Turning over a new leaf

There is nothing worth watching on television. I have decided that there are several books I want to read, so will be spending my time with a reading lamp. Only problem is that it is hard to knit and read at the same time. But two of the books are about knitting....almost as good!

Long of Tooth

Today, MR. CP had his "crowns" lengthened. Turns out that just as we are arriving at the age of "long of tooth", his persistent tooth grinding has left him a little short! of tooth. In the interests of preserving his teeth (so as not to have to resort to artificial teeth) we have embarked on step one of the adventure of "remaking" his teeth.

I will spare you the gory details--but lasers were involved, stitches, and recovery. His teeth are "bigger". All the better for the dentist to fashion new teeth with!!

We are doing our part to stimulate the economy--one dental bill at a time!

Memorials

Auntie L2, sister of Auntie L of the slippery pants, died this week. She was 94. They went down in order, "the 5". I., too young, H. at 83, T. was 92+, Auntie L of the slippery pants was 96+. Time was on most of their sides! 90 anything is a long life! Most of the time, for most of them, it was good, or they made it good enough.

It is not sad that Auntie L2 died. She was not well. It is a relief. On many levels for many reasons...

"The 5" were each characters in my life, each with different meanings, each with different lessons, each with a different relationship. Auntie L2 was 4th on my list--but only most likely because I. died before I was born--she probably deserved 5th place in the sisters rating. She would hate this if she knew it!

The difference was as follows:
I. had no lemons. They were too poor for something that frivolous--really. She instead raised 9 of the most caring children who are an "amazing" "family" to this day---they really know what the word means!

H. would get a lemon on sale after careful shopping. She would plant the seeds, to patiently grow lemon trees, grate and store the zest, compost the rind, use half of the lemon for lemonade, and keep the rest to add interest to other recipes she made over the next several days. We would all get lemons over the life of the tree.

T. would make her lemon into a beautiful meringue pie, and delight in it, sharing it with family and friends. She would have copied the recipe, and pass it out to those who liked the pie.

Auntie L of the slippery pants would have enjoyed T's pie, make some fresh lemonade to enjoy, and served a wedge as a garnish with the dinner entree on a pretty plate.

Auntie L2 would have been upset that the lemon wasn't an orange, she would have spit the seeds at someone or something, or maybe squirted the juice into some one's eye--pretending it was accidental. She would have eaten the lemon fruit--enjoying the sour face it produced. She would have voiced her opinion of the size of the lemon, the meatiness, the freshness, and the shape. She then would have announced that she always gets the best lemons, because she is special! She will proclaim to anyone who will listen (or pretend to listen) that her lemons are bigger, shiner, more lemony, and better than anyone else's lemons!

So, that is the way it was......I miss each of them differently. Each of them, with their personalities, quirks, life lessons, and responses to things taught me how to live---so that when I get to 90 something, I will have something to talk about!! My memories of "the 5" and some advice on what to do with your lemons!

$85.00 Baby Hat

I had decided some time ago that I wanted to make a "girly" knit hat for a second cousins new baby--searched for awhile for a pattern--and today decided on Debbie Bliss from Chamarino 2. Takes one ball of yarn, but two colors--so two balls of yarn--$17.00 plus tax. Then I had to buy the book--$18.00. And of course I found some Trecking xxl sock yarn (2 great man colors)--another $34.00. Then there was the heel toe reinforcing yarn--$9.00 more. And the tax.

So to make baby hat---$85.00 out the door...Hand knit cashmere blend hat at any age---priceless.

Mittens UP! Michigan

Keeping Score

Chimpmunk looses. Mr.Cat 0, Victor Rat Trap 1!
I am the winner!

Volume

We have one cat. He used to be quite large, but, being old and all, is now kind of svelte. There is only so much surface area on the furry beast.

It is a puzzle how one little animal could generate so much loose fur from that surface area....12 lb. cat, yet the equivalent of 5 cats in the Dyson!!! I am amazed that he is not bald!

