Cold and Windy

And that was just me.  No, not really, although I do still have the tail end of the cold hanging on.  A little sinus drainage, a little chest tightness, a little cough, my hearing still at half-mast.  Day 9 of the cold and I think I'm winning.  The weather was cold and windy today.  I zoomed over to the pharmacy to pick up some little cough pills that I got a few years ago that really help me sleep nights and wished I'd put on a hat.  Without the bird feeders I just don't look outside as much as I used to.  There's really nothing to see.  I don't like it.  With all the gray days and crap weather there's not much to look at in the sky either.  Arrgh!  (makes finding things to blog rather difficult)



Last night I cast on stitches for Advent garland mitten number eleven and picked it up this morning to knit.  Then I thought about how it was easier to knit tubes in the round with Magic Loop rather than those tangly Double Pointed Needles so I moved the stitches over and got moving.  But when I got to the thumb I was stymied.  I sat and frowned at the directions, at the knitting, back at the directions until I had it.  I used a couple DPNs to knit the thumb, keeping the rest of the stitches on the circular needle until the thumb was done.  Anyway, I finished the thumb and now it's time to get back to mitten-ing.  One more mitten and the garland parts are done except for the crocheted ropes to hang the mittens and stockings on.  I will totally get this done before next Advent.

I took a break from knitting the mitten to go downstairs to sew up another travel dresser tray.  I need to make a few of them to have on hand so I don't have to keep going down there to make one every time I want to give one away.  I keep meaning to do that, and make some bowl cozies too.  One of these days I'll get it together enough to do a little work ahead.

04 January--Barbara Malcolm, Spies Don't Retire. 

The sun had barely peeked over the horizon when the snorkelers gathered.  The deep rumble of the idling engines and the stink of diesel added to the feeling of running away from home felt by George and Dimitri.  They were both looking forward to spending a day without having to look over their shoulders to make sure that their wives weren’t around.  Several months into their membership in the club they had ceased to worry about tales being carried back to Sonia and Irina.  Enough of the men in the group were members just to escape the scrutiny of their wives' eagle eyes that the unofficial motto of the club seemed to be “what happens at snorkeling, stays at snorkeling.”

Davis and Bunny, Franz’s dreadlocked first mate, helped stow all the gear on deck and put the coolers filled with drinks and food under the awning near the controls.  Dimitri had used yards of duct tape to secure the lid on a big Styrofoam cooler and bungees to close the Coleman’s lid so nothing got lost or juggled out on the crossing.  By 8 a.m. everyone was onboard, all the gear was stowed and the lines were untied from the pier.

This has been the oddest week, last week too.  Must be those holidays in the middle that made Thursday seem like Monday and then there was Friday right there.  As much as I enjoyed the holidays I'll be glad to get back to regular old days/weeks.  And make a start on getting all the Christmas finery boxed up and put away for another eleven months.  Whew.
--Barbara

Half-Sunny Day

It was warm-ish and partly sunny today so I ventured out.  I stopped at the bank, then took

my black-and-red geek glasses back to Eyemart Express because one of the little silver buttons fell off the front.  Well.  They didn't have more black-and-red frames so I asked if they had any color and they did.  Black-and-crystal (that means clear).  So I acquiesced.  I'm gracious that way.  Now I have red glasses and green glasses and neutral black-and-crystal glasses.  I'm styling.

From there I went to the DMV to see about getting a REAL ID driver's license because we'll need them to fly starting in October.  There were a lot of cars in the lot and when I went in I found all of the drivers.  In a line from the desk to the door, up the side wall and curling across the front of the counters.  The men I talked to said it had only taken them 20 minutes to go from the end of the line, way down there, to the door where I stood.  I looked at the line and thought.  And decided to go back another day.  I think on the DMV website there's a FAQs section and I'll bet that it'll tell me when's a good time to go.




This afternoon and evening I knitted the last of the Advent garland sockies so now I have an even dozen.  I need to knit two more mittens and then I'll be close to finally finishing this project that's over four years old.  Time for it to be done.




02 January--Barbara Malcolm, Spies Don't Retire. 

Preparations for their day on Arawak went swiftly.  The snorkeling group voted unanimously to rent Franz’s boat for the day.

Both of their wives asked if there was a radio onboard and they were happy to be able to say yes and get on with their outing.  By that time neither Irina nor Sonia raised too many objections to the fact that their husbands would be spending the day together.  The constant worry that their opposite number would be spending the day looking to pry secrets from them had seemingly abated.  Irina was especially casual when Dimitri told her about the day on the boat.  She merely reminded him to take a hat and his “disgusting rubber suit” so that he didn’t get sunburned.  Sonia waved a hand at George saying, “I’ve got a gallery showing coming up and you know cruise ship season is nearly upon us.  I don’t have time to go gallivanting off on a snorkel trip with you.  Maybe I can go next time.”

