The wind is blowing so hard outside that something on the deck -- not the bird feeder -- sounds like someone is randomly hitting a steel drum. I keep thinking there is a radio on somewhere.
No birds on the feeder today. Control tower has forbidden them to land.
Not like that other day.
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Remember last week, when the Ten on Tuesday topic was Ten Things I Always Have In My Car?
I forgot something important.
A cigarette lighter USB plug-in, always ready to charge my iPod, iPad, or cell phone. It also has a sweet little blue LED inside so it is easy to plug things in in the dark.
I am working on a two-part post about my dyeing experiments adventures. Soon...
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The horrific cold seems to have passed on to some other locale. Our temp is at or above freezing :) So naturally, I finally finished my extra-long fingerless gloves, the ones to keep my forearms warm whilst reading in bed in our cold bedroom.
I tried to wear them last night but had to take them off after a couple minutes because they were... too warm.
I don't know, do you think it will get ever cold again?
Yarn: Colorado Yarns Durango (10-ply worsted, 50/47/3 wool/acrylic/rayon), colorway 5, a tweedy ecru; 1.3 skeins, 138 yds. Needles: Addi Turbos US#7. Pattern: Cobbled together, but I used the thumb gusset from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns. I cast on a couple extra stitches to allow for more room in the forearm (could have used a couple more) and decreased them away before the wrist.
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Laundry day, hand washables:
Actually, these are all perfectly machine washable and dryable except for the blue socks, upper row, at right. I found out the hard way that they will felt (Pagewood Farms, Denali Hand-dyed sock yarn). But I am *practicing* using my Hand Wash cycle.
Here is my *dryer* for the hand washables:
I took this while the fan was moving to spare you the sight of how filthy the thing is. Really need to clean it... someday.
One would have to be a certain kind of person to wear these glittens.
There is no crying in baseballspace. (On a related note, do you follow @Cmdr_Hadfield on the Twitter? You should; he is a Canadian astronaut live-tweeting from the space station, complete with photos of Earth. Science nerds joy!)
Elizabeth asked in the comments yesterday whether our heating system couldn't be tweaked to get the maximum heat out of the available water flow. Yes, indeed, the guy who installed it has made at least a dozen trips here to do exactly that. I fear it is as good as it can be. Not perfect, but livable (for us, anyway -- we are adaptable). We will withhold part of the final payment in recompense for the shortfall.
In the meantime, conditions seem to have improved. Still very cold outside, but no wind -- thus, less heat loss through walls and windows.
Based on the anemic flow in the shower the past couple mornings, I have refrained from attempting to wash my hair, fearing that the flow might dwindle to nothing whilst my head was encased in suds. Likewise, I have postponed doing laundry. Forecast is for a warming trend tomorrow through the weekend. I see cleaner days ahead :)
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This is the cutest thing EVAH! Got this email from Younger Son this morning:
Subject: Percy is at doggie day care today
With how cold it's been, he hasn't been getting long walks or trips to the dog park lately. Because of this, we dropped him off at doggy day care this morning.
You can watch the live webcam of him here, just scroll down to the "Uptown" pen. They only have one location, in Seward, but three big pens there. He's got his red hoodie on, so you'll know him when you see him.
I'll have that window open on my computer all day...
In the interest of full disclosure: I am writing this on Tuesday night.
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I may not like the character of Lady Mary Crawley -- she is shallow, arrogant, and self-centered -- but if I were in trouble I would want her on my side. In addition to her less desirable qualities, she is also smart, tought, good in a crisis and exactly the person who could save my ass.
* * * * *
From the latest issue of Time magazine, in the article on guns and gun control:
"I'm not anti-gun. I'm just not pro-dumbass."
- Steve Mostyn, wealthy Houston trial lawyer, gun enthusiast, and friend of Gabriel Gifford.
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The thermostat installed with our new ground-water heat pump does everything except wash windows. It reports on the outside temperature, the inside temperature, checks the forecast for imminent weather, and sends us emails if anything goes wrong.
Too bad the system doesn't keep the house warm. (Thermostat is set for 67˚, but the indoor temperature is 57˚. This is because it is -8˚ outside, and the system needs more ground water than the well can deliver.)
