kmkat and her kneedles

Sunday, Sunday.

Mutterings.

1. Latch :: door.
2. Standard :: grade.
3. 60 :: percent
4. Maple :: syrup.
5. Final :: exam.
6. Bickering :: The Bickersons.
7. Diner :: eggs.
8. Nasty :: smell.
9. Ohhh! :: Uh oh!
10. Leeches :: bait. Why, yes, I did grow up in Minnesota, where leeches mean only one thing.

* * * * *

I was singing Sunday, Sunday as I began this post.
What a disappointment to remember the correct song title.

* * * * *

We did some tree trimming and forest maintenence last weekend.

Kiera The Teenaged Helper womaned the weed wrench and uprooted unwanted saplings.

Younger Son handled the electric chain saw and did the actual pruning.

Percy took care of the sticks.

 

 

Sorry, no video of Percy and a branch. You will have to be satisfied with this still.

Sunday.

But first, as usual, the mutterings.

1. Spirits :: high.
2. Admit :: ticket.
3. Gift :: bag.
4. Barry :: my half-brother.
5. Dredge :: river.
6. Pajamas :: bottoms.
7. Cheating :: tests.
8. Information :: overload.
9. Ivory :: ebony.
10. Past :: memories.

* * * * *

Are you eagerly anticipating the finale of Breaking Bad tonight? We do not have cable, so I have been watching it on Netflix, on season 4 right now. I plan to stay off the Twitter, the Facebook, and possibly the entire internet from 10pm tonight through at least Tuesday so that I miss the spoilers.

Last week someone on Twitter gave a link to a Breaking Bad spoiler foiler that would black out any spoilers in tweets. I immediately downloaded and installed it on my iPad but found that it worked only the first time. The next time I went into Twitter all the BB tweets were there in their entirety. 

I squint heavily at the screen anytime I see the words Breaking Bad, in the hope that I can somehow miss any spoilers. So far, so good.

* * * * *

Latest quote from Younger Son: If I had one complaint about my upbringing, it was that I didn't learn the difference between pickled jalapeños and fresh jalapeños. I ate the pickled jalapeños that we had and thought, These aren't too spicy. Had I known the difference, I wouldn't have had to learn it by purchasing a chocolate-covered jalapeño at the state fair two years ago.

* * * * *

As soon as I locate my camera cable, there will be North Shore photos and charity dog walk photos. As soon as I locate my camera cable.

 

Blog fodder, he gives me.

Younger Son came into my office yesterday to say he had some blog fodder for me.

For the past three years or so he has been the tech guru at the video post-production company where he has worked since graduating from high school in 2007. He keeps the multi-million-dollar video editing equipment humming along, maintains the network, handles any problems and eventually upgrading their phone and email systems, plus all the usual computer guff.

He's come a long way since he made my sound card non-functional the first day I had it by turning down the internal volume on the card (he was 5).

Since he has become so knowledgeable about all things techy, he offers suggestions on improving the electronic environment around here. This weekend he brought us a new wall-mount patch panel, which we will henceforth refer to as the magic electronic thingy.

What is that, you ask? It is an intermediate step between the router and all the cat-5 (computer) cables that come to it.

 

The scene under the stairs before:

1. The cat-5 cables going to various locations in the house, neatly bundled and tacked to the wall by Smokey when he installed them 10+ years ago.
2. The rat's nest of those cables become.
3. The router and wireless access point.
4. YS's amazingly bright mini flashlight, which he carries with him all the time.
5. YS's Swiss Army knife, ditto.

 

Under the stairs, after:

  A. The thingy installed.
  B.  The much-less-rat's-nest-like nest of cables.
  C.  My pen, which YS returned to my desk when he was done. Score!
  D   An electronic stud finder. No, I don't know why he needed that. Punch down impact tool, used when connecting the cat-5 cables to the new magic thingy. No, I didn't know what that was, either.

 

The thingy in all its labeled glory:

There are two cables leading to my office because I Am The Queen; also because when the cat-5 cables were originally run, any computer troubleshooting would have happened in my office, so it made sense for me to have two internet connections. Smokey's office is informally referred to as The Hovel for no particular reason.

Next project may be to supplement this router/wireless with two wireless access points, one at each end of the house, to improve wi-fi coverage.

