I miss out on London again!!

Last year my sister was supposed to go to London for work but it was canceled.  This year she is going, she informed me, at precisely the worst time of the year for me.  Our plan was that she was going to go over for her business and then I would join her when she was done and we'd have a few days to hang around London and then pop over to Paris.  But I absolutely cannot leave work the first couple weeks in October.  I am SO disappointed.

Friday was pretty busy.  I worked from home and took my lunchtime to go shopping at Trader Joe's.  I just can't stand to shop there on the weekend but when I work from home I can go at noon and it's not so bad.  Besides having the guy there from the Dish Network I also had someone working in the yard.  It took the Dish guy several hours to get everything hooked up and ready to go.  I am very pleased at how he placed the satellite dishes.  At my other house they had to be put on the side of the deck and they were very intrusive, visually.  But I can't even see these!  Perfect.

My birthday present yard work went well.  He didn't finish everything but he did a pretty darned good job of it.  Of course, it's never ending.  I should really just bite the bullet and hire someone to do regular maintenance on it.  I am going to get started planning the patio.  To that end I had him kill the soil there with a natural solution.  I hope it works.  My next step will be to get an accurate measurement of the area so I can start pricing paving stones.

It was pretty warm on Saturday for knitting on the Cloisonne jacket but between Saturday and some time Sunday afternoon and evening I managed to finish up the lace portion of the body and do a few rows with the main color in preparation for starting the color work.  I have to increase 30 stitches across and purl one row and then start the pattern.  Here's how it looks now. 

Mr. M spent the entire weekend working on the theatre.  He cut pieces of wood to cover the three small windows on the side of the room behind the screen.  He built a frame for the screen (which is even bigger than I imagined) and hung the projector.  I must say it really is pretty impressive.  Once the room gets painted and the draperies are hung it's going to be really cool. 

I love working in my jammies

It's just so decadent!  AND having a window as well.  It makes a big difference - bigger than I thought when I agreed to take an office without a window.  Oh well, no use crying about it now.  But I tell you, when I do finally get an office with a window I am going to be very very grateful.

Anyway ... the reason I'm working from home today is that we are getting the Dish Network installed.  Mr. M was supposed to be here for that but he's got to go to some meeting and can't guarantee he'll be able to be here the whole time the install is going on.  I had Dish Network at my other house for about a year before I moved here and I just loved it.  I am very happy that we are making this switch  now.  Oh, and the screen came for the projection TV yesterday.  I can't wait to see it all set up.  Football is going to be so awesome on that screen.

I worked some on the lace portion of the Cloisonne jacket last night while I was watching a corny old musical on TV.  It was a movie version of the musical I starred in when I was in high school and, coincidentally, someone asked me about that at the reunion last weekend so it was on my mind. 

I wanted to run yesterday but my allergies are really bad!  Even with my inhaler I was very wheezy.  This has been a very tough summer for allergies for me but another of my friends said that she hasn't even been bothered this season.  Lucky her.

Next week things are going to start hopping at work in preparation for anatomy in September.  I am taking one long weekend in the middle of the month of August and then that's it (except for Labor Day weekend) until November probably.  I should start thinking about a trip to California.  I hate to think it'll have to wait to Christmas but that might be the case.

My curmudgeonly ways

Sometimes I think I'm channeling some grouchy little old man, but I can't seem to stop myself.  People just make me crazy sometimes!  Today it's those infuriating bike racers.  Those men in their silly little spandex outfits who feel that they must go for a personal speed record every time they get on their bikes to ride to work.  They are dangerous and rude and never call out when they pass or ring their bell .... they just zip right by, preferably close enough to brush arms.  I was going around a walker this morning when some ass zoomed around me so close that I felt the breeze.  What a colossal jerk.  That's why, when I come across one of them on the side of the trail all bloodied up with their pals around them I don't even feel sorry for them. 

I'm trying to decide what to get myself for my birthday this year.  Usually I splurge on something but I can't think of anything in particular I want.  I've been buying yarn and my stash is good, so that's out.  I need some new fingerless biking gloves, but that's not very sexy.  I'd like some Nike running shoes so I could use the iPhone app but my shoes are still good.  I'll come up with something.

Impressive lilies

Check out these lilies.  I snapped this with my iPhone when I was out walking Tink last night and I can't get all of the brightness out of it.  But there are masses of lilies on this plant.  I have had people stop their cars to look at it.  I love lilies and if they were pink I would have cut them and brought them indoors. 

I stopped at my LYS last night on the way home and bought the yarn for the Cloisonne Jacket.  Being allergic to alpaca I had to substitute yarn and I am very happy with my choices.  I got Cascade 220 Heathers for the dark brown and Lamb's Pride Worsted in sea foam for the turquoise.  Nearly a perfect match.  The woman at the counter at Weaving Works said she was going to make the same jacket.  I wanted to cast on and start on the lace last night but we had company until 9:30 so I started it but didn't finish casting on.  I will do that at noon knitting today. 

I did run yesterday and it was very difficult.  Hot, even though I ran down the cool corridor rather than heading out towards the lake.  I forgot to use the inhaler for the allergy wheezing so it was pretty difficult to breath as well.  I have found one 5K race in September but I am waffling.  Not because I don't think I'll be ready, but because of the rules.  It's the Iron Girl 5K and while I agree with most of the rules -- no strollers, no dogs, no roller blades.  I very much disagree with the rule - no headphones.  I like to run with my music and I don't turn it up so loud that I can't hear people around me.  It's mostly to muffle the yapping that some people feel obliged to do when they run.  I am not a big rule breaker, typically, but this one is really stupid.  I wonder if I should get in touch with them and ask if the no headphones rule means that they would not allow a hearing impaired person to run.  That's the kind of logic that might make a politically correct  person's head explode.  I'd pay good money to see that.

Late start

I had to stop at the bank on my way in for a little meeting so we've got a late start to the day.  I get to run today and I'm going to have to get out there spot on noon because it's going to be another hot one.  It's not bad now and I think if I keep on my usual route and run along the lake, even though it's not right ON the shore, it is going to be cool enough to make a difference.  Although ... running down the trail toward U Village is also another option and there is more shade that direction.  I will make it a game time call.

My ride home last night was BRUTAL.  So hot.  I was in an awful temper when I got home.  Luckily the AC had been on all day, albeit not as cool as I would have liked.  At least it wasn't broiling hot in the house and once I had a shower, cleaned up the wicked mess in the kitchen(!!!) and had a glass of wine I was calming down.  The man hired to do my birthday garden clean up came by at 7 pm and I walked around the gardens with him pointing out what was a weed and what was not a weed.  Not exactly comforting, but at least I think he got it.  Plus he's going to do a little research on how to kill the soil in that no man's land between the house and the beginning of the rockery garden.  I am going to put some awesome paving stones down there but that is a few months away and I cannot stand to look at those weeds.  I believe there are several benign ways to do that.  I don't want poison down there because of  Tink but I read somewhere about a combination of cornmeal and rock salt or some such thing.  I'd like to get that patio put in this autumn.

I am having a hard time still pulling out of this funk.  The birthday looming doesn't help.  No vacations planned, also a downer.  I do get a TON of knitting done when I'm like this because I am not fit for conversation with Mr. M or, for that matter, anyone else.  I need a trip to Europe is what I need.  But .. yeah.  There's only one place I want to be.  Might as well wish for the moon.

Since I had to drive in I am going to stop at my LYS on the way home to search for yarn for that Cloisonne Jacket.  It's not something I want to do on line because the colors must be just right. I am looking forward very much to starting that project.

That's more like it

We've got summertime!  Woohoo!  It was nice all weekend, and we are looking at a complete week of good weather!  I sure hope it sticks around.

Saturday I started my day in the back garden where I filled three cans with weeds!  Three!!  And I hardly made a dent.  My in-laws brought over a guy Saturday evening to look at the yard and he's going to be doing cleanup as a birthday gift.  I am very happy about that.  He's coming back this evening to take a walk around the gardens with me, since I wasn't there on Saturday evening.  That was my annual high school golf tournament and BBQ.  I went up there after the golf -- you know, I really should have golfed even though I'm bad.  But anyway I had so much fun connecting with my old friends even though we are mostly all on Facebook.  It's nice to have face to face time.  They all ate around 4 when they got off the links which was way too early for me.  But as luck would have it a few of them decided to go out to eat later so I went home and got Mr. M and we headed back up to Everett to meet a group for dinner.  Talk about a small world.  When we walked into the restaurant the son of one of my old classmates said hello to Mr. M!  They know each other because the young one works for Hollywood Lights.  Pretty funny.

Because of the evening I had planned I couldn't rehearse.  They did it without me - fine with me.  And I also will have next weekend off from rehearsing because the drummer is going out of town this Wednesday for a week.  I'll have to plan something nice for myself this coming weekend.  Our guest will be leaving Thursday.  Hopefully Mr. M is working and I can have a nice quiet weekend.

