The sign is gone and so are the horses, except for the one by the old house. The first barn looked empty. There was none of the horse paraphernalia around. All I saw was one young barn cat. She was all lovey. At first I thought she was in heat, but then I realized that she was lonely. She was used to having people around. I probably could have taken her home, but if I went anywhere with her, it would have been to the vet for a thorough physical examination. Even then I couldn’t bring her in my house until I knew the test results. Walking around the barn, I worried about the fate of the barn cats. There was another one sitting in the sun. When I looked is the second barn, I saw the bicycle that belonged to the old caretaker. I instantly felt better. I had often seen him feeding the cats. I felt that he would take care of them. I headed on down the drive to sit by the river.
What’s On My Needles
November 15, 2010I opened a drawer and I found two old Colinette kits. They were similar in color so I decided to make a sweater out of mitered squares. I think I may have a pattern somewhere, but for now, I am winging it. 
I am also thinking about a new hat. I haven’t been able to find most of my hats and I thought I’d use the rest of my last socks to make one. Here we have miters again. They are so much fun.
But, wait!
I saw this pattern and I thought that it would be perfect for Jenn. So far, I have only made one change(other than using different yarn than mentioned). When going from the garter rows to the leaf pattern there is a row of yarn over increases which I found ugly so I made Make One increases–a much better looking increase. I am not certain that I like the pink I chose, but I can always give her two.
You know, I still haven’t gotten around to posting my ND pictures. I should do that.
“Report Suspicious Activity…………”
November 13, 2010Why is this message so important that it must be put on every programmable road sign when there is nothing to report? I was driving home to my beloved Delaware this morning and I was confronted with this no less than six times. I can understand having them announce an accident at a certain location, a road that is closed, high winds, bad weather and even slow traffic. But why can’t they be just left blank when there is nothing happening? And why this message? It’s a joke. It’s distracting. Here you are, heading home after a long day. You notice the sign and try to read it while trying to keep track of all that’s going on around you. You are expecting a warning and it’s the same stupid message. After a while, you just stop looking at it. It’s far safer to keep your eyes on the road. So what is the real need for these signs? I don’t get it.
In Reisterstown for a Few Days
November 12, 2010I couldn’t get a good connection yesterday and today I am pretty tired so this will be short. I got in about noon and I had things to do across town. I wanted to finish and get back to Reisterstown before travel got bad, but I didn’t make it and I found myself sitting on the beltway. I missed LSD. Today was better. We went to PA and Jenn drove. As usual we more than we planned. It’s a good thing we only go once a year. Tomorrow, it’s Girls Day Out.
Chesapeake Waste
November 9, 2010This is the new trash company in our area. Several months ago, we all got letters telling us how wonderfully cheap they were. They even went door to door and several people signed up. I am so glad we didn’t. We are naturally suspicious and prefer to ‘wait and see’. They wanted a signed one year contract and they are based in Maryland. These two things are equally offensive to us. And what do you get for this cheap price? They use old trucks that leak and beltch dark smoke. If they drop something, it stays there. Every Tuesday morning, there is all matter of trash on my street. I can definitely do without their services.
Yesterday
November 8, 2010I was going to blog. Really, I was. When I sat down with my laptop. my mind went blank. And what was I going to talk about? I’m still not certain. It was the first day of Standard TIme so I was up an hour earlier. I had time for a nice breakfast, a walk, some reading, some knitting and a long hot shower before leaving for knitting group. I still left early. I needed gas and I wanted to stop at Staples to get a book spiralled. Is that a word? I don’t know anymore. There are so many new ones out there. The stop at Staples was a waste of my time. They said it would be about an hour before they could help me and that I could leave my book. I said, “No thanks. I’ll be back in two weeks.” They said they were always very busy on the weekend. This is a lie because I always come on Sundays before my group starts. And the job they were doing? It seemed to be watching the customer operate one of the big machines. Huh?
Group, as usual, was a lot of fun. I wore my new socks. I love them. They are so me. Betty started talking about my socks so I flipped my clogs off and pointed to my feet. She started laughing. She didn’t realize that I was wearing them. She’s one of those people who you want to make laugh just to hear her.
