Saturday night

It's pouring tonight.. has been a bit gloomy outside all day actually. The ball game might just happen yet though..



I have to say that I think I might just be scarved out by now.. blue scarves for the children are on the sofa, along with a red scarf, and a couple of scarves I've made for my two girls.....



Also got some dishcloths done.. although I am thinking of making some soap and giving the two items together as Christmas gifts...



I think the camera is just about fixed now.. which is good.. I'll try and take some pictures tomorrow (or later tonight even) and I can do a "show and tell post" ...



Couldn't resist putting the pigs up at the top of the page... I just love pigs. I wish I had lots of know how about designing web pages though... maybe it'll come if I keep on trying, huh?



:o)

Still around...

Hi ... I'm back. Still in the land of the living.
And so is my daughter. :o) She's well on the mend now.. the stitches have been removed, and although she is still non weight bearing, it should only be a few more weeks until she's able to get around without the crutches.

Been busy while I took my internet break ..(I just wasn't really feeling 'it' lately, so that's why I decided to take a break from the computer a bit).. done a lot of knitting, a fair bit of reading.. have been bringing some plants indoors now, and preparing for the colder weather. Oh, and I managed to fix my camera, so there will be pictures again!

One thing I have discovered is these white chocolate chips. I have always had a love affair with white chocolate.. I don't remember if I have mentioned it before, but I am English, and just adore "Milky Bars" .. go here to see what I'm talking about ... and anyway, these chips, if you just let them melt away in your mouth, are the nearest things to heaven for me! Not so good for the hips, but wonderful for the psyche! lol

In other news.. this was my favourite haunt on laundry day.. just start the wash going at the laundromat, and then cross the road to get a wonderful cup of coffee... or a smoothie on hot summer days..
Indoors, you could sit and play checkers, or read.. or just sit...

But.. when I went to do my usual coffee run last weekend, the coffee shop was closed. It has changed hands, and I'll have to wait until this coming Saturday for it to reopen, with a new name... but I hope it'll basically stay the same...

Anyway, I'm done for this evening.. hoping that you are well, and I'll be around more, I promise!

Surgery Day

Yes.. that daughter of mine had screws and pins put in today.

/sigh

She's come through ok... the doctor says she must take it real easy for the next couple of days, but he also says that she can go back to school on Thursday.

I'm still camera less... booooo......

So I haven't anything to show you really.

But... even so, I've been busy with the knitting. Even more busy than usual with it the last couple of days, as I took a two day vacation from work. ( Well, even if you're 40-something, you can still act a little bit like a kid, and take time off for your birthday, huh?) I'm working happily along on the scarves, and I got to take a little trip to my local yarn store, and bought some GORGEOUS sock yarn, so I have my first ever pair of socks on the needles too. I love the challenge!

Oh yes.. and do you remember that the store had their "knitting olympics" challenge? Well, when I went in, I took the scarves I made while the olympics were on, and I got a prize! A nice pair of stitching scissors. I didn't expect that!

On the family front, my daughter fell last week whilst playing kick ball with her friends, and now has a broken ankle. Today, she saw an orthopaedic surgeon, and had a CT scan done.. if the ligament has shifted too much, we're looking at surgery, I'm afraid.

Let's hope things aren't that bad....

Anyway, that's all for today.. I must go and get my lunch bag ready for tomorrow.

A beautiful Labor Day

Now, first of all, I have to say that I did not take these photos, because my poor little camera has died. But nonetheless, this is where The Man In My Life (TMIML) and I spent our Labor Day.

He has a sailboat - a sloop - here, and we were out on the water. It isn't a big boat... as TMIML told me - "It's a tad on the old and ugly side, just like the owner" ! I just shake my head at him when he says that.. I don't consider him ugly or old at all.. and I don't even think the boat is ugly! :o)
It was just such a beautiful day... the sun shone.... the breeze - umm... breezed... and we floated along so happily. Not always needing to talk to each other.. but just basking together in each others' company, and in the warm weather.

Just a totally perfect day.

