Christmas Already?

      After a slow but interesting day in the shop yesterday (less than $60 in sales/none of it mine, but with a couple of nice chats with customers...I even met a very nice and very polite black lab) where I got to read a lot of the book I brought with me, I decided it was time to start planning for Christmas.  A couple of baby-size Santa and Ms. Santa hats and red and white stripe baby socks were all I could come up with.   The display of pastel sweaters that are there didn't inspire any thoughts of sugar plum fairies, either.  Last year I tried a child's Fair Isle vest that didn't sell so I don't think I'll go that route again.  Of course, the train hoodie that's on my needles could be labeled the Polar Express...but it's not very girlish.  I'm not scheduled to work again until Nov. 9th so I've got time to come up with something new but I think I may do the hats this weekend and mail then to Judy so they will be available right away.
   I got home last night to find a crockpot full of Jeff's goulash...and a sink full of dishes!  The goulash is for supper today (it always has to cook for 2 days) and I had left a dirty kettle in the sink and he had added to it....but it was a small price to pay for the goulash!!  Jeff also cleaned the bathroom!!  Our sulfur water is hard on the toilet and he really scrubbed it getting hard-water marks off that have been there forever!  Fanny's back on Jeff's bed so I think he may have forgiven her for peeing on his bed

Back on Jeff's bed

but Fanny's still not being allowed freedom when going outside.
   My turn to have clean sheets but it's not because the dog peed on my bed, it's just time.   Time to turn my mattress, too, but I got it wedged/stuck halfway around and had to call for help.  Jeff got it turned and I got the bed made and all the pillowcases changed...there are 2 pillows on my side and 4 on Fanny's side but she does stretch out across them...kind of like a 'princess on a pea' act.  I think I may put 'new pillows' on my Christmas list since Fanny used the corners of most of them as teething toys when we first got her.  Maybe that's why she has 4 pillows on her side??  I know I'm going to put 'new sheets' on my list.  Between us I think we have 3 sets, definitely need another.
   I just checked and my sneakers are still wet from walking in the rain thru Doubleday Parking lot yesterday.  My socks were cotton and soaked and my feet were like ice when I got home.  I guess that's the end of this year's sneakers.  I think I better do a pair of wool socks for me before I do any for anyone else but right now it's back to those baby Santa hats!

Santa and Ms Santa Hats ready for the shop

P.S.   Just finished a delicious supper of Jeff's goulash...we both had 2 bowls!  And there's enough left for lunch tomorrow.  Jeff was busy today cutting wood and has about half the utility trailer filled.  He says he hopes to get it filled tomorrow and then, the next 2 days we'll be stacking wood.  Good thing I got 2 baby Santa and 1 Ms Santa hats done today.  I hope I can get one more done tonight and that should be enough to start the season with.  6:59pm 10/29/2015

Never A Dull Moment

A row and a half stacked

       We stacked wood for the 2nd day in a row today and now have 1 1/2 rows in the woodshed.  I'm not proud to say that I whined most of the time (he was throwing the wood at me (not really), I was afraid I'd trip on the uneven floor and fall, my back hurt, etc.) but I didn't quit and we finally emptied out the trailer.  Jeff said he was surprised I had stuck with it!  Now he's got to cut up more pallets so we can do it again.  But first he went on a scouting mission to see if there were enough pallets down to the hardware store to fill the trailer. (There wasn't)  Before he

Pallets waiting to be cut up

starts cutting what's here he'd like to get another trailer load of pallets because the trailer will be out of service for 3-4 days while he's cutting and we're stacking, oh, well.
     While we were busy stacking wood Fanny was strolling around the yard pulling her usual disappearing act.  Finally we were both tired and out-of-sorts (that may be read as 'being in bitchy moods') when she disappeared again.  It took a few minutes before Jeff traced her down....down the dirt road/4-wheeler trail/old trolley bed that runs behind our house.  When she finally reappeared it looked like she had found a dead animal...possibly a deer...and rolled in it because she had dried blood on her back and legs along with the mud.  She also had small ticks on her back so when we put her on her lead I got the spray bottle and sprayed...her legs, belly, side, back, neck, head...and picked ticks.  She was not a happy puppy.  She does not like to be sprayed with flea and tick spray and especially not when she can't get away and hide.  She spent the rest of the time we were outside on the lead and when we came in she ignored both of us.  Now she has gotten even...she just peed on Jeff's bed.  I think Fanny will be spending several days on the lead. (It's safe to say Jeff is not happy.)