The new Interweave Knits came Friday and I found not one but two sweaters in there that I can't wait to make!  I would even use the suggested yarn for one of them, except it's alpaca and it makes me itch something fierce, so I'll have to start searching for an appropriate substitute.  I love the colors in the Cloisonne Jacket.  I like the Leyfi Pullover not only for the design but it calls for laceweight cashmere held along with a merino yarn which I believe would make an awesome fabric. 

Fridays are for fartleks

I had a pretty decent run yesterday at lunchtime despite forgetting to use my inhaler. I was a little wheezy which I attribute to the pollen count. I am sure it was just a coincidence, but my normal pace was up a bit. Today I will be starting out at the regular pace and then every so often speed up for 30 seconds or a minute, then slow back down until my breath comes back and repeat. Now according to all I've read and heard, this technique is going to increase my speed and hopefully I'll get to my goal of a 30 minute 5K by the end of the year. That reminds me -- I've got to try to find a race for September.

I worked a bit on the blue Green Gable last night. It's going fast and the good thing about this project is that I've made it before and it fit perfectly so I can use that garment to measure this one so I get the same fit (although I am going to make it a bit longer). I don't really know how much my gauge is off. I should probably measure before I make any more sleeve increases.

I've got a busy Saturday. First thing before it gets too hot I'm going to have to get in the garden and do some work. The blackberry vines from the house next door are looming over my vegetable beds and, of course, the weeds in the beds. I skipped barking this year and I won't make that mistake again. My MIL said something about hiring a gardener from her church for my birthday present. Since I did not attend the little pageant last Sunday that she invited us to (Mr. M went, I slept) I am not holding my breath. And since we can't have gardeners any more unless I can supervise them, I'm on my own. That's my morning. Then in the late afternoon I'm going to attend a little reunion golf tournament/dinner. I'm skipping the golf this year, since I haven't picked up my clubs for quite some time. But I'll got for a bit to eat and a little schmoozing.

Still haven't had a band rehearsal since I got back from Hawaii. Didn't hear from Doug last weekend nor all this week so I'm guessing that either the bass player or the drummer are out of town. Since we still don't have a date set for our show I guess it's not a big deal.

Well that's a bit better

At least I could sleep last night. I was beyond tired again yesterday. I pawned off the dinner making onto Mr. M and came home and plugged into my audio book and knit for a while. I had recorded "Warehouse 13" on Tuesday night so we watched that while I did a little more knitting and then upstairs to read early. I think I fell asleep around 10 but Tinkerbell woke me up around 11 to go outside. Luckily I was able to fall back asleep and had a decent night for a change. I don't remember dreaming and I am not dizzy with lack of sleep this morning. We'll call it a victory.

I am still very very very upset about my garden mishap. I think I'm going to have to contact the guy who did it and at least let him know what he did so that he doesn't ruin another garden. At some point I'm going to have to go buy a couple of flats of ground cover and re-plant that area. I don't know if it can wait until August. I'm taking a long weekend starting on the 19th. If it could wait until then I'll have a nice recovery period. Planting always kills my back. Otherwise I'm going to have to try to do it this weekend or maybe next.

My state of mind is not great. I think I'm still suffering from post-vacation blues. I don't want to do anything but knit and plug into an audio book or watch something stupid and mindless on TV. I don't want to engage. I don't want to converse with Mr. M (although Tink is okay). And then this garden thing (I know I know ... I'm harping but I'm UPSET!). I hope I snap out of it soon.

What's worse?

I don't know if it's worse to not be able to fall asleep or to wake up early and not be able to get back to sleep. And I don't know why I'm having all these sleep issues now! I am walking around in a daze -- or rather I should say stumbling around in a daze. I drove in today because I had lots of things to bring in and honestly I don't know if I should have been driving! I am that tired. I've got to make myself go to bed early tonight. Earlier anyway.

I had a busy day yesterday, working from home and waiting for the repairman. When he finally got there it took him oh ... about one minute to fix the dishwasher. Maybe two. It wouldn't drain and I told him when he arrived that I had taken the filters out of the bottom and nothing seemed to be stuck and I'd pushed the "Cancel and Drain" button twice to no avail. He said, pointing to the silver cap on the sink, "Did you check there"? Well, no I did not because I didn't know that was an option. I read the troubleshooting guide for the appliance and it did not mention that. He lifted the cap, unlatched the top of the tube and voila! A toothpick sized piece of wood was wedged in there stopping up the drain. I looked like one of the letter candles Mr. M had put on the birthday cake Saturday. Nice to have the dishwasher back anyway.

I tried out Ravelry's new pattern search yesterday and it is awesome! Very nicely done. You can search now with tons more attributes. I started a new project last night. I'm making another Green Gable, this one with some blue Debbie Bliss cotton angora that I've had forever. The same yarn as the Mirabella Cardigan but a deeper blue color. I love the feel of that yarn but I don't like the way it splits. And I thought again about frogging the white pullover I started with the angora yarn but it's just so pretty. I think I'll pick it up again. I'm doing a modified Simple Knitted Bodice. I am sure I would wear a white deep V-necked pullover if I can ever finish it!

If my head could have exploded .....

it surely would have yesterday evening. I have had a couple of young men doing weeding for me -- a few hours here and there. They couldn't come on the weekend so they came yesterday. I told Mr. M what I wanted done so that he could tell them. Specifically, I wanted the big weeds pulled from the south side of the house, then the rest of the time spent on the rockery-type bed we have in the back of the house. What did I find when I got home people? First I noticed that NOTHING had been done in the back. Curious as to what 2 young men could have done in three hours I checked the south side of the house and found that they had not only pulled the dozen or so offending large weeds but completely and utterly obliterated the ground cover!!!! Are you KIDDING ME??!!! This was beautiful and now ..... oh I can't even start to think about it without grinding my teeth! I am beyond mad. No more gardening gets done around here unless I can supervise. This has always been my nightmare with gardeners -- that I would come home and find that they had destroyed some beautiful and expensive part of the garden and now it has come true. I am going to have to find more ground cover ASAP before I have another field of weeds growing in and around the rest of the plants. How .... I mean really I can't figure out how they could have mistaken those plants for weeds! I haven't been able to call the guy because I know I'd be too mad to talk sensibly. Maybe in a few days. *sigh*

So, I am working from home today because the dishwasher broke Sunday night and I've got a repairman on his way today. Perfect timing because Mr. M is in Oregon and will be bringing his son home tomorrow, so it's a lovely 24 plus hours of peace and solitude.

I have been struggling with insomnia lately which is good for the knitting because I was able to sit up and finish the Mirabella Cardigan last night. I am not all that keen on how the collar turned out and the button band, which is crocheted, looks like a ruffle where the loops are. Hopefully blocking will take care of both of those little problems. I want to get the buttons first before I block, plus my favorite blocking place, the spare bed, is going to be taken up for a couple weeks so I have to wait or find another place to lay out my projects. Here's a picture, unblocked.

Here are a couple pictures of my cashmere "198 yds. of Heaven", blocked.

I barely made it!

It was a busy weekend but quite productive. Friday I had a late hair appointment so I didn't do much Friday night, but Saturday I hit the ground running. I went to the mall and bought a couple of skirts and a couple of dresses - less dithering in front of the closet, I predict. I got the cake in the oven and started getting ready for the party. The weather cooperated - not too hot and nice and sunny so that everyone could be outside. Mr. M cooked salmon and it was just perfect. I managed to keep up with the mess and so by the time everyone was gone I had no more cleanup to do, so I sat in my comfy chair and went to work on the cashmere bandit. I wanted to finish it so that on Sunday I wouldn't have any competition for my time and attention and I could get the cardigan sewn up. As luck would have it, I wasn't tired and so I knit and knit and knit until I was done, which was nearly midnight! Then I went to bed and could not sleep. Period. I wasn't tired. Almost as if I had had some caffeine - which I hadn't. I don't think I dropped off until after 1 am and therefore slept in on Sunday until 11 am!! And then, of course, I wasn't tired last night until after 11 and now I am dead on my feet. I will sleep well tonight, for sure!

I did get the bandit finished Saturday night with just inches of yarn left! I made it with two skeins - 176 yards. And that's great because I have two skeins of the burgundy left and now 3 skeins of the blue. So I know I can make another bandit with the burgundy and who knows what I'll do with the blue. I blocked it first thing on Sunday and it's still drying, so here's a picture of it unblocked and you can see just how much yarn I had left.

True to my promise to myself, I did sit down and sew up the cardigan on Sunday. Actually it wasn't that bad, once I got going. I just pinned the sleeves, one side at a time, and got to work. It did take a couple of hours but the seams look really good! I then picked up the stitches for the collar and I'm two rows from being done there. Then all that is left is to make the button band and the loops for the buttons. This is crochet work and not hard. I might be able to finish it up tonight even. And you know what I noticed? I don't have enough WIPs! I have lots and lots of stitch counters in my little heart shaped box, which means they are not being used. I've got to step it up!!

