One More Time

Happy New Year, and time for new starts and re-starts and start overs...
And here I am in all my starting over glory.  So where do I start?  I believe I will just begin again where I am at.

I have a new header up there.  I received a new wide-angle lens for Christmas and am learning all the ins and outs of fun landscape photography.  I swear I can capture all the mountains from New Mexico to Wyoming!  The Guy and I will have to travel to all the places we have already been to so I can take new and better and wider photos.

I made yarn today.  Well, not just today.  I actually finished it up today, setting the twist, and took photos, too, which really has to be some sort of record.  While I was piddling around the house, taking down Christmas decor (yes, I am on top of all sorts of things here) I noticed the sun shining on the drying hanks of yarn, and saw the opportunity for some photo art.

Behold.

Blue Yarn (top from Tracy Bunkers, merino/bamboo/nylon, 422 yds, 22 wpi)

and Pink Yarn (top from Lampspun, merino/bamboo/glitz, 237 yds, 12 wpi)

The blue I am very proud of.  4 oz of top spun fine enough for socks, I do believe.  Sweet.

In other news, I knit like a crazy woman for Christmas, finishing up felting the last bag on Christmas morning.  So it was a little damp...but I will save that for another post.

I wouldn't want to over do it.

Shooting the Moon

Just so happened that I ended up with my camera when the moon was there.

We had gone to Estes to eat with my BFF from Kindergarten! who was visiting from my hometown, and as we were saying good-by, there was the Old Man in the Moon!

The rest I took while on our September vacation in Zion or Bryce.  Seemed like every morning, against a blue sky, there he was again. (Clicky for biggy...)

The above...in order...Kolob Canyon, Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon.

An Auspicious Occasion

Dearest Sister and Car Guy spent the night at Chez Iron Needles on their way back to Desert Crazy Town last month.  I was so glad to see her, and, as it happened, I had just finished cutting out the 3” squares that are to be the 9-patches for Grandbebe Four’s quilt.

She and I spent part of our all too brief time together matching up squares to make awesome 9-patches. The grandbebe quilts (See One, Two, & Three here) are a team effort, but happens states apart.  It is doubly extra special, with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, when the effort can happen in the same room.  Plus!  We are more creatively, I believe, than the sum of our parts…and we have more fun together than we do with others.

That much is certain.

As it also happened, I had ordered a walking foot for my most awesome Singing Singer, the Rocketeer, which for the uninformed, will enabled me to quilt with my sewing machine.

(Not that I will quilt the grandbebe quilt this way. Oh NO! A standard has been set and will be adhered to.  Grandbebe quilts are quilted by hand…with love in each and every stitch.  As it should be…taking months and months and months…of love!)

Back to the walking foot….Sister has one for her Featherweight, and seeing hers is what inspired me to find one for the Rocketeer.  I will be able to quilt smaller projects much faster and easier with it.  Anyway.  It showed up the same day Dearest Sister did.  We were able to break it in together.  Outstanding! with a side of awesome!

And…I did not realize that Dearest Sister had not been to our humble abode since the creation of my craftudio, my she-cave, my space-station.

She loved it.  I knew she would.  She wants one of her own.

Now...the next quilt is calling.  And I need a real project to test that walking foot on.

Miles (and miles) of Yarn

At Guild last month, it was announced that a member who previously owned a yarn store was selling what remained of her stock.

For an exceedingly good price.  So exceedingly good, I would say…it was almost free.  ALMOST FREE! for pete’s sake.

So I went.  And my stash grew by miles.

I know this because I have my yarn supply listed in spreadsheet format for easy tracking, and it is easily calculated into miles…or kilometers…or fathoms…

Yarn Garage Sale Lady #2 told me she was going to be selling her books in a few weeks and would email me.

She did.  I bought books…and more yarn.  More miles of yarn.

This enabler told me she was going to bringing out magazines in a few weeks, and she also informed me when this event occurred.

I went, and bought magazines…and buttons…and more yarn.

It was almost free.  I had to.

Such a heady experience it was. I got the best yarn ever.

I would show it off, but that would only cause grief and envy!

Dead Serious Knitting

Gathered Front Tank (rav linky) by Mercedes Tarosavich-Clark (Interweave Knits, Spr 11) out of Maggi’s Linen.  Had to buy a short sleeved tee for the proper look, and it wasn’t even on sale.  But I am lovin’ this and I get comments pretty much every time I wear it.  Happened that I had the exact recommended yarn on hand from Yarn Garage Sale Lady #1.   Love it when a plan comes together. Note: buttons from my stash, from a card marked 25 cents!

