Nesting

 

We are in that space between summer and fall that I hate. We go from AC to heat all in one day. Cool nights mean outdoor kitty huts needed to be winterized so we got up very early to brave a nearly empty Walmart and Pet Smart to pretty much stock up on everything we might need for a while. Our numbers here are the worst they have been since the pandemic started but most people have the good sense to be masked and distanced, thank goodness. 

The Mister was hating that we took a day off from the kitchen work. We have to get all the cabinets leveled and screwed together before the counter gets here in about 10 days. I haven't filled any of the cabinets yet because of it. We are still also missing the door from one of the pantries. They told us a week, it's been three. Sigh. 

I'm still using my old wall cabinets to hold stuff. We just sat them on the floor. They've come in very handy. 

Since the counter people told us the new one should be here so soon we did not hook the old sink back up. I'm still using my buckets. I feel like Ma Ingalls toting water from the well all day. 

Since we took the day off I got another pair of man socks going and managed to get to the toe of the single Walrus man sock I've got on the needles. 

Between the man socks, the memory quilt and now the shower invitations I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. There is just not enough time in the day. I am sad to say there won't be an Inktober for me this year. In my spare time I'll be inking up balloons. Lots and lots of balloons. 

Hideaway

 

Surprise, surprise. Yesterday the counter people found someone healthy enough to come out and measure my counter space. While he was upstairs with The Mister,  Pup and I were hiding in the downstairs craft room. 

I was on a roll with my scribble scrabble doodle stuff and some new stencils but I don't get down there very often anymore because now it's just another room full of stuff that shouldn't be there and it's depressing me. My workspace was a mess with old unfinished projects so all this had to be put away because...........

..........look what I got! It's the stamp sets for Daughter's shower invitations AND this year's Christmas card stamps. Nothing makes me happier than a new stamp set and I have FOUR new ones to play with! That's worth cleaning the room up for. 

Since I like The Mister to help with the Christmas cards every year I try to pick something I think he would be interested in. Last year it was crabs and this year it's cars-Little Christmas critters in cars going through the mountains. Looks like fun to me. 

Daughter wanted hot air balloons on her invitations so this set was perfect. 

Pup and I spent the day making balloons and playing with every layout imaginable. I haven't come up with the "one" yet but I'm getting closer. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

I always look forward to the change in the weather from summer to fall and then it's always terrible. The chilly damp days give me a constant headache and Pup's allergies kick in so I spend more time bathing and medicating her than I do anything else. I can't take my eyes off her or she'll chew herself right up. That's why I don't have much to show this week stitching wise. I did finish the banner but that's it. 

On the nautical sampler I only finished a few more letters, a few bits of rope and some white cloud behind the sails.

What I did do yesterday was get some of my knitwear unpacked and washed. I love my new washer's rinse and spin capabilities. They all came out intact and practically dry. Ditto for some shawls and some sweaters. I've got damp knitwear hanging all over the house to dry and couldn't be happier about it. It's usually such a sloppy, wet chore.

Yesterday was also supposed to be counter measuring day so I got up and took everything off the counters and cleared the floor in anticipation only to have them call and cancel because the measuring guy is sick. We'll have to reschedule when they find someone to take his place. It's always something with this kitchen. 

And the mystery is solved with the Black Vulture family. They all showed up this morning. Mama, Papa and Baby on the right. So I guess I had been feeding two different birds while they cared for Baby Boris back at the nest.  Now that baby can fly pretty well I wonder how long before they all take off for warmer places. It's getting pretty chilly at night. 

A Very Little Dividend

 

Remember Boris, my friendly Black Vulture? He/she showed up right before lockdown, disappeared all winter and then came back in the spring. 

Last week he/she has been showing up for its scrap meal with a very shy little friend. At first I thought the little thing was mangy. It wasn't sleek and black like Boris, it had white tufts all over it.

It sort of has this vibe going on. Did you ever see The Giant Claw when you were a kid? My sisters and I loved this movie. It might be one of the reasons I have a fear of flying lol....

After watching the two birds behavior over several days I realized that this weird little thing was Boris's offspring. After a little research I discovered that baby Black Vultures are white when they hatch. Baby Boris hasn't quite shed all of its baby feathers yet giving his head that odd Mohawk look to it. That means that for part of the past eight months Boris has been out in the woods sitting on a nest in his/her spare time. That also means, since they mate for life, that there is a Mr. Boris out there somewhere or have I been seeing two different birds each taking a turn getting food to feed the little one? I dunno..but I'm sure getting an education on vultures. 

Oops....I Did it Again

 

I don't know what's come over me. I don't seem to be able to think straight about anything anymore. I took this photo planning a "woo hoo look what I've finished" post but instead it's just another fail and I'm not talking about all the joins I had to make because of the knots and the running out of yarn thing. 

I hate gifting socks with joins because I just know they will come apart one day. I've never had it happen myself but I'd hate it if it did. 

I'm kicking myself today because I made them too short in the foot. How did I not notice this? I measured. I swear I did but you know how knitting lies. Just looking at them should have been enough for my brain to realize this but it didn't. I could rip the toes out and knit on but I'm not. That would be just one join too many and they fit me so there's that.

It's not like I don't have plenty of yarn in the stash to try again but all the same I'm pretty darn disgusted with myself at the moment. I couldn't manage one pair of decent man socks this year. Not. One. Pair. 

Ladies Who Lunch

 

It's been almost two years since I've seen my old work friends. We used to meet on a regular basis to keep in touch but you know how that went. Three of us (all vaxed) braved the virus and had lunch outside on this terrace in Annapolis yesterday. This was my view. Not spectacular but for the first time out in a public place in what seems like forever I'll take it. 

