Road Trip!!

We're off this Thursday to Indianapolis and the Auto Racing Capital of the World, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the Centennial Race Weekend!

I don't have a mobile hotspot for my laptop, and no smartphone, so the blog will be on vacation as well.  However, if you want to know what we're doing, I will be Tweeting, hopefully pretty regularly.

I promise to take lots of pictures; this will be our first Carb Day, and we're also excited about the chance to get driver autographs on Saturday - each of us has a plain white t-shirt and a Sharpie marker.  I plan to put the shirts in shadowbox frames and hang them in my kitchen along with assorted other Indy 500 memorabilia that we collect along the way.

I'll be meeting up with the recipient of the Centennial Socks, and have a bunch of other swag to give her along with the socks.  I hope she likes what I chose for her! (Can't tell, because she might be reading this, teehee).

So everybody play nice, go read my old posts, and I'll be back after the weekend!

Birdman is a Fun Guy

He's taking Biology this year, and the course starts with the study of single-celled organisms and moves on to stuff like mushrooms and other fungi.

 This is slime mold.

No, I do not know if it is actually slimy.

It looks gross.

 We're not sure what this one is, maybe someone out there can help us?

Some rather delicate-looking mushrooms.

I looked under our hemlock trees where we usually have puffballs, but there aren't any there right now.









He also did an exercise where he had to collect pond water, add different things to the jars, let them 'work' for a few days and then examine the water under a microscope.  We saw lots of little wiggly things - amoebae, paramecia, euglena and some others I can't remember!

Totally Uncompensated Product Endorsement

Bath Fitter is da BOMB.

 Here's my ugly 70s tub and shower in the downstairs bathroom.  A total mildew factory, impossible to keep clean, and the drain was always so s-----l-----o------w.

 Midway through, my bathroom looked like this.  I think this is an improvement, considering how I despised the old tub.

 And here's my new seamless large-footprint shower!  SQUEE!

In short, our Bath Fitter franchise is everything their ads say, and more.  The worker was quiet and neat, and really did clean up after himself.  He even left us the old copper and brass to take in for recycling. I'd definitely recommend them.

The faucet is really neat; you set the water temperature with one lever and then turn the water on with another, so you can get the temp adjusted perfectly and every time you turn on the water it goes back to just that temperature!  No more fiddling and guesswork!  And the drain actually DRAINS.  And it's not slippery.  And it doesn't get water all over the floor.

I love my new shower!

I Took the Weekend Off

and did my yard, and the laundry, and attempted to do some housework!  I only have one more batch of bread to bake for our trip - Raisin Oat Cinnamon Bread (only instead of raisins I am using craisins and dried blueberries), and a bunch more work to finish up.

Aren't my flowers pretty?  Everything in this strip beside my driveway was given to me by other gardeners who were thinning out their flower gardens.  It has taken a couple of years but is starting to look nice!

Dutch iris

Dutch iris and a Chinese honeysuckle on the left

Wild columbine; I have a blue one too!

Back to the grind tomorrow!  What are your plans for the week?

Should I Take It Off?

I've been divorced for almost ten years.

Shortly after I became a single parent, I had my mother's engagement diamonds, which she had had set into a brooch for me several years ago (more than several; it was back in the 80s when high-collared Gunne Sax blouses were in style and the brooch was a bar pin with the diamonds set in it), made into a tulip-set solitaire ring and a pair of earrings.

I've worn the ring constantly since I picked it up from the jeweler.

I tell people who ask, that it's my "leave me alone" ring.

I think it may be time to take it off.

I just think maybe someone is out there and if I run into him, he won't bother because of the rock on the third finger of my left hand (it's not huge, but it isn't tiny either, and it's really very pretty).

If nothing else, it will be humbling to run around without a ring on that finger to hide both the tan line and the callus that come from wearing a ring on the same finger for......well, a lot of years.

What do YOU think?  I'm open to suggestions.

When the Going Gets Tough.....

The tough put on the tiara!

From time to time I find myself stuck on a project for one reason or another.  Sometimes it's because the client has asked for something they think is easy-peasy, but due to poor garment construction, cheap materials, or their not realizing how time-consuming their request is, (or lots of other reasons) - I get the feeling that maybe it would be easier and better for all concerned if I just went and got a job at the local call center.

That's when I get out the tiara, pop it on my head, and proceed to lay waste to whatever has been the cause of my stress!

