We had a brief rain last night and I had to run out and bring the tobacco in because we don't want it to get wet. I'm not sure what the heavy dew is doing to it though. Now it's hanging in my kitchen, partially blocking the doorway. I hope it goes out to the garage this week. And soon.
I brought even more tomatoes in today along with an overgrown zucchini. That one I'll cook. I've done enough shredding, I think. There are only 4 more blooms on the plants so I'm hoping that will be the end of it. I love eating zucchini but after spending four hours shredding it, I'm not in love with it anymore and need a trial separation.
Bitty the toad came back last night and has grown to Kermit size now. But she's still terribly timid and bolted when I opened the door to let Professor out. She was on the mailbox right next to the door so I'm sure it was too great a surprise for her. And of course, Miss Piggy was there as well. Still no Kermit though.
We're going to have to get a new battery for the car this weekend. I'm having to take the air filter compartment off and clean the terminal every time I want to start it anymore. I'm going to let Tom take it to StuffMart because I think they'll refuse to do it because of the location of the battery. You have to take the right front tire off, to get the battery out. I want to kick the man who designed this car in the groin. I really do. You also have to take the front fender off to change out the bulbs in the headlights.
I got next to nothing done today. My sleeping is crap again and Professor just won't let me sleep in. He nags and barks (using his indoor voice, of course) and nags and washes my face and barks until I get up to let him out only to watch him settle down on the porch for his own private viewing of his kingdom. Not to wee. Just to reign supreme. So I'm tired and dragging in spite of the cooler weather and promise of rain. Which we got a bit of already. But the bulk of it will come after midnight so I am prepared. I didn't set out the cardboard for the trash pickup tomorrow because they won't take it wet so I left it in the garage. If I get up early enough (I sure hope not!) I'll set it out; otherwise I'll wait until next week.
I do intend to finish the kitchen and living/dining room before I settle in to watch Northern Exposure and knit. The sweater with the houndstooth pattern is coming along. I feel like I'm knitting so loosely to keep the stranding so it doesn't leave vertical lines but it looks really good. I'm sure by the time I get to the end, I'll be comfortable with it. But I need to keep up with non-stranding things so I don't develop a loose knit. I'm pretty good at knitting to gauge so I don't want to change that.
Still haven't located the crochet hooks. I'm about ready to buy a new hook to use for my doily/altar cloth thing. Once I do that the errant hooks will show up for sure. But I do want to get going with the doily because I really want to crochet now that I've set my mind to it and have found a couple of patterns that might work.
I can't remember if I took my meds today so I'm not going to take them just in case. My mind is like a steel sieve these days.
Well, I need to start supper and finish up my work. And try to stay awake until bedtime.
TTFN
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
My puny garden is paying off...a bit
August is letting me know that it's still summer. By noon the heat index was 88F and the back of my hair was wet and I was all for taking an afternoon siesta. I didn't but I did sit at the table and shred zucchini and watch Howl's Moving Castle with Zach. He loves anime, has since he was little, and since we both love movies, we like to watch what the other person likes. It expands our horizons.
Actually, I loved it and it will go on my favorites list. I also got 4 freezer bags of zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread this winter. I squeezed as much water as I could out of it, but I couldn't get it all. I still have zucchini on the vine for eating. And of course, by shredding by hand I had to make sure I wasn't shredding my hand instead. No red stuff in the zucchini, fortunately.
I got 6 more tomatoes off the vine today, too. I'm going to have to do something with it besides just tomato sandwiches and sliced tomatoes to eat. I'll end up making some spaghetti sauce as I have two small green peppers I can add to the mixture. I canned some spaghetti sauce several years ago when our neighbor gave me a huge bag full of tomatoes and it turned out great. I gave him a jar but never heard if he liked it or not.
I didn't get any drawing done today because it took so darned long to hand shred zucchini but I hope to get some done tomorrow. In addition to giving the living/dining room a huge cleaning. And some baking, I hope, if it cools off some. Otherwise, drawing, reading and of course, knitting.
Miss Piggy the toad has been a regular visitor the past several days, but I haven't seen Kermit or Bitty in ages. I guess they've moved on to greener pastures. Or better porch lights.
I'm making progress on the sweater (and it's not herringbone but houndstooth) but I had to rip back because, while I thought I was carrying the colors loosely behind, it was apparently too tight. I ended up with vertical lines. I'm trying to find that happy medium where my stitches aren't too loose but the carry isn't too tight. I'm not that well-practiced with fair isle knitting. I did think about argyle instead but if I'm having trouble with houndstooth, I'm not ready for argyle yet.
I haven't worked on the Tree of Life afghan for a couple of days. Partly because I was doing other things and partly because I fall asleep when I pick it up. I'm trying to get back to my schedule of early to bed and early-ish to rise but so far, it's just the early-ish to rise part. The getting to bed is happening in the wee hours.
I have many dishes to wash before bed. Or I could hide them in the dishwasher so I can crawl into bed and watch dvds and knit. Hmmm...I think I'll cheat tonight. The heat really wiped me out today.
TTFN
Actually, I loved it and it will go on my favorites list. I also got 4 freezer bags of zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread this winter. I squeezed as much water as I could out of it, but I couldn't get it all. I still have zucchini on the vine for eating. And of course, by shredding by hand I had to make sure I wasn't shredding my hand instead. No red stuff in the zucchini, fortunately.
I got 6 more tomatoes off the vine today, too. I'm going to have to do something with it besides just tomato sandwiches and sliced tomatoes to eat. I'll end up making some spaghetti sauce as I have two small green peppers I can add to the mixture. I canned some spaghetti sauce several years ago when our neighbor gave me a huge bag full of tomatoes and it turned out great. I gave him a jar but never heard if he liked it or not.
I didn't get any drawing done today because it took so darned long to hand shred zucchini but I hope to get some done tomorrow. In addition to giving the living/dining room a huge cleaning. And some baking, I hope, if it cools off some. Otherwise, drawing, reading and of course, knitting.
Miss Piggy the toad has been a regular visitor the past several days, but I haven't seen Kermit or Bitty in ages. I guess they've moved on to greener pastures. Or better porch lights.
I'm making progress on the sweater (and it's not herringbone but houndstooth) but I had to rip back because, while I thought I was carrying the colors loosely behind, it was apparently too tight. I ended up with vertical lines. I'm trying to find that happy medium where my stitches aren't too loose but the carry isn't too tight. I'm not that well-practiced with fair isle knitting. I did think about argyle instead but if I'm having trouble with houndstooth, I'm not ready for argyle yet.
I haven't worked on the Tree of Life afghan for a couple of days. Partly because I was doing other things and partly because I fall asleep when I pick it up. I'm trying to get back to my schedule of early to bed and early-ish to rise but so far, it's just the early-ish to rise part. The getting to bed is happening in the wee hours.
I have many dishes to wash before bed. Or I could hide them in the dishwasher so I can crawl into bed and watch dvds and knit. Hmmm...I think I'll cheat tonight. The heat really wiped me out today.
TTFN
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Watching summer fade away
One of these days I'll have a post that talks about the energy I have. Until that point, though, I think I'll just stop talking about how tired I am. But I can claim heat fatigue today. After those lovely days of cool, fall-like temps, this is like being plopped down in the middle of the desert. Not terribly humid, but humid enough that my hair is wet from the sweat.
Hard to believe August is almost over. September is one of my favorite months, not only because it's my birthday month. But also because I love autumn. I love watching things wind down and scurrying about getting things ready for winter, when I hole up in my cave and hibernate. Okay I don't actually hibernate but I do love cozying in. I'm already making plans to winterize.
I frogged the blanket I was trying to design. Not because I didn't love it, but because I had to question the wisdom of knitting another blanket. I'm already knitting the Tree of Life afghan and I have several blankets I've knit in Harry Potter colors, not to mention throws we got from various sources. I know we keep the house very cool in the winter but there is such a thing as overkill.
So I frogged it and am knitting a man's sweater from an old magazine because I like the shawl cardigan lines to it and men's sweaters are large enough in the arms for me. I have one arm twice as big as the other due to lymphadema and it frustrates me to buy clothes that fit me everywhere except the sleeve. I changed the design from a plaid to a Herringbone pattern though because I like it better. (That Barbara Walker stitch dictionary was a good investment!) It will wear a bit like a jacket but in our cold house (well, not cold today) it will feel good. I will have enough yarn left over to make a hat and scarf to go with it. At least I will look trendy as I bundle up for the winter.
I bought some yarn to make a table top out of a doily pattern but I can't find my crochet hooks. I'm always losing them because I don't use them much. So I put them up and then forget where I put them. I'll tear the house apart tomorrow but it's too hot today so I'm working on the blanket and the sweater. Neither are far enough along to cover my lap so I'm okay. If it gets too bad, I can knit up some dishcloths. My store-bought dishcloths are pretty ratty.
I lost my good scissors. Not a clue where they are and I don't want to buy a new pair. As it is, I broke down and went to the store today, but I went ahead and bought enough that I definitely don't have to go back for a week and it wasn't outrageously expensive. I had to take the truck because the battery thing was happening again. So anyway, while I'm looking for my crochet hooks, I'll look for the scissors.
I managed to keep up with the kitchen today and Tom cooked supper so it's been a bit of a day off. Of sorts. Not that I actually get days off. I always have some work to do.
I'm up to Return of the King commentary by the Design Team. It's my least favorite commentary but I do glean a lot about the behind the scenes stuff. The only reason I don't like it much is because at least three of the commentators talk so softly that even at level 34 volume I can't understand what they're saying. My favorite is the director/writers followed by the production team, then the cast, then the design team. Starting tomorrow I'm getting my pencils out and getting down to it with my art. I'm setting aside a block of time just for that. Otherwise I'll wait until I'm done with everything and not actually get done. Which means I keep putting it off. I act like it's a reward for getting my work done instead of treating it like something important to me. Same with my writing.
Well, I'm going to finish up the dishes and then to bed while watching Inspector Lewis followed by ROTK commentary. And I hope to get tons of knitting done.
TTFN
Hard to believe August is almost over. September is one of my favorite months, not only because it's my birthday month. But also because I love autumn. I love watching things wind down and scurrying about getting things ready for winter, when I hole up in my cave and hibernate. Okay I don't actually hibernate but I do love cozying in. I'm already making plans to winterize.
I frogged the blanket I was trying to design. Not because I didn't love it, but because I had to question the wisdom of knitting another blanket. I'm already knitting the Tree of Life afghan and I have several blankets I've knit in Harry Potter colors, not to mention throws we got from various sources. I know we keep the house very cool in the winter but there is such a thing as overkill.
So I frogged it and am knitting a man's sweater from an old magazine because I like the shawl cardigan lines to it and men's sweaters are large enough in the arms for me. I have one arm twice as big as the other due to lymphadema and it frustrates me to buy clothes that fit me everywhere except the sleeve. I changed the design from a plaid to a Herringbone pattern though because I like it better. (That Barbara Walker stitch dictionary was a good investment!) It will wear a bit like a jacket but in our cold house (well, not cold today) it will feel good. I will have enough yarn left over to make a hat and scarf to go with it. At least I will look trendy as I bundle up for the winter.
I bought some yarn to make a table top out of a doily pattern but I can't find my crochet hooks. I'm always losing them because I don't use them much. So I put them up and then forget where I put them. I'll tear the house apart tomorrow but it's too hot today so I'm working on the blanket and the sweater. Neither are far enough along to cover my lap so I'm okay. If it gets too bad, I can knit up some dishcloths. My store-bought dishcloths are pretty ratty.
I lost my good scissors. Not a clue where they are and I don't want to buy a new pair. As it is, I broke down and went to the store today, but I went ahead and bought enough that I definitely don't have to go back for a week and it wasn't outrageously expensive. I had to take the truck because the battery thing was happening again. So anyway, while I'm looking for my crochet hooks, I'll look for the scissors.
I managed to keep up with the kitchen today and Tom cooked supper so it's been a bit of a day off. Of sorts. Not that I actually get days off. I always have some work to do.
