and tomorrow and tomorrow

i have a doctor interview
i have hopes for this one
i also have learned
you really do have to interview the doctor who you are about to trust with your life
duh...

i want a second opinion on this endometrial biopsy
if it is not absolutely necessary i don't want it

anyway i am a bit nervous, i really wish i was getting to the endocronolgist but i couldn't get an appointment before december and i can't get to philly for the specialist
i am hoping this gyn calls the endo i have the appointment with and says....'you need to see this patient sooner'
like OCTOBER

oh the joys of chronic illnesses
anyway i have my packet of medical records, my list of questions
and my thyroid meds to see if she'll renew them for me
i know she's going to order blood work but i don't think it'll be tomorrow
then i think i am going to go yarn shopping
then i need to rest

i swear i will be glad when i have the doctors all straightened out again, and just need routine stuff
and once these biopsies are behind me
i know there really isn't any getting out of the thyroid biopsy
but i hope i can get out of the other one

i went to the dentist today, got a filling- i have to say the new dentistry is impressive.
he didn't hurt with the needle
the filling is cured when i leave the office, and it's a white filling!
no terrible after taste,
no roughness
amazing!
and the needle wears off now FAST

in sweater news, i ripped back the bands and i am redoing them
i just didn't like the edge i was getting so i put in a stabilizing line of stitches and now am picking up the bands again, i have to look again on ravelery and see if i like the stockinette or a seed stitch band
i may have enough yarn left over to do a second short cardi , if so......i am going to embroider roses on the second one
pink, cream, pale gold roses with pretty green leaves and some beads
i know i know......but i want to

ok supper is on
bernie is on his way home

and so of course it's raining again

i mean since it's already so wet that everything has mold on it
what else could be a good idea?
MORE RAIN of course!

it's dark, overcast, rainy and seriously HOT and HUMID..WTF?????

silly me, and here i thought it was fall

ok so i am up to the bands on the featherweight cardi, i am not entirely happy with them but i want to block them and then decide
i am thinking it maybe a bit large on me
maybe i am not quite as large as i think i am.....?

meanwhile i am looking for a source for a sturdy 'go to' dk in solids, semi solids and tweeds
a lovely woman i met in germany offered to get to the factory sales for one that is very nice
i am contemplating a few stateside as well

i want a tweed that is sturdy and non pilling in a dk weight....is that too much to ask?

oye
let's see what else is going on?
i have dishes to do
i didn't do them yesterday so i am in for it today
i should bake also
and i really need to sew an apron for me, as well as some new knitting bags.
and clean the budgies
the chickens and ducks are all clean, we've been cleaning them sort of in parts... night crates one day
day pens a few days later
etc
falstaff is really showing his age too
so i may put malcom out back.....and keep the old guy up here
malcom is getting rowdy again- and his nails are long so he really does need to be out back for a while...he'll wear the nails down pacing for the girls

the laperms continue to catch and sometimes eat mice.........i worry that they can get worms or something
but they seem to be ok so far
and we do need the mice caught
just as long as they dont' bring them upstairs

one crunching mouse at 3am is more then enough thank you very much

ok til next time
the dishes call my name

it's so damn humid that EVERYTHING

and i do mean EVERYTHING is molding

bernie did the litter boxes on saturday.....he did them again last night as everything in the boxes were molded

did i mention it's HUMID
oye
we had an appointment down the valley for bernie today, so for waiting room knitting i am working on some kids hats for margaret in boston
i am knitting in acrylics and blends because i figure that if i do wool, and it's washed the hat will fit a hamster and the kid will still be shit out of luck
it's almost done i think....i wish i had a kid to try it on
i'm used to knitting hats for us
not for kids so it's rough to figure how long to make it
i'll have to ask margaret or susan or donna as they regularly knit for kids
i am still kitchener-ing off my hem
i hate kitchener
but then i pick up for my sleeves.......woohoo....i can't wait
then it's a smooth sail down to the bands and boom i can wear it
(unless i screwed it up totally and then i rip it)

i am having problems with my camera too at the moment........so no pictures for which i am truly sorry
both for you guys and for me
sniff
oh well what can i do ???

not much

now in a few minutes i am going to start dishes etc......
i need to put the halloween stuff up too
and make a list of some other stuff
really lately i have very little energy
we'll address that i hope with the new doctor
cause this isn't any fun at all

oh and every single female duck on the place is now offically squeaky.......and driving me nuts
i had to grab lilli by the wing tip before she did the 'exit stage left' thing
and she sure was running left
and squeaking and all puffed up
oye

and the cats are no better
they caught another mouse last night
playing with it until it ran over my toes
thank you cats
i needed mouse piss on my shoes .......how did you know?

