Sorry to be out of touch this long. I am, that is to say, we are fine.
We have both had a bit of a head cold these past two weeks; it has left me, in particular, low. We are both on the mend, and will probably go to the grocery store sometime tomorrow, or Monday. We were short on supplies last week, but I could not muster enough oomph to get in the car, much less walk around Costco.
Liz, and, I walked to the market to pick up some staples; not office staples, but pantry staples, silly you. Things like lettuce, chiles, onion, and, garlic; all of the things with which one needs to cook a decent tasting meal. Oh, yes, and, a two and a half liter bottle of Coke, for you know who. As he is still at the “beginning” of the head cold, without much appetite, I made allowances. He will need the calories.
Really, I just want to go back to bed. I know I need to be up, and doing, but I just do not have the energy. Maybe later.
All of you, however, need to stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
I am anxious to get knitting again. It has been far too long since I knit for any length of time.
Yesterday, I wanted to use my yarn ball winder, so I could make a yarn “cake” instead of winding a ball of the yarn by hand. I found the winder, and could not for the life of me, remember how to use it correctly. The way I had it set up, it kept trying to wind the lead yarn onto itself. Confusing, I know. YouTube, help me!
This is what a cake of yarn looks like when you use a yarn winder. On the left is a yarn “swift”, and the right, is the same yarn ball winder that I use. My swift is a cheap Chinese plastic, but it works.
Once I found the video, it all came rushing back to me; just what I needed to do to get the inedible cake I wanted. It takes about five minutes to cake a couple of skeins of yarn; not much time at all. That, versus twenty minutes, balling it by hand! Yuck.
For those of you that do not knit, skeins are the way most yarn, found in hobby stores, in the hobby section of a store, and, even, online, sell their yarn. The yarn is wound by the manufacturer shaped like a peanut within its shell. Most people that knit, and/or crochet, like to pull the yarn strand, to use in their project, from the middle, or inside of the yarn skein. To say that it is, most often, difficult to find that illusive little devil, is an understatement, as I believe most will agree.
A skein of natural wool and alpaca yarn.
To take that skein, and wind it into a cake, makes it sooo much easier to use. It still takes however long to find that beginning strand from inside the skein, but what you end up with, is a nice, tidy, much smaller yarn ball, with which to work.
The yarn swift, is to use, usually, in conjunction with the ball winder. The yarn starts out in, what is called, a “hank”. A hank of yarn, is, very often, not always however, yarn that is made from natural fibers; wool, cashmere, silk, cotton, hemp, and the like.
These are hanks of yarn, and can be used as is, which is ridiculous imho, but, to each their own.
The hank, released from its ties, opens into a loop of all of the strands of yarn, and is placed onto the swift, passed through the winder, and a cake is made. It sounds more difficult than it is. Plus, whatever “inconvenience” might be associated with this adventure, it is very much worth every minute.
I am getting more involved, again, with my knitting, and, these are the two things on which I am currently working. The first is a baby blanket for Lizbeth’s baby, due in March, and the second, is my lifelong project, my shawl.
I plan to intersperse a couple of pairs of socks, a scarf, and some fingerless gloves whilst I am at it, just to keep myself from an episode of ennui. I loathe ennui. (But I adore the word).
I am going to go take a nap as I have been two days with a head full of mocos (mucus, ok, snot). I slept fairly well last night, after a Benadryl, and some Tylenol. No fever, just body aches, and stuffed up sinuses. Should be gone in another day, or so. Natural immunity. Gotta love it.
All of you, however, need to stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. See you tomorrow, or the next day.
The fair has returned to celebrate the harvest season.
We missed the one at the beginning of the growing season and we did not go to this one. Gabi went with Liz’s parents. Better them than us. Not that we do not enjoy a country fair, we do. It is just too darned cold once the sun goes down.
And this is only the beginning of October!
Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
It started early, today did. It usually does, however. The older we get the shorter the night, the earlier the morning.
Today, however, I have “put up” a dozen bottles of Kombucha, fermenting for a second time, with pineapple; a vat/cauldron, (you can decide), of boiling black beans, almost done; laundry folded, awaiting being put away. (It can wait, as far as I am concerned.)
