What Is Happening? Where Are We Going?

And what are we doing in this hand basket?

Politics just continues to get stranger and stranger.  I used to be interested in all of it.  Not so much any more.   Lucky for me, it seems I can afford to move to San Jose, Costa Rica or Winnipeg, Manitoba.  I think I can work remotely from either.   I will investigate further as the need arises ...

The blankie progresses slowly.  I've used a kitchen scale to determine I need about 2 grams - maybe just a bit more depending upon the yarn - for a square.  I'm still kind of addicted.  

I also have the Sister Syster going and two socks OTN but I forgot to take photos.  

Maybe next time.  I think I will have to queue up lots of stuff on Netflix, look at the news as little as possible and bury myself in knitting until November.  And then maybe move.

Book Progress

You know how sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better?

First there were boxes of books... there are a lot of them, but we managed to have a small Thanksgiving dinner around the dining room table no problem.  Everything was under control.

Then you add a few more boxes from Ikea and you've got to put the dining room table in Boy-child's bedroom.

'Cause now you've got boxes to go with the boxes.

Then you put a few bookcases together and you have to move the boxes of books out of the way in order to get the bookshelves in place so that you can unpack the books.

Uff da, I'm tired!  Final stages yet to happen.  Thank goodness Boy will be home soon to schlep boxes of books around.

The Not Un-packing Week

So, I went downtown yesterday to file for homestead tax, change my address on my driver's license and  go to the post office so I could mail my Christmas cards.  Yes, I got my cards out early.  I like cards, and I wanted people to know my new address so I mailed them early this year.

Except for the ones that I didn't mail because I ran out of cards.  More on the way.

Unfortunately, I accidentally erased all my downtown pictures.  It didn't even ask me, "are you sure?" before it chugged through them all.  Gone.

Anyway, while wandering around lost, going to the Lumber Exchange building instead of the Grain Exchange building (I used to know my way around downtown blindfolded - no more), I popped into the library to register my new address.  Now I can legally check out audio and ebooks from the library on my own card.   My heartfelt thanks to that individual who loaned me a Minneapolis identity so that I could enjoy audiobooks over the past eleven months...

It was delightfully amazing to see a throng of people waiting for the library to open at 10am.

On the home front, I have not unpacked anything this week.  Nada.  I did order massive quantities of bookcases which will be delivered later today.  That means there will be no unpacking, only assembling this weekend.  Of course, once the assembling is done, the unpacking of the books will begin, and that will be loads of fun.

Oh, and my Christmas cactus is in bloom:

I've done precious little knitting, which is kind of distressing, but whaddaya gonna do?

This is my mindless-but-not-a-sock project.  I have no idea who will receive it.  It's a tube that fits within a tube - green stockinette under pinky/purple eyelet.  Nice little scarf that will be very warm.

This is my stealth Christmas knitting. I can't help it but show a photo. The cables are kind of tricky, and I had to re-do a bit, but I think I've got it figured out now.

I might have to make another.

Tags

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I found a corner in South Minneapolis that has all four stop signs with knit tags. It's on 36th west of where it turns into a two-way but before Bloomington Ave (I think). Check it out; it's a delightful corner.

I closed on the condo Friday.  Once again I have a home.  With quiet neighbors.  And that's Taco Taxi's truck out there on Lake St. mmmmm......

I have an old-lady shopping cart - my first house-warming gift.

And what do you do first thing, when you're moving?  Set up the new swift and wind a hank of yarn into a cake, that's what.

I also got an awesome shower curtain. The place needs color, and I plan to remedy that issue.

I was going to replace the fugly counter tops in the kitchen first thing, but it turns out it's not in the budget.  Other sprucing up will be done.  Stay tuned.

Now that the moving is done (I have to go back and read the water meter today, before the signing, but that is all), I thought I would try to catch up on a few things.  I refuse to confess how long it took me to empty out that house and clean it, but it was a lot longer than I anticipated.  Thanks to friends and family for making it happen.

In stark contrast, today I'm kind of feeling like a Lady of Leisure, since I took a vacation day for the closing. First of all, there was this, from the Rapid City paper on 9/12. I don't know which is the more bizarre headline; that they've used the Crazy Horse monument as a backdrop for a 9/11 commemoration, or that the locals are excited about a second WalMart.

See this t-shirt, regarding fighting terrorism since 1492....also, I happen to be one of those snobs who refuses to shop at WalMart (at least I will until there is nothing else left).

I wove in ends last Friday night at KNO.  Two pairs of socks are now ready to go, and these are done - the fingerless mitts that were put on hold while I made chemo caps.  I like the way they turned out.  I made them long in the hand, so that she can flip the cuff up for driving, because I find most fingerless mitts to be a bit short when I'm holding on to a cold steering wheel.

This is a Christmas gift in progress.  It's not a surprise - she picked out the yarn from my stash, so I can post about them (this is the yarn that some thought looked blood-stained when I posted a photo of the hank):

I made this a while back, but I don't think I posted. It's the wonderful Koolhaas pattern by Jared Flood made with some of the last of Rowan's Calmer yarn. Calmer was the best for chemo caps, as it is super soft, has no wool, but unlike cotton, it has a little spring to it. A shame it's been discontinued.

For any details on the knitting see my Ravelry page.

That's it for today :-)  Thanks for listening.

Diary of a Mad Packer

Can I just say, I don't understand how this stuff can still be multiplying. I mean, I pack a bunch of boxes with stuff, and I take stuff to Goodwill, and I throw stuff away, and I take stuff to storage, and then I go back to the salt mines, look around, and there's not even a dent in the stuff. There is stuff everywhere.

How is this possible?

I think that Scotty was wrong, and that the laws of physics can be changed.

I'm sure it's a plot.

Probably my X is behind it.

Or maybe I'm just losing my mind.

Plus, for a really creepy coincidence, I took a break and watched The Green Mile this weekend. I was thinking to myself, seriously, that this guy was so convincing, and so endearing, and so amazing, that if I'm ever asked that silly question of, "If you could have any single superpower, which one would you choose?" that I will answer, "I would want to be a curandera" because that guy in The Green Mile was so awesome.

Just sayin'

(or maybe I'd want the superpower that makes stuff disappear)

Packing Holiday Weekend

For the holiday weekend I am packing. Got the china done today, as well as a few other things.

I'm also processing zucchini. Quite remarkable how much zucchini two plants can produce. I made a new kind of chocolate zucchini cake:

And I made a zucchini casserole with cheese and breadcrumbs:

Both of the new recipes were found on epicurean.com ... taste testing results to follow. There's still plenty of zucchini in the fridge and the freezer, so if anyone has a fabulous recipe to share, please email me or put it in comments.

It's autumn, which is my favorite time of year. This year it's even better, because I will not have to rake.

There is a new "Little Free Library" up the street. I love these things. This one has a really cool handle on the door.