Chores

Today we are sanding down the deck, and re-staining it. Cannot be put off any longer, or the boards will warp during next seasons deluge of snow. The dogs are helping.
Yesterday we went and saw that new Harry Potter, which was wonderful. I am actually reading the book this time. While we were on our extended road trip, we listened to Book Five in the series, and realized that you miss SO MUCH if you do not read the book.

My sweater is coming along nicely. I remembered how to the increases, and last night i did one more buttonhole (the last one for the sweater) and i did it correctly! SO hard to get back into the pattern after setting it down for months on end. I will try not to that again! yeah right!

OK...i am cardboard, and this update is putting me to sleep!

Poor Henry Hooty

Today Henry and i were swimming in the pool, and he got stung by a bee. He was so upset, he left his toy floating in the deep end, and swam over to me. He was shaking, and hurting. The bugger got him on his lower lip. I ran inside to get a benadryl, as he is allergic to bees. Looks like it is keeping the swelling down, and Henry is now resting comfortably, under the Husbands sweatshirt. Poor Henry, he is such a sensitive, sweet sweet dog. He runs (or paddles) over to me for comfort whenever he gets hurt. He just needs a quick reassuring hug, and a smooch on the snout, and off he goes...all better.

I picked up my Feb Lady Sweater today and started working on it. I think this is the first time i have touched it since March? Big mistake, as i totally forgot how i was making the increases. I think i have it figured out though, although it took a bit of work. I am sure it is going to look a bit wonky in a few places, but whatever...it is homemade, and not supposed to be perfect, right? We'll see how badly it bothers me, once i get a few more rows worked into it.
The yarn i am using is Ultra Alpaca, Pea Soup Mix. I bought this yarn a few years ago, with the intent of knitting it into the Celtic Cardigan by Oat Couture. I LOVE this sweater. My Aunt knit it, and i COVET it.....but wow, i hated working that pattern. It is all twists, and they take FOREVER to manipulate, and although i had the back of the thing almost done, i knew i would NEVER finish it, because i HATED working on it. It does not matter how much you will love the finished product, if it sits in your knitting bag for a one year untouched because you hate working it THAT MUCH, you should just rip the thing out, and find a new pattern. So i did. And then a little while ago i saw a pic of my aunt wearing her sweater, and i wanted to cry. I still have part of it unfrogged. One day i will get the nerve to frog the rest of it...probably soon, because the skein i am using is just about gone.

Ok G, i hear ya!!

That break lasted longer than i intended it to. Everyone says that though, and then we feel the urge to explain why the absence. Well, i am lazy. That is pretty much all there is to it. That, and The Husband came home from Iraq, so my computer time dwindled a bit, and school was REALLY REALLY hard spring quarter, and my brain was totally fried ALL the time.
Now we are back from our month-long drive cross country. Went to Seattle to see the whole fam, and to Colorado to see the rest of the fam, and then home.

Slowly but surely getting life back in order, and trying to keep the house from imploding, or exploding, or being completely consumed by cobwebs. It kind of started to happen (the cobwebs) when we were away for a month. Ewww.

The garden is intact again finally. The flower garden went totally feral while we were away. My poor flowers were just attacked by vermin and weeds. We have since cleared the weeds, and Fred is slowly but surely clearing the vermin.

We will have some veg any day now, and thanks to Fred and his vermin-clearing mission, i have fresh "cut" flowers on the table in the dining room. Pulled out from the root. How does a dog with no opposable thumbs manage that? He is good, let me tell you.

Have been watching repeats of Meerkat Manor in the house this past week. How did we miss it before? Oh yeah...that pesky war. Anyways, that and Le Tour have us glued to the tv in the evenings. We are LOVING having Lance in it again this year. It has just been a thrill to watch the machine in action, once again. He is kicking ass. Looks like Contador is going to win it all...and THAT is thrilling to watch, too!! The best part though? That 25 year olds biggest competition is 37 years old!! I freaking LOVE that!!!

I have been on a knitting hiaitus since The man returned home. Again, laziness/brainfry. Today i went in seach of my WIP (yeah right, like there is only ONE wip), Feb Lady Sweater, and pitched a complete FIT (thankfully husband was at work, but let me tell you, the Vizslas stayed clear the frick out of my way...poor things) when i could not find it ANYWHERE. Seriously, where the HECK did my husband stick my knitting? Doesn't he KNOW he is not allowed to TOUCH IT???? After tearing the house clean apart for the better part of an hour, i decided to look into last winters purse. There it was. WHY DID HE PUT IT IN THERE?????
Oh...maybe i did.
Whatevs.....

One of these days i will update a little!

I keep putting off writing on the blog, simply because i feel like i am in such a hurry to get off the computer all of a sudden! Why? Well, my soldier is home from the war!!!! WOOOOWHOOOOO! Let me tell you, there is NO better feeling than getting the one you love the most home, and out of a hot, sweaty, stinky, bomby, all-around sheisse-hole of a place.

J is slowly re-claiming the house a bit. Poor guy, he only lived in this house for four months before he shipped out. I do not have to tell you how nice it is to have my personal lawn mower home again. You can refer back to pics from last summer, of that beeeyotch of a lawn mower. yesterday we were at Ace, and i was eyeing the new beauties. The one that really caught my eye had a "key-start". last years pull-cord on the mower almost made me chuck the thing into the pool. but that would have gotten the water all oily and gassy.

Ok...time to skedaddle. I have a Basic Wireworking class today at the local bead shop.
Will try and post some pics soon, Miss G.

spring is here!

Well, the long winter is over. It is officially spring! I know, we will probably get more snow, but it is NO LONGER winter, and that makes me VERY happy! After living in southern regions of the US for the past 8 years, i had forgotten how much i enjoyed four seasons, and the anticipation of them all. Spring has always been a favorite of mine, and the only thing i find myself REALLY missing is having any crocus or other spring bulbs planted. I forgot to order mine last fall. that will not happen this year...i will get my catalog from Roozengaarde soon, and will place my order NOW! they will ship according to the planting schedule for my zone.

I just bought some new fabric for curtains, and will post pics as soon as i get them up. JoAnn's has some cute new stuff, and i was happy to see that all patterns were $1.99 over the weekend.

I am still not totally ok with the BSG ending. I thought i was, i was happy with how everyones storyline was tied up, but the more i think about the ending with Apollo and Starbuck, the more annoyed i get. it is like they could not think of anything, so they just went with a half-arsed easy ending.

I just finished an AMAZING book, Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian. The story of an aristocratic German family in the last days of WWII, and their journey to the west, along with a POW, and jewish man. I have not read a book this good in a VERY long time, and it was a welcome change from some of the mind-numbing reading i have subjected myself to lately!

Such a bad blogger!

Oh boy...the longer you go without posting, the harder it is to get back to it. And then there is the pressure that Miss G puts on me to post pics! well...i am going to be lazy and not post a pic for this post. But, i will try and get some downloaded tomorrow of all the SNOW GEESE that have been migrating north for the past two weeks. It has been awesome to see them. The best thing they signify? the passing of winter!

Tonite is the final episode of BSG. Boo Hoo! Hoping for a final, wonderful Apollo-Starbuck moment.

Fun Stuff!

I got a fun package in the mail from Miss Gaylen while Jason was home on leave. She sent me two pairs of jammies, a book, a fun knitting mag, candy (for Jason...she knows he is a candy freak!), and the BEST mug. The mug is from Waechtersbach, which is a German company. We lived about an hour from their factory when we were there, and i went as often as i could, and stocked up! I knew the mug was from there before i even flipped it over and saw the distinctive Waechtersbach stamp! Thanks G, i love it all!!