oye

ok off i go

we have survived graveyard for the week

but it took the entire weekend to recover.
so again nothing much got done

we did get down the valley to red wing shoes to get bernie new hikers and ordered him new work boots
they are both electrical resistant, water proof, and puncture resistant and the work boots also have the steel toes
he put the hikers on and said
(in amazement)

'these feel good'

there was another guy trying shoes on too and he said the same thing at almost the same time!
good
now he's got good boots again
(that worries me when he has crappy boots, but he fights me on that)

we did more pen cleaning
we got the big duck pen (the day pen) packed with leaves now.....they love that as bedding, they play in the leaves.  and it's about time too, as they are all squeaky....
actually it makes me laugh with them squeaky but really it's equivalent to pms- and they run away from mommy squeaking the whole way

lilli however is the funniest
cause she squeaks when you talk to her

malcom saw an opportunity to make (or so he thought) bernie his duck bitch again-
both bernie and i held him down and wiggled his tail.
in duck speak that says

' you THINK you're bigger then me........nope nope nope...i am head drake and YOU are MY duck bitch........ remember that sucka'

he was pretty good last night although we did hose him down

meanwhile, the budgies need to be put together for the winter, the studio cleaned, more wood put in, and the potatoes gotten
all this and my with lethargy.......serious lethargy
actually i am also apparently having a problem with the lymph glands in my head and face-
there is some edema going on and it's not really draining! (how could it not drain out of my face ?)

one more thing on the list for the doc to deal with
(let's hope this new one can find a pulse, and figure out how to take blood pressure- i am tired of interviewing doctors)

oh and huge news for us
fawn caught and devoured a mouse last night
she's got that whole 'i'm a cat and i catch mice' thing now

she ate it under my chair...i got to hear all of it but thanks to computer glasses couldn't see it!

oye

until next time

vi

i didn't forget you all, life got crazy

bernie's been working overnight
there've been some problems with vandalizing of the units at his job-
so he is working overnights with the hope that this will deter who ever is doing this
needless to say MY life is totally turned upside down as well

i can't sleep nights! i am worried about him-and so days, i am going through zombie like motions
just feeding animals.....dishes and dinner and the rest of the time
sitting and knitting (thank goodness for mindless stockinette)
although i did drop the sweater and 300 stitches came off (in fingering weight, in cotton- oh man)
it would have bothered me a great deal more if i'd been actually awake

anyway, i hit the webs cascade 220 sale for two different cardi's one i hope in plum and other other in lupine
i was debating the amber color but really as much as i like it, i don't think i can wear that color
anyway, i am thinking of zip front cardi's with set in sleeves and just sort of shirt colors
maybe a cuffed sleeve but maybe not

ok i have to run now
i'm not awake yet but i have to eat and get the ducks out

it'ssssssss SUNDAY!!!!

we had errands yesterday-
picked up new smoke alarms and zipties
some halloween stuff
and pasta
(that was on sale)
cleaned night crates .......dishes.....laundry

yup a normal saturday that isn't raining!

i got bernie two dvd's at target for 5.00 each
hidalgo which was GREAT
and
the ninth gate which i haven't ever seen but bernie like depp

i want to get rio and the three ice age movies

right now (RIGHT THIS SECOND) my sister in law colleen is on the phone
i can't believe it
bernie's talking to her while i type this..waiting for fawn to finish her meds

i am also knitting on my featherweight.....i think i got it ok now with the bust and then decreasing for the under bust etc
we'll see about that soon
i am already thinking of my next project
and my next project is going to involve tweed...........i am determined

i also am going to lobby for bernie to help me with a duct tape double so i can make some dresses
i am thinking i sure could use a navy jumper ( i out grew my last one)
and a plum jumper
i would like them in wool challis
and a couple blouses

ok we got back from town, i got ronzoni for .69 a pound so we stocked up
boy did we stock up
we'll be ok for a while i think
i dry canned them in mason jars with oxygen absorbers
we have a years worth now
or maybe more even
that dry canning is the BEST
i got odds and ends on sale... puree cause the tomatoes did nothing
(i have a few salad ones out there that planted themselves)
another box of tissues for winter
(we go through 5 normally)

all the tpaper we need
we aren't in too bad of shape for winter now
more wood, 150# of potatoes........ and that generator and we're good to go
we still have oil from last winter so we have back up
i do wish we had a barn for feed for these guys for winter
i think next years big project is storage sheds

have a nice sunday folks

after all these years NOW this duck decides he likes me?

