I’m taking a break from packing and thought I’d say hello.

Our house, right now, is a MESS. We are neat people, as a rule. We put things away. We don’t like clutter … but right now, since the closets and furniture are mostly empty and all their stuff is in boxes … well, you can imagine. We’ve got stuff everywhere!

Well, of course, not everything. We’ve still got more stuff to pack. Like–the entire kitchen. I told Mom we should save that until last, with the actual food being the very last thing, so that we could concentrate on getting the rest of the rooms done. Because, you know, you get some of it done, and then think, “I’ll get the rest later,” and wander off to work on another room … so you’ve got dribs and drabs of stuff all over, and there’s more stuff to be done everywhere you look.

So, my suggestion was that we instead take care of the dribs and drabs and THEN do the kitchen, because at the least, that’s something Mom and Patty could finish packing on Monday while Dad, Chappy and I are at the new house–and the food (other than breakfast stuff) we could always bring over on its own on Tuesday.

For added fun, though, the movers are supposed to come to pack my books (what’s left of them) today. They were due this morning, but called last night to reschedule for 1:00-1:30 … well, it’s after 4:00 and they just called. They’re on their way up from Pennington and should be here in about an hour and a half. Yikes! So, we’re sending Dad out now to pick up something for supper so that will be out of the way.

We also took Chappy over to see the new house this morning. He explored the whole thing, ran up and down ALL the stairs several times, and is now tired, and a little sore, I think. While he was sniffing, Mom vacuumed and I cleaned the bathrooms and the kitchen. (Not that they weren’t clean, but, one final wipe-down, just because. You understand.)

By the time we left, though, Chappy was READY to leave! Fidgeting and anxious … hopefully he won’t be feeling that way on Monday when all his furniture is there.

We had fun with the garage doors, though. The garage IS a two-car garage, but it’s a SMALL two-car garage. As in, I was only able to open the driver’s side door about 18″ and had to lean it against the wall and carefully get out. So, it’s going to be a TIGHT fit (and it’s a good thing Dad doesn’t have a Cadillac anymore).

But the extra fun was because they only had one garage door opener. But that’s okay, we actually have four of them here (one for each of the three cars we used to have, and one extra). So, even taking one of them with us, we still have two to leave for the people who end up in this house … but we had to figure out how to program it. Which seemed simple, except … it wouldn’t program. We tried several times, and then Dad held the button too long and … it erased the setting for both openers–the one that came with the townhouse AND ours. So, suddenly we didn’t have one that worked at all! Then, we got mine to work … but not the other one. … Then, I tried  reprogramming the one in Mom and Dad’s car … and that took. So now, we have three openers for the new house. One, which came with the house, that doesn’t work any more, and two that we’re bringing with us.

Go figure.

Okay. Dad should be back in a couple minutes with supper, and then the movers should be here to pack books … heaven knows how long that will take. Then, tomorrow, we plan on bringing over some of our stuff to the new house–the stuff that we can stash in closets and get out of the way. Monday is the Big Day when we actually move the furniture and Chappy. We figure that the three of us will be coming back here at least a couple times for odds and ends left behind, but once Chappy leaves, he’s not coming back here. That would REALLY confuse him!

Oh, and our beloved mail carrier brought our mail to our door today, just so she could say goodbye and tell us how much she’ll miss us. (And tell us about the person who delivers mail to our new house.) Wasn’t that nice of her? Chappy is really going to miss her … and so will we!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Really Quick // Add Comment »

It was a pretty front hallway while it lasted!

The mirrors on the stair risers are a particularly nice touch, don’t you think? (Good idea, Mom!)

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Hallway // 4 Comments »

I don’t have a clever title for you, but at least I’m HERE, right?

First things first–I finished the body of my sweater tonight. I know, the cabled waist makes it look kind of odd, but I haven’t blocked it yet, and the ribbing (on my swatch) stayed flatter and less pulled-in than it was straight off the needles, so I’m not worrying.

The trick is that, well, I simply can’t do any blocking right now because, I don’t know if you realized, but we’re PACKING.

Mom came across her old, Royal typewriter that she got somewhere around 1954. My sister and I always loved that typewriter and played with it whenever we could. The year that I broke my wrist, Mom let me use it to type all my homework (instead of trying to hold the paper still with the cast). Not that pounding on those keys made it easier, exactly, but … I got very, very good at typing with my right hand.

It sound come as no surprise to you that even my “graffiti” typed onto the platen with the white-out paper was correctly punctuated. (Since, you know, it only belonged to ONE of us.)

I told you about my book database woes, right? Here’s something to give you an idea of the scope. A couple years ago, I noticed some slight discrepancies between the List and the real books on the shelves, so I decided to take inventory. I sorted down my 3000-ish book database and sorted everything by location and then by author, and starting with the books in my bedroom closet, started comparing …

I never got past the closet. Just doing one side of it took me forever. Now, sure, it might have been easier if I’d drafted Mom to help–two people would certainly make it easier–but still, that’s hours of work. Hours and hours and hours of work. Days. Weeks!

And that was then the database was about 98% correct.

Now? Having just gotten rid of maybe a third of my books? And then packing what’s left into boxes and taking them across town and reshelving them in completely new configurations?

That print-out from the inventory attempt is about 100 pages long … Trying to compare a new version of that to what’s stashed on my shelves?

