I got away earlier with my writing yesterday and was amazed how busy The Attic was when I got there around, oh, 10:45 maybe. I was lucky to get a table to spread out on and very lucky I didn't need an outlet for my laptop. I skimmed the first part of the manuscript to find a place to tuck that little scene piece I found last Friday into and managed to incorporate a tiny near-crisis into the scene. See, I'm too nice to my characters, I want their lives to be all sweetness and light but that makes for a boring story so I'm going back and putting in a few flat tires and looming Mack trucks just to rocky up the road to bliss a bit. Once I had that done to my semi-satisfaction, I tackled the next chapter in the rewrite. That one was pretty easy to do, just a few tense changes and a pulling back from the brink of shoving Rose and Iggy into the sack, and a retyping. It would be so much easier to just cut and paste and only rewrite/rekey the pieces that need changing but I've noticed that words are missing and some things need to be reworded so, as much as I hate to admit it, Judy's right about the whole "rekeying" thing. So that means my goal of "fixing the tweak and rewriting 2 chapters by Nov. 1" is nearly accomplished. In fact, I think I'll just rewrite that goal and resolve to do another chapter next Friday *nods confidently*
It's cold this morning. No, that's not right. It's damn cold this morning. So cold that I don't really want to look at the thermometer. I went out to take a picture of the dawn sky and nearly froze my hoo-hoos off, and the birdbath water was frozen solid. None of the plants look frost killed--yet--but that can't be too far away. I guess I'll go down to get a long-sleeved shirt and dig out a real wool sweater to wear to the Knit-away today. Or maybe I'll wear a cotton sweater with a wool shawl. But I'm for sure wearing a jacket, that's not an option.
Speaking of the Knit-away, with Durwood's help (he's a champion slicer and chopper of veggies) I made a nice big bowl of slaw with mustard dressing. I think it's yummy, I hope the knitters do too. Also I hope there's enough for me to take some to work for lunches next week--with a sandwich too, of course. I grabbed some clear plastic ornaments at Michaels last night and have some neon yarns I got at Goodwill to knit into ornament sweaters. Yes, I've got some red and green too but our tree isn't a traditional red and green Christmas tree so I thought some neon ornaments might be an interesting addition. I've also left the Sudoku yarns, etc. in my knitting basket in case I get bored or frustrated with ornamenting so I won't waste the day. I finished Sudoku Berry #3 last night but didn't crochet the next block together but that's in my knitting basket too so maybe that's what I'll do if I get tired of knitting sweaters for balls.
I got a wild hair last week and searched eBay for a set of Childcraft books like I had when I was a kid. I found some in pretty good condition and for a price I thought wasn't robbery so I ordered them, and they came yesterday. I had a lovely stroll down memory lane paging through a couple of the volumes. I hope LC will like the stories and pictures as much as I did when I was a kid. She's a little young for them right now but one of these days she'll be ready for paper book pages and I'll be ready with the stories that Great-grandma Maralee read to Meemaw when she was a little girl.
October 17--Andrew Child, Airliner Takeoff. Takeoff was Amy's favorite part of flying. Oh, she enjoyed deciding what to pack and checking in at the desk. She didn't even mind all of the screenings and security checkpoints. She couldn't seem to remember to wear slip-on shoes but retying her shoes wasn't a big annoyance. She tried to get settled at her flight's gate early enough to get that prime seat close enough to the agent's counter so she could hear everything that was said but also afforded her optimum people-watching. She wasn't one of those people that ignored the orderly boarding directions nor did she shove her carry-on in the first available overhead instead of the one over her seat. She believed in playing fair. Once she was in her seat with her seatbelt securely fastened her heart beat faster in anticipation of takeoff. Soon the plane lurched away from the gate to taxi to the end of the runway. She knew the moment was imminent when the plane stopped at the end of the runway and the pilot revved the engines while standing on the brakes. When the jet whine reached an unbearable pitch the plane began to roll and gravity pressed her back in her seat. She loved it. She watched the ground race by and soon gravity loosed its hold on the big silver bird. The pilot pointed the nose skyward and they were off to adventure in lands unknown. Or to the main office in Cleveland.
