Of Cameras and Fish

How bad is the El'Cheapo camera of ours? So bad that this is the best picture I could get of the Not-A-Poncho in progress. Note to self: Wait until morning dew dries next time.

It's also so bad, Goldie IV committed suicide sometime last night. Even before he knew about the bad picture.


He is clearly an ex-fish. I'm running off to trade out the fish, and hoping Goldie V looks somewhat like IV. Fry doesn't know about this latest tragedy. I may have to scuff up some dirt to pretend I buried him. No, I'm not.

Spring has sprung!

Look! A couple of days later and voila'! This is my favorite time of year. The other seasons have their merits, but spring is number one.





I've not knitted a stitch since Saturday. For some reason, people needed clothes washed around here. I know! Totally weird. I've started the group knit a long clogs, and have at least three inches of sleeves done on Jane's not a poncho. I'm dying to have it done already, it's going to be gorgeous.

I did say that, didn't I.

Yes, I remember vaguely something about knitting news...

There's been some falling off the wagon, but, the yarn WAS discounted 40%, beating the 30% exception rate. The not-a-poncho is coming along great, other projects are at a standstill for the moment. Fry and I goofed off today, hanging out at the mall, checking out the Dillard's clearance. We were amazed at how many stores have closed since we were last there. I mean, if the Waldenbooks and TGI Yogurt stores are gone, why go at all?

In the interest of eye candy and to show off the cool new door's best feature, here are some more house pictures. These will be the last until the kitchen backsplash is done, I promise.


Sigh. You can't tell the diamonds in the windows, but they're there. Then, the door has this button that you tap with your toe and it stays open. Very cool for us shrimpy people. She's not to be shrimpy for long! She's already five foot tall, three inches away from me. It'll be fun to see ho9w tall she really gets. :D

If I had a telephoto lens, you'd not only see the tree barely has buds, but that there's a black kitty in the storm drain.

I do windows!

Picture time! Yesterday, I got a call from the windows guys saying they'll be here 'tomorrow' at 8:00am. Didn't I just get rid of the floor guys? Not only that, but the new storm door was/is installed this morning, too. It's grand central around here. My younger sister called, always a very GREAT interruption in my day, and is wanting to keep my kid over there even longer. That is great, although, it'd be nice if the little rat was here to clean her own room. Ah well, at least now I can throw her things away with abandon. Ha ha ha!

Enough gab, now the good stuff:
This is posted solely for my husband's benefit. See the scratch? They'd even tried to patch it up at the factory. No dice. The new part is already ordered, said the message I got from the store today. I was outside, probably goofing off, when the guy called. We're supposed to call when the part is here.

Here's the new door in all its glory. A new storm door isn't that pricy, but then, that's after paying out to the roofers, the floorers, the countertop guys... Then the windows, sheesh. We'd been saving for a while, then with tax refunds, Army Reserve pay, all that, it was time to upgrade the house. What's that white blob? My finger with a bandaid. Never get in a hurry taking potato soup out of the microwave, especially when you see it boiling. Now I'm glad I don't knit Continental (holding the yarn in the left hand).


It's not often a person gets to see before AND after in one photo. Very cool. :D


Here is a closeup. The guys just left, all the downstairs windows that were to be replaced are done on the inside. They need finishing on the outside, but that's ok.


Looking out of two of the new windows. These are in the front, of course, then the back kitchen windows don't have the crosshatches. I love all of them.


Tomorrow, there'll be knitting updates, because despite all the dust, there HAS been knitting.

The Sounds of Silence

It's 11am, do you know where your toilet guy is?

I've read this email from Hubs," Plumber will be out around 8:30 - 9:00 Am on Monday morning. He will call first," at least three times. This IS Monday, right? The floor guys are coming back sometime to wrap up and clean up. Want to see?






The last picture shows the baby gift I've worked on since Wednesday. It needs washing, but then, I need my washing machine hooked back up, too. The photos are dark and so is the day. When all is back in place, I'll take real before and after photos with a better camera, then scan them in.