Um. Not going to happen. A nice person on Ravelry suggested using a database program like “Collectorz” with one of those little ISBN cat-scanners, but I have one of those scanners, and using it was a nightmare. Assuming I could get it to work (it was stubborn), getting the online information about each book title took FOREVER, and if you’ve got more than a hundred or two  books, that’s a huge chunk of time. Not to mention that none of that includes other things that I track on my database–like descriptions, locations, size, topic, whether it’s read or not. You can’t beat homemade if you have specific needs, right?

Chappy’s mood of the day? “What’s happening NOW?”

But then, my sister came down to help Mom start packing up the kitchen, and when you start messing with FOOD preparation equipment, Chappy gets worried!

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:At Least I’m Here // 2 Comments »

Well, $628 later, I got my car back today. The bad news (in addition to the $628) is that even though she just got a new ignition switch and two new tires, she still badly needs two MORE tires and new brakes. And suspension links (whatever they are)–though those are mostly because she goes “clunk” over bumps these days. I mean, I KNOW the car will be eight years old on December 3rd, but … NOW? The week before we move?

The only good thing is that she had this illness the week BEFORE we moved, not the week we actually moved … that would have been equally expensive but drastically more inconvenient.

Then, after I picked her up and drove home (ah, without needing a ride, so nice) … I came inside, and started flipping through the mail. Dad came down to tell me how anxious Mom had been to open the new Carly Simon CD that I had pre-ordered for her, and I glanced out the window…

Yep. A bear.

Now, obviously they’re AROUND, but this is the first time I’ve seen one right outside my house! I pointed it out to Dad, grabbed my camera, and ran for the window, by which time he was halfway up the hill across the street.

To make this more interesting, our neighbor in the house just to the right was outside doing yard work and never saw a thing.

Mom, however, was actually in THIS house getting her hair cut by her retired-hairdresser best friend. Dad and I immediately started wondering if they’d seen the bear over there. Especially since the husband was outside doing yardwork, too. (And, no, he never saw it either.)

About 15 minutes later, the landscapers pulled up. They do (or did, until this week) our lawn as well as our neighbors across the street–but apparently, when they turned the truck around, they looked up the hill and saw the bear. Because, while some of them started unloading lawn mowers and leaf-blowers off the trailer, one guy ran up the hill, circled the neighbor’s house, and came hurrying back, making “Stop what you’re doing gestures.” Right at the time Mom headed down the hill to come back.

The lawn-guys, loaded everything back in the truck and then JUMPED in really fast and took off in a cloud of dust. (Well, figurative dust, like the kind cartoon characters leave behind when they hurry.) All while Mom was looking at them quizzically because, no, they had not seen the bear outside the kitchen window over there.

So, she gets home and Dad starts telling her about how the guys jumped in the truck and helter-skeltered out of here, while she wondered why … “Well, it was probably because of the bear.”

“BEAR! WHAT BEAR? THERE WAS A BEAR?”

(And yes, caps-lock is necessary, and my only regret is that there’s  no typographic way to illustrate the high, squeaky pitch of her voice.)

She immediately grabbed the phone to call our neighbor, all while trying to ask questions. “Where was it? How long ago. Where did it go? Walter was out there! WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME? I’m so glad she didn’t see it while she was cutting my hair!”

Then there was squealing from both sides of the phone, while our neighbor called in her husband to find out if (1) he’d seen it. (He had not.) and (2) telling him to be more careful!

Chappy, meanwhile–since he only saw it through the window and didn’t get a whiff of eau-de-bear–has been worrying ever since about the poor, lost, funny-looking dog, and wondering why we didn’t rush outside with leashes to try to save the poor thing…

I told you. He’s been really confused this week.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Bear Came Over the Mountain // 5 Comments »

I had the house to myself today–a rare treat. I like to think that I put it to good use, too. No crazy parties, of course, but I was productive!

One more picture of outgoing books. Fewer than there were the other day–another bookstore came on Saturday and bought seven boxes … hopefully the money will pay for my car repairs. (Because, yes, my car’s been sick since Rhinebeck. I miss it.)

Anyway, so the outgoing books–except those last few on the table there–are ready to be picked up by the local Friends of the Library on Tuesday. Phew. That gets them out of the house!

And, I have to say, just having to pack THESE makes me that much happier that we’re having the movers pack the books I’m actually keeping. Phew!

It IS Sunday, of course, so I did some baking. you see here the rest of the brownies that I made Friday night. (What? I wanted some!) Then there’s a batch of apple muffins for breakfast tomorrow. The cake container has an Applesauce-Oatmeal cake. And the crockpot? Chicken stew, which Dad says is one of the best things I’ve ever cooked.

A good thing, too, because dinner was kind of wacky tonight. See, Mom and Dad went into New York to meet an e-friend of my Mom’s who flew in from California. They met them around noon, and had expected to be home for supper, but time got away from them. So … I ended up eating my portion alone with Chappy, and keeping theirs warm for when they got home, around 7:15. (We usually eat dinner at 5:00, you understand. I know, it’s early, that’s what we do.)

What else did I do? I packed up boxes of stuff, moved some things around. Then, we had some people come to look at the house, while Chappy waited outside on the deck. I even installed a memory upgrade on my netbook.

I was really very productive.

The one, really sad part?

Chappy is still so very, very confused. We’ve got two desks in the living room, piles of boxes everywhere. Clutter on the counters. So much, well, mess! And things keep disappearing from the house, and we’re throwing away tons of stuff.

Besides, didn’t you know that one of the signs of the coming apocalypse is Chappy’s Mom getting rid of hundreds of BOOKS?

The poor guy feels like he’s a failure, like he’s let us down as a watchdog.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Solitary Sunday // 5 Comments »

Because every library–even a personal one–deserves its own check-out system:

The only problem, really, is that there are only about 25-50 pockets for the check-out cards, and even with the recent Book Purge, I’ve still got over 2000 books!

