Alpine milestone

This is my Sunbeam Alpine. I have missed her. She's been being reworked for a long, long time.
Paul finally turned over the keys. She's only been unsafe for over 10 years. I thought I would lose it and finally smash her or sell her before this day came. Now (per DH) she is acceptably safe for me to drive. (Of course we took a drive to the hardware store and she wouldn't start when we came out. If I'd gone by myself I would have been stuck.)
It was a lovely night for a drive. The Maxfield Parrish colored sky and palm trees lit by the sunset. It is air is very clear. We drove by a couple of orange groves(of the few left) and could feel the 5-10 degree temperature change in the air. It wasn't that long ago that the whole area was like this. Now we have 110+ degree temperatures regularly in the summer. We drove by an entire block of new warehouse type business buildings that used to be groves. There is an entire housing development and super gas station with car wash just down the road that used to be orange groves. My pre-teen/teen age kids say remember when Redlands used to be nice and there were all sorts of orange groves here.
Perhaps I should break the negative theme of the end of old Redlands and get back to the beautiful evening and my cute little roadster. I have missed her and she's mine again! She is a 1954 Sunbeam Alpine.
A few years ago I was driving home from work when a number of power poles and lines were knocked over by heavy winds. I managed to stop my car about a car length from where the last pole snapped and fell in front of me. Unfortunately the power lines fell across the car, directly over me, and crushed the windshield right where was sitting. Did I mention the top was down and the only way the live lines did not hit me was that I ducked over the passenger seat just in time? I can tell you when I looked up and saw those lines coming down on me did I ever move(and swear). Anyway, I lucked out. Nobody knows how I got out of there alive. The lines were still live when I climbed up and jumped out of the car. Had I touched the ground and still been touching the car I would have fried too. I would say I was really lucky, but it really had to be more than that. The car had a few dings, but was mostly alright. Then more and more things started going wrong with her. My husband has been working on the car now for years. It has a new engine, new brakes, a new radiator, carbeurator, lights, shifter...maybe more. Now I need to start work on the interior and get her painted. I am thinking a yellowy gold might be nice. Really it's nice to know I can just get in her and go(if we get the safety switch issue fixe, since I don't know the ins and out of the wiring under the hood.)
Here's a picture of my daughter with her new glasses so grandma can see them.

Lazy day???

Well, I didn't go anywhere. My close friend Leigh Ann came by to bring me a copy of Crazy Aunt Pearl's book.Then my wonderful cousin Mark dropped by with his gorgeous daughter to say "hi," and show my son how to play Bach's Partida #3 on guitar. Three visitors in one day, what a blessing.
I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then knitted. Made Salmon Chowder, then Pot Roast. I was going to make Apple pie, but ran out of steam. I think I may have caught the cold everyone else seems to have. I had a glass of wine, but my headache isn't any better.
I finished the back of the "Tiger" cat sweater for Merlin. I bound it off rounded along the bottom so that it will cover more of Merlin's back. He seems to be sore there a lot. I thought keeping it warm might help a little.
I've been checking out knitting blogs. It's been a while since I have spent any time doing that. Firefly at I Live on a Farm made me wish I could run back to the Adirondacks to see the leaves change color. Our camp is so close to Blue Mountain Lake where she went last week. I've never seen the change of seasons being a native Californian. I was hoping to change that soon. Just can't think how to get away from work on a year when our principal has warned us not to take any unnecessary time off. Is it necessary to see leaves change color? Is it possible to continually put life on hold for work? Of course it's possible, most people do it all the time. I've done it most of my life. If I knew I would never be questioned about it I would do it in a minute, but this is my evaluation year.

"Tiger" Cat Sweater progress

It's been a week. Report cards and end of term tests...not my favorite things. I felt like a truck had hit me all week. I came home and went right to sleep for about 4 hours. I think a hot bath and a glass of wine are in order now. Progress picture of new cat sweater coming.

Went to Knitting night

My daughter and I just got back from knitting night. I've never seen so many people in there at once. Sharon pulled out every chair in the place. My daughter grabbed a seat on the floor and read for a while. We didn't stay an entire hour. I guess I could have had my daughter take a chair near me when one woman left. We went to grab a water and came home instead. It's warm out tonight.
The kids are playing Halo 3. They've got the lights out so I can't really knit. I could go upstairs, but I always fall asleep if I try to knit in bed. I guess tonight just isn't much of a knit night.
We started a knitting club at school yesterday. We had four girls come. I had a few of my previous students who said they wanted to come and a couple who have cheer leading practice at the same time. I bet more start coming once the word gets out. One of my sixth grade boys asked for a form to join the class today.
With grading and testing all week I almost forgot I have a photography class tomorrow. That should be fun.

Another Cat sweater plan

I gathered up some stash yarns and picked up a base gold color to make another sweater for Merlin. I am planning a wilder cat sweater. Maybe a lion or tiger??? To fit Merlin's ferocious personality. Ha!

Ribbed tank

I started a new project. I bought the pattern and yarn maybe two years ago by now. It's an easy Berrocco pattern. It's a really cute tank. I had to adapt it because I don't think a front slit would be particularly attractive on me these days. It's made with Berrocco Suede and feels really nice. Anyway here it is.

Justin's Out of Army Day!

Last night we all went to a great dinner at Sayaka's in Colton to celebrate Justin's official separation date. WheeeeHeeeee! He's really out!
Here are my favorite people...I just LOVE having them all together.

Merlin's Sweater is Finished

Here it is, the finished sweater
I hope Merlin likes it better when it gets cold...

