Sunday Oct. 23, 2016

If I can't think of a title, I'll just use the day and date.  Today, obviously, I can't think of a title!

I also can't think of a whole lot to say, but Froggy will get after me if I don't at least post something.  Can't upset Froggy, now, can we?  :)

It has been very nice weather lately, cool at night and in the early morning then nice during the day.  We have had 40's overnight a few times, which is actually late.  It will eventually be winter, but it's been a warm fall so far.

We normally have already gotten firewood by this time but we aren't getting any this year.  Yet.  We have quite a bit left from last year, since the winter was so mild.  We may not actually need to by any at all for the coming winter.  We will if we need to, but we have a lot still.

I've been busy with crochet the last several days.  I'm working on scarf/hat combos for specific people and I also made a bunch of cotton wash cloths.  I finished the blanket for J that I started a while back, Otter has ordered another scarf for him (which meant that we had to go shopping for yarn!) and then I am thinking I might make a poncho or another shawl for myself.

Maggie Moo seems to have lost a little weight.  We stopped using the feeder system we had and went back to a regular dog food bowl and a regular amount for her.  She's also been getting a few less treats and more exercise.  I had to tighten her harness a little bit, and she seems more energetic.  We also stopped using the watering system because there is a specific bacteria that can cause uti and bladder infections in dogs; it grows in water that is left to sit for days.  Like the watering system.  So, she has a good sized plastic bowl for her water and I wash it often.  It's large enough that it lasts her a day and usually the night, then it gets washed and refilled the next day.  She is still supplementing her diet with grubs that she finds in the yard!  But she's a little less rounded - just a little bit!

It's been a nice weekend, I did a little thrift shopping yesterday (didn't find anything), saw Otter for a little while and then today I have cooked several things for the freezer and I've crocheted a lot both days.  But it's back to work tomorrow, Monday's on it's way!

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun?

Or when you just get busy and forget about blogging.

It's been over a month since I last even thought about blogging and that was on Star Trek Day.  Guess I'd better get caught up.

Well, for starters Maggie Moo has spent a lot of time visiting the vet.  Her ears were still bothering her so she had to spend more time on the abtibiotic and steroid plus the vet injected the ointment into both ears again.  She finally got over that and then she had a spot come up on the top of one of her toes on her right foot.  We thought it was a tick at first, it was not noticeable on a Thursday but on a Friday it was there.  But it was too late to call the vet so we had to wait until Monday morning.  By Monday morning, it was obviously a cyst and was much larger.  The vet saw her that evening and told me to bring her back the next morning because he was afraid to leave it on any longer since it was growing so fast.  Because of her age, 12 years, he didn't want to put her completely under so she got a little stronger than a local but not quite anesthestized.  He said it came off easily and while she was groggy he also got a few of the skin tags she's developed over the years.  The cyst that was removed from the top of her head a few years ago acted like it was trying to come back, it was a little larger, so he hit it again too.  She was in a cone for a few days and was not happy!  I don't blame her, but that was the only way we could keep her from chewing on her foot.  She got pretty good with that cone, she was very proficient at running into my legs.  She figured out how to eat and get water with it.  But she was glad when it came off and stayed off.

I took Otter and her best friend to see the 30th Anniversary special showing of the movie Labrynth.  It was a lot of fun, we had pizza for lunch and went to a book store since we had plenty of time before the movie.  The movie was very good, it has always been one of my favorites.  But it was also very emotional, for all three of us.  I had plenty of kleenex on hand and we needed them!  I'm glad that Otter was finally able to see it on the big screen, she had only seen it on dvd.  The movie was re-released on blu-ray for the 30th anniversary and I bought it as soon as I saw it.  We had a copy, but it moved out with Otter 2 years ago!  It was released in two versions, one is just the movie but I bought the special one which is neat.  The case looks like a book.  It has a special "Remembering the Goblin King" but I have not watched it yet - too emotional!

We tried a new recipe.  We made pizzas on frozen garlic bread.  We used the sliced Texas Toast version.  It was actually pretty good, but they were not very filling.  We will probably make it again, but we will use more sauce than we did the first time.

Texas played ou and it was not our year.  Since I never got around to getting a Longhorn sticker on my newish car, we didn't have to deal with any of the idiots this year.

Speaking of the newish car, it did have a problem.  After I got my oil changed, the "check engine" light came on and the oil change place checked it for me (it was a couple of days later.)  It was the vent valve to the gas tank and was covered by Chevy's warranty so it didn't cost us anything.  Which is good, but I must admit that when I saw the "check engine" light my first thought was the 2002 impala and all the trouble we had with it!

Otter and I went thrfting one day and we both found several things.  I found a couple of skirts, a nice cardigan sweater and I found this:

It's probably not handmade, but it is also not new.  It's at the very least vintage.  It has a Made in Japan tag, and it was made back when that actually meant something special.  I handwashed it, but I didn't have any place to lay it flat to dry so I had to hang it over the shower curtain rod.  It stretched out a lot more than I wanted it to, so I hung it back over the rod but sideways this time.  Then I sprayed it with water until it was between damp and soaking, and it stretched out sideways.  As it did, it pulled the length back up a bit which is what I was hoping it would do.  It's still longer than it was when I bought it, but it's not too long to wear.  And I will find an occasion to wear it!  It's hanging over the shower curtain in this picture.  It's very delicate and was $2.00 or possibly less.

October 1st was two years since this:

That's Bill's car (the el camino) with nearly everything Otter owned at that point.  She has more furniture, etc. now than she did then so it would take more than one truck load to move her.  Not that she's in any hurry.  The two moves in the same complex last year were enough for her for a long time.  She did consider moving last summer, but that would also have involved a job transfer to another location her employer opened in a near by town but she decided against it.  She's been in her current apartment for nearly a year now and she's going to see about renewing her lease when it expire at the end of November.  She would like a 6 month lease but is probably going to have to sign for another year.  She likes her apartment, it's not too far from work or us and it's close to a lot of things.  But she would like a slightly cheaper rent and that would probably mean a little farther from work. She is thinking that IF she did decide to move to a cheaper apartment, it would be easier to do that in the summer as opposed to the Fall/Winter since her lease runs to the end of November.  Either way, she likes being on her own with no romemate to worry about!

Tuesday. Day 2 of Stay at Home Vacation

Not a staycation!  I dislike that word intently.

Anyway.  Yesterday was a lot of fun, we went to Bill's dad & stepmom's for the 4th.  Bill's niece, her husband and kids were here to visit and it was nice to get to see them.  Otter had to work, but she came over to join everyone when she got off work.  Bill and I both try to stay out of the sun, redhead complexion and sunlight don't mix very well.  He was not really in the sun very long but his face is pretty red.  I was not in it at all, but I was sitting close enough to the pool that the reflected light got me a little pink as well.  Just on my right side.  Bill said I have one raccoon eye (because of my glasses) and I have a patchy sunburn on my right shoulder because of my shirt strap plus my upper right arm.  Not a bad sunburn for either of us and we've been using a lot of aloe vera gel but Bill has to be very careful because he tends to get skin cancers.

