rain rain for the garden.....and happily hunting ducks

there!!! duckies! aren't they cute? that's prudence and amelia....... as lilli was in the upper pen with phoebe.

today is rain which is good for the garden.. also maybe for us too, it was so hot upstairs the last few nights, bernie's going to get a fan for us as it's way too early for the AC- i told him get two fans one for each side..... we'll get the standing ones and use them downstairs in winter for the woodstove too

a lot went on here yesterday, i started to block aeolian, which fought me hard

i found out that henrietta put a hole in dulcette's side which upset me greatly (and upset henrietta as well since she's now by herself........no other chickens around her)

i got notice that the yarn i ordered in an insomnia induced spree.......will be here tomorrow.

so i have to decide soon as to what is the next knit

although i have one of romi's small shawls i am thinking of too....with the random beads.

i have some spirit trail silk, with some interesting beads so maybe that would be a good idea?

i hate being in between a knitting project... just hate it. i like it better when i have two going......house knitting and car knitting

oye

oh and just as an aside to myself....cheap joes has my table easel on sale but they are sold out

oye

i need coffee...............

vi

(this lack of sleep thing is getting to me)

what to knit, what to knit???

i was up most of the night, partly because it was so hot upstairs, partly cause i was trying to decide what to knit and partly from the usual list of worries......( i don't know why i worry so much, half of what i worry about never happens)

i am considering andrea's shawl  (most likely this solid variation in pink though)  or jaali , which i accidentally ordered yarn for at 2am............. (but the yarn is dream in color starry, with the silver running through it.....so i can be forgiven i think for not resisting that ...especially when i was worried at 2am*** see yarn porn photo's below)

damask is about dry from it's blocking
it looks great, the texture isn't easy to see with the variegation's in the yarn, but it made my heart sing while i knit it.....and that knitting zone is what every knitter wants no?
the perfect knit......over and over, isn't that partly why we do it?
sure we need mittens and scarves and hats and sweaters....... but then why are we drooling over colors that would put a rainbow to shame......any solid color would work.....or no color.......
nope
we use it to feed the soul
so i hope the next knit is just as fabulously perfect-and i think i have that partly planned

another thing that kept me up all night was wondering, what would it be like if a person could really step outside themselves and see their lives from a totally unbiased perspective? but not just the surface of a life, that's visible to everyone outside of our skins, but also privy to the inner thinking... watching our selves think......hearing the thoughts? actually seeing the motivations that drive us.........how much would we change? what would we keep, or toss?
i would like to see something like that..........i think it would be helpful to how a person conducts themselves and lives their life. (another example of what i think about at 2am)

sleep deprivation will do amazing things to your head you know......

now another thing was malcom.....he's giving me lip just like thumbprint did.....not as bad but still a bit aggressively warning me off.....yesterday he pecked at me from inside the crate.
so we'll see. i don't want to challenge him too much without backup here, he IS a big guy now....not nearly as big as falstaff but not a weak little girl i can just swoop up either.....
he's pecking a bit at the herding stick too so i've taken to bringing that and a shovel out with me to the herd him to the pens
he asserts himself by not going in at first
and wandering the garden until he's assured himself that there isn't any back door to allow him to escape to go back to the girls.

the new neighbors have a large dog.......i thought i heard barking.
i did
and last night they couldn't get that large dog in the house.........(while the guy was trying to hide from me and not let me see him.......good be very afraid)
the dog comes here i am going to pitch fork it
as much as i won't want to
i want my ducks safe more
i told bernie that the new neighbors were friends with the old, as the jackass' wife was there early yesterday morning----no doubt to dump shit in our yard

ok, drinking coffee with you all this morning (mine is currently in a 32 oz mug......)
hey, garylynn, you need to get the rain from MO and KY as those folks are flooded.....they sure could use a hand with that, actually wait a bit and they may float on down to you all
vicki, i thought you folks were warmer out there? and you all need to send some down to texas too.
catherine, i wish i could get a deal on mushrooms like that i would be drying POUNDAGE.......
you know......we haven't heard from flicka in a while have we?
donald checked in.........who else is forgetting to check in?
( and you all know who yous are)

today looks like there won't be rain, however i think now i need it for the seedlings in the garden
(why no i am never happy it would seem but then mother natures is having her PMS so how could i be?)

i am also intent on blocking aeolian today...... as well as choosing my next knit, and hopefully maybe starting the next drawing-
speaking of drawing, i am waiting patiently for two easels to go on sale, one a tabletop and one an out door easel......i so long to paint with my ducks, and i think i need to retire my drafting table out of the studio for a while......much as that would pain me.

however if the weather is going to be good i need to spray that chandelier cream and start covering it with the toile i got for it.
(and i saw a mini toile at hobby lobby for 16.00 a yard that would actually work better then the one i got......and one yard would so do it.....all this for an 8.00 chandie?)

so how was everyone's holidays and what all are you folks up to this fine day?

gray, dark and overcast

that is the day today.
yesterday we got up to brilliant sparkling sunshine. today not so much.

i finished damask last night
i did the medium in ella rae #117
 jen found me two more skeins in that dye lot, good thing too cause i used a part of the second skein.
i was up at like row 98 but i still needed it. i don't even think i used 10% of the second skein but i wouldn't have been able to finish without it
and that is with using beads instead of nupps! i would have used the entire second skein i think if i'd done the yarn nupps.

for beads i changed color every tier of 'nupps'
first was a golden topaz color
then ruby
then purple
and last a nice orange
it sounds terribly gaudy
but due to the color range of 117, works well.........
AND really does not LOOK as gaudy as you would think
more like a 'broken' color of overall warm tones, think impressionistic
i need to make a hat to go with it.
i may even have to make lace and line it with cotton fabric or something.
so today it goes into it's bath.......and then, the blocking!

now i need to figure a way to print my next shawl pattern out, as my laptop doesn't have a parallel port so can't interface with the printers

since the weather is so damp, dark and unfriendly to painting, i am going to have to figure out something else to do around the house, however a LOT of stuff depends on painting now.
last year between family visits ( tons of family visits) and baby duck raising, i didn't get any of the painting i needed to do done.
i am hoping for a balanced summer weather wise so i do get my painting done, the garden watered, no drought etc.
i am also going to paint two old bird cages black to house my 'crows' (fake from dollar store) add that to the list a mile long of stuff to paint, i need a spray booth!

HEY, i saw a crow chasing a hawk yesterday..........that crow was pretty insistent and the hawk was getting the hell out of dodge....... was it bad of me that i laughed my ass off at the hawk? it actually flew into the woods to try and shake the crow off it's ass.
bless the crows for they chase the hawks and my babies are safe for a few more hours

let's see, i told you about my easter basket.......wow what a surprise!
we had a smithfield ham for dinner, i am not impressed with smithfield anymore, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great like i remember.

i found out that during the summer i hate eating in the living room (which is our dining room) i love it during the winter, but not at all in the summer. it's a 'winter' room, if you know what i mean. it's cozy for fall and winter but too dark for summer. i told bernie i am going to try to lighten it up with mirrors that face the front windows but i doubt i will ever like being in there in summer.

i hope someone is joining me this morning with my coffee, as i am drinking a huge mug of it.
and i am hoping that the wood stove is finally going to be off duty for the summer now......time to clean it, time to move the wood out and time to get the last 2 budgies for my girls no?
after all it's been a while since i've had any thing coming off the drafting table to share with everyone right?
is everyone still out there?

vi

happy easter!!!

