Woolly Mutts

Garden evolution

Once upon a time, in the carefree glory years of my children's youth, we had an above ground pool with a fenced deck.  Man-oh-man the good times we had in that pool.  It wasn't huge or fancy, but it was big enough to make summer a grand time.  Years past, kids fledged from the nest and the pool become a lot of work without much benefit so down it came.  Oh sad day.  The deck was dismantled, wood stored away for a different project.  What that project was changed several times.  The wood storage also changed a few times.  A pond was created where the pool once lived and all was well with the world.

Also, during those carefree days, there was a garden.  My next door neighbor called it "Holly's Fort Garden".  I cut down trees....LOTS...of trees from the creek bed out back and made a fence around the garden.  It was lovely.  AH and I had our second wedding (story for another time) under the arch of its entry.  Then the trees behind it grew large and shaded all the plants intended for sun.   Years of wind and weather beat the fence pieces into broken pieces and eventually the garden was dismantled, plants moved and a general eye sore grew in its place.  The pond was in a state of flux and rocks, etc, were flung into the old garden space.  Milkweed pod plants grew in profusion and the monarch butterflies came to live there.  It was ugly, but it was butterfly home so we left it alone.  I wish I had before pictures, but maybe I don't.  It was a little embarrassing all the junk we found in the spot when AH began clearing it. 

This past weekend magic happened.  It might not seem like it to the average observer, but the end result has made me so happy that it certainly feels like magic.  That poor old garden space and the leftover pool deck wood came together to create this:

That giant hole in the foreground will be the new pond and we will be able to lounge upon that deck and enjoy it.  It still needs a little landscaping.

And there is still some junk that needs to find its way to the curb, but oh joy, oh joy.  It's also quite close to the fire pit, which is a bonus.

The afternoons will bring lovely shade to this spot.  Three cheers and a loud HURRAH for AH and all his hard work.  I can hardly wait for the weather to get warm enough to spiff it up with some potted plants.

I have been feeling crumby all week.  Congestion headache that has now traveled south to a cough.  I have felt mighty guilty resting while AH worked but the end result has completed brightened my day.  Mwah! !♥♥♥

Saturday's highlights with special care to leave out the boring bits.

Amazing Husband has traveled to NC to spend time with his family.  New job and dog care kept me home which is ok except for the missing him part.  That part is SO not ok.  That leaves me with this whole big Saturday to spend as I wish.  Following are the highlights:

*Ate a candy bar for breakfast.  Also a multivitamin.  Realized later that I could have had chocolate pie.  Rats.

*Went to Walgreens and walked up and down the makeup aisle.  Purchased new eye shadow and eye liner.  Had a pretty good time doing this.  It's been ages since I really looked at all the new makeup in the drug store.  The fact that I almost never wear make up is of no import here.

*Spent quite a lot of time in Farm Town which I access through facebook, but maybe there are other ways.  Not sure.  This also presented a nice opportunity to message with AH for a few minutes. 

*Ate ham sandwich for lunch.  This time I remember chocolate pie.  yum.

*Went with good friend Diana to a garden faire at Windridge Herb Farm.
Brought this little dude home with me. About got a hernia carrying him to the car.  I just love these buddha guys.  Maybe because their bellies bear such a resemblance to mine. :-) 

*Also went to Kohl's with Diana and had a great time girl shopping.  Spent quite a lot of time in the baby department.  Sigh. 

*Came home and Samten barfed on the carpet.  Quick clean up reveals fur....hmmmmm.  Go out to move hoses so I can mow and discover decapitated bunny....hence the fur.  Yuk.  Why do dogs do that?  (rhetorical question.  I know why, but it still grosses me out.) Send bunny to it's final resting place by the creek.  Bunny grave with a view.

*Mow yard while listening to Finger Lickin Fifteen, by Janet Evanovich.  Laugh out loud repeatedly.  Audio versions of her books are especially well done.

*Contemplate what to have for dinner. Gonna storm soon, I think, so might be unkind to order delivery.  On the other hand, they need the money, right?

*Blog.

Life is good. Except for the missing AH parts.  That is not so good.

Hitting the road on Father's Day.

Amazing Husband is not biologically a father, but he spent several of my kids....ummm...let's say...more interesting years as their step father.  They have a great Dad who I know they love bunches, but having AH in their lives has been an incredibly positive thing on all levels.  I always say that my kids can never have too many people who love them and that has proven true both in AH and in Denise, their Dad's wife.  My father has passed, AH's father is in far away Houston, so I asked AH how he would like to spend Sunday.  He wanted to see the movie "Moon" and the closest theater that it was playing in was Evanston.  What a hardship.

