Albuquerque is so much hotter than I thought it would be. All the years living up north has really thickened my blood. Despite the heat, I'm having a fabulous time. Seeing SisterB and her boyfriend has been a most wonderful treat. The time away from Master Blackhead and the Little Blackheads has been a lot easier to handle with the two Little Blackheads here. Midnight, originally adopted by SisterB, is a sweet boy. He likes to flop on your feet and get his butt scratched. Pixel, originally adopted by SisterB's boyfriend, is a bit more elusive. She does like to be pet, but can be a bit skiddish. I think she's warming to me.
Well, I'm off for a midday cool down shower. There's a BBQ party here tonight and I get to meet some of my hosts' local friends. I can't wait.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Two More Blackheads!!
My visit at SisterB's is going great. She even has two Little Blackheads of her own. Hopefully, I'll get a good picture of them and post it. The socks I made her fit well (whew) and she likes them (yay). OK off to plan tomorrow. We might even hit up a yarn shop. Woooohooo!
Monday, August 25, 2008
At Last, A First Glimpse at the Little Blackheads in Their New Home
The camera cord has been located! Yay! Thanks to looking in completely nonsensical random places, I have found it at last. Here are some pics that I have been promising. First, Stash and its new home.
OK, I know that by some knitter's standards this isn't the most impressive pile, but its my Stash and I think it is bloated. Ideally, it would be about half of this. There is so much knitting to be done. :-/
So one thing I really like about the new place is that some of the windows are closer to the floor. Hex is a bit to stocky to jump up onto a high windowsill, but he can still look out the windows here.
Windows aside, I think the Little Blackheads have taken a real shine to the house. It certainly hasn't interfered with their beauty sleep.
Speaking of beauty sleep. I should try and get some for myself too. Night night.
OK, I know that by some knitter's standards this isn't the most impressive pile, but its my Stash and I think it is bloated. Ideally, it would be about half of this. There is so much knitting to be done. :-/
So one thing I really like about the new place is that some of the windows are closer to the floor. Hex is a bit to stocky to jump up onto a high windowsill, but he can still look out the windows here.
Windows aside, I think the Little Blackheads have taken a real shine to the house. It certainly hasn't interfered with their beauty sleep.
Speaking of beauty sleep. I should try and get some for myself too. Night night.Trials and Tribulations of Moving: Where's the Camera Cord?
Camera: yup
Batteries: yup
Battery Charger: finally
Pictures of the Little Blackheads and Stash: definitely
Camera Cord to Transfer Pics to Computer: nope, not a clue
So those of you who have been waiting to see a picture of Stash in its new home are just going to have to wait until I find this itty bitty little cord amongst the mongo jongo pile of boxes.
Batteries: yup
Battery Charger: finally
Pictures of the Little Blackheads and Stash: definitely
Camera Cord to Transfer Pics to Computer: nope, not a clue
So those of you who have been waiting to see a picture of Stash in its new home are just going to have to wait until I find this itty bitty little cord amongst the mongo jongo pile of boxes.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Trials and Tribulations of Moving: Where's the Battery Charger?
The agony of not having internet at home has finally ended. We got internet again! This means I can once again bore you with the minutiae of my life and all the bad things the Little Blackheads have done.
Speaking of the Little Blackheads, they love the new place. There's so much more room for them to explore and they are definitely taking advantage of it. Naturally, when the one of them gets lost, he hunkers down and starts crying. Master Blackhead and I have to call to him at the top of our lungs and seconds later we hear both of them galloping towards us. At this point, I think it is more of a game than a distress call to the Little Blackheads. They like to do it even when we are in plain sight.
So moving means packing and unpacking, which means lots of packing materials, which means this...
It took all my will power not to pack them in a box (just to teach them a lesson) that I lost will power in every other aspect of my life. I dare you to ask me how much junk food I ate. Hint: I even went to McDonald's... gasp!
Now that things have settled down (and I actually did pack the Little Blackheads in a big box, and no they did not learn their lesson) and we're eating better again. Fish and broccoli are on the menu tonight.
