Home Improvement Nightmare.....

Nothing ever seems to go smoothly when one decides to improve or change something in their home. We want to paint ben's room because I don't thing dark terracotta is a really fun kiddy colour. He has decided on a blue shade (hello Crayola Sky Blue like paint chip) and though its not a shade I would like its his room. At least I talked him out of red.
The problem is that the paint on his walls started peeling off. It began with a scratch from a bookcase or something next to his closet in this photo...
.......And some patches started on the wall next to his bedroom door thanks to his desk edges.
Then a couple of patches on the window wall.
Using razor blade window scraper Marla, Ben , and Cameron have peeled/scraped ALOT of the terracotta paint (and its PRIMER) off these originally horribly blue walls. Walls that are eerily almost exactly the same colour as we are going to paint the room. Freaky, non?
See the paint patch face on the wall? Those are patches of terracotta paint that have decided to stick and they make a face that looks like it is as horrified as I am about this Frakking mess.

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!

Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton http://www.jonathancoulton.com/store/downloads
I heard it on Cast-On Podcast and can not get it out of my head. Love love love.....
Go have a listen I swear you will NOT be sorry.

Another reason why I am a good catch

(cue Barry White voice) I can make a very sexy cappucino. Look at that head of foam...look at the cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top... yeah baby.

ssssslllllllllllrrrrrrrrppppppp
aaaaahhhhhhhhh


mmm-mmmmmmmm
Thats good sexy cappucino

Photos to Appease The Barb

First I shall mesmerise you with my glowy eyes and my stripey furriness.......
Follow me, human slave...To your DOOM...or to the cat dish whicever comes first...
Stinky goodness from a can...you must buy more stinky goooodddnnneeeeesssssssss............

Calls...

This morning, a day I went back to bed after shuffling the kids out the door, the phone decided to ring. First it was Marla. She announced she was packing up and hitting the highway today instead of two weeks from now, if that was ok. Alrighty...
This also meant that Barb wouldn't be able to ride shotgun on the trip here as we had hoped because of the short notice. And it also means that Ben's room may not get painted because the prep work still isn't done ( see above 2 week timeline).
So today I am refreshing guest bed linens and vacuuming and Febreezing and maybe bathing the dog ( she smells doggy and it doth offend some) and making the kids take their clean laundry to their rooms. I should clean the fish tank too but just because it needs doing and I have been putting it off.
Anyhoo, thats about it for today near as I can tell. Preparing for a guest and the usual Monday junk like laundry and vacuuming. I am so exciting.
A big shout out to Suldog too.....love your comments.

Yet another Sunday

And the end of my 39th September....seeems like there was more of them than that but, NOPE, only 39.
Today I attempted to do the two socks on one circular needle and it went badly. Very badly. 3 Times. We will not be doing the 2 socks on one circular because A) after 4 or 5 attemps in all, this is not a time saver technique for me so far, and B) Me no likey. Then I cast on with DPNs and thought I'd do the 5 needle thing for a little change of pace. Me no likey. Awkward and too many points to dodge. Back to 4 DPNs and very comfy with that thank you very much. The newest set of socks is again for my big sister and is being made with her skein of On Line yarn. I have a skein of this yarn in my stash from winning a contest at Effilochee and now that I am working with it I am considering giving it away. Will not buy it. Me no likey. Its very pretty but in that fine range that I really don't enjoy (like Opal and Confetti). I am thinking that after this pair and her next pair I need a serious sock vacation. Scarves are starting to look good. Something not needing DPNs.
This weekend I replaced both toilet seats with these ones that are labeled "easy clean". If I made a seat called easy clean you bet your boob job that magical cleansing gnomes would be involved. These seats mearly feature these hinges that unlock so's you can take the seat off without unscrewing the bolts and clean more thoroughly quicker. I know...its fascinatinging to me TOO! The old seats had brass hardware and were the bathroom cleaning bane of my existance what with rusting of bolts and greening of the brass. The bolts on the downstairs actually had to be CUT off to free the seat. Now there are horrible abrasions on the toilet that can't come off but by Gods I now have easy clean seats and we will never go back.
Went to Chapters and bought two books. Book 3 of a series by Mike Stackpole and Crazy Aunt Purl's "Divorced, Drunk, And Covered In Cat Hair". The Stackpole novel was a disappointment but Crazy Aunt Purl is always fun. She kinda speaks to every woman on some level with her experiences even if one has never been divorced. Its a quick read..chapters are sometimes only a page or two...but one doesn't read Laurie Perry for brain exercise. You read her for entertainment and a feeling of "Yeah I know exactly what you mean". Her journey from married to single contains a lot of what any woman has experienced in being her own person (budgetting, shoe love, self medicating, crying on the floor, cat wrangling...) and her sense of humour is just so gosh darn cute you want to have her in your pocket so's you can pet her.
Anyhoo, thats it for weekend stuffs. Gotta make up for lost time from the failed technique adventure.