 VERY COOL!!! bernie got me an easter basket!!! i haven't had one of them in over 40 years! wow.
i had said something about i wanted one, just kidding around. cause i used to make them up for mom and dad and bernie........
this is what i woke up to this morning!!! this is love.......he heard me!
he saved his ciggie money and bought me an easter basket!
even though there is chocolate in it (he'll eat that) and peeps (he'll eat that too) it's got robins egg malt balls and a stuffed duck.......and the baskets (there are two in there) are VERY VERY pretty......i love them!
just the fact that he thought of me made my day.

now we're just in from putting ducks out......amelia is pissy broody, pru is skitterish, lilli and phoebe both love their momma and their wormies..... malcom asserted his manly ego by half heartedly grazing for worms when he discovered there really isn't a back way out of the garden and back up to the women........and falstaff JUMPED into the upper pond without threats and took a bath........ sniff, it's enough to make a duck momma's heart sing!

my chickens are happily laying their eggs and eating breakfast, the cats are playing tag, and the budgies are chirping to each other good morning......

life is very good right now
(and so is the coffee bernie made me-now he's making breakfast for us)

he rented 'the king's speech' and some star trek movie (when spock and them first got together) i watched a bit of each, and they were good...... i don't know why i can't sit through tv shows or movies... even with knitting!

and speaking of knitting, i am up to row 93 on damask, i did the last 'nupp' replacements with purple beads, i think that's it for nupps.... if not then the next ones will be either orange or red
i would like to finish damask soon
i need to block it and aeolian....... i swear it would have been faster to send aeolian to lotta in sweden to block for me!
have a wonderful day everyone
i hope you all got as nice a surprise as i did!

vi

4am and i am stoking the stove.. what is WRONG with this picture?

oh yeah, it's end of april!
bernie is peacefully snoring upstairs, i came down to  stoke the wood stove.
i threw some logs on the coals and waited,............ nothing
just as i was about to get up to put kindling in on top
poof!
the fire caught!
so the woodstove is happily cooking along now

the house is warm.
i want to make sure it stays warm, as it's under 40 out and raining.
meanwhile i forgot to take the easter ham out and i forgot to take the chopmeat out for hamburgers today.
bernie will do that later then, when we take the ducks out and feed everyone.
he brought the ducks in for me last night as i was watching the woodstove. he said they RAN in the house, no stopping to graze, not even bothering to try and get him to carry them..i guess they were cold and wanted their beds.
i want to clean crates this week, and we also need to redo the cellar ........although it's not bad at all right now, i would like to keep ahead of it.

well thanks to the rain, my leeks should survive, i hope so as there are only 60 of them- and some of them were super small. i am hoping that the beets etc will get a good start too now.....with this new rain, it doesn't sound like hard rain, just steady.

with the rain putting a stop to our outside plans this weekend, i am hoping we get some stuff done in the house. but most likely i am going to try and let bernie rest.
he looked so tired last night
we may have to bring in wood, ( i can NOT believe i am saying that in april!)
i think he needs a few days off so he can do the stuff that's needed doing around here without getting himself too tired.
i still do need to pick up sand, black spray paint, two new ponds and some new hoses.
oye
ok i have bills to pay now, while i'm up and online
ttyl

happy easter to you all

 here are some shots of damask, at about row 48 or so, i used beads instead of nupps, the first set of nupps are yellow topaz beads. the second are ruby (you can't see them in these pictures as it's like row 67 for the second set) and the third set of nupps will either be purple or orange..........sounds awful but works very well.  i really like this shawl pattern, and i really like this yarn colorway.... it's so me! (a muddle of all the colors under the sun no?, yup.......me !!!)
i am so glad i have more cause i want a hat to match this one so bad,........at least i won't look like the mismatched crazy old bag lady then .............just look like a crazy old lady?
hahahahahaha
(sometimes i really wonder how bernie puts up with me?.........oye)



i really need to get the ham defrosted today.
and maybe i should color some eggies? we got eggs now........boy do we have eggs
i wish that we could eat on the deck but there is going to be rain i hear
we really need to cover that damn deck with a roof
now this morning so far, i have gone down to retrieve an egg from the 5000 year old chickens......... dulcette is laying but if i leave them after she announced .......henrietta the senile 5000 year old chicken who thinks she is a rooster EATS the damn egg.......so since normally it's death for chickens to eat eggs......i schlep down and get the still warm egg before that senile chicken gets it in her head.

i am still working on the old computer, now i think it's the power supply and the memory.....so i think it's an under a 100.00 fix......
i was also doing a logo for a start up with a friend of mine, only to discover that i can't access any programs from the laptop......... so now the tower really needs to be fixed NOW.......
i wonder if i can rig up FRANKEN-tower..........just to crank up my hard drive?
my font catalog is on there, and i didn't get it off yet.

i have to say, i burnt supper sorta last night......i was busy working on fonts for a logo, and forgot the sausage and peppers were still simmering....
bernie got home and i realized it
he said it was great and didn't taste burnt at all (he actually said it was good)
but i felt terrible about it
now tonight i think is pizza but we'll see

we both forgot to get buckets and pans in last night so i am thinking my day pens will be a wreak today.....overnight raccoon damage............or skunk etc.
i thought he would do pails and pans, he thought i had already done it.
that doesn't happen often thank goodness but it did last night

i just hope i remembered to close the garden gate too...........i hope so or the new plantings will all be gone.

i keep getting up to the rumble of the oil furnace. i can't stoke the wood stove as it's way too warm out to get draft now, but it's apparently too cold to go without heat. oye
THIS is when i wish we had solar, just a greenhouse really....... with a nice heat sink ......(like, mmmmmmm, i don't know...maybe the stone walls on the south side of the HOUSE?)

now just a fast off track ramble........i want to make more stitch markers, cause i CAN.........and cause they are fast fun. so maybe i need to get more beads?
it was relaxing making them last weekend (was it last weekend?) i think so--
plus they are so pretty to use on whatever a person is knitting......you know?
(if you don't knit, just nod knowingly ok?)
anyway i still have not picked up the flat black spray paint yet...... (for the bird cages to house the black faux crows for halloween...........) so maybe another short road trip is in order......don't tell thaddeaus or he'll not speak to me again for a week

ok i have to start the day offically now
ttyl
and have happy holidays

vi

planted leek sets so.......naturally 'let there be SUN'

