How I Plan to Spend My Summer Vacation

Technically speaking, it isn’t officially summer until Friday, but since school is out, we’re considering summer to be underway.  Some “progress” has been made on the house selling front, but until we’re actually packing I’m not going to get my hopes up.  Tentative plans are to be moved by the mid part of summer vacation so we can settle in to a new home and register the girls for school.  My DH and I have decided against having a garage sale.  It’s a lot of work and neither of us has the energy.  Unnecessary items will be sorted into a “Donate” pile and a “Trash” pile, then delivered accordingly to their respective destinations.  Several exceptions will be the riding lawn mower and some other larger items that we’ll put on Craigslist.

In addition to moving, there is a long “to-do” list.  The list contains mundane tasks such as, having emissions testing done on the van, renewing my driver’s license, and having a neurological review to discuss medications, possible exercise regimes, etc.

This weekend we went to the Vancouver Farmer’s Market to pick up some berries for jam and jelly.  We brought Thor with us and he wanted to stop for a “Sniff and Greet” with every critter we encountered.  Here are a few of the friends he met.

The park and market were packed due to the nice weather and a running event (5K Freedom Run) that ended at the park.  We had lunch from the food carts while there. 

The food always looks and smells so good that it’s hard to choose, but we ended up settling on gyros.

Lots of pretty flowers and some beautiful pottery tempted us from several booths, but no yarn or roving to be seen. Yet.  The summer is early and I’m sure fiber will find its way there at some point in time.

We ended up buying 1/2 flat of strawberries, 1/2 flat of raspberries and apples.

I knitted a few more rows on a blanket, but it’s far from being finished. Steven inspected my tension and deemed it “passable.”

Slow progress on A3′s cosplay armor ate up much of the weekend.  Once the paper templates are printed, cut out and taped together in a 3-D facsimile, then I need to cut the pattern into manageable pieces, lay them out on foam, cut, glue, rivet, etc. 

The foam used in the helmet is lightweight and there are about 4 or 5 layers in most places for durability.  It’s easy to work with, but it’s fragile. The foam being used for the body pieces is similar to what people use on garage or shop floors to make the concrete more user-friendly, so it’s heavier and more difficult to work with.  It’s a bit tricky because slits need to all be punched through with a razor blade (a hole punch or rivet gun leaves too much of a gap) before the brads can be inserted and a heat gun is necessary to “mold” the foam before trying to glue it in position.

We’ve been able to video chat with A1 regularly.  Everyone misses her and it’s nice to see the girls talking together instead of bickering.

Cheers!

WTF Wednesday

Reblogged from Serendipitous Opportuknitty:

WTF Bakers: Life-like figural cakes give me the eebie jeebies.  There's just something disturbing...  in a Donner Pass, Incan Sacrifice kind of way about them.  Not only do the cakes themselves often look creepy, but the thought of cutting the cakes is macabre and warped.  Does one put the cake out of its misery by early decapitation or is it better to start at the extremities and work towards he torso/head region?

Read more… 202 more words

I used to write in a slightly more timely fashion before severe laziness set in. I miss making regular posts... especially the "WTF Wednesdays". ("WTF" stands for "Where's The Fiber," just in case you were wondering) I'm not ready to do something crazy and start making brand new, regular posts. Both people who read my blog would probably suspect the worst and assume something akin to a terminal illness was a motivator. So, instead, I'm going to repost an old WTF Wednesday.

Shifting Crafts

I’ve not given up knitting, but this weekend yarn took a back seat to crafting foam, double-sided tape and an exacto knife.

Originally I’d planned on waiting until school ended before starting A3′s Alphonse Elric armor, but patience has never been one of my strongest virtues. Now that I’ve started I’m glad that I didn’t wait.  After many hours of meticulous

(and some not so meticulous) cutting, the larger pieces are done, but there are still about a zillion narrow, tabbed strips to be carved out.

I’ve been assured, by people much more clever than I could ever claim to be, that all of these little bits will somehow come together and form a helmet.  There are about 1,000 intersecting tabs to be aligned and glued.  Afterwards, it will need filler in the seams, sanding and painting.  My DH and I are heading over now to pick up more coffee. There will be no progression without coffee.

 

Happy June!

