goodbye

Bye bye sweet Cairo kitty.

It is in their eyes that their magic resides.
~ Arthur Symons

from where i stand

Work on the next ripple has begun

I'm so happy that I get to finally use "girl" colors. All my other ripple blankets have been boy blankets. I had fun choosing colors for this blanket. I'm using Brava worsted and the colors are much brighter than I expected. I love it!


I am using a total of 12 different colors in my Anna ripple. First round of color is complete. Just repeating the pattern now.


My social life is pretty much consumed by this blanket at the moment.

Will I finish this blanket in time for Christmas?

Autumn has come and gone

I was so excited to see the leaves on my tree turn yellow. They were so very yellow!

Then the rain came and washed away all that yellow.



I think Winter has finally arrived in the desert.

Currently...

Posting... for all of you that aren't a Googlebot. Lately, my blog has been super popular with the Googlebots. Way too many Googlebots. Are there any Humans out there?

Wondering... if I will put up a Christmas tree this year. The bathroom redo is STILL in process and I don't think I could handle adding a tree to the toilet and vanity that are currently hanging out in the living room.

Weaving... in the ends of the first Christmas ripple blanket for this year. I am making 2 blankets this year. I just started crocheting the second blanket and I fear it won't be finished before Christmas.

Hoping... that the weather cools down some. 70 degrees just doesn't feel like Christmas. I would like to get to wear a sweater at least once this season. For goodness sakes, I am wearing flip flops in December!

Thinking... that my sweet Cairo kitty may not make it to the end of the year. She starts to not do as well but then she keeps bouncing back, so I am never sure what is going on.

ruined

Exactly 1 year ago, to the day (which is very weird by the way), I bought myself a new pair of glasses. It was long overdue and as usual it was a long process which involved going back multiple times for replacement lenses and other various issues. I always seem to have issues when I buy a new pair of glasses. Sadly, the issues pretty much are always due to the place where I buy them.

Needless to say, I am very careful when I get a new pair of glasses because I dread ever having to go back.

For a while now my glasses have been sitting a little crooked. I work late and by the time I get out of work, the eyeglass place is always closed. Today, I had an early day so I went down to get my eyeglass frames adjusted. The guy who adjusted my glasses completely scratched up both of the lenses. The entire right lens is covered in hairline scratches. The left lens is almost as bad.

I was so proud of myself, that after a year, I only had one scratch on one lens (which coincidentally happened the last time I got them adjusted). This time, I made sure my lenses were clean before I went so that they wouldn't have to clean them and so that I could avoid any scratches. As soon as the guy took my glasses I noticed he sprayed something on the lenses and smeared them up. After making the adjustments, he did some more rubbing of the lenses. I noticed when I got home that the lenses were all smeared and needed to be clean. I went to wash them with soap and noticed that what I thought were smears and streaks were actually scratches.

Now I need entirely new glasses. That's how bad the damage is. When I look through the lenses, all I see is haze and glare bouncing off the haze.

I called the store when I got home but it was a few minutes before their closing time and they had already closed up. I left a message but my plan is to go in first thing in the morning and see what they will do for me. I have a sinking feeling that I will be left having to buy a whole new pair of glasses. I worry that since I didn't notice the scratches until after I left, that they won't believe me.

UPDATE 11/30/14:  I am a happy camper. I went back to the store to show them the scratched lenses. They have ordered new lenses for me at no charge. I was told that when they heat up the glasses (to adjust them) that the heat can crack the coating on the lenses. Apparently, it is really rare. So of course it had to happen to me.

Popcorn clouds

Some days the sky is so pretty you just have to take as many photos of it as you can.

Nothing beats that morning sun

Wordless Wednesday: On the prowl

The Spookiness is growing

I am about half-way finished with my current ripple blanket. I really need to pick up the pace though because I have a second blanket that I need to make before Christmas.

This is my 5th ripple. I guess I am a bit addicted to them. I have used the same Attic24 pattern for all of my ripple blankets. I really do like this pattern. Not only does it look good but it is very easy to memorize.

One good thing about using the same pattern over and over is that I pretty much know exactly how much yarn I will need and how long it should take me to complete a blanket. However, that doesn't really mean much when it comes to my procrastination issues.

Casual Friday

Knit ALL the things!!

There are so many cozy things I want to make.

Spoooooky ripple

My new ripple is looking a bit Halloweeny. The dark grey is a little blacker than I had expected. 

The start of a new ripple

I've started crocheting a new ripple blanket. 

Christmas will soon be here, only a few weeks to go if you stop and think about it, and I have 2 blankets to crochet this year.

