Labor Day Trip

No, we don't have Labor Day here, but it was a trip on Monday September 6th, so I'll call it the Labor Day Trip.

We were having some more computer problems, so we had to take a drive to the company that sold us the computer for some repairs. That's a 2 1/2 hour drive from here, so we decided to make a day of it (since we'd be in the car all day anyways). Ok, so maybe I decided to make a day of it when I realized that the online shop that I order yarn from has an actual store in a town just half an hour from where we had to take the computer. What luck!

And I talked Ludi into it, which was even more luck!

I am so glad I talked him into it. It was an awesome store. Everything they had online, they had in stock! That sometimes doesn't happen, you know? There were so many yarns to choose from. And it was so great to be able to see them in real life, their actual color, rather than picking from a photo online and hoping that the real thing was somewhat close to what is on my screen! And also be able to feel them, to know if they're too scratchy or whatever. It was great!

This is what I bought.

the haul from the Hall

I got a lot, huh? There is enough for 5 different projects, I think. Unless I combine the gray and green yarns on the side (in the plastic bags). I haven't really decided what I'm doing with those yarns yet. These, I know what I'm doing with already.

first project

I'll share a Ta-Da! post when it's ready.

It was a great day for a driving trip too. Sunny, not too hot. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic either. There was only one traffic jam that we got caught in on the way home. It was rush-hour time, afterall, so it was bound to happen. But we still enjoyed it.

Ludi too, since his computer got fixed. yay! Let's hope it stays this way.


 And since it's Friday, September 10 today I have to say

to Aunt Val! I hope that she has a fantabulous birthday today, and celebrates over the entire weekend. That's what you're supposed to do when your birthday lands on a Friday. The whole weekend is then your birthday. 72-hours worth of b-day.


Have a great weekend, everyone! Talk to you soon...


xxx

I have a twitch.

In my eye. The lower eyelid.


This is the 2nd day of it's torture.


What does it want from me?!


In order to try to forget about the above mentioned tick, I'll try something different today. I've read on other blogs in blogland "Things I Like" posts. Perhaps that will satisfy the twitch, and make it calm the heck down. Worth a shot, huh? Here goes:

• the smell of freshly cut grass. Even this time of year, in September, you can get a whiff of that green smell that is the best thing in the world. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl, I guess!

• this song. It's so catchy! It makes me bob up and down every time I hear it. Even if I can't understand what they're saying (it's in German!).

• Diet Coke. "Hi, my name is Heather, and I'm a Diet Coke-aholic." 

• Christmas!!!!! It's only 108 days until, you know. Have you started shopping yet?! Making your list? Checking it twice? Do you think Santa reads my blog? Hmmm...

• flowers. Mostly cut flowers. I've shown you many pictures in the past of the pretties I've gotten, but I really do like planted flowers too. I just wish my thumbs were greener. The flowers on the balcony this year didn't do very well. I don't know if it was me, or if the location just didn't suit them. I'll blame it on location, so I don't have to take it personally.

These are all things that you already knew about me, other than the song. I didn't want to list too many, because that would be boring, wouldn't it? Next time I'll try to think of things you DON'T know about me.

Also coming up in a future post is my new stash of yarn. Pictures and everything!

Enjoy the rest of your week...



xxx


edit: per the comment, I switched the link of the song to one that works in the States. Hope it works for everyone now!

a scary tale

I had to share this with you.

Last night near bedtime (well, after bedtime, but just before going to bed) I was winding down my day by doing a little Internet surfing. I had some music playing in my headphones and was just chilaxin'.

Until I saw something moving on the floor out of the corner of my eye. I quickly looked down, and saw a SPIDER!!!!! It had crawled from under my desk, where MY FEET WERE, to underneath Ludi's desk. Since I don't deal well with spiders, I did what any scaredycat would do.

I promptly called for Ludi to come take care of it.

He did a good job too, catching it in a cup. Of course, he proceeded to then tease me with the trapped-in-a-cup spider, but oh well... we can't have everything, can we?

of course I got a picture

It was a giant of a spider. Not tarantula sized, but still. When you're a chicken like me, it's HUGE. And it moved really fast. EEEEEEKS!!! I didn't notice until I looked at the picture though that it has hairy legs. I DID notice at the time that it has fang-type things.

It gives me the heebie-geebies just thinking about it. *gah*

it's coming to get me!

We employed a catch-and-release strategy with this beast. Once it was in the cup, we opened the window and threw it out.


"and STAY out!"


xxx

A techy weekend

What a gorgeous day here today. Weather-wise, that is. It's cool, in the high 60s, and mostly sunny. There is also a lovely breeze making all the leaves on the trees rustle. A lovely sound, don't you think?

How is the weather where you are?

We have had a techy kind of weekend. Doing maintenance, and backing up files and all that. Some of it went smoothly, and some didn't. That's the thing about technology. It's fanTAStic when it goes smoothly and works just as it should. But when it doesn't, it is a real pain in the you-know-what. And sometimes things can go horribly wrong. I'm sure you all have computer-related horror stories, so you know what we went through this weekend. Bleh!

I finally broke down and bought an external HD to back up my files.

