Autumn is Here

   I spent Friday in the shop in Cooperstown.  I was suppose to work Saturday but the schedule was jiggled a little and I ended up there one day early.  It was a  good day for me (I sold 2 hats and a pair of baby socks) and a very good day for the shop with sales over $500 (and in late September that is great!) Hey, my first 2 customers each bought 6 bars of handmade soap...that's over $40 each! 

   One of the reasons for the jiggle was an estate sale in Herkimer that the girl who was scheduled to work on Friday was helping out at.  She let me know that the estate sale had a lot of yarn and since I know the people who's house it was at I decided to pay a visit on Saturday morning.  I exercised a great deal of restrain and came away with just 11 skeins of sock yarn...for only $3. (See, it does pay to know people!)  So yesterday afternoon and evening I worked on a pair of baby socks in one of the self-striping, superwash wools (OnLine in tropical colors , worked from the toe up on 2 short circular US 1's) that I got there.  Got the first sock finished and the 2nd one started before I had had enough of Batman's return and went to bed.  I've got to get a couple of pairs of socks finished and a pumpkin hat or two before Wednesday so Steve can take them down when he goes on the first.  As long as the good weather holds business may stay brisk...Saturday's sales were over $400, too.  We can only hope things last!

     Today may be Wood Day.  We've got a large pile of wood ready to be cut (and stacked).  The sun is shinning and it's fairly warm so there isn't a reason not to do it.  Besides, we have to get it done.  It's been cold at night...and in the morning...and I'd like a fire!  The leaves have started to turn and fall and we're going to have to get busy raking soon.

    Jeff's daughter Sara celebrated a birthday this week.  She lives in El Paso, Texas with her husband and 4 kids.  They visit Utica yearly and I've met her once.   Here's Sara with one of her twin daughters.  The other two kids are boys...the oldest one

resembles Jeff at that age tall and skinny with glasses.
   The foot on the Bosch reciprocating saw broke off again after dinner today as Jeff was finishing cutting wood.  That was Saw #3 (with replacement insurance) that we had gotten at Lowe's...this one in December 2013, so we did a quick trip to Lowe's to replace it.  Didn't think to take the checkbook with me, so I had to come home for it, and then the salesgirl wouldn't exchange it without the sales receipt so we did another trip home for that.  In the end, we finally came home with Saw #4 (with another 2 year replacement plan) and didn't spend a penny.  Jeff really likes the Bosch saw.  The motor is very good, doesn't overheat...it's just the plastic foot that always breaks off!  If you ever need a reciprocating saw Jeff recommends Bosch.  And we both recommend the replacement insurance plan at Lowe's! 

Still Keeping Busy

    The apartment is officially a thing of the past.  Jeff finished cleaning it out and gave back the keys on Monday.  I think he left it in a much better state than the landlord deserved but Jeff says it should be even cleaner.  How you can expect an apartment to be livable/rentable with a 4'x4' hole across the bathroom floor is beyond me.  The landlord has about a month to fix the leaks before the heat comes on and that heating pipe becomes a sprinkler raining hot water on the apartment below.  I'm sure we'll hear about it from those tenants,too. 
    We're still trying to find room for everything Jeff brought here.  The kitchen is pretty well organized.  Sherry had given us both part of her old Wolfgang Puck stainless steel cookware set when she replaced it (because neither of us had room for the entire set) but now it's reunited...and since I still don't have room for it all Jeff had to gave away a couple of the sauce pans...but we kept the covers.  (I never figured out why there were more pans than covers in that set.)  Anyway, the kitchen and pantry are looking pretty good.
   The parlor, on the other hand, looks awful.  The last few boxes Jeff brought were just left in front of the couch and I don't have any idea where to put them.  We must have half a dozen PC's (2 working, the rest not, 4 or 5 monitors, 5 printers, at least half a dozen keyboards and mouses, a couple of speakers and most of the cords that go to it all.  I think most of it's junk, but Jeff maintains he can always use parts of them.  Maybe we can open a used computer store?
    Last weekend things in Cooperstown were very slow (I didn't even reach $100 in sales on Sunday) but Monday made up for it with over $400 in sales...including 2 of my hats. This week I've been working on replacing them and should be taking 4 hats down with me this trip. 
    Yesterday we went to the library so I could download the photos I had taken of my sweaters (and the garden) but I had the wrong camera cord so that didn't work.  Instead, we visited with Joan the Hotdog Lady and had lunch with her learning about the changes planned for Main St.  There's going to be a Greek gyro shop opening up near the M&T bank (we even met the owner who just happened to walk by) and The Godfather's Hideaway is moving from Protection Ave to the corner of Main and Park (remember Daffy Discount?).  And the fence around the Glory Days/GH ruble pile is scheduled to have a mural painted on it but Joan wasn't impressed with that idea.  I'll have to take a photo of that when it's finished. 
   Well, Jeff's out cutting wood and Fanny's just been put back into the house so I think I'll make myself a cuppa and watch Monarch of the Glen on Netflix and knit.  I haven't seen any of those episodes in several years and I've forgotten how much the scenery reminds me of Speculator and Piseco Lake.  I love those mountains, trees and lakes (or lochs). No wonder I want to go to the Highlands of Scotland. (And maybe to find out what a man does wear under his kilt.) 