After all, nothing would dare cross a woman wearing a crown.

Anyone else have a tiara (real or imagined)?  How do you manage those moments at work or home when it seems that nothing is lining up the way it ought to?

Baking? Excellent. Spelling, Not So Much

This is the cake we had after Divine Liturgy at coffee hour a couple of weeks ago, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of our pastor's Ordination.  It was very tasty, even if the icing was whipped cream (I prefer buttercream).

We all had a good chuckle, and I was happy I had my camera.  This is my first real-life Cake Wreck!

Education Update

At her last 4H meeting, Velvet gave her oral/visual presentation.  She chose to talk about her cat project, since she did horses last year (she's taking horse again this year, but wanted to not bore people, lol).  She did very well!

She did all the research and prep work by herself, and I think I may have heard her in her room practicing her talk the afternoon before the meeting.

She discussed different cat breeds and how they differ from each other.  She printed the photos off the internet by herself, with only a little verbal guidance from Birdman.

Lightning McQueen was her assistant, helping to hold the presentation board up so her fellow 4H-ers could see it well.  They made a pretty good team.  He has to do his presentation at his next meeting; he's going to take Oregano and Barbecue and talk about raising peeps.

Great job, Velvet!

A Day in My Springtime Life

 I just had a slice of the most delicious pineapple upside-down cake, made by Birdman with some help from his brother and sister.  Nomnomnom!

Last night I had to clear out my downstairs bathroom and fitting room, so the contractor could start work this morning on a tub-to-shower conversion. My dining room and living room are a disaster area (not they are not a disaster at other times, it's just way worse now, because the contents of those two rooms is now in there with all the stuff that actually belongs in there). The old tub and surround are gone, the new water lines and spigots are installed, and the drywall over the water lines has been replaced with greenboard (which is how it should have been to begin with, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the addition on my 150+/- year old house, which is about 35 years old, was built without plan or purpose by a few guys with a case of beer and some power tools and a Lowe's card.  Floors not level, corners out of square, walls not plumb, a complete jakeleg job).  He says he'll finish up tomorrow, so tomorrow night I get to put everything back!

I'm not any less busy than I was, and I'm running out of time before we leave for Indy on the 26th. Only one prom dress is still here, so that's a plus.  Trouble is, I have TWELVE wedding gowns, all of which have rather poofy skirts!  And that's not counting the career- and resortwear stuff, wedding party attire, and pageant dresses.

Oregano and Barbecue are growing, and by the time we get back from Indy they will be too big to get under the fence and will be able to be out all day like Crockpot and Drumstick.  I'll be very glad when they start laying; sometimes I think if we had a dozen hens we could sell all the eggs and then some!

I have another post in the works I had planned on posting tonight, but this will have to do.  The other one requires two particular photos that I haven't had time to slurp off my camera yet.  Meanwhile, I'm tired and need to get some sleep.  Much to do tomorrow!

See What I Won!

I think this is a great way to describe me.  I was given this award by my new friend the Non-Stop Mom!  She says I'm even busier than she is, and from reading her blog (which you totally ought to do) you will see that she's quite busy indeed.

So now I shall post the rules, and spend some time this evening visiting the other bloggers who won along with me, finding new and interesting blogs to follow!

THE RULES:

*Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

*Tell us seven things about yourself.

*Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

So, seven things about me:

1. I'm really good with a gun.  I qualified Expert with the M16A1, M16A2, and .50 caliber machine gun in the Army, and Marksman with the 9mm pistol.
2. I miss nail polish!  As a Life Pledged member of the Confraternity of Penitents, I have to keep cosmetics to a minimum; pretty polish on my toes is about the only part of that I really regret having to give up.
3. I've had a copy of "The Exorcist" for three years and have yet to watch it.
4. I think there are some important lessons a person could learn from both the Amish and Mormons. That "subsidiarity" thing?  Not just a Catholic concept.  We Catholics fail miserably.  They don't.
5. Sometimes I think about doing things and have to remind myself that I'm mumblemumble years old and people my age don't do that.  That aggravates me, because most of the time I only feel like I'm about 26.
6. I did not ever watch a single episode of "Hill Street Blues".  Not even in reruns.
7. I often wish I'd done things differently at certain points in my life, although all in all I'm content with how things are now.

And here are 15 blogs I really like!  Go spike their stats!

