Just Because

This is an overhead shot of my geranium plants in the garden. As you can see, one little flower is blooming and there are other ones getting ready.

For as long as I can remember, we always had geraniums in pots during the summer. My mother was not a gardener, but when summer came, there were always geraniums in pots on the porch. They were usually red, and I'm not sure if that's because my mom liked the red best, or if there wasn't really any choice where she got them.

Anyway, to me it's not right to NOT have at least one geranium for the summer. A couple of years ago, I bought one and put it in a pot with another plant whose name escapes me and placed it on our front stoop. It looked so lovely. Apparently *so* lovely that someone else just had to have it ...

Now the geraniums (well, all the plants really) stay in the garden, which is enclosed. This year, I bought a pink one and a red one, and then got home to realize I didn't have two pots. Now you need to understand that, when I am ready to do something like plant/pot/whatever, it has to happen THEN. So both plants got put into a larger pot, and at least so far, all is well.

Every year when I buy a geranium or two, The Tim says, "I don't undertand why you buy those. I mean, they're nice, but yours never last into the fall or beyond, even when you bring them inside to take care of them." 

Silly boy. Apparently he had a deprived childhood. 

Because everyone (well, me) knows that if it's summer, you have to have a geranium in a pot to make you smile. 

Have a good weekend. 😊

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 ... 

Celebrations and Plans

Before I go any further, I want to tell all of you who sent birthday wishes to The Tim how much he appreciated them. He was really touched, and also surprised that so many of you took time to write a Happy Birthday note.

Our birthday celebration was really enjoyable. We went to dinner early, because the place we were headed doesn't take reservations, and it was a Friday night, so we knew it could get ridiculously crowded. And I have to say we timed it just right - as we were leaving the restaurant, the line was out the door! 

The meal was yummy, and in a coincidental twist, our server was someone who worked with The Tim back when they both worked at the bookstore! It was one of those "what are the chances moments." Then we came home for presents and cake, all of which were a success. (Though my ganache was not as yummy as when The Tim makes it, but at least it worked, you know?) The TIm had bought a couple of things a few months ago, and gave them to me to wrap for his birthday, and I had bought a few things for him otherwise, and happily everything was something he liked and that fit. 

I had said I wondered what Alfie would think of our celebration. He was both mystified and cautious. Pip and Milo are of course old hands, and they know that the candles on the cake + singing = TREATS, ribbons, and boxes, so they are always on board. Alfie kind of stayed back at the beginning, but when the treats came out, he joined the gang, and then found a ribbon to chase. I think he enjoyed it, but it was clear he was more interested in watching everyone else to see what they did than he was in joining the fray. 

The rest of the weekend was relaxing and quiet, which is nice because we are now in the thick of Thanksgiving preparations. And things are picking up at work, with people coming in for yarn on Sunday so they could work on a project during their travels to see family and friends.

I finally decided what I wanted to knit for The Tim as a Christmas gift - I found some leftover Plucky Knitter yarn from the sweater I knit last year and got started on the Antler Toque (Ravelry link) for him. Last Thursday, in between loads of laundry, I got the brim started, while the Crazy Sock Lady kept me company. 😊 

I think it will be an enjoyable knit, as I really like knitting cables, and since it's worsted weight, it will likely move along quickly.

And that's what's happening around here. I hope if you are preparing, traveling, or whatever for the Thanksgiving holiday, that everything goes smoothly and that you can enjoy it all. And for the rest of you, I hope your week has started out on a good note and continues that way.

That's it for now, have a good one!

Some Instructions for The Tim, and Other Things

The other night, The Tim and were talking - as we usually don't because I am often ranting and he is ignoring me - because we had been watching a news story about a woman who had been killed in a car accident, and there was now a huge shrine at the spot where the accident had occurred.  The reporter was spinning it like it was the Most. Meaningful. Thing.  And The Tim said to me, "Are you writing in to the station about this?"

He of course was joking, but it's because he knows there are certain things that just set me off on a course that takes along time to come back around before the journey ends.  As I'm sure you know if you read my blog, or even more so if you know me in person, I have many opinions, some extremely unpopular because they seem uncaring and others because of my intense dislike for others that most people seem to like.  Such is life.  No one should feel that they have to go along with what everyone else thinks because others will be upset.  And yet so many do, or would rather be miserable than express an opinion.