But at least it is significantly warmer inside than out...
In the glove compartment: registration and insurance card; pens and pencils; tire gauge; owner's manual; bottle of antiacid.
Handicapped parking permit.
Wastebasket. Not a litter bag, a real wastebasket.
Sunglasses -- regular, clip-on, and a pair for Smokey (aka Big Head).
A map of every state this car has ventured into in its 14-year life.
47 pounds of dog hair.
No CDs or tapes because my iPod plugs into the stereo, no GPS. I try to keep as little crappe in my car as possible. Boring, right? But I am always prepared.
Digression: a couple months ago I found a pair of (my own) underwear between the passenger seat and the door. No idea how they got there, but I am glad they were recognizably my own...
I don't know if I have mentioned it, but Younger Son is the engineer/tech guru at a video post-production firm in Minneapolis. He started there immediately after high school ("I'm tired of going to school, Mom and Dad.") as an unpaid intern in the tape room. Eventually he moved up to a paid position as junior colorist -- as he described it, his job was to do everything necessary so that the senior colorist never had to move from her seat at the high-tech color correction machine.
When the engineer left to go to another video post-production house, Younger Son applied for and got that job. It suits his techie passion well.
Sunday morning he was in the office cleaning up the network cable room. Had to do it when there was no one else working because they would have gotten annoyed at the repeated interruptions as he unplugged and rearranged and replugged network cables.
Left, original mess. Center, after his quick and dirty neatening effort a year ago. Right, after today's session.
I shall refrain from any snarky comments about the state of his room when he was a teenager. That was a long time ago. He has moved on and so have we.
"Smokey’s purr* was measured at 80-85 decibels, the equivalent of a lawn mower, a vacuum cleaner, or a Boeing airplane coming in for a landing from a mile away."
Intellectual ideas everyone should know in order to navigate the big, bad world we live in.
The second amendment was ratified to preserve slavery. (via Roger Ebert on the twitter)
A little ready-to-wear sweater inspiration. You will have to knit it yourself b/c they do not ship to the US. If you live in Europe, you are probably good to go.
Smokey got a new bucket and tool holder insert for it. This will be his carry-it-to-the-site toolbox.
The second time he tried to show it to me and explain all its finer points, I told him that, nice as it was, it had already received all the attention it deserved.
However, I do need to show you one more thing about the bucket.
* * * * *
Look what I discovered! These are going to be my new go-to lunches at work. <$4 each, often good for two meals.
Even better, look at the ingredients lists:
I could hardly believe it -- everything in that list is REAL FOOD! No multi-syllabiccally named chemicals nor preservatives nor *flavor enhancers*.
Of course, the real test is in the eating and the tasting, and these prepackaged meals passed those tests with flying colors. I cook up a pot of brown rice periodically and serve half of one of these over a small bowl of it. Yum. (Except for the ones with spinach. I like spinach, but not, apparently, in these. But there are plenty of different choices, so no problem, mon!)
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A couple days ago I got a cortisone shot in the hip, so I am walking (largely) pain-free again.
My own, longer fingerless gloves. First one done except for thumb and weaving in ends, the other about one-third done.
Progress interrupted because these (scroll down past the donation information).
Aqua square at right left done in brocade stitch from Barbara Walker's first book, red square at left right done in garter stitch. I have plenty of this superwash DK wool left from my sweater; this is an excellent use for it.
From the organizer:
And it's going to take knitters (and us) a while to make all of these. By the time we're done, the donations will have stopped, the media attention will have died down, and the families will be left to deal with the quiet of their homes. People who have lost a loved one often find that the hard work of grieving comes months after the actual death occurs -- long after people have stopped receiving cards in the mail and meals on their doorstep, they're still left with the weight of loss. And they often start feeling forgotten.
Picture me awaking, suddenly remembering OMG! Today is Yarnover Registration Day! Starts at 8am!
I looked at my watch and discovered that it was ::gasp!:: 9:35!
Happily, the only classes that were already full were the two taught by Stephanie Perl-McPhee, and I hadn't intended to take either of those anyway. I am going to the dinner with the instructors on Friday night; my classes are 1, knitting set-in sleeves from the top down, and B, a bunch of stuff about garter stitch, like best cast-ons, shaping, short rows, and edgings. Neither teacher is a household name among knitters. Some years I have chosen a class because of the name-brand teacher (Meg Swanson, Sivia Harding), but this year I went for pure learning.
