The Rewards of Old Age

Took the Ex out for lunch today to celebrate my very first Old Age Pension check. It landed in my bank account just past midnight this very morning!!  And to celebrate, I took him to my favorite Industrial Park cafe - I had a hankering for their thick, Broccoli Cheese soup & my favorite grilled chicken on rye. Himself loves the extra special Chef's Salad they make just for him. And if wasn't for the lack of parking, I'd be there every day!! It's THAT good. But, our town - oops - City now, built a truck bypass & took away all the street parking that we used to have. The NO PARKING signs on the side of the new highway don't seem to stop the Trucker's much though, they just pull over, put on the flashers, set out the warning triangles & hop the bank for a quick take-out as they go by!! The rest of us fight for a half dozen spots so you have to know when to go.

One Sock Down

All the 20 somethings that work the cafe & the catering service connected to it, know I knit socks, so they usually peek in my bag to see what's on the needles. I've been working on Frankensocks for ME lately to try to use up some of the three boxes of leftovers that have accumulated over the years. One of the cooks popped over to ooh, awhh & drop the hint that he'd really, really, really love some pink/purple socks. And that got the other cook going because he likes pink/purple too & he's been there longer. Luckily I escaped the notice of the waitress who hasn't yet got a pair. I can see the work lining up for the summer. These are the boys who loved my BLUE Frankensocks with the hot pink toes so I shouldn't be surprised at all. I think they just love handmade socks. So this pair's for me while I have the chance - one down & one just had it's heel turned.

And last night, about 2 AM, I finished my 'Therapod Dinosaurs & the Origin of Birds' course with a 92%!! Woohoo And then went & signed up for the 'Paleontology: Early Vertebrate Evolution' course which I should've taken first.

Just Like a Dawg

Not a hellovalot happening here in the Home of the Newly Retired except I'm almost finished the last week of my "Therapods to Birds" course & two weeks to go on my "Gut Microbiome" course. If I pulled the Ragg out, I could finish both of them in a week!!! But I've been kind of  locked into the 'Go to bed late & sleep in' routine this past week.

Sharon's Taxi has been in service once more!! I have hauled the Ex to FIVE eye specialist appointments in 7 days. I did this LAST year in February when I hauled both him & my buddy Little Ron, to eye appointments over a three week span. Both had eye emergencies. But several Specialists had to do the same tests over & over before deciding what to do. Part of this year's visits are the leftovers from last year's emergencies as well as annual checkups. I'm happy to say that all eyes are healed, the vision saved and one has surprised everyone by improving. But, I spent all week traveling from one end of Surrey to the other, sitting in parking lots with my knitting.

So, what's a Knitter to do??? Knit Frankensocks, that's what. Friday was my last doctor

visit for a while - the Specialist said we don't have to go back!!!!  Since the TV is dead & I'm on a roll, I tuned into YouTube & watched Dinosaur/First People/DNA   documentaries while I knit. THIS is a sample of the Pinks/Purples odds'n'sodds to choose from - there's a whole other box. I wanted some mostly pink summer socks this year since I've knit lots of reds & oranges & browns in the Winter Kroy yarns. Yeah, I know, it's all dumped on the keyboard - I'm a Visual worker. I need to SEE what I have or I forget it all. I either never use it because I've forgotten that I have it or end up with multiples because I like it. That's how I end up with three pairs of socks in the same colorway!!!

Doing nothin' at all

I'd like to say I've been celebrating the end of Tax Season by knitting day & night on a new project. And I'd like to say I've been outside on the patio in all this wonderful "summer" weather, Spinning. I'd like to say that but I can't. Because I haven't. And quite frankly, I haven't done a damn thing with fibre lately except eat it. I just can't get excited about a project. And I've been waiting for the GREEN yarn for the Niece project.