My flatbread and salad lunch was delicious-at home. We talked so much I brought most of it back with me. We had a lot of catching up to do. 

Back at home I had a big surprise waiting. I ordered this book ages ago and it finally showed up. You know what a fangirl I am and this book does not disappoint. 

I love pattern books and recipe books that tell a story and this one does. It's even got Arne's grandmother's seal of approval and that's good enough for me. 

Cats and Dogs

 

That's what it was raining yesterday. Cats and dogs. What a mess but it was nice to wake up to a thunderstorm.  After a soggy morning grocery pick up I had the rest of the day to sit and knit. No kitchen work was even attempted. It was an entire day off. I made some serious progress on the Woodsie twins and I can almost breathe a sigh of relief-almost. 

I ordered some black Brava acrylic to line the Olympic hat with and got the provisional cast on pulled off and the lining started. 

I got another few rows on Dogstar and dug some old Chroma out of the orphan box that might work for the yoke.

Festive Doodle's sleeve is inching along. A few more of these lovely days off and I just might get it done this year.

The Midnight Quilt Show

 

It's been really bothering me that I can't seem to get any momentum going to get anything done project wise. Last night when I was forlornly brushing my teeth to go to bed I asked myself what I was doing. So if I can't get anything done during the day.......I still have the night. I am usually tucked in by 10 at the latest but I needn't be.

Instead of jumping in the tub I went into the sewing room and got another row on the memory quilt sewn on. In the "close enough is good enough" category I even figured out how to switch out a square I didn't like for this cute kitty fussy cut one. When I did go to bed I went to bed happy for a change feeling like I got something accomplished. 

My days are filled with housework and kitchen work so it's not like I am doing nothing. I am just not doing anything fun. Yesterday we did the electrical work for the new range hood. My big contribution was holding the flashlight and keeping my fingers crossed that The Mister didn't electrocute himself or burn the house down. He didn't. 

Rescue Me

 

Before we head off on a long road trip with Pup we stop at the outskirts of our local marina to let her wander a bit and wear her out. Yesterday morning before our latest road trip to Lowes I found a baby crab in the marina parking lot wandering around on the asphalt. I scooped it up in a bucket we carry and we took it down to the water where it looked very happy swimming away. How a cute little baby crab got so far from the water I'll never know but I was there at the right time. That hot asphalt would have cooked that baby in no time at all. 

Speaking of needing rescuing, I think I've hit my limit on this whole kitchen thing. After driving an hour both ways to pull out a drawer I want to just cover the whole mess up in plastic again and call it a day. I am so over trying to figure things out.  We did order the stove. It may be here sometime in October but I'm not holding my breath.  

The refrigerator I wanted would not even be in stock until January so we couldn't order it. It's hard to find one without an ice maker or one of those door thingys. We can't have any of that fancy stuff because of our well situation. Our water would ruin those things in no time at all and that is with a $4000 water softening system. 

Things back at home on the knitting front aren't going well either. I spent all that money on one ball of Chroma in Sandpiper with that additional $5.99 shipping only to find out it had purple in it. No where in the description did it mention purple. It was supposed to be all olive browns, whites, grays and blues but I see purple. Do you? It's going in the orphan Chroma box with all the others. I can't use it in the project I needed it for. I'll have to keep looking.

I will say that Knit Picks beat Amazon getting yarn here. I ordered this extra skein of Patons Kroy in Woodsie the same day as the Chroma and it beat the Kroy here by two days but even these simple socks haven't been playing nicely. I spent the morning tinking them both back because somehow I miscount the instep stitches and the toes were crooked. 

It's just as well that my knitting is not playing nice at the moment because I have too much homework to do anyway. The Mister is waiting for my decisions on the cabinet door handle hardware and the faucet so I'm going to spend what little time I have to myself again today looking at pictures of kitchens and reading reviews. Ugh.

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

The toy tree has three more flags on it's lower banner. It's not much to show for a week but it's better than nothing. After day of dealing with kitchen issues (and there are always kitchen issues) I don't feel like doing much of anything. We spent yesterday fighting over the new stove. The Mister is convinced that none of the ones I want will have enough room in the back for the cord so today we are going to drive all the way out to Lowe's again (!?!) just to pull the drawer out and see. 

On Sunday I drug the little stitching stand out into the living room and put the lawn and some more border on the little house bookmark. I like stitching little things. I need to find more little things to stitch. 

Yesterday I took advantage of The Mister wanting to take an afternoon nap and started putting all those blocks together. It's a fiddly job to line them all up so I am very happy there are only five rows to deal with. Two are done now. Most of the size is going to be in the borders because I am so over those little squares. 

The Red Zone

 

We have a family football pool and every year I get in it and every year I never watch a game. This year I am spending Sundays on the couch watching The Red Zone. The Mister even made me a cheat sheet since I had no idea what the teams are called anymore. 

I threw a red sheet over the filthy couch and planted myself there most of the day. I had plenty of lap work to keep me busy.

I really should have been sewing all these blocks together. I really want to get that memory quilt thing off my plate and I'm getting close.

Instead I spent the day adding to my paper pieced table runner and hand quilting the border on Dad's squares quilt. 

Speaking of red, I've got a beat up old Ikea Ektorp couch in the living room and you can't get anymore fun covers for it. The cheap beige one I put on for the duration of the remodel has about had it. I found this one on ebay for $100. It looks like red is going to be my color this year.