This post is being brought to you by verizon internets!  Yay!  The nice verizon guy came about 3 pm today and worked for about a half an hour and voila!  The electrons are all lined up and we have internets. 

So, now I can share with you the photos I took on Saturday.  This is somewhere in Caln Twp. in Pennsylvania.  Because the expressway is under construction, we opted for the back roads.  Most of the way it rained.    By the time we were on our way home though, the storm system had moved out and the sky was filled with these amazing clouds. 

This is my corriedale roving in Warm Wine.  I'm thinking of stringing some beads a la Tilly Thomas and adding them when I ply this.  Something sparkly.  I've never done that but have seen other people's and it's really pretty.  The technique doesn't look too difficult.  And Ms Thomas charges some hefty prices for her efforts.  (not that I would compare my beginner efforts to her professional work).

I'm still knitting on the bayerische socks, one repeat into number 2.  I still like the pattern but it takes a bit of concentration.  My train knitting is a pair of socks in the Sept color from the artwalk yarn club.  My skein is black and purple with little bits of blue running through it. There was not enough light to take a photo.  The black is too dark and doesn't show up well with the flash.  The light doesn't last too long this time of year.

I'm also working on the Wildflowers shawl in the yarn that amy lane sent me.  It's really bright colors but it was too dark to pick them up.  When we have a nice sunny day, I'll take her outside for a photo shoot.  I like the way the yarn is working with the pattern.  It's intended for me (but then so was the last one!).  It'll add some color to my winter wardrobe.

We are pleased to have our internets back.  Pk is celebrating by playing Call of Duty ( a WWII shoot 'em up).  I have checked on the emails and posted the photos and now I can go and read the blogs I don't get to read at work.  Kate and Patrick are washing the dishes.  We have the Boyfriend Rule in our house.  Whoever has their boyfriend over for dinner has to do the dishes.  (It probably works for girlfriends, too).  We figured if you have a guest, you are increasing the number of dishes used and should do the cleaning up.  Surprisingly, none of the boyfriends have ever complained.

The ply by night group has chosen a lace shawl or a pair of stranded color mittens as the next spin and knit project.  I was going to make the shawl but I'm thinking I might like to spin for the mittens.  The pattern is the Twilight Mitts.  The challenge is to sping the roving into two distinct colors to make the pattern work.  I have some white merino that I could use as a contrast but I think that defeats the purpose of the group. (the photo is from the seller's collection).    I like the challenge.

So, that's it for today.  How's Blogtoberfest going for you?

I'm going to live dangerously and postpone today's post until later tonight so I can put some actual knitting/spinning content in.  Kate has promised to bring back my camera and verizon has promised us internet so I'll wait.

But just in case here's some happy things for today

-having a husband who always has warm hands (when I always have cold ones)
-having said husband be willing to hold my cold hands
-having to work only a half day (even if it's because of the electron malfunction at our house.)  A half day is a half day!

Hopefully, later tonight I will be able to post from home and show you my "warm wine" colored roving that is slowly becoming warm wine colored yarn.  And I have to go find the mittens I was making and finish them.  Only 46 (7 C) tomorrow.

Still no internets at the house.  We are finding other things to do.  Pk has games that aren't online and he plays those.  I do the usual.  I knit and listen to a book on my mp3 player.  (Currently it's David Baldacci's The Whole Truth.  The man tells a good story and his characters are never perfectly good or perfectly evil.  I like that.)  I usually check the email and read some blogs in the evening but that has to be done at work.  Well, the blog reading can be done at work but the email is piling up since I can't access that here.  Oh and we talk. 

Yesterday after work, we ran some errands.  Pk needed new slippers since the temps are starting to drop into the cold toes territory.  We went to Sears and I was looking for new khaki pants since my old ones were looking rather worn and like they might give out in an embarassing way at work.  I found some at Sears and I found some black twill pants as well.  I went to put on the black ones this morning and the button came off in my hand.  These were not the most expensive pants but they are Lee's and I expected better than that.  I can't fix the button because it's one of those funky snap together things.  I replaced it with a regular button and that was that.  It's just disappointing to find a product that falls apart brand new.  Pk said to take them back but they were the only ones in my size and it's only a button. I own many pairs of pants by this company because they fit my body type and this is the first time it's happened.  I'm just glad I had a button and knew how to sew it on.

They turned off the a/c at work yesterday.  We were so cold for most of the day that I had goose bumps and I couldn't get warm.  Then in the late afternoon, I smelled the heater (you know that smell?  when you turn on the heater for the first time?) and soon it was toasty in the building.  And then it got oppressively hot.  There is no middle ground.  Cold/Hot.  That's it.  So now for the next several months, it's hot in here.  I opened the window and that helps but the dry heat is hell on the sinuses.

I won a collage from TinnieGirl!  She was having a giveaway for blogtoberfest (she is the inventor of Blogtoberfest) and I won in a randomly generated number thing.  This is so cool because she makes the most amazing collages.  If you've never seen her work, check it out. 

Not much else is going on. I'm using some Schaeffer yarn that Amy Lane sent me a while ago to make a Wildflowers shawl.  It's beautiful.  When I get my camera back from Kate and I have some internets at home, I'll show you.  I am ripping out the Fir Cone shawl from Folk Shawls because the yarn is too thin for the pattern.  I don't like it.  I guess I'll just have to find something I like better.  Sigh.  What a terrible fate, yarn shopping.

We are taking a half day tomorrow in hopes of meeting the verizon guy and getting our electrons lined up again.  Cross your fingers.

Well, the best laid plans......

I missed blogging yesterday but not for lack of desire. For lack of electrons flowing through the wires bringing the Internets to my house.

