Happy Weekend!

 Molly is sitting in the chair with me now, eyeballing David as she seems to think he would like to sit here too - and as far as she's concerned there is no room. At all. Ever. I'm oncall tomorrow for the holiday, someone has to do it I suppose. But I am free to roam the country until then and had a pretty good day yesterday. Yesterday, in the mail I got a card from the Sheep and Fiber committee, they did pony up a ribbon for my second place win on the voted competition and is proudly displayed on the picture of Reuben modeling the winning entry. I was a little surprised the lavendar shawl won - the shape is fine but the pattern was so off kilter it's hilarious if you really look at it closely. But whatever - I got my ribbon so my world is fine. I restarted the hood on my latest project, it was straight stockingnette but when you do that the edge will roll. Not a bad look if that's what you're going for but I'm not so I frogged it and did a little ribbing to keep it flat - who wants a hood that rolls? I got a lot of it done while watching The Last Samauri with Tom Cruise - I actually hate him but there are two movies he is pretty decent in and that's one of them. David and I have been poking around a bit for the next project - the Bruceton Mills house is under contract - for now (our record so far is selling one house four times before it actually sold so color me Jaded) - we're starting with the very low end. Yesterday found me wading through a sea of weeds with my trusty camera peeking in windows and testing the deck. There was a  number for the RE which we called - the house has moved WAY down the list as we would need to sign a waiver before going in to look. Hmm. Not a Good Sign. We looked at another one, hurray for Creative Photography and back to the drawing board. I'm hoping to see Iron Man 3 today, we are going to look at laptops too - the Macbook might have finally bought the big one. I can't complain, it's about 8 years old and has been a true workhorse. I'd like a new one but that will have to wait until After The House Sells. My whole life is on hold until that point, everytime I say I want or I need it gets pushed off til After The House Sells. If I died - it would have to wait. I am going to get my eyes looked at, the guy I went to last year in the mall appears to be out of business so I have to find a new one. I think I'll ask Dr. Fenghali that treats my glaucoma to recommend someone - and I think there is one near the place I work. I have vision insurance with this job so I can get VERY swanky glasses.

New Project.

 The weather had been getting hot and humid - given the greenery around here humidity is a given. We've been running the dehumidifier in the basement every morning to combat the dampness. It rained like crazy today - soaking everything including my garden which, at this point, is dirt. The deer have decimated it, they've eaten all the seedlings except for 4 corn seedlings - left there as a smack in my face I suppose. There are still the seeds so I'll replant the rest of the garden with seeds and consider it lesson learned. Speaking of which I will not be entering anything in the Waynesburg festival again - there's another lesson learned! I started my next project - a simple hoodie with a pouch pocket in front to make it interesting. I have this really nice deep maroon and white yarn that I've had for some time. It's been awhile since I've done a sweater and I am trying to use up some yarn. I had mentioned to the Yarn Hater that Kid Ewe Knot was having a sale and he was a wee bit hysterical. But then I thought about it and I don't really need anymore yarn, do I? And I bought a whole bunch at the festival so I'm good. I've even stopped buying books as I was sorting through last week and found a few (lot) that I didn't even know I had. Same with the yarn. And other stuff. Sometimes I fall into a bad habit of shopping - and I'm not talking about flat out hoarder shopping but - shopping in general. Stopping in for shampoo and then back the the next day for some other items, then finding on sale stuff, on and on. I end up spending  more than I should on things I don't really need. So I'm back to basics, when I begin to stop I ask myself do I really need anything? Or do I need to just stop for ten minutes and take a break? Works out the same in the end. David is planning on going to see Ray this weekend - I have to work on Monday so I am staying home with the dogs. Adam is starting his job this weekend too, he got hired after hours at the local Walmart and they're will to work around his school schedule - not only that but it's only about 10 miles from the house so he is glad he got that job. So Frick and Frack will have me to hang around with this weekend. They are both doing fine and behaving. The new electric collars work well - and the beeper keeps them in line. I have no idea why that little noise bothers them so much but as long as they stay in the yard I really don't care. Not at all.

Winning Can Suck.