We slept in a little bit this morning, we both woke up around 7:00.  After breakfast, Bill got the back yard mowed and I did a little work on the honeysuckle bed/trellis.  Yes, he wore his hat with the flap covering his neck.  And he also hollered at me because I forgot my hat - I'm always getting on him about his, so he wasted no time in returning the favor!  :)

I had to run to wallyworld for carpet cleaner, since we're going to clean the carpet on Thursday.  Possibly Friday.  Anyway, since I was there I went ahead and got the few grocery items I needed.  Walmart is already clearing out the summer stuff - pool toys, sun block, etc., and stocking school supplies.  It's only July 5!  But I did discover half-price chocolate candy, since the holiday was yesterday and the packages were decorated with the American flag.  I grabbed several bags, I don't have a deep freeze any longer but it WILL last us a while.  Yes, Bill.  IT WILL.

Tomorrow is my play day.  The only day I actually planned an activity during my vacation week.  I'm going shopping with Otter!  Bill is going to stay home, he's not into the shopping thing.  I don't think it's going to be an all day event, but we are going to one of the not exactly next door but close (sort of) small towns because they have a couple of antique stores I've been wanting to check out.  We may go to a book store in Tulsa and we may go to a thrift store or two.  We'll figure that out tomorrow.

And now I'm going to go back to my crochet.  Then I might just follow Maggie Moo's example and take a nap!

Saturday

Today I have managed to get the laundry done and put away, one load was from today and the other two or three were done yesterday.  The laundry is pretty much all I got done yesterday, since Otter shared the bug with me that had her down mid-week.  It seems to be a short-lived illness and it's apparently made it's way through her workplace now.

Yesterday morning, I felt cruddy so I called in and stayed home.  I wasn't feeling too good Thursday afternoon but there were a lot of grass fires around Tulsa and the air was pretty toxic.  So I thought at first that the headache and asthma-ish symptoms were related to that. But then I woke up feeling bad yesterday morning and realized that I had the same symptoms Otter had so I think I have been fighting the same thing.  The smoky, icky air didn't help at all!

I also managed to get to Hobby Lobby this morning since I was feeling better and needed to get something.  Otter wanted to go with me so I picked her up at her apartment and then she wanted to go to a thrift store but we didn't find anything.  I made one stop after I took her home - I saw a Girl Scout troop set up in front of the grocery store when I drove past so of course I turned around and bought cookies!

But all of my running only took a couple of hours.  Mostly, I've just been hanging around the house today.

We had a very windy week, it's been warm and Thursday was really bad because of extremely strong winds.  There were grass fires all over the place, and at least one was probably deliberately started.  I hope that the arsonist it caught, that particular fire was really big and a lot of homes and property were destroyed.  I think that was the fire to the south.

It doesn't really show up well, but there is a limb on the other side of the pole holding the bird feeder.  The limb was in the tree Thursday morning.

Toward the middle of the tree on the right side, there is a broken limb.

This is a better shot.  The piece that came off is probably from this part of the tree.  All it's going to take is another hard wind storm, and we get a lot of them in the Spring.

This is not the same tree, but I noticed these two doves when I was taking pictures of the broken limbs.

Let's hope that this is not an indicator of what we are in for this year!

This is the futon in the YARN room.  There are a few things on top of it, I was in the process of rearranging things in there.  But the object of this picture is something else.  Look closely at the far corner.  See it? :)

Still At It

Posting here, that is.  For a while anyway.

I finally got my car registered.  It only took several calls to Enterprise to ask them where the registration paperwork was - and the last few were more than a hint of *RHTW getting on them.  The last time I talked to them, last week, they promised me that the paperwork had been overnighted to me but then it turned out that the paperwork had just been mailed the regular way and even then it arrived several days after they said it would.  It finally arrived on Saturday, too late to go to the tag agency to get it registered while it was still within the 30 days from purchase.  After 30 days, then you get charged a fee for each day until it's registered.  But the lady at the tag agency remembered me from when we switched titles for Otter and Bill last week, I asked her then what would happen if the paperwork was late then she didn't charge me for the extra day when I got it registered today.

I was able to get the recall taken care of on the 2008 Impala last week.  It's now officially Otter's car, and Bill is the official owner of the 2002.  He's still having issues with it and we may be taking it to a Chevy dealership to ask them about the thermostat.  I'd like to take care of that this week, but it might actually be next week because this is a very busy week for us.

We're both back to work today, last week was vacation for me but Bill had several holiday days off.  He was off for 2 full weeks, I had a week plus one day off.  I really, really did not want to get up this morning, I kind of enjoyed being able to sleep in almost every day last week!

We may get more winter weather this week.  There is the possibility of a little bit of a winter mix late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.  Also, this weekend is supposed to be pretty cold.  Bill cleaned the fireplace this afternoon and brought in a lot of firewood.

Otter came over yesterday with a lot of laundry.  While her 2nd load was in the washing machine, she and I ran away for a shopping trip.  We went to a thrift store and also to Target so she could look for a waffle maker.  There is one at Target she might get.  We also finally got our annual family tradition Christmas Eve trip to the dollar store - we just did it on January 3!  It was still fun, it was just several days late.  :)  She also walked Maggie Moo with me, Maggie Moo does not like the fact that she doesn't get walks when it's cold.  But she's quite happy with the cold weather meaning a fire in the fireplace!  Little goof.

Yep, she's a goof.

Labor Day 2015

It's been a fairly enjoyable Labor Day, for me anyway - Bill is still coughing his lungs out but that is actually good at this point.  He was already planning on staying home and working on pachinko machines and that is what he did, so he had a good day.  He just is getting tired of the coughing.  He mowed the front yard yesterday morning and the back this morning.  He was careful not to exert himself and I kept bringing him water and making his stop for frequent rest breaks.

I felt much better yesterday although I still had a few moments of feeling tired.  I feel much better today, I think I'm pretty much over the Wave/flu shot reaction.  Saturday, I was kind of thinking it might be a long, drawn-out reaction like I sometimes have but it turned out not to be.  Just Saturday mostly, I felt cruddy most of the day but I woke up feeling fine and have felt good all day.  I saw Otter for a few minutes yesterday when I took some stuff to her, I met her at her store just before her shift started and she had a couple of minutes to talk.  She had a headache off and on but that was it, her arm wasn't even as sore as it sometimes is.