Benefit Concert

There was a benefit concert at the First Congregational Church in Riverside tonight. My husband and son played with some friends. There were some other people playing too. I guess they raised about $400 for Katrina victims.

Merlin tries on his sweater

He's not totally thrilled, but can move around in it alright. I have yet to make the sleeves and crochet edging and closures on the neck. Merlin gets groomed on Monday morning. If it gets cool any time soon he'll be covered(literally)

Merlin's sweater

Here's the back piece of Merlin's sweater. He doesn't like me holding it to his back. So I had to have Justin hold him while I took this picture. It took more yarn than I thought so I had to go get another skein of the yarn. I am working on the tummy part now. It's going a little slower in 1X1 rib all the way. It should help it fit better though.

The unsuspecting victim

This is Merlin. The unsuspecting victim. I am thinking of making him a sweater. I must say I feel a bit like a freak making a sweater for a cat. He has a perfectly lovely fur coat already. The problem is that Merlin is a Maine Coon Cat and has 3 layers of fur. He is also getting older and does not do a good job of caring for his coat on his own. Not to mention the clumps of fur all over the carpet even immediately after vacuuming. We need to get Merlin clipped again. With his advancing years and advancing Fall then Winter I am afraid he will be cold. Hence the sweater. Here are a couple of yarns I thought would look good on him. They really blend in with his fur color. Perhaps I should think about making one that is more contrasting...Okay, I decided to try to use up some stash on this project. I started with the ribbing in 'Angel Hair', then didn't think I'd like the Paton's 'Pebbles' as the body of the sweater. I kept knitting with 'Angel Hair'. It is my first cat sweater so I don't suppose it will hurt to knit a trial run. I now have to worry that I'll have enough of this yarn to finish the sweater. I only have one skein of 120 yards. What do you think?

Excitement at school

Yesterday we had a lock down at school. Someone reported seeing a gun and we ended up locked in for over an hour. Luckily most of the students had gone home. School was over a few minutes before. Now we find out it was a toy gun. They are still searching for the student. Nice for us it was only a toy...

Weekend over

I achieved my goal of finishing my OM scarf. I didn't start knitting something new. I did look around for ideas and moved some yarn around. I still have 22 minutes left of the day. I could go and find yarn for something and start in that amount of time.
I did make breakfast for the whole family and curry for dinner. I puttered around my orchids. I started trying to get the kitchen table cleared so we can eat on it again. DH went under the house and put a pressure regulator on the water pipes so no more knocking in the pipes. Well, I accomplished a little bit and had a very enjoyable day on Saturday. I don't know why I felt so good, but I'll take it.

I did receive my order from Fire Mountain for some silver clay and a starter kit. Cool aye? Didn't make anything yet.
Heading up to search through yarn...
Have a good week!

OM Scarf finished

I have it pinned to the blocking board now. It wanted to be a long skinny scarf when I washed it. I don't think so. I decided against the fringe and just added a little more garter stitch to the bottom. I like it. It felt a little itchy before I washed it. Hope it feels better when it's dry. I'd like to try another one in the reverse colors. I need to see how the illusion comes out with the variegated as the background instead of the pattern.

Speaking of illlusions, I never finished my skull and crossbones scarf. Halloween is gaining on us...and isn't Talk Like a Pirate day coming up?

Ahhh...... the weekend.

These are in my backyard. It is really nice out there. There are clouds of butterflies and bumblebees flying around. Of course, they wouldn't come pose for me and all the pictures I took are pretty blurry. There would be 5 or more flying around together and I couldn't get a single shot of them.


It's been intense at work/school this week. Kids are feeling the pressure of having homework again and not liking it. I don't like it much either.

My goal for the weekend is to finish my OM scarf. I need to get help making an invisible seam joining the two sides together and then make some fringe.

Then I want to start a new project. The drop stitch tank from Fitted Knits. I have some soybean yarn I was going to make it from, but it's really a summer color and I'm not sure if soybean has a memory or stretches out and stays. I understand there is a lot of stretch in the drop stitch tank so it needs a yarn with some memory. I have a couple of cotton blends I was thinking of too, but have decided against. I do want something that won't felt.

Oh, and I'm still searching for my little camera's dock. I'll have to use the big one. It's really a much better camera, so I really shouldn't complain.

Knitting again

Even went to knitting night at the Yarn Deli last night. I've been working on my OM scarf. I finally posted pictures of it a couple of days back. I think I may enter Crazy Aunt Pearl's cat sweater contest. Merlin needs to have another trim and I don't want him to get cold over the winter without his long, shedding, 3 layer fur coat. I'd be making something practical(did I say that about a sweater for a cat?) and having a friendly competition at the same time. Hmmm, what color does a gold cat look good in?

Labor Day weekend over so soon

It was kind of nice not to do too much this weekend. We had our friend Robert come over for a couple of days. It's always nice to have him. He knows a lot of interesting facts about almost anything that anyone brings up. He has helped us with a lot of little projects around the house too. It's nice to have someone to have a glass of wine with. Or two...

Saw my cousin at a practice session for a benefit concert they'll be doing for Katrina victims. I went with my husband, son, and friend.

My friend Leigh Ann came over and wisked my daughter and me off to the San Gabriel Bead Company in Arcadia. It was a really cool place. Lots of different beads, materials, and findings.

Went to the bookstore and PetsMart. Gave Merlin a bath and brushed him a bit. I did a little knitting. Put some of my yarn away in the bookcases in my room. Sorted a box of books to give away. Added yarns to the stash section of my Ravelry notebook. And this blog. So really just a little of this and a little of that.