***note to Kyrsyan: that's what we planned to do, a zone at a time...... the 'main' and then knock the wall out and do the baking/storage/eating area


and back to the garden.......
i put the leeks in trenches in the morning then went about my day, figuring 'mother nature's got this'- i mean the forcast was rain rain and more rain call noah on speed dial 1
right?
well not so fast
the sun came out (so did the bugs)
the clouds parted and  no rain to water in the leeks......next thing you would have seen if you were out there was me stealing the duck's water bucket and running around watering in all the leeks....
being chased by thirsty ducks...(and since they don't quack, it was like a silent movie)
and THEN
the hawk came
so all good little duckies ran back into the covered safe pen .............which meant that mommy had to carry the duckies up the hill
they enjoyed the ride, treating it like a monorail at the amusement park
i have finally realized my place in life......

i am a duck taxi

ah and all these years i have been erroneously thinking i was an artist.............. 


now when i went to bring malcom in, a rather cheeky white footed mouse was on top of his crate.
i wish i had been bring the girls in but they all were already in......... malcom being a boy, ignored what was right in front of his face............
so the mouse lives on
the girls would have eaten that mouse so fast
later when bernie went down to get icecream he had a talk with the poultry, explaining to them that mice were delicious poultry candy and they should be doing a better job of cleaning up--- i did ask him what he was talking to the birds about
and he told me what he said


naturally (and with a straight face mind you........we are SERIOUS about our poultry conversations around here) i asked him about their reply...........


with an equally straight face he said 'buck buck buck'


oye


ok now........ today, which is THURSDAY, (somewhere i missed monday)
i am going to see about some knitting and cleaning
i am going to hope for misting gentle warmish rain for my garden
try and figure a nice supper........
and do more computer repair research


i got really really tired last night and bernie had to make supper (everything was pretty much ready to go into the oven, we had oven baked liver )
i was also in pain.......i am thinking age
so tonight i want to have bernie's supper ready before he gets home
no?


and what is everyone doing for easter/passover?
we're having ham
cause i have one in the freezer and i am too lazy to make lasagnia so maybe i'll make baked ziti............we'll see what bernie wants


so happy holidays to everyone (just in case anyone is traveling)
and i'll be here when you all get back


vi

my 1300 post!!!!

wow i feel like i should celebrate or something.....1300 is such a round number

it's raining again, which considering how many seeds i put out in the garden, this is a very good thing.....and it's a 'make the gardener happy' rain... which is not going to drown or displace those seeds but wet them down well, wake them up and nurture them while they sprout...
and they ARE sprouting......
unfortunately so are the weeds, so i am weeding like crazy.
the ducks are hunting worms, which also are 'sprouting' like crazy, you can not plunge a shovel out there without turning up literally thousands of baby wormies. the dirt is alive and moving!
now my leek starts arrived so they will be going out too......i didn't start my own this year, as i have like NO freeken space (bernie took my seed starting light arrangement thing apart) so i only started the BARE minimum
some peppers and eggplants
i'll be starting tomatoes and such this week......they don't take any time at all to get huge
i so need a greenhouse and more raised beds in the garden, as well as a cold frame
oh and a tree cut back, and the garden extended
i may have to call someone to help cut the tree back as that thing is HUGE.........it's got to be like 200 years old too...... i just need it limbed back a bit

***note to Kyrsyan: we did & we didn't measure the kitchen, the kitchen people said they were going to for accuracy. and home depot as well as lowes told us (although that was a while ago) that it would cost us 50. for a kitchen plan. we started to measure ourselves (ok MYSELF) as the kitchen people didn't measure where the window is or anything like that
i was so disgusted when i saw that plan......it just sort of replaced what we had included that HATED lazy susan....WHICH i told her i HATED and was planning on BURNING........ there was so much wasted space in that plan i was sent that i wonder what drug they were on while they were here......well they were here only 18 minutes and ten was spent with the ducks outside.....i guess they weren't interested unless it was a 50K kitchen overhaul----oye

let's see what else, bernie got home really really early yesterday, around 5! (which means he worked a nine hour day instead of his usual 15 hour day) he surprised me while i was bringing in the ducks, i had just gotten lilli and phoebe into the house....no easy feat with all them juicy wormies around. i was walking back to the pens to get water buckets and food pans when he said something to me (he was behind me) and i jumped a MILE!!!
i am so used to being alone with my thoughts while going back for pails and pans that the last thing i expected was a voice!
he got rewarded however with an exceptional supper
i made homemade teriyake sauce and marinated pork chops in it.... so we had a sort of stir fry but not really kinda- mushrooms, sweet peppers, onions, broccoli........ with the pork chops..... as i was too lazy to cube the meat up...... over rice
it was out of this world......bernie's comment?
'i didn't get enough vegetables'
huh?
hahahahahahahaha
then he watched legends of the guardians
and we went up early

now today i have to do the leek sets
more dishes ( where did they all come from? i didn't use that many last night for supper)
and i want to do something fun....
those stitch markers were a lot of fun to make,  and i so wish i could show you all a picture of them. i didn't take any though
i found out that i really enjoy making them, it's a fun and fast thing to do when i am not actually knitting at night

in the desktop update, i got a bit further with the diagnostics, having found some memory tests to run
i have to put in another order with newegg or tiger soon so when i do i will get the parts i need plus another hard drive
i am so hoping that it's just memory
i am beginning to be hopeful that it maybe a simple thing
now the bad news is since the desk top is 32 bit, i can't upgrade the ram memory past 4gb
which is what i have in there now
so i will be looking at a new desk top in like a year anyway
but i'll have bought me some time i suppose

now, the last bit of yesterday was that one of my 5000 year old chickens not only laid another egg but then ate it
and i think it was henrietta
now the rule here is......egg eaters die.
it's a simple rule
but it's henrietta, who is 5000 years old....nasty to the other chickens, and thinks she is a rooster.
she is also one of my original chickens from keeping chickens as an adult
and if i off her, dulcette her sister will be upset too- i wish she would just stop laying
i don't need the 5000 year old chickens laying
i got the young ones and that's ok
oh man........i hate dilemmas in the morning

onto coffee now
have a good day everyone!!!

da BOY has relented

he's been pissy all week and weekend because i went out a few times last week and both days over the weekend
so he was studiously ignoring me as only cats can do
he sat on my side of the bed,
just out of reach and stared at his father.......

yup da boy was mad
last night he came running up to bed when i called everyone.....snuggled down in my arms and fell asleep purring so loudly that bernie asked me 'is he going to do that ALL night?'
ha
sorta!!! i had my thaddeaus and i wasn't going to let a little thing like really LOUD purring change that
besides, bernie snores really loudly............so what difference does it make?
thaddeaus did stay for part of the night but then got warm and just got out from under the covers and leaned on my stomach
so all is returning to normal here.