Weekends are mostly spent resting and catching up on laundry at Chez Serendipitous, but today my DH and I actually made some progress on our “Chores That Nobody Wants To Do, So They Keep Getting Put Off In Hopes That They Will Somehow Get Done On Their Own Or Someone Else Will Do Them” list.   We cleaned out the front flower bed!

While we were mid-elbow in weeds a white car drove by slowly and circled the cul-de-sac.  I told my DH that the same people drive by at least several times a week, that I notice, to look at the house and I suspect they are the buyers who put in the short-sale offer way back in January.  Not more than 5 minutes later the car returned and the driver got out to speak with us.  He didn’t divulge who he was, but his questions about the property pretty much confirmed my belief that this is the couple who have been waiting so patiently for the red-tape to clear.  My DH gave the fellow as much information as was prudent.  We have our fingers crossed that this will wrap up soon and that these people get the house, as they obviously really want it.

Among the weeds we pulled out there were scads of bearded iris bulbs/corms (not sure which they are). Last year I gave a bunch to my sister, but there are still quite a few left.

In addition to these irises, we have mounds of a yellow variety popping out of the over-crowded bed near our dogwood tree.  If I take them to work with me maybe someone will feel compelled to give them a home, but I’ll feel like a murderer if someone doesn’t take them.  If they are left to wither the guilt might compel me to succumb to my sinister, dark self.  The next thing you know I’ll be sipping orphan tears and kicking puppies.  I really don’t want that to happen, so hopefully some will take these displaced flowers.

The baby blanket in progress has been frogged and started, yet again.  This yarn has been reincarnated so much that it’s suffering from an  identity crisis.  This might be its final form though.  It’s a basic Feather and Fan stitch to make a small ripple afghan.

In true ADHD fashion this blanket has been put on a temporary hiatus so I can make a fox hat for A2.  I bought and downloaded an adorable (at least I thought it was adorable) pattern.  A2 approached me with a picture and asked that the hat be modified to look like the picture on the left.

I think this is do-able. In the picture on the left the ears and nose are stuffed and there isn’t a ribbed band along the bottom.  I might end up not using the pattern at all.  She wants it in the next two days so she can wear it to school. Cheers!

The Home Stretch!

Only 12 1/2 more school/work days left until summer and the end of my career as a para-educator.  The reasoning portion of my brain, which, quite frankly, tends to slack off more often than not, insists that these remaining hours will be over sooner than I realize.  The rest of my gray matter protests adamantly that reality has been warped, and somehow stretched.  The majority of my head likens the end of the school year to those nightmare hallways… you know, the ones where the doorway at the end gets further and further away, no matter how fast you run. 

Not only will the end of this school year mark a change for my life, but my girls and husband are all undergoing major transitions as well. A1 is very busy with her studies in Japan.  All of her classes are in Japanese, except for English., so it’s kind of a ”Sink or Swim” situation.  A2 will be entering high school in an entirely different district, and likewise, A3 is leaving the security of elementary school behind and joining the ranks of middle school , also in a new district.  My DH is in the midst of a promotion for the military side of his job, which means that he is taking classes and will be expected to travel more.  And finally, we’re hoping to be in the home stretch of our never-ending house sale.  This means that we will be moving in the next month or two.

I finished knitting the two pieces of the BFF cowl, but both are incredibly wonky and need a severe blocking before the meet-up and exchange with Penny.

Over Memorial Day weekend we chose to stay home and enjoy some down-time.  Technically, I didn’t “choose” the down-time, but rather my arms and legs decided to go on strike.  The best way to describe what I mean is this… imagine the tingling, buzzing numbness you feel after smacking the crap out of your “Funny Bone” on the corner of table.  That’s how my whole body feels, but it doesn’t go away.  It isn’t intense pain, but it’s constant and wearing. By the end of the work week I just need a day or two to recuperate.  Anyway, I didn’t accomplish much.  I cast on a sweater, but after about 6 inches I frogged the whole thing.

The yarn was nice to work with though, so after ripping it back to its stringy origins I cast on a baby blanket.  It’s still in the embryonic stages of development.  The pattern is simple enough that the blanket can be packed around and worked on without requiring my undivided attention.  Hopefully I can get this knocked out and ready for delivery in the next week.

