What's that about things in threes?
First, we got rear-ended Saturday in E'ville in the new car. No major damage, basically a license plate frame-shaped scuff on the back bumper, and everyone concerned is fine. The body shop said there was no structural damage to the bumper, and they are hopeful it will buff out. Still, I don't imagine I will be in any hurry to return to the big city.
Second, Ragged and Cynical got a rude awakening Monday morning when someone backed into Cynical's car at 4:40 am. Once again, nobody hurt, and that's the important thing.
Before I discuss the third, I want everyone to know my uncle is fine.
This evening on his way home from work, my uncle passed out and rolled his truck. We spent two hours at the ER and his only injuries were a bloodied nose (this is the same uncle that had the nosebleed that wouldn't stop and took a ride on the Lifeflight helicopter to the Big City) and a bump on the head. Of course, he will be feeling it tomorrow in a big, big way. He was wearing his seat belt and the truck had an airbag. And now we're told the truck also has a caved-in cab and one less wheel. Words cannot describe how very thankful we all are that this turned out as good as it did. "It could have been worse" is the mantra of the week, so it would seem.
I am hoping that this will bring a close to the motor vehicle incidents and that life is very, very boring for quite a long time.
And buckle up out there. Needles sez so.
In lighter news (well, kind of), go read Ramblin's blog to find out how much our cats weigh. Yes, that is our idea of entertainment.
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Well, I think it got worse.
I was hoping that would be the end of bad news. I really was. Then today we got the call that Ramblin's great aunt had died. This would be the second great aunt to pass away in less than a month.
And a co-worker found out she has to have a hysterectomy next Wednesday.
I call "no more". I'm not accepting any more bad news. We've had our fill, that's it.
To deal with the stress, Ramblin and I just engaged in ice cream therapy at the local ice cream shop. It just opened yesterday, and not a moment too soon.
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Happy(?) Birthday to me
While it's not the way I would choose to spend my birthday, in a couple of hours I will be attending a funeral. Since today is not the ideal day, I have hereby moved my official "oooh goodie, it's my birthday!" celebration to next weekend, when Ragged, Jenny from the Blog and I will be attending Greencastle. We'll still do the family get-togethers, but with Ramblin's family losing an aunt and my family has the upheaval from the wreck (which we are still so very thankful he was not hurt, the firemen couldn't believe how lucky he was), it's just not conducive to an overly celebratory mood.
And, what's more fun than fiber? Plus two, count 'em, two stops at the OG. (Chris, do you think they're still doing those surveys? Ha!) It's been a fibery, yarny birthday already, with two Loopy Ewe certificates and some money (which we all know translates into fiber).
I'm going out on a limb and say that the Silver Moon Evening Coat should be done this weekend. There's two more UFOs I want to finish, but it might be time to start a new project, since this will be the third UFO in a row completed.
And it is my birthday, after all. :)
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Almost there
It seems like a very long time ago I thought, "When will it ever be time for Greencastle?!" And now I'm a day and a half away. Of course, I was hoping when it was time for Greencastle, it wouldn't be time for it to be 47 degrees and raining, yet that's exactly what they are calling for on Saturday. Sheesh.
Silver Moon Evening Coat is done. Elfine's Socks are started. No pics of either. Sorry. Ramblin's folks have been up visiting, and there's simply not enough hours in the day.
However, I will be taking lots of pictures this weekend, theoretically, so maybe there will be something to look at on the ol' blog.
Greencastle 2008
So, what did I buy at Greencastle?
Hmm, there's some very typical colors in there, but a few surprises as well. I'll try to get better pictures of the individual items when the sun shines again. Bah-ha-ha. That's a good one. Anyway, starting from the back and working forward: a tangerine merino/silk blend from Ohio Valley Natural Fibers , a moss/rose/teal silk/merino blend also from OVNF, in the middle, a purple/blue/green silk/merino blend from Winterhaven Fiber Farm , and in front, two skeins of Shibui Sock Yarn in a deep teal from River Wools , Sea Wool pencil roving in greens from The Trading Post , and a skein of superwash sock yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarns .
A great part of the weekend was the food. We stopped on the way up at the Olive Garden, as planned. Then Friday evening, instead of the tradition of Chicago's Pizza, we tried a restaurant in Greencastle recommended by one of the vendors. Almost Home has dangerous desserts.
(Sorry it's blurry, but I think you get the idea.)
Sadly, I could not eat it all. We even took it back to the room, but it sat in the fridge. Then on the way back, we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's, where upon receiving the bill (are you ready for this, Chris? ), I was selected to complete an online survey and get $4 off my next meal. I tell you, the restaurants just love me.
Here are some random shots from The Fiber Event.
In other news, Jenny from the Blog and Ragged are now addicted to Granny Squares. Anything I can do to further enable the fiber love.
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Kate
Let's take a closer look
The sun came out, I snapped some pics, here we go!
This was my favorite purchase of the weekend. I have 20 oz. of this stuff, hopefully ensuring enough for whatever project I decide on.
I have no explanation for this next purchase. It was soft and reminded me of tangerines, so maybe my body thought it must be a good source of vitamin C.
The clunk you hear upon viewing this next one is Chrisknits falling right over. This is the absolute last color in the world I would ever buy. Well, next to the one above.
The final fiber purchase was a curiosity to spin what I presume to be a seacell/wool blend.