I went to two thrift stores today, I found several doilies at the first one and nothing at the 2nd one but it was still fun.  Although it was apparently "screaming, unwatched child day" at the second thrift!  I bought sheer curtain yesterday and a sheer valance that is decorated with crochet-ish edging on the bottom.  The curtain just reaches to the bottom of the window frame in the Guest/Front/Craft/YARN room and I'm going to attach the doilies to it to make my doily curtain.  I tried pinning a few doilies together and they would have worked that way, but I wanted them to be more secure.  The sheer curtains will work very well, they are a very pale off-white color and won't really show much with the doilies.  The valance may show a little, but the edging will work very well.  The valance doesn't actually match the curtains, it's a different brand and very slightly different in color but it will still work.  I hadn't planned on a valance but the large doily/tablecloth will need a little more support as well.  I think I'm going to pin the doilies on to the curtain at first, because I may move them around until I get them how I like them.  But I am probably going to get out needle and thread and sew them on once I'm happy with their placement.  I have a boatload of doilies, but I'm not sure if I have enough or not.  When I was laying them out on the floor to get a general idea, it did not look like I have enough to make it as full as I want.  But once I start placing them on the curtains, I may have more than enough.  I'll figure that out as I go along.

Pictures will be posted on the craft blog at some point.

Late for Sunday!

I meant to post on Sunday, but I got busy with stuff and forget.

Among other things, I did a little maintenance on my yarn drawers.  I took the doilies out of the large drawer that they were in, and then I moved the contents of 2 of my smaller drawers into the large drawer.  Which then left me with 2 empty drawers!  I teased Bill about needing to go to the yarn store, he offered to "help" me with my yarn stash and I threatened him with dismemberment if he so much as thought about getting into the yarn!  He thinks I was kidding, but I'm not sure sure. :)

I didn't get to the yarn store, but I did get to a few thrift stores and one of them had yarn.  Vintage Red Heart brand, clean and non-smelly, 3 skeins in a colorway that they don't make any more and $1.00 each.  Of course they came home with me!  I had to move the futon out of the way a little, which meant that I had to also relocate a certain beagle, and then I rearranged my yarn in the drawers.  I have quite a bit of Red Heart, it's fairly cheap but also fairly strong and works for a lot of items so I have a lot of it.  A LOT.  I spread the Red Heart out a bit so that the 2 empty drawers are now full, and there is room in the rest of the drawers to at least shut them easily.  I moved some of the other varieties of yarn to different drawers, the stuff I don't use much is in the lower drawers that are blocked by the futon and the Better, Good and Really Good Yarn are now where they can be accessed easier.

I took the doilies out because I wanted to get started on my doily curtain.  I pinned a few together to see how it worked and flung it over the curtain rod.  It does work, but I'm thinking that I might change my plan slightly.  The curtain that was my original inspiration consists of doilies that are attached to very filmy fabric and I'm thinking that I'm going to go that direction.  For one thing, it will drape better and I think it will be easier to hang.  The one at the store has a pale pink fabric but I'm thinking I'm just going to use a white gauzy curtain for my backing.  Froggy, even with as many doilies as I have - and I have a lot, I'm not sure if I actually have enough.  So, I will be very happy to get the ones you mailed to me.

I've given up on my clematis plant.  It never really did very well, it would grow a few feet long and twine around the trellis but that was all it would do.  It would grow to a point and then it would quit growing.  It died several times and came back, but I don't think that it would ever have done any more than that.  So I dug it up yesterday - and it was dead at the ground level again.  I'm going to put in a rosebush next year, which was my original plan for that particular trellis but Otter is extremely allergic to roses and she was still living here when I put the clematis there.  I have always loved roses but never had them because of her allergy.  I'm not sure what kind of rose I want, I love red roses but pink roses are really my favorite.  Bill apparently figured that out early on in our marriage, because if he's going to send me roses they will be pink!  So I'm probably going to go with a pink blooming rose.

This is the forecast for the Tulsa area for the week.  Look at Wednesday!  It is still August, as far as I know.  But Bill is going to start getting firewood pretty soon.

The Teenager gave this to me a few years back.  The working mechanism quit working a while back.  After we lost him, I came across the clock again.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another clock mechanism, Bill put it in for me and the clock is now in a place of honor in the living room.  The Teenager was a TEXAN and was just like the rest of Us - TEXAS is in our blood and bluebonnets are especially sacred to us.  When we and Miss Dorothy moved to their retirement community a few years back and they were cleaning out stuff they didn't want to take with them or wouldn't have room for, he immediately brought the clock to me.  It means a lot to me, to both of us really.  The office is very quiet and feels like something important is missing.  Which it is, I guess.

Weekend Shopping

The sales-tax-free weekend in Oklahoma is this weekend.  It started on Friday and ends at midnight tonight.  We don't have to buy a lot anymore, since we don't need school clothes.  But Bill needed jeans, shirts for work and socks.  Otter need jeans and she also got a pair of shoes.  I found a few t-shirts at Walmart.  We saved a whole $12.36!  (I'm being a little sarcastic here.)  Not a fortune, but it all helps.  Otter wanted to get her glasses adjusted so we went to the mall for that but didn't actually buy anything there.  We got most of the clothing items at WalMart and one of Bill's shirts at Sears.  But the mall was still fun.  We also went to a Goodwill, where I made another Fenton find:

These are stock photos, but I found one of them.  $1.50!  I'm not really into the bells that much, but Fenton at $1.50?  Yes, it will come home with me!  This one did.  I had just remarked to Otter that I didn't think I was going to find anything at the store today, and it was on the next shelf.  It doesn't have the sticker that the last picture shows, but it's the Daisy and Button pattern and it is in perfect condition.  It's a little more iridescent than the pictures show.  The clapper is intact, which is usually the first thing to be broken off and lost.

I did get my closet rearranging done yesterday, like I planned.  It wasn't difficult.  I mostly had to move a few boxes around and then shift the longer clothes to the center of the closet rod.  And then I had to hold my left foot over the sink while Bill poured peroxide over it, after I dropped a small wooden box on it!  It wasn't a long drop, more of a slide out of my hands than an actual drop.  But it landed on the top of my foot and caused a small cut.  No damage, it wasn't hard enough of an impact to worry about broken bones or anything, but I'm probably going to have a bruise!

We got Maggie Moo another bed yesterday.  She was so funny.  She was a little on the confused side, but then she generally is, when she couldn't find her bed.  We kept the pillow out of the old bed, but the bed itself was thrown out last week.  It developed a hole in the bottom of the bed when I washed it one time and it slowly grew larger each time the bed was washed or the dog rearranged herself or the pillow.  Since they are somewhere around $7.00, we figured we would just go get her another one.  Yesterday, we ran a couple of errands and then went to Otter's store since that's where the first bed came from.  I brought it inside, cut the tags off and put it in the place by the couch where the first bed had been.  The Magginator was outside at the time, when she came in and saw the bed - she squealed like an excited toddler!  Then she literally bounced into the new bed, curled up and went to sleep.  Silly baby!  She made a few new puppy friends on our walk this morning, so she has had a good day.  She's snoozing on her blankets at the moment.  She was napping under the futon when I left to get Otter and she's been rearranging the pillow in her bed today too.

