Full Moon & Ghosts

Yesterday, I felt like I spent the entire time in my car...

Haunted Bungalow

First, an early a.m. board meeting. Through town, which is all torn up. Yes, I'm happy that the folks are working, but on EVERY street in town?? Simultaneously???

Ah well.... It was worth it to be on one segment of my drive to see this historic home, a traditional bungalow, all decked out for the season. Click on the picture to see it close-up. The details on the leaded windows in the porch area are amazing. Yes, I was stopped when I snapped this, thank you. 

It's been recognized TWICE as a national historic building, and I always said that if I could, I'd lift it from where it's sitting and plant it right where I want to retire. There are a lot of these kinds of bungalow homes in our area, and this is the one most well-restored and well-kept. You can see a little slice of its neighbor, and you can perhaps see that they "renovated" their porch in a newer style. 

These houses are small-ish and usually have bedrooms along one side, one bath, and a "shotgun" kind of arrangement along the other side: porch, living room, dining room and kitchen all in a row. There's usually a wall between the porch and living room, and dining room/kitchen, but often an archway which is the demarcation between living room and dining room. Usually also a basement, and part of that can be a cistern or a "root cellar."

Ok, I did say "retire," and you all can stop laughing. I can dream...

Knitting...

After the board meeting, my 2 knitting buddies and I drove to St. Charles, to Wool and Co. My favorite shop for the most part, because they carry yummy yarns. This day, needle selection was a bit scarce, but it was still cool. 

We were able to help a crocheter. The gal at the counter didn't know much about crochet, but we could at least advise the customer about hook size, yarn, etc. It's a cool vibe where nobody minds that you are giving advice to another person (something my LYS certainly lacks lately...). 

Didn't photograph my purchases, but it was all sock yarn, plus another set of Karbonz DPNs, in a 1.5. The one skein of yarn said 1.0 but the clerk said 1.5 would be fine. This yarn is a tad heavier than, say, Opal, so the skoosh larger needles shouldn't be a problem. The bright red means that if I can get them done in time, they'll be Christmas socks for me. Bright red shot through with real silver, I might add. Simple rib pattern, I think, unless I want to repeat that swirly rib, which would also work nicely...

And I got a mug. Like I needed another one, but it's 16 oz, which is what I like for my a.m. tea, and it's a "Knitwit" mug. Pics tomorrow or Monday, I promise!

Cloudy full moon this morning...

Full Moon...

Yes, the crazies are out. So is the moon. As I came in to work this morning, I saw it, in all its glory, and then when I turned to grab my camera, the clouds passed, but I think you get the idea.

I have to say, I'm disturbed. One of my FB friends posted something on Thursday and it was about dog cruelty. I should've skipped FB before bedtime, because I was up at 1 a.m. Thursday morning (of course, because I had to get up early anyway). I had a horrible nightmare and I couldn't get the pictures out of my mind... After tossing, turning, tossing, shuffling around - I got up and went out to the couch, and even though the "real" full moon was supposed to be Friday, the living room was as bright as if I had a spotlight on the front yard. It was the white light of the moon and it was stunning. If I knew I wouldn't have caused a riot with the dogs, I'd have slipped outside to take a shot of it. 

Anyway, it was beautiful. I wish we could get to a spot where there's very little light pollution so that Hubby can get out his telescope and take pictures. I've had this thing in my mind where we are able to get the moon in all 4 of its phases, and we do a "series" photo. Lately, though, when the moon's in its various phases, we've had clouds or weren't able to get far enough out of town, late enough. Especially since he gets up before the chickens (just about the time the bats go to bed) to work. It's hard to justify screwing up a work day just to get moon pictures. 

Politics...

Speaking of crazies: BusinessWeek says the Tea Party won, but it was a Pyhhric victory. They say that now "crazy is the new normal." God, I hope not. Crazy needs to go away. How about, the next election, we replace Crazy with oh, I don't know: SMART maybe??

Mitch McConnell says "There is no education in the second kick of a mule." Maybe now that Ted (Canadian/Cuban) Cruz has his million-name mailing list (which, in my cynical mind is what drove his madness), he will be hushed by saner heads in his party? Like John McCain??? I can't believe I'm typing that... Though he DID say, "It is one of the most shameful chapters I have seen in the years I've spent in the Senate" when commenting about the recent fiasco -- I mean government shut-down. 

From the staircase down the esplanade

I also see where Tom Foley died yesterday. For those of you who remember, Foley (D)-Wash, was an outspoken critic of the extreme partisanship that emerged in the mid-90s. Unfortunately for us, he was defeated in 1994 - the start of the Gingrich era and probably the impetus for Karl Rove's fantasy of a "permanent Republican majority." He was a consensus builder, and I hope that somewhere on the back bench, we find another one of his ilk. Lord knows we need one. 

Spirits With the Spirits...

I finally managed to corral my sister and we went to an event at our local theater - the "jewel" - the Rialto. I'm always stunned at how beautiful it is in there. And how close it came to being plowed over for a parking lot. Dorothy Mavrich, one of our local activists, who's now in her mid-90s, was the firebrand responsible for making sure that our city council didn't vote to destroy it, but instead voted to renovate it. 