am i dying?
is he dying??

today when i went down to take my ducks out falstaff met me at the bottom of the stairs......!
he actually got up and came over to see me!
i spoke to him a few seconds during which time he wagged his tail
and then he followed me ( pretty closely actually)
out to the big pen
we are a companionable pair this elderly drake and i
now after all these years together
it's an enjoyable companionship too
he listens to me and follows along
i talk to him and answers.....
i swear he is the best dog!!! even though he's a duck!

i like older animals
don't get me wrong i love baby animals and adolescent animals and adult animals in their prime
but there is something so touching about an older animal
one that moves a bit slower
with more dignity
who listens! (better then the husband does sometimes)
i find myself really enjoying my walks with falstaff now
talking to him as he talks back to me.... i look forward to our time together
i think he enjoys it also

tonight i let him into the pond area after i took the girls out
he happily bathed and splashed until i came back to tell him it was time to go up
then he walked first into the back pen.....then when i called him again he walked up to the house

what a good boy

i know he is already older then most muscovy live...... and i can tell you

i am really going to miss him when his time to go comes

he packs a lot of personality into his little duck body

til next time
vi

and another woosh of a week.........

we had a terrible road call sunday night........ over to the disaster area
since we were in a medical unit, they waved us through into the evacuated area!!!!

i was like WHOA, wait...... we need to find our unit so let's just ask someone-- they were very helpful and the cops got us right to where our unit was.
the national guard btw, apparently are drafting 8 years old!
oye oye

we got caught in a horrific rain/lightening storm
we were actually blinded by the flashes!
and the rain was about 6'' an hour
while we were trying to drive home in the middle of a gazillion trucks all crawling at 10 miles per hour........then a flash of blinding light.......
it's a miracle we all aren't dead

oye
mean while back at the farm....... malcom is being a brat
the girls are all laying
with poor phoebe laying these tiny teeny marble sized eggs

we also had chicken again for supper......it's all chicken all the time
hahahaha
cluck cluck cluck

i am through the bust increases on my featherweight sweater, i tried it on and it does fit
although i think the sleeves that i worried about being too tight may end up being too BIG
which would make me laugh ironically while i ripped it all out
then i would cry
and cast on again
oye
so i hope you all didn't miss me much

but i'm in and out you know
with the sun!

the week went WOOSH...............

oh MY
well yesterday i went to town with jen
who snuck up behind me and said BOO
which made me jump a mile

hmmmmmmmm

bad girl jen

so we went to town, i bought a step stool and an aluminum wallet
got to the po to pick up my two skeins of wollmeise....(eat your hearts out fellow knitters)
i got some books (borders 70% off going out of business sale) and two dvd's
one was the vampire movie from the ann rice book
and the other was the 'golden compass' which was pretty good!
bernie watched that last night while i ripped out 6-8 rows of about 400 stitches on my featherweight so i could fix the inadvertent short row i stuck in there.

meanwhile the hunt for clever little cardi's goes on, ones that hopefully i won't have to modify too much for my,...............ahem...........GENEROUS curves
*** ok knitters post links if you got them.....ok?

yeah.....ok

now today right now it's stopped raining... but don't worry, it shall resume in a while
wilkes barre is being evacuated, some areas on the delaware will be too
i think we're ok but i worry about bernie getting home tonight
some fatalities with this endless rain..... a guy died when he tried to bail his basement out and the foundation collapsed on him

our road isn't too bad, as the township finally did something about the raging flooding that was coming down into our basement!
they didn't fix the washed out driveway here though
which they caused by banking the newly widened road the wrong way

and it is official, my camera is having a melt down....or is possessed or something
now the lcd screen won't work
oye

which i guess is ok as i can't find the cable to download it to the lap top anyway

oh and due to rain, all work on the generator pad, trim painting, winter pens, caulking....and wood deliveries have ended

aren't we lucky?
oh and the basement is sorta really really damp
and i found a cool salamander on the duck pens this morning!
i hurried everyone into the pens so the poor little thing has a chance to live without becoming breakfast for a duck.

tomorrow my 'custom knits' book is due in....i hope i am brave enough to get to the po to pick it up
or maybe we'll go to b&n and then pick up my book?

