Son's Visit Home

DS was here for 2 weeks on leave and was able to bring his girlfriend along. We had a good time introducing her to some of the sights around Ohio. This picture was taken outside Sol's Exchange in Berlin, Oh. She was excited to see scenes of the Amish community there and to learn that they were of German descent.

She got her hands into making her first jack-o-lantern. I guess they don't do Halloween like we do here in the states. They even dressed for the occasion in traditional Moroccan dress that they brought from her parents.

. Also, we celebrated my youngest granddaughter's 1st birthday. The little princess got her first tricycle, but brother wants it, too. These are the 2 little ones I watch every week so DD can work.
In knitting news, I finished my Morpork Pie shawl and blocked it out. It's 72 inches across and feels nice and warm. Thanks to MMario for such a great pattern.

SO Far- So Good and Unexpected Arrival

Printed out the spreadsheet of chores and routines, posted it on the side of the fridge in a plastic page protector and...it seems to be helping. Yesterday, BG helped by watching the babies play while I was able to get some extra cleaning done in 15-30 min spurts. House is starting to look presentable again. DH was impressed enough with clean kitchen that this AM he actually wiped up his coffee spots and rinsed his spoon....AND put it in the strainer..not just leaving it on the counter. WOOHOO! (life's little pleasures)
Well, here is a strange turn. Saved this post to finish later and went out to wait for babies to arrive. As I was standing there watching the neighborhood kids walk to school, I hear "mew". One of the boys had a little orange tom kitten following him to school. He said it wasn't his...as in: "I don't think its my kitten. My orange kitten has yellow eyes" (DUH!) So kitten is happily purring and eating Feegle food on the back porch. I am hoping to see this kid on his way home and hand the kitten back off (if it is still here). Poor thing looks to be about 6-8 weeks old and is covered in fleas. BG went out to comb it to see if she could get some off. I know DH doesn't want anymore cats around. (last time we found a kitten, I showed him and he didn't say a word. Then a few minutes later, he said, "Should we call it OhNo..as in Oh no..another cat?") Feegle has been sitting in the kitchen window staring at it with a pouty face..like: You aren't going to bring THAT THING in, are you?
In knitting news: I fixed the mistake in the Morpork Pie by going to the one section that was messed up, tinking only those stitches for several rows, and knitting that section back up. That is a first for me as I usually tink back entire rows to fix a mistake unless it is straight knitting where I can just drop the one stitch down. With lace work, I couldn't do that. But this method worked well and I will remember how next time. Thankfully, someone else at MMario's group was having the same problem and someone posted pics of how to fix it this way. Timely information!
Cast on the Wasp Woman socks with a wool silk blend from Creatively Dyed. Too big. Frogged and started with a smaller needle..still too big. I don't think the yarn has enough stretch to make these feasible, so frogged till I can find another yarn.
Got out my Jitterbug yarn to cast on the Mummy Returns socks, but was interrupted by waking babies.
Still working on QAL

FlyLady Routines/knitting time

Since DD moved in and then out, and I started watching babies 5 days a week, my cleaning routines have gone out the window. Add to that, the switching of the Master/Spare rooms and moving BG's homeschooling area. After numerous attempts to get back on track, I have decided to print out an Excel spreadsheet of what I hope to accomplish each week and will post it in a prominent place. My house and life were so much better when I was cleaning the FlyLady way. Lately, it seems a bit of depression has set in again as I look at the rampaging dust bunnies and general clutter that surrounds me. I have started re-posting at my ChoreWars site also. Its nice to have a place where I can be accountable to myself and to give me a little extra incentive to get this house back to normal...or what I would like normal to be. (I have made a deal with myself to buy yarn after [and only if] I accumulate enough 'gold".) Aside from the regular routines, I set aside time each week to tackle a major cleaning area in the house. This will include finding homes for the stuff I want to (or have to) keep and tossing a lot (I hope). I did this when DH was off at Army Training and found that the whole house was so much easier to clean and my life was more on an even keel. Lately, I seemed to be wave-tossed and going with the flow...all the while getting more and more frustrated with myself and family. I even may get my weekends back which, up to now, have been alternately set aside to catch up on the things that I didn't get done during the week and sitting around feeling sorry for myself.
Progressing a bit on the QAL shawl and was on the Morpork Pie shawl too, til I found a mistake and am having to tink back a couple of rows to find it. I don't think it can be too far. I probably just dropped a couple of yarnovers. I want to start a new pair of socks for the Super Sock Scarefest, but am trying to limit my new projects until I finish something. I just know, the way things are going, if I start something new, I will forget about the shawls and they will lie about unloved and unfinished.

The Mundane Life/Finally a Break!

