Fuzzy wuzzy was a scarf - made by me! I finished another of my practice projects, a scarf made out of lime green fun fur. What an odd yarn to work with at first, but definitely fun. I have read comments by knitters that refer to fun fur as "dead Muppet fur" and I can understand why...it is fuzzy, fluffy, tickly and intense in color.I wore my fuzzy wuzzy scarf this morning in the 28 degree weather. It certainly kept my neck warm and made a great contrast to my black leather coat. If I make another one like it, I will probably make it just a bit skinnier.In the mail yesterday was two skeins of yarn that I ordered online, since the yarn is not sold by my local mass craft retailers. It is Brown Sheep Co.'s Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn in a gorgeous color called Aztec Turquoise...I can't wait to start working with it! I am going to make yet another scarf, but this one will be my first attempt at ribbing (knit 2, purl 2) and working with a wool yarn.My friend Geri tells me that I am well on my way to being a knitting addict, and I suspect that she is right!
I am pleased to announce that we have a new family of bluebirds in our backyard! We received a bluebird house last year, in April, from a friend of my mother but it was too late in the spring to be used by the birds. We chose to go ahead and put the house up, hoping that its location would be noted.On Sunday morning, I glanced out an upstairs window into the backyard and noticed a bird going into the birdhouse. I watched a few moments more and made out - as well as 40-something eyes could manage - a flash of blue on the bird. I was thrilled to tell both J and A about our new neighbors; we had hoped that bluebirds would move in this year.I have noticed a bluebird or two mingling with the usual suspects on our back deck, partaking of the lovely seed I put out for them each day. But every time I see a bluebird, I can't help but think of the photo that was published in National Geographic of a seemingly grumpy or mad bluebird - it makes me smile every time I see it!Welcome to the neighborhood, bluebirds!
While visiting my mother, I finished my second knitting project - another scarf.
I used a thick yarn with very slight variations in color, knit with two strands and used large plastic needles. It took some time to get used to the chunky needles, but the combination of thick yarn and thick needles resulted in a fluffy scarf that knit up very quickly. 
Mom took quite a liking to it, so I was pleased to present my very first knitted gift to her!
A and I returned yesterday from our visit with my mother in Knoxville, Tennessee. Our drive up on Tuesday was about as easy as a trip can be, and A was an excellent traveling companion. We chatted, sang songs and he helped me by looking for speed limit and highway signs. The weather in Knoxville was chilly and dreary the entire time we were there, and the entire area is struggling with a fairly severe flu outbreak. Most of the schools there were closed part of the week due to widespread illness, which put a damper on our plans. I was not willing to take A (and Mom, for that matter) to where there were many people and risk him getting exposed. So we stuck close to Mom's house as much as possible, visiting with her friends in the neighborhood who always enjoy seeing A.We drove back to Georgia yesterday and except for a 20-25 minute slowdown in Acworth due to road work, we made pretty good time again. J was glad to see us, as was Spenser the cat, who meowed loudly and piteously at me for quite a while so that it was crystal clear to me just how annoyed he was.
The week with Grandma and the trip back really tired A out; after we unloaded and unpacked, he announced that he didn't feel well and wanted to go to bed. We put him in pajamas and he crawled into bed around 4 pm, and didn't get out of bed until 7:15 am! He is back to his usual self today and was amazed to hear how many hours he slept.
A is off from school all this week for something called Winter Break. My first reaction when hearing about it was "WTF?" Now that I have had some time to get used to it, I now think "WTF?" It hasn't been that long since he was out for the holidays and he will be out for Spring Break in early April. What comes to mind is part of the explanation of why Georgia is far from tops in education.With a whole week off from school, A and I will take the time to visit my mother for a few days. We will drive up to Knoxville tomorrow, then come back here on Saturday. Grandma is thrilled to have A's company; oh, yes, she will be pleased to see me, too. We have no big plans scheduled for our time there, just plenty of us time.Today I am scurrying around the house trying to pack for us both, leave J with plenty of clean clothes and some food to eat, and clean a bit, too. Busy, busy, busy!
What else am I going to title a blog post the day after Valentine's Day?
A had a great time yesterday. When he popped off the bus wearing his heart headband, I had to laugh. He was so excited to show me all the valentines he received and to tell me all about their party. The best part about the party? "My daddy came and we made ice cream sandwiches." I have not yet told J that he is ranked right up there with ice cream.I did not go to the party. I came home after tutoring and baked Valentine cookies using a recipe I saw in last week's AJC, Catherine Antles Brubaker's Sugar Cookies. They are a simple, traditional sugar cookie and turned out very good, but I was reminded of why I don't like making cut-out cookies: it's so tedious! It took me almost two hours to bake all of the dough. But, wow, they are tasty.
For dinner last night, we had the menu that A suggested when I asked what we should have for Valentine's Day: waffles. I sliced strawberries and J made whipped cream, so it was a special dinner all around. We exchanged our cards; we also gave A a book and a little heart-shaped box of chocolates that contained three pieces of candy. Much to our surprise, he insisted on sharing his chocolate so we each had one. How sweet!I tend not to be the sentimental type of parent that mourns "how fast they grow", but I will miss this very sweet, tender age when he enjoys everything without being jaded or sarcastic.
