Still Busy with Spring Cleaning

Busy Sunday, too. I did the laundry today instead of my usual Monday since I have to be gone. DH did some yard work and planted some Marigold seeds. Hmmmm. We'll see if they come up. They are supposed to grow in the shade.... Still didn't get the porch roll shade put up. Darn.

We went over to Mom's in the afternoon and he worked in her yard a while - mostly getting rid of old, dead plants and some unruly weeds. Checked out her sprinkler system, too. We stopped at McD's on the way home since it was late. French fries! Oh so bad for food plan but boy did they taste good! Chicken strips were kinda over-done but I ate them anyway. Needed the protein. Probably should have opted for the Subway but neither one of us really wanted to get out of the truck. Pooped is a mild word for it.

I did some video edits today, too - while waiting on laundry in between changing machines. I even managed to KNIT on a sock this afternoon!

Busy Spring Day Saturday

Wow! I had no idea when I went to bed Friday night that Saturday would be so busy and productive. We went to Lowe's and came home with 2 huge shelf units which we put together after taking most of the stuff out of the garage (just the stuff on the floor). We had one of these big units already and 2 other, smaller units - which were re-organized last spring and had pretty much stayed nice. There were some things that came out and didn't get put back but I took care of that, too.

I love those clear, plastic "boxes" you can get at Wal-mart (well, just about anywhere now) 'cause you can see what's in them without having to open them up! I also have a label maker that was put to good use. We aren't quite finished putting things away. Our son needs to get his stuff put up there, too - which includes cleaning his room some more and I need to buy some more plastic boxes because 3 of them were too tall to fit! Oh well, maybe DS can use them in his room.
My DH had a "workbench" on the washer/dryer side and he put that out on the back porch to use while gardening. The other shelf went in it's place. Wow - what a difference in the garage! Most everything has a place to be now. It's great! I can't wait to completely finish it.

And yes, it is very spring-like here. 80 degrees!

Maizy Start

Since my Mom is having eye surgery next week, I needed something to knit in hospital and then at her house for after. I have lost another pound so I gave myself permission to use new yarn - Maizy!
This yarn is 82% corn fiber and 18% elastic Nylon. It is very soft (even before washing) and I am getting about 8.5 spi with #0 Addi Turbo circular.

Pattern: Lava Flow Socks by Sock Bug
Yarn: Maizy - solid=Sea Gray 1281; Multi=Miami Nice 1004
Mods: I used Judy's Magic Cast On for the toes and am working toe-up with Magic Loop. I plan to use PGR short-row heels and a 1.5 to 2 inch rib at the top of cuff. Toes and heels will be solid.
The yarn is a little bit splitty, but once you know that it is easy to remember to "scoop" a little deeper than usual and you'll catch any stray strand. It's really not bad at all.

I have a pair of sea green pants to re-hem that these will go with. Also brown pants and a green-ish top come to think of it! And my brown Birki clogs! I've been wearing my Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream socks with this outfit, too.

Knitting With Oddments

The socknitting email list I am on has been talking about flying and not being able to take knitting needles (pits). Someone said maybe we could knit with pencils!
Now, in my mind, it seems a pencil would be a worse weapon than a circular knitting needle!
Well, in my quick search I could only find two mechanical pencils. Does this say something about the times we live in?

I did knit a bit with the mechanical pencils and it can be done. I've knit with toothpicks in the past also. Hmmm... what about bamboo skewers? A little sand paper, a coating of nail polish - it's a thought. Hey, just give me a Wal-mart or a dollar store and I can find something to do!

Thursday Feb. 21: Food - of All Things

Meatball Sandwich for lunch - Jenny Craig. This is year two for trying weight loss with JC. Last year, I lost 16 lbs, went off JC in August (mom's accident/surgery) and 6 months later have kept off all but 5 lbs!