So what HAVE I been doing?? Nada. Well, nothing except finishing my paleontology course, 'Theropod Dinosaurs & the Origin of Birds' and 'Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome'. I have to admit here, on the net, in bold black & white, that I LOVE Dinosaurs!!! What kid doesn't??? The Microbiome course is pretty darned good too - it's amazing the bodily functions that bacteria affect and/or control!!! But, I have to admit, I love the Dinosaur courses the most. And to prove my love I've signed up for the next one, 'Early Vertebrate Evolution'. And then onto 'Ancient Marine Reptiles'. Woohoo  I believe I DID say that I was going to further my education once I retired?? Didn't I?? I AM enjoying it.

The Green yarn is arriving tonight. And then I can get on with the fun little project I chose for my niece. And, I have to find the "almost" finished afghan & complete it for my long time friend, Mike, for his new apartment with only a black leather couch. Mike tells me it will be furnished in black, painted white & accented in red. Yeah Mike, I get the drift, Bad Boy decor. Go for it. I just wonder how popular it will be in the summer heat when that black leather makes you sweat & sticks to your bare skin  .   .   .

All Over

Whew  .  .  .   yeah, it's all over for another year. Delivered my last couple of envelopes to the Big Blue Box on Sunday & sent the last one through the ether just after lunch today er, yesterday, now. There's always a couple of people who wait till the last dawg is hung to file their taxes every year!!! I was so tired Sunday that I laid down on my bed for a nap around 4 & woke up just after 9:30 - 5 hours later. Ate something, drank something & went back to bed around 11 & slept like the dead until 8:30 this morning .  .  .  .  too many late nights & early mornings lately. Gotta stop that stuff, it ages you.

Now that it's all over, I can get back to all the other stuff cluttering up my office. And there's several boxes to get sorted, entered & out so I can move in there. And there's my two courses in progress - have to admit I spent most of the afternoon today working on the Therapods to Birds course. Caught up & did the second Quiz successfully. Hoooray!! Now onto the Gut Microbes. Did I mention that I'm eating a lot more yogurt these days??? I've learned that fermented foods help keep your gut microbiome healthy. Must feed those little bugs properly!!!!

And then there's the knitting. I've ordered two different lots of GREEN for the little project for my niece. I don't know which one it will be until I get it but it will be GREEN. In the meantime, I've barely started the heel on my first pair of summer Frankensocks. I really do miss my old knitting spot in front of the Tube with the 'daylight' lamp & the little table for my tea. And of course, I'm missing the British Detective series on PBS & Knowledge - I can't get them on YouTube dammit. I may have to take my chair outside to the patio & knit to an audiobook on my Creative device instead. I DO have several British Detective novels to listen to   -   mmmmm

A Home for Big Blue

Remember about 10 years back when I started that Granny Square afghan for He Who Won't be Named??? Yeah, well, I almost forgot about it too. HE wanted a blue afghan. Just blue. I bloody well wasn't about to crochet a man-sized afghan in one color. How boring!! So, I got a couple of shades of blue & grey & crocheted a giant Granny Square. I should've started off with two Granny Squares so it would've been a rectangle but I didn't really think at the time .  .  .  . 
I can't quite remember exactly how BIG it is since it's buried in one of the bins, but I know it's gotta be at least 48" square at the moment. I always wanted to add a row of Cherry just to rebel against the plainness of it. Now I'm going to do just that. It needs finishing & it needs some brightness. And it's going to get some Red in the very next row 'cause I found it a worthy home. Finally.

One of my tax customers & his wife have suddenly parted ways. I was shocked to hear about it. After 30 years, everyone pointed at THEM as the couple with the most stable marriage. They survived her child, his child & their child's teen years with hardly a blink. Their lives were family centred & busy. And now they're not. They sold everything, paid the bills & he's camped out at a buddy's place 'till he finds an apartment. And he's taking donations like the black leather couch he just got. I thought Big Blue would look really, really fine on the back of a black leather couch  .   .   .   .