More This and That

  
    Getting Jeff moved in has not been an easy task.  We've been at it for 3 weeks and the house is just starting to get back into shape...but by no means is everything in it's place!  There are still boxes in the parlor...but now there are spaces around them...and you can walk thru the laundry room to the washing machine without climbing over boxes!  The couch in the TV room is hiding a pile of something, but out of sight out of mind, right?
   I cleaned out (read emptied) 3 closets and that stuff is bagged and boxed in the garage waiting for Oct 15-17th so we can take it to the Town of Herkimer Garage for Trash Days.  Free dumpsters!(Last spring they even took TV's and PC's!)    I'm sure my garbage man will be disappointed to lose the income.  I'm wondering how many trips with the trailer we'll end up making?  The porch has been the 'catch-all' and that all has to go so we can put wood there.  It will be an interesting couple of days. 

Jeff made this back in Woodshop in High School

   I emptied out a couple of kitchen cupboards this week, too.  It was time for Mom's complete set of dishes from A&P or Loblaw's to find a new home...especially since they haven't been used in about 20 years.  (They're boxed up ready to go to Goodwill.) Jeff brought 5 or 6 nice tall glasses that I put in our everyday cupboard.  It will be nice to set the table with matching glasses again.  (I'm hard on glassware.)  He also brought some heavy glass mugs that he likes...which are 'safe' coz they are too heavy for me to use when full.  His spice cupboard is more exotic than mine so I found room for his turmeric and stuff!  And we now have 2 knife racks! Oh, and I found this turned wooden bowl that Jeff had made back in high school shop class for his mom.  It just needed an olive oil massage and now it's on the kitchen table in all it's glory! 

   We took one day off to go help Jeff's sister set up her new TV.  (If you remember, we had gone up to help her move furniture last month when she bought a new parlor set.)  The new TV is a 60" flat screen (so was the old one) and the old one was too heavy for her to move.  The new TV is a lot lighter and Jeff had to secure it to the table because she was afraid the cats and dogs might knock it over.  Sherry's oldest cat loves to give Fanny an 'evil eye' and Fanny just sits down and takes it.  I don't think she's sure what that black ball of fur is.

   On the garden front, we lost all our watermelons to some critters.  At first the small ones just disappeared one at a time, but then the bigger ones started to have bites taken out of them before they were dragged away. They never ripened so I'm not sure what took them...raccoons?

Eggplants and peppers from the garden.

   Jeff's Ghost Peppers have started to turn red and he's been giving away a few.  No one really believes they're as hot as he says they are.  Hope no one is too badly disappointed...or harmed. We had more than enough zucchini to share and it looks like it will be the same with the butternut squash. One of the 2 'volunteer' tomato plants (appeared one day on it's own) has about 9 nice size tomatoes on it.  Hope the nice weather holds long enough for some of them to ripen!
   We cleaned out the corn box and had the last of it with supper.  I'll take the stalks to the shop tomorrow so we can use them outside for Autumn decorations.
   My big beautiful geranium has decided to have a 2nd blooming this year and is budded out again. Not bad for an annual that was started in 2009!  It will have to be brought inside in about a month.  Hope we'll have settle down enough to find room for it by then! 

The lemon cable hoodie.

   I finally finished my two hoodies.  The first, a size 2, is a Black Sheep Hoodie with a back zipper knitted in Red Heart Frosty Green on US 7's.  (The black Sheep is on the back.)  The other one, a size 9 months, is a Cable and Seedstitch Hoodie with a back zipper knitted in Red Heart Lemon Yellow on US 7's. Both are $45 and will be available at Cooper Country, 2 Doubleday Court, Cooperstown, beginning
tomorrow.
   I put Netflix on our PC's last night so now there's another alternative to watching TV together.  It will be free for a month, then about $9 a month.  We both want to see Longmire but other than that we can't really agree on what to watch. (The Walking Dead is not on my favorites list and Downton Abby is not on Jeff's.)  We'll give it a try and then decide if we want to keep it.   Ah, the art of cohabitation....

