It's not good cat weather. That's what I tell the boys when it's raining and they want to go outside. It's what I tell them when it's extremely hot out there. Truth is, they don't care. Truth is, it's not good human weather. I miss my 70 degree July days with a lovely breeze and my 50 degree nights where a fan blowing on me is not necessary. I'd like that weather back please. And I'd like my plain black cotton vanilla sweater to stop mocking me. I swatched for gauge. I counted, I recounted. (several times. Not easy, this yarn has a nubby quality without nubs. Figure that one out.)I wound up with a sweater 2" larger around than calculated. I love oversized sweaters but it still pisses me off. The T-neck is...is...wimpy. There is no "body" to this yarn. I didn't care for it when I started and it didn't change my mind in process. (it drags on the needles, hurts your hands, and I was using Addi Turbos...can't get a slicker needle than that.) I don't know what this yarn is better suited for...scarf? shawl? cat toy? I'll probably wear it all the time. Stupid sweater.
With my lack of gardening skills I almost don't want to show off my jalepanos for fear the locusts will find out and wipe the smirk off my face. It's not like the rain hasn't tried to drown everything. These were a surprise...the squirrel must have buried pumpkin seeds from last fall. BONUS! The lilies are liking the humid weather... And Mr. Bee kept busy. I have been sporting a new camera now for a couple months. I have attended a few people gatherings and become discouraged with blurry outcomes of the photos. After another dismal showing from a bridal shower yesterday I found it beneficial to hunker down and read the instruction book instead of camera blazing. Hence the bee pic. If I can manage a semi non-blurry bee in action photo, a father/daughter wedding dance is possible. Good thing I have plenty of weddings to attend this year and next. My 35mm was WAY to forgiving. Knitting? Why yes, I finished the sleeves on mystery plain vanilla. At least that will sit still while I photoshoot it.
It's been a long, stressful week. Not at home, just at work. Simple problems being blown to the size of zepplins because of people lacking "people" skills. At this point my "flight or fight" response is full on flight. I have very little fight in me to begin with--just not a get in your face kinda gal. In most situations where voices are raised or someone is purposely instigating negative crap I shift down, assess the lack of logic being presented and create any means to remove myself from the situation. There's a problem with this because the end result is flight and HIDING. After a while folks regard this behavior as unsocial, being introverted with all the negative connotations that go with it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I, just like any other human, don't appreciate being attacked verbally or otherwise. I can't handle others being complete morons. This week has been a bowlful of both. With that said, today is Friday, my short work day. I will leave this den of negativity and for the next two days living the other side of my life. I will recharge and come back Monday banging my drum. I may even have two sleeves finished. Oh yes, there's a sweater in progress. I get asked what I'm working on and quite truthfully I can't give a complete answer. Since I work everything from the top down I can make a plain vanilla project pretty gosh darn fancy when applying the finishing touches. Depends on the yarn, depends on my mood. Sometimes plain vanilla is just what I need. I bet you all know what I mean.
The dork in me just loves to watch construction, tree trimming, painting, etc. I could set up a lawn chair and make a day of it. Well! Today I have the best seat in the house, my office! Not only do I have sidewalk replacement....
But the church across the street is being painted! It's not completely perfect...I have stuff to do...*sigh* the phone keeps ringing, people WANT things. I could get out my knitting, grab a cold beverage and supervise. Now I have the Mama's & Papa's "Twelve Thirty" in my head. "With a clock that always says 12:30..." (Actually it always says 1:20 but they removed the numbers and hands to paint.) So close to the perfect day...
So there I was last evening watching the telly (I borrowed Mad Men from the library, interesting show, maybe more on that later.) and I heard "Whoooshhhh, whooooossshhhh" knew exactly what it was, grabbed the camera and voila!
Our stretch of wickedly awesome weather is taking a break to water the plants for the next few days. The jalepeno peppers are growing, the cayenne peppers aren't doing squat and if you've been following, you know the sunflowers never had a chance. The squirrel on the other hand is getting bulky.