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Library // 4 Comments »

Not the most creative title, but Chappy wanted me to show you my sweater progress. I’ve got the entire sweater done from the waist up to the underarms, and am now working on the back. I haven’t measured it yet, but I’d say it’s about 4-5″ long or so, so …. another 3″ and it’ll be done. Then I’ll do basically the same thing to finish off the two fronts. (Then sleeves. Then seams. Then button bands. You know, what you’d expect.)

I’m still having trouble getting proportions right (even with accurate measurements),  but I’ve been working on these, too.

Apparently I’m too tired to get proportions correct, but it gives you an idea of what our new home will look like. (Well, kind of.) From left to right, that’s the ground floor, the upstairs, and the downstairs. Roughly. I still can’t get the funky angles in the upstairs hallway correct–it doesn’t really open up as widely as that–and somehow the measurements of the kitchen/living room don’t seem to work, but you’ll have to trust me. The building’s walls all DO match.

We saw the inside again today. We met the landlord (or the landlord’s agent, whatever) at lunchtime to deliver the medicine chest Mom and I bought a week ago. (More bathroom storage, yay!) While we were there, we measured things again–this time using the rough floorplan I’d put together in Excel.

My sister got to see the inside, too–she gave me a ride over. My Volvo is still at the shop. Remember, I told you about how it wouldn’t start on Saturday morning to drive up to Rhinebeck? Because the key wouldn’t turn in the ignition? Well, they had to order the part from Volvo and that will take about 5 business days. That’s a week! Without my car! I don’t think I’ve ever been without a car for so long since … well, since I got my first car in 1988. (Just barely in 1988, on January 2nd. And yes, I do remember the date; I was excited.)

Anyway, since I was carless, Patty came and picked me up at work–with my lunch–and drove me over to the townhouse. (I sat in the corner of what will be my bedroom to eat it. Mom thought I looked kind of sad and pathetic.)

The biggest problem with the room I’ve picked for my bedroom? It’s not that there’s a huge chunk of room cut out by the diagonal doorway that makes two walls only about 6 feet long when the “inner” dimensions of the room are about 10×10. No, the biggest problem is that it has the smallest CLOSET. Only 52″ compared to the 59″ one in the other room. (And, I’m sure that some of you will think that a closet that big is huge, but the closet I currently have? 76″ wide. And I have two of them. Try not to be jealous–I’ve only got them for two more weeks.) So I now have to come up with a way to cut 2-feet of clothing out of my existing closet … This could be challenging.

I was talking to my sister about this on the way back to work, and the look on her face when I told her that I got dressed as soon as I was out of bed in the morning, even before going to the bathroom, was priceless. Hey, it’s a habit I’ve had since college–I hated wandering the dorm hallways in my pajamas! (Her expression when I said that I don’t turn the light on, either, but get dressed in the dark was even more fun–kind of like the expressions on Carole’s blog today. Yes, even though I keep my clothes sorted mostly by type and color, sometimes I grab the wrong thing, in which case I correct the error after breakfast.)

How about another look at that sweater?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Knitting the Back // 7 Comments »

I promised you pictures of the yarn I bought yesterday.

Three skeins of “Calypso” yarn in the “Saturn” color by Creatively Dyed Yarns. (I blame Kim for this because she showed me the skeins in her bag and made me want some of my own. I bought more than one skein because I wanted to do something other than socks … so, this will either grow into a lace shawl of some kind, or (if I can find a suitable pattern) a lightweight sweater, which I think I would simply adore.

Also three skeins of this yarn from the Spinning Mill in Melville, New York (who does not appear to have a website I could find). I had tried to buy some of their yarn last year, but she didn’t take credit cards. (No website, no credit cards, how quaint!) I made a point of looking for her yesterday and got this beautiful stuff. (To give you an idea how nice? Everyone who saw it asked if it was Briar Rose yarn.) Unfortunately, it’s  not the color I wanted last year–another woman beat me to it by about 15 seconds, darn it. That shade was close to this, but with more green … but, still, this is lovely.

Now, I told you the other day about the man from the used bookstore, who took away 6 boxes of the books I laboriously weeded out from my library? But that there were still a lot more left?

Since Dad, Mike, and Tyler moved the desk out of Mom’s office yesterday–it’s now standing on its side in the living room, trying to trick us into walking into it face first as we round the corner from the stairs–that opened up that floorspace. So, to get a better idea of what books I would still HAVE, I moved all the ‘get rid of’ books to the floor.

What? Doesn’t look like that big a pile? How about some different perspective?

That entire pile is books. There are (I think) 9 paper boxes full of them (that’s the smaller-size paper boxes, that hold 5 reams of paper), and then each of those boxes is piled with books up to the window sills.

No, I didn’t count them, but there are a LOT of them! And now I need to figure out what to do with them … preferably something that does not involve my having to pack and carry them somewhere (since the point of weeding them out in the first place was to avoid moving with them so we wouldn’t have to go to the effort of carrying them ourselves).

How many books did I weed out?

I’m not actually sure, but you can see that these cases–which had been overflowing on every shelf–now have huge swaths of empty space AND that includes books that I took out of my bedroom closet.

The two shelves on the other side of the table are even more dramatic–the case on the right which is currently sporting some horizontally-stacked books–is now my entire general fiction (trade and paperback size) collection. I emptied out the shelves from the left case so that, when the movers come to pack up the books a few days before we move, I’ll know that all the books on the right are fiction. (The books on the left are mostly writing books and essays, and will go upstairs.)

