06.25.09
Posted in odds 'n ends, daily life stuff, knitting at 11:34 pm by Shari
Just ‘cuz I spent more years than I’d like on a farm, and helped with the garden more than I’d like, it doesn’t mean I’m able to grow anything.
The tomatoes are going well - no blooms yet, so obviously no produce, but it’s looking pretty promising. The cukes (what lasted when I first planted) and squash are going well too. Lettuce, on the other hand, and herbs - not so much.
Ever hear of hydroponics? I could pretend that I was trying to learn about that. But the fact of the matter is that I didn’t realize the flowerbox style planters I had had drain holes that were PLUGGED. And we got a TON of rain last week. When it cleared enough to go check on everything, I went out to find all the lettuce under at least 2″ of water. Oops! The water’s been drained, and the plugs removed and the lettuce isn’t exactly dead, but I’m not sure if it’s bouncing back either. Time will tell
The herbs have been living in the house and were all gangly looking. I decided once it had gotten more consistently warm (but not blistering yet) that it was time to take them out to be conditioned. The next day, nearly all of them were dead 
What’s left is back inside for the moment, seeing what happens to them.
The last thing planted is some mint in a few pots. Still waiting on those to come up. If for some reason they don’t come up - it’ll be time to quit. My recollection is that mint grows even if you don’t want it to.
The other thing I was planning to plant was some sunflowers - but the birds attacked the seed packet and relieved me of the seeds, so I either go get some more or skip that for this year.
Amber’s acting all lethargic like she did last late summer/early fall. Last time she just kept slowing down. This time it’s starting with her bugging the heck out of her ears… rubbing them and digging at them to the point that she’s opened up all kinds of next to her ears. We started trying to massage the ears with damp cloths which she seems to really like us doing, but then she started slowing down in the last day and a half or so… and the clinch-pin is not eating again. Made a vet appt for tomorrow morning and I’m hoping it’s easier (read cheaper) to sort out than last time. And if she’s gotta take any drugs, you can bet I’ll make them write an Rx to take to Walgreens.
One good thing about tomorrow is that I’M ON VACATION. Yeah - for a single day…. a day that I didn’t know I was even eligible for until 2 days ago and then had to make sure I took before next Wednesday or I’d lose it. I could have sworn that I had to be there 6 months before I’d get my first day. 6 months is Monday. Nope… for some reason I looked at accruals in the timekeeping system on Tuesday and saw that I had 7 hrs! Since I’m scheduled for training activities next Monday and Tuesday, and vaca has to be scheduled in advance and the daily phone schedule set a day ahead, it meant the ONLY day I could take was tomorrow. So I requested it and hoped there’s be “enough bandwidth” to approve my request. Luckily it was approved so that means I don’t have to sweat getting out of the vet TOO fast. Not that I want to be there long - that just means more $$$’s, usually, but it’s one less stress factor.
On the knitting front - I’ve been working on the Sockotta socks but it’s time to turn the heel. I was gonna try Wendy Johnson’s directions. I started it and then realized that I hadn’t set up properly. Put them down and started a pair using Paton’s Kroy Stripes (in the cyan stripes colorway) that are turning out great too. With the vacation day tomorrow, I hope to have the time to focus on the Sockotta pair to get those heels done so they are back to mindless knitting, ie knitting that can be done at work.
Are you tired yet of the MJ coverage on TV? It’s not even 12 hrs yet and is totally overshadowing FF’s death. Word of both deaths spread so fast today, what with everyone having a cell phone and getting/sending text messages. I grew up w/ his music and did like lots of it, but didn’t like the personality or persona or something once he passed his teens or so… Now the rumor mills and spin doctors are going crazy and we’ll probably never know what really happened, but then again, is it really our business?
If I don’t get to bed, it’ll be impossible to get to the vet on time, so I’d better shut up for now.
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06.17.09
Posted in daily life stuff, knitting at 1:59 pm by Shari
I’m on a “kick” with knitting socks at the moment. I finished up the carnival colored socks last Thursday and wore them before I got to take any pics on Friday. Immediately cast on another pair.
This time it’s Sockotta yarn, size 2 Addi Turbo circular needle, doing the pair from the toe up, magic loop technique. The yan is basically a washed out denim base color with stripes of pale yellow, light brown, light blue and light green. The colors always alternate with the base color and sometimes there’s 2 of the contrast color and sometimes 3. They started at different places in the repeat, so this pair will definitely be fraternal not nearly identical.
I understand the basics of the heel and now that I got through one set on my own, I went back to Wendy Johnson’s site to see how she does the heel turn/flap on a toe up sock and will mingle what I did with what she does on this pair. I’m soon ready to work on turning the heel on this new pair.
