Back to blogging.

I'll never eat any store brand of English muffins again. Witness these muffins that were tossed out for the birds and wild life. Three weeks ago. The only thing that has nibbled at them are some apparently foolhardy insects. It has rained a lot and gotten below freezing and they are still whole and firm. I'll try to keep a visual log of them.



After initial resistance to being a web-lemming, I am now on Ravelry. I have gotten a Yahoo! ID, that I needed to get a Flickr account, which I needed to post photos to Ravelry. What a pain in the ass. I may or may not avail myself of all the things that Ravelry offers. Two hours on the internet, or in front of the computer, is all I can take any one day.

In knit news, the latest pair of socks are in the home stretch as I have just this morning picked up the stitches for the heel. Buster keeps guard while I am thus occupied.



Autumn color didn't last long.

I can't remember how long it's been since I did any personal sewing for others. It has usually been something that filled me with dread - the dread that it wouldn't be good enough. Meet my friends, Anxiety and Stress. They arrive on the two a.m. train.

So. Dear Ms. NeverSwept asked me to reline a leather jacket for her and because it is her, I said I'd do it.

I have had it in my possession for three weeks. I have bought the lining material. Tonight, I tackled it. It ain't so bad. She's given me a deadline and already paid me. How evil.

Fall has arrived in Southern Indiana. Witness view from front porch.

Imagine there's no smell.

It's easy if you try.

To not be able to wake up and smell the coffee. To not be able to stop and smell the roses. To not be able to smell a freshly peeled orange. Imagine.

That has been my smell life for, what is it now? the better part of a year. New mown grass. The cat box. Fresh laundry. Dirty clothes. The hand soap in the bath room. Buster. Perfume. Vinegar. Homemade chicken vegetable soup. The bunny box. A freshly-shaved Sweetie. A hard working Sweetie.

These are the aromas that I have been reveling in for two days, ever since the sinus infection was bested by the anti-robotics. Good smells and stinky smells, I am loving them all.

I am also feeling good, not run down and depressed. I'm not foolish enough to believe that the depression is gone for good, but I'll take what I can get. I cleaned off the kitchen table and did the dishes. Woo Hoo!

I've been knitting on the Lorna's Laces Socks. I'm using two different colored skeins, but both are essentially brownish, greenish, and goldish. Nice stuff, the yarn, but the colors are not worthy of pictures until the socks are complete.

Only have four bunnies left to clip, this season. I bought a new pair of 4" embroidery scissors from Gingher and they have made the past dozen clippings a snap. The fur just seems to melt at the touch of the blades. They are made in Italy. I ordered and immediately sold two pair of Gingher feather weight, 8" scissors. I'm thinking that I need to become the Gingher Scissor Lady along with being the Louet Lady and the Crazy Bunny Lady. I had forgotten how hard it is to get really good scissors. We all seem to have that one pair of really crappy scissors in the junk drawer that won't even cut tissue paper. I still have and use the 10" Gingher dressmaker shears from my cotume days. They are at least fifteen years old and have never needed sharpening. And are still sharp to the very tippy tip.

Gingher's aren't cheap, but aren't outrageously priced either. (The bunny clippers retail at $25, the feather weights at $20) They are well worth the investment.

I also ordered some of those pricey rosewood needles under the Colonial Brand. I test drove a set of the double points, size one. Retail at $20.00. For five needles. Made with pride in India, says the package. At first, I was delighted with the feel of these beauties. Six inches long, highly polished and very lightweight. I began the new pair of socks. Maybe one third of the way through the pair, an inch and a half broke off of one needle. Just broke off.

Sometimes the product is worth the money. Sometimes it isn't.

This is not acceptable to me. I plan to contact the makers and complain. And I am uneasy about selling the other sets. I hope I can return them. This is why I quit selling Brittany double points; they broke way too easily. Their crochet hooks were also too fragile for actual use.

I'm back to using my old favorites and standbys, Takumi's bamboo needles. I love these flexible and strong boogers. I can't remember if one of these has ever broken on me - that's good thing.

It's been a rough week. It began with a doctor visit on Monday, because the chronic sinus infection was getting worse. Got a different kind of anti-robotic and a flu shot.

I was flat out sick on Tuesday, woke up hoarse and with a sore throat. That night I hardly slept what with all the hacking and phlegm. Nice.

Wednesday morning, Sweetie took me back to the doctor because I was having severe breathing problems. Like, I couldn't hardly. As in drowning. I was tested for flu even though I was sure it wasn't flu. Negative. Told ya. (And by the way, the first flu case in our county was found on Monday, both A and B. Early for around here.) I was given a nebulizer treatment. Had a chest X ray, just to make sure. Negative. Got a butt shot of even more anti-robotics and lastly, a series of prednisone pills.

I've pretty much slept since then. While still congested, the airways are clear enough. The cough is mostly gone.

Here is a word of praise for what I will call My Health Team. I was able to see the doctor within two hours of calling. Each time. The nurse, nurse practitioner, and doctor all worked together like the proverbial well oiled machine. Everyone took excellent care of me.

Of course, it will all cost a bundle. Sweetie told me not to worry, since breathing is important. He is my local expert, being asthmatic his own self.

But I will worry anyway, because his job status is still unclear. Rumors are rampant, but it is expected that once the new owners take possession, they will fire everyone and close for two weeks. And get rid of the union. All employees can then reapply. How this would affect seniority and insurance is unknown.

So. Here's a Few Fun Links!

First, those Crazy Catholics!

Then, those Baptists do the Darnedest Things! Here's the report.

Road Kill - Not Yet

Sweetie and I went for a drive yesterday, a late night snack run, in his little Beretta. The roads around here are like a roller coaster; up, down, around, and up and down again. A few miles from home, we crested a hill, and there before us were two great big bucks, I mean Hundred Dollar Bucks, with many antler points betwixt them, maybe thirty feet away. One had just crossed the road and the other was close behind. Sweetie skillfully navigated between the two as I hyperventilated. What a rush! What magnificent creatures that I am so glad we did not vaporize. (Nancy NeverSwept has intimate knowledge of such an event.)

So. We made it home without incident. I settled in with my knitting and Sweetie had assumed his position on the sofa. About ten o'clock, someone came to the door, a neighbor, to tell us that our rabbits were in the middle of the road out front. Well, crap. They were the yard bunnies - Dick Head, Jackie Brown, Ramsey, Barbara Bobo, Bambi, and Black Bart. Ever since the spring started running again, after the rains, they have been venturing across the street to drink. Thank goodness Dickie is so white that he glows in the dark, and is not brown or black like the others.

It's out of my hands. I am prepared to collect a squished rabbit each and every morning even though there is not much traffic during the night. Sweetie says that maybe people have become aware of the bunnies and watch out for them. He speaks from experience, having come across them on his drive home. Well, not across them, actually, as he stopped in time.

Knitting news is that the green leaf shawl is as complete as it ever will be. It's quite light, 1.4 ounces, worked on size 5 needles. I thought it would be more than a half square, and the neck opening is not large enough for my taste. I do like the edging and the body pattern. I have more of this merino lace weight in natural, about 4 ounces and 1350 yards. Like a Siren, it beckons me! I have an idea for a square shawl, but I need to do something right now that has some heft to it. Also something that won't take weeks to finish. I've cast on for a pair of socks, using two skeins of Lorna Laces. Pictures later. Nice stuff!





Lastly, another picture of bunny ears in unusual places.