Random Ramblings...

After days and days of incessant sun beating down, it was nice to see some clouds yesterday!  And then a bit of blessed rain.  It was still hot, but the sun was gone for a bit. However, it is back today!  Constant sun drives me a bit looney!

July 22nd was my Dad's 90th birthday!  I wish I could have made it back to Ohio to spend it with him, but I couldn't... However, I did get to skype a bit with him!
Also got to "talk" a bit with my Mom. She has dementia and cannot sustain a conversation, but I still got to hear and see her. At first she thought I was her Grandma...  then when they said it was Linda, she sat there looking at me really hard and then said "I Love You"... I later broke down and cried.  For that little moment, she knew it was me...and it brought me some peace.

I wish someone could explain to me, why it bugs me so much when I go to Barnes and Noble, and people line up the wrong way to go through the check-out line!

We lost our power for a little bit a week or so ago.  So we went up to wander around the mall and stop for a cold drink.  On the way home, there was half of a rainbow!  Haven't seen a rainbow in awhile, so I was thrilled...

OTN....

This is my teeny tiny start on a pattern I really love!  It is called "Dichotomy" (pattern on Ravelry).  Due to the notes I read while looking at other people's projects, I'm adding some yarn overs to the edge side of the "solid" side...  makes it all look a bit more lacy and open.

I'm doing mine in Mountain Colors yarn (really like this yarn - wish it came in solid colors)....  Loving this variegated green!

I adore books about houses and food and other locales. And this book fits all of that!  I've been meaning to read this book for years now - and am finally getting around to it....

"N" is for...

many things...

notes.... I'm a big note maker (list maker, what have you). Most of the time, they keep me on track and keep me sane. If it is down on paper, it cannot be forgotten.  I may not get to things on my notes for days or weeks (or months)...but I still feel calmer knowing that it is written down and will be taken care of eventually. Sometimes, however, all my notes drive me almost crazy!

NASCAR....I'm a big fan of NASCAR.  Became one after I married and moved to Virginia. Somehow my husband and I started to watch and the rest is history.  My favorite driver was Dale Earnhardt Senior.  After he was killed, I just didn't want to watch the races anymore.  I eventually got back into it, but my heart wasn't (and still isn't) totally "there"....   Now I have various drivers that I like... and cheer for... but none that will ever catch me up the way he did.

Newpaper....  I still subscribe to the newspaper - 7 days a week, it is delivered to my paper box....  I sit down every morning and read it.  My favorite is the weekend Sunday edition with all the extras that are there....  I read the paper before going to work (when I was working) - I just did it faster and earlier.  My favorite sections are the FOOD section on Wednesdays, the Health Section on Tuesdays, and the Travel section on Sundays.    There have been some mornings when the paper didn't show up (and I got it late). My mornings always felt a bit unsettled during those times....  I know, I'm odd - LOL!

OTN....

First, let me apologize for the photo - this is the cat's stool and I didn't realize you can see the spot where he has scratched the fabric on the stool - LOL!

This pattern is called "Drop City"... it is a paid pattern on Ravelry. The pattern is written a bit oddly, but if you keep the "potato chip" scarf in mind - you will get how to do it. And as I always say, if I can figure it out - anyone can - ha!

I wanted to get started on it after buying the pattern, so I used one of my Lorna's Laces yarns.  If I do this pattern again, I want to try a self striping yarn. The projects I saw done in that type of yarn for this project really stand out!  But I'm still liking mine too - don't get me wrong!

The book is a re-read for me.  I liked it quite a bit the first time around - hopefully the second time around will be just as good, if not better. She has a new book coming out today called "The Light of Paris".  I will be buying that one when I make my weekly B & N trip on Friday!

"M" is for...

magazines....

I buy a lot of magazines! Altho I must say, I go through phases...
sometimes buying more...sometimes buying less...  Right now, we are in the "buy more" phase!

I love to read gardening magazines - even though I do not garden...

I love to read magazines about rug hooking and quilting and handweaving...even though I do none of those things...

I love to read books about flea market finds and turning them into something else.  Even though I don't do that - well maybe go to antique stores and flea markets - but I never turn anything I buy into anything else...

I love Country Living magazine - especially the British one...  Period Living is another one I enjoy...

I love to read Where Women Create and Where Women Cook...

And of course, there are the other ones I like to read from time to time - like Oprah, Martha Stewart Living, and People...

I had a lady ask me once - can you really read magazines about things you don't ever do - like gardening and quilting? I said - but of course!  She said, thank you...I am going to do just that! Because like me, she enjoys reading about people who do those things - even if we don't do them ourselves - LOL!

Random Ramblings...

We are getting a bit of rain - hope it cools it down out there! The last few days have been sweltering.  Just hope it doesn't storm....

