Friday list

Short list again this week – but I think you should see my Saturday list!

Friday is tax day in SW Harbor, so I will meet my tax buddy at the LL Bean parking lot in Ellsworth at 8, and we will drive down to the Island, do taxes all day, and he will drop me back there around 5. I might get Finelli’s pizza on my way home (yum!), then I will crash on the couch with my knitting.

But Saturday?

Saturday, we are having breakfast in a new little place A found in Brewer. Then we will head off to Bangor to the bead store, where I will get some more supplies for knitted necklaces, and sign up for TWO classes – only $120 each, plus supplies. They will be on 2 Saturdays in March. I am excited as I have wanted to take classes there for a while, but it never worked that I found out about them in time.

Ahh, good food and crafting. And then, of course, all the chores I won’t be doing on Friday – groceries, laundry, PO. 🙂 Life is good.

And Sunday, perhaps I will get up to start cleaning the craft room a bit more. Tiny steps.

Givng credit where it is due

Occasionally I *might* use this space to rant about my pet peeves. 🙂

So I just want to say that the other morning, I heard Todd Simcox, channel 5 (WABI TV 5) use proper English in a place where normally people don’t.

He said, and I quote:
“It will be cold all week, be sure to dress warmly.”

Do you see it?

Yep. -ly.

Not local yarn, not using an adjective incorrectly as an adverb, but making an adverb out of an adjective with the simple addition of -ly.

Todd, I am so proud of you. I hope you dress warmly and drive safely. I hope you continue to be an example for news people in Bangor and across the country, showing that it is possible to deliver the news and weather and use proper grammar at the same time.

Now, if you could please deliver an early spring, I would be very appreciative.

Accepting an award

Thanks so much, cedwards83 at purlsjustwannahavefun for nominating me for a liebster award. I am honored that you chose me and my funny little blog.
Here are the rules:

*Thank the person who has nominated you and link back to their blog (by posting a link on yours).

*Copy and display the award in your blog post (save the pink image above and upload it to your own post).

*Answer the 11 questions about yourself, which are given to you by the person who nominated you.

*Write 11 random facts about yourself.

*Nominate 5 – 11 blogs/bloggers that you feel deserve the award. They need to have less than 1000 followers.

*Think of 11 new questions for the bloggers you have nominated and write them in your post.

*Inform the selected bloggers that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and link back to your own post so that they can learn about it (if they don’t already about it) and so that they know what questions to answer.
The 11 questions for me:
1. How many siblings do you have?
3 whole (1 sister, two brothers), 2 step (one of each)
2.What’s your favorite soda?
Can’t drink it anymore, but it used to be Coke. Now my favorite cold beverage is lemonade.
3.Which do you like better cats or dogs?
I love them both, but have cats because we work so much. I would love to have a lab or shepherd puppy when we retire, though.
4.What is your favorite color?
BLUE, all shades
5.What is your favorite food?
Interesting. I love food. Not sure i can name a favorite food, but I can say that my favorite MEAl is rare Roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans. mmmmm. Mom makes it every year for Christmas, how lucky am I?
6.What chore do you hate?
Vacuuming. As in detest. As in have no rugs so I never have to do it. I would sweep every day if it meant never vacuuming again. Thankfully for me, A is willing to do it if I keep the bathrooms clean. DEAL!
7.Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?
Usually, outdoors, but not in any weather, only on nice days.
8.Which do you like better pool or ocean?
Ocean. But pool is much better than nothing. LOVE water and swimming.
9.What is your favorite time of day?
Early morning
10.If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
My grandparents. I have so many questions, so many stories I vaguely remember and I just miss them all.
11.If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Well, I can live anywhere in the world, can’t I? I would live here, in Maine. I might wish I had a bit more money so I could leave for a few weeks this time of year, but I do love it here, really. The one thing I would like to do as far as living somewhere different is that I have always wanted to live on a Maine island for a complete year. It’s on my bucket list, but not sure it will ever happen as my beloved spouse can not imagine anything worse. 🙂

Eleven facts about me.
1 I always wanted to be a history teacher
2 I hate to play sports, but I love watching women’s basketball, and of course, the Olympics
3 I love any kind of craft, wish I could take every class and learn them all
4 I was active in the sailing club in college, and actually won a race once
5 I love glitter and sparkle
6 My Meyers Briggs personality type is INFJ which means…
7 I love rules and structure
8 but I procrastinate
9 I love to play board games
10 I make an effort to consume locally produced food and products as much possible
11 I love to cook, but not every day. 🙂

Eleven questions for my nominees:

1 Which do you prefer – read the book or see the movie?
2 What would you tell your 16-year-old self to make his/her life more meaningful?
3 What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
4 If you could give a million dollars away, who would get it and why?
5 Would you rather live in the city or country?
6 Chocolate, Vanilla or???
7 Your favorite color?
8 Your favorite TV show?
9 What is your favorite outdoor activity?
10 What is your pet peeve?
11 What one thing do you wish you could do better than you do?