I'm looking forward to my trip to Albuquerque next week. I'll be visiting SisterB and scoping out her new home. Guess how excited I am? I'm brimming with energy. Seeing SisterB again will be so rejuvenating. I just know we'll be up late at night chatting away. Good times ahead. Master Blackhead won't be coming along, which has me kinda bummed. On the bright side, that leaves him to do all the unpacking. hehe
Eventhough we've just moved in, MamaSara has been busy supplying me with all sorts of quilted kitchen goodies. Once I find the battery charger for the camera, I'll post a few pics. She's also made me a reversible tote bag so I could carry things between the two places while I was cleaning the new house. She's very thoughtful that way.
On the knitting front, I've actually managed to squeeze in some knitting between the packing, moving, and unpacking. I finished one sock made from Fiesta's Baby Boom, which was a giftie from Jelly. I love the soft sandy colors. Once I get the second ball wound, I can make the second sock. And, once again, I'll post pictures once I find the battery charger.
Well, enough chatting back to work. Gotta find that battery charger.
Speaking of the Little Blackheads, they love the new place. There's so much more room for them to explore and they are definitely taking advantage of it. Naturally, when the one of them gets lost, he hunkers down and starts crying. Master Blackhead and I have to call to him at the top of our lungs and seconds later we hear both of them galloping towards us. At this point, I think it is more of a game than a distress call to the Little Blackheads. They like to do it even when we are in plain sight.
So moving means packing and unpacking, which means lots of packing materials, which means this...
It took all my will power not to pack them in a box (just to teach them a lesson) that I lost will power in every other aspect of my life. I dare you to ask me how much junk food I ate. Hint: I even went to McDonald's... gasp!Now that things have settled down (and I actually did pack the Little Blackheads in a big box, and no they did not learn their lesson) and we're eating better again. Fish and broccoli are on the menu tonight.
I'm looking forward to my trip to Albuquerque next week. I'll be visiting SisterB and scoping out her new home. Guess how excited I am? I'm brimming with energy. Seeing SisterB again will be so rejuvenating. I just know we'll be up late at night chatting away. Good times ahead. Master Blackhead won't be coming along, which has me kinda bummed. On the bright side, that leaves him to do all the unpacking. hehe
Eventhough we've just moved in, MamaSara has been busy supplying me with all sorts of quilted kitchen goodies. Once I find the battery charger for the camera, I'll post a few pics. She's also made me a reversible tote bag so I could carry things between the two places while I was cleaning the new house. She's very thoughtful that way.
On the knitting front, I've actually managed to squeeze in some knitting between the packing, moving, and unpacking. I finished one sock made from Fiesta's Baby Boom, which was a giftie from Jelly. I love the soft sandy colors. Once I get the second ball wound, I can make the second sock. And, once again, I'll post pictures once I find the battery charger.
Well, enough chatting back to work. Gotta find that battery charger.
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Little Blackheads Have Moved!
They love the new place. More room. More sun. More cobwebs to eat. Ick.
Monday, August 4, 2008
A Healthy Dandelion Harvest
My hands are sore and my back is crooked, but alas, it is not from knitting. My new hobby, dandelion farmer, is turning out to be quite lucrative. Seeing as how it cost me nothing to establish my crop other than buying a home that was unoccupied for 10 months, this is a great deal.
The last two evenings, I have spent about 3-4 hours (per evening) weeding. Ugh! My sidewalk was littered with dandelions as I pulled them with my new neighbor's super cool weeder that sold out at the home improvement store in 2 weeks and they won't restock it (argh!!). Some little kids on their bikes referred to said litter as "ooooh a jungle." Gee thanks.
My new neighbors are self-described as "tight knit." Many stopped by to offer a word of encouragement or two. This is much appreciated since after all these hours of labor, the lawn still looks the same: brown and weedy. Several suggested I just use chemicals. I wish I could, but I can't. It would kill the fledgling grass and most likely leave the weeds untouched at this time of the year. So the most I can do is pull the weeds and ask the neighbor's boy to mow... for a charge of course. They aren't that "tight knit."
The last two evenings, I have spent about 3-4 hours (per evening) weeding. Ugh! My sidewalk was littered with dandelions as I pulled them with my new neighbor's super cool weeder that sold out at the home improvement store in 2 weeks and they won't restock it (argh!!). Some little kids on their bikes referred to said litter as "ooooh a jungle." Gee thanks.
