Mail Call

It's so much fun to get stuff in the mail. I read about a British spinning magazine somewhere on-line that sounded so interesting that I ordered a package of 5 previous issues from 2013/14. A BRITISH magazine?? Yes. I bought our American Spin Off magazine for years but it's been the same old thing for some time so I stopped buying it. But I like to spin & I want to see what others are doing. So, yesterday, I got my bundle of YARNMAKER magazines in the mail.

Right off the batt, hahahaha, I think I like this magazine. It's bright, it's colorful & it's full of local stories about local spinners (yeah, I know they're across the Pond) but they have a slightly different slant to spinning, weaving & fibre than we do here in North America. They work mostly from the sheep, not the processed, painted or dyed roving or batt. There's stories about sheep to shawl/sweater or longest thread competitions & they even bring the sheep with them. They spotlight breeds I've never heard of. They spin most of their wool right from the fleece. And every page or two is another story contributed by another spinner, knitter or weaver & their personal woolly adventures. There's projects from scraps, projects from little looms, projects from spindle spun yarns & group projects. I'm totally charmed & I think I'll spend the weekend exploring my magazines & getting all excited about spinning again. Yes, Virginia, I AM thinking about subscribing.

The Woolly Sweatshirt progresses nicely. I haven't watched a whole lot of TV but while I have, I've been working on it. The fronts are crossed over, I've begun the stockinet body & I'm about three inches lower than this picture actually shows. Another three or four inches will bring me to where I tie off the arms & start down the main part of the body. I'm thinking seriously of creating a garter 'seam' all the way down the body from the extra stitches cast on under the arm to the hem. This will give me a nice, wide contrast strip at each side to break up all the stockinet. I'm not going to put a pocket on the front but may do a shirt-tail bottom with side vents. But, I don't have to worry about that yet.

September Knitting

And I'll bet you thought I haven't done a damn thing in September!! I will admit that this September has been a bit chaotic. Here I am, newly retired & bogged down with more work than I've had in ages - BUT - I did get some things done.

The 'knitted' sweatshirt I've been starting & frogging for ages is now restarted as a TOP Down sweater using the Cabin Fever 'Need a Plus Cardigan?' guidelines. I decided I wanted a Garter stitch yoke & extended the V fronts beyond the pattern requirements so I can overlap them into a front wrap. I tried it on today & have decided to frog back to the end of the garter - you can see I've just started the plain knit body - to overlap the two fronts about 6 inches. Then, I'll restart the plain knit body. I haven't thought about how I'll make the garter 'seams' down the sides yet but the Cabin Fever pattern calls for added body stitches after the sleeves are tied off. The added stitches would make a nice garter strip about 3 inches wide down both sides which - gasp - would be a slimming factor in this very large sweater!! Hopefully, there will be several new British Detective series starting soon so I'll have good TV time to knit!

Maria's socks were finally photographed this morning. I put them away & couldn't find them again to take a picture before I gave them to her. Last night, I finally found the 'safe' place where I put them. I had to go out for lunch - they made my favorite Broccoli Cheese soup today & had a bet on as to whether I'd show up or not - and gave Maria her new socks!!! The yarn was a little muted for my taste, soft yellow, grey, tan & blue so I just couldn't help myself & added a few rows of neon orange just to brighten things up. Maria loved the muted colors & laughed at my orange highlights!!

And, just because, I started another hat. This has become 'car knitting' since it's

nothing but Knit2 Purl2 on 140 stitches on 3mm needles. Pretty boring knitting but I've got several balls of this lovely dark green, soft 'manly' yarn which should appeal to anyone with a cold head. The K2P2 rib is very stretchy & will stay on even while moving & bending. I've found a couple of places that will take any hats, mitts & socks I can produce that prefer wool or other natural fibres to keep people warm in the absence of central heating.