Sorry...No Photos.  I've been having problems with my PC since before we went back to TimeWarner.   (I don't think they've had much to do with it.)  I keep getting a virus and the PC keeps freezing up.  Maybe it's Windows 10, maybe it's the sites I visit (KnitTalk, Ravelry... both knitting groups, and some online surveys), maybe it's just my PC.  Anyway, yesterday Jeff cleaned it (for the 2nd time) and started reloading apps (for the 2nd time).  Now the PC recognizes the camera and brings up the photos but won't let me download them to this blog.  Jeff promised to try to straighten this out but I'm planning to go to the library on Monday after I get my INR checked and download the photos I've been taking.  Maybe he'll have gotten the problem straighten before then, maybe not, but until then you'll just have to use your imagination.

Keeping Busy

   Yesterday we went garage sale-ing but couldn't find anything we wanted.  Then Jeff remembered that a couple of new 2nd-hand shops had opened on Main St and we checked them out.  The first one was very small and had mostly clothes...not for us.  The 2nd one wasn't...it was a movie/game house.  It use to be The Haines Theatre...well before my time.  It closed before I ever walked up Main St to see a movie at the Liberty!  I think it was a shoe store by then!!  Anyway, the theatre is still intact in the back and the new owners are running it as a digital theatre.  They've had it open for a couple of weeks and have had a good response from the community.  The audience times are split to accommodate elementary, pre-teens, teens and college age...no mingling of ages.  There's a no alcohol/drugs rule and patrons are carded and wand-ed  on entrance by professional security.  (The Herkimer cops seem pleased...so far.)   They're open for birthday parties, etc and have the usual popcorn-candy-soda refreshments.  And the chairs are definitely an improvement from the old days, too!  We talked with the owner for awhile.  She seems quite nice.  Hope this works out.  Herkimer needs something besides bars on Main St. especially with Brian's Deli closing due to the illness of the owner.
   I hope Jeff's finally got the last of the boxes from the apartment...I've run out of space to put them!  Now we've got to unpack the boxes and make everything fit.  I'm still emptying kitchen cupboards(found 2 sets of dishes my mom collected when Loblaw's and A&P gave them away as a bonus for shopping there!  They made nice donations to Goodwill.) but it still feels like I'm living in a grocery store.  I don't remember when the pantry shelves were this full!! (Of course, we never bought some of this stuff!)
  Today I worked on my Black Sheep Hoodie.  I started it Thursday and took it to the shop with me Friday but I didn't work on it much.  Friday night I tried to join the Henley fronts and found out they weren't the same length or number of stitches so I put it aside.  (Maybe that's why I stopped working on it at the shop?) Today I got the fronts straightened out and joined and both sleeves finished.  I even got about 1" done on the body.  If I was ambitious I'd work on it tonight but we'll see how I feel after the dishes are done.  Jeff went to town tonight so I've got the TV remote to myself for awhile.  My luck if I get interested in a show, he'll call for a ride home!
  
  

How We Spent Our Day

   I worked in the shop in Cooperstown today.  It wasn't a particularly busy day.  Sales were pretty good...but none of it was mine!   I had sold a sweater on each of the last 3 days:  a baby set, a 'Black Sheep' sweater and the train hoodie. A tidy sum that left a not-so-tidy hole in my display.  I've got a 'Black Sheep' hoodie on the needles now.  Haven't got to the point where I have to decide what size it is but that's coming soon. (One of the points in favor of working on a raglan from the neck down is almost all sizes start with the same number of stitches and you increase until you have the number of stitches you need for the sleeves for the size you want.)  When I got bored working on that sweater I started a baseball hat because there was only 1 on the shelf (last Friday there were 4!).  That style hat goes really fast (63 sts w/worsted wt yarn on US8's) and I had it done in about 1 1/2 hours and went through my bag looking for the red yarn to do the embroidery.  Went through the car looking for the red yarn.  Crawled around on the floor of the shop behind the counter looking for the red yarn.  No red yarn. The semi-finished hat went back into the bag.  Boy, was I glad I really didn't want to knit today.  But I didn't want to read, either.  Customers kept coming in so I had someone to talk to.  The day moved along nicely.  Finally it was time to tally up and go home where the dog met me at the kitchen door with some garbage from the kitchen pail spread out around her.    She quickly ran into the bedroom to wake up Jeff and tell him I was home.  I'm not sure she was glad to see me because it was me or because it was a good excuse to wake him up.  They had worked in the apartment today and both had needed naps when they got home...she just woke up first.  p.s.  The red yarn was on the footstool in front of my chair in the  TV room.  Didn't quite make it into my bag this morning.

