Fuzzarelly

Invest Wisely

2012-01-27T22:56:00.001-05:00

I am remarkably calm in spite of all that has gone down lately. I knew for much of last year that there was something not at all right about my health. I mean, my clothes just kept getting tighter and tighter, and my closet choices were getting grim. So when Sweetie got a new job with better health coverage, I used it.

I didn't tell anyone, except my therapist, what my goals were for 2012. I wanted to lose weight, to halve my drinking, and to get more physically fit. I had no plan to make this happen, but by making appointments with the allergist/asthma doctor and with my primary care giver, and submitting to all sorts of pokes and sticks and prods, I knew that we'd find some answer as to what was the cause. Maybe I was allergic to brewer's yeast and needed to quit drinking? I didn't know. (That was sort of my hope!)

My family nurse practitioner Judi and I were blindsided when my blood glucose level was 232 last week. It had been 107 back in March; a little elevated but not problematic. Well, what evs. My hand was forced in a way not expected.

My goal is to lose 50 pounds in the next year, (a pound a week is not unreasonable!,) to not drink so much, and to be more physically active. I am grateful that the things that are wrong with me are treatable. I am grateful, that unlike some friends of mine, I have not needed hip or knee replacement (yet), nor have I had breast or colon cancer. What I have wrong is pretty damn mild.

Several in the morning, and more at night.

2012-01-23T17:09:00.002-05:00

All of my cholesterols are elevated. I just got the meds for that.

My blood pressure indicates that I am drifting between almost and slight hypertension. I have added a new med into the mix.

I am allergic to dogs, house dusts, ragweeds, pigweed, goldenrod, yellow dock, and red cedar. I begin weekly allergy shots in February.

My blood glucose level reveals that I have Type-2 diabetes. I will see my caregiver tomorrow to begin training and treatment.

Wednesday? I get to see my therapist!

Eyes Right

2012-01-16T20:37:00.003-05:00

Wow. Just so much going on; for me at least.

A visit with my primary care provider today, who is a woman that I like very much. Blood tests for cholesterol, and got more meds for my slightly elevated blood pressure. I have gained 20 pounds since April of last year. Three in the last month. Less than I feared, but still. That's five bags of sugar.

Therapy on Wednesday and the allergy/asthma/immunologist on Monday next. Yes, I know, I don't have cancer or any severe disease, but all of these doctor-type appointments are very tiring.

My girlfriend in Indiana is dealing with the life threatening problems of her husband. He is back in the hospital; the fourth time since his heart attack. He won't quit smoking or drinking, and he won't clean his incision which got infected, which is why he is back for another hospital stay. She is at wit's end. I worry for her, damn it. He is a grown ass man, after all, who seemingly does not want to live past age 58.

Yet here I am, drinking when I know I should not. Birds of a feather, and suicide bent on a slow track.

I have hopes that this year I will make and stick with some decisions. But like St. Augustine, dear dog, make me pure but not yet.

Eyes Left

Soothing Comfort

2012-01-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

Corky update. He has made tremendous health gains since we rescued him. The fur on his feet, butt and ankles has grown back, and much of the horrible redness on his belly is gone. Most of this is due to a new diet where corn is not the first ingredient.

The tea tree shampoo and spray are things he almost enjoys, because I know it makes him feel better. The ear treatment is slowwwwwlllly working, and again, he submits willingly to my ministrations. What a good little guy!

He and Princess play and the the cats ignore him unless he gets too nosy.

Sweetie's lap is never empty when he's home.

You'll feel a little prick.

2012-01-10T18:46:00.005-05:00

So.

Yesterday was therapy and then my first visit to an allergy/asthma doctor; or immunologist. Dr. Wes Stricker worked at the Mayo clinic for 6 years before coming to Columbia, MO. He says he is very much dedicated to finding and treating the causes of allergies and asthma, as well as eczema, and not just treat the symptoms. I suffer from all three.

I received about 40 pricks of allergens, and the good news is that cats and dogs dots didn't swell up, and neither did mold or feathers. The ragweed and goldenrod ones did. I lived among fields of ragweed and goldenrod in Indiana.

I'll go back in 2 weeks for tests and the beginning of the game plan.

Today was off to the dentist again, to redo an old filling. Painless, but a set of noise-deadening ear phones would have been great. The whine and grind of the instruments wear me out.

Tomorrow? I don my Domestic Goddess robes for a day of making neat and cooking. I'd like to get into my sewing room, too. Thursday, it's back to work.

As for knitting, I ripped out the pair of half-made socks without a qualm after I discovered they were a bit too small for me. I think I was using size 0s on 80 stitches; the gauge was 10 spi. Cast onto size 1s with 80 stitches again and am a couple of inches into the pair.

Thank you for the kind comment, Pam, about my new header photo. I took that one Christmas day; the sky was just so big and beautiful!

Use gloves provided.

2012-01-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

This story may begin when I was 17, and my mother died. She never really fooled around much with my hair, save to give me those foul smelling Toni Perms when I was 7 or 8. Blouse-less, in her brassier, with a cigarette hanging out of one side of her mouth.

I had girlfriends in junior high and high school, and as far as hair went, it was all about braiding about a thousand little braids in our hair, to get some sort of wavy look. This was the early seventies, and we did not have access to today's fancy appliances for straightening or crimping and who knows what all.

Then I moved far away from my girlfriends, and not having any sisters or kind gentle women nearby, my girlie genes almost withered and died. I didn't care for fashion or make up or hair styles. And in the eighties, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

Now, I have friends that love to give pedicure parties and they also offer to help the 'fussing with my hair,' (since I am becoming more and more grey and so need regular 'treatments.' Ahem.)

I am gradually shortening my locks as well as lightening them. Tomorrow? First time ever High Lights.

I am thinking about going dramatic. Why the fuck not?

Also? Can I again say how happy I am to have moved here and to have found such wonderful wimmin friends?

A Voice of Reason

2012-01-03T18:04:00.001-05:00

So.

I have survived the human construct that is the New Year, and the sun has decided to return to glory yet again. Unlike many years past, this year Sweetie and I went out with friends to celebrate at midnight at Montgomery City's oldest bar. It's a tiny joint and has been in operation since 1962. It was fun, we wore silly hats and beads and leis, and there were noise makers available.

We returned on New Year's Day for free Bloody Marys, black eyed peas, and Hoppin' John. Free! (I did leave the wonderful bartender a nice tip, though.) The TV was tuned to American Top Gear, and everyone had a good time mocking that as well as the commercials. It's a good bar, need I say, one that opens at 9 am, with an older clientele. Like me. It's a safe place for women to go either alone or in a group.

It's been a nice holiday, with Sweetie having 8 days off over the past two weeks. Still, I hate having my schedule disrupted for so long. Not that I have much of a schedule really, but I do love my alone time and I haven't had that recently.

Corky is improving daily! I bought some Tea Tree Oil shampoo and spray, along with ear mite medicine from 1-800-Petmeds.com and it has made a huge difference! That and the new diet of lamb and rice or chicken and rice where the first ingredient isn't corn. So many animals are allergic to corn, and I may be, too.

Tea Tree Oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. I think that Corky was afflicted with both in different areas of his body, and all that was complicated by his corn allergy. He has become one with the family, and even Reece's has finally learned to tolerate him and his herding instincts. Several swipes with claws to the nose has helped.

I don't do resolutions, but I would like to lose weight this year. I 'blossomed' this past year, in more ways than one. Only a very few of my clothes fit anymore. On the other hand, I have made strides recently towards 'taking better care of myself.' The therapist, eye exams, teeth exams, well-woman exams. My bone density is good! Yay me! Also, I don't have signs of glaucoma or macular degeneration, and I only have one cavity to fret about.

It is a sobering (hah) thought, though, that in a mere fifteen years, I will be seventy - should I live so long.

Oil Thoroughly Before Use

2011-12-24T19:40:00.001-05:00

Look what Janet found in the back room of the antique shop. I was able to take a box of parts and assemble them, for the most part. I'm missing the part that holds one end of the flyer, and I have two pieces that don't seem to fit anywhere. There are no maker marks on it and, despite some mold, it appears to be in good shape.

Here's the flyer and a bobbin, and the two extra things.

There are two extra bobbins, even. I've been able to turn the wheel with the treadle. Figure I will clean it up and oil it, then look into finding the missing piece. If anyone has suggestions, please don't be shy of leaving a comment.

2011-12-20T20:40:00.002-05:00

Two of my favorite holiday songs. This one:

and this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9H9Fi4Qcus&feature=colike

It was a dark and stormy night.

2011-12-19T21:04:00.001-05:00

It is a dark and stormy night.

(If you are my age or thereabouts, you will get the reference. Bless you, Mr. Bulyer Litton and Snoopy.)

Eye appointment today; my eyes have changed only a little bit from 5 years ago. I still wear sunglasses made from my 1985 prescription, for driving! Yay me! A pair of those big big ol' frames of that era. In twenty years, fun will be poked at the little rectangle glasses that everyone is currently wearing. I would love to find a pair of frames like the ones I had in '74. Large and round.

Also saw my primary care giver. My blood pressure is way too high, yet my mood is so much better. I credit the fish oil-3 and the vitamin D-3, and the therapy for that. The supplements seem to have made a big difference. Also, this town is much less stressful and I am not in fear of stalkers. At all. We've not gotten involved in local politics, and have no intention of doing so. I listen to the gossip and keep my lips zipped.

My camera has breathed it's last. I believe Sweetie has bought me a new one. l gave him his present the other day - a Snuggie. He's a poor little Chihuahua, always looking for a warm spot! Moi, I am so warm that I keep the thermostat between 60 and 62º.

I am glad to have a FREE day tomorrow! No appointments, no work save for Domestic Goddess chores. Which are sorely needed.

2011-12-16T20:02:00.001-05:00

My Sad Little Homage to Xmas

Hi Ho chitlin's! Hope that you all are doing well. Since I don't "do" christmas, I am the least stressed person I know right now, save for Sweetie. Although? I did buy him a present that I will know he will like.

Also bought two books: Dr. Weill's Spontaneously Happy and another one whose name escapes me at the moment. Her book is UFO: Pilots, Generals (etc.)

I know Sweetie will love them both.

The Pink Section

I have made a bit o' cash at the little cottage this past week! That makes me happy. Business is starting to pick up at both buildings lately. I have the cottage while Leslie manages the much larger antique and collectible building. I can hardly believe that I have the equivalent of my old Arts & Artisans shop again! Without much of the overhead which had dealt the death blow to my shop in Indiana. Artists and craftspeople are finding their way to me, just like before. This place is gonna rock!

This time last year was pure turmoil. Job uncertainty, housing uncertainty, loneliness, and a lot of bad ass winter weather. Now, I am so happy with this house and this town, and I am delighted to have found friends, and Sweetie has a better job with better pay and better insurance.

Me happy.

Moisten thoroughly in mouth.

2011-12-06T18:47:00.001-05:00

It gets dark around 4:30 here; too dark for me to drive even. The solstice though? She is on the way.

In spite of having less than 10 hours of sunlight a day, I am feeling remarkably well. What's up with that? Daily dosing with omega-3 fish oil and vitamin D is what I am thinking. I also take a vitamin B complex pill. The upshot is that I have some energy, and am not curled into a ball waiting to die. Maybe the therapy is helping, too. I've finished painting the kitchen, and begun some Goddess work in the office area. I even bought new towels today for the first time in... let me see..... forever! Or at least many many years.

Good beer can't hurt, either.

Have made appointments to get my teeth cleaned and my eyes examined in the next few weeks. Sweetie's insurance allows one free trip a year to both and I am going to take advantage of it, especially they are both within few blocks of home.

Oh, and my Sweetie? Bought me this the other day. Look closely at the head and feet. Makes me miss my girls.

Hand Tighten

2011-12-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

So. Tuesday, I worked. Wednesday was therapy. Yesterday, I took the day off. I watched several movies on NetFlix, drank good beer, and knit. (I did manage a few Domestic Goddess duties such as laundry and dishes and vacuuming.) Still, I knit.

Tomato and Strawberry Hats

Berry/Eggplant Hat

Silly little things, but they make me happy.

The socks seldom receive attention, but still they are halfway through the heel flap stage. I have begun wearing socks with my sandals as it is getting cold. No snow yet, and I'm cool with that.

Corky is doing well! Millie is still teaching him to leave the cats alone, and he and Princess almost play together. His skin is much less scabby and red, and fur is starting to grow back. He seems glad to be here.

Bathe weekly

2011-11-26T02:16:00.000-05:00

I'm very tired. My brain in overloaded. I seem to have no time to myself. First world problems.

On the other hand, my bit of the new shop in High Heel is coming together nicely. Sweetie screwed in 30 or so cup hooks into the ceiling boards, and now there is "hanging potential!" It's looking great.

I have found, already, several artisans that are willing to place their wares on consignment. Jewelry, soap, and brooms. It is as if my old store in Corydon, Arts & Artisans, has found a new and better home.

Have I told you all that Sweetie and I have a new rescue? His name is Corky, and he is a Pembroke Corgi. He's a sweet boy, mostly well behaved, although he still growls at Millie and Reese's. And Princess is still not happy with her new friend, even after a week. What evs. We must have a peaceable kingdom here. Corky was set to be put down after his family lost their home to fire. He looks neglected and ill-fed; he has a new diet with much less corn.

We had a simple and lovely Thanksgiving with Leslie & Tommy and their kids. We brought the pumpkin pie and very good whiskey. They provided everything else.

Adventures on Hwy 19

2011-11-22T20:36:00.002-05:00

So.

