Contrary to popular belief

I have not disappeared from the face of the planet, either by natural or supernatural means. Neither have I disappeared from the face of the internet, not that you could tell that from the state of my poor, neglected blog.

I've been fairly busy . . . not as busy as I'd like to say I've been, but busy enough. The biggest problem is that I haven't been good about taking pictures of things that I've been busy doing.

There's the sweater of which I'm quite proud . . .



. . . because it actually fits! And I loves it, it's soft and squishy and warm!

There's also been spinning, which I will go into more detail about some other day.

I've also been working on a website: SJGrayStudio. It's still a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely I think. Go check out the cool stuff in the gallery - and tell Curly how much you love it!

In other web related news, I'm now part of the committee (yeah, there's three of us) working on the church website. We're aiming to revamp it by this fall . . . so I'll give you the address when we're done.

There was other knitting, some of which has been gifted away, other of which isn't finished yet (and I'm shaming myself into getting it all done), so no pictures there.

We made a trip up to Maryland for their sheep and wool festival. Many sheep were appreciated . . .



and much fiber was purchased, including a half Bluefaced Leicester cross fleece I bought, that I sent off to be processed in order to spare our kitchen sink all of the lanolin.

Two years of the sheep and wool fest and I have yet to buy yarn there. It's not the yarn's fault; there's a lot of gorgeous yarn. I just seem to go into the festival with fiber on the brain.

And if the Sheep and Wool Festival has come and gone, then it must be time for vegetable gardening! Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes! And we have a new planting box on the fire escape, which we are filling with herbs.

It has been a fun spring. We even taught middle/high school Sunday school on a couple occasions - that was a trip! I made soap - and it actually cleans stuff. I found a bread recipe that I just love. We almost moved to Alaska (well, almost might be an exaggeration). I'll have to talk about those things in more depth later.

Meanwhile, there's more knitting going on, even more knitting that I want to do, even more books I want to read, more movies to see, more things to see and do, more stuff to write about . . . eventually.

Sadly, no.

The apartment turned out to be a bit disappointing. The kitchen is the size of my sister's closet, and while she has a walk-in closet she doesn't have to fit cabinets, a refrigerator and a stove in that closet. Also it seemed very dark, and we like sunlight. So sadly, it was a bust. But it was an adventure!

In other adventures, we went to the Bass Pro shop and had a tremendous time looking at grills and camping equipment. I think we may be going camping (as soon as we remedy a lack of sleeping bags). Mmmm . . . . food plus fire . . . good!

Ugh.

And then, true to my nature, I forgot the camera. There wasn't much in the way of decent light at the winery, and we'll definitely be seeing Williamsburg again. So, I'll have to remember next time.

Seriously?

This is not going to win me friends; in fact, it will likely make people very mad at me. Any staunch liberals who may come across this might just want to stop reading right here.

But who thought it was a good idea to give Al Gore a Nobel prize? I'm sorry, but that man gives me the willies. Slimy, stuffed shirt, consumate politician. Did I mention slimy?

Like I said, this is no way for me to win friends or influence people. I don't care. I don't like him.

All that said, I think he's done some good things in the realm of environmental awareness. Not sure it was Nobel prizeworthy, but good nonetheless.

He still scares me. Not as much as Hillary Clinton scares me, but he does. And I'm still trying to figure out what it was he won an Emmy for - I honestly thought it was some kind of spoof when I was watching.

I'm boring . . . but I have a plan!

I blame Christmas, by the way, and the Hogwarts Sock Swap. I, who hate deadlines, have made myself a bed of deadlines in which I must lie. How is it, I ask, that I repeatedly put myself in this position?? But I digress.

The point is, I have been meaning to post something, more than one something, but when I sit down to type I have little or nothing interesting to say. I mean, the granola was awesome, but if that's the highlight of my postable news, I may be losing it.

Now, I do have some greatly exciting knitting going on; at least I find it exciting.
So, I promise there will be pretty pictures and some really fun FO's (if I do say so myself) eventually. But since they are either Christmas presents or socks for the swap, eventually will come once towards the end of October, and then not again until January. Until then, it wouldn't kill me to engage a few brain cells in discussing something that doesn't involve wool and other assorted fibers.