I can read while the tv is on, but not when music is playing.  My husband can read with music playing, but not with the tv on....

One of the books I'm enjoying is "Delicious" - a fiction book by Ruth Reichl. I tried to read it when it first came out, but it did not "take". But this time around - it is a winner for me!

I love to listen to the different sounds the birds make... To me, a blue jay sounds like it is saying - beep beep! beep beep!.....  there is a bird (not sure which one - could be a cardinal) that always sounds like it is saying teacher teacher - or maybe t-shirt t-shirt - LOL!  And another bird (not sure which one it is) that sounds like it is saying cheeseburger cheeseburger!

Got an email yesterday saying that my favorite yarn shop - the one I've been going to for probably over 8 years or more - the one that is like a home to me...is closing.  I literally sat here in front of my computer and cried so hard. The owner is retiring. Happy news for her - but really sad news for tons of us customers...
I went there today to get some yarn - and I did grab some stuff, but my heart wasn't in it. The sale starts next week and will go until she closes at the end of August. I really do not think I will go back. I have 5 other yarn shops within 30 minutes to an hour away...  and I will go and check them out. But I have a feeling I will not go yarn shopping very often anymore. May do a lot of it online.    But you never know - I'm trying to look on this as a silver lining - maybe something happy will come out of it somewhere down the road....

"L" is for...

Library....

When I was young, my Mom used to take us to the library in our little home town. It was in an old stone building by the river.  The downstairs area was for under the age of 13.  Once you hit 13, you were allowed to go to the upstairs area!  Before that, they just deemed those books too much for younger kids.  Still amazes me to this day when I think back on it - compared to how things are now.

When I was in my teens, my best friend (who lived next door to me) and I, would walk to this same library.  We would get tons of books and walk home and sit outside and read.  Then when all our books were finished, back we would go for more - on and on - all summer long....

In 7th and 8th grades, I volunteered in the school library.  I actually even learned how to bind books - that was fun to me!  I can still picture that library in my mind.  Recently, they tore this school down - so very sad to see it being destroyed.  I saw a video on Facebook that someone from my home town put on there.  The school was called Milford Main - it had two front entrances. And above the entrances were carved in stone - the word Girls on one side - and Boys on the other side.  Always loved that for some reason. The floors inside were old wood and they creaked... another thing I loved about that school!

After I got laid off from my job at Honeywell, back in 2001, I started volunteering at my regional library.  About a year later, I was hired to be a Page.  I worked 20 hours a week - reshelving the library books.   I was there for 10 years - shelving library books - 4 hours a day - 5 days a week!   There were 30 of us at this branch who did this over various hours during the day and night and weekends.  It was a never ending job.  We circulated over 1.5 million books a year - and all those books had to be reshelved!   I  finally (after those 10 years of shelving) decided to retire from working all together.  I did go back and volunteer again for a couple of years - doing the Pick List - this is where you go out with a list of books people have put on hold - and pull them and process them for pick up.  It is a huge job which requires many volunteers throughout the days...  I enjoyed it!  I do remember one time, a man found out we were called Pages.  He could not get over that - I think he thought it was demeaning.  He asked the manager - when do they get to be books - LOLLL!!  We actually did not like the title either - we would have preferred Library Assistants.... or something along those lines.

To this day - whenever I go into a bookstore, I find myself fixing the books - putting them in order, if they are out of place, etc.  I guess you can take the girl out of the library, but you can't take the library out of the girl!

Random Ramblings....

I wanted to take down some stuff starting to grow up the fireplace. Thought it might be poison ivy. Husband says no... so I pull some of it off with my fingers. I now have a rash!  I don't think it was poison ivy - but maybe some other type of creeper thing that puts out toxic rays!

I enjoy watching professional golf on tv...  Yes, I know some people think it is as exciting as watching grass grow - LOL! But I like it.  The last match I watched - the winner won 1.8 million dollars! Unreal!

I buy a lot of magazines. Sometimes I buy the same one twice.  Not saying that I recently did that or anything, but so glad it was bought at the grocery store (where they took it back and refunded my money) and not at Barnes and Noble - where they will not do that!

After going through a week or more of computer issues, I decided to switch over to Windows 10 while it was still free.  It isn't as pleasing to me (just appearance wise) as Windows 8.1.  But so far, it is working easily - pretty much the same functions as the old version I was using....  I am having problems here and there with losing the internet connection off and on.  Not sure if it is Windows 10 or my ISP.  Thinking it is my ISP...

Most people don't know that....I have an issue lately (well for some years now)...of being able to travel away from home.  Not sure what brought it on, but I wish I could figure out a way to get over it!  I have not been back home to Ohio in 10 years now....