Here are just a few shots of the place. It's just jaw-dropping beautiful. That's about the only word I can come up with for now. The work that went into the renovation was certainly worth it. I think my sister and I may come out for the annual Festival of Trees, too. Can you just picture this space decked out for the holidays?

You'll see autographs in one of the pictures. Downstairs in the "green room" area, there are walls, more walls, and stairwells FULL of autographs and doodles. Everyone from Howie Mandel, Jerry Seinfeld and the like to Taylor Swift. Even Carol Burnett and tons of other famous folks. 

Barton Grand organ

Just looking at the Barton Grand organ is enough to entertain "Phantom-esque" dreams, and looking at the plasterwork and all the details lovingly restored around the stage brings you some faith in the permanency (such as it is) of such things as old buildings. The organ is on a pneumatic device and it can be raised up to stage level when needed. There's usually a Christmas concert, and it's just glorious.

My only complaint is that sometimes artists come in there and don't do their homework. As I said, the space is fairly intimate. It's not exactly the Chicago Theatre. There are only 1,926 seats in this venue and very rarely do you hear complaints of "a bad seat." It's reasonably priced, for the most part as well. Nice entertainment and close to home. 

One section of the "autographs"

One concert we attended -- the artist had the amps cranked to about 16! You really don't need it, honest! The docents told me that it's all up to the artists, and they are always a bit annoyed when the artists don't get that the acoustics in there are phenomenal. You don't need it up to 16... you can get by actually pretty nicely on about 8 or 9. And the audience doesn't leave with ringing ears and raging headaches. 

Anyway, our local women's club had a party there, as a celebration of our 40th anniversary. Sadly, I don't think it was well-attended, and that's a shame. Here are some of the pictures. She's a competitive cuss... we won the Scavenger Hunt, even though we didn't get any ghost shots. Or at least we didn't see any spectres. I did get some orbs, which the ghost hunters at the Rialto say are "something" and Hubby says are "reflections." Spoilsport!! 

Where my flash "popped."

So a funny thing happened on the way to hunting ghosts... We hiked up the stairs toward the "nosebleed" seats (really not - it's the upper balcony and there are a ton of steep-ish stairs). The docents told us that was an area that was "active" with spirits. One of my friends actually did get a wisp of something. I took the big camera and the big flash. I snapped a picture similar to this, but my camera's large flash failed. Died. Kaput. I thought, "oh nuts..." and took the large flash unit off. Snapped this one, and swear-on-granny's-rosary... There was a large "POP!" as if I had one of the old-timey flash bulb units. Sis jumped, I startled, and I turned the camera toward me, expecting to see a blown flash unit. All I could think of was how I was going to explain to Hubby that I blew out the on-camera flash unit in a brand new Canon EOS! Though Sis did say, "hey, you have witnesses - it was the ghosts!"

One of the docents told me that sometimes, the spirits "play with energy" and perhaps they decided they would have a little fun with my camera. I might be a bit of a skeptic, but I can tell you that not 5 minutes later, I put the unit back on to take a picture of the stage and it worked just fine. Go figure. 

Amazingly, as we went upstairs to one of the dressing rooms, my sister turned to me and said, "Do you smell that?" I didn't smell anything. She said that she "hit a wall of lilac." She told the gal who was the "sensitive" (the person who channels the spirits) that she smelled "something." When the sensitive said, "Lilacs" my sister said YES! And it was also interesting that in that room, with 6 women in a fairly tight space, 2 of them said they were "freezing" while my sister reiterated that she smelled the lilac again. It was not cold in there. Lilac is the signature scent of "Vivian" - one of 3 documented spirits in the Rialto. There was even a TV show segment about the people haunting the place! 

Scarf winners

Anyway, the most fun part was hanging with my sister. We don't do that often enough. You may recognize a certain black-and-orange scarf?? Four of us knitters in the club did the Scavenger Hunt prizes. My sister is the one in the red with the long scarf (she says it's not long, SHE is just short). 

I had been talking about her to my fellow club members, and I think they thought she was a myth! But I think she's also coming with me to our Christmas event, which is cool. 

Yoga...

Tomorrow, I go with my teacher to deliver donated yoga supplies to the Prison Yoga Program. I think I'll investigate the training when it comes around. 

Our studio took up a collection during the month of September, which was designated "National Yoga Month" (among the seven billion other "dedications" you probably know about...). We have a bunch of mats, some books and a car-load of meditation magazines, and the lady who's coordinating the local program is very excited to get these items. 

There's usually a waiting list to join a yoga or meditation program in the prison. And before anyone goes all "Ok, just pamper the inmates," I have to say that there are documented studies (click here if you're interested) that show how meditation changes your brain. Click on the link above if you want to know how these types of programs help the inmates both during their incarceration and long-term to assist them in making better choices. Anything that helps to keep people on the right track and keep them out of prison? How could you not like that? 

Random Picture...

Porky, about 2008

Outside our deck, we have the luck (?) to be close to our neighbor's hickory tree. I think it's a hickory. But what I definitely know is that it's just about half-dead - maybe 2/3 dead. And the neighbor, unfortunately, is a lazy-butt who does the minimal to keep his yard decent. Often, his wife and her parents are out there doing things he should be doing. And occasionally, we get an earful when we're out in our yard. 