In other news, I have crafted a plan for keeping myself chugging along on the deadline knitting. When I finish the last of it, I will place an order for the yarn to start my first sweater. And while I'm waiting for that to come, I've got a hank of merino I've dyed for a hat for myself.

Now . . . what to talk about for a while?

A full day . . .

It's far too soon to use the "f" word (fall), but the temperatures this week were so nice we opened up the apartment - it's a little warm, but comfortable enough.

I'm rediscovering how energizing having a day to myself can be - after the boy went to work, I baked a cake, two loaves of bread, swept and mopped the apartment, cleaned the kitchen, did a load of laundry, saw Mr. Perry and got us some big zucchini, corn, peaches and squash, put clean sheets on the bed, and got some quality knitting done. I see some zucchini bread in my future, but probably not 'til it gets chilly.

It's been a good day.

Tomorrow there's more laundry, some yard work, and more fall gardening. So far we have collards and cauliflower, but I have broccoli, spinach, and lettuce still to plant.

Labor Day Weekend

As I was still on my Tuesday - Friday schedule at work, and the boy got Labor day off, we took our three day weekend and went up to the Creek with my mom. We cooked out with my Grandparents, took naps, swam in the river (which was delightfully nettle free), enjoyed the breezes on the porch, picked crab with friends for supper one night, picked crab again the next day for lunch, and generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. I got a bit of knitting done, but as I have begun the Christmas knitting I won't be sharing details until after the gifts have been received.

We took the kitten. That was an adventure. She snorts mid growl. Thankfully, I can report that no fur was flung in the taking of this vacation. It just wasn't completely quiet.

Changes

So, as I was sitting with the lappy, checking my e-mail, I overheard the boy in the kitchen say, "No, get out of the fridge." No, he wasn't talking to the milk. He was talking to the fur kid - meet Nora:


We adopted her yesterday.

Monday is my day off . . .

. . . for now. I may just have the best schedule ever, for me. It won't start for a couple weeks, but once it does I won't work Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays! I'm still working in television, I won't have to get up early in the morning, and I get three day weekends, ON THE WEEKEND!! I'm going to hold onto this shift for as long as I can, it's going to be great!

The downside to this is that I won't be able to keep going to the Tuesday and Wednesday night knitting groups I'd enjoyed so much.

In other good news, the boy has started a new job, which he seems to be liking so far. This also means that this was my first Monday off with some alone time. Don't get me wrong, I do love that boy, but a little me time today was nice.

Also, I've tried my first batch of pickles. They weren't bad, but as I had miscalculated the amount of dill seed per jar (it's a Tbsp, I thought it was a tsp) this first batch is mostly sour and not very dilly. The next batch should be better.

There has also been knitting. I whipped up a pair of baby booties and a hat in a hurry, thinking I could sneak them into the auction at camp, but that didn't happen. I need to photograph them, they came out cute, but they need feet and a head - I may need to hit up the thrift store for a baby doll for modeling purposes. There are also socks:




And then there's this one. I am in the process of remembering the benefit of putting one's mind to something (read: kicking myself). It's really moving along now. I'm slightly concerned that I may run out of yarn before I close the toe, but I won't know until it happens.



I really like them, and I'm so glad they fit. I was worried. At this rate I should have a few more pair to add to the rotation soon. Is it sad that even when the highs are in the 90's I wear wool socks to work?

The other thing I'm remembering today? How great milk and graham crackers are!

I'm home, did ya miss me?

Probably not . . . seeing as I didn't mention I was leaving. But it being August it was time for the annual trek to West Virginia. Well, at least it used to be annual. I have great hopes that it can be again.

We timed the trip perfectly, by accident of course. We left town on a day where the predicted high was 101, and the heat index was somewhere in the one hundred teens. When we reached Alderson it was still very hot. They had been suffering from the same heat wave that we had been. We unpacked the truck, set up the tent, and then promptly donned our swimsuits and submerged our sweaty selves in the river. By the time dinner was over the temperature had started to drop. We had arrived just in time for the first cool night they'd had in over a week.

