And I had more to say...

Hello there.  I have all but ignored this space for months and months; honestly I don't even think I have even felt the "should be posting" guilt.  I have gone through a series of life changes- huge stuff that I have never had to face before.  Choices I am making that will effect and affect the rest of my life in unimaginable ways; things that I never thought I would deal with and things I honestly thought I would deal with differently in hypothetical situations that are worlds away from my reality.  Maybe soon I will use this space to expand but for now I just need to breathe.  B.r.e.a.t.h.e.

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And on to knitting.  After months of not being inspired to do anything, and a dog that won't let me do anything I have found a new must knit project.  This is a jacket from Lion Brand that I love because it is basically a big rectangle with arms.  It is the perfect sweater style and so versatile.  First I will make it like the instructions but with a much different yarn.  Something textured and soft.  Maybe I will make more with some cables, lace or embroidery.  Versatile. 

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California smells like fire.  The sky had turned a scary dark & orange colour that might be beautiful if it weren't so sad & scary.  All those acres of homes and trees... The air & animals destroyed.  Fire is humbling. 

And I had more to say but it is slipping my mind. 

Cheers all and happy October!

Tagged & Buffalo

Tagged by the lovely Shash.

Rules: 1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

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#1 I am lazy.  Really lazy.  I love to look for ways to make things as easy and as simple as they need to be.  I will never be the person who "swatches" before knitting or who mixes wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls [I don't want to wash the extra bowl- just make a well in the dry ingredients and mix the wet in there].  Oddly, there is a certain learned art to being lazy and laziness is subjective, one person's laziness is another's extra work.

#2 I like to eat big bowls of mushy foods.  Like oatmeal, [vegan] mac & cheese, any kind of noodle soup, chili, lentils & rice, etc.  I love sitting down to a great movie or TV show with a big ol' bowl of mushy food on my lap.  And a napkin.  #2 1/2  When I eat, I will spill food on me no matter what.  My ex makes terrible fun of me and at each meal just waits to see what will drop down my front making snide comments like, "it was bound to happen" or "why do you even bother wearing nice clothes?". 

#3 I have a terrible fear of microwaving water.  This I can't explain but even thinking about it makes my teeth hurt.  I do not have a microwave in my house, and haven't for 8 years, though I sometimes use the one at work.  Even so, I will always heat my water in the kettle, or at least in the coffee maker.  Stranger still, my brother, for all his sensibilities and extreme laziness, also is disgusted by microwaving water [I found this out accidentally when he was telling a story about leaving the kettle on the stove too long].  We grew up using the microwave for cooking, though I still used the stove whenever possible, and ALWAYS for heating water. 

#4 I have never had PMS, or cramps or anything other symptom related to my "monthlies" except the odd lower back pain.  Until recently, that is.  Now I have been getting nostalgic & sentimental around that time.  I have been warned that PMS symptoms start appearing around 30 and as I near that age I hope that I never know what a cramp feels like. 

#5 I read celebrity gossip daily.  I know, I know, for shame.  An ex coworker got me started and I can't stop.  I check exactly 5 sites and in this order: First, Second, Third, Fourth & Fifth.  I like the sites that tend to be on the snarky side, the 1st and 5th being the snarkiest of all.

#6 I have seven tattoos.  Four of which are friendship tattoos with several of my best friends.  Recently my 3 best friends and I got "BFF" on our lower backs [this started as a joke and I am not sure when it transitioned into a reasonable idea] and another best friend [not in the BFF group] got the Jewish star on our hips the weekend before she moved to Israel. 

#7 I have very curly hair, and my projectionist mother [who has frizzy red hair] used to straighten my hair growing up.  I never wore my hair natural until high school.  I have a lot of sympathy for people who compulsively straighten their hair though I still want to shake them and yelling curly is beautiful!  I used to scour magazines looking for models with natural curls instead of stick straight hair, or stickly straightened hair.  It still angers me when I see movie/TV makeovers that take the crazy or nerdy girl with poofy hair and straighten her into a polished "after".  Curly haired ladies on screen are ALWAYS portrayed as nerdy, slutty, wild, out of control, and generally socially unacceptable.  Even on Sex in the City you can watch SJP's hair change with her social/ relationship status, though always a bit of an outsider.  [Side note: wavy haired ladies are "free spirits" but curls are strictly for the unfit].

