a garden and then some post

We've got some badassmofo rocks in our garden- behold the evidence.




Mr. Sophanne went to the nursery-- peppers, tomatoes (there were several kinds but I didn't pay attention) and cucumbers There is some bibb lettuce that seems to have survived the hail.



I'm not sure about the corn- I'll give it another week to either die or grow.

Most exciting find of the day was this little potater plant



Lesson of the day- when the whirlygigs fall into your garden from the maple(?) tree, be sure to remove them when you can or else you will have maple trees growing in the garden.

Unrelated to gardening lesson of the day- Salty Chocolate day is a WIN. Things go much faster in the afternoon when you have a nice chocolate rush! I considered myself "armed and dangerous."

The most poignant part of the day- holy crap- that woman from Missouri whose husband saved her life and died doing so in the tornado. Made the little typical spat Mr. Sophanne and I were having seem so absolutely meaningless. I'm thinking about her a lot tonight.

I'm no Willie W0nka...

But for the sake of "salty chocolate" day at school, I'll give it my best shot.

This recipe can be found here-from the Whimsical Princess. I stumbled across it before Easter- she makes hers into peanut butter eggs. There's also some business about putting the peanut butter balls on a skewer to get the proper coating- no holes- make a lovely candy thing. I preferred to roll them around in chocolate and pick them up with a spoon and a fork salad serving style.

I may have erred in my chocolate- I like both dark and semi-sweet chocolate. When they're together and I can taste them both I am happy. I combined a bag of semi-sweet morsels and a bag of dark chocolate morsels when I melted it all together. Either others will feel the way I do or they will hate them because it has the kind they don't like in it.

Tomorrow is the 1st Annual Salty Chocolate Day (as declared by me) for the staff at school.

I wanted to call it PMS day but there are 2 men in the building and that would be inappropriate.

Apparently all you really have to do to "declare a day" is put a note in everyone's mailbox telling them that if they want to eat chocolate on that day they should bring some to share. I'm hoping to start a long-standing, possibly daily, tradition.

Also- I didn't want my ass to grow on homemade reese cups alone. My butt cheeks prefer a variety.

No Joy in Mudville

GARDEN

The garden is in a sad state of affairs. All that was once planted was shredded by the hail. We are in mourning. We shall return but I'm not going to put any time into it (other than removing rocks) until there are two non-raining days in a row and school is out. In the mean time- I'll keep hoeing.

KNITTING

The Effortless sweater is finished and needs a photoshoot. It's enormous but I love it and it has already been warn more than some other sweaters I knit years ago. It's always at hand and my go to cover up. I stayed with all one color.

With the maroon Elsbeth Lavold I am making a second "Queen Anne's Lace" by MMario. It's much easier the second time around and with bigger yarn/needles. It has the potential to be of GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS.

SCHOOL

My principal (who I really do like a lot) scheduled a big picnic on June 2 at a nearby park. He (with the help of the cooks) has planned the food and will be in charge of making sure everyone gets fed.

The physed teacher (chicken Bob anyone?) has offered up some activities (but no real organization because sadly, I don't think he can) as have others-

This includes a disgusting "fill a baby pool with water and marbles and let kids pick them up with their toes." I'm pretty sure that event is not going to clear the safety committee (of which I am chair.)

The art teacher, librarian and I were proactive in our participation. Art teacher and librarian will be painting faces while I entertain and sing camp songs as kids wait.(*see song list below-add any I may have forgotten) We've insisted on a shady pavillion as a work space.

All seems well and good on the surface except...

There is no schedule for the day. No rotation. No adults to get the stations going. Just go to the park and see what happens and he'll grill hot dogs. The principal was once a junior high principal and just yet can't see how this may be a problem.

"Hey 360+ kids- let's all have recess together!"





*A ram sam sam
Sarasponda
Crawdad song
Dr. Eisenbart
Don gato
Take you ridin in my car car
You are my sunshine
I’ve been working on the railroad
On top of Spaghetti
He’s got the whole world (g)
We come from the Mt.
She’ll be coming round the Mt.
I Love the Mt. (G Em Am D) w/capo
Oh SusannahBingo
The Bear went over the Mt.
There’s a hole in the bucket
My BonnieIf you’re happy and you know it
The More we get together
I am slowly going crazy

Really?