How many ways do I love Evanston?  Many, and for good reason.  Evanston is a northern suburb of Chicago that is about a 2 hour drive from our house, depending on traffic.  Historic, near the lake, home Northwestern University, diverse, great shopping.....an incredibly beautiful place.  We go there pretty regularly so that I can do some shopping in Vogue Fabrics.  Vogue Fabrics is this huge, discount fabric store that has everything you could ever want in the way of fabric.....you just have to be willing to look for it.  There are 5 rooms and most things are on rolls as apposed to bolts. Since we were heading that way we decided to make a quick stop there. In the remnant room I found some great batiks and a few light cottons to make some cuite-patootie summer things for Miss CJ next summer.  In the home dec room I grabbed a few cute patterns of oilcloth to make bibs out of. (remember you can click pics to see larger)  The street that Vogue is located on was having a festival so we had to park several blocks away and walk, which was actually sort of fun and gave us a chance to have a close up look at some of the historic homes. 

The movie was on Maple in the Century theater.  I did a quick look for a link that might have some info about the theater, but didn't have any luck.  You park across the street in a nice parking garage and then when you enter the theater you go up an escalator to get to the theater area.  On the right side there is an actual bar with sofas and eating areas where you can hang out before or after your film. There is a large piano and a pool table, too.  I guess they have live music on Friday's and Saturdays.  Nifty.  Now we know of another theater we can go to see the movies that NEVER come to Rockford.

*Moon* was a quirky little one-man movie.  It was good, and I'm glad we went, but it won't be for everyone. 

It is a day late, but happy Father's Day to all of you Dads.  We appreciate you!

Watchmen

I think people should be required to become licensed before they are allowed to have children.  Doctors, lawyers, police officers, even hair dressers for heavens sake, are required to have training and accreditation before they can perform their jobs.  Tests are given and the ones who aren't up to the task, or think it's some sort of joke get the boot.  Jobs that involve great responsibility should require some sort of preparation and there is no other job in the world that has more responsibility than parenting.

Yesterday AH and I drove into Woodridge to see Watchmen on IMAX.  We were there a half hour early and were still one of the last in line so we ended up in the second row.  (For the record, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but that close is in no way optimum IMAX viewing.  Get there EARLY) As we sat there waiting we watched a man (in all fairness, he might not have been their father) come in with 2 small boys.....maybe 6 or 7.....and sit in the front row.  Watchmen is rated R for very good reason.  Just about everything you would (if you had a brain and the smallest amount of discernment) never want a child under 13 to see. Language, gore, sex, full frontal nudity, global war, you name it.  It's the stuff of serious childhood nightmares.  For awhile I thought maybe he had taken them out, but at least 2 hours in I heard one of them laughing at a nude scene and saw them still there when the lights came on 3 hours later.  What is up with that?  Are there no resources for parents to do their movie homework before they bring kids to stuff like this, or don't they care?  I found it very upsetting.

Watchmen was quite a movie.  I wouldn't say it was great, but as AH and I talked about it on the way home we both agreed that in the 3 hours we were never bored or aware of the time span.  It is creative, well acted, and extremely brutal.  The ending was controversial in nature and made for good conversation.  If you are a Grey's fan, particularly the Denny/Izzy plot you will never look at Denny the same way again.  Neither of us had read the Watchmen graphic novels and I think perhaps I would have enjoyed it a little more if I had, but I wouldn't let that keep you from going if you are a fan of this type of film.  It took place in a sort of twisted 1980 something where Nixon is still president and super heroes (most with no super powers) are disbanding and living "normal" lives while the world is on the brink of nuclear war with Russia. If you think you might want to see it, don't wait for the DVD, it needs the big screen experience (although maybe not the second row of the IMAX.) I didn't love it, I didn't hate it but I do warn that there were places I covered my eyes and for goodness sake, leave the kids at home. 

A family that paints together.....

Before I get into our weekend adventure with paint and brush I want to give a quick shout out of congratulations to Slumdog Millionaire for all the well deserved awards it won last night at the Oscars. Isn't Dev Patel the cutest thing?  Kudos to his mother for a job well done.

The word on the street is that Spring is coming and when that happens we spend most available time outdoors.  This means that if there are indoor projects yet unfinished, now would be the hour to get it done.  Our ranch style home was built in the late 70's when creativity was at a minimum and the plan was to cram as many rooms into as small a space as possible.  No wall is plum, no floor even.  Everything needs to be updated and we tackle one project at a time.  To give credit where it is due, it has been a fine house.  Sure I'd like to knock down a few walls, pull up some carpet, but it has been a roof over head and a good place to raise a family. 