Three or so years ago I started making one ripple blanket each year to give to one of my nephews/nieces. One of my brothers has 5 kids and so far I have made blankets for 3 of them. This is the year I get to make blankets for his youngest, the twins. I am actually pretty excited that I get to actually make a "girly" blanket this year.



 
I LOVED using Knit Picks Brava on my last ripple blanket. I wanted to use it again but had read online that the yarn now comes from China instead of Turkey. The majority of the reviews were not kind. I decided to just go ahead and order the Brava. So far, it's been okay. I did get some skeins from Turkey and I can definitely see (and feel) the difference. I much prefer the original yarn (from Turkey). But I have to say that even though the new yarn (from China) is much much thinner and kind of shiny, it still feels soft once I have crocheted it.

Have you tried Knit Picks Brava? What do you think of it? 

Currently...

Enjoying... brand new appliances. We only needed a new refrigerator but the Mother-in-law convinced us that we would get a better deal if we replaced all the appliances at the same time. I feel like such a grown-up now with my grown-up Stainless Steel appliances.

Debating... if I should buy a coffee maker to have at home. I only drink coffee at work and the husband doesn't drink it at all.



Watching... Sons Of Anarchy. We have always been a year behind in watching the show. We binged watched the last season on DVD (Yay for vacation) and now we are all caught up. No more spoliers that we have to worry about. We can finally find out what happens at the same time as everyone else.

Working... I am back to work today after a week of vacation. In some ways I am happy to be back but I already miss sleeping in. Getting up at 5:30 this morning was rough.



Crocheting... a new ripple. Christmas will soon be here and I have 2 blankets to make (maybe 3).

Dreaming... of a new iPhone. The new iPhone 6 is making me want to really take the plunge this time and get my first smart phone. If only I can find a inexpensive plan for only 2 phones. All the discounts available seem to be for multiple (more than 2) phones. Kind of unfair really.

Sunday succulents

It rained in the desert

Last Monday, Arizona was closed.
 
It rained. It rained a lot.

We got hit by a tropical storm that dumped a ton of water in a short period of time. The state was even under a State of Emergency.

It rained so much that the largest dry riverbed in town was overflowing. That doesn't happen all that often. Here are some pictures that other people took of the Santa Cruz River overflowing its banks. Can you believe that 99% of the year this is a dry riverbed? Amazing!








Now, there is another storm (Hurricane/Tropical Storm Odile) heading our way. This storm is coming from Mexico and is supposed to hit Arizona tomorrow. I wonder how much rain this new storm will bring?

Such an interesting creature

Last month, I came across this morning visitor as I walked out to my car. I didn't have time to run back inside to grab my camera, so I quickly pulled out my iPod and took as many photos as I could.




This giant moth is about the size of my hand. It's called a Rustic Sphinx Moth. It has awesome matte black eyes and it is covered in fur. It was so large that I could still see it all the way from the street as I drove away.




It is such an interesting creature. Every time I look at these pictures it makes me happy that I got the chance to see one.




I know. I know. ANOTHER photo of a moth. But this one gives a better perspective of just how huge this thing really was.


Have you ever seen a Rustic Sphinx Moth?

The August Break 2014

This was my 3rd year taking part in The August Break.

The August Break originally started out as a blogging project, but this year, from what I could tell, it was more of an Instagram daily photo challenge. Even though there were over 400 blogs that had signed up, I really didn't find all that many that were actually posting the project on their blogs. It's sad really. I got tired of looking through the long list of blogs and kind of just gave up.

I did actually take more pictures this year, but I didn't get to share them. The main reason being that I was also trying to use my DSLR for this year's project and I didn't realize how much the lack of computer time would affect me and my ability to keep up with sharing my photos. Not to worry though, it just means I will have a bunch more photos to share in September.

Awwww September. How can you be here already?

storm clouds

August 16, 2014

The rain is coming

August 15, 2014

A storm is brewing

August 13, 2014

Hi.

August 11, 2014

Back at the Vet

At the last Vet visit, the Vet lowered the dosage on my cat's prescription, so a week later we had to go back to the Vet for a recheck. 

On that visit, I also found out that my cat had lost even more weight since the beginning of the year. One of the Vet's assistants suggested that I feed her baby food. She LOVED the baby food. But even so, I was very surprised on the recheck visit, to find out that she had actually gained some weight back. Kitty went from 2.8 pounds up to 3.2 pounds in a week. Even the Vet was surprised that she had gained weight. Baby food for the win!

August 9, 2014

Selfie

Or as us old-timers call them... self portrait.

August 8, 2014

Today is...

Blue skies and poofy clouds.

August 7, 2014

Outside

She's an indoor cat that is afraid of her own shadow. 

But there is just something about rolling around on the concrete outside that turns her into the boldest of cats. That is of course, until she sees her shadow.

August 6, 2014