At first I thought the sight of these sad little plants in the

rocky clay was as pathetic as things could get.

That was until I came home from work today and

wondered why Mr. Sophanne had tossed salt in the yard.

Then I realized things could get much much more pathetic.

The "salt" was actually ice pellets from a giant hail storm

Much much more pathetic.

The Claw's

creations are too funny not to share. Mr. Sophanne takes a good picture wherever he is.

Garden update

Things are moving along nicely- May 15th is our "freeze date" so we are hoping to get things planted next weekend. In the meantime, a little paint brightens things up. I'm planning on putting a "no bunnies allowed" on the front of the gate.

The puppy practices searching for the bunnies. Always on the look-out.

And here is a bunny's eye view of things to come.

I wonder if they feel the same way people in our 'burg do when we find

out there's a new box store coming to town.

...and they'll have lettuce, and tomatoes, and green beans...

ALL IN ONE PLACE!

8 words

When I first posted this picture it was worth 1000 words. Then "The Claw" added text and it seems 8 words will do the trick.

Just as I opened the picture (before getting up this morning) Liza Jane was romping in the hallway with shoe in mouth. She will NEVER not be able to find my shoes.

minimalist birthday

Mr. Sophanne's birthday was last Wednesday. Two years ago I went all out with a monkey theme. Last year it was all Mario. This year I had no inspiration and didn't take a day off of work to prepare. The end result was 10 balloons and this:



He walked in as I was feebly attempting to achieve the festive look and said "don't bother- then I won't have to worry about it so much on your birthday." I'm o.k. with that.

Garden gate and fence pictures will be available whenever the rain stops. In the meantime, a patch of sun appeared and Mr. Sophanne and the dog went outside to clean up the sliding board that was once where the garden is now. He wanted me to label this post "Spring Slide Show."

Da Brudders agree...

It was a great day for a picnic!







I took it as a sign when The Mama of da brudders sent an email saying "I've got to get out of the house this weekend" and The Claw sent an email within the hour saying "Have you ever gone on a picnic down by the river?" and the weather people said the sun would shine. She picked the time, he picked the place, I packed the picnic (sandwiches like Mr. Sophanne makes for my lunches- they get such rave reviews at school), and the sun came through.

We threw balls, played with trucks, played in sand, slid down poles and fed the geese. And there was zero whining or crying from anyone-just a lot of playing in the sunsilence- the kind that cleanses rain-worn weariness. Just happy kids. Actually the fact that there was NONE of that IS kind of weird. But not as weird as this:



This kid's mom spent her time at the park talking loudly on the cell phone, eating chinese food, and ignoring the fact that her kid was bullying other kids. She might have spent her time better checking out what the other kids were wearing.

We Have Sprouts... And How!

Those roots were bustin' out all over. I feel a little bit sad for the sprouts that don't have a peat pot yet but I'm thinking I already have more than I need and maybe I'll plant those at the side of the house to feed the bunnies.

SuperSecretarySandy (she's an Administrative Assistant and her day is tomorrow but I like alliteration) is my favorite person in the whole school. She's who I eat lunch with and sometimes we go to the hidey hole. She's farmed and "cowed" (not really a word) all her life but probably isn't having a garden this year. So I put this little something together for her. I'd take her on a vacation if reality let things like that happen.



Chickens in the Road is one of my most favorite non-knitting blogs. Suzanne lives on a farm in the country and has a cow named Beulah Petunia who had a calf named Glory Bee. One of her goats, Clover, surprised her by being pregnant and having a baby. I can't explain to you how funny this is- she's just an excellent writer and fun to read. Her barnyard pictures rock. Her blog is divided up into categories somehow (but not that new annoying typepad kind of way) that I haven't figured out but if you like a little non-commercial baryard living check her out. (unsolicited promotion- I just want to have someone else to laugh with when things like "CLOVER IS HAVING A BABY!" happen.)

Also sleeve number one on the effortless cardigan is about 2/3's done (yes kmkat- you do know that yarn.) It feels a little snug but I know how Lavold silky wool can stretch upon blocking so I'm crossing my fingers. I can never remember the name effortless and often want to call it the neverending cardigan but really it's been a most pleasant and unoffensive top-down knit.

Cocktail Rings? I've got your Cocktail Rings!

after a visit to Aunt of Sophanne of course!

