Excuse Me?

Has anyone seen my camera? No? Okay. Neither have I.

Well, I am nearly finished with the Snapdragon flip top mitts designed by Ysolda Teague. They are a gift for an amazing teacher who deserves so much more.

The pattern is well charted, and very clear. The design is really lovely, and since they are one of my favorite things to knit - mittens - it has been fun to knit them.

When I find my camera I'll post some nice photos but for now you can look at what's on Ravelry.

Is it Fall Yet?

Ollie at home in some of my wool stash.

I want to wear a sweater. and mittens. and wool socks.


Enough with the heat already! I need to be able to wear some wool.


Wait a minute...



I don't have as much finished as I'd like....



I had better hurry up!

Reservations

...made for Sock Summit 2011!

The Branch and the Pole and the Drama

Here are some photos of last Saturday's branch and utility pole drama.
It's funny how quiet and calm it looks in photos.



Here is a view of the broken branch resting on the wires. You can see the pole leaning over, pulling away from the building. When we first saw this, there was quite a bit of smoke and embers.



This is a better view of the pole, which cracked off at the bottom.



The pole and the tree...



Aha! There is the the spot that had been hit by lightning in the spring - it is charred, and then the branch was weakened and broke.



Chicago's finest kept us safe with this lovely yellow tape.



My first truck full of heroes. I didn't photograph them in progress because I didn't want to distract them with flashes. They were awesome and very interesting to watch.



My second truck full of heroes - and whoa! they were goooood looking! They were super awesome, fast, and very nice. Thanks guys! Come back again anytime, just take your shirts off, okay?



All better, and there's the stump of the branch. The rest of it is in our very unpleasant neighbor's yard.



The magical brace that made everything okay again.


The end.

What Next?

Excuse me, do I have a curse stuck in my teeth?

Okay. Let's make a list of this summer's mishaps.

Not necessarily in order.

• Cracking plaster on the interior.
• Cat pee.
• Broken sewer line.
• C#2 needs a root canal. And braces. And extractions.
• Cat pee.
• Gaping hole in wall.
• Furniture and stuff everywhere to accommodate all interior work.
• Computer crashed, lost all of my old emails.
• Cat with bladder stone, poor Cupcake! That explains the cat pee!
• Hole in the ground along the foundation.
• Air conditioner only works in 70% of rooms.
• Plaster repair.
• Masonry crud and grit everywhere.
• Had to remove all furniture from bedroom, sleeping on sofa - for a couple of weeks!
• Plaster dust everywhere.
• Computer $@#% again!!!
• D. made bacon, and when I started the kettle for tea, the paper towel under the bacon caught fire.
• Smelled smoke, assumed it was paper towels.
• Heard firefighters in front of house, and discovered neighbor's tree had a branch on fire because it was pulling the electrical wires right next to our house!
• Utility pole was at a 30 degree angle, with smoke and sparks.
• Large pop! and lost electricity for the whole day.

...and the thing is...this is not even everything.

Oh, well.

My New Computer!!!

Crashed about a month ago, and as of yesterday doesn't let me log in to Windows.


At all.


A Computer Equivalent to Rubbish must be what Acer stands for....



@#$#%^#$&^&*(()*(&^%#$#@##%^$%^!!!!!!!!!!!!