That’s actually the other thing I have to figure out now … what goes WHERE. Not just furniture and such, but which/how many bookcases will I have upstairs in my room, and which (the rest of them) will be downstairs? I know that, upstairs, bare minimum, I want writing references, knitting/craft books, and my photo albums. Cookbooks will be in the living room, right next to the kitchen. Everything else will be downstairs. But … if possible, I want a bookcase next to my bed, like I have now, with some of my favorites on it–I’m just not sure how that space will work.

But, also, we need to figure out the arrangement for the bookcases downstairs–we’ve got a long wall we can put them on, but between Mom and me, we’ve got something like nine short bookcases and four tall ones (plus two wooden shelving units) … and some melamine cubbies, too. Since we’re consolidating and we don’t have to worry about not blocking windows, it would be easier to get rid of some of the short ones and substitute more of the tall ones … except, then we’d have to BUY more tall ones, and that’s not really an option. So, I’m mentally running floorplans in my head to figure out how things could look or will look or should look, while still finding room for all those short bookcases which are (mentally) eating up wall space at a frightening rate. (It helps, though, that they’re all white; it does not help that they’re different heights.)

Anyway, this has been my day–moving books from here to there, trying to arrange things so that, when packed, I can find stuff later.

The joy of trying to bring my database of books up to date at the end of this–of somehow eliminating all the books I’ve gotten rid of while keeping the ones I still have in an excel sheet that’s over 3000 lines long is going to be … fun. Well, no, actually, I’m shaking in my boots at the thought of the amount of work that’s going to be! But, well, that’s not something I need to worry about for months, right?

Want another look at the discard pile? I told Mom that I’m trying to build her a new desk to replace the one they moved out of the room yesterday.

And, honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do with all of these …

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Wait, How Many? // 10 Comments »

Yep, we went to Rhinebeck today, and it was thankfully dry. Cold, only in the 40s, yes … but dry! No snow, no rain. Phew! So we got to see the horses with the silver and gold hooves.

I didn’t see as many friends as usual and, except for the (formerly) MVFF get-together, most of the people I saw were fairly local friends that I usually see at Jessica’s for her spinning get-togethers (which includes Jessica). So, I’m a little sorry I didn’t get to see some of my ‘regular’ Rhinebeck friends, but am glad I saw Jessica, Annie, Kim, Jessalu, Risa, Susan, Sarah, and the other folks. (Thanks to Mom for this pictures, which shows the number of layers I had on today. I was dressed for January, not October!) But, Norma, Sandy, Carole, Laurie, Claudia, Silvia, and all the rest of you–sorry I missed you!

Oh, and I metKnitter’s Review’s Clara Parkes, which was particularly great since I just posted an interview with her at Knitting Scholar. (Which you should read, if you haven’t yet.)

In fact, she’s standing in the backgound of this picture, watching the progress on the Big Sock.

(That would be the attempt at the world’s Biggest Sock, which I’m very excited to have had a part in.)

I’ve got the button to prove it.

And a picture of what the part I knit looked like.

Now, as to the REST of the day? Like, as in the rest of the family’s day while Mom and I were having fun with our wooly friends? More interesting stuff.

Like, my car wouldn’t start this morning. The last couple of days, the key hasn’t wanted to turn in the ignition. You know how you sometimes can’t get the key to turn until you jiggle the steering wheel, like it’s locking the ignition in place? Exactly like that. Well, Mom and I piled in the car and … nothing. I could turn the key a quarter turn and that was IT, and putting my foot on the brake had about as much “give” as an inflated rubber ball. So … we had to bring Mom’s car instead.

While we were gone, Dad called the mechanic who said the “cylinder” (don’t ask me, I don’t know more than that) was about shot and that it was probably lucky that I didn’t take it to Rhinebeck because it could “go” at any time … and, being stranded somewhere around town is one thing, being stranded 100 miles from home is another! So, Monday we need to get it over to the mechanic so he can go to Volvo to get a replacement part. … We’ll need to work out the logistics of that.

Then, also while we were gone, someone came to look at the house–in fact, a second visit, this time with both daughters and both grandmother–and if they’re getting BOTH grandmothers’ opinions, they must have liked it the first time. For the walk-through, Dad put Chappy in my car in the driveway, and those folks were leaving just as my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew arrived, so Patty got to let him out of the car, which made Chappy VERY happy, indeed!

Then, the four of them moved furniture. They took our guest room set and our ping-pong table home in the van they rented for the occasion. (Unfortunately, there was no way to get the shuffle board table out of the basement. Not without removing walls.) They also brought some of the no-longer-wanted upstairs furniture, like the old metal desk from my parents’ office, down to stash in the living room until we can get rid of it.

Because we’re trying to get rid of our living room furniture and our dining room set, but Mom’s not having any luck on Craigslist. In a pinch, we’ll donate it to the Market Street Mission, or some charity or other, but we’re hoping to get at least some money for it, to help pay for some of the pieces we need in the new house. Like a futon so guests will have someplace to sleep. Or the new television we need for the living room (since the one we have now is getting iffy and we’re just hoping it will survive the move).

Anyway, Chappy was apparently very stressed while they took that furniture out of the house, which just cements our decision that on Moving Day, he will be in the first car to head over to the new house. We’re all agreed that he will be MUCH happier being in the new (unfamiliar) house and having strangers walking in with his familiar furniture than being in his old, familiar house having them walk OUT with his stuff!

Okay–tired now! In fact, so tired, I didn’t even knit tonight.