A Winter Sweater in Heritage

I enjoyed an evening of 'Silent Witness' - an older British series about a forensic pathologist who speaks her mind & stands up for the Truth, no matter what. Needless to say, she was always in trouble with the establishment. A good series on PBS starring Amanda Burton. It gave me knitting time to work on the latest project, a casual winter sweater in Briggs & Little 'Heritage'. 
I bought a whack of it about 9 years ago when there was a big promotion going on - I planned on knitting a couple of adult hoodies & ended up knitting only one - so I had lots left to knit something else. I wanted a hoodie for myself but I don't want the kangaroo pocket in front to accent my stomach. I also don't need the big expanse of plain stockinet to accent it either. What to do, what to do?? 
I thought about a Wonderful Wallaby without the pouch with a seed or garter stitch border instead of ribbing & maybe creating 'seams' of pattern up the sides with an open side slit for ease but I worried that it wouldn't fit right in the belly & bust. I can't try it on as I go. I have to pray my gauge doesn't change & my math is right. And by the time I closed the bottom vents, I thought the fabric was too loose & sloppy.

Top down seemed like a better option since I can at least try it on as I go & make short row adjustments across the front but leave the back & sleeves alone. So, I got out my 'Need an Plus Cardigan' book by Cabin Fever & started a sweater from the top.
Since I wanted something a little different, I knit the first 6 inches from the neck down, across the top of the shoulder, in garter stitch in light blue. Yeah, the front will end up as an expanse of stockinet but I intend to make two wide 'seams' of garter from under the arms to the hem which will be garter as well. I've also been extending the front 'V' neck opening so I can cross the fronts over & avoid a front closure. I have my fingers crossed that this will work out 'cause I've decided what I need is really a knitted sweatshirt with a tunic bottom.

Knitting to the Tube

I've been TV-less since mid April. On the whole, I didn't miss it a whole bunch other than a couple of specials & a  holiday marathon I wanted to watch on Public TV. But, I'm sure they'll all be rerun several times in the future. Last night, I became the owner of a new-to-me flat screen instead of the dead 36" old boat-anchor I've been harboring. The nice 40 something fella took away the old one & hooked up the new for me. I even got out my knitting, sat in my favorite knitting chair - yeah, I did miss that - & turned it on when he was done. It now takes TWO remotes to make it work instead of the one I used to have!! I wasn't going to bother with the one that turns it ON & OFF but I can't find any way to adjust the sound volume without the second remote, so I guess I have to have TWO.

So I sat in front of it at just before 9:00PM all a twitter, knitting in hand & tried to find something on the Sched that I wanted to watch. Sad to say I turned it off just after 11.

TV has NOT improved in the 5 months since mine died. It was the same old, same old. Hopefully Knowlege & PBS have many specials, Detectives & Dramas on the way otherwise I may just give it up for good.

It's the Thought

Never let a man who doesn't sew buy something for you at a Garage Sale. Bit of an oxymoron isn't it???? My little buddy Ron called on Saturday & asked me if I wanted some sewing supplies. He had run into a box of zippers, elastic etc & another box of quilting fabric. My first inclination was to say NO. No more junque. But I have quilting friends. And they have more quilting friends. So quilting stuff has a market & I said yes. Big mistake.

Sunday, after coffee, I found out how much 'quilting stuff' he & his buddy picked up. Boy, they really saw him coming!! The bitch 'nice lady' said she had some more stuff that he could have for FREE. And then she found some more. And what did I get?????

I ended up with two boxes of rags. RAGS. Clearly marked on the box as 'RAGS'. A box of pink quilted housecoat/bedspread leftovers - someone made something a long time ago & kept all the scraps. A box of old faded flannel pyjama bottoms & diapers. A box of blue plastic doilies, green plastic tablecloth & pieces of brown vinyl that hid old plastic & metal hangers. A box with a Mexican blanket & an umbrella. Two boxes of pant LEGS?? One box of kid's clothing. And one small box of zippers, 2 fingernail clipper sets, one old camera with film, one pair of pot holders, bias tape, elastic thread & other assorted waistband & sleeve edge elastic & a package of three, not four, DPs in size 4.5.

I filled an entire GARBAGE bin & half of the RECYCLING bin as well. He not only filled my garbage can with her garbage but paid to haul it away. I guess it's the thought that counts .  .  .