“First Ever Garden” Lessons Part the One

Restraint. More is not always better. Less is often more.

It would have been easy in the delusional world of the first garden to try and make this bad boy 30’x 30’. Had we gone with those first instincts it would have been an exercise in futility. That’s too much work. We wouldn’t do it. We’d get discouraged, tired and cranky at not living up to each other’s expectations. 12’x 10’ is big enough to be proud of and small enough not to be too disappointed if things don’t work out exactly as we had hoped.

We are eager to “brew” good soil. There is so much advice to be had. I believe we have talked each other out of adding 20 bags of top soil along with the peat, lime, and horseshit we’ve already added. There really are no shortcuts. Give it a little help and then dig in the dirt. A lot.

Perspective. Work isn’t work if it’s play time together.

While driving home from work last week I found myself complaining in my head. “I have to work in the garden when I get home. I’m so tired. I don’t want to.” After a short nap I took my little rakey thing, sat my ass next to the garden and got to "work". After about 10 minutes I realized this wasn’t really work- it was just playing in the dirt. I’ve seen kids enjoy the hell out of that and it worked for me. Add to the mix that I was pretending to be a pirate digging for buried treasure (rocks) and it was really much easier and kind of fun.

There's GOLD in that there dirt!

One reason we decided on a garden is because we love each other and we love our dog who loves to be outside. I’m not very good at being outside. Maybe I have some long buried traumatic experience but ask me to go sit out on the porch and I am as twitchy as a sleeping puppy.

Yesterday while digging for buried treasure, the sun was shining on my face and the dog was checking in with a zillion kisses every 10 minutes. HELLO! That was awesome. I stopped digging for a while and rolled with the dog in the grass. What A Blast. Somewhere as we grow up we no longer think to just say “hey honey, I’m going to go outside and roll with the dog in the grass in the sunshine.” Gardening makes this possible in the misguided adult world without feeling like “this is really weird- I’m going back inside.”

There are other lessons (hope, persistence, patience and negotiation) that have come to mind but I’ll save those for another post. In the meantime, here are some bibb lettuce seedlings going on and a “Jiffy Garden” seed starter waiting to happen.

More gardening

As per the suggestion of the wise Claw, you will notice a new page on the sidebar called how does your garden grow. There I will be taking the picture updates and keeping a photoblog of the Anniversary Garden.

After advice from those who know, we purchased some lime, peat moss and horse manure. We spread it out in between rains, will let it soak into the ground a little bit and will continue to break up the soil. As the Claw wondered in a former life, WHO PLANTED ALL OF THOSE ROCK SEEDS? They did a good job! We have Beefsteak Rocks.

New Straw Hat- a must at only $5.99!



Mr. Sophanne and his new pitchfork- I don't know how much it was but I'm sure it was not the deal that the hat was.



The color of dirt (apologies to the color blind)

a stay at home adventure

Almost one month into the "anniversary garden" you can see that progress is being made. There were (and still are) many big rocks and a lot of clay but Mr.Sophanne is persistent.



And he finds time to play with the dog too.



We have 4ft high rabbit fence and green metal posts to attach it to but that won't happen until we can remove more rocks and put down a layer of topsoil.

I think I heard him singing this...

I could be handy mending a fuse when your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside, Sunday mornings, go for a ride
Doing the garden digging the weeds, who could ask for more
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?

o.k. not really but if he thought of it he would.

In other updatey kind of news- the ribbing will remain the same color- redsilvia's comment about changed ribbing color drawing attention to the ass sealed the deal.

The latest obsession (which has slowed down the knitting process) is my reacquaintance with the ukulele and a musician's toy- a program for the mac called "Band in A Box."



These are my secret ways to let summer vacation know that I'm ready when it is. Also I feel terribly clever when I think to take a picture of my computer screen and can remember how to do it.

gratuitous dog photos

The sun finally came out today and GoodneighborEllen brought out her Boston Terrier to enjoy it. His name is Oreo and sadly he is deaf. This does not stop he and Liza from playing dog games. I think they look so funny together- like Dr. Evil and Mini-me

Decisions...

If you're a knitter and you have some time, open this ravelry page (effortless cardigan) in a new page and look at the sweater.

