Here We Are

I've been confused all week about what both the day and the date are.  I'm not sure why, but now I realize that it is Wednesday, March 30 so I'm at least straightened out for today.  

Today I'm joining Kat and the others for Unraveled Wednesday, to show you what I'm knitting and reading. I feel like it's been a while since I contributed, and the stars aligned for me, so here you go.

This is the cardigan I started at the beginning of the year.  It still has a long way to go, but I have reached the stockinette part of the pattern, with no increases or decreases, so that's progress, because the beginning felt interminable.  I'm hoping to get a lot more knit on this, though I'm not sure if I'll even come close to finishing it before warm/hot weather hits.  But if not, I'll just pick it up again next fall.  

The color is not really even close to how it looks in the photo - it's more of a deep teal, but when you take a photo inside on a cloudy day, you're lucky if anything even shows up, you know?

My other current project is the very beginning of a pair of socks in yarn with Easter-y colors:

So far, one cuff on one sock.  Hey, it's a start ...

I just started this book on Monday:

I'm not that far into it yet, but so far it's really really interesting, and I think I'm going to enjoy it.  Though I have to admit that every time I pick it up to start reading, I hear Bert Parks singing the Miss America song in my head. 😊

And that's it for today.  Have a good one, and go over and wish Kym a Happy Birthday today!

The Week That Was

Hello again and Happy Spring!  I didn't really plan to be AWOL, so to speak, but I was. I have to tell you, last week was absolutely magnificent!  I enjoyed every single moment of my time off, and it was so nice to sleep well, not stress-eat all of the time, and be able to enjoy getting some exercise.  We all had a good week, as the kitties enjoyed having someone to serve their needs 24/7, and The Tim enjoyed the fact that I wasn't bitching and moaning about work every single freaking day. 😊 (Who can blame him??)

The only annoying thing that happened was that on Saturday, I decided to finally get my act together and respond to the comments on my last couple of posts.  Well, both my e-mail and Blogger worked together to make sure that nothing like that happened!  When I responded via e-mail, I got "Message undeliverable" for every single thing, and when I thought I would actually decide to respond on Blogger, each time I was told "Comment cannot be processed."  So rather than become a raving maniac before I had to go back to work (because I wanted to enjoy those last couple of days), I just decided not to get worked up over it.  To any who commented, thank you for your comments and good wishes, I promise I wasn't ignoring you!  

So let's do a quick recap of the birthdays.

Milo the Koodle enjoyed his birthday celebration very much.  Even though they don't get any cake to eat, Milo and Pip both enjoy the lit birthday candles and the singing.  Though they don't want to get too close to the candles thankfully!  But Milo loved the special attention, and was quite pleased with some catnip and some treats.  Then he made sure to get a TON of attention for the rest of that day and all weekend.  Thanks for the kind wishes you sent his way.  I read them to him and he purred quite loud.

My birthday was really lovely.  It was a beautiful day, and though I had to stick close to home for most of it, because the tree trimmers were there, I was a) home, b) completely left to my own devices, and c) knew I had the rest of the week if I wanted to go anywhere.  The guys from the tree trimming place were really nice and efficient, and by the time they were finished on Tuesday afternoon, not only were the trees trimmed and pruned and the ivy gone from the side of the house, the garden was cleaned up much better than any of my efforts, ever!  Now I just hope I can do a decent job of maintenance.

I got a couple of real-life, lovely cards from friends which was such a treat.  One of my online friends (who shall not be named here because I'm not sure if she would want to be named, also you might be jealous if she never sent you anything!) sent me a lovely card and note with this needleminder tucked into the package:

It's like the people who made this have met me, right?  It was so exciting to see a little treat in the card, and then when I pulled it out, it just cracked me up, it's so perfect! (The Tim: "Wow, she nailed that one.")

After I sent a link for this, The Tim bought this for the kitties to give to me:

When you undo the zipper, and open it up, there are dpns from size US0 to US6!  (Also - HOW is there already cat hair all over the case??? This was set up on a shelf away from them!  Sigh.)

These are Knitters' Pride Zing needles, and though I haven't used the dpns before, I love the circular ones.  I sent The Tim a link from Webs, but he told me he bought these from Amazon because they were a lot cheaper there.  Which is somewhat sad since we both try not to use Amazon if we don't have to, but then again, he said they were more than $10 less there, so I don't blame him.  

Anyway, we had a yummy dinner, and homemade marble cake with chocolate frosting, so it was all good.

That's it for now.  I'm finishing this at work since I arrived half an hour early, but I'd better sign off now before my time runs out.  Thanks again for all of the well-wishes, both for me and for the Koodle!  I'll fill you in on the rest of the week in a later post.  

Have the best week possible. 😀

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

 

Ten on the Eleventh

Good morning and Happy Friday!  I for one am especially happy that this day has arrived, for two reasons, which I will discuss later in this post.

Today is March 11, and I want to talk about the number ten.  It's a nice, round number, introducing double digits to the string.  How many lists of "ten" have you come across?  Top Tens are a big one, as are Ten Ways To _______ (for good or for bad).  In a football game, ten yards gets you a first down on your way to the goalpost.  The British Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street (as does Larry the Cat!).  Everyone's favorite musical Founding Father - Alexander Hamilton - is on the ten-dollar bill.  One of the first ways we learn to count in groupings is doing five, ten, fifteen, twenty, etc.  

But today, on March 11, 2022, the very best thing about the Number Ten is this:

Milo the Koodle is ten years old today!!

Yep, on this day ten years ago, he was born in one of The Tim's former co-worker's backyard, where she took care of some feral cats.  He had 4 other siblings.  