The first thing one does when one blows a tire on a well traveled state road is to toss out the empties into nearby field. Then, if nobody stops right away? Crush the cans and hide them under harvested cornstalks.

Nobody stopped for what seemed quite awhile. 'Fat bitch in a Mercedes - eff her!' was maybe what most folks thought. the only local friend I had on my cell phone didn't answer. Finally! someone with Oregon tags pulled over to help, and the help involved three short trips into town. One to air up the spare, two to get lug wrench, and three to get a lug wrench in metric.

I had two dogs with me, and so didn't really want to leave the vehicle, but I still wanted to be settled, you know, in case the local Barney Fife arrived.

All safe. All fine.

November what??!

2011-11-14T00:43:00.000-05:00

Oh, how life changes so quickly, and yet remains annoyingly the same.

The big news is that Gypsy Gatherings is moving down the road a piece, to the town of High Hill, (or High Heel, if you are southern.) The move decision came about suddenly, but it's as close to a perfect place as possible. Nicer buildings, no rent, only utilities, close to Interstate 70, and a billboard is in the works. The name will most likely change. Current new name contenders are The Dog's Meow and Magpie's Nest. Here is a short video of the cottage part: the new store

I'm painting the kitchen here at home as the old color is what I would call putty. Grey putty. Ick! With no windows of its own, the grey paint sucked all life out of the room. New color is a pale green/yellow and from the half wall I've done, I know I will like it.

My therapy is interesting, especially the dream diary part of it. The recurrent themes sound particularly text-bookish: Saving bunnies. Costumes that need to be made under impossible deadlines, especially opera costumes. My house in Indiana. Going back to high school. Tornadoes.

The therapy seems to be helping, although some weeks it's hard to tell. My mood is more upbeat than usual for this time of the year. I'm taking fish oil and vitamin D, and also spirulina which is a green algae. That's for my joints (heh heh) and tendons.

I have made an appointment with an asthma/allergist for January, so that is another step in the right direction.

2011-10-26T18:11:00.000-04:00

So.

I still have a bit o' cough, which could be either residual bronchitis, or more likely, allergies. Most days I feel as if I had been in a car wreck, as every part of my body aches and all I really want to do is sleep. It's the allergies. It will pass.

Last week was my first visit with a therapist, a talk therapist who eschews cognitive behavior therapy. (yay!) Today was my second visit, and she is truly helping me to get my brain around all of the hurt of my childhood and teen years. Not too expensive, and well worth it.

Today is grey and cool, and I am tired but, I feel okay.

Sweetie is now on a 50-hour a week schedule, with overtime. We are finally getting ahead instead of just making ends meet. Now there are rumors about the Tyson plant here in Montgomery City being bought and re-opening in December. Tough choices, if true. He never had a lick of overtime at Tyson's, and the pay wasn't great, but it was close. His new job pays better with OT, but is 25 miles away, and has better insurance. Take it as it comes is what we'll do. No need to get the panties in a bunch about a rumor.

Ya want to see a photo of Leslie, the Head Gypsy at Gyosy Gatherings?

Really?

Isn't she adorable?

Ambient temperature must be 77º or below.

2011-10-10T23:02:00.001-04:00

I am feeling better; the fever is gone, much of the fatigue has lifted, and I can almost speak but I have to pitch my voice in a lower register to avoid squeaking.

Here are my crewel squirrels, each about 16" square, and nicely framed. These little guys will live for a nice long time.

And I can finally post Trixie's last photo, and I hope you all can see how vibrant she looks.

Slow Cooker. Ha ha!

2011-10-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

So. What I thought at first to be a mere cold has grown to be acute bronchitis. Nothing cute about it, ha ha. I am resting, drinking lots of fluids, blah blah blah, doing what Web MD recommends and saving an office call with the doc. Sweetie's insurance card is in the ether cloud somewhere, but nowhere near my limp little hand and I just don't feel like dealing with any sort of red tape.

Anyway. Here is a recipe to feed everyone the sick person cares about, to be made by the sick person. Because dog knows those people's arms are all broken.

Meat and/or Vegetable Soup, for the Slow-Cooker

(Skill needed - Opening cans and dicing.)

If you are a sensible person, you should already have on hand several cans of different vegetables in the pantry, along with some canned pasta sauce or salsa.

Into the slow cooker, combine a can of corn, a can of beans, a can of peas, a can of diced tomatoes or salsa or pasta sauce. Maybe add some little bits of frozen vegetables that are taking up space in the freezer. Add some water to each can, swish around, and add to crock, and maybe add some garlic or some dried onion bits. If you have some bulgar wheat or pearl barley, add some of that too.

Add some meat. It can be leftover hamburger, or weenies, kielbasa, sausage or the meat from a chicken breast, chopped into small pieces. Add enough water to fill crock.

If you have no meat, it'll still be good. Just add some cajun seasoning or any other form of salt and spice.

Set on low for 3-4 hours, or high for 2-3.

It's nice served over crumbled hard rolls. Or rice.

Its a Mad World

2011-09-29T18:43:00.000-04:00

I fell sick with a creeping crud on Monday, after portents of things to come on Sunday. Here it is Thursday, and I only feel moderately better. Some of my 'tubercular' hack-up reminds me of honey mustard, and today there was ketchup involved. I know. Ick.

I have slept about 20 hours of every day this week, which I hate, but I am unable to do otherwise. I hate being sick and alone. I am trying to start on a knitted sock, but it is slow going.

And then there are creeps on fb that I try to argue with. (Maybe I should say, well, Hitler made good roads! How about that!?) I know, I am almost delirious. Monday night I was mouthing along words to Blue Collar Comedy - other times, I just went "blblblba blablblb." Seriously. I don't think I have ever done that before without the use of recreational drugs.

On the 3rd season of Mad Men. Still loving it.

Google it.

2011-09-19T21:24:00.000-04:00

Trixie went into convulsions last night and died a few hours later. She had been eating, drinking, pooping just fine.

I am bereft.

Among the several dozens of bunnies I have had, this was something new.

Sweetie says I can't have another bunny.

It's Toasted!

2011-09-16T23:10:00.000-04:00

So.

Thanks to the technology that is Netflix, I finally watched the first episode of Mad Men. I was fascinated by the wardrobe, by the interplay betwixt the sexes, the subtle and not so subtuttle power play machinations and the characters.

The final scene of Don Draper with his children and wife was totally unforeseen. I liked the show and I can see that I will want to see all of the episodes available. It seems to me to be more of a girlie-type show; maybe one that Sweetie wouldn't like, but I could be wrong. Also? The head tobacco guy was played by John Cullum, the sexy barkeep from Northern Exposure. It took me quite awhile to place his face in the dustbin that serves as my mind.

Sweetie has gone onto his regular 2nd shift with the new company, and into overtime right away. Two extra hours every day and he'll work tomorrow, which means 18 hours of overtime this week. We can really use the money, so neither of us will complain very much.

With him gone now, most of the week, I have been working more in my studio, sewing every day. There will be an Autumn Fest next Saturday on the street where the gypsies live, so I am trying to make as much product as possible.

My gypsies have been keeping me sane and happy. I love Leslie and Dammit Janet so much!

On the bunny front, Trixie has learned how to leap out of her corral here in the computer room, but she only does it at night. The rest of the day? She is happy to be 'kept,' but at night? Not so much. I hate to cage her within her cage, but she likes to jump up on us in bed and poop on the bedclothes. She reminds me so much of Sheila, (and sometimes I forget and call her by that name,) but Sheila never pooped or peed on the bed. She would rearrange my covers, annoy me, stare at me until I awoke to see her nose on mine, but she kept her shit out of the bedroom. Maybe Trixie will figure it out - she is using her litter box more and more.

Engineered for Brilliance

2011-09-06T12:59:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day, and that you remembered the Labor Movement, for whom we can thank the 40 hour work week, the end of American child labor, better working conditions, and so on.

I celebrated by working at Gypsy Gatherings. I usually go in on Mondays, and Leslie gave me the option of opening the store or not. I'm glad I did, because business was brisk! I've been making shopping bags, and I have a stack of things to work on, including a Halloween costume and some alterations. The costume will be a cancan sort of thing because I found a beautiful black and red Victoria's Secret corset and the perfect skirt from a fancy chair cover at Goodwill in Corydon.

I grow weary sometimes of cranking out the same thing, so I used up left over bits and

pieces from the numerous feedbag/shopping bags to make this. Reminds me of Carnaby Street mod from the 60s. Even though they take longer to make, they are fun. (And of course I will charge more for them.) This is the same bag, front and back.

I found this set of five leaves at

GG. The largest is about 4.5" across. As soon as I saw them, I knew that I wanted to hang them thusly, drifting down the wall.

And these two darlings are scenic paint-by-numbers and they are on the same wall as the p-b-n parrots. I also acquired two large squirrel crewel embroideries, (crewel squirrels?) but they aren't up yet.

The heat wave finally broke on Saturday. It has been very hot here for three months, so to wake up to a 50º morning is a delight. Today, the sky is a beautiful clear blue, and not a cloud to be seen. I feel really good.

Everybody's Talking at Me

2011-08-31T23:25:00.000-04:00

So, in spite of Netflix abruptly doubling their price for the streaming/one-dvd-at-a-time package, I did not cancel my subscription. The increase was done poorly and with little notice, but it is still cheaper than cable or satellite.

I watched The Conversation, with Gene Hackman, last month. Twice, actually. Tonight was Midnight Cowboy with Jon Voigt and Dustin Hoffman. With a small part by Susan Vacarro. Both movies are almost like documentaries, one of San Francisco in the mid-70s, and the other of New York City in the late 1960s. Both movies are great on their own merits, as well. Joh Voigt was also great in The Odessa File. Where is he today, I wonder? Did you know that he is Angelina Jolie's father???

I had read Midnight Cowboy back in about 1971, as a 14 year old. I was reading anything and everything I could lay my little paws on back then. This was my first viewing of the film.

Watched Trainspotting last week, and enjoyed that one immensely. I don't understand certain reviews saying it was promoting the joys of heroin addiction. In my eyes, it was a damnation of the vice. Oh sure, the high is unbeatable, but the price paid is always too dear.

And now, after all the previous episodes of 30 Rock and Scrubs, Sweetie and I are watching the X files in order. Way too much fun.

Knitting continues, slowly; on the last ten rounds. Temperatures today were 104º, before the heat index. I have a feeling that once it hits the low 50s, either day or night, I will finish the shawl tout de suite.

Salt over the Left Shoulder

2011-08-29T02:00:00.000-04:00

We haven't had any more problems with the little gremlins here in Montgomery City, after my shout of "Get the fuck out of here! This is our home now." Except for the one time that I heard what sounded like a refrigerator falling over upstairs. It could have been a sonic boom, as there is an AF base not too distant from here.

The Indiana domicile is another matter altogether. I spent almost 17 years there, if my math is correct, with many days and evenings alone. No funny stuff, not ever.

Not once. Nothing. Nada.

But now that we have left the place empty for several months, well…

Week before last, when I was there, I heard bumps and things tipping over in the night, as if a herd of squirrels or rats were exploring, but there was no spoor evidence to confirm this. Princess and Trixie were with us, too, and so could have caused some disturbance.

Then Sweetie went there alone this past weekend, no dog and no rabbit, and the poultrygeists were even more noisy. Wtf? Am I gonna have to burn white sage and cast out these "spirits"? It's very weird for me to have this happen. What is the logical, Spock-like answer?

Or should I use this as a selling point? Haunted House for Sale!

The more interesting thing is this: The apartments next door, which were at one time a general store and later, a christian school, are also plagued by noises, bumps in the night, bumps in the daytime, and so on. The last renters fled after two months, saying they were tired of living in a haunted house.

Have these unhappy spirits filtered down the hill to our house? Do I even believe any of this?

I am still of a mind that there are quantum mechanics at the root of this all.

But I also wonder if it wasn't me keeping the house "clear" all those years?

Please tell me if any of you all have ever had unwanted visitors, so to speak.

White Elephant Sale

2011-08-27T17:23:00.000-04:00

Finally, a shot of one wall of my booth at Gypsy Gatherings. The little white elephant planter on the top shelf sold the day after I placed it. The pickings are rather sparse, but I like the white walls and uncluttered look.

I have excavated my Animaniac toys from the Happy Meals back in 1994, along with a Slappy Squirrel and Dot toothbrushes and a little Marvin the Martian. They are slowly being added to the room, even though collectibles are not so much in the sellers' favor anymore as more folks are selling than buying. But still, aprons and animal feed shopping bags are being snatched up almost as fast as I make them.

Knitting classes are being demanded, too, once the weather cools. It has been in the 90º all week despite the forecasts for more pleasant weather.

This is the view from the front door of Gypsy Gatherings. Joyful clutter!

Get a Haircut, ya Damn Hippy!

2011-08-22T00:17:00.000-04:00

My friend, Zippiknits, chastised me in the most gentle of ways regarding my post of yesterday. Thank you.

The anger was real, yet beneath me.

The house in Laconia needs to be lived in. There was mold here and there from the place being shuttered for several weeks. Someone needs to be there to open the windows and see to the yard.

Wouldn't it be a grand place for an entrepreneur or two, someone with an at-home business? The post office is just across the street, and FedEx and UPS visit Monday through Friday. There is high-speed internet available.

I would consider renting the house at a rock bottom price to a person in need, a person I could trust.

Do any of you know about a forum or website that I might join; starving artists or starving self-employed people? It seems a shame for that big old house to be empty, when so many are underwater with their mortgages.

Cherry Flavored!