Now I've got to go get myself dolled up or at least clean and go play with yarn and knitters all day. Stay warm.
--Barbara
I can get a lot of knitting done when I'm listening. I suspected that was the case but yesterday proved it. (how come there's two "O"s in choose but only one in prove? the "OO" sound is the same.) Customers and phone calls came in clumps yesterday so there was lots of in-between time when I could listen to my audiobook (W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton) and knit on a Sudoku square. I'd barely started Sudoku Snow #3 on Wednesday night, got it almost done at work, and then finished it while listening to a speaker in the evening. The ADRC (Aging & Disability Resource Center) had a free talk by a nationally known speaker, Paul somebody (who calls himself "the Ripples guy" and no, he didn't talk about potato chips), about taking care of yourself when you're taking care of someone else. He was pretty good, not overly ooey-gooey, touchy-feely, and humorous while delivering a cliched but good reminder kind of message. During his 1 1/2 hour talk I got Snow #3 square done and Berry #3 almost halfway. Hmm, maybe I knit faster when I'm listening? Anyway, that means I can finish Berry #3 today and then crochet the nine squares into block #3 tonight and tomorrow. Maybe. See, I'm going to shower and go off to write as soon as I'm done here, then I need to whizz through the grocery for a few ingredients to make a yummy salad for tomorrow's Knit-away Day, then Durwood needs a chest x-ray this afternoon (just checking up); I have to figure out what I'm taking to knit on tomorrow, and then go to Friday Night Knitting. It's going to be a full day. But then I get to run off and play with yarn and knitters all day tomorrow. Yay!
I slept past sunrise this morning so I didn't get pictures of pretty colors in the clouds but I thought the risen sun in the clouds was picture-worthy, don't you? There was a cardinal visiting the platform feeder and a chipmunk with bulging cheek pouches perched on top of my patio chair nibbling on a seed. The sedum is blooming and looks gorgeous against the ferns in the background. There are freeze warnings out for last night and the next couple nights but so far the ferns are okay. They're my barometer. I've already brought in the bay leaf plant so that's safe for another winter. (if I remember to water it, that is)
October 16--Richard Pasley, Straight Road. The centerline dashes slid under the car as Joanna drove east. The road was straight and flat. After a while she felt like the road was moving and her car was standing still. No radio station signal reached out into this desolate landscape so the only sound was the sticky sound of tires on hot asphalt. If the CD player in her old Camry worked she'd have gotten some Goodwill CDs to play. Instead she spent the miles singing every song she could remember as loud as she could to keep the lonesome road demons at bay.
Don't ask me, I don't know where she's going or why. Time to shower and then run off to play with words. Maybe I can shove a few into submission today. Or at least go back and tweak the place that cropped up last Friday. Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara
I got it. Yesterday the pattern designer sent me more detailed instructions on how to crochet a snowball and I got it. Why crochet snowballs, you ask? Well, they'll be fun for an indoor snowball fight or for those people who live where there's very little snow. I know, it sounds silly but it makes me smile and these days something that makes me smile is golden.
Once I had the snowball done I finished Sudoku Berry #3 and started Sudoku Snow #3. When Sudoku Berry #3 is done and I turn the squares into a block I'll have one-third of the thing done. Of course I'll still have to knit the strips to join the blocks, but I'm a lot closer to having this afghan finished every day.
There was not one shred of clouds in the sky this morning to catch some sunrise pink. All we had was dawn blue and sunrise yellow. Not a bad view. There was a Sharp-shinned Hawk sitting on the fence while I was getting set to do my yoga but it flew away just as I picked up the camera. I swear the birds know when I pick it up. They'll be sitting there posed all pretty and when I grab the camera they snatch a seed or peanut and fly away just as I get ready to click. Grr.
