Unraveled Wednesday

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thankfully there hasn't been any unraveling this week, but that is probably due to the fact that there hasn't been much knitting either. Our neighbor in Maryland has two different fences so I took advantage of them to at least try and show these projects in a slightly different way. (They are selling the house and I'm also hoping to attract a knitter to the neighborhood.) The one above on the stockade fence is the same old Match & Move (just another section longer), and the teeny, tiny one on the picket fence below is just the beginning of trying out a project idea that Ryan came up with. I'll tell you more about it after I see how/if it's going to work.

I've finished a few three-star, fairly average books, but my reading started looking up in a big way this morning. The email from goodreads told me that two friends had read or were currently reading What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky and I was intrigued. (Thanks Annette and Debbie!) My next email included a link to LeVar Burton Reads from a dear reading friend. I know LeVar Burton from when my kids watched Reading Rainbow decades ago, but this is a podcast in which he reads short fiction for adults and it is great! I can't believe I didn't know about this before, but now I've got 41 episodes to listen to. This all came together when I found that LeVar reads the title story from the book above in Episode 5. I've just started reading the book myself, and I'm loving listening to LeVar read to me while I (try to) put the grill together. 

What are you making and reading this week?

Two Beer Tuesday

I enjoy an occasional beer, but it's usually just once in a while, and one at a time. I think my favorite time to savor a beer is after I've mowed the yard. It's hot, I'm sweaty, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of sitting on the front porch sipping from a nice cold bottle, surveying the lawn, and congratulating myself on a job well done.

I got home from Colorado late Friday night, and mowed the lawn in NJ first thing Saturday during a two-hour window when it wasn't raining. It usually takes me about an hour and a half with a push mower, but it is good exercise (and then there is that beer afterwards). Then it was time to pack some things, drive down to MD, and mow the lawn down here.

It poured on Sunday and Monday so that meant mowing had to happen this morning. Those two extra rainy days, plus more than a week's worth of growth made this a daunting task. If I had a tractor, the grass could have been baled rather than mowed. Halfway through, I started thinking this might be a two beer job.

And it was. 

P.S. I will eventually tell you about Fort Collins and my two visits to The Loopy Ewe, but right now I'm in MD and the yarn I bought is in NJ. The post just wouldn't be the same without photos, but I will give you a small hint until I'm home and can take photos; I didn't limit my purchases to just beads (just as you all predicted)!

Sometimes Monday ...

... is a bit of a jumble. The yarn for the MDK blanket that Kat is leading arrived while I was gone, but between unpacking, laundry, picking from our garden gone rampant, and blanching and freezing 10 gallons of string beans, I didn't have time to package and mail it to the recipients on Saturday. So the yarn made the trip to Maryland with me, and I will be exploring my new neighborhood a bit more when I walk the mile to the post office with my 12 packages. If you're participating, get your needles ready for a square or two!

I did notice something interesting while I was checking out the yarn. I've been thinking I might need to knit an afghan this winter for the new furniture down here. When I dumped out the huge bag of yarn, I started considering how well the colors went with the plain grayish-brown sofa. We also have a chair with lots of multicolored circles on the upholstery, and I think this potential afghan could work perfectly if I add a nice deep red. I just might be ordering yarn for myself (as soon as I finish a Match & Move and several Hitchhikers).  :-)

Three on Thursday

Joining Carole for Three on Thursday, and today it's with three things that should be easy to find, but were not. Let me explain ...

The house in MD is fairly liveable, and I'm determined not to clutter it up with too much "stuff". When I finally had time to sit and knit, I was also enjoying a nice cup of tea. I didn't want to mess up the brand new furniture, but the washcloth I set my mug on just didn't look very nice. My search for simple coasters took me to Walmart, a nearby knick-knack type shop, and 45 minutes away to Target before I admitted defeat and ordered them from Amazon. 

The same thing happened in my search for a lint brush. I was certain that I could find one at Walmart, but apparently people in our area aren't too linty or they don't care if they are. Amazon came through again.

My latest search was the most difficult. Justin had his windshield tinted at the top and they had to remove his EZ Pass adhesive strips to do the job. I thought replacement strips would be easy to find, so I checked Walmart once again (they sell the EZ Pass transponder) and stopped at the EZ Pass office at one of the bridges between NJ and PA, but no luck. The guy at the EZ Pass office recommended that I check with the DMV but they just said no and wished me luck. I did check Amazon, but $14.99 seemed a little pricey for two small strips. In my online search, I found out that the adhesive is called 3M™ Dual Lock™ fastener. When I searched with that term, I found that Lowes stocks it. Success at last - four strips for $3.84!

