Friday, July 31, 2009

Extra Strength

So.

My hand is back to normal, but I am still careful for it. What a bizarre injury that was.

I have actually been working in the studio. I knoooow! The first day at the drum carder, after taking a break, is always hell on my legs, because of shin splints from back in the costume-house days, where I spent hours standing on concrete floors. After the first day, it becomes bearable. I keep meaning to bring in a stool from the barn. Dang it.

I also completed the pattern for Fuzzarelly's Cloche Hat, with 2 variations. I seem to be getting better at this pattern thing. Also the NeoOffice thing, which is the word processing application I use.

Click for very big.



Our cash is so low that I have been buying groceries and gas with the credit card. I was ready to start paying the utilities with it, too. But, Halloo and Hallay! Sweetie's 401k money has arrived, much more quickly that I imagined.

I told Sweetie that he still needed to get a job, however.

I am going to offer some few things for sale here or on eBay. Handspun. I'll post about it when I get my crap together.

Oh, and before I forget. This is my new email address: fuzzarelly dot mckellar at gee male dot com.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Now in 30 packs!

I have listened to this song a million times in my life and hope to listen to it a million more.

My ex, the Pyg, in addition to being an asshole, was a guitar-playing, tenor-singing musician. I sat in on countless hours of him rehearsing the song with Ted Thomas, including the discussions of pauses, lyrics, key, etc. I know this song forward and backward.

But I only just learned that Lowell George wrote and performed it.

May the universe accept his energy.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Use within 30 days.

EGGS!

The banty girls gave me 8 eggs in the last week, and today, the eggs got ett. Scrambled them gently in butter. Delicious. And filling!






BUNNY!

This is L'il Bit.



I plan to submit this shot to Disapproving Rabbits.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Prescriptions.Canada.com

I injured my hand last week, trying to remove some fiber from a gear of the supercarder. It wasn't jammed, but it is not wise to let things like this build up. It was my right hand, even, and I am right-handed. I maybe spent fifteen minutes on the task, with tweezers and steel crochet hook, attempting to remove fuzzy bits from an area hard to reach.

It didn't hurt until the next day. But, then the day after after that, it was mostly okay.

Come Tuesday, on my field corn raid, I injured it again, shucking. The bruise, the swelling, and pain was terrible yesterday. It was the fleshy part between the thumb and forefinger. Hurt like hell.

Sweetie had to clip a left hand nail that I broke, because I could not operate nail clippers. Nor could I unscrew bits from the bunnies' water bottles, so he helped me with chores. My hair needed help and it didn't get any. I ended up taking two aspirin and a benadryl, then sleeping with my hand in an elastic wrap for four hours. Woke up feeling better and now today, the next day, while still hurting, I am able to at least "pince" with thumb and forefinger. I am using the other three fingers on the right hand as much as is practicable.

I am finally getting a few ripe tomatoes from the garden, and also stir frying the green ones. Found a wok at a local yard sale last week and, while not a wok guru, I am fer shur enjoying some real wok chi. Love it. So much better than the skillet I used before.

Hope to get back in the studio today, at least by tomorrow, as I have zero product in house at the moment. Oh, wait. Tomorrow is the meeting of the Barefoot Spinners. Well.

This is an ancient book of manners that The Little Grey Bungalow blogged about; it is from the Golden Age of the 1890s. Some parts of it, especially the conversational arts, are still apropos.

Project Gutenburg is a gem of teh innerwebs.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Not rated.

These two videos cracker me up. Sock Zombie and

Sock Zombie II

Also. TWO banty eggs today! That makes five!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Patent Pending

Oh, sweet mother of the freakin' universe.

Okay, so I know there are asswipes everywhere, and especially in New York City. I know that moving away from certain asswipes only means moving towards other ones. But, damn it.

Imagine me, a few minutes ago, in my front yard, seeing a minivan slow down to avoid creaming certain dumb bunnies that still have not learned that playing in the road is deadly dangerous. Most people are so cool. Really. They love the bunnies, watch them and look out for them. Anyway, I said "Thank you for not running over the bunnies!" Then I realized who it was when he said, "Better keep the damn things out of the road!"

Oh, thank you, Meredith Coffey, you bastard. You man that has never had One. Civil. Thing. to say to me ever since I moved here fifteen years ago. Thank you and your two friends, John Turner and Maurice Roby, for making my life so pleasant living in this small community. Thank you for rutting my yard, stalking me, and for raising harassment to new heights. Thanks for helping with the nervous breakdown! I guess it makes you feel like real macho men, doesn't it, to mess with a woman, by herself. You all all don't mess with Sweetie, do you? (Well, John Turner, you did, and you are now under a restraining order to keep the fuck away from us both.)