So it used to be that our deck rail (truth be told, it's a "deck" in name only - it's actually an extended back stoop, since it's right on the property line and only large enough to allow you to go in and out the back door, and keep a snow shovel out there) was  "the" hot spot for birds, squirrels, etc. I could put out stale bread, seeds, fruit, etc. and we'd have a show. We even had squirrels come chattering at us when we didn't serve dinner quite as prompt as they'd like. And a cardinal family that would chirp if the sunflower seeds were stolen by the squirrels. 

This is a shot I caught through the side window of Porky, our most famous squirrel resident, hopping down from a limb onto the rail. I think it was when I had stale bread AND peanut butter. The picture was taken in 2008 during a snowstorm. 

The reason I'm sure the tree is 2/3 dead is that nobody comes to the railing anymore. True, we have elkhounds who watch to make sure the Big Evil Bunny stays away, and they stalk the ground squirrels and the grey ones. But even when I put stuff on the rail, no takers.

So I'm thinking that perhaps the tree is unstable. And I'm sure that, even though we trim the branches that overhang our deck and roof, the neighbor will wait till the blasted thing falls over before he does anything...

Reading...

I'm going to start Judith Lasater's "Living Your Yoga," both because I have to read it for training, and because I'm interested in how to integrate the principles into day-to-day life. 

Just about done with "Emma" on the Kindle. Still searching for the one Yarn Harlot book that I'm sure I have...

Christmas??

Oh, I can read your mind, and it goes something like this:  STOP IT!!!! It's not even HALLOWEEN!!!

But bear with me. I'm not saying I'm in the Christmas mood. I'm just mentioning that I have 5 Christmas presents ordered or obtained. Several are personalized, so I had to order them ahead of time. The other - for my mom - is actually obtained but not sure when she'll get it, as it's a space in a Senior Yoga class. And no, I'm not teaching it. First of all, my own teacher started that group. I don't even sub, though, because it's in the mornings, and I'm at work. 

Second, I wouldn't teach my mom because she's got a couple of health issues, and I think she needs a more experienced teacher. She probably wouldn't be able to keep up with my Basic class. 

Weather...

Fall has flipped...???  And it's really pretty outside my office. I can't get a decent picture of it, so put this in your mind. At the southwest corner of my campus, the sun is a bright, brittle color. It's incredibly bright and almost a glare. 

MONSTER

At the south, clouds build. Dark grey and kind of heavy. And then at the northeast, the blue sky blends with light grey clouds. All in all, I can't tell if it's going to rain or it's passing through. But the quality of the light is gorgeous and one of those combinations of light and temperature which just holler 'FALL IS HERE' and beg you to go out and enjoy them. There might be a walk in my future this evening after dinner.

Stuff at Work...

 So our president is coming. Not THE President, but the president of our university. I spent today giving two plants some massive "haircuts" and re-potting things. I now have 5 -- yes, FIVE -- new potted plants. I don't know what to do with one of them - not one I re-potted, but one that's just shooting to the ceiling. It was about 12" tall when I got it 3 years ago. The assistant I had at the time had given it to me because she said her plant had babies. It was a little rickety thing and she said, "I don't know if it'll even grow - so if it doesn't, don't worry." 

She also gave me the philodendron that was imitating Kathryn Hepburn's on "Desk Set." And that's the one that got the big haircut today. She's a shadow of her former self, but her offspring live on. 

Audrey

And then there's Audrey... I think she's almost as tall as I am. My assistant and I re-potted her last year in the biggest pot I could find at Home Depot. She was in a small 8" pot when I started here... 

I now have plants in every room that has windows here. I saw one spot in the hallway, in a small niche, where I could potentially put another one. Perhaps the MONSTER that's growing on the credenza, if I can get her in a wheeled carrier. 

Just a bit more spit-and-polish and we're ready for his visit. By the way, fish fertilizer makes me sneeze. But it works wonders on plants!

Politics...

I almost crashed my truck yesterday. I was listening to Sirius Progress (f/k/a "Left") and heard Ted Cruz railing about how they (the Republicans? The Baggies??) will "continue our efforts to repeal Obamacare."

You. Lost. Big-time. Really - you're gonna waste the next 3 years trying this crap all over again?

Hey, I don't like what the Dems and Republicans did anyway: they kicked the decision over into 2014. And you know what? Mark my words, the Baggs will pull this crap again. Even though President Obama said "No" when asked if this will happen "the next time," I don't trust them. And neither do most Americans, apparently.

Quinn's nose

Random Photo...

Yes, it's a dog's nose. It's Quinn. She snores. And snorts. And poses for nose shots...

They say every dog's nose-print is unique. I just saw a medal you could make of your dog's nose-print - you put some sort of "non-toxic compound" on your dog's nose and make a print. You send it in and they cast it in silver. 

I don't think so... Come here, Quinn, I'm gonna put some stuff on your nose... That might be funny...