bernie got his dvd of the harry potter deathly hallows pt 1
thank goodness that the second movie is due out in july, as they do sort of leave you hanging.
the bits and pieces i watched seemed interesting, some were odd though.
i think bernie liked it

out in the garden yesterday, i got peas (snow and sugar snap) planted, some kohlrobi, pac choy, beets and radishes. i didn't get the carrots in as i thought i had more soil in the carrot bed......no it wasn't deep enough so i am going to wait on them a bit
i could use a sand bed for them as sandy loam is what they want......no manure but good compost.
the drakes both gave me a seriously hard time yesterday as well
we were up and down from the house to the garden numerous times due to TWO very reluctant belligerent drakes. first falstaff didn't want to go in to the pen that had the pond for a bath..... and started wandering around the front of the house....... around the back of the duck pen.....etc....oye
then malcom gave me a hard time, and even threatened me.......i dumped a bucket of water on his head and he reconsidered his position.....
i also squirted him with the hose he had me so pissed off
thankfully the girls were a dream to move out
it's always one of the ducks it seems
the chickens have become a divided camp....... the old orps are in the chicken pen and the young sussex/orp crosses are roaming around.....
every one seems happy with that arrangement at this point except me
and possibly bernie - however i am getting 3-5 eggs a day.........and my OLD chickens are really old!

in kitchen conversations, i am pretty tired of our normal winter/late spring meals and am ready (oh so ready) for our mixed green summer salads........
the greens aren't yet even though i planted them in time ( i want that cold frame NOW)
so right now it's hard to come up with stuff to make for supper
this coming weekend i will most likely make one of my big veggie/mac salads as a side and do burgers
since we actually do still have some kosher dills that i managed hide from my nephew.....
this summer i need to put in at least a 50 foot row of pickling cuc's to keep up with his demands (if he's not in afghanistan)
also in talking about kitcheny things..... that kitchen design was a total bust...so it's back to the drawing board and an estimate from a new kitchen person......... oye
we feel that the storage absolutely needs to be optimal, and also that we all need to think outside the box on this one
plus we need to start with how supplies move in and out of the kitchen........from the grocery store, the garden, the pantry..........and how it's all used.....
then do it all up sort of as a point of use thing.......
we need to consider prep, for either freezing, drying, canning or cooking....... then the actual cooking and baking.....then serving, then clean up.
i really could use a summer kitchen too-
when i used to post on the canning list, i realized that a summer kitchen really wasn't that out of bounds
as long as electric and water could be run to it
the instant hot water would work well........ and one of the amish sheds would be a good place to start.
i would actually consider a hard working summer kitchen, as it would save so much wear and tear on the house.....
not to mention the fruit flies that are a bane of every organic gardener.....
oye

bernie needs to win the lotto so he can take a vacation and help me with some of this stuff no?

YES!!!!!

so today it is peas and carrots

in the garden that is......i will be planting peas and carrots, and hoping that they both do better then last year.
it's to rain today, it DID rain overnight again.
so planting stuff that should have gone in last week is probably wise.
i have a lot of spinach out on the deck and a few baby lettuces, etc started as well. i put mache out there too and i can't wait for salads......
i love my overloaded garbage supper salads........we eat them almost daily during early summer/green season

now last night i made more stitch markers......... i love making them, they are a lot of fun.
i have a few more beads waiting for a few more markers....
but one set of beads absolutely needs pink beads which i do not have!
and another set of beads wants something in crystal which i also do not have!
(i should have bought the pink hearts i saw huh?)

now yesterday i did get the spray paint for the chandelier.......so naturally it rained with high winds.
oye
bernie and i discussed moving around the stuff in the studio again......but this time painting the furniture.... a darkish cream! with rubbed white over it....then waxed....yes i am contemplating painting ethan allen furniture......... vintage ethan allen!
actually i am thinking so hard about painting it, that i am thinking i may want to get a spray paint gun.....
and rig a spray booth under the deck
of course after that i would most likely spray paint every single peice of furniture in the house with the exception of the queen anne legged bonnet top secretary.....other then that......EVERYTHING would be fair game......
really the only thing stopping me right now is space to do it in that won't allow the animals to suffer
(i am really wanting to spray everything CREAM.......EVERYTHING-now i can understand when dad painted over half a spider and his comment to me was 'he didn't move fast enough')

i am also thinking........ if we do eventually put an addition on.......i want a conservatory...... or a three season room........MORE LIGHT
more and more light!!!!!
this winter was pretty hard i think on all of us

now i am going to make this post short as i have three pairs of eyes staring at me.................
they are piled up in the window where i feed thaddeaus.........
so it's fancy feast time
and olive oil
oye
hot fancy feast.....or they won't eat it!!!!!!!!
CATS!
they are as bad as ducks and chickens

vi

so the good the bad and the just plain odd

the good.... we had a great weekend, damp, flooded...... but had fun and got errands done
the bad
well we did get flooded again damn.......... (actually maybe because of the dam as the driveway dam broke)
the just plain odd....... a rather surreal experience in town today and yesterday
yesterday it was because of horrific rain......watching SEAGULLS flying around it it!
today was because the people of kmart are most likely aliens
i swear they were weirder today then the people of WALMART and we all know how weird they are!

i made stitch markers, gathered a LOT of eggies (that one hen who thinks she is a rooster is laying an awful lot of eggies in her old age.....then actually CROWING........wtf?)

we picked up more cold patch, spray paint for the chandie, lettuce seeds (and mesclun cause i love it)
beading stuffs ( i made a LOT of stitch markers, i can knit a neibling if i want to with all the stitch markers i made!!!......-i'm going to make more tonight too!)
bernie's very last bd present is due tomorrow in the mail....harry potter deathly hollows pt1
wow i think he got much more then he expected this year
hahahahaha
oh and it's spring
i made my mom's potato salad with BBQ chicken and steamed broccoli
life is good no?

*** and a few more used books are in my future........ so life is very good!!!!***

later you guys

still working on it

and it ain't easy.

i am trying to juggle the planning for the kitchen remodel.....(we don't like the first set of plans at all-not one bit of them, it was like they didn't hear a word we said!!!!!!!!!!!!)
the other stuff around the house like painting the front door, getting the garden in, trying to get back to the duck drawings, taking care of animals and doing the desktop computer...
can you say stress?
oye
being sick part of this week didn't help much either, and set me back.
i did manage to get part of the front door trim scraped but i need to get the rest of that paint off, i hate to say it but i think paint stripper is in my future.
oye
and a large chain saw to whack back a few tree limbs that are contributing to the seasonal mildew.

anyway this all has me up, and so since i'm up i am taking some of the bloat ware off the laptop and writing a fast blog post

meanwhile thaddeaus ( you all remember MR peabody right?) he's mad at me for going out THREE times this week............. and for it being too warm for his beloved woodstove

can i have an OYE???
oh in a brighter light so to speak.....my fabric came
i see a spray painted chandelier in my future with toile......
now i have to go as the cat stole my clean socks off the pile going up
and stuffed them in his food bowl....
i need to rescue them before i have every cat in the neighborhood chasing my feet

gotta love him no?

