AND NOW, HEEEERRRRRRRRRRE’S

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am quite involved this weekend.  YAY, IT’S THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I’m quite involved and will be away from the computer for most of the weekend.  My cousin Ellen is coming in from Iowa and we’re going to see Leonard Cohen and mess around and do stuff.

Everyone please have a fabulous weekend.  I’ll report back Monday or so!!

Here’s the soundtrack for my weekend.  “Sisters of Mercy” by Leonard Cohen.  The video is from McCabe and Mrs. Miller.  Enjoy

Have a wonderful weekend all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a long talk with myself

and I do believe we’re getting along much better today than yesterday.  Monday night I came home all hot and bothered about the condition of my home.  I am not a super-tidy human being.  I do not like filth.  I love clutter.  I don’t need alot of clutter, but some clutter is very comforting to me.  Books and knitting and spinning stuff are my clutter of choice.  But, when my Mom’s health was failing, I chose her over a clean house, and, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  But, the house looks messy and I have been  getting mad at myself for not diving in.  So, Monday night I came home and looked around and thought, “Damn”.  Then, I had a long talk with me and I  realized I was stressing and I didn’t need to be stressing.  A little bit at a time and the house will get done.  I think it’s all part of my grieving process, but it got all muddled together.

So, the knitting thing?  Still working on FLS.  I am over half way on the yoke.  I forget that when you increase the stitches, it takes longer to knit a row.  Simple logic, but a much simpler brain.  I still love it.  It’s just slow going right now.  When it has a pattern or some sort of shape that looks right (like a sweater), I will take a picture for you.  And, it is very very pink.  I am finding that I love color in my knitting.  I have noticed the more I knit, the more color I crave.  I wonder if it is part of the growth of a knitter?  Maybe, it’s jut that my love of color is finally coming out.  I love color.  Adore it!  I have a lithograph by Marcia Bank that I simply fell in love with and had to have at an auction.  Here it is.

Not a good photo, but you get the general idea, don’t you?

Well, it’s time for me to toddle along to work and stuff.  I am going to leave you with something mellow.   Here are the melodious wanderings of The Who and “Baba O’Riley”.  Enjoy

Have a great one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did anyone see a weekend go by?

I seem to have misplaced mine. I have three days each weekend and I still kinda lost one (or two). If you see it, would you please send it home? I miss it.
Dinner for the homeless, not the homeless dinner per Becky(she’s such a smartass;-P), went very well.  I do it because it brings me out of my basic comfort zone.  I am basically shy.  I have to force myself to be friendly when I am thrown in new situations.  It’s hard, but I work at it all the time.  Friends and family would be stunned to hear this.  I give the appearance of being quite sure of myself, but it’s all baloney.  I’m a big fake.  So, to get me out of my own little world, I volunteer and interact with other human beings who have lost their homes.  The single women break my heart because I can see myself in that situation.  They are ashamed and I can understand that, but work so hard to make them understand that I don’t believe it’s because they are bad or stupid.  We are not in control of every aspect of our being.  So, they finished my 13×9 pan of lasagna and proclaimed it good (bless their hearts) and took the little gift bags of Halloween candy to enjoy during the coming week.  I left feeling like I had spent a wonderful evening with some lovely people.  It is not always pleasant.  Sometimes the anger is very strong and we (the hosts) are the closest thing so we get the brunt of that anger.   I’ve been there for that and it’s very hard to deal with, so Saturday was great.

I have been knitting on my February Lady Sweater.  She is pink and growing.  No picture today because she looks about the same only a little bigger.  I will share when she grows a tad more.

This dianthus is still blooming on my deck.  We have not yet had a killing frost.  Rain?  Yup.  Cool?  Yup.  Frost?  Yup.  Freeze?  Nope.  Still waiting.  It could happen any time now.

Grover and I had a misunderstanding.  The language barrier is hard to overcome.  He got into a barking binge on Sunday afternoon.  He was outside and barked continually.  He’s normally the strong silent type, but he would not shut up.  I told him to come inside and he continued to bark.  I finally shushed him and told him to lie down.  He did, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off me.  I do not speak dog.  I understand a basic conversational wag, but barking I don’t understand.  It could be his accent is from a different part of the country.  I don’t know.  I do know that I finally had to comfort him and snuggle with him and sing (I’m pretty sure that was what did it) for him to calm down and relax.  We’re ok now, but sheesh.  It’s so frustrating.