I'm up to Return of the King commentary by the Design Team. It's my least favorite commentary but I do glean a lot about the behind the scenes stuff. The only reason I don't like it much is because at least three of the commentators talk so softly that even at level 34 volume I can't understand what they're saying. My favorite is the director/writers followed by the production team, then the cast, then the design team. Starting tomorrow I'm getting my pencils out and getting down to it with my art. I'm setting aside a block of time just for that. Otherwise I'll wait until I'm done with everything and not actually get done. Which means I keep putting it off. I act like it's a reward for getting my work done instead of treating it like something important to me. Same with my writing.
Well, I'm going to finish up the dishes and then to bed while watching Inspector Lewis followed by ROTK commentary. And I hope to get tons of knitting done.
TTFN
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Getting there...wherever there is
Miss Piggy's sleepover. She's been there since I got up this morning, and I suspect as soon as I turned off the porch light last night. Yes, she's squished between the house and the porch light.
The wooly worm was curled up on the porch when I let Professor out this morning but gone when I let him in. I suspect foul play.
I've been busy today. I didn't get the tobacco dug up but I did harvest the sunflowers a bit early. I don't want the birds to eat them yet so I went ahead and cut the heads off. They're in the kitchen window awaiting the morning sun so they can finish ripening. They're the black kind, not the striped ones.
Re-using the dishwater is working out well. I hope all this effort is reflected in the water bill next month. I got another load of clothes washed and put both loads out on the line, avoiding the tobacco as much as I could. The first load didn't dry in the dryer. I know I need to de-lint the dryer but it involves tools I don't have and can't afford to buy right now so I'm using the clothesline.
I have more tomatoes on the counter and some tiny green peppers. I don't know why they didn't get very big but at least they taste good. And what is great is that I grew the tomatoes and peppers from seeds. And the tobacco. And the zucchini, but you could do that in your sleep. I'm already planning next year's garden.
Other than gardening and laundry and dishes, I haven't gotten a lot done. I did some knitting last night: the Tree of Life afghan, the blanket thing I'm working on but am now wondering if I really need two more blankets and maybe I should save this back for a sweater. I love the colors and would love to wear a sweater or a jacket in purple and white. Also I started working on some jewelry out of the silk/wool yarn I had left over from a beaded scarf kit I won on someone's blog. So far I really like it but I won't do pictures or talk about the specfics as it's a gift.
I'm also looking for some doily patterns because I've got a hankering for the color orange and I have some orange/melon colored yarn leftoever I would like to make a table topper out of. I think I'm looking forward to autumn and that's why the craving for all things orange. Plus I'm also hankering to crochet again. I've got a shawl pattern I want to crochet as well. I've got plenty of yarn for that, too. In fact, I need to use up yarn before I buy any more. Especially cotton yarn. I've got enough for about 8 dishcloths so I think I might work on some of that during the coming weeks as well. What I don't use, I can give away. My sister is getting married in October and while I can't afford to go to the wedding or a fancy gift, I can knit her some dishcloths. Some of the fancier patterns.
Well, time to fix supper. Tom is working until 6 tonight and I want to have supper ready when he gets home. We're having chili and corn on the cob. And odd combination, as Zach says, but what I want for supper and since I'm cooking...
Then I'll do up the dishes and crawl into bed and take a pain pill. I've been using ibuprofen today and that's kept the pain manageable but when I settle in for the night, I want a pain pill. I don't have the distractions I do during the day.
TTFN
I've been busy today. I didn't get the tobacco dug up but I did harvest the sunflowers a bit early. I don't want the birds to eat them yet so I went ahead and cut the heads off. They're in the kitchen window awaiting the morning sun so they can finish ripening. They're the black kind, not the striped ones.
Re-using the dishwater is working out well. I hope all this effort is reflected in the water bill next month. I got another load of clothes washed and put both loads out on the line, avoiding the tobacco as much as I could. The first load didn't dry in the dryer. I know I need to de-lint the dryer but it involves tools I don't have and can't afford to buy right now so I'm using the clothesline.
I have more tomatoes on the counter and some tiny green peppers. I don't know why they didn't get very big but at least they taste good. And what is great is that I grew the tomatoes and peppers from seeds. And the tobacco. And the zucchini, but you could do that in your sleep. I'm already planning next year's garden.
Other than gardening and laundry and dishes, I haven't gotten a lot done. I did some knitting last night: the Tree of Life afghan, the blanket thing I'm working on but am now wondering if I really need two more blankets and maybe I should save this back for a sweater. I love the colors and would love to wear a sweater or a jacket in purple and white. Also I started working on some jewelry out of the silk/wool yarn I had left over from a beaded scarf kit I won on someone's blog. So far I really like it but I won't do pictures or talk about the specfics as it's a gift.
I'm also looking for some doily patterns because I've got a hankering for the color orange and I have some orange/melon colored yarn leftoever I would like to make a table topper out of. I think I'm looking forward to autumn and that's why the craving for all things orange. Plus I'm also hankering to crochet again. I've got a shawl pattern I want to crochet as well. I've got plenty of yarn for that, too. In fact, I need to use up yarn before I buy any more. Especially cotton yarn. I've got enough for about 8 dishcloths so I think I might work on some of that during the coming weeks as well. What I don't use, I can give away. My sister is getting married in October and while I can't afford to go to the wedding or a fancy gift, I can knit her some dishcloths. Some of the fancier patterns.
Well, time to fix supper. Tom is working until 6 tonight and I want to have supper ready when he gets home. We're having chili and corn on the cob. And odd combination, as Zach says, but what I want for supper and since I'm cooking...
Then I'll do up the dishes and crawl into bed and take a pain pill. I've been using ibuprofen today and that's kept the pain manageable but when I settle in for the night, I want a pain pill. I don't have the distractions I do during the day.
TTFN
Friday, August 27, 2010
My fuzzy new friend
We have a new friend.
He was there when I got home from the store today. I'm not sure if he's an indicator of what winter is going to be like, but he's come to call anyway.
The trip to town was fraught with excitement again. The stupid battery terminal was corroded again so I had to take it all apart and clean the terminal. Remember, the battery is located underneath the light assembly and the air filter so of course it's going to get moisture on it constantly. If we can hang on another year or so maybe we can afford a new/used car next summer. 'Cause we sure can't right now.
I managed to get the grocery bill down some but I had prescriptions on it so it was still up there. I'm going to try very hard not to go back for a week. I think I got enough to last and if we run out, we run out. I'll make do. Something has to give. Our water bill has nearly doubled (correction: it's up 50%) and groceries are $50 a week more than they were last year this time...same amount of stuff. We have to just tighten the belt even more. Fewer trips to town will mean less gas, too. And once the temps cool off I'm going to ask Tom to start taking the car so we can save even more on gas. The truck uses much more gas. Plus the truck is crap on snow and ice.
The garden is watered without having to use any from the faucet. I've got everyone on board so we're using either the bucket to pour stuff into (just liquids but not kool aid or sodas or stuff like that) and I pour the dishwater into the bucket and take it out to water the garden. I have to get out there and take out the tobacco tomorrow so I can lay out the compost and turn it under of the course of the next week. Then planting lettuce. I'm pretty sure the tobacco really drained the soil of nutrients, according to the book we got about it.
It's back to being hot and sticky and is only going to get hotter and stickier. My sleep schedule is getting back to what it used to be. I went to sleep early last night (well, for me anyway...about 10:30) and woke up at 2:30 a.m. when Tom got home. I had it in my head that he had gotten up and it was around 5 a.m. but no, and I didn't get back to sleep until 5 a.m. So I slept until 10:30 this morning. Not rested but then I never feel rested. So that's three nights in a row of little or interrupted sleep. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.
Supper is cooking so I need to go tend it. I'm hoping to get some baking done tomorrow and more laundry. I'm going to have to figure out how to hang clothes around the tobacco on the clothesline. The dryer isn't really drying the clothes anymore. Should be interesting this winter. We can't afford to replace anything in the house anymore.
TTFN
He was there when I got home from the store today. I'm not sure if he's an indicator of what winter is going to be like, but he's come to call anyway.
The trip to town was fraught with excitement again. The stupid battery terminal was corroded again so I had to take it all apart and clean the terminal. Remember, the battery is located underneath the light assembly and the air filter so of course it's going to get moisture on it constantly. If we can hang on another year or so maybe we can afford a new/used car next summer. 'Cause we sure can't right now.
I managed to get the grocery bill down some but I had prescriptions on it so it was still up there. I'm going to try very hard not to go back for a week. I think I got enough to last and if we run out, we run out. I'll make do. Something has to give. Our water bill has nearly doubled (correction: it's up 50%) and groceries are $50 a week more than they were last year this time...same amount of stuff. We have to just tighten the belt even more. Fewer trips to town will mean less gas, too. And once the temps cool off I'm going to ask Tom to start taking the car so we can save even more on gas. The truck uses much more gas. Plus the truck is crap on snow and ice.
The garden is watered without having to use any from the faucet. I've got everyone on board so we're using either the bucket to pour stuff into (just liquids but not kool aid or sodas or stuff like that) and I pour the dishwater into the bucket and take it out to water the garden. I have to get out there and take out the tobacco tomorrow so I can lay out the compost and turn it under of the course of the next week. Then planting lettuce. I'm pretty sure the tobacco really drained the soil of nutrients, according to the book we got about it.
It's back to being hot and sticky and is only going to get hotter and stickier. My sleep schedule is getting back to what it used to be. I went to sleep early last night (well, for me anyway...about 10:30) and woke up at 2:30 a.m. when Tom got home. I had it in my head that he had gotten up and it was around 5 a.m. but no, and I didn't get back to sleep until 5 a.m. So I slept until 10:30 this morning. Not rested but then I never feel rested. So that's three nights in a row of little or interrupted sleep. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.
Supper is cooking so I need to go tend it. I'm hoping to get some baking done tomorrow and more laundry. I'm going to have to figure out how to hang clothes around the tobacco on the clothesline. The dryer isn't really drying the clothes anymore. Should be interesting this winter. We can't afford to replace anything in the house anymore.
TTFN
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The days of frugality are upon us
I didn't get a lot done today but with only about 4 hours of sleep, I'm dragging. It was 4 hours the night before, too. At any rate, I did get done what had to be finished liked laundry, cooking and dishes. I'm doing dishes in the sink using the dishpans which I then pour into my bucket. I take the bucket out and water the garden. Same with water poured off from cooking. I got almost the whole garden watered today and will finish up tomorrow. Then I can water the blueberry bushes and my flowers and then back to the garden the next day.
We're also sitting in the twilight without turning on a light yet as we can see what we need to without a problem. When I get done with the supper dishes and settle in to knit and watch tv, then I'll turn on some lights. We used to do it this way but got complacent. Back to the basic foundation of frugality again.
I don't think I did too much yesterday as I'm not in much pain. Ibuprofen took care of the bulk of it and I can handle what's left. I plan on just being persistent and chipping away at all that needs to be done. Zach mowed part of the yard today and will finish tomorrow so I need to get out there and trim the yard, dig out the tobacco plants and dump the compost over it so I can work it into the soil. Then next week I'll plant some lettuce and whatever else I might have time to grow before the first frost.
Another meatless meal tonight. I made potato-leek soup with brussel sprouts and our own tomatoes. Since Zach won't eat potatoes I fixed him some turkey bacon that needed to be used up and he had a bacon sandwish with the veg.
I printed out a couple of patterns today. Zach wants a hat to wear as an accessory, rather than for warmth. I have some really nice Lion Brand cotton I got for Christmas a few years ago and it will be enough for the hat. It's just a plain hat like Ged wore in Earthsea. I also printed out a Celtic Knot Shawl by Doris Chan to crochet because I need to pick up my hooks again. I really get inspired by this woman because she's always working on something and does the most amazing crochet work. I've decided I want to be as good at crocheting as I am at knitting. And then I want to get better at knitting.
I hope to get a little bit more work done after the supper dishes, like organizing my art supplies so they are in the living room and not all over the house. And then get down to it every day. I've lost my confidence, though, and I can't seem to get going again so my drawing is crap now. But if I don't at least try it will always stay crap.