The basket is full!

I only acquired one project through purchase at Knit Michigan--a yummy purple and blue wool/mohair combo for mittens, that might become something else.....

Then there was the free stuff!!! I won a door prize--2 balls of cotton sock yarn in a pale pastel--complete with bag, pattern, needles and yarn. E wanted the bag, and since she did not get the door prize, she got the totally cool bag!! (I need more bags like.....)

Commercial: Check out pattern tamers..tame the wandering eye. They are these markers that are magnatized to themselves--so you do not have to tote around a board--great for pattern grids. Cross stitchers would love these! Available from Kelly Black...kellyblack1970@hotmail.com. Check them out at .

So back to the yummy yarn....I got out the swift and ball winder--wound both, then started on the sock yarn I picked up on my last out of town trip---and now the basket is full.. "I need no more yarn"! Have some socks almost done! Want to practice the new techniques I learned in my class, so have two balls of cotton for some dishcloths--just to get the technique down.......

The basket is FULL!

Knitters Paradise!

I am recovering from Knit Michigan- Hands for the Cure! 16 hours of non-stop knitting fun! I showed MR. CP the pictures--he grunted disinterstingly! Apparently, knitting fun is only fun for knitters!! Understandable!

I arrived early, set up camp and did some sock knitting and networking with an intersting fellow knitter (and camp security guard for the neighboring camp), discussing yarn, yarn stores, favorite things to knit, unemployment, the Mayor of Detroit (at length--turns out she actually knew things!) Ohio, knit shops, knit shop owners, and good places to find yarn, etc.

I went to the market--cool stuff. Had to keep chanting--"I need no yarn, I need no yarn"... and picture the piles of ufo's at home. I managed to admire a lot, "experience" some great textiles, gather some new ideas, and resist the urge to acquire--"I need no more yarn, I need no more yarn"!!

I turned in my chemo caps--early in the pile of what was to eventually become 900 or so, with more on the way! Amazing! I took a picture of the booth where you could turn in pre knit or crochet squares for lap blankets for chemo patients. Who knew? Not well publicized....

I returned to our knitting camp, and knit for awhile, admired the item E. had created in her early morning class (we decided that we would schedule more wisely next time), and munched my lunch--grilled veggie sandwich, bulgar salad, etc. from Holiday Market--Yummy, but messy to eat! But they thought of knitters, and included a wet nap!!!

I bid on some things in the silent action (not enough to get anything, but did not care--figured I did my part to drive up the prices!) I took some pictures of my knitting group doing blindfolded knitting and knitting in garden gloves (silly knitting contests.) Not my idea of fun, but they were having a blast. Looked through the vendors again---"I need no more yarn."

My class was knitting a beaded bracelet--fun, but I did not need the class. It was more of a crafting session, but got two bracelets for my $12. that are cute, and would be nice gifts. Looked great with the day's outfit too!

Dinner was a disorganized affair with a speaker who talked for almost an hour when 15 minutes would do...on depression in cancer patients---really, did we need all this? Just tell us what to ask, hug them , and move on. Clinical nurse--nice, but totally did not know the audience. Was also complicated by the arrival of pizza that was late, and running out of food. Knitters were all nice.....but it was probably the worst part of the day---downer!!

Next class was continential knitting--couldn't make my fingers do what my brain had grasped. Will work on it.

Over all it was great fun to be with kindred spirits--those that understand my addiction to knitting socks, people who wrinkle their nose knowingly at the mention of acrylic, people who are more obsessed (possessed?) than me!

So, I "Danced with Wool", did buy a yummy mohair and wool mitten kit from the market, got some good discount coupons for future pruchases, found a yarn shop to visit in Holland, MI, won a doorprize (!)--guess what? Bamboo sock yarn!! and had a good time. Met some wonderful people. Saw some great stuff. Admired other's fiber-craft skills. Introduced my local group to an intersting world they had not known about, helped E find someone knowledgable about looms....and helped a little those who are facing cancer's uncertainties. Hope they are a little more comfortable...and that the contribution to the research fund helps!