Gotta start carrying cash....

...so that I don't leave a paper trail. Had another small "falling down" at Effiloche tonight. Why oh why oh why do Ginette and Celine stock such scrumptious stuffs??! It will be the end of me.
So, I knew I would stash enhance but was thoroughly undecided as to what. I browsed then gave up and sit and knit and chatted with the other fine folk. Then nearing time to go, I gave browsing another shot. What would I want......hmmm.....well needed a bottle of SOAK so grabbed one of them....perused the wools and alpacas...then hit upon the Mirasol Hacho again. This is a wool from Peru and is supposed to share profits with some organization in Peru for kids. I'm fuzzy on the details, no pun intended (wool...fuzzy..get it?). I have a skein from Robyn's Nest and like the feel of it.
All of a sudden I am struck dumb (as in mute not stupid...or maybe its the other way around..) by this amazingly gaudy colourway loaded with oranges, greens, mauve, and yellows and a pale blue that is I swear exactly the same shade as my winter jacket. Or close enough. Suddenly I am scooping out all the skeins (4) of this colourway(#300 or Tutti Frutti), envisioning a scarf or hat with matching fingerless mitts to go with my powder blue jacket. I love it. It make me happy just looking at it for some reason. Now imagine in the winter when everything is bleah how happy these eyesearing colours will make me!
Then I got a yarn cutter pendant because I think they're cool and I have regretted not buying one in Halifax in August when I saw one.
Standing at the cash I sing songed at Ginette to "Come take my money before the yarn fumes wear off...!"
It must have been those German chocolate marshmallow cookie thingies Danna gave me. Sugar and yarn.... financially lethal mix.

Ooops

I was tinkering with my links sidebar and one thing led to another and I clicked the wrong thing and now this is what my blog looks like and my links sidebar is GONE. I am so pissed off.
Such a techno loser I am.

Thursday

Its raining today which I am not complaining about after the heat this week. My gardens are all quite dry for late September and I have been neglecting them terribly, making mental notes to go buy bags of compost and soil but then not doing it. End of the month pay is coming and I will do it then. Need lots. Its what I do in the spring and fall....lay down more dirt. Will I plant more bulbs this year? Not sure. Last years were a success thats for real, so maybe I should...it was a great spring pick me up.
The Fake Isle hat from MagKnits is wonderful to work on. The pattern is not so hard that I feel a breakdown coming on and a couple rows here and there actually give results that can be seen. Love the pattern so far and will want to do it again someday. My beef with the Noro is the way it feels, the difficulty I had casting on with it, and its thready over spun parts tangle which I find irritating. The colour graduation is lovely though and I will see how it washes up before I make the final verdict on whether I will use it again. It may be worth it in the end...?
Today i was sooo tired that I went back to bed after the kids headed for school. Stayed up too late watching TV since its premier week (FINALLY) and was tossy and twitchy thanks to naps in the afternoons. Tuesday i caught the new show Reaper instaed of season premier of House. I am tired of House. Reaper was funny ...21 yr old doofus finds out on his birthday that his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was born and now he is satan's employee, returning escaped bad guys to Hell. That part has been done befor eobviously but not like this and its funny to watch this guy and his pals fumble their way through it. I especially liked Sock chasing the pack of dogs through the store with a leaf blower like some sort of maniac.
Last night I watched Bones and CSI:NY. Bones was great. I like that show. She is such a geek that its kinda funny and the cases tend toward the interesting. CSI: NY was fine. No big exclamations of enjoyment from me. I was never a big fan of it anyway but HM is. I like Las Vegas best.
Tonight will be Grey's Anatomy. Was losing touch with it last season but want to try the new season on for size. Enjoyed the Sandra Oh storyline of being set free at the altar....how will that be played out?
Anyways, thats my inanity of the day.

Number One, Status Report

Aye Cap'n.....
Couch potato kid is in position for optimal TV watching...
Fake Isle Hat (Magknits pattern, Noro Kureyon and Bernat Lana yarns, 4.25 mm 16 inch circular) is progressing though colours are not exactly as shown here....Not much progress in the Noro affection though...


And Jitterbug Socks (Jewel colourway) are nearing completion even with fuck ups and humidity.......


All in all, a very good knitting day.