Anyway, our initial discussion led to many other topics, and The Tim said to me, "You should share some of these golden nuggets on your blog, I'm sure others would find them ... fascinating?"  Well, the joke's on him, 'cause that is just exactly what I am doing.  You are under no obligation to keep reading, comment, or even care, but here we go.

There are two specific cases where I have left specific threats instructions for The Tim should my demise occur prior to his shuffle off this mortal coil:

1. In the hopefully-never-to-occur event that I die in any way unjustly or unfairly, such as murder, car accident, falling off a poorly constructed roof, etc., he is to not allow and/or is to destroy any tributes at my home or the scene of the event.  You know, candles, balloons, teddy bears, t-shirts with my photo - we've all seen it.  These offend me on every level.  I know people are trying to be kind, to grieve, etc. but NO.  

2.  Apparently it is not uncommon for you or your ancestors to be baptized into the Mormon Church even when dead.  This is also highly offensive to me.  No one who has passed should have anyone living decide their religion for any reason.  If one wants to be Mormon, Presbyterian, Catholic, Scientologist, or Shinto, they can decide that when alive.  The dead should be left to their beliefs when alive, no matter how wrong we the living think they might have been.

My instructions to The Tim in these cases are that should he allow either of these to occur,  I will: a) come back from the dead, b) beat the s**t out of him, and c) return to being dead.  This, he takes seriously.

*****

When we first moved to Philadelphia, we had a lovely apartment in an area of the city which was always very fancy - the well-to-do, well-known, better-than-us people had always lived there.  Our apartment building, for instance, had a fourth floor that was nothing but "servant's quarters" with small cells containing a bed and wash basin for those who worked for the people who had lived in the apartments when they were originally built.  Anyway, Christmas was near, and I talked The Tim into going to Christmas Mass with me at the Catholic Church up the street, which had been built by the benevolent rich people for their lowly Irish servants.  It's a beautiful church, but as we were sitting there waiting for Mass to begin, The Tim pointed out a mural to me that showed the Nativity of Christ - which of course, was appropriate and fine - BUT which showed St. Patrick and St. Bridget worshiping at the creche!!!  My indignation at this illustration still amuses him to this day.  I know that to a lot of people, the existence of God at all is just a story, etc., and that is fine. But I think it's safe to say that if any of it did happen at all as we have been told, that NONE of the saints traveled BACK IN TIME to be there!!!

Somewhat related to the above, do not ever send me a Christmas card that shows Santa kneeling to the baby Jesus.  Santa and Jesus have no business appearing together.  Jesus is Jesus and Santa is Santa and though both are a part of Christmas, they have not, do not, and never should hang out together.  This is a hill that I am willing to die on.

*****

And finally, I know that this one is something a lot of people support but - stop putting frilly headbands on baby girls so that GOD FORBID no one thinks they are a boy baby!  I cannot tell you how stabby this makes me.  First of all, if you insist on doing this, then it is only fair that you make baby boys wear full-fledged tool belts.  Secondly, it's a g*****n baby, and does not need head ornamentation especially headbands or bows which don't even stay on properly because few babies are born with adult head of hair.  And why is it a problem if a baby girl is not immediately recognizable from the way it is dressed?  Why is it impossible for people to say, "What a cute baby" instead of "What a cute baby boy/girl/squirrel?"  WHY DOES IT MATTER IT'S A BABY???  As someone who was occasionally mistaken for a boy as a young child, I'm here to say that my parents and myself were somehow able to continue living our lives in spite of such a tragic occurrence.

*****

I'm sure that you have your own opinions on all/some of these, or that you just don't care, which is fine.  But just know I will fight you on all of them.  😀

Ask The Tim.  He'll tell you.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

In Which I Surprise and Amaze Myself

On Monday morning, I had appts bright and early for some x-rays and bloodwork, so I put on my mask, sunglasses, and hat, and headed over to the Perelman Center at Penn to do that.  As I was walking over the bridge on the way, it occurred to me that I was more or less traveling incognito, and the best part was that it would make it pretty much impossible for someone to tell me to "smile more."  That made the trip back and forth worth it, even though it was already eleventy hundred degrees at 7:30 a.m.  

