Crazy Dog!

I really have been sewing and knitting-a lot! I just haven't taken many photos and/or taken the time to blog about it. I'm getting ready for a baby show in the area-called Babes in Bozeman. I am making my hankie bonnets and knitting bunches of booties.

So here's something to keep you occupied until I get around to taking pictures of my projects:

Merlin can sleep anywhere, any time, and in any position!

What I Did for Earth Day

I hate that electronics and computers outlive their usefulness and end up stashed somewhere in the house gathering dust because they really shouldn't be put in the landfill but nobody wants to buy them, heck, you can't even GIVE them away! Hubs has never understood this and from time to time he would bring something home from work-a fax, a huge computer, etc.

In our area, usually once a year in the fall, they hold an e-waste collection. Every time this has been held with the exception of once, we have either been out of town or just didn't get the word. Now the county landfill has a place for the e-waste that is sent for recycling but they charge per pound. Today in honor of Earth Day they held the collection event at the county fairgrounds. My DIL sent me a message on Facebook just so I wouldn't miss it. According to the ad I found in the paper this outfit completely recycles the stuff. The drop-off was staffed by jail inmates, so that was a good thing too, they have something to do and can get outside on a pretty spring day.

Here is an inventory of what I brought in: 2 computers, complete with monitors and keyboards (the monitors must weigh 20 pounds); 2 printers; a fax machine; and a scanner. I made a lot of room in the basement! To top it off, I took two bags stuffed with grocery bags to Walmart to put in the bag collection bin.

I'm feeling a little smug right now. It'll pass-I'll start feeling guilty about not doing enough for the environment soon enough. But I feel pretty green for the moment.

Moving Day

The kids finally found an apartment, have signed the lease, and Hubs is on his way to the storage unit with his truck and trailer. I've been washing Sydney's clothes and gathering up all the odds and ends that have infiltrated my house. As soon as I get the call Syd and I will meet them at the new place. There will be lots more loads before we're done, but every load I take from here means a less cluttered house for me. They said it's a really nice place, so I'm happy for them.

I'm also happy to get my house back!

Lost Friendship

I got an e-mail today from a friend that I occasionally have coffee with. She told me she wanted to end our friendship. She said it wasn't "healthy." Meeting her once in a while was a nice break from my daily routine, and was just fun. I guess she wasn't getting what she wanted out of the relationship. She hinted that she couldn't get a word in edgewise when I started talking. I am a bit gabby, but I didn't think I monopolized the whole conversation and is gabbiness a terrible character flaw? I also, recognizing my trait, would stop and make sure she could have her say. I have noticed that she has kind of retreating into herself and that does worry me. Maybe she's depressed and I didn't give her a chance to tell me. She told me once of a business idea she had, and I told her it was a neat idea and she owed it to herself to give it a try. She got angry and said I didn't have faith in her-I should have told her she would definitely succeed.

I'm still a bit stunned. I guess I'm not sure what real friends are. I never required undying bosom buddy friendship, but just a lively idea exchange over a latte.' I live in a relatively small town with small town attitudes, and most of the people here don't share my political views, so it was fun to actually be with someone whose ideals were closer to mine.

This is the second friend I've lost. The first one was someone I've known since childhood but when we started working together, she became hostile and cool and eventually I left. She hasn't spoken to me much since, even though I've made several attempts to reconcile she hasn't responded.

Now this one. I am sad, very sad.

I replied to her e-mail and told her to have a good life.

Firstborn

Happy 41st birthday to my oldest baby. Can't believe he has sons almost 15 years old. It seems like he was just learning to walk.
Now he not only has the big boys, but little kids that love their Daddy!
He also is inventive-here is his redneck candle lighter:

Vacation Socks and Missing Stuff You Know You Packed

I did do a fair amount of knitting on vacation. It was so therapeutic to sit watching the ocean, binoculars and coffee by my side, happily ticking away at my socks.


I knitted on the plane, too. Just as a precaution I bought bamboo needles on my way out of Bozeman, but it probably wasn't necessary. I asked about it when I checked in and they said that most any knitting needle or crochet hook is allowed. I said, "I guess they think knitters are happy people that don't want to blow up airplanes!" They got a kick out of that.




I tried to show the surroundings when I took the picture of the finished socks. You can kind of see the grass and walkways on the property behind the railing.

Funny thing-I transferred the project to the bamboo needles and tucked the metal needles into one of the checked bags. They have disappeared! They must have gone where the nail clippers went. I needed a clipper, found one in my checked bag and showed it to hubby. He said he hated that one so I dropped it back into the suitcase. I knew exactly where I dropped it and which compartment, but when Hubs decided to use that one anyway I absolutely could not find it! I looked for a couple of days, finally gave up and bought one at the convenience store. That's when I found not only the hated clipper, but when I opened my knitting tool case I found three more! I guess in order to find the metal knitting needles I'll have to buy another set. No big deal the bamboo are really nice and they came in a set of five, just in case I run across a pattern that uses five.

A Word or Two

Things have been pretty hectic around here since we got home. I posted some pics to Facebook, but have completely ignored my blog. Sorry!

Our trip was completely healing and relaxing. The weather couldn't have been better if we'd ordered it! Even the forecast Tsunami from the Chili earthquake didn't come, other than a bit higher than normal evening tide on Saturday.

Stan and I hung out a lot, just watching the ocean and looking for dolphins. We lucked out our last full day there with the dolphins-they were in the water in front of our resort all day. I got a little video, but they don't like to pose for still pictures. The video isn't very good, since I couldn't see the image in the LCD screen in the bright sunlight and only figured out how to convert to the viewfinder afterwords!

The cruise ships aren't the only ones who make towel animals:

Random sailboat picture:

Brown eggs from the supermarket:

For breakfast scrambled eggs with chorizo and mangoes on the balcony:

Our building:

Spent a lot of time right here:

More tomorrow. (I hope)