We're Digging Our Way Out

      It was too hot to do any cleaning or packing at the apartment today so we've been taking it easy watching The Librarian marathon that's been on TV all day...that is until Jeff decided to go down and see what he could do...and since the trailer was hitched to the car...maybe bring back a load of pallets.  Since I wasn't going with him, I finished getting my yarn stash in the Rubbermaid boxes in the closet by the parlor.  I had gotten the shelf units behind the TV yesterday but Jeff didn't think I could resist filling them.  I told him they were for his books and will stay empty until he moves the books there.   (I don't think he believes me.)                                                                       
There are empty spots developing here and there in the parlor as the canned goods we brought from Jeff's kitchen are unpacked and put away.  The pantry closet is full...bursting is more like it! And so are the kitchen cupboards!  At least we won't starve.
   We ate supper so late last night...after 9pm...that I never got around to washing dishes.  We just had a late lunch and now I really have to wash dishes!!

           

                          

The End is In Sight!

   Today is the last day of Moving.  I think.  I hope.  As you can see, if you want something that's on the mantel it's an overland trip to get to it.  Hopefully, we'll find permanent homes for everything in the next couple of weeks.
    The TV room isn't as bad.  Only an extra TV waiting to be relocated, and the laundry room has been refilled with boxes and bags so it's difficult to get to the (empty) closet.  But it's a start.  And no one said moving was going to be easy.  The bedrooms are in a much better state.  They are actually peaceful sanctuaries  of relaxation.  As long as Fanny stays calm....
    Last night was not a calm night.  Some of the critters were visiting outside and kept turning the motion light on most of the overnight.  Fanny kept pacing and whining, letting us know something was happening out there.  I got up twice and tried to let her out but she wasn't that interested in finding out what was happening out there!  Jeff just told her to shut up and lay down.  Finally she curled up...no, stretched out next to me and we all got a couple of hours sleep.  This morning she wasn't interested in going near the back of the garage or wood shed in case something had decided to sleep over.
    Jeff went down to the apartment to finish packing and start cleaning,  I'm doing laundry and straightening up here...just swept the hardwood floors.  I've got to clear a space for a dresser in a closet before I go down and help him pack the trailer. For the last time.  Please.
      Oops...just got an urgent call for the screw gun!  Now, where is it?  I know it's here coz I put it in a box!!  Found it!

Found:  one screw gun!

The Moving Continues

    I've handled so many cardboard boxes this week I'm beginning to break out into a cold sweat just at the sight of one. (Not to mention the price of new boxes!) The closet of Jeff's room is now officially the J L Day Memorial Library.  There has to be more than 20 boxes of books in there and I know there are still more books waiting to be packed!  I cleaned out his pantry...into Aldi bags...and have several of them sitting in the living room waiting for cupboard space.  (That set of dishes my mom got ...weekly...at the grocery store that hasn't been used in more than 20 years will be boxed up and donated to Goodwill... to open up some space.  And all those plastic containers from the deli that she insisted on keeping because they were 'good' and would come in handy have already been trashed, along with the Tupperware lids that had lost their containers but she kept because she hoped they'd be reunited.)  The living room...or parlor as Jeff refers to it...looks more like a storage shed than part of the house.  Hopefully we'll find room for all of this. There are only a couple of pieces of small furniture left to come here, some to go to the church rummage sale and a lot of stuff to be put in the dumpster. Then we have about a month to try to get all of this settled into this small house.  What doesn't fit...or what's displaced by it...will go to the Town of Herkimer Trash Collection Days in October. 
   Yesterday Fanny and I took turns 'visiting the vampire' (having blood work done.) Jeff had had his turn on Monday. They're still trying to get my INR (clotting factor) back into range and I went in to have my finger pricked.  My numbers had come down some but were still out of range so I had to have blood drawn for the complete test again.  Officially, I'm just out of range with a  high 3.8 so I got to skip my Warfarin last night.  I'll get another finger prick next Thursday...and probably the Thursday after that until my numbers are within range (2.5-3.5) for a month.
   Then it was time for Fanny's annual check up.  She's a trim 79.60 lbs but didn't like stepping on the scale.  Hell, she didn't like much of any part of this trip!  There were 2 cats and another dog in the waiting room and...people!  Fanny didn't know where to go so she hide under the chairs hoping Jeff could protect her. She had a Lyme disease booster, a heartworm test, her distemper or DHPP booster and $36 worth of erythromycin ear ointment for a total of $158.  And the indignity of having to wear a shocking pink muzzle when she was examined because she is a reflex snapper.  And when we got home, we left her...with a couple of dog biscuits and a big bowl of water...for a couple of hours.  When we got back she was a little mad...at me, not Jeff!  She had been poked, prodded, abused, humiliated and left alone...must have been my idea, Jeff wouldn't do that! Two peanut butter flavored biscuits spread with peanut butter helped make up for that. When I went to bed last night Jeff and Fanny were outside...at 12:30am.  Wonder why Fanny prefers him?
   And I actually found time to knit an apple hat yesterday!  Got to get a couple more hats done today and get them down to the shop tomorrow before Labor Day weekend!  Maybe when the Time Warner guy is here.
  
