in a flash mob at Faire! We all gathered by the main stage, and after the Commedia burst into song. Soooo awesome. I've been told the video is on youtube, however I just can't track it down.

Today is going to be a busy day. I promised one person I'd teach him how to use a drop spindle, and someone else that I'd teach her how to knit. Someone else wants to learn how to do a purl stitch but keeps making excuses to avoid it (Yes, I mean YOU, SD!). Still, if I'm teaching one person maybe she'll come over & finally sit long enough to learn purling. I'm also bringing my wheel, which seems to be a big hit. One person even told me it was the "best gig" the guild has. A blatant exaggeration IMHO, since Helena's does so many things all the time. Heck, Helena's does more gigs with butter than some other guilds do all day! First there's the morning churning, where real butter is made. Then "Cousin Butter" makes a lovely sculpture from it (there's an article here: http://www.examiner.com/renaissance-and-medieval-events-in-los-angeles/st-helena-s-sharon-scott-creates-butter-masterpieces with a link to photos of some of her work). Lastly, the sculpture is placed on a glass-covered cake plate, paraded through the Faire and presented to the Queen. There's also singing, music, dancing, knitting, drop spindling, and juggling going on. They've even turned a puddle into a gig by "fishing" in it.

No Oedipus this year, alas. I think the actor that plays Oedipus might be having some back problems which make it impossible for him to do the show. I can't imagine anyone else doing the part. Disappointing, but no one wants him to do himself permanent injury just so we can do a play. The jokes are a little dated (na-nu, na-nu!) but it's still a wonderful show.

Ohhh, I'm supposed to *post* things

Wow, almost two weeks since my last post. I really do suck at this, and not in that good way you can charge extra for.

First, a word about today's image. This is my current profile pic on Ravelry. The dog comes from this post href="http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html" at Hyperbole and a Half, one of the best and funniest blogs I have ever seen in my life, written and illustrated by Allie Brosh. The crown was part of the April Fools Day fun at Ravelry; I got Ralph to copy the file and save it so I could use the crowned dog as a permanent Ravatar.

Last weekend was my birthday, and a good time was had by all. Spent the actual day at the Renaissance Faire, playing music & giving spinning demos. Ralph bought me a fancy expensive purse for work, and a really cool decorative broom. I'll have to get a photo of it. I bought myself some variegated turquoise roving (Colonial wool) which is just to die for. On Sunday Dad & his girl took us out to eat & I had some lovely chicken parmigiana & tiramisu. It was good to have time to visit with them, too, especially since she headed back up to Canada just a few days after.

Went to Faire again today, too. I played hardly any music at all, but got lots of spinning done. I plied off what I spun last week, then started in on the new roving. It's even prettier spun up. It was definitely a good choice. I'm headed out again tomorrow--Lizard, Duh & Happy will be there too so I'll probably meet up with them at some point--and Ralph is going to stay home.

Work has been bizzzzzzy!! We closed escrow on 18 homes in 7 working days, and it's just going to get crazier as we get closer to fiscal year end. I'm loving it, of course. If you'd told me in high school that I would get excited about escrow, I'd have laughed in your face.

Bronchitis sucks

Well, so much for posting more often. Part of this is due to illness; Ralph's asthma attack on March 25 ended up being bronchitis which he's still fighting, and I'm on day 8 of my bout with it. He was off work for most of that time; I only took two days although I probably should have taken four. At the risk of TMI, the human body should not be capable of producing that much mucous. And the cough! Sounds like feeding time at the sea lion pen around here lately. We're both feeling quite a bit better today but hey, the day is young. :-)

This has been a good spring for us flower-wise. The wisteria had at least six blooms on it (last year it had one, and the year before that [which was the first year it had ever bloomed at all] it only had one that SOMEbody knocked off the branch before it was even fully opened); our water lilies had a lovely cluster of four flowers which it's never done before (see photo); the amaryllis is opening up; and the rosemary had dozens of little purple flowers on it. The nectarine had hundreds of blossoms, but unfortunately the recent wind & rain knocked most of the burgeoning fruit off it so our anticipated bumper crop is going to be rather small instead. So much for a summer of nectarine cobbler, sigh.


I've been doing quite a bit of knitting lately. I made three little kittens (two of which are in the photo); a scarf nice enough to wear to work; and am well into a beaded bag using the green/yellow yarn I got in the Pie Swap. Oh, and I finished the green shawl, too. I'll have to get some pictures.