so the new laptop is ok but i miss my desktop

it looks like it's either memory or video card and a reformat
i'm working on it
yesterday i had to stop to run a very important errand with jen........getting baby orps
18 of them!
buff
whites
lavenders........... loves me some orps

i made a fast oven stew in the enameled cast iron
beef barley
now i am up in pain and can't sleep
(aches from the weather i think)
posts will be erratic and short as the keyboard on this is killing me

anyway, anyone familiar with irql errors and memory dumps let me know ok?
i tested one memory card so far found out a fan wasn't working and am about to try a second memory card test
i don't want to buy new memory if i don't have to
right?
oye

oh man.......new egg ships FAST

i'm back, on a laptop i ordered yesterday, via jen's computer
it arrived today, but i didn't know it until i almost fell over it on the way out to check the rain dam on the upper driveway (which is broken btw)
so while i am back, i can't stand the keyboard on the laptop
however over all i am pleased with it so far
it's an acer aspire and it was 349 free ship from new egg
now to fix the desktop
you's didn't even have time to miss me!

blownup motherboard

beback when the laptop gets here

and if you all want me to get a mac take up the collection cause i can't justify the expense

you all better miss me

knitting update for saturday!

this is damask, the picture doesn't do the yarn justice at all, it is much softer in person, more like impressionist paintings then it looks here. i like this pattern and i like this young designer. she has you cast on the bazillion stitch edging and do that first..... then you knit it down to the top (sorta kinda) i like this yarn too....it's ella rae #117.

i have an 'interesting only to knitters' story about the yarn.....i'd forgotten the color number of this ella rae, it was in stash and i remembered i had it but not the color number. i saw something on ravelry in ella rae #117, and went nuts online looking for who had it...... then i did stash inventory, as part of spring cleaning, and found out that I HAD IT! ( yes i really do like those colors......) however i wasn't sure if there was going to be enough to do damask in it..... so jen kindly went to our favorite yarn store in the valley where i got the original skein, and found TWO MORE in the same color/dyelot and picked them up for me!!! so now i am going to have damask and i think i will knit a hat to match..how about THAT? i really do need to make some winter hats with the leftovers of the shawls/scarves.... maybe something interchangeable? sorta of like a knitted hat band on maybe an easy fleece or felt hat?

something that matches my winter coats.....so most likely in charcoal or dark aubergine. 

i am thinking and have been thinking i better do this, as i am probably not going to stop knitting shawlettes as the lace is addicting...... and with my rather bohemian taste in yarn colors......this is the best solution cause lately i been looking like a bag lady with my color work hats, and not matching scarves......
oh and i desperately need a sweater stone......that's what i get for knitting with merino huh?
(next time i go down the valley)
so it's a lazy saturday morning here..... bernie made me coffee, and his coffee is most excellent.....so i linger over it....(it's ALL HIS FAULT)
i am also having a few issues with the computer....mostly java script incompatibility... which is either shutting the computer down inappropriately or not allowing it to wake up at all- i think i got most of that straightened out now
i tell you, i don't like win7, i didn't like vista either.... i am so very tempted to go to mac or linux.....
i am also thinking of getting a new tower, as this one is about two years old now..... i have some serious guts in it..... fast chip, tons of memory.....but maybe all things considered it would be better to upgrade sooner rather then later?
it's a systemax, it has a very loud fan in it but i like that it's made in america........ dell and gateway aren't anymore. ( when i got this i purposely got made in america)
bernie wants me to get a flat monitor for this (i will this summer) and instead of upgrading, get a lap top. i was thinking more a net book...... but he may have a point. oye i don't want to deal with computer stuff right now...i just want to get the kitchen settled.
(and maybe a roof over the current deck pending expansion)
ok everyone, i do have to go now......even though the coffee is wonderful-the last cup is going in the travel mug cause i have to get a move on now
bernie is going to run for the mail....
but chores need to be started
have a wonderful saturday

happy birthday to my bernie

how many years now? in my eyes you still look exactly the same...... and you still make my heart beat faster.

 i got him three dvd's
one of which won't be released until the 15th (harry potter)
he got prince of persia
and the first narnia chronicle
unfortunately for both of us..he gave me his plague
so he'll have to pick up his own birthday cake
i couldn't bake today(actually i am not doing too well anyway you look at it-just ask the ducks)

it's cold and raw today so i got the woodstove going
cats are laying around like labradors in front of it
i am eating toast, which i am not allowed to have......but i don't feel up to much else.
i'm knitting on that damask,(linked to designers website) and ripping back every other row i knit!.... knitting lace with the plague isn't a good thing
meanwhile
bernie just called that he is going to try and get home early......
ok well early for him......he routinely puts in 11-16 hour days, sometimes i wish he didn't make the jump into management but he loves it.....
i worry about his health with that much working though

it's just a gray, overcast, rainy day here. the chickens started to lay in earnest this week.... the ducks stopped! hahahaha
oye
so we got eggs now either way.
soon i will start making custards and rice puddings etc.
calpurrnia got another mouse, i had to throw the poor thing into the trees it was shivering so bad.....i don't know if she hurt it or not but i couldn't squish it, and she couldn't kill it and bernie wouldn 't squish it......so into the tree it went.
it's got a 50/50 shot then
i am however getting pretty sick of dealing with traumatized damp mice......this one was so tiny too, although i know it's full grown.
we appear to be hosting three breeds of mice
a large white footed deer mouse
a small white footed deer mouse and a field or house mouse
all of which are not welcome here
***that's what you get for living in the woods vi, in an old stone house with a field stone foundation....... you get an alive house.*** (please i got the plague, i am allowed to have conversations with myself when i have a fever......no? it's better then seeing dancing chickens)

anyway, i am going to post this now, i'm waiting for the birthday boy to get home....
and i have to get the energy to get the ducks in
so i'll talk to you all tomorrow

how can a kitchen guy spend 7 minutes

measuring a kitchen and not make any notation about windows/doors/outlets?
the kitchen guy cometh......
he spent more time out with the ducks then in the kitchen
i am going to keep shopping for kitchens
but what i really need is a certified kitchen designer, someone who knows code etc. this guy was going to move the stove down right next to the doorway.....no landing space, no buffer zone between traffic patterns and hot burners....
i can't afford dead space in the kitchen
they didn't even ask about where i wanted stuff located......pots and pans etc.....
i love my enameled cast iron and now have a good collection of it....
it can't be stored higher then my head or i am going to go to heaven because of it
and too low isn't good either. that stuff is heavy!
they didn't ask how i cook either.....that means a lot in terms of what type of hood i need.
so now i have to find a CKD that is up for a challenge, knows how to cook from scratch, etc........cause if i have a plan we can phase it in
there is going to end up being space for a utility closet (after we take that wall down) but, if it isn't done right there could be a LOT of wasted space. now due to WHERE the closet is going to be located, we can't use the other side of the wall for access........there is duct work in that wall..... so, we need to be able to pull out shelving in the front to get to the vacuum etc in the back. that means the front needs to have either non food storage or stuff that is in jars and cans......no boxes or plastic type thing.
considering that is prime kitchen real estate there, the jars/cans will have to do.
so the entire can pantry part (which is most likely my home canned stuff) has to be sturdy enough to pull out and on hardware that makes it easy to pull out.
oye

i tried to see if we could move the dishwasher down and swing it out like a tiny penninsula, then behind that and backed up to the sink...... we can put the vacuum/utility closet, and the first 'closet' space can be a total food pantry, with pull out BULK SPICE/BULK GRAIN in the front (in jars)
see what i mean?

