Arizona Dreaming

 Well, hello there Florence. I had my doubts when the weather people said you were heading our way but here you are.

Just what we need. More rain and humidity. We haven't had a really comfortable day since early July.

 The house humidity is not as bad as the outside but I still can't get it down past 60%.

 And that's with a central AC and two dehumidifiers running non stop. Nothing is drying. Not towels, dishes, wet dogs, my hair-anything. We are all going to turn into mushrooms. When people tell you it's not the heat, it's the humidity believe them. It's been in the 70's for days now but it's disgusting outside-and in.

I know I really shouldn't be complaining. So many have it so much worse. The flooding is horrible. It's not the magnitude, it's the duration that's got me at my wits end. At least there were good old movies on yesterday and plenty to keep me busy. I keep telling myself it's one day more behind us. Fall has to be around the corner soon. I hope.

Sweater Weather

It's not sweater weather here. It's still too warm and humid. Yuck. The only sweater in my life is on the needles. Both sleeves are done now so it was time to get the body started.

 I needed to cast on 236 stitches. It took me 2 episodes of that British Baking Show to get it done.

236 stitches is a lot of stitches. I may not get this sweater done this year after all. What was I thinking?

I didn't take any chances with twisting all those stitches so I worked back and forth for a few rows so I could see what I'm doing. I'll sew that little seam that it left later.

There was a casualty. That's my first cast on attempt. I ran out of yarn with about 20 stitches to go. I hate when that happens.

Sad Sack

 Last week I had made lots of critters and backgrounds as samples to send off to Daughter so her friend could pick what she wanted for her baby shower invitations. Daughter never got them. The big envelope full of all my hard work is apparently lost in the mail. Grrrr......yesterday, in spite of waking up with a very bad back issue I had to painfully sit and redo all the work I had already done.

While I was working I noticed one of my outdoor kitties staring at me from the door so I hobbled down the stairs to give her some treats on the front porch only to somehow manage to get stung on my arm by a yellow jacket in the process.

It really hurt for a long time and I had so much work that needed to be done.  I had also been in the middle of wrapping another batch of soap. I was not happy.

Instead of doing all the things I had planned, I spent the day feeling very sorry for myself and self medicating myself to within an inch of my life. What I really needed was a big bag of potato chips. Good thing I didn't have any. Today has got to be a better day.

Single Minded

 I got up early to watch the hurricane coverage and got the man socks done in the wee hours.

This is my pile of finished socks from the last few months. I think I'm done with socks for a while.

I don't need more socks but I do want this sweater. I usually give myself years for a sweater but I would actually like to wear this one.

I love this big comfy pullover and can see myself sporting it on our walks along the Bay this winter. It's Flor de Jerez btw and it's by Thea Colman.

Testing, Testing...

 We are four weeks in so it's time to see how all this fall this soap performs. Last night Lavender Woods got the thumbs up after I had a splash in the tub with one of the ugly loaf ends. It was nice.  Today it got a trim and a wipe down.

 After the wipe down it gets a label.

 Those textured tops don't look too shabby now that they are cut.

 I also got to work finishing up the cards. I am now going to sing the praises of these ball point glue pens. They are wonderful. I would have never got that spider web on any other way. I got this as a part of a card kit and had no idea what to do with it. Now I know.

There they are. All the card fronts. I still have to glue them onto the card base and add the interior sentiment but the hard part is over.
REMEMBER.....it's a SURPRISE giveaway meaning DON'T blog or comment about it when you get your package. I'm not mailing them out at the same time and I don't want anyone to know when they are coming-because it's supposed to be a SURPRISE. Got it? Good.

Thanks for Asking

When it looked like Florence was headed in our direction I got lots of comments from y'all wondering about how we're doing with his hurricane thing happening right next door. I have to say we were being quite nonchalant about it. It would have been our fourth since we moved here if it had gotten this far up the Bay.

We stocked up on water-just in case.  Our well doesn't work if there is no electricity so bottled water is a must. The shelves in all the stores were pretty empty by Wednesday.

People right on the water took no chances. This is one of the few remaining beachfront houses that didn't get destroyed when Isabel came through in 2003. I love this little house. It reminds me of the way they all were back when we were kids. Now all the houses that line the water are all pretty much modern McMansions.

The really not so funny thing is that two weeks ago we had the tree people out to talk about cutting down all those huge trees from around the house. After that big one fell in the back last month, we knew it was time to do something before we had a tragedy. They were supposed to come do the job last Thursday but since The Mister decided to do the kitty sitting, we called and had the job postponed. It would have been more than upsetting if this had ended up being "the big one".  I am more than happy to have dodged this bullet but it's a very muted yay. Somewhere somebody is not going to be so lucky. Stay safe y'all.

Out and About

 I did something yesterday that I haven't done in ages.

 I picked up my car keys and walked out all by myself to go shopping. Our new Marshall's opened up a couple of weeks ago so I decided to go check it out. It's the only one in the county.

 It's small. Like everything else, we always get a mini version of everything. You should see our tiny Walmart. I checked out the home goods first. That's what I'm interested in.

 There wasn't much on the short little shelves but I did find some fig jam, some maple flavored coffee and a set of fall dishcloths to bring home. I also bought a new dog dish for Pup. I had broken hers. She's been eating out of the cat dish. She doesn't mind but I do.

 Next door to the new Marshall's is a new Harris Teeters. Wow....The array of prepared food knocked me over. I've got to bring The Mister here for dinner. He's going to go nuts over the sushi chef.

I didn't buy anything but I did check out the bread. I judge a store by it's baguettes and these were just being put out. They were nice and warm and....CRUSTY. I love a crunchy baguette. Now I'm wondering why I didn't buy one. It would have been lovely with the fig jam. Oh, well. Next time.