Here a cricket, there a cricket.

I found this amazing site! If you ever have a doubt about the expertise of your roofer, go Here

I especially recommend the page on "Don't Climb That Ladder!"

New roofers came today, and they are youngins, not the geriatric Paladin who came yesterday, but just as nice and comforting. Their appearance was as a sort of "roof posse" who assured me that the sewing room would not suffer the affront of yet another leak.

Now if the wheel replacement would just come! I am getting seriously worried that it will take a fight with Dave Louet over the split in the spoke for my S-75 DT. Woe, Woe to all who would delay the spinning of the fiber!

Tiny Doggie has had his ears cleaned out by his Vet, and now he has some medicinal "glue" to put into them. We shall see if it stops up the leaks in his nostrils.

Tomorrow... the roof, after the fact

We got a little bit of water into the house, as the roofer and his materials couldn't QUITE get together in the same spot on Tuesday afternoon last week. How I was able to keep my cool and talk to him nicely, on Friday, when he came to "waterproof" our house I'll never know but it did wonders for diplomatic relations between souls I think. I must be mellowing out.

He talked to me "man to man", because I've done roofs myself and told him so. However, I have no idea what a "cricket" is, of which he spoke, but I think it must be where the new hip meets the old ridge. I really enjoyed talking to this fellow, who is one of the oldest working roofers I've laid eyes on. I think he has a good soul. He's a very polite, courtly man actually.

The replacement for the wheel has STILL not arrived. If I don't see it before the end of this week, I'm going to cry with frustration. Will it shrink the wool sock I'm knitting? DH is starting to steam up a little, since he's a wood worker and he wants to get the darn thing finished for me. I guess these things happen to the best of little pieces of wood. We can't just glue it because Louet is sooooo very picky about returning their wheel parts for splits later. This came out of the box thataway! Shocking!

A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this...

I have much to be thankful for and one thing leaps to mind at the moment. I am very thankful that, even though there are clouds, no rain is in the forecast for the next two days. Buhahahahahahaha!!  

The sock pattern

Karen said she liked the pattern so I answered her in comments but wanted to give credit here, too, for a lovely pattern that is just taking me waaaaay too long to finish. I know I will use the pattern again, but not in dark or any pink. I've begun, of course, to despise the color, but not Susan's lovely Opalicious Lacy Socks HERE

On the home front, we are waiting, under cloudy skies, for the roofer, a day late, to show up as promised for nine am this morning. Yes, he is an hour late. I sure hope that he finds it in his heart to get here.

Last time we remodeled and enlarged the front of the house, it rained on Thanksgiving and we went up in the attic to make a sluice for the leak to run down into the house, out a hole for a light fixture and into a bucket on top of the washing machine. Our poor contractor did come out later that night and stapled plastic over the whole roof, which was just tarpapered at the time, to stop the flood. Ah, the joys of remodeling.

At last, the solahart guy came to move the ugly thing.

I'm fighting off a cold today so am crabby. The solahart man, if he gets anywhere near me, is going to feel the spillover affects of messing with me today... grrrr

I must say that I have a growing hatred for the solahart man. I cannot be around him or he will get bitten viciously on the leg or hand. He has delayed the new roof for over a week with his whiney, wiley ways. For the price of moving the damn solar water heater, I could have had an UBER spinning wheel, one for home as well as the Loet for traveling.

I'm sure my kids remember that water in the house is a big fear of mine. I don't like what it does to interior walls and furnishings. But my snittyness also could be the cold that's trying to get me and right before Thanksgiving. I am starting vit C therapy, of 1000 mil every hour for 8 hours. Lot's of tea. knitting. videos. Yes? Off to medicate myself!

To expiate my sin of hatred, I took some ice cold bottled water to the SH Man and his worker, whom I really do like. Feeling better about things now. hehe

PS. I've been assured that the replacement wheel is on the way and will shortly arrive.

Pink Sock Progress

Here's they are, the fraternals. They won't match but it will be close. The heel flap has a slip stitch and I really like the look of it. Please ignore the ribbing jog. It will disappear when the sock is finished. Honest. :o) 
 

The pink socks are coming along....

... but I've gotten no pictures since the normal time to take them is morning when the light is right in the house. The heel on the first sock is nearly finished (canyoubelieveit?) and about two inches of patterning on the second sock. I've really slowed down in knitting for three months and it's time to get mooooooo-ving again. Must stay out of the forums and knit!

