Happy Halloween!

I am excitedly getting ready for my day out tomorrow. Andre's! Chocolate covered almonds! Sisters of Mine, Daughters and Precious Niece...you will be with me in spirit. Tomtom is charging and I have reviewed myself on the inner working on the token of majick directional divining. I shall find my way tomorrow without fail or fear, and I shan't lose my way. Right? Right??? right?????

Speaking of spirits...no trick or treaters yet. I am waiting for Grandbebe Girl. We are going to visit a few in our neighborhood. Ours is a good neighborhood for trick or treating. We are always busy, and expect to be very much so tonight, being Friday, and having excellent weather for the holiday.

And speaking of Grandbebe Girl, I get to enjoy her company on Sunday whilst Bebe Parents are watch the Broncos kick the pigskin. I bet I enjoy my time the mostest! It promises to be another beautiful day, so I am thinking we will walk to the nearby park for some fun and swinging times. Maybe some sliding times, too.

And speaking of fun times, lunch with College Friend (at Andres, with chocolate almonds. Did I mention that? No joke, they are to die for...), a new meeting with a blog friend (gosh, I hope she likes me in real life!) at a new-to-me yarn shop, then a 50th birthday party of some relative-ish folk. All tomorrow.

One packed weekend ahead. But! BUT!!! Blogtoberfest is behind! Done. Finito. Fini.

Whew! I did it.

Public Service Announcement! Don't forget to turn your clocks back Sunday, November 2nd!

I'd like to thank my family, and my garden...

...and my knitting needles, and Betsy the Flying Lendrum, the catnipping and toidey drinking kittehs, Best Dog Ever...

And Kathleen for giving me my first bloggity-type award evah!

Lookie here! Somebody loves my blog!

Here are the rules for the award recipients if you want to play along (not required):
1. Please mention winning of the award on your blog. Check

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you. Check

Kathleen at A Bag of Olives, a former Coloradoan, now living and teaching and knitting and spinning in Peru (I have international readers! Yes I do!).

3. You must nominate at least 4 fellow bloggers for this award. Check

I hereby nominate the following:

Kate at High Altitude Gardening, where she along with Meg the horse and Bad Dog, grow a lovely and wonderful garden without pretension or much ado, and dispenses her wisdom (and hollyhock seeds) to all who would hear.

Lynne at A "New" Jersey Girl, who discovered me through the abc-along in my brand new blogging days. Recently from my town, now living in NJ, she is a wonderful photographer, and records great wildlife right in her backyard. Check out the bears!

Liz at Lizzzknits, a fellow Coloradoan I found through Ravelry, who started blogging and spinning about the same time I did. We are close to the same age (as I am with most of these!), and both have daughters, too.

Wunx~ at The Clueless Crafter, another Raveler, who I linked up with through Kate the Gardener. A new knitter, but oh so brave. I cannot believe the things she tries... and succeeds at! Also, her humor is sharp...very sharp, and I like that. Also, if I ever make to their neck of the woods, she and Kate have promised me biscuits.

Finally...Dearest Sister's Brand-New Blog, Just-A-Mere. (I'm so proud. Gosh.) Her first entry tells the source of the title.

4. Add links to the recipients. Check

5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award. Check

And lastly, thank you, Kathleen, for giving me blog fodder for today!

Only one more day to go...

V is for...

For whoever.

It's a right not many have, and as a woman, I have only had since 1920 in the United States.

Less than 100 years, and then only after much struggle on the part many brave women of vision demanding what seems so reasonable...obvious! now. They were scorned. They were arrested. They went to jail.

We recieved the right to vote.

We eventually recieved an opportunity to take classes other than foods and sewing in high school, and to play funded sports, just like the guys.

A college education opened up for us, with more avenues than nursing and teaching available.

Yes. Some advantages were required. Some funding necessary. The playing field needed to be leveled, and I believe that is the only way it happens. I have some of my own stories of men having advantage in getting employment, keeping employment, and in pay, because of gender. And of having no recourse. Without being forced into change...often those in charge won't.

I am grateful that my daughters won't have as many of those stories.

And this is not where I was going with this post...but I don't think I am going to change it.

Andre's on Saturday!

Do you see that, Sisters of Mine and Precious Niece? You and your eating together at the KC Andre's yesterday...well, I get to go to the Denver Andre's Saturday. Chocolate almonds, here I come. I know, I know. It's not the original, and not the same, and you all won't be there, and it's a far cry from the Kansas City Plaza, but still! Chocolate Almonds!

I am going to meet College Friend for lunch, then a 50th birthday party for a cousin of the X's (who still consider me family, and since they are wonderful people, it makes me feel just grand!). Rites of passage themselves have become rites of passage. Engagements, marriages, births of children...weddings of said children, births of grandchildren, and 50th birthday parties...what are next? Don't answer that! It was strictly rhetorical.

Soooooo.....that means I will be in Denver from lunch at Cherry Creek to party time (6:30 in Broomfield) by myself, with time on my hands. Whatever shall I do? I heartell there are few things to do in that there rustic ville...