Well, I want to finish up the dishes so I can get out to the garden before it gets dark. The mosquitoes are out there waiting for me now as it is. Then listening to commentary from Fellowship of the Ring with the creative team. I've got Northern Exposure at the library but I'll pick that up tomorrow.
TTFN
We're also sitting in the twilight without turning on a light yet as we can see what we need to without a problem. When I get done with the supper dishes and settle in to knit and watch tv, then I'll turn on some lights. We used to do it this way but got complacent. Back to the basic foundation of frugality again.
I don't think I did too much yesterday as I'm not in much pain. Ibuprofen took care of the bulk of it and I can handle what's left. I plan on just being persistent and chipping away at all that needs to be done. Zach mowed part of the yard today and will finish tomorrow so I need to get out there and trim the yard, dig out the tobacco plants and dump the compost over it so I can work it into the soil. Then next week I'll plant some lettuce and whatever else I might have time to grow before the first frost.
Another meatless meal tonight. I made potato-leek soup with brussel sprouts and our own tomatoes. Since Zach won't eat potatoes I fixed him some turkey bacon that needed to be used up and he had a bacon sandwish with the veg.
I printed out a couple of patterns today. Zach wants a hat to wear as an accessory, rather than for warmth. I have some really nice Lion Brand cotton I got for Christmas a few years ago and it will be enough for the hat. It's just a plain hat like Ged wore in Earthsea. I also printed out a Celtic Knot Shawl by Doris Chan to crochet because I need to pick up my hooks again. I really get inspired by this woman because she's always working on something and does the most amazing crochet work. I've decided I want to be as good at crocheting as I am at knitting. And then I want to get better at knitting.
I hope to get a little bit more work done after the supper dishes, like organizing my art supplies so they are in the living room and not all over the house. And then get down to it every day. I've lost my confidence, though, and I can't seem to get going again so my drawing is crap now. But if I don't at least try it will always stay crap.
Well, I want to finish up the dishes so I can get out to the garden before it gets dark. The mosquitoes are out there waiting for me now as it is. Then listening to commentary from Fellowship of the Ring with the creative team. I've got Northern Exposure at the library but I'll pick that up tomorrow.
TTFN
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Stop me next time I want to do the whole house in one day
I will regret this tomorrow but I'm tearing the house apart tonight. I bought a new, shorter shelf for the pantry, moved the taller shelf away from beside the refrigerator and put it in front of the south window in the living room where I will very soon plant some herbs. I have one shelf I can't use just yet because the window fan lines up perfectly with that shelf but very soon we won't be using it.
I threw away so much stuff so far. And while you can walk through the living room and kitchen now, it's still a mess. But supper needs to be cooked, too and I need to find my bed before I can collapse in it. Plus I'm mopping the kitchen floor since the guys worked on cleaning the garage and brought the garage floor into the kitchen as well. It's pretty black now.
I probably won't get any knitting done tonight. I'm not happy with the I-cord I'm knitting for the crane bag so I might just use a rawhide cord instead. I'm using Red Heart SuperSaver and it's not holding up well to I-cord knitting at all. Then all that remains is to sew down the casing for the drawstring, knit the shoulder strap and line it.
I'm going well on the Tree of Life afghan. I guess the yarn makes a difference. I used Caron Simply Soft the first time and I'm using Vanna's Choice this time. It's holding up much better. I'm also working on that blanket project I tried before but with different colors. It's working out better, too, plus I'm refining my color stranding and it's much better.
But for now, I've got to start supper, finish mopping, vacuum my bedroom and probably the living room and put everything back together before I can collapse. And I can assure you, collapse I will. I'll pay for this tomorrow but I'm taking advantage of the Full Moon energy I got from last night.
TTFN
I threw away so much stuff so far. And while you can walk through the living room and kitchen now, it's still a mess. But supper needs to be cooked, too and I need to find my bed before I can collapse in it. Plus I'm mopping the kitchen floor since the guys worked on cleaning the garage and brought the garage floor into the kitchen as well. It's pretty black now.
I probably won't get any knitting done tonight. I'm not happy with the I-cord I'm knitting for the crane bag so I might just use a rawhide cord instead. I'm using Red Heart SuperSaver and it's not holding up well to I-cord knitting at all. Then all that remains is to sew down the casing for the drawstring, knit the shoulder strap and line it.
I'm going well on the Tree of Life afghan. I guess the yarn makes a difference. I used Caron Simply Soft the first time and I'm using Vanna's Choice this time. It's holding up much better. I'm also working on that blanket project I tried before but with different colors. It's working out better, too, plus I'm refining my color stranding and it's much better.
But for now, I've got to start supper, finish mopping, vacuum my bedroom and probably the living room and put everything back together before I can collapse. And I can assure you, collapse I will. I'll pay for this tomorrow but I'm taking advantage of the Full Moon energy I got from last night.
TTFN
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Last day of Tom's vacation
Very lazy day today aside from one trip to town so Zach could transfer money at the credit union to pay his student loan payment. He's meticulous about it and good for him.
Miss Piggy slept over on the street numbers all day, even when the postal person delivered the mail. She's awake now that I turned the porch light on. I haven't looked to see if Kermit or Bitty are back but we haven't seen either of them for a few days.
I just watched 9 a short while ago. Great movie! I also got caught up on Haven as well
I get back to my routine tomorrow when Tom goes back to work. I'm not looking forward to his retirement at all because he'll be HERE all the time. Maybe I could send him out hunting and fishing all the time.
The tobacco is harvested and hanging on hangers on my clothesline. I bought him a chain for the rafters in the garage hoping he would hang it in there because I want my clothesline back. I have clothes in the washer! But he didn't so I guess I'll have to tomorrow morning. Then I plan on pulling up the plants, hoeing and turning the earth, dumping some compost to sit for a few days and then re-planting some short season stuff, like lettuce and maybe some fall crops...whatever that might be. Then Zach and I are planning on increasing the square footage before winter so I'll have a garden twice as big next summer. Tom wants to grow tobacco again and I want more veg.
I'm also going to tackle the house and get rid of more stuff. I'm tired of feeling so claustrophobic with all the stuff we've got. Plus I could actually be more organized if I had a place to store the stuff we do plan to keep. I'm going to set up an indoor herb garden this week as well.
And more cooking from scratch. And even baking on the days it's not so hot. Like today if I could have had the kitchen to myself. It was lovely today...nice and cool and overcast with a few drops of rain, but not enough to wet your head, let alone the ground.
I'm toddling off to watch LOTR documentaries and knit on the Tree of Life afghan the rest of the night.
TTFN
Miss Piggy slept over on the street numbers all day, even when the postal person delivered the mail. She's awake now that I turned the porch light on. I haven't looked to see if Kermit or Bitty are back but we haven't seen either of them for a few days.
I just watched 9 a short while ago. Great movie! I also got caught up on Haven as well
I get back to my routine tomorrow when Tom goes back to work. I'm not looking forward to his retirement at all because he'll be HERE all the time. Maybe I could send him out hunting and fishing all the time.
The tobacco is harvested and hanging on hangers on my clothesline. I bought him a chain for the rafters in the garage hoping he would hang it in there because I want my clothesline back. I have clothes in the washer! But he didn't so I guess I'll have to tomorrow morning. Then I plan on pulling up the plants, hoeing and turning the earth, dumping some compost to sit for a few days and then re-planting some short season stuff, like lettuce and maybe some fall crops...whatever that might be. Then Zach and I are planning on increasing the square footage before winter so I'll have a garden twice as big next summer. Tom wants to grow tobacco again and I want more veg.
I'm also going to tackle the house and get rid of more stuff. I'm tired of feeling so claustrophobic with all the stuff we've got. Plus I could actually be more organized if I had a place to store the stuff we do plan to keep. I'm going to set up an indoor herb garden this week as well.
And more cooking from scratch. And even baking on the days it's not so hot. Like today if I could have had the kitchen to myself. It was lovely today...nice and cool and overcast with a few drops of rain, but not enough to wet your head, let alone the ground.
I'm toddling off to watch LOTR documentaries and knit on the Tree of Life afghan the rest of the night.
TTFN
Monday, August 23, 2010
Finding the garage floor
Tom and Zach worked hard today clearing out the garage and taking a load to the landfill, which cost nearly $50 for a Dodge Dakota 3/4 ton pickup truck bed full. Outrageous! I mean...what are you supposed to do with stuff that doesn't fit in the trash bin? We don't have curbside pickup of large items in our town so we're stuck with this. And when you can't get people from Freecycle interested in it because they want brand new stuff, you're just out of luck.
We have a lot more to get rid of yet so I'll break down what's left. We only took what couldn't be broken down.
Tom has one more day of vacation so I'll have to wait until he goes back to work to tackle the house. It's too small to do any cleaning while he's home. If I want to work in the kitchen, he wants to go in there and fix himself something. If I want to clean the living/dining room, he wants to watch tv and sit at the table. So I tend to just stay in my room and watch tv, read or knit.
So that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. In my room reading or watching tv and knitting. And possibly drawing. I'm trying to do a little bit of it each day but I've lost my mojo and just don't draw very well anymore.
Tom got the tobacco harvested and it's hanging on the clothesline. He's going to hang it in the garage tomorrow, I think. I need the clothesline back because the dryer isn't drying well so I'm going to use it for de-linting and then hang things up. I don't know what I'll do this winter, but I do have my racks and the hangars. I've done it before and this winter we'll need to be more frugal than ever before since Tom's not getting his pay back and we're hopelessly behind with the economy.
I plan on turning the garden and planting more beans and some autumn type veg along with some romaine lettuce. And I'm going to start adding more to the garden for next year. I think we can do twice as much next year and still have a yard. In fact, maybe one and a half times more. It will be back breaking work though but I don't want to get a tiller just yet.
Off to do up some dishes and then into bed for knitting and LOTR Return of the King documentaries and some knitting on the Tree of Life afghan and the crane bag. I still need to come up with something else to knit on that I can finish in a week or two.
TTFN
We have a lot more to get rid of yet so I'll break down what's left. We only took what couldn't be broken down.
Tom has one more day of vacation so I'll have to wait until he goes back to work to tackle the house. It's too small to do any cleaning while he's home. If I want to work in the kitchen, he wants to go in there and fix himself something. If I want to clean the living/dining room, he wants to watch tv and sit at the table. So I tend to just stay in my room and watch tv, read or knit.
So that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. In my room reading or watching tv and knitting. And possibly drawing. I'm trying to do a little bit of it each day but I've lost my mojo and just don't draw very well anymore.
Tom got the tobacco harvested and it's hanging on the clothesline. He's going to hang it in the garage tomorrow, I think. I need the clothesline back because the dryer isn't drying well so I'm going to use it for de-linting and then hang things up. I don't know what I'll do this winter, but I do have my racks and the hangars. I've done it before and this winter we'll need to be more frugal than ever before since Tom's not getting his pay back and we're hopelessly behind with the economy.
I plan on turning the garden and planting more beans and some autumn type veg along with some romaine lettuce. And I'm going to start adding more to the garden for next year. I think we can do twice as much next year and still have a yard. In fact, maybe one and a half times more. It will be back breaking work though but I don't want to get a tiller just yet.
Off to do up some dishes and then into bed for knitting and LOTR Return of the King documentaries and some knitting on the Tree of Life afghan and the crane bag. I still need to come up with something else to knit on that I can finish in a week or two.
TTFN
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Staycations just aren't what they should be
Tom's vacation and we're not doing much of anything. Crap! I just was wiped out today, partly from the late night and the heat (no power for fans) but mostly from cherry cheese cake. It's an evil thing and needs to be regulated. We need a new Czar in the cabinet: a Secretary of Cheese Cake. It will be her job (and it must be a woman) to regulate consumption of cheese cake everywhere.
And I'm having another piece after supper.
He went to the mounds today but was driven out by mosquitoes. We live just too close to the marsh. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the county fair. Hopefully. If we don't sleep in too late. It will be very crowded in the afternoon and neither of us do well with crowds. And sometime we need to harvest the tobacco. It's starting to fall over and that won't be good for it.
The toads showed up last night but didn't hang around because I couldn't turn the light on for them and without the light...no bugs to eat. I hope they come back tonight. I'm getting attached to them.