I have decided to run a race a month, starting in September. I am not sure what race there is in September, but I am pretty sure there is one. Then in October is the Husky race, which is the first 5K I did, then in November is the Turkey Trot (or whatever it is called) and then in December the Jingle Bell race. I would like to get my time down so that by the end of the year I'm doing 30 minute 5Ks. To that end I started doing fartleks on Friday and oh heavens, were my legs ever sore on Saturday! I could barely go up and down the stairs! I think I'm going to try doing those sessions only on Fridays and just do regular runs on Tuesday and Thursday. I will know by the first race if it's making any difference. There really is no reason why I can't run a 30 minute 5K. I am consistently in the middle of my age group time-wise. I'd like to be closer to the top.

Wicked allergies!

Wow, my allergies have been just terrible these past few days! I haven't been able to wear my contact lenses ... this is the third day in a row! Tuesday I went through two or three vials of eye drops and could barely see on the ride home. I sure hope they calm down soon. It's really annoying! Allergy medicine helps, but not by much.

I ran yesterday afternoon for the first time in a couple of months and it felt great! I am a little bit sore today but not bad at all. I will run again today, but I'm going to make sure I take a couple of puffs off of that inhaler. I did notice I was wheezing yesterday -- from the allergies, most likely.

There's a good chance I'll be stark staring mad by the end of the day. I am wearing a blouse that I just love, EXCEPT it has these sleeves that creep down the top of my arm and feel like my bra straps are slipping. It is very annoying and perhaps that's why I rarely wear this blouse. It looks great but I'll be ready to rip it off at the end of the day.

I did finally get in a couple hours of knitting last night after dinner. I finished up the second 24 row repeat of the main pattern and now am working on the final 12 and then it'll be the lace edging. I am anxious to see how this turns out. I am now completely addicted to lace knitting. Not too practical because how many wraps and scarves can one use? I guess I could start giving them away but each one is so beautiful. I truly am committed to sewing in those sleeves on Sunday though. I have a busy Saturday with my regular chores, a quick trip to the mall (I am woefully low on bottoms of all kinds for work) and then a dinner for Mr. M's daughter's b'day and THEN rehearsal. So Sunday is my day. First sew in the sleeves, then the side seams and then pickup the stitches for the collar. I am quite sure I can get to that point at least. Stay tuned.

I am through with my neighborhood garden store

I know it is very convenient and that's mostly why I go there but I am not thrilled at how my vegetable garden has turned out this year and it's only partly my fault. The part that is NOT my fault is definitely the fault of the garden store - or rather department, since it's a part of the Fred Meyer down the street. First of all the pepper plants were diseased. I thought maybe it was the soil in my bed, but when I was down there Saturday morning getting flowering plants for the containers I was talking to a woman who was buying some pepper plants that had been marked down to 50 cents. And I told her about how my peppers had gotten some sort of disease and she said hers had too, and that was why she was buying more. My conclusion is that they were selling diseased plants and that's why the ones the woman was buying didn't look that good either! My squash plants, clearly marked as acorn squash and going crazy in my garden are, in fact, zucchini!! I was thinking that those baby squashes looked suspiciously like zucchini and now that they are getting larger it is obvious that they are!! That's the final straw! If I had wanted zucchini I would have purchased zucchini. I wanted acorn squash. I still have the little plastic marker in the soil. I should take it back down there and .. and .... what? Well, I'm just mad. Nobody will eat zucchini. I will maybe steam one or two, or put a few into the roasted vegetables but there are always so many. Even Mr. M won't eat zucchini bread. What else can you do with them? Damn! Oh well, next year... next year.

There was knitting at noon yesterday but no knitting last night. After chores and downloading some new audiobooks and getting dinner cooked and eaten and watching a saved "Warehouse 13" episode I was more in the mood to read in bed, so that's what I did. Maybe tonight. I am steeling myself for my Sunday afternoon setting in of the sleeves. ick

I hate it when this happens

I got to work today, pulled my clothes out of the pannier to get changed and found that my tunic has a couple of big ol' spots on it! It's a really cute peach linen tunic and obviously I hung it up without taking a good look at it last time. I was dithering around this morning trying to find something to wear, decided on this and now I have to spend the day in a spotty dress. I guess I'll just have to pretend it happened this morning. Annoying though.

Last Sunday we went to Ballard to the Seafood Fest and ran across a French restaurant that looked interesting. Mr. M wanted to out to eat last night so that's where we ended up. First of all, let me say that Ballard had come a LONG way lately. It is very gentrified. Tons of new, interesting restaurants. Many of them had outdoor dining areas so people could bring their dogs and be sitting there having a nice drink or a meal. Really nice! And the restaurant we went to was fabulous too. They grow their own greens in raised beds on the roof of the building! I skipped the starter and had chicken and shared an order of fennel gratin with Mr. M who had a nice beef carpaccio starter and stuffed quail. I skipped the starter so that I could have dessert and that was totally the right decision. Although I couldn't finish it I had a super delicious creme brulee.

Stuffed and satisfied, I came home and played with Tinkerbell for a little while and then went up to read and fall asleep. I wanted to knit but I was too sleepy. I brought my cashmere bandit for noon knitting today and I am determined to get the sleeves sewn into that cardigan this weekend so that I can finish it up! Saturday is going to be a bit busy since it's Mr. M's youngest daughter's birthday and I have to bake a cake and host a dinner. Lucky for me I should have rehearsal that evening and be able to sneak away. If I can't get the energy up to do it on Saturday then Sunday for sure.

Now that the nonsense is over

Who else was just sick to death of the World Cup? Holy cow .... on and on and ON! It seemed to last longer than the basketball playoffs. Vuvuzelas? Really? Just ban them already! Here's my favorite joke:

What do the World Cup and Twilight have in common?
There's a whole lot of running around, nobody scores, and a million fans tell you you don't understand.

Now maybe there will be some real sports news - football news I mean, of course. It's getting close! And the Huskies are going to be awesome this year, and Jake Locker is already being talked about for the Heisman. Exciting.

I worked some on my cashmere lace bandit at lunchtime and found that yes indeed I could listen to my book and do the lace pattern. Not quickly, but I managed to do a few rows and not mess up, which is the important thing. Maybe I'll do it again this afternoon. I really should start up with my running so I can compete in a few races this fall. I don't have my shorts here at work. I'll bring them in and start up again next week.

I am SO over myself

and here's how I know. Saturday morning I had to get out into the garden and get some work done first thing. The back garden gets the morning sun and I had the hedge to trim and the vegetable beds to clean out. No time to waste! So I hopped out of bed, threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top and rubbed some sunscreen onto my face and I was out the door, clipper in hand. At some point I came back in and put a ragged bandanna around my forehead because I was being blinded by the sweat. I got the hedge in shape and, refreshed with an ice coffee, tackled the vegetable beds and whipped them into shape as well! I was on fire! Next I spent a few minutes pulling the biggest and most offensive weeds in the flower beds and then decided that it would be nice to throw away all the dead and dying stuff in the planters on the deck and put in new flowers. Here's where I found out I was over myself -- I went to the plant store as I was. No make up, hadn't even brushed my teeth, wearing a sweat and dirt stained tank top, men's basketball shorts, rubber flip-flops and dirt from head to toe. I just couldn't see the sense in cleaning up knowing I was just going to come home and get dirty again. Plus which it was over 80 degrees. So I got the plants, fixed up the planters and then had a nice lovely shower and patted myself on the back for being smart instead of vain. I spent the rest of the day, in air conditioned comfort, relaxing and knitting.

The AC did go on first thing Saturday morning. Mr. M was miserable enough, finally. I am so impossible to be around when I'm hot and cranky. Of course, the heat is gone now. We had clouds yesterday morning, but they went away in the afternoon only to come back during the night with a vengeance. I was awake for at least an hour in the middle of the night listening to the rain. The sun will be back soon but it looks like we're done with the heat for a while.

I am getting closer to lucid dreaming. I am THAT close! I quit trying so very hard because my sleep was being too disturbed, but it is always in the back of my mind and I try to think about it before I fall asleep. During one dream this weekend I noticed that I couldn't read the print on a menu and I realized that no, you can't read when you're dreaming. If I were a bit more practiced that is the point in my dream where I could have become lucid. The fact that I recognized that during a dream is very encouraging. I really think I am going to be able to do this.

I thought I deserved a treat after working so hard on Saturday so I started a new project rather than sew up the sleeves on the cardigan. I know I should have just done it, put on my headphones and listened to my book and got the job done. But instead I cast on for "198 Yards of Heaven" with the blue cashmere I was using for the birch leaf shawl that I frogged. (Terrible picture, I know. I'm having problems with my iPhone being able to send the larger version. I'll take one with my camera later). This cashmere is SO beautiful and soft. The pattern is for a triangle shawlette, much like the Annis, meant to be worn around the neck with the point at the front. This will be so cozy and warm and soft. It's the first time I've tried a true triangular shawl pattern and one of the reasons I chose this is that the directions are written out. I hate reading charts. It was a bit confusing at first but I just trusted the pattern and voila! I got it! Unfortunately this is not knitting that I can do and listen to my audiobook. Well, maybe I can in a few more repeats. I don't want to mess it up though.

