Sunday, August 28, 2011

Not even a picture to show

I got the call on Tuesday at bedtime! The local fishermen got a two hour opening & there were fish on ice for me. I could pick them up in the morning after they were unloaded & cleaned! Since I had to work on Wednesday, I picked them up on my way home, still packed in shaved ice!! Once I got my hands in the fish, all I could think about was cutting them up, shrink wrapping them & filling up the freezer. I never thought to take a picture until it was all safe in the freezer!! Sockeye are gorgeous fish! Mine were that wonderful, bright orangey-red color under sparkly silvered scales. When cooked, they still retained that rich bright orange color & glorious salmon taste that simple cooking enhances. I simply fried my steaks up on low/medium in my non stick pan & ate them with a squeeze of lime & a romaine salad. The richest person on earth could not've had a better supper!!

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Separated Arrangement

My Ex is talking about ordering Meals on Wheels. He's 73 & hates cooking & shopping. He's really fit but just about killed himself hauling & chopping wood & then spent two days barely able to move last week. There was nothing in the fridge to eat
& he got mighty hungry. How hard is it to stock eggs, bread, TV dinners & canned soup?? Even I have a couple of cans of ready-to-eat soup in the cupboard! After laughing out loud, I suggested I might have to move back in. That led to a serious discussion - it might even work, I wouldn't have to pay rent & he would get fed. A simple trade. The thought of that cozy wood stove with a steaming kettle & burbling soup pot in the middle of winter when I usually freeze in my basement - well, it's kind of enticing. And a full size washer/dryer! Room in the garage for my freezer. It's a pretty small house mind you, but most of my fibery stuff already lives in bins so it could easily go outside in the enclosed garage. But I want a big deck or porch on the front of the house where I can sit outside when it's warm & spin. He loves technology but can't make it work. I'm constantly reprogramming his remote & resetting his satellite console & MP3 player. I just don't understand how a man can get an MP3 player stuck on ONE book or loose the MENU option on his remote!! I'm thinking about it. Is my freedom worth about $1000 a month in savings?? Do I want to look after someone full time again?? I could get that damned bill paid off sooner & my credit card back to zero. My buddy Steve said "MOVE" & volunteered himself & our buddy Kelly. He says they'll put up shelves, install the office & have me moved in one afternoon. Quick. The boys at the Motorcycle School said the same. Something to think about, for sure.


Meanwhile, b
ack in Reality, I've cast on yet another pair of socks. These are for the Fall. I found a couple of balls of this Fabel sock yarn in the bin of yarn that I reserve for myself. I love these colors & they get even nicer as I knit. Fabel makes some really yummy colorways - I have it in pinks, plums & now, blues. I think I even have a pink/orange pair!! I bought this yarn at Knitopia when they were in Langley but I haven't had much chance to get down to the White Rock store to see if they still stock it. Pity. Nice yarn, great colors, good yardage!!

Oh, surprise!!! Arvik has reared her soft head once more in a new incarnation. I hope. I've been drooling over a certain sweater for years. I worked out the gauge a couple o
f times in a couple of yarns but it just wasn't right. The sweater was designed for Noro to show off it's long runs of color which morph into each other. Now, Arvik doesn't have long runs of color but it IS variegated since the fleece ranged in color from very light grey to almost black. It shows distinct banding when knit so I thought it might work. I'll just have to play with it & see if it comes out like I hope.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Was that a 'Senior' Moment??

I work in interesting places sometimes. And I often share spaces!! Did I ever write about the time a guy built me an office in a truck box?? Yup, a truck box! Came with a phone/fax line, computer, heater, desk etc but no window or door. They hung a thick moving blanket at the entrance to keep the heat in. Oh, & the toilet was a Porta Pottie by the side of the road, in the drive - on the far side of the wet & muddy yard! The pump truck had to have access to the Pottie so it had to be on the side of the road . . . Needless to say, I didn't work there long! One of my new shared spaces is a nice ex-basement suite complete with private entrance, dinner sometimes, a window, bathroom & three little pooches. One barks too much, one whines too much & the third is a paper chewer. They bark & whine at the connecting door because their humans are gone all day. So, I just open the door when I arrive & they line up at attention at the desk. We have a routine. I let them in, we go out to the yard, they pee on command. Then they get a treat. We're still working on the barking, whining & chewing.

