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This morning is the best kind of morning here in northern New England. Very dry, temps in the 50s or even 40s, I haven’t looked yet. And no work so we can stay all cosy and think about the day to come.

I really have to get back to moving the dirt, it seems a good morning for some of that. I have been collecting newspapers for a few weeks and think I have enough now to do the spot where I want the dirt. I won’t get it all done this weekend, but every little bit helps.

I have been able to stay on top of maintaining all the work that has already been done by pulling the weeds while they are still tiny. Where I put newspaper under the mulch there are far fewer weeds than where I did not, so I will keep going with that. Some places I put newspaper under tge new dirt and some places over the new dirt, depending on what weeds were already there. Both have their merits. I am sort of thinking that a newspaper sandwich will work best for killing old weeds and preventing new. I might try that in the next new garden.

Today is Whorls and Purls day, and afterwards we are going out to dinner, which will be fun. Apparently the group tries to do that once a summer, and summer is waning. It will be an early meal, so everyone can get home before full dark.

I am still working on my sweater, but also started a new shawl. It is a Purple Fleece pattern, chain mail, and I am using the gold beaded yarn I spun earlier this year.  So far I like how it is coming together.  I also am working on a beaded necklace for the craft fair. Lots on the needles. I prepped the yarn for my next socks, so will bring that along as well. Variety is the spice of life! 

I finished my blue socks, by the way, using Lucy Neatby’s sock chimney for the kitchener on the heels.  It was interesting. The actual kitchener was much easier but I am not sure I saved time, because of the time spent knitting the chimney. I think I will stick to toe up and no kitchener, as I have been doing!

After Whorls and Purls, I will do the grocery shopping, and that should finish my day!

No plans for tomorrow but lots on the “I should really do” list! 

• Clean the pool
• Pick blackberries 
• Move dirt
• Spin!
• Start organizing the packing
• Clean the inside of the car

That should keep me busy!

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My stomach bug decided to linger long enough that I took Tuesday off and went to the doctor without an appointment, which of course meant waiting for over 2 hours in the their waiting room.

Final determination?  Virus. Dehydration.

Advice?  Drink a mixture of salt and Gatorade, lots of it, small sips all the time.  If I wasn’t sick before, that might have made me sick.

Do that for 24 hours, then add dry toast to the menu.

If that works, add crackers and brown rice.  Still good?  Add bananas.

So, I am at the brown rice for lunch phase, and while I don’t feel good, I am not sick.  I think the chemical fake sugars in the Gatorade are making me nauseous now, so I will stop drinking it as soon as I get home, and switch back to flat ginger ale.

As has been the case all along, as long as I don’t swallow anything, I feel fine. It’s kind of ridiculous.

I did get a chuckle out of the nurse at the doctor’s office Tuesday.  She commented “wow, you have lost a lot of weight since Friday!” and I said “Well, the doctor told me to lose 5 pounds a month. I got right on it.”

Of course, it won’t be that much once I get hydrated.

Anyway – here we are, almost to the weekend. I am going to try making plans again and see if it goes better than last week.

There is much yard work still to be done. If we get a nice cool morning, I will work on it then.

The pool needs attention, I haven’t been in it in over a week!

Saturday afternoon is reserved for Whorls and Purls, and I am DETERMINED to go, after missing two nice fiber gatherings last weekend.  I have loads of knitting and spinning still to do. (And always will, right?)

A and I have a semi-plan to go to Bagaduce Lunch for supper on Friday, if there is any point in going out to eat.  I hope there is! We haven’t been there yet this summer, and I do love that place. She has Friday off from work, so we can eat early, before the crowds.  I hope.

A trip to the Post Office is needed, I think I have a package or two on the way. Other than that, there is laundry and housework begging to be done, I will try to fit it in around all that other fun stuff.

We don’t happen to need a lot of groceries, since one of us didn’t eat all week, but I am pretty sure there are a few things that will need picking up, so I will do that while I am out and about.

I hope this weekend is much better than last weekend!  And I hope that you all have a good weekend, too!

 

 

 

 

 

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If you have been following me for a long time, you know I used to work four days a week, and Fridays were my day to be home or out and about on my own.  I used to make such lovely long lists of things I wanted to accomplish.  And sometimes, I was successful!  But then came changes at work, and my schedule got shifted back to the traditional 5 days a week.  No more Friday lists.

This week, however, I am going to be home, so thought I would reprise the Friday list.  I know I am excited! I bet you are, too.  😉

 

Here goes:

Wait for the Cable Guy, the reason I am home and not at work.  He’s due between 8-9 and his work will take about an hour, so technically, I could then go to work, but I decided to take the whole day. because I can.  It is WICKED slow at work. Plus, you know cable guys’ reputations.  🙂  We are SO excited to be getting a cable bundle for TV, internet, and telephone, instead of paying the earth for satellite TV and internet, and traditional land line phone.  Here’s hoping it all lives up to its billing. We will save almost $100 a month with this deal, and I see that as a big plus.

If the weather cooperates (cool, dry, sunshine, and a light breeze would be ideal) I want to get out into the yard and do some trimming and weeding, and maybe plant a plant or something.

