I haven’t shown you this in a while–the white lining to my nameless MV Fiber Farm knitted object. I’m knitting it in Sublime yarn, you’ll remember. It’s white, even though the picture is yellowish. (I swear, I TRIED to adjust the white balance on my camera but it kept giving me “cannot record settings” error messages, so I adjusted it as best I could in Photoshop.)

The Sublime yarn, I’ve got to tell you, is one of the softest, smoothest, prettiest yarns I’ve worked with in ages, and I’m thrilled with the resulting fabric. BUT, it is also one of the “splittiest” yarns I’ve ever used. It’s made of up lots of tiny little plies of yarn (I didn’t count), and it splits really easily. Which is the main reason that I’m using it for this rather than some elaborate, cabled sweater like I originally planned. When I tried a swatch, it did NOT like doing cables, and we agreed that it was better for both of us to use it for something else. This stitch pattern is a great compromise because it’s got interesting texture and shows off the smooth, silky lustrous qualities of the yarn without ever having to knit anything out of sequence.

Ooh, and did you hear? J.K. Rowling announced the publication of Beedle the Bard in December. This is the book of short stories she auctioned off earlier this year for a massive amount of money for charity, and this release isn’t any difference–all the proceeds of the sales will be going to the Children’s High Level Group (a British charity). There are two editions, too, the one for normal people like you and me, and one lush, collectible copy for the really serious collectors. They both look great–go take a look! How can you not love a book of Potter-universe fairy tales with Dumbledore’s marginalia?

Which reminds me, it’s been a while since I read the Harry Potter books….

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:White // 4 Comments »

So, it’s been two years since I got my MP3 player–first a SanDisk, quickly followed by an 8MB Creative Zen Micro Photo, which I love and have been using ever since. And in that time I’ve primarily listened to it in the car.

As a rule, I hate wearing headphones and while I can deal with them if I have to, I detest the ear-bud style headsets. They never stay put in my ears and I find them uncomfortable, so I’m never tempted to  just bop around in my own little musical cloud, wearing my MP3 player. If I’m sitting in front of the computer, of course, I can just listen to the music ON the computer, and so my MP3 player primarily gets used in the car.

Of course, my 6.5-year old Volvo doesn’t have a built-in jack for MP3 players, but it does have a cassette player. So for the last two years, I’ve used a $10 cassette-player adapter to hook up the player, draped the player’s attached armband over the gearshift to keep it from flying to the floor, and off we’ve gone.

Right up until a week or so ago when I realized how much damage I’d caused to the earjack connector from two years’ worth of connecting and disconnecting the player. Suddenly, I could only hear music out of one speaker, which got rather disconcerting. So, I bought a replacement.

Yes, yes, it was extravagant of me–another ten dollars–but you know me! I bought the exact same brand, and when it arrived from Amazon, I cut it out of its packaging (always fun) which I threw away, and put the adapter in the car, waiting for the next morning’s drive to work.

And, it didn’t work.

Don’t ask me why, when the two adapters are identical in every way, but one plays perfectly well in my tape deck and the other is consistently kicked out. And, naturally, I didn’t notice the problem until the next day’s drive to work, by which time the garbage had been picked up so that I didn’t have the original packaging anymore. Which means I can’t return it to Amazon. Nor do I have the name or contact information of the manufacturer. So I’m left with one that has a body that works, but frayed wiring, and one that has perfect wiring but a faulty body–and no skills to try to perform surgery on them to bring the two good parts together.

I’m not feeling particularly inclined to try buying another one, again–I figure I’ve got a 50/50 chance of it NOT working either. Sure, it’s only $10, but I’ve already said money is kind of tight around here. It’s not a sum I’m torn up about, but still, I’d rather not be wasting any money at the moment!

In the meantime, my several-hundred-dollar player just sits on the corner of my desk with nothing to do, while I try to make do with the radio and the CD player.

After two years of being able to shuffle through 2000+ songs, I’ve got to tell you, a CD with 12 tracks or music interspersed with chatter and lots (and lots!) of commercials is simply NOT satisfying!

Now, the other alternative. I had–two years ago–bought one of the wireless FM adapters so that you can play your MP3s through the radio, but it had something like 12 pre-programmed stations to choose from and here, 35 miles from New York City, there was only one that wasn’t already being used by a real radio station, and even it had a near-neighbor causing interference. So I gave up on that idea pretty quickly. I’d try it again, on the off-chance it would work better now, but I can’t find it. I know I carefully stored it someplace “safe” (with its list of available radio stations, without which it would be completely useless), but I also tried lending it to my Dad at some point. If he was the last one to have it, it’s gone–no doubt thrown out along with the iPod Nano he had on his desk that he never used and so just discarded last time he cleaned his office. (I know!)

Which leaves me with a couple options–buy another cassette adapter, maybe from a different manufacturer this time. Try to find a FM adapter that has more open stations and will work, without being too expensive. Although I’ll just add that that’s problematic anyway, because right now, my cigarette lighter is being used by the charger for the Creative Zen–it only lasts about an hour and a half on its own. If I need to use that plug for an FM adapter, there won’t be anyway to keep the player charged.

Or, I can just suck it up and deal with CDs and radios for the next however-many-years before I can afford a new car that has a built-in MP3 connection. (Yeah, I’m not crazy about that option, either!)

As you can imagine, Chappy is just FULL of sympathy for my dilemma. Although, his grandparents told me that he threw up this afternoon while I was at work, so maybe he wasn’t feeling overly sympathetic to anything? He was chasing toys around the dining room at 4:30, though, so I don’t think he’s bothered any more. (I think he brought it on himself, too, by eating grass on our quick walk at lunch. You know how dogs are–they throw up what was bothering them, and are fine. They don’t seem to have the problem with lingering nausea that we do.)

He DOES, however, recommend you head over to his virtual-friend’s blog and watch the video of 10-week old Fenway playing with his first Greenie, trying to decide if it’s food or not. It’s really very sweet–especially if you’ve ever had a puppy.

Also, Technorati–the tech-site that tracks blogging trends, among other things–has a blogging survey to test what people are using their blogs for these days. If you’ve got 10-15 minutes to spare, why don’t you lend them a hand with their statistics.

• Tags: General • Permalink:I Miss My MP3 Player // 6 Comments »

Well, there’s no question that wrenching money problems stink–not least of which because I just saw the Rowan 44: 30th anniversary preview and it looks just lovely–but at least the knitting moves on.