In the garden - I planted the lettuce and squash last weekend. Dang, those lettuce seeds are small and there’s a LOT in a package. They look pretty funny and definitely too many in the planter, but we’ll see how big I can get them before I start thinning them out - add at least a few of those tiny leaves to a salad. The squash is coming up just fine and 1/2 of the cukes didn’t revive themselves after they were transplanted. I still didn’t put in the mint, but I know that’ll grow like a weed, so I’m not stressed about that. The herbs have all come up but look a little too tender to put outside in their planters yet. Tomatoes look great and need some stakes very soon. It’s kinda exciting to know that I’ve gotten these things in and I look forward to picking from the back porch.
The other day I got the first few quarts of fresh from the field strawberries. Wilberts, on Rt 350 in Macedon? Walworth? is right on the way to the dump. I had to take the trash on Sunday and was very excited to see they were open. Those strawberries didn’t last very long. They have U-Pick at some point, and I’d like to pick some to make jam this year, but we’ll see if I can get it together to make that happen.
I also found a place that had fresh asparagus - YUM. Usually when I go by this place, they are all out by the time I get through there. Chuck doesn’t much like asparagus, but I do, so I sneak a little in during the very short season.
I have very fond memories of going out to pick the asparagus at my grandmother’s house when I was little. We’d bring it all in, clean it and put it in bunches that she’d put out by the road. My brothers and I would hide under the big pine tree and watch people come by to buy it - we were certain that people were going to steal the money and we (aged 8, 6 and 3) weren’t going to let that happen. I wish her house was still there so I could see how big it REALLY was. As a kid, it was HUGE, and the asparagus field went on forever, and there was a huge field for catching lightening bugs. The walk-in basement had so much fun stuff. I’m sure now I’d be shocked at how small it really was.
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06.06.09
Posted in daily life stuff, knitting at 7:29 pm by Shari
Okay, so I did finish the Gin & Tonic socks a few days ago and promptly wore them the next day. Here’s a few shots. The darker ones are more representative of the colors. My second toe really isn’t deformed even though it kinds looks it in the pictures. I’ve decided that although I do really like these… I like the pattern even without the cable crossings. Also, I think I’d like the solid section of the toe to be a little deeper, and even though I did make the heel flap deeper than the pattern said, it should have been even deeper than that.
Now on the needles is a pair that’s been on the needles since January. It’s my first pair of toe up magic loop with a heel flap and gusset like the ones I do on a top down. I had to really think through the process (what, me follow an existing pattern???) and wanted to get into the heel sometime when I could focus and get them both done. Since during tax season I never felt like I could, I had put them aside. Now they are nearly done - just a few inches on the leg and ribbing at the top. I plan to make them as tall as I can given the yarn I have. I’m calling them my carnival socks because the yarn is red, aqua, purple, orange and white. What the HELL was I thinking when I picked that combo???? Anyway - the yarn is JoAnn Sensations Soles & More and I’m using a size 2 needle for this pair.
Also still in the needles (among many things) is that purple sweater that I was going great guns on before. Need to do some ripping so I get back to the bottom of the v-neck section then I can get back into that project again.
On the home front, I did some more planting. Last night I got the cukes into the barrel, along with some squash seeds. Also did the hanging planters for the front porch and lettuce in a window box-like planter. I have mint for another planter and some sunflower seeds that I’d like to throw in somewhere. The cukes look a little sad today - one set had dried out too much while waiting to be planted. Remembering the farm years, I know I don’t need much in the way of plant to have an overabundance of vegetables, so I’m not going to sweat that. If they come back, great. If not, there’ll still be plenty, I’m sure. The tomatoes I planted early in the week are looking pretty perky and I think I can see all of one sprout in the 12 peat pots of herbs that I planted. Whatever - it still feels good to have started something this year and hopefully we’ll get at least a little yield from the effort.
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06.01.09
Posted in odds 'n ends, knitting at 6:57 pm by Shari
I didn’t finish up the G&T socks last night. And, it’s going just fine working on them at work today, and they aren’t quite finished even though work is nearly finished. Hmm… wrong on all accounts.
One of the other distractions when I’m at work is reading cnn.com and browsing the articles there. Last Friday it took me to Philly.com to read an article, then I read another and another. None of them noteworthy, but it made me think back to the 2 yrs I lived down there. Somehow that made me nostalgic and I decided to try using maps.google.com to see what it looks like now.
What fun that was! Plugged in my apt’s address and it landed me about a block from the building. I switched to street view and starting going up and down streets… It was funny to see the windows for the bedroom I had the first year I was there, that overlooked the next door frat house’s yard (that house looks rather abandoned now), and the front bedroom window that we used to open to throw keys down to visitors so we could avoid 3 flights of stairs to let them in. I don’t remember there being a tree on the sidewalk, but I guess in 28 yrs, a lot can change. We might get keys stuck in the branches if we tried that trick now.
I went on a walk to school, to Mr. O’Malley corner store, the sub shop another block away where my buddy Scot worked, up and down the neighborhood streets, the walk over to the UP campus, etc. Visited the grocery store and the church I attended, the dorm where some friends lived, etc. It was so much fun to see what was changed and what was still the same.
I think I’ll take another trip to Center City one day. Likely I won’t recognize nearly as much there.
Argh… time to quit and my phone just rang… later…
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