I also got the soup made yesterday, but I put off making the pinto beans.  Possibly one evening this week.

Bill's assorted frozen spots are fine, they are still a little sensitive but not actually painful.  He slept on the couch Friday night, we figured out that he would be more likely to stay on his right side and not his left (the wart was on the left side of his nose) so we made him a bed on the couch.  I went to bed before he did, but sometime after he got into his nest, he realized that he was laying on his right side and that was the arm that had the frozen spots!  So, he switched to his back.  Which means that he didn't sleep too well.  Last night, he decided he'd better stay on the couch and we fixed his pillows up a little so he'd be propped up more which would help him sleep a little.  I'm not sure where he's sleeping tonight, but he may decide to stay on the couch again.  I'm just glad it wasn't actually a skin cancer on his nose after all.

Sun Tea is happily being made on the back deck!  I forgot to put it out yesterday, but I remembered this morning.  When I picked Otter up for our shopping trip, I noticed that her jar was out on her patio today, too.

I think it's time to go check on the load of jeans I have in the dryer now.  Then I think maybe I'll answer the call of the chocolate that I can hear calling me all the way from the freezer!

Day 9

Last day of my 9 day weekend.  Back to work tomorrow.

Bill and the mechanic neighbor looked at the car seat and determined that the part that broke is not the seat itself, but it is the frame that holds the seat in place.  Bill made a few calls on Friday but apparently a lot of places were also closed on Friday.  So he's going to check on it tomorrow.  Chevy was open but it was somewhere close to $700.00 just for the part (no labor!) from them and we are NOT doing that unless we absolutely have to.  Bill did consider getting a replacement from a salvage yard, but since it is a fairly important structural piece he's decided against that option.  I'll ride with him in the morning, he has to be in at 7:00 but leaves the house earlier to beat the traffic.  I'll get myself to work in the El Camino and then I'll pick him up after work.  Hopefully, we can go pick up the part right then and get home in time for him to install it.  The seat should just come out and go right back in.  We are probably getting rain mid week, starting Tuesday, so Bill's kind of in a hurry.  Me too!

Otter came over Friday morning.  She got her laundry done and then we went shopping.  We hit a few yard sales, drove past a few more and went to a few stores.  We got lunch at Long John Silver's to bring home and share with William.  Then we went to the booth store and another similar store.  We had a good time but didn't really buy much.  We did get to Big Lots, which is probably the only place I really bought anything at and that was mostly household stuff.  I bought her a little gasoline to replace what we used.  She and Roomie are still discussing their options but I think that they are leaning towards a 2-bedroom unit.

We had a fairly quiet 4th.  We went to Taco Bell for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby to get some sinew-type thread/string to repair Bill's houseshoes with.  While there, I did cruise the yarn aisles.  The summer colors are out and are everywhere, but the fall colors are beginning to be stocked.  I saw a few I really liked but I didn't buy any.  Yet!  Bill actually had the "unsmartness" to tell me that I have too much yarn - which is when I asked him to tell me again exactly how many pachinko machines he has!?  I also reminded just how much room his machines take up vs the corner of the craft/guest/YARN room that holds my stash.  He stammered out that he meant I had a lot of $$ invested in yarn and then I reminded him how much a skein of yarn is vs the $30 - $several hundred he's spent on machines.  At that point, he saw the light and shut up. :)  Which is good, because I was going to take no prisoners on that one!

Speaking of yarn, I finished the mink scarf yesterday.  I had it about where I wanted it when I realized that I'd made a mistake several rows back and had to frog out several inches.  It wasn't a mistake I could leave in and ignore, it changed the stitch per row count and the shape.  Mink yarn is harder to frog than regular yarn, I'm thinking it might felt very easily.  I used less than one ball of yarn so I still have plenty left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, it is fairly expensive ($33. per skein 2 years ago) but I'm sure I'll find something.  (No, Bill.  It's still cheaper than your machine stash!)  I started a new scarf for Otter, we got the yarn for it a while back but I hadn't gotten a chance to work on it it yet.  I started it and did a few rows because I wanted to see if she likes the pattern I made the mink scarf it - which she does.  I will get back to it soon, I just wanted to get it started so I could show it to her.  She had two sets ordered from different yarns.  I had one scarf made already and made the matching hat this morning but I have to wait for her to come over again so I can check the size before I call tie it off and call it done.  But I'm going to get back on her poncho soon so her 2nd scarf/hat combination may wait a while - but they go fast.

I have some sort-of TEXAS flag printed wall border, the kind that a teacher would have used years ago over the blackboard.  I got it at a thrift store for about a buck many years ago and it's just been stuck in the closet.  I took two pieces of it, it's long, and taped them together.  Then I took one of my many yard sticks and marked it off in 1" increments with smaller marks at the half inch marks.  No, I would not have done that if it was actually the TEXAS flag!  It's now hanging on the wall, attached with pushpins at the top and bottom.  Now, when I'm making a scarf or one of many other projects that need to be measured I don't have to drag out the measuring tape or yard sticks, and then fight to get it flattened out on the floor.

We had homemade cheeseburgers for our July 4th meal.  We were going to grill steaks but it as supposed to rain so we decided against that.  Of course, it didn't rain.  There were quite a few neighbors that had fireworks, including some of the really big ones, so we stood outside and watched the show for a while last night.  There were several lightning bugs, I always wonder if they get confused on July 4th?  The mosquitos eventually showed up, so we came inside but it was fun.  Otter took her sparklers left from last year when she came over on Friday.

I have a prayer request:  The Teenager was hospitalized Friday for low potassium and general weakness.  He's a tough old bird, but the key word is old - he is 98, after all.

Remember What I Said?

The part about the Amish being on the right track as far as electricity goes?  Well, I agree with them about something else now:  no cars!  No cars equals no car trouble.  When I got in my car to leave the grocery store, the driver's seat had apparently turned into a rocking chair while I was in the store.  I just about wound up in the back seat.  I had a couple of things I'd picked up for Otter and her apartment was just down the street so I went on to give her the stuff I had for her.  Then I drove back roads to get home and drove very carefully - it would not be the time to have an accident!  Not that there ever is, but the issue with the seat is that it might not have kept me inside the car in the event of an accident.  Bill looked at it when he got home, and so did our mechanic neighbor.  They were hoping it could be welded but they both agree that it can't.  The neighbor said he's never seen one break in just that spot before.  Bill's going to check with salvage yards tomorrow and see if he can find a replacement seat.  Hopefully, pretty quick.  Obviously, Otter and I are not going shopping tomorrow.