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#8  The pictures are of my new puppy, Buffalo.  He was a stray that some friends rescued and is the sweetest, kindest dog on the planet.  I might be biased, but shoot, he is amazing.  Though still a puppy, unhousebroken, and a bit of a chewer [to put it lightly].  I love this giant baby so much.  He is about 60 pounds currently at about 6 mos.  His breed, Mastiff, can grow on average to 160-200 pounds.  He is a lot of dog for me and my little apartment oh but he is worth it.

Ok, so I am supposed to tag 8 people, but everyone I think I would have tagged has already been so.  If you are one of the few people who read this, and you haven't been tagged, consider yourself as such.

Cheers!

Run Toward the Roar: Side Profiles & Shopping

I purchased these cheap [$6] earrings at Claire's a while back and have been unable to take them out.  Shoot, I have even accidentally slept in them more than once. 

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Today I hit up Etsy looking for another large hoop earring [brown of course] and came upon these incredible walnut earringsThese are the earrings dreams are made of.  Seriously I know that sounds extreme.  But look.  I love wood jewelry.  And if I had the extra cash I would buy this ring.  Instead I bought this one.  Oh wait, I switched last minute and bought this one instead.  Oh and my gosh look at the silver bark ring...

And speaking of shopping [which I have been doing way too much of lately...] I want this PE shirt, and this record which has the GREATEST cover of all time [see below].  Shoot, I love Tammy Faye. 

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Cheers!

The Kitchener Stitch that Couldn't

Oh my what is this?  Is this an actual post!? About something relevant?! Yes.  Hi, me again.  This is a sock that I just finished this morning. 

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I actually finished the knitting last night while watching two hours of Craft in America, but for some reason was incapable of doing the kitchener stitch.  That silly little stitch gets me every time; is it me, or does it just feel counterintuative?.  I seem unable to commit it to memory, and have to reread the instructions for each stitch.  Last night I did it wrong twice, then tried something "new" [something that I will not share since the idea was so terrible and cost me several rows that needed reknitting with a dropped stitch every few stitches] and then finally gave up until this morning.  Shoot.  But the sock is done and I am debating whether I want to make the second.  I don't know that I will wear these, and while I like the pattern, the fit is rather "slouchy".  And I am not in love with the yarn [this is my last variegated yarn project- why do I keep buying these when I never love how they come out?]. 

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So that is the lovely sock that took months at best.  It is not "the sock" to which my knitting group remembers as the one that took a year to knit.  As in, "are you still working on the sock?"  This was also my first lace project and I feel now comfortable with the whole YO thing to which I was previously terrified.

It bugs me a bit to just have one of a pair so I might just be the type to cast on #2 anyway...

Cheers all!

Occupations & Preoccupations

Oh my dear blog, how I have neglected you!  I have been preoccupied and occupied both enough to not take the time to write & record.  All apologies and at the same time, no apologies.  So after this little impromptu break you would think I would come back with something fabulous to say.  But no.  I am just going to show you the gift of vegetables I received from my grandmother's, caretaker's garden in the new bowl I purchased at the summer glass sale, here.  The sale is twice yearly at his studio and he sells off all last years work, along with insanely inexpensive seconds [pieces that have a little tiny bubble or some "imperfection" that is barely noticable to anyone but the artist].

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His studio is incredible. Seriously.  And he lives on site with his wife and child in an aluminum trailer.  Glass blowing tends to be a real macho art and what is cool about this artist is that he takes a lot of female apprentices without any preferential treatment.  It is quite rare in this field.  If you have never had the honour of watching glass being blown, please find a studio demonstration near you to witness. 

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Yes, my friends, veggies in a bowl.  And now back to my occupations and preoccupations.

Cheers!

Linen & Flowers

Being a newer sewer I rarely see a project and think, "I can do that".  Except the June issue of Martha which showed how to make a bag out of a pillowcase.  I read through the instructions several times and decided to make this bag instantly.  Since all my pillowcases are white, dingy cotton I used some linen and made a pillowcase shape.  The rest was incredibly easy and the results are perfect.  I love my new bag.  It's kinda nice that my skill level matches my taste.