i was pretty upset after the kitchen guy left.
so since i was pretty much finished with chores i sat and knitted on damask
BIG mistake
i was so upset my hands got tight and now my elbow hurts again
oye
i am thinking......back to the drawing board again
literally
i am going to have to hand draw floor plans
(i hate that).....i may even have to do them like blue prints.....( i REALLY HATE THAT)
and talk to one of the other kitchen shops around
AND we may have to go custom...... i was so hoping for semi custom as that means it gets done really really soon

i was so upset that i only made homemade mac/cheese with leftover pork chops last night.....
bernie chopped the cheddar for it
*** homemade mac and cheese is easy..... make a roux flour and butter, cook and stir it until it's a smooth paste
add milk off the heat and the chopped cheddar cheese........(say THAT three times fast) stir over medium heat until the cheese melts, it all combines etc....
then i add a dash of my dried powdered celery, and onion
plus a really tiny bit of mustard......use the already made up mustard not the powdered (if you use the powdered you'll need some lemon and that is going to try to curdle the milk a bit)
add the hot cooked elbow mac (well drained ) to the sauce and stir up well.
if you want, you can put 'crumbs' on the top and some extra cheese and bake a crust on it, but bernie just wanted mac/cheese which he got since he's been sick

i have to tell you all..... pampered chef makes a citrus basil rub.... jen got me a bottle of it
i used it on the pork.......WOWOWOWOWOW ( i love lemon anyway)
so now i am going to try to duplicate it with my home dried stuff
it's a balanced flavor........ without either predominating
plus there is pepper in it.... from the taste of it........black and green pepper corns
so later on this spring/summer i will play with that.
let's see what else?
oh i got a sore throat so it looks like bernie gifted me with his plague
tomorrow is his birthday, today i have to go get his card and maybe a cake for him
and i need to decide on his birthday dinner......

is this mercury retrograde over yet?

toile, toile, as far as the eye can see.....***

kinda, sorta ***
i got a few yards in that sale, black/ivory toile.
i got a polkadot black with white dots and a stripe to go with
not as many yards as i would have liked but hey all toile goes with all toile right?
besides, i am itching to make over my 8.00 chandelier...something tells me that i had better post pictures for you guys......am i right?
it's a 5 arm, so i'll be making 5 shades for it as well. (i'll be looking for shade frames next)
i decided that the arms themselves will be cream and just the bigger areas will be toile. me and my decoupaged toile..... trimmed in the other fabrics. so.....looking at the picture the skinny arms will be cream, and all the rest of the brass will most likely be toile, unless i feel the need to break it up a bit with the other fabrics

i'll play it by ear.
for 8.00 i can't screw it up!
this way when i go to reupholster the loveseats ( and i am so going to MISS that burgundy on them, i love that color on a chesterfield)-i can use just plain unbleached canvas or drop clothes and do up the trim/pillows in a mix of these fabrics.
oh man i am so not looking forward to doing the reupholstering but i have to, it's over 30 years now, it's time.

NOW, i mean RIGHT now, i am typing this tuesday evening. we're to get 'weather' and the kitchen guys cometh tomorrow or so i was told....
i'm getting cold feet on that too.
i got the woodstove going again, since i watched the temps drop about 20 degrees from this morning to this afternoon, i also heard that the higher elevations got snow.
you folks will read this in the AM, and i reserve the right to add to it tomorrow too.
meanwhile i ate toast today....lots and lots of toast ......
which i am not allowed to eat at all
i couldn't help myself
i do occasionally have to have toast with a tiny bit of melted butter..... i like it, but it sure doesn't like me
oh and back to the weather......the sun just came out! but the wind is picking up... wonderful the sun is out in time for sunset.
in knitting progress, i am up to row 9 on damask, doesn't sound like a lot but at 297 stitches per row, it's getting there....... i am seriously liking this ella rae 117, enough to maybe go looking for another skein in earnest.
lately i have wanted to knit bright pastels, eastery pastels.......guess it really is spring fever huh?
today (which is tuesday for me remember) i ran around inside putting easter eggs all over the mantel and the front window and under the easter tree... hahahahahaha
oye even in some silk plants
i got it bad i think
i should be fine by the time the garden is actively growing.....although i  gotta tell you all, i been going out on the deck daily and counting the spinach sprouts
yup..... sad huh? (i got 5 seedlings out on the deck, see i told you i counted!)

supper tonight is pork chops, but i don't know what i am doing with them yet- i was thinking stuffed with fruit but i don't really have the time for that tonight, as i have to get the birds all in still..... maybe i should make them with mushrooms sauce? i still have a jar of my home canned concentrate (if you can and like mushrooms i recommend canning mushroom concentrate, sautee a mess of mushrooms with onions and some garlic then can with either chicken or beef broth....it makes suppers so much easier....use it as a base for soup, casseroles, gravy...what have you)

tuesday, now with april showers that better bring may flowers

and not may draught.
MR. PEABODY is demanding from across the room...... and what would his demands BE? ......why hot fancy feast with olive oil of course!
he's waiting in his fancy feast place, not so patiently.

i almost canceled the kitchen guy coming tomorrow. bernie's got a horrific cold, and i am not quite up to snuff either...i hope in my case it's just lack of sleep and not the plague from the pits of hell

i also almost ordered 10 years of black/ivory toile ..... i need it for that chandelier i am going to be covering, and i want to make odds and ends like placemats and such. possibly a shaped valance for the windows... they are having a 15% off sale.....oye
i also want a stripe and a small check to match oh man....
i think now i am going with the black and ivory, not the red and ivory..... (except in dishes) as if i go with black and ivory it makes things really easy for me all over the house...... i'll use it all over the downstairs.