Lunch at the Marina in Brattleboro, VT. Perfect day, lovely view and the Portabello/brie sandwich was yummy. The day started out at The Vermont Country Store in Rockingham. A fun place to travel back in time and laugh at the stuff you used to play with as a kid and everything else Vermonty. Much cheese grazing was included. Back in Western Massachusetts this Cedar Waxwing held still long enough for a photo op along the bike path on the Connecticut River. And the Newly Finished Bartons Cove Zippy, so named because it's first assignment was a stroll in the cool evening air. It's cotton but this pic makes it look chenille/velour/velvet. Hmm. It's been the best July weathah evah. I'd be a happy new englander if the temps stayed in the 70's but we know THAT'S not gonna happen. Humidity and 90 degree temps are lurking around the corner.
It's rained so hard the plants under cover are dripping. Clouds are so low in New Hampshire you can almost touch them. Last night a thunderstorm felled a tree onto wires in Gill and blew out the phone system to the whole town of Northfield. Made for an interesting day at work. Calls came in but you couldn't call out. (if only it could have been in reverse)It was so bizarre it drew not one but TWO TV news stations to report on it. Some would say it was a slow news day.... By the way, if you don't have phone service (and no alternative communication device like, um, er, me)here are a couple helpful rules: 1. get to somewhere that does and call the PHONE COMPANY or possibly the emergency services for your area, not Town Hall. Besides, if you and your neighbors don't have phone service after a nasty T-Storm, chances are Town Hall phones aren't working either. Trust me, there is nothing magical about the phone system in the Town Hall. It works the same as yours and is probably alot older. 2. And please, if you come in to report your phone isn't working and the staff tells you Town Hall's and the rest of the town isn't either, don't look at them disgusted and say, "Tuh, so WHEN is it going to be fixed?" See rule one? Go directly to the source. I've always found that the best way to get the most accurate information. There ya go. It will save me from trying to blow you up with my mind. Late breaking addition: Here's what WWLP and that cutie Shane Symolon reported:
Oh yeah, the neighborhood represented thankyouverymuch. And there was too much celebrating to finish this even though I boasted that it would be done. "The firecrackers scared me. I don't want to talk about it."
The sun no longer shines in Massachusetts. I pick up my sunglasses out of habit but don't need them for anything than decoration. When I looked at the weather map yesterday I wasn't sure Rhode Island was going to be there after the state size thunderstorm went through. It was completely covered in red & yellow on the map. I'd love to post an up to date work in progress photo but it's too dark morning and evening. I'll be done with it by this weekend. "It" doesn't have a name. IT is cotton. IT is being knit in plain vanilla stockinette stitch. IT has long sleeves. IT has a main color of coral and finishing edges of white. IT will zip. I bet you can't wait to see IT! Well you'll just have to wait.
Between the partiers in the neighborhood and the plague I'm not sure which will take me out first. The latest party broke through the cold med coma. This cold is spinning around my head like the low pressure front over New England just soaking us to the shins in rain. Some positive reinforcement would be helpful. It was such a sad weekend with all the celebrity losses. When Billy Mays yelled I listened. Michael Jackson never ceased to amaze good or bad. Farrah Fawcett fought like so many others attacked by cancer. And tossing those sweepstake mailings in the trash won't have me apologizing to Ed McMahon. As I hacked my way through the weekend, repairing screens, trimming shrubbery(it stopped raining for a few hours on Sunday) and laundry I got through the weekend. I didn't knit a whole lot but got a chunk done. You'll see.
"Momma didn't think my new kitty door design was gonna work for her. She's such a control freak."
Okay, I may be exaggerating a little. Summer colds are the worst and summer has just begun. Minimal knitting was accomplished but not for a lack of trying. I stuck to something small and plain to avoid major heartbreak in ripping it out because I dozed off due to cold medicine coma causing a boo boo. I used up cotton yarn from the last sweater and steeked it for a zipper yet to be purchased. I was VERY brave and cut it after applying fusible webbing with no back up stitching. Brave may not be the correct term. Bonkers to attempt it in my brain fuzzy condition would be more appropriate.
Sewing in the zipper should quell any fears. I found the webbing without reinforced stitching was very stretchy and I'm thinking of using it for a bottom hem idea or possibly a cotton rug. It's still brewing. We'll see how it goes. Today we are having true summer temps in the mid 80's and with all the rain of the past 36 days...it's a tad humid. I'm going to go have a coughing fit now. My status has gone from plague to black lung. "I spent a whole day nursing her back to health." It was the only way I was going to get her out of the house!"