Anyway.

Sweetie and I came to the understanding yesterday, even before this latest event, that we are going to move away from The Village of the Damned, um, Lovely Laconia sometime. Maybe sooner, (hopehopehope,) or later.

He is looking for jobs all over the country. As soon as we can swing it, we are going to be long gone from here.



One good thing? Three banty eggs in three days!!!

Final Notice.

Ill gotten gains:




From a farmer's field. We will eat tonight.

Also, a shot of our neighbor, Sharmeila. who was adopted from India, by a local couple, when she a baby. I gave her a few sunflowers.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Enjoy Responsibly

So.

I haven't written about making butter. I did. I made butter a couple of weeks ago and it was so easy! Rly.

I began with a pint of cream. I think it was a pint. Maybe it wasn't. It was one of those small waxed cardboard containers like we used to have in grade school. I let it sit out, at room temp, for at least 12 hours. Then I shook it. And shook it. And shook it hard for three minutes or more.

In the end, after pouring of the buttermilk and other stuff, I had real honest to universe butter. And it was good.

Here is the video I followed.

Otherwise. Well, I have an order from The Woolery for three pounds of Fuzzy Nuggets and have been working on that this week. It still takes me a week to create that much. And I would like to get more Fuzzy Stuff made for Susan at the Spinning Bunny.

Sweetie and I are arranging matters concerning his 401k. Rolling over and all that. And getting enough out of it to live on for a few more months, if need be. He invested well, and has not lost money in spite of all the stock market upheaval. Yay, us. But he wants to get it into some sort of FDIC account.

The little garden I planted is beginning to yield fruit. Think I will have about ten jillion little yellow tomatoes, (tommy-toes, as my Pap called them,) by years end, which is great because they are so small and sweet. There are baby zucchinis, at last, which should be grown up zucchinis in three or four days. Still waiting for the all of the other tomatoes. The sunflowers are magnificent. Cut five stems to bring inside this morning, and they still follow the sun even as cut flowers in the window.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Magazine for Website Success

I woke up at five this morning; even before the roosters. I found poor Ramsey dead. Since she still had some mobility, I was half hopeful that she would have become an invalid indoor bunny. She does leave an enormous legacy of descendants outside.



Bless her poor heart. I will miss her.

In other news, my Bunny & the Beast was mentioned by someone on Ravelry. If you do not have a Ravelry account, the link probably won't work.
But if you do have a Ravelry ID, then why not flashmob her comments with nice things about me and my stuff? I could use a lift, and a little buzz.

Susan at The Spinning Bunny just sent me money for several batts of mine that sold. She has been a real and true friend. I will be sending her more of my stuff in the next week or so.

The money was a welcome thing, as Sweetie's unemployment claim has yet to have a hearing, and our funds are dwindling fast. His friend, with whom he was going to work, was hospitalized with pneumonia and is still feeling puny. Sweetie has been actively looking for work, but things are just slow here. Things are probably slow everywhere.

On the knitting front, I finished the second little cloche hat yesterday. It's made out of different bits of leftovers, some Fuzzy Nuggets and some Bunny & The Beast. I have even written up the pattern. Not for the purple and green, but for a plain knit. For the one pictured here, I just "wanged it" as I went along.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Rated to 100 psi

Finally, the indoor plumbing is FMC; Full Mission Capable. Yay, us! When Sweetie completed the last coupling adjustment yesterday morning, I immediately washed dishes and did three loads o' laundry. Plus, we showered. Oh Happy Happy Joy Joy!!

Of course, the yard and driveway are a mess, and the line to the barn is only half complete. But do I care? We folks in America, most of us, are so rich with running water that we don't even know it. Can you imagine walking miles in order to haul water home in order to do ordinary cooking, etc? Half the world's population, or more, does not have reasonable access to clean water. Think about that the next time you let the tap run when you are brushing your teeth.

This house that we live in was built to use cistern water, since the wells in town mostly found sulphur water. There are springs, one is just across the street. That is why Laconia, Indiana is where it is. Fresh and clean water.

Our so called 'city water' was put in about 25-30 years ago. Before that, folks had wells or cisterns, or trucked in water. Everyone had an outhouse.

On the bunny front, I found Ramsey (who was saved from being python food as a baby, and I took her in what? three years ago?) almost dead yesterday under the apple tree. It was as if she had given up and was preparing to die. What happened to her, I do not know, but her back is broken. At the time, I was sad to have found her at all, because it meant that I had to take her in and help her in whatever way I could. If she had gone off to somewhere more secluded, she would have just "gone missing."