Stay tuned.

 

If it's Sunday, this must be random.

1. Wine :: mmm-more.
2. Hand :: in glove.
3. Bottle :: rocket.
4. Soda :: chocolate.
5. List :: tipping.
6. Thimble :: thumb.
7. Sample :: swatch.
8. Cloth :: fabric.
9. Correspond :: -ent.
10. Taste :: of Minnesota.

Our nasty heat wave broke on Friday. It's very pleasant now. Whew.

When Younger Son is here, Ser Percival The Energetic is here, too. Here he is modeling his new Float Coat.

Ser P is so heavy and solidly built that he cannot swim easily; mostly he just sinks while frantically dog-paddling. The float coat solves that problem. This was its first tryout. Once he realized that he no longer needed to panic, he loved it.

He also loves sticks.

See the remains of that pontoon boat on the hill? It is in the process of being dismantled before going to the recyclers. The pontoons have leaks that are too hard to repair (welding aluminum is possible but not easy). Once it is gone we can put the dock back into the lake and retrieve the new-to-us pontoon boat we bought two years ago. Being semi-disabled has really hindered progress around here the past few years.

YS continues working on the future dog run. Scotty The Wonder Teenager started this project last summer and has continued to work on it, but he is laid up right now with a bad arm, so YS has taken over. The project looks promising to be ready before winter.

:: fist pump!::

Back in 2008 when I had a broken ankle Smokey enclosed a poop yard at the bottom of the deck stairs so I would be able to let the dogs in and out.

The advantage of this system was we didn't need to go outside, down the stairs, put the dog(s) on their tie-outs, then do it all in reverse when they were done. We just had to let them onto the deck -- they knew to go down to the grassy (snowy in winter) fenced-in area.

The disadvantage was that we could not use the deck stairs.

The new dog run will have all the advantages of the poop yard but none of the disadvantages.

This is on the uphill side of the house, an area we never use. Construction requires setting landscape timbers in the ground and attaching the fence panels to them; if you look closely you can see the trenches for the timbers. But the ground slopes downhill toward the camers, hence, the buildup at this end.

The run will be 5'x20'.

But how will the dogs get in there? you ask.

Look carefully at spot on the deck railing indicated by the arrow. The railing between that notch and the house will be eliminated and a ramp from the deck to the ground installed. Once the dog run is completely finished, Smokey -- or more likely, Scotty or YS -- will install a gate at the top of the deck stairs. The dogs will then have only one place to go, down the ramp to their new area. There will be gates at each end of the new run for additional access.

This is a big deal to me. As much as I appreciated being able to let the dogs in and out without having to use the stairs, I also missed access to the front yard from the deck. The construction has been complicated by the mechanics of the slope. Thank FSM for strong young helpers!

Here is a view of the deck you have never seen.

The deck stairs and poop yard are just to the right of the picture; the new dog run is 90˚ to the left.

News flash! YS just emailed me a progress photo!

He reports that from now on the job will be much more straightforward. No more fighting with tree roots and rocks and rocks entwined in tree roots.

If you have made it this far I have a treat for you. If you ever see this brand of pie in the freezer case at your grocers, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY!

We have had three of the blueberry pies in the past few weeks, and they are the best pies I have ever eaten, even better than my mother's (she baked excellent pies but used canned blueberry filling). Thin flaky crust, fresh blueberries, just enough sugar to sweeten the pie but not so much as to overwhelm the blueberry-ness. If we ever get past that flavor -- blueberry pie is my favorite kind -- we will try the apple and cherry. The Village Piemaker's products are Teh Awesome!

 

Proud photo.

Matthew was quite proud of the depth of field he got in this photo taken with his phone. Subject is a daggar moth caterpillar, which is not nearly as intriguing in moth form.

How the well-dressed bicycling camper sleeps.

Step 1. Find two sturdy trees at least ten feet apart but no farther than twenty.

Step 2. Suspend the rain fly between the selected trees. Put it as high as you can reach.

Step 3. Retrieve the hammock from your stuff sacks.

 

Step 4. Notice that a fellow camper is recording this for posterity. Untether the front side of the rain fly and flip it out of the way in order to reveal to the blogging world the awesomeness that is your bedsite.