Is there something wrong with your skirt?

Not words you really want to hear, especially if someone is talking about YOUR skirt, which she was. "Is there a zipper? 'Cause your butt's hanging out". Uhhhh ..... and I looked down and sure enough my zipper was completely open save for the very top and sure enough, you could see my undies and skin! First thought? "Thank goodness I wore cute undies". I had difficulty with the darned thing this morning but I just put it on over my head and left it at that. Little did I know the zipper was going to fail. I got a handful of pins and headed back to my office where, thank goodness, I was able to fix the zipper without the pins. I kept them just in case.

Another day of 90-plus heat. I noticed that the sprinklers didn't go off last night. I had turned the system off last time it rained because I noticed that the rain sensor wasn't working and we were getting sprinklers AND rain -- not good. I was sure I had turned it back on but there was no trace of it this morning and usually when the windows are open that wide I hear them come on in the back. The guys are coming to take another run at the weeds today so hopefully Mr. M will remember to turn them on after they leave. I have GOT to figure out what's up with that rain sensor though. It's very annoying.

No knitting last night. I will get a small, warm weather project going this weekend. I am getting twitchy without anything to knit. I wish I knew where my other sock knitting circular was. Another chore for the weekend.

On the road to a tidier garden

There were two guys working on the garden yesterday. One to mow and the second to get the weeds under control. Due to the extreme heat they were only able to work about four hours but the front looks much better! They will come back tomorrow to do a few more hours until it gets too hot again. I am going to have to force myself to trim the hedge this weekend and, if they can't get to it tomorrow, get the vegetable beds under control. The poor vegetable beds! The peas have gone well but the tomatoes, again are looking like they're going to be a big disappointment. Not so bad as last year, I hope. Next year I'm going to move them to the last raised bed rather than the middle one because the lawn sprinklers hit the last bed so they get more water than just the soakers.

It was record heat yesterday and so there was no knitting at all in the evening. I just vegged out and watched a movie after dinner, which consisted of a yummy huge shrimp salad. (Don't you just love summer dinners?) I brought a second fan upstairs and set it in the hall so that we'd get a little more air flow and that made the night comfortable. I cannot sleep when it's too hot. Now me -- I'd just turn on the AC, but Mr. M is a little more conservative. He's got to be really suffering to justify the air conditioning. I suspect if the heat keeps up it's going to get turned on this weekend. Tink was wise and got herself situated on the bed so that she got good air flow from the ceiling fan. It was cute how she kept moving herself until she was right under the best spot.

I have been on public transport these past couple of days. I've had a little issue and haven't been able to ride my bike. It is interesting to note that I don't save any time at all by taking the bus. I walk out the door at precisely the same time I do when I ride my bike and I get to my office at the same time. I think I am just missing a bus. If I were to walk out the door maybe five minutes earlier then I'd arrive at work before 8. I seem to be waiting about 10 minutes for a bus. I was going to drive tomorrow because I had a hair appointment after work, but the chairman asked me to attend a meeting in his stead so I moved the hair appointment and I guess it's the bus for me again tomorrow. My iPhone is great for that though. I just plug in and avoid the inane morning conversations going on around me.

The good and the bad

The good thing about summer finally getting here is, well .... sunshine and warm weather and sunshine! The bad thing is that with the warm days comes warmer nights and that means that all of the windows are open just a little bit wider. Tink, with her acute hearing, is very restless when we reach this time of the year. Last night a big dog up the street was barking and barking at something and she had to chime in. Normally not a problem, but at 10 at night when we're trying to quiet down and go to bed, it's not such a good thing. She did finally settle down until, I'm guessing around 2 am, a couple of cats decided to have a fight in our back garden and that made her really crazy! But despite the interruptions, I had a pretty good sleep myself.

I was supposed to have help with the garden on Monday but because of the holiday bus schedule the guy couldn't make it so he and a friend are coming this morning and Mr. M is there to supervise. We walked around the front and back gardens this morning before I left so that he could make sure the guys were working with my priorities in mind. I'm not holding my breath. I think I'll just have to be content with whatever gets done. I find it fascinating (and not a little annoying) that someone who can keep a million and one details in his head with regards to a complicated sound system has such a hard time understanding everyday things. There is a famous cartoon by Gary Larson of a dog and its master - what a dog hears. "Blah blah blah Ginger blah blah blah blah blah Ginger blah blah". I think that's what goes on sometimes at our house.

I am entirely caught up in the latest game I downloaded to my iPhone. It's called Angry Birds. It is very addictive. And cute.

As I suspected I did not have the energy to start sewing in those sleeves last night. I suspect I'm going to have to wait until the weekend when I can devote a couple of quiet hours to sit at the table and get it done. Once I start it shouldn't be so bad. Yes, I'm being a bit of a baby about it. The thing is that I can't be sloppy or I'll never want to wear the garment. It's just so ..... so fiddly! And now I'm re-thinking the jacket I was going to make with the Noro Cash Iroha. It too is a pieced garment. I am pretty sure I can do the back and fronts as one but the sleeves are still going to have to be sewn in. Maybe after I do these on the Miribella I'll find that it's really no big deal. Fingers crossed.

A little jump on the week

I love 3-day weekends. Well, who doesn't? It started out a little frantic though because Tinkerbell went on another adventure! I repositioned the pieces of wood I had put up against the fence where I thought she had gotten out last time but she went to visit the lady with the cats behind us rather than chasing the cats in the front of the house, where she had gone a couple weeks ago. And the odd thing is that I had gone all around the perimeter of the fence and checked every place and I was SURE she couldn't get out. And when I was looking for her I looked at the fence from the other side and still couldn't find where she had made it through. Thank goodness the woman knows her and she just puts her in her car and drives her home. It is a little embarrassing though.

I had the whole of Saturday and Sunday to myself and it was peaceful and relaxing. No band rehearsal, which was like having an extra day off. I got lots of little things done. I downloaded the new operating system to my iPhone. I love it! It is really much faster and the interface is better. I got a manicure and had them cut my nails very short so that I could play my ukulele easier and I practiced. I'd like to have a song that I can do for rehearsal next Saturday. I think the guys would get a kick out of it. And of course I listened to my audiobook (the last of the Stieg Larsson trilogy) and knit.

I finished the sleeves for the cardigan yesterday afternoon and started sewing the beast together. I got both shoulders done and they look terrible! I should have been more careful when binding off the front shoulders. Because the pattern asks that you bind off half the stitches in one direction and the other half on the next row, presumably for shaping, that leaves the tail in the middle of the shoulder and it left a weird hole. I did the best I could, but it wasn't very good so I'm a little disappointed about that. The sleeves have to be mattress stitched into the armholes and I am not looking forward to it at all. It is going to be very difficult. I forgot how much I hate set in sleeves for just that reason. We went to an early dinner so I put it aside but I am going to have to make myself do it before I start another project or it will languish and never get done.

I snapped a couple pictures of the Annis shawl this morning before I left. It's really more of a scarf than a shawl. Very quick knit. I skein of Noro sock yarn was perfect. I had a little left. I do think I'll get something plain and knit another one, or something along the same lines.

Aggravation level HIGH

I am sure I have ranted about people and the parking garage before but .... gahhhh!!! I drove in today because it was raining and I had worked from home yesterday. I was at the left turn signal to the garage and there was a big line up at the gate. While I was waiting for the light to change I had seen a person with a traffic vest on near the entrance so I assumed that there was something wrong with the gate. But then I saw 3 or 4 cars go through it, swiping their cards as usual, so I made the turn. Another two people went through then it was a person at the gate, one in front of me and the person at the gate kept swiping her card and nothing happened. Now I know I've said this before too -- isn't the definition of crazy doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome? How many times was she going to swipe her card before she figured out that she wasn't allowed to use this garage for some reason? At about swipe number 50 the woman right in front of me got out, swiped HER card and let that person through. Anyone see a problem with this? So then Good Samaritan pulls up and swipes her card again for herself and the gate doesn't open. Did you see that coming? I sure did!! So then she starts the swipe and swipe and swipe again, expecting the gate to open. Finally I got out of my car and told her that the gate was never going to open for her because she had already used it to swipe the other person into the garage. And so we all had to back up so that she could make the turn and find someone to help her. Arghghghgh!!!

The dizziness did not go away on Wednesday, nor did the exhaustion even after 3 strong cups of tea, so it finally dawned on me that perhaps I hadn't been suffering from lack of sleep but rather had a little bug. Indeed I left work and went home to bed and slept the rest of the afternoon, got up for a bite to eat and was back in bed at 8 and slept through the night. I had chills so I worked from home yesterday and really didn't start feeling normal until dinnertime last night. I was still fighting to stay awake at 9:30 but I got a decent night's sleep and I feel fine today. I did wake up in the middle of the night because Tinkerbell was sleeping under the bed, right under me as she usually does and snoring like crazy! She's just out of reach -- she's no dummy -- so I had to knock on the bed frame to wake her up. You wouldn't believe how loudly that little dog can snore!