hey i just noticed that it's seriously foggy out. (cause it's light enough to notice now)
i love watching the fog but hate going out in the fog
so i am going to wait a bit long to put our darlink little ducks out.
colette the chicken keeps trying to get out in the duck pens too.....she is an adventurous little thing.....who is hiding her eggies
actually maybe if i put buckets high in the back duck pen..i could make room in the front pens for the chickens...but really i do need another pen just for the chickens
no matter what colette says
i also was so hoping for a pair of sebbies this spring....
and a breeding trio of midget whites to breed for table.. as they dress out to just the right size for a small family....but the sebbies would just be wonderful amazing spoiled as rotten as every other animal here.......pets
if i could figure out how to make the doors for the big pen, i think bernie would roof it, then overwrap the wire with chain link so we can use it
THAT would save me some winter work i think....but we've already out grown it.
oye
there is so much to do and so many things competing for attention here
i still have several garden beds to put in plus the cold frame
the rain, damp, hot/cold/snow weather's been holding me up too.....i need to scrape the molding and trim around the front door so we can get the storm door up
then i need to sand and prep the front wooden door
i am going to replace the deadbolt.......just a new cylinder i think
and spray paint the face plate and the antique doorknob if i can't polish it up
like i said....so much to do that's weather dependent

last year was dry dry, but i was raising ducklings so didn't have the time......... plus family was in and out for visits every time i turned around.

this year i'll have the time as i am not raising anything (that i know of yet, unless someone wants to send me a pair of sebbie babies and a new pen...hahahahaha JK, we don't have wintering over space either at the moment)

now let's hope that we have a normal summer........not too dry not too wet
i still have painting to do on the stuff for my studio.
i am so behind on all that.
i think i need a planning secretary no?
oye
i am just looking around and realized that i need to stack the now warm wood in the cord holder .....we leave it out to warm up and then stack it to burn. and bernie still brings in about 3 days worth at a time, so i don't have to. ( i think he worries that i will just bring the woodcart in....he's right i will do that)

ok anyway that's today
i need to figure supper out too......i am thinking soup may be on the menu, if the weather does get cold like bernie said......and since he is sick......and i am reduced to one jar of stock, i probably should make and can some
oye
i need two or more of me
ok til next time

vi

today is monday? are you sure? i thought it was tuesday?

it's going to be a LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG week i think
i was woken up last night by what i thought was incoming mortar shells!
seriously i thought we were being bombed!
and i had to use the bathroom but from the sounds of it......they were apparently headed in that direction!

no
it was bernie snoring........
he's got a bad cold it looks like too
it also rained over night so the laundry i left on the outside line needs to be hung inside now.

the cats had their hot fancy feast this morning, i have my coffee......( that jamaican arabica susan) poor bernie is sneezing and coughing at work ........ which probably is fair as he brought this plague home from work.....so he can share it there with them. NOT with me

i started to knit 'damask' in ella rae #117, i love that yarn!!! love it  (look at only the top part of the page, at the shawlette)
i am so sorry now i didn't get two skeins of it (one for a hat) SEE IT!!! it's going to be AWESOME in that damask, i am still casting on though. i have 297 to go, and i am not doing long tail but knitted caston. i hate long tail, so i don't do it often. besides the knitted caston i am weaving in the end as i knit so that is all done (you know how MUCH I LOVE weaving in ends...oye.... that's why i usually bead the ends... but it also gives the ends weight if i bead them so that's a good option too)
i listed part of the yarn stash this weekend on my yarn page, so i have it more organized-i realized i need more light fingering in pastels, of course you also can never have too much lace weight no?
and i still have not blocked aeolian, which is sitting on the inside line reproaching me. it's in one of my favorite shades of purple too! but calpurrnia took over the blocking mats and has now claimed them for calpurrnia! i need to move them up on the bed to block aeolian, as it's HUGE.......i think the wings are going to go over 6' if i am not careful

now this weekend was a quiet one mostly, we had our joint birthday dinner.....(it was very good just like our anniversary dinner) we had a road call for bernie saturday, i went too and we had a blast laughing.
we caught 4 mice in the kitchen....... but we have the traps up just in case now....bernie tossed the mice out under the big maple, but i wanted him to feed them to the ducks as they love mice.
as soon as the weather is consistently better i think we'll be getting new bait- the mice seem to be immune to this bait now. but i don't want our animals to get poisoned by the dead mice so we'll wait to put the new bait down
oh the joys of old stone houses in the woods
hahahaha
meanwhile the spring peepers are here, i can hear them out back by the stream
the bear was under the deck
and the garlic is growing TALL out in the garden.....two of my walking onions are growing tall as well but my multiplier onions are not happy. the spinach seedlings are up in the boxes on the deck but the mesclun and mache aren't yet.....neither are the chard outside but the inside chard is ready for transplanting as are the peppers
i have to start the tomatoes and petunias now


the new date with the kitchen guy is wednesday, let's hope he doesn't cancel on us again.
i am still looking for a good kitchen design software that doesn't cost the earth and the moon....under 100 would be good
so if anyone knows email me ok?

oh my it's late already!!! (the woodstove was cranky this morning but it's fine now-cats are sprawled out in front of it)
i can't linger over coffee, as it's light out and chores need to be started.....ducks need to go out too
see you folks tomorrow

no show on the kitchen guy and that DAMN MOUSE

BUT first a word from.....ok not quite our sponsors more like our ducks.... i was on the phone with someone while taking this of falstaff .....the other one is of amelia laying her egg..... this is cause susan asked for them.

now onto the mouse shit..literally.....
remember that damn mouse that made a nest on the basement stairs? we evicted it?
did the little bastard do the honorable thing and move to Milwaukee???
did it at least move to the woodpile like normal field mice do?
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

the little shit moved into the cabinets from hell in the kitchen...and the RICH living doesn't agree with it as it apparently has chronic diarrhea
today while waiting for the no show kitchen guy..... we loaded the traps with peanut butter..... and watched this cheeky little bastard run around back and forth and eat all the peanut butter off the traps.....WITHOUT SETTING THE TRAPS OFF. then the little bastard sat on the trap and WAVED AT ME
right after he shit all over my freshly cleaned and bleached piece of crap particle board formica covered 'counter' (that i really a cabinet side)
he WAS WAVING AT ME
this mouse is going DOWN
he has got to die......
damn mouse already is older then god....(in mouse years) this is the same little bastard ( i would know that face ANYWHERE) that jumped in the TOASTER.....remember that?
oh man........
and the rich living thing is giving him 'gastric distress' but isn't freeken killing him
in fact he's super mouse.....able to leap tall mouse traps in a single bound....
oye
this is MOUSE WAR now
the turquoise colored poison bait didn't work........ he just shit turquoise mouse shit all over the place (maybe that gave him the 'gastric distress')
ok
the other deal is....i am typing this friday but it'll post saturday cause bernie has to take a unit for inspection, and i am going with
meanwhile the snow did melt.....it snowed just long enough (and like crazy) for me to get thoughly chilled and soaked while putting the ducks out....when i returned to house to recover it stopped.....the sun came out
the snow all melted
mother nature hates me too..... all cause of that damn mouse....i'm convinced it's all that mouse's fault

fast forward.... (remember now it's friday night for me)
bernie usually sits in his chair and calpurrnia loves to sit behind him....
he, ummmmm, apparently....... had......um...... GAS
and farted on the poor cat....while she was behind him on the chair.....
when the poor thing finally emerged from the gas chamber  behind his back, she was cross eyed, walking funny and looked like she'd been through the dryer without a dryer sheet......
heaven help me
i truly am the blooper reel for the universe's christmas party
oye