Susan’s socks, of course, are showing the most progress. In fact, I’m just about ready to start the ribbing for the top of the leg. My general rule of thumb is that I like the leg to be about the same length as the foot, when folded in half at the heel–maybe a little longer–and these are just about two inches from the tip of the toe. Just the right amount of ribbing. I just did a cable row, so I’ll knit a few plain rows first, and then, the ribbing.

Which means, Susan, I’m going to need your snail mail address sometime soon. Unless, of course, you want to come pick them up in person? (Or, gee, delivering them in person sounds good, too, but, well…)

And, don’t they kind of look like bunny ears? You know, Paprika-colored bunny ears?

Somehow, taking pictures of Chappy in his crate seems to be happening a lot lately!

And, thanks for all your kind words. We are scared but trying to come up with new (any!) streams of income, and will gratefully take all the good vibes we can get!

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Okay, and I have another affiliate link for you to look at. This one is for Blog Mastermind, another course that I took, learned a lot from, and then failed to carry through on (grin). Apparently, actually monetizing is my weak point. (Though, lordy, do I hate the verb “monetize.” Maybe that’s the problem?)Actually, I DID learn a lot from Blog Mastermind. The whole idea is to learn how to make your blog strong, attract a readership, and then, yes, to make money from it. I definitely learned useful things, even if I didn’t take those last few steps to “monetize.” Of course, a lot of knitting bloggers frown on that kind of thing, and I don’t want to alienate any of you, either, so I’ve been reluctant anyway. Hence the reason I haven’t pointed out this program to you earlier.Well, that, and because they had actually shut the doors to new members right around the time I joined. It just reopened today, though, so if you ARE interested in trying to make some money by blogging–go take a look.

(And, I know, that’s two affiliate programs I’ve mentioned, two days in a row. I really do promise not to make a habit of it, but honestly, they were both time-sensitive. Yesterday’s program is closing in a couple days, and today’s just reopened for the first time since January. I had to!)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Bunny Ears // 3 Comments »

I’m feeling kind of down tonight. I don’t want to go into all sorts of gruesome detail, but it boils down to the bad, scary money problems and the fact that, right now, today, my Dad has lost his focus. I’m hoping it’s just a temporary thing because he’s feeling overwhelmed (as are we all), but I’m so used to seeing him on top of things. Seeing him scattered and worried is NOT a reassuring thing. Most days, my inborn optimism pops out over the top of this and lets me focus on things getting better, but today isn’t one of those days. Having Dad’s retirement pretty much disappear a few years ago has not been a helpful thing, you know? Nor is having two mortgages on the house. As in, about the only income right now is mine (relatively paltry) and Social Security which are nowhere near enough to meet the bills, and my savings isn’t going to last forever.

But it’s seeing Dad floundering that has me most worried–not so much because of the finances but because it’s making me worry about HIM. And Mom, who mirrors the mental state of pretty much everyone around her. And this kind of stress is not good for my parents! They’re getting older, and they don’t bounce back from this kind of think like they did when they were younger, and it’s just so not fair that the economy tanked and did this to them. There were some bad decisions in there, too, but basically, if the economy hadn’t started to collapse around 2001, things would be better, and I hate seeing this happen to my parents. Stress like this is NOT healthy. (For me, either, of course, but I’m younger, right?)

Like I said, it’s capital-S-Scary, and this is more information than I usually put out there, but tonight I feel like sharing.

Thank heaven for my Happy Chappy who continually spread smiles around.

And I’m sure my mood will be better tomorrow.

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Oh, and one link–One of the things I’ve been thinking about trying to do (you remember my survey?) is to set up a teaching site for knitting. I’ve completely bogged down in the technical details, but the Teaching Sells course I’ve been using–which is fantastic–is closing its doors on the 31st. They won’t be letting in new members for months, and when they restart, the price will have gone up. So. Even though I allowed myself to get sidetracked by the whole setting-up-a-website process, I have to tell you, there is a LOT of really great information in this program. I’ve been entirely impressed with everything and I’ve learned a lot (even if I didn’t get it put into action quickly enough).I’m telling YOU, though, because, on the off-chance you’re in anything like the same financial boat, or if you’ve got an idea in your head about trying to make money from the internet, the Teaching Sells program is really great. And because I’ve been lazy about telling you about it because I’ve been trying not to get all “We’re trying to make money” here on Chappysmom, now that I’m telling you, you’ve only got a couple days to go look. Even though I’ve completely NOT managed to get my learn-to-knit site up and running through sheer inertia, I consider it to have been entirely worth my money. (And, yes, that’s an affiliate link there–so if you ARE interested and you’re thinking about signing up–there is a money-back guarantee–please use my link.)And, um, yeah, please don’t take it the wrong way if I put some ads on the blog sometime soon–anything to get some money coming this way! Please don’t hate me for that… (grin), or for occasionally throwing out an affiliate link to something I think you might find interesting. Literally, every dollar counts right now.

And did I mention that I upgraded my Cafe Press shop? Technically, I have two–the original, free-but-limited shop, and the new, upgraded shop that allows more than one of each kind of product.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Sigh // 9 Comments »

Poor Chappy–look at those wide eyes!  We had a big thunderstorm this afternoon which he did NOT enjoy. In fact, at one point, he was huddled in the upstairs hallway (no windows, you know), and my Dad stretched out on the floor next to him to comfort him. Wasn’t that nice of him?

But, to add insult to injury, in addition to Mother Nature’s bombardment this afternoon (though thankfully not as bad as the one Anne got), tonight there are fireworks. More booming! So unfair.

My socks are coming along nicely, though. I’d say the legs are about halfway done. It’s really not that long before Susan’s going to get her socks!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Thunder! // 6 Comments »

There’s nothing like going out for coffee on a Saturday morning, huh?

  If only Grandma would share her muffin…

Ah well, at least there are interesting things to look at.

• Tags: Chappy, General • Permalink:Coffee // 5 Comments »

Okay, I don’t usually do memes, but this one from Kim sounded like fun, sort of. The problem is that, while I went through high school (class of 1985) and college (class of 1989) in the 1980s, I was completely UNinterested in more or less anything that was going on in terms of popular culture. The summer before eight grade, my best friend got me hooked on the Beatles, and we spent most of our high school years obsessively listening to the sounds of the 1960s. My best friend was also naturally tall, thin and blond, so I felt short and dumpy next to her (not her fault), so I didn’t care much what I looked like, either.

So, you know, these answers could be kind of boring…

Here are the questions:

1. Preppy or Rocker: This question implies that I cared enough about fashion to do one of the other, but really, not so much. I spent most of the 80s wearing jeans with a button-down shirt over the top. So, I guess I leaned more toward preppy.