2011-08-20T18:34:00.000-04:00

Drove back to Indiana this past Wednesday. It had been several weeks since the last visit, and the grass was more than ankle deep. Good Neighbor Nancy has not been well, and unable to keep up with the mowing. Sweetie spent several hours whipping it into some sort of shape, while I huddled indoors with the air conditioning. Lots and lots of pollen in the air, along with the usual Ohio River humidity.

A couple of people took the opportunity to complain about the grass and weeds behind and beside our barn, saying it was a visibility hazard. I wanted to thank them for helping us out with our yard, since we have mowed many parts of the town for many years that wouldn't have been mown save for us, and that we didn't do it for money or glory, only to make the town look better. So, fuck you, Laconia. Not to even mention the flower planters at the 4-way that I maintained for several years, and the festival that I started and ran, pro bono, for about 7 years. Fuck you and fuck you.

I did take the opportunity to visit both the Salvation Army Thrift Store and the Goodwill in Corydon, with an aim to find something different for my booth at Gypsy Gathering. And I did. My glorious finds are still in the van, but when I bring them in, I will take photos of some of the treasure.

This next weekend will be Sweetie's last long weekend before he starts the 5 day workweek at the new job, and he wants to go back to Indiana and do what he can, this one last time. It costs $200 to drive there and back in the van, and so I would just as soon not. We'll see.

Light, Clean Feel!

2011-08-14T16:59:00.000-04:00

Have any of you all noticed my general lack of whine and confessions of depression lately? I think the gypsies are being very good for me.

No news to speak of, really, although I will try to muster another paragraph or two. Actually going to Indiana this Wednesday for the first time in six or seven weeks. Sweetie needs to collect his tools and tool box for the new job, and I need to gather all of my sewing and craft supplies, along with all of that odd crap I have laying about that I can sell here. The grass probably needs tidying, and the renters need looking in on. Maybe even find someone to paint the exterior. The housing market is still so horrendous, and we are able to wait for a few years if need be, but I wouldn't mind making a huge price cut if anyone was interested.

We are lucky to be in the position we are in, compared to so many other people.

I have found a few fleas here at Chez Montgomery, and have begun my battle plan. It took a long time for any of the little buggers to appear, and I was beginning to hope for a passover this year.

To my friends that I have not responded to - mea culpa. I read you and I worry with and about you, and I love you. I just don't always write.

Serve Fresh

2011-08-10T23:11:00.000-04:00

It rained a bit today. Not nearly enough, but still. And it was cooler. Cool enough to turn off the AC and open doors and windows. What a delight! I even wore long pants. Lows may be in the upper 50s tonight. I am loving it. Sweetie is, of course, digging out his sweat pants and shirts and heavy blankets.

Gypsy Gatherings is going great guns. Received my first check and am happy. I love my space, which is small, but painted white and with white curtains - it looks rather like an art gallery. I have sold the damnedest things there! I am spending time in my studio here at home, and am feeling great about my future there.

We had hoped to drive to Indiana today, but Sweetie's new job intervened with requests for physicals and the ol' "pee in a cup." I am struggling not to stress about this whole process, and leave things up to him. I am here to help with emailing, forms to be filled out, and such like, but otherwise, I am letting him deal.

Sad news. LaVerne the bunny, aka Gertrude, died yesterday. She was listless maybe a week ago, although still eating and drinking, and then suddenly nose dived. I have no idea what ailed her. As we know, though, sometimes bunnies. just. die. Trixie, on the other hand, is well and thriving and mischievous as ever. The little shit. (And I love her so much!)

Oh, and the knitting. I am on the last 20 rows on the hand-spun mohair shawl. It has been hard to knit in this horribly hot weather, even with the ac and a fan blowing on me, but I have been managing a row or two every week. And? I have taught the Head Gypsy's 10-year-old daughter how to crochet - to make a chain stitch - and she is frothing at the bit to learn more. Heh heh! Another one brought to the Fiber Side!

Hyper-Allergenic!

2011-08-04T05:07:00.000-04:00

So.

I made a profit from my booth at Gypsy Gatherings for the month of July. Yay me! I have begun working there every Monday in exchange for half-off the rent from now on. (Like the work is onerous. Ha. More like hanging out for six hours and greeting people as they come in.)

I am totally loving everyone there! Plus, I am in my studio almost every day making one thing after another. The new thing has been the continuation of my Sock Monster series, which began when I had my bricks and mortar store in Corydon, IN. The first was Abner, and then Brenda came along. I sold them both. Thanks, Judy! Then the store closed, yadda yadda. The latest are Charlene, a green hemp sock, and Doug (Beware of Doug!) who was one of my hand knit socks with holes.

I am Charlene, and I am shy.

These babies give me an inordinate amount of joy in the making, and then there's the fondling.

Sweetie's job, which he was told would last through December, suddenly became precarious once "Corporate" saw the labor costs of keeping the plant running. Today, he took a job at Metso, some concrete type of place, about 25 miles from here. The pay is $1 more and hour, but that will be eaten up in gas. Even his current supervisor advised him to take the position. (Sweetie had earlier interviewed with them, then declined to take the job. They called him back two months later and here we are.)

Hope springs eternal that some company will buy the Tyson's facility. If so, Sweetie has been told he will be rehired. But that is just too uncertain for us. For anyone. Sigh.

And the heat. Awful. Yesterday was the worst, being 104º with a heat index of 120º. I felt ill Monday, and actually had a fever of 2 degrees above my normal. Seems like several people were also having flu-like symptoms that day. I am grateful to not have the summer flu, as I felt better the next day. We have forecast lows in the 60s in a few days, and I even opened a window tonight in the computer room.

I'm really worried about the economy, and the house and senate are not playing nice or rational. No rant, or soapbox. But I am worried.

Heads or Tails?

2011-07-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

When my friend Brenda first saw Trixie, she didn't know which was which. Here she is with the recently clipt LaVerne.

I love these girls so much.

We're Having a Heat Wave....

2011-07-26T00:08:00.000-04:00

So.

Life is being good, in spite of the terrific heat. I have had more visitors to my house this past week than in the last six months. The Gypsy Gang have come to visit and have taken me shopping, aka picking.

There is a little town near here called Hawk Point, and it is only a bit bigger than Laconia. A mile or less from their 4-way stop sign is a large metal building, air-conditioned, called Unique Treasures. An antique and resale shop with over a hundred booths. In the words of Betty Bob, Who Knew? My friends drove me there, and at first I was a bit lost. I mean, I am not into the buying and reselling thing much. I don't really collect anything, do I? In the end, though, I found some real neat stuff, including two more older paint-by-numbers landscapes. I think the plan has evolved to cover an entire wall in the dining room with pbn.

Otherwise, I am feeling friended and loved and liked and wanted. Yay me!

Here is some fun from The Muppets.

2011-07-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

So.

I've had my booth at Gypsy Gatherings for just over two weeks, and I have made rent and gravy. Yay me.

Leslie, the Head Gypsy, and I seem to be separated-at-birth twins, albeit with a 14 year age differential. (Helena Handbasket, I wish you were here!) She has a few issues - just like me. Also, she likes the quirky and the odd. We both love ugly lamps. As she says, somebody needs to love the ugly things in this world.

Come the first of August, (and how in dog's name has half the year already slipt past?) I will work one day a week in lieu of rent, and I will move my booth closer to the central hub of activity. It will mean losing my window to the street, but I will gain a wall. This was Leslie's idea, which means she likes me enough and trusts me enough to handle the cash register and customers and all that. (It's not like I can't. I've had my own store.) I love the trust that I have engendered, without trying even. I feel good.

If I could get to Indiana, I could bring home several more items to sell - along with my patterns and pattern paper. I am really wanting to make more hippie clothes that sold so well in my old store.

However, this past week, Sweetie had one job interview, and next Thursday, he has another one with a big food company in Columbia. His current job has been extended again, to last through December. We both wiped sweat from our brows after hearing that news.

I'm hoping that I can make some sort of money with the Gypsy Gatherings, (like real money,) and I am happy to find a place that I can actually work at! Dog knows I cannot work at any sort of "real" job.

And Leslie feels the same way about herself, in spite of an expensive education.

Parrots a la Paint by Number

This is a great paint-by-number I found at the store. The greens are perfect for the dining room. And? It's a big Paint-By-Number Painting! (I think it is 18" x 24".) And let's not even start about my new collection of Las Vegas kitsch.

Millie and Trixie at play.

Trixie and Laverne, aka Gertie, are doing well. Laverne has come a long way from being the scared and skittish thing she was when I first got her, and Trixie is closing in on being 5 months old and is settling down just a bit. It is too hot to let them be outside, but they are both doing well in the office/mudroom. I have begun to let them have 24-hour roaming privileges, and that makes all of us happy.

Mmmm, creamy!

2011-07-15T17:53:00.000-04:00

How to make ricotta cheese at this link.

Safe and Natural!

2011-07-11T14:52:00.000-04:00

I've seen something like these purses on Regretsy, but they are still useful, cute, and recycled plastic. I've sold every one that I placed at the store, along with regular tote bags from the same type feed bags.

There's a little pocket inside.

I like the chicken.

Step Right Up!

2011-07-09T18:26:00.000-04:00

I have sold so much stuff at my "store"! I have already made my rent, and now am into the gravy part of sales.

I have sold tote bags and purses made out of woven plastic feed bags, fancy aprons, pot holders, a skirt, several books and assorted knick knacks, and I have some people interested in my art quilts. I never thought this store was so busy, but they get a lot of traffic, and Gypsy Gathering is just now listed on the new Missouri state brochure of antique stores along I-70. I'm going to have to work harder! I am also beginning to pick up the odd alteration job here and there.

Who knew? Who knew that that sudden impulse to check out "that store" a few weeks ago would energize my life?

We now do catering!

2011-07-05T11:11:00.002-04:00

New Table

Finally have a dining room table that matches the house, courtesy of Gypsy Gathering. It needs a bit of love, but it's a wonderful piece. I especially like the curved legs.

Also added some new furniture to the large and sort of bare living room. Old rocker recently reupholstered and what is described as "a camel saddle." I'm fairly certain that it is something sold to tourists only, (maybe I should google it,) but the soft red leather seat, the little bell, and the brass camels won my heart.

New Furniture

Camel Saddle

In the background is a funky 60s style corner table that Leslie gave me, and it fits in so well with our lack of style. The alien-head bank is a thrift store find from way back.

The Studio

I plan to spend time today in the studio. I make something almost every day in there, but yesterday was more organize than anything else. I hate needing something, and not knowing where it is.

Fuzzarelly is up and running and I hope to take some photos there this afternoon. This is the Head Gypsy, Leslie.

Leslie

I got blistas on my fingas!

2011-07-02T10:37:00.002-04:00

Something fun.

The Queen of Hearts

2011-07-01T02:44:00.000-04:00

This evening at 7:00, the heat index temperature was 113º. It was hard for me to breathe, in the outside. (It's not the heat, it's the stupidity!) (It's not the heat, it's the humanity!)

Still, I went to Gypsy Gatherings, and arranged my offerings as well as I could. What with the white walls, and my white curtains, and the merchandise, it rather looked like an art show gallery. My little "store front" is 8' x 9'. Not a lot of space, but still, I am no where near filling it up.

Sweetie went with me, the first trip today. I gotta love his sense of humor. He went in first with some of my things, and was greeted by Leslie, the proprietor. "Welcome to the store," she said. He replied, "Hi! We're reverse shoplifters. We take things into stores and leave them." She about died laughing. So Sweetie likes the ambience of the place and is happy for my venture.

Still no photos, despite having camera in hand. Maybe tomorrow. Which is going to be even hotter than today.

Nothing to see here.

2011-06-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

It's an awful burden, knowing that a friend is going to die. What can I say? My guess is that he will die within the next three years, before he is sixty. It isn't just me, but Sweetie, too. He has had dreams of talking to said friend, who was sitting up in his coffin and chatting. I dreamt last night that he was holding my cheek in his hand, in a loving way, saying good bye.

I think my friend knows this to be true, and he is afraid. And in denial. However. So it goes. Just wanted to post this, sadly, before the fact. I really like this guy, too. Now and always.

My life has made a 180 and I am so happy and busy and changed from last week. My little store will open July 1. I have been sewing little things every day, and I shall have photos next post.

Be still, my beating heart!

2011-06-23T23:47:00.000-04:00

I will most likely not be able to put all of my inner excitement into words, however, I have found a home and kindred spirits right here in River City, er, Montgomery City!

I had two tasks today; a bank deposit and buying stamps. However, on the drive home, I took a sudden left to investigate the other vintage/antique/whatev store in the more "low rent" part of town. (Meaning, just off the main drag.)

At what the sign says is "Gypsy Gatherings," I found a group of people after mine own heart. A small but thriving little shop with rented booths and lots of traffic, and after a year in business, and expansion. I am going to have a booth with street frontage for a mere $65 a month. My dream, (and Sweetie's!) come true!

My heart is still aflutter, and so I will post more as details emerge. However, I am happy as a clam at high tide and as a pig in slop!

Here is Sweetie in the newly returned Lucky Hat! It has been on the North American Tour of the Hall Family Heads, bringing luck at poker and fishing along the way. Have I written that I shaved his head a couple of weeks ago? It's growing out nicely.

Lucky Hat is Back!

Requires Shade.

2011-06-19T00:31:00.000-04:00

The only other business in my Indiana town, besides the post office and the general store, is the green house. I was fortunate to be invited to help myself to three flats of bedding plants and herbs on Dump Day. Sales had been below par, and so Tom was dumping a lot of flora into the mulch pile and it was a sad sight.