Now, though, it's time to get ready for reality to hit in the morning.. /sigh

Animal Friends

Funny how the world works, isn't it?

I sat here last night, clicking away, trying to get a half way near decent picture of the goldfish who lives with me! :o) I'd already had the idea that I would do a post about animals, see...

And then, today, before I posted, I went over to visit Michelle's blog, and she has a lovely picture of her Trinity posted...

Anyway... this is about as good a picture of Mr. Chips as we are ever going to get... he was given to me by my neighbour's little 4th Grader daughter, who had won him at a fair.

And he's doing well... has grown a bunch since June too.

My landlord will not allow any other animals, other than my Mr Chips, but one day I hope to have a place where dogs, cats, fish and birds will all be welcome

I know these next two pictures are pretty bad - they're pictures of pictures actually. But I wanted to try and show some of my other animal friends... this is Nikki, with my daughter ..

She was a lovely girl... she'd been rescued from an animal shelter, and then her owner died, so she came to us. Oh, she was gorgeous. Sadly she developed cancer, and passed away in 2001. But, you know, for days afterwards, I thought she was with me.. I'd "feel" her lying across my feet in the evening, which is what she'd always do.. and then I'd feel her hop up onto the sofa, and lie her head in my lap...

And this is really a pitiful picture.. but my little cat. Oh, she was a treasure too. She lived such a long life.. and again, after she passed I felt her around...

She was very spoiled... loved to have her turkey dinner at Christmas... got lots of special treatment when she and I both flew over to the USA from England .. loved to drink cooled Bovril from a saucer, but hated milk and cream.. and I'm sure that she had a "mum radar" in her head, because she'd just seem to sense when I was arriving home from work, and would just appear in the parking lot, and hop into my basket, so she could have a "ride" back up to our home..

Really, I've been pretty blessed to have such loving and lovely animals enter into my life...

I love the thought that they are waiting for me to get to the Rainbow Bridge one day...

Kids' first day back at school today... I felt a bit sad about it in some ways.. another summer gone by already.... and so much not done. /sigh
They seem glad to be back though, and Number One daughter is already into volleyball practice... tomorrow I will need to pick her up at 5.. I had thought about going to watch, but she says she'd be mortified.. "I'd just DIE, mum" ... so I'll take along my knitting and sit in the parking lot probably!

Just a short little post today... nothing deep... some blogs are much more in depth than this one... I just don't feel ready to share the deep "stuff" yet... there's plenty of it though.
And anyway... the little men inside my head are too busy with the hammers pounding on the backside of my right eye, for me to think of typing for too much longer...

A Sunday Morning Project

Shelf making.. and arranging!

Remember that bookcase which collapsed the other week? Well, I cut down a couple of the shelves and fiitted them on the ledge above where I hang coats here... the ledge was just BEGGING for some wood to hold up.. honest! lol

I'm very pleased with the little extra storage space... behind the plant I have a sturdy cardboard box which is holding things (books..gifts to give.. things to sell) and on top of that is a plastic storage box with a variety of completed knitted items in it.. they will be for gifts, or selling, or for charity giving or whatever too. To the right, behind the plant is another plastic box, with plant pots and other gardening stuff..

And the plant? Well, I don't usually go for artificial plants, but I was given this one by my neighbour one night last week, and it does a pretty good job at "hiding" the boxes, don't you think?

(Getting through) Inspection Day 2008

Another week gone by... another Saturday to... umm... enjoy! Well, as much as you can enjoy spending 3 hours sitting in your local mechanics office, while your car is being worked on anyway! This was my view for the morning.....