Once I got home, I only had a little bit of time before I had to attend an All-Staff meeting via Zoom.  So I decided that since I would be one person on the screen of 100+ people, and no one could see my hands, I would do some knitting.  However, I needed to cast on a project, and I had just enough time before starting to cast on my next pair of socks and get the first couple of rounds knit.  By the time the meeting was over, I'd finished the cuff!  That may have been the most productive meeting I've ever attended.  

Anyway, I was pretty much in the zone, so I just kept going through lunchtime and into the early afternoon.  I am knitting a pair of shortie slipper socks for The Tim using worsted weight yarn, so things were moving along at a nice pace.  By the time I told myself to stop so I wouldn't get sore hands and wrists, I'd finished decreasing for the gusset.  That - for me - is a LOT of progress in a single day.

Yesterday, after I finished what I had to do for work, I thought I'd sit down and do some more work on the sock.  And almost before I could realize what was going on, I had a HO:

I know a lot of you are really fast knitters, so this is no big deal.  And yes, I was knitting a shortie sock on heavier weight yarn - but I have NEVER knit anything at all in just two days!  And to be honest, probably never will again.  I think this was one of those times that the planets were aligned, or my chi or whatever was in balance, but in any case I KNIT A SOCK IN TWO DAYS, PEOPLE!!

The rest of the day was spent being surprised and astonished that I had accomplished such a thing.  Of course, that was short-lived as it occurred to me that I may not have enough yarn to complete the second sock.  Not a huge issue, since they are just to wear around the house, and The Tim won't care, but I'll admit that I'll be disappointed if I can't get a matching sock out of what is left.  It's yarn from my stash, and there's plenty more where that came from - just not the same color.  If I had really given it a lot of thought, I could have done some color-blocking, or even chosen another yarn.  

Such is life.  And I do have to say, the universe certainly seems to enjoy keeping me grounded whenever I get carried away with myself ... ;-)

Lately Around Here

Hello all!  Its starting to get very gloomy here, and is supposed to start pouring rain (what a surprise), so I played it smart for once and have already taken Hamlet out for his morning walk, where he found someone who would pet him, so his day started out well ... and The Tim just returned from a trip to the grocery store, so we are set for a while.  Now we can just stay inside for the time being.

Our weekend was fine, if somewhat uninteresting.  The highlight was Saturday evening, when we did a Zoom happy hour with my niece Amanda and her husband Patrick.  Even their cat Clancy joined in!  We had so much fun, catching up, laughing, and just generally being silly.  It felt good.  Also, I don't know if any of you watch the TV show "Ozark," but I freaked out Pat with my impersonations of two of the characters (Ruth Langmore and Darlene, for those familiar with the series).  The two of them are doing well, and we traded suggestions for things to watch on TV while we're all home, so it was beneficial as well as just plain fun.

Also on Saturday morning, The Tim cut my hair for me!  I had told him that if he was willing to try, I would appreciate it - and that if it looked awful, no problem, since I'm not going anywhere in public anytime soon.  He was bothered because we didn't have hair trimming tools, but took out his beard trimmer and used that.  It was a huge success!  I told him that he'd better be careful, or he'd have a permanent job.  When we were talking to Amanda and Pat, they were complimenting him.  I said I assumed the back looked fine, but also wasn't too worried, since I don't see the back of my head, and then he said, "I figured that, so I just carved in the message 'F*** you.'"  We all got a good laugh out of that!

Towards the end of last week, I managed a HO:

This is the first Easter Egg Scrappy Shortie Sock, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!  I've got the second sock going, and am ready to pick up for the gusset and then knit the foot, so it's well on its way.  I was seeing lots of scrappy sock projects on Instagram and on podcasts, and they looked so nice, I decided to give them a try.  This is just a plain vanilla sock pattern, and I chose some scraps and minis that I figured would have enough for a pair, and got started.  It's fun, because it's one of those "just let me do one more color" projects. 😊

(See that smiley face?  I've been using Blogger forever, and just realized they had emojis.  Sigh.)