I found a fun children's book at the library the other day. It's The Trail Game by Herve Tullet. It's a board book too which is good for the toddler set. You open the book and on the bottom of the first page it says "start" so you touch that, then follow the trail to the red half-dot. You turn the top half of the pages until you find the other half of the dot, follow that path to a different color and shape, turn the bottom pages to find that matching shape, etc. It's fun with lots of color and shapes and swooping lines. I confess I looked him up on Amazon yesterday afternoon and I might have ordered three of his other titles for someone small and dear. *tries to look innocent but fails miserably* Check him out if you've got small people in your life. One of the ones I ordered you need a flashlight to read. I can't wait to get them so I can play with them, uh, see if they're appropriate for LC.
October 15--Mark Duran, AV-1001H. Leah lay on her back at the edge of the woods. The sun was nearly set, turning the sky red. The full moon was directly above her and she was sure she could see the Man in the Moon smiling down at her. A distant rumble grew louder until a jet liner came over. It seemed a lot lower than planes usually were and it looked like flames were coming from one of the wings. The sound was so loud that she felt the ground shake. The plane was flying so slowly that it took a while for it to pass over the trees and then there was a god-awful crash behind her. The impact so close-by bounced her up off the ground and a rain of dirt and hot drops rained over her. She jumped up and started to run.
A plane crash--another cheerful start to the day. Time to dress and stuff so I don't show up at work with bad breath and in my jammies. Mrs. Boss frowns on jammies at work. Toodle-oo.
--Barbara
I thought I didn't have anything to say yesterday but today's post may be even shorter. All I did yesterday was a bock of errands--bank, library, grocery, birdseed store--then I filled the bird feeders, loaded the dishwasher, baked a pizza for supper, and ripped an audiobook on CDs into iTunes so I could put it on my iPod Touch to listen to on the go. Written out like that it sounds like a pretty full, productive day but not one bit of it was photogenic.
I didn't knit. The only yarn-y thing I did was try to figure out a crocheted snowball pattern I've been battling since August. I finally messaged the designer on Ravelry to see if she can help me. I hoped for a tutorial video but she didn't make one because she said that then people wouldn't buy her pattern. That makes sense; I'd really like a video, but it makes sense. So here's the "cage", now I just need to figure out the spiral parts that make it look and throw like a snowball. Don't ask me why I'm doing this, besides to make myself frustrated. You know I like to make oddball things. I crocheted a tea set over the last few weeks and I sewed a stove on Sunday, didn't I? *shrugs* See? Oddball stuff.
There are just a few remaining tufts of gorgeous red leaves on the maple tree. I look around at all the still-green maple trees in the neighborhood and it makes me sad, but ours sure is pretty in the morning sunlight.
October 14--Mark Duran, BT-1003 V. The sunset made the clouds look like there was an explosion behind them, but there was no sound, no wind. The bay lay like a blanket as the daylight drifted west. Olivia sat on her porch, a mug of tea in her hand. It was herbal tea, some concoction of leaves and stems. She'd have preferred a glass of wine but wine was a thing of her past, just like Jeremy was.
Okay, another story start that trickled off into scrawls and scribbles as I fell asleep at the switch. It's a sunny, cool day here in beautiful Green Bay, the kind of day I wish would last all year long. Have a good one.
--Barbara
I crossed the bridge this morning early. The sun was trying to peek out but I think it's a losing battle today.
The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers have been visiting. We love seeing them, they love the peanuts.
It was quiet at work yesterday so I got the second Sudoku block put together. I really like the way this looks and can't wait to get it all together.
I ran a bunch of errands this morning and I could use a nap. I don't know why, I think I slept all right all night. I need a nap. It's my day off, I could take a nap. I think I'll go have a little lie-down.
October 13--Douglas Peebles, Space Needle, Seattle, WA. The thing looks like it's going to take off at any minute. It's so self-consciously spacey there on its plaza with other 1962 World's Fair venues huddled around it. People have such grandiose ideas of what life will be like in fifty or a hundred years. In the 1960s we were supposed to have flying cars, like the Jetsons. We don't . We don't have jet packs either or pills that let us breathe underwater. We're not colonizing the Moon or Mars either. I'd like a self-driving car though, so we could go visiting out of state family and not have to steer. I guess they call those Greyhounds.