2. Cavarricis or Guess Jeans and Espirit or Benetton? I honestly have no idea, but we didn’t “do” designer jeans–too expensive. ($50 for jeans?? Horrors!)

2. Favorite songs of the 80s: This is truly sad, but I spent most of the 80s listening to the Beatles, and when I wasn’t listening to them or some of their 60s cohorts, I was listening to Mozart or Bach. But, let’s see, Paul Simon’s Graceland was fantastic.

3. Most Annoying Pop songs of the 80s: I have absolutely no answer for this question. Was Whitney Houston doing her diva thing in the 80s?

4. Hair Metal or Heavy Metal Who was your favorite performer and favorite song?: Again, I was listening to the Beatles… although I thought Sting was pretty cool.

5. What posters were on your bedroom wall or college dorm room? Um, the Beatles. (Saw that coming, didn’t you?) The requisite Monet. A beach picture I took that we had blown up to a poster. And, mmm, a great ice cream poster from Mad Martha’s ice cream parlor.

6. What concerts do you remember most from the 80s? You can probably already imagine that I didn’t go to any of the “cool” concerts. Although I remember seeing Kenny Rogers. (Yes, I know. Exciting.) And the Monkees. Twice. When they did their reunion tour. Not to mention the Beatlefest and Beatlemania….

7. Favorite 80s movies: Back to the Future. War Games. Sixteen Candles. Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline. Amadeus. (I could probably fill this list out a LOT more if I gave it some real thought.)

8. Favorite 80s movie quotes: So many! Let me think…

9. Top 3 most memorable pop culture moments of the 80s for you: The Challenger explosion. John Lennon being killed. (Well, it hit the radar, anyway.) Glasnost.

10. Favorite 80s cartoon: Since I was a teenager for most of the 80s, not really relevant, unless you count the Yellow Submarine movie. Because, again, Beatles.

12. Boy George or Wham? Wham, I suppose, though the comma song wasn’t dreadful.

13. Favorite one-hit wonder: Again, I’m clueless.

14. INXS or Depeche Mode: Um, who?

15. Poison or Warrant: I don’t even understand this one!

16. Did you ever meet a rocker or 80’s pop icon? Where were you? I saw Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley together at a restaurant on MV before they were married, but that’s about it.

17. Snap bracelets or Jelly bracelets? Like Kim, I have no clue what these are.

18. Fess up. Who had the garden weasel bangs? Did you ever measure your wall o’ Aqua Net love?  I absolutely did NOT. I wore my hair long and pinned or twisted it back just about every day. You know, like Laura Holt on Remington Steele. Towards the end of the decade, I had long bangs brushed off to the side, but mostly, NO! You can’t blame the ozone problem on me. I’ve almost never used hairspray, even if I am from New Jersey.

19. Favorite 80s TV shows: Remington Steele was HUGE for me. I wanted to BE Laura Holt. The Wonder Years. L.A. Law.

20. Is Jon Bon Jovi still hot or what? Well, duh!

21. “Double Dare” or “You Can’t Do That on Television”? Neither, and I still don’t like “stupid” television.

22. Who was your favorite Brat Packer? Probably Rob Lowe. Thank heaven he redeemed his career as Sam Seaborne.

23. Jellies or Reebok Pumps: Neither, I preferred boots. You know, the flat, heel-less, slouch boots.

24. Favorite pizza parlor arcade game: None. I’m inept at video games.

• Tags: General • Permalink:The Teen Years // 7 Comments »

You can almost hear them pleading to be made into banana bread.

(Which they were! And it was delicious.)

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Bananas // 5 Comments »

My socks … er, I mean Susan’s socks … are coming along.

I mean, they’ve got heels and everything! And you know, for me, these socks are coming along lightning fast. Considering I only started them on the 14th.

Oh, and the color, for the record, is called “Smoked Paprika,” and the color really is just about the color of the paprika in your spice cupboard. Just in case the color on your monitor is different than mine.

Otherwise? Scary money things….

Which reminds me–I’ve upgraded my Cafe Press store.

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Paprika Heels // 3 Comments »

Ooh, not one, but two knitting magazine previews are up. The Fall Interweave Knits, and the Fall Vogue Knitting. I really like the Tweedy Vest in the IK, and surprisingly, the Whisper Stripe sweater–and Eunny’s Bias Stole is beautiful (like that’s a surprise?) The VK? Well, um, Jarod’s mittens are great, and one or two of the sweaters are interesting, but what on earth is going on with those socks? (Take a look at the page of previews–you’ll know right away which ones I mean!)

Added: Ooh, three! Savannahchick just put up the preview for the very first Knotions!

Okay, we’re in the middle of a big thunderstorm right now, so … this is it for me for now! I have to go comfort Chappy…

• Tags: General • Permalink:Previews // 10 Comments »

Don’t you hate it when you hit traffic on the way to work?

I had a nice surprise waiting when I got home, though–my order from Interweave Knit’s “Hurt” book sale. All of them, I might add, in apparently immaculate condition, though there aren’t any paper covers on any of them.

Otherwise? Hot. Sticky. I hope those geese were heading someplace cool.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Just … Tuesday // 7 Comments »

It’s Monday, so there’s really not that much to say–got up. Ate breakfast. Went to work. Took Chappy for a walk at lunch. Went back to work. Came home. Ate supper. Did some knitting. Did some reading.

But, this picture? A view of much of my day on Sunday–my favorite chair, a good book, some knitting, and Chappy, keeping an eye on things.

Really, it’s just better not to think about the Monday thing.

(And yes, I WAS reading and knitting at the same time, just like I told you yesterday!)

• Tags: General • Permalink:Let’s Not Think About It // 6 Comments »

I so wish I had more exciting things to show you.

I have been knitting. In fact, for the last couple of days, I’ve been carrying Susan’s socks around the house with me–making my Dad shake his head every time he walks by and sees me knitting while reading.

Although, that only works when reading something that more or less stays open by itself, since I am totally adverse to anything that will crack the binding of one of my books. I’m, well, not actually obsessive, but very concerned about keeping my books as unmarred as possible. Obviously, you need to open a book to read it, but you shouldn’t open it so far that it causes damage. Having the spine cracked open bothers me; the very sound of it makes me wince. And when I read (which you know I do a lot), I never open the book without supporting the spine. Which means that, if I want to read while I’m knitting, it’s got to be a book that can stay open more or less on its own. Just about every one of those special book-holding, pillow/stand things I’ve ever seen requires the book to be pressed flat and held down at the corners. They are torture instruments; they are book equivalent of the Rack. Not something I’m willing to inflict on my poor, innocent books.