The Koodle is definitely one of a kind, and honestly I think if just about anyone else had adopted him, he would have quickly been returned to a shelter or left out on the street abaondoned.  Because some of his "unique" features and behaviors are, shall we say ... troublesome.  But The Tim and I decided he was part of our family, and even though it was possible that he was possessed by Satan, we would never give him up.  

It helps that he is a cutie pie, and that when he is not peeing on things or destroying things or shredding your skin, he is a love bug.  He loves to cuddle, he loves to play - needless to say, all on HIS terms.  He and Pip are best buds and occasional mortal enemies.  He adored both Dug the Doodle Dog and Hamlet, and is somewhat lost without them.

But when he sits on your lap and purrs like a truck, or cuddles up next to you when you are lying down, he is the kind of kitty everyone wants to have.

So tonight, we will have birthday cake, treats, and presents to kickoff his birthday weekend. 

The second reason I'm glad that Friday is finally here is because it's the last day I have to be at work for a week!  I had marked next week off as vacation back in November, when our dept at work was still at full staff.  Of course, now that there is just myself and one other person (She The Terrible), my taking a week of vacation is being seen as the equivalent of eating a baby or something.  Now keep in mind that last month, She The Terrible took 2 weeks of vacation, and it was to be commended because she "works so hard."  (And she is the terrible boss' favorite person in the place, next to himself.)  But my vacation week is SUCH a problem, you know???

As my mother would say, TDB (too d**n bad).  I'm planning a week where I do my best to forget all of the people at work, where I don't check e-mail or attend Zoom meetings, and where *they* can be the ones to sign for packages, give directions, answer all of the phones, etc.  

I plan to do whatever I feel like doing on any given day, within reason of course (no stabbing annoying people, etc.).  I have a couple of dr appts, The Tim's days off are on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll probably have some adventure then, and there are a couple of days where I have to be at home anyway because some workers are coming to take the ivy off the side of our house, and do some pruning work on some trees in our garden.  

It would be nice if someone contacted me for a job interview, but I'm not gonna count on it.  That would just be a bonus.

So join me today in wishing the Koodle a happy birthday, and have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you are planning to do!

*****

I thought you might enjoy these outtakes from the birthday boy's photoshoot.  They prove that the sweet, innocent face above is as much a ruse as anything else.

*Just* as a snapped the photo!

A typical photo attempt, on any given day not just a birthday!

Nothing Much To Report

Hiya all.  Please don't think I'm ignoring you.  I'm just pretty much keeping to myself lately, and there's not a lot going on that you haven't already heard me discuss.  But on the plus side, at least other than the world being more scary than ever, I guess it's good that things are otherwise quiet.

Before I forget, a big THANK YOU to Vera - last week, she posted a recipe on her blog for Curried Shrimp Chowder, and this past Saturday, I made the vegetarian version (skipping the bacon ingredient and using vegetable stock) and oh is is good!  We had it with some breadsticks that The Tim had made, and it was one of the best meals we've had for a long time.  As she also mentions in the blog post, it makes a lot, so yesterday I had some of the leftovers for lunch.  If you are a shrimp lover, give it a try - you will not be disappointed.

I did not think to take a picture of it until after we finished eating, but it looks as good as it tastes, you'll just have to try it yourself! 😊

On Sunday, for the first time in two years, we went to a live performance.  The Philadelphia Orchestra was doing a concert version of the music from the movie "Fiddler on the Roof" that had been arranged by John Williams.  A group from the music and theater department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor were playing the roles.  It was so well done and so enjoyable!  Before entering the venue, you had to show proof of vaccination with your driver's license or other ID, and everyone in the audience had to remain masked the whole time.  At first it seemed kind of jarring to be in a place with so many people again, but to be honest, once the performance began, you forgot about everything but what was happening on stage.  Of course, The Tim was especially interested, since in college he played the part of the butcher Lazer Wolf.  And honestly, where just about any musical is concerned, if someone is sick at the last minute and the understudy is also sick, either one of us could fill in ... not well, but we know all of the lyrics! 😜

That's really all I have to tell you about at the moment.  Have a good day, and take care.

Meanwhile, I hope this will give you a reason to chuckle today:

March? Yes, March!

This is ridiculous, but it still made me laugh out loud:

And then on Friday, we will be told to March Fo[u]rth! 😂

"Orders" aside, it is the first day of March, and therefore, the start of one of my most favorite months of the year.  Just off the top of my head, we have:

Milo the Koodle's birthday

My birthday

St. Patrick's Day

St. Joseph's Day (which  means - ZEPPOLES!)

First day of spring

Two other family birthdays

As well as the Ides of March, but I'm not really sure that's a celebratory day (unless maybe something would happen to a sworn enemy and it just so happened on that day, but really what are the chances??).

It would be nice if some other things I wish would happen would decide to show up in March, but at least I have enough already to keep me going.

It would also be nice if during this month (hopefully sooner rather than later), Ukraine would be left to be the independent nation it is and should be.

I hope all of you have a good month, whether or not anything extra is happening.

*****

kayT asked in the comments of my post about what I learned in February, what I thought the definition was of a "foundling."  I always thought a foundling was a child "found"  - on the doorstep of somewhere, like a house or an orphanage, and/or was either abandoned or an orphan in the first place.  In the book I recently read, the Foundling Hospital in London was for illegitimate children whose parents wanted to avoid the shame. There was even an application process to be accepted, and those who were not accepted ended up most of the time living on the streets, or dying when abandoned as babies.  If they were accepted, the parent(s) had an appointment for when to drop off the child, and they signed papers, and received a "receipt."  So although that may not have survived as the overall definition of the word, that was the original concept for the Foundling Hospital.

*****

So there you go.  Enjoy your day, and remember - March First! 😂😂