The awaiting babe was freshly hatched this weekend and I’m seriously behind schedule.  Cheers, my friends!

Fluff

Lately I feel like my head is stuffed with fluff and I can’t remember anything.  That isn’t always a bad thing though.  As long as I don’t forget to turn off the stove and burn down the house or forget to pay bills all will be fine.  Winnie the Pooh’s head was stuffed with fluff and he was quite wise for being a bear of very little brain.  Some of my favorite quotes are from Pooh, including this one that I remind my girls of often, 

” Promise me you’ll always remember,

you are braver than you believe, 

stronger than you seem

and smarter than you think.”

My family, co-workers and even the children I work with at school are all aware of my brain deficiencies.  To their immense credit though, rather than take advantage of my forgetful nature or making fun of me, they patiently remind me why I walked into a room and what I was speaking about 30 seconds earlier.  At least I don’t think they make fun of me.  Maybe they do and I just can’t remember.

Speaking of fluff… two days ago one of my illustrious co-workers gifted me with 2 bags of alpaca wool, from his freshly-shorn pair of critters. There is no leg or neck hair, just the body fleeces in the sacks. It is lovely stuff!

It is a little bit dusty, but there is very little vegetable matter and there are no poop clumps, urine matts or other disgusting inclusions.  I learned from past mistakes to not try washing too much at once, so only a few small handfuls were washed at a time.  I used a mild shampoo, tepid water and gentle squeezing so it wouldn’t felt.

After its bath I laid it out on towels in the sun to air dry.

Today I took the doggy brush and combed out a small pile.

It is heavenly soft and the color is beautiful!  This will be a dream to spin. I can’t wait until summer when I can delve into this project with wild abandon.

Oh yes, I almost forgot.  I finished a pair of fingerless mitts for a student too.

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!  I love the idea of a day to honor mothers.  Mine is pretty darned awesome and she set a high standard to live up to.  She sewed everything from homemade diapers to my bridesmaid dresses and just about anything imaginable in between those times.  My sister and I always had the prettiest Dance Festival dresses in the entire school.  She is an amazing cook who baked homemade bread for us through most of our childhood.  At the time I was so jealous of kids who got Wonder Bread in their lunches and had store-bought cookies, which leads me to conclude that children can be ungrateful by nature.  I never even tasted commercially canned tuna fish until I was 21 years old.  

It’s my firm belief that anyone who undertakes the role of “mother” should be honored on this day, regardless of sex, age or biological affiliation with children.  I am fortunate enough to have wonderful friends who voluntarily stepped forward to bravely take on the daunting task of raising a relative’s teenage child.  I know single fathers who claim that they have no choice in the matter, due to circumstances, except to take on the role of mother, but I whole heartedly disagree with them.   They do not have to take their daughters dress shopping, or be subjected to the “unmanly” experience of having their toenails painted. They do these things so that their children won’t miss out on experiences.  Step mothers are usually portrayed as villainous hags who take great delight in torturing their spouse’s offspring, but seldom is that the reality.  I hope that each and every person out there today thanks to everyone who helped nurture them.

I’m missing A1, but she is growing in ways that she never could back home.  We were able to video chat (my husband told me it isn’t actually Skype) with her several nights ago.  The 16 hour time difference limits our conversations.

Bonny is now almost 8 years old and we’re concerned about her weight.  She doesn’t seem to eat more than the other kitties, but she’s grown quite large over the years.  She often lays like this, but it is NOT an invitation to touch her stomach unless you wish to draw back a bloody stump.  I think she gets hot and lays this way to cool off.  She doesn’t seem interested much in playing with toys or chasing string.  Any suggestions regarding our portly feline are welcome.

As the end of my career as a para-educator winds down I realize that there are a lot of things I wish to accomplish before school is out.   In addition to organizing my students’ records and curriculum I’d like to knock out a few knitted presents for people at the school as well.  This first item is for a delightful co-worker.

The hat was made following a two-year old request from a persistent student.  He wanted a plain blue hat with earflaps.  Hopefully this will fulfill his wishes.

Two pairs of socks, one more hat and a pair of fingerless mittens round out the list.  Hope you’re all enjoying a stellar weekend.  Cheers!