Crayons and Little Hands

This is what my little wild man did this morning while I was checking my email...

The photo doesn't really do his artwork any justice. I remember thinking that it was a little too quiet and when I asked him where he was he replied, "Door, Mumma!" Already suspecting what had happened (since the issue of drawing on walls, etc had been addressed the day before) I took a deep breath and went to see what he had gotten into. Suspicion confirmed...thank heaven for the Mr. Clean sponge!!!

Sears and Temper Tantrums

Ok, I admit, I went completely out of character and lost my temper in the middle of Sears on Sunday. I'd been feeling a little out of sorts, tense and anxious lately...for no particular reason that springs to mind. It all blew up just before lunch when hubby, wild man and I ran into Sears for some quick last minute shopping. Hubby needed some workpants and under-essentials and wild man needs anything I can remember to get for him! We get to the register and the girl rings us up. "Would you like to apply for a Sears card today and get an extra 15% off?" as I wave my Sears card at her. She starts to ring me up when her co-worker says, "Oh, you can't use that card for clothes. It's for appliances and large purchases only." O-kay... this is where I start to lose it. See I had made several purchases on it over the last couple of months - all clothes - one shopping adventure happened online. You can see my confusion! My card is a Sears Plus card, BTW. Anyway, she snaps at me (really sending my blood pressure spiking, great clashes of thunder begins pounding at my temples) and says, "well, I don't know what to say about that...you just can't use that card for clothes. I'll get a manager." and turns her back to me. In the meantime, wild man has had enough. Did I mention it was lunch time and this was supposed to be a quick in and out??? The manager comes and says the same thing to me. So I say, "Can you explain to me how I could have used this card online and in this very store for several clothing purchases already this summer?" She says, "I really can't say but I'll get a salaried manager for you." Here's where I explode and yell (unfortunately, yes, I turned into one of "those" scary screaming women), "Are you really saying that I could purchase thousands of dollars in appliances yet I'm not allowed to buy clothes???!!! Could you (meaning Sears but I'm sure she thought I meant her) really be that ridiculous?" To her credit, she took a step back and said she really didn't know but the manager would be along. At this point, wild man took my cue and started screaming his little head off. We were quite a pair! You should have seen us! No, really, it was quite a sight I'm sure. I round on this poor woman who is merely trying to diffuse the situation and snap into her face, "Give me my card back. I don't have time for this idiocy. I have a child to feed. You deal with this mess and I'm just going to go back online because apparently they don't have a distinction between what can and cannot be purchased. I need to go feed my child now." I literally saw red all the way out of the store carrying my little man who is in the middle of an equally bad temper tantrum. The only difference between our tantrums? His was cute and mine wasn't! By the time I got to the car I was shrieking like a banshee and hyperventilating. HUGE overreaction! Obviously I had been packing some baggage I didn't know about and this ridiculous instance at Sears was the last straw. To his credit, hubby told me I wasn't wrong to question their "policy" it was simply the way I chose to challenge it! Poor guy. I make his life very difficult sometimes! Happy ending to the story? Yes, as soon as we got home I hopped online and ordered everything from my desk, AND got in on an online sale to boot!!! Within minutes I had my order confirmation and minutes after that, notice that my order has been processed! Can you imagine the foolishness of telling someone that their card is only good for the big expensive item and nothing else? Wow. Ok, I'm dropping the issue - I'm still confounded by the whole thing - but I'm dropping it!

Here's a snarky picture of me... I wanted to get some nice photos of myself with my beginning stash of yarn. Not too bad, it turns out!


The Orangina Shawl is finally done for my MIL. Finishing it was super easy and created this lovely loopy edging. I can't wait to give it to her! The hubby sweater is again making progress. I've tacked on a few more inches and it's going rather quickly. My goal for this week is to finish the body. Unfortunately I won't be able to finish the socks I had planned for my SIL. So, I'm saving them for Christmas and I'll do something else for her birthday. I also purchased my size 13 circular and straights for the moccasins I'm going to do for my Dad. I just need to get the dpn's.


Fall colors are a wonderful thing, aren't they? It's my favorite season where the weather cools off at night and warms up during the day. Apples and pumpkins and fairs abound everywhere! Wild man and I walked down to the river by our house this morning and I snapped some shots of the turning foliage on either side of the bridge. It's fleeting, yet lovely. The walking bridge leads from our land to another part of a walking trail that comes from the village and follows the river up and around. We are lucky enough to have river front property and we take advantage whenever we can!