Junque

I'm getting really, really tired of this aging thing. If it isn't thumbs that won't hang onto something, it's a supposedly healed wrist that won't lift something else!!! It's like inclines & declines with a bad knee, you can motor along feeling pretty damn good without a cane & then boom! The knee won't do hills. Bah.
Last week I changed the battery in my big kitchen clock & then, when I tried to hang it up, down it went behind the big pantry. Got in the back with a broom & found plenty of dust & cobwebs but no clock. Totally fell into another dimension. Did Crappy Tire recall it or something??????

The de-junking project continues. I've found several hard cover crafting books that need new homes. I need the space for the new books I've acquired. No, no - I'm not adding to the chaos by bringing in new things really, they were already here piled on the freezer.
I found 4 pairs of plastic shoes I can't wear anymore. They've just gathered dust since the knee accident three years ago so they have to go. Hopefully they'll find good homes. The purple & pink ones were lightly worn before & will look good as new after their bubblebath. I don't think I paid more than 10 bucks for any of them.

I checked the local Recycling department to see what goes where these days. My landlady likes to complain about what I put in the bins & gave me hell for filling the Recycling bin with a bag of shredded paper because I put it out in a clear plastic bag. It was high quality office paper & worth more money than newsprint!! And coffee cups, she complained about them too so I've been putting them into Garbage. Apparently, in our City, shredded paper MUST be in clear plastic bags for easy separation & Take-Out cups are Blue Box items!! Our City also wants the Green garbage packaged in newsprint & the kitchen bin lined with newsprint rather than 'biodegradable' brown bags. The Compost People don't like those bags at all. Good! They're expensive on a fixed income. I was doing it right all along - I like to use old newspapers & even toss in the toilet paper rolls for good measure. I have a clear bag full of paper shreds that's almost as big as she is that's going out tomorrow!!! What a difference that will make in the office! Take that Ron!!!

Knitting content - I turned the second heel on my latest socks in the soft yellow, orange, grey, blue & white socks. They are a restful change from all those Pink/Purple Frankensocks!! I'd forgotten how much faster it is to knit socks straight from the ball!! These are to go to the new gal at my favorite cafe - Maria. She's waaaay too polite & nice for the joint & I said so on her very first day - she comes to our greasy part of the world from Kazakhstan - which used to be part of Russia - just a little north & west of Pakistan.

Personal Organizer

My buddy, little Ron, is a neat freak. I guess you have to be to live in a 35' trailer!! He offered to detail my new-to-me van in the spring & was quite shocked when I refused. I mean, it's only a car & will get dirty with the first dew-fall since it sits outside uncovered, so why bother??? So, he's decided we need to declutter my basement instead. Although I'm not ready to go to a Hoarder's Anonymous meeting & admit my addiction quite yet, I do tend to collect stuff. It's not really a sickness, but I can't help but add to the stash whenever someone says FREE. I'm also a Visual person. If I can't see it, I forget I have it & I go out & get another one. Anywhere I sit is cluttered with the stuff I use every day, right in front of my face. I tried putting things away in the past, especially in the office at the end of the day, but I need to see things or I forget about them. It leads to multiple packages of Highlighters, pens & case lots of pencil leads. And rooms full of bins & bags of fibre.

It wasn't such a problem when I was younger because I could move things around, repack stuff, get rid of stuff & toss old stuff in the back of the truck. Since I became old, all of my previous injuries, a weak left wrist & buggered right knee have ended my moving & hauling days. To add insult to injury, I've accumulated several big, dead items that I simply can't move by myself anymore. Ron has decided to organize me before I become a Public Health problem.  Can you really die if yarn bins fall on you???


So, over coffee the other day, he told me we should put it all outside on the patio - one room at a time - and sort the lot. He will back his truck up to my door & we can throw anything that isn't going back in straight into the truck. And he will haul it away. Eeeek!OMG!!

Canada Post Came Thru

Mail call!! I don't get much in the mail department so I don't check the box that often. But, I fell off the wagon & bought a couple of things in the dead of the night with my handy dandy credit card, Ooooops.