I'm hoping to get some knitting done today. Maybe I'll work on my crane bag and the blanket, which is now the Tree of Life afghan. It's a sturdier yarn and I have enough to make the full blanket so I'm going for it. Although once it starts getting bigger I might have to put it aside to wait for cooler weather. I also want to come up with something small that I can finish in a week or so. I haven't finished anything in a long time.
Supper tonight was home-made macaroni and cheese with green beans and tomato salad. Tomatoes and green peppers from the garden. Our garden. I'm anxious to get rid of the tobacco so I can plant some lettuce and more green beans. And maybe peas. I have enough time to get some grown before the frost sets in. Maybe some carrots. They can go beyond the frost. I need to dig out my Encyclopedia of Country Living and my Tightwad Gazettes to get back into tightwadding. I mean frugality. Either way, I've got to figure out how to stretch the paycheck even further.
Well, off to do up the dishes and crawl into bed for Midsomer Murders, Return of the King documentaries and more knitting. That's my reward for surviving the day. LOL
TTFN
And I'm having another piece after supper.
He went to the mounds today but was driven out by mosquitoes. We live just too close to the marsh. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the county fair. Hopefully. If we don't sleep in too late. It will be very crowded in the afternoon and neither of us do well with crowds. And sometime we need to harvest the tobacco. It's starting to fall over and that won't be good for it.
The toads showed up last night but didn't hang around because I couldn't turn the light on for them and without the light...no bugs to eat. I hope they come back tonight. I'm getting attached to them.
I'm hoping to get some knitting done today. Maybe I'll work on my crane bag and the blanket, which is now the Tree of Life afghan. It's a sturdier yarn and I have enough to make the full blanket so I'm going for it. Although once it starts getting bigger I might have to put it aside to wait for cooler weather. I also want to come up with something small that I can finish in a week or so. I haven't finished anything in a long time.
Supper tonight was home-made macaroni and cheese with green beans and tomato salad. Tomatoes and green peppers from the garden. Our garden. I'm anxious to get rid of the tobacco so I can plant some lettuce and more green beans. And maybe peas. I have enough time to get some grown before the frost sets in. Maybe some carrots. They can go beyond the frost. I need to dig out my Encyclopedia of Country Living and my Tightwad Gazettes to get back into tightwadding. I mean frugality. Either way, I've got to figure out how to stretch the paycheck even further.
Well, off to do up the dishes and crawl into bed for Midsomer Murders, Return of the King documentaries and more knitting. That's my reward for surviving the day. LOL
TTFN
Sitting in the dark
We had a power outage tonight due to some extremely high winds that heralded in the short but severe storm we had. The power just came on a few minutes ago so it was light, blessed light. Candles and kerosene lamps don't shed enough light to do much.
Zach and I headed to the library to pick up a book I had there and then off to StuffMart to get a few items as well. Since we had no power, that meant we had no way to cook so I picked up some stuff from Wendy's, too and we ate by kerosene lamp and candles. Then we sat and stared at each other for a while and Tom went to bed. Some vacation day for him!
We did go to a park not far from here that I discovered was a series of Indian Mounds (or Native American Mounds if you're going to be specific.) I hadn't realized that's what that park was or I would have been there sooner. We saw two of the mounds but the menacing clouds were coming in so we went home. We plan on going back tomorrow or Sunday...with the camera. There is a tree there I want a picture of so I can draw it.
Kermit was back but left when the porch light didn't come on to draw his feast. Last night all three of them were there again. I'm sure he'll be back as we've heard them during the day and they're not far from the steps.
Very hot and sticky today and I got nothing done again. Aside from 2 loads of laundry. The dryer isn't drying well so I'm going to have to pull it away from the wall and take the back duct off so I can dig the lint out of there. I'm hoping that's the problem. It does tend to accumulate over the years. Then I'm going to just dry them for about 5 minutes and hang them on the line so I can get the lint off of them. I really hate using the electricity to dry a full load of clothes. More rain in the forecast for tomorrow but after that we'll be okay.
Then I plan on painting the old dining table with barn paint so I can put it in the garden. That will leave Tom room to hang the tobacco, which needs to be harvested this weekend for sure.
Well, off to finish up online so I can go to bed. No knitting tonight. I make enough mistakes in the light. I didn't need to really hose things up in candle-light.
TTFN
Zach and I headed to the library to pick up a book I had there and then off to StuffMart to get a few items as well. Since we had no power, that meant we had no way to cook so I picked up some stuff from Wendy's, too and we ate by kerosene lamp and candles. Then we sat and stared at each other for a while and Tom went to bed. Some vacation day for him!
We did go to a park not far from here that I discovered was a series of Indian Mounds (or Native American Mounds if you're going to be specific.) I hadn't realized that's what that park was or I would have been there sooner. We saw two of the mounds but the menacing clouds were coming in so we went home. We plan on going back tomorrow or Sunday...with the camera. There is a tree there I want a picture of so I can draw it.
Kermit was back but left when the porch light didn't come on to draw his feast. Last night all three of them were there again. I'm sure he'll be back as we've heard them during the day and they're not far from the steps.
Very hot and sticky today and I got nothing done again. Aside from 2 loads of laundry. The dryer isn't drying well so I'm going to have to pull it away from the wall and take the back duct off so I can dig the lint out of there. I'm hoping that's the problem. It does tend to accumulate over the years. Then I'm going to just dry them for about 5 minutes and hang them on the line so I can get the lint off of them. I really hate using the electricity to dry a full load of clothes. More rain in the forecast for tomorrow but after that we'll be okay.
Then I plan on painting the old dining table with barn paint so I can put it in the garden. That will leave Tom room to hang the tobacco, which needs to be harvested this weekend for sure.
Well, off to finish up online so I can go to bed. No knitting tonight. I make enough mistakes in the light. I didn't need to really hose things up in candle-light.
TTFN
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A lot of sleeping, a lot of nothing getting done
It's warming up again. Rain is expected tomorrow, though, so I hope it cools things off a bit. Although it probably will make things worse with the humidity. I worked in the garden a bit first thing this morning, picking more tomatoes and a couple of peppers. They're small but don't appear to be growing bigger so I picked them. I waited last year for my peppers to get bigger and they ended up just getting black.
Tom made a BLT for lunch and thought the tomatoes were great! They have a lot of flavor. I think they were Big Boys or something like that. Definitely good tasting. There weren't any green beans or peas but I have some zucchini growing. I need to shred what I've got and get it in the freezer this weekend. I can't wait any longer if I want to use them. I ended up going to bed early last night and got nothing done and today has been a bit of a fatigue-ridden day as well. I'm achy all over from the fibromyalgia so I took a pain pill, which I rarely do during the day. I thought about going to the library but decided to wait until tomorrow. I'm just too tired and sleepy to drive today.
The toad in the mailbox yesterday was Bitty but apparently Kermit showed back up before Tom got home. He said there was a tiny toad on the sidewalk so that must have been Bitty because Kermit was up in his normal place. I'm inundated with birds today. The bird feeder has been busy all day and the sparrows are racing up and down the garage roof again. Even the bird bath has been busy. I think these birds winter over so I wonder why they're so busy today. I really should get a bird book from the library or at least look them up online. We heard a really strange sound earlier today. It might have been a bird, but if it was, it was a big one, because it sounded pretty deep. Couldn't pinpoint the location and didn't see anything out there. Might have been in the foilage of the trees.
I'm hoping to get some real work done tomorrow. Like baking or cooking some things for the week ahead. And cleaning. And weeding. I do a little bit each morning but there is still so much to do. And I hope to move my tall rack to the south window in the living room so I can start planting herbs. It will be my winter herb garden, I hope.
Off to fix supper and then maybe back to bed. \
TTFN
Tom made a BLT for lunch and thought the tomatoes were great! They have a lot of flavor. I think they were Big Boys or something like that. Definitely good tasting. There weren't any green beans or peas but I have some zucchini growing. I need to shred what I've got and get it in the freezer this weekend. I can't wait any longer if I want to use them. I ended up going to bed early last night and got nothing done and today has been a bit of a fatigue-ridden day as well. I'm achy all over from the fibromyalgia so I took a pain pill, which I rarely do during the day. I thought about going to the library but decided to wait until tomorrow. I'm just too tired and sleepy to drive today.
The toad in the mailbox yesterday was Bitty but apparently Kermit showed back up before Tom got home. He said there was a tiny toad on the sidewalk so that must have been Bitty because Kermit was up in his normal place. I'm inundated with birds today. The bird feeder has been busy all day and the sparrows are racing up and down the garage roof again. Even the bird bath has been busy. I think these birds winter over so I wonder why they're so busy today. I really should get a bird book from the library or at least look them up online. We heard a really strange sound earlier today. It might have been a bird, but if it was, it was a big one, because it sounded pretty deep. Couldn't pinpoint the location and didn't see anything out there. Might have been in the foilage of the trees.
I'm hoping to get some real work done tomorrow. Like baking or cooking some things for the week ahead. And cleaning. And weeding. I do a little bit each morning but there is still so much to do. And I hope to move my tall rack to the south window in the living room so I can start planting herbs. It will be my winter herb garden, I hope.
Off to fix supper and then maybe back to bed. \
TTFN
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
What a wasted day
Just a short note today as I ended up sleeping all day and am still pretty tired.
Kermit isn't a frog; he's a toad. I should have known to look it up since he's very dry and not slimy or wet. Not to mention there is no water directly here. You have to go a block away across a very busy highway to get to a pond. It hit me when I went to get the mail and he was in my mailbox that this wasn't a water creature.
I'm not happy with the blanket I'm making. I've done intarsia before and it didn't look as bad as this so I wonder if the yarn is the problem. It's Vanna's Choice and it's just not coming out as smooth as my other efforts at color stranding or intarsia. I keep tinking back and trying again but I'm not improving at all. I'm thinking of trying another project with this yarn instead. I've been perusing Ravelry's selection of patterns and haven't found anything yet.
But I've got to run to the library to pick up some stuff and maybe grab something for supper since I have nothing laid out and am still so very tired. So...nothing got done today. Ah, well.
TTFN
Kermit isn't a frog; he's a toad. I should have known to look it up since he's very dry and not slimy or wet. Not to mention there is no water directly here. You have to go a block away across a very busy highway to get to a pond. It hit me when I went to get the mail and he was in my mailbox that this wasn't a water creature.
I'm not happy with the blanket I'm making. I've done intarsia before and it didn't look as bad as this so I wonder if the yarn is the problem. It's Vanna's Choice and it's just not coming out as smooth as my other efforts at color stranding or intarsia. I keep tinking back and trying again but I'm not improving at all. I'm thinking of trying another project with this yarn instead. I've been perusing Ravelry's selection of patterns and haven't found anything yet.
But I've got to run to the library to pick up some stuff and maybe grab something for supper since I have nothing laid out and am still so very tired. So...nothing got done today. Ah, well.
TTFN
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Getting stuff done
Last night was the first sleepless night I have had in a few weeks so it was easier to take. I just went with the flow and didn't fret about it. Professor wanted me to wake up at the normal time, though...7 a.m. I let him out then went back to bed when he came back in and slept for another hour when he woke me up again wanting to go lie on the porch. I made him come back in because I just couldn't survive on that little sleep. Finally at 10 I got up and stayed up. I'm not feeling too bad and have already accomplished some gardening (grapes!), checked for weeds (I'll get them later) and more tomatoes and zucchini (not yet) and re-filled the bird feeder. Already the birds are swarming the garage room, the grapevine and the clothes line. You'd think no one else was feeding them.
I plan to shred zucchini today and freeze it after making sure I get the moisture out of it. I had frozen some leeks last week. I got a bundle at the store but didn't want to use them all at once so I froze them to use later. We're in super tightwad mode these days. I'm also going to bake some bread today...with sesame seeds. Zach loves them and I have some so I'll put them on top before baking.
Tom is taking some vacation days starting Thursday so he's asked me to hold of on harvesting the tobacco and plans to do it himself. I feel bad that he's using his vacation days for this but it might do him good to work somewhere besides his job. He's also planning on painting the fender he bought to replace the one he crunched on his truck. I'm going to move the table out of the garage and paint it with barn paint for the garden in back of the garage and that will give him some room to paint in there.