   I've got 2 adult cable hats ready to take to the shop tomorrow and this morning I did a baby's flower hat.  And after supper I started a 2nd flower hat but was interrupted by Fanny's dramatic presentation.  Now while one of Jeff's blankets is in the dryer and the other in the washer...the sheets can wait until morning... I can get back to my knitting. 

The two new Flower Hats in the shop on Wednesday!

Monday, Monday

     Ah, Monday, again, and that pile of wood hasn't 
moved much.  Jeff's got some of it cut and on the 
trailer waiting...for me...to stack it in the woodshed.
I've got a Traveling Cable Hat ready to decrease and

Traveling Cable Hat Waiting for decreases

The 1st cable hat

I'd like to get it finished before Wednesday so I can take it to the shop.  It's an adult hat and so far I've worked on it for 2 days but it's on US 6's in worsted burgundy and doesn't 'grow' very fast.  I've poked a couple of holes in my index finger, too...and I usually do that only when I doing socks!  The proposed price of this hat has gone up, too.  It's taken as much time to knit as a size 1 sweater so the price will probably be the same.  I did another adult cable hat that went faster without the finger punctures, too.
    Jeff's PC just got back from it's trip to the repair shop in Irving, Texas.  It beat all of the predictions of it's return...even the one on the tracking page that said it wouldn't be delivered until late this afternoon!  (The UPS truck was here before 11am!!)  He's busy checking passwords and so far, is pleased with the repair.  And yes, they did replace the Mother Board.  But, because he had purchased replacement insurance when he got the PC, the entire process just cost him some packing tape and time.  Not  a bad deal, at all.
   The green tomatoes we brought in to try to ripen developed blight and rotten eventho they didn't show any signs of blight before they started to ripen.  And they were ripening so nicely when they developed blight.  UCK!!  Most of the strawberries didn't ripen, either, but the 2nd basket is still flowering.  Don't understand why?????

Keeping Busy

   Jeff's been busy cutting wood this week. It's about ready to be stacked in the woodshed (oh, wonderful---my job) and not a moment too soon.  Today it's only  37degrees outside and it's almost noon!  Yesterday we went 'wishful shopping' and priced a fireplace insert.  It seems such a waste not to use the fireplace....   Anyway, it will be about $4000 to have a wood burning insert with a chimney insert installed.  Something to think about definitely.  Now, how many sweaters and hats will have to sell to pay for that?

   Here's another way to warm up this winter...Jeff's crop of Ghost peppers and Italian long-hots!  They're

 headed for the dehydrator and will end up as crushed hot peppers...so good on pizza and spaghetti!

   After Jeff's ophthalmology appointment in Cooperstown Thursday we went to Sal's on Main St for lunch.  I have been telling Jeff how good the food is at Sal's and he decided to try it.  Jeff had a sausage sub with onions and peppers and said it was the best one he's had in 20 years.  He even praised the bread!  I had pizza and Sal's is always good!  My mom use to say the sauce at Sal's tastes like someone's mother made it.  Now, that's high praise!

   Jeff had sent his PC to the repair shop to be fixed

and got word last night that it was fixed and would be shipped shortly. (Looks like my prediction of 2 weeks may be right.)  He thinks they just changed the mother board but if that fixes it....   Now's he tracking it home from Irving, Texas via UPS.  I'm saying it will be here Tuesday or Wednesday.  (Sharing this PC hasn't been so bad....)