Then come back to me and tell me what you think about me changing the color of the ribbing to one of the four in the picture (I'm calling them 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00)

My first instinct was 3:00 but you know how I love that color. My second instinct was 6:00 because then it would be lovely with black or brown clothes. My third instinct was "different colored ribbing"? That's stupid.

After the Sharpie Adult Suprize Jacket, I'm inclined to seek out honest opinions before I mindlessly knit, knowing that my blog friends have a little more visual class than I do.



And if you don't have a ton of time to look at the sweater, feel free to chime in on which pairing your eyes prefer for the ribbing in a slouchy sweater.

Hi Blog.

This post has no point. Let's call it a crack me up post.

Our measuring cups are in hiding. Mr. Sophanne swears he didn't put them anywhere but they are not where I put them.

I am baking gingersnaps. The recipe calls for 3/4 c of shortening or oil. I had to use the 1/4 c measuring cup from a set that is all in pieces. I only put in one 1/4 c. I think. Or maybe it was three. I'm not sure. So I put in 2 more. There is either 3/4 c of oil in them or 5/4 c. in them.

This is why baking is not a recommended career for the attention deficit.

Other random thoughts- we (and by we I mean Mr. Sophanne) watched some ridiculous zombie movie with Dennis Hopper in it which made me wonder why zombies just don't eat each other. I also wondered if the zombie food network has cooking shows.

Last week I was looking for songs about camels (for kids.) The standard "Alice's Camel" appeared on iTunes as well as a piece from the album "100 Rap Instrumentals." These 3-5 minute gems are backing tracks for would be rap artists.

In the same way that my brain believes that one day it will speak and comprehend all of the Romance languages with a snap of a finger, it also believes that given a proper backing track, it will be a rap star.

Words don't actually come out in either situation but the head bobbing and feigning of comprehension and participation is the same.

That's what the world needs- a Knitting Buddhist Rap Star with a very clever dog. (excuse me while I pause to riff on the words knit and purl)

One other thing that has me laughing while 1st graders are watching it is Jerry Lewis' performance of the Typewriter Song. It's pretty funny by itself but it's even funnier when you watch 6-7 year olds try to do it with him. Soon I will be searching the attic of the Aunt of Sophanne looking for some discarded manual typewriters so that I can let the kids take "typing solos." If I find more than one, I can have "Dueling Typewriters."

I'm knitting the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig (rav link) in Lavold Silky Wool.

I took a break from Columbo to watch season one of The Twilight Zone (1959) on Netflix.

The dog delivers my tennis shoes to my napping self promptly at 5:30 each day.

And I think you're all caught up.

just one more question, sir....

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been going through a little Columbo phase.  I think various phases come with the change in seasons.  Like stores that increase sales by rotating the merchandise, rotating the seasons may have the same effect on me.

Accompanying this Columbo phase has been my inclination to become Columbo in my classroom demeanor-saying things like, "the thing is kids...."(but only after a long Columbo type pause.) Adrian Monk also occasionally makes an appearance.  Some time ago when I was feeling  overwhelmed by working every day, I lightened up by pretending I was Jemaine from Flight of the Concords.  Reviewing my "role" models reveals a personal inclination toward the absurd and surreal, punctuated by meaningful(or less) pauses.  

Then again, it could just be who I am and that's why I identify with those characters.  It might be a chicken/egg sort of thing.  

Then I started thinking about the common ploy for soliciting blog comments with the question "do you have anyone you inner channel?" Too easy.

Then I began to wonder, based on the limited things I know about my blog friends, who I channel for them in my head.

Cynthia lives in what she calls Middle Earth.  Lately she's changed jobs and created a new adventure for herself.  To me, she is Bilbo Baggins. I've also never seen a picture of her.

Kmkat lives somewhere cold and woodsy with snow and a big Jeep and a husband she refers to as Bear.  Sometimes I like to pretend she is the detective in the movie"Fargo" (minus the baby bump)

Redsilvia is a flight attendant.  My picture for her is a young Marlo Thomas/Mary Tyler Moore combo-flying from city to city, "making it on her own"-she may very well not be on her own for all I really know-but these are the snapshots my brain emanates.

Yarnhog lives in a warm sunny place and has a wildly colorful family background and job history, and is good at every thing she tries.  Sometimes I like to pretend she is a brilliant but humble double agent who makes you laugh in the way Maxwell Smart might but has the acumen of 99.