Oh, if you're looking for a totally rigged election, go to this link: http://www.elkhoundrescue.org/contestPg.php

For a buck a vote, you can help our rescue organization raise funds to not only help place elkhounds in permanent homes, but help the handful of "forever fosters" we have. Vote early - and vote often. The contest closes on Halloween... Or should I say "Howl-O-Ween"...

Fall. Definitely Fall...

It's cold in my office, cold in my house and I'm thinking of knitting up another set of wristlets... But I still love this weather!

Yarn donation

Hubby made 7-grain bread yesterday and said it was good. It was really nice to have the house smell "yeasty" in that way that only bread baked in cast iron loaf pans can make it. 

Hmmmmmmm. Almost "chili and soup" weather! 

Knitting...

Well, I was going to work on my Fluffy Scarf, but I have company here at the office... It'll sit for another day. 

I am, however, going to work on ANY other project at home. I need a change from scarves and afghans. I finished re-reading the Yarn Harlot's "Knitting Rules" and it's inspired me to wade into the stash and also look at the WIPs. The Nephew Afghan - I've got time on that one. Kid #2's afghan? He says now his timetable for buying a house is spring... Whew - that buys me a few months! 

Nobody's having any babies. Maybe I can pull out something I've started, or start something fresh. I probably ought to look at the number of WIPs I have. I know of 3 off the top of my head, and one of them (sigh) is a baby afghan.... 

Donating two huge boxes of yarn to our church's Prayer Shawl Ministry was also a good thing. First off, I wish I would have just knitted up the stuff, but on the other hand, this is a good destiny for this yarn. I truly was overwhelmed with it and I did keep some of it. During the de-stash, I found a nearly-finished throw of my Granny's. Granted, in colors that leave me shaking my head, but I'll still finish it. 

And I found one of her "waffle weave" throws. I have been trying to learn that stitch forever... 

In "Knitting Rules," Stephanie gives her opinion of "what I'd knit if I knew I couldn't knit anymore." I thought about that in light of my post commenting on the washcloth where my Granny crocheted her last row. Looking at her swatches, looking at the almost-done throw? 

Do we ever know when we're "done" aside from perhaps being blind? I mean, I know my grandma knew it was coming. She had macular degeneration and glaucoma. She knew, somewhere deep inside, that the day would come when she laid down her yarn. 

I can't imagine how that felt. She wasn't much of a reader, but wow - she was a needlewoman. 

Stephanie says she'd knit a "wedding ring shawl." A wedding ring shawl is knit using what's appropriately called "cobweb" yarn. You can, theoretically, pull the ENTIRE shawl through a wedding ring. And they're heirlooms. 

Wedding Ring Shawl

And I want to knit one so bad... When I was at TKCGA in Indianapolis, I stood in front of the Orenburg Lace stall for a long time. Then I went around the exhibit hall. Then I came back. Then I went around again. 

That time, I didn't buy the yarn. I do have some very fine white silk that'll be a shawl for me. But it's not an Orenburg or a Wedding Ring. You'll see a picture of a typical Wedding Ring Shawl here - courtesy of Google... It gives me a tingle up my leg to think about knitting one of these. Just search and look at them. Cascades of lace. Rivers of lace. Waterfalls of lace. Avalanches of lace. And they're not always white, but when I get to this point, mine would BE white... I'm all wibbly-wobbly just thinking about it!

I think Yarn Harlot has a point: barring being blind, you could totally knit this as a magnum opus - it should be a wave of lace. It must be huge. And therefore, it's a project that could sustain a knitter for a long, long time. 

 Almost a Tragedy...


So Hubby says, "When was the last time you noticed I had my wedding ring on?" 

Wowza... It's turning cooler and you know how, for many of us, our hands seem to shrink - at least my fingers do. One of my rings now is doing a loop-de-loop on my right hand. The only thing stopping my wedding rings is that I have the "arthritis beads" in the shank of the wedding set.

Anyway, he thought he'd lost the ring on the walking trail. Luckily, he took it off to mow the grass, and found it in the pocket of the pants he had on.

He's lost a lot of weight, and I think he needs it re-sized. All he said after I suggested that was "We'll see." What???  Gotta just shake my head.

The To-Do List...

Well, the one at work is coming along. The one at home? It'll get done. With both of us having crazy-busy schedules, we do what we can. I do wish, however, that Kid #2 would take care of his bathroom... 

I have off from the middle of December till the New Year. I would really, REALLY like to get the laminate floor put in - all we need to do yet is our bedroom then finish up the trim. 

Of course, we also want to re-do both bathroom floors...so we'd have to wait on the trim. And Miss Tippi would probably be totally offended to not have SOME carpet to lay on. Anyway, if we did finish -- oops, WHEN we DO finish our flooring, I'd still get carpets alongside both sides of the bed. I don't want to put my bare feet on cold floor, and the back of our house always seems the coldest. 

Politics...

So Ted Cruz "admits defeat." Moron. I'm sorry - you really think that bringing our government crashing to a halt and making us the laughingstock of the world was a good thing? You all looked like (and continue to look like) a batch of toddlers in need of a nap. 

Excuse me if I don't believe that it was "never [his] intention filibuster the agreement." He'd have done so if he had a nanosecond's inclination that it would have worked. 