Rain rain and more rain - it is the 4th of July holiday weekend so of course it's going to rain. The forecast is for nice and HOT weather next week, but it rained last night and it is expected to remain cloudy with showers through Sunday. Mr. M does the sound for the Bellevue 4th celebration which includes mic-ing the entire symphony orchestra. That's a lot of equipment to transport and set up so they start today. Unfortunately it is held in a park and the parks department doesn't want those big trucks driving over the grass to set up the stage and sound systems when the grass is wet. I sure am glad I don't have to deal with that. I am not going to be attending the fireworks show this year and Mr. M is not happy about it. But it is SUCH a hassle and it's not worth it. Although I get special parking I still have to deal with the traffic getting out of there and it's a nightmare. Last year my sister and her boyfriend were here and it was okay because we had a nice dinner beforehand, I had people to talk to and people to go home with. Mr. M certainly can't be spending time with me because he's overseeing this huge production so I am left on my own and it is boring. [wow, I'm ranting up a storm today, aren't I?]

I did finish up the Annis and blocked it. It's not as big, width-wise, as is called for in the pattern. I got the wing span but I didn't want to stretch it out that much to get to 16" at the widest part so it's more like 12". I will take pictures this weekend. I would call it more of a scarf than a shawl. I am sure I'll use it a lot. Today I brought my Mirabella cardigan to do a few rows at lunchtime. I am working on the arm holes for the fronts. I actually need another portable project. Maybe another scarf/shawlette?

What was I thinking?

Despite being so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open yesterday evening, I got sucked into a silly reunion/interview show on TV and stayed up WAY too late. So this morning I am even more tired that yesterday - dizzy tired. I know one thing for sure - I am going to be in bed by 9 tonight!

I got some good work done on the Annis shawl while watching mindless TV but it's taking a bit longer than I had anticipated. While it is a very easy knit there is a lot of it to do so it will most likely take me into the weekend. I want to finish it up so I can start back on the Mirasol cardigan.

The weather is still bad - cool and cloudy. It rained last night as well (oh joy, more weeds). But I decided to wear my Great Gatsby dress today anyway. I brought a wrap because it is sleeveless, but it feels like the air conditioning has been turned off in my closet so I'm not freezing at this time. You never know around here if you're going to be broiling in the winter AND summer or what.

Yesterday at lunchtime I finished listening to the second Stieg Larsson book and started the 3rd and last one. This narrator is not driving me crazy, which is nice. And I think I already said how much I enjoy having someone read off the town names and street names correctly. I would definitely be having a hard time with some of those. I have a back log of reading material at home as well. Maybe tonight before I fall asleep (I'm guessing I can last until 9:30) I can do a little real reading rather than listening.

I seem to be stuck

in the vacation state of mind. I still am SO tired. There is the 3 hour time difference but that shouldn't be a real problem. And things are still super quiet here at the office. So many people still gone on vacation and few students. I'm already looking forward to the long weekend and it's only Tuesday! Mr. M is going to be working so I'll have plenty of lazy time, especially if I can get someone to help (help = do all the work) in the garden. With all the rain these past two months the weeds are out of control. The bottom line is that I didn't plan well enough. I should have planned a day or two after vacation to rest. Ah well ...

Yesterday was our anniversary so we went out to dinner to one of my favorite little places and I didn't do any chores. Instead I got dressed and had a cocktail and knit until it was time to leave. So tonight I've got to tackle that mountain of laundry. The condo had a washer and a dryer which I used a couple of times but somehow I still managed to come home with lots of laundry.

The Annis shawl is just zipping along. All of the lace portion is done and now it's just the short rows for the body. It's very cute. I might be able to finish it up in a couple of evenings, if that.

Oh heavens ... I am sooo sleepy! I'd better get another cup of tea and shake it off!

Aaaand we're back

What a wonderful vacation! I really didn't want to leave and come back to the land that summer forgot. The condo we stayed in was such a great place that I will definitely go back. The unit itself was very large and the whole complex is literally right on the beach. The water was maybe 40 yards from our window. At night the noise of the surf was so loud that it kept me awake and when the tide turned it was a roar! We had to finally keep the door closed and use the air conditioning at night. And I also loved having a condo with maid service, like a hotel but much better.

Mr. M's sick days meant that we didn't get to do everything we had planned but that's okay. My sister and I had lots of time together to shop and wander around. Every day we had at least one nice long walk. I just now have a few more reasons to go back soon. And next time it'll be for two weeks rather than one. One just isn't enough. Oh, and I will definitely go with a four-wheel drive vehicle next time as well since all of the sandy beaches are that difficult to get to.

I came home with a gorgeous pair of Peridot stud earrings which I have wanted for ages and ages, and another pair of brushed silver earrings and pendant that look like leaves. Also a beautiful strand of cultured pearls in some very cool colors and ..... a ukulele! Which I can play a little. My fingernails need to be a bit shorter but I can strum a few cords.

Our return flight wasn't until 9 pm Saturday -- I know, I could have picked a better flight but I wanted to get as much of Hawaii as I possibly could. I managed a little nap on the flight and we had a quick turn around in San Francisco. After picking up Tinkerbell at the kennel I was back in bed by 9:30 for a much needed nap. When I got up and went to the grocery store I was still so out of it I couldn't even think of what I wanted to cook for dinner! I feel better today - still tired but it felt very good to get back on my bike, even though it's not even 60 degrees!

I had time to knit in Hawaii since it was cloudy and windy a couple of afternoons. The Annis does indeed go very quickly and I have finished up all but the last two rows of the lace portion. My first Nupps! They look great and they're not difficult. I do wonder though why not just make a bobble? I might make another one of these for my sister in a plain color rather than using Kureyon sock. I should post pictures. Maybe tomorrow. Oh, and my hand and shoulder are fine. They enjoyed the rest, I guess.

Ahh sunset and martinis

My sister and I are enjoying the sunset and waiting for dinner. Mr M got sick. We went to a gorgeous botanical garden and he managed to trudge through but is down for the evening.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday

Damn! Just lost a whole post!!

We are having a great time. Yesterday we had a long day driving to Hilo and touring around. Today we started at the beach then had a nice walk and relaxing day on the lanai. We are just a few yards from the ocean.

I still haven't done any knitting and my shoulder is getting better.

Maybe tomorrow we will visit a botanical garden.

I don't miss the rain!!

It is so lovely......

wish you were here.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pampered

Wow ... I am tired out from shopping and pampering! I was going to wash Tink but I am just too tired!! I did a little shopping at the Rack and Old Navy for a last few things and then headed to the spa for a soak and a body scrub. I am so soft. I love the body scrub. But now all I want to do is watch the basketball final and cast on for the Annis shawl. So you know what? That's what I'm going to do. I am on vacation after all.

The programs I downloaded worked just fine to convert a DVD to an MP4 to put on my iPhone. I still have over 9 gigs so I could put a few more on there. It is a little time consuming but totally worth it.

Now for a glass of wine and some sports. Ahhhhh vacation.

Awesome Vacation Day 1

Despite the rain -- who cares if I'm not riding in it -- it has been a fabulous day one of vacation. After a little sleep in I got a guy started on weeding the back garden and I headed off to do a little shopping at the outlet mall. I needed some lighter weight pants, more shorts and a sundress or two. It is such a treat to go up there during the day when it's less crowded plus I got there less than 30 minutes after opening so it was not very crowded.

After a quick sweep through the Coach store - nothing that I couldn't live without - I snagged a pair of cute white shorts and a sleeveless silk wrap dress with a ruffled neck at Ralph Lauren. Gorgeous! My biggest score was a $500 designer dress for $70 at Max Mara. I *love* it! It will be perfect for Hawaii. I got a few other things but nothing as spectacular. I think I'm pretty much set except maybe for a newer bathing suit or a pair of cargo pants. I have to go up north to get my jewelery cleaned and checked and there is an Old Navy nearby that would be good for that type of thing. And after that .... ahhhhhh, a visit to the spa for a soak and a body scrub.

I bought Mr. M a portable DVD player for our anniversary and gave it to him last night so he'd have time to futz with it and choose what he wants to bring. It was really a present to me, but he doesn't need to know that. He doesn't have any problem with bringing a "y" cord and trying to watch video on my iPhone while we're on the plane. It drives me CRAZY! So this was a perfect solution to that. He is thrilled. Win-win.

And as for my entertainment, I have the 2nd and 3rd books of the Stieg Larsson trilogy loaded up, plus three movies and 13 TV episodes but I wanted a couple more movies since I still have 10 gigs of space left on my iPhone. The movie I wanted, Any Given Sunday, was not available on iTunes so I found software to convert my own. I am converting now as I post! After I see how much space this movie takes up I may convert a few more.