I know most of life is routine and dull, but isn't it nice every once and a while to get out and enjoy? Over the weekend we got to just that. Last Thursday we drove up to Mohican Adventures to stay in a cabin with my son and daughter-in-law. A quiet dinner on the back deck overlooking the river was just the ticket to destress after the hectic week. Friday brought us intermitant showers and drizzle, so we drove thru the Mohican State Park and visited some of the sites there. There was a school group doing some exploration of the river down by the covered bridge, so we got to see them find fish and other natural river life. We gathered buckeyes and BG learned to skip rocks across the water. Saturday was muggy, but at least it didn't rain. We hiked up to Lyon's Falls and drove around to the dam. After a nice lunch, we played minature golf and DH took BG on the go carts while DS tried to speed past them. DD-i-l and I sat out as she is 8 weeks from her delivery date and we didn't want to push our luck. We drove home Saturday night as DH had Reserves to attend on Sunday. His enjoyment time was somewhat hampered working on a PowerPoint presentation he needed (and waited til the last minute to assemble).
I got a little bit of knitting done. Finished a washcloth I had started last week and did 3 more rows on my Queen Anne's Lace shawl/tablecloth. I am in the final pattern, but will repeat it a couple of times to get a nice diameter to fit the fining room table.

catch up

Seems I am always catching up, but never quite there. Another school year has started and I am behind. We need to get BG's assessment done and paperwork in for last year's homeschooling. BG has already started the new year of work, and seems to enjoy it a bit better this year. We have had 2 days in a row that the babies came sleeping and stayed asleep long enough for us to get a good hour of school work in.

We are getting away this weekend with my son and his wife. DD-i-l only has about 9 weeks left to her pregnancy and I sure need time away from watching dd's babies..even if it is only one day. Most weekends are spent trying to catch up on the housework that has slipped during the week when the babies are here. It will be nice to just sit and talk. Maybe I will get a good bit of knitting done too. New granddaughter is due mid November and her name will be Leeve.

DS#2 is planning on being home on leave in the middle of October. It will be good to have him home even a short time. He emailed me to tell me which PTerry books he has finished and which ones he just bought. We have another Discworld convert! I might even let him watch The Colour of Magic on my pc when he is here.

OTN: Morpork Pie shawl from MMario which is about 65% done. I have about 15 rows of round knitting to do then the border.
Queen Anne's Lace shawl from MMario which I am knitting up in crochet cotton for a tablecloth. I would estimate about 60% done. I have about 15 rows to do before I start the repeats to make it the right size. I just don't know how many repeats I am going to do. Enough for it to hang nicely over my 58 inch round oak table.
Mystery stole 4. Just started this project as the only clue out so far is #1. It is a beaded shawl and this will be my first beaded project. I got to row 5 (8 overall) and noticed I was 2 stitches over the count, so I ripped back to row 3 and found I was now 3 stitches short. grrrrr. So I frogged completely and am casting on again. It wasn't as hard as I thought to bead as you add the beads one at a time after you knit the stitch instaed of threading on all the beads before hand. A bit time consuming though. Pictures of the finished clue are showing up at the group and it looks nice.
Not OTN (yet): Sock Scare Fest socks, though I am downloading the patterns for a more convenient time.
Also planned for the near future: The Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild has decided to read Terry Pratchett's books in order and make an afghan square for each book. This is definitely something I want to do. We will each end up with our very own Pratchgans!

Pratchgan

Been a while since I posted, but had to share this exciting news. As I posted earlier, I was priviledged to contribute a square to the Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild's Pratchgan project. 99 people contibuted squares which Cherryred assembled and backed. After a little back and forth talk with Rob, Terry's assistant, Cherryred was able to present it to him in person! Here for your pleasure are a few pics:



All wrapped up and heading to its new home..PTerry's bed!

Early AM

I find myself with sleeping child time. Both babies and BG are still in bed...well, dgd is BACK to sleep after waking up crying several times overnight. I should be using this time to do things like make my bed, get dressed, maybe start a load of clothes. Instead I am fiddling with this blog. I was trying to get a link up with a changing pic...similar to the Ravelry button. The pic saves to my pc correctly, but when I link it here, it stops moving. I think it has to do with the original site I am trying to link to. The other ones I have tried have given me a code to copy and paste...this one didn't. Maybe I will try again later after many cups of coffee.
I didn't get to post yesterday about the Wednesday night knit. We had 18 people!!!!!!! (sorry Pterry, had to use that many !) I kinda felt bad cause we were scarfing up the tables left and right so other customers where milling around like they had no where to sit. (we only really used 5 tables) This was the first week we hadn't used the tables near the windows as some were bothered by the setting sun, but the electric lighting is plentiful, so it wasn't a problem.
I need to go shopping for the Music With Socks Swap I am doing with the Ankh-Morpork Knitters' Guild. Witht he 'luck' I have been having trying to produce a likeable/wearable pr of socks for myself, I may opt for the skein/pattern idea. Then I just need to find an awesome cd of music.