1. A Blunt Analysis - I found this blog NOT by toodling around on the internet, but from the web address written in vinyl stickum letters on the back window of a minivan in a Kroger parking lot. 
2. Habitation of Justice - This guy writes really well.  He gripes about work, not being able to find a soulmate, and geocaching (which is something I'd totally like to try sometime).  I really enjoy his travelogue posts. 
3. Fear Not Little Flock - A really sweet blog written by the wife of a Byzantine Catholic priest.
4. K-9 Knitter - One of my long-time online friends writes this blog about her knitting and fibery adventures, along with stories about training her three Border Collies.
5. LovelyKnits - Another online friend's knitting blog.
6. Martin Family Moments - Catholic homeschooling mom blog.  Good stuff in here.  Her kids are cuties!
7. Sincero Knits - Really talented online (and real-life, as of last May) friend who knits (and should update her blog more often, AHEM)
8. A Mom for Life - the unconventional family - Simple, profound posts from a mother of seven.
9. 11 On My Own - A single-mother blog with a different perspective.
10. Pithless Thoughts - Orthodox home improvement contractor blogs about God, life and everything in between.
11. Adventures of an Orthodox Mom - Not updated frequently, but she's the one paying enough attention to her kids while the rest of us mom-bloggers sit bleary-eyed at the keyboard typing a daily post.
12. The Mumzababe Missive - This is another online friend who blogs about all kinds of things, including knitting and conservative politics.
13. St. Theophan Academy - Orthodox homeschooling mom.  I love the photos in her posts; they are so artfully composed!
14. IndyCar Advocate - Very well-written blog all about IndyCar.  He explains it a lot better than I do, and there's the added bonus of periodic interviews with assorted drivers. A real treat when a new post pops up in my blog reader!
15. Southern Byzantine - "Living at the intersection of Grace, Grits and the Ancient Faith..."

So thank you Amy, for rewarding me with this awesome button on my blog, and hopefully some new readers and commenters. Welcome to my world!

Jimmy Who?

Way back when (a long time ago, in a place far away from here), I remember my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Hinkle, playing a 45 RPM record of a song called "The Ballad of Jimmy Bryan."  I have no idea why she did this, but it stuck in my head and every once in a while I'd be in a music store and remember that song......and proceed to make an utter fool of myself by asking the sales staff if they had ever heard of this song, no I don't know who sang it, I can't sing but a very few lines, yes it WAS a long time ago but NO I did not dream the song and I don't care if YOU haven't ever heard of Jimmy Bryan, I have, and the song was about him and.....well, you get the idea.

So time passes and one day I'm tooling around on the internet and I decide, just on the off chance - nothing ventured nothing gained, right? - to google the name of the song and OMGoodness I FOUND IT!

You can go listen to it right now, I'll wait.  Listen to the "B" side too, it's pretty awesome.

Jimmy Bryan was the winner of the 1958 Indy 500, and died in a racing accident in 1960, both of which happened before I was even born. (I'll get to see his winning car take a lap around the track at this year's pre-race ceremonies, though.  That will be a treat.)

So I found the song, but what I still haven't been able to figure out is why did my teacher play that record in class?  And of all the odd things to stick in my head, why that?

I Crashed Blogger!

Not really, but it did get you to click through, didn't it?  ;)

I don't know what happened, except that the crash lasted a bit more than a day and a half......my tendency to post last thing before I go to bed may be the reason that (I think) I didn't lose anything.

I've had a RIDICULOUS week.  I was going to work in the garden/yard this weekend, but we had a torrential downpour this afternoon (so bad that I had to give two clients towels to dry off so they could try on their clothes), so the garden is a sea of mud right now (at least it's tilled and ready, yay!).

And the photo?  That's a mouse, in an Altoids Minis tin.  Isn't it cute?

Pity Party

Bleah.  I am so tired, plus I have my annual spring allergy flare-up, I need CHOCOLATE.  I have one more prom gown to do and I think that will be it, and I can concentrate on weddings. Lately I've had a rush of kids who are graduating from college (in THREE DAYS) calling in a panic, needing emergency tailoring. (I will refrain from commenting on this).

Work continues on The Socks.  The promotional copy of the pattern, along with some lovely yarn, arrived at its Indiana destination today.  I am hoping that my sample socks get back here before we leave to go to Indianapolis, because I want to show them to a few people.

The Bath Fitter folks are coming next week to do the tub-to-shower conversion in my first floor bathroom.  No more battles with mold and mildew, and they say they will even fix my slow drain too!

