Archive for September, 2010

Just a Common Tabby Cat My Foot!

September 24, 2010

She is making me crazy.  From  spending two nights in a row out to having to get stitches.  I keep telling her she is just a common tabby cat and she can easily be replaced, but does she listen?  No!  She just goes out and gets in more trouble.  Then she curls up around your neck, purrs loudly and kneads you while getting blood all over your favorite Tigger shirt while waiting at the vets.  She knows Mommy will make everything better.  So yesterday, she was scrubbed, shaved and stitched and feeling pretty pooky.   She doesn’t care much for her medicine, but she is still pretty weak.  In a few days, we’ll probably have a hell of a time getting it in her.  She is getting better.  She used the potty this morning and walked to the back bathroom to get a drink of water.  She’s back to sleeping in her cubby in the junk room.  I don’t think she’ll be getting in our bed for a while or pretending she’s another cookie jar on top of my kitchen cabinets.  And where are these stitches?  I wanted to take a picture, but she was too embarrassed and curled her tail around them  I think she called me a pervert.  Her diction is off due to her medication.  I said it was for research.  She told me I was full of it. I promised I wouldn’t say, but I will tell you this.  She won’t be holding her tail high for a while, especially when she running away from something with very sharp claws.  And it’s a good thing her medicine gives her loose BMs.   You know, she wouldn’t have these problems if she would just come in with the others.  But no, she has to stay out and play with her “other” friends.  Bold words for a Common Tabby Cat.

It’s a good thing she’s been fixed.

LSD

September 17, 2010

All right.  Get your minds out of the gutter.  Around here, LSD means Lower Slower Delaware.  Things are different here.  That upper part might as well be part of Philadelphia.  I would also like to thank my Grandson for giving me this sticker.  He knows what Nanny likes.  I display it proudly.

I’ve finished the socks and have started on mittens to match.  With the pattern,doing the thumb gusset was a little hairy, but it turned out well.  I decided to start the cuff with the tan/brown this time.  I think I mentioned that it is lighter than the yellow/orange/green.  Socks get more tugging and pulling than mittens so it should be all right.  Did I mention that I will be delivering these in person?   I finally bit the bullet and booked a flight to Bismarck, ND.  This will be my first time since 9/11.  So many rules!  It’s kind of scary!  I hope I live through it>  At least I’ll have my knitting.

Life in Lower Slower Delaware

September 16, 2010

This cat is not dead.  Look.  I’ve got a headache.  Maybe I’ll blog later.

Cotton Briefs

September 13, 2010

Here we have three pairs of cotton briefs–all the same size.  You will observe that the crotch in the middle is much more narrow than the other two.  Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that is?  In case you are wondering if they may be a store brand, there are not.  They are Haines for crying out loud!  The ones on the right are JMS which is part of Haines.  Does this make sense?  Oh.  And they are also longer, almost too long in fact.  Now.  I am not tall, but my torso is.  My pelvis is wide, hence the desire for a wider crotch.  Yeah.  I’m built like an old world peasant, but I’ll bet I’m a lot better at natural childbirth than you are.  At least, I’ve got something going for me.  Anyway, where was I?  BACK TO PANTIES.  I just don’t understand.  Why the difference?  Thank heavens for Fruit of the Loom.  They fit just right!  Thanks Fruit of the Loom guys.  And what about my Haines and JMS panties?  They are ALL in the Goodwill bag.  I did throw two pairs, but the others I had only worn once.

We got a new RED coffee pot.  The one we had a very small area to pour in the water which made neat pouring practically impossible.  And it was on the right which made pouring almost impossible for me and as much water wound up on the counter as in the pot.  It also had too many doo dads.  This one has a large opening, one on/off switch and it’s RED.  Have I mentioned that my favorite color is RED?  Or have you all ready figured that out yet?  How can I go wrong with a coffeepot that matches my glasses?

In other news, I’m going to Bismarck, ND later next month.  I am having a helluva(great word!) time picking a flight.  It’s a real pain.  When I had to travel for work, there was this guy that we called.  I’d tell him where and when I was going and if I needed a car.  He would call back with the conformation and send me authorization.  It was great.  Now, I’ve got all this other crap to deal with.  It does not seem to matter which website you use.  They all seem to have the same price and the same information. 

And now Sweetums keeps telling me to go on Thursday and return Tuesday.  He says I shouldn’t wear out my welcome.  The way I look at it is I would only have three days to enjoy myself.  Two days would be for travel, one day to unpack and re-pack, one day to unwind.  The way we chat on the phone, I really don’t think I’ll ‘wear out my welcome’.  This is someplace that I have never been before.  I’d like to have enough time to look around.

I Wish I Had Brought my Camera

September 10, 2010

Besides being a perfect day for a walk, there were some great Kodak moments out there.  Looking out over the horse farm, I saw the most beautiful cloud formations.  It was like a Hudson Valley School painting with that almost surreal appearance.  One of my neighbors, an older gentleman, was decked out in a very nice suit and tie.  I’m used to seeing him in a polo shirt, shorts and sandals.  I didn’t ask him where he was going.  I didn’t want to know.  There was a bunch of ducks hanging out on the old pier so we just them(and they watched us) from the other pier.  Plus, it has benches to sit on.  Next on my list, one of those Nordic Cruisers went by.  They’re kind of cool.  Oh.  I forgot the Police boat.  They’re kind of funny looking.

   Look!!  He’s smiling!

Dot is not.

Crabcakes

September 9, 2010

God must love me.  He gave me the ability to make perfect crabcakes.