So, in search of a greater understanding of self, what character am I in your head to you?  Who do I remind you of?  (If you feel like thinking about it that is.)

In unrelated news, my secretary friend and I went to another room for lunch today.  Oh how that lifted my spirits for the rest of the day.  Good talk and laughs with a friend and all with the reassurance that nothing said would be spread through the community.  If questioned by the talker, I realize that I can give the reason that many give as to why the don't eat lunch in the lounge..."too much gossip." I don't have to point out that she's the source of the problem.  

What I did over Spring Break

Two loads of laundry.

That's it. It will be an easy answer when the locals ask me what I did.

No knitting. No gardening. No dog walking.

For five fevered days I watched old Columbo episodes on netflix and had dreams that I needed to update my collection of 1970's cocktail rings and frosted nail polish if I want to continue to be the fashionista that I am.

Now it is Sunday night. I am well again. Before the week-long break started when everyone at school was so looking forward to the it, I recall saying-

"I wish we didn't have spring break. I just want to get the year over with and move on to summer."

Touché Karma, Touché.

What is it with

vacations and strep throat and me? I swear my body waits until things slow down to take time to get sick. It's not a full blown case but I'm the kind of get-sick person where I can feel it coming, if I went to the dr. right now he'd say it was nothing, and yet I know in 3 days I'll be miserable. Stupid strep throat.

Complaining Rant complete.

While I stewed under the covers, Mr. Sophanne went out on this increasingly cloudy (snow later in the week) spring day and began making arrangements for our garden to be.

His plan is to remove the sliding board "watch tower" piece on the right entirely and use the remaining posts to help fence in the garden area.



The sliding board once attached to this piece will find a new home in place of the basketball hoop (there is a door behind it) so that there will be some place for The Brudders Three to play when they come to visit.



This area in between posts and out into the yard a little ways will be the actual garden/fenced in place.



The swings have been removed but the hooks remain perfect for hanging things to scare hungry birds. (we won't mention that I suggested hanging bird feeders there) or hanging plants or wind chimes or something fabulously decorative and/or useful that I haven't thought of yet. GoodneighborMarilyn gave us a clematis that needs a place to climb this year- maybe it will want to live there.




Twice now he's called it "our garden" or "the garden" which for whatever reason makes me insanely happy. And while we were eating lunch at the local diner we heard one farmer-type-guy say to another farmer-type guy "No use planting anything before May 1st," so now we have our timeline. We are proud of our research.

happy anniversary

We are enjoying each others company for our anniversary today and may be going to buy some dirt for some expanded gardening. More to follow as those plans solidify- or none to follow if they fall through.

Pictured below is the radioactive iodine quarantine sucks monster (RIQS) for a friend. I've invited her to throw it against the walls while she endures that experience and then felt the hell out of it when its all said and done.

Nancy B. oh how you seduce me

I didn't think it wise to use her name "Bu$h" and seduce in the same title- too many weird hits.

This is Lehe from Knitted Lace of Estonia in some Malabrigo. It's just the right challenge/yarn/attention span combo. I don't even care if there are thirty hundred repeats of two charts that don't match up perfectly. I am also ignoring the fact that it will require knitting an additional border when it's finished (if I stick with the pattern) There's a video for that and I'll be watching it. Fearless Knitter- that's me!

Another lunchtime tidbit...

Mrs. Not annoying and I were talking about how I'm teaching kids to play cribbage in this enrichment class I'm required to teach.

I said "Hezekiah is really good. He caught on quickly."

Before any further conversation about Hezekiah or cribbage could be pursued, the talker spouted, "Hezekiah's sister has to have her gall bladder removed."

We stared blankly, made no comment and returned to our conversation.

You can't make this stuff up!

True Love? Maybe "partly"

Today I told Mr. Sophanne that Hines Ward was going to be on Dancing with the Stars and that now we HAVE to watch it. He said "I wouldn't watch it even if YOU were on it. However , if there were the mere mention of one of your body parts on Law and Order, I would definitely tune in."

I've made some friends with some malabrigo (forest green) and Nancy Bush's Lehe pattern if you're looking for something to Ravel. I love lace knitting when the numbers work out. I hope this one doesn't end up in the "someday I'll figure out where I messed up" pile. Pictures on another day.