Evicted.

We were having a quiet family evening a couple of days ago when I heard something fall.  Velvet got up to see what it was, and this is what we found - chickens in the icon corner!

So they moved outside night before last.  No more house chickens.

They're doing well, and can even be loose in the yard if someone is out there to watch them; we have a picket fence and they are still small enough to go under the fence or through the pickets.  Crockpot and Drumstick ignore them for the most part, only chasing after them when they thing Oregano and Barbecue are about to get into their territory.

It might rain tonight, so we fixed the makeshift plastic sheeting roof over the dog crate, and I added an old blanket I got out of someone's trash ('tis the season for curbside shopping, I got a $40 bath mat, a cooler and the blanket) over one side to break any chilly wind.

Eli the dog.

Glad I'm growing kids and chickens, and not grass.

The kids called me outside last night to see the sunset:

Work continues on The Socks, and on the astonishing amount of prom and wedding gowns in the studio.  I've sent lots of stuff out, but you can't tell any difference (except maybe that there are more wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, and less prom gowns)!

Work, Work, Work.

I did two bridesmaid dresses and two prom gowns today, in addition to fitting two brides (and four other clients picked up their projects). I'm TIRED.  In addition to all that work for pay, I also wrangled schoolwork, supervised lunch and dinner, took Birdman and his friend to CAP drill, went to the store, the bank, the post office (mailed a complimentary copy of my Centennial Sock pattern along with suitable yarn to someone in my Twitterverse who needed door prizes at his work), the boutique downtown where I picked up several emergency projects, and have started bread for tomorrow.  I still have to do invoices for the stuff I finished today, bake the bread and get it out of the oven, carry tomorrow's work upstairs AND knit at least 5 more rounds on The Sock.

I decided I'm going to put together a whole package of stuff to go with the bartered socks.  I have to say that I haven't had this much fun knitting something in a long time.

Tomorrow's duties include:  minimum of three Prom gowns, at least one of the projects from the boutique, and start on a total-bodice-remake wedding gown project.  I also need to do a text-fest to people who haven't responded to my last round of "your stuff is ready" text messages.

At some point before the end of the month I'd like to get a pedicure.  I have garpy winter feet.  I don't think there is too much chance of that happening, though - no time to go when the place is open!

Would appreciate your prayers on my behalf tomorrow.

Oh, and my Mother's Day was pretty good! Kids cooked and I got to knit and sit in the sun.  Can't beat that with a stick, can you?

They're Mine, and I Love 'em.

Isn't he cute?  This is Lightning McQueen, one of the subjects of this evening's blog post.  Lightning is 10 years old.  This is cause for celebration all by itself, since he is also one of the most ornery, stubborn, bullheaded and MESSY kids I know (and I'm Catholic, so I know a LOT of kids).

Lightning McQueen and his brother, Birdman, are the main reasons why this blog is not about how my children make me breathless with wonder at their perfection and sweet innocence.

They are pisspots, quite honestly.

I'd like to tell you about their bedroom.  Actually, the bed part of it is only shared by Eli the dog and Birdman, since there was so much nonsense going on in there at what I had determined was to be bedtime, that I have had to assign Lightning a sleeping spot in the living room.  Their clothing, books and toys (what toys they have, because in addition to messy they are also very bad about taking care of their things) are all still in there.....I think.

I can't really remember the last time I was in there.  It's too frightening (and I was in the Army, so I don't scare too easily).  Their floor has not been completely visible in MONTHS.  They live out of a laundry basket.  Books and old school papers are scattered willy-nilly all over the place.  Birdman has to do his schoolwork while sitting on my bed because his desk is covered in.....stuff.

Why do I not make them clean it up?  Why don't I just clean it up myself?  Because I am their MOTHER, not their MAID.  It's not my room, I don't have to go in there, if they want to live like pigs, well then go ahead on!  It's a battle I choose not to fight because I've got enough on my plate, honestly.  I'm a single mom who owns a home-based business, I homeschool three bright children, I am involved in local and state politics on an official basis, I get ZERO child support (I should clarify that I am supposed to receive support, but have not gotten any in I think a little over three years) from an ex-husband who is legally prohibited from coming within speaking distance of any of us.

I should also mention at this point that the last time I undertook to clean that room, I took out FOUR BAGS of trash, one of which was so full I had to shove it out the window of their room, across the roof of the addition, and push it off into the garden cart in order to get it to the curb.