Isn't he just precious? He loves his new box. He can be anything he wants to be in his magic box including smiling goofy! I l-u-r-v-e him so!


So long and thanks for all the crap, Sears! I'm letting it go, really I am!

Shawl, Mr. Bug, the Wild Man and Dr's...

First things first...the "orangina" shawl. The yarn is, well, hideous for lack of a better term. That said, it is doing a decent job of this shawl for my MIL. She'll love it even though the color just screams "don't shoot!" For my first shawl and my first try at lace it's not bad. When the shawl is done and blocked, it should redeem itself but for now...it's the Orangina Shawl.

Say hello to Mr. Bug! It's the wild mans very first crafty project and he is so proud of himself! He calls it his "Buggabugga." So cute. I'm so proud of him. He's been doing really well at his playgroup on Tuesdays. He loves Miss Lizzy and the other kids and it gives me a much needed break. We are on to the letter C next week! Hopefully he continues to thrive there.


Isn't he just adorable??? This is the handknit sweater his Memere' brought back from Ireland for him. It is just a tad too big but really, who cares?! He looks so handsome in it. He loves posing for me so I slipped it on him the other day and we went outside for some photo fun! Some of the pictures I took I'm going to blow up and frame. He's been such a good boy lately. Of course with the cooler weather we are able to be more active outside and we've been walking more. We have some amazing walking paths in the woods behind the property and I totally forgot they were there. I loved to play on them when I was a kid growing up here. Granted much is overgrown but new paths have emerged and it's still just as much fun. He talks up a storm when we are out there. We've also been reading a lot together. He loves his books and doesn't much care what I'm reading to him as long as he can read along with me. He does have his favorites like Dora and Diego but also likes How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and his Maisy flap book. All good as far as I'm concerned!

No more news on the FIL front. He is back in the hospital and is waiting to see where he is going to go next. No news is good news in his case! We'll probably hear something tonight or tomorrow as to when they are going to move him. He ended up with a private room this time which is a boon to my poor MIL. They have privacy! She can spread out a little and try to be more comfortable.

I finally had my annual visit to the Doc's office this afternoon. All is good. Considering I feel like I'm sliding down the brakedown lane! I have a touch of "wear and tear" on my right knee and some more in the joints of my thumbs from knitting. He wants me to try glucosamine. I also need to get some bloodwork done sometime in the next month for cholesterol and blood glucose. Anyway, apparently I'm in good health with no lumps or bumps or other unpleasantness despite how I've been feeling lately. He was happy that I seem to be losing some weight and encouraged me to continue doing what I've been doing. It's nice to know I can keep eating the baked goods as long as I walk them off!

I hear my little man calling...must run!

Ciao and happy knitting!!

Food, FIL's and the Wild Man

This is what I was up to yesterday...make my own version of White Bean Chili. I used fresh everything, except for the tomato paste and beans. Couldn't help it! I was too lazy this year to make my own tomato paste. Anyway, those ugly little tomatoes I posted about on Saturday I used yesterday to make the tomato base for the chili. I used 2 lbs of ground pork and 2 cans of cannellini beans. I was told my previous chili was too soupy and needed lots of meat and beans! So this time I made sure! I added a little fresh chopped oregano to it after fiddling with how much chili powder to add. It took a little tweaking but I finally ended up with something really hearty and delicious. Hubby would have liked more chili powder but Dad and I liked it just the way it was. See my lovely oregano:

We also went to visit my FIL yesterday at his care facility. He looks absolutely aweful. He was sick and dizzy and grumpy and still a little out of it. The family tiptoes around this man and it drives me crazy! At the risk of sounding cruel and cold, I really don't have a lot of sympathy for him. He brought all this on himself and it could have been prevented or at the very least, delayed. He is a master manipulater and milks every ill, ache, pain or bothersome thing to get what he wants from the family. My poor MIL is making herself sick running at his every beck and call. Granted, the man IS sick. But he has no respect for anyone else, he belittles and harangues at every opportunity. He's mean, miserable and vulger and quite frankly I believe he is reaping what he's sown in life. There is a long history surrounding my disgust of the situation and much as I would like to detail it, the story is not mine to tell. Suffice to say, it's not being sick that is making him this way...he was this way looooooong before he was ever diagnosed. Unfortunately the ones who are suffering are the ones I love dearly. My dear adored husband has been sick with worry that this time his dad won't make it and my FIL merely adds to the worry by repeatedly saying, "I'm dying." and "This is the last time I'll ever see the kids." etc, etc. My youngest SIL, with the knee injury, is doing her best to help my MIL, who also has the same knee injury, and take care of her own 5 yr old daughter. Middle SIL lives 2,000 miles away and is helpless and oldest SIL is in walking distance of the hospital and is, well, she is dealing with her own issues. Anyway, to make this long sad tale shorter, FIL is back in the hospital again. He was taken in this morning after his dialysis when he wouldn't stop bleeding at the needle site. MIL and SIL were called and came right away. ER got the bleeding stopped by my FIL's doc admitted him saying he was going to get him into a rehab or full nursing facility because he couldn't take care of himself anymore. In order to be admitted there, he needed to be in the hospital at least 48 hours. Unfortunately he will most likely lose his lovely room in the Assisted Living facility he is currently residing. Definately a bummer. But if this move frees up my MIL from all the hell she has had to take; giving him baths, washing up after him, shaving him, etc, then it will be worth it. And, to give credit were it is due, the wretched man admits he can't expect her to be with him 24/7...DUH!