ok that's pretty much it
i am going to go now
i am going to sit and rip back my sweater while i contemplate my existence

monday is the new sunday? well it is for today

first off folks happy labor day

around these parts at chateau de herron it sure is looking like fall...but then again it's been looking like fall since july!
the biggest of the sugar maples is got almost all it's leaves gone!
the others aren't far behind, by halloween it's going to look like early december here
we still need more wood in for the winter yet as well
we sort of got side railed by starting to dig out the area for a pad for a standby generator- maybe it's a good thing too as bernie pulled a tree out that was just thinking about putting it's roots into our field stone foundation
i am thinking we may have to do that to a more trees

in knitting news, i am working on a 'featherweight' which is a wonderful light airy summer cardi....
it's super easy apparently for everyone but a plus sized person...
i knew i should have done more measuring and a few 'adjustments' before i dived in....
but it may not be as horrifically bad as i think it could be....we'll see
once i get the arms done i will know better

mean while this has sent me on a quest.....
i think i am going to really start to wear dresses to go to town
with sandals in summer and tights in winter
i want some little cardis for the summer ones
and maybe a cardi or two for winter as well
naturally the winter ones will be navy, and gray and plum....cause those are my colors in winter
(maybe a burgundy and a forest green as well)
in summer of course i have magenta, and pinks, all sorts of purples and lavenders, and bright turquoise blues.

i am still trying to work out a basic knitting sloper..

really even in my new improved larger size, it's not all that long to knit stockinette, i just sit and knit without thinking ( i think that makes me a process knitter)
of course stitch markers are my very best friends in this
and i won't be doing a huge amount of cabling and lace etc..
just basic shaping

oye

anyway back to the quest....which is naturally for yarn
i found a few cotton blends that would work well for summer and transitional
good yardage and decent price
one is tatamy tweed which is from a local mill
i think i need 10 skeins of dk in loganberry and i think i need 12 of the worsted in purple
i should ask jen if she wants to take a run down there next week
so the cardis that are up for consideration are the following:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff10/PATTbrunello.php in loganberry
(without the puffy gathered sleeve..just straight sleeves with the lace edging)

and

http://www.amyherzogdesigns.com/designs/sweaters/petrea/ in purple
without the flared bottom of the sleeve. (that looks stupid on me, great on others with smaller arms)

now for a winter cardi
http://www.interweaveknits.com/galleries/bonus/fall-2009/farmers-market-cardigan.asp

so any of my knitting friends want to jump in and help me figure the mods for these two let me know ok
i could use a hand with this as it's been years since i knit sweaters for me

oye
it used to be so damn easy!

duck days and chillier evenings

the ducks are loving this weather..... they are not wanting to come in at night either
i am having to carry them
and prudence is the absolute worst at coming in on time
now normally i can get a 'duck eating shovel' to sort of herd everyone in with
pru has got my number.......
she looks at me and says to me

 'yeah right mom, like you're going to use that on us.......hahahaha do i LOOK like i was hatched yesterday?'

she is right of course.... but the OTHERS .....
well it goes something like this

"OMG OMG, mom is got the shovel....that shovel EATS ducks like us......... OMG OMG we are going to get eaten!!!!! HURRY UP ''

now it's not in their best interest to know that mom isn't going to let the shovel eat them.....cause sometimes a duck just has to run into the house and their night crates to go to bed.

if they are poking along and dilly dallying..... bad things can happen.... predators can eat them, mom can FALL....... so it's easier to herd them with something they are afraid of..... ( twiggy branches eat ducks too......bet you didn't know that huh?)

however, now that pru is gotten wise to the ways of mom and the duck eating shovels....i am expecting bed time to be a bit harder to accomplish

maybe i need a bed time treat that they only get in the house in their crates?

oye

DUCKS!

(btw, shhhh don't tell bernie, but we are getting a new pullet.......she's a very large buff orpington out of 'the general')

and mr malcom is behaving himself (will wonders never cease)
falstaff has taken to sleeping on the furnace pad now.... well i can't blame him
i would like him to have a crate too but he's so tame now *just don't try and pet him or he'll run away* he just goes where i tell him and pretty much does whatever i tell him. amazing huh? he's a FERAL DUCK who was about 2 when we got him..... and had never been handled at all!


