Random Doings

Naturally I posted that stuff about someone's lunch in the beer case and the next day it was GONE. Our local big-box indoor walk-for-your-health club is undergoing a MAJOR (pain in the tokus) renovation so just about every bigwig in the country is in and out of there. Someone probably got their pants chewed for sure.

And, while we were walking, we encountered some unexpected art. Well to some people I am sure it just looks like random spray paint on a shelf, but to me it looked like art.

Huh, the guy on the commercial that was just on TV said "thrust." Maybe I am just hormonal.

Speaking of commercials, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pothole commercial. The voice and mannerisms of the person who speaks for the pothole are so much like my DD#1s lifelong best friend, I almost wonder if they paid her to do the voiceover. Knocks me out every time I see it. ROFLOL

Well since I wrote the other day, I have finished the toddler sweater I was knitting for Kyrie. Here it is, being blocked. Which took 2 days because it has been raining. The air has been so damp, the cotton took forever to dry. The buttons don't show well, but they are paua shell buttons, bright chartreuse green iridescent.

I started a pair of slippers for Kyrie's brother. He is a month (maybe 2?) younger than my B, but he is bigger. A moose. Anyway I took some of the lime green and hand-dyed it to a nice, earthy, boyish brown with greeny shades in it. So I am going to knit him slippers and a hat, the slippers mostly brown (so they don't get dirty) with a green cuff, and the hat mostly green, with brown stripes.

And then since I have nothing else to do, no challenges to speak of, I decided that the toes of the slippers should have R on one and L on the other in intarsia knitting. Doing them toe-up gives me a chance to short-row the toes. This is what I have so far.

And speaking of challenges one doesn't speak of, today I have been passing a kidney stone. Not enough that I have had food poisoning that has lasted me several days, no, today I have to add a pokey stone. So tonight I passed it.

Them.

All 3 of them.

Alright, on to something better! Today I dyed another skein of recycled yarn. Well first I dyed it randomly red and blue on an off-white base of Shetland wool. Then I plunked the entire thing in a pot of purple dye. I love the results! It is available in my Etsy shop!

If nobody buys it, I might have to knit this one up myself.

Went to the firing range yesterday, and shot very well indeed. I also took the guys there, some Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins (recipe here). Whaddya know, they are starting to remember me by name.

I think I might be getting to the point of not needing to go practice so much. WHAT did I say? Forget I said that. By the way, our mall is NOT posted Firearms Prohibited. ~happy face~

How Long?

One or two of the kids and I walk our local big-box emporium almost every day. If one walks all the aisles, it is about 2.5 miles, so it is decent exercise if we walk briskly and don't gawk, and it is indoors in a relatively safe environment and best of all, climate-controlled.

On Sunday morning last, we noticed something strange as we walked the beer aisle. Apparently someone (employee on break?) had put their beverage and potential lunch down for a minute (dare we to assume to go help a customer? Certainly not!) and left it.

Monday it was still there. Tuesday, someone had wanted to buy whatever beer it was in front of, so they moved it. Wednesday, there. Thursday, someone STOCKED the beer case and moved it (didn't REmove it). Friday, still there. Today, not only still there, but now it has been joined by someone else's beverage too.

We decided to keep an eye on how long the items stay in the beer case. Taking bets, anyone?

Last evening we went to Des' house.

When we got there, Des had just gotten home from grocery shopping. Before she left, Hannah had been entertaining herself by playing in the plastics cupboard. In true intelligent-child form, she figured out she could avoid having to stand, crouch, or sit on the floor, if she would only drag her portable high chair seat over by the cupboard. So she did. What a delightful child!

While I was making supper there (Baked French Toast casserole and sausage patties), grandbaby Hannah held off her hunger by eating blue M&Ms. Apparently she only likes the blue ones.