Anyway, I am making great progress on Susan’s socks. I have about one more inch before starting the heel. The stitch pattern (which is hard to see) matches the cable I’m using in that nameless Saffron project of mine. I thought the symmetry of using the same stitch for both projects using MV Fiber Farm yarn was kind of nice.

The yarn is really lovely.  SO soft. For those of you who have lost track, it’s 70% kid mohair and 30% cormo, making it ultra-soft and just a little fuzzy. And I love the colors–they’re “semi-solids” which is one of my favorite kinds of colors. Little variations, but it “scans” as a solid when you look at it.

The only thing I’m not crazy about is that–for the sock yarn in particular–I don’t think it’s very well plied. As in, it’s often barely plied at all. If I had realized how irregular it was, I could have actually run both skeins through my spinning wheel to make the twist a little tighter, but I didn’t think of it soon enough. The knitted fabric is fine, too–but the fact that there’s really not quite enough twist makes the two plies lie next to each other on my needles for every stitch, so it’s almost like knitting with two separate strands. That’s a little annoying on the cable rows because the plies don’t want to work together, but that’s okay. It’s still beautiful and soft and handgrown on Martha’s Vineyard.

Otherwise? I spent most of yesterday either reading or in front of the computer. The ongoing money crisis is still ongoing and yesterday was one of the bad days (sigh). My father is just not a salesman, and while it’s not strictly necessary for what he’s trying to do, it would be a help. And the company he’s working with has great products that we’re all impressed with–especially the new, Heartland Select drink which just blows us all away–so we all believe in what he’s trying to promote (both as items to sell himself and for other people to sell to make money for themselves, kind of like selling Avon, but better). But, while he’s great at getting things set up, he’s not good at the promotion part, and that’s where we’re running into trouble.

And even though I spent much of the day yesterday reading, at the moment, I’m “fictionless.” The only book I’ve got going is a non-fiction biography of the Beatles, Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America.  It’s actually more than just a biography–it’s almost a cultural analysis of their musical influences and their impact. It just seemed like a good “next” book after reading Girls Like Us, the biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. And, at least with the Beatles book, I know most of the songs being discussed!

It’s interesting (to me) how very auditorially suggestible I am, though. All I need to do is read the title or description of a song and, boom, it’s stuck in my head.  Every time I see Dream When You’re Feeling Blue on my bookcase, for example, the song jumps into my head. It’s a lovely song, but it’s particularly annoying because I don’t know all the words, and darn it, if I’m going to be humming something, I at least want to be able to follow the lyrics. And don’t get me started on that movie that just opened on Friday–whether you like ABBA or not, their music is addictive.

I just remembered that I wanted to make banana bread today. It’s 11:30 and already in the 80s and humid, so if I want to use the oven, I’d better do it NOW.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Knitting and Reading // 8 Comments »

Okay, folks–you’ve got until Sunday night at midnight to watch Dr. Horrible (without paying for it). There’s even a comic. Don’t miss it! The music is darn catchy, Neil Patrick Harris is awesome (and so are Nathan Fillon and Felicia Day), and I won’t give away the surprise, Joss Whedon-classic twist in Act III…

• Tags: General • Permalink:Dr Horrible // 5 Comments »

It’s for you!

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Brrrring! // 2 Comments »

Well, the socks are coming along, anyway…

Have you seen Dr. Horrible?? The first two installments are up! If you haven’t heard, it’s the video blog of a super-villain wanna-be, who secretly in love with a girl he sees at the laundromat. A brainchild of Joss Whedon to wile away the time during the writer’s strike. Neil Patrick Harris. Nathon Fillon. Felicia Day. It’s just wonderful, and I’m not the only one to think so. The first two episodes are up, and the third is due on the 19th, but you have to watch it before the 20th! Honestly, don’t miss it.

Speaking of funny, if you’re at all interested in properly written language, check out this article over at the Washington Post. I saw it over at Lori’s blog and was highly amused.

Do you know, I saw something miraculous today. One of the local gas stations? The price actually went down 4 whole cents per gallon. I didn’t think they were allowed to do that any more!

And is it any wonder that I can’t resist taking pictures of Chappy when he’s asleep? How can I resist that face?

Oops! He caught me!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Sleeping // 6 Comments »

Doesn’t this look cozy? My bedroom is in the back of the house, on northwest side, so I don’t get a whole lot of morning sun. This morning, while I was getting to work, I glanced over and … so pretty. I had to stop and take a picture.

Mom and I had Chinese food for supper, and our “thing” when we have more than two fortune cookies is for the third one to be Chappy’s. Well, this was HIS fortune tonight. How could a Mom not love that one?

Unfortunately (from his point of view), I followed this up by putting ear drops in his ears tonight. He’s been shaking his head more than usual, and while his ears look clean to me, I figured a few drops of ear-cleaner couldn’t hurt. He hates that, though–he sat nicely while I put them IN, but then for the next 20-25 minutes couldn’t settle anywhere, kept rubbing his head against the rug. Poor boy!

Otherwise? Quiet day.

Okay–going off to try to figure the ins and outs of Microsoft Office 2007 now…

• Tags: General • Permalink:Random // 3 Comments »

Here’s an update on my knitting project. The gold-orange yarn, you’ll remember, is the Kid Mohair/Cormo 70/30 blend from MV Fiber Farm. The white is the Sublime yarn from my stash. The white part is going slowly–it takes me about half an hour to knit two rows (the “there-and-back” kind of knitting)

Besides, it’s been three days since I mentioned the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. That won’t do!

Besides, right now I’m knitting TWO things out of MV Fiber Farm yarn. See? I finally got Susan’s foot measurements and was able to start her socks. (You remember, the ones she gave me yarn for in April, so I could make her a pair of socks from her own yarn?)

Otherwise, well, it’s been a Monday. Dad’s fighting a cold. It was raining when I got up, and I found a mouse dropping in Chappy’s food dish. (NOT something he wants for breakfast!) And, anyway, I’m tired. So, these couple pictures of knitting will just have to do (grin).

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:MV Knitting // 6 Comments »

As I told you yesterday, Kim came over for a couple hours of spinning this morning.

I started this bobbin almost exactly three months ago, so it’s really a good and helpful thing that she gave me an excuse to sit at my wheel and SPIN. I haven’t started spinning the second half of the roving yet, but, well, give me time. The roving, if you don’t remember, is a skein I got from the Sheep Shed at Rhinebeck last year–8 oz of merino wool and tussah silk. The color doesn’t have a name (that I know of), but I keep thinking about it as “Old Rose.” It comes out as almost a rosy-grey, very nice.