Weekend Pullover (rav linky) by Diane Soucy (#224) out of Tahki Yarns Baby Tweed.  Took this on our September vacay.  Had lots of this yarn on hand from the Yarn Garage Sale Lady #1, so figured out how much I needed when packing for the trip.  Oops…I looked at grams (100) not yards (60).  Yeah, so as I was closing in on the body, and quickly knitting through the last ball, I was wondering WTH?!  I had plenty at home.  Extra, even…if I had been knitting with sz 17’s as the pattern called for.  The largest needles I have are 15’s, which I considered big enough, and certain gave me a gauge pretty close.  However, the 15’s were small enough to require enough more rounds to eat up all my extra yarn.  The sleeve edges have an abbreviated trim, but the sweater blocked out to fit just fine.  I am glad I don’t have any extra length to the sleeves, actually.

Shalom (rav linky)  by Meghan McFarlane out of Elizabeth Austen Wool of the Andes.  I knit this once, and blocked it, thinking that looks mighty long…and it was.  Down to my knees long.  Yes, there were some things in the directions I overlooked.  I do swatch, albeit an abbreviated routine.  What I didn’t remember was the line about the original piece being knit for someone 6 ft tall.  To my credit, I realize I was never going to wear the sweater as it was, and having a skein left over, I decided to reknit the thing, with a double strand.  So I picked the woven end from the bind off…and pairing with the end of the fresh yarn?  cast on and started my new Shalom…knitting a sweater from a sweater!  I don’t need no stinkin’ re-skeining!  The new knitting allowed me to remember all three buttonholes, and fix an error in the buttonband.  I like the finished project very much.  Maybe I should knit everything twice? Note: buttons from my stash, 3 leftovers from I don't know how far back in time.

Summer Swing Cardi, by Jessica Grzedzinski, out of Reynolds Mandalay (100% silk).  Ooh la la.  I love this yarn.  Looking at the projects in Ravelry, I figured out how to make this larger  (36” bust) than written (32” bust), because I am not…you know…a teenager. It took math and gauge swatches and starting over once, maybe twice, but I figured it out (I thought). And so I knit and purled to my hearts content all through Zion and Bryce and back, with hardly a thought.  Perfect project for knitting while viewing the scenery, and the perfect yarn for it as well.  Well, yes.  As it got closer to being finished, I was having some thoughts about it being…scanty.  I measured my gauge again.  Yep, 4 st/inch…18 inches across…2 x 18 = 36…but after seaming, the sweater was really tiny!  I was not undone, though.  I didn’t weave in any ends (because, bigod, if this pattern didn’t work, this yarn was going to be something else, something else for me!), and I soaked it and blocked it out to 36 ½ “.  After drying, it was much better, even passable, but I had one ball of yarn (plus a bit) left, and I thought I could maybe pick up stitches along the front and add bands to bring the edges close together.  I added about 6 rows of garter, before binding off one side too tight.  After adding the garter edging on the other side, I knew I was on the right track. I un-bound off the first and added some more garter rows before binding off with larger needles.  Perfect. End result was 10 ridges of garter on each side.  No button.  Doesn’t look like any of the other projects from this pattern on Ravelry.

Eldest’s Yoga Mat Bag, Om Nava Shivaya Bag, by Audrey Loopy, out of Tahki Yarns Brilla. Just like mine.  Only it matches the swimsuit cover up I knitted for her…using up my leftovers.  Hope she likes it as much as I like mine.

Like I said...some deadly serious knitting.

Goals

Well, I am into the 4^th quarter.  I should take a look at that list/outline/catalog/inventory of goals/guidelines/efforts to be made and see where I am falling short/making headway/treading water.

Quilt.  I have two one bebe quilt to complete to start.  At a minimum.
Update: 9-patches cut out and matched up, ready for piecing, and four sewn.

Knitting. I would like to continue with my sweaters, expanding to pullovers, and also continue my sock knitting.  I am thinking to try some colorwork this year. And fearlessly learn new techniques as I go.

Update: one bulky pullover completed, and a couple of cardigans, too.  Continuing to hone current skills.I am marking colorwork off the list for this year. Don’t feel inclined.