So close I can smell it!

Vacation!!! Once I finish up a few things here at work it is vacation time. I have the rest of this week to shop and fool around, which is really nice. Staycations are awesome. I am going to go shopping when it's not crowded, and have plenty of pampering and, hopefully, some nice sunny days for walking with Tinkerbell.

I would like to finish up the front of that cardigan before I leave, and maybe even get the sleeves done. I got in a couple hours last night, doing the arm hole decreases for the fronts. If my hands hold up -- in other words, if I don't over do it -- I should be able to at least finish them. I think I've finally decided what project to take to Hawaii with me as well. I don't want to drag a lot of stuff around, don't want to take up too much valuable packing space either. Since I don't have any socks going at this time I think I'll cast on for Annis with a skein of Noro Kureyon sock yarn. Then it's one skein of yarn, one circular needle and my little notions box.

It is going to be so very quiet here at work the next couple week. I am not the only one taking these two weeks off. It seems like most everyone is going to be gone except the IT guy and one office girl. It's very quiet anyway with all the students gone. I like it like this.

This afternoon I'm going to stop at a bookstore and get a guide book for the big island. There is just so much to do and this way I can get prepared and decide how many days I want to devote to laying around on the beach and how many days out and about seeing things. I wish I had two weeks in Hawaii! But I'm going to pack as much sunshine into one week as I possibly can!!

How to kick start the week

Start out on a puppy hunt! That darned Tinkerbell found a way out of the back garden and went on a little adventure this morning. After about 30 minutes walking the neighborhood and calling for her I headed back home because when I had first gone out to look for her I thought I had heard her bark but couldn't find her. When I came back there she was in the driveway of the house across the street. So I had indeed heard her barking from the back of that house and there she was. I do have a long line that I hook her up to in the evening and now she will not be allowed back there without being hooked up until we can (once again) find and plug the hole.

It was a busy busy weekend. Shopping and rehearsal on Saturday and chores on Sunday. I have found a guy to come do some weeding for me this week so I didn't mess with the vegetable beds. I did finally get my car washed and cleaned up. I worked on the Marisole Cardigan. I'm just now getting ready to start the arm holes. I did find however that the hem is one row shorter than the back hem! How that happened I'll never know. It won't be obvious but I'm kind of bummed.

I've got lots of loose ends to tie up before my vacation starts -- soon! Tuesday is my last day at work so I'd better get cracking!

That's more like it!

Despite the rain last night, I did finally get a good night's rest. I feel good this morning, not groggy. I had a nice, low key evening. Got Tinkerbell cleaned up (again), got the hem turned on the fronts for the cardigan and started the darts. I didn't knit long and went up to bed early to read a bit. I think I was asleep before ten. I didn't open the window quite as much and I was SO tired that I dropped right off.

Today it's very quiet here. I saw a few people in gowns so I am thinking that it must be hooding ceremony day today. In hopes of enticing the sun to come out (not really) I am wearing my lacy skirt with bows. It is the first skirt I knit and still my favorite. There are a couple of things I would do differently if I were to knit it again. First, I would add new balls in at the sides rather than try to weave the ends in on the body. No matter how careful I am *I* can always see them. Also, even though I love love love the crocheted ties I would have made a casing for elastic and then added the ties as decoration rather than have them function as the waist. It doesn't take that much more effort to have a really nice waist band rather than a silly eyelets and tie thing. It doesn't flatter any shape.

It's going to be a nice relaxing weekend. Since I'm only working Monday and Tuesday next week that leaves the whole rest of the week to do pampering and grooming essentials, so I can skip the nail salon this Saturday. I do have a hair appointment but other than that I can just knit! We will have a rehearsal Saturday evening and then two more work days to go, We are supposed to have some sun this weekend so I can fiddle with my vegetable and herb beds. The rain has helped the tomatoes, squash and peas and they are growing like crazy. Unfortunately the two lovely pepper plants have gotten some sort of disease and I'm going to have to get rid of them. Also, some type of critter got into my herb garden and made a mess there as well. I will have to take pot luck at the garden store and do my best to salvage the season. I do believe we are going to be getting some decent tomatoes this year and really that's all I care about.

Another restless night

Oh I am in a fog! I can't wake up. I could have slept another two hours this morning easily. I tried my best to get relaxed last night. I went up to bed early and watched a silly movie in bed and turned off the light around 10 because I was so tired from the night before. But even though I was that tired I just couldn't drop off! And then the rain started up again and the dripping onto that metal something or other. I looked yesterday evening and I am convinced by the sound of this that it's dripping onto a vent cover. And I don't know why it is bothering me so much now except perhaps because the windows are opened that much farther since it's warmer outside. Nevertheless I was disturbed and did indeed spend most of the night with my head between two pillows. I am glad I'm taking a few days off before we leave for Hawaii because then I can spend them getting caught up on my sleep and not have to waste valuable sun and beach time.

I didn't want to get too in to my knitting project last night so I got it all ready for the turning of the hem for the front parts. I can do that tonight and get started on the darts. Tinkerbell also desperately needs a bath tonight so that's my first priority after walkies. I'll have a nice quiet evening since Mr. M is off doing a show until late.

Yesterday at noon knitting I started up on the cashmere shawl and got to the end of the first line of knitting and realized I had made a mistake. Since it has been so long since I've even touched that thing and since I truly don't care for triangular shawls at all [why did I start it?] I just ripped it all back and now I have 440 yards of gorgeous blue cashmere just begging to be knit into something scrumptious. I think I'll make another lacy thing but more of a big scarf or a wrap. No matter how pretty those triangular shawls are I just am not all that keen. The crescent shaped ones can be nice and there is a nice one on Knitty that perhaps I could do with larger needles but using this yarn. I'll have to fiddle and swatch and see how it might look. Otherwise it's off to Ravelry to see what I can find.

I'd do it for free

Yesterday evening I got to participate in another focus group. I can't tell you how much I love getting paid for my opinion! Considering that I give it out to all and sundry free of charge ..... it's nice to know it's worth something to somebody! We we giving opinions on packaging for some new dog biscuits coming out soon. It was painless. Some of those things are just sooooo boring! For example - flood insurance. yawn That was a particularly difficult one. Also I was in one for retirement funds, which I realized too late that I had answered the screening questions incorrectly and I did not qualify for the study, but I had to pretend I knew what I was talking about. I earned my money that time.

I cast on for the two fronts of the Marisol cardigan last night and did a few rows. I knew if I brought it to noon knitting today I'd get stuck at the part where I had to pick up the stitches to turn the hem and I didn't want to drag all that paraphernalia with me to work, so I dug out that cashmere birch leaf lace triangular scarf/shawl and brought that along. I can leave that at work and have it be my Wednesday project. That way perhaps it'll get done by fall.

It was nice of the sun to stop by and say howdy yesterday but it didn't last long and by the time I was trying to go to sleep last night the rain was coming down so hard that I couldn't! I tossed and turned until well after midnight. For some reason the rain drips ... maybe off the roof ... into the metal gutter right outside the bedroom window and it's very loud. It sounds at first like someone nailing something. I was very close to putting my head under the pillow but that must have been when I drifted off.

Sun sun sun sun!!

Thank goodness it is sunny today! This nonstop rain has really been getting me down. Even though I work in a windowless closet I still know when it's raining ... the people walking by in their squeaking, squishing shoes. My damp bike clothes drying on the hooks on the door. Ah but a sunny day -- people walk by my door with a little more spring in their steps. Oh, it's not supposed to last much after lunch and it is going to be raining by this evening. But for now I'll enjoy it and plan a nice walk up to the Ave at lunchtime.

I did indeed finish up the back of my cardigan last night but I stopped myself from casting on for the fronts. I have been doing a lot of repetitive computer work, still redoing those old quizzes and there is a lot of copy/paste action going on. It aggravates my knitting issues and I'd rather knit just a little bit than not be able to knit at all, especially since I'm going to be having all this lovely extra vacation time to knit. So I sat idle and watched the ending of the Up in the Air movie. I knew there was a reason I wasn't all that keen to watch it -- it's sad. And it made me sad, so i went upstairs and watched something extremely silly. It didn't entirely erase the bad feeling but made it tolerable.

I'm ordering some linen yard from Elann today. I can't decide if I want to use it for a skirt or a top. I think it would make a great skirt because of the drape. I know I just bought that wool/Tencel blend for a skirt but maybe I'll switch it out for the linen. Hmmmmmm can't decide and you know what? I don't have to decide right now.