kitchen guy cometh.....to measure the walls! ahem, maybe NOT

 however that is just the start.
until the kitchen is actually here, everything is up in the air
****UPDATE: at 2 minutes to 1 the kitchen guy called to cancel.....***

the accountant is behind so we don't have the taxes done yet, so we don't know the budget yet.
now the next pictures are the new depression glass on the one greenish noritake, the second picture is from replacements and shows the actual color of pale green. Jen wanted to buy the depression glass off me but i think she's kidding as what on earth would she do with it?
anyway i just thought you folks would like to see what it looked like together more or less, i don't have big plates in the noritake (pattern name alcona) but i do in the other noritake (chanlake), so i may look into some pink to go with the green as the flowers are a pretty pink, and i like pink a LOT better......although i am liking that green along with it lately
right now i am looking out the window watching the snow fall....yup april fools mother nature you got us!
snow on april fools oye
it won't stay long though, it never does this late in the season. the ducks won't be happy though
so this will be short but i WILL update you all.....probably later when the guy is gone
meanwhile if anyone knows a good kitchen design software that isn't 100.00 please please let me know

my birthday was great!!

i got so many well wishes and presents (i'm having a present right now....wonderful coffee)..... bernie and i had a good time
i scored 5 vaseline green depression glass sherbet cups for 10......for ALL 5
yup......2.00 each!.... (most depression glass sherbet cups are about 10.00 up), now this picture doesn't do the color justice, but if you know anything about depression glass, you'll know that bright yellow glowing green i am talking about.....and i am so not a green person..... maybe it's the protracted winter, and missing my garden but i am so liking this green now....
the lady who helped me said....she's a collector of green depression glass and didn't see these.....if i didn't take them she was....i took them
how could i not take them? she too wants to go shopping with me, cause she says i have 'good eye' that's being said a lot lately....but i do love a good bargain, and i think giving new life to old stuff is a good thing too

the other thing we did was go to look at sheds and such.... the 'salespeople' at the shed place couldn't be bothered with us....but we had a good time looking at the sheds and wondering if we could just get one to plop down out back......really at some of the prices it pays to have them just deliver it
we got me a birthday cake at shoprite in town...it was seriously BAD..... ewwwwwwww
they didn't have cannoli cake so we got an 'italian' rum cake....NOTHING like what italians call italian rum cake....at least nothing i grew up with
but all in all i really did have a blast

today it's raining..... tonight is supposed to be 5-10'' of heavy wet snow... and just to make sure we don't forget who is in charge..... ice and sleet as well!
yes mother nature we realize you are having hormonal issues
we still love you dearly

in our travels yesterday at the antique mall, we found SEVERAL sets of decent china (services for 12 too!) at less then 60.00 per SET.....not place setting .....PER SET/SERVICE for 12!!!
really it doesn't pay a lot of the time to buy new....when so much used/vintage stuff is around.
it's a shame too that these sets have almost never been used...seriously, if you folks saw what i saw yesterday.....there is so very much around.
it would be cheaper to buy those sets for an event like anniversary or wedding, it would be less then renting!!!
every table could have a different set!
i also saw so many things that i owned personally with amazing price tags on them!
a small bootonware bowl mom had that i have now.....28.00 (they are crazy as mom didn't even pay a quarter for it-she got it at the factory, a set of three sizes in cherry ) we used it to mix up pancake batter in! we just used it sunday for that.
i'll think of mom and home and continue to use it.

now today, i am continueing half ass spring cleaning..... and putting stuff up sorta
since we don't have ONE CLOSET,.........not one in this house
i am trying to find spots for all the trappings of modern life, plus the full pantry of vintage life...editing stuff out..... etc....
this is a very small house but a lot goes on in it.....my studio... a full and complete pantry, the tools of preserving food, making soap, making art...... our personal stuff like books and clothing.... oye....i need a good closet.....i mean it! that's why we were looking at sheds... i figure.... ok we'll have a closet....but outside or along the back..... that way we rotate seasonally!
since i doubt we can afford a kitchen and an addition this year..... i am just hoping to afford a midrange kitchen remodel!......
but a shed......now that we can afford....and boy did we like what we saw.
(actually if we got a decent sized shed, we could have half as a closet and half as a shop for bernie and his lawn mower/snow blower etc....which means more room in the duck room for DUCKS!)
so everyone .... (donald are you still around? email me ok, flicka you too)
i have to start my day..it's late now
i hope yous all have a wonderful day....and remember tomorrow is KITCHEN measuring day
oye
til next time
vi

oh wow!!!!

i got so many happy birthdays!! i used to hate my birthday, but now i am kinda really liking it!!!!
bernie stayed home, he got me a card......it's a very very pretty one with gardening pictures and a birdhouse on it
we're getting measured to find out about a kitchen which i am hoping will happen this year (and counter tops)
the sun is shining!!! (although it's cold out)
and while i'd hoped we'd clean today...... it looks like we're going out to do something
what i don't know though
it's too early for the annual easter budgie trip (we need two boys this time)
too early for the garden center or herb farm run.......... and too cold
i don't dare go to the bookstore (you all haven't seen how many books i have)
or the yarn store
maybe we'll go to the other antique mall in town
although there is a used book store and luncheon place down in easton that looked pretty cool..........
ahem
we'll see

up next, the holden shawlette pictures. nice huh? free pattern on ravelry...... sock yarn..... wow... i like variegated sock yarn, but since thaddeaus peabody has decided to eat all my hand knits (with socks being his absolute favorite) i decided not to give him more fiber in his diet...... can you blame me?
so i got all this sock yarn......pretty pretty sock yarn, just begging me to knit it.... enter shawlettes..... which i swear were invented by other sock knitters who now have 97 billion pairs of socks and live in places like florida......(they got that book about knitting triangular shawls and there was no stopping them then) this is one of the better patterns. there are a few others i found that worked well but for most variegated yarns ......some sort of feather and fan derivative seems to be the best. So this holden was worn........a LOT....... i love  the colors too, matches my purple winter coats
there may be another one in my future... i wish i had more of this yarn which i can't remember what it was....i would make a hat to match......maybe trim on mittens as well........ i really need to start matching hats to scarves since i ALWAYS wear a hat .........even now i got one on.......
so i thought you folks would like to see the holden (you can thank susan.......she reminded me.......i still owe animals pictures but at least you got some knitting pictures.....no?)

right now bernie and i are having a discussion about what we're going to do today...looks like it's going to be the antique mall........ since i am not much of a movie person...(now i wish he'd taken the week off no?)
maybe the amish shed store or the 3 season room store?
hahahahaha
i am hoping this year is truly the year of the kitchen and home improvement......
well everybody, i think we're off now
(ok we're always off...but you know)
ttyl
vi