But we are going to explore the area around us: parks, trails and the marsh plus the fair starts this week and I would love to go see the crafts and animals. We do plan on seeing the Mounds at a later date though. Money is just too tight to go too far afield though.
I managed to get some reading and studying done this morning. I'm still plodding through A Beautiful Mind but I started Confessions of Pagan Nun, too. It's not a big book so I'll probably finish it first. Then I have some books that Tana sent me (I've already started on them, too...nothing like having 4 books going at once.)
I frogged the poncho because I just didn't like the way it looked. I'm working on a blanket that will be a combination of different blankets...I hope. I'm not going to say much about it until I've worked out the details on it. So far it's working out all right but I'm doing the center piece and that's the easiest part.
I'm also going to pick up some crochet hooks as well and get back into that. And hopefully find time to spin every day. I was doing okay for a while but missed one day. And then another day. And then a week. I still have a lot of roving to go before I can ply it and then dye it. I'll probably start with Kool Aid first instead of buying some dye. I want to see if this is something I want to do regularly and maybe get good enough to sell my stuff. Or maybe just do it instead of buying yarn. I'm always looking for ways to get back to basics as well.
Well, I've things to do, including bills today. Yuck! Those days depress me especially in light of Tom not getting his pay back for another 6 months at least. Our contract with the cable company is up in October and while I won't go without cable again, I think we might go back to the lowest tier and Tom wants to go back to Vonage. I don't because we had trouble with them when the computer went down. He thinks we can use our cell phones during those times but I don't want to. The package is about the price we're paying now so we wouldn't go up in price. Plus Vonage took forever to start up. I don't think $20 or less a month is worth going to an inferior system. Plus it might cost the same amount to get the lesser tier as packages are cheaper. But we've got to October to decide.
Off to shred zucchini and pay bills and clean the kitchen and vacuum and mop floors.
Oh, and Kermit was back on his own last night. He didn't show up the night before but Miss Piggy and Bitty were there.
TTFN
I plan to shred zucchini today and freeze it after making sure I get the moisture out of it. I had frozen some leeks last week. I got a bundle at the store but didn't want to use them all at once so I froze them to use later. We're in super tightwad mode these days. I'm also going to bake some bread today...with sesame seeds. Zach loves them and I have some so I'll put them on top before baking.
Tom is taking some vacation days starting Thursday so he's asked me to hold of on harvesting the tobacco and plans to do it himself. I feel bad that he's using his vacation days for this but it might do him good to work somewhere besides his job. He's also planning on painting the fender he bought to replace the one he crunched on his truck. I'm going to move the table out of the garage and paint it with barn paint for the garden in back of the garage and that will give him some room to paint in there.
But we are going to explore the area around us: parks, trails and the marsh plus the fair starts this week and I would love to go see the crafts and animals. We do plan on seeing the Mounds at a later date though. Money is just too tight to go too far afield though.
I managed to get some reading and studying done this morning. I'm still plodding through A Beautiful Mind but I started Confessions of Pagan Nun, too. It's not a big book so I'll probably finish it first. Then I have some books that Tana sent me (I've already started on them, too...nothing like having 4 books going at once.)
I frogged the poncho because I just didn't like the way it looked. I'm working on a blanket that will be a combination of different blankets...I hope. I'm not going to say much about it until I've worked out the details on it. So far it's working out all right but I'm doing the center piece and that's the easiest part.
I'm also going to pick up some crochet hooks as well and get back into that. And hopefully find time to spin every day. I was doing okay for a while but missed one day. And then another day. And then a week. I still have a lot of roving to go before I can ply it and then dye it. I'll probably start with Kool Aid first instead of buying some dye. I want to see if this is something I want to do regularly and maybe get good enough to sell my stuff. Or maybe just do it instead of buying yarn. I'm always looking for ways to get back to basics as well.
Well, I've things to do, including bills today. Yuck! Those days depress me especially in light of Tom not getting his pay back for another 6 months at least. Our contract with the cable company is up in October and while I won't go without cable again, I think we might go back to the lowest tier and Tom wants to go back to Vonage. I don't because we had trouble with them when the computer went down. He thinks we can use our cell phones during those times but I don't want to. The package is about the price we're paying now so we wouldn't go up in price. Plus Vonage took forever to start up. I don't think $20 or less a month is worth going to an inferior system. Plus it might cost the same amount to get the lesser tier as packages are cheaper. But we've got to October to decide.
Off to shred zucchini and pay bills and clean the kitchen and vacuum and mop floors.
Oh, and Kermit was back on his own last night. He didn't show up the night before but Miss Piggy and Bitty were there.
TTFN
Monday, August 16, 2010
Miss Piggy, Kermit and Bitty made their appearance
I have the video of Miss Piggy, Kermit and Bitty. I didn't take any pictures or videos last night because it was only Miss Piggy and Bitty. Kermit never showed up. And Bitty never ventured further up than the side of the mailbox so she was in the dark.
In the video I start with who I thought was Kermit, then pan down to the mailbox to try to see Bitty who is little more than a shape in the dark. Then as I pan back up I realize there are two frogs on the numbers and Kermit is the one on the right. Miss Piggy is obvious by her girth. Last night she was munching like crazy and smacking her lips a lot.
I did some cleaning yesterday and cooked a pretty good supper: Impossible Pie and fried zucchini with garlic toast and tomatoes. It would have been better if I had remembered to put the toaster oven on bake instead of leaving it on broil. I got caught up with the kitchen and managed to knit a couple of rows on the poncho before falling asleep over it. Professor has been getting me up at around 7 a.m. so I'm falling asleep sooner. And it's good because I'm getting sleep finally but since I don't knit until bedtime, I'm not getting much of that done. I guess I'll start knitting in the afternoons from now on.
Tom is taking some vacation this weekend so we're figuring out where to go that is a day trip. And dirt cheap. I think the first few days he needs to sleep and rest a bit before we think about getting in the car and traveling.
I'm going to start harvesting the tobacco this week. I have to or it's not going to be any good. Tom is going to unbend some wire coathangers and I'll use that for the leaves. We can then hang them upstairs on a cable we already have running across the ceiling. It will be like a curtain. It's really dry up there and is better than the garage.
That will keep me really busy for the week so I probably won't get a lot else done aside from the things that have to be done daily...or weekly...like laundry. I hope there's no rain next week because I need to paint some outdoor furniture before it gets too cold to cure. Not that that is a danger yet, but it's creeping up slyly and before I know it, I'll be needing to put plastic on the windows again.
In the meantime it's gorgeous again today. Very cool and breezy. I'm going to need jeans today instead of shorts when I go out to the store.
Which I need to get ready to do so...
TTFN
In the video I start with who I thought was Kermit, then pan down to the mailbox to try to see Bitty who is little more than a shape in the dark. Then as I pan back up I realize there are two frogs on the numbers and Kermit is the one on the right. Miss Piggy is obvious by her girth. Last night she was munching like crazy and smacking her lips a lot.
I did some cleaning yesterday and cooked a pretty good supper: Impossible Pie and fried zucchini with garlic toast and tomatoes. It would have been better if I had remembered to put the toaster oven on bake instead of leaving it on broil. I got caught up with the kitchen and managed to knit a couple of rows on the poncho before falling asleep over it. Professor has been getting me up at around 7 a.m. so I'm falling asleep sooner. And it's good because I'm getting sleep finally but since I don't knit until bedtime, I'm not getting much of that done. I guess I'll start knitting in the afternoons from now on.
Tom is taking some vacation this weekend so we're figuring out where to go that is a day trip. And dirt cheap. I think the first few days he needs to sleep and rest a bit before we think about getting in the car and traveling.
I'm going to start harvesting the tobacco this week. I have to or it's not going to be any good. Tom is going to unbend some wire coathangers and I'll use that for the leaves. We can then hang them upstairs on a cable we already have running across the ceiling. It will be like a curtain. It's really dry up there and is better than the garage.
That will keep me really busy for the week so I probably won't get a lot else done aside from the things that have to be done daily...or weekly...like laundry. I hope there's no rain next week because I need to paint some outdoor furniture before it gets too cold to cure. Not that that is a danger yet, but it's creeping up slyly and before I know it, I'll be needing to put plastic on the windows again.
In the meantime it's gorgeous again today. Very cool and breezy. I'm going to need jeans today instead of shorts when I go out to the store.
Which I need to get ready to do so...
TTFN
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Kermit is back
Kermit came back last night and brought 2 friends with him. One was a lot bigger than him and seemed to horn in and take over so we called it Miss Piggy. The other was a tiny little guy who never made it past the mailbox. We haven't named hm yet. I got up at 5 a.m. to let Professor out for a wee and Kermit was sitting on the wrought iron railing so I turned the porch light back on for him to munch on some bugs in peace. The other two were gone by then. This morning when I got up Kermit was gone back to his bungalow...wherever that is. I have some video of the three of them but Zach hasn't downloaded it and sent it to me yet. I have the video of just Kermit though.
I'll have the other video up tomorrow.
I got some peas from the garden yesterday. Just about a dozen but since only 2 of the plants survived and they are a bit shaggy looking, I was amazed to get that many. Tom will use them in his ramen this week some time. I got more green beans, too, but I think we'll eat these raw this time. Last time I cooked them but they seemed to lose that sweetness that was in them raw. And I've got 6 tomatoes. Well, 5 tomatoes. We ate one last night. They're really tasty, much nicer than store-bought hot house tomatoes. I don't know why they still have hot house in the summer. Even the vine grown tomatoes still taste like hot house.
I need to get out and work on the trimming today. It's supposed to be cooler with the humidity lower. I laughed at the weather report I get in my mailbox when it talked of a cold front moving in and the temps were going to be lower...like by 4 degrees. Not much of a cold front in my book.
Speaking of books, I'm still struggling through A Beautiful Mind. I've gotten to the point where I'm skimming all the explanations of math theory and the history of various math theories. I just want to know about John Nash and with my post-chemo brain and fibro-fog I can't handle a lot of the higher math stuff I used to be able to. I also got a book from the library called Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. I'd like to start it but I want to finish the other book first. I already put it aside to read I Sang in My Chains. Now I need to just finish the darned thing. It's the second time I've taken it out of the library.
I frogged the Sweeping Statement because I just didn't like the way it was looking and didn't think it would be that easy to wear. (Oh, I just realized I said frogged. LOL) I'm making this Blanket Poncho now. I might have enough to make the purse, too.
So I just have two projects going: the crane bag and the poncho. I think I'm going to work on an amulet necklace, too. I was working with my graph paper the night before last trying to design something, knowing that my graph paper wasn't exactly right for knitting. I need more rectangular graphs than square but I was trying to compensate for that. I've got knitting graph paper somewhere. I just don't exactly know where that is.
Well, I have tons of work to do today so I need to get done reading the newspaper online and Ravelry and Facebook then I'll shut it all down until tonight when I start supper. I'm trying hard to use my time more productively.
TTFN
I'll have the other video up tomorrow.
I got some peas from the garden yesterday. Just about a dozen but since only 2 of the plants survived and they are a bit shaggy looking, I was amazed to get that many. Tom will use them in his ramen this week some time. I got more green beans, too, but I think we'll eat these raw this time. Last time I cooked them but they seemed to lose that sweetness that was in them raw. And I've got 6 tomatoes. Well, 5 tomatoes. We ate one last night. They're really tasty, much nicer than store-bought hot house tomatoes. I don't know why they still have hot house in the summer. Even the vine grown tomatoes still taste like hot house.
I need to get out and work on the trimming today. It's supposed to be cooler with the humidity lower. I laughed at the weather report I get in my mailbox when it talked of a cold front moving in and the temps were going to be lower...like by 4 degrees. Not much of a cold front in my book.
Speaking of books, I'm still struggling through A Beautiful Mind. I've gotten to the point where I'm skimming all the explanations of math theory and the history of various math theories. I just want to know about John Nash and with my post-chemo brain and fibro-fog I can't handle a lot of the higher math stuff I used to be able to. I also got a book from the library called Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. I'd like to start it but I want to finish the other book first. I already put it aside to read I Sang in My Chains. Now I need to just finish the darned thing. It's the second time I've taken it out of the library.