But I do hope to have some pictures up by tomorrow, midday. Tomorrow I am going to go to a friend's house to help finish up the decorations for the rockhound club Christmas Party. The ones we did last year make up the Christmas picture for the blog that goes up soon. Thanksgiving is quiet this year. There is no big trip out to the desert with the rockhounds. There is no smoker to cook a turkey in, as we did for years and years. Eleven Mile Road and Goldrock were destinations for the whole group of rigs, and then we went on rockhounding field trips from our base. Dinner was cooked inside and to show our true grit, as the wind was usually blowing up around 45 miles an hour, we huddled outside and ate a full Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun.

The best trip out for Thanksgiving Holiday was to a place called The Potholes, near the Arizona border, where a lot of us went drywashing for gold. If you got any "color" at all, it was micro flakes and was put into a tiny glass tube with water and a stopper, this so that you could shake it until it floated. It was then shown around with great ceremony to the ooohs and ahhhhs of those less fortunate. It was pretty rare to find anything, so we celebrated! Dinner was at sunset, and we had the whole spread, and NO WIND! I have pictures of it and will post them as soon as I can. It looked like an Oasis as it was along and irrigation canal from the Colorado River to the fields. All the women went walking one day and we found a tiny migrant worker graveyard with broken sticks for crosses that had been kicked around by some mean spirited people. I set about reading and straightening them and discovered the graves of some infants. That was a sad place to meet your end, and I just hoped that they had all been given the last rites.

This is the way things were.....

I forgot the before picture. Oooops!  

The Wheel...

When Hubby took the wheel out Saturday morning last week to put the finish on it, he noticed that a spoke had split, so we are waiting a shipment of a new wheel, the spoked thinga only, from the factory. I called the vendor for advice, and he said right away that he would call the factory to tell them. So, my DH went ahead and finished all the other parts. Soooooo, that's why you haven't seen any news about spinning top or bottom or anything at all.

Only one week and one day later......

....And it's soooo beautiful. Everything is amazing and I am loving this. Can't WAIT to use that tub! The caulking must dry a little more. And, they were doing the roof and entry at the same time. Amazing crew! And a PS. Yes, they fixed the window mud, and every other tiny imperfection which they themselves noticed before I said a word. My hat is off to this crew. Lovely!  

The work of Art advances....

I am pleased that the crooked 1950ish tract house walls could be scaled by the brave and rather large pieces of travertine without too much rappelling on it's part. Bowlegged walls are not uncommon in houses that were slapped up to quickly cover an housing shortage, after the menfolk came home from battle to build families, in the mid fifties.  

A wee rant

This is a very bad mud job on this window. I am hoping that this is only temporary. Also there is no hot water, I am dirty, my hair is dirty, and I can't take a shower til the morning. I am "Stinky, reeky, and I don't feel cute", as one of the Frontier House lassies was lamenting to the camera. Mud is what you put on a wall or, in this case, around a window to smooth out everything. This herky jerky thang has to stay up there til Monday when it will have dried like a rock, and it's not the only item in question, and the contractor has a gander at it. I think a big rum and coke would help but there is no coke in the fridge. Believe me, I am close to having a Rum and Rum to take care of what would pass as PMS, but there is no pre anything involved for me anymore.  

Happy Birthday to our Twin Daughters!

Dad and I hope that you had a very sweet day and that it was everything you wished it to be.   

Busy Day!

To Karen and Jane, thank you both very much!

There would be more progress photos today except that the contractor and I went to pick out travertine for walls and floor, and some lovely sage green paint. I got Ralph Lauren; for the first time in my life, designer paint! It's called "Whispering Hills". This big spending will now cease however.

Must eat more Wheaties! I'm no longer used to being up at the crack of dawn but you really must be out of the way of the remodel crew.

Hello Beauty!

I have wanted a hottub outside for decades for my bones and joints, and this is the one we finally got and it's inside where it's warm and nice. No trying to get back inside before buns freeze off. To get a spinning wheel and a jacuzzi in the same week is just incredible. I really do feel like some sort of royalty.  

Goodbye Monstro!