and what did I do to kill time? You got it.. I took along one of my crochet projects.. the sunglasses were a necessity, even indoors... as the sun was bright, and hot.. and there are lots of big windows ... and well, another reason is that I had the worst allergy eyes this morning, so darkened glasses helped just soooooooo much....
And I thought I'd throw this picture of my foot in for a giggle! See the pedometer? At work they are doing the 10,000 step challenge, so that's why I'm wearing it... but I just can't get anything to pick up on it if I clip it to my waistband, so that's why I shoved it on my shoe. But you wouldn't believe the number of people who have asked me if it's one of those electronic devices - you know, the type they use on people on house arrest. lol Oh well.....
it's all worth it, just to have these lovely stickers on my windscreen now! Hallelujah... the car is good for another year!!!!!!! :o)
(By the way.. all the bloodwork came back just fine and dandy.. so there is another reason why I'm not feeling so good.. and I'm starting to wonder if it isn't just a degree of stress... )

Saturday! Glorious, wonderful Saturday! Can I say that I am not missing this place at all? :o) My job is okay...don't get me wrong...but man oh man...do I just love the weekend.. or WHAT!!!!!
It's a sprawling building... I walk from one end of it to the other end of it many times during the day... so being at home, here in this little house, is just wonderful.

Anyway, today I got my blood work done, did grocery shopping, and laundry....and got my car inspected. Poor baby is going to have to have some work done to get through the test.. but that's okay... next Saturday that'll happen. Unfortunately, I'll have to have the car there early in the morning, so the lie in will not be happening..but there's always the luxury of an afternoon nap on a day off, huh?

I finished reading The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood today... fabulous book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. In some ways I could relate to Mary....no, I haven't had any of my children die..but ... well, it's a really long story, which will wait till another day.....

What I have to look forward to on Saturday

Blood work.

I just can't deny it any longer... I'm not feeling well.

So, so so tired... heavy..tonight just a tad bit nauseated.

And so, the doctor has said I must have fasting blood tests taken on Saturday morning.

There's just a little bit of anxiety associated with this for me... but then on the other hand, if there is something very wrong, at least we will know...

What's been on the needles... and why!

Well, the projects I'm working on may not be massively challenging, but they are for a good cause. The local Child Advocacy Center holds a blue scarf drive each year, and the scarves are given to children who have been abused. Actually, if there is just one child in a school classroom, who has suffered in that way, all of the kids in that class will receive a scarf, so that no one is singled out, you know?
So... I already had this one finished... it was made using Lion Brand's Fun Fur.. just basic garter stitch, but the furry texture makes it look a lot more luxurious!


This is another Lion Brand yarn.. called Incredible. It's making an interesting scarf.. sorta stretchy... But I don't think I shall knit with ribbon again..it twists and tangles a little too easily for my liking. My LYS is taking part in the Olympic Knitting Competition! And so this one was cast on during the Opening Ceremonies last Friday night.. half way through it now...it'll be quite long, and there will be tassles.. and I have enough actually to make two of them.
And this one began life yesterday.. it's Bernat Soft and Chunky, and I'm just following the pattern on the ball label, for the diagonal scarf.

I do love my knitting... there's so much going on in life which is unpleasant and somewhat stressfull.. stuff which I may write about at a later point.. but the shakiness I find my hands suffering from at times eases so much when I have needles in my hand.....

Well, this post may give good evidence as to why housework should be abolished, and also as to why cheap bookshelves, which you put together yourself, should also be abolished! lol
I had decided to move this shelf.. and look what happened. And moving the shelf happened because I dusted, and had a "brilliant idea". Oh dear, me and my brilliant ideas. /sigh Of course, I'd taken the books off, but as I was putting them back on, the collapse happened.
grrrr

So, I got the hammer out, and the screwdriver, and I thought we were back in business.

Except that the darned thing collapsed again as I put the books back on.. leaving me with this awful mess.

And well, a girl can't live with piles of books all around, huh? So.. off to walmart with me, and for just over $20, I got a new shelf. A different design, but it works..
And this is what I have now...
The wires at the bottom are currently connected to this computer, and thankfully the mess is gone... :o)

Well, this is the start of a new project for me. A new blog.

I've no idea really how often I will write here.. or even if I'll keep it going for any length of time, but I hope that someone might come by and read and comment sometimes. It would be nice to feel that I'm not talking to myself. :o)

It's late. I've been knitting, and doing some odd things around the house. But now I think it's time for bed.