I don't know if I'm a poor shopper or just don't know where to find these small necessities of life, but I hope I don't have to go on any more wild goose chases in the near future.

Head on over here to read more Three on Thursday posts.
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I'm heading to CO tomorrow, so I'll be back here in a week or so. I hope to post once or twice, but no promises. :-)

Unraveled Wednesday

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.

My current knitting is still Match & Move, which looks much the same as last week, only about ten rows longer. To spare you the same old photo, I'm going to show you what I hope might be some future knitting. Ryan has a medical procedure scheduled so I'm going back to CO on Friday to do some medically-related mothering. I was just there in June, but I'm always glad to visit. Don't tell anyone, but I may also have a small ulterior motive. The Loopy Ewe finished moving to their new location a few weeks ago, and I'm hoping to have time to check it out. I bought way too much yarn at TLE in June, and this Hedgehog Fibers in Spell is what has been calling to me. I have an idea that requires beads, but the ones I ordered after I bought the yarn are not exactly what I was hoping for - too much blue and not enough purply-pink. (The beads actually look better in the photo than they do in person.)

So I'd like to visit the New Loopy, see if they have beads that coordinate better, and that is all I'm going to buy. Maybe beads and just one skein of yarn, possibly two if I'm overcome by yarn fumes. Of course, a Starry Night Mug is a must if there are any in stock when I get there. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. :-)

I've recently felt the need for comfort and humor in my reading, so I've loaded lots of John Finnemore on my ipod. He's a British comedy writer and actor who has done a couple of BBC radio shows that I love. One is Cabin Pressure (about a charter jet business called MJN Air) with Finnemore, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephanie Cole, and Roger Allam. (You'll recognize Allam as DI Fred Thursday on Endeavour.) It's probably one of the funniest things I've ever listened to, with lots of clever writing. John Finnemore also writes and performs in another BBC Radio 4 comedy called Souvenir Programme. Listening to these is hit or miss on BBC, but they are all available on Audible. So even though my current "reading" isn't books at all, these radio shows will provide plenty of entertainment when I travel in a few days.

What are you making and reading this week?

135 minutes

Yesterday I grumbled about having to do too many loads of laundry, and several people pointed out that they were grateful for having a washing machine, dryer, and help doing the job. Those are all good and valid points, and I'm glad to have reminders about gratitude.

Today I'm going to complain less and tell you why my heart is now filled with gratitude. Something happened last week, and while I hate cryptic posts, I can't talk about the details of this story. Let's just say it was a BIG DEAL, big enough that I had to call a CPA and meet with the lawyer to make sure that what had been done was not unlawful or illegal. It was not, just dishonest, unscrupulous, and I would call it immoral. It was too big for me to even be angry, but I was shocked to my very core (and I don't mean that in a funny or hyperbolic way.)

I talked to John and Justin about it, and they helped me to calm down a bit. I've been trying hard to put it out of my mind, calm down, not obsess or be bitter, and maybe even begin to let go. Then Ryan called last night, and I was compelled to describe the situation and ask his opinion. That's where my gratitude begins.

He listened intently, broke down the situation into its parts, explained what he saw as the problems (multiple lies of omission, duplicity, underhandedness, and subterfuge), and agreed that my feelings were completely valid. The older I get, the more shades of gray I can see, so I don't always feel that I am right. Even though Ryan is my not-impartial son, it still felt wonderful to have him explain logically why I was right this time. This led us to further discussion about clear thinking, correct conclusions, and confidence. It was a fascinating chat, and he even helped me see some humor in the whole thing. 

I'm very happy that now when I think about what happened, I'm reminded that I am so lucky to have a son who will talk with me for 135 minutes (and 23 seconds!) and the hurt I felt is no longer top in my mind. What I now have is a heart overflowing with gratitude for Ryan, his clear thinking, and for 135 minutes of his caring conversation. 

Sometimes Monday ...

... is for dealing with mountains of the mundane.

(and this doesn't include the load of towels that's already in the washing machine.)

Happy Laundry Day!