But that's ok, we'd already decided to stay in town and just hit a few thrifts along with the steakhouse.  She's coming over in the morning to do her laundry and we might or might not go to a couple of close by thrifts.  If we don't get to, it's not a big deal and we'll reschedule our shopping trip.  If I need to go anywhere tomorrow, she'll either be my transportation or let me borrow her car.  I got most of my errands done already, I only had one stop that I still needed to make and it was just BigLots for toilet paper.  Depending on what Bill finds, I may have to go with him to a salvage yard to get a replacement seat.  Hopefully, he can find one and it won't be too much trouble to get it out and then in to my car.  I don't even care what color it is!  I just want it to be intact and safe.

Otter and Roomie have been discussing their options.  Renewing their lease in a few months, getting separate apartments or seeing about a 2-bedroom unit.  Hopefully in their current complex.  I think they are leaning towards getting a 2-bedroom.  I don't think either of them can really afford their own apartment at this point, but they really do want more room/space/privacy - especially Roomie, since her room is the living room and she doesn't even have a door to close.  I think they are going to see about a 2-bedroom unit, which would probably be their best option.  They will have to pay more in rent but it will be less for each of them than if they went with separate apartments.  Otter thinks that there might be one available in their current building, she's going to check with the manager.  It would be good if it was on their current floor (easier on the parental moving crew!) but I don't think anybody would miss having to go up to the 3rd floor either!  One of the people Otter works with also lives in the same complex, she said that she was able to move to a larger apartment within just a couple of months of moving in so Otter and Roomie probably won't have to wait until the end of September if they decide on a 2-bedroom, and if there is one available.

Maggie Moo is currently sprawled across, in and out, her bed.  Snoring.  Loudly!

I Don't Have to go to Work Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't tell, I am really glad that my vacation has arrived.  Took long enough!  I wish that Bill was able to take the week off like we originally planned, but he can't take any time off at the moment unfortunately.  He is off Friday for the holiday, but that's also the day that Otter has off this week and we had already planned a shopping ramble.  I don't think he really cares, he wants to spend the day working on pachinko machines.  However, there is a chance of icky weather on Friday so we might stay in the Tulsa-ish area and not go as far as we have planned.  We'll still shop, thrift and possibly yard sale shop.  Froggy, we're also going to the steakhouse for lunch.

It's been a fairly busy, productive weekend.  Yesterday, Bill mowed the front yard and I got the limblets that had started up again on the trees in front.  Today he got the back yard.  We went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and Cici's Pizza for dinner.  We went to Ace Hardware today, I also went to Joann's Fabrics and Walmart this morning.  I got a lot of crafting and crochet done, Bill has been working on pachinko machines for a few hours.  He moved the freezer out to the driveway so it could be defrosted, then he moved it back in place.  It's plugged in again although there's nothing in it - we gave it to our (nice) next door neighbor and he'll get it sometime this week.  If he and Bill are able to move it to his house without laying it down then it can be plugged in again right away and he can start using it.  There was a big, blue dragonfly that kept zipping into the freezer and then zipping back out.  I think it was after the water from the thawing frost.  Maggie Moo got several walks, and she got to see her best canine friend this morning - Luna the wolf.

Maggie and Luna seem to be smitten with each other.  As soon as Maggie saw her down the street this morning she just about pulled my arm out of it's socket in her haste to go see her friend!  Maggie is not normally like that, she's fairly easy-going and walks well.  But as soon as she sees Luna, she's going to do everything in her power to get to her.  Luna is the same way about Maggie, although Luna is still very skittish about just about every other dog.  I got a picture of Luna with my cell phone this morning, I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when we walk in case we see her.  She's absolutely gorgeous.  Her owner said that she's not sure how Luna will do with fireworks, but her two others (one is part wolf) don't like them so she's already going to be staying home Friday and Saturday evenings.  Maggie Moo is totally unconcerned about them, Frasier never cared about them either.  Maggie is a very low-maintenance dog, Frasier was about as high-maintenance as it got.  I do miss him and I always will, he was one of those extra-special dogs.  But I have to admit that Maggie Moo is a much easier dog.  She is also smitten with her new bed.  When she's in the living room, she often is curled up in it or laying across it.  She sometimes sleeps next to it, but she usually has at least one and usually two paws/legs stretched out over it.  At the moment, she's napping and has her head on it like a pillow.

The electrical contractor is supposed to come out tomorrow to repair the damage to my yard from 2 months ago.  I would love for them to be able to bury the line that was put in place on Friday but the marking crew would need to come out first.  I'm very tempted to stand out on my deck with my leather whip at the ready, just in case they might need a little encouragement to do their job and do it correctly!  (Not seriously!  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Maybe.)

Froggy, I finally got around to getting a hair dryer.  My blow dryer went to Otter's apartment.  KN#3 was amazed that I didn't have one when y'all were here a couple of weeks back.  I also bought a full-size ironing board.  I've been using a table top size for years and it worked fine, I didn't have a lot of room at the old house so I used the small one and it was fine.  Then we moved here and even though the house is bigger and I have an actual laundry room, I didn't really have a place for a full-sized one.  So, I used the tabletop one on top of the dryer.  Also, I was hanging Bill's work shirts and jeans in the laundry room behind the door and then Otter's work clothing when she worked at the party store - Party City, in case anybody is interested in it (I didn't mention the actual name at the time for safety reasons.)  When she changed jobs, the uniform is one of their t-shirts and jeans so her clothing didn't really need to be ironed.  I just never changed my system, for some reason.  I took the iron holder/clothes hanger off the back of the laundry room door when we put Maggie Moo's pillow/bed in there and I decided to just go ahead and get a bigger ironing board.  It's now in my closet, it's collapsed and leaning up against the back of the closet.  Bill's work clothes are now going to be put in the front of his part of the closet.  I might eventually move it to the front/craft/guest/YARN room.

I might be done with my mink yarn scarf soon.  It's about 2 rows to an inch, and it is measuring about 56 or 57 inches.  My standard scarf size is about 60" in length.  I'll know "when I get there" if it's done or not, but it might be.  I'm going to get back on Otter's slant stitch poncho as soon as the mink scarf is done.  Then my UFO's will be done, with the exception of my scrap yarn lap blanket because I'm out of scrap end pieces for the moment and that's what I'm making it with, and Bill's quilt because I still need a little more fabric but I'm looking for things that fit his personality and interests.  I do have projects lined up, however!  Two scarf/hat sets for Otter and one for Froggy.  I also have a couple of non-crochet related craft projects. I'm finished with the tray I was working on and am nearly finished with the shadow box I'm making with Mom and AJ's stuff.  Next up is a mouse pad that I'm going to cover with the crochet pattern fabric that is on the bottom of the tray, and I may start on the Christmas ornament wreath soon.  I have a few small craft projects I'll probably work on soon, but they aren't anything major and can wait until "whenever" if they need to.

ZZZZZ Yawn ZZZZZ

Ottermom's tired!

