Bad Microchip, Bad!

Last night around 10 o'clock when no TV was turned on, when we were both reading and it was quiet in the house, I realized that the furnace fan was turning on, revving a couple times, and then turning off.  I mentioned it to Durwood, he listened too, and we decided that we needed a service call.  I called the fixit people's answering service, the service guy called back, had me turn it off at the thermostat, and when it didn't stop surging, he came over to fix it.  The problem was that same %$#& microchip that gave us such fits last summer when they replaced our air conditioner.  Thank goodness he had one in his truck but I could have lived without needing to stay up until after midnight.  The good news is that we won't have to pay for any of it because it was a faulty part not something broken, but arrrrrgh.  I'm tired today.

When I took my bleary eyes out to get the newspaper this morning shortly before 6:30 (ugh, too early) I saw that some of the daffodils have bloomed and more of the tiny white-with-blue-stripes squills are blooming too.  I want to have flowers year-round that take as little care and bring as much joy as my spring bulbs do.  I'm keeping my eyes on the rhubarb leaves too, I feel a great need for a rhubarb pie or rhubarb cake or rhubarb bread, which was Durwood's idea.  Any of those would be fine.  Maybe I'll make some rhubarb or rhubarb-strawberry jam this year too.  What a great idea, Barbara!

I poked around downstairs Monday night and resurrected the Red Marl Sweater parts and pattern to see what's left to make.  (F.Y.I.--I started it in August of 2010 *sigh*)  When I left off last time, last year during the Olympics, I was at the point of splitting the front for the neck opening, so I did that yesterday and have an inch to go before starting the neck decreases.  Then I'll make the sleeves, which I see I planned to make 2-at-once so they have a fighting chance of being the same length.  I'm sticking with my original Boye interchangeable needles with the stiff cables so that maybe my knitting will match.  I don't have a lot of hope for that after all these long years but I'd like to wear the sweater, just once, before I die.

By the time I got into bed last night I was too darned sleepy to write a poem so I didn't.  That is all.
--Barbara