I think I may hit the Tattered Cover first. Then I am thinking some yarn shops. (Any ideas, suggestions, and general hints from those of you who may reside in the area?) Armed with my TomTom, my Outback, and a full tank of gas, I will be on the prowl and no area nor corner of town will be safe!

Yeah...a Swiss confiserie, a book store, and yarn shops.
I am Attila, the Hun.

Being Grateful

In times like these, I am glad I have this habit honed to a fine skill.

I have always been able to find those graces in my world for which I was truly thankful for. I would go through 'it' all again for my girls...that is how grateful I am for them. I am thankful for my health, for the opportunities my education gives me, and for getting to live where I do.

I can even be grateful, albeit mostly in retrospect, for those harder lessons that have nevertheless shown me life's greater truths. I am grateful for the changes that have motivated me to grow, as painful as they were at the time. I am grateful for the hard stuff, because I see now that is where the more brilliant facets of my character have been polished from.

But ever once in a while, I have to remind myself to be grateful. Sometimes it happens in the moment. Sometimes it happens after the fact. Sometimes I am reminded by others...oooh, I don't like that so much...

But it always needs to be there for me. Because there's nothing that I can't be grateful for. Even the ugly, nasty stuff. I know that. I have seen that. It is a axiom, proven and recorded. I trust in that truth.

And yet.

I still have to ask myself sometimes, 'I wonder what God in her heaven figures I need to learn from this particular person...'

Success!

Much to Wonderful Guys delight (har har har!) I am the winner, and now proud owner (as soon as I receive them, that is) of 25 pairs of Barbie shoes. And a good deal with hardly any shipping they were.

Also. Only Step-Son stood in line for four hours today, but got to see Barack Obama at CSU. I think it is pretty cool that he got to do that. See the senator...not stand in line.

Wrapping up the week-end, I am all wore through. From grocery shopping on Friday evening, to a good five mile walk with Best Dog Ever this afternoon, and everything in between....the dishwasher is going, the shower is taken, and I am going to go put my feet up, watch Mad Men on AMC, and knit a bit.

But first...check out Barbie's new shoes...things have changed since last my Barbie was shod.

The Agony and The Ecstasy

As I put together one more post for Blasted Blogtoberfest...I think of Rex Harrison and Charlton Heston sparring over the painting of the Sistine Chapel in the aforementioned movie...

Pope Rex asks "When will you make an end?"

Charltonangelo replies "When I am finished!"

Only it is Blogger Needles...asking Blogtober...
Buckle down, girlie, you have another six days to write about. Better get pithy!

Slogging onward.

I am voting by mail-in ballot before the week-end is out. It is on the ubiquitous to do list. (Little known factoid about yours truly...I have voted in every election since I was eighteen. I believe in doing my civic duty seriously.)

Ebay is the place apparently for Barbie shoes. And there is great hope there. Wonderful Guy drove me to Toys R Us today. He asked me what I was going to do with my Barbie, after I got her all tricked out (my words...). Was I going to give her to the Grandbebe Girl? Silly man. I gently corrected him, informing him that my Barbie was an authentic 1963 (or thereabouts) Barbie, and in all her handknits, was sure to be...the coolest!


The Sunflower dishclothes are fait complet. Behold!


(Artsy shot!)
(work with me, baby...)

And my favoritist dishcloth ever....



with their matchy matchy tribbles!

All together now....aaaaahhhhhh!

TGIF!

And what a relief it is.

I have been a bit at loose ends with the work situation. Perhaps it will be wrapped up next week, and we can return to our regularly scheduled programming. Then again, nothing has happened even close to any pronounced schedule, so maybe it will be November.

It really has me flummoxed, and the ride is draining. I have had to make an effort to take care of myself in the midst. Rest, good diet, exercise, yarn shopping....

I will tell you something else that has not helped my attitude, and that has been the weather. It seems the warm weather, and my growing season, went away too soon. The wind earlier this week took the leaves, and now we are left with bare, skeletal trees. It is emphasized by my new-found Australian bloggers talking about the wonders of their new spring. Oh, just shoot me!

Well, aren't we the grumpy one...

Well, it is what it is, and it's okay for me not to feel upbeat and perfect day in and day out.

So here's a recipe out of my files, not particular gourmet, or fat-free, or glorious in any other way. Just a dessert for the season...my mother's pumpkin pie recipe, which may have come from my Great Aunt Ruth.

Pumpkin Pie (Grandma Perry’s recipe)

2 ½ cups pumpkin (or one big can)
1 2/3 cups sugar ->1 cup brown & 2/3 cup white
2 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg (fresh ground which means getting one of those little graters and whole nutmegs but is so worth it)
½ t ginger
½ t NaCl
2 T flour
2 ½ cup evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk)
3 eggs

Mix C6H12O6 (that the sugars for non-chemists) and dry ingredients. Beat eggs. Add milk, pumpkin to eggs. Mix with dry ingredients. Pour into uncooked pie shells. Bake at 450°F for 7-10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F for 45 minutes or until firm. (It’s done when a knife remains clean when inserted ½ the distance between edge and center) (And it almost always takes longer than 45 minutes, especially if you are baking more than one) (And this recipe makes about three!)