It all started Friday.  We got home from work to find the Verizon guy working at our house.  Since we didn't know we had a problem, we were puzzled.  It turned out that Elanor had lost her connection and he was there to fix hers.  Unfortunately, she gave him some incorrect information and our connection was now toast.  Thankfully Pk was there and he told the guy what was going on and after some 2 hours our connection was restored but El's wasn't.

Saturday morning when I woke up, I decided I didn't want to spend my anniversary doing laundry and grocery shopping so we decided to go to Lancaster for the day.  I called the girls ( at 8 AM on a Saturday) and asked if they wanted to go.  El rolled over and said yes, Kate said yes after she answered with a sleepy "what's going on?", and Em said "no".  She called back 5 mins later and said that since she was up, she might as well go ("I was going to sleep as late as humanly possible.....").

This was the first time we all went together and it was a lovely day.  There were only a few photos taken since my family does not like their photo taken.  There was some cherry apple cider purchased and an assortment of teas (my favorite is called Celebration, it seemed appropriate for the day) and cheeses.  And some really lovely scarlet silk to spin (Em) and some wine colored corriedale and some blue sock yarn (me) and some carmel colored merino (Kate).  We had a delicious lunch and then headed home. 

When we got home, we discovered that El's connection was working and ours was not.  Pk spent well over 2 hours trying to convince them that it probably wasn't an equipment failure on our part since it was working on Sat morning and no one had been home all day and wasn't it a coincidence that whatever they did at the main station to restore El's service had knocked ours out?  The young man didn't get it and now they are sending a technician out on Wednesday afternoon.  We won't have internets in our house until then.  And of course, someone has to be home "between the hours of 1 and 5". 

On the bright side, both of the doctors I work with are on vacation this week so my workload is dramatically decreased.  I have a lot of paperwork so I can catch up on that.  It's Columbus Day here in the US and it's a federal holiday.  That means no postal service and banks are closed.  It's not one of the holidays we get off here in healthcareland.  It's also Thanksgiving Day in Canada.  Happy Thanksgiving!

And I hope you are all having a good Monday!

For better or for worse

For richer or for poorer

In sickness and in health
Until death do us part


Twenty eight years ago today, Pk and I said those words to each other in front of friends and family in the church in which he grew up.  I remember being excited but not nervous.  We had been dating for about 6 years (since our senior year in high school) and I was as sure of this as I was of anything.

It's been a good 28 years.  Pk is not the man I married in 1981, he has grown into so much more.  He is more talented and amazing that I ever thought.  And I'm the lucky woman who gets to spend her life with him.  He loves me despite my flaws and thinks I'm beautiful.  Who could ask for more than that?

Not me.

Happy Anniversary, my dearest Blue.  I love you more than ever.

Yours always,

Yellow

I am yellow
you are blue
together we make green
green is my favorite color

(a poem Pk gave me along with some yellow and blue and green flowers when we were in high school.  It still makes me smile)

I went to a training this morning on co-occuring disorders (mental illness and addiction).  It started at 8:30 and ended at 12:45.  The presenter was an excellent public speaker and seemed to really know his stuff.  However, looking at him while he spoke provided my brain with a huge disconnect.  Dr. Mee-Lee is of Chinese ancestry but he's an Aussi (who now lives in California).  Watching him speak in his inimitable Aussi accent was weird. 

I got on the bus to ride the 25 or so blocks back to the center and it was excruciating.  I was sitting there watching the people out the window.  I noticed a man in a lovely tangerine colored suit walk by.  Several blocks later, I said to the woman next to me, "didn't we pass that man already?  There can't be two men dressed like that out on the street today!"  She laughed and said "It's not you, we passed him once before".  The kicker was when a man in a motorized wheel chair passed us.  I got off the bus and walked the last 8 blocks or so.  It's a nice day and it felt good to just walk.

Otherwise, things here are quiet.  Pk and I are going grocery shopping after work because tomorrow is our anniversary.  And while we're not doing anything special (next weekend is our train ride), I didn't want to spend the day grocery shopping.  I think I'll go to the seafood store and get some goodies and we'll have a seafood feast for dinner tomorrow. Maybe we'll see a movie but it'll be a low key kind of day.

Happy Friday!

I didn't go to the yarn store yesterday because when I looked into my wallet, I decided I'd hold onto what money I had left until we get paid on Friday.  This is not the first nor the second time this lys owner has sent out this particular email announcing another sale.  She has been officially closed for a long time and is trying to get rid of leftover inventory.  The percentages are getting higher but the stock is not so appealing.  Kate and Patrick went and bought two skeins of chunky alpaca that I think are destined to become mittens. 

The real draw of the trip is that the yarn store is down the block from The Best Bakery In the Known Universe.  The one where they sell the creme donuts to die for.  Kate (who is currently my favorite child) bought me two of those donuts and a cupcake shaped like a ghost.  The donuts were consumed at breakfast this morning (I shared with Pk) and truly enjoyed.

I plied two bobbins of alpaca and spun two more bobbins of singles to be plied later in the week.  I washed and balled up the skein.  I now have two balls of yarn at approx 150 g each.  I had to stop at that point because my ankle was humming.  The ankle I treadle with is the one I dislocated a few years ago and it protests the constant movement that is treadling. I wish I had just broken it.  The orthopedist agreed with this telling me that bone breaks heal up stronger but soft tissue injuries never go completely away.

It's a definite Fall morning here, crisp and clear and really quite lovely.  However, my mind is here.  Some place with white sands and sunshine and a cabana boy to bring me a drink with an umbrella in it.  And my toes are digging into warm, soft sand.  There is a light breeze and some steel drums in the distance.  Sigh.  What a fantasy.

The reality is that I am back at my desk getting ready to pick up the messages from my day off and get to work. 

Happy Thursday.