Western Digital My Passport Studio

It's so tiny! It's hard to believe they can fit 500GB into such a tiny package. Actually they probably can fit MORE space into an even smaller package. (Technology is a wonder!) It makes the 60GB hard drive inside my computer seem really puny. Anyways, I chose this particular drive because it was reviewed by a Mac magazine that we get from the UK, MacFormat. They tested 5 different external hard drives in various areas, and this model won. I figured they knew their stuff, so I took their advice. It's nice because you can connect it via a USB cable, OR a FireWire cable. So if I lose one cord, I'll have a back up. ;)

Now that we have had a few months of summer, I'm really looking forward to fall. Especially now that there have been a few days of almost fall-like weather. I don't want it to snow, yet, but sweatshirt weather is always something to look forward to.


Till next time,


xxx

Slow Sunday

Hello again everyone!

I wish I had a really cool opening phrase. A catchy greeting of some sort. I suppose if I said the same thing at the beginning of every post, it would be really boring. It wouldn't be "a cool greeting" anymore, it would just be an "overlooked opening phrase".

Still wish I had one, though.

How has the weekend been going for everyone? Has anyone done anything fun lately? It's Back-To-School time in the States, right? If classes don't start next week, then they will soon. Mom, have you been thumbing your nose at your fellow teachers who aren't retired yet? Sleeping in when they are getting up early to get their rooms ready for students? Do you miss it yet?

Ha!!  Silly question!

For those of you who are new to my world, Mom was a 4th grade teacher for ... what... some 30-odd years. She's retired now, and loving every August that she doesn't have to go back to school. Loving every wintery morning that she doesn't have to wait and see if there's a school delay. Loving every lunch time that she doesn't have playground duty.

At least I'm pretty sure she's loving it.

Another lazy weekend here. Today it's been raining all day, and it might rain all night too, so the weather man says. Since it hasn't rained much all summer, I don't mind. It has to rain a lot (a week or more) for me to start minding it, though. It's cooler too. It really feels like fall already! We haven't had much of a summer here. We had, what, two weeks of hot weather, and the rest has been fairly mild, or even cold (as far as summer temps go). I guess that's how it goes here!

I finished another crochet project a while ago. Do you want to see it?

Yes?

Well, ok, if you insist...

soft and cozy

It's a scarf of flowers connected by little leaves.

close up

and it goes perfectly with my blue coat, don't you think?

cheerful colors

A good way to pretty-up a gray and rainy day! So far it hasn't been cool enough to wear a scarf. I'm patiently waiting for those days. It's more of a spring colored scarf, but I'll wear it this fall a few times anyways, I think. Though I am working on another scarf. That has more fall colors. Would you like to see pictures of that? If you do, then let me know!

Enjoy the rest of your day, friends.



xxx

edit: hmm...I was a little slow on the typing there, wasn't I? The title of the post is "Slow Sunday", but blogger put the date on as Monday, because I'm 35 minutes past Sunday. oops!! 

Too long again

Forgive me, Blogger, for I have sinned.

It's been too long since my last post.

I can't really say that I don't have the time to do it. I do. I guess I just don't make it a priority. Shame on me. I'm letting Dot Com down.


*hangs head in shame*



ok, are we over it now? Yeah? Super!

We went on a shopping spr yesterday. woohoo! (Not a whole SPREE, just a little one - a SPR.) We haven't done that in a long time. Somehow there is always something else to do on Mondays besides go downtown for some shopping. Isn't it funny how that works out? Huh. Anywhoo, we didn't find much that was on our list, but I did find something I've been wanting for quite a while, and just saved up enough money to splurge on.

smallish messenger-type bag

Can you smell the leathery goodness? It's so strong it almost smells like a farm. It's just a simple bag with a long strap so I can wear it around me for hands free shopping/walking, which I really prefer. It is 10in. wide x 10in. tall x 4.5in deep. Big enough to carry what I need, but not so big that I put too much in it and it gets too heavy. I used it today, and it's very comfortable.

inside shot

Inside it's got a zipped pocket and some smaller slots for credit/business cards, a pocket for a cell phone, pen slots, and in the front is a slim pocket too.

Just a simple, basic bag. Not too fussy, classic enough that it can be used for quite a while (not trendy). It's not terribly green (eco-friendly) since it's made of leather, but if you consider that I won't have to buy three new bags to replace this one, then that's environmentally friendly, right? Semi-green?

Pale green?

Celery?

No? Ok, oh well. I like it anyways. I think it will get better as it ages too. (Especially when it doesn't smell like a farm anymore.)

I hope you all are enjoying your August. I can't believe how time flies. Before we know it, it will be winter. And then it will be Christmas!



(In  137 days, to be exact...)


Enjoy your summer!!!



xxx

Pretty Peonies

It's been rainy and cool here the past few days. You know me though. I prefer it that way! But I'm feeling like I need a bright spot. A few weeks ago I bought these pretties.

giant pink blooms

They smelled very good. So summery! They were lovely. I think I've always loved peonies. We had two big bushes of them (or one giant one? Not sure which!) at home growing up, and I always think of those when I see peonies now. Maybe some day when I'm a grown up and have a yard of my very own I'll have some too.

partially open

The just opening ones were so interesting, their different colors. They lasted the whole week too, which was great!

essence of summer

You just can't beat that, can you.

Perfection.

I hope these pictures brightened your day!


xxx