I frogged the Sweeping Statement because I just didn't like the way it was looking and didn't think it would be that easy to wear. (Oh, I just realized I said frogged. LOL) I'm making this Blanket Poncho now. I might have enough to make the purse, too.
So I just have two projects going: the crane bag and the poncho. I think I'm going to work on an amulet necklace, too. I was working with my graph paper the night before last trying to design something, knowing that my graph paper wasn't exactly right for knitting. I need more rectangular graphs than square but I was trying to compensate for that. I've got knitting graph paper somewhere. I just don't exactly know where that is.
Well, I have tons of work to do today so I need to get done reading the newspaper online and Ravelry and Facebook then I'll shut it all down until tonight when I start supper. I'm trying hard to use my time more productively.
TTFN
Friday, August 13, 2010
Our frog is back
The little guy is back. One of these days I need to get a picture of him. He's hanging on the numbers, which of course I don't want to take a picture of. He's fast becoming part of the family.
I think we should name him. We do not interfere in his business but we can't keep calling him "the frog."
Any suggestions?
I think we should name him. We do not interfere in his business but we can't keep calling him "the frog."
Any suggestions?
Friday the 13th is just another day
We had some overcast skies and a nice shower today so it's cooler but still muggy. I feel like I'm sticking to everything, especially whatever I sit on. We went to the library today but just as I was getting out of the car, the tornado siren went off. I walked across the parking lot but the people coming out told me they were closing because of the tornado warning...which was in the southeast corner of the county. It's a huge county and we were in the northeast corner...not likely the storm would ever come our way, but it is a municipal facility so I'm sure they had to. So we went shopping and then came back.
On the way back from shopping we saw a bald eagle flying toward us. It was magnificent. I love living here in Wisconsin. We also have had a frog visiting our mailbox for his nightly feast of bugs that fly around the porch light. Initially we had a tree frog but the past two days it's been a brown/green frog. Different shape altogether.
Finally got the yard mowed. It was so hot it took three days to do it. It's not a huge yard but it's pretty good sized and with lots of hills on it, which are so hard to mow because they're so steep. It's one reason why I don't mow the back hill and just call it a prairie garden.
I frogged the Helm's Deep shawl because I just didn't like the way it was pulling in. It really needs to be knitted out of wool or something that will block because it just kept pulling in on itself and wasn't that good looking. I dug through some of my patterns and pulled out several I want to think about. I'm also thinking of jewelry and accessories out of scraps of sock yarn. I don't have enough to make anything out of and I'm not interested in making a blanket out of the bits so I'm thinking of different things I might be able to do. I knitted an amulet bag that I can put on a suede strip and wear around my neck but it seems a bit big so I need to make the next one smaller. I don't want to keep thumping myself in the chest when I wear it.
For now, though, I'm going to wait until evening to do any knitting because it's just too hot. Even cotton feels hot to knit during the day. I got some books from the library on drawing so I'm hoping to focus my afternoons on that instead and leave knitting for night time...and Midsomer Murders. I got set 14 from the library today. Episodes I haven't seen yet. I've seen up until set 12 and they don't have set 13 but they do have set 15. I'll take what I can get. Now if they'll just get more of A Touch of Frost, I'd be ecstatic. And maybe more eps of Blue Murder. I think there is one more season.
Off to hop into my jammies and curl up in bed while the chicken bakes in the toaster oven. We've had vegetarian meals the past two nights and Tom has been pretty patient with me so I'm going to treat him with chicken tonight.
TTFN
On the way back from shopping we saw a bald eagle flying toward us. It was magnificent. I love living here in Wisconsin. We also have had a frog visiting our mailbox for his nightly feast of bugs that fly around the porch light. Initially we had a tree frog but the past two days it's been a brown/green frog. Different shape altogether.
Finally got the yard mowed. It was so hot it took three days to do it. It's not a huge yard but it's pretty good sized and with lots of hills on it, which are so hard to mow because they're so steep. It's one reason why I don't mow the back hill and just call it a prairie garden.
I frogged the Helm's Deep shawl because I just didn't like the way it was pulling in. It really needs to be knitted out of wool or something that will block because it just kept pulling in on itself and wasn't that good looking. I dug through some of my patterns and pulled out several I want to think about. I'm also thinking of jewelry and accessories out of scraps of sock yarn. I don't have enough to make anything out of and I'm not interested in making a blanket out of the bits so I'm thinking of different things I might be able to do. I knitted an amulet bag that I can put on a suede strip and wear around my neck but it seems a bit big so I need to make the next one smaller. I don't want to keep thumping myself in the chest when I wear it.
For now, though, I'm going to wait until evening to do any knitting because it's just too hot. Even cotton feels hot to knit during the day. I got some books from the library on drawing so I'm hoping to focus my afternoons on that instead and leave knitting for night time...and Midsomer Murders. I got set 14 from the library today. Episodes I haven't seen yet. I've seen up until set 12 and they don't have set 13 but they do have set 15. I'll take what I can get. Now if they'll just get more of A Touch of Frost, I'd be ecstatic. And maybe more eps of Blue Murder. I think there is one more season.
Off to hop into my jammies and curl up in bed while the chicken bakes in the toaster oven. We've had vegetarian meals the past two nights and Tom has been pretty patient with me so I'm going to treat him with chicken tonight.
TTFN
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Doing what I can in the heat
The heat wiped me out last night, especially after spending two hours in the kitchen cooking supper (potato/leek soup and zucchini pancakes) while trying not to drip sweat into the food. I didn't, in case you were wondering.
I got a load of clothes folded and put away and another dried in the dryer. Early I went out and cleared some weeds in the garden, picked a tomato and a huge zucchini. I need to hoe badly but it's too hot right now. Zach mowed part of the yard before it got too hot. He just woke up and will go out and mow the back yard a short while. We're looking at record temps today and it's already in the 80s with the heat index, so he can finish up the faery garden tomorrow.
I thought about putting the window a/c in but the only place it will fit is the southern window in the living room (well. my bedroom but what's the use of that?) and I don't think that's a good place for it with the sun beating down on it mercilessly. So I've shut all the windows except the northern window that has the window fan and the southern window in the living room that also has a window fan only this one is pulling the air out of the house. That way I have an airflow through the living room and my bedroom. I plan on spending the afternoon in my bedroom today anyway.
The curtains and blinds are closed as well, to keep the heat out. It usually works pretty well as long as we don't plan any heavy cleaning activities. I'm thinking macaroni and cheese for supper tonight. Spending little time in the kitchen and using only the toaster oven will minimize the heat added to the mix. And a salad to go along with it...with home-grown tomatoes. Plus, I'm trying to cook more vegetarian meals both because it's good for us and to stretch the meat budget a bit.
I plan in working on pencil drawing today. I keep wanting to but just keep putting it off. Since it's too hot to knit on anything until evening and too hot to do any cleaning beyond just picking up and straightening things, I'm going to try to get back to where I used to be with my drawing. I hate that I put it away for long stretches because I lose what skills I have and have to go back and re-train my hand-eye skills. Hopefully this time I won't get discouraged and keep up with it. Then I plan on getting my paints out and working on them. I haven't done oils in over 25 years so I'm essentially a beginner at it.
I didn't make coffee this morning (I have a little 4 cup pot) because it's just too hot. I drink decaf anyway so it's largely symbolic for me. I got used to drinking coffee in the morning but it's not a hard and fast habit. Sometimes I like tea and sometimes nothing. But usually I do start the coffee out of habit.
Well, I need to let Professor in and straighten up the kitchen before it's unbearably hot in there.
TTFN
I got a load of clothes folded and put away and another dried in the dryer. Early I went out and cleared some weeds in the garden, picked a tomato and a huge zucchini. I need to hoe badly but it's too hot right now. Zach mowed part of the yard before it got too hot. He just woke up and will go out and mow the back yard a short while. We're looking at record temps today and it's already in the 80s with the heat index, so he can finish up the faery garden tomorrow.
I thought about putting the window a/c in but the only place it will fit is the southern window in the living room (well. my bedroom but what's the use of that?) and I don't think that's a good place for it with the sun beating down on it mercilessly. So I've shut all the windows except the northern window that has the window fan and the southern window in the living room that also has a window fan only this one is pulling the air out of the house. That way I have an airflow through the living room and my bedroom. I plan on spending the afternoon in my bedroom today anyway.
The curtains and blinds are closed as well, to keep the heat out. It usually works pretty well as long as we don't plan any heavy cleaning activities. I'm thinking macaroni and cheese for supper tonight. Spending little time in the kitchen and using only the toaster oven will minimize the heat added to the mix. And a salad to go along with it...with home-grown tomatoes. Plus, I'm trying to cook more vegetarian meals both because it's good for us and to stretch the meat budget a bit.
I plan in working on pencil drawing today. I keep wanting to but just keep putting it off. Since it's too hot to knit on anything until evening and too hot to do any cleaning beyond just picking up and straightening things, I'm going to try to get back to where I used to be with my drawing. I hate that I put it away for long stretches because I lose what skills I have and have to go back and re-train my hand-eye skills. Hopefully this time I won't get discouraged and keep up with it. Then I plan on getting my paints out and working on them. I haven't done oils in over 25 years so I'm essentially a beginner at it.
I didn't make coffee this morning (I have a little 4 cup pot) because it's just too hot. I drink decaf anyway so it's largely symbolic for me. I got used to drinking coffee in the morning but it's not a hard and fast habit. Sometimes I like tea and sometimes nothing. But usually I do start the coffee out of habit.
Well, I need to let Professor in and straighten up the kitchen before it's unbearably hot in there.
TTFN
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
I do not love the humidity
Oh, the heat and humidity. It was around 90 F today plus whatever the heat index brought it up to. We desperately need to mow but it was too hot today. Maybe tonight Zach can get the front yard done before he dissolves into a puddle of sweat. We were out of gas and didn't get the can filled until the weekend but it rained off and on and I don't like running the lawn mower on the yard when the ground is soft. We have enough ruts in the yard as it is.
I tightened up the terminal on the battery post this morning which took a while since nothing on that car is easy to work on. I walked into the house soaked in sweat with a major flare up of my fibromyalgia. I'm all achy now but I only have taken ibuprofen so far today. As soon as I sign off here I'll take some tramadol and head for bed. I haven't a clue about supper but it's too hot for the oven and I can't think of anything stove top to make so I'm making bacon and eggs for Tom when he gets home.
I'm going to stop hanging the clothes out on the line. All our good clothes are covered in lint that seems to be glued on and it looks crappy. I'll just dry clothes at night after the sun goes down or first thing in the morning. Plus I think I'm going to use the clothes line to hang the tobacco on (with a tarp covering) until winter. I'll figure something out by then. We don't need the kiln until spring so we've got all winter to figure that out.
I'll have some tomatoes in a week or two. I can see some color in the tomato plants from the kitchen window. I know there are more zucchini out there but I'll get them tomorrow morning. I'm thinking zucchini pancakes for supper and the rest will be zucchini bread, some of it for the freezer. I do love zucchini pancakes.
I made it to town today and picked up a memoir on the "new" shelf called I Sang in My Chains about a former nun. I got it home and noticed it's been autographed by the author. Makes me nervous to have something like that even though I try to take very good care of the books and dvds I get from the library. I hate being the first person to take a book out. Should any fingerprints end up on the pages, they're obviously mine and I can't blame it on the person before me.
Not that I would do that. (whistling innocently.)
I started the Helm's Deep shawl again, this time in brown Caron Eco. What a difference! This definitely is the right yarn and the right project. I'm doing it as written this time. Still making progress on Sweeping Statement, too. And my Crane bag, which I work on when reading the paper online or my favorite blogs and Ravelry.
Time to take a pain pill and crash. When the sun goes down I'll fry up some bacon and Tom can fix his own eggs when he gets home. Some days I just can't do it, you know?