An east coast trip, maybe timed for a trip during Rhinebeck.

Update:maybe Rhinebeck next year.

Continue growing the photography/photoshop skills.

The photography skilz grow with use, but not really channeled.  The photoshop skilz really need expanding beyond what I use.

Quilt… see above

Commute by bike (May-Oct) at least 600 miles.

Update:Made it to about 250.  Work and yoga schedules cut into the routine.  Darn it!

Hike 40 miles.

Update:Made it to 31.5mi. Better than last year.

Snowshoe.

Make soap.

Maintain low sat fat diet and continue regular exercise.

Update:continue to work the diet and exercise routine (yoga and swimming seem to help the back issues).  Unfortunately, neither has resulted in losing, or even maintaining, last years wgt.

quilt… see above

Knit/spin from stash (exceptions only when deals are spectacular and/or for souvenirs)

Update:yes, well, there have been some outrageous deals this year, and then there is trying to justify what I bought as Estes Park as souvenir…but I would rather concentrate on the dollar a skein deals I got (again) from someone who had owned an LYS in a previous life.

Overall, not too bad.  I am sorry I didn’t make it to either the Maryland Sheep and Wool or Rhinebeck, but I have Estes close by.  The exercise/diet weight thing continues to befuddle, but all I can do is keep on doing what I can to take care of this aging body the best I can.  I am glad I have found swimming is helping my back, after I put away the beautiful, but evil, handbag.  Perhaps next year, biking will be able to play a bigger part again.  I was glad that the Guy and I were able to hike as much as we were by the time the September vacay rolled around.

The quilting and knitting is ongoing, and is the photography.  Always learning, never quit.

And I will speak more of the stash enhancement at a later date.  It…was…intoxicating!

My Wild Life

Not like that.  Because really, apart from doing a tequila shot in Cancun, a wild life does not define my existence.

I speak of all those cool creatures I get a chance to see when the Guy and I are out and about on our adventures.

Such as one outing to Rocky Mountain, when we strolled around Lily Lake, and by chance I got this shot of some mergansers (maybe) or mallards (I think) or ducks (for sure) taking flight.

Another trip over the mountains, we spied a couple of young moose making their way across a meadow.  I really missed my fancy camera and telephoto this day.

On a different day, we say a momma and her calf.  I had my big camera and long lens but she was very far away.  Not a decent enough photo for sharing...but Still!  Moose!

We made a trip to Mount Evans on Labor Day weekend for several reasons.  It’s a great day trip, a beautiful ride, great scenery, a chance for mountain goats, flowers, and pie at the end of the day at Echo Lake Lodge!  (It might really be about the pie…)

I think one of these guys might be worth a frame.

We traveled to Utah for a vacation in September, to spend some time around Zion and Bryce.  We stayed close to Parowan Gap, where there are petroglyphs.  I just love me some petroglyphs, and one morning, Wonderful Guy drove me out for some photo opportunities.  After the crowds at the two national parks, it was a quiet morning.  Just the two of us, and the pictures on the rocks…but as we turned to go back to the car we noticed another car in the lot.  At the back of this Subaru a fellow with a golden eagle on his arm feeding on a…something….

Meet Scout.  And his feeder person, Martin.  Martin Tyner rescues raptors (and other wild things) mostly for release back into the wild.  Scout, however, could not be released, and hangs with Martin, doing his bit toward educating and fund raising toward Martin’s nature and raptor center.

Yep, we just stood there and talked and watched and took photos and asked questions and were amazed.  When Scout was finished with his breakfast?  lunch?  Martin took us back to the petroglyphs and explained a bit more about the site, and what scholarship believes some of the more intriguing designs might signify, as he does programs there as well.

fyi...for more info about what Scout and Martin are all about, check out www.gowildlife.org

Pretty cool. (Seriously...click for big!)

I know, I know

It’s been forever. (Or at least a month)

I have no real excuse. (Except work, chores, a vacation, life in general)

Summer lasted for a long time, but this weekend fall will appear.  However not quite far enough for me to harvest green tomatoes.  That’s nice, because there have not been nearly enough ripe ones for me to be sated this year.  I believe next year I may have to plant them somewhere else.

Not enough sun ripening time where they currently are.

It appears this post will be about the yard so there is this.