All in all, it was a feel good day all around!

Snow Day!

Snow days are the best!! There was much dancing at the office yesterday--and with the help of all the little children it worked!!!

It is beautiful, relaxing--a good day to knit! Have assembled by "things" for the knit-a-thon tomorrow---more time to knit! And techniques classes! And vendors!

Can life get any better!! Nervana!

Chick Flick

Today, my friend E and I met for lunch and then took in the chick flick about the bridesmaid dresses--cute--and definitely "Chicky"!!!

The movie outfit however is not into "customer service". Both the web and newspaper said they had an 11:50 showing--and we were not the only people who thought so---turns out that even though that is what the newspaper and web site said, those were the "weekend times"--not the regular Tuesday times---so someone else got our business...and the nearby restaurant benefit ted too!

So cry me a river about our lousy economy...we had money to spend, but obviously this theater did not want it! And the mall is losing stores--which we might have shopped--but ended up a few miles away at a stand alone restaurant, and no stores.....

The manager was at the movie less theater---and a little snotty too! Next time we will just go to the mega plex in the first place!!!

Winter Blast!

Coldest day of the year!! At least it is sunny! That helps (a little!). Finished the first socks of the year(got the yarn from M1 for Christmas). Also have 3 chemo caps done...and counting.

Knitting on a cold winter night!!! Does it get any better?

How I "felt"

It was a very felty Christmas. Now to move on to more socks!!! Of course I had to buy more sock yarn---we were snowed in!!! and it creates "what if I couldn't shop for yarn" panic....three new projects, plus one I got as a Christmas gift (doesn't count, as is almost done already). It will be a good cold snowy January to knit in!!

Secret Santa and Gray's Anatomy

I work with someone who believes that everything happens for a reason...some sort of master plan of Divine intervention.

So, here goes with the "happenings":
Profound statement by Meredith Gray in the opening of last weeks episode--"the experience of practicing medicine bears little resemblance to the dream." Substitute your job for "practicing medicine" and it works for almost everyone!

Our office is particularly "grinchy" right now. Maybe it is the economy, maybe it is the "adjustment" to reorganization, maybe is the lack of basic supplies, inability to participate in opportunities and activities that we had come to take for granted, or the very real possibility of lay-offs after the holiday---Grinchy with a capital G!

In the long standing tradition, someone suggested secret Santa--where you draw a name and give little surprise gifts, not to exceed $1 in value all week. "They" did not get organized enough last week, so before we drew, one day was already over. (The tradition demands that the week prior to the holiday event lead up to the guess-a-thon at the event---to see who figured it out!) A full third of the Grinchy staff opted out--but not in any organized way, so that during the name draw, if you got a grinch not participating, you discarded their name, and tried again. I got a grinch person--and discarded to draw again.

Synergy with Gray's anatomy: Dr. Baily in this two-parter, works on "raising above"--as she saves the life of a white supremacist.

My second pick, out of everyone I work with, is the only person I would not wish to have anything to do with. Unfortunately, the way we passed it around, I could not feign having my own name and put it back....

My mind went first to all of the nasty things I could do as this person's Santa. They have no sense of humor, although they think they are hilariously funny. (soooo not!)This person is "dense", arrogant, intolerant, a bully, and no one would every describe them as "nice"...

I though about trading. I thought about paybacks (as there are things I could pay back for!!)

Then I thought about raising above. Just as my coworker says, things happen for a reason. If I went with nasty, no one would blame me, but I would have stooped to the level of this person.

So, I am taking the high road. Wal-mart, despite its "chinese-ness" has about a thousand things for $1 or less, and some are quite useful and/or nice. By the time I had wandered through just the front 1/2 I had enough for multiple themed Santa weeks--hand care (travel lotion, 2 pk of gloves, sparkly nail enamel, emery board, and sanitizer)...Personal winter care(shower poof, travel body wash, travel body lotion, chap stick, travel sun screen)....Entertainment--sudoku and word search books, candy canes, Holiday pencils, and a light up pen). There were oral hygiene possibilities, and oh, so many other options.....