Ok, enough of all that. On to better subjects. The lacey shawl I am crafting for my MIL is coming along nicely. I still need to take some photos but it's looking pretty good! I have 4 more pattern repeats to go and then I'll assess the size and see if more repeats are needed for a really good sized shawl.

The weather was chillier today so I took the opportunity to dress my little man in the lovely handknit sweater my MIL bought for him while she was over in Ireland earlier this year. He is so darned handsome in it! And it's roomy enough for him to wear all winter and into next spring. He was happy to model it!

I'm hearing the call of the shawl so I'll say ciao for now...happy knitting!

Two posts in One Day!

This is what I've been up to today in pictures (not including yarn-y stuff):

Scrumptious navy bean soup with diced ham...mmm, so good!

Homemade apple bread with cortland and mccowan apples for my long suffering MIL...

Freshly picked concord grapes for homemade grape jelly...yum-o as RR says!

Sweet succulent moist cornbread that is already 1/2 eaten...

Donut muffins...if you haven't had them, you are really missing out!

The last tomatoes of the season. Sad looking but will cook up such a tasty sauce!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Finally...

I finally have the chance to post! Yippee! Anyway, it's been six days, can you believe it? I now have 4 WIP's; the never ending hubby sweater (of course), socks for my oldest SIL, a simple lace triangle prayer shawl for my long-suffering MIL, and the unfinished crochet market bag. My dad was laughing at me yesterday for having so many unfinished projects going. I couldn't help but understand the irony yet I was still searching for another sock pattern! The latest additions to my stash are four skeins of Cascade 220 The Heathers in a lovely camel color (slated for some felted moccasin slippers for Dad) and one hank of lusciously soft creamy alpaca (to be combined with a 2 oz hank of gray I already had - use TBD). I've given myself a bit of a break in knitting over the last couple of days. I developed a tender wrist from knitting so much. It's much better now so I've been working on this prayer shawl for my MIL. She's been through so much with my FIL that I wanted to make her something she could take with her whenever she gets that dreaded call in the middle of the night. It's a super simple Lion Brand pattern and it's also my first shawl. I had all this extra Patons Divine in Orangina to use...admittedly it is VERY brightly colored. But I think the shawl will turn out beautifully. I have enough of the Divine to make extra pattern repeats if necessary to make the shawl wrap lovingly around her. After the shawl is done I think I'll whip up a pair of worsted weight socks for my oldest SIL for her birthday, saving the Trekking socks as a Christmas gift. In the meantime, I'm still plugging away at the body of the hubby sweater. Since I don't have to count rows or stitches with it, it's great to have in the car to while away the time.

Camel colored Cascade 220 The Heathers

SIL's Trekking Socks

An update on my FIL. He is back in the nursing home after over a week in the hospital. The official diagnosis is he has ulcerated disks in his upper spine and some kind of infection in the same area. The combined effect was the excrutiating pain that radiated all over his head, neck and shoulders. The medications they were giving him were making him very sick. He was hallucinating, delierious, nauseaus, and generally out of it. They weaned him off everything and within a day he was better. Even the pain was bearable. So much so they sent him home. Of course it didn't take. Monday night, dialysis night, he ended up in the hospital again with a violent reaction to the antibiotics they administered while in dialysis. Vomiting and dry heaves. They released him at 3am Tues morning (why is it they insist on ridiculous times for letting sick people go home?) and my MIL managed to get 4 hours of needed sleep. She says she is doing fine...we know the truth. Anyway, FIL is back home and seems to be healing up ok. We're going to try to see him tomorrow. I need to be in Gorham to drop off a baby shower gift anyway so we may as well skip into Portland while we are out. I know hubby would feel better if he could see his dad out of a hospital bed!