Watered some of the plants that needed watering, and gazed, again, at all of the new little succulents appearing before my very eyes.
Patience. That is all that is needed when growing succulents; something I do not really have, in abundance, or in spades. Let me show you what I am saying.
The new Aeonium “kiwi” sprouting from the tip of the leaf. This will, some day, be another Topsy Turvy. The large green leaves are from the Topsy Turvy, while the three small ones in the middle, are from the Pachyphytum Compactum.This will be another Donkey Tail; there are a half dozen more of these, all starting to sprout, finally, after two months, or so. A dozen possible Aeonium, and Donkey Tails.
These are just a few of the newest additions, having begun to sprout, not long after having drowned the parent plants. What can I say?
I will keep you apprised of their continued growth. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Not all of it, of course; only the extra duvets, comforters, sheet sets, pillows, and blankets, that we (I) bought, in preparation for our forever-move to another country.
All of this, prior to being vacuum sealed, took up two and a half large totes.
We both like the Space saver bags that we buy on Amazon. We bought, most recently, the large, and medium sizes, but should have also bought the extra large ones.
If you need extra space, these are the bags we have used for years.
Our king sized comforters have to go in a large bag, each by itself. If I had bought the extra large, we could, possibly, have gotten two in one bag. Who knows, as we do not have the extra large size.
All of my yarn fit into five medium bags, in which, for the most part, they resided prior to our move. Sheets, duvets, etc., for the guest room, all fit into three medium bags, while the “rest” of the bedding went into a few large bags. We only have a few more things to vacuum up, but will save that for another day.
It was fun, looking at all of the yarn, and, thinking about all of the things I want to make with them. Lots of sock yarns, yarn for dish clothes, face clothes, blankets, both for babies, and adults. Plus, all of the wool yarn to finish my beautiful shawl; the one that I started a couple of years ago.
Speaking of knitting, I am going to go do some now, while the mood is on me. Plus, I have a free book from Audible I can listen to whilst I knit.
Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
While you are at it, WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SHUT THAT DOG UP? PEANUT BUTTER. PLEASE. The dog has been doing that whiney kind of barking for about two hours, with a bit of added howl. It’s owner is probably not home, plus, it is going to rain again.
Post script: human must be home now; dog is quiet.
I woke up today with my attitude adjusted, and am going to have a great day.
The metal works came yesterday for the pantry, and, hopefully, we will put those up today some time. It should not take very long, if we can drill deep enough into the walls.
All of the walls here, save one, are concrete, and take a bit of umph when drilling. Sometimes the bits do not want to work that hard, sometimes they do; just depends on the day. I would really like them to work today. It would sure free up some cupboard space in the pantry for me.
While I was waking up today, I was thinking about, possibly, putting one of the bars in the kitchen, underneath the knife bars. That probably will not happen; doubt he will go for it. And I am not completely convinced I would appreciate all of the cast iron hanging on that wall, in particular. Nah. Let us forget that notion.
Going to go have a cup of coffee, wake up a bit more, then, maybe, do some stairs. Nah; just coffee. It is only six thirty. Later.
Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
After twenty years of working with computers, I accidentally dropped my brand new iPad MacBook Pro 13” computer off the front side of my TV tray. Whhhhaaatttt??
Of course the screen broke. Never before have I broken a screen. I have almost never even dropped my phone. Here is what happened. I was hoping that it was just the “screen protector”, but noooooo.
I am absolutely sick about this. It was expensive, too, a few years ago. I looked away for about a millisecond; the next thing I knew, I was watching it go over the edge of the table. I had it open, and I was “watching” Bosch, while, at the same time, I had my smaller 11” sort of resting on the front edge of it, and I was playing WordStack. As I pushed the 11” away from me a bit, it also moved the 13”; right off the table.
I cannot believe this has happened. We are, however, healthy, and we were happy. Now, we are just healthy. Bummer.
You, on the other hand, need to do the very thing. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
AND DO NOT DROP YOUR COMPUTER ON THE FLOOR.