Happy Valentine's Day, dear boy!
I am such a geek. I have been for a long time and I know that I am a geek, but every once in a while a glaring example of my geekness pops up and reminds me in a big way.The latest proof of my life as a dork is the iPod shuffle that I asked for and received for Christmas. It is the cutest little thing, the smallest in the iPod line both physically and in its capacity, and mine is a lovely purple color. iPods are very popular right now with many people, in fact with many COOL people...so how does having an iPod represent my geekness? It's not that I have an iPod, it's what I do with it that makes me a geek. I have yet to download a single song onto it; my iPod is used exclusively to listen to NPR podcasts.Yes, you read correctly. I use my incredibly high tech music player to listen to radio programs from National Public Radio. Rather than hover around my radio at certain times each week to hear my favorite programs, I can quickly and easily download those programs and listen to them at my leisure. And since my mediocre local NPR station doesn't even broadcast some of my favorite shows, this provides me with the way to hear them. And it gets even worse. I do not like to wear ear buds, so I listen to my iPod most of the time using a little speaker made just for iPods. The speaker is bigger than the actual iPod! So there I am, toting around the house a little iPod on a slightly bigger speaker with the voice of Peter Sagal or Neal Conan projecting from it. It works great for me as I clean the house, work in the kitchen or sit and knit. And one night last week when J wanted to want some show that did not interest me, I sat in the sunroom, knitted and listened to The People's Pharmacy, using the dreaded ear buds.My name is The Queen, and I am an NPR geek.
Yesterday I finished my very first knitting project. It is a scarf (in case that is not obvious from the photos) and it is about 6-1/2" x 64".
I am so proud of my little creation. Our knitting class got together again yesterday afternoon and Hannah (the knitting instructor) was very complimentary about my technique. I was the only student who had any real progress to show. I was also able to teach Hannah something she did not know, about the edge stitch that I ended up using to keep my ends neat and the width uniform. And it turns out that she uses a different method to bind off than the one that Geri mentioned and the one I learned off knittinghelp.com - I like the one I used better.It was good because Hannah had us practice some basic stuff some more, showed us how to weave in the ends, yada yada yada. Last evening, I added the fringe and tada! When I showed A the finished scarf this morning, he told me that he was proud of me...how sweet.I have started on my next scarf, which uses a chenille-like yarn knit with two strands on size 19 needles. It is going to be really soft and fluffy, but those big needles feel really awkward right now - like knitting with baguettes!
A
s you can see, the Tooth Fairy paid another visit to our house last week. A is doing very well eating and speaking without those two front teeth.The tooth came out at dinner one night - at least he didn't eat it! A had left his little plastic tooth box at school, so the tooth was placed in a snack size plastic zip bag and placed under his pillow. As with the first tooth, there was a little difficulty in making the money-for-tooth swap. J reached under the pillow and could not find the plastic bag...working around the sleeping A as much as possible, he tried vainly to find the bag. No luck. After a whispered conference, we decided to leave the money and hope that A didn't find the bag in the morning before school.The next morning, A was thrilled to find the money the Tooth Fairy had left. After he went to school, I searched his bed and finally found the bag wedged between the mattress and the edge of the bed. The EMPTY bag - no tooth to be found. I tried to look through the sheets, around the mattress and on the floor, but I could not find the tooth.In case A ever finds the tooth and questions its presence, I have my story ready: the Tooth Fairy was trying to juggle many teeth and a lot of money, and she must have accidentally dropped it on her way out.Think that story will hold water?
With my first knitting project nearing completion, I ventured out to buy more yarn today. I have been peppering my friend Geri with questions about what type of project I should take on next. I know that I still need to knit with training wheels on until I get my balance and can take on more complicated patterns.My thought is that I will next try another scarf. Since there are no yarn stores in my immediate area, I went to Jo-Ann. They have several aisles of yarn but there was no one available who could provide any real help. After browsing and fingering for a while, I finally settled on some fun fur yarn in lime green (one of my favorite colors) and also some thick chenille-like yarn in a muted coral color. Each type of yarn has a scarf pattern on the reverse of the label, so that will be helpful. Each scarf requires a different size of needles from each other and from what I have now, so I bought two more sets of needles. I am now set for at least a few more weeks!The group of ladies with whom I learned to knit are getting back together with the instructor on Sunday. I plan to have my current scarf completely knitted by then; when I measured the other night I had about eight inches to go. I will either try binding off on my own or let Hannah (our instructor) show me. I am looking forward to seeing how everyone has done and to show off what I have accomplished so far.When the scarf is complete, including fringe, I will post a photo here. So far, I am enjoying my new hobby and I am definitely getting better at it. Knit knit hooray!
Yesterday was a day of not-so-good news but morning today brought better news. First, I learned that a dear friend in NC who is 28 weeks and three days pregnant was hospitalized with contractions. Two years ago she delivered a baby boy very early - perhaps at 20 or 21 weeks - that did not survive, so this pregnancy has been very closely monitored. As Kathy says, she just wants the baby to "bake" a little longer before making his entry into the world. Her email message today said that everything has stabilized and if it continues, she will go home tomorrow. She has been given medications to stop the contractions and the goal is to keep baby in until 32 or 33 weeks. Her spirits are high and she said that she feels good except for a "numb bum" - did I mention she's a Brit?