This tub is the single reason I've not had a bubble bath in 35 years. I hate it and now it's out there in the driveway awaiting execution! It rusted through several months ago but we had to wait til Hubby's retirement to do a remodel, when he could be home to take care of getting things lined up for it. We have a wonderful, fast and efficient contractor who is handling this and he has the Jacuzzi in in ONE day! 
 

The mystery of Doggie curiousity is solved

Jaz wanted the icelandic wool top in the box with the wheel. He was soooo excited when we threw down the bag for him. He thought it should have been bigger though, for the strange and exotic odors it was emitting.

This is Torrey Pines Beach knittyrep, so that you would be able to see one of the more beautiful places of our Socal city beaches.

Les Partes

The Doggie thought that big box was for him and hovered around expecting me to pull out a very big something in the way of whatever a dog could dream of. I have no idea why he was sooooo interested in that box.

The UPS man thought the dog was opening the door and blocked my hubby in who was trying to open it for him, and we all laughed when I said that Jazzie hadn't learned that trick yet.

Then we unpacked the wheel, and my DH dashed off with the nifty magnetic screwdriver that came with the pack so that he could take down a bunch of stuff in the bathroom that gets gutted down to the studs tomorrow by a wrecking crew. I am going, "Why why?? Why pay someone all that labor cost and then do the work ahead of time? And with MY new screwdriver???? GRRRRRRR!"

Anyway, he is contrite now and has gone out to get some stain/wax and will put it on and assemble the wheel tomorrow when he has nothing else to do because the crew will mow him down if he gets in the way. At least I think they will. That's the way we used to do with pesky home owners who wanted to help way back when I worked as a carpenter. Just kidding about the mowing down bit.   

Le Boxe

It came with Icelandic top, and the white box, which you can't see since I cropped the piccie, is 2 lbs of free confetti rovings, lovely and soft as a cloud, from Copper Moose. This is so exciting!  

It finally got wrapped.

That blue thing is wrapped and am I glad. It even balances on the neck. Wheew! And the wheel comes tomorrow, and the bathroom gets gutted the next day. Too much activity, I must go take a nap!
 
 

Big Sur's coastal twin at the mouth of the Klamath river

There were two men from the Yuron tribe who were netting fish on the long, dark sand bar this day. The Yurons have a treaty which insures that they are able to have their fishing rights, which I feel is splendid. This assures that they can continue to make use of their age old methods and customs of fishing and drying their catch, and for carrying out their ceremonies involving this species of fish. We had to use binoculars to see what they were doing.

This picture is the first in a series of pictures of the coast above Ft Bragg. Laura, I will be adding more of the Lost Coast pictures in over the next few days, at least until the wheel gets here. Then this will turn back into a knitting, spinning blog. heehee 
 

Beautiful Big Sur

This is one of the classic photographer's spots. It is around Eselan on the way down the coast from the town of Big Sur and it was really crowded that day, too.  

There are many places like this along Big Sur.

These pictures do not do justice to the amazing beauty of this part of the coast. We could have stayed there for hours but it was pretty crowded on our perch so we moved on to make room. 
 

Lick Observatory telescope

The eccentric millionaire, for whom this observatory is named, is buried in the center of the deep cement floor of this building. He originally wanted a huge marble monument built in San Jose for his memorial but friends talked him out of that, and they convinced him to build this observatory, which is still in use. It is over a century old. 
 

More of Artist's Beach

The surf was quite small this day, but a surfer was out there riding the little waves. 
 

A red Honda at Lick Observatory.

Karen, this one's for you. The man who was riding it was originally from Germany and had tremendous respect for you when he found that you rode the Autobann 
 

While we await the wheel....

This is an artist's beach at Big Sur, California, one of the most beautiful parts of the Central Coast. There were people everywhere with painting gear and sketching gear. Was I jealous. 
 

A Date to remember...

Ok, you guys, I just got an arrival date for the wheel, November 8th. Yippie! Guess who will be camping out on the doorstep that day for this one? I've been hearing the UPS man stopping very near here almost everyday and thinking, "THIS IS IT!!!" Alas... another week? *emits pitious moan* I promise an instant piccy of the box!

Laura, :o( I wouldn't like that very much either, though you could dress up anyway. Maybe they would come? At least you would have some fun, too. You could sneak up on the neighbors' doorsteps, leave little bags of candy, ring the bell, and run like heck. *Smiles a witchy woman smile.....*