Maria made NO progress on the fringe of her shawl. She kept complaining that it didn’t look right. She kept losing the yarn overs. I hope I got her on the right track. I told her she can’t do anything new until she finishes the fringe. Fat chance of that happening. She’s all ready planning her next shawl and she has the yarn for it. I really like the pattern she found. Maybe I’ll do it, too.
At this point I was going to show you what I have started. Unfortunately, my laptop and my camera are not on speaking terms with each other today. This has happened before, but I do not currently feel like fixing it. But there is always cat pictures.
This is Miss Kitty. She is a Certified Bed Cat. She will sleep with you every night when you visit my girlfriend in Bismarck. And, believe me, you need at least one of these when you go there.
And here’s Flo. She missed my lap so much while I was gone. She’s been trying very hard to make up for it.
And here’s Cora enjoying the fire. She didn’t even realize that I was gone.
Montgolfiere
November 6, 2010
These socks were a bit challenging, but well worth it. The instructions said to make your favorite heel with the main color, but I like a two color heel so that’s what I did. Originally, I was going to make the short row heel, but these socks were mostly made on my trip and I didn’t have my reference books handy. I should say that I didn’t have Lucy Neatby’s Cool Socks Warm Feet book. It has the best instructions.
Montgolfiere is written by Stephanie van der Linden. It is a free on-line pattern. At least I think it’s free. I printed quite some time ago. Here’s the website I found on the last page. I probably found it coming from the opposite direction so I’m not making any promises. She also has a new sock book that I love.
“What’s for Supper?”
November 5, 2010I really didn’t want to hear those words. Was it that late? “I don’t know. I’m busy.” When I’m working on something, I hate to stop in the middle. It has never occurred to him that I might want to finish what I’m doing before doing what he wants. So I ignore him and keep working. I was almost finished anyway. What’s an extra 15 or 20 minutes? What was I doing? I was making my tunic pattern in another size. I was hoping to use the same facings, but they just refused to fit. I managed to cut new ones out of some scraps. I headed to the kitchen and started digging around. I found some small red potatoes that I had bought at a vegetable stand that had closed about a month so I figured it was time to eat them. I washed and scraped them and put them in the microwave. I found some frozen scallops which I thawed in the sink. What about veggies? Well, there’s leftovers and corn(Doug’s favorite). I sautéed the scallops with a little butter, parsley, dill, onion, garlic and bacon. They were good. Doug dumped salsa on his. He dumps salsa on just about everything. Sometimes I wonder.
Watermelon Placemats
November 4, 2010
I thought that I would never get these finished. I had made the first one about three years ago when I bought my Sapphire. The place was having a little class. Materials were provided. About a year ago, I saw the same fabric in a sale bin. I thought, ‘Why not.’ I looked around and found the same ribbon and I knew I had fleece batting. I managed to cut out five more placements. I sewed on ribbon untill I ran out. I started with a double needle that proceeded to make me crazy so I reverted to a zigzag stitch. My lines aren’t all that straight, but I think the embroidery helps detract. And, of course, I couldn’t put the same thing on each one. I was thoroughly bored after four designs so I stopped. They refused to go together nicely and I did some chopping and some swearing, but I think they were worth the effort.
And what’s next? I’ve been thinking. Sweetums could use a little quilt for his nightstand. I have one on mine that he thinks is pretty nifty. I also want to make a fleece tunic. I need to make a new pattern. With everything moved around, I couldn’t find my pattern boxes. Do I need to make any Christmas gifts? ARRGHH!!
Flight Home
November 3, 2010Well. The plane was full and there were people standing around hoping for no-shows. This was not comforting. A few days before the middle seat next to me was still unsold. And what did I find when I got to my seat? You guessed it. It was a big burly guy who thought he was entitled to both armrests. Was I going to let that happen? Like hell! I spent quite a bit of time getting settled and generally acting like a helpless old lady. Before he knew it, he was reaching for something. When he tried to lean back, there was my shoulder and arm relaxing on the armrest and I was busy with my knitting. They stayed there the rest of the flight. He tried to lean on me a few times, but I ignored him. He never made eye contact or said one word to me. He just grumbled and shifted in his seat a lot. I hate it when someone acts like they are entitled and pretend that you are not even there. It is so unnecessary.
Up a Creek in Lower Slower Delaware 