Well, this is a sparse entry, isn't it? I guess I really do need a nap. Or a snack. A snack might be good...
--Barbara
No, really. We don't have room in our small house for a 3-D kitchen for LC to pretend cook on so I've been puzzling over how to make her one that doesn't take up much room and yesterday I did it. I started with the measurements for a kids' placemat, traced the spoon rest outline, and went from there. I found some gray/brown faux linen in the stash for the top and used a nice upholstery fabric for the back. I dug out some red cotton plaid for the burner, rickrack for the coils, and a stack of buttons for the knob. I sewed on a pinked circle of canvas for the knob backing and Durwood suggested putting in a grommet so that the knob turns. (Very smart, that Durwood.) I used some non-skid drawer liner for backing so it'll stay where she puts it when she's playing and found a package of wide bias binding in Mom's old stuff so I didn't have to buy a thing and now LC has a single-burner "stove." Plus it's washable.
To warm up I made a canvas lining for the toiletries bag I made a few years back. It's toile and that's not very stiff so the bag didn't hold its shape well. It occurred to me that all I needed to do was make another one out of some white canvas, fold the seam allowances back where the zipper should be, and sew it along the existing zipper. Voila! Sturdier bag. I also put some ties on LC's tepee so the leg spreaders stay in place better. It was a sewing day.
I meant it to be a "do nothing" day but only managed to do nothing until about 2 o'clock when I couldn't stand it another minute and went downstairs to sew. I think Durwood finally understands that spending hours downstairs sewing is just as relaxing to me as sitting watching football is to him. Speaking of football, there was a flyover. Two gorgeous fighter jets came screaming over just before the kickoff and I was lucky enough and smart enough to catch them as they came by. I love that. It's actually the only part of football games I like. (I don't know how they let me live here among all these Cheeseheads, do you?)
This morning's sunrise was absolutely beautiful. See?
October 12--Robert Fried, Alps, Gstaad, Switzerland. Thea watched the people hiking on the alpine trail below her. She could tell that they were Americans because they straggled along gawking around, stopping and starting, walking and waiting. The next group to come into view were probably Swiss or maybe even German. They were walking at an even pace and were even in step. She wondered if they lined up in a particular order, measured the distance between each other, and then stepped out in cadence. She thought that sort of life couldn't be relaxing, always needing to be sure that you were doing something correctly. Swiss precision was great for making reliable clocks but she imagined that it played merry hell with spontaneity.
Hmm, stereotype much, Barbara? Ah well, it was late and I'd done all that sewing and thinking. That much thinking can't be good for a person's brain. Oh, I made those potatoes and carrots in the packet in the oven again last night, only I added more carrots, more potatoes, and a little onion but no more coconut oil. It was still delicious and we still made it all go away. I think we may need to buy another bag of baby reds before the week is out. Hey, it's payday. I'm happy to be going to work on this dreary day. Arrivederci!
--Barbara
It took about four cycles in hot water, with a little detergent and the pair of "felting" jeans, but LC's tea set is felted, firmer, and I think, more playable. It could probably use a shave. It's quite fuzzy, but fuzzy's not always a bad thing. The teapot lid didn't shrink as much as the rest of the pot but, hey, it's for a toddler, they're not such harsh judges. Check out yesterday's post for the pre-felting photo for comparison.
The sky was clear and pale yellow when I got up this morning. I never get tired of this view. (Isn't that crazy? By no stretch of the imagination would you call what I see from my patio door a view--there's a raw wood fence, office building roofs, and dumpsters out there, but early in the morning when all that stuff is in silhouette and it's just sky, light, and trees it's pretty darned good.)
Last night I baked some chicken drumsticks for supper and I finally made potato & carrot pockets like Lala cooked over the fire when she was camping and I joined her for supper. We got a bag of baby red potatoes at the grocery, I used all dozen baby carrots left from an abortive soup attempt earlier yesterday, snipped parsley and thyme from the garden. I heaped the veggies into two layers of heavy duty foil, dumped the herbs over top, sprinkled on the tiniest pinch of kosher salt, put in a teaspoon of coconut oil, and baked it alongside the chicken. Yum. I'll be making the same thing again tonight to go with the other 2 drumsticks, only I might add a few onions and another carrot. Thanks for the idea, Lala, I'm sorry it took me so long to make again.