I stopped yesterday to buy some treats & found I was out of money! Couldn't figure that one out since I'd just put in a big check a couple of days before AND wrote a check to my EX. Oops. Flew to the bank & found I was almost TWO THOUSAND overdrawn! Oh Shit! I'm sure my chin hit the floor! Printed out the activity to find all my stuff had gone through except the deposit. Where the hell was the deposit??!! Had a thought & checked my savings . . . well, to make a long story short, all my deposits had been sitting in the Savings while I wrote checks on the Checking. Total weirdness. I KNOW I put that big one in the checking account . . . . What is it you take for memory???

Monday, August 15, 2011


The Last Pair of Summer Socks


I finished the toes on the latest short socks. I chose the Barn Red because I liked it the best!! They turned out so nice that I've already found them a new home. My little buddy Bryan just loves my socks & has been watching the progress on these ones. I made them a little too big - I guess they really wanted to belong to someone else - & he claimed them! These socks have an inch & a half K2P2 ribbing on 68 sts using 2mm needles & about 6 rounds in stockinette before I started a K1S1 heel with knitted gussets at each side of the flap. I made 13 increases on each side before short rowing the heel itself. I am so glad I learned to knit the gussets as I made the flap instead of picking up stitches on the flap itself!!! I can actually SEE to do it. Oh, I used ONE 50 gm ball of 'Sock it to Me' from Elann. I started one sock from the outside & one from the inside so I could use up every inch of yarn. I think I got to about 6 rows before the toe shaping on a pair of size 10 socks. The toes are Kroy sock yarn - wonderful stuff for heels & toes!!!

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Saturday Afternoon in the Swamp


I played hooky this morning. I used the old 'finger in the nostril' trick to get the boys at the Motorcycle School to think I was sick so they would make me stay home today. I work all Saturdays from February to November for them & since there's no students from last week to process, they just don't NEED me there. And I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well again. Oh I have no problems GOING to sleep but I have problems STAYING there. I NEED afternoon naps! I have work on the desk to do too. And laundry. Socks, underwear & tee shirts up the ying yang & nothing clean to wear!! I've been dragging my sorry ass home around 8:00PM after a full day of non-stop data entry & I don't want to drag that washer over to the sink & hook it up . . . I know, whine, whine, whine . . .

But, I have anoth
er pair of socks on the go! I found several single balls but nothing that would go together so I started a pair of socks from the same 50 gm ball. One from the inside & one from the outside. I was curious to see how far the one ball would go to making a pair of short socks. I figured I'd turn both heels easily enough but wasn't sure about how much foot I'd get. I'm actually doing quite well!! I'm almost to the toe which is a nice surprise. Now all I have to do is choose between the brick red & the greyed blue to finish them off. I'm leaning toward the red. It's also Kroy. It's tough & makes great toes that seldom wear out. And I kinda like red toes.

Monday, August 01, 2011

Happy BC Day!

I peeked outside at 5:30am to see sunshine & blue sky! A gorgeous BC Day! Especially for all those who are heading home from a weekend spent "RELAXING". On Friday morning according to the Radio, there was a 2+ hour wait at the Border, all the Ferries were sold out til mid afternoon & the freeway East was a parking lot less than 20 miles out of town. Happy Long Weekend.
For all those who will be crawling home on the freeway in the heat, Happy BC day!
The thought of a lazy afternoon, chicken thighs on the grill, a big cold salad & an icy English Cider in the shade
, well, hell, why would I want to wait for hours in a line-up in the sun??
I will spin today. And knit. And find a seat at Starbucks under the umbrella for a change.