Seriously...

...I've been meaning to post all week. I've been taking pictures with blog posts in mind. I even had a FMF topic to use. Just haven't gotten anything on the page screen. Will catch up soon, though, honest!

Karma Bites Ass, details at 11:00

So, working on a pretty new sock...



...it's my own pattern, pretty subtle in this variegated yarn, but it adds a nice texture so I like it. In any case, it's a change from my usual ribbed or plain stockinette sock.

I started said sock on Saturday, while at the Homegrown Hooha concert, in between acts. (Yes, I'm a dork. I knit at concerts. I knit anywhere. Whatev.) You'd think that being in such a location with a lot of distraction I would have just opted for a simple sock, but no. Not moi. Must make things more complicated challenging. So I started making up this little lace-ish pattern...it's hard to get to show up well in the picture, but it looks rather like a series of right-pointing carets. The pattern repeat is only six stitches and ten rows, so it isn't complicated, thus I could work on it with lots going on. And it was going swimmingly. All day yesterday and today, I'd sit down, pick it up, do another 10 row section and smile and pat myself on the back for just how well it was coming along and how (here it comes) I had not messed up the pattern AT ALL.

[Cue karma.]

So today, the girlie had an orthodontist appointment and I of course needed some knitting for the wait time, so I grabbed my happy little Hooha sock on the way out the door. I didn't have time to stop and put it in my purse, so I was just holding it in my hand as I opened the car door, sat down, and suddenly realized I had the yarn and sock in my right hand...and the circular needles and my car keys in my left hand.

.......

I was agog. Seriously. I stared at the sock that now had a fringe of live stitches staring at me, and at the needles just a-danglin' all free and loose. I could not even scream. I was in such utter shock.

We were running late for the appointment already, but when faced with the choice of saving your knitting or being late for an appointment, you know which you choose whenever possible, right? Yeah. The sock. I did not move one iota from the spot I was in until I managed to pick up every possible stitch (which, for the record, was 51 of the 60). Only then could I breathe again.

The sock is slightly wonky at that spot because I couldn't manage to get all of the stitches back on right and had to fudge it (there were YOs involved in the row before the one that the needles pulled out of, and they were not being cooperative). But it looks good enough that the average person will never know there was a problem.

Only I will know.

And I will be reminded that when I, a lowly knitter, dare to get cocky about my knitting performance, karma will come along and bite me in the ass each and every time.

Today, I reached...

...a new low in how I've answered the door for the UPS guy.

Most people who know me know that I'm prone to staying in my jammies until well after lunchtime, so more than one UPS guy has seen me in my sleepwear. And if I'm not going out anywhere, I often don't do much with my hair or put make-up on. Sometimes I don't even bother putting my contacts in.

But today...today. I managed to combine all of these elements, so that when the doorbell rang, and the only kid present had to contain the yapping dog, I was forced to answer the door looking like :::cringe::: this:

And just to note...this would have been a bad hair day anyway because yesterday was one of those did-nothing-much-with-my-hair (in other words, it air dried and was all kinky-curly), so after sleeping on it, well...let's just say the results are scary. Scary enough that I really didn't need to create the little Pebbles do with my daughter's skull barette, but I was in a silly mood and I knew it would make the kids laugh, which it did. God only knows what this look did to the UPS man. :::sigh:::

(Really, this is the fault of either my husband or the company that sent the package because the street number was wrong and the UPS guy needed me to verify it was the right house, thus I had to come to the door in the first place rather than him just leave the package on the porch. Ahem. Just sayin'....)

:::Deep, contented sigh:::

It is 11:22 p.m. on a Sunday night. Everyone else is in bed. The dog is asleep on the couch.

I sit here, in my comfy chair, feeling the cool breeze come in through the windows to my left. The only sounds I hear are a soft rain coming down and the occasional roll of distant thunder.

It has been a good weekend. Yesterday was full of good, good music, which always feeds my soul. Today was a day of rest. Nothing pressing. A lot of being.

And now I have this quiet, peaceful time of night all to myself. It is magic. I treasure it. What to do with it? I catch up on some blog reading, finding some new ones along the way. I have a good book I could switch to if I choose. I have not one but two knitting projects that I am thoroughly enjoying at the moment. Either or both of those may get my attention before the night is through.