I settled on a holiday theme, with wrapping paper, bag of bows, a light set, ornament set, and lighted candle decoration--all under $1, and very nice for the price!! Way nicer than what my Santa will leave, or this person deserves.

Thank you WalMart--I am raising above!!!!

I hope that I passed the "test".

Swift

Quick, rapid, fast, speedy

–adjective
1. moving or capable of moving with great speed or velocity; fleet; rapid: a swift ship.
2. coming, happening, or performed quickly or without delay: a swift decision.
3. quick or prompt to act or respond: swift to jump to conclusions.
4. Slang. quick to perceive or understand; smart; clever: You can't cheat him, he's too swift.
–adverb swiftly.
–noun
any of numerous long-winged, swallowlike birds of the family Apodidae, related to the hummingbirds and noted for their rapid flight.
an adjustable device upon which a hank of yarn is placed in order to wind off skeins or balls.
the main cylinder on a machine for carding flax.

Further information:
The swifts are birds superficially similar to swallows but are actually not closely related to those passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they formerly shared with the hummingbirds. They move into hollow trees and chimneys--and live and breed there year after year--they are very loyal (and noisy) birds. It is expensive to have them removed!

Fast Patrol Craft (PCF), also known as Swift Boats, were all aluminum, 50 foot long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the United States Navy for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations during the Vietnam War. Events realted to them can undo presidential candidates years later.

Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Who hasn't had to read Gulliver's Travels--or at least the cliff notes?



Umbrella swift: Hold your hanks on this wooden swift while you wind them into balls. Clamps onto table and counter tops. Easy loading is possible if you start with the umbrella in the down position. Put the open loop of the hank over the swift and pull it lightly so the far side of the hank is against the center of the umbrella section and you are holding the hank out perpendicular to the swift. Then, use your free hand to slide up the umbrella clamp, opening the umbrella to the circumference of the hank. Secure the clamp in place and wind away. Best when used in tandem with the Ball Winder. Measures approx. 26½" in diameter and 26" tall when open.

Had the birds in the chimney, know about the boats, read the book, and now have this nifty accessory to use with my ball winder. Life is good.

Swift, to swift, swifting, swifted, etc.

(Thanks to wikipedia and dictionary on line for the enlightenment!)

I do not need a silverplated mayonnaise bowl...

or much of anything else for that matter. People keep asking me what I want for Christmas. An exercise bike, which they are convinced I would never use, and may be correct about. The power charging cord for my blue tooth earpiece, which I am not sure they make. A yarn meter...maybe??? A fancy schmancy very expensive sewing machine??? Too personal for anyone else to pick out!

What I really, really want has nothing to do with me....I want MR. CP to clean up his office, paint it, make it look presentable---maybe even "nice". New carpet, or some type of flooring. Organization--less random "stuff". I thought the curtains would help--turns out, not enough.

I am looking forward to seeing the kids--being together in that crazy regression that happens when they are all here. I would like to zip in and zip out of Miami. Nora was right--the one you see the least, is the one you would most like to see---probably because you see the rest often.

There is nothing I need, nothing I want---I am very hard to shop for....and a "hard to find china site"--just sent me a message that a mayonniase bowl is now available to match my sterling flatware---which I sooooo do not want!

So, I wll be happy that I already have a new roof!

The difference between men and women

It is that time of year--when the "white panic" sets in and Mr. CP begins to hunker down and winterize!

One of the things to winterize is the interior of my car--slush mats a requirement. As soon as there was a little "sticking" snow, he started talking about them. Not about snow shovels, plowing contracts, warm mittens, etc. Once we got the snow tires on all vehicles--we had to get the slush mats!!!! (apparently, unknown to females, there is a necessary synergy between the tires and the mats!)

