Vacation - Day 5

This has been a great vacation so far...doing nothing really big, but lots of little things. My kind of "rest and recharge the batteries" vacation!

Yesterday was my busiest day of the week so far. I needed to get my car serviced, so off I went to my local Wal-Mart. While they were changing the oil and rotating my tires, I did some shopping. Nothing exciting, just lots of "must have" household items.

I was scheduled to visit a friend at 11:30 to help her set up her new wireless printer. When I finished at Wal-Mart I still had some time to kill, so I visited the Dollar Tree. It always amazes me how many things you can buy there for $1. I didn't buy much of anything,but it's a fun thing to do once in awhile.

Next stop was Office Depot to pick up a few things. I'd bought myself a beautiful Cross pen and pencil set a couple of months ago, and yesterday I found that Office Depot had sets on sale at a really good price. So, I picked up another set to take to the office. I can always find something to buy at Office Depot. :-)

By then it was time to go to my friend's house. She'd recently bought herself a terrific Dell laptop and wireless printer, and we had the printer set up and going very quickly. Gotta love Dell!

She asked if I could help set up her e-mail program, because she didn't want to use her provider's webmail system. I hadn't set up an e-mail program in a long time, and things had changed a bit! *LOL* For instance, I learned that Windows 7 does not come with an e-mail program. How weird is THAT? But, I found Windows Mail on her system, which is quite similar to the old Outlook Express. It took me several tries to get the setting right, but after a bit I did manage to get it up and running.

After I left there I stopped to pick up take-out Chinese (beef and broccoli lunch special with hot 'n sour soup....yum!) then stopped by Goodwill to drop off a couple of bags of clothing culled from my overstuffed closet.

Next stop was my apartment manager's office to visit a bit and sign next year's lease. I picked up my mail, hauled all my purchases into the apartment, and collapsed into the recliner to call Mom. Then I made a call to my great-aunt (99 years old....isn't that wonderful?) to ask if I could come visit her this afternoon. She said that would be fine, so I'll be headed to her home (very near by) a little later to sit and knit and visit awhile. Should be lots of fun....she's a really interesting lady!

Had I told you that she crochets things from recycled plastic grocery bags? She inspired me to try it, and I've made a rug for my tent and a tote bag. I have lots of bags stockpiled but have been so busy knitting that I've not crocheted in awhile now. That reminds me that I must pull out my rug to take it to show her.

Off to find my rug!

Knitting, Knitting, Knitting

I'm trying to branch out into knitting something other than scarves, but something I can actually DO. That doesn't actually leave a large selection of projects, since I'm still a beginner. *LOL*


I have been knitting some dishcloths (small, portable, nice gifts) in various designs just to get the practice of the basic stitches without tying myself up with a huge project. Here's one I knitted last weekend as a gift for a kitty-loving friend:

As you can see, the piece hasn't been blocked. In fact I haven't even woven in the ends yet. I'll get that done (on this piece and the others pictured) tonight, I hope.

Here are a couple of dishcloths I knitted for another friend:

I like the butterfly a lot, but probably won't knit the "hummingbird in flight" again. It's okay, but it's not pretty enough, I think.

If I want to do "mindless knitting" (for instance, while watching a movie I really have to WATCH), I do a really simple dishcloth pattern I found on the internet listed as the "idiot dishcloth"....*LOL* I've also seen it listed as "Granny's dishcloth" and other variations. I think it would make a lovely baby blanket (doggie blanket, too) by just making it larger. I've got one started, but have other things I want to finish first.

For instance, last night I started a doggie sweater for MeggieDog. It's started well, but I have a looooong way to go. It may never see the light of day. *L*

I also have some crochet projects I need to finish....for instance, the rug I'm making for my tent from plastic grocery bags.

So much I want to do.....so little spare time. *sigh* I just don't understand those people who won't retire because they're afraid they're going to be BORED. Not me. The only thing that might slow me down from retiring is fear of poverty! I have LOTS of things I can do when I retire!!

Ah well....time to get back to work. Lunch break seemed to zip right by today!

Crocheted Tote Bag

Daddy's aunt (98 years young) has been crocheting items using plastic grocery bags for some time now. I've seen hats she's crocheted, and just a short while ago she sent me some neat little coasters she's made. Our local newspaper even wrote an article about her craftiness a year or so ago. She's really something.

When she sent me the coasters it prodded me to wonder how she prepared the bags in order to get a ball of plastic to crochet. So, a-Googling I went and found that there are actually two schools of thought on how to do it: 1) by cutting the bags spirally in a long continuous strip, and 2) by cutting the bags straight across, forming loops that you then connect together in a chain. Because it seemed quicker (and required less ability to cut in a continuous line while keeping the width of the strip pretty even....*LOL*) I chose the loop method.

After I had a ball of "plarn" (plastic yarn) larger than a softball, but smaller than a volleyball (probably 40 bags or so), I started crocheting with a plastic "Q" hook, using a patttern I'd Googled for the tote bag pictured here. It's about 2 feet long and 1 foot wide. The handle is crocheted using a slightly smaller hook to make it nice and sturdy. The day after I finished it, I was talking with Mom on the phone and told her it was all done. She said, "What's it look like?" I answered, "It looks like a tote bag crocheted from grocery bags." *LOL*

Gorgeous? No, not particularly. Functional? Absolutely. It's sturdy, and I'm sure it's going to be a very handy item. I think I'll wind up crocheting several to use while camping. They're roomy, lightweight, and would be very easy to crush down into your purse to take along on shopping trips.