I think the Republicans are surprised that President Obama hasn't caved in. Lord knows, Democrat that I am, I can truly say that the man was giving away the candy store... He didn't realize how insanely crazed these people are, and frankly, everyone underestimated the percentage of hate-filled racists who occupy the political scene. All very genteel, all very "boy's club" -- but you tend to notice the overwhelming tone of "Wonder Bread" in this group of bigots. Testosterone-fueled Wonder Bread bigots, even, because we also can't have the women in there. 

You know we go all erratic once a month with our "women's troubles." I guess that's why so many of these guys need to be up in our lady-parts...apparently, we can't make our own decisions, and we can't have equal access to  -- well, I was going to say "medications" but I guess I mean to say "anything" instead... We are still, in 2013, seen as "the weaker sex." And that bugs the living stuffing out of me. 

You should have seen Kid #2 when I informed him that, in the way-back days, insurance companies DID pay for Viagra. But NOT for birth control. I think I shattered an illusion or two, and he takes after me in the "normally quite a cynic" mode. 

"I could pee on this."

I am hoping that we haven't already gone off the cliff. Time will tell. And this "agreement" seems more of the same to me: just another opportunity for the ultra-cons to re-arm and bring us back to the brink once again. 

Please, do your part to get voters mobilized as elections draw near. You know as well as I do that we as a culture have the attention span of a fruit fly. We're all there when it comes to pop culture, but for some reason, we just don't pay attention to the very important stuff: Washington DC. 

I still think there's hope that we can wash these Teabaggie folks right out of the town. 

Random picture...

Public art somewhere on my trip with my mom back in March. I thought I'd remember where I took this, but I don't. All I can say is "Doggie Delight." 

This was taken out the bus window, hence the greenish tint. It was somewhere in North Carolina, I believe. It's fully 30 feet tall! And I wasn't sure whether to put the pic in this section or up in Politics...because it seems to fit there, too!

The Spooky Will Get You...

Owl

OK, I'll confess that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love to decorate, and it's just adorable... Even the super-icky decorations that some of our neighbors put out? I've gotta admire their creativity. Even as I look sideways at some of the displays! 

So I was talking about The Great Pumpkin - and I don't mean the Peanuts version. This pumpkin was actually in my dad's hospital room. My SIL brought it in for him once and set it on the window ledge. 

He promptly said, "Fer crissake - you could land a plane with that light!!" So I ended up taking it home. It's been on our porch every Halloween since. 

Skeleton Flamingo

Every year, I try to shake up the decorations; this year, though, we're kind of taking it easy. I did buy some new yard stakes; they don't glow in the dark, but the reflective paint reminds me of the stuff they use on the roads! 

Here are some shots of the various decorations. 

Call me morbid, but I get a huge kick out of the skeleton flamingo! Yes, I actually have the plastic pink flamingo yard art. And I have skeleton plastic figures, too, but I can't remember where I put them. 

I also stuck a wreath-ish thing on the door. Which nobody will see since our "front" door actually faces the "side" -- it's off the side of the porch. 

Oh well. I like it. And I guess that's what counts, right?

Therapy Dog Gig

Today is our therapy gig, but I am just waiting to see how the weather holds out. Unfortunately, Tippi does't like thunderstorms. So we'll see. Hopefully it'll all work out so that we're there and gone before anything comes up. 

Luckily, I have the "magic parking pass" and I can park up close to one of the buildings. We'll be doing our work INSIDE today! 

Autumn Wreath

Tippi's almost got her required 50 visits in to advance to the next level of TDI - and I'm excited about that. She still enjoys it, so we still go. 

Zonta -- Proclamation

Tonight is our annual "City Council Proclamation" meeting. Our Zonta Club (check here) comes before the City Council on or near UN Day to get a proclamation reinforcing the work we do as a local club and our contributions to the greater Zonta International effort to advance the status of women. Zonta International does such good work - Safe Cities programs, educating young women, providing funds for scholarships. 

We're lucky to have a vibrant club in our area. Our club also sponsors 3 scholarships for girls, and we do a lot of service work. Our current service work is with Habitat for Humanity - our local affiliate is Will County Habitat for Humanity. We love to be able to get hands-on with the projects!

Our current president has to make a speech; I'm just there to take the group picture! We're also going to be going to the local County Board meeting as well, but I am not sure I'll be making that meeting. We'll have to see. 

Knitting

No assembly work on the afghan today. Working on a white Fluffy Scarf. Can someone tell me why in the world they split the ball?? I had to iron a few feet of the yarn and double it up because they had a huge splice in the middle. Yeesh. 

It's coming along, though. Knitting while watching "A League of Their Own." I think we'll have to acquire a copy of it - even though I know it's not exactly PG rated. I'm not a big fan of cussing in the movies. Call me squeamish, but there it is.

Random Photo

Shower Cake

This is a "tropical theme" shower cake from my friend Jodie's wedding. She and her Hubby have just celebrated an anniversary. 

I made this and their wedding cake. This one was a yellow cake with no filling except buttercream. The fishes on the top represent the fact that their wedding was a cruise wedding; we didn't attend. I'm betting it was a great time; the wedding cake I made was actually for a post-cruise celebration, so that worked out well. They're a great couple! 

