Woo Hoo!

 

I'm very happy to report that my finger has finally healed enough to let me pick up the needles again. The knitting needles, that is. I'm still wary of the teeny tiny ones. We had a grocery pick up yesterday and I grabbed my socks for the ride over and my finger protector. One of you lovely folks sent me a box of these way back when and I use them all the time when I am home but neglected to take one with me to kitty sit hence the pokey finger. 

As for a bathroom update, we've finally gotten that last panel up on the shower surround. We had to build out the wall and put support studs behind the panel but it should be good to go now. Why a surround and not some fancy tile? Because after that leak we didn't want to take anymore chances. Tearing out one ceiling down below was enough. This thing will even have shower doors-a first for us. No more drippy shower curtains that leave puddles that might seep through. If there are anymore leaks, tearing this thing out will be a lot easier than tearing out tile. This I know from experience. I've chiseled out more tile in this house than I care to think about. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

Thanks to the hole in my finger, I have no knitting to show off this week but I do have a tale of woe and it's a familiar one. I was just about to celebrate finishing all the threading on my latest loom project when disaster struck.

It seems that way back near the beginning I had missed a thread. That's a big problem. One that I have faced before. I even told myself to check after each threading session to make sure I hadn't done it and sure enough I didn't and I did. All I had to do was to bend down and look to see that all the threads had been caught. So easy. So stupid.

Now I have to start where that thread is and go one by one and re-thread all those heddles again. I would say lesson learned but I know better. I've done this too many times to think that this won't happen again. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

The only tiny needle that's been in my hand this week has been the one that goes with the needlepoint project and it's not that tiny. I finished the blue ring on the center flower on Sunday.

This is why there hasn't been much tiny needle action this week. No knitting either. I poked a hole in my finger doing too many tiny needle things when I was kitty sitting and it's taking its sweet time to heal. It hurts but it's not serious. It's getting better but I don't want to bother it right now. I'm just getting over a nasty poke on my left index finger from my old punch needle so I know leaving it alone is best for now. 

I've got plenty of other things that need to be done in the meantime like making backgrounds for Easter cards for the Grands. 

It's nice to have all your fingers working but cutting out bunnies can be done with just the ones that you don't have a hole in.

And....The Mister wants to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. He didn't get high on the roof yesterday but I did treat him to Mexican take out. Next best thing.

The surprise he got from Daughter was the delivery of a Milk Bar cake. It's the new chocolate one and it was good. Very, very good.

This Old Man

 

While we working on the house last week, we had the TV on the Game of Thrones marathon and we re-watched the entire series in bits and pieces. I was telling The Mister how this guy was always my favorite character and until today I didn't realize why.

Here's The Mister way back when he first caught my attention. I guess I have a type. It's also this wild man's 71st birthday today. 

All that wild hair and beard have turned to white now but he's still pretty fierce when it comes to doing crazy stuff like getting high up on the roof to clean out the gutters. We've got nothing special planned for today other than more drywall drama but I hear Daughter has a surprise coming. I won't tell. 

Here Comes the Bride

 

The rain didn't exactly go away but it did let up enough for us to go back to doing some messy inside work. That piece of wall is now finished. It took us 8 hours to fight over how to do it and less than one hour to get it done. 

It took us another 4 hours to fight about how we should finish the drywall around the shower surround so the day was shot when we finally gave up. My one project of the day was to practice a bit more with my new punch needle tool. 

The two circles on the right are my latest attempts. I'm getting closer to figuring it out. 

I was feeling so confident that I went ahead and ordered some tulle so I could transfer the pattern that I had downloaded to some monk's cloth. It came shrink wrapped in a little package and when I opened it, it exploded. I've got miles of it. I've probably got enough white tulle now to outfit quite a few brides. 

Rain, Rain Go Away

 

Mother Nature decided to give everything a very big drink of water yesterday. It was good for the plants but wasn't so good for what we had going on inside. 