I seriously approximate this recipe. Like the evapo milk....one can. The nutmeg...grate it until I am done having fun. Also, I don't make my own pie crust any more. I know, I know....maybe again one day... I have made this with my own canned pumpkin, and I have made it with store canned pumpkin. I am making it this year with fresh pummykin, grown up in my yard!

This is not rocket science, and when served with real whipped cream (I am an elitist when it come to whipped cream!)...well, the pie....she is the best. I am talking forget about the turkey good.

Thanks for listening. I am feeling better for sharing that little tidbit of history (and not just whining).

Thursday Post Nombre Deux

I got to Lambspun at lunchtime today and didn't go over board. Good girl! Two loverly skeins. one skein to go with a skein of the same stuff bought last year, that wasn't enough to do anything with. What, you say? Buying two skeins a year apart and hoping they will match? Well, I am thinking mittens and a scarf so maybe it won't be such a big deal. The second is to make another of the secret project...for me. It is perfect....and both were 40% off.

Followed that trip up with a visit to the Megabiggiantsuperstore. No Barbie shoes unless they were on Barbies feet. I don't need the feet and legs attached! Just some shoes!

Did find some fingering acrylic and some crochet thread marked down for further stylings on Barbies behalf. Barbie doesn't care so much if she is not tricked out in 70/30 merino/silk, or 50% merino/30% silk/20% cashmere. Hah! Like I could justify that! At 40% off! Hah! (Just try me....)

Must. Remember! ...it is so much faster to buy yarn than it takes to knit it...

Blogtoberfest Bummer

Well, I missed yesterday. Wonderful Guy was using the innernets for important work stuff, and asked not to take the chance of bumping him off with my important blog stuff.

Gosh. I think he needs to get his priorities straight in these tough economic times.

So I am going to post twice today to make up for it.

If I have time...today the Lambspun semi-annual sale starts, and I am going to check it out, just like I was getting a regular paycheck! I know. Call me reckless and wild, but that's me. No, it's really not, but sometimes...maybe.

Then I am going to the giantsupercenterstore and look for Barbie shoes...

Maybe I will think up a moving subject for stirring post somewhere in between.

Off (and back on) the Needles of Iron

My Sox of Alpaca...


They are finie! And they are fine, indeed. So smooshy soft to wear. I am very pleased with the way they turned out, and I have already cast on a pair for Wonderful Guy, only of a larger size.


My yarn from Bindie, the yearling alpaca....
My magic loop pattern adaptation...

A knitter she is! (a dancer, not so much...)

Also, the mystery project....all blocked.... and way more pleasing than I expected.

I think I need one for myself. Really.

Also, more dishclothes and matchy matchy scrubbers...I really need to get another photo of those things, both for this and for Ravelry.

And I am finishing up my fourth Sunflower dishcloth (Mason-Dixon Knitting). There will be a really cool photo shoot when that's done.

Next up, in addition to Wonderful Guy's sox of alpaca, I am casting on the Seascape Stole.

Then there's this little item I picked up this weekend at JoAnn's marked way down.

She needs new clothes....And some shoes, too...

My original Barbie, from the early '60's, dressed in handknits by my mother.

A Rare Day

I have tried very hard to live life on life's term for the past few years since the dee-vorce. I have learned that try as I might, I cannot control life, other people, and no matter how hard I try to be good and do the right thing, sometimes life is going to take a dump where I am going to take a step.

That's a fact. Not that life has anything in particular against me. That's just the way life is. And I can fight it tooth and nail...and be continually frustrated in seeing my efforts thwarted. Or I can go with the flow.

I prefer to go with the flow nowadays. For the most part, it works for me.

And yet...

I will be tested.

Today was a test for me.

1st thing this morning, Wonderful Guy gave Best Dog Ever his meds, and took Best Dog Ever's med himself. He wasn't going to be poorly affected by the canine meds, but we weren't sure what the blood pressure stuff would do to the dog. A 6:30 AM call to the emergency vet, a call to poison control, to our vet, to the other emergency vet, the realization a call to the animal poison control was necessary ($60 if you are ever going to do that), then our vet called back. End of story: Best Dog Ever is fine, but Wonderful Guy spent some time today chasing squirrels.

Getting dressed, on the radio, I hear an interview with Ted Nugent (old rock and roller turned very active NRA member). And I quote "these guys (refering to Dem rock and rollers) want to achieve peace and love by smoking dope. We get peace and love by killing the bad guys." OMG. I am not advocating the smoking dope part, but I so wanted to ask...who gets to choose who are the bad guys? He followed that by stating that voting for the Obama/Biden ticket was voting for the Communist Party of America. I love to start the morning with idiocy.