Their wedding cake served 300 - and I was going to put on a variety of stands, but since their reception was outdoors, in a stiff breeze, next to a sand volleyball court... we went with a table display! 

Reading

...well, kind of about knitting! I'm re-reading "Knitting Rules" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - a/k/a The Yarn Harlot. I've read all of her stuff and she's really funny.

The Great Pumpkin

Also, on the Kindle, working my way through the Jane Austen collection. Mostly through "Emma" now. I may order "I am Malala" and either put that on the Kindle or order it as a "real" book.

Kid #2 wants a signed copy of "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk. His favorite author next to Kurt Vonnegut. That'll be interesting. 

Which reminds me, I have to visit Amazon for some stuff. I'll have to stay away from the knitting books section! And the yoga books section... And the fiction section... (sigh)

Well, back to the Fluffy Scarf. Total of 7 and I've got 1.5 done.

It's Underway...

This past weekend was the first one in a long time that I had a "real" weekend. Normally, I'm working most Saturdays, while I have Fridays off. And about once a month, I'm up at "dawn:thirty" to go to a Friday board meeting... 

So there was a very optimistic To-Do list, and another fairly optimistic "Honey-Do" list... 

Working on my craft table...

Hubby accomplished his part: we have The Great Pumpkin out on the porch. No picture; I'll take one tonight after yoga. It's better at night...

Knitting

So it's underway: the assembly of the Elkhound Afghan. This will be auctioned off for charity - or done via raffle, I'm not sure what they want to do with it. 

I didn't make all of the squares; about 4 of us did. There's some lovely Tunisian crochet, there's knitting and crochet... and a problem! 

I had asked for 12" x 12" squares. Well........ Not all of them (including the ones I did) meet that criteria. So we have some "Fisherman" color (cream) yarn that I'm filling in with. This will likely leave the afghan an odd size, but hey - it's home-made. The finishing will include doing a single crochet all the way around this thing and then a scallop to polish it. I had hoped to do the edging in the cream; however our local JoAnn didn't have enough cream. I bought the light grey. I may try to see if they have more cream. It looks like this will take a couple of weekends to do, so I can perhaps find them restocked. 

Afghan on Table...

I'll do something with the grey: perhaps a couple of pillows. And I can either include them with the afghan or I can give them to the kids for Christmas.

The Fluffy Scarf project continues...

Church

We got our new choir robes! They're Cubbie blue... And they were supposed to be breathable, but I gotta tell you --- I'm fanning myself like crazy (and it was about 64* outside during our Mass) and Ken the Baritone says, "Can you move a little sideways?" I asked him why and he says, "So we can share your fan!" 

They need to be hemmed. I guess that the choir robe folks thought we'd all be singing in 3"  heels! One of our members is taking care of that, thankfully. I can hem. I just don't like to. 

Fr. Matt blessed them and said that he hopes they'll make us sing better...Of course, everyone laughed and he said, "Oh, not that they didn't sing well BEFORE!!" And of course, we christened our choirmaster as "Pappa Smurf." 

Oh, the Prayer Shawl Ministry folks appreciated my two big boxes of yarn. Hope to see some of the shawls. They put them out on a table at the front of the church, so you can take one if you need it. 

The List

The list included me exercising (not done); finishing the Other Fluffy Scarf (done); assembly of the afghan (in progress); and cleaning out two corners of the bedroom (not done). Oh, and shredding (done). Hubby did mow the lawn. But the garden boxes needed tending and we didn't get to that.

In my own defense, I got some of my stuff organized. I paired yarn + projects into bags and we did get the Stash busted for the Prayer Shawl Ministry folks. Whoopie! More room for yarn!! (whoops; that wasn't supposed to come out...)

And Hubby had an eye doc appointment; it was time for his eyes to be dilated. So we didn't even get on our bikes. Neither of us does the eye dilating well... 

Cobbler!

Food

The 2013 Christmas Cookie Baking List is done. Of course, it's always fluid; we may add a couple, but we're not likely to subtract.

I made risotto for dinner yesterday - Hubby and Kid #1 had it. I also did some kale and I ate that. 

Still working on the "cleanse" and it's difficult this time around. I feel like I'm eating more and I'm frustrated. 

Of course, completing the "exercise" part of my list would probably help... 

Lunch today was a huge salad, a ham wrap on a low-carb small tortilla, and unfortunately, a stroll past the Halloween pumpkin... Today is just today. It's not a sentence of failure. So I start again. Keeping at it; not giving up. 

I also helped Hubby make cobblers. We had fruit that was "almost." You know the "almost" fruit: in a banana, it's the ones you set aside for banana bread.

This is fruit that was in the bin and was at that point where nobody was going to eat it if it was left there. So he peeled it and I made a quick crumb topping. There are 2 pear cobblers and 2 plum. I think Hubby ate them all! 

Random Dog Cuteness

So today was Columbus Day (or Take Over a Nation and People Day... depending on how you do it...) and we were thinking about the things that weren't going to be open. Normally, Mondays are our garbage days. We put it out anyway, and there were initially 2 dogs in this picture... Both of them always check to make sure the garbage man doesn't take more than he's supposed to. But I swear Tippi can hear me pick up my phone and knows what I'm doing. This is Quinn... Maybe I can catch the two of them at some point. 