Meanwhile, there's new fixtures, new ceiling decor, new knit project(s), and new sheetrock.






Those aren't crystals on the chandelier, but plastic thingys. The good thing is they're very easily replaced with the good stuff.

Pooped out!

Um, no, just tired. Let's not be literal. Yesterday, I did do a lot, cleaning around the pond, sorting tools and DIY supplies, moving chairs from kitchen to living room. Today, I about fell asleep while knitting and sitting on the stairs. This is the part where my Mom wonders, "During all that noise?" to which I reply, "I know!" With the floor still being put in, there's a kachunk of the nailgun, a BRRRRRRRR of the air compressor, and a whuuuuhhhh of the circular saw. Every once in a while is a bam bam bam of a hammer. Despite the noise, the floor looks great. Everyone over here is pleased and as a bonus, Toppa gets to come over and see it! I'm thrilled to show it off to someone with great taste. We have similar tasts in home furnishings, by the way. In case you thought I was being overly gushy about the sister.

My stove has been in the living room since Wednesday. Everyone here is ready for me to get back to cooking. After the Chinese buffet on Tuesday, the Olive Garden and Pizza Hut for Wednesday, and tonight's Wendy's, we are so ready for something with a bit less salt. Hub's mission this weekend is to get the grill out and ready for the season. We (Fry and I) need our kabobs!

I'll have to post pictures of the floor soon. They're done with the tough stuff, now it's all straight lines. I'll be surprised if they're here much past lunch tomorrow. The wood floor looks better than any of us anticipated, we're very happy with it. :)

To drivel or not to drivel, that is the question.

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Modifying

Super logical and rational, you consider every fact available to you. You don't make rash decisions and are rarely moved by emotion. You prefer what's known and proven - to the new and untested. You tend to ground those around you and add stability.

What's Your Thinking Style?

Not only that, but after taking this:

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

I feel qualified to tell Newt to take a flying leap. A confession now? Maybe he's not a hypocrite any more, but he's not one any less, either. And to also tell Haliburton "You're welcome" to the "Thank you" we should get for getting my husband and others to give them Iraq and all the oil. All the other Americans should get a huge thank you, too, since they paid for Iraq while paying for heating and transportation for themselves. Somehow, I don't think it's a THANK you we're getting from them. A different 'K you, certainly.

I do want to give a thank you to whomever fired the former Surgeon General, Kiley. His arrogant attitude over the mistreatment of those injured soldiers was disgraceful, both as a member of the armed forces and as a human being. I hope he gets way more than he deserves for all this. Especially after he made the lower ranking officers the scapegoats. They followed his orders, they had no choice. Generals need to 'be the man'.

And now for something completely different. Fry had a choir event tonight, she did great and was beautiful, of course. There was an 'incident' though. It seems the group had to sing "Three Blind Mice." Her face turned red and I could tell she had to work to keep from busting a gut laughing. "What on Earth?" I thought, then remembered from Monty Python's The Mouse Problem. After that, it was a vicious circle, me trying not to laugh, getting tickled by her trying not to laugh while singing "Three Blind Mice." I love that kid. Hubs thought we were strange, but then understood once I told him about the farmer's wife in the blue cheese mouse film.

The Not-A-Poncho is still cooling its heels, I've finished a handbag for a class today that no one attended. Yay. Still, we had fun in Lee's Summit in the Colors in Knitting class. There's a group down there now that can intarsia and fair isle. Yay!! Right now, I'm knitting up a onesi from the latest Knit Simple for a baby shower Hubs was invited to but is skipping out on. He has to, it's a guy imperative.

Chris Meloni is on Conan O'Brian in a moment. Must go and drool on the TV as usual. :D Yeah, I'm a bit red-blooded at times despite the sweet and innocent gal I try to be.

Later, falling off, then clawing my way back onto the yarn diet bandwagon. Curse that clearance yarn, curse it.

Blog, what blog?