Entertainment dialogue in Latvian

before I share the next installment I'd like to point out to my more local music educator readers that a good friend of mine suggests that the monster in the last post bears a striking resemblance to dbess. You might give yourself a good laugh with that filter set applied. And quite frankly, the monster is no longer so cute to me.

On to content for all..

Entertainment- a dialouge to practice in Latvian-

You have to go to the opera.

This art is unfamiliar to me

True feelings cannot be unfamiliar to anybody.

Would you please suggest anything else.

Don't forget about decent clothes.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to appreciate the performance.

A bouquet of flowers for the soloist will suffice.

Shall I be able to leave the hall if I feel tired?

The most spectacular scenes usually are at the end of performance.

RAWR

I eat lace for breakfast!

Finishing- seaming-attaching- not so much fun but I think it will get easier with practice and may try again.

I was low on stuffing so he appears to be a little undernourished.

Sight Seeing dialogue

Seems like the Latvian phrase guide book was enjoyed. Today we will find out what phrases you will need while sightseeing.

Please, don't take photos!

Is this a special territory?

This building is a prison.

Is security a priority here?

Our priority is collaboration.

I'm afraid lest my purse and credit cards are stolen.

You should be very cautious.

How to avoid an unpleasant incident?

Never leave your bag unattended.

I don't have a bag.

Immediately inform police about it!

And just in case that wasn't enough to crack you up, lemme tell you about my morning. Mr. Sophanne didn't wake me up as he often does. Instead when I woke up late, I saw one of his work shirts neatly spread out on a little table with a glaring stain. I was so angry all day- HOW DARE HE START MY MORNING LIKE THAT! I do the laundry the best I can and he's pointing out my failures first thing in the morning?! We haven't had the rows that we did early in marriage but that's about to change buddy boy. You're not perfect either and I am SICK and TIRED of feeling like I'm not good enough.

At SecretarySandy's suggestion, instead of going on the defense, when he came home I asked him what he got on his shirt (clever clever oh Sandy of 35 years of marriage-I'll show him a thing or two)

When I asked him he said he spilled Italian dressing on it. When I asked him why he didn't wake me he said I looked so comfortable sleeping. I think I may be having some emotional overreactions.

Crack-a-me-up

So lunch wasn't horrible but that's not the funny part. It was a little runny but I may strain out some of the liquid before tomorrow. Enough garlic makes everything good.

Crack me up part:

I have a former student teacher who is living in Latvia. She received a phrase book upon arriving to help acquaint her with the language. I won't bother with the Latvian translations-(I wouldn't be able to find all of the accent marks necessary) but what follows is what is offered as the standard luggage dialogue

***Edited to add*** My friend reassures me that Latvians speak excellent English and this phrase book is an anomoly- crazy funny nonetheless!

What has happened with my luggage?

We don't know anything about your luggage

The luggage belt is empty.

Probably somebody has taken your luggage. Maybe you haven't had luggage.

Here you are the luggage coupon!

What was in your luggage?

THere were important documents there.

You should have used hand luggage for that purpose.

Can you offer me a set of prime necessity goods?

In this case we don't see the necessity.

If you enjoyed these, I have more where that came from- also if you leave a comment, feel free to do so in a Latvian dialogue style.

Lunchtime Experimentation.

As reported earlier on this blog, I've given up the in-house deli service that Mr. Sophanne is more than happy to offer. It's been three weeks and I haven't starved.

Week one was the refried bean/taco salad.

Weeks two and three were black beans and rice- mmm how I love them.

This week is an experiment- It's a salad/spread of sorts inspired by some internet readings. It's comprised of black beans, garbanzo beans, white kidney beans, pine nuts, chopped tomato, succotash (the frozen corn and lima bean kind) and garlic virtually swimming in sour cream. I did not intend for it to be swimming but I foolishly dumped the whole container in before mixing.

I'll be wrapping this up in a burrito shell for lunch.

I have the camera and a picture would be possible but that may prejudice the opinions I seek out. Some things taste better than they look. I hope.

I purchased some microwave popcorn as a back up. There's a candy machine nearby-

What are the predictions?

Extree Extree Read all about it...

I, my friends, am Magic Looping.



