Twists of Fate

Stargate actor Don S. Davis dies. I thoroughly enjoyed every single role I saw this actor in, but I will admit that Hammond of SG-1 was absolutely my favorite. He was an integral part of the series, and the show was never quite the same when he left in 2003 due to health concerns.

RIP sir, RIP.

Still can’t get into what will be my crafting space, as the eviction proceedings to get Psycho!Renter out are not yet complete. This is driving me batty, as equipment and supplies are arriving, and I have no where to put it. Soon, I’ll be typing these blog entries perched on top of a cardboard box, because it’ll be the only place left that’s relatively flat and unoccupied.

Still feeling glum and a bit down. This time, though, I blame hormones which meas that later this week things should be looking up. I hope. I’m not sure, but I hope. I notice that when I’m down and kinda foggy, I forget to eat, which kind of sucks. Must remember to do that. It’s a bit easier now that I’ve had a chance to go to the farmers markets for fresh produce. Fresh Rainier cherries will get me to eat when I totally don’t feel like it. In fact, I should go and get some now, and let them warm a smidge before going to town.

In knitting news? I’m working very desultorily on a sock, and pondering starting a hat/mitts set from one of Anne’s patterns and yarn from A Piece of Vermont Real Vermonter Bristol. I got a lovely blueish green and the natural, which I think would look groovy together. I haven’t actually opened the package though, so I’m not sure.

Man oh man I cannot wait to organize my living space. I find it really hard to knit or spin or even read in here when it’s this crowded. Time to ping the landlady again about the whole shebang.

I hope you all are enjoying the weather wherever you are!

I’ve been such a crankypants that I’m trying to find good things to think about. So here’s a small list.

1. OMG YAYS my picker came! The box is outside, waiting for the studio to be ready. The OOPs man just came and delivered it. Hopefully, if the equipment and fleeces start piling up on the deck, the damn landlady will get her ass in gear and will finish removing the evicted dude’s furniture, and clean and have it ready for me this weekend.

2. Speaking of the UPS man, I have a crush on mine. He has a very manly mustache, and is quite attractive. Mrrowr.

3. New cotton sleep pants. My legs will never see the light of day again in shorts or a short skirt. This is my compromise while I’m at home.

4. I’m glad I put the pants on about 60 seconds before the UPS man came to the door. It would have been an interesting conversation otherwise.

5. Getting some black plastic bags to do my annual “shake and bake” of my fleeces that have not yet been used. It’s finally going to be warm and sunny enough here this weekend to warrant using them.

6. Receiving the quilting fabric order, and notification that the second fat quarter club shipment is in the mail.

7. Realizing I should find a quilting teacher.

8. Setting my first attempt at making Balm of Gilead out in the sun to steep. While I didn’t collect the cottonwood buds myself, I have high hopes that the simple recipe will turn out marvelously. I found that this helped soothe my hands and wrists when I’d been doing too much typing and knitting, as well as my knee when I fell HARD at my B&B during Madrona. A friend made the first jar I’d used, and she did collect the buds herself. I am not that adventuresome (bugs live outside, don’t you know), so I ordered some and am tinkering. We’ll see how it goes.

9. Fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market, along with a chocolate ganache in regular and cayenne from Chocolate Serenade. The booths were side by side, and the chocolate vendor had a lightbulb and bought strawberries from next door for customers to dip in the ganache to sample. Totally awesome. I’m so going to eat myself sick on these things.

10. Ghosty!mew didn’t hiss at me when I went out to feed her just now. Watching a cat go NOMNOMNOM is always happymaking.

Anyone who reads this - please send good vibes that the studio aka crafting space will be ready this weekend. I need to excavate my apartment from under all the boxes of materials I’m planning on working with in the coming six months or so, and I’d really, really like to get this all moving.

Happy Friday!

To give you some frame of reference for my state of mind right now, I cried like crazy at seeing hummingbirds sipping at the feeder I put out for them. I was devastated at the idea that the stray kitty I’ve been feeding might not come back because I didn’t have time to stop and feed her two days ago when I was on my way out of the house. She didn’t come back that day, but came back yesterday and I burst into tears that this mew trusted me enough to come back for nummies.

I have so many plans, all of which are stalled until they finish all the eviction proceedings for the crazy dude who used to live here. I think that may be done later this week, but landlady still needs to go in and clean, so in all reality, it won’t be until this weekend before I can get in there. Which really blows, as it puts my plans two weeks behind.

Ah well. Maybe it’s for the best. Last week I ended up crashing physically, coming down from over a year of massive stress from this past job. This week? Appears to be the emotional cratering. I have a hard time believing anyone wants anything to do with me aside from what I can do for them, and this past 10 days of mostly complete isolation is…very odd, especially after spending my work days with a ton of people.

I think I knit all of three rows on a dishcloth this week. I hope to get to slapping the Woolee Winder on the Majacraft Alpaca next week, but can’t unearth the winder and bobbins until I can move into my new craft space. The picker from Pat Green should be here shortly, the sunshine has finally gotten to a point where I can do a yearly shake ‘n bake in black plastic bags for the fleeces, and I hope to get my ass out of this house and to a bookstore or a coffee shop to do some research in a comfy chair. I’d do it at home, but I can’t see the couch under all the boxes.

There’s a family of squirrels playing tag on my stairs. There’s five of them, and the poodles that live upstairs are going insane with WANT! The slow drowsy sound of bumblebees harvesting pollen from the plethora of flowering weeds in my “yard” is sleepymaking (not that it takes much right now). Ah, everyone just made for the trees because GhostyMew (stray kitty…she’s a longhair grey with sea green eyes SO PRETTY!) is here and wants lunch. Better go work on that. :)

Someday soon I’ll get over this feeling of purposelessness and this drifting. I suppose I’ve earned it over the past couple of years, but it’s difficult to adjust to after the fuss, bother and insanity.

Going through a transitional phase at the mo. Feeling just draggy, sad and just freakin’ WEEPY all the time, which is very disconcerting. I know it’s all a part of the destressing period after 20 months of crap, but it is not what I had planned for my week.

I had planned to get many fibery things done. However, the space for my fiber studio is still in flux (thanks landlady), and I have no idea when I’ll be able to get in there. I am hoping that most of it will be wrapped up later this weekend and I’ll be able to start my plans. Until then, I’m struggling with disappointment (wanted to make beeswax candles on Litha but no way no how), and exhaustion, and sickness and, above all things, a weird clinging sense of sadness.

I also had camnesia and forgot to take a pic of the one tiny FO I’ve managed to do in recent weeks. A square for Ryan’s afghan, but I can see it made it safely to the Feral Knitter in her last post. This pleases me.

All in all, still a rough ride lately, but for now? There is coffee. Everything perks up when there’s coffee. Heh.

Made it. Last day at hell job was today. I worked from home.

I’m so glad I’m nearly speechless.

Watch this space for actual FIBER content in the coming weeks!

LYS mention at National Geographic’s “Intelligent Travel” blog today. Sweet.

I’d rather like to go back to Churchmouse. I ended up leaving yarn and needles on the counter today at a Bellevue store because they were taking for-fucking-EVER to ring up the person in front of me, and I had 15 min to make it to campus to lead a meeting. I’d already been standing there for five minutes, waiting for the register person to acknowledge me, or one of the other two folks to perhaps open another register. I give up on that location, and will continue spending my dollars at one of my awesome other yarn stores in the area. Where the service and selection is 100x better.

That cranky aside, life is even more bizarre than usual, but I have nine business days until the end of the job. WOOT!