   I went to the library this morning to print some knitting patterns coz my printer is out of ink (it's on the top of my shopping list for next month) and finally took the correct camera cord so I could download photos.  (Now I've got to mark that cord so it doesn't get mixed up with all the others again.) I added the photo of Jeff's wooded bowl to a previous blog posting...where it belonged...and put the 2 photos on this page so I could write around them when I got home. Now that I've done that I think I better get busy and knit. 

    This weekend's projects will be adult winter hats, and maybe some baby hats to match.  I have to work in the shop on Wednesday and want to have a few to take down.  We're still getting tourists on weekends and locals have started coming in during the week...to do holiday shopping??  I think I need

something new to catch their eye and I think I may have found it.  Photos to follow when something is finished!

Live Love Beelieve

     Today was my mammogram.  Not something I look forward to but it is necessary.   Shared a laugh with the receptionist over the usual joke...if a man had to put 'his' in a vise...she agreed (her appointment is on Friday)... and received a gift bag because I was having it done in October! It contained a hairbrush, pedicure brush and pumice stone, scrub pad and a wooden massage tool.  Oh, yeah, and a  'Live Love Beelieve' lapel pin. All in a neat little plastic zip make-up case that will be perfect for a project bag. I know a ball of yarn and a circular needle will fit coz the one I had with me slipped in easily and fit in my purse.
   When I got back home Jeff was busy packing up his PC for it's trip to the repair shop in Texas.  The postage paid box...complete with foam bumpers and packing instructions... had arrived  yesterday afternoon via UPS.  It took longer to find the roll of packing tape (it was in the garage) than to get the PC packed!  Jeff took it down to the UPS store this afternoon.  He's got the tracking number for it and will keep an eye on it on line.  He thinks it will take 4-6 weeks before he gets a PC...probably a rebuilt one.  I don't think it will take that look...maybe 2-3 weeks.  And the race is on....
    The marinated pork chops we had for supper last night were different.  I over cooked them a little and the flavor was a bit strange...every once in awhile you got a taste of orange, but we'll use the marinator again.
    I didn't get much done on the hat I had with me this morning so I think I better get busy.  Thursday we'll go to Cooperstown for Jeff's eye exam and a stop at the shop to restock.  Maybe I can get him to stop someplace for supper on the way home.

Good Morning Monday!

       Good morning Monday!  Just back from having my finger stuck...INR done...with the results back in range at last!  The pharmacist had suggested Benadryl to control my hacking cough at night w/o screwing up my numbers and it's worked!  I'm still hacking like crazy during the day but I am sleeping like a baby at night!
    Worked on hats yesterday.  There were only 4 left in the shop on Friday (I was told 3x by 2 different sources) so I decided the time to restock will be when we go down to the clinic for Jeff's eye check up on Thursday.  There are now 4 finished in my bag (2 pumpkins, l each apple and baseball)with another apple OTN.  There's a Black Sheep hoodie in the bag, too, waiting for the last row of stitching on its back zipper and a Pretty in Pink sweater (pink with white ribbing) waiting for its pink buttons.  Should have enough time to do another baseball hat  and maybe another pumpkin hat. That should be enough for now.
    Jeff got a Quick Marinator for his Food Saver and we're going to try it tonight with some boneless center cut pork chops.  He's been looking for one for years and finally found it at Walmart!  He's going to use a Mojo marinade
with it.  I'll let you know how it goes.

    We finally had a killing frost last night...it was about 29 this morning!  Glad we got the garden in!  Now we've got to start feeling good and finish cutting wood. Hope the killing frost does a number on the ticks!  I've been picking them off Fanny left and right  last week.  And I spray (flea and tick spray) her, the furniture, the rugs, the beds...you name it...at least once a week!  It's been the small brown deer ticks, too. Good thing she just got a Lyme disease booster shot last month!  It's gotten so bad she doesn't even want to stay outdoors very long.  Right now she's asleep on the chair next to this pc.  Such a hard life my dog lives.
   