TTFN
I tightened up the terminal on the battery post this morning which took a while since nothing on that car is easy to work on. I walked into the house soaked in sweat with a major flare up of my fibromyalgia. I'm all achy now but I only have taken ibuprofen so far today. As soon as I sign off here I'll take some tramadol and head for bed. I haven't a clue about supper but it's too hot for the oven and I can't think of anything stove top to make so I'm making bacon and eggs for Tom when he gets home.
I'm going to stop hanging the clothes out on the line. All our good clothes are covered in lint that seems to be glued on and it looks crappy. I'll just dry clothes at night after the sun goes down or first thing in the morning. Plus I think I'm going to use the clothes line to hang the tobacco on (with a tarp covering) until winter. I'll figure something out by then. We don't need the kiln until spring so we've got all winter to figure that out.
I'll have some tomatoes in a week or two. I can see some color in the tomato plants from the kitchen window. I know there are more zucchini out there but I'll get them tomorrow morning. I'm thinking zucchini pancakes for supper and the rest will be zucchini bread, some of it for the freezer. I do love zucchini pancakes.
I made it to town today and picked up a memoir on the "new" shelf called I Sang in My Chains about a former nun. I got it home and noticed it's been autographed by the author. Makes me nervous to have something like that even though I try to take very good care of the books and dvds I get from the library. I hate being the first person to take a book out. Should any fingerprints end up on the pages, they're obviously mine and I can't blame it on the person before me.
Not that I would do that. (whistling innocently.)
I started the Helm's Deep shawl again, this time in brown Caron Eco. What a difference! This definitely is the right yarn and the right project. I'm doing it as written this time. Still making progress on Sweeping Statement, too. And my Crane bag, which I work on when reading the paper online or my favorite blogs and Ravelry.
Time to take a pain pill and crash. When the sun goes down I'll fry up some bacon and Tom can fix his own eggs when he gets home. Some days I just can't do it, you know?
TTFN
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thanks, whoever you are
My faith in people is restored...sort of. We went to StuffMart today and stopped by Wendy's for a bite before heading into the store and when we came out the car wouldn't start. Dead. I knew what the problem was but I couldn't get to the battery to fix it. You have to take out the air filter compartment to get to the battery. I knew once I got that out all I had to do was clean off the terminals and the car would start but I could not get the air filter compartment off. I worked and worked on it while all these people walked by without even asking if they could help. I was near tears because we were over 15 miles from home, no cash so no way to take a taxi. Even if I had the cash I couldn't afford to take one. And it was hot and muggy. And my hip was bothering me so walking home would have been torture.
Tom doesn't get home until about 3 a.m. these days so we couldn't wait there that long and if we left the car it would have been towed by the police because it's against the city statutes to park in parking lots overnight.
Then this guy came along and helped me get the thing off so we could get to the battery but sped out of there before I could thank him. He had been out of work for over six months, had lost his apartment and was living with his former boss. He's the only one who stopped to help. I was especially impressed that the guys in the car slathered with Christian bumper stickers just glanced at us and walked past.
So we made it home and never made it to the store. I'll tighten up the bolts on the battery tomorrow and we'll head out again to get the things I needed tonight. I guess I didn't need them tonight after all.
But I'm really tired and knuckle busted from all the work so I'm heading to bed already. Zach is going to fix supper tonight and clean up.
TTFN
Tom doesn't get home until about 3 a.m. these days so we couldn't wait there that long and if we left the car it would have been towed by the police because it's against the city statutes to park in parking lots overnight.
Then this guy came along and helped me get the thing off so we could get to the battery but sped out of there before I could thank him. He had been out of work for over six months, had lost his apartment and was living with his former boss. He's the only one who stopped to help. I was especially impressed that the guys in the car slathered with Christian bumper stickers just glanced at us and walked past.
So we made it home and never made it to the store. I'll tighten up the bolts on the battery tomorrow and we'll head out again to get the things I needed tonight. I guess I didn't need them tonight after all.
But I'm really tired and knuckle busted from all the work so I'm heading to bed already. Zach is going to fix supper tonight and clean up.
TTFN
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sundays just aren't long enough
I'm spending more time offline and getting some knitting done and some reading and studying. Unfortunately, after a week of some good sleep, last night was the pits. I dozed off early on and woke up before Tom got home and remained wide awake until about 4 a.m. when I was just attempting to get to sleep when the young guy neighbor next door had some guest depart quite loudly...complete with squealing tires and Big Truck engines. This is becoming a common occurrence over there and most of the noise and conversation takes place not too far outside Zach's bedroom window.
But what can you do? We try to just live and let live. No calling the police. Not nasty notes or confrontations. We just want to get along.
We had some rain this morning, heaps of it which made the rest of the day muggy. It's clouding over again now and cooling off a bit so there is hope. Rain is predicted for tomorrow so it will be next week before I can harvest the tobacco. And I still have to find a place to store it.
I discovered that the Sweeping Statement I'm working on is considered a poncho. Whatever. It still feels like a tunic/tabard to me. And I'm making progress on my Crane bag as well. I might try to get pictures this week if it's sunny enough since the bag is black and dark green. I may need to start something that is smaller just so I can finish a project this summer. Like a dishcloth or something.
Well, time to go back to knitting. Inspector Lewis is on PBS tonight and I'm excited about that. I'm finishing up the cast commentary on Fellowship of the Ring after which I'm going into the documentaries for that movie. I tried the other two commentaries but they just didn't hold my attention right now...short attention span and all.
TTFN
But what can you do? We try to just live and let live. No calling the police. Not nasty notes or confrontations. We just want to get along.
We had some rain this morning, heaps of it which made the rest of the day muggy. It's clouding over again now and cooling off a bit so there is hope. Rain is predicted for tomorrow so it will be next week before I can harvest the tobacco. And I still have to find a place to store it.
I discovered that the Sweeping Statement I'm working on is considered a poncho. Whatever. It still feels like a tunic/tabard to me. And I'm making progress on my Crane bag as well. I might try to get pictures this week if it's sunny enough since the bag is black and dark green. I may need to start something that is smaller just so I can finish a project this summer. Like a dishcloth or something.
Well, time to go back to knitting. Inspector Lewis is on PBS tonight and I'm excited about that. I'm finishing up the cast commentary on Fellowship of the Ring after which I'm going into the documentaries for that movie. I tried the other two commentaries but they just didn't hold my attention right now...short attention span and all.
TTFN
Friday, August 6, 2010
Waging war on mosquito bites
Not a productive day except for some laundry. The final load of light colored clothes is in the washer but I'm not hanging them out on the line. They'll go in the dryer because the sky is dark and I'm holding my breath that the other clothes will dry before it rains...which wasn't in the forecast. It may not. This may just be a tease.
Zach had a miserable night. The benadryl didn't work for long and reapplication only made the itching worse. He's taking antihistamines and garlic but there hasn't been enough time for it to work. The bites on his right foot have blended together to form a huge welt about 4 inches in diameter. He had a welt on his leg about 2 inches in diameter from just one bite. The other 30 or 40 bites are still huge but not itching as bad as the above mentioned ones. He was in tears this morning when I got up at 8 a.m. And hadn't slept a wink because of the pain and itching. I made a paste of baking soda and water and applied it liberally and that helped him. I'm about ready to go buy mosquito netting for him. Can't use citronella indoors.
I'm really tired today, too, but for me it's just the norm. I watered the garden and found another green bean bush under the zucchini, full of beans. I have enough for everyone for supper now. No new zucchinis but there is one almost ready. I try to catch them before they are baseball bat size. I won't get the tobacco harvested because there is no room in the garage yet. I'll try to find room this weekend but it will be hard. Somehow this seems to be my fault that the garage hasn't been cleaned out.
Well, I'm going to go lie down for a bit and keep an eye on the sky for rain.
TTFN
Zach had a miserable night. The benadryl didn't work for long and reapplication only made the itching worse. He's taking antihistamines and garlic but there hasn't been enough time for it to work. The bites on his right foot have blended together to form a huge welt about 4 inches in diameter. He had a welt on his leg about 2 inches in diameter from just one bite. The other 30 or 40 bites are still huge but not itching as bad as the above mentioned ones. He was in tears this morning when I got up at 8 a.m. And hadn't slept a wink because of the pain and itching. I made a paste of baking soda and water and applied it liberally and that helped him. I'm about ready to go buy mosquito netting for him. Can't use citronella indoors.
I'm really tired today, too, but for me it's just the norm. I watered the garden and found another green bean bush under the zucchini, full of beans. I have enough for everyone for supper now. No new zucchinis but there is one almost ready. I try to catch them before they are baseball bat size. I won't get the tobacco harvested because there is no room in the garage yet. I'll try to find room this weekend but it will be hard. Somehow this seems to be my fault that the garage hasn't been cleaned out.
Well, I'm going to go lie down for a bit and keep an eye on the sky for rain.
TTFN
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Getting ready for the harvest
Tomorrow is the day I harvest the tobacco. I'm just not sure where I'm going to put it to cure. The original arrangement was that I would plant and cultivate; Tom would harvest and cure. With the crazy hours he's working there is no time for him to do it so I'm apparently doing the harvesting and curing. I think we're going to put them in the garage, hanging from the rafters. The book says to take each individual leaf, run a wire through it and hang it that way but I remember from my childhood tobacco farmers hanging the whole stalk from the rafters of the barn so that's what I'm going to do. Getting to the rafters with a garage that is overfull is going to be a challenge though.
I brought in some green beans from the garden today. Not enough for everyone but certainly enough for me. Once the tobacco is harvested I can plant more green beans and some lettuce. My tomatoes are still green but thankfully no blight. Apparently tomato blight is near epidemic proportions in our neck of the woods. Probably because my garden is on higher ground than I had it in the past and it drained without any flooding at all.
I've got some poison ivy growing near the clothes line. I tried some regular weed killer and it's wilting it a bit but not really killing it so I sprayed it again today. While I was at it, I got all the thistles I could find, too. I'm really disappointed in myself for not doing more outside. I hope I'm in better shape next summer, thinner and healthier. Coming into summer on the heels of H1N1 and having that trigger a flare up of the fibromyalgia put me behind. I'm finally getting to the point where I can function but that's still not a high enough level.
I got Zach some Benadryl ointment for his mosquito bites. He's miserable, itching all the time and the pain from them is incredible. They are swollen nearly to hive proportion and he's up to over 40 bites on his feet and legs now. He used a Skin So Soft repellent last night and it didn't do any good either. Neither did the Off he used the other night. I bought him some garlic capsules to see if that will change the flavor of his blood and skin and repel the nasty critters. He just needs some relief. He says the Benadryl is helping some. Nothing has helped before so that is a good thing. We tried Calamine, baking soda and water paste, OTC steroid creams...nothing has helped. Hopefully he'll sleep tonight.
I'd show pictures but he's shy.
I didn't get any gas for the mower today. I'll have to get that tomorrow. The clover is getting high so I need to mow. Zach can't get any shoes on for the bites so I'll have to mow again before I harvest the tobacco. Then I need to do laundry, too.
Supper tonight is pizza from the store. I managed to get some things done today which normally would be a day of recovery since I did so much yesterday but I felt fairly well so I just plugged away at the yard a bit. Now I need to just clean up the kitchen a bit and vacuum and I can call it a day.
It's cool enough to knit so I'm going to listen to the writers/director's documentary for The Two Towers tonight and maybe watch Memphis Beat OnDemand. Time to heat up the oven for the pizzas.
TTFN
I brought in some green beans from the garden today. Not enough for everyone but certainly enough for me. Once the tobacco is harvested I can plant more green beans and some lettuce. My tomatoes are still green but thankfully no blight. Apparently tomato blight is near epidemic proportions in our neck of the woods. Probably because my garden is on higher ground than I had it in the past and it drained without any flooding at all.
I've got some poison ivy growing near the clothes line. I tried some regular weed killer and it's wilting it a bit but not really killing it so I sprayed it again today. While I was at it, I got all the thistles I could find, too. I'm really disappointed in myself for not doing more outside. I hope I'm in better shape next summer, thinner and healthier. Coming into summer on the heels of H1N1 and having that trigger a flare up of the fibromyalgia put me behind. I'm finally getting to the point where I can function but that's still not a high enough level.
