Thank you Cindy!

A big thank you to Cindy, my SP7, for the pick-me-up e card. She never fails to send messages to start the weekends on a happy note!

I wonder where this picture was taken? Because of the houses in the background I want to say England, but it's hard to say for sure.

Today I bought siding, gutters, drywall, light fixtures, a new mail box & post, drywall mud & tape, caulking, paint, weatherproofing and a variety of other necessary items. Our Superbowl weekend won't include any tailgate parties, but I'll buy pizza and beer for anyone who wants to stop by with a hammer! My hope is to have the majority of the labor done before the Knitting Olympics start. Otherwise the 2 pairs of socks might not be happening... maybe I'll qualify for the Special Knitting Olympics! Cheers.

Therapy or spite?

Okay, so maybe this was immature or spiteful, but it sure felt therapeutic...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7216617672&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

I doubt it will sell, but I can print the listing out for my husband and some day maybe he'll laugh at it.

David, my brother, worked his butt off today. He hauled away garbage and tore off the old porch and siding from the back of our house. And all the poor guy got in return was some old tools from the garage that I didn't want to pack with us. He also brought me a huckleberry scoop. He made it by hand back in December.

Today I finished removing almost all of the accoustic/popcorn crumbs off of my bedroom ceiling. I need to wipe it down with a damp cloth and then it can be painted. The room still needs drywall, paint and a new light fixture then it will be presentable. Was everything from the 1970's ugly? Let's see there were bell bottoms, platform shoes, dark paneling, avacado green appliances and deep shag carpet of assorted bright colors.



While I was scraping away the decades my daughters decided to build a theme park in the living room. The peaceful playing only lasted until clean-up time and then war broke out. I can't even remember what having a clean house is like.





Brian has been calling around and checking out job leads during his breaks and after work. I don't know how long he'll be on orders at the guard unit, but we are very grateful for the temporary employment.

My brother is driving all the way up from Montesano tomorrow to help me haul garbage and construction debris to the dump and if there is time, to pick up some siding and gutters. Just how awesome is a brother with a truck?! Yeah!

If I can stay awake long enough I'd like to knit before sleeping tonight. ZZZzzz I knitted about 1/2 of the little swatches for Amber's yarn dyeing experiment. She picked the colors herself and she's very proud of it. The colors are vibrant!

Gooey Ceilings & Mordant Tests

Another Monday has taken its toll on what remains of my sanity.

Contributing to the mayhem, my oldest was home with a slight fever and a headache. She wasn't sick enough to stay in bed, but the school rules state that children must be fever-free for 24 hours prior to attending school. We took advantage of her "at home" time to test mordants for her science fair experiment. So far we've determined that the white vinegar strikes or sets the dye faster but that the alum has a more even color (probably due to the slower absorption). The experiment must be repeated 3 times and the results observed. Once all 6 skeins of yarn are dyed then I will knit small test swatches for her to wash. Hopefully she'll have variations in fading to report back. This is the most excited I've ever been about a homework assignment!

On the home front, I was able to get rid of some stuff from the garage, put sealant on six pieces of molding for the kitchen and I started scraping the nasty popcorn/accoustic blown crap off of our ceiling. For those who haven't had the pleasure, it involves spraying water onto the fluffy, dusty ceiling and then scraping it with a trowel or wide spatula. It's gooey, messy and nasty. I've wanted to do this since we moved in, but haven't made the time. Now someone else will get to enjoy a ceiling free of stains and little silver sparkles.

A hot bath is calling so I must run.