It's really too bad that the Superfund money, for cleanup of environmental hazards, is all gone.  I could maybe have gotten some grant money to hire someone to come in and clean it.  But in 5 minutes it would all be messy again.

I really admire families whose kids are neatniks, who always pick up after themselves and never leave messes lying around, but I think the majority of kids are probably slobs, and it's silly and stupid of me to try to make my kids be like some imagined ideal of perfection (when that ideal probably doesn't even exist; I bet those neat children won't eat anything but lime Jello and pretzel sticks, whereas my kids will eat just about anything you put in front of them, everything's a trade-off, you know?)

So I have messy boys.  So what?  They're happy, healthy and smart.  I'd take that over neat any day.

And it doesn't hurt that they are also very cute.

Price Check #4

It's been a while since I did one of these, but then again it's been a while since I made a big trip to the store!  This week I shopped at Kroger, and as always if I don't mention a brand, it's the store brand.

Regular gas is $4.099 a gallon.  I didn't fill up this evening, but I will at some point this weekend.  I have enough shopping points to get 10 cents off per gallon.

Milk, 2%, $2.78 (I wonder if we could make a car that runs on milk......)
Frozen vegetables, 1# bags, average $1.49/bag
Knorr/Lipton Pasta Sides, $1.00
Bush's Baked Beans, Homestyle Recipe, large can, $1.67
Bacon, thick sliced, 1# package, $5.49
Oats, Old-Fashioned, 42-oz. canister, $2.99
Hearty Tomato Soup, Progresso, $1.50
Duchess Fried Pies, $0.50 each
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil, 50 sq. ft., $3.19
Peanut Butter, 18 oz. jar, $1.89
Salted Butter, 1# quarters, $3.19
Red Potatoes, 5# bag, $4.59
Styrofoam bowls, 30 count, $2.09
Styrofoam plates, 50 count, $1.29
Plastic cups, 50 count, $1.50
Saltine crackers, $1.05
Vermicelli, 1# box, $1.05

I had a bunch of coupons and managed to save a little over $20 on the total bill.  I still need flour but I have to go to Wal-Mart to get that; I buy the 10# bag of King Arthur all purpose flour which is $6.29 there; the 5# bag of the same flour is over $5 at both Kroger and Giant Eagle.

What do some of these things cost where you are?  Flour? Butter? A pound of bacon?  Gallon of milk?  And what's gas costing you nowadays?

It's Official.

We got our 4-day tent permit for Lot 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the mail on Saturday!  Along with the permit were a couple of very helpful brochures about shower facilities, ice and water availability, and the details of camping rules and regulations.  The Speedway's website lists Lot 2's atmosphere as "family festive" so I think we will have a great time.  And after all we won't be spending a great deal of time there except to sleep, there's so much going on at the track!

We plan to arrive and set up our campsite some time on Thursday the 26th.  If the gates are open we may walk over (right across the street BOOYAH) and just look around.  Then eat supper and relax, trying to get a good night's sleep to get ready for Carb Day on Friday.

Carb Day sounds exciting!  The last practice session for the Indy 500, plus an Indy Lights race and the pit stop competition.

There's a free concert on Carb Day afternoon, but the band(s) aren't really our taste in music so we'll take in the Museum and maybe drive downtown so I can show the kids Monument Circle, the War Memorial, and some of the other sights of my old home town.

Saturday is A.J. Foyt Day, with autograph opportunities (I have decided that I MUST have Takuma Sato's autograph) and all kinds of other fun stuff. I also plan to take a ticket stub from last year's race just in case I'm lucky enough to get to the head of Dario Franchitti's autograph line! Fortunately the day winds down at the track at just the time when we'll need to be heading over to St. Christopher parish in Speedway for Mass.

At some point over the weekend I'll be meeting up with the recipient of the Centennial Socks I started on Sunday - I'm past the heel and gusset decreases on sock #1 and may be able to finish it by this Saturday night. Can't wait to see what kind of swag I'll receive in barter for the socks!

I promise to take lots of pictures, and I'll even find people to take photos with me in them (I only have two pictures from last year's race that are of me, and one of them was taken with my phone).  This is a year to remember!

In Which I Dash Off A Blog Post With No Perceivable Topic Due to Exhaustion

Lightning McQueen got a double-yolk egg for lunch the other day.  I really wasn't surprised; the egg was really obscenely large.