We hit the Rochester Fair Thursday night! What fun! This is where I picked up that creamy hank of alpaca to add to my collection. Kudos to Arthur the Alpaca of Cynjim Alpacas in NH for parting with his lovely fleece. It is a 4 oz 2 ply sport weight hank and I can't wait to make something yummy with it! Anyway, Grampa, wild man and I had a great time walking through all the animal barns and seeing the cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas, llamas, minis, chicken, ducks, geese, and donkeys! Wild man especially loved the baby goats and the sheep. We were offered the chance to pet a bantam hen. I obliged, wild man shied away at the last second. After the animal barns we went to the exotic zoo to see giraffe, zebra, kangaroos, monkeys and other assorted animals. I have to say, it's no great life for the giraffe (or other exotics) to be penned up like that. Magnificent as they were, I'm sure they would be happier in Africa where they belong. Sad to say, fairs are becoming increasingly more commercialized and less of an agricultural event. Too many hawkers, carnys, lights, noise and chaos. I'm more old fashioned when it comes to fairs. I want to see the animals and the exhibits and the local talent. Not so much the traveling vendors. In any case, the exhibition hall there was huge and filled with wonderfully crafted items, including a 930 lb prize winning pumpkin! They have the competition food barn, quilt & knit barn, wood working and other crafts all under the same huge complex. I just love the atmosphere! Wild man ate too much yucky food, topped off with ice cream so he was a treat to try to put to bed that night - NOT.

Oh, my youngest SIL's knee is getting a little better. She had to wear her air cast all week and has an appointment with her specialist on Monday to assess the situation. She is going to have to have the surgery done on her ACL and probably again on both miniscus. They just need to see how badly she reinjured herself and then schedule the surgery. She's not amused by the Tom Brady jokes she's been getting!

One last commentary before I dive back into the shawl. New TV shows out: Fringe - LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. It's a modern day X-Files. Knight Rider - it will be lucky to finish out the season. Great special effects, poor story line and converting KITT from a Mustang into a Ford truck??? Not such a great move. Bones, House, Smallville, and Eureka are great as always. Can't wait for CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Moonlight and Numbers! (Yup, we HUGE tv fans in this household!)

Ciao, happy knitting and have a wonderful weekend!

Socks, Sickness, Faith and Food

My winter worsted weight Noro socks are done!!! Yeah! What fun they were to make. And the photos don't do them justice. I am in love with Noro. I think I'm going to have to add to my queue the peacock feathers shawl the Yarn Harlot is currently making and do it with Noro. The colorways are glorious! It will be my first foray into reading a chart as opposed to a pattern. In any case, I'm going to put in on the end of my list and hopefully start it in January 2009. The goal this year was to knit fearlessly and I have so far! I've attempted things I wasn't sure I could do and discovered that I am indeed more than capable. Now I still have to finish the hubby sweater by Christmas in time to gift it to my wonderful hubby. Socks for 2 SILs and a neice are planned and I may have received my first commission to make someone a felted purse! Whew! Today, however, I am going to celebrate completion of my Noro socks and relax by getting a few more inches done on the hubby sweater (and blog, of course).

My FIL has taken ill, quite seriously. He's been in the hospital a week now and the doctors have just discovered the problem. Brief history before I elaborate, he's diabetic, has neropothy to his knees, is on dialysis, uses a wheelchair and is seriously obese. So, last weekend he was at Kidney Camp with my MIL and got violently ill. They took him back to the nursing home where he continued to get worse. He was admitted to the hospital that night (Sunday) with an extremely high fever, vomiting, delirium and excrutiating pain in his neck, head and shoulders. They tentatively thought he had viral menangitis but none of the tests could confirm. His condition got worse rather than better and he's been violent, ripping out his tubes, etc. Last night was the worst. We finally got a diagnosis yesterday. He has an infected disk in his upper spine and bone spurs. The whole area is inflamed and none of the pain killers are touching the pain. He was so bad last night, security had to stay in his room to prevent him from ripping out his tubes and throwing himself out the window. You think I'm kidding??? Apparently he alternated from wanted to kill himself to crying out in fear that he would actually die and how he didn't want to die. The pain was so intense he couldn't control himself. Hubby went in this morning to spend the day with his mum and watch over my FIL. We haven't been all week due to the lack of infection information we received. We didn't want to risk picking anything up and passing it on the the wild man. Now that we know he's not contagious or anything, hubby felt it was safe to visit. Hubby has been beside himself with worry. Of all the times my FIL has been hospitalized, this by far, is the worst.