  

The Joys of Moving

      I'm cleaning out the laundry (formerly sewing) room today while Jeff gets a new tire for the furniture cart and brings up his chair and Uncle George's sideboard.  Never knew we had so many twin sheet sets!  Threw away the fitted sheets and kept the flat sheets and pillow cases.  At least, I think I kept the flat sheets.  Hope I did.  Meant to keep them.
    Thursday Time Warner will be here to connect us.  When Jeff called to disconnect his service they offered him a great deal so we decided to go ahead with it.  I had given up cable TV last spring due to the cost and had gotten use to the limited programming offered on-air and streaming but I have to admit that there were certain programs/stations that I missed.  By switching, we'll have TV, 2 computers, phone and Wi-Fi for a great, low price and if we split that, it will be about the same as what I'm paying for internet and a landline phone now.   So after Thursday the phone number for this Little House in the Little Woods will be 315-866-0129, Jeff's old number. 
   One of the reasons Jeff finally decided to move in here is the lack of decent apartments in Herkimer.  He looked at a few and they were either at the top of long staircases (not too good with his bum leg) or the lack of decent neighbors.  The apartment I liked the best was on the 2nd floor of the old library, the Earle Mansion, on Main Street.  It was newly renovated and cute.  Jeff wasn't thrilled with the stairs or the neighbors.  I asked why one of the doors had been kicked in and was told that happened when the police raided the building for drugs.  Anyway, we talked about him coming up here and decided we could do it.  
   First thing we decided was that at our ages...medical conditions and sleeping habits considered, we should have separate bedrooms.  Second was that we each needed a private corner with a chair, table and lamp to read or meditate in without the other one bugging us.  Because of these reasons Jeff moved into the master bedroom and I moved back into my bedroom. To do this, all the furniture from my room...mom's room...had to be moved into the parlor before my bedroom furniture could be moved back into that room.  Jeff's going to use mom's bedroom set...with his queen size bed...so that then had to be moved into the master room.  I had one of the living room wing back chairs in the bedroom with me and wanted it the other room but it wouldn't fit thru the doorway into it.  Jeff had to take the door off the hinges to get it in!  That chair is definitely staying put!!  It was easy for me to hang up my photos etc...the holes were still in the paneling!  I was lucky...I didn't pack anything but Jeff is still looking for his stuff!!
   The main reason Jeff decided to move was this hole in his bathroom floor.   His bathtub started to leak into the apartment below him about Jan 1st.  All winter he had to pail bail the tub when he took a bath or the people below got a shower.  The landlord promised to fix it but....  In late June, the landlord finally jackhammered the floor (the floor is cement) in Jeff's bathroom creating this 3'x4' hole deep enough to lay a bleach bottle in.  All summer Jeff had to step over the breach to reach the toilet but the tub drained!  July 1st Jeff had enough and went to the Housing Authority who withheld their assistance on the rent.  August 1st Jeff went to the Village Codes office and filed a complaint.  Then he got a letter from the Housing Authority telling him that if the hole wasn't fixed by Aug 31st he'd have to move.  It wasn't and he did.  His landlord was shocked when he learned that Jeff was actually going to move.  He said he'd fix the leak but all he did was make the hole bigger. 
     Fanny is thrilled with Jeff being here and a little confused at the same time.  She growls at him when he gets up in the middle of the night and walks back and forth between the bedrooms when something spooks her.  Like when we were serenaded by a pack of coyotes.  I've heard them howling in the distance for years but that night, they were outside the house!  And with all the windows open....  Jeff got up and tried to see them thru the windows but they were on the dark side of the house...yipping and howling and having a good time.  Talk about being spooked!  Fanny wasn't the only one!  And then, about 5 minutes later, there were shots fired.  At the pack?  They were not 22's either.   Ah, life in the little woods.