Ditto on the weather, I would follow that work with a  dip in the pool, and what I hope is the last good scrubbing it will need. I didn’t get into it last weekend, it was too chilly and showery.  I scrubbed what I could reach, but that isn’t much and the angle isn’t right for a good scrubbing.

Clean the screened porch and the front porch and get them ready for summer.  I understand it is coming, the teasing with a warm day here and there will stop soon, and all days will be warm and lovely. It would be nice to have the snow shovels, sand, and salt stowed away when that happens.

Make a run to the dump with yard trash and house trash.

Get the groceries.

Go to the PO when it is actually open and I can speak to a person.

Take photos of my knitting to show you – I have really made progress on things, I think a photo will prove it. To you and to me.

Start the weekend’s laundry.

 

It’s an ambitious list, if I get to half of it I will be pleased.  The sitting and knitting will come while waiting for the Cable Guy, and while waiting and watching him work.  I think workmen love that, when the homeowner pulls up a chair and watches their every move, don’t you?

I am sort of thinking of doing a really quick bulky spin this week as well – I have some fiber that I have to spin outside (it sheds), and I know I can do it like lightening.  But I should be concentrating on the knitting for the next couple of weeks.  So torn.  🙂

That’s my day!  I will check back in later and let you know how I did.  And maybe have some photos to share.

 

 

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Made it through another weekend of travel.  This one was different, as I warned you it would be – no yarn purchases.  But lots of knitting, thanks to my sister being willing to be the driver!

Saturday morning I was up and out of the house by 4:30, drove down to Portland, and together we left at 7:30 for Connecticut.  We must have done something very good, because the traffic gods blessed us, and we made it to my aunt and uncles in record time, arriving RIGHT on the dot of  11.  We had a nice visit with them, then the two of us headed down into the town we first lived, had a picnic on the village green.  It was SO NICE!  Of course it looks the same but different from what we remember.  It’s smaller and the trees are bigger.  But the beautiful old houses and churches look the same.

From there we drove past our old house (also smaller with bigger trees) and then on to visit with Dad and Stepmom S.  We stayed for a couple of hours, chatting, looking at old yearbooks, and then spent quite a time out in their yard – they have loads of bird feeders and an amazing variety of birds, which keep them and their indoor cats well entertained.

Then it was back on the road by 4, and home to my sister’s before 8, where we relaxed with delicious pizza – delivered!  Oh, the good part of living in a city!

I was wide awake, so though they offered me a bed for the night, I headed home.  I have had too many days away from home, between traveling and working every day.  Got home by 11:30 and when I tell you I fell into bed and asleep and didn’t open my eyes for a solid 8 hours, I am not kidding.

And I never moved out of low gear Sunday.  I did start a load of laundry (dear A finished it for me) and I went to the dump and the hardware store, but other than that I just sat and knit.

Well, knit and ripped out. I got to a point where I could try on the green and black striped sweater, and it just wasn’t right.  The neck opening was too large, and the front of the sweater too big.  So, I took good notes on my gauge, then ripped it all out, did loads of math, gave up the idea of the boat neck and cast on a crew neck sweater.  I did like the width of the stripes, so now I really think I am good to go on this one. No photo now, it looks just like the last time I started it.  🙂

I worked a lot on my socks on Saturday, so I ignored them Sunday, just worked on the Moon and Sky shawl, got past the first beaded row.  The beads on this are going to be pretty subtle, I think.  They are matte finish and close in color to one of the colors in the yarn.  But they do glow a bit in the right light, so I think when they whole is complete, they will be awfully pretty.

I did a couple of rows on the handspun vest as well, but no one except me would notice.  fingering weight takes a long time to show effort!  But I still love it and want to have it ready in the fall, so it stays in rotation.  🙂

I didn’t do any spinning, I was just too tired to move the wheel into position, it seemed like too much effort.  I’ll work on that this week, I promise! Last week, I did cake up the yarn I will be plying that with, so I am ready for plying should I ever finish spinning.

This week will be long, with the promise of a holiday weekend at the end!  Before Saturday I want to get the pool water tested so I can get the PH right, and the stabilizer and chlorine in – then I can get in and get the last of the leaves from the middle.  I can’t reach them from the edges.

I also want to work on that spin and get it off my wheel so I can clean the old wheel and move it upstairs, and give attention to the new wheel!  And I want to finish my May sock, so I am ready for June when it arrives (so soon!)

And my sister and I are both inspired to do some cleaning and clearing, so I will once again put that on my list, to start weeding out the craft room and organizing the yarn and fabric.  It won’t happen in one session or one week or maybe one month, but every bit helps.

This weekend I am on for ALL of the household chores and some serious catering to A’s wishes as she has been the solo person two weekends in a row.  Good thing I have three days, because I also want to get some seed sin the ground, and some yardwork done.

I might need a 30 day weekend to do all I would like to do and that needs doing.

 

 

 

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I know you have missed these almost as much as I have missed having Fridays off from work. 😀This week was a bit unusual at work, with late meetings, and a fundraising event this Sunday. So, to keep my hours to 40, I am able to stay home today.