My new neighbors are self-described as "tight knit." Many stopped by to offer a word of encouragement or two. This is much appreciated since after all these hours of labor, the lawn still looks the same: brown and weedy. Several suggested I just use chemicals. I wish I could, but I can't. It would kill the fledgling grass and most likely leave the weeds untouched at this time of the year. So the most I can do is pull the weeds and ask the neighbor's boy to mow... for a charge of course. They aren't that "tight knit."
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Introducing Cheeper
A new honorary Blackhead has joined our family, at least for a little while. Yesterday, the HVAC guy came back to install a few parts and while I was waiting for him to finish I looked out the porch door and saw the saddest little sight. The night before, two of the baby barn swallows had fallen out of their nest and died. The last chick in the nest was huddling against the wall of the house on the ground, but he was alive!
I had to act, but what to do? I got the HVAC guy out of the house as fast as I could when he was done, called Mom for a consult. Since I don't have a phone book at the new place or internet, I didn't know how to reach animal rescue. She gave several phone numbers. Long story short, I finally got a hold of someone. They told me to try and put the chick back in the nest if I could reach it. If I couldn't, then I should construct a new nest using a plastic (not cardboard) box near the original nest. Next step, watch (for a very very long time) to see if the parents are still interested in the chick. This all happened at 11:30AM. By 8:00PM, I had two confirmed feedings and numerous surveillance fly-bys.
Since I didn't have a plastic box at the new house, I had to call my neighbor. She brought over a sterilite plastic bin, gloves, and some garden tools to move the chick. I told her she could take back everything but the bin. She looked surprised and said how would I move the chick. Well with my hands of course.
Let me dispell this myth now. Handling chicks does not cause their parents to abandon them. Making a nest for the chick with a spring green plastic bin, a few twigs, bright yellow paper grass, and light blue rag, is perfectly acceptable to barn swallows.
When Master Blackhead met me at the house, I had to show him the new Tiny Blackhead, now dubbed Cheeper. When I peaked into the basket, Cheeper didn't seemed scared of me at all. When Master Blackhead took a look... it was a different story. I told him, that Cheeper knew I wouldn't hurt him.
This morning, I went and checked in on Cheeper. The second he saw me he started cheeping and opening his mouth for food. Oh that made me laugh. His parents even seemed OK that I was looking in on their chick, but the second I tried to reach in to adjust a twig they started swooping. I left the twig.
I'll have to get a picture of the new nest for all of you to see. I think it is quite chic. haha
I had to act, but what to do? I got the HVAC guy out of the house as fast as I could when he was done, called Mom for a consult. Since I don't have a phone book at the new place or internet, I didn't know how to reach animal rescue. She gave several phone numbers. Long story short, I finally got a hold of someone. They told me to try and put the chick back in the nest if I could reach it. If I couldn't, then I should construct a new nest using a plastic (not cardboard) box near the original nest. Next step, watch (for a very very long time) to see if the parents are still interested in the chick. This all happened at 11:30AM. By 8:00PM, I had two confirmed feedings and numerous surveillance fly-bys.
Since I didn't have a plastic box at the new house, I had to call my neighbor. She brought over a sterilite plastic bin, gloves, and some garden tools to move the chick. I told her she could take back everything but the bin. She looked surprised and said how would I move the chick. Well with my hands of course.
Let me dispell this myth now. Handling chicks does not cause their parents to abandon them. Making a nest for the chick with a spring green plastic bin, a few twigs, bright yellow paper grass, and light blue rag, is perfectly acceptable to barn swallows.
When Master Blackhead met me at the house, I had to show him the new Tiny Blackhead, now dubbed Cheeper. When I peaked into the basket, Cheeper didn't seemed scared of me at all. When Master Blackhead took a look... it was a different story. I told him, that Cheeper knew I wouldn't hurt him.
This morning, I went and checked in on Cheeper. The second he saw me he started cheeping and opening his mouth for food. Oh that made me laugh. His parents even seemed OK that I was looking in on their chick, but the second I tried to reach in to adjust a twig they started swooping. I left the twig.
I'll have to get a picture of the new nest for all of you to see. I think it is quite chic. haha
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