Ok, on to some other kinda weird stuff. We took some pics of Redneck Cars today at the same big-box store. Please tell me these guys don't think their cars are hot. The orange one is for sale ($3800 and I can get you the phone # if you want it). Green wheels, whew.

I had hoped to be at the bottom of the sleeves tonight on the toddler sweater I am knitting, but no dice. It's only been a week, and I really haven't spent that much time on it. So, tomorrow is another day.

I spent most of the day today looking for a skein of yarn I had unraveled from a sweater. Made up the dye I wanted to use and couldn't find it anywhere. Des informs me that I brought it to her house and left it. What? Oh well that's better than the last thing I left at her house (don't ask).

One last pic of the night. It has nothing to do with anything, other than this bike is STILL not on the road (dead battery, and the headlight is being persnickety, can't get the clips in), and I miss it terribly. I love this bike. Looking at it, you can see why... it is one beautiful piece of machinery. Soon, I hope! Before the weather turns (though I have been known to ride at 30 degrees, LOL).

Creating Again

Earlier today we were supposed to take Artemas for his driver's test in Clinton, where DD#1 lives, over 30 miles away. Traffic was terrible and we almost ran out of gas. We were late, and they wouldn't let him take the test. If he waits, renews his permit in Oct., and takes the test in January when he turns 18, he can get a non-restricted full license. So, whatever.

We went on to Des house for some fun in the sun. She colored Diantha's stripes to incredibly bright neon pink. Artemas had to have some stripes too.

The little kids ran around picking up sticks and walnuts in the yard, and laid on a quilt on the grass. I knitted & lay in the sun a while... Veronica made me some foil "sun shades."

So here are lotsa pics of the fun. Enjoy!


This is the walnut harvest. About a 1/2 bushel. Husking them will have to wait for another day! I have a hard time eating walnuts, because they burn my tongue. I like pecans better. But I would like to make some natural dye from the hulls!

Here we have some more hair-do Rocket Science going on


Jeremiah and his little Aunt B couldn't squeeze their eyes shut tight enough to keep today's sun out, though it wasn't scroching hot for a change...

Des got haircolor in her mouth, and it was Blek.



But a Lunch of Champions of soda and a homemade muffin, that was much better.

Artemas ended up with stripes. Fortunately, guys' hair is short, so in a month he can shave it off.

Or, not.


I've been going through a slow slump, in my shops, in my creativity, and just in my energy in general. Accordingly, my sales have suffered over the summer, which they always do when I get down to about 30 or less items (though I hear from just about everyone, that sales have been bad all over this summer).

So today I finally got some new items listed in my shop. I used my Hall of Horrors banner from last year, because it is still so cool... and the avatar of me dressed as Alice Cooper last year at Halloween. I just LOVE Alice, both as a performer and as a fellow Christian.

The first one is Frankenstein's Suit, a handcut, hand dyed yarn from a recycled 100% cotton T shirt. Wow, I just love this one.

There is also Halloween-er, a self-striping, hand dyed 80% wool bulky yarn in orange and black. Too cool!

I relisted and renamed a couple existing yarns.

And I put up a new listing for my So Big They're Obscene handmade double-pointed knitting needles from recycled pear wood.

Feels good to be creating again.

Just Totally... Oh, Look! A Chicken!

I get the Bad Blogger of the Year award, because it has been 8 days since I posted. I have been totally uninspired. Or perhaps rather, completely overwhelmed and exhausted. Yes, folks, even Wonder Woman needs rest sometime.

Ok, I guess first on the list. In 23 years of homeschooling, we have never had lice. I don't know how people whose kids go to school cope, but the little public-school girl next door unknowingly gifted us with lice, and despite treatments every 4 days, cleaning bedding, etc., meticulous combing and picking, I am still finding *a* nymph or two every time we treat, after 6 weeks. The kids have been good natured and patient about it. The boys shaved their heads. The rest of us, with hair ranging from 6" (Beverly) to 2 feet long (me), are just about sick of lice treatments. Maybe next time will be the last.