I've decided that Friday will probably be the day that I post the answers to the questions you asked me here.  So for anyone who still wants to ask me anything, there's still time!  Just remember the questions have to be posted as comments on that post.

That's about it for today.  We are still fortunate, in that we and all of our loved ones are still well and able to stay safe; I hope that is the case for you too. 

Back to the Needles

Today I am more grateful than usual for a long weekend.  I had a busy weekend, but it was busy in that I was doing a lot of cleaning up, packing things away, and some necessary running around trying to get some things taken care of that had been waiting too long.  So having an extra day off is even more welcome than usual.

Plus, it means I don't absolutely *have* to go out today in the cold and wind, unless I really want to go somewhere.  As I'm typing this, I'm wrapped up in my pjs and robe with a cup of tea and a purring Pip on my lap.  :-)

Yesterday at a certain point, I just plain ran out of steam.  So I finished up whatever I was doing, and got things together to start a new knitting project.  This was one of the projects that I would have knit for a Christmas gift, but I ran out of time and inclination, and decided to do it as a Valentine's gift.

This is the beginning of a pair of house socks for  The Tim.  He is an extremely knitworthy person, and had said a few months ago that he would like another pair of house socks.  Since he wears socks rather than shoes at home, and we have mostly wood floors, he needs socks that are sturdy but also can go in the washer and dryer without problems.  

So I looked at my stash of Encore yarns, and pulled out these two colors to make him a pair.  My plan is to have this series of stripes at the top and then have the toe in the lighter blue as well.  So far I like they way it looks, and since Encore is worsted weight yarn, these should go pretty quickly.  It's nice to have a project underway, since after finishing the one sock of my Christmas pair, I hadn't cast on anything new to knit.  Now I'm on my way again, so to speak.

**********

As those of you in the U.S. are aware, today we have a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.  I remember so vividly images from TV and the newspaper of the marches he led, and his speeches that would inspire so many.  I also remember being both confused and hurt when he was killed, and especially feeling bad for his kids because they lost their dad forever and I knew how horrible that could be.

Having said that, I hope you will not mind this story that is indirectly related to all of this. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Dr. King by telling it, it's just a silly family story.

My niece Amanda, is married to a guy named Pat, and he is just one of the best people ever.  He has a cousin who is older than he is, who has apparently always been in one kind of trouble or another for as long as anyone can remember.  At some gathering of our family, Pat was updating us on the latest news with "Cousin Corky."  At one point, my sister said, "What is Cousin Corky's real name?  Surely Corky is not his given name, right?"  And Pat, in a manner indicating that all of us must be the thickest set of brains in the universe, sighed and said, "His real name is Martin - everyone knows that Corky is a common nickname for Martin."  And all of us looked at each other as if to day, WTF?

And then about a minute later, The Tim said, "If that's the case, how come we never celebrate Corky Luther King Day?"

And now in our family, that is how this day is known.

And for the record, I've never met *anyone* else who thinks that Corky is a common nickname for Martin.  Maybe I just run in different circles???  ;-)

Hamlet's Most Excellent Christmas Day!

I am guessing if you are reading this, you made it through Christmas Day, and are [hopefully] still enjoying Christmastime.  Our Christmas Day was especially nice, and it seemed like a nice long day, instead of just speeding past before we even realized what was happening. 

Everyone was very pleased with their gifts - most of the treats for Hamlet and the kitties have been consumed, other than those in large bags or containers.  And with the addition of toys, boxes, and ribbon, it was just what you could want.  The Tim really liked his gifts, and was thrilled with the socks that I had knit for him.  Of course, even though I had been working on them in front of him a few times, he clearly had not been paying attention since they were a complete surprise.  :-)

I received some really great things, though nothing knitting-related.  Though to be honest, I'm not sure what I could have received, since I have plenty of just about everything I would ever use or need.  Only one item has to be exchanged for a different size, so I call that a success!

Hamlet in particular seemed to enjoy himself all day long.  Of course, whenever everyone is home, he thinks that's the best, so it started with that.  But he definitely thought his gifts were good ones.

I made him lie down for this photo before we started opening things.  The Tim said he is giving me a look that says, "PLEASE hurry up and get this done!"

His true favorite gifts (besides two pup cookies from Santa, one in the shape of a snowflake, and the other in the shape of a Christmas tree) were his chew toy and his unstuffed chicken.