I do think that tapestry deserved first place

 Well, this weekend was finally the Sheep and Fiber Festival - David and I went on Saturday morning. I bought yarn from my favorite people, Annadele Alpacas, I love their lace weight yarns. The purple shawl is made from one of their skeins. So we shopped and made our way to the Fiber Arts contest display. I am normally not a sore loser. Most of the time I'm pleased to see my things displayed but this! All four of my things had nothing. There were a few other items that had nothing and I suspect the judges tend to vote local. But I was tired and that makes me a bit of a crabby pants - but really? That soured things a bit but I went back to shopping and eating funnel cake so my world was righted. Today I went walking with Charlene and Libby with Reuben along for the ride. He drooled like a spigot on the way there, had a super fun walk with Libby and then on the way back - true to form we got about 300 yards from the house and Vesuvius erupted. All down the backseat as he had moved the towel I had tucked tightly - sigh. David was shooting with Rich today so I went back to the fair about 2 pm  to get my stuff, but ended up waiting around as The People's Choice was being voted on and tallied at 3 pm. About 3:10 they announced over head I had won runner up! When I got there I was handed a business card with "free skein" written across it. The woman at the booth was folding up my entries and only was interested in one - the green sleeveless tank. She asked what it was made out of and when I said cotton she was like THAT'S ILLEGAL!! Only 50% animal fiber allowed!". Since that was the only item she asked about I think she knew it was cotton and was baiting me. I apologized for not reading the entry form closely (I did look later and it is on the bottom). She handed me my things and my business card and I asked if there was a ribbon for it - everything else had a ribbon on it. She said "If there was ribbon for it would be on it - all the ribbons were handed out and there is no ribbon for that!".  I was a little upset - I've never won anything that I was the only person that got nothing but maybe that's how they roll. I did get my nice skein of yarn and had a fun conversation with the person that was selling it - that took a little sting out of "winning". But I think I will not be entering again, that was the first time I've ever won anything and was made to feel bad about it!

Here is what I won for being voted Runner Up People's Choice. I shall display my business card with pride.

Isn't That Nice!

 So - Jackson lost his license again. I was pretty peeved - if any of you remember the backflips we had to do to get it after had it stolen - you would know why! He thought maybe he'd left it at his mother in law's house so when an envelope came addressed to Jackson today from San Diego I didn't think much of it. Til I looked at the address and it wasn't Ruth's. So Jackson asked us to open it and there was his license, and a note. And here is what the note said -

"Hello - we were at a rest stop in So Cal near the AZ border when two men told us they found your license and didn't know what to do with it. so to protect your ID I am sending it back to you... Chris Hodges".

How wonderful is that!  That some stranger would take the time to mail it back to him. I read him the letter over the phone and he has instructions to send a big thank you out and he will. It's amazing how many honest people are still out there surfing around when all we hear is the bad stuff. I think we will send something too. If anyone else would like to send something to this honest person let me know - I have the address.

In other nice news after that awful weekend on call I had - I got tomorrow off to plant my garden and just get caught up. How nice is that! I'm still on call for the rest of the week but having a day off really helps. Maybe I'll get the rest of those socks done - they've taken a year, haven't they? Or it feels like a year! I don't have my next project planned out yet, I'm thinking maybe a hat or  I will make yet another attempt at a sweater. I would love to make another run at one for my cousin John. After sticking him with that poofy sleeves number that he graciously not only tried on but let me photograph him in - I may try again. We'll see. There's so much to knit and so little time! I am going to the Sheep and Wool Festival this coming weekend and cannot wait. I have four entries in this year, two shawls, one pair of socks and  a sleeveless sweater that actually came out pretty decent. I made sure I would not be on call for that! Not much else going on, Reuben's knee continues to heal, it's about a half of the size and is healing slowly. It was pretty big and deep and has to heal from the ground up so it will be a couple more weeks. He is still on antibiotics so there's no infection thank goodness.

Whole Lotta Nothing Going On.

 So - aside from working all weekend  I won't be doing much. It's actually hard to tell, so far it looks like I'll be pulling 8 to 12 hours daily all weekend but that is subject to change  so I'm not too worried about it. Well, maybe a little. One of the other nurses told me to call if it gets too bad so it's nice that I have coworkers that will do that. We are going to do something next weekend since there is no point now. We had a huge thunderstorm earlier - the lights went out just long enough to reset the clocks, stinky! But not enough to super soak the garden. I will be doing the planting next weekend I suppose, I'll have to. The seedlings are coming out the bottoms of their little pots and cannot wait too much longer. The dogs are still enjoying the gardening part of it - a little bit too much I might add. They romp about, they poop, dig and chase each other up and down the rows like it's the best place in the universe. It'll be interesting to see if there will be any vegetable survivors, I have no idea why they find gardening so exhilarating but you would have to be them I suppose to understand it. I don't mind though, the garden is more of a thing to do while I'm out with the dogs than anything else. I have stuff I want to do soon - muck out the computer room, straighten the basement, etc - I just don't have the energy or the initiative to start it. I look at it. I think about it. And then I do not do it. Nope. Read. Play scrabble. knit. More fun more fun. I haven't been reading too much - I bought a book I am not crazy about - it looked good but it's OK sort of. But since I bought it I am obliged to read it. I know that's silly but that  is the way it is.