Did I say something about a chicken? Can't remember if I posted this or not. But our 7 week old chickens are now in their coop, and they are very happy. Don't they look happy? And I am happy that they are no longer in a large box on my front porch, in the 95-degree F heat. Whew.


So we had a yard sale. Des and Tony hauled all their stuff from moving, down here over 30 miles from their house, and I cleaned out stuff, and stuff, and stuff. We cleaned and ticketed and sorted. Put out signs, put up a tent, sat in the 95-degree heat Friday (I was out from 7:30AM to 5 PM). Saturday did it all again. I made about what my dh makes in one day at work, in the air conditioning, $100. Told my dh I could have made that on my back in 2 hours. He said "Yeah, but it might be hard to find 20 willing guys. Har, Har. (or should I say, "Ho,Ho"?) Des and I were both struck with heat prostration (mine hit on the way to church to keep the nursery, and I had to come home). If I never have another yard sale again, it would be fine.

Diantha went to auditions for a Christian modeling agency Friday evening. Saturday she got her callback. So from now until January she will have a coach, and in January she will make a trip to Orlando FL for a scouting convention from major agencies like Ford, Nickelodeon, Mattel, etc. The trip will cost $3600 so from now until then, all our Etsy profits that aren't going to the Youth Center, will go to fund-raise for her trip.

I bought some beautiful stone whorls to make some spindles out of. There are 3 or 4 more that aren't shown here but I love these. Clockwise from left:

Blue Dumortierite 50 mm

Purple Mookaite 40 mm

Dalmation Jasper 50mm

Black Onyx 40mm (very light)

Pink Rhodonite 50mm

Pink Onyx 50 mm

Center: Orange Mosaic Flower Turquoise 50mm (very heavy for it's size!)

I also got a gorgeous spindle in the mail. I will try to get pics of my surprise package tomorrow and post them. Wonderful stuff!

So, as if two days in a row weren't enough in the heat. Sunday my little grandson Jeremiah turned 4. Big boy!! Looks *just* like his daddy too! So we all trooped to Clinton to a really nice little park which happens to be just past a rock drainage ditch across from the back yard of the house Des and Tony are buying. Hung out for a couple hours having pizza and pasta salad and cake, then retired to Des' house for the afternoon/evening where eventually I pried myself out of a really good book and made pancakes 'n' cheesy eggs for dinner and helped Des pack up a few more boxes of stuff. A week to go to Moving Day.

Beverly held up alright in the park, but looks sleepy and sweaty here. Precious though!

I made some Ugly yarn. I hand dyed this formerly pink to a cantaloupe color. Nice cotton-blend summer sock weight, but not quite enough for a whole pair of even short socks, unless a toe and heel are added. So I was going to put this skein of green/blue recycled sock weight that I actually BOUGHT at one time with it, like cantaloupe and rind(?), add the pattern for these socks that I did for Diantha, and sell it as a package. (Pic of the socks has been paled out for color comparison to the yarns. The real sock is hurt-your-eyes orange-red and deep turquoise, LOL) But I think I am too chicken to put it up and never see it sell. So whaddya t'ink? Should I list it? Or should I hold a giveaway on the blog and give it to someone creative? Make it conditional that they have a month to send back pics of something interesting made of it? Comments, Please!!

A New Spindle, House Shopping, and WWKIP Day

Last night I made a new spindle. It is GORGEOUS. I used a white granite donut bead with gray veining. I put it on a long, sleek, black chopstick with little white dots forming a swirling line design at the top, and added a silver zinc hook.

It spins very well! Spins quickly, keeps the spin for quite a while, and doesn't backspin soon or quickly. I spun up a little 1 gram sample of green merino wool, in a finer-than-fingering (possibly lace?) weight yarn. The spindle weighs .8 oz (24 grams).

I am going to gift this spindle to a special friend. She doesn't know who she is, but will know when she gets it. I hope she enjoys many hours creating beautiful handspun yarn with it!