I tried to limit my yarn purchases, since it was primarily a spinning event, after all. But I couldn't resist the Shibui.
And thought it would appear I bought the two skeins below, let me assure you I didn't. And I didn't steal them, either.
This is destined to be a pair of Pumpkin Vine Socks , which I shall refer to as Punkin Vine Socks.
The skein is payment from Jenny from the Blog for knitting her a pair of socks out of this.
Luxury Sock from Creatively Dyed . I've actually already started knitting her socks, but I can't show them until they are done, because surprises are more fun.
I can't start my Punkin Vines until I get Elfine's Socks done. No, they're not for Elfine, they're for me.
And just because, I'm ending this post with a kitty pic.
You can tell Tugger has a rough life.
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Small-town life and industrial-strength kitty furniture
When you live in our area of the midwest, you have to be ready for anything that comes at you.
During this attack of sinus misery, I went to the pharmacy near my work to load up on drugs, cough drops, and tissue. Standing in the aisle, attempting to determine what mix of symptoms listed on the packages I thought best matched mine, I heard an exclamation of profanity - "S---".
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw a woman walking down the aisle toward me. Knowing my ears were wonky, I thought I might have misheard, but she said it again, "S---, you can't find a d--- thing!" Now, I grew up in Wayne County, IL, and if there's one thing a native Wayne Countian knows, it's how to deal with Crazy. Just like a bear, you don't make eye contact and whatever you do, do not acknowledge them, or you've had it. She continued on around me, saying, "They" (you know, the infamous they) "don't want you to treat yourself!" Well lady, sorry, you're riding this crazy train by yourself, I'm not getting on. I stared determinedly at the 48 different cold/sinus/allergy/flu/plague options.
She continues on down to the cough drops commenting, "You can't even find plain ol' Vicks cough drops in a box!" And, a woman waiting for a prescription made the classic mistake when experiencing Crazy - she attempted to reason with her. "We usually get Halls. They have Halls." "But not in a box!" she countered triumphantly. Who knew cough drop effectiveness was activated by cardboard?
At this point, I decided Tylenol Cold Head Congestion would work just fine and took off for the tissues. I needed cough drops, but I wasn't about to sacrifice myself. I killed some time there, then peeked back to see if the coast was clear. Nope, she had the poor woman cornered and was no doubt raving about the lack of mustard plasters. Forget the cough drops, I don't need them because after all, if they don't come in a box, you might as well forget it. She probably thought the ones in the plastic bags implant chips in your head, or something like that.
And in other news, during our pending vacation, the fuzzy people of the household will be limited to the back room. We can't have them surfing the Interwebs and ordering movies while we're gone. So, as an apology for their forced imprisonment, I thought it might be nice to get them a kitty condo/scratching post/cat perch, something to occupy them while doing time in the pen. I found some reasonable options on one site, but then noticed the specs - maximum holding weight was 15 pounds. If you've read Ramblin's blog lately, you'll know that won't work. The last thing we need is to come home and find Copper knocked loopy from a collapsed kitty house. So, either we need to find reinforced cat accessories, or somebody needs to stop eating everything on the carpet, including his brother's fur.
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I thought the quake went on a long time too. Someone said 10 secs! Yeah, wrong. I just wanted my girls to stop being terrified. Any aftershocks for you? They said it was west of Vincennes.
Okay, that was weird
We just had an earthquake. In the midwest. It probably lasted about 45-60 seconds (may not have been, but it felt like it went on and on) and we, the earthquake amateurs, think it might have been about a 4.
The cats are completely freaked out. They won't come out from behind the washer (tugger) or the pantry (Copper). Leave it to Copper to hide out with the food.
And later today, I get to go to work in a building that was about to fall down on a good day. Great.
My mistake. 5.4
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Enough with the shaking
Haul-o-ween
Because what else are you going to do in Mt. Erie on a Saturday night?
That is Purple Truck chock full o' Halloween goodies scored at the local auction. Note that the extended cab is full of them as well.
The boxes barely visible are 150 Shocking Autopsy games. Go ahead, ask. I know you want to.
Knitterbunny lamented the lack of all things Halloween on the blog last year. Consider this my jump on the season. It will be here before we know it.
One day soon, I need to get into full vacation-planning mode. As in, Jenny from the Blog is visiting tomorrow night, we have dentist appointments Thursday, and Ragged and Cynical will be at our house Friday evening. Uh-huh, might want to start thinking about that.
In the meantime, I have picked up yet another UFO for completion.
This will make at least the third UFO to be brought back to life. Go me. This is a pattern I've made up, and if I ever get spare time, I could write it up. We'll see if that spare time ever develops.
I should be able to show you three pictures of socks, but I can't because:
1) Elfine is done, but it's too dark now.
2) Super Secret Socks are done, but Jenny from the Blog won't get them until tomorrow.
3) I started the Pumpkin Vine Socks, but in the excitement of winning the Halloween stuff, I forgot my knitting bag at the auction. Before you all gasp, my mom works there and it's safely at her house, but I can't get them until Thursday, and I definitely can't take any pictures.
Any recommendations on things one must take on vacation would be greatly appreciated. I haven't been on a week-long vacation in eleven years. I'm a bit out of practice.
Funny. . . the first thing we did was weigh our cats too. . . . so much easier than looking down at our own wieghts.