In Love

Are these pretty socks or WHAT??

The Vinnland pattern over on The AntiCraft.

So in love with their vineyness...

Lead

Get The Lead Out Campaign http://www.usw.ca/program/content/4467.php?lan=en

Holy crap. Was watching Canada AM this morning and there was a segment on how lead is being found in MANY child targetted items from foreign manufacturers like those in China where labour is cheap and the products questionabkle. Apparently you can get lead testing kits to check your children's toys, lunch boxes, BABY BIBS that have plastic backing... Noone is safe from this. Who would ever expect that when buying that pack of plastic backed baby bibs that baby will chew on , you risk poisoning that baby.
United SteelWorkers is one of the driving forces behind this campaign and consider testing your kids toys, lunch boxes etc...basically anything made of plastic from China. I think yuou can get tests from hardware stores but the campaign is handing them out too.
This is very disturbing.

Muuuuuuuch better

And much less in hate with the universe today. My cure? I cleaned and did laundry and listened to Cast On while I folded laundry and then went to store and bought obscene amounts of chips and stuff and ate a whole tublette of spinach dip with chips after I got home and then took a nap. Oh and I took 2 super potentcy B complex stress vitamins too.

My darling sister called to ask "WTF?" after reading yesterday's posting. LOL I was much better by then so we had a laugh over it and she appologised for not having any Valium cocktails for me. She is forgiven.

Remember a few weeks ago I made little person slippers and I was sending them to grand niece Annika? Well, she got them! And they seem to fit good!!! I stole this picture from her mommy's blog. How cute, eh? Her mom's blog is She Said, She Said if you are interested.

HM is home sick. He's been ailing all weekend and not sleeping hardly at all (complete opposite of me) and thinks he will stay home today and try recovering some. His fever is broken he says and last night he got more sleep than he has lately. On the couch in the family room far far away from She Who Snores....Loudly.

Hmmmmmm...now I hear the shower going...maybe he's going to work afterall....

Its that time again...

I am angry...I have rage...I want to cry..I want to be ALONE with NOONE ever speaking to me. This include kids, spouse, dog, cats and fish. Everything I try to accomplish hits a brick wall (Knit a hat, mitten, fix a chair....)and I am plenty ready to give up. I am tired of having to THINK for OTHER PEOPLE on an almost constant basis (if there is no garbage bag in the bin, do not put garbage into the bin...get a fucking bag, line the bin and THEN dispose of said trash. Is this really that fucking difficult?? Likewise if you pee on the toilet seat...wipe it off.)
I am sick to death of laundry, cooking, DUST, wiping up counters, floors counter floors counters floors, toilets and floors and counters. Did I mention the floors? The Counters? The dust in this house is driving me right up the wall. seriously. i could wipe every fucking surface of this house daily and still there would be more dust when I turn around. Is it any wonder that I give up and try to sleep and eat my existance away? Except I can't because then someone would bitch that they have no clean socks or underwear or that the house is a pig sty. Which it isn't but today I seriously feel like it is and in some areas thats true even though its has been vacuumed and dusted not so very long ago.
Yes its that time again. PMS . Just hand me a Valium cocktail will you and then fuck right off. Thats a dear.

Dammit

This morning while the kids ate breakfast I knit on Jessie's sock. This is something I do almost daily. We are all in the room together, me in my comfy beat up chair and the boys at the table..sometimes HM is in his chair across from me with his cell phone thingy checking calls and emails while eating his breakfast or sometimes he is reading, and I can monitor the kids keeping peace or laughing at jokes. The radio is on and today the sun was beaming through my new window coverings. The heel flap was done according to my measuring tape and so I picked up along the heel, knit across the instep, picked up the other side and was trying to distribute what seemed to be a lot of stitches. And it was a lot of stitches. BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT! I forgot to TURN the heel before picking up. I could have cried right then. At least I calmly put it down untiol I am emotionally able to pick back that row of instep knitting with patience. I didn't want to load sock with all the negative vibes I was projecting. Also, I could have divided the stitches between heel flap and instep with more intelligence and I will put this down to being a moron AND this being my first sock where I carry the ribbing down the top of the foot. The Purls don't wanna line up so I have to fudge around. Pain in my arse and not intelligent knitting.
Starting to get a complex about not reaching Barb by phone for a few days. Either I have done something wrong or she's really busy. I am paranoid so I think its me but I'm pretty sure she's busy. Paranoia is an ugly thing.
We as a couple in charge of family decisions..when I say we I mean me since it is kinda up to me though we did discuss the subject and decided that we won't be going home to NS in December before Xmas. There are several reasons. Weather, long drive, were there all summer, summer cost ALOT, its stressful to travel so close to Xmas and it almost always interferes with Cammie's birthday, we have done the trip the last two Xmases since we moved away, and if I decide I can't miss it I have to do the trip without a co-driver because HM has said he's not doing it this year. He doesn't see why I don't fly out and do the family thing alone but I don't do it just for me. The boys need to stay in contact with their family, I think. But since we never made such a rigorous schedule of visiting the Quebec family as we have the NS family, I think its time to let go a little bit. To not do so would be a tad hypocritical for me.
Speaking of visiting but not in a dammit way, Marla is supposed to drive out in a week or two and will stay a few days and then continue on to her SILs in Ontario to visit. This will be her third visit since we moved here which I think is a testament to friendship that we are willing to travel to spend some time together and keep the link alive. We will be painting Ben's room.