Post script: yesterday the dizzy spell, today the broken computer. Hope this is not a trend. Attitude adjustment coming soon. Damn good thing I do not drink anymore.
Liz, and I, walked to the market yesterday, just to pick out a very few things. While we were walking towards the small shop selling the chicken….
I started sweating, became very nauseated, my eyes were swimming, and, it felt like I was going to defecate. Lovely!
Fortunately, there was a metal bench just within reach of where we were standing, so I went to it like a magnet. Of course, when Liz asked me if I was ok, I said that, for the most part, yes. Liar!!!! And, of course, she has a brain in her head, and could tell that I was not ok.
I asked her to finish getting the items we needed, so as not to have made the walk a complete loss, and she did. She was also good enough, over a minor protest from me, to call Jesús to come and pick us up.
No, I said, I will be ok in just a few minutes. I will be able to walk the kilometer back to the apartment. Really. Liar.
Needless to say, embarrassed as I always am when this happens in public, I accepted the assistance, got in the car, with a bit of help, went home, and spent the rest of the day in bed.
It has been awhile, close to a year, as I remember it, that a spell has gotten that far out of hand. Normally, if I do a few little magical things, I can get myself out of it, and go on about my business; no one the wiser. Not so yesterday.
I absolutely abhor the feelings that come over me; it render me so helpless. All I want to do is run away, vomit, and go to bed; it is exhausting.
Years ago, before moving here, a physician told me it was BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. It is caused by a microscopic crystal in my inner ear that becomes loose, and floats to a part of the ear that is in charge of the brain’s feeling of stability. All of the symptoms that follow is the brain trying to “right” itself. All I can say is KNOCK IT OFF, WILL YOU?
If you know anyone that has this, it is not make believe, and, it is NOT funny. I have only vomited a handful of times, but, when one is in public, where does one go to do that? There is no where to go.
Enough of me. I am better today, though still not one hundred percent, so I am going to go lay down again. In the meantime, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Of course I will watch them again; it is just what I do. When I find a series into which I put all of the time needed to finish it, it is a series that is, IMHO, worth watching.
Supernatural, and Goliath. I finally finished Supernatural, after only three years trying to get there. Then, last night, I finished season four of Goliath. Both worth watching. I have not however, been able to finish Blacklist, because we cannot get anything past season seven here yet.
Remember, we do not get the final season of many series until a year, or so, after it has aired in the US. Even with a subscription to Prime Video, via Amazon, or Netflix, etc., it is still some time before we can finish a series. That said, I end up having to re-watch a couple of episodes, or even a few seasons, in order to pick up where I ended.
Not to mention, as I have before, I do not always watch a series; sometimes I only listen to it, with an occasional glance while I am knitting. I am knitting again, the baby blanket for Lizbeth, so I am back to glancing.
I am also “watching” Elementary, again. It is definitely one I can knit and listen. Bull was good, to a degree; as was the Good Doctor. The latter, in the fourth season, is airing the CoVid episodes. Just glad I am no longer an active nurse.
Am open to new, used, enjoyed series suggestions. Whether I can watch them here will be a crap shoot, so bring them on.
Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
We ordered a couple of metal pipe bar racks from Amazon the other day. Should be here in a couple of days.
I am hoping they will be strong enough to hold my cast iron pans. If not, Home Depot, here we come.
Galvanized pipe is what I would really like; kind of like this.
Is that the neatest thing? I do not have quite that many cast iron pans, but I do have several. And, to hang them on the wall will free up quite a bit of cupboard space that could be put to better use. Plus, it is difficult, getting the pots, and pans out of the cupboard when they are surrounded by food items. Wah, wah, wah.
I will let you know, and show you, how it turns out. As it is almost four o’clock in the morning, and my legs are dancing a jig under the table as I am trying to type this, it will be a bit before I return to my bed. Going to try a glass of water.
Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Post script: the glass(es) of water did nothing except ensure I needed to go to the bathroom after I laid down. I went out to the kitchen, made a pot of coffee, drank a cup while having a small plate of papaya, then went to bed and slept for a few hours. Coffee. That is crazy.