After thinking things through we decided it was a good idea to finish the floor before we drywall that bit of wall we had to enlarge. We finished cutting out the bad wood and put down a clean sheet of plywood after adding more support for it underneath. I gave everything a good coat of Kills to make sure any mold was history. 

That's as far as we got because you can't cut the backer board for the floor in the house and it was still pouring outside. It's now decorating my hallway.

We called it a day and I spent some time with Spiral Chicken. I've got just energy enough for one project a day right now and it was her turn. That new frame is amazing. I can get so much more done in one sitting. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day, bathroom wise. We've both lost patience with all the clutter that's all through the house. 

My living/dining area has been sharing space with the big glass doors for the shower. I'm really tired of walking around them. 

Friday Fluff

 

After spending all day arguing on what should be done with the wall, The Mister finally saw it my way and just ripped it all out. My idea was to just build it out a couple of inches like we did on the other wall that you see over the shower surround. It took all of 20 minutes to tear it out. We'll stud it out today and be ready to drywall on Saturday. 

I have a mini rant about what you find inside of the walls. Ick is what you find. I've torn out enough walls to know what a disgusting mess the insides of houses are. Builders just throw debris everywhere and leave it. I've been cleaning up 30 year old filth all week and I have to say that knowing that all that lies between me and more of it is a half of an inch of drywall is pretty darn icky.

 

As for fluff, I did get to sit at the wheel for a few minutes this week. The Maine Lobster Corridale has been a real joy to spend time with. I wish I could say the same about drywall. 

No Fun There

 

I spent yesterday in a dusty bathroom getting absolutely nothing accomplished. 

The problem is that the front panel of the new shower surround was longer than the corner wall it needed to be attached to. In my absence, The Mister and the plumber decided the best thing to do was just cut off the attaching flange on the shower panel. I had no idea they had done that until yesterday morning and I pretty much went ballistic. How are we supposed to finish off that raggedy corner now? The right solution would have been to remove the old drywall and stud out that wall a inch or so to get a solid place to screw the panel into and give us room for the corner bead you need for a smooth finish on the drywall. The Mister and I fought out different solutions pretty much all day with the final consensus that the wall was going to have to be built out anyway.  As for the ripped up attachment flange, oh well.  Grrrr......

I sent The Mister out for some supplies to do all this and to pick up another bottle of whiskey. He's going to need it. He's usually pretty chill about stuff like this but for some reason, he's not handling any of this bathroom stuff well. I spend most of my time talking him off the ledge. I did get a few minutes to re-connect with the loom while he was out. It may be all the fun I get for a pretty long time. Sigh.

Wednesday WIPs

 

I had high hopes of getting the Gummiberry twins finished during my kitty sitting adventure but that didn't happen. I had even wound up more sock yarn to bring along just in case. I did get the heels turned and halfway down the foot. 

I also thought I would get Bon Amie's second sleeve finished but I still have one more pattern section to go. 

Back at home there was indeed drywall to tackle. I had spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry so I mercifully only had to watch while The Mister did the dirty work. We had a broken pipe in the wall downstairs that lead to an outside spigot in case you're wondering what the heck this is. While the plumbers were here we had them fix it too. 

While I was gone The Mister took over the upstairs with his projects so he could keep Pup company. Now that I'm back, we've got some big drywall to do in the bathroom so neither one of us will be having much fun for the next few days. At least the weather cleared up. Drywall and wet weather do not make a good combination. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday: Re-entry

 

I got home late yesterday afternoon and all my traveling crafty things are still in a bit of a jumble. Garden of Joy has another row this week. I thought I would get so much more done on my little staycation but this is it. 

Ditto for Snort Stack. I thought I would have the other pig done but I was more interested in doing the flowers.

I said I was going to eat all the green things when I got home and I did. I sent The Mister out on a grocery run.

In addition to the big salad, we had roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. He also brought home some asparagus but I was out of room. I'll roast that today.