It was nice to have another knitter to show my current project to–and to get an informed opinion as to whether or not it’s likely to work as I hope. Unfortunately, of course, we both suffered from camnesia and forgot to take pictures. (For that matter, I completely forgot to ask if she got a new camera to replace the damaged one. So, um, Kim, did you?) I did, however, provide blueberry scones to go with the “Box o’Joe” she brought with her from Dunkin Donuts, so I didn’t completely fall down on my hostessing duties.

I spent most of the rest of the day reading. I finished The Mirror of Her Dreams and started A Man Rides Through, both of which I’ve had for years. In fact, they are a rarity in my library in that they make up a series that doesn’t “match.” I bought the first book in paperback and was so anxious to find out what happened next, I bought the sequel in hardcover.

I remember this quite clearly, in fact. It was my junior year in college when I really had no right spending $20 on a book, but the first one ended with such a cliffhanger, I just had to go and look at the bookstore to see if, by any chance, the sequel was out yet. (This was early 1988, before the internet.) I hopped in my little VW Golf and went to the nearest bookstore and almost jumped for joy when I saw this sitting on the shelf. I remember that my fingers almost tingled with anticipation while I paid, and I even stopped at a Dunkin Donuts on the way back to Drew to get a headstart. In fact, it was the end of the week, and I was heading home for the weekend, because I remember spending hours on the couch that afternoon, while Mom made lasagne in the kitchen … and then Dad getting home from work and coming in to say hello at one of the worst possible times, story-wise.

Now, as to why I picked up the book in the first place–well, there’s a story to that, too. I liked the cover (so much better than the current one, I think), but more importantly, the title reminded me of a line from one of my favorite books.

It turns out, there was a reason for that. Because the stanza from the song/poem it reminded me of is quoted right there on the title page.

I was pretty impressed, too, because John Myers Myers’ Silverlock isn’t exactly common reading. I’ve mentioned it before, back in 2005, but it made quite an impression on me back in high school, and it was definitely one of the books I brought with me to college. A completely unique book with an enormous cast of characters–just about anyone who lives in the canon of literature is either in there or could be in there. Of those who make an actual appearance? Just a few: Merlin, the Mad Hatter, Beowulf, Hester Prynne, Odin, Circe, Thomas Rhymer, Puck from Midsummer Night’s Dream, Robin Hood, Captain Ahab, Prometheus … the list goes on. It’s not always pleasant, mostly because A. Clarence Shandon is not always a pleasant character, but I’ve never found anything else that compared. And the writer? Well, one of the raves at the beginning of the book mentions that he must get “drunk on words” and it’s clearly true. At one point he describes a character’s infatuation with, “She fell for him like a ton of bricks through greased air.” Isn’t that perfect? Because, you know, a ton of bricks doesn’t fall quickly or hard enough on its own (grin).

Actually, I can’t recommend Silverlock highly enough, though I’ll grant that it’s not to every taste. How much do I like it? Well, over the years, I’ve bought three copies. Just in case! (A wise decision considering that I’m down to two copies because one was never returned.) So, anyway, even though I hadn’t liked Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series, when I realized that he was obviously a Silverlock fan too, well, I had to give it a chance. And, here it is, 21 years later and I’m still drawn to rereading the duology. That’s a sign of a good story in my book–even if they ARE in different sizes.

• Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:At Last, There Was Spinning // 7 Comments »

Okay, maybe I should rent Susan space on my blog, because lately I’ve been mentioning HER stuff almost more than my own! But, today? Oh, my, you MUST go watch this video. Trust  me. Go watch it.

No, seriously, I’ll wait. She had mentioned having the camera crew on the farm in May, the day Truman the lamb was born, in harrowing circumstances. The video is produced by Etsy and is just charming. It’s well put together, it’s got nice music. Watching the baby goats leaping around the barn is delightful, the scenery (being Martha’s Vineyard) is naturally wonderful, but the best part is listening to Susan talk about her flock–all that enthusiasm and happiness. And did I mention all those adorable sheep and goat faces? Really, Go Watch. (There are even more pictures which are adorable–even one of the chicken that freaked Chappy out. And this one makes me smile.)

Okay. Enough free advertising for one day (grin). (Seriously, I’m just so happy for her. And that video IS amazingly sweet.)

I’m kind of tired tonight. I put a full day in at work, and then came home and gave Chappy a bath, and then went downstairs to make dinner. But when I opened the pantry … pew! What a smell! I bent a little closer and saw the eye of a very-dead mouse in the trap on the floor. Poor thing. I thought I had smelled something yesterday, and Chappy certainly tried to tell us there was a problem, but we didn’t see the poor thing until today (and, really, I’m trying not to think about it). I, of course, immediately called Dad to come and take care of the trap because, well, that’s what Dad’s DO. Um. Let’s have a moment of silence for the poor, (very) dead mouse, shall we?

Luckily, I was in the kitchen to cook because that helped cover the smell. Chappy’s pot of food, first, then onions/celery/carrots for the leftover chicken dish for the three of us. And then biscuits and blueberry scones baking in the oven. All of which helped with the smell.

By the time I was through with all that, I was even more tired but–how could I have left any of them out? Especially the bath. Chappy really needed the bath because he finally made up for the disappointing weather for his birthday party last week and got his cousin in the backyard to play.

They had SO much fun!

Luckily, this was over my lunch break because I was HOME, so I grabbed my camera, added the telephoto lens and proceeded to take about 115 pictures.

Some of them, of course, are better than others, but my nephew was very patient about all the shutter-clicking. I even caught him smiling a few times. (grin) Did I mention that Chappy’s tail did not stop the entire time they were out there? Though towards the end, it was going about the same speed as his tongue.

Really, though, I’m not sure which of them was having a better time. My guess was that it was one of those even-steven kinds of things because they both sure looked like they were enjoying themselves.

I do need to figure out what my camera settings really should be for action shots, though. I got a lot of blurry-Chappy photos, but not quite so many freeze-action kinds of pictures as I would have liked.

And, of course, I DID have to go back to work … even if I was a little late.

Totally worth it.

Now, for tomorrow? Kim is coming over in the morning for a little bit of spinning–something we haven’t done since January. Considering that we’re only about 3 miles away from each other, and considering that we were originally trying to get together every other week … it seems time to end this 6 month hiatus, wouldn’t you agree? I’m looking forward to it–and so is my wheel! Despite my best efforts, it’s only spun for, what, 20 minutes since April, poor thing.