One my way to work, I determined donuts were the order of the day, but my little Mom and Pop place was not open. Agh! I have to talk myself into stopping for donuts...and sweet madre de dios! Can they not be open when I do????

Once at work, us employees were expecting some closure to the ongoing pain that has been the financial crisis under which we have been working for about a year. End of September turned into October turned into October 15 at the latest... turned into by the end of last week. I really expected news first thing this morning. Nothing. Nothing at 10am. Nothing at noon. Nothing to even say 'we don't know anything' which I really needed. We did get an update about 3:30PM. Maybe things will be finished up Wednesday. I am not holding my breath. It will happen..eventually. I am just not holding my breath.

Okay. Going with the flow. Not piling stuff on stuff. That's goes nowhere fast, and proves nothing.

Then on the way home, the SUV in front of me, and in the lane to the right pulls up a light, and their dog falls out of the back window, hitting the pavement hard. I am stunned. The light changes. I cannot go. The SUV pulls out and turns the corner. The dog gets up, limps to the curb, and walks relatively well up on the sidewalk. I don't know what to do. Do they realize their dog is gone? The SUV turns corner. I start to go forward as traffic behind me requires. I see the SUV brakes...I am hoping they realized what happened.

I am so soft-hearted for animals. This will be imprinted in my consciousness forever as a half-dozen other incidents involving animals throughout my life. It was a rough thing for me to observe.

Sometimes life is just life.

I had one opportunity for emotional release and this I share with you. I was glad I was alone in cubeland, because I laughed until I cried. Then I watched it again....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-ULeG09QY

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hoo-boy!

Lots done.

Not going to tell you all about it tonight, though. Having a goal of blogging every day this causes one to pace out the potential blog fodder.

The frozen and dead were cleaned from the yard. Good-bye for this year.

I am spreading the hollyhock seeds tomorrow.

I brought up the Halloween decor. Last year, Wonderful Guy were doing some painting and laying some new flooring during October, so there was no fall decorating.

My scary birds are back. At night, they are back lit, from the inside of the house, with green lights. Very spooky from the outside! (More so with Stuffed Laser Cat...)

Among my other and friendlier decor, a flower pot witch, on a square of tiny yo-yos. Each finished yo-yo is just shy of an inch and made of a Halloween print. I constructed it a couple years ago.

It is a lot of fun to see, and yo-yos are really neat to see as a whole bed spread, but....I think yo-yos are very tedious to cut, whip up, and stitch together. That is partly why this is only about 15 inches square!

Let's look at the scary birds again! I just love my scary birds! (Idea is from Martha Stewart. I know...I know...the risk was great!)

Morning Sun

And bringing our dogs to work....

Best Dog Ever thinks my job is boring, that lab work is dorky.

She might be right.

But I had fun taking her to work.

Dearest Sister was very concerned about the state of universe, however. What was Best Dog Ever thinking? ('..not the vets, but not a hike, either...') How was Wonderful Guy working at home without his supervisor? And the kittehs...were they asking each other if this meant they were in charge now? Silly Sister....kittehs are always in charge. She knows that!

I thought maybe the kittehs wanted to go next, but then realized they were asking if Best Dog Ever might go with me everyday....

A Week-End Warm Up

After chilly, and alternately breezy and cloudy days, since last weekend, we are supposed to have a spectacular weekend.

I am SO outside. The frozen dregs of the veggie patch will get cleaned up, and the rest of the yard more or less winterized. I will absorb the sun and the fresh air and be renewed.

I read during this past week or so about the Yarn Harlot's book tour, and that of Mason-Dixon Knitting. I am not on top of things, or I would have called on friends and family who were in the same locale where these famous and favorite knitters of mine were signing their newest books. I know people in Kansas City and Lexington. People who sort of like me! But...as with many things in my life, a day late and a dollar short....at least with my bright ideas.

And Drewzel, one of the Blogtoberfest-ers...-festivas...-festerinos...well, whateva! is having a 'Fave Friday' whereby we remark on our favorite song ever and why, and/or link up to youtube.

This is no easy task for me. I have been listening to music for a very long time. I have many songs I like very much, that cause me to move in rhythm to, to hum along with, to sing with (in private, of necessity). I have seriously been thinking about this since last night!

I narrowed it down to music since 1968. That eliminated the classical composers. No 1812 Overture...with cannon!

I omitted musicals, which tossed out 76 Trombones, My Favorite Things, and Chim Chim Chiminee, and songs from Victor Victoria, Chicago, and Cabaret.

I decided to go with World Class Artists only, which narrowed it further...so went local KC artists Brewer & Shipley's 'One Toke Over The Line'.

Beatles? Eagles? Springsteen? Cold Play? Indigo Girls? Agh.....

Then it hit me! The one song that I love to sing along with...out loud...REALLY LOUD...with Dearest Sister, preferable with all four daughters in the car, and maybe even with the windows down....

That's what I'm talking about...

Janis, baby....and 'Me and Bobby McGee'

The Sewing Bug

I think she is biting me. I have the itch to get the Singer out and humming.