The unstuffed chicken is apparently an excellent sleeping companion. 

Of course, just like kids, as soon as he was enjoying a gift, one of the cats had to try and horn in - but he gave as good as he got, so it all worked out in the end.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk and he wore his reindeer antlers - which he didn't used to like, but now that he realizes that they can get you some extra attention, he thinks they are great!

Needless to say, after all of the excitement, The Tim had a hard time getting him to go for an evening walk!

The Tim had to work on Thursday and Friday, and originally I had hoped to get together with some people during those days, since I was still off and had the time to meet for lunch or whatever.  And so of course for both of those days I was overcome with panic and anxiety about the fact that next week I would have to go back to work where things are particularly tense and miserable, and that was that.  The thought of having to even talk to someone - about anything, even the good and fun stuff - was overwhelming to me, so in the interest of my sanity, I just kept to myself and did things around here.  The kitties and Hamlet and I had some lovely days together, and I am feeling somewhat better, so that is good.  But I don't have many chances to get together with the people I'd hoped to see, so that was disappointing to say the least.  Hopefully I can figure out a way to make plans with them very soon.

And before we know it, 2020 will arrive, so there are all kinds of possibilities ahead, right? 

Enjoy your weekend!

In Which The Tim Gets One of His Christmas Wishes

This will always be one of my most favorite Christmas photos.  Every cat we have had has had to be in a photo with Rudolph, but I was lucky enough to catch this instant when it looked as if Jetsam and Rudolph are kissing.  :-)  I miss my Jet so much, but this makes me happy even so.

Today is the December meeting of our crafting group at work.  I brought in some cookies to share, and hope that more than just myself and my co-worker show up.  It's a hit and miss thing - one month there will be three of us, and the next time, twenty people show up!  I didn't bring in a whole lot of goodies, but at least made an effort.  One of the other members also usually brings a treat (her "craft" is baking), so I'm hoping she'll be there too.  It's a nice break in the day, even if not a lot of people are able to fit it into their schedules.  Quite a few of the people who have been laid off (excuse me, "restructured") have been in the group since the beginning, so I hope they can come today, since it might be the last time we'll get to hang out ... our institutional holiday party was mysteriously cancelled, due to "scheduling issues" which all of us take to mean that the administration didn't want to have an event that might turn into a farewell party for the people previously mentioned.

Anyway, we should have a good time - I'm looking forward to it.

I apologize if I've told you this story before, but I at least find it amusing every year.  About three jobs ago, one of the women I worked with was a former pastry chef who had chucked that career for one with "regular" hours.  She was simultaneously the oddest person and one of the funniest persons I've ever worked with, and I was one of the few people she never seemed to be feuding with (and I have no idea why, but it really doesn't matter in the end).  Her husband died from melanoma, and shortly after that, she married his best friend who lived in Maine, and moved there.  On occasion, if she came back to town to visit family, we'd meet for lunch or coffee, and frankly, I was always a little puzzled why she went out of her way (clearly I'm really good at friendships ...).  But every single year, at the beginning of December, we would receive a large box from her full of various types of fancy - and extremely delicious - cookies.  For someone who seemed to truly dislike most people, it was always a compliment, but a puzzling one, since I guess I never really "got" our relationship.

Anyway, last year, we didn't get the box until the second week of December, and The Tim (who can't even make an effort to remember her name, calls her "Your Cookie Friend") was quite put out that they arrived so late.   As of the end of last week, we had not received the box yet and frankly I was surprised I hadn't heard his "concerns" about it.  This past Saturday afternoon, as he was taking a nap, our mailman delivered the Box o' Goodies.  When The Tim woke up and asked if we'd gotten any mail, I said, "Well, you'll be relieved to know that your cookies have arrived," and he responded, "Oh I'm so glad!  If they didn't get here this weekend, I was gonna ask you to ask her if she was sending them this year."  OH.MY.GOD.  I would *never* do such a thing.  But now I've decided that if I happen to finish my journey on this planet before he does, he will not be likely to ever let this woman know ...

Now also keep in mind, if someone else said something like this, he'd talk about it non-stop.

Go figure.

What a weirdo.