And, yes, I DID buy some yarn … I couldn’t help myself since it’s Rhinebeck … but you’ll have to wait for tomorrow for some pictures!

How about another picture of that BIG sock??

• Tags: Friends • Permalink:Rhinebeck 2009 // 9 Comments »

The man from the used bookstore came and bought a couple hundred of my books today (sniffle). Not all of them, of course. I had made a lot more available, but there was no way he would have bought them all. Still, 6 boxes of books left the house today … and you KNOW how I hate getting rid of books!

Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the books he DIDN’T buy.

And, now? Trying to figure out what to wear to Rhinebeck tomorrow. It’s going to be COLD! The forecast?

Saturday: A chance of snow before 11am, then a chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 44. North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

I hadn’t really expected to need to pull out my winter coat this early in the year, you know?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Bye-Bye // 4 Comments »

Two tie pins, a pair of cufflinks, and a pin–all belonging to my grandfather, Otto Georg Boyken. They’re not expensive pieces of jewelry, or particularly valuable, but they are some of the only things we have in the family that belonged to my father’s father, who died in 1967.

Which, really, makes them awfully valuable to me.

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:OGB // 1 Comment »

It’s really just not been my day today.

Well, not that it’s been all bad. I took the day off from work, so I got to sleep late–that’s always good! The fact that I woke up to a rainy day isn’t really its fault, right? Chappy made me laugh right off, too. We usually save the cream cheese containers for him. I’ll put his vitamin in one and then hide it for him to find, which doesn’t usually take long because he knows all the good hiding places by now. Well, this morning, I put it on the stairs–midway between the halfway-point landing and the upstairs … and he couldn’t figure out how to reach it! All he needed to do was stand on the landing, put his front paws on the second step and take the container in his mouth, but he didn’t think of it. Instead, he ran up the stairs PAST the container and then sat at the top trying to figure out why he couldn’t reach it, three steps down. Silly dog! I finally had to help him by sitting next to him on the landing and pointing out that it was in reach. (Oh, his softie of a Grandma helped too, by moving it down a step. She was going to just give it to him, but I told her he needed to figure it out on his own.)

I planned to leave the house at 10:00, to go visit my friend Cindy (the one who had open-heart surgery last month), but ran a little late, not getting to the car until 10:15–very much not like me. I bundled up, left, took the time to fill up the gas tank (in preparation of Rhinebeck on Saturday), and headed down the highway.

I’m not sure why, exactly, but at some point, up ahead, a couple of police cars with flashing lights blocked off the traffic to let a string of cars onto the highway. At first I thought it was some kind of entourage, like the Govenor was visiting, or something … or maybe a funeral with a longer cortege than usual. I didn’t see a hearse, though–although I was a way back so didn’t have the best view. But it was interesting! Not something that happens every day. (Or, well, maybe it does, I’m just usually at work.)

My first stop, though, wasn’t actually visiting Cindy, it was my favorite apple orchard to buy some apples for her and for us. Except, I forgot to allow for the fact that lots (and lots) of schools come by for field trips to play in the orchard, and even on this rainy day, the parking lot was full of yellow school buses. Which meant that the shop was full of KIDS. Lots of kids, getting donuts, picking out candy .. largely bypassing the apples, though. I waded through with a nice smile for everyone and collected my apples, as well as a frozen apple pie and some donuts for Mom. (She loves their donuts.) (And, um, we won’t discuss the frozen pie I dropped on the floor, right?)

So, I waited on line for ages while individual kids pulled out their change purses to pay their $.95 for whatever little things they were buying, and then the cashier rang me up. She balanced my two bags of apples on the scale, rang up the pie and the donuts and then turned back to the next kid … and as I reached for the donuts she’d left on her side of the scale … one of my bags of apples plummeted to the floor. Ouch! Talk about bruised apples, some of these were cracked, they landed so hard. NOT the kind of apple you can bring home and store for a while, you know?

Anyway, I got back in the car and headed up to Cindy’s–only about 10 minutes late (which, considering the number of kids at Wightman’s was pretty efficient of me). We had a really nice visit. She’s still tired and wears out very quickly, kind of sore, but at least starting to feel better–which is good!

Her dog, Horatio, was delighted to see me, too. He is Chappy’s best friend–they’ve known each other since they were three months old, and even though it’s been about nine months since they’ve seen each other, they have one of those great “best friend” relationships where, it doesn’t matter how long the delay has been, they reconnect instantly when they see each other. I TOLD him that Chappy had wanted to come, and that he was going to be super jealous that I got to see Horatio but he didn’t, and Horatio was just so thrilled to see me and smell Chappy on my clothes … it was so sweet.

When I left there, about 1:30 … it was raining, but … with snow mixed in. In fact, by the time I got home, it actually was snowing. Wow! And it’s pretty much snowed all day long, turning spots on the grass white, even if it was too wet to really accumulate.

Naturally, though, I had to bake, because those poor, abused apples weren’t going to last for long at ALL. So I peeled and sliced all the badly-bruised ones and ended up with enough for a huge pie. Except, we all know my trials with pie crust, so I opted for an apple streusel crisp instead (once I’d dug out my cookbooks that Dad moved to the garage). I couldn’t get them all to fit in my Edge Pan, so I put the extra into a loaf pan and popped them both into the oven.

Ten minutes later … a pop followed by a nasty smell. The heating element had burst! Now, this has happened before, but … it couldn’t have lasted three more weeks??

We called our neighbor across the street to beg the use of her oven … and, wasn’t it lucky that I had the second, smaller crisp? They got to keep it as a thank you.