Spring Is Here. For Now.

 So, finally it has been warm a few days in a row. Whee one might say. Whee. I have been out scratching about in my garden, no plants planted yet but the weeds are growing fine. So I take my thingy that David bought me yesterday and rub the weeds out. Then rub again. B-O-R-I-N-G. But the dogs enjoy it a great deal since the ground is so dry, when they dash through it they kick up huge plumes of dust. No one looking at them can tell me dogs do not have a sense of humor and think some things are super cool.  I noticed that it rained a bit today and the since the dirt is a little damp nothing happens when you race in it, so consequently, they don't. I'm on call again this weekend so the plants most likely will not be going in depending on how busy I am. The on call is the one thing I'm having major issues swallowing on this job, it seems like they're filling in the schedule on the weekends as opposed to us only going out on emergency calls or admits that have to be done on the weekend. Not a fan and am not enjoying the seven day a week stretch. I know people do it but financially I don't have to nor do I want to so we shall see. In other news still loving my Kobo mini and it does a few very cool things that I didn't realize. If I buy a book on my Vox or I'm reading a book on it, when I turn on my mini it syncs with the Vox and my book opens to the page I'm on - anything I've bought is downloaded and goes right to the library. It's very small and I have it in my pocket book, so cool, so cool. I have the front porch cleaned up and set up so when it gets a little warmer I can sit out there and read in the evening and the hooligans can be out there too so they can spy on the neighbors a little better. David's birthday is today, quiet since it's the middle of the week. We can't do anything this weekend but next weekend we will celebrate my birthday, his, mother's day and memorial day all in one fowl swoop. The socks are moving along well at this point, the pattern is not over complicated so it's fun.

The Great Clothes Migration

I finally decided it was safe to swap out the summer clothes with the winter clothes. Every year I take out all the winter stuff and go through it so I don't keep storing things I don't like. Clothes from my closet tend to to fit into four categories:

1) Clothes That Fit and I like - keep.

2) Clothes That May Fit Someday -  keeping usually depends on WHY they don't fit. If I can (realistically) lose weight and fit them, fine. If I accidentally bought pants 2 inches too short and will only fit if I have a terrible accident - go.

3) Clothes I Bought And Now Have No Idea Why - these all go. They could have been on clearance, they may have looked good on a hanger and terrible on me, the reasons are endless. But out they go

4) Cool Clothes That Have No Use - this is a difficult one. I have an ivory silk shirt that goes perfectly with the dress pants and matching mid calf length jacket in Burgundy. I've owned both for over ten years and neither has ever been worn. But both are a classic design and I know in my heart SOMEDAY I will wear this outfit. The same goes for the orange sleeveless dress, the light blue cotton dress with the matching jacket and the black gauze shirt with the white piping. keepkeepkeep.

So I did manage to get rid of two bags of clothes and now just have to remember not to "replace" the clothes I didn't need in the first place. In other news my two at a time socks are rolling along, still on the fence about the whole thing. On one hand when I'm done I'll be done with both and they will be exactly alike. But I have to say the DPNs are a bit more portable and quite frankly I have about a hundred million million of them laying around in bamboo, carbon, milk fiber, steel, harmony wood, rosewood, plastic and stainless steel ranging from 000 to a size 11 and feel a little guilty about not using them. The socks have been going more slowly than I would like as I have a million little distractions -  using my new ereader, gardening and of course work. David got the new electric collars for the dogs - $35 off of eBay and they work well. They have a "vibrate" mode which works just as well but is more humane - neither dog likes having it's head jiggled so we are out and about again with no one running in the road. It had gotten bad and after the last incident when I had to wave down a Dodge Ram I refused to take them out again. Thank goodness he saw us and waited for me to collect the dogs before continuing - but I knew eventually our luck would run out or I wouldn't get there in time.  Just putting on the collars on them makes them behave so we are ok again. We've been messing in the yard and I had to fence in the rhubarb plant - my neighbor does want it but can't dig it up til the fall when it's dormant - it's sort of like asparagus that you plant once and then just cut it every year.  I left it alone,  but all the dogs have been hellbent on marking it. So I put a fence around it and it's HUGE - of course it is. I hate it and want it to go away so ti's growing like a trooper. I have not put any plants in yet, next weekend I think I'll be doing that. I had my car serviced, the filters were stuffed full of deer hair from The Bonkeroo, the oil got changed and other sundry items. The only thing that made me mad was the guy came out and said I needed four new tires because someone had replaced just one and you can't do that on an all wheel drive. I just looked at him and said well YOU guys are the one that did that. He was like oh, maybe I'd better look again. Yeah, maybe you should Buckie, maybe you should. And no, I do not have new tires.

The Despised Rhubarb