Now to the knitting part

I went to Eugene to buy some pretty, slate blue cashmere for a cable sweater for Darling. (This was in September). I've had as much as 18 inches of theback done before I noticed a large glaring error, so I ripped it out.
I have a hard time casting on and getting the beginning ribbing done....so I did that for about three months.
Then I went to a conference...prime knitting time! However, about 12 inches into the back, I noticed that somehow, I had
a)miscounted in alomost every row
b)must have read the pattern in a language other than k and p
c)managed to drop stiches hither and yon

So I ripped that out.

So it is now almost the end of February. I spent THE ENTIRE WEEK getting 1 1/2 inches of even ribbing completed (no dropped stitches) and THREE PATTERN ROWS done.

Be still my beating heart. I think the hardest part is over.

Okay, I 'm clumsy...like that's a crime

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Okay, I 'm clumsy...like that's a crime Current mood: sore I'm an adrenaline junkie, NOT an athlete. When I lived in Utah, I liked doing really dangerous things that were frankly, WAY out of my league. Black diamond skiing? You bet! Level 5 white water rafting? Why not? Hang gliding? Sounds good to me! Rappelling? Sure! Even now, I work with really dangerous criminals. (Danger? Ha! I laugh at danger! Let me rappel into that riot with my Kevlar and my pepper spray! Hi Yah!) And all of that stuff certainly guarenteed that my hips, beguiling as they may be, certainly weren't going to rust out before they wore out. So I fell down the stairs...and yes, I was in a red hot hurry and no, it wasn't the first time..and broke my hip. Not a bad break. Just bad enough to show up on the xray SO EVEN I COULD SEE IT. Not bad enough for any major drugs though. In the last two years, I've fallen down the stairs half a dozen times and broken my ankle three times (and let me tell you, THAT really hurts). Oh, I fractured my shoulder, too. I look quite stylish with the sling and the cane. And if you're laughing? This cane extends my reach by a good 3 feet and can probably fracture your skull.

Update on the hotel

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Update on the hotel Current mood: productive The floors have all been sanded (they were all from an old teardown we did of an old school) and will be a natural light maple syrup color, with a satin finish (not matte but not high gloss either). We painted the master bedroom a rich, gorgeous hot fudge brown..which we loved but was just too darn dark. So back to the drawing board for that. We're thinking again back to periwinkle, with the closet and office in a darker periwinkle and the bathroom in a lighter periwinkle with ivory clouds scrumbled on it. The bathroom has wide shelves for potted orchids and pretty containers for bubble baths, bath salts and the like. The kitchen..oh, the kitchen!! We did a teardown and got literally a ton of embossed tin ceiling, so I think we are going to use that here in the kitchen as ceiling and backsplash. My big extavagance will be the faucets in there...something really over the top...which are still to be purchased. The counters are black granite...black black black. The walls are the color of baked cornbread. The sink (on sale for $10) is one of those really heavy cast iron ones in a sage green. I think it was supposed to be avocado, but the color was off. I had my reservations but it looks great. The cupboards are Victorian style, with beadboard insets and will be painted a dark ivory with a brown glaze wiped on and off. Over the island is a pot rack, made of an old gate. There is room on top of the cabinets for my chicken collection. I think I will get a leaded glass piece to hang in front of the kitchen window (the view is the roof next door), just so that the light will be rainbowed by the bevels. The laundry room will have one wall of pantry..again, stuff we got from a teardown. Painted ivory, it has lots of drawers and doors for storage. The washer/dryer is a stackable (there is a drycleaner downstairs and I'm trading services for parking), with an old fashioned laundry tub that has been in the back yard for about 10 years. I have one of those old fashioned drying racks that fasten on the wall over the sink. All of this stuff is going to be hidden by folding, Victorian screen doors, with a pretty inset of fabric shirred on rods. The library...crime scene red walls. 18 by 16 foot bookcases that have been faux finshed to look like oak. We haven't decided on the color for the inside of the bookcases..I'm leaning toward crime scene red, but darling thinks maybe an old gold color. Both sets of bookshelves have copper rails for the rolling ladders. (I bought the rolling ladders for $100/each about 20 years ago and have dragged them around ever since.) I have an old round couch that will be upholstered in an olive/sage chenille, with sort of a raised pattern. We have two antique barber chairs that will be re-nickeled and..hold on to your hats...upholstered in burgandy=brown ALLIGATOR. Two other easy chairs will be on the other side of the room, upholstered in a tapestry called "Magellean's Quest" The front bedroom is painted in that same cornbread color and I found a pretty plaid in the same color for the duvet (I'll do the sewing). Still looking for fabric for the curtains. Right now, we are searching for light fixures but I have found a wonderful lampshade maker/lighting fixture hunter online. The formula for light fixtures is the length and width of a room. For example and 18 by 18 room would need a 36" light fixture. I think all the lace curtains will be the same pattern, which I have in my head but have not found online yet! I'm looking for something that is craftsman/art deco-y in ivory...and I am sure I will make the translation from my head to reality pretty soon. The shades will be either ivory or old gold, with a scalloped edge, trimmed with fringe. The stairs will have the brass treads re-brassed but not hammered out, because I love the look of the worn treads. I'm on the lookout for an oriental runner for the stairs. I have the little brass rods and little triangle corder dealys for dust in the corners...I just have to wait until we areat that point. I have current photos I will post..the early morning light looks beautiful! This is probably the most fun I have ever had getting a place together.