Yes, I've been very neglectful. This time last week, I was frantically putting everything from the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and laundry room floors into the living room for the flooring guys. Um, didn't happen. It seems that waviness of the floor wasn't my imagination, the floor really IS wavy. While I'm very glad the floor guys were honest with us and said the laminate wouldn't work for the long term, I'm pissed as hell that the measuring guy didn't catch that little fact. Dummy. Not only that, but my Sims 2 expansion pack, Seasons, arrived the day the floor was to be ripped up. Okay... I moved the system upstairs so I could install and play, such is my addiction. The expansion is wonderful, the Sims can fish and garden, which is great! Something else I need to do is add the pond to our Sims house. I created our home as exact as I could in the game. Why? So I could try out redecorations without fear of messing up the real house. I know I'm retarded, playing a computer game at my advanced age, but still. A gal can't go from Pong to the Sims 2 without some addiction occurring.

Now for the good stuff, pictures.

The carpet is about to be replaced with hardwood floors, so look while you can. The old and new materials exchange should happen Friday, with the guys coming back over to install all the flooring sometime after Tuesday. I'm teaching two classes and going to a choir concert by the Frygirl at 7pm, so Tuesday is packed.

I found the fabric at Joann's and had a heck of a time getting the gal to measure it for me. She kept asking how much I'd need and I said all of it. She didn't believe me and asked what I'd use it for. I relented and said recovering the kitchen chairs and possibly for draperies. She said I couldn't do both and to pick one, which pissed me off. I don't care how much I need, I wanted ALL of it. I LOVE the fabric. She snarked that I knew it was mill end, and did I know what mill end meant. Um, duh. Yes, I did, but I was nice about it and refrained from saying "Just give me the goddamn fabric already." Fry knew the woman was doomed when I gave Fry the look of, well, doom. At first Fry was worried the look was for her because the gal had snotted to Fry about kids touching the machine and messing it up, but I whispered "YOU'RE fine, SHE'S not," as the gal measured my freaking fabric.


Um, so anyway, the roundy thing next to it is Claude's new kitty bed! He loves it AND can fit on it, always a bonus.


Here's just his bed, close up.

Then here's just the fabric. I love it.

Nice kitty bed, but where does Claude sleep when I'm upstairs? Here at my feet. He follows me from floor to floor. Either he likes my company, or is hoping I'll randomly open a can of cat food. It's the latter, I'm sure.


The ONLY self portrait in the bathroom mirror, a requirement in a partially knit blog. The next one will show me significantly thinner, which may never happen, ha ha! Let's hope it does, though.


Here's a two-fer-one shot. The Grey sweater is DONE! And, it fits halfway well. It'll fit much better once I'm even 5 lbs closer to my target weight. It's not bad, just a little tight around the chest area. I'm not used to that. Not only that, but the picture shows the new sinks and faucets in the master bath. All that's left is Fry's bathroom sink and faucet. Yay!



Here's the purple cardigan so far. It's wide enough to go around, and about 10 inches long. At 14, I start the armhole bindoffs. After I reach the neckline, continue for the shoulders, and bind off, I'll pick up the stitches along the neck and middle edges, and knit it the button holes and buttons. There needs to be sleeves, too, of course.


Next week, after or while the flooring is being put in, I have things to keep me busy outside. Before the backyard snake wakes up, I'm moving rocks around to be less wobbly and cleaning out the ponds. It's not something I'm as eager to do as to have had done already.


Did I ever show a picture of our new roof? Don't think so, so here it is! We like it and it keeps the rain out. It works.


Lastly, Claude has moved from the bed upstairs, to his own bed. He uses the lime green spider thingy, now pretty beat up, as a pillow. The spider toy has a little pocket for catnip. Every year, I grow the 'good stuff' and Claude likes only fresh. In winter, he makes do with the dried, but goes nuts for the home grown. Ha! I'll have to make him a felt mouse with velcro for the good stuff this year.


The sun is setting and I've not done my neighborhood walk, so, must go. Thanks for all the comments, I do love and read them all. Later, I'll post about the Not A Poncho, but for right now, it's cooling its heels until the rest of the knit along get caught up. I was a little enthused on the knitting and overknitted a bit.