Further family news, my youngest SIL reinjured her knee. She had just had surgery at the end of August to repair her miniscus on either side of her right knee. She had also torn her ACL (same injury as our beloved Tom Brady of the NE Patriots). However, they left the ACL alone as it was not a complete tear. Anyway, she was going down stairs to do her laundry early yesterday morning when her knee gave out and she fell on her butt. She said she thought her leg had been torn off at the knee the pain was so abrupt and intense. In any case, we took our neice for the afternoon so our BIL could take her to the clinic for assessment. She's heavily medicated and icing her knee and will have to go for an MRI early this week to see if she retore the repaired miniscus. Phew...I have one accident prone family.

At the end of yesterday it was discovered that our neice had come down with strep throat and my little wild man had sucked off the end of her sippy cup before I could stop him. GREAT, absolutely great news. So now I have to wait and see if he gets a sore throat with swollen glands and little white spots. Wonderful...

On an up note, I attended the first MOPs meeting of the year on Friday morning. I saw a lot of old faces and met some new ones! Surprisingly everyone was happy to see me! I say that because it did not seem like we had warmed up to each other much last year. Don't get me wrong, a lot of that is my fault since I am naturally reserved and from another's standpoint I can seem rather snobbish...at least this is what I've been told! I can't help it! I've had so many friendships end badly that I am very cautious about opening myself up. In any case, I did meet another kindred spirit (I hope) and I do pray I don't put her off by being too cautious. Although, I have to say, sometimes caution is a wise thing. The wild man took a little getting used to the idea that he was in a room with a bunch of other kids but after a while he just dove right in.

I'm also going to get back into learning more about the Bible. I have a hard time with the issue of faith as a result of many things, particularly the deaths of my mother from cancer and my son from a birth defect. It's hard to have faith in today's world - it's so full of science and logic. I tend to be a very logic minded person so I have the added burden of releasing my doubts. So, I'm joining a Bible study called, Starting Point. It is affiliated with MOPs and the church that hosts MOPs. We'll see how it goes. I would love to find the freedom and release that true belief gives. I need to find some peace in my life.

Apple season is upon us! Yippee!!! I love apple season...pies, breads, crisps, jams, jellys and just off the tree. As it gets underway more I will be sharing my creations with you! Speaking of creations, I've been baking more lately. I can't believe how much I've missed it. I'm going to do some homemade bread this week and more choc chip cookies, cornbread, apple bread and whatever else I can think of! Tomorrow I'm going to do a hamburger stew just because I'm in the mood for one.

My wild man is doing really good. Yesterday was rough on him but he soldiered through it and was happy to be able to play with his cousin all afternoon. She's a handful but she ended up being really good and a big help to us. She's such a smart little girl and very artistic too! She gave me 3 beautiful pictures to take home with us. For a 5 yr old she is quite good! Wild man is stirring from his nap. I'm glad I kept him home today. He's kind of cranky and fussy. It sucks I can't bring him outside but it's rainy and yucky out and not fun at all. Though I should just send him out there anyway to run off some energy...I can always stick him in the tub when he comes in!

Reminder: I can't forget to email my BFF...she's been so busy lately that time is flying by and we haven't been able to get together and chat. She's so important to me and I need to keep up my end of the friendship!!! If you're reading this, know that I'm thinking of you, as always!

Ciao, stay safe and happy knitting!

Feeling Crappy, Socks & Wild Man

I haven't felt like posting much lately...don't really know why. I suspect I'm just tired and would much rather be laying my head on the couch than sitting down at the computer. Of course having computer problems, then having TV issues could have something to do with that. The computer issue has been fixed, obviously. Since I installed the new router I haven't experienced any issues logging in...so far (knock on wood). Now that one of my electronic gadgets is working correctly another one decides to go on the fritz. Our 3 yr old 42" LCD HDTV that we spent way too much money on is acting up. The TV repair guy seems to think that it's not the TV that it is the HD cable box. I suppose he has a point. If I'm getting HD reception and I can play a DVD, but I'm not getting regular cable, it should be the cable box. Can I just say how much I hate calling for cable repair??? The always charge you for the visit even when it's their fault. Still, I'd rather pay $80 for the cable guy to replace my HD cable than invest $800 in another TV.

On an up note, I'm about 1/2 way done the second of my winter Noro socks. They are such a lovely color and I can't help but be cheered up at the very sight of them! They feel so good, too, even though they are 100% wool and are bound to itch somewhat. Isn't the colorway wonderful?