I started with two boxes and Tom encouraged me to take a third, but I know my limits and so kept it at that. Geraniums, New Guinea Impatience, petunias, coleus, marigolds, and a variety of herbs including basil, chives, parsley, dill, lavendar and oregano.

And two fig trees! In Missouri! (There on the left.) I was told that they will survive the winter if caged and mulched with leaves. That was really the coolest thing, because just the day before, my friend Lorie said that she wished for a fig tree. These are not ficus, but real fruit bearing plants. I am very excited. If I choose to keep my two, I definitely will buy my friend one of her own!

Lots of weather around; more thunderstorms tonight. Wondering when it will be dry enough to mow the grass here - it's getting thick out there.

12 Points of No Return

2011-06-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

The sudden summer heat has abated, and the recent days have been cool and comfortable. I've moved my few house plants into the back yard, along with two containers of tomatoes. That is all the gardening I am up to, this year.

It has taken three tries over three weeks, but I mowed the entire yard in one day using the push mower, without keeling over from heat stroke or muscle fatigue. It's amazing how quickly one can get one's groove back.

Vernal Equinox Shawl

I have been knitting steadily on the Vernal Equinox Shawl from Ravelry, using 2-ply hand spun mohair. The colors I'm using make it more of an Autumnal Shawl, though. It's not exactly lace weight; about 18 wpi. The center back is at 18" now, about halfway finished. I knit and watch Netflix, and am currently on a Hoarders marathon. That show makes me feel so good about my housekeeping habits.

Trixie likes the taste of mohair

Even better are tortilla chips

And now, Trixie!

Meet Mr. Peabody

2011-06-07T02:51:00.001-04:00

I got nostalgic tonight for the Atlanta scene of the 1970s, where I moved in 1975 at the age of 18. I Googled Lenny and La Banana, aka Roger French an Jo Shifalo, http://www.thestripproject.com/Photos_by_Boyd_Lewis.html and I was swept back into time.

One link sent me to a webpage about The Bistro, where Mr. X and I were on the guest list at times. I saw the Dixie Dregs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQv2UzUGrto as well as The Nighthawks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQQRTn_lRAgThe harmonica player was super hot back in the day and I distinctly remember those tattooed arms of his.

Which led me to the Great South East Music Hall, also being on the quest list, and seeing B. B. King, Thermos Greenwood and the Colored People http://clatl.com/atlanta/thermos-greenwood-and-the-colored-people/Content?oid=1257732 and David Allen Coe. One bought beer by the bucket there, which had the club name imprinted upon it. I wonder if any of those pails still exist, as they were so prone to rust.

The Sex Pistols made their American debut there in what? 1976?

Then there was Rose's Cantina, later Club 666 which the skinheads frequented.

And what we called The Electric Bathroom, aka Alex Cooly's Electric Ballroom, where I saw James Cotton, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, among others. http://www.alexcooley.com/ven-elecbrm.html

I remembered the art movies houses. The Rhode's Theater, The Silver Screen, http://www.buckhead.net/theaters/ and the one in Ansley Mall.

What it served to remind me of, was that my life in those days wasn't so bad. Really. There was energy and life and talent and fun everywhere, and I was a twenty-something and part of it! Shame that I had a Mr. X in that mix.

2011-06-05T00:20:00.000-04:00

My life is not so bad, considering the circumstances. I have nothing to complain about. Sweetie's job is good through August, (yay, us!) and he is getting a monetary bonus for just showing up every day! Seems like some folks there are saying fuck it, and quitting without notice.

The weather has turned hot, but the low humidity here makes it more bearable for me. Still, I am living in the box fan's shadow all day and night long.

Yesterday, I gave Trixie her first "hare" cut, more out of necessity than anything else. She found an escape from the back porch through a tear in the bottom of the screen door, and she had taken to having unsupervised adventures for a few days. Which was fine, because she only went into the back and front yard, and knew where the back door was and returned to it. Or so we thought!

Trixie's First Hare Cut

Thursday afternoon, she made another great escape unnoticed by me and mine. Sweetie went out on Search Patrol, only to find her IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, TWO HOUSES UP FROM US. If not for some kids on bicycles noticing and spooking her, and Sweetie being on the prowl, there is no telling where the Little Shit would have wound up, most likely being a fuzzy pancake. Door is now fixed, as is her wagon. She had a sweet gum ball stuck to her stomach, and twigs and hitchhikers and yard debris stuck all over her. I swear, she is as ornery as Fuzzarelly ever was! And? I love her to pieces.

Gertie gets adventurous

Gertie is slowly becoming more settled into our routine and is not so much with the freaked-out-don't-kill-me attitude. Thank goodness. She and Trixie get along very well, and I am glad to have both of them.

These are two mohair scarves completed last month, both mohair and both done in the same pattern, k2tog, yo, every row over an even number of stitches. Easy Peasy.

Two mohair scarves

And this is a silly knit bunny about three inches tall, because I cannot help myself!

Silly Bunny, Computer Mascot

I have begun a lace shawl in handspun, two-ply all mohair, dyed a burnt orange with chestnut brown overtones. More on that later.

Use Caution

2011-05-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

We have ants. What I have always called pissants, like my grandmother.

piss·ant also piss-ant (psnt) Slang

1. One that is insignificant.

2. Obsolete An ant.

adj.

Not important; insignificant: "Some pissant Texas court wants to make [the company] pay . . . more than $10 billion in reparations" (New Republic).

Anyhoo, they have invaded. I broke down and bought some ant bait things, because the grocery store didn't carry boric acid. Boric acid mixed with sugar and a few drops of water are sure ant killers.

The ant bait things didn't totally work, so what I did was wash down the counters with a few drops of orange essential oil, which destroyed their chemical trail, and then I placed drops of lavender oil along their baseboard paths.

Results? Very few ants to be seen in the house. This is such an earth friendly way to get rid of ants, and it smells good, too. I don't feel bad about doing this as often as necessary.

As an aside, I have to be very careful around chemicals, due to my allergies. I generally do not use insecticides, pesticides, or herbicides. When I find a large thistle in the yard, I cut off the top with a knife and stab several times into the root, then I pour a little bleach onto it. Works every time. Salt might also work. (Bleach is just sodium chloride, after all.)

See Reverse Side for Instructions

2011-05-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, especially after I read a really good blogger, I wonder why I bother with this mess of words. My brain races with thoughts that I can't corral and put into sentences. But then I didn't start this blog with anything other in mind than keeping my friends and family notified and aware of what I do, since I became such a poor correspondent several years ago. In that case, my blog is useful.

Fun stuff! Watched three episodes of Sherlock on Netflix. It is a British series from last year, and it is set in modern day London. Very clever use of cell phones and computers, and Watson was wounded in Afghanistan, as in the original. Instead of being a cocaine injector, Sherlock sometimes wears three nicotine patches. If you have Netflix, I highly recommend this show. The actor who plays Mr. Holmes is very sexy, in that dark haired, pale complexioned English sort of way that I find so attractive; i.e. he's a hottie.

I also indulged in Downton Abbey, a 7-part BBC miniseries reminiscent of Upstairs, Downstairs. It is set between 1912 and 1915 and I just loved the Edwardian gowns that the ladies wore. Worth watching if only for that, but the story held my interest, too.

Sweetie and I have watched all the episodes available of 30 Rock, and are now working our way through about 2 shows a day of Scrubs. Streaming Netflix may not have every movie or show I might want to watch, but for $8 a month, we get to watch a lot of stuff with no commercials. Worth every cent. We don't have a television at all, and don't miss it.

The newly screened in back porch

We screened in the back porch yesterday, and today, Princess tried to run straight through it, chasing after an "intruder". Sigh. The screen is almost invisible from the inside, but she is a slow learner. All was repaired and then I ran a strip o fduct tape all around the bottom of the screening to remind the Dull Knife that she has to use the door next time. Trixie and Gertrude have moved to the porch and seem to enjoy themselves very much. I let them into the yard every so often, with adult supervision. I've seen a young, probably male, wild rabbit in the area. I bet he smells the wimmin rabbits.

Sweetie's lap is seldom empty. This time it's Trixie and Reece's.

Also, I have been knitting! Photos next time.

A perfect fit!

2011-05-28T01:36:00.003-04:00

I'd buy that for a dollar!

2011-05-23T22:31:00.001-04:00

So.

We are safe here in our part of Missouri. Joplin? Not so much. The videos I've seen are heartbreaking.

I was grocery shopping just about the time that storm hit there, braving rain and a bit of hail because I wanted to make a nice supper for Sweetie that evening. Just as I was about to get in the check out lane, we were all told to please go to the back of the store and into the meat locker - a place with no windows. Cells phones were whipped out and fingers flew, (not me, as I had left my phone at home,) and we learned that a tornado had touched down, or was sighted, four miles from the store.

That meat locker was cold! (especially for damp people in short pants and sleeves,) and it was hard duty for the fourteen year old employee to keep twenty cranky customers contained. No, he wasn't fourteen. But he looked it.

Long, not very interesting story short, we were released after fifteen minutes and everything and everyone was fine. No damage anywhere local.

Just a little later, I saw the news about Joplin, which is way the heck far from here, but still. I try to imagine my little town, my little neighborhood flattened, and mature trees mere stumps and everything unrecognizable. Hard to do.

It Stayed in Outer Space!

2011-05-21T21:44:00.000-04:00

Trixie and the Pitiful Princess

Trixie and Princess, who can go to sleep anywhere,
and apparently, with anything.

Now with Bacon!

2011-05-16T09:37:00.000-04:00

So.

Sweetie had a job interview Friday in Indiana, for a position that pays even less than he is getting now. And what is getting now is less than the job before. Sigh. He also has interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday in Missouri. There are just so many more opportunities out here, for skilled labor.

Indiana was so lush compared to here! Everything so green and overgrown and bursting with life. I should have taken pictures. We are a week or so behind here, but with the rain and warmth, we will soon catch up. I have noted numerous old oak trees on my neighborhood walks, along with maples, willows, and trees I can't identify. Yet.

I brought my industrial serger back with me, along with the drum carder. My studio is full. I've made curtains for the front of the house, which faces southwest, and mended some of my clothes. I really need to pursue some sort of income. But. I really just want to stay home.

Sweetie says that he has become like me - not wanting to leave the house on his days off. I do try to get out and about, but on grey and rainy days, it is a real struggle.

Trixie

Little Trixie has grown a lot! Soon it will be time for her First Harecut. It's hard to snap a good picture of her, but her dark face against her grey fur is so adorable.

Now with Fabric Softener!

2011-05-09T22:49:00.000-04:00

I finiShed the SockS for my friend in Indiana; the friend whoSe huSband had the heart attack over the laSt weekend. Have been knitting on theSe for awhile, and I really tried to put a lot of love into them there at the end.

ThiS iS Some mohair that waS on Sale Some time ago at WebS, which I found during the move. I am knitting a Scarf with it in garter Stitch with a Simple "wrap three timeS" when knitting, every Six or So rowS. May be done by tomorrow. Very eaSy and likable pattern. Like I need another Scarf, but then again, it iS never too Soon to think about giftS for the winter SeaSon.

Sweetie haS Several job optionS that are popping up. Yay uS! We want to Stay here, aS we both really love thiS houSe and the town.

We haven't both been to Indiana in awhile, So we will moSt likely go there thiS weekend. And in caSe you are wondering, the lower caSe S key haS decided not to work.

Enjoy Cold.

2011-05-07T14:44:00.001-04:00

So.

No news is good news they say, but rumors are rife about what will happen to the employees and the Tyson building. Not a peep is being said by the company, apparently until "the deal" is signed. In the meantime, Sweetie is putting in applications, still working, and getting free meat for perfect attendance. There a lot more jobs out here than near Louisville, especially for skilled labor.

I think everything will work out. Just a feeling.

Spring is really here, so I took a photo of the house. The grass has been mowed three times. If I had irises, they would be blooming now; I will have to bring some here from Indiana. The one peony bush out back has big luscious buds on it, and I have discovered several more hostas. I so enjoy sitting on the back porch, in the shade, but able to see the sun. I could live in the office and back porch all the time, but I try to get out and about every once in awhile, which is hard for an agoraphobe to do. But I try.

My mood seems to depend upon the amount of sunshine we get, and fortunately, it has been sunny here lately. No flooding here either, as we are high enough above sea level. I really feel for those affected along the Mississippi.

The squirrels are tormenting Princess something fierce. I don't think she would ever kill anything, as she is more into spotting and alerting. This ballsy squirrel cracks me up.

Also, the husband of my good friend in Indiana suffered a heart attack yesterday, and is scheduled for triple or quadruple heart bypass next week. Lorie will spend the next several days camping out in his room.

And my ex-sister in law was diagnosed with breast cancer in February, Stage 1, and after the surgery and chemo, seems to be doing well.

And then there is my friend in Kentucky, who is involved in a long and messy divorce, has had an appendectomy with very poor insurance, and who's dating attempts have, shall we say, broken her heart into several pieces.

I'm grateful to have my life, and no one else's.

More bleach, please.

2011-05-01T12:51:00.001-04:00

http://www.komu.com/news/montgomery-city-tyson-plant-closing/

http://www.abc17news.com/news.php?id=1962

"JFC," my friend said, "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water."

Too many things are unknown at the moment, so we're just sitting tight.

Take with bleach

2011-04-26T16:09:00.000-04:00

As with many other bloggers, I am neglecting my own blog. I don't twitter or even update my facebook status often. No apologies from me. It's my life and I can't promise to post more often.

I am depressed, but less so than before. These grey, gloomy and rainy days lately have not helped, but I wonder how much warm and sunny days will improve my outlook.