It’s very simple.  See the beautiful backfin crabmeat on the right?  You just dump it in the bowl of stuff on the left that looks like baby poop.  Form into cakes and cook.

Sunday on the Nanticoke

September 7, 2010

I was heading down to Salisbury for knitting group when my daughter called.  They caught two full bushels of crabs and they were starting to steam them.   OMG!  OMG!  OMG!  I hadn’t had any this year so I was ready.  But the girls were expecting me.  That’s OK because they would be steaming for hours.  I stopped at Wal-Mart to get another cooler and more enormous Hefty bags.  I wished I hadn’t.  The place was a zoo.  It took me ten minutes just to find a parking spot.  This one is super-duper and only has six handicapped spots.  What’s up with that?  If she had called a half hour earlier, I would have gone to Seaford.  That one is only half the size and has a good fifty handicapped spots.   It makes no sense.  I wasted half an hour that should have taken ten.

I was about 30 minutes late to group.  I said I would be leaving at 4PM to go eat crabs in an effort to make everybody jealous.  We talked about some knitty problems and had a little show and tell(always fun).  Maria was late as usual and I helped her with her glove.  She sent me a picture this morning of the first finished one.  YEAH!   Around 3:45 I remembered I had six bags of yarn to get rid of in my van.  So out to the van we trooped.  We took it back in and dumped it on the floor for everyone to pick over.  I even had a bunch of old needles that I knew I would never use.  They took everything.  I am so happy!   The yarn got good homes.

I finally got out of there around 4:30 and headed on down the road.  I still had a good half hour of driving to go.  When I got there they were pigging out on hot crabs.  I joined in.  They still had about a hundred to cook.  Is there anything better than hot steamed crabs?  We all had about ten a piece.  There was also corn on the cob, green beans and hot dogs.  Everything was good.  Observe grandson, please. 

  

We sat and talked for a while and watched the sun set. 

Time for me to go home.

Getting Rid of Yarn

September 4, 2010

It was hard at first.  You look at a cone of thin purple yarn and think, “This would make a nice shawl.”   Do you really want a purple shawl when you’ve got skeins of knock-out beautiful Skacel lace-weight?  Into the bag it goes.  And what’s with this so-called mohair that says acrylic on the label.  Look at this shiny stuff!  What the h**l was I going to make with that?  In an hour, I had filled three bags.  And I haven’t even looked at a quarter of my stash.  So what am I going to do with it?  Yarn sale?  Nay.  It’s not worth the effort.  Do any of my friends want any of it?  Well.  Do you?

No.  I am not getting rid of this yarn.  This is some of what we bought at Frivolous Fibers on Tuesday.  I have a swift and ball winder so I wound them up for a friend.  The lime and the Noro should make a nice pair of mosaic socks with matching hat or gloves–or maybe mittens.

Here is the sock that I have been working on. They are both a wool and nylon which I like for socks.  It’s also good for gloves, especially the snug ones that I prefer.  The tan/brown is from Lang.  It’s almost lace-weight and has a nice halo.  The yellow/green/orange is from Enchanted Knoll Farm in Maine.  It is more tightly spun and a more standard sock weight.  I like the way the two colors play off each other.  I’m going to definitely try this again.  The pattern is simple.  Knit one row. Knit one, slip one on the next.  Alternate the colors and the slips and you get an interesting design.  The little pockets it creates will help keep Arizona feet from freezing in North Dakota.

Out with the Girls

September 2, 2010

OK.  So we’re not girls.  But it sounds a lot better than a bunch of old hags. 

After being off work since May, Maria finally has to go back to work next Tuesday.  We decided a field trip was in order.  So.  Where to go?  Betty would be coming too.  And where hadn’t she been?  Why, Frivolous Fibers of course.  Yeah!!  It’s not a place we care to visit in the summer due to those pesky evil tourists.  But, we figured it wouldn’t be so bad since just about all the schools had started, so off we went. 

I drove as usual.  I like to drive and, well, I have a minivan and everyone fits in comfortably.  Temperatures were in the mid-90s so we had the AC on.  It took awhile to figure out what to do to get air back to Leslie.  She’s got COPD so it’s kind of important.  We had to fiddle with vents and buttons for a while.  You’d think that with a 14-year-old car, I would know by now what to do.  I seldom have anyone in the second seat and I am not big on cold air blowing on me.  I am so glad I had socks on.  

I am certain we spent at least three hours at Frivolous Fibers.  Fortunately, I brought my knitting.  It didn’t take me long to find the yarn that I wanted.  Happily, this place has comfy chairs so I sat down, got out my knitting and waited and waited.  Maria, as usual, went insane.  She saw a scarf that she had to make.  They didn’t have any yarn the same color in the shop.  The clerk called Barbara(Blue Heron Yarn) and she didn’t have any at her studio either.  So someone is going to take it to her(she lives in the next town) so she can make more for Maria.  How cool is that?  In the meantime, Maria wasn’t going to leave without something so she spent a good hour trying to make up her mind.  Of course she wound up some Blue Heron.  Betty went a little crazy, too.  She finally wound up with some silk merino in a soft lavender green sock yarn, also from Blue Heron.  Did I get Blue Heron?  Nope.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t own any.

I also want to mention where we went for lunch/supper.  The lady at the shop told us about it.  She even had a menu.  It’s a place called Sam’s.  It’s on the way back to Route 50, not far from the old part of St Michael’s.  It doesn’t look like much, but the prices are reasonable, the menu is large and the food is wonderful.  And it beats the hell out of those trendy places in town.