I've been running all over creation since Thursday afternoon, when Froggy & her daughter (KN#3) arrived.  So far, we have shopped at:  3 fabric stores, 1 thrift store, 3 antique malls, l very large flea market, 1 museum gift shop, 1 grocery store and a couple of convenience stores.  We also went to a museum, attempted to find family graves at a small cemetery about an hour away (no luck), have eaten at 3 or 4 different places, went to one park (fed about a billion squirrels!), one used book store, have taken a bunch of beagle walks and have gone to 3 or 4 small towns surrounding Tulsa.  They'll be here through Tuesday, so we have one more day of shopping and we've got 2 fabric stores planned plus Braums.

Otter and J have been to all the places with us, but Otter has to work tomorrow so she won't be able to go with us. But I understand that they both have tired feet, like the rest of us!

Think it's going to be an early-to-bed kind of night!

Call Batman! The Joker Has Escaped!

Joker (Otter) and Harley Quinn (J) were sighted in the Dallas area last weekend.

J's mask was originally a little different, but parts of it were apparently thrown out when it was in pieces waiting for paint to dry.  Otter's suit came from a thrift store, I think it was $10.00.  Her shoes were from a shoe store, the props were made from either things they had already or dollar store toys.  Otter bought her wig online, it was a little tight on her but she can probably fix that.  She made the vest, J found the purple tie and they both sewed his costume.  He's pretty tall and has big feet, he couldn't find any shoes in his size in the black and red combination so he finally took some he had and painted them.  There may be some fine-tuning on the costumes, but they looked great.  They will go to TNT, the anime con in Tulsa in the summer, in these costumes.  Otter said that there were a few other female jokers,but no other male Harley Quinns.  As such, they got stopped for pictures often.  They tend to go with less common, unusual costumes or combinations and they get a lot of attention.  Even in an arena where everybody is in costume, they get a lot more attention than most attendees.  They had a lot of fun, obviously.  The first picture has a third person, I think it's one of the people they went with.  Possibly J's mom.

Maggie Moo got her shots today, it was time for the rabies shot and DPT/whatever it's called!  We didn't go to the vet this time.  I called them to ask what she was due for and they reminded me that if I brought her in there I would have to pay for an exam, so they suggested I take her to one of the local agriculture/farm/pet stores that has shot clinics since she's been in there recently twice and had exams.  So, we went to the store in our little town since they have theirs on Wednesday afternoons.  Maggie was happy, she wasn't sure at first about the car ride but once she figured out that we didn't turn where we normally did for the V.E.T., she gave me a big puppy grin and curled up in the seat with her tail wagging on full!  At one point, she stood up and put her paws on the dashboard to see out (we were stopped at a light) and she was quite happy to get out of the car.  She got to visit grass she hasn't visited before and she also got to meet two other beagles that were at the shot clinic.  She was quite happy to wait in line until it was our turn.  Then we went into the exam room and she figured it out!  Cue droopy beagle.  She buried her face in my stomach and was very happy when I lifted her off of the exam table after her shots.  Then she was happy to leave, we visited more grass she hadn't been to before and she got in the car willingly.  She's a little quiet tonight, which is usual after shots.  But she's fine otherwise.

She is not eating herself into a food coma, I filled up the food reservoir with the remaining food in the bin and it was just almost enough to fill it up.  She ate however much she wanted this morning, but she didn't keep eating.  Every so often, if I'm in the kitchen she'll go in there and see what I'm up to.  She sometimes grabs a piece or two of kibble, but mostly she just looks at it - I think she's checking to see if it's still there!  We'll watch her anyway, if she does act like she's going to eat eat eat just because she can then we'll start putting it up on the counter after she's eaten breakfast.  At the moment, she's snoring.

I bought mini blinds to put in the front room today.  The front room is also known as the guest/craft/YARN room.  When it was Ottter's room, she had a darker curtain inside the window sill and then a navy blue curtain on the curtain rod.  It's always gotten a lot of light.  She didn't want a lot of light in her window when she was trying to sleep.  After she moved, I wanted a little more light since it's where I do most of my crafting, so I donated the curtain from the inside of the window sill.  We still have the outer curtain in there, but I think it's a little too sheer to use in the room guests will sleep in.  So, I got a mini blind and Bill will put it up in the next few days.  The navy blue curtain will get put in the donate bag.  Eventually, I will have enough doilies for my curtain project - I got another 3 or 4 last weekend.

Froggy, want to help me piece it together and see where it stands?

Mother's Day 2015

Happy Mother's Day!

My day has been a lot of fun.  Otter and J came over for breakfast, we had Monkey Bread and assorted fresh fruit.  They stayed for a couple of hours and we had a nice visit.  Otter gave me kitchen towels, which I needed badly.

Bill gave me a set of craft blades, similar to X-Acto knives but they came from the store Otter works at.  It was also something I needed, I originally wanted another cactus but then I realized that I needed the craft blades so I changed my gift request to that.  I actually went and got that one myself, because I had to pick out the specific set I wanted.

Bill and I went to a couple of thrift stores today.  This is what I bought at the first one, it was a grab  bag (clear plastic bags, not a mystery bag) and it was $6.98.  For all of this:

It's on the couch with a blanket for background, but it was a very full bag.  The next picture is what I actually bought the bag for:

Yarn spools!  8 regular ones and one larger one.  And for what is a ridiculously low price, especially considering everything else that was in the bag.  I've seen these priced (and selling for) for upwards of $5.00 each, sometimes more since they have thread on them and the bigger one would probably sell for more than the entire bag.

The tag says it's a handmade purse, silk fabric maybe.  I'm not sure if it's a keeper for something craft related or it it's going to be sold or re-donated.  It's sort of evening bag size.  I didn't even see it in the bag when I bought it, it was in the middle of everything else but I grabbed the bag as soon as I saw the yarn spools.

These are small hats, hand crocheted obviously.  I'm not sure if they are for dolls such as an 18" doll, or if they might be dog hats.  Because also in the bag were three dog outfits.  (The hats are probably for dolls.)

The orange and pink/blue one are obviously hand crocheted.  The pink one is Martha Stewart brand, which I think is really funny.  I did try it on Maggie Moo so I could text a picture to Otter, but it's wool and I didn't even have to look at the tag to figure that out because I started reacting to it as soon as it came into contact with my skin.  The dog clothes are all in the donate pile.

The blue fabric has a tag from when it was purchased originally, I think it was somewhere around $4.00.  The cotton collar is probably not new, but I don't think it's been worn before.  It's very clean and still has that "stiff" feeling.  Not sure if it's etsy, donate, if Otter wants it, or what.

This might be hand-knitted or it might have been done on a knitting machine, but it is homemade and not professionally done.  It's a vest with a sash.  I thought it was an uncompleted cardigan style sweater but the sleeve openings are too big.  It might fit Otter, for a size comparison - I don't think it's anything she would want, but I might well put it on her and have her model it for an etsy picture if I decide to sell it.  The final yarn ends are still attached but they are tied off.  It has a button on the bottom.  It's clean and there is no smell that I can tell.