All in all, an interesting day.

I apologize for the lack of pictures, too. It’s been so gray and wet, it didn’t seem worth digging out my camera.

And–is anybody else worrying about the weather for Rhinebeck on Saturday? The forecast is for rain mixed with snow … brr!

• Tags: Baking, Friends • Permalink:Not My Day // 7 Comments »

I wouldn’t want you to think I’m not keeping busy.

My sweater is coming along, which can only be a good thing. I just finished my first skein of yarn tonight. As a pre-emptive thing, I put all the rest of the yarn for this sweater in my knitting bag, just to make sure that none of it gets misplaced during the packing/moving process. Even if it’s not yet wound into balls, at least I know where it is! (And, really, I think I’m going to wind it all into balls now, while I know for sure where my ball-winder is.)

Because that’s one of the other things I’m doing–getting ready to move. We got mover estimates this week, picked a company (through friends of my sister’s), and our moving date is set at November 2nd. They’ll be moving the furniture, the books, and whatever other boxes we’ve got for them … in fact, they’re going to come a couple days ahead of time and PACK MY BOOKS FOR ME. I need to get everything organized so that they can be labelled appropriately so they end up in the right place, but I have to admit, not having to pack thousands of books is a relief.

We’ll be moving some of the other stuff ourselves, though. Like, the clothing, the yarn, the craft supplies. The dog. Actually, moving the dog is going to be stressful for the dog, and we’re trying to figure out the logistics of that. Something that will make him feel safe and loved, but hopefully not feeling the need to bark every time someone walks in the house with boxes, or carrying furniture. I said I think he should be one of the first “things” we move–when we’ve been on vacation, he stresses when we start carrying LUGGAGE out to the car. We always put him in the car first thing, now, so he knows that he is absolutely not going to be left behind. I can only imagine what he would do if we started moving out everything in the HOUSE without him. So, he’ll be riding over to the new house pretty early.

Here’s a little mystery. I just glanced over to my boxes of CDs … I put all my CDs in boxes to get them out of my dresser. You’ll be fascinated to know that my cd collection takes four boxes to pack–the kind of boxes you get 5 reams of paper in. (Some of the handiest-sized boxes around. Not too bulky to lift and carry, and even when filled with things like, oh, say, BOOKS, they’re still not too heavy.)

Anyway, I looked and saw this silver thing on the floor. Now, having assembled any number of bookcases from IKEA, I know that this is one of the connectors used for holding pieces of wood together–there’s usually a screw of some kind, and then this sits in the hole and rotates, securing everything in place.

Now, if only I knew what it came from.

Normally, there’s not actually ANYTHING sitting in that spot, but I had pulled out a lot of things from my fiber-closet today and had them scattered about the room. Wool. Yarn. Craft supplies. (In fact, I wish I could remember off-hand who I sold my Lendrum Woolee Winder to, because I just found another bobbin for it.) I planned on weeding out a lot of stuff, but really only got rid of a one garbage-bag full of odds and ends … but what’s left is at least a little better organized.

But … still. Even with wool and boxes strewn about the room, I didn’t have anything just there that would have had one of those connectors…

Let’s see, what else? Mom and I went out for coffee together for the first Saturday in over a month. We kept joking that we weren’t sure we remembered how, where did you go, again? How did it work? Did you sit and drink it? Then we went to Home Depot where I bought a medicine chest to go in my soon-to-be-new bathroom (since I can’t take the ones my current bathroom HAS, darn it). But the man from the leasing company said he was more than happy to take down the mirror on the wall and hang up a medicine chest, which is a relief because I couldn’t quite imagine not having one. (Where do you keep the toothpaste? The Advil? The eye drops?)

So, we bought one … and with the help of a very nice man who was on his way INTO Home Depot (since the “parking lot staff” was no help whatsoever), we got it into the trunk of my car. It just fits, with the seats folded forward. Now I just need to coordinate a meeting with Ed to drop it off at the townhouse for him to install between now and November first.

I’ve also spent a couple hours doing some editing on an ebook, which is remarkably fun. It’s an ebook that a friend wrote for a client, and she hired me to check the spelling and punctuation kind of thing. It’s a pleasure because, while it requires concentration, it doesn’t require creative thought. It’s not something I wrote, so I’m not editing it and thinking about rewrites; I’m just fixing the punctuation. Very handy indeed because it will bring in some extra money (should almost pay for my medicine chest, after taxes), but it’s not as taxing as writing something for myself.

Oh! I just realized what that connector was from. I moved my “editor’s desk” from off one of the boxes of CDs so I could label it, and I rested it just in that spot. I just checked the bottom and, sure enough … that’s where it came from. One mystery solved!

A couple links for you before I go:

• What do you think of these nifty Bale-of-Hay Chair backs?
• You know that favorite TV show of mine, Chuck? The one not due to return until after the Olympics in March? Rumor has it it might be coming back earlier. Like, by the end of October. The idea of it coming back early thrills me to bits, of course, but the fact that its return would be so SOON is worrying because that leaves almost no time to promote it and get people WATCHING.
• Maybe I’ll have a “Watch Chuck’s Season 3 Premiere” contest, huh? And give away yarn to anybody who watches it–and gets other people to watch, too? With bonus points if they’re Nielson families?
• Check out this great subway staircase experiment in Sweden … and be sure to watch the accompanying video. Got to love the Fun Theory!
• Nifty little highly-coordinated music video that Mom sent me.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Lest You Worry // 4 Comments »

I told you that Monday was my parents’ anniversary, and Mom just recently came across her wedding dress. It’s a little faded, not quite so white (and we didn’t have a chance to button it up properly), but still … The fact that Mom was wearing this dress when she and Dad officially started their life together can only make me happy!