• Tags: Chappy, Eye-Candy Friday, Family, General, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Squirrel // 5 Comments »

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Fir Bud // 2 Comments »

Well, who knew that I was so darn stylish? One of the “hot” items of the summer (according to Vineyard Style Magazine) just happens to be in my closet! A MV Fiber Farm t-shirt. Susan really IS taking over the world. That’s two magazines this week.

Good thing I put my hair in a braid today, then, huh?

Though, really, it wasn’t hot today. It was about 85-88 and, for a wonder, no humidity. Summer’s still not my favorite season, but this weather I can handle.

I’ve gotten distracted by watching old episodes of Fame over on Hulu. That site, I tell you, is addictive! So many good (and some not so good) tv shows that I haven’t seen in ages. Fame stands up pretty well, too–I remember loving it when I was in high school–but I gave the pilot of “One Day at a Time” a shot the other day and all of Julie’s yelling about “poor, misunderstood, teenage me” got on my nerves. “Mary Tyler Moore” is always good, though. And “Firefly.” And…

Speaking of television, did you know, Burn Notice is back for its second season tonight?

• Tags: General, Hair • Permalink:Hot // 5 Comments »

Well, it’s been a while since I got to show a picture like this–new yarn!

I liked my finished string bag so much that I decided to make more, and then I saw a thread on Ravelry mentioning how Birds-n-Yarn was having a (now-finished) sale on Hempathy, so I ordered some. The service was great, too, and the yarn came with some Werther’s butterscotch to sweeten the deal. (Sorry, couldn’t resist. I think the new-yarn fumes are making me giddy.)

  As to current knitting, I finished step one of my current, unnamed project. I ended just in time, too, with just that little bit of yarn left over. Next comes Step Two.

Hey, have you heard about the Dr. Horrible musical? It sounds absolutely hilarious. And, well Josh Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris…

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Well, That’s Been a While // 6 Comments »

Remember yesterday when I told you Chappy had picked a winner for his contest?

Well, he really did. And, while I was concentrating on trying to get a photo of him and the winning number …

He pulled it out of my hand and ATE it!

Seriously, that’s him, chomping away on the little piece of index card that used to read “19.”

Which means that the winner of his Party Invitation contest is Julie, who told a sweet story about how her sister’s Beagle puppy proposed marriage. Well, he proposed it for her now-brother-in-law, but considering how much dogs like having their packs together, Chappy and I both feel it was probably the puppy’s idea. He just needed the money to buy the diamond ring he had on his collar, because puppies are notoriously short on cash.

What did she win? This skein of really lovely yarn spun by yours truly. Seriously, it’s beautiful, and that has nothing to do with the spinning skills (grin). I need to check my archives, though, to figure out what the colorway was called, and what the fiber is, but I don’t think she’ll be disappointed. It’s wool, it’s soft, it’s a beautiful, warm, rosy purple, and it’s just nice. (Okay, I looked it up. I spun it in January–Spunky Eclectic BFL in the color, “Vineyard,” Which you KNOW is hard for me to give up! But, it’s for Chappy’s contest, so, what’s a Mom to do?)

PLUS she gets three of the Indian/Vegetarian cookbooks that I won last April. Because they’re perfectly nice cookbooks but none of us remotely like Indian food (no offense to those of you who do), and they’re just going to waste sitting here. So, Julie, if you don’t like Indian food, tell me, but otherwise they are part of your prize, and I hope you’ll give them the attention they deserve. (I hope you realize how hard it is for me to give up ANY books, whether I use them or not.)

Congratulations! We hope you’ll be very happy (even if, Chappy says, you are a cat-person.) (I’ll need your snail-mail address please.)

This was pretty neat–Women’s World magazine had a two-page spread about Martha’s Vineyard including a nice article about the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. I’m telling you, Susan is going to take over the world at this rate. Or, at least, the women’s part. (ba-dum-bum. Get it? Women’s World? Okay, never mind. I’m tired.)

Hey–did you know that Interweave’s annual Hurt Book Sale is going on right now?? They’ve always got good stuff, but it goes fast!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Contest Announcement // 13 Comments »

Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you about the high school friend I found on Ravelry, after about 20 years? Well, the world is getting even smaller. When I posted the other day about the Bunch of Grapes fire, Sarah saw it and, having just come back from MV herself, posted about it on her blog … where Joan read it and told her she couldn’t believe Sarah read my blog and that she and I were good friends in high school. Because it turns out that Joan and Sarah are good friends, AND that she and Jessica went to library school together. What are the odds?

But wait … there’s more! At just about the same time, I saw a post on Copyblogger about good articles for freelance writers to read, and one was a link to Julie over at Writing Roads–a blog I hadn’t heard of before. In her post, she mentioned living on Martha’s Vineyard. Naturally, I had to leave her a comment. I mentioned Mom’s blog, and she replied with two links–one for the MV Fiber Farm, which I naturally know all about–but it turns out that she and Susan are good friends, and that Susan is all excited that she and I found each other.

I tell you, this world is getting smaller and smaller all the time. But, how COOL!

You’ll all be glad to hear, I’m sure, that Chappy had a good birthday.

  He had his family home, got out for a walk, played with his toys, got lots of extra attention. Not to mention popcorn. And half a cheeseburger with his supper.

He even got another present–a new blanket for his favorite chair.

Not to mention a little more cake. (Yes, I think he’s had enough sugar for the day!)

We picked a winner for his RSVP contest, but I’ll tell you about that tomorrow. AFTER I figure out what the prize should be…

And, jeez, I have to go back to work tomorrow….

• Tags: Chappy, Family, Friends, General, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Smaller World // 7 Comments »

 Excerpts from my Journal from 2001: 

7/8/2001

 Sunday. I got an email from Randy in PA today–the puppies were born! Eight, but one was stillborn. He hasn’t had a chance to tally the sexes yet, but he sent me a photo of the happy mom and family. They’re so little. Of course they are, only hours old in the picture, but … tiny. They even still have their full tails and everything … so, let’s see, eight weeks from today is Sept 2nd….

7/9/2001

Some bad news today about Tawney’s puppies. Only one is a girl, and she’s already spoken for. I’m so disappointed. But still, surprisingly quickly, we’ve sort of considered a boy puppy and decided that maybe a boy would be nice anyway. Bigger, yes, but maybe different isn’t such a bad thing? Certainly we’ve come up with more boy-names than girl-names (Edgar and Chappy head the list). What surprises me most is that Mom seems to have no trouble considering a 35-40 lb dog when 2 months ago the thought of a 30-lb female was big. But we believe in the fate thing–maybe someone’s trying to tell us something.