    

Autumn, oh autumn

Winter Train Hoodie, size 1 w/back zip

      Autumn has not been kind to us...so far.  I was scheduled to work in the shop last Saturday...Columbus Weekend... sure to be busy...and I wasn't feel so great.  A sore throat was developing into a full blown head cold and I had already developed my well-known hacking cough.  I tried to switch work days but no one was able to switch but Anita was willing to split the day.  She came in at 1pm and took one look at me and sent me home.  How I made it without an accident I don't know.  She went on to have over $500 in sales...I don't think I could of handled that!  I managed to hang up my new train sweater and promptly forget to take a photo of it! (Betsy was the Angel who took a photo of it on Monday and it looks great!) I got home around 2pm and found what looked like a delicious  stew bubbling in the crock pot...Jeff had gotten meat on Friday and a package of stew seasoning.  The stew had been simmering all day and I managed to eat a small portion before brewing a large cup of tea and heading to bed.  I ended up sleeping from around 3pm Saturday until after noon on Sunday with tea and bathroom breaks thru the night.  When I finally surfaced on Sunday, Jeff was hacking and thanking me for sharing the cold with him.  The kitchen was a disaster area with dirty dishes overflowing from the sink!  That was my first task!  We both spent the next couple of days close to home blowing noses and coughing.  Yesterday was the first day we were anywhere near normal.
   Jeff's PC has died.  He had gotten it at Walmart and had replacement insurance with it...with 3 weeks left on the policy!  Now he's waiting for them to send him the paperwork and box so he can mail it to the repair center.  How long that will take, how long it will take to get a diagnosis and either a repair or a replacement remains to be seen.  In the mean time, he's been trying to get one of the other PC's to work without much luck... so we've been sharing this PC. 
   Yesterday Jeff stripped the garden and there are 3 baskets of veggies (peppers, squash, tomatoes) on the porch that he will dehydrated.  I brought the 2 hanging strawberry baskets inside because they're still flowering and forming fruit.  I haven't been able to get any of the fruit because some animal has been beating me to it all season!  One of the baskets is full and hopefully the strawberries will ripen inside!  I've still got to bring in the big geranium that's on the deck but it's still blooming!  And it's so heavy because it's been raining lately! I took photos of everything but can't get Windows 10 to let me download them to the blog! I don't know what I did to get the photo of my hoodie to download but whatever I did worked!  But it was in my email so maybe that's why it worked.  Oh, well, I'll try at the library on Monday.  If nothing else works maybe I can email them to myself?? 
   The oven on the kitchen stove has started having fits...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Makes baking a real crap shoot!  Looks like the top of my Christmas list is a new stove.  Now, how many sweaters and hats will it take to pay for a new stove?

Hello, October!

     Hello, October!  After several days of rain...heavy and steady at times...the sun is out again!  I don't think we're going to enjoy temperatures in the high 70's but at least it's not raining any more. (For right now.)
     I ended the month in the shop by selling 2 more sweaters on Tuesday so that means I have to get busy and knit a couple of sweaters before I go down again.  I sent 6 hats down today with Steve so my hat display should look good for awhile... unless customers come in and clean me out (I can hope, can't I?)  Jeff has an appointment at the clinic there on Thursday and I'm schedule to work next Saturday so those are my target dates to have sweaters finished to restock.  I think I'll do a soft blue cardigan...raglan from the neck down, of course, with my black sheep design just because I have enough of that yarn left to do a size 9 months.  And I just got some Red Heart yarn in Petal Pink that I think I'll use to do a Pretty in Pink or Little Girl Chic sweater...basic raglan sleeve sweaters in pink with white or navy ribbed trim or gray with pink trim...they were good sellers a couple of years ago. I found the photos of them on my camera's SD card but I can't find them on the blog!  (Since we downloaded Windows 10, I've been having trouble with photos.  I even used Jeff's machine last night and got only 2 out of 6 to download. Is it Windows 10 or me??) Anyway, I've got enough ideas and yarn to keep be busy for a couple of days.