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.