Next I have to reschedule the surgery (3rd time!) for AFTER Yarnover. It's all about the priorities, man!
Smokey has had a handicapped parking permit for several years, ever since he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I used his, illegally, when I had a broken ankle and for the past year or so since my hip got really bad.
But now I have my own. It's only a temporary one, good for six months, but ::fingers crossed:: that should be as long as I will need it.
In other news, I got my very own flu shot today. Don't know exactly why I didn't manage to get it earlier, but at least I will have full immunity by the time I go back to work in the germ-ridden city.
Look at this message I found in my Ravelry inbox yesterday morning:
Is that awesome or is that awesome! I immediately sent her a reply that blathered on about how much I like that book.
* * * * *
Took the Jeopardy qualifying online test last night. 42 was not the answer.
* * * * *
I just looked out the window and DA YEEP IS WORKING! Smokey is currently plowing the driveway, which had not been plowed* since before Thanksgiving. Every time he went out to attempt to plow there was something else wrong with Da Yeep. (This is what happens when a 20-yo vehicle sits for six months. He was never able to get it really ready for winter because of his back surgery/recovery and all the other tasks that got postponed because of it.) But now the battery and the electrical cables and the accelerator cable and who remembers what else are apparently all functional.
As much as I love where I live, I (and we) curse certain parts of it every winter, mainly the hill that is the driveway.
* * * * *
Hip surgery has officially been postponed and is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 22. Thanks for all your good wishes and kind thoughts and thoughtful opinions. The majority seemed to favor waiting until all the snow and ice are gone, which will make recovery and the required rehab exercise easier. (A good friend likened the surgery to having a baby. She said, "I had one baby in January and one in May, and the May one was waaayyy easier because we could get outside." Having had a December and a May baby myself, I found that thought to be absolutely true.) Those who are even slightly familiar with taxes also thought that skipping a tax season was not the best option.
If I could do whatever I wanted with no thought to consequences, I'd have the surgery ASAP. But I am being an adult about this.
In the meantime, my PA put in an order for two cortisone injections to keep me relatively pain-free and mobile for the next three months. First one is next Tuesday.
* * * * *
Have I bored you yet? I am always a little surprised when bloggers talk about the details of their life being boring. I find such minutiae of others to be a way of connecting with their lives. We all experience some of the same things, but some stuff is unique to each of us.
But if minutiae bores you, you probably stopped reading this blog a long time ago.
* The ever-helpful folks at Typepad suggest other Typepad blog posts that may be related to what one types in their post. Apparently my reference to plowing caught their attention. This is what they thought you might find interesting:
Let's start out with a bit of slothfulness. Sloths are slothful.
Trivia question of the day: for what delightful cartoon show on Nickelodeon did Mark Mothersbaugh compose music? (Answer buried in the linked Wikipedia article.) (I loved that show.)
* * * * *
I am feeling better today, having spent most of the last two days in bed and/or sleeping. Having an iPad makes lying in bed much less boring; just another wonder of the connected age.
On the hip situation, I am now confronted with this decision:
Have the surgery in 2-3 weeks and probably not be able to work this tax season. Although I would be recovered enough to return to work by early March, it is really, really difficult to jump into the middle of tax season. The annual learning curve is just too steep.
Work this tax season and have the surgery ASAP after April 15. A cortisone shot this week and another in early March would ensure relatively pain-free mobility, and working would give a pleasant boost to the checking account.
What would you do and why? Discuss.
* * * * *
The nurse that I talked to on the nurse line on Sunday ordered me to get a functioning fever thermometer. She wanted to know my temperature and I had to tell her our thermometer was not working properly. I bought that thermometer, an electronic one, last summer so that Elder Son and I could tell if Smokey had a serious infection or just a superficial one. Darned thing insists that everyone's temperature is in the range of 92.4˚F -- 94.2˚F. What with all the kerffluffle during Smokey's recovery, I no longer have the receipt. Damned Wal-Mart. Clearly, it's all their fault.