I am loving my bunnies, and that is a good thing. Today, I spun some of that mohair cloud, and that was also good. I had an anxiety attack and put off a meeting with the insurance agent until tomorrow, when Sweetie can accompany me. I do not want to leave the house. I hope we won't go to Indiana this weekend. I want to stay safe at home, and in this room. The mud room/office, where Gertie and Trixie and the computer are. is.?

I am exceedingly lonely, and I so much appreciate that Lorie from Indiana calls me regularly. My other friends there seem not so much inclined.

It's a teary type of day, when one may long for eternal sleep.

Saturday afternoon

2011-04-23T16:45:00.002-04:00

2011-04-19T09:16:00.000-04:00

Visited my friend in Indiana last week. I taught her knitting a few months ago, and she has taken the ball of yarn and run with it! I gave her a big bag of handspun, and she began knitting garter squares and rectangles to make an afghan. This trip, I showed her the purl stitch made the "regular" way as well as the norwegian purl, aka purl with the yarn in back. I left her eager to cast on for a pair of two-needle socks done in ribbing.

Fried Chicken

While there, I saw Fried Chicken, Henny, and the other chickens.

Also went to the Fiber Event in Greencastle, with one goal in mind: a baby bunny. Thank goodness I went early on Friday, as most of them had already been sold, but I was able to find Trixie who has turned out to be a total doll! (The breeders hired students to come and hold the bunnies almost from birth, so they are all used to being handled.) For much of the drive home through Illinois, she sat quietly alert on my left shoulder. She and Gertrude get along just dandy, and they both have the run of the office/mudroom, which has an easy care tile floor.

Trixie

I have a follow-up visit with my care provider today. I can report that I am feeling better, mentally, although there are still some hard days. Also physically better, as my mysterious allergy/stress-induced rashes have mostly disappeared. It could have been the prednisone she gave me that caused my sense of smell to return for a full and glorious two weeks. At least I know that it is possible for me to smell; that my nose isn't damaged.

Spring is here and that can't help but improve one's mood. We have a pretty flowering shrub in the back yard that I can't identify. I have a tree and shrub book, but it is uselessly arranged. One needs to know the name first to find information, instead of flower or leaf type.

Also, I washed some very old mohair. I don't have my carder or hand cards here, so I am merely fluffing the clean locks into cloud. I haven't spun since December.

Mohair Cloud

Not suitable for all ages.

2011-04-09T20:45:00.002-04:00

Mostly?

In spite of all the things going on, the thing that makes me most happy is my new bunny.

Her name is Dawn. She is two years old, and a color called tawny. She has two white toe nails, and so is considered to be mostly worthless in the showing and pedigree market.

I think she is wonderful.

Take the last train to Clarksville.

2011-04-09T01:16:00.000-04:00

Sweetie and I have driven to Indiana and then back to Missouri numerous times by now. Near the Illinois and Indiana state line is the Wabash River and vestiges of the Erie and Wabash Canal. Begun in the 1820s and finally ended in the 1870s, this canal provided folks in New York State access to the Ohio River, and thence to the Mississippi.

Growing up in Northern Indiana, I could not help but absorb some of this history.The school bus that took me to elementary school drove beside this Wabash River. As an thirteen year old, I often walked to that river, because it was only a mile away from that wonderful house I lived in. (I still dream about that house, and they are always good dreams.)

There was a Canal Street in Huntington, Indiana and an Erie Avenue. I knew that there had been one or more canals running through that hateful town. (Hateful mostly because I was 16 and 17, and could not wait to leave that backwater. And the hateful people it held.)

And now, I am sorry I didn't learn more about that place, founded in the early 1800's. It was close to Ft. Wayne, named for Mad Anthony Wayne, and I loved that. The area was saturated with history about both the white men and the Indians. And maybe even women.

So it goes.

And now it is known as the hometown of Dan Quayle. Such ignominy.

In my new town, Montgomery City, I am told that it is a quiet place, and not to expect much after 9 p.m. Yay. If I were a 16 year old, slightly mental girl, I would be bursting my seams to be anywhere else. As a 50-something, slightly mental lady, I am so glad to live here.

Daphne du Maurier once wrote that everyone remembers, knows, what it is like to be young. But one does not know what it is like to be old.

I'm finding out.

For best flavor, use immediately

2011-04-03T15:21:00.000-04:00

Seems like I have little to say these days. With the new medz, I am not very angry or too motivated to rant. I'm feeling good; today is warm and sunny and I have the door open in the office. Will need a screen door soon, but for now, there are no bugs to speak of. Reece's and Princess are enjoying themselves, too.

This is some plant coming up in the back yard. I think it is a hosta, but I don't know. There are three bunches of these. The stands of daffs didn't bloom, but the naturalized grape hyacinth surprised me with their tiny blooms.

Sweetie and I got two of our vehicles registered this past week; inspected, title transferred, and tags. Plus a trip to the courthouse to get an account in order to pay taxes on everything. None of it was onerous, which is the joy of small town living. (Just like grocery shopping and it only taking a half hour, there and back, instead of the hour and a half it used to take me in Indiana.)

Every person we had to deal with has been friendly and nice, and sometimes quite hilarious. Also? Save for the auto inspector, they were young and pretty and female. At the courthouse in Corydon, in Indiana, there seemed to be an overabundance of humorless, grumpy old people. Just an observation. I have yet to meet an overtly hateful person here, and those of you who know me will know that that is a sweet surprise.

There are several things I love about living in Montgomery City: twice weekly trash and yard waste pickup and monthly recycling pickup for $14 a month, a city-wide yard sale this upcoming Saturday, the close by grocery and library, and people that obey the 25 mph speed limit.

One thing that has pissed me off is my soon-to-be-ex-local-insurance agent. We have done business with --- I won't say the name, but it rhymes with Snake Harm --- for over 20 years. Apparently there are roof issues with this house, although nothing urgent according to our house inspector and the loan officer's inspector. Sweetie had a conversation with our insurance agent a few weeks ago, and we both understood that we had a year to replace the roof. Yesterday the letter came saying that Snake Harm was dropping our home-owner's insurance as of May 4. WTF? What what what??? This guy has pissed me off from the git-go by not returning my phone calls and email, but I was sort of made to go with him for the loan. I may have mentioned that he is also the mayor of our fair town. Guess who won't get a vote from me whenever election time comes around? The weasel that sent a letter instead of making a phone call.

The upshot is I will visit another insurance agent tomorrow and will transfer this house and four vehicles to another company. In the meantime, the two houses in Indiana will remain with Snake Harm out of convenience.

But it's okay.

Good for 100,000 miles.

2011-03-28T14:39:00.000-04:00

So.

Came back from another trip to The Old Home Place to find it snowing like crazypants here in Missouri. It all melted yesterday, and the roads were never covered, but still, you know, Cut it Out!

Going to Indiana was a trip. (ha ha) There were wind gusts to do a Republican proud, and Sweetie did a swell job to keep us on the road, although it was down right scary at times. Then, as if that weren't fun enough, the fanbelt on the Big Ass Van shredded just as we exited the free way for the 25 minute, back roads drive home. My mantra always is that it could have been worse. It could have happened in the wilderness of Southern Illinois. It could have been hailing. Or snowing. Or thunderstorming. But the van got us to Corydon and just beyond, and we have friends that actually answer their phone after 10 pm, so we made it to the house Wednesday night. Sweetie fixed the van the next day; just bless his heart. What can I say? We brought his motorcycle back with us, but of course it was snowing….

I have updated my fuzzarelly.com website, since I unwittingly paid for another year of hosting. Welcome to the new world of Chez Fuzzarelly! I also plan to attend the Fiber Event in Greencastle April 15-16, as I have this overwhelming need to adopt and hold a fuzzy little bunny creature. Just one. Really. Also? My friend at Blue Acorn won't be there because she got into the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! Lynne has worked so hard to build up her business and I am so glad she got this break!

Nothing to see here.

2011-03-21T16:21:00.000-04:00

It may not sound like much, but I made some curtains yesterday, and even hung them. Plain white cotton for the office/mud room. It had been so long since I used my wonderful sewing machine, and I actually enjoyed the process. (The machine really is ace.) The front of the house faces southwest straight on, so I know I'll need some curtains there, and soon. Since I have part of a roll of silk noil, and it is too rough for my sensitive skin for clothing, I plan to dye and use that. That should be fun.

There is a magnolia tree in the front yard, coming into bud. No frost in the forecast, but rain and cooler weather, so I hope to see it in its glory.

Princess has taken to chasing squirrels, of which there are many here. Part of the back yard fence is down, but there is a spare length in the garage, and I have tasked Sweetie with the chore of making a quick fix tonight. But it's funny how temporary fixes become permanent.

I'm feeling okay; the sunshine helps immensely. I took a walk today, around a few blocks. We have a nice, flat terrain here with no hills to tax my asthma. Sweetie says he will fix up his bike for me to ride. That would be fun.

I find it hard to believe that March is 2/3s over already, don't you? Seems like just a week or so ago that I got a call from Sweetie's old boss, wondering if he'd be interested in a job in Missouri.

Twice daily by mouth.

2011-03-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

So.

I saw my new care giver today, and it was good. Her name is Judi, and she is a Nurse Practitioner. The entire visit was good; very good. I am so happy to be insured again. Also? They have a mental health division. Which you may know that I need. (Well, duh.)

The visit took for freaking ever, though, what with being a new patient and all the sordid medical history required. I even had to have a nebulizer treatment, as my breathing was so extremely suck ass. Blood was drawn, tears of craziness were shed, and socks were knitted in the meantime.

Maybe I am finally at a place in time and life that I can get the help I need at a price I can afford. Ya think? With the GOP in control? I can dream.

The sorry thing is? I am so lucky to have a husband with really good bennies at his new job. I should not be in this privileged position! This should be something that everyone in the USA can have access to! It has been humiliating the last 18 months to ask for "favored" treatment because I was uninsured. ("Please, Sir, can I have some more?")

It's just awful. I hated it. I have needed help but could not afford it. That is one reason I am now living in Missouri. Health benefits.

Re-apply every six weeks.

2011-03-17T02:35:00.000-04:00

We had snow again this week, about 4 inches. It came down in huge wet glob-flakes all day long. Which day? I cannot remember, as I have been sick with the Dreaded Creeping Crud since Sunday. Today, I am able to toddle about, do laundry and whatnot, but it was hard going there for awhile.

Of course, Sweetie is now afflicted. Fortunately, he is off work until Sunday morning and has me to fetch and carry for him.

Tomorrow, I am off to see a Nurse Practitioner, postponed from Monday. I have had to cut the cord with my long-time Doctor in Indiana and hope to have made a prudent choice here. Also, my medical benefits have kicked in. (Which is so suck ass, to be dependent upon one's spouse's work insurance. I. will. not. rant.) Anyway, I hope I like this medical group. I hope they are caring and nice and all that. Not judgmental, but not skimpy with good advice, either.

You know, I just turned 54, and I have noticed that all of my body hair is thinning. I haven't shaved my legs in two months, but all I have is about 30 hairs per leg that are 3/4 of an inch long. My bangs are noticeably wimpier. Let us not even mention, you know, swimwear hair problems. I don't know how to deal with all of this. I don't feel old! Why does my body say I am? I wonder if I shouldn't quit coloring my hair. Maybe get it cut off way short and let the grey grow out. I don't have any roadmaps telling me which route to take.

I feel quite unsure. There is no mother, grandmother, sister, or aunt to guide me. Talk about lonely.

Lots my differ.

2011-03-15T12:27:00.000-04:00

Saturday, I had the scratchy throat. Sunday, I was The Mean Green Mucus Machine. Monday, after a regimen of 2 benadryls and 2 aspirins every 6 hours, I was able to walk upright again.

Today, still have the cold, but feel much better. Postponed my Monday "new patient with a primary care physician" appointment to Thursday.

Sweetie and I both have had escaping dreams lately, where we are trying to get out of somewhere. Apropos to our situation, ya think? Last night I dreamed, once again, about being back in high school, where I was failing English! of all things. (Also having sex with teachers in the bathroom.)(Heh heh.)

There is over 4 inches of snow here. Again. There were huge fluffy snow globs falling much of yesterday. Quite beautiful, and got my desire to actually see it snow here over with. Okay. The temperatures are high enough that all roadways are clear, and warm weather is on its way for later in the week.

Taxes are done, and we will get a small amount of money back, after paying for the preparation. Like I have said before, I will let Sweetie perform surgery on me, but I want a professional to prepare my taxes.

Began another pair of plain-jane socks, but am looking on Ravelry for something more demanding.

Everything I Need to Know

2011-03-07T17:13:00.001-05:00

The depression is back, what with the dismal weather and grey skies. I am forcing myself to not sleep all day, but to rather do something, to move around, to get out of the house. It helps but it is hard to get kick started.

All is quiet on the paranormal front. Yay.

I discovered a small stand of daffodils emerging in the back yard, about a week behind the ones in Indiana. My friend Lorie asked if I planned to bring any of the flowers here from the Indiana house. Now that I think about it, I would like to have some of the iris and daylilies, and even the tulips and daffs that I have collected over the years. Sweetie wants to dig up and bring the little (8 ft.) Dawn Redwood to go with the ginormous one here in the new back yard; it must be 10 or 12 feet around and over 60 feet tall. The Dawn Redwood is called a metasequoia, and was thought to be long extinct until a stand of a thousand trees was discovered in China back in the 1940s.