Now.  It’s Monday.  So, you all need a song to sing in your heads all day long.  Well, I have the perfect song for you.  “The Seeker” from The Who.

Have a good one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH YOU A … FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s that day once again! It is FRIDAY!!  Ms. Stinky McFartbutt wants to be the first to wish you a happy Friday (up close and personal).  This is for Sophanne/Becky. Esau Marie’s nickname amuses her, so this one’s for you!!  Doesn’t she (Esau) look just stunning on her matching night-night bed?  Yes.  I do talk like that to my animals.  Not in baby voice, but I use the same words I used when my nieces were about 1.  At least THEY have grown out of it.  Shortly after I took this darling picture we got into a bitchslap fight.  She won, but only because she has claws.

So, remember when I decided I was being too much of a perfectionist with the February Lady Sweater?  I ripped it.  And, this is why.

See those holes?  I am not entirely sure what I did, but it was a tad too much.  So, I ripped and restarted and I am much much happier.

It’s moving along nicely now.  I’ll just spend as much time as I can knitting this weekend, but I do have a few things going.  They have promised the rain will stop, but after 10+ inches for the month (already over 2″ over the old record)I’m not sure I believe anybody anymore.  Here’s my deck.

We regain the hour of sleep we lost last spring this Saturday night.  Remember to set your clocks BACK and put new batteries in your smoke detectors and most importantly, have a cocktail to help you get your tasks complete.  Also Happy Halloween to all and happy birthday to my little brother, Todd.  He would have turned 50 this year.

Have a wonderful wonderful wonderful weekend (can you tell I’m into repeating myself?).  Here’s my soundtrack to send you on your way.  “Start Me Up” by Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones;

Have a good one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops. Random again.

It appears that my lack of focus has lost me my post, so here we go again. My lack of focus can be brought upon the broad shoulders of Mother Nature and her seriously pissy weather here in Middle Earth. I fear Mother Nature’s wrath. I do. But she has not tried me like this in a long time. We slog. We smell. Wet. Wet human. Wet dog. Wet Esau Marie from the wet dog.  Mildew smells and moldy smells.  It has rained and rained and rained.  And it continues to rain.  I think we are getting a day or two this week without rain.  Nobody, but nobody is talking about the end to this.  If you are in drought, come on by.  We have plenty to spare.  It hasn’t been raining hard enough this past week for the basement to actually leak.  No.  Now, it seeps.  The ground is so saturated that the water is seeping into my basement.  Meh.

Enough.

So.  Whaddya want to talk about?  I’m still working on my FLS.  She is in about the same place she was Monday, but just a few rows bigger.  I have been in such a foul mood (I just typed fowl and that made me smile.  There is hope) that I just knit a bit in the evening, go to bed and read.  Whoop.  But, until the weather breaks and gives us all some reason to smile again, I think that’s where I’m gonna be.  In bed.  Reading.  I know what EZ said, but sometimes knitting isn’t the answer.  I find when I feel this foul, the best thing is to avoid my knitting to avoid a huge disappointment.  I can screw up my knitting on a good day.  On bad days, it’s easier and faster and more damning.

Is anyone having a party or going to a party for Halloween this year?  I am making dinner for the homeless that evening.  I’m helping out a friend and dinner will be more fun than the breakfast I originally signed up for.  Honestly?  I’m looking forward to it.  I bought little black and orange gift bags and will put candy in them and decorate them with stickers and serve them as dessert.  Dinner will be a salad (lettuce in a bag) and home made lasagna.  It’s the least I can do and it is less expensive than buying it.  I also happen to believe it tastes much much better.  So that’s my plan.  What’s yours?

And, to leave you with something less pissy than my mood, here’s Poco and “Keep on Tryin’”.  The video sucks, but I do so love the music.

Have a great Hump Day!!!!

A quiet weekend with knitting

I do not have much to show, but I do have something. Here it is.