I am deeply contented right now. The kind of contented that I cannot fully appreciate unless I've recently been frustrated or sad or upset. Moments like these tempt me to wish they'd happen more often, but I think part of their magic is that they are special because they are rare. 

So I will treasure this moment, thankful to be cognizant of it, describe it here in the words I have, and then be content to live it in its simplicity for however long it is destined to last. 

File under "Makes Me Laugh"...

This commercial is simultaneously funny and slightly disturbing. But mostly funny. Enjoy! And hey, go have a Coke... ;)

Continuation of a theme (with pictures!)...

It's Saturday.

It's this kind of day outside...

I'm enjoying a cup of this...

I've got this guy for company...

And I'm going to see these guys later today...

Good things. Good Saturday. Hope yours is too.

P.S. My salad garden has gone over to the dark side and now looks like this...

The tall, flowering things? Radishes. Yeah. A little out of control and beyond edible. But, you know what? I've decided I kind of like the wild and crazy out-of-controlness of my garden right now. It limits its edibility, but...it's pretty. And wildlife of the insectical kind is just abounding...

(If you're good, you'll be able to spot three butterflies and a bee in this picture. If I was good, I'd use Photoshop to draw circles and arrows to help point them out.)

There are dozens of these...

...cabbage butterflies! My moth and butterfly identification book describes them as pests, so I assume that means they aren't really good for your veggies, but they're pretty! And! And you can tell the difference between the males and the females really easily...males, one dot; females, two dots. How cool is that?

Anyway, the Black Forest of Death gardening theme continues for me this summer, clearly. But that's ok. It's working for me, and it is completely low maintenance -- a total plus in my gardening book! ;)

Five Minute Friday: Good things...

I've been in kind of a crap mood this week, for no real apparent reason (PMS withstanding), so I thought now would be an excellent time to make myself focus on some good things in my life, if for no other reason than to guilt myself into stopping the incessant stream of internal whining I've been listening to in my brain. So, here goes...good things...in no particular order...

...healthy family.

...new MacBook.

...Clarks concert tomorrow.

...a vivid imagination.

...tank tops.

...tattoos.

...fuzzy doggies that love you even after you've yelled at them for peeing on the carpet.

...good coffee.

...yarn, and yarn, and yarn.

...knitting wearable things with all the yarn.

...getting together with friends.

...tickets to see Wicked this fall.

...dark chocolate.

...meeting new people and finding out you have really cool things in common.

...feeling like you belong, even for a little bit.

...conversations with strangers in the grocery store.

...rockin' music on my iPod.

...cooler temps and lower humidity.

...Ninja Warrior.

...fresh produce.

...dreams of crazy things that will probably never happen but are vacations for the brain just to dream them.

...the full moon.

...silence late at night.

There. Feeling a little better now. :)

Ironically...

...over the weekend, I gave in to yarn buying temptation at The Loopy Ewe (otherwise known as my favorite online venue for buying fibery crack sock yarn). Among the goodies I bought was this...


Look familiar? Yep. It's the exact same Dream in Color "Smooshy" I bought at the yarn shop on Monday in the exact same color, Deep Seaflower. How bizarre is that? I seriously must have liked this yarn. And I still do. The colors are awesome, and the new skein matches the first two amazingly well for a hand-dyed yarn. (The pictures don't look so match-y, but that's because this one was taken with a flash and the other one wasn't, so you'll have to take my word on the matchiness of the skeins.) So now I can make a really, really big shawl. Or a big shawl and a pair of matching socks. Or a small shawl and two pair of matching socks. Or two small shawls and one pair of matching socks. Or...well, as you can see, my options have greatly increased, haven't they? LOL

Goin' to Candy Mountain...

So, yesterday I followed the magical liopleurodon's* directions to Candy Mountain...the land of sweets and joy, and joyness...er, ok...yesterday, I went to the Apple store. But seriously? Compared to the prospect of buying a new PC and having to face the Darkness and Evil Doom that is currently known as Vista [insert "Jaws" shark-approach or "Psycho" stabbing-scene music track -- your choice], going to the Apple store to buy a pretty, pretty new MacBook seems like a trip to Candy Mountain. Without the kidney loss.

And here she is...meet Buffy!