My nominees to answer these fabulous questions are:
the colour cottage
The Good, Bad, and Ludicrous
The Knitting Sarah
Matthew Richards Photography
Slipped Stitches (You just have to love the tales of Yarn Rascal)
Love, Lucie

Weekend Update

The view from the couch – not that I spent a lot of time on the couch this weekend – yea! When I cleaned out the bird feeder the other day, I dumped the old seed out on the railing, thinking the mourning doves would like that. Don’t know if they do or not, but this fellow joined the chickadees. He spent some time trying to break into the suet and the feeder (unsuccessfully), but finally went with the low hanging fruit.

Meanwhile, Zumba kept a close watch on him. Not sure what she would have done if I let her out, but I suspect he would have survived.

… Yesterday was planned to be a typical Saturday with some chores, some crafts, some Olympics. But a call in the morning from our dear friend B (aka Crimson Crow) changed that, and we met her for a late breakfast at the Riverside Cafe in Ellsworth, then she came over for a visit, to see what’s new here and play some games. It is always good to see her. And as she follows this blog, she and A were teasing me about it, and why I think anyone cares what I do each day. I am not sure why you all do, but I am glad you do! But as promised, B, you are featured here again. And you didn’t even have to rescue me from a dead snake.

Knitting progress –

The light still wasn’t great Friday, but it was on my list, so I took some photos. Zumba helped, as you can see. Here is the vest in progress, and the completed pair 3 of Socks with Sarah. Pair number 4 is in progress, but I frogged what I did last week, and redid it in a smaller size. The yarn, Cascade Heritage, was a lot looser than the Tosh Sock. I am quite happy with the new size now, and have made good progress, just turned the first sock heel. Only 48 stitches in a row – they fly!

Today I spent some time up in the craft room with Allie and blue paint while A vacuumed (we all have our chores, hee hee hee). I am playing with a tray I want to do in a mosaic tile/sea glass. I keep changing my mind about it, so mostly I just keep painting it. 🙂

I also am thinking about a few more of the collage pieces like I did this summer with niece C. I like how mine came out, and I wonder if they would make nice gifts? I need a housewarming gift for my brother this spring, and so am toying with what that would look like. Also, spring birthday season is nearly upon us, so I need to make a pile of birthday cards.

Last chore up there was to start the clearing/cleaning/organizing. I made a tiny bit of progress today – got the last of the Christmas card rubble cleaned up. 🙂 I know it will be slow progress, because it is overwhelming, and I don’t have systems in place for everything, which is why it looks like it does. I need to really see what is there and create the organizational systems to deal with it. But as I clean, I get distracted, because I find things I want to work on.

Friday list

Good morning! Thanks to the weather, my list today is back to normal!

I was supposed to be doing taxes in Milbridge (an hour away) but yesterday, my volunteer and I decided with the forecast for some of everything but sun, we would postpone to the 7th. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Then, last night as A and I were talking about our day, I asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted me to get done, and she said “Would you spend some time in the craft room? Allie really needs some loving.” Allie will only cuddle in the craft room, for some odd reason. Whenever I go up there, the first half hour is spent with her. Can you believe it? She ASKED me to spend a chunk of time up there. I’ll try to fit that in. 🙂

Other than that, I have to take Tigger to the vet to get her staples out, go to the PO for the mail, clean the pellet stove, knit on my KAL socks, do some laundry and putter around the house picking up. I might fit a nap in there somewhere, too. I feel a lot better this morning, but not 100% yet. I also want to try to get some decent photos of the third pair of socks complete, and the fourth pair on the needles. Trying to do a better job of that for here and also to keep Ravelry more up to date.

only half a day on the couch – progress!

I felt pretty good this morning, and had some work that HAD to get done. So off I went to work. About half way there, I was ready for my morning nap. But I slogged through, got things done, and left around 2. Realized I never had lunch or took more meds… that might be why I felt so awful. 🙂

Anyway, once home, snuggled back under the big blue striped blanket and snoozed, and did my KAL knitting – finished the third pair of socks. I’ll take photos in the next few days, when the light is good (May? June?).

I’ll cast on the next pair before I head off to bed so I have them ready to take to work with me tomorrow. Yes, I will try again. I think if I pay more attention to such things as lunch and meds, I will make it just fine.

Did a lot of work yesterday on the vest – am almost finished with the armhole decreases, then it should go REALLY fast. Until it is time to put in the zipper. Then I predict a crashing halt. 🙂

day 4 on the couch

and I think it will be the last. Not only because I am feeling a bit better, but because I am getting a case of cabin fever.

I have watched about thirty hours of Olympics and knit hundreds of yards…. and slept many hours. This bug is a tough one – all weekend, the 4 hour meds lasted about three hours, so I felt a bit better for about 2… then it went down hill until I could take another dose, then wait an hour for it to kick in.

That’s how I can tell I am getting better – the four-hour meds are lasting just about four hours. By tomorrow, I hope I can go longer between doses.

