Knitting at Night: June 2008

Things Change

While I was doing pretty well with blogging every day for the first few months, it became more of a chore rather than something I liked doing. I work 12-hour days that often turn into 14-hour days. Add travel time to that, plus time to sleep so I am patient-safe, oh yeah, and time to eat, too, and it adds up to precious little extra time on work days. It wasn't too bad on weeks when I only work three days, but more often than not, I work four or even five days, and it is a problem. I need to work that much so I can keep a roof over my head, and that takes precedence over blogging. So, I'm still going to blog, but not every day. I want this to be something I enjoy doing, not something I remember I have to do while I'm running out the door.

Not much knitting lately, either. I'm still working on Flower Basket, but I don't think I'll have it done by the wedding. Just as well, because I looked at the skirt I'm going to wear, and guess what, the colors don't exactly match the yarn! My memory must be slipping!

Thunderstorms

We had them last night, or more accurately, they were all around us last night. Lots of thunder, but little lightening in this area, and little rain. But the result was the same - the heat wave broke. Nice today, low humidty and nice temps.

Nearly 300 stitches on the needles for Flower Basket. It'll stay that way for a few days - working eight out of the next nine days!

Glah

Pretty much how i feel about this whole weather thing. Way too hot for spring. For that matter, it's way too hot for summer, too. We're having thunderstorms right now, so maybe that will cool things off a bit. i still have some planting to do outside, and the family of bunnies that was here finished off all my morning glory plants around the mailbox post, so now I have to try to replant.

I'm hoping to finish 8 rows or so on Flower Basket tonight. Still plugging away.

On Track

With my knitting, that is. I've knitted about 10 rows of Flower Basket today. Considering that each row is now over 250 stitches, that is progress. I still have to get up to over 400 stitches, and i am working a long eight-out-of-nine stretch, starting this week. Will I make it in time for the wedding?

Well, My Intentions Were Good...

I did knit last night. Really. I just didn't knit much, that's all. How much? Heh, about half a row. That's about 150 stitches at this point. That's more than a few rows on a sweater. First off, I couldn't remember what row I was on in the pattern. The marker fell off the page, so I had to fiddle around and figure out from the stitches. After a false start or two, I got it right. Then, I fell asleep. Didn't see that one coming. I can't knit lace when my eyes keep closing. I already tried that once, and it was a disaster.

Spent a lot of time cleaning today. I have a fairly large linen closet, and you would think that there would be more than enough room for linens in it, but you would be wrong. With five people, and five beds, that closet gets pretty crowded. Add to that the fact that my sons don't really keep it as neat as they should, and it is a mess. So, I tossed out lots of stuff, organized sheets with matching pillowcases, and sorted them by size. Any bets on how long this lasts? Til the end of the week? I'd be happy.

We must be busy at work. They called three times today to see if I'd work tonight. No. I haven't had enough sleep, and I'm not patient-safe, plus starting this Thursday, I work eight out of the next nine days, and I need a break.

Munch, Munch, Munch

Baby Squirrel
Originally uploaded by momcat14c

I didn't take a picture of the sky today. It's a uniformly washed out pale color, which is not very attractive. And, I forgot. So there.

One of the baby squirrels that infest my birdfeeders. What's he eating? Birdseed of course. Annoying they are, but still cute.

Hey, guess what I'm doing tonight? Knitting. Yep, that's right. Even though I went to AC Moore today and got some yarn to work on one of my in-progress afghans. Don't you just love when you start a clear-out-the-stash project, and damn if you don't have to go buy more yarn for the stash so you can finish it?

It's too freakin' early in the year to be this freakin' hot. I went to Petsmart today and I thought I was going to stick to the parking lot surface.

Ugh.

I Think I Hear Buster Poindexter...

Singing "Hot, Hot, Hot". Yikes!! It's supposed to be in the 90's this weekend, and maybe near 100 on Monday! What the hell?? This is still spring, isn't it? This is what I would expect in August.

Crap.

Thank god for a/c!

Um, Isn't this Supposed To Be Spring?

Spring seems to be an odd season anymore. It's been fairly cool and chilly, with below normal temps. Actually, that's ok with me. I don't mind cooler weather, and even with the cooler temps, spring has been beautiful. Things are growing nicely, my flowers look wonderful, and I'm happy with the temps.

That's all about to change. Yesterday was really warm, today is somewhat cooler with rain, but we are about to head into the 90's. No, not the decade, the temps. Ick. I have a hard time dealing with anything above 85. I still have lots of planting to do, and that means I have to do it while it's hot!

Last month, I planted a ton of morning glory seeds around my mailbox. Not one has popped out of the ground, that I've seen. I've been wondering what the heck happened. With a few dozen seeds, you'd think that I would at least see one, don't you? I think I figured out what happened. While standing near my front porch, talking to my son, I noticed some of the leaves in back of the pacysandra wiggling around. Walked back there, lifted the leaves, and found five baby bunnies! That means mom is around somewhere, and I know from past experience, she loves morning glory plants!

I Give Up!

Gray Squirrel
Originally uploaded by momcat14c

We have had some amazing squirrels this year. I've had a birdfeeder in the yard for years, one on a pole with a baffle on it. It's been enough to keep the squirrels off it. They couldn't jump past the baffle.

Until this year. I have at least two squirrels who jump past the baffle and clean out that feeder in a matter of hours. I'm spending a fortune on birdseed. Yes, I have tried the red pepper powder that they are supposed to hate. They seem to love it. They finish off the hot-pepper suet with gusto, along with every other kind of suet I've tried. I have a hummingbird feeder, new this year. Do they bother it? Of course they do. They pried off the little yellow flowers surrounding the feeding holes. I found three of them in the grass, put them back in, and tried to get them out myself. Couldn't do it.

I'm ordering a new pole, so we'll see how it works.