October 11--Turnbull/Boudreau, Vermont Farm. Vines had grown over the fence wires making them look like they were floating. Macy thought that the old posts leaning every which way looked picturesque but they probably wouldn't keep a lamb from getting out. She patted the pockets of her canvas barn coat looking for the list of repairs the place needed. The list was long, frighteningly long, expensively long. She didn't know where she'd get the money.
There's a home Packer game today. That means that from now until kickoff and then from the end of the game for an hour and a half or so we're virtual prisoners here. Well, there's no way I can go to the grocery at Copps or over to a fabric store or book store. The stadium's between me and all that stuff and I am not willing to brave the football fans to get anywhere. I think I'll go play with the fabric I have. Seeyabye.
--Barbara
I got away earlier with my writing yesterday and was amazed how busy The Attic was when I got there around, oh, 10:45 maybe. I was lucky to get a table to spread out on and very lucky I didn't need an outlet for my laptop. I skimmed the first part of the manuscript to find a place to tuck that little scene piece I found last Friday into and managed to incorporate a tiny near-crisis into the scene. See, I'm too nice to my characters, I want their lives to be all sweetness and light but that makes for a boring story so I'm going back and putting in a few flat tires and looming Mack trucks just to rocky up the road to bliss a bit. Once I had that done to my semi-satisfaction, I tackled the next chapter in the rewrite. That one was pretty easy to do, just a few tense changes and a pulling back from the brink of shoving Rose and Iggy into the sack, and a retyping. It would be so much easier to just cut and paste and only rewrite/rekey the pieces that need changing but I've noticed that words are missing and some things need to be reworded so, as much as I hate to admit it, Judy's right about the whole "rekeying" thing. So that means my goal of "fixing the tweak and rewriting 2 chapters by Nov. 1" is nearly accomplished. In fact, I think I'll just rewrite that goal and resolve to do another chapter next Friday *nods confidently*
It's cold this morning. No, that's not right. It's damn cold this morning. So cold that I don't really want to look at the thermometer. I went out to take a picture of the dawn sky and nearly froze my hoo-hoos off, and the birdbath water was frozen solid. None of the plants look frost killed--yet--but that can't be too far away. I guess I'll go down to get a long-sleeved shirt and dig out a real wool sweater to wear to the Knit-away today. Or maybe I'll wear a cotton sweater with a wool shawl. But I'm for sure wearing a jacket, that's not an option.
Speaking of the Knit-away, with Durwood's help (he's a champion slicer and chopper of veggies) I made a nice big bowl of slaw with mustard dressing. I think it's yummy, I hope the knitters do too. Also I hope there's enough for me to take some to work for lunches next week--with a sandwich too, of course. I grabbed some clear plastic ornaments at Michaels last night and have some neon yarns I got at Goodwill to knit into ornament sweaters. Yes, I've got some red and green too but our tree isn't a traditional red and green Christmas tree so I thought some neon ornaments might be an interesting addition. I've also left the Sudoku yarns, etc. in my knitting basket in case I get bored or frustrated with ornamenting so I won't waste the day. I finished Sudoku Berry #3 last night but didn't crochet the next block together but that's in my knitting basket too so maybe that's what I'll do if I get tired of knitting sweaters for balls.
I got a wild hair last week and searched eBay for a set of Childcraft books like I had when I was a kid. I found some in pretty good condition and for a price I thought wasn't robbery so I ordered them, and they came yesterday. I had a lovely stroll down memory lane paging through a couple of the volumes. I hope LC will like the stories and pictures as much as I did when I was a kid. She's a little young for them right now but one of these days she'll be ready for paper book pages and I'll be ready with the stories that Great-grandma Maralee read to Meemaw when she was a little girl.