Ugh

Gods dog farts stink!!
BLOSSOM!!!!!!!

Call me Crazy

but I would really enjoy this : http://www.mycruiseplanner.us/rw/group/Sea+Socks+2008/sailing#277
If I had a bazillion dollars I would so be taking my favorite knit pals on this cruise. I wouldn't enjoy it alone so much but...Or maybe I would...You have a week to get to know folk and make new friends from all over the world.. And heaven knows I'm not exactly stand offish though I think sometimes Husband Man wishes I was. Especially in the city, at restaurants etc... where for some reason I sometimes talk to strangers. OR strangers talk to me and I talk back. Its a curse, this inate friendliness. Even though I really hate a lot of people just because.. such a contradiction I am.
What was I talking about?.................

Finally....

This is the end product of todays busy-ness. My morning room finally has a new window treatment!! Made with my own two hands since the drapery fairies failed to come.





I searched for blinds in the right size...no dice. Blinds of the correct size would have to be made/ordered and I just don't have the organizational skills and budget for that.

So, Monday while at Walmart getting Cammie a new back pack I grabbed 5 meters of crumply off white sheer fabric.
If i'd been smart and organised I would have measured the windows and, you know, PLANNED the whole thing. But since it was me and I was fed up I just marched in there, got what might be enough and left.

The first panel gave me MUCH encouragement that I was on the right track. And I actually didn't make it too short! That has happened before. I am most certainly not a talented seamstress.
This fact is nailed home when , even though I measured several times to approximate panels of the same length, the panel at the other end of the bay window is a few inches LONGER than the first one.




But anything is better than these beat off dirty blinds.
Look at photo number one and then come backk here. See? Strategic plant and knitting needle caddy placement m,akes it so's you can't really TELL that I fugged it up!
To hang the sheers at the same angles as the windows I used that spring cord curtain rod that you hook up. Artful arrangement of gathered fabric hides the hooks.

My photos suck, but trust me...its so much nicer! And it only took me a couple of hours! Well...5 months or more plus a couple hours.

aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr

It be International Talk Like A Pirate day, aaaaarrrrr. There be lots of piratical goodness on the web t'day so fill yer booties with that. Har! Or I'll make ye walk the plank.

Tuesday

Today was picture day at school for both boys ( they looked so handsome...sigh) and also THE DAY that Cameron got his retainers. His teeth are even worse than Ben's so his top retainer now is one that is cemented into place whilst the bottom one is removable for cleaning and adjustments. In about 3 months, depending on progress of the correction, his top retainer will be removed to be replaced with a removable one.
To say this has been traumatic would be pretty accurate. He came home for lunch hysterical about the whole situation. He is having trouble swallowing, chewing, drinking and talking. He was frustrated and probably a little scared. What if it stays like this? What if it never gets better? What if he never gets the hang of having these things stuck in his gob and is doomed to applesauce and slurring forever???? Which, he being of the glass empty variety when upset, was certain it would.
That top retainer is a real bugger. Its bonded to his teeth, covering his molars with molded "plastic?" about 1/8th of an inch thick (maybe less) making for an awkward chewing surface not to mention difficulty biting with his front teeth since now they can't seem to meet to close the deal, so to speak. The metal adjustable part is at the roof of his mouth so now his tongue can't press against the palate for swallowing etc. So, I will be trying to make easily chewed food for awhile. I am glad its not me and he has my sympathy.
I feel like I am getting a head cold. I have that irritated nose feeling. Will go grab a zinc tablet in a minute but wanted to mention that the Jitterbug sock is about to have its heel flap started. i made good progress today after folding last weeks laundry and listening to back episodes of Cast On. I just finished episode 50...slowly catching up to the rest of the knitting 'verse.