So, I have been taking lessons from Tigger and lounging about in front of the fire and TV. I think A was very patient with me this weekend, but probably she was bored to tears. She went to work early this morning. 🙂

Here’s what I got done with my knitting this weekend – nothing is completely finished, but much progress! Necklaces need clasps sewn on them, then they will be done. I am almost up to the underarm on the vest, and I am on the leg of the second sock. Already thinking about the next pair. 🙂

Oh, and guess what? Yep, more snow coming today and tonight. But only 3 inches or so. Just enough to require still more shoveling and plowing. Ugh.

Here’s a cute photo to finish with – Allie Cat loves to chase the computer cursor. She was thrilled to find the computer on the couch this weekend. But where is the cursor?

the view from the couch

After doing taxes yesterday in spite of knowing better, today is a lay-low day.

I got up, moved to the couch, surrounded myself with my three knitting projects, the remote control, a cup of coffee and a glass of juice, a box of kleenex, cuddled under my CAL stripey blanket. Tigger settled by my feet. What more do I need? I should be able to lick this cold in no time.

We have taped all the Olympic coverage, and I think I am up to Thursday with watching. It makes my knees hurt to watch some of these events. But it doesn’t hurt my fingers, so I am making progress on all WIPS. Necklace knitting is done, I just need to sew on the clasp.

First of sock pair # 3 is an Olympic feat – made it up the foot, around the heel and am now on the final downhill stretch! I LOVE the little needle. More of these in a few sizes are in my future. I did struggle with turning the heel, and eventually went back to two longer circulars for that. But for pure round and round knitting, it just flies on that little fellow.

The vest – I am supposed to knit to 11.5 inches before starting armholes, I am around 8 inches right now. Even though it is bulky, it is slow, the rows are long. The Lopi yarn is much more scratchy than anything I have worked on in a long time, but as it will be an outer wear piece, I think that is OK. The periwinkle color is so pretty. 🙂

We had a very uneventful Valentine’s Day – When I got home (with her favorite pizza picked up in a snow storm, I might add) I lay on the couch, fell asleep and didn’t wake up for three hours. When I did, I fund a cute little basket from A and the cats, with some candy and a little kitten puzzle. And today, everywhere I go, I find little cards she tucked around in my coffee cup, my book, the computer. Who knows how many more there are? Glad I got her some truffles and made a card in addition to the pizza. 🙂

So while I dozed, knit, and watched Olympics through the biased eyes of NBC, A went and got the car serviced, did the grocery shopping, did some laundry, cleaned the pellet stove, cleaned the snow and ice off the walk and driveway. I was feeling guilty, but she reminded me I did the same when she was sick. Whew!

Naturally, it is snowing again. It was supposed to stop yesterday morning, it never did – it rained for a while, but then snowed all afternoon. A wee bit of sun this morning, then clouds, now another storm. I think we are in the 8-12 inch area, depending, of course, on where it actually tracks and how fast it goes. Looks like the Maritimes will get slammed by this one, though. Again. This storm should last most of tomorrow, and then we are to get some sun on Monday. Snow on Tuesday. I might have to start wintering below the equator. This is too depressing. But I am getting lots of knitting done.

Here’s a quick shot of the valentine’s I sent the family… sorry about the photography, I am getting better at the glitter shots, but some sun would help. I used the Cricut Folk Art Cartridge, one of my favorites. This is the cutout heart, the solid cart, the shadow heart, all stacked on a 4 by 5.5 inch card. Accents are Rangers silver glitter and silver pearl dimensional paint.

unable to determine the Friday list at this time

Mother Nature is making me sad today.

I am supposed to be doing taxes in Southwest Harbor today. I have a cold that slammed into me yesterday.

We were supposed to have a major snow storm last night. I was glad. I would not have to decide the whole do I go or not? issue.

It snowed for a while, then it rained. So far I have not seen the Southwest Harbor Library on the cancellation list. Lots of schools are closed, even the high school down there.

So, when my tax boss calls to let me know the plan for the day, I have to be ready with my answer as it pertains to my health.

My only other hope is that he got a ton of snow and ice and needs to stay home to clean it up. He is much farther inland than we are…

So, this Valentine’s Day I will either spend it helping the good folks of SW Harbor complete their tax returns, or I will spend it on the couch with tissues and knitting.

A has the day off, so we have a rare long weekend together, once I resolve this Friday issue. I love when she and I have the same holidays off. She gets so few, and I often have to be writing grants for deadlines, this is a rare treat.

Socks with Sarah Pair #3

In keeping with the KAL rule to knit some on socks each day, I cast on the next pair.

This is ancient yarn from the stash, label long gone. By the colors, I would say I got it in the 90’s. 🙂 It feels like a wool blend.

This is left over from socks I made a long time ago. I have this ball plus another skein, so I know there is enough for a pair and then some.

Check out the cute little needle! Thanks to Claire of Mollie and Claire, who showed one in a post recently, I scored one of these on Amazon. It took a bit of getting used to, but I LOVE not dealing with multiple needles when making socks. I might have to get a couple more in different sizes….