Thank god, George thought, I don’t have to tap dance around to discourage her from coming.  He was sure that there was no way Irina would want to tag along with them.  Dimitri had said that she hated to even go into the ocean, hated the feeling of salt water on her skin and the idea of the creatures that lived, died, and pooped in the water that was touching her.  George thought it was pretty funny that someone as self-controlled as Irina seemed to be freaked out over a little diluted fish poop, but he was grateful all the same.

Plans for the outing went smoothly; enough people signed up so the rental fee was easily covered, they got permission from the Marine Park office to tie up at the mooring maintained by them on the leeward side of Arawak Island, and the last cargo freighter had brought six pallets of charcoal so they wouldn’t have to cook burgers over a fire fueled by burning wood scraps and cactus carcasses.  Davis arranged to tie up Franz’ ferryboat at the pier just past the customs office so there was plenty of parking nearby and lots of room on the pier for the mountain of gear they planned to take.

Tomorrow LC will be six years old.  Unbelievable.  

I was right about the cough's turn to wake me up in the night last night.  It's like there's a saw blade in my throat.  I don't like it.  I don't like my ears aching and my hearing being at about half-mast.  Not fair.
--Barbara

I Keep Falling Asleep

 

I feel like I'm getting better.  My head's not as stuffed up as it was but every time I sit down, whether on the couch or at the table, I fall asleep.  Not for long, maybe 30 minutes max, but it's always a surprise.  The cough isn't too annoying or persistent and it hasn't awakened me in the night--yet.  Watch, that'll happen tonight now that I've brought it up.

 

When I went downstairs to send the felted hat for another couple whirls through the washer on hot with a pair of jeans I poked around in the three boxes of Christmas decorations that I haven't opened in about 10 years.  I found this little Santa that DS carved in 1997 and a bunch of blown Mount St. Helen's glass ornaments I'd forgotten about. (they used ash from the volcanic eruption to color the glass)  So on New Year's Day I hauled them upstairs and hung them on the tree.  I thought about hauling up the storage tote and getting started taking down the tree, etc. but I just didn't have the energy or gumption for the task.





The amaryllis leaves are still reaching for the sky.  Most of them are at 17" but the tallest one is at 18".  I looked up online why I've got leaves without a flower and suspect that it's too much water and too little sunlight.  The water part I can control but the sunshine?  Not so easy.


 



Although the sun did shine for much of today.  My spirits were uplifted by the bright sun on yesterday's new snow.




For the first time in probably 20 years I sat and watched the Rose Parade on TV this morning.  I don't know why I decided to watch.  I find the announcers slightly annoying, although these were better than the Macy's parade announcers.  Those people were so wrapped up in their guests and themselves that they rarely showed the balloons or bands, which is what I want to see.  *flings hands up in despair*





I finished up the eleventh little sockie (I need 12) for the Advent garland I started making in 2016.  I'm determined to get the last socks and mittens done quickly, get the garlands crocheted, and get it all put together to be ready for someone next December.





01 January--Barbara Malcolm, Spies Don't Retire. 

It didn’t take George long to track down Davis to see about chartering Franz’s fast ferry.  By then Franz had come through the surgery and was resting at home and doing physical therapy.  He insisted on being part of the planning.  “I’m dying of boredom here at home,” he said, “and I’m driving Maggie nuts too.  She wants me out of the house and out of her hair.”

Davis shook his head.  “Ma is already trying to get me to drive Pop down to the office so he can bedevil the secretary instead of her.  I’ll bring Pop over and we can make a plan.”

“Uh, no,” George said too quickly, earning himself a sidelong look from the younger man.  “Sonia feels the same about me being in the house all the time.  Why don’t I take you and your pop to lunch in the next few days, say to the Rose Inn, and we can hash it all out.”

Davis agreed and called his father who agreed too.  As he hung up his phone, Davis said, “Pop is looking forward to it.  How’s Wednesday?” 

“I’ll check with Dimitri and call you back but that should be good.  Pencil us in.”

Wednesday saw four men, two islanders and two expats, seated in the dining room of the Rose Inn.  George and Dimitri had been there enough that the young waitress brought their coffee without being asked.  Franz was very specific about how he wanted his lunch prepared; he even asked that the cook come out to speak with him.  “I’m not in any hurry to go back and have more of my blood vessels scrubbed out so I’m watching what I eat,” he said nodding his head emphatically.

Happy New Year!  Here's hoping that today is the first day of a good year.  I'd say " a great year" but I feel like that'd jinx it into being a rotten year so I'm going to hope for good and be happy with what I get.
--Barbara