Going back to Indiana on Wednesday, and have made an appointment to get our taxes done. We qualify for a moving deduction! Yay! Any little bit will help, as I no longer have my business deductions; not that I have made much money in the past year. The hardships of bi-state living have switched, as there is no internet or fridge or bed in Indiana. Also, you know about the leap in gas prices. Divide 340 miles by 14 mpg in the van, and multiply by $3.45, and that is what it costs one way. About $84. So it goes.

I have begun another blog, Back Roads and Byways of Montgomery County. Not much there yet, but here is a sample.

Wacky Wednesday

2011-03-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

Ok. So. Thank goodness for good hand trucks. Let me say that up front.

Sweetie wrangled the washer and dryer down into the basement today, with very little drama. At first.

While he was hooking up the hot and cold and all that, I said, "Wanna hear what happened to me yesterday?"

"Why, yes, I do." Always the gentleman.

"I was on the couch, resting a bit, solving a sudoku. Princess was next to me, and I think the cats were around, and I heard a whump/clunk from somewhere in the house. I sat up and listened. Princess was awake but was fine and not alarmed, so I just figured it came from next door or something.

A little later, I went into the downstairs bath. I had taken a shower earlier and closed the doors and hung the towel up. So I went into the bathroom and the shower door was open and the towel was on the floor."

Without skipping a beat, he said, "Okay, let me tell you my little story. Last Saturday, as I was taking some of the bed parts upstairs? I felt like something tugged twice on them from behind, and I looked back and there was nothing. And nothing that should have caused it, either."

"But I don't feel anything bad here, and Princess and the cats weren't freaked out."

"I don't feel anything bad here, either."

So I said, loudly, to nobody in particular down in the basement, "Cut that shit out, you hear me?"

I didn't grow up with sort of stuff. He did.

8 st/in

2011-02-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

Hola, chitlin's ~

Missouri is beginning to feel like home. Imagine that. We brought back from Indiana the fridge, washer & dryer, our bed, my sewing machine, some of my favorite rocks and the little buddha.

Today, I signed up for NetFlix online. This is after I decided not to have cable or satellite teevee here, because most teevee sucks big donkey dicks. I just watched Get Shorty, two episodes of That 70s Show, and the pilot for 30 Rock. For $8 a month. Yeah, I am in love.

The 4 inches of snow that we came home to has melted, and I get to see the yard again. I have yet to see it actually snow whilst in abode, but it is still not Spring, so I may have the chance. We brought the palm tree back with. Love you, Harry!

I have tried to begin a pair of socks from some Bamboo Regia, to my despair. I don't think I like it very much. No sproing and it is splitty. Have put it aside for the nonce, and have begun to cast on another pair from my Deborah Norville sale selection. We'll see.

It's a cold but beautiful day. The sun is shining and the sky is brilliant blue. This is becoming home.

Take daily with food.

2011-02-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

Maybe not so surprisingly, I have been depressed these past few cold and cloudy days. I felt great when there were brilliant blue skies and warm weather. I just now tried to clear out a bit of rain gutter only to find that everything in it was frozen and hard.

Princess is going to the vet today for her rabies shot, in order to get her city license. I am hoping to not have to fight with the vet; I hope they won't try to make me get all sorts of tests and pills for her. I mean, really, I can't afford my own medicine for cryin' out loud. I just want a rabies shot, please.

Sweetie and I plan to go back to Indiana this weekend and leaving today, or maybe tomorrow. I am dreading it. I don't know why. It isn't an onerous drive and we plan to bring back the refrigerator and my sewing machine, which are both good things to have. It must be the depression talking.

Sweetie has been stressed, too. His 90 day probation ends on Monday, and health care kicks in on Tuesday. His current work environment places a lot of weight on safety, unlike his previous two jobs. We spoke about it last night, and I told him that in the big scheme of things, safety first is good policy. Some of the things he has had to do in the past simply appalled me.

My gift to him is a completed pair of socks, made from Regia Kaffe Fassett in the colorway Clay. I used size 0 needles, and the afterthought heel by EZ. These have actually zipped right along, compared to the last pair. I am wondering now what my next project will be.

I am slowly reloading all of my favorite blogs in my reader. Belated Birthday Greetings to the Knitting Linguist, on her big four-oh. I don't know how she knits so much and so well!

Anything else? No, not really. We went window shopping for refrigerators, ranges, dining sets, and vacuum cleaners last week, and didn't buy a damn thing but lunch. Finances are too tight right now and I will have to make do with what we have. I did slightly drool over some Lazy Boy reclining sofas, though.

Do not over tighten.

2011-02-22T12:56:00.001-05:00

Three days after we brought the cats here, Millie went missing. At first, I dismissed it, knowing that she had stayed out all night before, but when I walked Princess at 4:30 am and called, "Kitty Kitty Kitty!" and she didn't come running, I began to worry. I went out again a little later, and called, and I thought I could hear a meow meow somewhere. Sweetie was able to trace the sound to our neighbor's car, who doesn't feel the need to lock her car doors. He was able to pop the hood, and there she was, wedged tightly in the engine compartment, not able to move forward nor backward.

I was reminded as to how I had acquired that cat, back in '05. I had gone to the feed store to pick up my usual 300 pounds of bunny chow, and saw a tiny grey kitten in the office. The story was that a worker had been filling bags with corn when the chute became clogged. He reached up his hand in order to feel for the blockage, and pulled out said tiny kitty, just a few minutes before I arrived. It seemed sound, and I had been wanting another feline and so asked if I could take it home. Said and done.

(That is also why she is named Millie, by the way. A friend had found a cat behind some new construction in her house, and so named him Wally. She asked if I had named mine Millie, since I had found her at a feed mill. I hadn't named her yet, but soon did.)

Having located Millie, Sweetie passed her off to me, as he had to get to work. I called the neighbor, Tina, and told her not to be alarmed if she heard noises from her car port. I drove to a mechanic's shop, and was advised to put food on the ground, and if that didn't work, to honk the horn and beat on the bumpers and hood. He said NOT to use a water hose, as that only makes cats wet and even more angry. It didn't work. She was stuck.

Sweetie must have called me 5 or 6 times that day for a progress report.

Tina even called in her neighbors on her other side, Bob and Tom, so see if they could help. That just cracked me up. (Bob and Tom. I fucking hate that radio show. I have never heard anything remotely funny from them.) However, they were of no help, and so it was up to Sweetie to do something.

Which he did. He removed the alternator in Tina's Corsica, fortunately recently replaced so there were no seized-up bolts. Also? He heroically did this with not enough of the proper tools, because really, we have only just moved here and more than half of his stuff is still in Indiana. It took over and hour to take out the alternator, which gave Millie enough room to hoist her plump cat ass out and into my arms.

She has always been an aloof kitty, but this time? She was loving being held in my arms as I took her to her food, water, and litter, after 24 hours of confinement.

Putting the alternator back in was more problematic. Sigh. Such is car maintenance. It took awhile to get the belt back in place, but in the process, a part was knocked into the dark void. Not a precious part, but a worrisome part nonetheless. It was found the next day, after Tina had driven to work and back. No harm, no foul.

I am just so glad that Tina didn't have to go anywhere that day.

Millie is fine. She's allowed outdoors again, but stays close by and is more affectionate than she's ever been.

Lost in the Ozone Again

2011-02-20T05:26:00.001-05:00

I wrote this early last week and then forgot all about it.

And so really, how am I feeling about the move? (Does it matter how I feel?) I have to be here, unless I wish to totally upset my life. Anymore, I am not so ready to chuck everything to go live in an ashram. Medical benefits are not to be sneezed at, at my age.

I am liking the new house a lot. It is a "round house," in that one can walk from the kitchen to the living room in two directions, unlike a ranch-style house. The house in Indiana was similarly round. This house has two bath rooms, not one, and a dishwasher. Do you all recall my joy at washing dishes every week or two? This house is also warmer and better insulated. There is twice weekly trash pick up, and monthly pick up of recycling, yard waste, and brush. The letter carrier comes to my front door.

I am finding myself happy here. I am happy to have Sweetie with me more, even though his pay is less. But you all know that money isn't everything. He worked his skinny-ass off all those years in Indiana, but I missed him! I missed us having a life together. I have missed staying up late and looking up at the stars. Life is too short to work all the time. I want to have summer nights with him, looking at lightening bugs and full moons. I want to have him with me, without him exhausted from a 60 hour week.

It has been stressful, as the rashes on my arms testify. (The medical bennies begin March 1.) I have been having the Stress Filled Opera Dreams. Similar to "the school bus is coming and I can't find my shoes" stress dreams. The Opera Dreams appear when I am under extraordinary stress. Generally, the opera is opening within the next day or two, and there are seventeen costumes still to construct. For whatever reason, I am not freaked out by this. Sometimes, I am trying to get sewing machines to work, other times, I can't find bobbins or needles, or my car gets stuck in snow. While in the dream, though, I am remarkably unbothered.

I had my first cognitive dream the other night. That's when one knows one is dreaming and becomes the director instead of the passive observer. Usually when I realize I am dreaming, I wake up, but this time, I knew I was dreaming and I said, Hey, Let's fly! And I did! It was amazing! I swooped and soared and the feeling of freedom was intense.

That must be part of me dealing with the mov. Maybe. I don't know.

Children Playing

2011-02-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

Okay. It's Thursday. Already.

Sweetie is in love, or extreme like, with his work schedule of three 12-hour days and then one half-day. He doesn't have to go back until Sunday morning. Also, we are not driving to Indiana this weekend, so he is actually able to enjoy his time off. The company gifted his work group, for having 4 years without accidents, with 25 pounds of steak and 10 pounds of ground beef. We don't have a refrigerator here, but there is snow and so I created a make-shift cooler to keep the meat frozen. We plan to give away the steak to a local church, or meal kitchen, if we can find someone that will take it. I mean, really, I like meat but 25 pounds of anything is one whole hell of a lot and way more than the two of us need. The snow has been melting quickly; today it is 71º but breezy, and so arrangements need to be made pronto.

I don't have a range, either, but I do have a large George Foreman Grill, a toaster, a toaster oven, and a microwave; so I can do without a stove for quite awhile. A refrigerator, on the other hand, is needed soon, as well as a good vacuum cleaner. (The navy blue carpet in the living room is looking more ombre colored with each passing day.)

Today we went shopping, and found just the place to get everything we need locally. There's a sale going on and one-year-same-as-cash payment plan. I may even get a new dining room table and chairs. The reclining sofa will have to wait.

It has been great to have the innertubes again! It made living in Lovely Laconia bearable, and although Montgomery City has 2500 more inhabitants, it will make living here more bearable, too. Two cool things about living here is the closeness of the grocery store and library, both of which are within walking distance. I was used to a 25-minute drive to get to either in Indiana. (Well, the Kroger in Brandenburg, KY was only 15 minutes away.) The traffic on our residential street is minimal. It is quiet save for when the freight train comes through town a couple of blocks away, but I find it a more comforting noise than an irritating one. There is an elementary school just to the north of us and a parochial school just to the south, and an enforced 25 mph speed limit.

Some little creatures followed us here.

Happiness

2011-02-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

Okey dokey. The innertubes have landed in Montgomery City. I am beyond delighted to have online access at my very own house again!

I plan to be back posting regularly again soon.

Also, have taken the first photo to be featured on the not-ready-yet blog about Montgomery County. Here it is for you all.

Apply liberally and often.

2011-02-08T12:14:00.000-05:00

Hola, chitlin's. I am writing to you from the public library in Montgomery City, Missouri. Time is limited, so it's "just the facts, ma'am."

The closing las Friday went smooth as buttah, in spite of the 18" of snow everywhere except the roads. (I mustl say that this state did a swell job clearing the roadways.) We had brought some bare essentials and moved them into the house on Saturday, after shoving a path. Hired a local with a bobcat front loader to clear the driveway. There are piles of snow 6 feet high in places. I will have pictures.

The gas wasn't on, but the electric was, so we bought a couple of space heaters, taped sheets over the doorways, and camped out in the dining room until Monday morning. Sweetie undercovered the water meter and turned that on first thing after shoveling. Yesterday, I went to City Hall and got the water/sewer/gas/trash service lined up, and some nice men came and turned on the gas and lit the furnace. I just now ordered phone and internet service.

We'll make a trip back to Indiana to pick up a few more things, like, chairs and the computer, and then hang out here until better weather. We have Princess, and will bring back the cats, too.

I am taking all of the stress as well as can be expected. I mean, it has all been pretty easy and I am not a high maintenance person. It is a bit lonely, though, without the internet as my constant companion.

Absorbs Quickly and Easily

2011-02-02T09:27:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note. The closing is still scheduled for Friday, and the snow in St. Louis was minor, but in Columbia, where the bank and realtors are, there was 18" of snow. I don't know yet if Sweetie is coming home today or not.

Here in Lovely LAconia, it is 28º with wind gusts of 45 mph and there is debris just all over the yard. I am not going outside to pick up anything - even though someone is supposed to come by around noon today to look at the house! The first nibble! I have sort of straightened up and washed the dishes, but I told her that I am not much of a housekeeper. It's not like we're filthy or anything, but we are white clutter.

Henny is now running free in my friend's yard, after being caged for a couple of days. It was nice to see Fried Chicken and the other hens last week, and to know that they're doing well. Little Rex didn't make it. Guess I did him no favors bringing him inside, but on the other hand, he had a great, albeit short, life.

Oh me, Oh my, I love that country pie.

2011-01-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

Another Sunday alone. Sweetie left yesterday, as usual, to go back to Missouri. You know, honestly? It's not such a bad arrangement, as we really do make the best of the time we have together.