Isn't she pretty? And look at her pretty apple icon...

And here she is getting to know my Facebook page...


My old laptop has been dying a slow death for a while now. I've been trying to resurrect it so I can at least use it for word processing, but it's just too hit or miss. After surprisingly little discussion, the hub actually encouraged me to go buy the MacBook. I haven't used a Mac in over 15 years, but so far, no major trauma about that. It's prettiness is enough to make me overlook the things I have not yet figured out. And I did buy Office for the Mac, so I'm not completely starting from scratch with everything.

On the way home from the Apple store, I stopped at a yarn shop that I don't get to very often. Me and the yarn diet? Yeah. Not going so well this past week. Bought yarn last Friday and Saturday because I was back at the shop for one last hurrah (and since I bought yarn there, I opted to just be really bad and ordered some from The Loopy Ewe, too...just like a regular diet...you blow it for lunch, you might as well eat the bag of chips and a few cookies after dinner too, since the day's already shot). Anyhoo...I found this beautiful prettiness at the yarn shop yesterday...


It's Dream in Color's "Smooshy" in Deep Seaflower. Gawd, is it gorgeous! I bought two skeins to have enough to make a shawl or something lovely and lacy to show off the color changes. Can't wait to play with it. Now I must get back on the yarn wagon. Really. I must.

*(If you have no idea what a magical liopleurodon is -- as opposed to an actual liopleurodon, which I linked to a wiki above -- or what happens at Candy Mountain, please, oh please, watch this video...



And just a head's up...it gets funnier every time you watch it. Drinking helps. Just sayin'. (Courtesy of My Children...who think it is ridiculously funny even without alcohol.)

Other people's photos...

Have you played with Mosaic Maker yet? I've seen this feature on other blogs and decided to mess around with it...pretty cool, and a great way to kill time (because you know you don't already spend enough time on Ravelry or Facebook)...


1. Autumn walk, 2. If at first you don't succeed..., 3. Am I K in your book?, 4. Beautiful old lady from Darap(Sikkim) village, 5. Takidani Train Station 5 (re-do), 6. When the tears are not enough, 7. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane..., 8. 253/365- seeing me., 9. The Avenue in mist and sun, 10. I'm not just a music freak. I can read too!, 11. The Road to Ragged Mountain, 12. Garden bento, closeup, 13. Noche de luna llena - Full moon night, 14. officially internet-crushworthy, 15. Never again am I taking any freakin' photos with my freakin' camera at the freakin' BEACH, 16. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam

Ok, so...

...not much blogging going on this week, huh? Hm. Well, how about some recent pictures to fill up the lonely spaces of your mind...

New hair cut and color...


Celebrated 15th years of (mostly) wedded bliss ;) ...


It's CSA season...goodies from our first CSA delivery last week from Myrna's Naked Acre (the produce end of Log House Gardens)...


The rhubarb muffins I made with our CSA rhubarb...mmm...(recipe here)...


Made a hat...my June charity hat which made use of some recycled wool I bought from Cosy...


Got a new dress, the style of which totally reminds me of a dress my Nana had on in a picture from probably some time in the 60s, only hers was a red floral. She's been gone many years now, but the older I get, the more I look like her, and my mom always tells me I have her laugh...


And I just now noticed that the hat and the dress kind of coordinate! So didn't plan that! LOL

Sighting...

I've been watching, these last few nights. It's been so hot, I was sure I'd see one -- at least one -- but the nights remained dark, save for the stars and the waxing crescent moon.

But, tonight...tonight they were there! The first fireflies of the year. First one, then another, twinkling along the pines edging our yard. When I see them in the woods below our house, farther away, they remind me of little fairies...tiny Tinkerbells flitting about in celebration with the night.

Summer is officially here.

Commercial love...

Watched our Pens get whooped tonight, poor guys. I'm not a die hard hockey fan, but they are the home team, after all, and it would have been great to have them win. At least they didn't have to play three overtime periods tonight...that would have really made a loss suck.

A side benefit of watching the game, however, was seeing this commercial about a half dozen times. I love this commercial. I love the song (It's Love, by Chris Knox). Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and happy inside.

I'm totally in love...

...with this artist's work. Her paintings? Amazing. The color, the whimsy, the emotion, the themes....totally in love.