Monday Is Here Again

Did I know yesterday was Sunday? Yes, I did. So why was it shocking to me when I woke up this morning to realize that today is Monday? I mean, it shows up every week, right on time, so Why The Face? 

We had actual snow this past weekend, which was surprising only in that for once, the weather predictions played out. According to the predictions from a couple of weeks ago, we should be on our third fourth "major storm." Sometimes we've gotten rain, but mostly we have had no type of precipitation, meaning they added extra hours to their newscasts for no reason.

Anyway, the snow hasn't really melted because it's too cold to do so. So you have to be careful walking around, but since I am the queen of falls, I am always careful walking around, and frankly there's only so much you can do, you know?

Our weekend was lovely, full of busy things related to Christmastime. The Tim baked some cookies, we decorated our tree, and we received notifications that all of the boxes I mailed last week had been delivered, which is so nice, I can't believe I had it together this year. Probably because I didn't spent a lot of time thinking about it like I usually do. Also the Eagles finally won a game, and yes it was against a crap team, but they actually looked like the Eagles used to look before they started forgetting that you also have to play football in the second half of the game ...

We did get some upsetting news over the weekend. You have all heard me blather on about my niece Amanda who lives in Baltimore, and her husband Patrick. We do a lot with them, and they are our usual partners in crime for Inappropriate Easter Eggs, and trips to Rehoboth Beach. Well, I guess for the past few weeks, Pat hasn't felt good, kind of like he had a low-key version of the flu. He went to see his Dr finally, who did some blood testing and sent him to Johns Hopkins immediately! They have diagnosed a form of acute leukemia, but they have also assured them that it is a very treatable form. But wow, what a kick in the butt for the whole family. I would ask you if you are a praying person, to please keep Pat in your prayers, and if you are not a praying person, please send some good thoughts his way. 

But there is good news too - not in the same level as Pat being sick, but - 

***DRUM ROLL***

Saturday afternoon, the people interested in the remaining giveaway chair picked it up, meaning that Chair-palooza is OVER!

They seemed especially excited once they actually saw the chair, and the husband said, "That would be *perfect* for video games," which earned him a dirty look from his wife. 😊

My stress level dropped about 75 percent! (It would have dropped more, but see previous paragraphs.) That was what actually made it possible for us to decorate the tree, because we finally had room to move around. Other than cleaning, which I'm planning to do on Wednesday, and a few final touches, we are now finished decorating the house and the tree, and can just enjoy the rest of Christmastime without anything waiting for us to finish it. 

This morning, I worked on a few things, odds and ends type stuff, and then unpacked and put this together for the cats. Stuff like that always takes me longer than it does for most people, but it was really not a big deal to put together. 

Alfie immediately had to check it out.

He does love cardboard scratchers, and seemed to think this one was pretty great. Of course, he's the only cat with no claws ... I'm hoping the others will want to try it, because none of them want to think one of the others is getting/doing/eating something special. I'll report back.

And that's it for today. I hope your weekend was a good one, and that you are keeping warm and cozy. Unless kitties are adopted tonight, I have my volunteer shift tomorrow, so it may be another day or two before you hear from me again. Take care!

Now We Should Be Done ...

Well, our new couch arrived yesterday - here's a bad photo of it for you:

The delivery truck arrived about 12:30 PM and of course, the things that took the longest were: 1) putting it on a little cart to bring it down our street to the house, because the truck was too big to come onto the street; and, 2) bringing it up to the third floor. But once it was in place, they popped on the backs and it was ready to go. Of course we had to fiddle with it, as far as the *exact* location in the room, but that was easily done as well.  

The cats are very suspicious. Tim wanted couch where part of it would recline, since we didn't see any reclining chairs that we both liked. (He told me he was in his "reclining era.") This particular item is called a "power sofa" because you push a button to recline it. Well, you can imagine how mystifying and also concerning that is! So far, Milo is the only one brave enough to jump up and sit with us, and even then, he can't really settle. 

Wimps. 😉

So we are done with new furniture and its delivery. I'm hoping that the person who wants two of the chairs in our bedroom can come sooner rather than later to pick them up, and then this weekend the spare chair can go up to the bedroom. Chair-palooza in the living room is giving me anxiety. Not just because it's so cramped, but I know that The Tim will want to bring up boxes of Christmas stuff soon, and get a tree. He is not in any way bothered about Chair-palooza, and doesn't understand why it makes me so anxious. 

Sometimes I wonder how we have not killed one another. 😂

I'm leaving in a bit to get and get my hair cut, and then I'll walk up to Barnes & Noble for a couple of gifts I've ordered for pickup. Then this weekend, I'll get the things that need to be mailed all wrapped up so they can be on the way early next week. 

Then (except for the chair situation), all I have to think about the rest of Christmastime is our own stuff we want to do, etc. I'm proud of myself for being more on the ball than usual.  No worries though, something will come along to show me I'm not as on it as I think ... 

I'm just glad I have no more reasons to have to stay home and wait for something to be delivered. Not that I'm out doing things all day, but I like to feel like if I want/need to just run out for something, it's not a problem for someone else. 

And that's the exciting news from here for now. I hope whatever your plans are for today and/or the weekend, you will enjoy at least a part of it. I'll check in again next week.

Oh Ye Of Little Faith

I was busy yesterday, putting away the Thanksgiving and fall decorations. And not to toot my own horn (spoiler alert: stay tuned for toot), but I had decided that instead of storing them in cardboard boxes in the basement, where they can get smelly and weird, I was going to invest in some plastic bins. Of course, I didn't measure or anything, since it was theoretical. That is, until I found myself someplace where they had said type of plastic bins on sale. So in keeping with living life dangerously, I just eyeballed it and bought two. 

They were a perfect fit. Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Then ... and ONLY then did I start even *thinking* about the Christmas stuff. And when I was reading everyone's blogs yesterday, Kim and Kim (but not Kym, just to be clear), mentioned that they were waiting for me to alert everyone to the start of the holiday season by showing a photo of a certain item that always welcomes the season. 

Oh ye of little faith - were you thinking I'd forgotten, or lost track of the item? Not at all! Rather, I wanted to clean up all of the Thanksgiving and fall stuff, before even pulling it out of the acid-free folder where it lives.

Here we go - this year, including a shot of how the famous cardboard wreath looks on (most of) the door - since usually you just get the close up of the wreath itself.

TA DA!!!!

 

When The Tim came home from work yesterday, he said, "I still can't believe that we have that! Some of the best 69 cents we ever spent!"

Indeed. ❤

*****

Thank you for the nice comments about our new chairs. Since we are also getting some more things this week, we have to hustle to move some furniture, get rid of some, etc., much sooner than we expected! 

So currently in our living room, there are: the new chairs, the little couch, the spare chair, another chair that matches the spare chair that is waiting to go up to our bedroom, and the two chairs formerly in our bedroom that are waiting to be picked up by people from the neighborhood Buy Nothing group on Facebook. As Tim pointed out, it looks like we are hosting a chair convention, LOL! But the giveaway chairs are being picked up tomorrow and Thursday, and we can actually take the spare chair to the bedroom any time, we just haven't gotten to it. But it will all happen by the end of the week because The Tim wants to go out and find a Christmas tree no later than the end of this coming weekend. And there's no way we could fit a Christmas tree - even one tied up - into the living room with the current chair-a-palooza situation!

*****

I don't have my volunteer gig this morning because all of the cats and kittens that were there have been adopted! Which is wonderful news, but I do miss having the chance to go and cuddle and play with all different kinds of kitties. But next week it will happen, I'm sure.

So today I'm gonna work on some things around the house, as well as do some knitting. I had planned to go out for some things today, but it is rainy and raw outside, so that is put off for now. I figure I'll use my time that I'm usually not here to knit, and then do some of the other stuff this afternoon. I'm one sleeve away from being finished with my cardigan! And a couple of weeks ago, I realized that the pair of Social Security Number slipper-type socks I'd knitter for The Tim years ago were full of holes (rather large ones at that!), so I'm knitting him a new pair for Christmas. I already have one completed, so I'm sure to have them to wrap up.

And then later tonight, we will drink a toast to my mom, whose birthday is today. Last night, I said to The Tim, "Wow, if my mom was still around, she would turn 107!" and he responded, "And she'd still have me looking for her cane." We had a good laugh about that, because near the end of her life when she used a cane, she was always "losing" it, and would tell him to find it for her, and 9 times out of 10 it was ... right to the side of wherever she was sitting. So he'd say, "Geraldine, once again, your cane is right here," and then they would have a huge laugh about it. Whereas, if I said something like that, she would have likely responded, "Well, you don't have to be such a smartass about it." 😂

And there you go. That's it for today. I hope yours goes well, and that you don't lose track of anything that is right beside you ... 

Happy December!

Yep, 'tis the season. 😄

I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely, as well as the weekend afterwards. It was so nice to have The Tim at home the whole time (he may feel otherwise, LOL). We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day, just relaxing and watching the parade, the dog show, and then some other things we had recorded but never gotten around to watching. Because if you can't be a couch potato on Thanksgiving, what is the point??

Friday we were excited because our new chairs were delivered! You may recall that we had saved some money over the course of the last couple of years to buy some new chairs for the room where we watch TV. Well, the weekend before this past one, we went to a place to look, and they were having an early Black Friday sale. We found something we liked, but then ALSO found two chairs we really liked that would replace also-falling part ones in our living room. Because everything was on sale, we could actually afford to get all of it! So last Friday our new living room chairs arrived, and we are so thrilled with them!

They are actually really comfortable, which is really why we even considered buying them. Because even if we don't spend as much time using them, we want all of our furniture to be comfortable - we are not believers in "fancy" furniture being for looks only.

Of course as you can well imagine, the cats also think they are quite comfortable. And being that they are right by the garden window, they are also very popular. 🙄

And I just got a notice this morning that our other purchase is being delivered on Thursday, so all of a sudden, things will be looking pretty different, even before we get out our Christmas decorations!

I will admit that I'm always a little bit sad to see November go, since it's one of my very fave months. But December being so festive makes up for a lot, so that makes me happy. We're even having nice cold weather, which helps it feel like it should (at least in my opinion).

So that's it for the news around here. December should be a busy month, since everyone at our house enjoys all the holiday things. I hope it will be a good month for all of you as well. 

See you next time!

Happy March!

Happy first day of March! It is starting here with a sunny but cold day, which is more than fine with me. It means that when I go outside to take a walk, it will be especially pleasant. And I definitely want to get in a walk today, since tomorrow is supposed to be continual rain all day. 

Well, the guys came yesterday to do the final measurements for our new front door. And it was somewhat dismaying. When we had the initial measurements, our door was already smaller than usual, so we had very limited choices, and only one that included any glass. I'd been hoping to have one of those panels on the top with a little fan window. But we settled for two little panes at the top. Then yesterday when they did the final measurements, it turned out the door was even smaller than originally thought. Which led to a choice between a door with almost ALL glass, or a door with no glass. Since the door is right on the street, we didn't want a glass door, since it would be like being on display. So now we'll have a door with no glass at all, which is disappointing. It will still look nicer than what we have, but you know how it is. You get excited about one thing, and have to accept another.

Now this is likely to be the only way we get an outside opening on our door ...

Definitely a first world problem, though, so I'll just get over it and be happy we can have a new door at all.

Guess what I'm doing today, though? Laundry - both in the washer and also in the DRYER!!!!! The Tim was able to get the venting set up when he got home last night, and so we're finally good to go. I already put a small load in the dryer earlier, and it dried in so little time, I was really surprised. This may just mean that laundry day will not go overtime into laundry evening, which is a real game-changer. Hallelujah!

So in the world of Operation Home Improvements, we so far have:

New roof - check

New dryer - check

Electricity hook up for dryer - check

New door - ordered, and not quite what we were hoping, but almost a check

Zooming right along, spending money like we have it! 😜

(kidding, we have saved a lot for these projects)

*****

Speaking of spending, I'm pretty proud of myself, because I'm not currently spending. Well, what I mean is that I decided that for Lent, I was going to give up buying things for myself unless it was something I actually needed. I wanted to get out of the habit of seeing something and thinking "Oh I can afford that, I'll go ahead and get it." Now it's not like I was buying big-ticket things, but I'd see a pair of earrings, or a shirt, or maybe even a really nice project bag, and buy it. I would be happy I had it, and always enjoy/wear/use it, but it was never anything I really had to have. So when I realized that Lent was coming along, I thought I would try to get out of that habit. Not that it was in danger of sending us to the poorhouse, but I wanted to get back into my former habit of giving something real consideration before deciding if I wanted to purchase it. 

And you know what is funny about it? There have truly only been a couple of things that I have felt any amount of regret about not buying. And that was only because they were things that I don't see that often at a good price. But neither item was something that I am suffering from by not having in my life. I feel like I'm getting back to my more reasonable self. And I'm saving a certain amount of money each week that I decided was an average of what I would normally spend to donate at the end of the season. So yes, I'll still be "spending" the same amount, but it means that I'm giving up something for Lent in order to give *to* something else, which pleases me.

(Lent gives me a good reason to try and get myself back to some positive behavior each year, a nice re-set, if you will.)

As for this weekend, I have to work as usual on Sunday, but other than that we have no particular plans. I'll probably finish catching up on the laundry, and otherwise I am reading a good book and have my knitting projects waiting for some attention. Rainy days are especially good reasons to just stay put and have a quiet time of it.

I hope you can enjoy your weekend, and have a chance to spend some time doing your own thing. Take care.

Heart Day

Hello there! I hope you are having a good Valentine's Day if you enjoy celebrating it. We do celebrate, usually with cards and treats, but the primary focus of the day is this guy's birthday:

Today, Pip turns 13 years old! Yep, he's a teenager, so now he'll probably start ignoring us, get lots of piercings and tattoos, and roll his eyes whenever we make a joke ... 😊

Later we'll have a cheesecake and presents, and the kit kats will get some special treats to celebrate. Pip is well worth celebrating, as he is an amazing kitty, and it would be hard to find a cat who is sweeter. So Happy Valentine's birthday, sweet boy, we love you!

Today is also Ash Wednesday, which signals the beginning of Lent for Christians. When I was a kid, I would always agonize over what to "give up" for Lent. Since my birthday was always during that time, I didn't want to give up anything that could jeopardize my birthday celebration or my birthday cake, so it was hard. (I was a good kid, but I wasn't any kind of ridiculous sainted child who was *that* willing to sacrifice something!)

******

I just spent about an hour with a guy who came to the house to give us an estimate on a new front door. I have no idea how old the current door is, but we have wanted to replace it since we moved in. Now that we have some money saved up for repairs, etc., it was time. One nice thing was that the estimate was much less than we had expected. Even though the door is not standard, because of course it's not - nothing in our nineteenth-century house is, so no surprise there. Still, it's always just a matter of waiting to hear it whenever someone comes to check something.

As would be the case, the guy left after giving the estimate. And now Alfie is bereft. Alfie loves nothing more than having workmen come to the house. He has to be with them the whole time, and rubs against them, purrs, etc. Fortunately most people who have shown up have been animal lovers, or amused enough to not mind him terribly. However, the guy today was here for a while, and I think Alfie thought he was going to stay for lunch or something. So the fact that he left was quite upsetting. Alfie has been pawing the door and crying ever since. Even Esme was compelled to come downstairs to try and comfort him, but it just isn't enough. So please keep Alfie in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time ... 😝

Alfie: "If you are reading this, please contact PETA and let them know how neglected I am. As you can see, I'm nearly skin and bones from starvation and neglect."

Our poor house - we've lived here now for 30+ years and never had the available funds to do much fixing up or repairs that weren't absolutely, immediately necessary. Now that the mortgage is paid, we can start to get things done. I can only imagine the house breathing a sigh of relief - "The roof and now maybe a better door! They do love me after all!"

*****

Today I am hoping to get some things organized as far as my knitting projects are concerned. I'm trying to be more conscious of what I am making and why, and part of that means keeping better track of everything. I have a "system" that I think will work, and I'm going to do my best to set it up today. Who knows, I may be abandoning it in record time, or it may actually help, but I won't find out until I actually give it a try.

Are any of the rest of you having a sudden desire to knit every single thing in the world right away, or is it just me? I generally see things that I might want to knit and am happy enough to wait until one or more things are completed. But lately, I see something I like and instead of seeing it in terms of a down-the-road project, I feel like if I don't make it NOW or SOON, I just won't survive another day. Fortunately, most of the time I don't have the yarn on hand to make it, so I just wait for the feeling to pass. But this has never been something I've felt before, and I can't say I enjoy it. Like all of a sudden I have knitting FOMO, but I know in my heart that a) I probably won't care by the next day, and b) most of the things I see are not the kind of things I would enjoy knitting or that would fit in my wardrobe anyway. 

I'm sure it's some kind of temporary insanity on my part. And it is true that a lot of it is a "this moment" kind of feeling. So temporary that it's forgotten when the next amazing thing comes along. That's usually not my M.O., but especially the past few weeks it's been the case. 

However, it does mean that trying to get organized today will make me aware of what projects I am enjoying, and that should help to get me back on track. I'll try to take some photos, so I can show all of you what is happening knit-wise around here.

So enjoy your day one way or the other and if nothing else, feel free to give yourself a treat in honor of Pip!

Friday Catch Up

Hello all! I didn't mean to take such an extended "break" from blogging, but that's what happened. The past few weeks have had a lot of little things happening that just seemed to pile on and keep me from doing very much at all. Does that ever happen to you? Every once in a while that happens to me and a lot gets lost in the shuffle. 

Oh well. 

Happy March, by the way. 😉

I somewhat managed to keep up with others' activities, but usually more as a lurker than a commenter. Sounds like all of you are busy, and some of you are really making some pretty things!  I'm glad that - at least in general - things are well with all of you.

There's been a lot of lounging going on around here:

These guys are funny. Pip and Milo have of course been buds for a long time, and though Pip thinks Alfie is the best, Milo the Koodle seems to change his opinion hour by hour. So the fact that they were all on the guest bedroom bed together for most of an afternoon without incident is pretty amazing.

There's also been some ... deconstructing going on.

This is our second floor (main) bathroom after the sinks and vanity were torn out earlier this week. Fortunately, we have a guest bathroom on the third floor that has a functioning sink! 

The bathroom pictured has had a cheapo, unattractive vanity and two sinks since we moved in. It's something we've always wanted to change, but while we were paying our mortgage, we never had enough extra money. About a year ago, one of the sinks developed a BIG leak, and we turned off the water pipes leading to it, and just used the other sink. According to The Tim anytime we would discuss it, we were going to replace things "soon." 

Now you can guess where this is heading. At the end of last week, the remaining sink developed a big drip. The Tim tried to fix it, but the faucet fixture broke apart due to age. So he bought a new fixture, and found a plumber who could come on fairly short notice. Except that when the plumber pulled out the old fixture, it had been jerry-rigged into the sink by the house's former owners, and the new fixture couldn't go into it. So at a minimum, we would have to have the sink torn out and replaced. After some back and forth, The Tim finally agreed that it was just easier to get rid of all of it and get a new vanity, new fixtures, new floor, etc. 

Which of course happened right in the throes of too much expensive dental work happening in my mouth which our dental insurance barely helps to cover. Because as the saying goes, when it rains it pours.

I do have to say though that although it's annoying, this is typical of how things go. The Tim will quickly acknowledge a problem, I will bug him about it consistently, and then a crisis comes along and things finally get resolved. Sigh.

But hopefully soon we'll have a fully-functioning main bathroom and then we can go to the next disaster (and at the current time, there are two waiting to happen. Stay tuned!).

Yesterday when I was at a therapy appointment, I took a photo of this orchid in the office that had bloomed:

I am not an orchid expert by any means, and have never even attempted to keep one alive. The office there has A LOT of orchids in a big window that gets nice amounts of light, but this is the only one like this - look at the little openings in the one section. I think they are not only pretty, but really fascinating. I posted this photo on Instagram, and Dee identified it as a phalaenopsis orchid, and said it's a typical thing. (It's nice to have a friend who knows about orchids, you know?) She said she has a few mini versions that are blooming, and they are so small, you can hardly see the openings. So amazing, right??

And those are the big things that I wanted to catch up with you about in this post. I have some knitting to show in the next few posts, one that has been in progress for a while, and one FO that just started and finished in record time (well, for me at least). Tomorrow we are celebrating Milo the Koodle's birthday, and Sunday is my weekend shift at the yarn store. The weather is supposed to be messy over the next few days, so it will be good knitting and reading time.

I hope you have a good weekend, whatever is happening at your house. I'll see you next week.

Friday FOs - Two, Count 'Em, Two!

Before I completely melt today and lose all interest in anything, I have two finished objects for you - yes TWO.  Granted, neither one was a major undertaking, but they are still both finished, and that counts!

First up, the shortie slipper socks I knit for The Tim:

Project:  Same Mother Shortie Socks
Pattern:  Just a plain sock, turned into a shortie sock
Yarn:  Plymouth Encore Worsted Solids, in the Oatmeal, Purple, and Orange colorways
Needles:  US size 5
Notes:  As you know if you have read my blog for a few weeks at least, I knitted the first sock, and then strongly suspected that I would not have enough of the Oatmeal colored yarn to complete the second one.  For some people, that would mean they would take apart sock #1 and do some color-blocking.  I'm not those people, and because I had not thought ahead, I warned The Tim that his socks would not match and why.  He said, "Well, if you have to throw in another color, make sure it's something that pops." And I think the orange definitely pops, right??  Anyway, these were really quick to knit, and since they are just meant to be slipper socks, it didn't bother me that they wouldn't be the same.  I called them "Same Mother Shortie Socks" because they are like family members who have the same mother, and look similar but different.  😀

The best part was that when they were finished, The Tim was *thrilled* with them, so all's well that ends well.

*****

Next up, something for the kitchen:

Project:  Leftovers Kitchen Towel
Pattern:  At Your Service Knit Cloth (a free pattern)
Yarn:  Knit Picks ColLin, in the Conch colorway
Needles:  US size 7
Modifications:  None
Notes:  I had some yarn left from my Down the Shore Shawl, and decided to give this pattern a try, since we use these kinds of hanging towels in our kitchen all the time and they are not that easy to find in stores.  The pattern was overall easy and pretty quick to knit, but in my heat-addled brain, it did take me a few times to get the decreases right.  In the end, it turned out just fine, and I see many more of these in my future.  The Tim thinks they would be nice Christmas gifts, but I'm not sure that people would enjoy that kind of gift.  Then again they might.  I'll have to give it some thought.

Both of these projects were from stash yarn, and that always pleases me - the button for the kitchen towel is also from a stash of buttons that I have, so no extra money at all was spent for this project, which is even better! 

******

Before closing, I wanted to remind anyone who is interested that you have until one minute before midnight this coming Sunday, July 5, to comment on this post and be in the mix for a giveaway. 

And finally, tomorrow is Independence Day here in the U.S.  This country is far from perfect, but if we can get back on track, I really believe that things could move forward and we can be what we wanted our country to stand for.  It's still better than lots of other places.  So, if you celebrate, have a lovely day, and remember to VOTE in November!!

And for everyone, I hope you have a good weekend no matter how you decide to spend it.  See you on Monday for the announcement of the giveaway winner.

It Was Nice While It Lasted

Last week was so incredibly enjoyable, being able to stay home and not deal with my horrific co-workers!  As you may have noticed, I didn't even post here, though to be honest, a lot of the reason was because nothing much was happening worth showing you.  :-)

It was an excellent blend of getting things accomplished and relaxing, and the weather was very cooperative, which I appreciated A LOT.  I didn't get all the things on my to-do list taken care of, but I hadn't really expected to, so I wasn't really upset with myself.  But the things that were done gave me the chance to feel like I had finally made a dent into a lot of things!

The weekend topped it all off nicely, with the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival on Saturday, and the Eagles winning their football game on Sunday. 

The fiber festival was so much fun!  One of the nicest things about this festival is that it is very approachable as far as size is concerned.  Which is not to say that it is not as much sensory overload as the larger fairs and festivals - trust me, there's A LOT to see!  Of course, I spent a lot of my time talking to and petting the sheep (whether or not they wanted me to - spoiler alert: most of them didn't care), and I even got to kiss and hug one of the sheep which was THE BEST THING OF ALL.  The Tim even took photos, but as my camera and my computer are currently not on speaking terms, I'll have to show you that later.  Even Instagram isn't speaking to me, so I can't send you there to see any photos at the moment either.  Oh well. 

It was very difficult to not buy a whole bunch of beautiful yarns.  But I managed to restrain myself and came home only with a bar of goat's soap, with Franckinsense and Myrhh scent.  It's put safely away until Christmastime. 

I did get the chance to see some people that I had hoped to see, including Dee, Vera, three good friends from Philadelphia that I follow online but don't often get to see, and Kathleen Dames.  It was so nice to run into people to briefly catch up, and to live vicariously through their purchases.  It was especially nice to meet Kathleen, as we have been friends online for approximately 15 years, and had never yet met in person!  We'd come close, but it just never worked out until Saturday.  She was there with Kay Gardiner (one half of Mason-Dixon Knitting), and introduced us.  Kay was as nice and as funny as you would expect her to be.  One funny thing was that when I was talking to Kathleen, I mentioned that I ran into her when I was looking for The Tim.  She said, "Oh my God - THE TIM is here???"  I got a huge chuckle out of that.  (And eventually I did locate him, well after the fact.)

You may also enjoy this exchange, which occurred over breakfast that morning.

The Tim:  So ... is this one of the big fiber things?
Me:  It's relatively small, if you remember.  [He has gone with me at least 3 times in the past.]
The Tim:  When did it become smaller?
Me:  As far as I know, it's always been smaller.
The Tim:  When did they move it?
Me: What?
The Tim: Well, didn't it used to be in Maryland?
Me:  That would be Maryland Sheep and Wool, which happens in May.
The Tim:  Oh, I wondered about that.  I guess I'm talking about a whole other state.
Me (in my brain):  !!!!!!!
Me (in person):  Ya think??

Anyway, then yesterday I just hung out at home, worked on some laundry and some stitching, and watched the football game.  What a nice way to finish my week of vacation.

And how sad to have to return to work.  Such is life.  At least tomorrow, we have our lunch hour craft group meeting.

Again, sorry for no pictures here today - hopefully I can show you some things soon.  Have a good week!

Like All Good Things ...

My vacation must end.  Sigh.  Tomorrow it's back to my depressing and frustrating job (I've already started back with my anxiety dreams!), and the schedule that is determined by someone else.  Such is life, and as I always tell myself, the good things are better because they don't happen all of the time.

And it was a great week.  Lots of day trips, lots of time with Dug and the kitties, lots of knitting and reading, lots of catching up on shows/movies we had recorded.

When I last checked in, we were having a day at home to wait for a furniture delivery and I had  haircut appt.  We are thrilled with our new chairs!  They look nice in the room - actually make the room look larger - and are really comfy.  I have been enjoying rocking in mine.  The cats are shocked because of course SOMETHING HAS CHANGED and that is always suspicious as far as they are concerned. ;-) And you know how it is, just one new thing makes the whole place seem new.

Thursday, we headed to the Barnes Foundation for the very first time ever.  We had seem some selections years ago at an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but had never visited the mother ship.  This was largely because it used to be in the 'burbs, and access was extremely restricted and reservations had to be made months in advance.  Once it moved to the city, it was within walking distance, but pretty expensive admission prices kept us from going.  At the beginning of last week, The Tim received a notification of a Funsaver that allowed you to purchase tickets for half price - meaning both of us could go for what it would usually cost for one person.  So we took advantage of it, and went first thing on Thursday morning.

Absolutely wonderful.  Lovely, amazing, whatever you want to call it.  Of course, I am fan of the Impressionists, and there were lots of those paintings.  We did learn that Mr. Barnes had the largest collection of paintings by Renoir in the world!  They are arranged the way he had them arranged in his house, which is somewhat random, and which makes some hard to see up close, but it was still so much fun to see the art!  I learned that I like Henri Matisse much more than I realized before.  Which is fine with me, but I was kinda surprised.  The visit took up the better part of the day, and then we took Dug to his rehab appt.  For some reason, I had pad thai on the brain, so we went to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner.  A good end to a perfect day.

Friday, we used the day to work on things around the house.  We'd each made a list of five things we wanted to do over the week, and both of us had house and garden/deck things on our lists!  So Friday was our most productive day, but since we had wanted that, it didn't seem like a day of chores.  Does that make sense?  Then Friday night we went to Rita's and got gelati, and took Dug with us.  Both of us had also put "Do something special with Dug" on our list, and he LOVES Rita's!  He was one happy pup, let me tell you (we were pretty happy too).

Yesterday was "gardening" day.  The Tim worked on his vegetable plants on the deck (he'd refinished it on Friday), and I worked on what I am calling Project Garden Reclamation.  We have a lovely enclosed garden on one side of our house, and for various reasons, over the past few summers, we have not done anything with it.  As a result, weeds, overgrown bushes, etc. had taken over and needed to be dealt with. I spent the morning pulling weeks, and getting things so that you could see the exposed brick again. Another thing on both of our lists was "get a new dishwasher."  The dishwasher that was in our house when we moved in ~ 20 years ago was old even then.  It stopped working long ago. and since we want to replace the kitchen countertops (a whole 'nother story), we figured it was time for a new dishwasher.  So off to Home Depot, where - just because we lucked out - the one we wanted was on sale (by quite a lot!).  So our new dishwasher will be delivered on June 29!  YAY!

Today, The Tim had to return to work.  So I spent the morning sweeping up the stuff in the garden from yesterday, and putting it in trash bags to be picked up with tomorrow's trash.  I hereby declare Project Garden Reclamation Part 1 completed.

So the rest of the day has been laundry, bills - the usual weekend stuff.  But I did get out some of my wind chimes and put them out, and that makes me happy.  (There are others, but I have to get rid of stuff in front of them on the storage shelf before I can get to them.  I may have a wind chime problem.)

I really can't complain (though of course I do).  It was a week that was one of the best ever.  Once I get organized, I'll share some of the pictures.  The weekend after next is a long weekend for the Fourth of July, so I have my next thing to anticipate. (I do much better when I have a "next thing" to look forward to.)

Do I wish I had a different job, or that I could afford to work part-time?  You bet.  But I had a week of great vacation, and some people don't even come close to that.  So I'll live, you know?

Let's hope this week is a good one for all of us.  :-)