I have written before of Wonderful Guy’s efforts in feeding the birds, and his frustration at the hummingbird’s preference of my flowers to his feeders.  Last year I had one or two volunteer sunflowers come up, and this year so many that I thinned them.

These were common sunflowers, all spindly and unenchanting to the Guy, causing a rowdy effect to the garden and the walk.  For a few weeks, I cut blooms and brought a bouquet to the kitchen table where the happy faces of the sunflowers truly lit up the room.  Then dropped pollen all over the placemats.

Ah well…the price of cheeriness.

Then, one evening, sitting at the table, Wonderful Guy found my attention straying from the conversation.  The sunflowers were bobbing in the breeze.  Except there was no breeze.  I saw that wrens and finches were resting among the plants and wasn’t that fun!

And then we noticed the birds were just not hanging out in the sunflowers, but were taking their dinner there as well.

Birdfeeder, full of premium birdseed, not 4 feet away, and here our feathered friends are, snacking away on my spindly, common, everyday, volunteer sunflowers!

I bet next year I have even more of these sunflowers.

(don't forget to click for big on the photos...)

Random Catch-Up

The problem with missing several weeks of posting is where to start when one has a bit of time.

I will simply jump in with bits and pieces and some randomness.

Work (which is still full-time temporary, and show no sign of changing) has held me to a crazy and mixed-up schedule for the last several weeks.  I have had early ins and late outs, which have allowed me to leave early on Fridays (good).  However, with the addition of yoga classes to the mix, my commuting by bicycling has been way off the mark for the summer (boo).  Perhaps I will get caught up with that, but alas…

Fall has come to northern Colorado in the last seven days, I fear.  Wham bam, and summer is done.  This just kills me.  I am enjoying a few tomatoes from the yard, and they are very good.  No where near like the first year, though.  The shade the pergola provides prevents the concrete patio from heating up and helping the tomatoes along, I believe.

Wonderful Guy and I drove south to the Renaissance Festival one weekend this summer.  It was very warm day for the re-enactors to be decked out in long layers of brocade and other finery, me thinks. I was glad to be in shorts and sandals.  We drove home the scenic route, and ate dinner in Denver at the Cheesecake Factory.  I mention this because I have never eaten at this place before, thereby never having had their Red Velvet Cheesecake.  I ate some that evening, and some after my lunch the next day, and some for dessert after dinner that night.  It was awesome each time.

Another Saturday, we took in a pancake breakfast held by a volunteer fire department in a small community up in the mountains.  Afterwards, we just kept driving higher, and lo and behold! We ended up in Granby at Lonesome Stone. Oh yes we did.  And I bought some souvenir yarn and some roving.  Because I had to.  A storm suddenly blew up and we couldn’t go visit the alpacas, you see…

I have found a place where I can swim, and that, along with yoga (and changing my purse) I believe has caused a change in the force with my back.  And for that, I will keep on doing what I am doing.  Daily back discomfort is not fun.  Waking up at night with back pain is not fun.  What is fun?  Having a night without that discomfort and waking up in the morning more rested than I have been in weeks…er…months.

Precious niece and Only Step-Son have become engaged to be married.  But not to each other.  But it appears both events will be the same month next year.  I can’t wait to see how each event is planned out!

That’s enough for now.

FOs...IRL

(finished objects...in real life)

Eldest on the beach in her cover-up. Even after a week, it was still good to go, if sagging just a smidge.  She tells me that once home, a round in the washer and dryer brought all the bounce back.

My shoulder shade at the wedding.  It served perfectly, as the wedding was moved inside due to the weather.  I was wanting something on my shoulders through the evenings activities.

As I said, when knitting meets real life and works, well, that's real nice!

Back Again

My back has been giving me grief.  So much so that the end of last year I went to a physical therapist.  She who detests such infringement on time, finances, and prefers more of a holistic approach to healing...went for some PT.  And apparently I whined about it enough that Eldest Daughter deemed yoga might shut my trap, and has been paying for some sessions.

All joking aside, my back was not letting me sleep at night, and seriously not getting any better, and I was very frustrated because I try very hard to do...well...everything right.

I was even more frustrated because during the time we were in Cancun, and for a few days upon our return, I had respite from pain!  I thought I was cured by the beach and seawater!  But alas, it was 'back' on me by the end of the week.

But then I thought to myself...self...there was another time recently that it wasn't so bad...upon the return from your recent visit to see Eldest.  I had put that to a new mattress and starting yoga however, and also starting up the biking again, and really altogether too many variables to zero in on a cause, and who cared because it didn't last.