The rain keeps coming and I keep knitting. Didn't even give this one a decent blocking, just a bit of steam and threw it on. I like it when that happens. I had purchased a few security skeins of this yarn but didn't need them. The are now being transformed into a baby sweater for the stock pile. There are 3 babies in the near future so it won't marinate long.
I have the most incredibly colored rose bush. It's producing quite a few blossoms this year as I was smart enough to protect it from those blessed beetles that like to munch on it. I wasn't quick enough for the lilies and their leaves are riddled with holes. The last old screen on the porch was replaced, front porch primed, lawn mowed, some of the shrubbery was trimmed (I stop at using electric pruning devices in the rain) and bathroom wall that needed repairing got the final coat of plaster. Now it's my turn to put on the finishing touches. Even with all the rain we kept busy.
"It can rain all it wants. I have my pillow and the remote, life is good."
If you do you came to the right blog today! If you're looking for knitting I have nothing new to show you so stay and look at the squirrel. If you HAVE to look at knitting hit 'Done Stuff' to the right over there. He's cute but he's pulling my sunflower seedlings up and eating the seeds leaving the tiny precious leaves behind. I give him peanuts but he's greedy. He torments the cats knowing just how far their leashes reach.
Last year at this time, thunder storms were a daily event. You planned your day by checking with the next one was scheduled. This year has been a bit slower--so far. We did have the weather scanner alarm go off every half hour between 1 and 4pm yesterday will tales of impending doom--hail, flash floods, etc. In real time we had a mild storm and soft rain. The kind of storm I like to fall asleep to. Since I had an evening meeting to stay alert for, taking a snooze was out of the question. I was already having attention span problems due to allergies making me miserable and not getting a full night's sleep. Boo Hoo. Throw that lullaby of a thunder storm in and I was struggling. I had forgotten to pack my extra curricular (read: socks) knitting to keep me in some form of consciousness. The lights in the town hall flickered and the constant drip of water banging the top of my air conditioner helped keep me alert. Make that annoyed and alert. I keep meaning to bring something to put on top of the a/c unit but never think of it until it starts to rain or the office above me puts on their unit and leaks water. Bang, bang, bang The meeting was long and tedious and I yearned to yell, "I'm hungry and I've got knitting to do, could ja move along here?!?" Instead I kept looking at my watch which seemed to have little to no effect either. I finally made it home to knit a few rounds then head off to bed to listen to the loud and obnoxious party of 20 somethings down the street. I finally closed my window, turned on my thunderstorm cd (seriously), fell asleep and found out this morning the partiers had all been arrested for being loud, obnoxious, well, being themselves. We'll see if it has any effect for the weekend parties by the same group. And so it went and so it goes.
I never get bummed about rainy weather. Makes for more knitting time. In between showers the 6 porch screens that needed replacing were replaced. Paint was scrapped and a window broken. Could have done without the broken window but an accident's an accident. But look what's breezing right along... Gave the sleeve a bit of a flair...for flair! Out of a package of 10 balls I'm on the last one. I think the length will be perfect. "And I didn't break the window. I may have had something to do with the screens needing to be replaced. "
It's not good cat weather. That's what I tell the boys when it's raining and they want to go outside. It's what I tell them when it's extremely hot out there. Truth is, they don't care. Truth is, it's not good human weather. I miss my 70 degree July days with a lovely breeze and my 50 degree nights where a fan blowing on me is not necessary. I'd like that weather back please.
And I'd like my plain black cotton vanilla sweater to stop mocking me. I swatched for gauge. I counted, I recounted. (several times. Not easy, this yarn has a nubby quality without nubs. Figure that one out.)I wound up with a sweater 2" larger around than calculated. I love oversized sweaters but it still pisses me off. The T-neck is...is...wimpy. There is no "body" to this yarn. I didn't care for it when I started and it didn't change my mind in process. (it drags on the needles, hurts your hands, and I was using Addi Turbos...can't get a slicker needle than that.) I don't know what this yarn is better suited for...scarf? shawl? cat toy? I'll probably wear it all the time. Stupid sweater.