The boy wasn't sure what to think at first, but it didn't take him long to relax and enjoy himself. We got a chance to visit with folks that I've known my whole life. We swam and tubed in the river. We went to the fair, which the boy pronounced to be a bit small, but inherently cool. (This was the WV state fair, by the way) I introduced the boy to the cultural experience that is the Pig Roast.

Packing up to leave yesterday was not something we wanted to do, but the boy had to go to work today. We had fun on the drive home, and even managed to squeeze in a stop at a yarn store!

But wait! Did they take their camera?? Silly question!



The boy did more of the photography than I did, so I'll see if I can beg him to post some pictures.

But the best part? I actually heard him say "I miss Camp Greenbrier" today . . . it wasn't as quiet and under his breath as he thought. Made my day!

What's up?

Well, I had my first day at the new job today. My head is only a little swimmy, and I think that has more to do with being up so early than it does with the training. I've done a lot of what I did today before, though their automated decks and software are a bit unfamiliar.

I played a little dumb today, to make sure I didn't miss anything. To that extent, it worked, but it was a little trying on my patience - so tomorrow, I'm going to be smarter.

No earth shattering news on Seth's job front, but he may have lined up a new interview today. Here's hoping.

What's been going on . . .

So, I was hoping to be bubbling over with great news that we've both got new jobs and all is well, but that's not quite true.

I have a new job. I start the 10th of July at WAVY, which is our NBC affiliate, as a Full time (yay) Master Control Operator (also yay). For starters, it's a step closer to engineering, which makes it more fun for me, and it's 4 days a week, and likely, once I'm done training, it's the same 4 days every week. I might just have a regular schedule soon, it's exciting.

The boy on the other hand, hasn't yet secured a new job. He has applied with both UPS and FEDEX, and we're hopeful he'll get a job with one of the two. He's also applied at a Marina, and a bunch of other places that I don't know what they are. He's getting a might disappointed at this point, but he's still hopeful. I would just be nice for someone to hire him in the next week or two.

Anyway, that's where we are. More updates soon, I hope.

I've been tagged

by a blue turtle!

Here are the tag rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog the 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you are tagging a note in their comments so they know they have been tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

Seven Random Facts:

1) Many sweet people gave us wine glasses as wedding presents - my favorite use for them? Chocolate milk!

2) I rarely go to the downtown mall without going to the library - it makes the parking free (although I walk a lot) and I love books.

3) I don't pack my lunch for work because it saves money; I pack my lunch because it leaves me with more time to knit at work.

4) I can't have a normal schedule in my current field - my work day either has to start at 4am, 11am, or 3pm, there are no holidays and weekends are basically expected.

5) One SIL is also a friend from college, and I almost had a BIL who had the same name as my husband.

6) I think roast goat may very well be the best meal I've ever had.

7) My current cooking related goal is to make a decent pie crust from scratch.

I am ending this trail here, because I don't know who to tag. If anyone reads this and wants to play a long, feel free to continue the thread.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Man was that ever fun! The boy and I drove up into Maryland Sunday morning to check out the Sheep and Wool Festival. We saw so many different kinds of sheep. Have you ever heard of Jacob sheep? They're cool! They can have 4 horns, two that wind around their ears fairly typically, and two that wind down around their jaw. This one only had two.



And they are so cute when they're little!



This one is a Corriedale, check out those cheeks.



Good times were had by young and old. We saw llamas.



And I think these are goats.



We watched a sheepdog demonstration.



And saw a lady spinning angora straight from the rabbit.



And, of course, we had to check out the alpaca. The one on the left is a huacaya, the one on the right is a suri. They were so soft.



There were also some who'd been sheared. This one is also huacaya - just with less hair.



It was a lovely cool spring day; we had lamb for lunch (gyro for me, burger for the boy), a couple of oldfashined sodas, and a great time. And for the record, I didn't buy any yarn. I did buy a little fiber and a drop spindle, but no yarn.