Friday I decided that it was time to deal with the living room.  It's a small, oddly shaped room with a huge wall that leads downstairs.  (Note to designer; this was a BAD idea.) Painting this wall is....difficult.  This being the case I have ignored the fact that for the past 10 years or so it has only been partially painted.  Amazing Husband, bless him, never bats an eyelid when I get these wild ideas.  He just comes up with solutions and makes it so.  We made paint color choices, collected  tools and put paint to wall.  (If you're wondering, that is a dragonfly hanging over the stairway.  She lives outside during the warm months, but winters in our living room. I think she needs a name.  Anyone have a suggestions?)

Also in need of paint was the hallway.  Previously it was white and now it is Weathered Brown to match the living room. (Ralph Lauren paint from Home Depot.  A little pricey, but you cannot beat the color saturation. The dark brown is Edwardian Burgundy and the trim is Antique Bone, just in case you were interested.)  In this picture the color looks a tad bit like baby poop, but I assure you that is not the case in real life.  Now if we could just pull up that god-awful green carpet it would almost look good.  I am still contemplating what to put at the end of the hallway.  Our huge map of the world used to be on the left wall in the hallway, but I think now we are going to attempt to hang it over the stairs.   Maybe.  Goodness....make a decision already!

Do not let anyone tell you that painting is not good exercise.  AH works the roller and I do trim and cut in.  Up and down the ladder, down and off the floor....my entire body hurts.  We are a good team, though and I'm pleased with the results. 

Something I am good at.

Dr. Mario.  Seriously, I dominate.  I can even beat Amazing Husband on a regular basis.  Should the process of world peace every require matching colorful pill shaped objects, I will be ready and able to make a contribution.  Warning: Dr. Mario is addictive.  There is something in that cute little music that worms it's way into your brain and you can-not-stop-playing.  I think it might be worth it, though.  I'm thinking, at the very least, it might help stave off Alzheimer's.

Yesterday, while Amazing Husband was cleaning oak leaves (I think I now might have a visual of what gazillion looks like.  I am sure there are gazillion oak leaves in our yard.) out of the gutters and putting up holiday lights (yay!) I cast on Quant, because a girl can never have too much entrelac.  While rummaging through the stash I discovered one skein of Noro Kochoran.  I think it's color number 21, but I lost the ball band so I'm not positive.  The coloring of the Kochoran doesn't show off the texture of the entrelac as well as a Silk Garden or Kureyon will, but I'm still pleased with the effect.  It will make a nice, soft covering for my ears during the cold winter months.  (Which may begin any time now.)  Quant is a fairly fast knit and would make a great last minute Christmas gift.

Here we are at Thanksgiving week already.  I expect the next few days may be a little out of control so if I don't post again before the big day, enjoy your Thanksgiving. In my long list of things to be grateful for my faithful blog readers are very near the top.

Muttville update

Here we are at another exciting weekend in Muttville.  So far we've had a lovely dinner out and rearranged the bedroom.  Don't you wish you were us?  I know.  I've been to see two different doctors now for the nasty lung issues that don't seem to want to go away.  Problem is that I'm not coughing, which might, at first glance, seem like a good thing, but one must cough the little bacterias (bacterium? whatever) out for the infection to go away.  So, more drugs and today.....coughing! Progress!  I must learn to be a more patient person.

So, since we live such a startlingly blog worthy life, or maybe not, I'm leaving you with a little video that I first saw over at Easy Bake Coven  (seriously, anyone creative enough to name their blog Easy Bake Coven just rocks in my book).  Apparently, judging by the quantity of YouTube videos that exists featuring this gentleman he has been around for awhile and I've been missing out on some outrageously funny stuff.  Be sure, when you have about an hour to kill, to head to YouTube and view a few.  I've only taken the time to see a couple, but I especially love Peace Anthem for Palestine (everybody sing....you don't eat pigs and we don't eat pigs...I apologize....it's the drugs) and If You Really Loved Me.  Warning: not all videos are suitable for the young ones so you might want to screen first.  Please enjoy Tim Minchin and Canvas Bags:

All quiet on the Muttville front.

It's been pretty quiet around here hasn't it.  I didn't feel well all last week and as it turns out there was a good reason for that; my old friend pneumonia.  Went to the allergist on Friday and she confirmed what I already knew.  So, it's big drugs (I'm safe if there is an anthrax outbreak, phew) and lots of doing nothing.  Amazing Husband has been his usual wonderful self taking good care of me.  Lousy way to spend a holiday weekend, but you take what you're given.

The good news......we've decided to take another trip to Minnesota in October.  We've been living on a pretty tight budget this year and I didn't think we would be able to vacation at all, but AH got a promotion and corresponding raise, so we put out heads together, got creative and it's wagons north to Grand Marais!  I can not tell you how happy this makes me.  When he made the call for a hotel reservation I actually cried.  We'll be staying in our favorite place AND (this is huge) in our favorite room. If you click the picture so you can see it larger, our favorite room is the top corner window on the third floor.  The views are perfection.  The folks at East Bay Suites are so kind to us and offered us a deal we couldn't say no to.  Four days of feeding my spirit in the Minnesota breeze is exactly what I need right now.  Good incentive to get well. I'll have to step up the walking so I'm in good hiking shape.  I can hardly wait.  Last time we visited during those dates it snowed!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely 3 day weekend.  Summer is almost over!!!!!