And so what did I buy??? A couple of books I've been wanting for ages. Sometimes, you don't need or want just another book about Techniques or Patterns. I also love the Stories & the History of the tools in my hands.

I bought 'The Old Hand Knitters of the Dales' by Marie Hartley & Joan Ingilby in paperback. I'd seen it on Sale for $500 in hardback & almost that much in paperback on eBay but it was always out of MY price range. I finally found a copy I could afford. This is not new stuff but an updated version of the original book published just after WWII. I haven't had a lot of time to read it yet since I opened the other one first, but what I have seen looks very interesting! It's a history of knitting in the Yorkshire Dales. A story of the local people & local wool that helped make England rich before the Industrial Revolution.

I also bought 'In the Footsteps of Sheep' by Debbie Zawinski which I'd wanted since it was published last year. I wanted it so badly that I opened the package as soon as I got home on Friday & sat down with it to look inside. And then spent the rest of the evening reading it. And I continued to read it the next  morning as I ate my Cheerios & blueberries. In the end, I spent the whole weekend, to the detriment of everything else, reading the book.
And I love the book. I love that it's the story of people, of traveling & wool; of finding bits of fleece on the peat or in the bushes; of spinning that raw fleece into yarn on a stick & knitting it into socks as she meandered from place to place. I love that it has little hand drawn maps showing the route in each chapter, the method of travel & interesting spots along the way. It's not really a knitting book although it has patterns for socks, but it isn't a spinning book either, although Debbie writes about the characteristics of the wool she finds & the Scottish breeds it comes from. It's more of a Sock maker's travelogue or a Spinner's rustic walk-about in several of the Wooly Meccas of the world. You don't have to buy the book  but you do have to read it, especially if you spin, love fleece & knit socks.

My second package didn't even get opened until Saturday morning!! Inside I found a new Project bag & a cake of sock yarn. They were from the Yarn Harlot's Karmic Balancing draw for goodies for everyone who contributed to the annual PWA(People with Aids) Ride she & her TEAM make from Toronto to Montreal. Love the Bag & the yarn which matches the bag. Woohoo

Summertime & the living . . . .

See those Jades peeping thru?

Most summers, I turn on the oscillating fan at the foot of my bed a few times in August when we usually get a week or so of really high - for us on the Wet Coast - temperatures. This summer, I've used it a lot. I think the day before yesterday was the hottest day so far & I even tried out the "Hurricane" setting. "Hurricane" is great for a quick cool down but waaaay too loud, cold & fast for more than a couple of minutes!!
Usually it cools down enough at night to keep the old basement cool enough without a fan but this week, it's too hot in here to think. It just doesn't get any time to cool off. I'm glad this only happens for a week or so so I think I can cope.

My Petunias are packing it in & I've had to move all my hanging baskets to the back my patio because they're cooking in plastic pots. Spider plant babies that lived in a jar of water on a window sill for several years, got planted this year. I found an empty space in the fern trough at the back of the patio where they'd get lots of light but no full sun. They didn't do much until it got hot & suddenly they're TEN times bigger!! This morning, I noticed they're now sending out stems with babies in all directions. They seem to love the heat. So does my old Jade. It got chopped almost to it's main stem this year since it got really leggy. And I chopped it back hard, then put it into it's favorite place under the patio table with lots of light but no direct sun. And tossed all the cuttings into the long fern planter & a pot of Blue Fescue. I should've known better .  .  .  most of the cuttings took root. Some of them, tossed in the side of the Blue Fescue pot in full sun, are growing like stink!!
All in all, I have to say it's very pleasant out there all morning till about 2PM and again in the evening after 7PM when the sun goes behind the trees. So, I sit outside with my sock knitting or spinning or read a book as much as I can while I can. Retirement is actually not too bad if you have enough money to live on.

Summer in the Basement

It's summertime & the damn living is supposed to be easy. Especially when you retire. Sun, sand if you really want it, shade if you don't, iced coffee, Passion lemonade, salads galore, summer murder mysteries & all the knitting you can stand. Right??  Well, it ain't. And I'm not.