bernie worked yesterday, he felt that not enough of his fleet was serviced on time so he went in.....
i waited all day for him.
meanwhile i tried to figure a fix on my featherweight sweater that i'm knitting
i am thinking i am still ok with it at the moment. so i am going to knit down to the armhole divides and then see

in cat news, i finally got the three of them to pee on the blue pads!!! we are making progress here.
soon we will move the blue pads into a 'litter' box and they should follow
(yet another legacy from that jackass neighbor we had and their feral territory marking un-neutered tom cats)
the new neighbors are just as irresponsible with letting their cats out to run free, but at least they aren't dumping too much out back

now speaking of the new neighbors, bernie talked to them last night... they mentioned they saw a large 'white cat four times the size of a regular cat' walking inside our fence
ahem....
they didn't see a house cat
and yet they still let their cats OUT......
we figure it could be one of a few things
bobcat
coyote
possible lynx
the silver fox
my money is on a coyote......... and yet they still let their cats out.....
oh man

ok now i have to go
we have to get my spoiled rotten getting wise to me ducks out

so ttyl

with visions of food processors and standby generators

dancing in my head.

i think really at the moment the only fly in the ointment is getting a pad ready.
for the generator that is
not the food processor, that just will replace the old one......so that has a space (and since the footprint is smaller....... i gain some space)

Dig a rectangular area approximately five inches deep and 

about six inches longer and wider than the footprint of the 

generator. Cover with polyurethane film and fill with pea gravel 

or crushed stone. Compact and level the stone. A concrete 

pad can be poured if desired.

Set the generator onto the pad so that the gravel bed extends 

several inches beyond the generator on all sides.

 Make sure the generator is level within ½ inch.

it's the 'dig a rectangular area' part - mainly because it's on the side of a slope, and it's got about 2'' of top soil and then....... bedrock (and not in a fred & barney sort of way) it will have to be at least 30''x36'' .... so can bernie do this?
i am pretty sure we'd need some sort of concrete something or other to install it level and secure
and as you folks know....stuff like that isn't bernie's strong suit normally.
he is starting to get into this generator idea though.
i realize that is he right about standby vs portable for us.... cause he won't be around most likely to start up and hook up the generator or to refuel it for me
so the standby is probably a better idea
AND i know that generators need to cool down to be refueled as well..

now onto food processors, the research on which was just as much fun as the generator research.....(which is to say that it was as much fun as a root canal)
i have a few phone calls to make but i am pretty sure i am going with a robot coupe food processor....possibly used but commercial all the way- nothing else makes any sense for us

i have to face it
we are hard on the stuff we use.
nothing, gets pampered around here (not even me) except for maybe the animals but even then
so stuff needs to survive our daily life
the good china doesn't get used daily, but the corelle sure does ( and we've broke that stuff too)
so now as shit is breaking....i am going commercial with most of it
(when the sealer goes next time out, i am getting a chamber sealer....)
the exception appears to be my coffee maker..... it's a proctor silex and it cost like 12.00 and that thing looks like shit but works perfectly! i love it so much i got a back up for it
makes good coffee too
doesn't do ANYTHING but make coffee.......no clock, no timer no frother....... works every damn day!
sorta like that 7.00 toaster from kmart we had...looked like shit was all bent up but it did make toast
burnt on one side but it was toast
and while i am telling you all about stuff that survives us
we have 'french working glasses' for drinking glasses........ they are etched from the dishwasher but they are about 20 years old now and still fine!
we drop them but they've never even chipped!
i keep saying i am going to get another set that aren't etched but i don't want to jinx them
before these glasses we  had to replace glasses yearly due to breakage
(come to think of it, mom had the same SHAPED glasses but hers were plastic! ... and smaller, as ours are 22 oz and i think hers were like 8oz)

ok where was i? hmmmm turkey stock, yeah.....ok that is in the fridge now waiting to get into the freezer. (that is today)
i had a rough day yesterday as a result of tuesday
which was an aftermath *much much after* of abdominal surgery from 1995's ruptured ectopic pregnancy- there is something going on in the area that one of the incisions were.....and that they put in the 'anti-hernia' stitch.... it feels like something is tearing
the pain was pretty bad for a while but it's not really bad now....just an 'after pain'
 if you know what i mean
why yes it has been one thing after another........why do you ask?
isn't life like that?

meanwhile the days are cooling down..... now in the morning there is thick fog out back. takes a while to burn off with the sun
and the harvest is starting
i've yet to get my pickles made though....all ready for them but not made yet
for some reason the idea of lifting canners is deterring me.

ok this morning's coffee is pretty good but i think i got to go......
yesterday i didn't get up until almost 9am
and my day dragged (not to mention the research i had to do all damn day)
today i got up at 5am and i hope that my day is productive
oye

ok ttyl
vi