And I have Rebecca Danger's Knitted Monster Book to thank for it.

Her patterns made it worthwhile to me to figure it out. Her directions were as clear as the forty thousand hundred other sets of magic loop directions that I've both purchased and read. The cuteness of her monsters made me want to stick it out. Oh yes, you can do these on dpns but even I, lover of all sticks that are double pointed, saw the tediousness which would ensue- and I wanted to MAKE MONSTERS FASTER!

This was all completed while under the influence of nearly psychotic hormones and I think perhaps both the circular needle and the yarn might have been a little fearful- even with medication.

I believe the key was to have Mr. Sophanne out of the house. While working on our taxes he realized he needed a win/loss statement from the casino. The process of getting this would be expedited by making a trip there. What's a guy to do- especially when he's got some winnings from last time in his pocket?

What we've resorted to...

Lunchtime is still a blathering of (insert slight WV twange here) "well I said to Aunt Mavis, I said..." and "Uncle Junior is related to the Bookers on the Mom's side andher sister is married to my mother's brother-in-law..."

Oh the humanity....

The secretary and I have resorted to making a laughing game whenever a piece of lunchtime popcorn misses our mouth and falls to the floor. We are so easily amused.

Speaking of the secretary, I covered for her in the office yesterday afternoon. Let it be said that I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about shorthand. She knows it, does it, and rocks it. One time I jokingly came in and said "Take a memo." and she pulled out the notepad and wrote every word I said.

Yesterday, feeling the Power of the Secretary Chair, I pulled out the steno pad and wrote some squiggles of my own and asked her to translate them. Turns out I am skilled with the ability to write meaningful shorthand words without understanding what I say. I can WRITE shorthand- I just don't know what I'm writing.



could you come over to play. Company information. Come prepared you have to work in.

Mr. Sophanne says I was a stenographer in a former life. I say maybe it's like a Ouija board into my subconscious.

Roses are Red Violets are blue

Finish this poem...
It's something to do.

A Converstaion

Last week, Mr. Sophanne (ms) and I (me) had the following conversation:

ms: Let's not buy anything for Valentine's Day. Let's just do cards.

me: o.k.

I really am good with that. I struggle with the whole thing.

me: If we do cards, we'll both have to sneak off and get cards and then we'll just throw them away. Let's go to the store, pick out cards for each other, give them to each other in the store and then go home.

ms: or we could just write our own cards.

me: o.k.

ms: I've already started mine.

End of Conversation.

Pulled in hook, line and sinker I was though he says that was not his intention. After a few days of panic, I realized that I had the emails we exchanged when we first started dating. Some of the things he wrote are what convinced me that he was an interesting person to get to know (and eventually marry.)

After culling through some of the dialogue, I remembered that there was this whole give and take metaphor regarding cows- lots of puns and pretty funny. My "card" is now ready- I decided that it would look better in a frame. (and he won't be able to throw it away.)

I'm pretty sure it will embiggen if you want to read the words- I can't promise they'll make sense to anyone but me.

right where HE put it!

So the camera was found this evening in plain sight- right where Mr. Sophanne put it when he took it on his adventure with brudder number 1. He just didn't tell me he took it and I only this evening expanded my looking places as my hideyholes had been given a thorough going over.

First the best dog ever waiting for da brudders three



Then a handy way to keep brudder number one entertained for an hour


Then an "action" shot of brudder number 1 in his NS toboggan.


What a nice surprise to find both the camera and some bonus pictures on it!

And for the record- The Superbowl ads had little or no effect on my buying habits. I don't need a new car, bud light, or doritos (and after a couple of those dorito commerials I may never eat them again). But, for the few days I thought I was cameraless, all it took for me to think about buying one was jellidonut saying in the comments "the quickest way to find it is to buy a new one." So much for my minimalist outlook. And Jelli- you could be making millions in advertising.

Twenny dollah

As in $20 to the person who can tell me where I left my stinkin' camera. The last time I had it I was taking a picture of Lil Liza Jane as she was waiting for the brudders three to arrive. (2 weekends ago). There's a great shot of her looking longingly out the window just before the action began. After that it's all a blur.