Then, as I am walking out the door to work at an ungodly time in the morning, here he comes--in business attire, excitedly waiving the "slush mats" about--headed for my sink....and those of you who live in my type of climate, know what slush mats look like when we put them away last spring--yetch!

Mr. CP thinks that he will "wash them off" before he leaves for work..so they can dry all day!?!?.

I try, as calmly as my now shrieking voice will allow, to point out--
My KITCHEN, with the sparkly pretty counters and new sink is probably not the best choice for scrubbing last years ice melter and "grit" off the mats!
He is dressed for work--remember the power washer, I say
There is no emergency to get the slush mats in my car-- I will be careful with my slush!! (which there is none of at the moment)
Just where did he plan to "dry" these??? (dripping on my wood floors!)

Grumble, grumble--but he knows I am right. I offered up the laundry tubs--he, I think saw the wisdom in not wearing a dress shirt, tie, and jacket to do this.

This weekend we must wash off the slush mats (so they can get dirty again with the slush--but don't go there) Maybe at the quarter car wash (that is now a dollar).

What price sanity!!! I won't even point out that I find very little slush to step in between the interior of the house and the attached garage---that I park in a parking structure--no slush there!....and it is a long walk between where slush might be, through the structure to where my space is!!!

White panic and slush panic.....give me strength!!!

Over the river and through the woods...

So, o.k., there is no river, and I am not really any one's grandmother--but there are some woods, at least right here! And it was snowy--just like the pictures in the elementary school song book! We don't have a sleigh, but people got here anyway!

Despite the protestations and asides, the T'giving meal was just fine. We had just enough turkey--and no bones!! A few sandwiches the next day, and it is but a fond memory!! There is a little gravy left, and some stuffing, but I think that will be a hard sale, as the stuffing lover has left town! And in spite of what anyone predicted, sweet potatoes from a box are not bad!!

Now, the tablecloths are washed, and awaiting the Xmas feast. The last of the silverware is back where it belongs. The dishes are put away, and since we are all grown ups, there are no crumbs to sweep up. Maybe not the "Martha Stewart" Thanksgiving, but good enough--and we have much to be thankful for!

Being all together (even though we start to get on each others nerves in a few hours), and being "far from want"-- all of us.

And then there is/was pie!! We ate the fabulous "Angies' pecan pie that M1 brought, along with most of the pumpkin. Mr. CP--bought two more enormous pies--just in case 30 extra people showed up---and since neither of us need the calories, these will go to our respective work places in the morning, where our co-workers can share in the calorie load!!

Oh, so very far from want.....over the river and through the woods......

A trend I've noted

or survival in a down economy?

Yesterday it happened twice. I went to lunch with a group...separate checks. The first two people paid by credit card--the girl rang their payments up. Mine was cash--and I got change from the open drawer--no buttons were pushed, no reciept.

I would say this was efficiency. It was a 'buffet", so the price is the same for everyone....

Then I went to a little botique on the way home. Had a coupon! Looked at things, did not find what I went there for, but did find something else. $18.00--less $5 coupon + tax=14.02. I handed her my card--she says--I don't take plastic for less than a $25.00 purchase--the fees are too high. I dig and dig and find the correct amount in cash in the purse by combining all the loose change, etc.

I get only the had written reciept--and she put my purchase in a "used" bag--all crumpled! Again, no ringing, no reciepts from the register!

So I guess that is what it has come to--off the grid cash purchases, and recycyled bags---nice people, running small businesses--and just trying to make it. A sad commentary on "my" economy....in a state that just raised taxes. Bet these two businesses are thrilled!

Simple pleasure!

Today I got pants for $1.97!!! It was the thrill of the unexpected! Bagging a bargain! Getting something for practically nothing.

I will not wear them to work--more like Saturday, gardening, retirement(?) pants--but for $1.97, I do not even need to wash them if I don't want to---can just afford to throw them away--really!

Somedays the stars just align!