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Bridal // 4 Comments »

10/15/09: Sale is closed. The man from the used bookstore is coming tomorrow, and I can’t keep these around any longer.

So … under duress, you understand, and no reflection at all on the quality of these books … Some cookbooks for sale. All the books are in pristine condition. This is a smoke-free home, as you know, although there could be some dog fur involved–Chappy works hard at that–but all the books are kept in my closet, so they’re as clean and perfect as I can possibly make them. (Because, yes, I’m even neat in the kitchen.)

I’m offering them one by one, though that means the price is higher per book because of the postage. (Sorry about that) Be sure to read the rules at the end!

Afternoon Tea Book$15
The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook $10
A Proper Tea $10
Ice Cream $10
The Ultimate Ice Cream Book $10

Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook $15
Bistro Cooking $10
The Ultimate Rice Cooker $10

Alton Brown’s Gear $10
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American $10
Little House Cookbook $10

Make Mine Vanilla $10
The Medici Cookbook $10
Shoshoni $10
Semi-Homemade Cooking $10

How to be a Domestic Goddess $15
How to Eat $15

Three Dog Bakery Cookbook $10
Cook for your Dog $10

How to Repair Food $10
Kitchen Science $10
Curious Cook $10

The Physiology of Taste $10
A Cook’s Tales $10
Why We Eat What We Eat$10

Great British Cooking $10
German Cookbook $10
The Great Scandinavian Baking Book $10

Martha Stewart’s H ealthy Quick Cookbook $10
No Diet Required $10
Eat and Lose Weight $10

The rules? The price for U.S. Book Rate postage is included. If you’re outside the U.S., additional postal costs may apply. Payment will be accepted via Paypal, though if you’re local, cash works, too (grin). The first person to claim and pay for each book is the lucky person who gets it. I’m pretty sure I have packaging available for each group, so it shouldn’t take me too long to get things in the mail–no more than a week (although, come to think of it, I need to buy stamps). Please ask questions if you have them! (Note that while I can check basic email from work, I’m limited in what I can do from my desk at the office, so I’ll trust the comments to keep things in sequence for me.)

Most important? If you’re interested, YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST! Emails, posts on Ravelry, instant messages, phone calls … none of those count. If it’s not in the comments, it’s like it never happened. It’s the only way to tell whose request comes in first (if more than one of you want the same book).

• Tags: General • Permalink:For Sale, Volume 3–Cookbooks // 5 Comments »

Three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2100 square feet. Cathedral ceiling in the living room. 2-car garage (a tight fit, but still). Finished basement/family room which will be Mom and Dad’s offices plus an extra tv (we figure) and a futon for guests (once we BUY a futon for guests). Two decks off the back, from the two lower levels (which will be very convenient for Chappy, even if he won’t have a doggy door). The two small bedrooms will both be mine–one for sleeping, one for spinning, yarn storage, and my computer. Still in Denville, and actually about a mile closer to work. The lease kicks in on November 1st–just in time for my birthday.

Except for the fact that we’re renting rather than buying, I’d say it just about hits everything I put into my ad in August, wouldn’t you? About the only thing that’s going to be challenging is that there’s about half the kitchen cabinet storage that we’re used to–half the cabinets, and no pantry. But, hey, we’ll think of something!

(And, hey, the smaller window upstairs in the front? That’ll be my Mom’s walk-in closet. You heard me. She’s got a closet with a window.)

And … because I’m as good as my word:

She really didn’t think I was going to give her that sweater! But, really, it looks perfect on her, don’t you think? Thanks, Gail!

• Tags: Family • Permalink:New // 30 Comments »

Let’s pause a moment to admire this lovely sweater, shall we?

Here’s the really poor modelled shot–because, well, you can only do so much while holding a camera to your face.

It’s a quick hello and goodbye, because this sweater is (hopefully) on its way to a new home tomorrow. I told you I offered it to our realtor, if she found us a good home, right? Well, if things go the way they should, tomorrow, we should have one. We’ll be handing over a check (well, four, actually) to our new landlord tomorrow afternoon.

About the only glitch likely to happen at this point? I didn’t know until lunchtime today that I would have to give a certified and/or cashier’s check tomorrow. So, I called Fidelity and arranged for a wire transfer, which I was assured would go through today, so that I could go to my local Sovereign branch tomorrow and get my cashier’s check … except … apparently he was wrong. The transfer won’t go through until tomorrow. It’s supposed to be first thing in the morning, and it’s supposed to be instantaneous, but … if the money isn’t in there by, say, lunchtime when I go to get the Cashier’s checks, there’s going to be a problem!

Well, at least the sweater is done. You’ll note I opted for my second-choice buttons. Not because the others weren’t perfect (they were), but because I love them. I had sewn them onto a cardigan I made about 15 years ago and cut them off before I got rid of it. Since this sweater is going to a new home (appropriate, you’ll agree), I decided to keep those other buttons in the family and use these instead.

What else is news?

Forty-six years ago today, my Mom and Dad got married. Thank you, Mom and Dad! I’ve had so much fun with you these past 42 years 11 months, I only regret that I wasn’t here to enjoy the first four years with you, too. (Although, in retrospect, judging from some of the new-parenting stories I’ve heard about you and Patty … like taking her carriage out for a walk without her … coming second (well, technically third) was still probably the wise choice.)