I like the fact that you don't have to make hard food decisions. You make your menu for a week ahead of time and buy your JC food and reg stuff accordingly. You're all set for the week. You follow your menu (there are always some deviations, but that's ok as long as you keep in mind WHAT you are eating) and drink water. Try to exercise as much as you can -with me that is difficult. I love to walk but don't live in the best neighborhood right now. I do have an exercise bike and it is where I can use it. I am looking into weight training, too.

I am kind of different where food is concerned. I FORGET to eat. Food is not that important to me. I have to eat on a schedule or I forget! I have also found that I don't lose weight if I don't eat enough. Weird, I know. With JC, it seems I'm always eating! I guess being borderline diabetic that is a good thing. I have to eat to keep my system in line!

I want to look into vegetarian eating. I would have been a veg a long time ago, except I married a meat 'n tatters kind of guy. Well, if I have my way, our way of eating is going to change for the healthier in the future. Let me get to the weight I want (meanwhile introducing new veggies etc into our eating) and we'll get there.

After 32 years of marriage, I am still learning things about my DH. I found out (and I'm sure he didn't mean to let it be known ) that he is a veggie chopping demon! Whoa! He is in for it now!

Waterfall???

Look what I learned to make last night! It's called a Waterfall Fold. This is so kewl! I don't know how to plug in a video on blogger, but you can see the first one I saw here
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sJgwd--i14) at YouTube.
The instructions are here
(http://sbl.tvweekly.com/player.php?3b2af33bd989e706e9f5de79edef886dz971) at The Scrapbook Lounge at tvweekly.com. This is very cool site! The video archives have some really neat techniques. You can also download the video for iPod (iTunes) and get a PDF file of instructions.

Martins in the Morning and other birds, too.

It sounded like a full orchestra tuning up out back this morning! Such goings on around the Martin Colony House! Scout Peabody still had his "tag-a-long" young one and he is trying to get it to go find it's own mate by pushing it off the house and chasing it away.

The rest of the Martins were popping in and out of various apartments and interacting with each other - all with much singing and screeing. The Beardsleys still seem to prefer the upper right apartment on the human house side, while Scout P would rather be on the other side in the same place as last year - away from the humans. He has always been a bit skittish. Mr B however, likes to listen to my music and sing along with it sometimes and he even sits and listens to me talk to him. Mrs B tolerates me just fine.

Mr and Mrs Cardinal showed up and even a pair of Blue Jays! The Doves (oh, we have multitudes of these things and also Grackles) were eating the stale sunflower seeds I put out the other day. Didn't want to just throw the seeds out! There were a couple of other gray birds I can't identify yet, too. Haven't seen the squirrels yet.

Now, you may think I'm a a bit nuts for naming these wild things, but I can only tell the two apart by where they are on the house and by some of their habits. I did not name any of the others because I could not find any little thing that set them apart.

This year, I don't know what to expect because we could have more than 4 families move in. I just have to keep watching! And this year, I have a covered porch to shade me from the heat of summer and late spring. What unexpected fun!

The Purple Martins are here! Scout Peabody was followed by one of his younguns and Mr Beardsley came, too! They showed up Friday, didn't see them for a while and then I saw 2 of them briefly Monday morning before I headed out for the day. I'm glad I got the house opened up in time! I love hearing them sing. Mr B is very, very vocal and he has a bit of a crest on his head. The only way I could tell which bird was which at first was where they went in the birdhouse! This will be the second year for our house. Last year we had 4 nests! And only lost 1 (maybe 2) babies. Now, we have a swing under the porch roof and I certainly do enjoy going out with my coffee and or knitting to listen and watch the families interact. I never considered myself a bird-watcher but I guess I am!

My First Sock-a-versary!

This month is one year since I made my first sock! And it's also my Continentality-versary, too! I also taught myself the Continental method of knitting last February. I don't know how many pairs of socks I actually completed last year - must figure that out - but by July I had made 11 pairs. I really, really need to get busy on Ravelry and update my entries.

I am wearing the second pair of socks finished this year - Ivory Meilenweit Broad Spiral Ribs. Finished them last Friday the 15th. And here they are:

These are for warmer weather and they are shorter than my winter socks. Heehee! You can see where my slippers have been!