And here is the dreaded market bag. Now that I've found yarn to finish it I need to go resurrect it from the shelf in my office. BUT, not until I've finished my Noro socks and NOT until I get at least another 2 inches done on the hubby sweater.

And this just makes me happy:


Hubby has asked me to make a pair of winter socks for my oldest SIL who's birthday is coming up on the 2nd of Oct. I have planned on making her a pair out of this lovely Trekking XXL sock yarn. Hubby says I should still do that but he thinks she would really enjoy some wool socks first. So I may end up using the other two skeins of Noro for her...maybe. They are just too pretty for her taste, I think. She prefers darker colors. Hmmm...this means I need to go yarn shopping! Maybe I'll take the wild man to Spinning Yarns in Dover tomorrow for some worsted weight sock yarn. *wildly excited*

We have a birthday party to go to on Saturday afternoon for a one yr old and I wanted to make her an amigurumi doll. Unfortunately the time just snuck up on me and I haven't done it. Now I have to go with some impersonal gift like a gift card or such. I hate doing that! It's just not special enough. Not that an infant would even know the difference. Hubby wants me to make the family a casserole for their freezer. He loves contributing stuff like that and really loves volunteering me to do it! Not that I actually mind since I love cooking so much and I am very pleased that people like what I make. Maybe a nice pizza casserole? It's hearty, delicious, comfort food that everyone seems to like.

I am truly going to regret not napping this afternoon. My ass is dragging and I've cracked some huge yawns. Plus I have this headache that just won't go away. Wild man is wild and needs entertainment when he wakes up but my energy level is nil. I think I'll ship him outside to play in his sandbox. I can just sit and watch him. And yawn, mightily. Hubby is in the same shape. He works hard all day and I expect him to take over when he gets home. I mean it's really not the same thing. He does heavy manual labor and talks to clients and customers. Granted he deals with working for someone else and doing things their way but he's still being paid to do it. Watching over the wild man when he gets home shouldn't be construed as work but as a pleasurable break, right? R-I-G-H-T... I've got a bridge for you, too! Sometimes the wild man is more work than work is! I'm just glad to get the help when he gets home. Tonight? The park!

My gusset is calling me...happy knitting!

"Your Router is Toast"

This is what I was told by the Geek Squad. The good news proved I wasn't a total idiot when it comes to tweaking gadgets. "You did everything I would have done." Great! Now tell me what the problem is with my freaking WLAN!!! Apparently these gadgets that just sit there soaking up electricity actually do have a shelf life. According to the above Geek, anywhere from 6 mos to 6 yrs. Good to know. Now I'm $80 poorer but I'm back online and hopefully, more secure! I actually went 3 days without checking my email or reading my blog lists. I felt so out of touch!

I've caved into the Noro temptation to knit myself some winter socks. The colors are so yummy! I'm almost done the first sock and have pictures - so I'll be posting those soon. I managed to knit another inch on the hubby sweater, too! My search for Moda Dea Bamboo Wool continues. I'm afraid no one around here carries it contrary to the manufacturers advice. So, I'll have to bite the bullet and pay for shipping. Blech... At least I'll have my yarn to begin the wild man's turtle amigurumi! And as for the market bag? Well, I'll have to take it back down again because I found another skein of the Handicrafter Colonial cotton hidden behind stacks of other colorways at the JoAnn's in Portland. It's no where to be found online and I was despairing of ever finding it in my colorway to finish the "dreaded thing." Now I'll have to tear myself away from the socks to finish it...NOT!

We had a terrible start to the day yesterday. Of course it could have been due to the fact we were really late getting home Saturday night from my SIL's house. He had so much fun playing with his cousin and we were having a lot of fun playing cards and drinking...well, I was drinking anyway. What do you call someone who rarely drinks and is handed some really tasty wine??? 3 sheets to the wind! Yup, wild man had been really wild that day and I was ready for some loosening up! Anyway, we got home later than expected and he didn't have a good nights sleep. So when we got up on Sunday all he wanted to do was go outside and play. We packed him up and went to church instead. This was not kosher with the wild man and he let us know by throwing the hugest fit in the middle of church. We packed everything up and just left. We didn't even get through the first hymn. I think we're going to have to think of another alternative for church. There's a nice one locally and they have all kinds of kids programs. Maybe for a while we should just hang out in town. Anyway, we took the wild man to the Maine Mall and walked around a little while then came home. He was so pooped but he didn't nap well.