Froggy, got any idea what these are?  They are obviously holders for "tape" or ribbon of some type and I think they are sewing related.  Possibly etsy bound as well, but maybe not.

There were a few other things, a bag of small safety pins and some misc. stuff.

The next two pictures are from the 2nd thrift store.

2 square doilies which were marked 49 cents each but then they turned out to be half price so they were 25 cents each.  There is also a very long table-runner size doily, I think it was 79 cents.  It has a couple of spots I need to mend slightly and it also has a reddish stain but I think it will come out.  All three are bound for my doily curtain.  The reddish crochet thing is a hanging towel, it has a granny square front and a backing crochet piece.  Not sure if I'm going to copy the pattern or what, but it was somewhere around 70 cents or maybe less.

This is a clear ruler, used in sewing and also in things like crochet.  I'm not sure if it's an etsy item or if I'll keep it, as I frequently need something like this but I have a clear plastic ruler I use.

I keep talking about etsy, I think I'm finally going to start listing things in the store I set up a few years ago and then never used.  I have a few ideas for crochet pieces that are not scarves & hats, because the market is basically flooded with that sort of thing.

We also bought an old nut cracker that it mounted on a wooden board.  It was etsy bound at first, but now I'm thinking we may keep it.

After the 2nd thrift store, we decided to have lunch at Cici's pizza instead of cardboard pizza from wally.  We also went to a fabric store.

Speaking of flooding, we've had so much rain the last several days that there has been some street flooding in the area.  The ground is over-saturated.  We've had several instances of hard rains the last couple of days, yesterday afternoon (I got caught in it literally and got soaked) and this morning were very strong storms.  My back yard literally looked like a lake, the ground can not absorb any more water and it was beginning to stand - which is really saying a lot.  I've drained the potted plants a few times, Bill had to clean out one of the downspouts because it was clogged and the rain gutters overflowed.  The ground is so soft it's almost like walking in a swamp.  There is water standing in ditches and on the side of the road in places it never actually does, and we saw evidence of a few street areas that had obviously been under water at some point either yesterday or this morning.  Next week is supposed to be dry and warm, it's going to be very humid for a few days and then it will be mosquito season so I'm trying to get rid of any standing water I find.

I'm thinking that Maggie Moo might have another UTI or bladder infection.  She's "leaked" twice in the house in the last 3 days, I caught her at it in the hallway yesterday and she would not stop - even when I yelled at her.  I don't think she could really stop.  She's acting like she might not feel too good, she really acts like she did before when she had one.  She might also need to get her rear glands cleaned out, it's been 2 months since the last time and we did think that 2 months would be about right.  Or it could be both.  Either way, I'm calling the vet tomorrow to see if I can get her in there.  She's perky when I say the W or R words (Walk or Ride) but even when she actually gets to do either of those things (or both!), she's not acting like she's 100%.  I don't think she's moping around over Frasier not being here, she seemed to get over that and she acts like she doesn't feel too good.  She's finally sleeping on the pillow we bought to make her a bed out of, at least.

(I did give in the my asthma last Friday and stayed home.)

Time for ice cream now!

Buzzing

It must be Spring.  Because my redbud is blooming out all over the place.  It was covered in honeybees today.  There were about 10 or so when I looked out the first time, then a couple of hours later there were what looked like millions!  They were also checking out some of the blooming weed in the back yard.  Honeybees are wonderful little creatures.  Otter isn't too concerned with them being close to her, they aren't aggressive.  If we got in the way, they just went around us.  (That's a stock photo, not my tree.)  We don't get too close, but we get close enough to watch them.  I'm thinking that someone in the area may have a bee hive, because there were a whole lot of the little buzzers.

Otter came over with her laundry after work and we got the new insurance situated while she was here.  I guess it's a law now, probably to keep people from claiming benefits they don't actually deserve, but in order to put her on our health insurance she had to be here when we made the call.  The insurance specialist talked to her and also to Bill to verify his participation and now we are all signed up for the new insurance.  The old one ends at midnight on March 31st, the new one takes over at that point.  It's $211.00 more per month, but (thanks to noboma!) we don't have a choice.  Our current carrier is leaving the state and we had to replace the policy.  I've been looking at different carriers and coverage for a while, insurance companies (large ones) that used to offer nationwide coverage are now having to reduce their coverage areas by huge amounts.  Premiums are also skyrocketing, which is another (not so) lovely effect of nobamacare.  Also, the enrollment period is very short.  Just a few months.  After the enrollment period ends, unless you have a qualifying event such as our situation, you are out of luck on getting new insurance.  How is that fair?  How is that constitutional?  It's not.  At all.

Otter and I went to a thrift store while her laundry was in the dryer.  We didn't find anything, but it was fun anyway.  It was really cloudy when we were there, at one point we heard thunder - and then we heard a very nervous lady ask if that was really thunder she was hearing?  That's actually pretty common after a tornadic storm like we had last week, it can take a few thunderstorms before people relax again.  There were at least 2 confirmed tornados.  The one that hit the trailer park in Sand Springs, and then there was also a very weak one that was just south of the Tulsa Airport but it was short-lived at least.

The dogs have lost their backyard privileges again.  Friday evening, Maggie Moo came running into the house like she usually does (full speed ahead!) and her feet were covered in mud.  And so was the carpet!!  There are now at least 10 holes that weren't there before.  They all seem to be over mole trails, but the yard is well on it's way to looking like a moonscape again.  So, I closed the gate.  And Frasier pouted for a while, he eventually came back for attention but he was not happy with me for a while!

The inernet company is coming out this Friday to bury the cable.  Finally.  They said it would be 30 days, but it's been closer to 60 or so.  Bill really needs to mow, but he hasn't been able to because of the cable just laying across the yard.  The weeds have gotten really tall, and now he'll also have to worry about what looks like sinkholes!

Snakes in Drains and Beagles in Blankets

Monday evening, we moved pachinko machines out of the way of the attic access ladder so Bill could get situated for the internet provider switch.  The switch happened on Wednesday.  The machines were not moved back yet, Otter has a few boxes that are going to be put up in the attic.  She went through 4 of them Friday and still has about that many left.  She'll get to them this week, probably early in the week.

 

Thursday morning, as I was about to get in the car and leave for work I noticed something.  Water where it shouldn't have been.  Underneath the garage door, like it had flowed from somewhere INSIDE the garage.  There is only one place in the garage it could have come from and the last time that happened was just over a year ago when the water heater failed.  I ran back inside, dropped my purse and everything in the living room floor, frightened both dogs by running out into the garage from the kitchen door and sure enough, there was water and it had come from the closet the water heater is in.  But it wasn't from the water heater.  The drain that the ac condensation drains into - which is also the main drain from the kitchen - wasn't draining.  It looked like it was clogged up again, it happened a couple of years back.  I called Bill (he was at work already) and since the water was not running out any longer (because the dishwasher was through by this point), he said it could wait until he got home to unclog it.  And then he asked me to move the remaining machines out of the way, and to put a few towels down.