I struggled for almost three years to make enough money to live on after I injured myself & my school closed, only to find my little business taking off right around the time my pension started. I even qualified for a non-taxable Supplement because my income was so low when I applied. I could be sitting on the beach doing nothing except frying naked white skin & drinking iced coffee. And what am I doing??? Sitting in the Office doing paperwork with a mug of hot tea. That's the problem with the Paperwork business, it takes time to build one & when it produces, well, it really produces!! But, enough of that.

Haven't been knitting much except Frankensocks for the last couple of months & the

old scrap bag is decreasing quickly. It's amazing how many leftovers I accumulated over the years!! Although I've still got a full box the size of two Japanese orange boxes, I've made 7 pairs of scrappy socks in the last three months - mostly in pinks & purples - & decreased my scrap load. I have a large, garter stitch blanket on the go from another big bag of mostly tan, ecru, ombre, beige & other muddy brown yarn that will go to a new home when it's done. A couple of other projects are in the planning stage & I have even bought the yarn for them. I definitely have to stop taking new jobs & knit more BUT apparently it's very hard to find someone to do multiple back years income taxes & like a broke streetwalker, I just can't say NO.

Happy Birthday Marlow

My old husband - referred to as the Ex although we're not divorced, merely living apart - turned 78 on Friday. We married 29 years ago because he thought it was a terrible sin for us to live together but he wouldn't let me move out. So I caved & got married for the second time - even though I swore, yes swore, that I would never do it again after the first time around. He's a nice man, really likes women & gets along well with them, he's steady, stable, loves animals,  putters in his yard, saves his money, doesn't drink or smoke but I can't live with him. He wants to be joined at the hip, I need my space. So I moved out, just up the road, 18 years ago. We get along very well these days. I take him to most of his medical appointments & sometimes we go grocery shopping. We meet every Friday for lunch in a little truck stop cafe where everyone knows us & a couple of times a month we go for Chinese food on Sundays. He paid my rent for two years when I was unable to work &  I gave him a spousal Visa card. A truly modern marriage.

There's nothing much I can buy him & his sock cupboard overflows. So for his birthday, I took him for Chinese food, ordered some things he would never try on his own & made sure he took enough home for two more meals. It was great. And he found out he actually liked Tofu Hot Pot. Happy Birthday, Old Bean.

And I Thought it was Hot Before

This time of year I have to think back to winter when it was too cold to do data entry in my home office. And I have to remember really, really often because my home office is now the hottest room in my basement. I have all the blinds down, the windows open as far as I can - they only open skinny cat size in order to keep the skunks & raccoons out - but, like most apartments, there's no cross breeze since all the windows are on the same side. And I face West. So, in the late afternoon, the sun bakes my patio & windows. I don't suffer at night because I have an oscillating 4' high fan in my bedroom blowing on the bed - sigh. It's where I also nap when it's the hottest time of day.

I'm not complaining much, I do my running around in the mornings before it gets too hot & I sit outside in the cool mornings & evenings with my door wide open. Lately, I've been hosing down the patio when I water the Jungle & sit outside & knit afterwards. I'm trying to enjoy being retired, well, semi-retired. I have a couple of little jobs & two more I'm considering. Enough to pay for the car, some extras & pay off the credit card. Hahahah Gotta pay for those late night shopping sprees!!

The latest Pink Frankensocks have been delivered to the cook. I tried out the spiral stripe method illustrated in a Cabin Fever newsletter on one of the toes to stretch the pink a little farther - I like it!!
He's probably wearing them as I type unless his girlfriend swiped them. I did make them a little bigger so she'd be less likely to but it depends on how well he hid them when he took them home.

Cherries!!!

And what did I do for my Canada Day weekend??? I stayed home, watered the plants, made a last minute run to Safeway & avoided driving, that's what I did!! The freeway east was a parking lot when the Ex & I went to lunch on Thursday - nice for us because there was plenty of parking. And the freeway west as well as the border both north & south were jammed when we went for a Chinese supper on Sunday!! Sitting in a hot car amid exhaust fumes on a Freeway or a Border crossing with no cold drinks, entertainment or bathrooms is not my idea of a 'holiday'.