Mini List

1. Leaving town tomorrow, little sister's graduatin' (yay)
2. Work has been nuts lately, and way high pressure (boo)
3. I have mastered the biscuit (yay)
4. We're going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival on Sunday (yay)
5. I don't see much of the boy during the week on my current work schedule (boo)
6. I'm tired, and my feet hurt (boo)
7. Tomorrow is friday (yay)
8. Gray's Anatomy is two hours tonight (yay)
9. I broke a sock needle (boo)

yup, that's it for now.

Grr . . .

I've been stalking a book at the library for over a month. A very cool friend recommended it to me. It was due back at the end of March. Now the library catalog says they don't have any copies of that book in the city library system.

I will find the book, I will!!

God is not without a sense of humor

and I have proof!

"A nor'easter (also northeaster) is a macro-scale storm whose winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. They also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion and gale force winds." -Wikipedia

We're supposed to be having one of those today. I got a call yesterday asking if I could come into work a little after noon to do hourly weather cut-ins (where we update folks on the weather sitch by breaking into regular programming, we're angering golf fans today) because the weater was supposed to be so bad all day. I'm sitting in the control room now - and guess what! It's bright and sunny outside!! What the deuce??

So . . .

The fellow who runs the station website is thinking about letting me write a craft blog. I'm thinkin' he's crazy. Any ideas? A title? Good topics?

So far I'm thinking of working up posts on (in no particular order):
1.Knitting (General)
2.Crochet (General)
3.Spinning (General)
4.Sewing Clothing
5.Quilting
6.Making soft toys
7.Faux Finishing
8.Furniture Making and Finishing
9.Crafting for Charity
10.Christmas gift ideas
11.Other gift ideas (birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day etc . . .)
12.Good gifts for crafters
13.Sock Knitting
14.Lace Knitting
15.Filet Crochet
16.Mosaic Tiling
17.Baking (General)
18.Bread Making
19.Dyeing
20.Collage
21.Some dish specific cooking (making pasta, pie crust, pesto etc . . .)
22.Making purses and bags
23.Knitting finishing techniques
24.Interviews with some local store owners and crafters

Now, to be brutally honest, I don't know too much about quite a few of these things, but this can serve as a motivation to research and learn myself. I may spend some serious time at the library/on the web. If anyone just loves any of the non-knitting stuff, and wants to share their wealth of knowledge, please do. Suggestions for websites etc . . . would be wonderful.

Am I nuts?? Y'all have read my blog, you know I don't express myself well on the page. I think I may be calling in the services of my mother, as I did in highschool. I might should ask if she's ok with that, huh.

Fellowship time is precious

Sometimes it's what you really need.

I meet with a group of kids from church on monday nights, but tonight I had to leave early because I had to be back at work earlier than normal. One of the members was apologizing that we hadn't gotten into the meatier parts of our time before I had to leave, but tonight, when I was tired and still had a shift left to work, the hanging out and telling stories and laughing was what I really needed.

God's good like that.

In which our intrepid knitter questions . . .

. . . everything she learned in driver's ed.

So I'm driving from work to the store tonight, for some much needed grocery shopping. We were out of All Bran (do we sound 70 yet?) and in need of a gallon of milk. Cruising down the street behind a green Celica, I come up to a light going from yellow to red. I stop. So long Celica. Behind me is a silver Scion. Behind me. Traffic on the cross street comes to a stop, but our light hasn't turned green yet. Silver Scion pulls up to my right, as if to make a right turn when the light turns green, but before it does, silver Scion is off in front of me, down the street. Did I miss the light change? No, just changed. Huh. So on I go, now behind the silver Scion. Come to another red light; silver Scion is behind green Celica. Same trick. Silver Scion pulls around green Celica while it waits for the light to change, and heads off having effectively cut in line. Six blocks later, I pull up next to silver Scion in the leftmost left turn lane (I am in the second left turn lane). The light is red. Cross traffic slows to a stop, and silver Scion is off, a full second and a half before the light changes.

Am I nuts?? Green means go, right? Silver Scion had Florida plates, he's going to have a rude awakening when he discovers both that people in this town generally run red lights as they turn red not green, and that his Scion is no match for a "real" car in a colision. Part of me is smug, is that bad?