A Whirlwind on the Road

This week has been a whirlwind. First of all, the temperature has been in the low 30's (Celsius)-that's over 86 degrees Fahrenheit. And often with hot winds. Good for drying hay and grain, not good for people, animals and other plants.

Tuesday was my regular do-everything-I-can-get-done-with-minimal-time-and-mileage-wasted day. Delivered the mower deck to the repair shop, got a body shop estimate on my new (2 yr old)Tundra Truck, my other baby--it got a boo boo. Had lunch at the restaurant where my real (26 year old) baby works. Nina and I had a lovely visit while she worked and waited on me. I love the look on her face when I leave her a $10 tip for a $9 order. Then to the Orthotic Insoles man, who needed to adjust my insole to relieve discomfort in my foot. He adjusted. I went to pick my sewing machine up from the repair shop, had to wait a while there, after 1 hour of browsing my foot was cramping and on fire--back for another adjustment.

Then to the Church supply store for altar candles--didn't have the right size for our candleholders. Then for groceries to Costco and to Sobeys (10% Tuesday), stop for mail, and go home. The non-perishables still aren't put away.

I am finally having a new kitchen floor put down--Armstrong Natural Fusion--a sheet flooring. When we built the house it was easy. The dealer brought us a sample book. It was love-at-first-sight. No problem choosing the pattern. This time, there were lots of nice patterns, but no "WOW" factor. So I went to Vegreville, 40 miles away, to visit a shop where our SIL knows the owner. I had been studying the sample magazine and had narrowed my choices. So I picked up 10 large-sized actual samples, thinking it would be easy. Well, not so. What looks nice and light on the table, looks dark on the floor. What looks great next to the carpet looks terrible next to the appliances. Since we're doing the main bathroom also (more economical than choosing separate patterns) it also has to look good there. Well, the grays looked blue, the beiges looked pink. I was totally P'd off. Kubota Man said to buy BEST quality, but all the patterns I liked were in the "Better" and "Good" qualities. But that shop didn't have all the samples in that I had pre-selected. So I made another trip in the afternoon with a devious plot. I went to his competitor, who had a full selection of patterns and borrowed all theirs. Went to Wal-mart. In exhaustion consoled myself with the purchase of the fall Vogue and Interweave Knits magazines. Brought the samples home, and couldn't make up my mind (had it narrowed down to 3, but realized that one potential one had not been brought home). Sooooo this morning I went there again, returned the rejected ones, picked up the missed one, came home, laid them out, made my choice, made lunch, went to Lamont (15 miles in the other direction) to visit Mom in the Nursing Home, took her to the ice cream store for a cone (33 degrees at this point), picked up a pizza, went back to Vegreville, returned the samples, signed the contract, parted with an almost- 50% deposit of $2000, thought about popping in on Daughter #2 who lives there, reconsidered that idea, came home, pigged out on more pizza than I needed, did a Sudoku, and am now relaxing at the computer.
When I arrived home, KM sheepishly asked if I could go to Fort Saskatchewan (35 miles away) tomorrow and pick up the mower deck, which is ready. Sure I will. The Tundra and I have grown an umbilical cord this week. My foot hurts. And I still can't wear the insole.

Honeycomb Sweater #3 (natural white) has the fronts and backs joined and the neck-button-buttonhole band done. One sleeve almost done. Honeycomb Sweater #4 (black)--about 1/2 of one front finished. My Mystery Socks by Nancy Bush, for the Ravelry sockdown have Clue 1 finished. It has an interesting braid right next to the needles, which isn't very visible in the photo.














These mushrooms grew inside our metal storage shed. The biggest one is almost 12" tall. Pretty.














Another glimpse of my babies. I can never capture in pictures how cute and cuddly and adorable they are, nor their incredible personalities. They are certainly 9 years old, possibly 10. That means they are really older than I am. I can't imagine not having them around.














Till next time: (not a Grandma quote this time, but a quip I saw at the ice cream store) Dogs have masters. Cats have support staff.

Gearingup for Fall

A look at summer: Monkey Flowers or Mimulus. These come in a myriad of colors with unusual spotted patterns. I planted a variety 6-pak of plants, and as luck would have it, there were only 2 colors, but pretty ones.



Since Wednesday, as usual, we've been busy.
Kman has almost finished the damaged greenhouse. One of my jobs was to pull the plastic sheeting from the ends of the two bigger greenhouses through the opening in the new greenhouse wall, and bunch and staple it to form a seal.
Scaffolding and ladders and I don't agree. So I grit my teeth, and go on the scaffold, pray, and get to it. After about 10 minutes or so my comfort level improves. Then I had to work on the 10' stepladder. That was OK, but I can never do extension ladders. Then I went to the dump--that load I was supposed to take a couple of weeks ago.

On Friday I went to the city to see Dr. Randy Gregg about my feet (he's been treating me after the accident 2 years ago). Need changes to the orthotic insoles, and heavier, stiffer boots for working. Went to my LYS to look for yarn for nephew's kilt hose, and other errands. The yarn we thought would work is just a bit too thick, so I couldn't start the Kilt Hose.

Saturday was spent loading the truck to go to the dump. My church is 1 mile from the dump, so, since I am the caretaker from August until March, and we had Mass here his week (we alternate weeks with another church--shortage of priests), I cleaned the church before going to the dump. Boy, the spiders are busy in only 2 weeks. There were spiderwebs and cobwebs everywhere, and millions of flies to vacuum. It's wonderful to be in that old church. One can feel the history and the prayers of the pioneers who furbished their church before their own homes.

WE HAD A DECENT RAIN LAST NIGHT! (about 1/2 inch)

After church on Sunday,
Mr. and Mrs. Spit came over, since
I will be altering some clothing for
Mrs. Spit. It was really nice meeting
a fellow blogger/knitter/home renovator.Then, besides meal
preparation, I spent the rest of the
evening knitting , so Honeycomb #2, in charcoal gray heather alpaca yarn,
is finished. (Just a peek). Notice the
neat "Buckle" buttons. Honeycomb #3 in natural white is now on the
needles.

Have a great, productive week, everyone!

Till next time: Grandmas should write down the stories of their lives, however dull they seem to them. for such tales show history as it is--a procession of interlocking lives. A unity. The family of mankind. (Charlotte Gray)