I spent my money on CHERRIES the size of small chicken eggs. Crisp, tangy, ripe cherries almost like those found on the trees of Keremeos. The only thing missing was the taste of HOT cherries fresh off the tree!!! Cherries are my favorite fruit & I make a point of eating as many as I can every year when they come to town. Cherries in the Big Grocery stores are okay but do yourself a favor & buy yours in oriental grocery stores instead - they get the best ones. Cherries are also good for arthritis. Apparently they help reduce joint pain. A really, really good reason to spend more money on cherries!!!

I always need small project bags so I decided to use some of that Crafter Cotton in my Stash & knit a couple. I really like the LETS GO SHOPPING pattern from AvaAdore on Ravelry. I've knit the pattern several times as written with great results although I've never used the bags for 'shopping'. I've used them mostly for gift bags with handmade soap & knitted washcloths inside which one recipient used as her gym bag by adding towel & swimsuit. The mesh pattern is a bit 'open' for this project bag so I'm working three rows of mesh with 6 rows of stockinet to make it a little more substantial. I don't worry about losing anything since I use circular needles in traveling projects & a little tin to hold all the findings. There should be room for my wallet, change purse & Creative device when I want to go & knit in public.

On the Needles - more socks of course. I have to knit a pair of PINK Frankensocks for the

#2 cook at my favorite cafe. I'm thinking of ordering some NEON pink & orange sock yarn & knitting them in stripes but I'm not sure if my eyes could take it!!
On the Wheel - That dry, dry Romni roving - I have to spin it outside & it's too damp & cold out there today - my bones are aching with this change in the weather!!! Hopefully the sun will come out later this afternoon & all will be well. I am glad it rained very hard & turned cold in the night though, the Burns Bog fire needed all the help it could get!!

                         It's Canada Day
 
    

Housekeeping

I did a little tidying in & around the old blog - nothing annoys me more than dead or old links that never get updated!! And here I was with several on my very own site. It was a bit of a learning curve since I haven't done anything to the 'bones' of the blog in yonks a very long time so it took a whole evening several hours to fix but I'm glad I did. I've found a couple of better links, eliminated some dead ones & added some new ones that I enjoy.

Two new pairs of Summer Frankensocks are now in my sock bin!! I had nothing in Pink!!! Since I love Purple & Pink, I was shocked to discover I had no light weight summer socks at all in either color - the closest I could come was a pair of grey & white socks with pink spots here & there. So my mission last month was to knit two pairs of light weight Pink Frankensocks for me. Mission Accomplished.

Seems I forgot to take a picture of the second pair after I finished the toe on the second sock & BEFORE I tossed it into the sink to soak - oops. I tried to make the cuff to heel more or less similar & then went wild from the heel to the toe. I wanted them to be Fraternal not Identical socks. And I still have one more pair to make, in Pinks, for the mouthy 20-something male grill cook in my favorite cafe.

I also had a new project in mind & even went & down-loaded  the pattern for it!!!  I thought I saw heavier yarn than I actually saw & didn't double-check to see what it really called for. So here I am casting on only to find that I have DK weight yarn & not the fingering the pattern actually calls for - well dammit all anyway!! It did NOT look like it was made out of fingering. And here I sit with all this lovely, luxurious alpaca/wool in odd balls for my project which is  definitely NOT fingering .  .  .  .   I wonder what would happen if I just went up a needle size or two & used it anyway????

Out of the Blue

Funny thing happened the other day, I've been working my way through a bunch of old files in the "Someday" bin in my office when I came upon a project that needs to be finished ASAP. I hadn't forgotten about it really, it just sort of went into the 'may never get paid' pile. For whatever reason, these people can't/don't pay the whole amount or need to trade services. It would be nice if I could get car repairs or chickens or salmon but most of the time I get stuff I don't need. Quite often, I do the minimum to get them by - when I have the time. And while I would prefer to be knitting, it was time to get this one off my desk. And a couple of hours later, the owner of the paperwork called & asked me to drop by for a chat. Turned out he had a check for me that paid off his whole outstanding amount from several years back. He had had a little windfall & decided to pay off his bills. Holy Crap. Out of the Blue. His ears must've been burning .  .  .