However, I am of a scientific nature.  And I continued to hurt.  And I wanted to figure this out and find an answer.  Why did my back not hurt so much those two times?  Was there a common variable?

Why, yes.  There was.  I didn't carry my fabulous hand tooled red leather bag on either trip, that I bought in October, right before my back went south big time.  (I knew that thing was too big when I bought it.) (But, oh...it was...and is...fabulous...)

Last weekend I changed out bags.  I am still getting past the twinges and the soreness, but I am getting past it.  I don't feel worse daily and I am sleeping better. Seriously I felt the difference almost immediately.

Crazy.

In the meantime?  I have fallen in love with yoga.  Behold.

Om Nava Shivaya Yoga Mat Bag, by Audrey Loopy, out of Tahki Cotton.  (If it stretches?  I can toss it in the washer and dryer!)

The i-cord handle threads though the top and is grafted back at the bottom!

That's an i-cord bind off...my first, and it was tricky!  I need to do it again before I can claim that I know how to do it.

I think the bottom looks awesome. I might firm up this with a circle of cardboard.
Maybe. Maybe not.

Why, No...

I am not dead.  Thanks for asking, though.  Summer has had it's way with me.  I certainly feel worn through.  Leaving yoga last night, it was noticeably darker, and the light in the morning has a different slant already.

Gah.  But enough with the whining.  There is plenty of good without feeling the need to complain about the change of the seasons.

First off, the camera has been sent off, repaired, and returned.  Halla-freaking-lujah.  So that's one extended warranty I am glad I was persuaded to purchase.

I have finished and mailed off two pairs of socks.  I got photos of one pair and forgot to photo the other.  The tiny camera...it makes me forget things.  Wisest Sister has promised to tie up the photo loose end for me.  However, the unphotographed socks apparently fit.  The vote is still out on these...

Water Fall Rib, from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, out of Lonesome Stone's Mountain Feat.

Many and other items of note have been happening here at Chez Irons, little of which I have photographic evidence of, and literary descriptions will have to wait....because what I really want to show it this...

Done and ready to send off for arrival by Grandbebe the Third's second birthday (which was my goal).

The quilt she is finished...

And photographed...

Embroidery by Dearest Sister...who already has the panels for Grandbebe The Fourth's quilt done, and is talking up Number Five...which isn't even...in the planning stage yet...the bebe that is. Obviously the quilt is...

Clicky for biggy...these are fun to see up close!

Quilt ended up about 62"x62"...more or less...

Machine pieced. Hand quilted. All of it...quilted and bound by hand...



Fabric mostly vintage, supplemented with some reproduction.



Material is sorted for Number Four.

Wisdom (On The Cheap)

On the way to work (when I am driving), I pass a couple of churches with message boards. When I am biking, one church even has a small one close to the bike path.  These message boards sometimes tell of upcoming church-y events, or sometimes their owners use them to impart words of advice and wisdom.

Which can sometimes be a bit obnoxious…from my perspective.  I remember, back in the day of being 'the minister's wife', looking over such platitudes and helping to decide which #1 would work with the letters we had available, #2 would work with the space/lines available, and #3 wouldn’t offend.

One of these message boards I pass is a new-fangled and modern electronic gizmo, so #1 has no implication, and really, I am not sure that this particular establishment is too concerned about #3, because sometimes?  I get a bit chapped passing that place.  I mean sometime I just want to roll my window down and yell….’whatever! BOZOS!!!’  I don’t even remember what today’s words of wisdom were.  Something about experience and knowledge and THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW ME SO SHUT IT!!!!

In front of the other church today…something about not finding the real meaning of life using Google.

All this for free.

However!  For a mere $3.97 (plus tax), I could have bought a magnet on Sunday from a little independent shop in our Old Town that spoke to my heart, and I remember oh. so. clearly.

“I wish I were as thin now as when I thought I was fat.’

The choice is mine.  Refrigerator wisdom that I have to pay for, but apparently sticks with me, or religious bleatings for free that irritate (but apparently not the hell out) me.

This Time I Did

When it comes to extended warranties, I usually decline.  I read…once…somewhere…that seemed very reasonable and reliable and convincible at the time... that, generally speaking, extended warranties were an income stream for the provider.