I survived

my long and arduous weekend. On Friday evening I did a little prep work and some positive thinking in regards to the weather. Saturday I hit the kitchen early and got down to business. The weather did cooperate, thank goodness, so Mr. M was able to get the lawn mowed in the early afternoon and we put tables and chairs on the deck and the lawn so that most of the people (children especially) could eat outside. I was a little concerned about making enough food for 22 people so I made lots and lots of food and that took most of the day. I had just finished putting the last dish in the oven and was getting ready to go upstairs and change into clean clothes when the first wave descended upon us. And it was nonstop "fun" from then on. I put the two youngest, who happened to be boys, in front of the Wii and that kept them occupied until it was time for food. Then I let the other women take care of all the yapping and I had my lovely stash of sparkling wine which I kept coming and that kept me mellow while I supervised the dinner. The food was a hit and there was enough to send a bunch of left overs home with Mr. M's daughter and future son-in-law. She is not much of a cook by her own admitting. She'd better start learning, eh?

Sunday was then my Saturday which means shopping and chores and rehearsal. We did rehearsal early, at 5, so I was home and starving by 8:30. We tried to watch a movie - that George Clooney one ... Up in the Air? But by 9:30 I was just too tired so I went up to bed.

I managed to carve out about an hour on each of those two days to do a bit of knitting and I'm now working on the arm holes of the back. I might be able to finish up the back this evening and cast on for the two fronts, which I'll do simultaneously. And now .... on to Monday.

Relentless!

OMG! I cannot believe how much rain has fallen and continues to fall. Yesterday was pretty nice and I could have ridden my bike in to work but I had forgotten that I had to work from home because of some laborers Mr. M had hired to do some weeding. They are not gardeners and lucky I was there to save several flower beds from annihilation. They were working in partial sunshine. And I was ready to get back on my bike this morning except for the fact that it was pouring rain. I am more than ready for some decent weather.

I have been continuing the daily doses of Naproxen in hopes the inflammation will go away and I can once again knit knit knit. I did just a few rows of the Mirasol cardigan last night. My thumb is sore and I know it's from all the purling. The shoulder is getting better. I stopped after a couple of rows and put it down (harder than you think) and watched a movie - "It's Complicated". Light, funny and it kept my mind off the fact that my hands were idle. I should probably cast on for the Solstice skirt and switch back and forth. The Solstice skirt is done in the round - no purling.

I have a big party to do tomorrow. I got manipulated - sorry, that's the only word to use - into giving a party for 20 people to celebrate Mr. M's youngest daughter's engagement. Yes, twenty people and nearly half of them are children or young adults. The weather is supposed to be decent tomorrow and it has been clearing up in the evenings. I definitely don't want herds of unknown (to me) children running around my house or being upstairs unsupervised. I want them all outside or at least visible. I'm not a big fan of children in the first place and rowdy or undisciplined children made me crazy. Well behaved children I like. It just seems that it's harder and harder to find parents who make it a priority to teach their children manners! Or am I just getting old? My nephew's children are great examples of kids whose parents made manners a priority. At their youngest you could take them to a restaurant and they were quiet and respectful. Those are the types of kids I like. Rude, loud, unruly - not a big fan of those traits. I am well stocked up on wine. I will have the Wii up and running to keep a few of them busy. I can do a lot of the prep work tonight for the food, which is going to be simple. At first I was wanting to do something nice and interesting for myself but then I realized the make up of the guest list and decided to go very simple. Wish me luck.

I am no longer obliged to ride in the rain!

Hah! So I drove in today. Luxury. I wanted to bring in my FOs for noon knitting anyway so there was another good excuse to drive. It's supposed to get nicer tomorrow. I'll bike then. I am sure I'll get a chance soon enough to use my new rain shoe covers. In the meantime I am thoroughly enjoying her other present, the book. It's called "City of Thieves" and it's about two young men during the siege of Leningrad. I read quite a bit of it last night in bed, listening to the rain. I kept my knitting time to a minimum since my shoulder is still rather sore, despite dosing up with Naproxen. I suppose it's going to take a while and some concentration on NOT knitting for the inflammation to go away entirely.

I got some fabulous news last night. It looks like my sister is going to be able to come to Hawaii with us after all!! YAY!! Her boyfriend can't come but she really needs a vacation and we have so much fun together. Mr. M can keep himself occupied easily enough. And frankly he's happy to have two women to squire around, mostly because my sister will laugh at his ridiculous and decidedly NON-funny quips and "jokes" and I am usually only good for a sneer or an eye roll.

Okay, now for the pictures. First is a couple of pictures of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. One close up to show the cool buttons I found. They are very light blue and faceted. The blue picks up the blue flecks in the tweed.



Next we have the Enchanting Scarf which I have been working on since November '09! I got a screaming deal on the Beaded Silk Lace yarn. As you can see it is a rather short scarf but with the right thing it's going to make the outfit plus which it's just really cool! And a great color as well. I am usually in the green/blue/purple/pink family and this is a nice change.

And finally is my Whisper Cardigan made from Noro sock yarn. It's very colorful but I've got a couple of equally vivid tank tops that will go nicely with this little cardigan. I think I'm going to find it very useful. It wasn't sitting very straight on the dummy and I see now that the details don't show up in this picture. It's cute. Take my word for it. ;-)

Cultural boundaries

As I had hoped, it was a fantastic long weekend despite the weather. I got nearly everything done that I had planned on doing, and then some.

Saturday was chore and errand day, so I got going early and made the nail salon my first stop. Since I was going on to the mall I had dressed up a bit from my normal sweatshirt and jeans, wearing a low-ish cut top over a camisole. At one point three of the women there were chatting to each other in Vietnamese and then one of them said to me that I looked good, and that was a very sexy top I was wearing. She went on to say that I was showing quite a bit of cleavage but it looked good and were my breasts real? I started laughing, "Of course they're real", I said. I really can't imagine having an exchange like that at my hair salon but there it was just normal conversation, I guess.

I got a great gift on Friday. One of my knitting buddies was also on the bike to work challenge with me and she has an even longer ride. She's very well versed in keeping dry and has all the gear including the helmet cover and shoe covers. She said she wanted to drop a book by for me that she thought I'd enjoy and when she came in she also had a pair of shoe covers for me! Isn't that sweet?? I can't wait to try them out. Maybe I'll be so lucky tomorrow.

We had a wonderful rehearsal Saturday night. Every once in a while we all really seem to be on the same page and it sounds great. Or really good anyway. We need to add a keyboard player though. Doug is trying to get us a place to play in July.

I didn't do a whole lot of knitting this weekend. In fact I didn't knit at all Friday or Saturday because my hand was so sore! It's the purling - it kills me! My thumb or my shoulder or both. Now my shoulder is hurting. I thought it was because of how I was carrying some packages around the mall but now I think it's more from the knitting. Anyway, despite the fact that I couldn't knit for two nights I did finally sew on the buttons to my Tangled Yoke Cardigan, finished and blocked the Whisper Cardigan and the Enchanting Scarf and swatched and started the Mirabella Cardigan. Pictures forthcoming.

My big project - the closet and drawer clean out - was accomplished on Sunday. It took hours but I went through every single dresser drawer and both of my closets and I was ruthless. I took 3 big bags to donation yesterday and Mr. M even got in on the act and cleaned his closet. It feels good to have that chore out of the way. Now hurry up summer!!!

Uncle!!

I give up! It started raining hard last night around 8 or 9. I had insomnia and so I listened to it for hours. I don't think I fell asleep until sometime after 1 and probably part of the reason I fell asleep is that I quit trying to think of ways to keep myself dry and comfortable while cycling through a monsoon (wrapping my feet in plastic bags? covering my helmet with something?) and gave myself permission to throw in the towel if it was pouring at 6:30 am, which it was. If we were going for something other than bragging rights then I would be right out there slogging away. But since we've already beaten the other teams in the captain's department and one other lab that had challenged us, I don't feel bad about choosing comfort. In fact I feel pretty darned ... comfortable.

I am looking forward to my long weekend. I'll have all day tomorrow for the million and one errands and chores and then rehearsal. But Sunday and Monday are all mine and I'm going to have a lot of fun cleaning out my drawers and closets. Maybe I'll even reorganize my desk! Plus I have to sew the buttons on my cashmere cardigan and bind off and block that scarf. I'll have plenty of time, especially if this weather keeps up.

The garden is another thing I'd like to handle. Perhaps I'll put in strawberries where I had the corn. They're easy to grow and I eat them nearly every day. I'll go to a larger nursery this weekend and hope that the selection is better than my local spot.

I finished Chelsea Handler's latest book last night. She is so funny! And really out there. I don't watch her show very often but I always wish it was longer when I do.

Happy long weekend eve!!

What a treat!

It is NOT raining! I was so very happy to see the sun this morning. In fact, I even saw a scrap of blue sky over the lake on the way in. I know it won't last but as long as I don't have to bike in a downpour I am happy. Only one more day of this bike challenge and then if it's raining I can drive in or take the bus! By the way, I did not see the prize patrol on the way home last night either! I suspect the only thing I'm going to get out of this whole experience is wet.

I finally finished the Enchanting Scarf at noon knitting yesterday. I am very glad that is finished. All I need to do is bind off and block it. I was going to do it last night but I was extremely tired when I got home, and damp and I didn't want to do anything but veg. To be honest, what I really wanted to do was take a shower, get into bed and read until I fell asleep but that seemed a bit much even for lazy ol' me, so I had dinner and watched "Julie and Julia" and then went to bed and read. I liked that movie, although the scenes in Paris were hard to watch. I didn't realize that part of the movie was Julie Child's "My life in France" and I studiously avoid watching movies with scenes shot in Paris. It makes me sad and yearn-y. [Well maybe it's not exactly a word but I can't think of the right one].

And now that my Enchanting Scarf is finished I'm going to have to come up with another project to have at work. I was thinking I was done with socks, but maybe that is the kind of thing I should have sitting around. I had been taking my knitting over to the South Campus Center with me at noon time and listening to my audio book and knitting a few rows. I finished "Elegy for April" last weekend and immediately downloaded "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". So far it is wonderful. The narrator is not as versatile as Timothy Dalton but he's good and what is more he can pronounce those Swedish names and places. I just know that if I were reading this book I would be stumbling all over myself trying to figure it out.

Only one more day before our nice long weekend. Maybe we'll go see the new Shrek movie at the Imax 3D. Or a film at the Seattle Film Festival. Or maybe I'll just clean my closets and drawers and veg for the rest of the time. Choices.

The invisible prize patrol

I had understood from the email last week sent from the commute challenge people that the prize patrol would be out today on the Burke Gilman trail near the UW. It was pouring ... is now currently pouring .. rain but since our team is 6th over all (out of over 1,600 teams) in number of trips made I didn't want to let my teammates down so I biked in, eyes peeled for the prizes. The only thing I got on the way to work this morning was wet. Very very very wet. I will be riding home in wet shoes, for sure. At least I have an extra pair of socks here but the only shoes I have are my running shoes and they won't work for biking because the toes won't fit into the toe clips. At least it's warm.

This is the last week for the commute challenge and I will be so happy to have it over so I can run again. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal to be biking every day and running a few times a week, but I'm still working on the bathing suit body for a couple more weeks and that leaves me a little too low in the energy department to run and have it be enjoyable. But I have a new, really cute running skirt that I am quite eager to use and, if the weather will lighten up a bit I can do it next week. Or the week after. But sometime in June for sure.

Well there was no LOST last night and so we watched a very cute movie - "Pirate Radio". The soundtrack was wonderful if you like the 60's British rock. I might see about buying the soundtrack for my iPhone. It was a good knitting movie and I worked some more on the Whisper Cardigan. I tried it on before I turned in last night and I've decided to lengthen it a bit more than the pattern calls for to make it look less like a shrug and more like a cardigan. I've got plenty of yarn.

Typos drive me crazy

I hate hate HATE it when I re-read something I've written -- whether it's this blog or an email or whatever -- and find a typo. Something that spell checker won't get like, most recently, 'fare' for 'fair' or 'peak' for 'pique'. It's as if my fingers have ideas of their own. Anyway ... drives me crazy.

I got to work without falling over. A lovely triumph. My ankle is a wee bit sore still. I guess super high boots weren't the smartest choice of footwear for today. A few aches and pains but otherwise I'm feeling quite well for the day after.

I still haven't decided what to put in my vegetable garden to take the place of the corn, of which there is not a single trace left! I looked again for corn starts because, obviously, I can't sow the seeds directly into the ground because of the squirrels and now I don't have time to sprout them inside. There are lots of other vegetable starts to choose from but nothing really struck me. I already have two kinds of peppers, 4 different tomatoes, some snap peas, acorn squash and a nice assortment of herbs. I don't want zucchini or any other squash. Maybe egg plant? I've got to make up my mind and get whatever it is into the ground this weekend, which is still looking like it's going to be cloudy and showery, like it is now.

I sure could use some sunshine. Counting the days until Hawaii.

Timber!

I have been very lucky in all the years I've been commuting on my bike in regards to accidents. They have been few and minor. Today I had another little mishap. I was coming down the steepest and last hill to get on the trail and a bee or some other flying, buzzing insect, flew in between my eye and my sunglasses! It buzzed around in there for a second and then flew away. I managed to keep upright and made it to the bottom of the hill and around the corner when I decided I'd like to stop for a second and make sure I hadn't been stung. I put on my brakes and as I was putting my feet down I realized my right foot was stuck in my toe clip. Over I toppled, right into a garden and, thankfully, into a bare spot rather than a shrub! I yelled as I was falling over, "Son of a bitch!!!! (channeling my inner Sawyer?). The homeowner had been standing on his deck drinking a cup of coffee and looking at the lake, so he called out to me to ask if I was hurt. Very nice. He came down to make sure I was okay and his wife came out on the deck as well to see what all the commotion was about. I'm bruised but fine. My foot is a bit sore from being twisted when I went over and I've got a very sore forearm but all in all, I'm just fine. And I didn't get stung! Good news.

It was a productive weekend. I did a little start on the closet clean out, ironed a bunch of things that had been hanging around in the laundry room waiting for just an occasion and that got me very psyched for this coming weekend. My intention is to be ruthless and throw out anything I haven't touched in a year except for classics.

I had a nice quiet Saturday afternoon while Tinkerbell was at the groomers to work on the Whisper Cardigan. This weekend I got all of the ribbing done and yesterday I started on the lower back. Because of the huge long LOST finale event I had lots of time to knit before the last episode started so I got a fare amount done. I should be able to easily finish that project up this weekend. I was also intending to sew the buttons on to my Tangled Yoke cardigan to get that in the finished pile but I didn't. I'll have to make that a requirement before I start another project.

Bike to work cluster you-know-what

May is Bike to Work month and that is how I happen to be doing the challenge team. Today is Bike to Work Day when aalllll the amateurs come out to bike to work and clog up the trails. The bicycle club erects "Commuter Stations" along the trail. There are very few places along my 8 plus mile route where they can do that and be off the path so one then must navigate between around and through throngs of idiots stopped still on the path and on the road to get free trial sized Cliff bars (ick) or water bottles or bike maps or ... whatever. It is annoying. Of course I might be especially cranky this morning because my shoes were STILL not dry and I rode in anyway. And it's cold. And it was raining. Thank goodness it's Friday. I'm crabby.

Oh, BTW, I don't feel so bad now about not riding in yesterday. I wasn't the only one on my team that still had wet rain gear yesterday morning and passed on the experience.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep for a while. I went traveling. I practiced my extrasensory powers and beamed messages out across the ocean. It must have calmed me down (or wore me out) because next thing I knew the alarm was going off.

Before FlashForward last night (the penultimate episode and it's NOT being renewed) I managed to bind off that left sleeve AND pick up the gazillion stitches with a size 4 needle and do a round or two. Yes indeed - it's a colorful garment.

Well the weather is not going to be great this weekend so I could start my closet/drawer clean out. Tink is getting groomed Saturday but that's about it for my chores except to bring my food in to work and rehearse. I probably won't though, knowing me. I certainly will the following weekend though. I am actually looking forward to it.

Enough!

Despite the beautiful start to the day, by lunchtime yesterday the sky was gray and wind warnings were in effect. Luckily I had left my rain pants in my pannier so when I was ready to bike home I togged up in all my rain gear and headed out. It was rainy, windy and miserable. About 4 or 5 miles into the ride the skies opened up. I have never in all my 18 years of riding to work experienced a storm like that. Rain gear can only do so much and I was sopping wet by the time I made it home. What a mess! I stripped off my bike gear in the garage and took my shoes, gloves and head band upstairs to the laundry room. I realized in the middle of the night that I hadn't put them into the dryer so I took care of it as soon as I got up but it wasn't soon enough and I was not willing to bike into work wearing damp shoes and gloves. If it had been a warm day, perhaps. But it is again windy and unseasonably cold so Commute Challenge be damned. I drove in. It's not like we're in the top few teams and I'm sinking us. Do I need to say (again) I am sick of this weather?

I was more than a little beat up after that ride last night and I didn't do much of anything but knit a little and make some dinner. My new iPhone headphones came yesterday. They are Sennheiser ones and make a HUGE difference. The ones that came with the iPhone were really terrible compared to these. The noise cancellation is unbelievable. So I went up to bed early and while Mr. M was watching some terrible movie in the theatre I lay in bed and watched The Hangover on my iPhone.

I only have a few more rows to go on the left sleeve of the Whisper Cardigan, then I have to pick up stitches all around it. What a clever piece of construction this is. First you make a simple shrug, cuff to cuff starting off in the round and ending in the round with 22 inches flat for the back. Then, like a typical shrug, you pick up stitches around for ribbing. What makes this one different is after the ribbing you bind off for the lapels/collar and keep knitting at the waist in stockinette stitch with short rows and increases for fit and flair until it gets to a normal length for a cardigan. Also the lace weight yarn on larger needles make an almost spongy fabric. It will be perfect for just a bit of added warmth when a wrap is just too gay.