 

Step 5. Attach the hammock support straps to the trees. (Please notice that the rain fly, which has little tension on it, is tied up with thin rope. The hammock, which will have considerable tension, is suspended from much wider straps so as not to damage the support trees.)  

 

Step 6 - 12. Adjust the straps.

 

Step 13. When the hammock is suspended just right, unfurl it from its nylon sheath.

 

Step 14. Announce to the audience that the bedsite is now ready.

 

Step 15. Unzip the access opening in the hammock and demonstrate how to get into it.

 

Step 15a. Remember to remove your shoes.

 

Step 16. Carefully insert body into hammock.

 

Step 17. Admire your completed bedsite.

Bing bang.

• I brought Smokey Bear home from the hospital last night. 
• He was there for seven days.
• All week the lab results had indicated possible problems with his kidney function. (Elevated creatine level, thanks for asking.)
• Yesterday's lab was A-OK, thus the release from confinement.
• Yay!
• He is taking antibiotics for the infection, oxycodone (~Percocet) for the pain, and Valium for the nausea. 
• They all seem to be accomplishing their intended purpose. 
• Yay!
• He has asked for soda crackers and a barf bag a couple times but has not needed the latter.
• Yay!
• Younger Son was back at work Wednesday. 
• He too had the nausea reaction to oxycodone, but only to the first dose.
• Yay!
• I don't want to jinx anything, but it seems that life might just be headed in the right direction again.
• YAY!

Photo is Ser Percival The Energetic, Younger Son's and BFE's dog, *making friends* with the cat in the window.

PSA.

I came across this article today. Given that Younger Son  could have been killed last Friday night when he was [sort-of] T-boned on his bike, the timing seemed apropos.

How Not To Kill A Cyclist.

Update on YS's condition: he was sore all weekend but went to work on Monday, planning to take it easy that day -- no running up and down stairs or moving electronic equipment from one studio to another. But by the end of the day, walking was becoming increasingly painful. He went to emergency room at Hennepin County Medical Center where, after the normal wait of six-plus hours (he was not having a heart attack or in danger of bleeding out, after all), he was seen, x-rayed, assured that he had not fractured anything, and sent home with Percoset. Elder Son and I had been visiting Smokey at the VA hospital that afternoon, so we brought YS some dinner and hung out with him for a couple hours in the ER waiting room before driving back to Wisconsin. 

YS called this morning to update me on the ER visit. He went to work this morning but soon found that the Percocet-induced nausea (he is his father's son, after all) was not gonna go away so he went back home.

Update on Smokey: he called this morning to say he thought he would be released today. I am still waiting for his confirmation and the order to Please come get me please as soon as possible get me out of here I want to come home.

Update on the update: Smokey just called again. The Powers That Be have said, Maybe tomorrow.

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts and sharing your knowledge. I am so, so grateful to still have a husband and both sons.

Eye candy Friday.

From Younger Son: 

I went to Ikea with my friend last night. All at the same time, we left the store, the rain ended, and the sky became a beautiful mix of colors. He snapped a picture of me silhouetted against the sky.

International Yarn Bombing Day!

So I was having breakfast with #2 Son and BGFE* and they excitedly told me about the yarn they had seen on their way to the diner on their bikes. That reminded me that today was International Yarn Bombing Day. Nothing would do but that I took a detour on my way from the diner to Wisconsin to check out the reported yarn bomb.

It was awesome.

This is a pedestrian bridge over I-35W at 40th Street in Minneapolis. 

View to the south, toward the suburbs:

View to the north, toward downtown:

View overhead:

.

* Best GirlFriend Ever

Let's do some random.

Guess who has his own IMDb page?

#2 Son!

His page may not get any bigger, though. He is no longer the assistant colorist, having been promoted to being the engineer for the firm. Now he is the guy responsible for making sure the million-dollar machines work properly, plus being the all-around computer guy. He loves this, and it suits his talents and temperment better. Win-win.

* * * * *

 Speaking of #2 Son, he and GF participated in the Smooch! project.

If that isn't endearing I don't know what is...

* * * * *

Why, yes, all the men in my life have beards. Doesn't everyone?

* * * * *

Yesterday was the first day I sat on the deck and knitted. It was glorious.

