Sunday, April 25, 2010

Finished Object Alert!

Yup...I'm still here. I've just been really busy lately; I've barely had time to knit and certainly haven't had a spare second to do a blog entry. I'm on vacation the week of May 10th, and plan to get LOTS of knitting done. For everyone who has been following the painfully slow progress of my twirly skirt since last July: I will post photos of the completed skirt sometime the week of May 17th. I'm going on three airplane rides, and the skirt will be the official carry-on project. Twirly is my most traveled UFO. It's been with me to Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and the Adirondacks. In two weeks it'll see rural Indiana and Las Vegas. Sheesh.
I've been working on a Cable and Lace Pullover (by Cecily Glowik MacDonald) which is coming along. I love the pattern and it knits up really quickly. No photos of that I'm afraid. Next time.

I just knit another Darkside Cowl (by Sarah Fama) because I was looking for some immediate gratification. I'm not sure what I'll do with it - it'll probably be a holiday gift. Yes, I'm starting my holiday gifts.

I have an update on my flooded condo. (Remember the idiot in the unit above who broke his toilet??) I got the estimate from my contractor and we're looking at over $35K in damage. I should've beaten the crap out of that guy when I had the chance. Since he was completely incapacitated as a result of drug and alcohol over-use, a) he wouldn't remember a beat down and b) I'd feel much better right now. I should've definitely taken his dog. Jerk.
Well, that's all for today. I have to post the cowl to Ravelry and step away from the computer. Bye.





Sunday, April 4, 2010

Quick Follow up Post...

I just finished posting the "real" entry below, but this is so funny I have to do two last pics.
This is what I have to deal with when I sit at my computer. Tubby is snoozing with her head on my keyboard and Munchie is camped in my lap. No one in this house ever heard of a kitty bed. Bye.

Happy Spring!

Bet'cha thought I fell off the planet, eh? Nope, just right out straight. Last weekend (at 1:45 AM) my condo in Chelsea was flooded when the idiot living in the unit above broke his toilet. Literally. Broke his toilet tank in two. Then, not realizing he was about to wreck the two units below his (he didn't notice the tank was completely cracked- water pouring out of it should've been the first clue), staggered across the unit to his bed and passed out. By the time I saw his unit, there was 3" of water up there. I think I was in shock because I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around what was happening. The fire department tried to rouse him by using the phrase, "Don't you know you're unit is flooded?" Numb nuts replied that his unit was NOT flooded, and the fireman bent over, scooped up a handful of water and threw it in his face. It's an amusing visual, but I missed that exchange because I was already trying to get ServPro over to my place PRONTO. You ought to see me deal with a crisis at 2:00 in the morning. I spent 40 years in the Hank Martinson school of how to do everything right, so once I woke up, I was like a machine. Due to the flooding in Mass and Rhode Island, I couldn't get an adjuster to come for a visit until Monday, but hopefully the repair process can get underway and won't be too painful. I need to give a special shout out to my friend B (and her kitties) who lives in my condo and has been a great sport this week under really crappy circumstances. She had two dehumidifiers the size of refrigerators and three jet engine fans blowing for nearly 72 hours. The whole thing is just an unnecessary pain in the ass. As far as the guy upstairs, who does that? Even a week later I still can't believe it.
And now onto Spring...


I met up with my mother P for lunch yesterday, and she brought along these lovely roses. I was thinking that I should've brought her flowers as I was driving up to see her, so I felt kind of bad when she pulled these out of her hat. As you can see, they are a lovely pale peach color and opened up beautifully.

I took this second shot to point out that the orchid I received as a holiday gift is still thriving after nearly three and a half months! My other two are still domant. You can't see them, but they are there in the background snoring.


I bought the hyacinths and the flat of pansies last weekend up at Chapman's Greenhouses in Beverly Farms, MA. (Hi C!) The hyacinths have exploded and their scent fills the house. Since it finally stopped raining, I'm going to plant the pansies out front today.


I'll probably split and move a couple hostas out back as well. My backyard is trashed. I had a giant frost heave out their this winter, and I have areas of the lawn that have sunk as well as tree limbs everywhere. I can hardly bear to look at it. I'll just stay focused on the pansies and the hostas. When the yard dries out, I'll call someone in for advice.

And finally, since this supposed to be a knitting blog, I have a couple shots of the progress on my sweater. The darker color is truer to the color of the yarn, but the close up shows the stitches. It is coming along well. I have about one row's yarn left before I start a new hank, but I'm not sure where I put them. I know I the other five are all together b/c I separate by project to keep the queue orderly, but not being able to find this project bin will gum up the works. Current project yarn does not belong in the attic, but maybe it's up there. My sister H is really good at organizing...maybe I could somehow coerce her into helping me with my yarn?? Please?