What will I do with myself you ask? Here goes:

I am doing a bit of spinning this morning, working on filling that third bobbin.

Have to go out and get a haircut, long over due. While I’m out, I’ll go to the PO, and maybe, if I am feeling adventurous, the dump. We’ll see about that last one.

Back at home, there is always laundry to get started, a few dishes and some general tidying to do.

Then knitting. There are some photos I need to take for you, if the weather cooperates. And I dug some yarn out of the stash for a sweater, so I will be working on a swatch and a plan for that. And winding lots of yarn.  The yarn is Briggs and Little Heritage, picked up many years ago in New Brunswick. The color labels say “dark gray heather” “medium gray” and “light gray.”

I get the latter two, but the first looks very green to me. It looks nice with the grays, though, which is all that counts.

I even found the pattern I was going to make originally – a simple yoked sweater with colorwork in the yoke and at the bottom of the sweater. It is pretty, but I think I want a cardigan, and I don’t want a round yoke.  I dove down the Ravelry rabbit hole for a while, and when I was done with that, I decided I want to make my standard raglan top down sweater, with stripes. I toyed with the idea of making a turtleneck sweater I have made before, but I realized that the one I have is almost the same color. Oops! So, I dug out the old pattern, an ancient Candide one. This is my second copy, pretty worn out, and it cost a dollar. I wonder if it is still available, and how much it costs these days? It might be time for a new one.

Anyway… I also will work on the blue sock, which is getting closer to done – working on the leg. My goal is to get it done by Wednesday, then cast on the next pair, which will be knit with the Garden Center yarn I spun with an opposing ply, can’t wait to try that! Which reminds me, i might cake that today.

That’s really all I have planned for the day – not a lot but that leaves me loads of time for that knitting and spinning. And thinking about yet another sweater…that turtleneck still seems like a good idea, I wonder what other yarn I have in my stash? Add that to the list – more stash diving!

 

 

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I am so glad that this isn’t the year I decided to go to Rhinebeck!

Came down with a horrible cold this week, and so left work early yesterday, and stayed home today.  My list today has a theme!

Do some research on cold meds I can take – ones with no sugars or alcohol to satisfy the whole 30 eating plan; ones with no caffeine or other stimulants to comply with doctor’s orders regarding the heart; ones with no NSAIDs to comply with gastric by-pass surgery requirements.

I honestly think I can do two out of three with what is in the medicine chest, but I am just not sure.  So on my list today is also a call to the doctor to get her take on it.

Once I know that, I need to make a shopping list – I have no decaffeinated tea!!!! Definitely  want some tea… and the meds, and I think we need more tissues…

If I feel up to it, I will take a hot shower and head out to get those things, if I don’t feel like it, I will call A at work and ask her to stop on her way home tonight.

I expect I will do some knitting and spinning, but mostly, I will be napping.  If only I could lie down without everything hurting and clogging up.  I wonder how horses sleep standing up??? I should learn how to do that.

Not an exciting list.  Sure not as exciting as if I was heading off to Rhinebeck, right?

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I took the day off to even out from last week’s crazy hours, and so you get  a Friday list this week. (You lucky thing!)

Oh, such a simple list!

Get up and dressed in a very special fair outfit, meet up with niece B, head off to meet Mom, then go to the (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association)  Common Ground Fair!

It is supposed to be a rainy day, so the very special fair outfit involves shorts, sneakers and warm socks, a t-shirt, sweater or sweatshirt, a raincoat, and a ball cap.  All of which seriously impedes the ability to shop as all these layers fill the day pack when they are not in use!  A towel, shoes, and socks go in the car so that the ride home can be warm and dry.

This year we are going to Thorndike to catch the train to the fair – a ten minute train ride that hopefully saves lots of traffic congestion and walking from distant parking lots. We would rather spend our walking around energy AT the fair, not getting TO the fair. Conveniently, the train drops us off near the flush toilets!  Mom planned this change, can you tell?

Mom and B will want to spend loads of time with the farm animals large and small.  Fortunately, the animal barns are always located fairly near the fiber and yarn tents.  I am excited this year to check out spinning fibers by local dyers.  Still not ready for a whole fleece (haven’t got hand carders!) so I won’t be lugging three bags full of wool around the fair.  Maybe next year? But I do plan to get some pretty, unique yarn and fiber.

And who knows what I will find in the Maine-made artisan tents?  So much great stuff is made here.

We have a new family rule this year for the fair, though, that I have to keep in mind – if you buy it, you carry it.  So maybe I will leave a layer of clothing off so I can carry more. We’ll see how cold it is.

Then there is the food – !  Cousin B will likely be selling his wood-fired pizza, so delicious – and there is so much more.  The food has to be Maine-sourced, which can make an interesting meal – but we harvest crab meat, and grow potatoes, and make maple goodies….I am hungry just thinking about it.  I will take pictures there and pictures of the things I buy, and share them with you as I do each year – it will be like you came with me to the fair – get ready for a fun day!