It was actually a brilliant sunny day, but I waited until the sun went behind a cloud to take a photo. Otherwise my iPod camera would have shown you washed-out sunny areas and blacked-out shade. I was way too lazy and lace-obsessed to go into the house and get a proper camera.

The shawl for GF is no larger than the last time I showed it to you but not for lack of knitting. I have knat the last inch of it at least five times, maybe more. Yesterday, however, for the first time I felt like I was beginning to be able to read my knitting. That column of stitches that runs up through the center of the lace/pine cone motif? It should continue through the solid stockinette and become the center column of the subsequent lace/pine cone motif! Hallelujah and praise jeebus! If it doesn't (as happened on the right-hand half of the shawl) there is something wrong.* When I take my coffee and knitting out to the deck today** I hope to be able to break through the barrier that seems to hover around row 42. 

* * * * *

I finished a scarf and two pairs of socks since I last caught you up on my knitting, but they all remain to be photographed. You will have to wait with bated breath for another post on those.

* * * * *

Smokey got himself a new watch.

Okay, now, all you former hippies: what is that watch face a replica of?

Look familiar?

* * * * *

Did I ever show you this?

. 

* My eternal thanks to the commenter who suggested putting a marker between pattern repeats. That tip is the one that enabled the knit-reading.

** Or not. Today is 60˚ and cloudy. I may be knitting in the porch instead.::le sigh:: It's a tough life...

It's cold. And other items of marginal interest.

The temperature in Minneapolis was, I think, around zero or colder every morning of this, my first week back at work. Thanks, weather gods, for giving me such a memorable welcome.

Note: photo above is Lucy at the lake house, not in Minneapolis. The only difference is that the snow in Minneapolis is dirtier and piled higher.

Just to give you an idea of what sub-zero temperatures are like:

• The inside of one's nose frosts up when one inhales;
• When I get home after work I tend not to get really warm again until I am in bed under a couple comforters (the radiator in the bedroom has been turned off for a couple years and now the handle doesn't turn; I may need to employ Large Tools);
• The digital read-out on my car radio changes v-e-r-y slowly, if at all, when I change radio stations;
• On Thursday morning, the coldest one so far, the driver's window, which I had put down so I could see the outside rear-view mirror, would not go back up. I had to pull up on the button with one hand and pull the window itself with the other. I did NOT want to get onto the freeway with an open window.

Last night I came back home to Wisconsin; temperature on the only outdoor thermometer I saw was -3˚ F. For various reasons I had a lot of trouble warming up once I got home. Three comforters, two pairs of sweats including a hoodie with the hood UP, wool knee socks, a dog, and two cats... and I finally got warm. It was the second set of sweats and the hood that did it.

Today I am still in the sweats and wool socks and perfectly comfortable.

Look what the wind has done to the snow that piles up on the railing outside my office:

That black silhouette is En Esch glaring at me. Why are you messing around with that little box? Why are you not petting me?

* * * * *

I came upon  this video in praise of Minneapolis over at twentytwowords.com. #2 Son says he knows a couple people in the video -- the bicyclist and his girlfriend, of course.

* * * * *

In knitting news, by request I made a headband for #2's GF. She picked out the pattern on Ravelry but asked that it be wider. I recommended Malabrigo worsted for purely selfish reasons -- I had never knit with it -- and she picked out a gorgeous teal color (called "Aguas" at the link). My efforts at widening the pattern were for naught. Take it away, Bubbles!

(Bubbles's head is significantly smaller than Alex's; when the headband is stretched a bit more, as it would be on Alex's head, the seed stitch edging lies down flat. So I tried again, this time with a wider cable and a different edge treatment. Perfect -- 3-1/2 inches wide, just like she asked for! 

 

The cable is one from Barbara Walker. The edge is (on the right side) sl1, p1, k1, p1, k1, (cable panel) k1, p1, k2.

After I finish the cabled section I will pull out the provisional cast on and knit both ends at the same time, tapering them to a point. A button loop at the end of one, a button on the other. I'll give both headbands to her; if she doesn't want the narrower one I'll reclaim the yarn and dream about what to make from it and the rest of the skein.

* * * *

I finished the first hat for Warm Heads, Not Hot Heads last weekend. It can be worn with the brim flipped up or down, depending on the head size of the wearer.