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I made a second bag out of this gifted fabric for a friend's birthday and she was floored.  Not only that I made it, but she loved it. I think it is my first sewn gift.

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Cheers all!

F*ck & Cheers

Sometimes I laugh when I think of my mom growing up, because while she was a complete nerd, her parents [my grandparents] were partying swingers.  My mom was so embarrassed by them and that cracks me up because I treasure their boldness and vulgarity. 

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I am sure I have posted this pillow before, but it deserves another go.  I LOVE THIS PILLOW.  My grandma made it for my grandfather about 40 years or so ago.  My mom would hide it in their house so her friends wouldn't see it when they came over.  This wasn't so much a message about fidelity as it was a gift boldly using my grandfather's favourite word, f*ck.  Yep.  But the use of the word wasn't just for textiles...

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These rings are both the same with LOVE on one side and F*CK on the other.  The plainer one [that is showing the word love] is the 14k gold model for the pure gold nugget one [the one showing the f*ck side].  These, believe it or not, were my grandmother's wedding rings, designed by my grandfather. My grandfather's ring was a solid gold naked lady wrapping herself, face up, around his finger [my grandma still has this and can't yet part with it though it is said to be willed to my brother...].  He also had a lifetime subscription to Playboy which my grandmother kept for 13 years after his death in 1982.  I received the f*ck rings over the years as birthday gifts and sometimes can't even believe they exist.  I used to wear them until I developed an allergy to gold [apparently I am now completely metal intolerant- you should see my ears after I dare to even try on a pair of earrings anymore]. 

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And then a few years ago a friend gave me this silver ring from the store she works for, that again uses our family word.  I polished this up yesterday with the bowls and am starting to wear it again [until my finger decides it is allergic to it].

So consider it a compliment when I say:

Cheers and f*ck!

Hello and ahoy!  I am still around here, posting a bit less than desired maybe but lurking plenty.  I cleaned and polished my four treasured silver plated Reed & Barton  enamel bowls in my bathroom this morning.  Not so much of an actual chore, but it is definitely on the bottom of the to-do list. 

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I read somewhere that toothpaste [paste, not gel] is an impeccable silver polish and I have been using it without fail for years.  Just rub it on with a cloth and keep rubbing until all the tarnish is gone.  Then rinse.  Easy and safe.

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I love these bowls; most have which have been picked up at thrift stores except the yellow "egg" which is a flea market find.  That one is the only one not R&B but simply marked: Norway.  I love the deep green one with the little man on a mushroom; it is so unlike any of the others they made.  I like to think he is protecting the jewelry and hairbands that reside within his dish. 
Also in the process of cleaning I polished up a few jewelry pieces that I will detail tomorrow along with my family's strange fascination with a certain 4-letter word.

Cheers!

Simple Rags

I mentioned my [shameful] love for Big Lots before but I didn't mention the little towels I bought.  These came in a set of 18 for $4.  I am trying to stop using paper towels as much as possible and these are the perfect useable rags; I don't feel bad about messing them up with really dirty messes, they are rough enough to get up sticky messes, and they look kinda cute.  Right now they are folded over my paper towel rack as I break the addiction [the paper towel roll is hidden under the sink] and I am feeling good about the change. 

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Below is my simplicity test score.  I actually did better than I thought since a lot of the questions made me realize just how simple I am not.

Thank You for completing the survey! Your Simplicity Score is listed below.

Your score is 3.2

You scored in the moderate range of this scale

Also I downloaded this little gadget thing a few days ago and so far I have saved .83 pounds of co2.  From the website:

"CO2 Saver is a lightweight program that manages your computer's power usage when it's idle, saving energy and decreasing the demand on your power utility."

Cheers all!

In With the Old

This little article appeared in the local paper Sunday about my neighbourhood.  It pretty much sums up why I love living here.

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"Just north of touristy Belmont Shores, the Heights has opened its arms to trendy new stores, but it maintains the homey feel of a real community."

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I love the history of the Heights who split off to form their own "booze" town in a "dry" Long Beach for only 13 months.   Nice.

Cheers all!

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