In unexpected knitting news, I've finished chart 1 (and all associated repeats) of Icarus. Imagine my surprise last Friday when I didn't read the pattern, started chart two too soon and had to tink 341 lace stitches. (you crack me up if you noticed the two too and had a little laugh in your head)

A few posts ago there was a picture of Lil Liza from this summer in the sunny grass. I will confess here that when Cindy asked about whether the green stuff under her feet (in the picture) was hurting her, I did indeed start an email to her that said "no that's the grass, she likes it" before I realized her funniness. I was feeling pretty dense about it all until this evening when Aunt of Sophanne (before she gave it any thought) said "why don't you have any snow at your house?" It must just run in the family.

Tonights feature film is Kansas City Confidential

Lean Times

it is for the blog, lean times.

Add to that a misplaced camera and I might just as well write "insert blog post here."

Item One- New Find

I've recently crawled out from the rock under which I'd apparently been living and discovered Netflix. It's perfect for the iPad and officially makes me glad that I purchased it.

Now between 9-9:30 pm as Mr. Sophanne is watching "Sons of Anarchy" or "Gangland" or that zombie t.v. show, I can pull out the iPad click, wait a few seconds and have 1940's film noir at my fingertips. I watch about twenty minutes of it and return to it like an old friend the next night. Edgar G. Robinson in his less gangster-like roles has been the featured actor of choice. There is something about the style of those movies that captivates me.

Item Two-Lunches

For the last year, Mr. Sophanne has been making an extra sandwich for me in the morning so I haven't been packing my lunch. These aren't your generic PB&J's. These humble Dagwood Bumstead. Meat (a roast, meatloaf, baked chicken- all done the Sunday night before), lettuce, tomato, cheese, sometimes avacado, condiments all on a toasted bagel smashed to perfection in a plastic sandwich container. (the lunchtime conversation about whether those were special bagels, or if we had a sandwich smasher will be saved for another day- I'm not sure I can share it without sounding all smarty-pants.)

He also takes the "meat of the week" and often prepares a rice-a-roni- broccoli dish for dinner. While I am not one to look a gift sandwich in the mouth, I've noticed that I have become mean and sort of logey. I'm starting to wonder if my body isn't saying "TOO MUCH MEAT!"

This week for lunch I'm on my own and I've made plastic container sizes of layered refried bean taco salad. (and I ask you is there anything better on the planet than sour cream and cream cheese mixed together in spreadable goodness? I think not) Lunchtime continues to be a "one-upping gossip fest" and I'm hoping that this concoction will at least give me one reason to get up in the morning. The verdict is out as to whether it will taste as good on day 5 as it did on day one. I've got black beans and rice and hummus in the plans for the next couple of weeks. It might be my new thing to figure out on Sundays.

Item Three- Mean and Logey

Last week while eating dinner, it was all I could do not to throw my food to the floor and scream at Mr. Sophanne "YOU SOUND LIKE A PIG WHEN YOU EAT!!" He does a little bit but this isn't something new and generally I've grown accustomed to it. Later that night as he was negotiating the Wii game "Spore" I had to physically restrain myself from grabbing the remote and screaming "YOU"VE BEEN TRYING TO JUMP ONTO THAT @#$ #$)W%(*@ MUSHROOM FOR TWENTY MINUTES NOT COUNTING THE TIME YOU SPENT TRYING TO DO IT LAST WEEK!!! HE CAN'T JUMP UP THERE!!!!"

These are more powerful than the normal hormones at work. These required medication and even then were only slightly muted. I know not from whence they come. I've been able to keep them subdued at school but mostly because kids know the warning signs and have been treading lightly.

I woke up yesterday morning and these violent tendencies seemed to have passed for the moment. I sent him off to the casino for a day of quiet just in case. I also suggested that he go because he had a sniffly nose and was whining about not knowing whether to go or not. There's just only so much a girl can take. Some people catch colds. Me, I catch irrational psychotic tendencies that come and go like colds.

In my imagination

I am here.



In reality, the thrill of this wintry day was the arrival of a "callus reducer" for my feet and the fact that my heels no longer resemble flaking rhinoceros skin. I thought the above made a better picture since it's going to take a few more rounds to get those feet in shape. As an added bonus, today is the first day in many that we are not under a hazardous weather advisory, so that's kind of nice too.

Really, I have nothing, but Aunt of Sophanne pointed out that it had been some time since my last post and I felt an urge to remedy that.