Hump Day

The most important part of the day is that Eric got out of the house and went to his day program. He had a great time. John did double duty today, he did both car pool runs and all the cooking. I am at the tale end of the cold Eric shared with me. I rested a lot and took a long nap.

I did manage to finish one hat and cast on 2 more projects. The good news is that with this intense effort to finish things, the UFO / yarn pile is noticeably smaller. You can actually see some of the wood on the table that I piled things on.  I am also only working on projects that I like and want to finish. I want to do a little fancy knitting, the kind not suitable for most charity projects.

Now on to the odd thing that went missing this time. John went out to fix the solar lights on the walkway this afternoon after lunch. He made a list of what needed to be fixed. He went to the box of spare parts and extra solar lights that we keep in the garage. The box was cleaned out of parts except for the rock that he uses to pound in the stakes and put back into place.  It is my hope that the right kind of Karma follow the people who take things.

This leads me to one simple request to the solar lighting industry. Instead of saying our lights are 2 or 3 times brighter. Not mentioning what they are brighter than please, please, please just list the amount of Luminous intensity you lights produce. It would be so much easier for all of us. Best of all they do have sensors that can give you that information. With that request I will end the blog post for tonight.

We Made it Through the Cold

It has been a crazy couple of days around here with Eric sick, yet again. I almost kept up with the laundry. The most wonderful news of the day is that Eric is  back on formula as of 6:30 tonight.

I did manage to finish one knitting UFO project per day for the last few days. So my pile of UFOs is getting just a touch smaller. No big dent made here. Not a lot of spinning got done either because Eric needed so much of my time. I am totally exhausted so this is a really short post tonight.

Sunday

Today was a slow day around here compared to yesterday. Only 2 loads of laundry got done verses 6 yesterday. All that really got done today was an hour of spinning. A little housework. The Flu shots for the guys. A haircut for Eric, and a lot of knitting.

I did figure out the problem I had with a beginner knitting pattern 6 years ago. The picture was right the pattern was wrong. Since the pattern was written incorrectly I wonder if I am allowed to show you a picture of my current knitting and give you the correct pattern as I have it worked out? Will one of my readers send a note on that? The pattern is easy peasy but I don't want to trample on someones toes if I don't have to.

Right before bed the wild eyrping started so I think that it is a wonderful thing that my plans already had me staying home on Monday just doing the usual stuff. Knitting, sewing, laundry, spinning and cleaning.

Looking Up

Things have turned around and I have more energy. I just finished the Marina Hunger Walk. I did miss walking with Lisa and Matthew this year. I am at 7,961 steps out of the minimum 10,000 I need for the World  UCP Challenge. Did I mention that it is only 9:40am. I am also almost 2 inches in to the wash cloth that I started this morning. 

When I get home my to do list includes washing 2 batches of yarn.  More laundry. Sewing at least 1 dog pillow and what ever else I can get done in the sewing room. Maybe even getting the guys out today, but I would not count on Eric. As a typical young adult he likes to spend his weekends relaxing and watching tv.  So I might just add more cleaning, sewing, knitting and spinning. 

It's time to get a cuppa of tea for the road and get this day moving again. 

Change of Plans

After a busy day yesterday my body decided it was time for some time off. I really had a list of things to do, but I find it hard to get out of nap mode when my body says it's time to nap. So there was a change of plans and I took it easy this afternoon. My hands are also still a little raw from the 2 times I handled a polyester based craft project with in a few days of each other. I will either have to stop playing with polyester ( the wisest move ) or get some cotton gloves for when I handle the stuff.

I have learned something new about my Ashford spinning wheel. Although I can spin 3 ounces of single ply on to the standard bobbin, I can only ply 2 ounces on to the same sizes bobbin. After that the bobbin becomes messy and tangled.  It was too late to take pictures of the freshly plied yarn, so I will try to remember to take pictures tomorrow. I have decided that I will make a shawl out of this yarn.  I have also learned that until I know a spinner with more experience than me a little better, I should take their advice with a grain of salt. After all they are not all as good as Kathy Withers is.  Also I should not let them egg me on to spin more on my bobbin that I feel comfortable with. After all it is my project which will become messy, not theirs.

I am almost finished with a creative piece on the drop spindle too. Just 3 little bits to spin on before I ply the yarn. I will take pictures of that too. I am calling this one shades of Halloween. I have not decided whether I will keep it or not.

I am also walking this Saturday for the Marana Community Food Bank, the walk starts at 7 am. My usual walking group for this event has another commitment. So If you want to walk with me let me know. Here is the link to my donation page if you would like to make a donation instead of walking with me. Marana Hunger Walk 2013.  At this time I am at 27% of my fundraising goal. The local food bank is able to turn every donated dollar in to $9.00 of food. Most of the food in Pima county goes to seniors and children.

I have a busy day lined up for tomorrow so it is time to call it a night.

A Poll

The World CP Challenge has given my body a kick start that it needed. I am finding that not only do I have to walk 10,000 steps a day but I need to add other exercise too, in order for the scale to go down and the inches away. In this challenge I am trying to keep up with a friends 8 year old son who does Martial Arts 3 days a week. As you might have guessed he is ahead of me. As of this blog post hes has 313,532 steps and I have 293,198 steps. So I am not that far behind him. Only 20,334 steps. We are at the end of week 3 and have one more week to go.

Since I have been really bad at fund raising for this challenge, I would like to run an informal poll. yes i know Polls are BORING. If you think my friends son will continue to out pace me and leave me in the dust, so to speak use the World CP Challenge button on the right side of this blog and donate $2.00 to Matthew's Team at UCP of Southern Arizona. If you think that I have an ice cubes chance of not melting on a typical summers day here in Tucson donate $2 to Team Eric.

As of this writing Matthew's Team has a fund raising balance of $0.00 dollars and Team Eric has a fund raising balance of $110.00. I will use these numbers as the virtual zero dollar starting point. We would like to raise at least $500 per team.  All money raised will go to help people with Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities here in Southern Arizona. So with 1 week to go do you think that I can not only catch up to my friends son, but also manage to inch ahead by a few step or do you think he will continue to leave me in the dust.

The voting is now open.

A very Busy Day

Don't tell Eric but I am caught up on laundry. Yes, I know that I will have at least 2 loads to do tomorrow. I have also found the perfect time to get my house work done. Yes, there is a great time of day to do house work. It has only taken me 9 months to figure this out. Right after the guys leave in the morning. I still have energy, plus I can get a lot of things done in that hour or so before John gets back from his work out. I know that I am not going to the gym but house work is a better overall exercise plan for me right now and has the advantage of a cleaner house.

I am also ready to to ply my second spin on the Ashford spinning wheel. With a little help from some of the spinners at Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson I have a better relationship with the wheel. I managed to get 3 ounces of fiber on both bobbins before plying. I will post pictures after it is plied. This should be one of the thinnest yarns that I have ever spun on a spinning wheel. Usually to get the yarn this thin I have to use a drop spindle.

I think it is time to call it a day so that I don't wake up with the headache from he double toothpicks again.