I blame Blogtoberfest. Darn you crafty, creative Aussie types and your sewing…stuff! It has been very interesting to take a peak at these different bloggers and see what they do. (A list is here at BigCat's.) Interestingly, I found Dearest Sister has already been reading some of them, even before Blogtoberfest, being more into that sort of thing, internet-wise, anyways.

So anyway, back to me, because, after all, this is all about me! I have a few ideas spinning around in the old noggin. Ideas that won’t even require a trip to JoAnn’s! (Always a good thing, at least to Wonderful Guy's way of thinking…) I have some left over projects on the shelf from the last sewing-up-a-storm…storm.

>Jammy bottoms for Only Step Daughter
>Scrubs for Middle Daughter
>TeeTiny Quilted Christmas Ornaments to be pieced
>Quilt #2…maybe

The storm is a-brewin’!

And now, for those easily amused, I send you to 'Sad Guys on Trading Floors', gallows humor for the economic crisis.

Three Nights of Sub-Freezing Temps

Earlier pumpkin....

And the growing season is over. For me. Excuse me while I wipe away a tear…or two..or three.

To everything there is a season, and for a garden that is necessarily true. Doesn’t have to mean I have to like it, or like a growing season shorter by a few weeks than what I think is 'normal'.

This past weekend, and the last few days, have been really chilly and mostly cloudy, and my normally cheery outlook has taken a hit, I do believe.

A few days of sun and some temps in the hi 60’s, or even low 70's, and I will get the slimy leaves out of there, get things winterized and put to right.

I just need to get my routine adjusted. I need to get exercising back in the routine since bike riding seems to be a thing...to look forward to. Swimming at one of the city pools has an appeal for me. I have always enjoyed swimming. Our fair township has a number of pools, and after watching the Olympics, I am sort of stoked towards such an activity.

Today's Pumkin...

It’s only the middle of October. It’s not winter yet.

I wonder if this will be the year I get back on the skis.

And now for something completely different. Remember this? Well, Little Miss Phoebe is quite the internet star now, and there is simply no living with her! She's been featured on The Witless Wanderer and Bellgirl. Best Dog Ever and The Cat Who Would Be Queen say 'Whateva!'.

U is for…

…Uncle Don (and Aunt Ruth). They were my great-uncle and aunt, and had no children of their own. When Dearest Sister and I came along, several other generations of nieces and nephews had already passed in and through their lives. We may have been about the last to really spend time with them at their place. And, for us, at least, they were like grandparents.

Their place was the house built by my great grandfather, the family homestead, a four story Victorian, about 4 miles outside Greensburg, in Kiowa County, Kansas. I don’t remember calling it anything but Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don’s. All my friends called it Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don’s! (It’s completely gone now.)

My mother was widowed at 41, in 1959. She returned to her hometown, with her five kids, ranging in age from 2 to 18. The older three, teenagers mostly, made their way through high school, and left home, shortly thereafter. Dearest Sister and I were only 2 and 4. We took more work. Looking back…I would say considerably more work!

Enter Uncle Don and Aunt Ruth. They were there to help Momma out in many, many ways. We stayed with them in the big, old farmhouse while the little house Momma purchased was made habitable. Uncle Don picked me up and took me to school almost every morning, after dropping off Aunt Ruth at the high school cafeteria, where she worked. There were many weekends Dearest Sister and I spent at the farm, with Uncle Don and Aunt Ruth, giving Momma a much needed break. And every Sunday noon, there was dinner at Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don’s. Every. Sunday. (‘Mom, can’t we just stay home this once? Pleeeeeeease?’ What would I give for one of those afternoons now.)

Dearest Sister and I both remember Uncle Don taking us for grilled cheese sandwiches at a local eatery, called Daisy’s. We never had to clean up our plate for Uncle Don, and he would still buy us Butterfingers!

Uncle Don was a champion domino player! He could add those spots up faster than anyone I knew. Of course, I really didn’t know very many people who added up spots on dominoes, because I was not allowed in the snooker parlor, where he played. Dearest Sister has told me, however, she was. She has stories!!

He also loved professional baseball. However, living in southwestern Kansas, on a farm, waaaaaaaay before cable, their TV received only one station. Two, if the weather was just right. None, if someone was vacuuming or running the mixer in the kitchen. In short, there was precious little baseball to be watched on TV. I remember Uncle Don, in his rocker, listening to baseball on the radio. And wondering how in the world he knew what they were talking about! It sounded like so much gibberish to me.

Uncle Don was born in 1900, so it was always easy to figure out exactly how old he was.

He was also a diabetic, diagnosed as a child, before insulin. Diabetics were not expected to live much past adulthood before the use of insulin to treat diabetes. In 1923, insulin became available for use. As with many drugs, it was a little rugged at first to use insulin. He gave himself the daily injections, and his black case with glass syringe fascinated me. His eyes became very sensitive to light, and he always wore tinted glasses. There were other prices paid, but the bottom line was he lived to see age 76. That was a miracle for the diagnosis he received as a child in the early 1900’s.