The closing has been moved up two weeks, and looks to happen this Friday, the 4th! Again, barring some catastrophe in the paperwork. We have the money to close, the loan has been approved, the affair of the leaking roof around the bathroom vent has been addressed, and we have insurance lined up.

The plan is for Sweetie to come home Wednesday, as usual, and we will go back either Thursday or Friday, depending on the time of closing. Probably taking the car, and the van which will be filled with the necessities of life.

Also? Turns out that our insurance agent is also the mayor.

On the critter front, Henny Penny is now residing at my friends house. I miss my chickens! I asked the mayor of Montgomery City about having chickens, and he said that an ordinance had been passed a few years ago banning farm animals in town. I asked, what if I kept my hens on a leash, would they qualify as pets? He laughed. He said it was a concern about the noise, and I said that there were train tracks two freaking blocks away, so what about the noise? More laughter. Sigh. I know when the town meetings are, and plan to attend, see what I can do. Sweetie, though, has asked that if I write a letter to the editor, to let him sign it. He doesn't want me to get harassed and stalked like here in Lovely LAconia. They don't much like uppity women here. Or smart ones, either. Not so sure about there yet.

I have an injured bunny inside, though. It's Rex, the mini-rex that was given me last summer. Seems he was not good enough to show and yadda yadda yadda; you know the sad and sorry tale. He escaped from the corral within a couple of days, and had made himself at home around the yard. But Thursday, apparently a car bonked him pretty good. I found him on the side of the road, bleeding from the mouth and eyes. I know, not good at all. He has lived, though! I am thinking his face took the blow, as all of his internal systems seem to be working. He breathes as though he has a bad cold. His teeth are intact. Today, I gave him molasses on a q-tip, and water the same way, and he appeared to swallow. I know he can go for awhile without food, but he needs water. Bless his little heart.

Welcome to Fuzzarelly's ICU.

Extra Buttons.

2011-01-26T16:22:00.000-05:00

(Written yesterday and promptly forgotten.)

The closing on the house looks to be next week, as I found out yesterday. Fully two weeks before expected. I spent the day dithering at full speed, playing several online Scrabble-type games because what else could I do? I mean, really.

Last night, watched Peter Walsh's show about hoarding on OWN, two full episodes, and today? I have acted! (I am not a hoarder, but I do tend to collect stuff. And the stuff just seems to pile up before I realize it.)

Today, I went through a trash bag full of my very own hand spun, and kept a little bit and put the rest into the Give Away pile. I went through my meager hanging wardrobe, and halved it. I went through my dresser drawers, and halved that. I even threw away some things! That was a step, let me tell ya. I tend to wear things until they fall to pieces, so for me to actually Throw Things Away was a big step. That meant that those things were too awful for me to wear, and too shameful to give to anyone else.

I boxed up all of Kite Man's stuff to give back, as I have realized that the long distance thing just won't work. I mean, really, the not-so-long distance thing was barely working. His work space is either broiling hot or freezing cold, and I seldom got all of the correct pieces at once in order to sew the damn things. I had so hoped that this gig would work out, but I am too old to fool with bullshit. Sigh. I like Kite Man a lot, which makes it even more sad and difficult to quit him.

Thank you for choosing us!

2011-01-24T09:27:00.000-05:00

What a week. Mostly bad news, but with a few good things mixed in. The hard drive on the iMac went belly up Wednesday, and rebooting proved to be futile. Took the computer to the Apple Store Thursday, and was told it would take about a week to repair, but the good news was that there were 47 days left on a three year warranty. How often does that happen? I mean, it's usually the day or week after the warrant expires that the appliance or gadget does, too. The store called me Sunday to say that the iMac was good to go, so I flew there since I had been jonesin' bad for the innertubes. My only cost was the gas for two trips to the other side of Louisville and back. Well, since I never back up anything, (it's a Mac! I've never had one go bad before!) I lost a lot of my unpublished writing and photos and videos. On the plus side, my blogs and YouTube do contain the best of my work.

Without the distraction of the internet, I watched TV and finished the socks and started another pair, this time out of Kaffe Fasset Regia. You can see how the patterning almost evened out at the inelegant, common heel. I knit the last half or so of the flap in garter stitch, as this is where my foot will go through a sock, and that little corner rounds out with the wearing. (Oh, and? TV is mostly so awful. Even IFC has commercial breaks anymore.)

Sweetie limped home late Wednesday evening; the water pump on his car was on its last legs. Unfortunately, there was no warranty of any kind on the 1990 Mercedes, but Dutch at River City Imports was able to get her fixed up quickly, if not cheaply.

Friday night, we had the coldest temperatures of the season, and our water pipes froze. We opened wide all the faucets and waited and borrowed water for the toilet from Good Neighbor Nancy, and they thawed by mid-afternoon. Later that evening, I noticed that the kitchen sink was dripping and the harder I tried to turn it off, the more it dripped. The cut offs under the sink didn't work, either, do I turned the water off at the meter. I'm not sure if we need a new faucet or what, but that will be something for Sweetie to deal with this weekend. Being married to a maintenance man has its benefits.

Amid all that hubbub, I neglected to close up the chicken coop, and some critter took little Peg Leg and Wing Man. I'm thinking cat, because Henny was not harmed. I should feel bad, but since they were both little roosters, that will be two fewer problems for my friend to deal with in the future. I hope to get Henny over to her this week.

And lastly, Howard died. He had ceased to eat and then drink, and grew weaker and weaker over a couple of days. I had put down towels and given him the run of the bathroom, but Thursday morning he was leaning up against the tub with his little tail feathers drooping, and I knew he was dying. By the time we got back from dropping off Sweetie's car, he was dead, just as we'd left him, as though he'd just fallen asleep. I will miss you, Howard my Duck.

Quacks.

2011-01-16T12:11:00.001-05:00

My life so far.

I have an idea what may be wrong with Howard. Pasturella. I googled duck health, and found a site with loads of info. Who knew there was a duck health web site?

Some people that lived here before us raised rabbits. In the upstairs loft where I kept my rabbits. And some of them acquired snuffles, aka pasturella. Apparently, it is a difficult germ to eradicate, once it is ensconced. Ducks and poultry are also susceptible, and I believe that is what Howard has gotten. All the symptoms are there. I am medicating him and keeping his quarters sanitized and trying to make him eat. At least I now have a plan of action.

In house news, the VA loan has been approved, and closing looks to be on Feb. 18. Sweetie was here and is now back to work. It is tiresome, he says, to come home, but then he loves to be home once he is here. I seriously need a timetable, as otherwise, I am a dithering fool. Boxes are being acquired.

Still sporadically knitting on the Storm socks.

Howard the Duck

2011-01-12T11:33:00.002-05:00

Snow and Birds

2011-01-12T09:42:00.002-05:00

Somewhere near Lanesville

2011-01-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

Sweetie and I went for a little drive on a snowy Friday morning, and these guys just charmed me to pieces. I find it amazing all we humans need are painted eyes to change a rock into an animal.

It has been cold but not bitterly cold here, and snowy but not too snowy, and overcast a good bit. As usual in January, I am sleeping a lot and doing very little. With Sweetie gone over half of each week, I don't cook much and therefore don't have much to clean. I have the thermostat set at 64º trying to save money and so of course I am little cold. I am lonely but don't want to leave the house.

Howard has taken a turn for the worse, so I have brought him back inside to live in the tub. Henny and the chicks seem to be fine out in the triangle coop, which offers them good shelter and protection.

Closing on the house looks to happen by mid-February, barring some catastrophe. Had it inspected last week and while there are a few things that need attention, none of it was a deal breaker.

I am progressing on the socks. The color pattern suddenly corrected itself on the heel flap and they are mostly matching again. I've completed the gussets and now it's a straight shot to the toes. Oh, remember that I gave my doctor a pair of socks last spring to thank her for not charging me for two office visits? She communicated that she was really loving them in the cold. That makes me happy.

Your wish is our command.

2011-01-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

No big news here. Still knitting on the socks; I've turned the heel and am making slow progress, as they don't much interest me at the moment. I am totally distracted.

The closing on the house will be by February 11. I have to send more documents to the Missouri bank. I cannot believe the paperwork involved in buying a house! With a mortgage, I mean. Once we have the keys, Sweetie intends to move in - well, as soon as the utilities are turned on. I imagine that the drive he makes here and back every weekend is wearing on him, but it sure is nice to see him. It's also nice to have someone to cook for and talk to. I have packed one box.

Howard seems to have turned the corner. I put him out in the backyard enclosure, along with Henny and her chicks over the weekend, as the weather was warm although rainy. He is moving around well and is almost quacking again. He's drinking water but not eating much. I still don't know what is/was wrong with him. It could be loneliness and so having the chickens near him is what is helping. It could have been some sort of bug, that he has shaken off. He could have been slightly injured by whatever took Omelet and Buffalo Wing. I don't know, and I hate not knowing.

Sweetie says there is a skunk in the neighborhood. I don't know; I can't smell a thing. Good neighbor Nancy feeds it. (Just so you know that I am not the only crazy person in this village.) I just don't want it to eat the chicks, which is unlikely, as they are secure in the little triangle coop. But still, it is worrisome. I hope to get the remaining fowl to my friend as soon as she feels able to tend a duck and chicks.

In the meantime, I am playing Lexulous on facebook. Truly, I cannot concentrate on anything except those things that Have to be Done by a Certain Date. I'm feeling quite the crazy pants.

See back cover for details.

2010-12-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

Sweetie left yesterday to get back to Missouri and his job. It was wonderful to have him home. The 3 1/2 day work week is really nice, since it gives him time to make the almost 6 hour drive each way. Also, where he is living now and where we hope to be living, is only a 5 minute drive to work. A pleasant change after 15 years of 45-60 minute commutes.

Fannie Mae made a counter offer on the new house, which we have accepted. It is almost $13,000 less than the original asking price. If everything goes smoothly, we should close at the end of January. Sweetie was able to get a VA loan, at a tiny fixed rate interest rate. Yay, us! I guess I need to start collecting boxes.

I'm knitting on the socks. Had to rip out the heels after a wrong stitch count on both of them. Cheese and crackers! Oh, and the pattern on the one wonky skein has suddenly corrected itself. The original skeins were $4.29 each, and then were on sale at 40% off, which means the yarn cost me just a little over $5. The blend is 50% superwash wool, 25% bamboo, and 25% nylon and it has a soft hand. I like how certain things I make hold memories of events that went on during their construction.

Howard hasn't been doing too well, and I know squat about ducks. He hasn't been eating his feed or quacking ever since the week I was gone and we had the ice storm, and is having trouble getting around. Yesterday his eye was matted closed. Sigh. I'm ashamed to say that I was secretly hoping he would die, but he has kept hanging in there. So today I brought him inside, and he is in an inch of water in our tub, along with Rubber Ducky. He ate some bread and drank a lot of water, and his eye is better. I figure he can stay there for the time being. I can take sink baths. He seems happier. I wonder if he wasn't depressed and lonely after losing his little friends, Omelet and Buffalo Wing.

Henny Penny and her two kids, Peg Leg and Wing Man, are in cramped quarters, but doing well. They will go and live with Fried Chicken and His Hens once the chicks get big enough, or we move, which ever comes first. I hear that Fried Chicken loves cat food, and would come into the house if allowed to. They are all doing well, and I am so delighted that they are safe and happy.

Do Not Shake.

2010-12-21T08:54:00.000-05:00

In the midst of this mess I call my life, I am knitting. I began these socks just before I drove to Missouri last week, and worked on them off and on while socked in (Ha! a pun!) by bad weather.

The yarn is Serenity from Premier Yarns, the Deborah Norville Collection, in the color way Saffron. I remember Deborah Norville as a news reader, or maybe she was a weather person, on a local Atlanta TV station, back in the way back. I had no idea she is the host of Inside Edition until I just now Googled her, nor did I know that she had a Yarn Collection until I found this yarn on sale.

And thank goodness it was on sale, because you can see the dye job is totally fucked up. The pattern starts out in symmetry, then one ball crapped out and went white. When the color returned, the patterning was reversed. I thought about ripping out the one sock, but thought that it would make a great memento of my trip.

I Feel Like June Cleaver

2010-12-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

So.

Arrived back home on Thursday, several days later than intended, but the time was well spent and I am safe. Sweetie left today to get back to Missouri, and his job which wants him at 6 in the morning.

There was much weather last week. First the wind and snow, and then the ice. We had hoped to travel home Wednesday afternoon, but the forecast was for freezing rain and I made the call to stay one more night and drive during the daylight. The motel we were at is not too busy, especially since their cable is out, but Thursday morning I took Princess out to a lobby filled with sleeping people, a full parking lot, and 4 dozen tractor-trailers idling in any spot they could get. The roads were ice. MoDOT had even called back their snow plows/salt trucks to put chains on their tires, as even they couldn't get around.

We left near 11, eastern time, and it was white knuckle driving for the first 60 miles. There were so many wrecked vehicles and evidence of wrecks that I gave up counting, but not noticing. But we made it home without incident. Yay, us!

As I said, my time there was well spent. Sweetie had had his eye on another house since he moved there, and the for sale sign finally appeared one day. We looked at it from all around the outside, then contacted the realtor, and we looked at it from the inside, too.

It's a helluva house, and we have made an offer. Now, I am collecting and sending just about every bit of financial information about us to a Missouri bank in order for us to get a VA loan. (I remember when banks didn't want to fool with VA loans.) It's all very tedious and tiring, and I am glad I am as organized as I am, as I have been able to lay hands on every single thing that has been asked for. I have been dealing with our local bank, in order to pull in every single dollar possible.