But I found her, soaked from the dew, dirty from digging, and paralyzed in the hind quarters. And so brought her inside to be cleaned and dried. Fed her a carrot which she scarfed up, and then she drank about a quart of water. She perked up. Holding her in my lap, she moved one of her hind legs! On the floor, she is able to scoot along. She is eating & drinking, pooping & peeing so I am encouraged that she can survive this, too.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Guaranteed to Never Go Up

So.

It is Wednesday night and we still don't have running water. Sweetie and our renter (who owes us a lot of back rent,) are working on it even as I type, so maybe if the rain holds off for a few more hours, maybe, maybe, maybe it will be done. Tonight.

I'm not holding my breath.

Sweetie just now reported on their progress. The Town Drunk and the Village Idiot both came by to tell them that they were doing it wrong. Because, you know, they know so much and are ever eager to share. My job is to come out with the pistol if they show up again.

I finished knitting the little hat I was working on. This is Lezlie modeling.




(Isn't she a pretty six year old? She's smart, too.) I am knitting another hat, basically the same, but with some tweaking. Then, finally, I will spin some of my Fuzzy Nuggets and knit another, in order for The Woolery to have the pattern and a sample for their showroom. It will also then become one of my "free with purchase" patterns, as it can be made from only one ounce of Fuzzarelly Fibers. This has been fun to work on, as I am taking the ubiquitous cloche hat, or watch cap, and making it my own.

This is Autumn, Lezlie's aunt. Autumn is almost four, going on 20.



And now, Linx!!!

Russian Jedi Skater.

Rowlf on the old Jimmie Dean Show.

Monday, July 06, 2009

No Rain in the Forecast

So.

We have no water. This is not a fun thing, especially if one likes to wash ones hands. And clothes. And dishes.

We are in the midst of replacing out water line from the meter to our house. Also, we want to extend the line to a faucet out to the barn, so I can tend the bunnies more easily.

The initial excavation went well until the rain came, all 2 inches of it. Sigh. Clear skies are forecast through most of the week, so maybe by Wednesday we will have running water again in the house.

Thank goodness the 2" of rain allowed us to collect enough water to flush the toilets and care for the critters. We humans can cope. Sweetie can wee wee by the barn doors. (Keeps out the coyotes and opossums.)

In the meantime, I am knitting a hat of sorts out of Fuzzarelly Fiber and am carding batts of angora. I have so many bags o' angora that is not funny. Several years worth. Enough to keep me out of trouble for awhile. Until the water is running again, however, I cannot dye anything.

It makes me appreciate how precious water is, all over again. You see, I grew up with well water. I took baths of three inches in the tub and shared that water with my two older brothers. Water was precious. I knew children that bathed once a week, on Saturday night, and used a wash cloth to clean themselves the other days.

I knew people that used outhouses.

So, I am not icked out by not having water, even though it is inconvenient.

Clean water is a precious thing.

And now, video.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Go Ask Alice

If you have happen to have any little bit o' change laying around, send it, via PayPal, to Alice at contact@rubinelliglass.com. She is an artist with bunnies. I can relate.

I helped her out because about 18 years ago, I was newly divorced and practically homeless. Several friends stepped up and took care of me in all sorts of ways.

Once I was on my feet again, I began the Payback. I try to help other folks that are down on their luck. Even though we are almost broke, too - what with Sweetie's job termination and all - I was able to help Alice a little bit.

Here is her blog post - http://potentiallynervous.blogspot.com/2009/07/any-millionaires-or-dentists-out-there.html

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Post in a Public Place

I delivered my order to The Woolery yesterday. Glad to have that order scratched off of my Must-Do list.

Today has been spent cleaning the studio. I found a box, unopened, that was brought home from my bricks-and-mortar store. Four years ago. It was full of patterns and little sewing goodies. It made me want to do a little sewing, at least a pair or two of shorts for the girls next door.

I also ventured Into The Upstairs, which has become the catch all. A fire hazard is what it is. When I was weaving rugs, I acquired five boxes of blue jeans for denim rugs. Hello, Goodwill! There are also boxes of books and curtains and bags of clothes. Oh my. But I am done for the day and so I offer you......

A little something to keep you all amused for a few moments.

Web Site Story. Very nicely done, actually, and entertaining to boot.

Puzzles and stuff.


A thing called Rubikcubism. Several boxes of rubik cubes transformed.


Ironic ads from yesteryear. Asbestos, anyone?