Some of my very best memories growing up come from Uncle Don and Aunt Ruth, and their house.

Well....that's a start, I suppose.

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Wonderful Guy and I went to the Fall Home Improvement Show on Saturday. It was raining and cold and good for that sort of thing. It was a smallish event, which made for good opportunity to chat it up with the vendors. We spent a couple of hours talking with several, made a couple of appointments for free in-home estimates, and called it good.

Then I discovered we were in the market for a new aquarium. In our office/front room renovations of last fall, we gave Only Step-Son the aquarium, from which he has received much enjoyment. Now that the weather is getting cool, and the outdoors activity is more limited, Wonderful Guy is thinking he would like to start afresh with a new one...a salt water effort this time. Hmmmm...I hear tell one needs to be a chemist for that sort of thing.

Sunday, he was out with Only Step-Son, and I fully expected them to come home with a saltwater rig, but he decided against it. Guess we will wait and see what happens with my job this week (or next....or the week after...I am ever hopeful, but have grown some realistic pants) before we start handing over funds.

I have to tell you, though, those tankless hot water heaters sure are enticing! And a new frontloading washer/dryer...very, very appealing! They had me at 'energy savings'!!

Another Sock Book

While buying supplies for table decorations for an upcoming event of which I am in charge, I spied this at JoAnn’s.



I just happened to have a 50% off coupon in my purse, thanks to Wisest Sister. See, so Wise! It came home with me.

And these are my handmade event decorations, so far.

Votives (from Martha Stewart.com). The directions were straightforward... votive holders, double sided tape, cornhusks, ribbon. Tape onto votive holder. Cut corn husks and stick onto tape. Tie decorative ribbon. NOT! My corn husks would not stick to tape. My corn husks would not stick with glue. (I didn't try hot glue, not having any on hand.) The ribbon is holding the husks in place. It works adequately, but it seems to me that Martha ought not put stuff out there that does not work! Geez o peez! I sat at my table for the longest time trying to make this work thinking... "she's a smart lady. It's not a 'good thing' to drive people nuts. She would have made sure this works, surely..."

Salt dough pumpkins (from Craftbits.com) Only disclaimer here. If family members are not knowledgeable of salt dough, they may think a tasty treat is being prepared. They will be disappointed! The curlicues are my added effect.

Ever so slightly cheesy, but in a festive way, and inexpensive, with the threshold of required expertise and creativity waaaaaaay low!

Sweet! I have made it to through weekend #2 and Day 12.

Things I Like...

...about blogging (besides new words in my vocabulary like 'blogging').

• Connecting with people I would never have met otherwise, in other states and other countries, and sometimes in towns just south of me.


• An opportunity to share my life with others through writing.


• And the chance to share in other's amazing creativity and talent. And it is amazing.


• Figuring out another way to get out of my shell/hibernation ways.


• Finding I can say what I need, and every once in a while, someone else needs to hear exactly that.


• Challenges like Blogtoberfest that keep me honest. (I am one third through!)


• Booty!

Look what Kate sent me. She say there is more hollyhock seeds than any sane woman would need. Kate doesn't know how close to the brink I teeter! These are the old-fashioned kind, big and tall, the kind I remember from my grandma's gardens (or was it Aunt Ruth's?).

I am spreading them as soon as the veggie patch is cleared, which will be after this weekend. The weather guy says this is the weekend for the first freeze. I picked the green tomatoes last night, to ripen inside. We will still have warm days, but the season is over. Six and a half months 'til May...

I leave you with a parting shot of my pumpkin guard dog.

So Many Ends!

But so worth it.

Thanks, Mason-Dixon Knitting. And thanks, Kay (of the same M-D Knitting), for ‘favoriting’ my Ravelry project, too! I was all a-flummoxed! My little twist on the original pattern is using variegated yarn for the center instead of four different colors. Makes for a few less ends to weave in. A few.

I have two finished. I am off to start another.

And it’s Friday, so the winners of my ‘unremarkable contest’ are…

Corwink wins the handspun, and...

~Phyllis~ wins the roving!

Congratulations, and send me your info by email and I will send your booty post haste! And thanks, dear readers...for giving me a chance, coming back, for taking the time to comment, and for your suggestions to broaden my reading habits.

It was an eclectic group of sites, and yet strangely compelling....

What The…!

(All I had handy was my phone.)

Phoebe, the cat, is not suffering from the effects of too much alcohol.

I do think perhaps the drugs we gave her after the dental work 5 or 6 months ago may have had a deleterious effect.

She has a huge dispenser of fresh water from which to drink. Other than this, I mean.

I suppose this is more entertaining for her.

I suppose, additionally, that being an 'old lady' cat of 14 years, this is the equivalent of wearing a red hat, sitting cross legged on a curb, and spitting.

I suppose, further, that the only behavior that will be changed is the feeder person's...

My Hair

This past weekend I had a chance to see how others see my hair. I have been growing out the color for about a year, best guess, give or take a month.