 

I got the machines moved, which took me a while, but I had to leave three in place.  They were on "feet" so they weren't sitting directly in the wet areas, but I spent a lot of time wiping down the bottoms of the other machines and putting them on towels.  I got to work about 9:00!

 

Bill was able to take off at noon, so he came home and got the plumber's snake he bought when the drain stopped up the last time.  He eventually got it unstuck, but he was actually afraid that we were dealing with a collapsed pipe at one point - which would have been a big, major deal since we're on a solid foundation and it would have been very expensive.  The drain did unclog, he thinks it might have been a combination of things but the disposal has been acting up anyway so we aren't using it.  We can use the sink and the drain, just not the disposal itself.

 

While ago, Maggie and Frasier came in from playing out in the back yard.  Maggie Moo went to her blankets and I covered her up.  She took a nap.  Well, she takes a lot of naps!  Anyway, when she decided it was time to get up and give Frasier a hard time - she couldn't find her way out of the blanket!  She turned around two or three times and got really twisted up in it.  I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe!  She managed to stagger/crawl/slither across the living room floor in my direction and somehow, she found an opening in her blankie.  She still dragged the blanket most of the way across the living room.  She more or less got in Frasier's way for a minute, then she came right over to me.  And got underneath the blanket I'm using!  Goofy dog.

 

I have been busy in the craft/guest/yarn room today.  Otter's stack of boxes is about to be out of there, as I mentioned she went through 4 when she was here Friday to do her laundry.  I moved them into the opposite corner so we/she knows which boxes she's checked already.  She has three more of those boxes and two paper container boxes but they are probably just open/look in/shut boxes and will join the stack of three that are waiting on them.  Bill's going to put them all in the attic, but they will be wrapped in plastic trash bags first because there are a lot of paper type things in them and we don't want rodents.  I moved my yarn drawers to a different wall and now there is plenty of room for a pull-out couch, which is what we will probably go with for a guest bed.  We talked about a trundle bed, but they are basically twin beds and we don't want anything quite that big.  We want the option of sitting space, and a pull-out couch will take care of both needs.

 

I found a metal filing cabinet at a thrift store yesterday.  It was the store I saw one at a couple of weeks ago, but it's not the same cabinet.  It's actually a better one, it's legal sized so it's longer and it is more sturdy.  The one I saw before looked like it might have been banged up a bit so I passed on it.  Otter was off yesterday and she wanted to go to the Tulsa Flea Market, then after we looked there we decided to go to a thrift store.  I found another doily and then we looked through their furniture, and they had another cabinet so I bought it.  When we were waiting for they stock guy with his dolly to get the cabinet for me, the sales clerk told me it was on sale.  So, instead of the $9.99 which I was willing to pay I actually got it for $6.49.  Not complaining a big!  It just barely fit in the back seat of my car, I knew it would fit but the stock guy wasn't too sure.  I gave him a couple of bucks for hefting the thing into my car.  Bill brought it in this morning and it fits perfectly beside my desk in the craft/guest/yarn room.

 

Which means that I can now use the plastic drawer unit that was there for what I really wanted:  Yarn Storage!  Big surprise, I know.  :)  I took the yarn out of the short, wider drawer and it is now in the 5 drawer unit along with some of the other yarn that has been spread out a bit.  The other 3-drawer unit is now stacked on top of one of the 5-drawer units, I took the wheels off and it fits very well.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the empty 3-drawer unit, but it will probably fit underneath the window where the gone-through boxes are stacked, once they go to the attic sometime this week.  I am thinking that they will probably hold some of the fabric/sewing stuff, or possibly some misc. craft stuff.

 

I'm going to try very hard not to go get more yarn.  Not making any promises, however!

 

Otter and I also went to the yarn store yesterday.  We didn't stay in there very long, my wool allergy make sure of that.  I think that the wool allergy is actually worsening.  I can usually stay in there a little bit longer before the first symptom - itching - starts.  But this time, it hit me almost immedately.  Followed up very quickly by the second symptom - upper respiratory issues.  And after we left, the itching lasted a lot longer than it normally does.  And I didn't even touch any wool!  Of all the things I had to be allergic to, why does it have to be wool?  It was always a strong allergy, but now it's even stronger.  And it is NOT fun!  Especially since my chosen art/gift/tallent is something that is done with yarn.

 

This is getting kind of long, so I think I'm going to post it and see what else I can come up with to do.  Such as laundry, dishes, vacuuming.

 

Or maybe I'll just follow Maggie Moo's lead and sit on the couch with my blanket.

Guess I Should Post Something On Here

It is Sunday, after all.  And I haven't posted in a couple of days.  So, before Froggy reminds me, here goes!!

 

At the moment, I think we are fixin to have one of these:

All the signs are there of an imminent carpet shark attack!

(Nevermind, she curled up on top of the blanket at my feet and went to sleep - the same blanket that she was sleeping under a few minutes ago.)

 

It's been a busy weekend.  Otter was off work yesterday, since she had the first Saturday off that she's had in several weeks she wanted to go shopping.  We hit the Main Street shopping in our small town and had a lot of fun.  I found one of these:

 

It's the larger size (this is a stock photo and not the one I bought).  It was $7.00.  $7.00!!!  I had to look at the price tag 3 or 4 times because I simply could not believe I was reading it right.  It could have easily had another digit either before or after the 7, and it still would have sold.  I went from having a few silver crest (clear edge) and none of the colored edges and now I have 3 (or maybe 4?) gold crest and one pink crest.  It was at the place where we used to have our booth.  There is another particular piece I'm thinking about, but I haven't decided yet.

 

It's one of these:

 

There are actually two, one is Amber (like this) and one is blue.  I like the blue one better, but the Amber one still has it's original Fenton sticker label.  They are both $10.00 and if I buy one, it will be one and not both.  $10.00 is a very good price, but I'd prefer to pay less per item if I were to buy both.

 

Today's adventures included cleaning the dog yard, it's been a couple of weeks since I tackled it and they left me a lot of "presents!"  I also went to the place where we have our booth and looked at a thrift shop.  And ran to Ace Hardware for Billyboy - twice, once by myself and once to take him.  After the 2nd trip, the one where I took him, we stopped at Braums for ice cream sundaes.

 

We had chili for dinner tonight.  I am not exaggerating when I saw I used at least 1 cup of chili powder.  And it was barely even warm!  Warm as in pepper and not cooking heat.  It's a fairly new bottle of chili powder.  Maybe we are finally getting immune?  I hope not!