While the little guy was out, hubby and I did some more cleaning and reorganizing. I've gotten more done in the kitchen by emptying out a shelf of cookbooks and sticking all my fathers crud on the shelf and off the kitchen counter. It was REALLY cluttered. Now the cookbooks are on a bookshelf out in the mudroom with plenty of room for more (which I definately have in storage and will LOVE to bring down!). Now the kitchen looks much cleaner. I also reorganized a cupboard to fit more foodstuffs rather than have them sitting out on the counter. And, the big change? All of the little man's bottles and bottle accessories got tossed out. :( My little guy is growing up!

This just in from my good friend viscioussweettart:

Quote for the day:
'Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So - if you give her crap, you will receive a bucket full of shit."

Since I am a woman, obviously, I quite agree!

So fellow Patriot friends, I'm bummed out about our quarterback, Tom Brady. I don't think we'll see him for the rest of the season and I know nothing about the backup QB, Cassel. He did a decent job not tanking the game yesterday but how is he going to perform the rest of the season? It would be too much to ask for a repeat of the whole Brady/Bledsoe thing. Maybe Cassell will step up, bring his A game and simply hold everything together so we'll at least make the wildcard. Only time will tell and most of the NFL analysts will speculate for weeks on this newest development. Still, bummer dudes.

I'm sure there's much much more to say but right now I'm plum out of ideas. Speaking of plum, I'm heartily enjoying Janet Evanovitch's Fearless Fourteen!

Happy Knitting and a belated Happy Birthday to the wild man's Auntie Sue! Love you!

Tender Baby Buns...

Little man just went down for his nap and I'm finally able to sit down for a minute. We went to the beach this morning and he had a blast! He chased crabs, rocks, seaweed, seagulls, and waves...pretty much anything that moved! The tide was out and hadn't turned yet so we had plenty of time to climb around on the rocks and look at everything. We took a pee break (well, I did) and he was wonderful walking up to the bathrooms with me. After that we settled in for some serious rock sorting and throwing. We were there almost 2 hrs. The only problem I had was discovering that leaving an active 2 yr old in a salt water soaked swimmee diaper is really NOT the best thing in the world for tender buns. It never even occurred to me that he was doing himself any harm. His little buns are so raw, I winced. It helped that I had a gallon of water in the car so I could rinse him off. I also remembered to bring his powder so it helped a little on the drive home. After lunch at McD's, it was off to bed so I could strip him down and butter him up. Much butter was needed due to said affliction of baby buns. :( Poor little guy...it really hurts him. So for the rest of the day, each diaper change will be accompanied by butt cream. Seriously, how could I have missed the abrasive salt water issue! Duh, I guess being born and raised near the ocean didn't have much affect on me.

The market bag is being renamed the "dreaded market bag." It's never ending like the hubby sweater! I keep going and going, much like the Energizer bunny, yet little forward progress is being made and less and less yarn is available to finish the project. It doesn't help that yesterday I purchased 2 luscious skeins of Noro Kureyon and immediately got sidetracked with another pair of socks. I am looking forward to making worsted weight socks for the winter! Of course this first pair will have to be for myself - just in case any errors arise that I need to correct in the next pair! Let's add more to the project list, shall we??? I wish I knew someone that would hire me to knit stuff for their magazines. At least I would have a mandatory deadline to meet and could work with some amazing yarns. Ahh, well.

Surprisingly, I'm still researching the yarn store idea. We've nailed down a name and have decided to stake out our local Hannaford and Shaws and do a demographic study for feasibility. On a negative note, the one and only store in town that offered any kind of decent yarn is fazing out all their yarny stuff. They are mainly a quilting store, and a damn fine one at that, but they haven't been able to sell much yarn. They carried Noro Kureyon, Cascade 220 & others, Araucania sock yarn, Diva, and some beautiful hand dyed stuff. I slyly asked why they decided to do away with that part of their business and they said people were more interested in finding *gasp* Red Heart or Lion Brand! Come on! You don't find that stuff at a place selling quality yarns. Go to Walmart people! Anyway, I started thinking maybe my hometown wasn't such a great place to do a yarn start-up. But then hubby came through with this: "Kathie's isn't a yarn store either and is not even 1% of her focus so she dosen't educate the customer of what is out there or what can be done with said "nice quality" yarns. She pushes off such sales as she dosen't want or need that part of the market....so don't go by just her "cheap" customers that are mostly shopping at a QUILT store." Makes sense, right?? I am no longer disheartened. Hubby's words simply reinforced my determination to ... see it through? ... soldier on?? ... in any case, I'm determined to forge ahead - yeah, that's it!