7/13/2001

 Randy sent me a photo of the puppies and a ruler to give me an idea how big they are. Looks like about 6″ from tail to shoulder, give or take. Either way, tiny.

7/28/2001

I got an email from Randy … we’ll be getting one of Tawney’s boys. Chappy, it is! Mom and I will still go out on 8/11 to pick him out, but no more mystery aboug gender or name. I can stop referring to NewPuppy.

7/29/2001

 Randy emailed me two pictures of the puppies at 3 weeks old. What a difference! They look twice the size they were as newborns and no longer all fit in a row to nurse. Their coats are starting to show wavy vs curly fur, too. Even the curly ones won’t be VERY curly any time soon, but they’ve got a lot more crimp to their coats than their smoother siblings. Randy also said that in certain lights you can see the different browns, too (liver or chocolate). They aren’t quite walking yet, he said, but crawling–doggy paddling as he put it–swimming along on their bellies, but they can stand and are practicing walking. Sweet.

8/1/2001

Okay, it’s the oddest thing. Randy sent me a picture of the puppies eating their first meal of solid food (puppy food, oatmeal, and water). It’s adorable–they’re standing, and everything! The first picture I’ve seen where they haven’t been a puppy pile heaped around Tawney. But–and this is the odd part–now that I’ve seen Chappy (whichever pup he is) looking like a Puppy and not just an infant … i almost miss him. I haven’t even met him yet, but some part of me almost expects him to be around somewhere.

8/11/2001

So, we saw Chappy! What a cutie. The drive was about 320 miles, 6 hours. We barely saw Buddy–he gave a friendly, enthusiastic hello, but that was about it. Tawney, on the other hand, was a sweetheart. mellow, very calm. Every time she went into the puppy pen, all the puppies practically attacked her–crowding under her to nurse at every opportunity. Then she’d move away and leave two to four puppies lying on his back or side, looking all surprised. “Drat! She’s gone again. Where’d she go?” She was really friendly, though, and we kept petting her while we oohed and aahed over the puppies.

Ah, the puppies! Tiny–about 5 lbs, maybe? Easily lifted in one hand, with all four legs outstretched. (”Whoa!”) Tiny little heads and noses about 1/2″ long, with a little, button, brown nose about the size of my fingertip. Short little legs with paw-pads about the size of a dime. Soft, puppy coats. Tiny ears, maybe the size of a quarter. Fuzzy blue baby puppy eyes. They nails are tiny little lace-crochet hooks, needlelike,s harp, and curved. The teeth are coming and in and pretty needle-sharp, too.

And then, how to pick one? I didn’t have a love at first sight moment, but they were all so cute! Finally, we picked out two and them around us on the floor–though by that time they were pretty tired and just wanted to snooze. Chappy’s the one I ended up holding and couldn’t put down. He kept snuggling his nose in and snoozing. Randy marked the inside of his ear with red marker….

8/26/2001

 Well, we brought Chappy home yesterday. The biggest news is–we didn’t get the puppy we’d picked out. We went to Randy’s and went inside. The puppies were all piled together and just waking up when we walked in. All those bright little faces. But one of them didn’t want to wake up–he ran away into the corner as the others started to untangle themselves to be charming. And that’s the one we’d picked. I managed to catch him and lift him, but he squirmed to get away. When I put him back in the pen, he ran over to the wall and just lay there while one of his brothers lied down on top of him. There was no way we could bring that puppy home. …

I narrowed it down to two–one of the big, wavy-furred calmer boys, and a smaller curly-coat who was more active. It was so hard choosing between them. Really hard. Finally though, went for the calm wavy-coat. Gave Randy his check and headed for home. We let him sit in our laps for the whole drive. He slept almost the entire drive and the only thing that bothered him was the sun shining in his face.

 We got him home and he immediately started exploring. No clinging like Katy did. He did NOT like his crate and does NOT like being alone yet. He has quite a voice. He cried during supper when he was in his pen and he definitely cried in his crate last night … but when I woke up and could actually see that adorable little face … it’s so cute. His paw pads are about the size of a quarter now, and his ears about the size of an egg. he’s stretched out asleep now, just fitting lengthwise inside the base of the kitchen chair. He tried getting up the step through the front door and got stuck, his hips were level with the doorsill. And every time he sits down on our floors, his hips slide out from under him until he’s on his stomach. And did I mention the puppy bumbling run he’s got, his paws flying in all directions and his middle swaying from side to side? Precious!

(Hey, you know … a Mom can’t help but feel a little indulgent on her boy’s birthday….)

• Tags: Chappy, Family • Permalink:7 on 07-07 // 9 Comments »

Yep. Today we celebrated Chappy’s turning 7. (Although his actual birthday is Monday–and his Party Invitation/contest is still open until then.)

Naturally, the birthday boy got a cake and was sung to. Though, no, he did NOT blow out his candle on his own.

He really enjoyed the cake, though.

Carrot cake, with buttercream icing–his choice.

And there were presents.

He thought this toy from his aunt, uncle, and cousins was particularly fun–it “crinkles” in the middle, like a soda bottle or a milk carton–and since he adores playing with empty milk cartons, this made him very happy.

Really, we all had a good time–though special thanks go to my brother-in-law,  nephew, and sister for doing weeding and yardwork before the rain really started to come down.

His friend Cindy came for dessert, too, which made Chappy really happy.

The only real disappointment of the day? The weather didn’t cooperate, but who can control the weather?

About the fire in Vineyard Haven yesterday? There’s video of it on Plum TV, and it’s just so heart-breaking to watch. According to today’s update, the Bunch of Grapes bookstore looks to be a total loss–in terms of stock, if not the actual building. Susan said on Ravelry today that, “It was a bit of a down day on the Island. Pat and I just walked by BOG after getting coffee at Mocha Motts and it was so sad seeing all the smoke damaged books in the window and the postcards on racks.” Poor Martha’s Vineyard!

On the plus side, she also said on Ravelry today that she’s raised $3000 for her uncle’s wheelchair. Don’t forget, you, too, can be eligible to win her entire stash of yarn (that didn’t come from her own sheep and goats).

