Friday, July 30, 2010

Facebook

I have a Facebook account. I don't post often. I don't chat at all anymore. I considered quitting when all the privacy hoopla was going on because I really don't appreciate having my information being used without my permission.

I decided to keep my Facebook account, because it is fun hearing from old friends, and having an inkling about what they are up to these days. Life is busy for everyone and it makes me feel a bit more connected and vaguely social.

Then I got a message from someone from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in my past.

Here's the back story:

My high school English teacher, Mr. Waldman, was a very interesting man and quite well traveled. One day I was sitting at his desk and I saw a piece of paper with an address from Turkey on it. I asked about it and he said to write to the guy, he'd been Mr. W.'s waiter and wanted a pen pal. Okay, I did. We wrote a bit back and forth, and then we stopped writing and carried on with life.

He found me on Facebook!

I guess that's why it is worth keeping.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Hanging Out with Polly at the Fair

I was at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair over the weekend. It was a really lovely event, and was in air conditioned comfort. I am a wimp when it comes to heat.

There were so many lovely items, and such a variety of items, and wouldn't you know it, we were right in front of The Fold's booth and that darn Socks that Rock was trying to make me buy it! I only bought 1 skein, in Drucilla. I could only resist for so long, you know?



Most of the time I was hanging out with Polly E. Cotton (the E. is for Esther), at the Windy City Knitting Guild booth which was a great deal of fun. Here she is with her creator, N.
Polly is a really incredible piece of art, with a gift of drawing out the oral histories of knitting experience and memory. Many people walked by and said, "Oh, I worked on that...I wonder where my piece is..." it was a lot of fun. We even got a visit from Mr. Bacon.



N. looks nice and happy and friendly - but don't let that kid you! She is evil and doing her best to convince me to join the dark side and start spinning. I resisted, but I did go look at spindles (like I said, The Fold was right behind us). K. on the left was amazing, she has a gift for teaching people how to knit.



It never fails, I go somewhere and think I've taken a ton of photos because I had my camera out of my bag, but this is it.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Yuck.

We had a hole in the street front of our house.



At first sand would appear, and then every now and then water would gush up and out of the hole and down the street. Then there was more water, and then it was kind of smelly.



Then we realized that the water would gush when we showered, washed dishes or did laundry. Uh. Oh.



Yuck. Then we had some waterproofing workers prep for waterproofing, and as the dug the whole along the facade, they inadvertently created a moat. Then it seeped into the basement.
Yeah, extra yuck.



So we couldn't let anything go down the drain, because it would come right back in. The city said 2 weeks. We said, "No way." Flushing a toilet became a weighty decision. Hand washing screeched to a halt. No laundry, no dishes, nothing.



After some VERY serious complaining they came to fix it. The project was much worse than anticipated.



Six drainage tiles replaced.



Fixed. What a relief.



I am so lucky.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Ravelry Re-Categorization

Recently Ravelry requested that we volunteer to help re-categorize the patterns in their incredible database. They offered some amazing prizes to Ravelers who helped out, too!

I spent an afternoon doing that, which was quite interesting and fun as I went through old pattern books and magazines.

Unfortunately, now my queue is going to be MUCH longer!

P.S. Anyone going to the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair? I'll be there!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Really Finished

Yep. Buttonband and all, yes, including buttons.



Thanks to B. who harassed me into just finishing the ridiculously small amount of knitting that remained.



It turned out pretty nicely, I love the colors. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, Avondale, alternated between skeins of same dye lot - they were mill ends and very different.
This is great yarn for baby projects because it is machine washable and quite soft. The buttons were from my the stash of buttons from my MIL.

I decided to not put my tag in the sweater, in case baby turns out to not like things like tags. I stuck it on a card with an extra button, and a small bit of yarn, and washing instructions.

Now onto the next couple of baby sweaters I've got to knit!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Ollie and Cupcake



Cuddling together.



Looking so contented.



Pink and black jellybeans anyone?



A nice summer day's nap. What could be better?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fourth of July

Down on the farm for the Fourth of July. The barn with a barn quilt square...



The cantina, where we eat our meals family style...



The straw bale greenhouse,



home of the weekend's schedule and...



some intense Pokemon action.



However, Pokemon battles were nowhere near as intense as the water fights. Usually upon arrival we are set upon with a barrage of water; balloons, water guns, a hose, whatever.
Weeks ahead of time C#1, and D. work out the strategies. We stop at a place short of our destination to load the weapons, and they are allies upon arrival, but allegiances shift pretty quickly to kids v. adults.

This year the kids had a brilliant plan. They sneakily stockpiled all the water guns, and the water balloon ammo. Great idea! Until this happened...



J. discovered the cache of weapons.



Not looking good. Look at these guys!



They are ruthless. This is WAR, WATER WAR!



This is my lame attempt to capture the action without suffering any hits.

Aaaah. The countryside is so idyllic.