It was funny: when the afghan and I were at my small folding craft table, Quinn was in front of me "supervising" (a/k/a napping). And then I had to move to the dining room table. Hubby set up his nice Ott Light so I could see what I'm doing. 

Then Tippi stakes herself out behind my chair. "Supervising." (a/k/a "napping") 

Ideas for the Blog

Annecy Guitarist

I'm liking categorizing the various things I talk about. It seems to work well. What I'd also like to do is perhaps include a picture in each post (or several, depending). I would also like to maybe include some other kinds of writing. 

Kid #2 says "You write like a newspaper reporter." Probably because I was one? And also, I know things tend to sound like "meeting minutes." Probably because I take a lot of them?? I'm well past my secretary days (not that there's anything wrong with that; just giving you some context). But I still remember lots of shorthand and I also type fast. If I'm not writing minutes on a piece of paper, I'm sitting in front of my laptop typing pretty much as fast as you can talk.

For now, I'll just stick in a random picture - here's my guitarist from Annecy from our trip this summer. Still kicking myself for not buying one of his CDs...

Recipes...I don't know. 

Maybe I'll do a photo blog every so often. Heaven knows I have a ton of pictures. Any ideas are welcome. 

Fall Color

What fall color?? With the random weather, we haven't had much to speak of. Here's what it looks like out my back door. Normally, I've got photographers pulled up on a day like this, taking family pictures and generally enjoying the chunk of forest preserve land behind me. 

Fall color?

Not so much so far; and it's mid-October! I need to get out to the Arboretum so that we can see what that looks like. Maybe next Sunday. My next weekend off will be Thanksgiving. But I do have Sundays, after church. Maybe there's a walk in there somehow. 

Politics

Interesting article on Huffington Post about the government shut-down. Click here to read about it. Seems like the Republicans are changing the rules mid-stream. Not cool. 

We are being laughed at. And I'm not sure that it won't happen again. People here seem to be incredibly stupid. They only listen to stuff that reflects their own views. Journalism as I knew it as a kid? Pffffffffth. Gone. It's hard to find someone to speak objectively; I know - I just posted a link from HuffPo. But it's one of the better news aggregators that I've been able to work with. 

Hopefully, someone in DC will have a spine and will  not let us just default. I have to say, I hope that the voters remember this in 2014. The gridlock and partisanship needs to stop. The uber-right -- they need to remember that they're a relatively small percentage of this country. The regular right needs to get them under control. 

That all sounds incendiary, but think about it... The Speaker let a SMALL SEGMENT of his larger party engineer this shut-down. Eric Cantor is gunning for the Speaker's job. The fact that in Colonial times, one man was able to shut things down -- yeah that's part of our history. But that was in the way-back days when there were only 13 colonies.

We need to move forward with the times. Invoke the 14th Amendment. And as voters, we need to have a grass-roots movement to stop Citizens United, and stop SCOTUS from generating an even BIGGER fiasco by opening up private donations to elections. Our politicians are supposed to be elected. Instead, much like slaves, they're purchased. And being purchased, they are, in a large sense "enslaved" to their purchasers. 

It's funny. They're all bleating about "those people" who "gorge themselves at the public trough." But they don't see themselves: career politicians who are paid whether or not the government runs; with honkin' big government insurance; decent government pensions; other government benefits.

But. But. But.... they're not "those people who gorge themselves at the public trough."

Except that they are. And you know what's even more hypocritical?

We keep electing them. 

Yes, I Ironed It...

Ironing yarn...

I don't iron as a matter of course. I just use the ironing board as a place to pile stuff. 

Doesn't everyone??  Ahem...

Knitting

ANYWAY, my friend M, the president of our women's group, sent out a call to all knitters in the group asking if we were interested in knitting up one (or more) of those fluffy scarves so that we could use them as door prizes. She'd provide the fluffy yarn. 

I said yes. I know. Don't tell me. 

Beginning of fluffy scarf

I've already got The Fluffy Scarf Project for our choir. I made my mom one. And now this. 

So this project used Sashay instead of Starbella. Sashay is a pain in the keister... I had to iron it. Yep. Spent 1.5 hours of my knitting life IRONING this ribbon so that I could knit with it. 

But in the end, it was worth it. The project was actually done in 3 days - a total of maybe 8 hours of knitting time, but I do work. 

I have 1.5 of the Fluffy Scarf Project scarves done. I also have one more ball of the Sashay...so maybe I can iron that, too, and get rid of it. I was tempted on this one to wrap Tippi in it for a future Howl-O-Ween project, and I might yet. It would be cute. With her purple witch hat or her pumpkin hat. 

She's the world's most tolerant dog. 

So this was worked up on size 7 needles, used circulars because it's a stinker when the stitches all slip off your needles. I saw the YouTube in which they say "weave the ends in" or sometimes, most optimistically, "the ends will magically disappear."

Not so much. I pulled up the ends with a crochet hook and anchored them with needle and thread. Shook it out, took a picture and voila! I'm done. 