Brief recap. I was very blond when little, as a young girl, and as a teenager, with or without Sun-In (can I get a witness?). Shortly after my babies started arriving, hair started darkening, and by the mid-30’s, it started to lighten up again….but with a distinctly different tint, a grey-ish glint.

I remember my mother only as having a head of silver hair, and expected to have the same, but when I was caught with a camcorder (early 90’s and that’s what they were!)…shock horror! I had brown hair with ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ streaks. I looked so dowdy. I was also trying to find a new job out of state. Steps needed to be taken. A drastic solution for a desperate situation, as it were.

So the coloring of hair started. And so it continued…to last year, when I decided I so over it. My length-impaired stylist did some last color magic to ease the grow out pain, and the change began.

It has been neither unpleasant, nor dramatic. I had been coloring blonde, and the front/top of my hair is very light naturally. Not much change in other words. I am keeping it longish, shoulder length, so there is some blonde on the ends still. My hair grows sooooo slow. And like many other things in life, a gradual change comes to seem like no change until we meet up with someone who sees it.

So this weekend, Wonderful Guy and I go to our local mall for a few errands. I duck into a clothing store to check out the end of the season sales, find some likely prospects, and go to try them on. Wonderful Guy comes into the store after a while, is approached by a sales person, and he says he believes his wife is in a dressing room. He attempts to describe me, saying ‘she has…’ and the salesperson attempts to help ‘…white hair?’

I have white hair to a complete stranger.

White. Hair.

What did I expect? I am not sure, but to hear it put to words…it just feels a bit mature…which is what I am, I know….but maybe isn’t exactly what I feel.

Just yet.

Don't overlook 'my unremarkable contest'. Comments will be considered through Friday, 5PM.

T is for…

Trails and trail heads and trail names and trail signs….

I live in Colorado. I live very close to Rocky Mountain National Park. I love spending time in the mountains.


I hiked with the X and I have hiked with lots of different friends.

My most special and memorable hiking, by far, have been with Wonderful Guy.

Our relationship, first as friends, then as more than friends, grew as we hiked together…

And hiked….

And hiked some more.

Each one of these trails? I can tell you something of that day and that hike.

It was a special, enjoyable, and a singular time spent with someone I have grown to love and respect and accept unconditionally, and unbelievably, loves and respects and accepts me in the exact same way.

An Unremarkable Contest

I have rummaged through my fiber and my yarn, and have come up with some likely candidates for giving away. I submit for your consideration…

1 oz of roving, a merino (positive)/silk blend (I am pretty sure) with a hint of glint. Very nice stuff, if not a lot. It would be very good for plying with something else, or blending with something before spinning.

and...

2-3oz skeins of handspun (not of my spinning) I bought at a friends antique/authentic sort of old timey craft store some years back. How quaint, I thought. Handspun yarn from someone’s sheep, I mused! I might knit it up equally charming, I said to myself. I never thought I might be spinning up the like! Alas, I didn’t knit it up, and I think I would like to pass it on. It is a worsted wgt and 2-ply, not terribly bulky, but not fingering either. Also wool, but I don't know anything about what kind.

So anyway, to celebrate such and such a number of hits, and a whatever number of visitors over an equally unassuming amount of time, I will offer these as prizes.

What I ask of you is:
#1 Comment before…uh…how about 5 PM Friday my time, which is mountain time.
#2 Let me know if you want to be in the roving drawing or the yarn drawing, or both, I guess!
#3 Share with me a non-knitting blog you enjoy. It can be of a different crafty persuasion, or humorous, or writterly, and/or containing the wisdom of the ages. I am not picky with other’s addictions. I am looking to expand my horizons. All selfishness here, see.

What I will do:
#1 I will draw 2 names, one for each prize on Friday when I get home from work. Unlike the last time I was giving something away, I am going to be around this week. Who knows…maybe I will be able to hunt up some other goodies to throw in, too.
#2 I will check out the blogs suggested in my never-ending quest for self-enlightenment.

And there it is.

Blogtoberfest

Thanks to Stacy, I hopped on another train of opportunity/challenge. BigCat is hosting a Blogtoberfest. Those who hopped on this wagon are going to try to post everyday of the month.

First, I post pretty often anyway, so mostly this will up the weekend posts.

Secondly, there is a whole new-to-me world of bloggers doing this, so...more blog fodder!

Thirdly, I have selected some handspun yarn, and some hand-dyed roving for 'my celebration of 1312 unique readers over 9 months of blogging blather give-away'. Come back tomorrow for details and photos.

Fourthly, I mentioned Kathleen in Peru in yesterday's post, and forgot to link her. Apologies! (Remembering late is still remembering!) Kathleen commented on my FOL Sale post about the scarcity of local public libraries in Lima. It struck to my heart. I cannot imagine. I can take much for granted.

And that wraps up today's post!

Since January...

I started this little effort of a blog in January, and decided to track my stats shortly thereafter. It was a big decision on my part. Was I doing this just for me? Did I really care if anyone read my musing? Or where they came from...which is about as far as Google Analytics & Blogger takes me...or as far as I have figured out how to go with either....

Yes, the blog was for me, but I decided to track the stats, because I am that way. I am an analytical chemist, and those things are important. And I am a recovering codependent, and what other people think still plays a role in my life. (See. Awareness, and that is the first step!)

On any given day, I will check my stats for the day before, and go on with my life, but yesterday, I thought to see if I could check back to the beginning of time, as it were. I could!

Since Analytics started paying attention to me, I have had:

3859 visits (I am pretty sure only 1617 of those were from my sisters!)
1312 unique visitors
6744 page views
with the US, Canada, the UK, Peru (hi, Kathleen!), Australia, France, Netherlands, and Germany most heavily represented.
Ravelry has sent the most referrals (I love me some knitterly folk!), and 'Naked Cowboy' was the most interesting keyword searched.

More than the numbers, this blog has given me an outlet for connection with others I would never have connected with in any other way, and, totally unlooked for, with whom I have built relationships. I have been inspired with what you have done, learned with you, knit along with you, and laughed with you. This gives me a opportunity to put out there some things I have learned, formulate thoughts, show off a little, share much, and be accountable.

Thanks for reading. I think this calls for a give-away, a celebration of 1312 unique readers over 9 months of blogging blather give-away. I will spend the weekend in search of some appropriate fibery goodness and let you all know what I found on Monday.

P.S. Guess what I found while putting away my books...my copy of the 'Princess Bride'. I had looked all over for it a few months past. ALL over. Well, I now have two copies...one for each hand.

FOL Sale!

Boy oh boy! Today...well...this weekend is one of my favorites of the whole year. It is the weekend of the Friends of the Library booksale. It opened at at 8 or 9, and I could barely contain myself until I took my lunch at 11.

I present my haul for your inspection!

This does not include the 12 step meditation books I picked up for passing along AT. SUCH. GOOD. PRICES!!

I went with two particular titles in mind this time, along with a general list of authors, and random ideas of picking up knitting, quilting, and gardening books. Really, at $2 and $3 per hardback, one can't go wrong. If I end up not liking a title, I donate it back to the library (and get a charitable deduction!).

But I digress. My search was for two of my favorite books of all time. And I found them.

Behold! The Princess Bride, which Dearest Sister turned me onto in high school, waaaaaaay before the movie. When they made the movie, we were both skeptical at first, but were pleased when we saw the end product.


And The Phantom Tollbooth. I was read this in grade school, and was entranced by Milo's story. I remember it to this day. I found a copy of each of these earlier in my life, but they have escaped me. Don't ask me how. I don't loan books. (Their mine, mine, I tell you, all MINE!)

Now I have copies again.

On a side note...on my way back to work...I was caught by the infamous noontime Fort Collins trains and their engine switching. For 35 freaking minutes!

At least I had reading material.

Dealing With The Stress

The ups and downs at work continues. It appears that perhaps the end of all the unknowing is around the corner. Time will tell. The end of last month has turned into the middle this month, but then again....the first of the week is now Friday, so maybe the middle of the month is really November 7th... or even later. I know, it makes no sense, and I can't be more specific.

In the meantime, I go from day to day, thinking I am going to be able to wait this thing out, then swinging to doubting if the deal is going to be enough soon enough.

Mostly, I am somewhere in the middle, and handling pretty well…mostly...I think. Probably one would get a better, and more objective, opinion from Wonderful Guy. I might really be freaking out. I don’t know.

I know this. I am not obsessing about the need to know the future like I have done in the past. I am trying to work each day as if…as if I knew everything was going exactly like it needed to be. As if it was all going to turn out exactly like it needed to be.

I am trying to do that, not always 100% successful, but working at it. It’s a better place to be than continually worrying about things I can do nothing about. Better to take the steps I can take, to do the things I feel led to do, ask the questions to find out the facts I need, then make the decisions that are right for me, regardless of what is right for others.

Mostly.

On the Needles of Iron

Fall flowers from my yard. Asters and mums, all with their best hats on!

We have sox of alpaca, my own recipe, my own handspun. (Such the earth woman she is!)

mmmmm….squoooshy on my feet they will be!

We have a sunflower dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

Very, very fun, and sunny! #2 is on the needles now. So many ends to weave, but so worth it! (Note: Pattern calls for many colors used for the center, but I used a variegated yarn.)

We have stocking stuffers using up lots of blue cotton yarn (thank you, Wisest Sister)!

Green, eco-friendly shopping bags from Plymouth Yarns…well, blue really…but still eco-friendly!

And the project which cannot be named.

Whatever can it be? And for whom? And for which I can find no pattern on line....

And FIVE Calorimetries (from Knitty). I have one more to go.



I hope they are appreciated and that they fit! Most are made with handspun, too.

And the ubiquitous 4-corner dishcloth for 1870 Pearl. With matchy matchy tribble (same site).
My favorite dishcloth pattern ever. Ever. And of which I have no photo because I forgot when taking all these others.

(See. Lots going on here besides complaining.)