 I went to the grocery store the other day and saw this license plate as I was going back to my car with my shopping.  I drove all the way around the parking lot to take this picture, it just gave me warm fuzzies to know that there is at least one other Foyt fan around here.  And no, the gentlemen at the far left of the photo are not the owner(s) of the vehicle; they were just there.  They did grin at me and ask if I wanted to take their picture; when I explained about the plate they gave me a chuckle and a thumbs-up.

This is Chuck the parakeet.  He's been rather un-photogenic lately, having been through a molt, but now is more like his normal dapper blue self.

And yes, in the background there is a sheep plushie and she is knitting.  Teehee.

I'm Dyeing! I'm Dyeing!

I've wanted to do a post about dyeing yarn for a while, so when I agreed to barter a pair of my Centennial socks for some great IndyCar swag, I decided to hand-dye the yarn for the socks and take a few photos.

You can dye wool yarn quite easily with powdered drink mix.  For this project I used four packets of Cherry, two packets of Black Cherry and two of Tropical Punch.

Yarn soaking before being put in the dyepot.

After you put your dyepot water on the stove (you want it just barely at a simmer), you have to soak the yarn thoroughly so the dye will strike relatively evenly.  The soaking water should be pretty warm, and you want to poke the yarn down into the water really well so it all gets wet, but if you don't have superwash yarn don't wiggle it around too much or you will end up with a felted mess.

Dyepot ready for drink mix dye solution.

 I put the drink mix powder into a glass jar and add hot water to it, stirring well to make sure it's all dissolved. then I add this to the dyepot on the stove.  One advantage to dyeing with drink mix is that you don't have to have separate utensils for dyeing because the ingredients are all food (sort of, lol).

Yarn in the dyepot.  It sits until all the dye strikes.

 Lower your sopping, soaked yarn hank (which hopefully you have tied loosely so it doesn't tangle) into the dyepot, poking it down well under the dye solution.  You can GENTLY stir and lift the yarn around, but don't be too enthusiastic if your yarn isn't superwash.  Simmer the yarn until all the dye has struck onto it; the water will either be clear or nearly so.  I use a wooden spoon to lift the dye out of the water, and I put it over a clothes hanger and let it drip over the sink:

Dyed yarn hank drip-drying.

 Once it's all dry, you can take a look at it and if you're happy with the result, wind it into a ball and knit away!  There are some places in my skein where the dye didn't strike well, but I decided to knit it up anyway and see how the socks look.  If I'm not happy I can overdye them to reduce any wild variation in color intensity!

Half a leg of sock #1

This evening I got to the heel flap of the first sock; I'll do the heel tomorrow and should be finished with the sock on Friday night (after which I will immediately cast on the mate).

So you see it's pretty easy to dye your own yarn....you don't have to do one color either.  The first yarn I ever dyed was a random mix of blue raspberry, black cherry and tropical punch!

What a Day it's Been

I got a LOT done at work today, in a relatively short amount of time!  Yay me!  I was also able to bake bread, work on the commissioned pair of Centennial socks I'm knitting (I dyed the yarn myself over the weekend) and got over halfway down the leg of sock #1, AND do a bit of straightening up (but not too much, lol).

I found this photo on my computer today; I'd forgotten about this project.  Each year the contestants in the Miss West Virginia (America) pageant take a quilt square to Orientation weekend.  The square has to reflect the young woman, the county or area of the state she represents, and her platform.  My client was Miss Tucker County, home of Dolly Sods recreation area, and her platform was Healthy Heart Living.  So I did a square that showed the mountains of Tucker County, the windwept trees at Dolly Sods, and a hiker (because walking is good for your heart).  I don't think it turned out half bad, and she LOVED it.

I put the "Devon" socks aside until I finish the Centennials, because I have to deliver the latter in Indianapolis at the end of the month and I need to have them done and blocked before we leave.  I am hoping to have time to knit another pair of them to have with me (just in case someone wants a pair already knit, you know).

I'm also working on a companion pattern to Centennial, a pair of baby socks.  When I get that done I will make a page for patterns and post it here, for free!

Awwwwwww...........

see more Daily Squee

In other totally unrelated news, it just came through my Twitter feed that Osama bin Laden is dead, and it has been confirmed.  US (I presume the military) has the body.  HOO-RAH!!!!!