Second, last evening horrific storms moved through western Tennessee where I have relatives on my father's side. As I watched the primary results, they broke in to talk about a tornado in Jackson, Tennessee, where my father's cousin Paul lives. This morning's news was awful - numerous deaths and injuries. Before I left for my weekly gig in A's classroom, I sent an email message to my mother and my brother to see if someone could get in touch with Paul. I returned from school to a voice mail message and an email message from my brother, stating that he had reached Paul, and that he and his wife, Mildred, were safe. Their house sustained some damage but nothing catastrophic. They have no power, no water, no landline telephone service and many trees in their backyard where knocked down; the church behind them, however, sustained major damage. Paul also said that their grandson had moved out of his dorm at Union University over the weekend into an apartment, and although he and his apartment were fine, his former dorm was severely damaged. All told, 1800 students at the university have been displaced but none, thankfully, were killed.So in terms of my friends and family, good news all around.
Today is Super Tuesday, when 24 states will hold primaries or caucuses, with 52 percent of all pledged Democratic party delegates and 41 percent of the total Republican party delegates available. Georgia is one of those 24 states, so J and I will be voting today.This is the first time in quite a few years - okay, honestly, since Bill Clinton was a candidate - that I feel pretty good about the choices. Although I am an independent, it is no secret that I vote more with and for Democrats, and I like both remaining candidates. I was all set to vote for John Edwards when he announced that he was dropping out, so now I am faced with a decision: do I still vote for John Edwards and essentially throw away my vote? If not, do I vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? I like both of them, their policies, their ideas and their stances almost equally, so I really do not know what I will do until I am standing in the voting booth later this morning.I like to vote. I think it is the single most patriotic action I can take. And who someone votes for is less important to me than if they do not vote at all. I hear so many people say that they don't have the time to vote, or that they don't care who wins, or that they don't like any of the candidates. I can't imagine NOT voting - it is one of the privileges that we as citizens of the United States enjoy and something that people in some countries can only dream of doing. Sure, I don't always like the candidates and it is rare that I find one with whom I agree on all issues, but I vote because it is my right and it helps my shape the future for my son.
And while I have never been a fan of Jesse Helms and certainly never voted for him when I lived in North Carolina, his words on voting are very good:
"My first reaction when asked to discuss this topic was to reverse the question and ask 'Why would anyone not vote?'
I vote because it is my birthright as an American citizen to live in freedom under a democratic and representative government.
I vote because there is no brutal tyrant blocking my way or rigging the process to gain or maintain power that has not been willingly given.
I vote because that right was secured for me by the blood of patriots and protected by generations of their successors – to this very day.
I vote because those who rule at the pleasure of the electorate are responsible to those whose support they have courted to fulfill the promises they have made.
I vote because there are millions of people in this world who would willingly risk their lives for our most basic privilege.
I vote because I am a citizen of the United States of America – the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
- Jesse Helms, former U.S. senator (thankfully former and not current!)And this election year, my vote could possibly help make history: perhaps the first female president, or the first black President of the United States!
"There are no ordinary cats."
- Colette
I received word the other day of the death of Barney, my friend Cynthia's cat. He had been in great pain for about ten days and was finally diagnosed by the wonderful doctors at the North Carolina State University Vet School with a tumor that was crushing his spinal cord; there was also the strong possibility of liver cancer. It was a very aggressive tumor and his quality of life outlook was not good, so Cynthia and her husband Steve made the difficult decision to have Barney euthanized. Having made a similar decision regarding our cat Daphne last May, we certainly understand their distress. They were able to hold him on their laps one last time and he purred for them.
Barney was marvelous, a real Mr. Personality. He was a neighborhood cat who first belonged to another family that neglected him. He knew a good thing when he saw it - he realized that Cynthia and Steve were compassionate people and chose them to be his new family. After having Barney hang around their house for quite some time, they received permission from the other family to adopt Barney. It worked out to everyone's satisfaction...well, except for Mocha, their other cat. She was not too pleased to have another object of her humans' affection in the family! But Mocha was an indoor cat and Barney was an outdoor cat, so in the end it worked out.
When we went over to their house for their great patio parties, Barney was a congenial host. He escorted guests through their beautiful backyard garden and loved to hang out on the patio where the action was. One time when we were all inside in the kitchen, he looked through the window and meowed pitifully as if to say "I want to be a part of the fun, too!"
Cynthia and Steve will miss Barney terribly. I am certain that Barney died knowing that he was loved, and that is a wonderful gift for anyone.
Fuzzy wuzzy was a scarf - made by me! I finished another of my practice projects, a scarf made out of lime green fun fur. What an odd yarn to work with at first, but definitely fun. I have read comments by knitters that refer to fun fur as "dead Muppet fur" and I can understand why...it is fuzzy, fluffy, tickly and intense in color.