As nice as it is sharing my day with y'all, I'm hearing the call of the "dreaded market bag." Will I finish? Will I have enough yarn? or, Will I succumb to the siren call of Noro Kureyon 124 D and knit socks instead? (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the hubby sweater...grrrrrrr).

Happy knitting! ;)

The Need to Post

I never thought I would be one of those technophiles that can't live without checking her email or bloglist for more than a few hours. After this weekend, I can ashamedly tell you, yes, I have joined the ranks. If I didn't have my market bag to work on I wouldn't have known what to do with my hands. We traveled a lot and I can't read in the car so I knit or crochet. Several times when we were in transit from here to there I recall wondering who's updated their blog yet or if my BFF had emailed me back yet. Hubby says I fidget too much. I wonder how he would feel if I didn't have my WIP's to keep me busy!

The market bag is still a WIP. I had hoped to finish it yesterday or Sunday but things happened so quickly I didn't have time. The other main panel is done and I've done half of the side/bottom panel. I should have that done tonight barring any other unforeseen occurance. I managed to furiously crochet in the car on the way to (and from) York's Wild Kingdom on Saturday and to and from my FIL's yesterday. Sunday was a total wash. I managed to do some that night but I ended up having to can more tomatoes before they rotted. I may not like raw tomatoes but I do like practically anything that is made from them! So I now have 4 more jars of canned diced tomatoes. Dad just informed me I have more ripe ones waiting for me in the bucket he just picked. Maybe I'll pack them whole then can them...it would save me from having to deseed them. Quite possibly the worst nitpicky thing anyone can do. Yet I did it for 2 dozen tomatoes. Just so I could have really good canned diced tomatoes with no seeds. Too anal for my own taste sometimes.

York's was fun. The wild man got to see all his animals plus the elephant they use for rides. He was hot but he had a blast! He fed the ducks and deer and goats. He loved their butterfly exhibit which was in full swing. They had dozens of blue morpho butterflies and he loved them all!

We were pooped when we left but still managed to stop into The Yarn Sellar. A lovely little shop with a decent selection of SWTC yarns, Noro, Galway, Cascade, Berroco, Plymouth and Reynolds yarns. In addition they offered some truly excellent sock yarn. They are a worthy stop on any fiber trip!

In other news, we had an impromptu yard sale on Sunday. The day started off badly with a nasty little argument between hubby and myself. All my doing I'm afraid. It's my selfish nature rearing it's ugly head. I wanted to go for a ride and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather. Hubby wanted to go home and clean out the garage of all the furniture we crammed in. *Side note - furniture was crammed into the garage because we emptied our storage unit to save ourselves $120 a month.* I couldn't imagine where he wanted to put all this stuff and thought he was wasting his time moving it from one place to another just to please my father. *Side note #2 - this is due to my father venting his frustration to me regarding said mess in the garage to which my response was, "well, do you want us to get another storage unit and start paying monthly fees again?" Of course the answer was no. He was just venting anyway. Hubby took it the wrong way (in that it was invariably HIS fault for cramming said mess in said garage).* In any case, an argument arose, feelings were hurt, tears were shed...all in front of our wonderful little man, I'm embarrassed to say. We ended up driving home and sulking for about 15 minutes, each in our own little corners. Then reason decided in intervene. As I looked at all the crap cluttering up 2 bays of the garage I started to wonder. What was hubby's plan anyway??? So it started. We made up...I apologized, we hugged and kissed and hugged some more. More tears were shed, happy ones this time...again in front of the little man. Who, BTW, must have thought someone stole his parents and replaced them with aliens! In any case, the next thing we knew, our 2 recliners were down at the road with a free sign on them and 1/2 hr later they were gone! So we hauled everything else out. All the furniture, except for the rest of our sectional, ended up down at the road and we sold it all!!! In 4 hours the garage was emptied, cleaned and organized! Plus we made $$$$. We ended up selling: king bed with brass headboard, mattress & box springs, queen fouton, mattress & cover, poker table, 3 pc maple living room set (sleeper sofa, rocker and chair), and office chair. Tonight the woman who bought the bed is picking up our second fridge and chest freezer. Can you believe it?? We were absolutely psyched! When Dad came home from work he was simply stunned. Relieved, happy, excited and just plain stunned. That made it all worthwhile. So a day that started out really shitty ended up being one of the best days we've had here at the old homestead since we moved in. Go figure.

I hear my little monkey waking up. Must retrieve him before his lungs kick in!

Later for now...pictures to follow soon!
Happy September!