Crazy Busy/ Totally Laid Back Weekend

Friday night AH and I had our weekly date night (highly recommended for a healthy and happy marriage).  We saw "Vicky Christina Barcelona", which was quirky but I liked it very much.  Barcelona is SO beautiful...my goodness....I had no idea.  There were several sections of Spanish spoken with English subtitles and I asked AH how the translations were (AH was born in Mexico so his Spanish is good).  He said he didn't read most of them, but he did know they used the wrong word for sh*t.  Good to know.  We ended our evening with a lovely dinner at "our" Italian place, thus covering as many sexy languages as possible on one evening. Sigh.

On Saturday we worked all day to prepare a birthday celebration for our recently married daughter Kysa, who is now spelling it in the correct Swedish way, Kaisa, since it looks much prettier.  We grilled out and then had a roaring bonfire with many twenty-something participants.  At about 10pm (at least I think it was ten...I had a glass of wine and can't be held accountable) we had a family room full of cheering people as Michael Phelps took his eighth gold.   I am enchanted by the way the yard looks when it is dressed for a party. (As always, pictures can be clicked on for a bigger view.)  Lanterns and candles create a sort of surreal atmosphere where we could almost forget we were in a suburban backyard and not in some other exotic locale.  AH and I called it a night around midnight and the rest of the young hung out until twoish.  Good times. 

Sunday we cleaned up the party and then.did.nothing.  AH did make a quick trip to the grocery store (bless him) and I knitted on the Totally Autumn Throw which is now coming along fabulously.  More on that tomorrow.  A day of rest is a good thing on occasion.

Today I have errands to run and must make contact with our vet since Samten's allergies have gotten completely out of control and he is way past miserable.  Poor guy.  Time to get out the big allergy guns!  He has scratched himself bloody in places and his eyes are all swollen and weepy.  The worst part is how sad he is.....just mopes around without any happy tail wagging.  Hope we can get him some relief FAST!                                                                                            

Ikea, what a trip.

Yesterday Amazing Husband and I got up and motivated for a quick trip to the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg to visit Ikea.  (We made a fast stop at Border's first so I could pick up my reserved copy of Breaking Dawn.)  The mission was to find the chest of drawers pictured at right to put in my newly re-organized sewing area in the basement (dungeon).  It's purpose will be for pattern storage.  After Ikea I had my first LUSH experience which I will talk about tomorrow, cause......LUSH people...OMG.

Ikea, how I love Ikea.  I think I should make the trip some time during the week to avoid some of the weekend crowds.  I would feel the Ikea love even more if I wasn't navigating the aisles along with the population of a small country.  Even so, we found the chest easily, checked out the fabric section, stocked up on Ligonberries for good friend (and wedding officiant, what a guy) Steve and were out the door in less than an hour.  I was having some asthma issues or we might have browsed a little longer.  Did you know that Ikea doesn't offer free bags anymore?  I, big surprise, think this is such a fantastic idea!  You can purchase them, or for 59 cents purchase a reusable bag that you can bring back with you next time, cause you KNOW there will be a next time. 

We had the Ikea experience, the visit at LUSH (sigh), a quick walk through Dick Blick, lunch at CPK, and were home by 3 ish.  Good day.  On the way there and back (about an hour each way) I had a chance to get a good start on the Total Autumn Throw.  I don't know what my  problem has been with this pattern, but I've ripped twice.  The first time it was the first three rows of the lace pattern.  I guess the problem is that my brain leaks memory like a sieve.  If I lose my place in the pattern early on, before the lace begins to take shape, I get irrevocably  lost.  Once I can read the lace, I can figure out my mistakes better.  On a shawl it's not big deal, but on 100+ stitch afghan the ripping is a bit more time consuming.  Let me say that the fault is not in the patterns.  Anne's patterns are always beautifully written and a joy to knit.  This one is no exception.  Now that I've gotten about halfway up the first pattern repeat I think I can say goodbye to the rip sessions.

Have you all signed up for the Ravelry Olympics yet?  I'm undecided.  I know there is no chance I could complete this afghan in the 17 days of the Olympics, and I've already started so that's a rule breaker.  I was considering some mittens, or socks, but I'm really into this afghan now that I've got it rolling....hmmm.  I better make up my mind fast since registration closes August 6.

Hope things are cool in your part of world, even if that just means a nice air conditioned room.  One more month of summer.....one more month of summer......one more month of summer.....