My next grocery bag project is a granny-square rug for the floor of my tent. I'll post a photo of it when I finish. Maybe I'll work on that while having my "recliner day" during the holidays. *G*

Holiday Insomnia

I was just exhausted when I came home from work this afternoon. Trying to get everything tied up nice and neat before closing for the holidays is nerve-wracking! I have to work tomorrow....well, really later TODAY, then I'm off until January 5. And BOY am I ready for a break!!

I got the holiday shopping and gift wrapping all done nice and early this year. So, when I get this last day of work over with I have a restful break planned. Well....sort of. *L* I want to do some serious reorganizing in my home office. That will actually take a couple of days, I'm sure. Mom and Dad are coming to my place for Christmas Eve; I'm making a lasagna according to a decades-old family tradition, started by Mom. Then I'll go to their house for Christmas Day. On Friday I have an appointment to have a few inches lopped off my unbelievably-long hair, then I'm having lunch with friends. On Monday I have to run to the office briefly for a mailing that MUST go out. Other than that, my schedule is my own until the 5th! *YAY* I have a lot I want to do, but have faithfully promised myself at least one day in the recliner with MeggieDog, a lap quilt, and the remote control. On that day, the most strenuous thing I plan to do is feed myself and knit. Maybe crochet. But nothing that makes me wear shoes or break a sweat!

Crochet...that reminds me. I need to take a photo of the tote bag I just crocheted from plastic grocery bags! I'll do that and post it in the next post.

It's been a really stressful time at work, what with state budget concerns and the national financial situation. It'll be nice to be able to forget all that for a few days.

So, if there are any regular readers out there in cyberspace, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!

Catching Up AGAIN

I've been a delinquent blogger....two MONTHS, for crying out loud. Time gets away from me sometimes, that's for sure. Okay, so what's been going on since September?

Well, MeggieDog and I made our last two camping trips of the season, one four-day trip in September at Grindstone and one six-day trip in October at Hungry Mother State Park. That was the first (and probably last) time I camped at Hungry Mother. Mom and Dad were camping, too, so that was great. We went up on Monday morning and left on Saturday morning. The first part of the week was wonderful; we nearly had the campground (Camp Burson, just outside the actual park) all to ourselves. I don't think there were more than 10 occupied campsites at any time including our two sites. The weather was great, warm for October with cool crisp nights. The fall color was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time walking some of the trails around the lake and across the dam.

Unfortunately, on Friday, campers started coming in bunches! The campground doesn't afford much privacy for tent campers when there are people camped on the neighboring sites. Not only were the campers noisy, but the proximity of the campground to heavily-traveled Route 16 proved to be a problem on Friday night. I was camped (for sake of convenience) near the bathhouse. Well into the wee hours of the morning, traffic would pull off Route 16 so that carloads of people could use the bathroom facilities. Not only was it noisy, but I didn't feel particularly safe. Even though I have a set of walkie-talkies that Mom & Dad & I use while camping (one in the tent, one in their camper), I still felt ill-at-ease. Never again. If something happens that I have to camp there again, I'll be as far away from the road as possible, even if it means having to take a long hike to the bathhouse! I said I was going to try not to grouse too much, though. After all I had 4 great nights and only 1 crappy one. *L*

Good news about gas prices: a couple of months ago, regular gasoline was running $3.999 here. When I left work Friday, the Shell station at Exit 14 had their regular gas priced at $1.999! I don't remember the last time I saw gas less than $2.00 per gallon. It's certainly a welcome relief.

Of course, the Presidential election was last week; I'm relieved it's finally over and hope for a few weeks of no political ads before the next round of campaigning kicks in.

Heidi the Yorkie, owned by my friends Beth, Joey & Amy, is the proud mama of 3 puppies....I've posted a photo on Flickr (link on the right). Last I heard, all was well. They sure are cuties!

I've been doing a little crocheting of small Christmas gifts while watching TV. Nothing fancy. I've also got a couple of knitted gifts that I've started but need to finish. I want to try to get those completed so I'm not in a last-minute rush. You know all about good intentions, right? *L*

We've already had our first "snowfall"; when I woke up on Wednesday, October 29, I found just a small amount of slushy snow on my windshield. But the closer I got to the office the more snow I saw. In fact, there was a brief period of hard blowing snow just a mile away from work. People just a few miles further north said they had a pretty good covering of snow on the ground, but I didn't get that at home. It'll be coming soon enough, I'm sure.

We've had pretty warm temps this past week....low 70s during the day. Some rain moved in Friday evening, though, and things cooled down quite a bit. In fact, it's only 43 degrees outside right now. Cloudy, too. A good day to stay in and be cozy with a cup o' coffee.

Unfortunately, I'm in for another reason today. Meg wasn't well yesterday; it seems to have been something viral. She was awfully sick, but PeptoBismol and canine aspirin seemed to have pulled her through it, thank goodness. Today she's much better, able to walk up and down the hall on her own (she was too weak for that yesterday morning). She lapped up some warm chicken broth a little while ago and seemed to enjoy it. It was great to see her appetite back! I'm awfully tired today (probably from the stress of watching her feel bad as much as anything else), so I'm staying in to rest up for work tomorrow.

I made myself a pot of delicious Columbian coffee earlier, so I'm freshly showered, in my comfy sweats, sipping coffee, and preparing to pile up in the recliner with Meggie beside me, knitting in my lap, and the remote control nearby. It's such a gray day I might even light a DuraFlame log in the fireplace and really treat myself.

First, though, I'm going to check in on my friend Mare's blog and catch up a little on her. :-)

Meggie's Ottoman Cover

I just finished crocheting a cover for the ottoman that Meggie uses as a "stepladder" to get up onto the bed. As you can see, she approves of the improved traction. *LOL*