Pup was not exactly pleased to see me which was a surprise. I thought I would get the crazy tail (or lack of) wagging bit but she was a bit pouty. Before her hip surgery she was always closer to The Mister but since she can't maneuver stairs, she stays up with me. He's been up here with her all week so I guess she's disappointed I'm back taking his place. Oh, well. 

Pup might have been a bit cool but this guy wasn't. The Mister said he hadn't come out of his hiding hole the whole week so as soon as things quieted down he made sure I knew he was there. Poor old man. He must have had a rough week. 

What was really weird was how much everything had greened up while I was gone. It's a bit claustrophobic to be honest. It's usually a gradual process when it all starts to close in but bam....it was a real shock to see it. 

Too Much of a Good Thing

 

At 11:30 am yesterday I hit the wall. All of the projects I had brought along bored me so I packed them all up. This is why I have so many auxiliary projects back at home. I bore easily. Thank goodness I am heading back there today. The quiet was starting to get to me. 

The four kitties weren't much company. I'm a not to be trusted outsider to them as I should be. My cat allergy makes me keep a respectful distance from them so all I ever get is wary stares at best. 

After that brief window of sun late Saturday, it's been all rain and thunderstorms. I spent the last day of my vacation curled up with a book that I had picked up from the little lending library hutch at the local coffee shop and then streamed some old movies on TCM. I've got a long drive tomorrow and a week of hard labor ahead of me with all that drywall that needs to be put up in the bathroom. A day of rest, while out of the ordinary for me, was probably a good idea. 

Porch Sitting

 

It had rained from the time the family left on Thursday morning until about 5ish yesterday afternoon. When the sun finally came out, the Pi Shawl and I went out to set a spell on the front porch and watch the world go by. I've forgiven its naughtiness and just enjoyed the mindless rounds. As EZ claims, it really is a great vacation knit. My life of leisure would be perfect if only I had room service, I've been living on instant mashed potatoes, rice cakes and ramen. When I get home, I'm going to eat ALL the green things. 

Piece and Quiet

 

The one thing I like about house sitting is that most people have more light inside than I do back at home. It's such a pleasure to work in front of big windows that let in light. I can see what I'm doing so much better.

I've been appliqueing my way around another Patchwork of the Crosses block while listening to Dateline podcasts. There's nothing like a little murder and mayhem to pass the time. 

Friday Fluff and Felines

 

First the fluff. The Mister and I had words this week. I've been trying to convince him to buy a little travel trailer but he insists that I have too many hobbies to fit in one. When I packed to come up to Daughter's for a week I brought ONE bag for all my hobbies. It is one of those, reusable Marshall's type bags and in it was four knitting projects, two embroidery projects, my paper piecing project including my mini iron and....my drop spindle. I don't need a wheel to keep my fiber thing going. All I need is one of these and it fits in a pencil case. I can easily pack enough to keep my hands busy for weeks so I think I won this one. 

As for felines, back at home the plumbing folks showed up bright and early to install our new shower surround. After they put on the final panel they could hear a faint meowing coming from behind the shower. It seems one of our skittish kitties had somehow gotten herself lost in the walls while they had the bathroom door open that morning. Off the panel came and away went the plumbers. They'll be back another day to finish the job.

It was this kitty to be exact, seen here relaxing last fall when we were in the process of doing the downstairs floors. It was weird that she was even upstairs to begin with. My kitties are semi-feral. They keep to themselves, are very territorial and disappear completely if a stranger is in the house. Happily, it didn't take too long for her to find her way back out and back downstairs where she belongs.

Bye, Bye Babies

 

My babysitting adventure is officially over. Today I get to watch the family drive off on a five day road trip so Daughter can attend a far away skating competition with her team. Packing for a toddler and an infant is quite an undertaking. There are piles of stuff all over the place that have to be squeezed into their SUV.

The delivery people have been busy bringing packages of things for the trip. Big Grand was excited to get a new pair of Crocs in one of the boxes. Now I get to sit here all by my lonesome with their four kitties. The house is going to seem awfully quiet.