Yesterday was opening day for the Renaissance Faire. We'd only intended to stay for a short while--long enough to play music for the dancers--and ended up being there a full 10 hours. We had such a good time. Ralph was all over playing music for anyone and everyone (even joined a stage group playing music for their dancers) & I did a variety of things including playing music, knitting, spinning, and more music. I even managed to dance Heart's Ease. A couple girls came over while I was spinning early in the day, quite interested in the drop spindle, and I let them both try it which they got very excited about. I'll have to see if I can find a couple more spindles to bring next weekend for more hands-on demonstrating, and I want to bring my wheel too. I might even start spinning on a regular basis again once Faire is over.

One thing I really wanted to do was bring hoops & dowels to play that ring-toss game we played at the Dickens Faire, and never did find just the right materials. I really thought that would be a great thing to do as you can have customers play & get involved. So imagine my combined delight and indignation when I saw two participants playing that exact game with a young customer! I really need to get some rings & dowels for next week.

Music-wise, I think the best part of it was late in the day. Ralph & I were playing music along with a guy named R, and then E joined us with her recorder, and then J came over with her mandolin, and before I knew it there were about a dozen people all playing: violins, bodhrans, mandolins, recorders, and of course Ralph with his sackbut as the sole bass line. It was awesome. Sometimes we sounded great and sometimes we sounded awful, and at all times we were having so much fun. I played until my throat was sore.

Alas, today will not be nearly so much fun. There is much housework to be done as neither of us did much during the week; I attempted to do some laundry on Tuesday, and the act of taking one load out of the dryer & putting the next one in made me so out of breath that I had to sit & rest for about half an hour! Stupid bronchitis. Still, it will be good to start the week out with a clean house, and satisfying to have it all done.

And so it goes

I really have very little to post about; this is mostly just to keep in the habit of posting :-)

I was sitting in my car the other day, & two women walked past, slightly out of sync with each other in their steps. With their high heels on the asphalt, it sounded exactly like a horse walking past. I will never understand why so many women wear clompy shoes like that. I'll stick with my comfy flats, thankyewverramuch.

Poor Ralph has been fighting a bad asthma attack since Friday night. It was so bad that he had to sleep in the trailer; whatever it was that set it off seems to be in the bedroom. We've cleaned, vacuumed, moved items out of the room, changed the sheets & it hasn't helped much. He went to the doctor's for it today & is feeling a little better. We just finished washing the dogs, and Mudgie is back on Allerpet so hopefully this will take care of things.

Hmm. I think that's all I've got for today. Better post next time, I promise :-)

Another exciting post

Such a busy day at work yesterday! Mr. Boss Man was off, which meant I did all the updates that he normally would have done: updated price sheets for five communities, uploaded some contract documents, verified options on four phases, etc. This was in addition to my own work, of course. It was actually rather enjoyable, and made the day go quickly to have so much to do.

One thing I noticed shortly after starting my new job was that everyone seemed to have a Gumby in his or her office. It turned out that one Christmas, after a meeting in which flexibility had been stressed, Ms. IT bought these for everyone. Last week she picked up a couple more for us new folks. I've got mine balanced on the edge of the bulletin board. It's a small thing that really helped me feel welcome & part of the team.

Started reading a new book last week. It's called The Eyre Affair and so far is pretty interesting. It's a time travel novel; the main character is a woman named Thursday Next. This is the book that I was given in the Pi Day Swap.

I'm also making very good progress on my shawl. I'm down to 45 stitches per row (it was 99 at the longest point) so with any luck I'll be able to finish it this weekend. I won't have a lot of time to work on it, though, at least not today. Maybe tomorrow.

My orange & black yarn arrived! It's gorgeous, and as a little added bonus came with a pretty beaded stitch marker attached to the label. I see lovely new socks in my future.

Some random thoughts

It never ceases to amaze me what people will post on the internet. Don't they realize how absolutely public it really is? For example, the other day a friend on Facebook posted a request for some mason jars. Another friend of hers, whom I do not know, responded that her mother had some, and then posted her mother's phone number. I commented to that person, "Um, Person, you do realize you just gave your mother's phone number to the entire internet, right?" With websites such as STFU Parents and Failbook, you'd think people would know that all it takes is a screen shot. Amazing.

One of today's pictures is of a white rhino at the San Diego Safari Park. She is past breeding age, and so is not part of the park's program to increase the rhino population (they are an endangered species). The tour guide said her horns look odd because she doesn't grind them against objects the way rhinos usually do, so the park rangers have to give her occasional "manicures."




I'm almost 3/4 of the way finished with my shawl. I really like how it is turning out. The only thing I don't care for is the one edge has yarnovers all along it, but the corresponding edge does not. If I make it again, I will use a different increase so the sides match better. Probably a lifted left increase, as I think that would best match the knit two togethers that are along the other edge. (For you non-knitters, yarnovers leave a hole & lifted increases do not.)