Yesterday Smokey went on a major errand-running and shopping trip to the Twin Cities. One of his tasks was to purchase a new thermometer. He reports that the traditional glass ones, which I had ordered him to procure, are apparently no longer available. WTF?
* * * * *
And now for a bit of fun knitting.
Yarn: Colorado Yarns Durango, 50/47/3 wool/acrylic/viscose, worsted weight (perhaps discontinued?), ecru and brown. Pattern: I used Ann Budd's basic mitten pattern from A Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns* for the thumb gusset and did the mittens in 3x1 rib. Recipient's hand is same length as mine but slightly more substantial. Ribbing makes the fit more forgiving. Needles: Addi Turbo US#7; #6 for contrasting end row and bindoff.
These are for an acquaintance who has a coffee kiosk on the highway in my teeny tiny town. Although she claims it is warm inside her 6'x8' building, she has to keep opening the window to take orders and hand out coffee and make change. I suspect that her hands might welcome these during January. I don't know her well, but I do know her well enough to know she deserves these. (She has the best coffee EVAH!)
A side benefit of making these is that I finally figured out what stash yarn -- the ecru Durango -- to use for a pair of long fingerless gloves for myself. I want them for when I am reading in bed; my hands and forearms get cold, and it is annoying to have to keep pulling my pajama sleeves down when I'm wearing regular fingerless gloves. Yeah, it's a real bitch, I tell ya...
* Do you have this book? If not, why not? It is a great resource when you want to make a basic [thing] and just need a little help on the shaping or the cast-on or something. Or, you can follow it blindly; no shame in that.
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Last night I was on the Twitterer. I found it humorously ironic that the most plentiful tweets in my feed were, 1, Chuck Todd (NBC news) live-tweeting the Notre Dame-Alabama game, and b, Amanda Palmer and her followers tweeting about kindness and selflove and how to stop the bullying.
Maybe we should introduce Chuck and Amanda and let them educate each other. Or, really, let Amanda educate Chuck. (Nothing against Chuck Todd. He is one smart dude. But, srsly, which is a more important topic?)
* * * * *
Speaking of the Twitters, did you watch the season premier of Downton Abbey? Of course you did; we all did. Want to relive it through the eyes of a highly jaded but clever sheep? This guy preserved Dolores Van Hoofen's live-tweet of the premier. What a hoot baaaaah!
* * * * *
Today is the twelfth fourteenth day of Christmas so I unplugged the lights on the tree. I'd really like to make a tree cover out of a sheet and just store the whole thing somewhere out of sight until next December. But I will probably just let it sit in the *conservatory* until Christmas. Like I have done for X years.
Once the kids leave home all tradition and semblance of civilization go right out the window.
Hip surgery is postponed for 2-3 weeks on surgeon's advice. In the meantime I can go back to taking ibuprofen (yay!) and get over this crud (yay!). With the surgery in late January I may not be able to go back to work this tax season (yay?).
I finished a pair of fingerless mitts for a friend last night while we watched Downton Abbey. I'll show them to you soon.
* * * * *
Also in the meantime, a little something I saw t'ther day.
Smokey backed my car into a hole next to the driveway a couple days ago (coulda happened to anyone). We spent a bit of time this afternoon getting it out. Da Yeep is broken, his 4WD Subaru tried but couldn't do it. A neighbor with a 4WD pickup happened by (what a delightful coincidence!) and pulled it out. As I was watching them I wished I had a camera -- blog fodder! Then I remembered I had my iPod in my pocket.
Here is what I tweeted.
It took a number of tries and an additional, longer tow rope to allow the pickup to be farther up the driverway on the flat part instead of on the hill. But my car is now free.
* * * * *
I have a cold. Later I will call the hospital and try to find out if this URI crud so bad that they will have to postpone the surgery. I do not have much hope that I will be able to get a definitive answer on a Sunday. So we will have to get up @ 4:30 am on Monday to get to the hospital by 6 am, the time I was told to be there. And perhaps end up driving back home.
It is hard for me to believe there is so much hatred in the world, in this country, in high schools, on the internet, everywhere. My life is filled with love and it seems that the blogs I read reflect a similar condition in others' lives. How terrible not to have that love, only hatred.