Took a drive today

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Current mood: ecstatic We've been looking for a little house in Morro Bay. It gets REALLY hot here (last year, 15 straight days of 105+ temps....and then just generally hot days.) THe winter time is equally dismal....fog, fog, and more fog. Dense all day fog. Can't see the cars in the driveway fog. We both can manage our jobs so that we have three days off, so we could POSSIBLY got out of the heat/fog for half the time. So, today on this very dark, damp dismal foggy day, we drive over to the coast to look at this little (800 sq ft) house. An hour from home, the sun comes out. We look at house...it is darling, tiny and has a view of the water. The backyard backs up against a bird sanctuary. There is a bird sanctuary across the street. We can see the golf course. We bought it

Busy as a bee today, too

Saturday, January 14, 2006

I did important stuff today, too Current mood: chipper Took out all the dishes and washed them and put them back away again. Took everything out of the pantry, relined the sheves and organized that. Took everything out of my pan cupboard, washed all that and reorganized that as well. I own FOUR ice cream churns. (I think I bought them for a party.) I also packed 42 boxes of stuff; labeled it and put in the now designated box room. Tomorrow, we are going over to the coast and look at a little house

Well, I did some important stuff today

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Well, I did some important stuff today I had to do some serious retail therapy today. Like shoes. I needed some cute flats that well, were cute. The only rule was that they had to be comfortable from the get go. Then there's the perfume. Guerlain Rose Barbare. You have no idea how many I had to try out to settle on this one. Jo Malone's RED ROSES almost made the cut. So did a rich gardenia in a really pretty bottle. But right now...Rose Barbare for me.

Love My Job

Monday, January 09, 2006

So I've figured out a new and more efficient way to write code and have upped my logging from 183 scores/day to about 375/hour. I am very impressed but it seems like I am the only one, since no one seems to know what I DO..only what I don't do. At the big Monday meeting, I got called on the carpet because my reports are 3 days out of date...and since they use the report for 7 days, that means they are..gasp!..10 days outdated by the next meeting. I guess that is what happens when I work M-F. Get over your bad selves. THen it seems like every inmate at this asylum wants to know when I'm going to get this or that done...and they are very good at letting me know how many requests they've sent in. I have to laugh...I send out the same info for each of the maybe 10 different requests/problems/dilimmas...and if they don't like the answer, they just ask again. So this afternoon, I have to go do computer inventory. The sheet I have is in no particular order..printers of all kinds, monitors and towers all mixes up...no particular number order either. Here at work, we have 3 or 4 tags on every piece of property...there is the property tag and the serial number and model number and program number...they are all on the inventory list for me to wade thru. So I decided to retype the whole thing so I could sort it to please me...my shoes hurt and I didn't want to walk all over creation anyway. I have an appointment in the morning with the AISA, and as soon as he is gone, I'll go count parts.

Plans for the weekend

Friday, January 06, 2006

Plans for the weekend Current mood: content Have to say, owning a business (okay, 2) is exhilarating but time consuming, especially around this time of the year. This weekend, I have to print out all the W2's and get them mailed out (last year, I waited unitl the absolutely last day of the year..what a night mare!). I have to get the books for the coffee shop wrapped up and closed for 2005...that looks like it will take pretty much all day tomorrow. On Sunday, I have to clean up what passes for my office..it looks as if a bomb exploded in there! I have a ton of filing to do, but at least it is all in organized piles. But tonight, I'm going to eat pizza, watch televison and knit.

The Kitchen is IN!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

THe new kitchen is IN!! Current mood: creative We've only been working on this place for EIGHT years...and the kitchen went in today. Well, really, just the cupboards. I haven't decided on the countertop or the sink yet. I see the faux painter tomorrow to talk about what I want to do with the cabinets. I'm thinking of a dark ivory with a dark brown glazed antiquing. Inside the back wall will be a dark chocolate brown or a really pretty jadite green or a geranium red, to set off the white dishes. The walls are the color of cornmeal. I'm thinking of either polished concrete counters, black granite or some bowling alley wood I picked up at an auction. I have a pretty piece of fabric for the shade (sort of a tailored balloon shade) with a jabot valance in two co-ordinating colors. I think it's going to look pretty in a tailored sort of way. The kitchen window overlooks the rooftop of the building next door...so we pushed the existing window out so I could have an indoor window box and hung several glass shelves so I can put some pretty doodads to look at, since the view is less than pleasing. The committee is still out as to an island or just an oversized round table I can use as an island. (I like the idea of the round table...it's already nice and battered and I can use it to cool cookies and stuff. We are still in a quandry about the color for the bedroom walls...i wanted aubergine but i think we are "settling" on a rich chocolate brown. I bought YARDS of really lovely ivory chenille damask for the bedspread and some gorgeous tone on tone striped silk dupioni. I think I have enough pleated ivory ribbon to trim them and some nice chocolate and ivory bobble trim to sew on top of that pleated ribbon. Very rich looking. I have 50 yards of the dupioni, so I can make the curtains very full. There are two windows on either side of the bed and I think I'll use some of that fabric to shirr on the wall, to show off the carved headboard

Sell This House

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Moving Current mood: busy Well, today I HAVE to clean up the office and the linen closet. The house is on the market and I have to streamline the entire place. Yes, I've watched the tv shows and I know what needs to be done. (Too much). So today, I tackle the office and one closet. Next week the carpet cleaners come in as well as the painters (just touch ups). Next week is repair week...everything that needs to be fixed will be. Then, all that has to be done is declutter every surface and every closet. Well, I guess it will jump start me into getting ready to move. So, off the Staples for boxes...markers...probably twice as many boxes as I THINK I'll need.

Spent the day in the ER

Monday, November 21, 2005

Well, now I know that ER doctors don't know much more than I do. I've been feeling puny and poorly and can't get into my regular doctor for TWO WEEKS (unless I just want to show up and sit around all day). I woke up this morning looking like a dandelion on crack so decided to got to the ER. No wait at all....except it was COLD and I could not understand a word the doctor said. The nurse with the IV told me I was anemic and probably worry too much...duh. Tell me something I don't already know.