I got a recycled yarn done today, called Faded Liberties, and listed in my Etsy shop.

Richie was off today, so we took off for Clinton, TN, where my daughter Desiree lives with her dh and kids. It is a cute little town, with an antiques district downtown, nice library, and community center complete with 2 gyms and a 10-lane bowling alley.

We went looking at houses. In particular, we went to one about 5 miles from their house. It is a big, very old house on 7 acres. It needs work, which would have to be done a little at a time, but isn't horrible. The good news is, they can keep looking, and if they decide to come back to this one, it will probably be there... it's been on the market a year now.

We looked at 3 other houses. One was less horrible but smaller, on a 2-acre lot and a 6-stall barn, and COMPLETELY overgrown. I mean the lot had grass, no kidding, 3 feet tall. Someone had built on an extra room and already redone the kitchen, so less work than house #1. The third house had even less land... .5 acre, which could be a problem if it is on a septic system. But it was nice and liveable (currently occupied), with a huge garage. The last house was new construction in town, very nice. Only drawback was the lot was sandwiched between 2 streets and the price takes their payments about $50 to $70 higher than they think they can afford. Time will tell.

I made up my own little flyer for World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP), which turns out is actually 4 days: June 13-14 and June 20-21. I called the city of Clinton and got permission to gather on Market Street, which is where we had the table set up for First Friday, where we were spinning. So we went around the town as we looked at houses, and got several small businesses, the library, and community center to put the flyer up. Hopefully it won't just be Des and me and my othe two daughters who knit.

Flying Shelters, Oh My

We went out last night and did our preliminary setup at the Smoky Valley Rally. We had a 10' x 15' metal-pipe frame shelter with canvas roof, and a 9' x 13' screen room for our personal stuff (chairs, cooler, and projects to work on). The "rules" state that vendors must be on-site by 10 AM and must remain open and on-site until 9:30 PM. Why til then, I will never know, as it gets dark at 9PM, and there are NO lights in the field where they have us set up. hmmm. This morning we showed up bright and early, finished the setup, laid out all the displays, Richard left Diantha and I there on our own, and we and sat down.

It started to rain.

We moved all the displays to the center of the shelter, covered the moisture-attracting soaps with a quilt, and waited. For over an hour.

The rain quit, the sun came out (thank you for the faith, Annie). We moved the displays back into position and secured them, and waited.

We knitted. We carded a couple batts, one to sell, and one for Diantha to spin. She did a little spinning. We took Portolet potty turns. We each ate a sandwich. We got bored and did a circuit of the field, probably about 4 acres, with 12 whole vendors.

We had ONE retired biker and his brother wander thru about 1:30, waiting for the group motorcycle ride to start at 3. They were very interested in the carding and spinning. We had the 12yod of one of the vendors come over and also be very interested in the carding and spinning.

At 3 PM, it started to thunder. We moved the displays back to the middle of the shelter, the chairs to the center of the screen room, put away anything we weren't working on right this second, and sat down.

THREE minutes later, a gust of wind picked up our 10' x 15' metal-frame, canvas-roof shelter and sent it flying.

I caught one pole, Diantha the other, and we held it. The guys who had been setting up a band in the band shelter came running and helped us carry it back to place and set it down. No stakes. One guy says, only way this is gonna stay put is if we take the legs off and set it on the ground.

The flying shelter had knocked over the stacking shelves, rack with the quilted bags, table with the soaps. We took the legs off and set it down, making a giant pup tent. I crawled around on the grass in the rain, picking up soaps that I hope aren't ruined. I threw them all on the tablecloth, wrapped it up and pitched it under the tent. I crawled around under the tent and picked up bags, knitted items, and yarns, so they wouldn't stay on the ground and get damp.