Well, they wouldn’t be getting any income that way from me! Nosirreebob!

Even when my computer crapped out after 17 months (or so...I forget now) and the Office Depot guy said, ‘if you had an extended warranty, we would be giving you a new one free right now’ I figured all the times I didn’t buy a warranty and DIDN’T use it paid for the new laptop.

But right after I purchased my fancy smancy camera, a fellow from where I purchased said camera calls me and says ‘…have I got a deal for you…’ And proceeds to offer me an extended warranty, which I declined, then he offers to upgrade my shipping, which I also declined, then he throws in some free filters, and lentgthens the warranty deal…and I start adding up what he is offering, which I know isn’t really costing him much, but it would cost me some dollars to buy, and is really sounding like an okay deal.  Sure it upped the cost of the camera a bit, but I took it.  I got my camera faster, I got extra lens filters, and I got a 3 years extended warranty with a couple of camera cleanings, for the cost of the filters.  I called it good.  I wanted my camera fast…and I also got a sidewise look from Wonderful Guy.

Whatever.

It was aggravating in Cancun when the lens fogged up, and perturbing when it wouldn’t power up.  I was relieved when the problem went away.

Over the 4^th, we traveled to see Wonderful Guy’s family in eastern Kansas where there is a wonderful fireworks show.  I was primed to try my hand at some night photography.  The night we arrived, I checked to see if I knew where the settings were that I needed to adjust.  Camera was fine.  Next morning, taking the pups for a walk, I wanted to take a photo of a cut wheat field….and the dern thing would NOT POWER UP!!  And remained in such a state until the MORNING WE LEFT.

Upon our return, I fished out that extended warranty, and started the process to ship the camera to the fixer-uppers.  Of course, the thing is working, so who know if they will see what is the problem.

At least, I will get it cleaned.

Sunday night, Lovely Step Daughter was in town with her mini-doxie pup.  We cooked out at Only Step-Son’s with his 5 chocolate lab 6 week old pups.  There is a nest of baby birds tucked in the eaves of their front porch.  GrandGirls One and Three enjoyed the Son, and the pups, and their ice cream.

And I was without my camera.

And pouting, so apparently the point and shoot wasn’t good enough to take along…

July 12th

And it’s the day I paid full price for a Kindle book…

Dance of Dragons is released today, and I must have it to read.

I have been sucked in by this series, to whit I cannot wait for the price to drop.  And alas, it will probably be another 4 years before the next book is published.

Oh, Mr. George R.R. Martin…how you tease your devoted readers!

I may just have to read them all again…

PS The SSABs are pretty much awesome, but I have really loud water in my house.

Say Again?

I am looking at my calendar and I am not seeing any days off until Labor Day.

Which is kind of a drag because I have so enjoyed my time away from cubeland since the beginning of May.  I am sort of use to that now.  On the other hand, when I am not at work, the paycheck suffers, so full paychecks will be nice, and work well toward helping with today’s Big Expense.

Today...I buy myself SSABs (aka hearing aids). I have grown to detest the common term, so Eldest and I came up with the more palatable (to me) term SuperSonic Auditory Boosters.  I can live with that.

So. SSABs.

It has been a long time coming, and I have migrated through my family being irritated with me not catching what they are saying, to being solicitous when we are in public together and I am stumped at what the server is asking of me.  I am at the point of often not being able to rely on non-verbal signals to pick up what others are saying, and end up just staring at them.  Or anwering them totally off topic.  Yeah.  That works.  Often TV shows are a total wash.  The volume has to be too loud for me to get all the conversation.

Pretty embarrassing.

I won’t go to the fear about the possibility of considering a job interview.

So after much ado and time, I started the actual talking to audiologists and shopping.  It was truly painful…until I tried a pair…and I heard sounds and low voices and tones I hadn’t heard in years.

Brought tears to my eyes.  And pretty much settled it for me.

Vanity is out the door.  And somehow we would figure out a way to pay for them, but I was going to get myself a pair of those, and I was going to be able to hear birds again.

Brief aside, most insurance companies do not cover hearing loss, or hearing aids.  Nope.  Footing the entire bill for this one.  I could smoke, and they would pay my bills for lung cancer and heart disease.  I could drink and they would pay for my liver disease.  I could eat my way into obesity and they would pay for my diabetes treatment and related issues.  I’m not judging…I’m just saying…but I digress.