Yes.  It is a February Lady Sweater.  I’m pretty certain, almost every single knitter in the known world has knit this.  I’m knitting it is Dyeabolical Yarns cotton slub…..colorway “Pinky”.   It is much more holey than most, but I like it.  It seems very lacey.  I thought it would be so pretty with my Tonks socks.

What do you think?

I am and have been suffering from perfectionism or nothing.  I’m working on it.  I finally realized that I haven’t worked on anything because it (all of it) wasn’t quite perfect.  Who am I kidding?  I’m not perfect and my knits are not going to be perfect either.  Sloppy is not tolerated, but perfect is hard for me to attain, so I’m just gonna knit to my heart’s content and if it isn’t perfect I’ll deal with it or not sweat it.  Amazing it has taken me this long to figure this out.  So far, I’m loving my February Lady sweater.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Friday was gray and yuck.  Saturday was gorgeous.  Sunday started out gorgeous and then got gray and yuck. It’s fall.  We are expecting more rain this week.  This has been the wettest October in St. Louis in history.  Yup.  History!  I’d be excited, but I a bit sick of the whole thing.  At least it isn’t snow, right?

I don’t know if I’ve used this before, but here are the Kinks again!  “So Tired”

Have a great one!!!!!!!!

FRIDAY. TODAY. HERE. IT’S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody wake up! It’s Friday here. It’s Friday all kinds of places, but here it is most definitely FRIDAY! Oh, and Happy Friday to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  After a full day of rain on Thursday, we are now in a full-blown SICK OF RAIN mode.  There might be a very technical term, but my term is quite descriptive, thankyou.

Mistress Esau Marie has finally decided that she should bleet like a goat to get my attention.  It works.  And, it’s truly annoying.  I used to think she sounded like a lamb, but now, I’m pretty sure she sounds like a baby goat.  You might think it’s adorable, but imagine it at 3:00 a.m.  Disconcerting.  Yes.  Annoying.  Yes.  Getting used to it.  Oh, yes.  Still, she is adorable, isn’t she?  Little Miss StinkyMcFartbutt.  My baby.  She now sports a perennial glob of dog slobber on her back.  It would be endearing if she wasn’t such a brat.  And it didn’t smell bad.

Now, my knitting.  Yes, I have been knitting a bit.  Mostly Christmas stuff.  I am annoyed at the Cosmo cardi (it’s my fault, really, but I’m blaming ” it”) so I knit a swatch.  Seriously, folk.  I did.  And, it was to gauge!!!!!!!!!!!!  After washing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I figure now, nothing will work with this next sweater.  Its’ Low-Tide Ripples.  I have light blue yarn, not variegated like the picture shows.  The yarn used in the model at Twist Collective was a bit pricey for me at this time, so I went with sale yarn at WEBS. I haven’t cast on yet, because I’m still reeling from the swatch experience.  Who woulda thought?

My job situation is a bit less precarious today.  Last week, dicey.  This week it’s ok.  That is construction.  Within a week we have gotten enough work to see us through the end of this year.  I should be used to it by now, but I’m not.  Really.  I don’t think we’ve ever been this close to the edge before.  Weird, weird, weird.

The weekend is upon us and I expect you all to have a good one.  Appreciate what we all have.  I know I do.  And, every day I feel a bit more grateful for my gifts and blessings.  Corny, maybe, but I really do feel this way.  Have a wonderful weekend and to send you on your weekend way, here’s my soundtrack for today…………..The Kinks and “Well-Respected Man”

Have a good one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neurotic? Me?????

Someone who I adore has called me neurotic. I’m taking the stance that she means I’m disturbed, not just phobic. Now, I must say that was a shock to my delicate system. Hurtful, even. How could she say that? Sure, I’ve been working hard with Mikethespider. Sure, he has the brains of a pith helmet. Sure, he still hasn’t gotten the idea to run away unless I turn on the light, but I do believe that is instinct, not training.  It’s a hobby.  Is it any stranger than collecting beer cans?  Or doorknobs (I loved Aunt Clara in Bewitched, didn’t you?).  Or baseball cards????  That was the absolute worst bubble gum in the world, wasn’t it?  Didn’t last at all.  Of course, I’m from the era when you got bubble gum in a pack of baseball cards.  I don’t suppose you can anymore.