So what will I do with MY windfall??? Well, I called up a pal who's going through the same poverty that being "too old & beat up to get a full time job but too young to get a full pension" thing that I just survived & asked him how it was going. He told me with a laugh that he was trying to figure out whether to pay the electric bill or the phone bill this month but was otherwise okay. So I took him out for coffee & paid both bills for him. After all, he brought me groceries when I had no money. And then I took my Ex out for lunch. Monday, the car will get an oil change, new belts & new filters. And I may get some new undies. Woohoo

Coffee with my Socks

I've been spending a lot of time in Whalley coffee shops lately. The funny thing is that many of them are places I normally wouldn't go. Whalley, just down the road from me, has never had a good reputation & has become a haven for thieves, beggars & homeless since rapid transit came to our part of the world. Transit is still not great unless you live close to the Train, but it has really fueled the explosive growth in Surrey. Whalley downtown has become a sea of traffic lights, construction barricades & limited or no parking zones. Access is often difficult when you have a bad knee. So what's a knitter to do??? Why, check out the Starbucks kiosk at Safeway. That's what.

I've had to meet three different people in Whalley this week & found it was really, really easy to do in the Safeway. Surprise, surprise. But Safeway has a nice little Starbucks with trays of free goodies. There was a large eating area with plenty of chairs & tables to spread out at. And lots of deli sandwiches, Sushi rolls, raw veggies & fruit trays ready made by the Deli. I sat very comfortably in a corner & worked on my Summer Socks while I met two different people in one day. Security keeps the beggars away & tries to banish the thieves so it's safer than Starbucks. And the parking lot is a whole lot easier to get in & out of, too. Woohoo - I just might make it my new office!!!  So around 4:00, I bought a cold chicken, a bag of coleslaw & took my iced coffee home. Tough day at the Office.

The Sock Days of Summer

My New Summer Sock

It was so hot yesterday that I contemplated cranking up the air-con in my car. Normally I don't bother unless stuck in a traffic jam with no hope of release. Why?? Because the damn thing makes me sneeze, wheeze & snuffle. I've had all the filters changed & the system cleaned & it still bothers me. My Mother's new car bothered me. My buddy's old crappy van bothers me. And, let's face it, it gobbles fuel like crazy!! I don't have that kind of money. So I open the windows that open - it's amazing that most of them don't!!! - and I just get on with it.
I've been running the Ex around again while his car gets some new parts. I had to pick up the parts, the Ex & drop them off at different times - BAH. Normally, I'd sit out the heat in my cold basement & covered patio. There's just something wonderful about my cave in this heat that makes me stay home & enjoy it!!! I admit I DO make little forays through Mcdonald's drive thru for iced coffee though.

I shoved the old office chair on wheels outside this year - it moves when you climb into it so a certain someone can't use it as a step-stool & unscrew my porch light when I don't turn it off when she thinks I should - & managed to get the NEW chair into my office. I can now sit outside again & enjoy my plants. Somehow some of them survived the last two years while I felt sorry for myself, so this year I thought I should top up the soil, feed them a little fertilizer & nurture them a little. I thought I might spend my time outside listening to them grow while I spin the Tour de Fleece this year too.

Since there's no rest for the wicked, I'm still in the office doing Tax Returns - yes, some people still haven't filed!! And some of them haven't filed for YEARS. There's also the usual data entry etc . Gotta pay the bills even when you're retired apparently!!!
But I've taken up the needles to knit more socks again. I'm determined to use up all the leftover yarn that's cluttering up the place before I buy any new yarn - unless it's my old love, Kroy 4 ply, of course. And just to show that I have been working on the project - here's the first pair of FrankenSocks.  And I've already cast-on for a second pair - above. These are the regular 3ply standard sock yarn which is much lighter & shorter than my favorite winter Kroy. This pair & the ones now on my needles are for me because I don't have anything PINK in my summer sock wardrobe. The next will go to the Boys at the cafe, so I'll be busy!!

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!!!