SSABs of today are not the hearing aids of yesteryear.  Mine will be programmed to my hearing loss, to emphasize what I cannot hear and leave alone the frequencies that I can. Pretty much awesome from where I sit right now.  I hope it is going to be all I hope it is going to be.

I hope the sound of eating chips doesn’t freak me out.  I hope that the sound of my own voice isn’t so loud I quit talking.  I want to hear birds again (I still hear meadowlarks and morning doves and finches, but miss so many others) but I know there are lots of really irritating sounds I don’t hear right now that’s probably for the good.  Along with the good will come the irritating, I suppose.  I wonder if I will hear everyone in cubeland typing.  People aren’t going to be able to sneak up on me anymore because I can’t hear them!

Tomorrow is going to be a new day, full of surprises.

I wonder if anyone will notice.

We're Walking...

Beginning a couple months back, I have been trying to get a walk in at lunch . Part of this is about wanting to lose 5 pounds, and being unsuccessful, and part is working where there is a great place to walk close by and wanting to take advantage of it.

When I worked here previously, I walked All. The. Time.  Well. Not all the time…I was working, after all.  I mean I walked almost every day.  Especially through the Dee-vorce, walking through my lunch helped me maintain my sanity, I do believe.

Anyway.  ANYWAY!  So I have forced myself to #1 put down the Kindle, and #2 put down the knitting, and #3 walk out the door and #4 breath some fresh air.

I have seen some interesting things, too, among them an eagle, a muskrat (I think), an osprey (I think), the ubiquitous Canadas, mallards, a heron, and now…the Poudre flowing full and flowers are blooming.

Well.  I thought to myself, I should bring my fancy smancy camera for my walkabout one day.  So I did.  Unfortunately, lots of fine feathered fellows thought to pose for me, and being successful has it’s drawbacks.  I am now rewarded and might have to tote that puppy more often!

Here’s is where I walk, and here is what I saw.

The river, usually not this high.  I know...by eastern standards, it is more of a 'crick'.

Woodsy-type places.

A Canada pair.

A flicker (like a woodpecker).

And some flowers...

Not great photos, but giving a inkling of why I like to get out at lunch. (Clicky for biggy...)

The Trip

(More about Mexico)

Three days before the trip, I realized the last name on my plane ticket was not the same as the last name on my passport. (I use both my unmarried and Wonderful Guys name.  Except sometimes I get lazy.)  Add to list….call Frontier.

Standing in ‘show me your passport’ line, in Mexico, the Guy and I are chatting it up with Youngest and the Bebe Daddy, with whom we traveled.  I hear….from afar…my name…my name…and yet…my daughter’s mouth is not saying anything.  And we realize that Dearest Sister and Middle Daughter are in the same line way a ways in front of us!  We wave, but alas.  Not the time or place to give us cuts!

The tower at the airport. Seriously.

After arriving at our resort, and finding our room, I start to ‘move in’.  After about fifteen minutes, Wonderful Guy mentions the A/C doesn’t seem to be working.  Not good.  He sets out on a mission…and by mission, I mean he goes to the front desk.  Within minutes, we have cool air flow.  Very good.  But we forgot to turn it down (or is it up?).  And we froze through out the night.  But better that than A/C not working!

We had clouds and 'strong breezes' and finally rain the day of the wedding.  Real rain the day after.  But the clouds broke up after that, and….all was sunshine, lollipops, rainbows, and silver linings!

The wedding, the family, the resort, the beach, the food…all of it absolutely the best.

My shawl worked perfectly, especially since the wedding and meal were inside, due to weather.  It is not known whether there are any photos showing exactly how well it worked. Eldest wore her cover-up until it started stretching and bagging.  I told her to take it home and toss it in the washer!  My wrap around the hips/sarong/shawl was perfect for duty as well.  I love it when a knitting plan comes together! 

Snorkeling is my new favorite thing. Unfortunately I have lived in land-locked states my entire life (yes, the panhandle of Texas is a land-locked state).  Once I was in the water, the whole breathing thing came naturally.  Flippers turbo-charged my swimming! Must. Have. More.

I did a shot of tequila. Snorkeling and a tequila shot.  It was truly a day of firsts.

After 6 days of no cell phones, no internet, and no drama, we arrived back in the states, where they let us back in.

It was one sweet trip. Thanks, Eldest and Mr. Eldest (what shall I call him now???), for sharing your good times with us.