• Tags: Family, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Hail and Farewell // 8 Comments »

My sweater is moving along. See? There’s the waistband PLUS the lower part of the sweater.

I did it twice, even. I picked up those 165 stitches last night and knit the first 5 rows, but wasn’t happy with the way it looked–the ribbing was pulling in too much and didn’t look right. You realize, of course, that my gauge is (of course) different than the one in the pattern. Though … it looks like it’s different from the swatch (of course). I may have to take a closer look at it tomorrow when I’m not so tired. If necessary, I’ll redo the lower section again, when I get a better look at the actual gauge. (You know, when I’m not so tired.)

We spent the day up at my sister’s today, because our realtor had an Open House here today. So, Mom, Dad, Chappy and I drove up to Pennsylvania and spent the day there. I even got a look at my nephew’s bunny, Snowshoe. So did Chappy–he stood in Tyler’s doorway, his nose going a mile a minute, and then gave one, little woof, like he was asking, “Did you know there’s a rabbit in there?”

And now he’s tired… it’s been a long, rather confusing day for him! Mom, too, who’s finally getting over her cold, but spent most of the day coughing … though at least her voice is starting to come back.

• Tags: Family, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:October 4th // 1 Comment »

10/15/09: Sale is closed. The man from the used bookstore is coming tomorrow, and I can’t keep these around any longer.

So … under duress, you understand, and no reflection at all on the quality of these books … Some knitting books for sale. Almost all the books are in pristine condition. This is a smoke-free home, as you know, although there could be some dog fur involved–Chappy works hard at that–but all the books are kept in my closet, so they’re as clean and perfect as I can possibly make them.

Except for two groups, I’m offering them one by one, though that means the price is higher per book because of the postage. (Sorry about that) Be sure to read the rules at the end!

Whole Craft of Spinning
The Ashford Book of Spinning
Spindle Spinning

I’m selling these three as a group–$30

Embellishments $13
Innovative Sewing $13
Couture $20

Easy Style $15
Shirtmaking $15
Doll’s Clothes Patterns $10

Needlework Masterpieces $20
Silk Ribbon Embroidery $10
Samplers: How to Create Your Own $15

White Work $9
Early American Iron-On Transfer Patterns $9
Designs for Shadow Work and Fine Embroidery $9
Bobbin Lace $9
Heirloom Drawn Thread Sampler $9

Crochet Edgings $9
Weekend Afghans $10
Crochet Style $9

Um … three Japanese knitting books. One of them has some old styles (like, almost 1980s), but that one has the best instructions on translating the patterns to English. I’m selling these three as a group, just because. $25

American Patchwork and Quilting $15
American Quilts and How to Make Them $15

Feng Shui Made Easy $15
Decorating with Fabric and Wallcovering $15
Painting Techniques and Faux Finishes $15

What Not to Wear: The Rules $9
Elsa Klensch’s Style $15
Dress Code $12

Home Comforts $9
Decorating for Comfort $10

Daring to Be Yourself $15
Living Beautifully Together $15

The rules? The price for U.S. Book Rate postage is included. If you’re outside the U.S., additional postal costs may apply. Payment will be accepted via Paypal, though if you’re local, cash works, too (grin). The first person to claim and pay for each book is the lucky person who gets it. I’m pretty sure I have packaging available for each group, so it shouldn’t take me too long to get things in the mail–no more than a week (although, come to think of it, I need to buy stamps). Please ask questions if you have them! (Note that while I can check basic email from work, I’m limited in what I can do from my desk at the office, so I’ll trust the comments to keep things in sequence for me.)

Most important? If you’re interested, YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST! Emails, posts on Ravelry, instant messages, phone calls … none of those count. If it’s not in the comments, it’s like it never happened. It’s the only way to tell whose request comes in first (if more than one of you want the same book).

• Tags: General • Permalink:For Sale, Volume 2–Other Crafts // 7 Comments »

This is a wool afghan my grandmother (Mom’s Mom) made back when my mother was little. I know for sure it’s wool because at some point, when I was around 10-15, Mom washed and felted the poor thing, making it smaller and stiffer than it was.

Not that that matters. This is the blanket my sister and I slept under when we were sick. It’s the blanket that made up Jilly’s bed for many years. And, you know, my grandmother made it.

And, just for a lesson on the importance of dyelots? Note the square where the shade of green suddenly changes.

How she’d feel about Chappy’s using it as a toy? I’m not really sure, but I like to think it would make her smile.

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Afghan // Add Comment »

Here’s what I read in September:

1. Mystic & Rider by Sharon Shinn (440 p)
2. Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn (423 p.)
3. Dark Moon Defender by Sharon Shinn (435 p.)
4. Reader and Raelynx by Sharon Shinn (420 p.)
5. Fortune and Fate by Sharon Shinn (403 p.)

6. Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (227 p.)
7. Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (248 p.)

8. Fair Isle Knitting by Alice Starmore (199 p.)

9. Seven Towers by Patricia Wrede (264 p.)

10. Daughter of Witches by Patricia Wrede (215 p.)

11. Word Play by Peter Farb (367 p.)

12. Passage by Connie Willis (780 p.)

13. Safe-Keeper’s Secret by Sharon Shinn (222 p.)
14. Truth-Teller’s Tale by Sharon Shinn (276 p.)
15. Dream-Maker’s Magic by Sharon Shinn (261 p.)

16. How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher (200 p.)

17. Princess of Flames by Ru Emerson (327 p.)

18. Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett (672 p.)

19. Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas (272 p.)

20. An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott

21. Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Books Read in September 2009 // 1 Comment »