• Tags: Chappy, Family, Friends, General, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Chappy’s Birthday // 12 Comments »

First things first–go check out Susan’s raffle over at MV Fiber Farm. She is raffling off her entire yarn stash (that didn’t come from her own sheep and goats) to raise money for her uncle’s wheelchair. He and her aunt both sound like amazing people–a surgeon and a surgical nurse–who’ve done missionary work all over the world, and he recently broke his neck while trimming dead branches off a tree at the church (and remained conscious long enough to tell the EMTs which vertebrae were crushed!). If anybody deserves a good wheelchair, it sounds like this man does–since he so sadly needs one at all. And, um, did I mention that she’s raffling her entire stash of yarn?? Honestly–go check it out. It’s quite a pile of yarn, and well worth the $10 cost of the raffle ticket, and for a good cause, too. (Spread the word too, huh?)

Unlike many of my compatriots, I have not spent today at a picnic, or at the beach, or eating food off the grill. No, I’ve spent a large portion of my day in the kitchen….

• Got up, got dressed
• Went to the kitchen and made breakfast
• Back upstairs to brush my teeth, then
• Back to the kitchen, where I…
• Mixed up Chappy’s cake and got it in the oven
• Put potatoes on to boil to make salad for tomorrow
• Made chicken salad with some of the leftover chicken in the fridge, just because I needed something to do while waiting for the cake to come out of the oven
• Quick email check
• Back to the kitchen for lunch, including a nice, juicy peach that we bought yesterday
• Heard the awful news about the Bunch of Grapes, one of the nicest bookstores
• Head to the mixer to make the cake’s frosting, realize we don’t have any vanilla. Cry of help, followed by Mom running to the store
• Made the frosting and iced the cake (mmmmm)
• Sat down with Chappy for 5 minutes then remembered…
• Upstairs to give Mom a lesson on organizing her photos on the computer
• Lesson cut short by a call from Mom’s friend across the street. Organize the photos without her
• Back to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Also ate some of the fresh berries we bought yesterday
• Sat down with Chappy and read for a while (finished my book)
• Back to the kitchen to start the meat sauce for tonight’s supper
• Upstairs to do some more stuff on the computer (and to get a new book)
• Back to the kitchen to eat supper.

And, here we are. I still need to mix the potato salad for tomorrow, but mixing it is the easy part–it’s making sure the potatoes are cooked and ready (and pre-seasoned) that’s the hard part. Mom is cooking the chicken tomorrow, and we’re having corn on the cob, so the rest of the meal is certainly easy for me! My friend Cindy is going to join us for dessert (Chappy is thrilled), and it will be nice to have the family all together (Chappy is beyond thrilled). I mean, really, it’s been more than two weeks! (grin)

Honestly, all the family get-togethers since May have been wonderful, but it will be nice to have a break from all the birthday celebrations. There was my brother-in-law’s surprise party, the celebration for my niece and nephew, my sister’s birthday, and then the party for my best friend’s father last week…. It’s kind of nice to know that the next family birthday (mine) is waaaaay off in November. Any other family visits between now and then will just be visits, not parties, and that sounds so much more restful (grin).

Although, of course, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s–because this party is for CHAPPY!

• Tags: General • Permalink:In the Kitchen // 1 Comment »

Oh, no … fire has destroyed Cafe Moxie and severely damaged the Bunch of Grapes bookstore on Martha’s Vineyard. I’m so sorry to hear about the cafe, but am crushed for the poor bookstore–even if it didn’t completely burn, how could a business whose stock was paper survive the amounts of water the fire department had to use to put out the flames? For obvious reasons, it’s closed for the foreseeable future. I just hope it HAS a foreseeable future!

NOT happy news on a holiday. But then, you folks know how I feel about books … and Martha’s Vineyard. At least no one was hurt–that counts for a lot…. (sniffle)

Edited to add: Here’s another article. This is just so terrible. The owners of the cafe only bought it in May, and now it’s a total loss. And the bookstore? Pretty much a total loss, too. It’s one of the anchors of downtown Vineyard Haven, too–impossible to imagine it without it. I’m feeling terrible that we didn’t get a chance to go into the bookstore in April, because I’m going to miss it so much….

Another addition: Another article–the cafe has been razed to possibly prevent further smoke damage to the bookstore which, I don’t know, might be salvageable? They mention that this isn’t how they’d hoped to be spending the Fourth of July (no kidding!), and also how much this is hurting all the other businesses on Main Street because it’s such a big money-making day for them. Which, sure, is absolutely true but, um, at least they still HAVE businesses….

• Tags: Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Bunch of Grapes // 6 Comments »

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

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We went to the movies today and, luckily, I had a sock in my purse. It was, oh, not out of the goldish color yet when we went into the theater, and all the rest, I did during the movie. I do love being able to knit in the dark! And I’m liking this color, too. It’s Meilenweit “Mega Boots Stretch” in color 702. I’ve had it in my stash for a few years now and figured it was time it got used.

Oh, and if you look really closely at the background of that picture, you’ll see my other knitting project–the one that doesn’t have a name, a pattern, or anything terribly specific. I’m kind of making it up as I go along, and so can’t really tell you what it’s going to be. Or if it’s going to come out as I hope, which is why I’m not being more specific. Why get anybody’s hopes up, mine included? (grin). It sure looks lovely, though. SUCH a pretty color.

The movie? “Wall-E” which I enjoyed quite a bit, Mom thought was okay but disappointing, and which kept putting Dad asleep. (No, I didn’t understand that, either.) The little Pixar short film (Presto) before the movie was adorable, too–I sometimes look forward to those more than to the actual movies!

Otherwise? Mom and I checked out the Aldi’s grocery store that just opened this week, and then went to A&P to pick up stuff for Chappy’s birthday cake. Because, of course, my boy deserves a birthday cake! I’m making him carrot cake, which all of us like. Besides, he loves carrots, why wouldn’t he love carrot CAKE? (Hey, I used to make our mini-dachshund Jilly a cheesecake every year because I figured she loved cheese above all things, so it had to be her favorite. Sadly, I didn’t have time to figure out the perfect birthday cake for Katy–I had so been looking forward to coming up with “Katy-cakes,” since it was my favorite nickname for her.) Anyway, I’m using the recipe I tried last month and will be doing that tomorrow.

No fireworks or picnics for us tomorrow–we’re doing all our celebrating on Saturday when my sister comes down. Chappy’s just dreading tomorrow night–all those fireworks, you know. Those of you in the US, have a good holiday tomorrow!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Knitted Toe // 2 Comments »

Okay, first, how’s this for a beautiful sky this morning on the way to work?

Second, does anybody else use the Levenger “Circa” system for note-taking? I don’t want to sound like a commercial, or anything, but I just wanted to mention how much fun I’m having with them lately. I started with their “Simply Irresistable” kit, which it is because while it costs $40, it comes with a $40 gift card–which basically means that it pays for itself.