Folgers makes these flavored coffees, the best (IMHO) of which is the chocolate silk. Of course the store nearest our house stopped carrying that flavor, although it does carry the others. Last week I decided to see if I could find a store nearby that has it. According to the Folgers website, the closest store is 50 miles away--but the site included a link to the Smuckers Online Catalog (who knew they are the same company?) and I was able to order it there. Unfortunately it only comes in a case (six jars) but it was a reasonable price so I went ahead and ordered some. It arrived on Friday and mmmmmmmmm we have really enjoyed it these last two mornings. I'd almost forgotten how good it is.

I went to the yarn store yesterday. Oddly enough, I didn't buy anything. Oh, I found a few skeins that I really liked, but they were similar to yarns I already have & after months of frugality I just didn't see the need to pay $25-$30 for something that is similar to what I've already got. I *did* buy a skein off of an Etsy site, though; a lovely sock yarn in black & orange. The colorway is called "Monarch Butterfly" and it's really gorgeous. I'll take pics when it arrives.

Two weeks? Why do I even keep a blog?

I have worked the first week at my new job, and it's everything I could have hoped for. I was surprised by the number of familiar faces; including me, there are seven people from my old company working there. What a pleasant surprise that was! There's plenty of work to keep me busy, which is how I like it. I know I'm going to be very happy here.

Speaking of my old job, though, I hear that they are going to be moving back to Irvine. Ms. Boss Lady says she's going to make the commute. That's insane; she must live at least two hours away from Irvine, and even taking the train that's going to make her work day about 17 hours long. It also means they won't be just downstairs from the escrow company, so now there'll be the added time & expense of overnighting the grant deeds. Which reminds me, I need to sign up for a notary class. . .



I received my Pi Day swap package a little over a week ago. There were so many things in it! A ball of green & yellow fingering weight yarn, candy, Harry Potter fabric, a book, a tote bag with a pie recipe printed on it, a needle case, several small crochet hooks (I'm forever losing mine), orange cat-eye safety eyes, bookmarks, and I'm sure I've left something out here. Oh, I know what it was, a pattern for a triangular shawl. It's knit sideways, increasing for the first half & decreasing for the second to make the triangular shape. If you don't have a lot of yarn, you keep track of how much you've used by weighing it at intervals, then start the decreases when you've used have the yarn. Brilliant! Ms. Zinnia really put a lot of thought into the package. Makes me eager to join another swap!

I also got another little gift in the mail: a skein of handpainted yarn from Goginator! She bought it at Stitches West & thought I might like it. The colorway is perfect for me (and perfectly named for me, as well: the yarn is "Voodoo" in the colorway "Spirits"). Not sure yet what I'm going to make with it, although I'm leaning towards socks at the moment.



I'd been trying to get the family together so we could go to Lobsterfest at Red Lobster. I sent e-mails out with last Saturday lunchtime for the date, and everyone but Dad e-mailed back, "Can't, busy that day." I figured it was cancelled, but on Saturday I got a call from Dad at about 12:45 asking "Where are you guys??" Luckily we hadn't eaten yet so we put the groceries away, picked him up, and headed on out. The food was delicious, and we had a very nice time visiting with Dad.

Ralph bought a new coffee pot. I'm not 100% enamored of it; you need both hands to open the lid, and it brews veeeerrrrrrrrry sllllloooowwwwwwwwwly. On the plus side, it does have a timer which means usually the coffee is ready when I get up. I was up a little early today however I just heard the beep telling me it's ready.

Yes, I'm still here

OK, all right, so it's been ages since I've posted. Just not a whole lot going on right now that's interesting enough to talk about.

Weird to think that this is my last week of freedom before starting work again. Ralph & I have been enjoying it immensely, and treated ourselves to an overnight trip to the San Diego area as a mini-vacation. We spent yesterday at the Wild Animal Park (which has in fact been renamed as "The San Diego Zoo Safari Park") and had a wonderful time. Being a weekday in the off-season, it was not at all crowded & we got some really good views of the animals. Lots of nests in the aviary, and several babies around including the little antelope amongst today's photos. At the time we took the picture, it was less than 2 hours old. I was particularly glad to see the elephants; they looked much healthier & happier than the one we saw at the LA County Zoo.


Today we went to the San Diego Botanical Gardens (formerly Quail Botanical Gardens) and spent a couple leisurely hours strolling the grounds. Very pleasant & relaxing. We got there shortly after they opened, so even with spending 2-1/2 hours there we were still able to hit the road before the traffic started to get heavy and made good time on the drive home.



All of today's pictures were taken at either the Safari Park or the Arboretum. We don't know the woman with the lorikeets on her; we just thought it made a nice photo & she gave us the OK to take her picture. The shots of us with our arms outstretched is to show our "wingspan" as compared to that of a California Condor. See, I am tiny and petite, smaller than a bird :-) Please ignore the fact that I have major hat hair in the photo.