While I was doing this, the wind tried to blow the screen room away too. I told Diantha to hang on while I got the car. She threw in bins of more soap, the bin of "stuff," and climbed in. I took the poles off the screen room, set the domed roof down over the chairs and we got the HECK out of Dodge.

Rules or no rules, I got 3 hours sleep last night and this was the 2nd storm of the day with NO customers. I was done. So done.

The National Weather Service is predicting rain until early afternoon tomorrow. So, rules or no rules, I am staying home until the rain stops. Then we shall go out, try to repair the damages, and see if we can make some money!

Sad Tree Day, and Mom, You're So WEIRD

This morning about 8 AM we started to have a lightning storm. For the first little while, maybe half an hour, it was "dry" lightning. It wasn't raining, but the lightning was fierce and very close, as there was no delay to the thunderclap, and you could hear the thunder echoing through the hills and valleys around here.

Then the rains came. I grew up just 22 miles from Xenia, Ohio, and stayed 2 days in the basement when the tornadoes went through that leveled that town (in what, 1972?). Then lived 22 years in FL, just above Tampa, the lightning capital of the country. So I have lived through some storms! But this was seriously the worst wind I have ever heard. When it was over, I started to leave the house... and this sight greeted me from the front porch.

Our front yard has (had) three large Bradford Pear trees. They don't bear fruit, but are gorgeous in Spring, totally covered in white blossoms... great shade in summer, and fiery red in Fall. The center tree (in front of the porch), is ailing... the crown is spreading and we are probably going to have to take that tree out. The one nearest the driveway (pictured) was our favorite. We sit under that tree often. We park motorcycles and cars under its shade to work on them. And the storm killed it.

Three little bright spots: one, I can make a LOT of pearwood, handmade, chunky, double-pointed knitting needles like these in my My7kids Recycled Yarn Shop if I cut and peel the branches while they are still wick. The second is, the tree missed our 450 Suzuki that was parked under it, by like 3 feet. And the last is, the kids didn't know what to get me for Mother's day, and I have been wanting an apple or peach tree. So today we went out, found one of each cheap, and they got them for me.
Oh and a Basil plant for my garden.

Still, it is a shame such a beautiful tree bit the dust. I have been a little sad about that. It isn't a big sadness thing like the loss of a spouse, marriage, child, or house. But sad still. And, those new little trees won't give good shade for quite a few years! ~~ sigh ~~

OK! A couple more pics! One is Veronica's feet, happily nestled in her mom-knit sox. Now that the cuff is fixed, she likes them. In fact, she had to have new sneakers to wear them with. (Just kidding, she was overdue for new sneakers. LOL)

Here is a little sneak peek at the Fuzzy Yellow Thing that I got from UFO Project Administration Service. This is the re-make that people voted for on my blog last week. I had a few people say they didn't think the lace pattern would show in that fuzzy yellow yarn, but it looks so far, so good. Yes, my carpet is purple.

Today Des said she thinks I might be on the cutting-edge of weird. What in the world might prompt a good daughter to say something like that to her mother?

Last night I was counting stitches in a knitting project that Diantha is doing. I needed a marker in the middle of a dpn, and instead of slipping the stitches off the needle to the marker point, I took out my left earring (a handmade sterling and garnet with a hook on the back for the wire) and slipped it on the needle and hooked it. I might add that I have my left ear pierced twice, and in the extra hole I had a long, turquoise and sterling earring that I lost the mate of last week.

Later on, Veronica was sweeping the floor in the kitchen and found my other turquoise earring. Without thinking, I stuck it in the only empty hole.

I promptly forgot about it and went out today, looking like this:

Des said, "You know, Mom, most people would have switched that top turquoise earring to the other side, so they had a pair and an extra." So I told her I never much cared for doing things the way Most People do them. LOL!

I got a special order yarn done after our errands today, and made homemade pizzas for dinner. But I did NOT get more knitting done, or the carding done that I needed to do, or folding laundry. On the other hand, I am not asleep yet!