Please send your good thoughts Heide’s way.  Her ancient cat, Tasha, has disappeared.   I adored Tasha (from afar since they live in Washington).  She was a survivor.  I just hope for their sake that they can get closure.  There is something so unsettling about not knowing.

I”m still knitting on the sleeve/front.  Not in all that much of a rush because I’m pretty sure I’ll reknit most of the damned thing anyway since I have a memory like a sieve.  I’m gonna work on something else.

I had a dentist appointment for Friday morning (after I take Grover for his first flu shot, and yes, I am getting him one because he spends one day every single week at the cageless kennel and I don’t want him to get sick and die, if I can help it).  Well, the office called and apologized because I can’t see my dentist on Friday.  Wasn’t that cute?  They are “sorry” that I cannot see my dentist.  Me, who has to Xanax up to walk through the door?  Now, I’m going in two weeks.  By then, I hope to have more Xanax because I know this is gonna be one long and continuous problem that will require many visits and much money.  yay.  I’m just really really happy that I can do it.  Really and truly.  I feel so bad for people who can’t afford a dentist, so I am joking when I talk about my terror.  OK.  The terror is not imagined, but it is buffered by the knowledge that I am able to afford to go.  Thank heavens this is Random Wednesday because I have the random part down pat.

Isn’t he just adorable?  What a precious little boy.  He growled at me when I put in ear drops last night.  I just looked at him and asked him what he thought he was doing.  He did not answer.  Smart dog!  I put more in this morning and he was much much better.  Thank goodness I can train one animal in the house.

To get your blood aflowing for this hump day.  Here is The Band and my all-time favorite song by them, “The Weight”

Have a good Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A spider named Mike

I believe my feeling better is just in time. I spent a great deal of time alone last week. Of course, Grover and Esau Marie were with me, but they lack conversational skills. I realized this morning when I was working with “Mike” the spider that I needed to be with people.  Mike is my new pet.  He resides in my bathroom in the corner on the sink.  I have spent more time than sanity permits trying to train him to run away when I come in.  I don’t mind sharing space with him as long as I don’t see him.  Training is very slow.

He is rather large, isn’t he?  Maybe he’s more athletic than academic.  I do know that as long as I see him I will try to train him.  My brother is concerned that he might bite me, but I like spiders.  They eat the nasty annoying little bugs.  I have two spider bites on my shoulders from sleeping in the attic when I was a kid.  They still look kinda nasty.  The skin is  necrotic and all, but the dermatologist was unconcerned.  Oh, yeah.  I kinda lost my way there for a minute.  This is a continuing story so I will keep you posted (the training, not the skin thing).

Now, I promised knitting content and I’m going to deliver, but there’s a story that goes with this poor picture.  The picture itself is poorly balanced and the colors are all wrong, but the knitting itself,  well that is the story.  I found most of my Cosmo cardigan pieces.  I looked at the sleeve I was knitting and realized it was all wrong and ripped it.  I  put it back on the needles and started knitting at it again when I realized it wasn’t supposed to be a sleeve, but the left front.  Now, I can’t find the  the other sleeve so I’m just going to keep on knitting this extra sleeve like I had good sense.  I figure I’ll pick the two I like most and use them.  Then, rip the other one.  And, I wonder why it takes me so long to knit something.

Now, to wind you up for your week.  Here is David Bowie and “Rebel Rebel”  ………………”hot tramp, I love you so”  Have a great Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

friday. friday. fridayfridayfridayfriday…..

To be sung to “Chrissy’s Song” from the movie “Jaws”. Yes, that is the opening sequence where Bruce the shark eats poor gorgeous teenaged Chrissy. So sad. But, it is Friday and I must say, YAY!!!!

I am feeling much better, but not perky nor chatty.  I wish all a wonderful weekend.  I plan on being here bright and early Monday morning with knitting news.  No.  Really.  Seriously, I do.

And, to send you merrily into your weekend.  Here’s the Band, once again, and this time they are doing “The Last Waltz”.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!