I got Zach some Benadryl ointment for his mosquito bites. He's miserable, itching all the time and the pain from them is incredible. They are swollen nearly to hive proportion and he's up to over 40 bites on his feet and legs now. He used a Skin So Soft repellent last night and it didn't do any good either. Neither did the Off he used the other night. I bought him some garlic capsules to see if that will change the flavor of his blood and skin and repel the nasty critters. He just needs some relief. He says the Benadryl is helping some. Nothing has helped before so that is a good thing. We tried Calamine, baking soda and water paste, OTC steroid creams...nothing has helped. Hopefully he'll sleep tonight.
I'd show pictures but he's shy.
I didn't get any gas for the mower today. I'll have to get that tomorrow. The clover is getting high so I need to mow. Zach can't get any shoes on for the bites so I'll have to mow again before I harvest the tobacco. Then I need to do laundry, too.
Supper tonight is pizza from the store. I managed to get some things done today which normally would be a day of recovery since I did so much yesterday but I felt fairly well so I just plugged away at the yard a bit. Now I need to just clean up the kitchen a bit and vacuum and I can call it a day.
It's cool enough to knit so I'm going to listen to the writers/director's documentary for The Two Towers tonight and maybe watch Memphis Beat OnDemand. Time to heat up the oven for the pizzas.
TTFN
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Who needs a $400 prosthesis and bras anyway?
I managed to whip together something that will work pretty well for an addition to my too-small prosthesis and it's almost comfortable. As comfortable as any bra could be. I look even now and that restores a lot of my self-esteem. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper.
I didn't go online first thing this morning, instead reading and working in the yard before settling down for breakfast and my online newspapers. It worked out pretty well as I've managed to stay offline more than usual, although still probably too much. I scrubbed down the kitchen and am waiting for the floor to dry before starting supper. I plan on scrubbing the bathroom as well before I go to bed. Tomorrow will be vacuuming and more yard work. It was hot and muggy early on so I only worked out there for half an hour. Maybe if I do that much every day, I'll eventually catch up.
I didn't last long knitting last night. I had the lights out at 10 p.m and was asleep not too long after that. Professor woke me up at 4 a.m. for a trip outdoors and that woke me up for a couple of hours. I ended up sleeping until 9 a.m. and took a nap around noon so I feel okay. As okay as I ever feel anyway.
I'll probably make homemade pizza tomorrow night but tonight is just something I can throw together that won't heat the house up too much. Still pretty muggy even though the weather report said it would be cooler and less humid today.
I didn't get my pencils out last night because I was so sleepy and haven't managed it today yet either because I wanted to catch up on some house work. Maybe tonight instead of knitting since it's too hot to hold the yarn anyway.
Zach is eaten up with mosquito bites. He's allergic to them so he looks terrible. And for some reason they love him and target him instead of us. I read up on it and gave him some antihistimines and some calamine lotion and naproxen sodium for the swelling. He's miserable. Last count he had over 30 on his legs and feet. I'm going to get him some garlic pills as that is supposed to change the flavor of his skin and make him less desirable. The DEET stuff does absolutely nothing to repel mosquitoes on him.
I'm hoping to walk Professor tonight. He's so chunky (and so am I) and needs to get the weight off his little legs. Plus the heat is really getting to him. I can't help but think that extra weight is insulating him, keeping him even warmer.
Well, off to get some more work done. I just hope I can keep this up and don't have just this day for energy.
TTFN
I didn't go online first thing this morning, instead reading and working in the yard before settling down for breakfast and my online newspapers. It worked out pretty well as I've managed to stay offline more than usual, although still probably too much. I scrubbed down the kitchen and am waiting for the floor to dry before starting supper. I plan on scrubbing the bathroom as well before I go to bed. Tomorrow will be vacuuming and more yard work. It was hot and muggy early on so I only worked out there for half an hour. Maybe if I do that much every day, I'll eventually catch up.
I didn't last long knitting last night. I had the lights out at 10 p.m and was asleep not too long after that. Professor woke me up at 4 a.m. for a trip outdoors and that woke me up for a couple of hours. I ended up sleeping until 9 a.m. and took a nap around noon so I feel okay. As okay as I ever feel anyway.
I'll probably make homemade pizza tomorrow night but tonight is just something I can throw together that won't heat the house up too much. Still pretty muggy even though the weather report said it would be cooler and less humid today.
I didn't get my pencils out last night because I was so sleepy and haven't managed it today yet either because I wanted to catch up on some house work. Maybe tonight instead of knitting since it's too hot to hold the yarn anyway.
Zach is eaten up with mosquito bites. He's allergic to them so he looks terrible. And for some reason they love him and target him instead of us. I read up on it and gave him some antihistimines and some calamine lotion and naproxen sodium for the swelling. He's miserable. Last count he had over 30 on his legs and feet. I'm going to get him some garlic pills as that is supposed to change the flavor of his skin and make him less desirable. The DEET stuff does absolutely nothing to repel mosquitoes on him.
I'm hoping to walk Professor tonight. He's so chunky (and so am I) and needs to get the weight off his little legs. Plus the heat is really getting to him. I can't help but think that extra weight is insulating him, keeping him even warmer.
Well, off to get some more work done. I just hope I can keep this up and don't have just this day for energy.
TTFN
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Hope the duct tape holds
Well, crap! The insurance company won't pay for the bras or the prosthesis (they'll instead stick it on my deductible that is so high we can never meet it in the course of a year.) Which means I won't be getting a new prosthesis or new mastectomy bras. The cost is $400 and that is so far out of reach I can't even see it. I'm trying to figure out how to pay the first installment of the taxes in January. No way I can find a way for afford that.
I've got to come up with $100 a month from now until January in order to pay that first installment. And I'm not sure how we'll come up with the money for the second part. I hope the income tax refund will help but after that we're toast. I don't know how we'll be able to save for the year after that. It doesn't look like Tom will be getting his pay back up to what it was and now we're so far behind the cost of living that even if he gets 15% back we'll still be another 15% behind.
No more eating out. No more buying books or movies (even the $5 ones.) And I'm not sure if we'll be able to go see Deathly Hallows when it comes out.
I hope Zach can finish up his degree and get a job soon. That would help a little anyway.
I'll admit, I cried a little when the woman from the pharmacy called me. Okay, not a little. Maybe a lot. I'll just have to hope the duct tape holds up. And maybe I can make a cover for my present prosthesis that is a bit bigger and I can add some silicone falsies I bought and some fiberfill to make it all look bigger. I bought another bra off the rack at StuffMart so I'll have more than one and some bra extenders because they don't have bras in my size there. It's so discouraging. At times I feel defeated.
It's hot and humid today. My hair is soaked from the sweat and I'm still depressed so I'm going to go lie down on the bed in front of the window fan and just veg out for a while before I have to start supper. I'll learn to be okay with this. I don't have a choice.
TTFN
I've got to come up with $100 a month from now until January in order to pay that first installment. And I'm not sure how we'll come up with the money for the second part. I hope the income tax refund will help but after that we're toast. I don't know how we'll be able to save for the year after that. It doesn't look like Tom will be getting his pay back up to what it was and now we're so far behind the cost of living that even if he gets 15% back we'll still be another 15% behind.
No more eating out. No more buying books or movies (even the $5 ones.) And I'm not sure if we'll be able to go see Deathly Hallows when it comes out.
I hope Zach can finish up his degree and get a job soon. That would help a little anyway.
I'll admit, I cried a little when the woman from the pharmacy called me. Okay, not a little. Maybe a lot. I'll just have to hope the duct tape holds up. And maybe I can make a cover for my present prosthesis that is a bit bigger and I can add some silicone falsies I bought and some fiberfill to make it all look bigger. I bought another bra off the rack at StuffMart so I'll have more than one and some bra extenders because they don't have bras in my size there. It's so discouraging. At times I feel defeated.
It's hot and humid today. My hair is soaked from the sweat and I'm still depressed so I'm going to go lie down on the bed in front of the window fan and just veg out for a while before I have to start supper. I'll learn to be okay with this. I don't have a choice.
TTFN
Monday, August 2, 2010
Making progress
I had to take a break this weekend. Well, from writing anyway. I did some cleaning and rearranging and cooking, making progress in the layout of the house. I got rid of one piece of furniture in the living/dining room/den and moved the piano out of my bedroom which means I can actually get to the windows now. Professor is happy as his ottoman is back in front of the window where he can sit for hours surveying his kingdom.
I have 3 zucchinis now and some green beans ready for picking. I need to read up on the tobacco to see when it will be ready for harvest. Then I have to figure out someplace to store it for curing. I need to get out there and hoe. I've been pulling weeds daily but hoeing takes care of all of the weeds and not just the big ones. Plus I want to plant some lettuce. We eat a lot of lettuce in this house.
The tomatoes are still green but there are a lot of them. I suspect I'll have to can them or make spaghetti sauce and can that because if they all ripen at once we'll never be able to eat them all. I have cans and lids so I could do that. I don't have many peppers though. Maybe three growing but they are still very tiny.
I got caught up on the laundry but didn't paint the tables which I should have done since we had some nice, hot, dry weather. I think there is rain in the forecast so it's too late for that now. Next dry spell.
I've been making progress on the tunic/tabard thing I'm knitting but this weekend I was so sleepy when I got into bed that I kept making mistakes so I ended up not knitting much and just dozing off and on before I finally turned off the lights and just went to sleep. It's good that I'm sleeping better but it would be nice if I actually felt refreshed when I wake up in the morning instead of still tired. Nature of the illness though. Damned fibromyalgia.
I'm determined to stay offline more though and get more things done. When I have this fatigue I tend to just veg when I could at least be vegging and knitting or vegging and drawing or vegging and mending or something useful. Ravelry doesn't hold my interest much these days and facebook never really has except for the games, which I'm not playing anymore. I do have blogs I love to read and I get my news from online but that doesn't take that long.
Well, I need to tackle cleaning the bathroom and get some real work done today. Since cleaning the living room and my bedroom, I have the impetus to get the rest of the house clean. After Tom goes to work, I plan on attacking the kitchen, including the refrigerator and organizing the pantry. And mopping the floor.
Then I plan on knitting the evening away while watching Ballykissangel series 5 and maybe 9 which is OnDemand right now.
At least I hope I get all that done today.
TTFN
I have 3 zucchinis now and some green beans ready for picking. I need to read up on the tobacco to see when it will be ready for harvest. Then I have to figure out someplace to store it for curing. I need to get out there and hoe. I've been pulling weeds daily but hoeing takes care of all of the weeds and not just the big ones. Plus I want to plant some lettuce. We eat a lot of lettuce in this house.
The tomatoes are still green but there are a lot of them. I suspect I'll have to can them or make spaghetti sauce and can that because if they all ripen at once we'll never be able to eat them all. I have cans and lids so I could do that. I don't have many peppers though. Maybe three growing but they are still very tiny.
I got caught up on the laundry but didn't paint the tables which I should have done since we had some nice, hot, dry weather. I think there is rain in the forecast so it's too late for that now. Next dry spell.
I've been making progress on the tunic/tabard thing I'm knitting but this weekend I was so sleepy when I got into bed that I kept making mistakes so I ended up not knitting much and just dozing off and on before I finally turned off the lights and just went to sleep. It's good that I'm sleeping better but it would be nice if I actually felt refreshed when I wake up in the morning instead of still tired. Nature of the illness though. Damned fibromyalgia.
I'm determined to stay offline more though and get more things done. When I have this fatigue I tend to just veg when I could at least be vegging and knitting or vegging and drawing or vegging and mending or something useful. Ravelry doesn't hold my interest much these days and facebook never really has except for the games, which I'm not playing anymore. I do have blogs I love to read and I get my news from online but that doesn't take that long.
Well, I need to tackle cleaning the bathroom and get some real work done today. Since cleaning the living room and my bedroom, I have the impetus to get the rest of the house clean. After Tom goes to work, I plan on attacking the kitchen, including the refrigerator and organizing the pantry. And mopping the floor.
Then I plan on knitting the evening away while watching Ballykissangel series 5 and maybe 9 which is OnDemand right now.
At least I hope I get all that done today.
TTFN
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