Charity Afghan

I'm planning to Stash Bust this weekend, most of which entails going through the totes in the basement and gathering up all the acrylic which I know I will not knit again. Our church has a Prayer Shawl Ministry, and they will use it more quickly than I will. It'll go to a good cause. 

I also have to start assembling the charity afghan. This is it in the unassembled state. There are quite a few Tunisian squares, and those are mainly in the center. Those will be sewn together and the rest crocheted. 


The Weekend

This is one of my rare weekends off. So of course, Hubby has his eyes dilated - messes with the bike ride we contemplated, BUT... I have a to-do list and I've already got a few things crossed off. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but you know you have to grab this stuff when you can. 

I shredded a bunch of miscellaneous stuff from my brother's estate. I finished the scarf (as you can see from the pics). I dusted my scale (I figure that's why it shows that I'm not losing weight...the dust is adding to my total. It works for me.). 

Fluffy scarf completed

I'm in the midst of "organizing the yarn corner" and "matching yarn to patterns." Hubby is building a box for me so that I can put all of my brother's uniforms and equipment in there and deliver it to his former employer. Right now, it's in a laundry basket, so I do need to box it up properly and drive it over there. It'll be cheaper to drive it than to mail it. 

I also have delusions about cleaning off said ironing board and perhaps the hope chest on the end of the bed...

Oh, and we want to finish up the Halloween decorations outside. Mostly putting The Great Pumpkin out on the porch and perhaps some ghosts in the yard. 

The Estate

I have to find the car title. We're transferring it (thank you God) and getting rid of it this week. The house is somewhat in limbo because there's a situation with the roof. The buyers' Realtor screwed up and caused a technical "default" in the contract. We're renegotiating it, which would normally annoy me, but since my brother's got a lot of bills owed, the money's going there. Technically, it's not even "real money" since the heirs won't see any of it. I just get annoyed at the principle of the thing. The buyers knew the state of the house (which, by the way, wasn't horrid. It's just an old house.), and they're getting one-year-old appliances thrown in. Deal with it... But the house does need a new roof. But, we also specified that the house is "as is." I'm confident we'll do ok. Our Realtor is a gem and she's also aware of the fact that we don't want the house to sit over the winter. Candles are lit, fingers and toes are crossed. 

I also have to pay his water bill. I will be very glad to get the house and car settled. Because then, all that remains is to wait till it's time for the attorney to file the final tax returns and we're done. We can close it out. 

I found a flash drive in the stuff for the estate, and I just checked it. It's all personal pics with him and his kids. I'll bring it to Thanksgiving and let them sort it out. That way, they're both there and they won't have any drama (ha) about who's gotten what.  

Food

Chocolate drop cookies

Check out the cookies! We had our final yoga training session recently, and it usually involves food and wine. The Chocolate Drops were my contribution. The Yogi cookies were delicious gingerbread. I'm going to get some of those cutters - they're adorable! 

We drafted our "Proposed 2013 Christmas Baking" list today. Kid #2 will "take a poll" and ask if there are preferences. Since Hubby may be going home for the holidays to visit his mom, we didn't put any of his family cookies on there, though I might try his mom's toffee, which is AMAZING. 

Made spaghetti squash last night with sauteed portabella slices and chopped leeks. That will most likely be lunch. 

We went to the grocery store and spent a boat-load of money. But we needed a lot; we'd been going "piece-meal" and you know that's just not efficient. 

Yogi Cookies

I'm trying some "organic" herb blend salad; baby greens with some dill fronds in there. Also have some kale; it's the big stuff, so it'll get chopped up and wilted with some garlic. It's almost "soup weather" but not quite. An interesting October so far, because aside from the cloudy day today - it's gorgeous outside. 

At some point, we realized that our fridge has attained its maximum capacity. I do have to boil some eggs, but I can put those back in the original carton, making sure to mark which are which, of course! 

It would help immensely if Kid #2 would finish off the juice that's about done...then I'd have room to work with. Right now, this big clunky juice bottle is taking up wayyyyy too much room!! 

Hubby wants to bake some bread. Today would be a good day, because the humidity will help it rise. But I adore - I mean ADORE - the smell of baking bread; that's going to be incredible temptation. 

Might be time to really concentrate on a knitting project if he does that! 

 Shoes


Yeah, I know. I have a Dansko fixation. I got a few more pair and this is the "Blue Marble" which, thank you very much, were on clearance. Great with denim. I also bought a pair of heels - ABEO with a nice arch support. As soon as I actually wear those, I'll show you. They're quite comfy and have kind of a "1940s tap shoe" vibe which is cute. 

I also have to go through some shoes. I gave a big bag of pumps to the folks at the local women's shelter; the gals there can use them as "interview shoes" and I'm glad they're being used by someone who'll wear them. I don't wear heels to speak of - at least not the ones I gave away. But I also have some worn out athletic boots and at least one pair of hiking boots that need to go. No sense hanging on to them if I'm not wearing them. 

What do you know? I've gotten a bunch of stuff crossed off the list and it's not even noon!! I can go fix my lunch and happily watch the Christopher Lee version of "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde."