post one thousand!!

This is the big one, folks. Tell me about your inner super hero.

There are three prizes:
One $15 Itunes gift card.
One mixed bag of Lindor balls
one item of your choice, be it willy warmer or six-fingered gloves or wimsical hat or beaded silk scarf or whatever (within reason, folks - no laceweight cashmere size four x sweaters, please) - made by me, for you.

The prize winners may choose their prize.

second of all,
How do I decide who wins? There will be three winners.
One, the super hero that I like the best.
Two, the entrant that wins the popular vote.
Three, a commentator chosen at random by having your name drawn out of a hat by my Darling Husband.


So let me get you started with - - INTARSIA, Warrior knitter!

Intarsia is brave. She will try new things, like entrelac, or like the new scheduling system at work. And she will do what she has to without histrionic drama - like driving home from work in the snow.

Intarsia is persistent. If she doesn't get something right off, she will stick with it, whether it's a perfect cast on, or that new scheduling system at work, until she gets it right.

Intarsia is honest. When she screws up with that new scheduling system at work, she freely admits it, without whining or excuses. Then, -see persistent.

Equipment:
Because Intarsia manifests these virtues, she is allowed - the Accessory Bag. The Accessory bag is what makes her a super hero, because it's bigger on the inside than on the outside, so she always has anything she needs for any eventuality. Like a cell phone and a blanket just in case that drive home slid away. And back up knitting to while away the time, and extra knitting in case she takes in some stranded traveler who also needs to beguile the tedium.

Appearance:
Intarsia has red suede over-the-knee boots, worn over black lycra leggings. Over the leggings she wears a thigh-length hand-knit silk tunic with red, silver and purple cables twining to accent her womanly figure. The accessory bag dangles from a silver belt. Sometimes she adds shawls, scarves, fingerless mitts, hats or whatever else strikes her fancy. Her hair is a mad silver mass, and, since it's yet another fiber to play with, it is worn every possible way, from curls to coils to braids to buns to totally swathed in the latest chappeau. Often spare needles get stuck into the hair and forgotten. Jeweled stitch markers have made their way in as well.

Intarsia has two missions in life:
To knit warm things for cold people,
and, to rejoice, in whatever circumstances she finds herself. Even driving on ice in the dark in a snow storm.(No one's shooting at me and I'm not pregnant! Hooray!!)

So, who's your inner super hero? I'll give you three days before I choose two winners. Then you get to vote on the popular favorite.

for my friends in Oz

When I got to work today I found a bit of magic.

The college is about a thousand feet higher than our home. They had freezing fog.


I got in at 7 AM while it was still as dark as the inside of a cow, but the trees showed quite nicely in the parking lot lights.


I had every confidence that the weather would warm up and be dry all day. But no, it got colder. And it began to snow.


But I had faith in the folks who run our campus, and I felt sure they would send us home if it got ugly. when I got out on my final test session for the day, I looked outside to see two inches of snow, with more falling fast. It was UGLY! Why hadn't anyone sent us home? Oh. Duh! All the people who make these decisions already WERE home! Only us powerless peons have to work between Christmas and New Year.


It took me two hours to get home. A drive that can be accomplished in twenty minutes took two white-knuckled hours. I definitely channeled my inner superhero.

OK, it's Monday

Loins girded? Check.

Lunch packed? Check.

Warpaint applied? (makeup) Check.

Has the soul been adequately armored to go out and face the public? Check.

Sense of humor fully loaded with extra clips in the bandoliers? Check.

Ok, get that smile locked and loaded, and get back to work. U-rah!

Post 997

The twelve days of Christmas start on the 25th of December. This is the third day, so I should be giving you three french hens, but all I have is a gaggle of Canadian Geese.

Geese are a gaggle on the ground, a skein in the sky, and a flock when they're floating. Interesting, these specific old terms.

On the day after Christmas, DH took me down to Lush and we hit the post-Christmas sale. (Holiday specific bath products, 3 for the price of one.) WE got there half an hour after the shop opened, and the line to pay for things was out the door. People stood patiently in the wind with their arms packed with satsuma santa fizzies and hollydaze bubble bars. The soap was also on sale - first piece regular price, second two pieces of equal or lesser value for free. I had DH get into line while I darted to the bubblebars and went nuts. We stood in line for an hour with fifteen pounds of goodies. I brought them home, and wondered where to store them, then inspiration struck. I've been saving glass jars for some reason. Bubble bars and bath bombs sealed securely into glass will last for months, and look way cool on my bathroom counter!

I usually crush a bubble bar, augment the bubbles with ivory liquid and a wire whip, and make one bar last for five or six baths. I was profligate last night, used all of one carnation scented bubble bar with red glitter on it. I am fragrant and sparkly even now. And oh the mounds of creamy bubbles!

A friend of ours who does art is going to craft another ring broach for me. DH, in his single days, bought one ounce silver ingots for comparatively little money. Silver is expensive now. He pulled out two ingots, one for me and one to pay for the broach. He is a saint! King Copetua had nothiing on this guy for generosity.

Then we tried to deliver the silver. We were sure we could just drive straight to TY's house. WE called information, got a number, left messages that we were coming. We knew he was cleaning house so maybe the vacuume was on, or he was outside shaking a throw rug or something. We got to the neighborhood, and realized that instead of remembering exactly how to get there, neither of us had more than the vaguest notion of where he lived. We drove around for about half an hour, trying to find something that looked familiar. Last time we were there, he had a giant sattelite dish in his front yard as yard art. Without that beacon to sight on, we were lost. Still, we had a nice drive in an interesting neighborhood in the sunshine.

Finally, DH took me to the mall to fill out my Christmas giftings. I found two nice cotton turtleneck tees, and he spotted a lovely red long vest with pockets. And then I totally reached my limit for crowds and decisions and begged to be taken home. Instead, he took me to a japanese restaurant where we could sit down in a quiet room and I could eat sushi and drink ice water and let my back unknot. I get into crowds, and my back muscles macrame themselves into a defensive carapace from hips to the back of my skull. Mall rats who blindly run into me risk the laser glare and a snarled, "Watch it," while my inner Xena demands to be allowed to grab them by nape and crotch and hurl them through the nearest store window. My inner Xena NEEDED that bubblebath last night!

After lunch, though, the mall rats were polite and smiling. I still didn't look any more fetching in the clothes I tried on, but I have a closet full of clothes so I'll manage. DH, incredibly, still feels I have been shorted on Christmas gifts and need to hit the catalogs or the internet. He spoils me something terrible!

And then we came home, and watched Star Trek, the reboot on TV. Today, we are hosting our annual holiday party. Tomorrow, back to work.

From the blogs, it sounds as if mostly our holidays have been quiet and mellow. Hooray for us! May we have dozens more just like this.

Oh. Wow!

Oh my-everlovin'-sweet-aunt-Fanny Wow! We just went to see Avatar. Are you old enough to remember going to see this little SciFi flick called Star Wars and how you felt when you walked out? How the scope and sweep and excitement took you out of yourself and how your mind was set on fire with what you saw? How the characters were realer than real life and the worlds they lived in had more depth, texture, color and detail than the place you lived? Well, buckle up buckaroos, 'cuz I think you're going there again! Yes, the plot was predictable. This is a bad thing? Either the good guys win or they loose to the bad guys, and who wants to see more of that? This would be a great date movie, because it's a love story (to appeal to the girls) with lots of explosions (to appeal to the guys)and alien semi-nudity (appealing to anyone with a pulse.)The planet Pandora is beautifully conceived and portrayed, with magnificent attention to detail. And the movie has magic! You will be transported. In these less than booming times, a little magical transportation is good.

Christmas eve we sat around quietly with a plate of cheese and crackers, a plate of fruit, and a plate of raw veggies, and nibbled our way through the evening. Quiet and quite delightful. We opened presents this morning. The cats got DH a hand-cranked cell phone charger. I got him four steel thermous bottles to take his beverages to work. And a new pair of jeans. And an ipod. Now he's having a great fight with the i-pod, figuring how to make it sit up and do his bidding! He got me candy and a digital photo frame and three shopping trips. This extends the holiday. We can hit the Lush after Christmas sale, then the inventory clearance sales at the mall, then I get to shop Deva for more crinkle cotton no-iron, long-enough pants. Squeeee! I am SO spoiled!

A few memories for my new photo frame. Sunshine on the day before Christmas - photo taken at noon.


Neighborhood Christmas decor. A yule sheep.


Fly cat helping us unwrap our presents. It's mandatory that someone stick a bow on the cat's head. This year, it was my job. He endures so much for his warm bed and canned chows.




And guess who I ran into at the movies? Ho ho ho!


Hope your Christmas is merry and bright. Joy!

post 995

So I have been thinking about my one thousandth blog post contest, and I have expanded a bit. First of all,
prizes:
One $15 Itunes gift card.
One mixed bag of Lindor balls
one item of your choice, be it willy warmer or six-fingered gloves or whatever (within reason, folks - no laceweight cashmere size four x sweaters, please) or wimsical hat or beaded silk scarf - made by me, for you.

The prize winners may choose their prize.

second of all,
How do I decide who wins? There will be three winners.
One, the super hero that I like the best.
Two, the entrant that wins the popular vote.
Three, a commentator chosen at random by having your name drawn out of a hat by my Darling Husband.

So get in touch with your inner super-hero. Visualize him or her. What's the costume look like? What are the super powers? When does he or she come to your rescue? In four more posts, I'll ask you to comment on your inner hero. Then, on the next post after, I will announce the one I like, and the random winner. And you will vote for the people's choice.


Oh, and I've been knitting dishcloths.

Rude, but I love it!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

failing the collective

I'v been on facebook less than a week and already my farm is dying and I'm not keeping up with my friends. This may be more responsibility than I'm ready for.

Came in to work an hour early to pull files for the first test session because we are running short-handed this week. This will give me a ten hour day. Woohoo! Just like the big girls.

I'm thinking that for my thousandth post, I'm going to ask you all to describe your inner super-hero, and give prizes for the best ones. Start making contact with your inner super hero. What's his/her name? Costume? Superpowers? Are there sidekicks, mascots or catch phrases? Evil nemisis? Do you call her/him out by activating your magic ring and yelling, "Arise!" or does s/he manifest more subtly?

If you don't have an inner superhero, nurture one. We all need heros to get us through life, and carrying one in your own head is pleasant and handy.

post 992

Here are some green and balmy photos for my friends in New England. And I bet the folks in Australia would appreciate the snow photos you have in abundance. Christmas is a good time to share.



Here in Portland, we have forty degrees and rain. I'm very grateful for forty degrees and rain. Easy to drive in, survivable if you to stay outside for a while.

DH has decided that I need new rain boots. My hot pink wellies are still waterproof and cheery, but he wants to get me something new. A few doors down from the resturaunt we enjoyed Saturday night was a charming little boutique with an adorable coat that was, unfortunately a bit too small for MJ. And while RW was talking her into trying it on, DH spotted a pair of boots for me. Oh, if they had fit I might have succumbed. I DON'T need new rain boots, but these were slate gray rubber cowboy boots with orange koi (goldfish) painted across the foot and up the ankle. They were so quirky, and artistic, and elegant, and dramatic, and completely me that if they had only fit, I might have needed them. Koi are sort of my totem animal.

What I actually need is a new pair of flat-heeled black dress boots. My exsisting black boots cost $25 three years ago and have endured hard service. Small wonder that they now leak, and the tread is worn off the soles. I think there may be a holiday shoe sale under the Christmas tree.

My inner Xena craves a pair of thigh-high bright red suede boots with 3 inch steel heels. My inner Xena will be disapointed. But it does give me something to wish for when I break a wishbone or see the first star or blow out birthday candles. Someday my inner super-hero will be revealed!

A wonderful way to spend a Saturday

DH and I rolled out and went to Sully's for breakfast, and the dear guys there gave us a big batch of homemade cookies and candies. Yum!

Then LG and I drove out to J&Soozie's house for knitting, and oh it was fine! We sang, we had a whitre elephant gift exchange of de-stashing or "gently used" knitting oriented stuff. We sang and we laughed and we ate Spotted Dick. (and we hit every possible joke on that one. I MUST buy several cans of this stuff. It's like brown bread with raisins, only a bit cakier. Quite yummy.)

And Soozie, who spindles like some of us breathe, had a whole laundry basket of handspun yarns as party favors. We dumped them out in the middle of the floor and pawed through them. what a treat! What variety! Colors and fibers and oh my mercy goodness! I kept telling people, who were trying to be polite and lady-like and not take too much, "Whatever you guys leave is mine, so if you might have second thoughts about anythiing, grab it now!" Several novice knitters were emboldened to own yarn that did not come with a pre-determined pattern. And I assured everyone that I was always available for ideas and suggestions.

And then I took the leftovers.


The 3 camel-colored skeins are alpaca. The rest are a gloriously mixed bag with merino and silk and BFL and linen and who KNOWS what. I see many hats, baby surprise jackets, and joyful scarves for the orphans. What fun!!

That evening, we met up with MJ and RW and went to see Manheim Steamroller!! I dreamt fanfares all night long. Oh, it was SO glorious!! We went to a lebanese restaurant beforehand, and I had the most delicious braised lamb shank you could imagine. This bears repeating!

It was a late night for us old foggies. DH and I slept till noon. Hooray! Grocery shopping and now a quiet afternoon, side by side on the sofa, he with his laptop, me with mine. Life is good.

This, by the way, is post 991. How will I celebrate post one thousand? Any requests?

Mea Culpa

Somewhere between my firm intentions to make a gazillion batches of rumballs for Christmas, and the actual process of getting them made, I suffered a severe disconnect. It's not gonna happen this year, folks. I do apologize. Maybe I can manage Easter rumballs or something. And if you were expecting presents from me, they're gonna be late. I should quit complaining about the Christmas stuff going up in the stores before Halloween, and take it as a sign from God to get my rear in gear.

And I should walk two miles a day in the fresh air, too. Ayup, like that's gonna happen.

Well, I may be a worthless slug, but at least I'm not an over-stressed slug. Hope your weekend is deeelightful!

Does this happen in your neighborhood?

Christmas yard decor in the suburbs. Here's one house down the street from us.



But wait, there's more!


We don't want to offend anyone. Let's hide the plastic inflatable creche behind the tree and the mailbox.


Of course, some folks have no reverence whatsoever!


We have a couple strings of lights framing the porch. My ambitions are modest.

I also crochet

TD asked me if I could make her a Christmas tree hat. When designing three-dimensionally, I am more comfortable with the immediate results of crochet. I used buly acrylic because she's wool-sensitive, and made a structure of 6 triangles with projecting points.





To make it more versatile, I made the ornaments detachable. The garland is fastened to the "star" button on the top of the tree and twined around. The ornaments are buttons joined together with a shank of quilting thread and buttoned through the texture of the fabric. Some of the shirt buttons got embellished with beads. so she can wear it festive, or she can wear it subdued and plain just for warmth.


I relished the challenge, and had a ball with it! Crochet has the body to stand up. Now I'm wondering about a knitted version.

What do you think?

There are two climbers lost on Mt. Hood. They have been lost for four bitter nights and search and rescue has been held back because of severe avalanche danger. The third member of their party was found, dead of hypothermia.

If they had rented a radio locator, they would have been found, and been home three days ago. Some people are saying that it should be mandatory for climbers and hikers to carry radio locator beacons. I don't know how you would police that but the proposal has certainly spiked debate. You can rent one for $25. You can buy one for $200 or so.

The opposing camp says, "Why should people pay to enjoy themselves in the outdoors? And if inexperienced folks have one of these locators, it will give them a false sense of security, promoting more injuries and deaths. Also, if someone has a locator, triggers it correctly, and still dies before help can arrive, well you know someone in the family will sue anyone they can blame. Who's legally responsible?

It seems like common sense to me - like carrying water, a whistle, and a thermal blanket any time you wander more than a mile in the woods. But common sense is freaking uncommon and people go for a walk on the mountain in sandals and shorts, step off the path to whizz, break an ankle and die of hypothermia just out of sight of the parking lot. Every summer! Swear ta dog! It happens every freaking year!

I'm for the mandatory beacons, but then, I'm not a climber. I can't agree that it interferes with your "authentic" experience of nature unless you intend to face nature by climbing naked and barefoot as well. And if you do, then you're dumb enough to die and good luck to you.

So what do you think? Mandatory radio beacons for mountain climbers? Or is this the first step toward universal micro-chipping to locate and identify everyone? Big Brother CAN track your every movement if you let Him.

Plying my trade

Yesterday was soooo quiet. DH slept until noon. I got up at five, fed the cats, and fell asleep on the sofa for three hours. When I woke again, it was daylight and nice warm rain was sifting down. The deep freeze has abated for the time being - hooray!!

So I plugged in the latest Terry Pratchet book on the i-pod and settled down with the spinning wheel. Plied up some blue silk, then some brown wool, then spun and plied a plum-ish mystery batt from Fantasy Fibers, with a few flecks of shimmer in it. The day just flew by. I feel smooth as butter and calm clear to the backbone. Spinning is SO good!



Back to work after two weeks. I gird my loins. Rat that I am, I missed the rolling hell of finals week. We planned the vacation before I checked out the college schedule, so I owe everyone a few major favors. I don't think a few cans of macadamia nuts will cover it.

greetings from lethergy lane

Pictures of sunshine and flowers. Happy happy. Think good thoughts.


SO DH and I finally pulled clothes on and dragged our sorry selves out for breakfast. Remember, DH is the one who's sick. Our favorite waiter took one look at me and said, "Oh my gosh! Are you all right? You look terrible!" His genuine concern was obvious, and he's not the snarky kind at all. I blamed it on jet lag.

Went through the day with background level joint ache. (Oh, the toe, by the way, is just bruised, and healing fast.) Made a few ham and cheese rollups for the party. It was a fabuloius party, but after two hours of feasting and catching up with people we see only the one time a year, suddenly I felt as if all my synapses snapped, all the strength in my body drained out a hole in my foot, and all I wanted to do was collapse. We left before the caroling began. I'm not sick - I just ehh, don't have any energy. I need the t-shirt with the three female dogs on it. "Bitch, bitch, bitch." Where's the cheery, upbeat girl I used to be? Oh, she's napping.




Picture of a Hawaiian kitty having a nice nap on his front porch. He's gonna need a stronger box. King of his catsle.




Picture of Bertie on our return, making sure that we won't leave without him again.



More greenery and sunshine. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

What's it gonna do?

A little color to brighten your day!



Weather is on everyone's mind right now. Everyone has a gazillion things planned because it's only two weeks till Christmas after all, and the forces seem to be aligned to give us freezing rain. In fact, it was predicted for this morning, but it's drizabone right now and feels above freezing. The monthly knitting session was cancelled because the hosts live on top of a hill, and if it''s gonna freeze, it will freeze there. We have a significant party to go to tonight, and they, too, live on a hill. This is the party where we meet people we haven't seen all year, deliver Christmas gifts, schmooze, etc. I was planning on bringing food, but should I go buy the fixings or not? I mean, in spite of walking miles each day, I still gained 4 pounds during our week away. (Macadamia nut encrusted Ahi isn't as slimming as you might think.) So I don't NEED two dozen ham and cheese rollups sitting around in our fridge. And DH won't take them in to the locusts, because "The locusts don't deserve them!" Decisions, decisions.

And a picture of my souvenier from the trip. Bare toes, escalator, and a passing geriatric woman in leopard print leggings and a zebra stripe top with green ostrich skin cowboy boots made a painful combination. Escalators really do want to eat us, and we must remain ever vigilant.

And it isn't even Christmas!

The postal person left a box on the porch yesterday. I was totally surprised! I hadn't ordered anything.

It was a box from Donna Lee. And I debated. Is this a Christmas gift? Nowhere on the box does it say "Merry Christmas" or, more importantly, "Do not open before Christmas!" What could it be, what could it be? Well, maybe if I just take off the brown wrapping paper, . . . Hmmm, no Christmas paper. Maybe the things inside are seperately wrapped? (RIP, TEAR!) Squeeeee!! For no reason whatsoever, and especially not for Christmas, Donna Lee sent me pressies!


Gorgeous soft, silky yarn with sparklies which my camera refuses to record. Lots of sparkle in the rose colored yarn, and subtle, understated sparkles along with the classy glints of color in the dark yarn. And it looks laceweight to me. I am SO impressed and delighted!

But wait! There's more!


Would you believe about a pound of black alpaca fiber? From an alpaca named Florence who lives in New Jersey. I want to spread it on my bed and wallow naked in it!

Donna Lee also stuck in a white chocolate lollypop in the shape of a sheep, and a little brown llama ornament, intended for the tree, but which will actually join my manger menagerie.

And the camera did no justice whatsoever to the glitzy, glittery, glass and crystal stitch markers. Ooooo, shiney!

We're not done yet!

Donna Lee's wonderhusband, PK, who is a wood-worker par excellence, made me a set of cozy blockers!



The sizes are embossed on them. Small, Medium and Liar.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Donna and PK!!

The tale of the traveling socks

Since I like to wear natural fibers when I fly, I decided to wear these lovely hand-knit socks from Donna Lee they quite enjoyed their flight in first class, even though they didn't get to see much from inside the shoes. But they cheerfully and humbly did their job of keeping my toes warm and healthy.


I was so grateful that I decided to show them a good time. Socks really don't get out much, and they were thrilled!


The first thing we did upon arrival in Waikiki was to wander down to the Lush Bath store for some bubble stuff to revel in the tub. We met Chris, who very graciously agreed to introduce the socks to a Bath Ballistic.

We took the socks along on our island tour. They had their breath taken away by the view over the Pali.



they lounged on the glorious white sand beach and reveled in the solitude.


They even shyly showed themselves at Keneke's, then cuddled back into my purse while we meat-people devoured burgers, andwiches, and a plate-lunch with pork laulau (pork wrapped in a ti leaf and steamed till it's falling apart. You can cook all sorts of things laulau fashion.)


The next day we went to the Iolani Palace, and since I knew there wouldn't be any interior photography, I left the socks back at the condo. The morning after, when DH and I got up to go out and about, one of the socks was sulky and pouting because we didn't take it around to get it's picture taken. It hid and wouldn't come out to go around with us. But the other sock cheerfully stood forth, ready for the adventures to come. This sock had a lovely day!



It got to meet the giant koi at the International Marketplace. Some of the fish were longer than it was. DH was a bit worried about leaving it so close to the water, because the fish looked hungry, but the sock was unafraid.


Then it played with the dolphins at the Wyland sculpture gallery. It got to shake the dolphin by the fin.


When we stopped for lunch at Cheesburger Hawai, it took a chair and settled in for the fun.



But our waitress, Jee, coaxed the sock up to play with her. The sock was charmed and smitten, as who wouldn't be?

When we got back to the condo, the sock found the other sock and told it all about what it had missed by staying home and sulking. The pouty sock learned a good lesson and was always smiling and ready any time we set out after that.


We took the socks to Duke's for breakfast, and they got to meet one of the crumb-patrol pigeons. An Asian family was watching me set up and take the photos.
they were quite puzzled, but since they didn't speak much English, and I don't speak Japanese, and the concept of traveling socks is rather out there, we never truely were able to explain. But I did notice one of the older lads taking a picture of his shoe.



The socks had been so good and such a delight to travel with that we decided to give them a special treat. We took them with us to Waikiki beach, with their own beach towel and sock-sized umbrellas and let them lounge around with their toes in the sand.


DH and socks on the beach. Occasionally passer-byes did a double-take, but no one ever questioned their right to soak up some rays and enjoy themselves. The socks had a grand time in Hawaii and were sad to go. But it is 20 degrees this morning, and I need warm sockies. They will get a bath and when they are dry, they can go into the sock drawer and tell all the other socks allll about it.

Accessing our inner iguanas

For $35 we rented two beach chairs and an umbrella on Waikiki beach, and spent the entire day basking. I was amazed that DH got into it, but this vacation has been a revelation to him. He has never before taken a restful vacation. A vacation where you have nothing scheduled and no agendas. A vacation where being rather than doing is the focus. He quite enjoys it, and is surprised to find that many nagging aches and pains are gone and that he feels really good. Except for the damn sinus infection. Thank God for modern medicine. Nyquill keeps him breathing through the night, and Dayquill takes care of the upright hours.

But with the shade of the umbrella, and the factor fifty sunblock, and the gentle shushing of the waves (Waves are much quieter here than on the Oregon coast. North Shore, where the 50 foot swells are coming in must be a different story!) we did nothing for hours and were not bored.



Occasionally we would wade out and cool off.




Or we would watch the surfers.


Not really any break or surf to speak of, but a day spent waiting for a wave is better than a day at work.




Easy on the eyse - no?




Dave, the silk you dyed is a perfect sarong for my favorite swimsuit. Thank you, thank you!

And, since it IS Ass Watch Wednesday - - -