I've been stressed. And elated. And tired. And numb. And thinking where to put our furniture in the new house. And what kind of curtains it needs. And about how all of this is going to happen.

From the outside, one can see how symmetrical it is, and that there is a shrubbery. In the back is a white picket fence.

Here is a bad quality video of the inside of the house.

This is way more house than we were looking for. I didn't video the full basement or the attached garage, or the grounds. Closing looks to be in a little over 30 days, if all goes well.

I am trying to be the calm in the middle of the storm.

Think of a number between 0 and 100.

2010-12-18T13:21:00.001-05:00

Cabinet of Wonders: If Only I Had A Fourth-Dimensional Mirror

As a 50-something, I really enjoyed reading this blog post.

What would Freud say?

2010-12-12T13:34:00.000-05:00

I'm in Missouri. The winds are a constant 30 mph, but there is no ice and little snow, but what there is, is being blown into drifts. I am safely inside.

Looking at another house tomorrow. Sweetie and I drove around yesterday, looking at properties, until I grew bleary-eyed and cranky. This new one is nothing at all like what we were looking for. It is two-story, in-town, on a small lot. But, on the plus side is a living room fireplace, a full basement, a large screened-in back porch, and a fenced in back yard. It is also within our price range. Also found another possible in a little town just north of Montgomery City.

I had a dreams Friday night that I am trying to puzzle out. Two separate dreams featuring tornados that were nearby, which focused and then landed on me, and then were quickly weakened and gone. Very weird. i can only surmise that there is chaos all around me, but I am the calm in the center of the storm.

Any alternate explanations are welcome.

A duck walks into a bar...

2010-12-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

As the old joke goes, "I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

I'll start with the bad news, I reckon. When I got home from my spinners' weekend, it was to find Omelet dead, and Buffalo Wing and Easter missing. A hawk is the suspected culprit. Whatever it was, Howard the Duck was too big to be taken.

The remaining 3 hens, along with Fried Chicken, have been staying very near the front porch, day and night.

(I don't even want to write much about the road kill bunnies that I have had to attend to, in the last few weeks. It breaks my heart.)

So much sadness.

The good news is that I captured the hens and rooster this morning around 5:30, and then took them to my friend's house. She has at least 15 hens and a couple of roosters that free range like mine do.

Then there is Henny Penny, the Buff Orpington banty hen, and her two chicks that are a week and a half old. It has been so cold here, that I brought them all inside last week. They are in a large cage in the laundry area, where they are safe and warm. I call the chicks Peg Leg and Wing Man. I will keep them inside until other arrangements can be made.

Also, I will see Sweetie this weekend! He had a professional inspect the house we like, and the story gets more dismal as the wiring is all fucked up and needs to be replaced. Crap on a stick. On the bright side, that's one more bargaining chip and not a deal ender. He has been spending his free time looking at other houses, and wants me to look at them, too. He has another week of this all-week training before his 3.5 day work week kicks in, so I expect him to come home the weekend after this.

It's lonely here, rattling around in this big ol' house with only the cats and dog. (And the duck and rabbits.) I can't say that I am thrilled to be moving to Missouri, but, so it goes. I'm putting on my big-girl panties, and making the best of it.

Also? My doctor has prescribed me some new happy pill medication. Maybe now I will be less with the weepy.

Temporary Registration

2010-12-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

KNITTING NEWS! I finished the Seaside Cardigan! (Pattern found on Ravelry.) Still need to block it, but otherwise, it will be wearable this weekend at our Friendship Spinners retreat at Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. I have been doing little else but trying to finish this for the last few days. Am I that slow of a knitter? I know that I am a deliberate knitter, as I am not a knitting machine, and because of this, I have no problems with my hands or wrists when I knit a lot. Touch wood. So far anyway. I modified the sleeves, and made them straight instead of bell shaped. I think blocking will do it a world of good. You can't really see it, but the front bands were finished using a 2-stitch I-cord, and it's one bind-off I will absolutely use again.

The color is more true in the first photo. I wonder now if green is a good color for me, but I will liven it up with some magenta and purple knit flowers. Those are more my colors. I'll wear my usual black underneath. I can always dye it a darker color. Nah, this has a nice, subtle tweedy look as it is.

So, Sweetie is gone to the new job. I miss him. He says things are going pretty well, though, and he has a line on a rental house for him to live in instead of the motel, until our house is ready. We are in suspense about everything as nothing concrete is known about anything. (How's that for a sentence?)

In the meantime, workmen have been here for the past three days, putting in a new subfloor in the laundry area and bathroom, replacing some outside wooden siding and clapboards, and a few other niggling little matters. The practically new toilet I got for free on craigslist last fall has finally been installed! It's a shame that we didn't have this work done before we knew we were moving. So it goes. This relatively small investment has assuredly made our house easier to sell.

I haven't sewn on kites in three weeks, and I hope that I can tomorrow, now that my plate is less full.

Answer yes or no

2010-11-27T13:34:00.000-05:00

So.

Sweetie leaves tomorrow, to begin the new job on Monday. It's been nice having him home these last two weeks. He'll be staying in a motel until he can find a short term rental apartment or house. What is it with people not returning phone enquiries?

The really good news is that when we met with the loan officer at our bank yesterday, she assured us that with our good credit, we are a shoe-in to get enough of an equity loan to not only buy that house we're interested in outright, but to also pay off our current home equity loan and the mortgage. We won't have an answer for about three weeks, though. Sweetie said he never in all his life imagined owning three houses, much less two of them outright.

We removed some suspect samples of non-friable asbestos from the new house, and I sent them off for testing. The insulation from the house siding is clean, (yay,) but some of the wallboard in the shed and basement is high is asbestos. This is the bargaining chip we were waiting for. (Non-friable means that as long as it is not cut into, crushed, etc., the asbestos poses no danger.) We'll be making an offer on the house this week.

In the meantime, we had a nice Thanksgiving on Wednesday past. Today, I have disposed of all meat from the turkey; turning it into soup with homemade noodles, and turkey salad. The chickens ate the giblets and I will let them have the skin and fat, too. The poor girls are finally acting less spooked, although they seem to be shunning Fried Chicken, the rooster. He continues to roost on the front porch at night, while the girls are in the tree out back. He calls them to food, and they don't come. Very sad. Still not sure if I will move them out west, but I don't have to decide right now. If I could give them to good homes, it would make my life easier. I am feeling the same way about my houseplants.

We use only the finest ingredients.

2010-11-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

The price for the house we like in Missouri has been lowered by $5000. Just that much closer the the offer we plan to make.

Today, I decided to go ahead and make the feast, as it is cold, rainy, and dreary. A day early does not unthankful make me.

Roast turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole w/marshmallows, cornbread and pumpkin pie. Seating starts at 4:00.

The chickens have been released from the barn to take their chances with any stray dogs that may or may not be around. Because? Monday night, a critter, (and I assume it was a raccoon,) slithered its way into to the secure barn loft, and took one of the wyandot hens. Piles of feathers here and there was the only sign. They all must have been traumatized.

I thought they were safe, but they were mere sitting ducks, so to speak, being cooped up.

A live trap was set last night, with some excellent pork barbecue as bait. This morning, the meat was gone, the trap was overturned, yet not sprung. It was for sure a raccoon.

The chickens, however, were safe in the tree near our bedroom window. Sweetie spent a restless night, with shoes on and a gun in hand, just in case.

Me? Last night, I snored away on the couch.

Today? I am thankful.

House in Montgomery City

2010-11-22T13:23:00.000-05:00

Sign and return.

2010-11-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

Received a text from Good Neighbor Nancy on Saturday afternoon, saying that Omelet had been found safe and mostly sound! I was so happy I positively cried. How that little hen ended up 100 feet behind our barn in some woods, I don't know and may never know. Maybe the dog snagged and then dropped her, or maybe she ran/flew back there to escape the Evil Beagle. I was so glad the the two neighbor boys found her and then, since I wasn't home, took her to Nancy.

Omelet is now in the back yard enclosure with her sister Buffalo Wing, her mom Henny Penny, (who is sitting on 5 eggs,) Howard the Duck, and Sugar the Angora.

Also, we may have found Our House in Missouri. Not modern and fancy, but spacious and nice enough with a huge corner lot at the edge of town. The sidewalk literally ends at the front door of this place. Hardwood floors, a full basement, a big outbuilding, and mature trees. It is the lot that I like a lot, in fact. It is near to town, but not with neighbors too close by, and it has become the yardstick that other properties have been judged by and come up short, truth be told.

So much to do this week. And I even bought a turkey for us to have at Thanksgiving, along with pumpkin pie.

Sweetie starts work a week from tomorrow.

The 4-Way Stop Dilemma

2010-11-19T12:40:00.001-05:00

File this under the It Could Have Been Worse file. Had made plans to take a quick trip to Missouri early this morning, to firm up some short term housing.

It was early when I heard the horrible sound that chickens make when they are in distress. By the time I made it out the front door and into the yard, Roostifer was already gone. It was a stray dog, a beagle, one we had spotted yesterday, and mistakenly thought we had run off.

That incident happened just at dawn, and by 9 a.m. we had captured Fried Chicken and 4 of his hens and placed them in the old bunny loft. Two hens were too quick for us, so we took a break from the chasing. About an hour later, one more hen was taken, as well as Omelet, who had ventured out into the yard from her usual safe enclosure. This time, Sweetie got a shot off with the pellet gun, and he hit the dog.

Enquiries were made, it was indeed nobody's dog; from around here, anyway. Sweetie tried to track it, but the neighbor's said the cur was hauling ass-over-head down the road after being shot.

So. Looking at the bright side, we could have blithely left home for a day or two, only to return to no chickens at all. And I was able to snag that last hen a little bit later.

I'm sad for little Buffalo Wing, as her only friend now is Howard the Duck. But, unlike the folks in John Prine's song, I do know how lucky I am, living here in a semi-rural area, to have not lost any other chickens to predators this year.

So it goes.

Feed daily.

2010-11-18T12:44:00.001-05:00

One thing I haven't said a word about, until now, is Foxy. She has found a new home! It's been a week that she has spent with a young couple in Ft. Knox, and I haven't heard boo. In this case, no news is good news.

I have three pair of hand knit socks, 2 hand knit afghans, one blanket, and one pillow to mend because of her.

My left elbow is healing nicely, thank you, now that Foxy is not constantly yanking at her leash.

My blood pressure is surely lower.

The only dog left is Princess, who is such The Good Dog! We have been taking her for car rides again, and we took her to Missouri a couple of weeks ago, too.

I am wondering whether I should just re-home the chickens or try to take with. Then there are the outside bunnies to consider. No need to decide right away, as I will be staying here in Indiana for awhile yet.

I emailed the Insubordiknit last week, as I knew she had moved to Missouri a few years back, from New York, if memory serves. She replied with a nice note and a list of fiber guilds and groups for the state. What a relief to know that I have friends there waiting for me.

Now, breathe!

2010-11-17T17:44:00.001-05:00

Just over three weeks ago, on October 26th, I got a phone call from an old boss of Sweetie's, from the Potato Chip Mine days. Said boss asked if Sweetie was working, and so forth, and said there was a job in Missouri if he wanted it.

The first weekend of November, we went west and Sweetie interviewed and toured the plant. It is a frozen food distribution warehouse, with no food production taking place on the premises. It's a very big company, with very good benefits, but I'm not sure I'll ever say the name of it on this blog.

Sweetie came back here, peed in a cup and took the physical at the local plant last Wednesday. Sigh. He failed the pulmonary test, (machine malfunction,) and scheduled a makeup test the next day, Thursday. Which he aced.

Which brings us to Friday last, the day that Sweetie could finally and safely give 2-weeks' notice at his current, yet hateful job. When he got to work that morning, he was asked to step into the office, where they said, "You are a great maintenance mechanic, but a lousy manager, so we are letting you go with 4 weeks severance pay and a good referral." (I said, "You are a lousy manager? Why? Because you are not an asshole like all of the other managers?")

If you were paying attention, he was intending to give notice as soon as the new job was set in stone, and because he failed the breathing test that first time, he held off until Friday.

He just heard today that he will begin work in Missouri on November 29. Yay, two weeks of double paychecks!

Sometimes, the cards deal you a flush. (Other times, it's two of a kind.) This situation has all worked out so quickly and so well. Now, all we need to do is sell this place! And move, and get new driving licenses, and find a new home, and and and and………

Nails down to stubs.

2010-11-16T23:06:00.001-05:00

I have stories to tell, but cannot just yet.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this link. It's Crackle.com and tonight I watched Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in Bell, Book, and Candle. Yes, there are annoying and ill-timed commercials every so often, but still it was wonderful to watch this movie again.

~Link has been fixed.

Love those Innertubes

2010-11-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

Thank you all so much for your good wishes on the upcoming move! It means a lot to me. The above photo is one I took today. She doesn't look too shabby, from across the street. I made it the header for the house blog, after I realized that I didn't have a current picture of the house online.

Have engaged a glazier, who has replaced and reglazed numerous windows over the last few days. Thursday, the painting begins. Also have a call in to an all-around handyman person to do a little bit of cosmetic carpentry and repair.

Me? I cleaned out two, yes TWO! junk drawers today. Found things that have been lost for years. Don't act like it hasn't happened to you.

Sweetie has awakened for the last several nights to the 2 am Terrors, and I feel for him. What the fuck are we doing? This is insane! I can't cope. Sounds like my old refrain. But, ya know? It'll be fine. Better than fine. In six months, give or take, we'll be mostly settled in new digs. I will have new photos and new adventures to relate. And? I'll have insurance! Hot Dawg!

What's not to like?