Salesmanship

Today I set up a friend's booth for this weekend's Fall Fiber Festival. The collapsible stairs are because I am only about average height for an American female. The rest of the pile is samples of things I have done with the yarn I will be selling, including the only sweater I would wear in the woods during deer hunting season (And yes, that is a cobra in the background.)

The Newest Member of the Cyber Family

She has yet to be named, and she has yet to see her promised sticker. Heck, she has yet to be opened, but she is here, a day early even. While there is no reason to suspect that Pinky, my Acer netbook, would not survive another two-month trip overseas, I didn't want to chance it. Pinky's as-yet-unnamed baby sister is a wee bit bigger and has more disk space, yet was a C-note cheaper. I, for one, welcome our new computer overlord.

I Buy Wine for the Label

I was supposed to share this bottle with a friend tonight, but her older son is coming through town and son trumps friend when one only has so many free evenings in a week. Instead of consuming calories drinking wine, I think I'll go burn some doing karate. The wine will keep until the next mutual free evening.

My Life as a Lime

I expect that I shall put this sticker on the netbook I ordered last night (a green Toshiba Mini NB505-N500, the one "recommended" in the Consumer Reports Electronics Buying Guide), to help me remember that though I am only a lime I can still do the best I can.

Will Work for Fiber

This will be something like my sixth year helping a local vendor at the Fall Fiber Festival, my second basically running the booth Saturday because the owner is finishing up working an overlapping show. I have my choice of getting paid in cash or fiber. Yeah, like there's any question about which I prefer.

Yesterday at the National Zoo ...

...many things happened even if two days before, nothing had in at least one exhibit. Yesterday, the orangutans traveled between the Great Ape House and the Think Tank via their O-Line, one zebra charged at two other zebras making a noise unlike anything expected of a horse- or donkey-like animal, giant pandas ate bamboo and more bamboo, and five year-old lion cubs kept their sire from the nap he wanted to take. Yes, it was a good day.

Book Festival?

Older son and I are heading to DC for a day with a friend. It's the first day of the now two-day National Book Festival, though there aren't any authors on today's schedule that strongly call out to us. Perhaps we'll visit the orangutans at the National Zoo instead. Fun will be had in any case. Books rule in any case, as the book greeting cards on the table are coming with us as a belated Eid gift for our friend.

I'd Like a Personal Shopper Please

Between the wholesale club and the grocery store, I spent the entire morning hunting and gathering. The boxes on the counter and the bags on the floor are but a portion of the morning's haul for a family of 3.5 adults. While it's not much compared to some other families, it's more than enough for me to wrestle. Grocery shopping ranks right down there with laundry as a household chore I do only halfheartedly.

If It's Any Day but Saturday ...

The bag means it's a Myo Sim night or morning. Since it's Thursday, it's kendo. Tomorrow, it will be karate and/or kendo; ditto for Sunday. Monday is kendo; Tuesday and Wednesday are karate. On Saturday, I sometimes rest.

Possibly the Strangest Thing I'll See All Week

Meet Omar, the dog of my friend The Amazing Madeline. Yes, that is a cucumber that Omar is eating. And yes, that is a bone sitting beside the cucumber that Omar is eating. Omar is as awesome as The Amazing Madeline is, just in a different way.

Nailed!

I normally keep my fingernails and toenails very short to avoid martial arts accidents, so the husband was nice enough to buy me a manicure gift certificate when I was taking some time off due to plantar fasciitis. Unfortunately, by the time he actually gave it to me, I was back working out. The certificate would have expired at the end of this week, so today was the day. Older son proclaims them "creepy and weird." I figure I'll probably chip the polish during tonight's karate class.

The Other Cat in My Life

Meet Catbert. It is impossible to appreciate her to her fullest in a still photo. You need video or at least audio to capture the essence of Catbert. I can discuss anything with Catbert, and she always has an answer. Mind you, I am not quite fluent enough in Meow to understand everything she says, but that doesn't stop her from trying.

Sunday Sweetness

I don't usually drink sugared sodas, but I had to give this one a try. Older son probably described it best after his taste - liquid blueberry scone. Worth the 135 calories one time, but I don't think I'll be getting another one any time soon.

What Else Did You Expect?

My piece, still in progress, from today's workshop. The background is from a silk skirt; the colors, excluding the leaves, are ones I am not drawn to. I went with them as a challenge. I need to do more quilting, particularly on the leaves, and then embellish. I have some old jewelry that I think might work. And now for the key question. Do the tails belong to dragons or snakes? My fellow quilters were divided on that subject.

On the Road with Xena

Xena the Warrior Bernina rests with the supplies that will accompany us to a quilting workshop tomorrow put on by the local quilt guild. All that's missing are an extension cord and the veggie trays I'm taking for the snack table.

The Doppelganger in the Kitchen

I was going to post a photo of a blur, which was what my day was and why I am only now posting at 10:00 p.m. However, younger son insisted the only proper photo for the day was of him in his new Green Bay Packers jersey, that of Clay Matthews. Why Clay Matthews? You tell me.

May You Always Be Surrounded by the Kindness of Strangers

The fabric in this quilt came from friends in an online quilting group; many of the pieces, even some of the dark ones, contain the signatures of those friends. The quilt is going to the daughter of a friend (the one who made me a pot for my birthday) as a combination wedding and first-anniversary gift. The quilt's (and this post's) title came from the fact that the couple getting the quilt don't know any of the women whose signatures it contains but will still be surrounded and warmed by the kindness of those women in giving me the fabric.

Old Friends

I am organizing bookshelves. Knowing that we have more books by Edith Pargeter (aka Ellis Peters), I went to the garage in search of them. If I had had my camera in hand, today's photo would be of the horror variety, the horror that is the upstairs of the garage. Some people have a junk drawer. We have a second story to the garage.

Outside the Window

The feathers on the upstairs window were accompanied by some on the eave below it. It's not clear whether the bird survived to fly away or fell prey to the resident Mystery Cat who lives below the porch below the eave.

Once upon a Mattress

The mattress belongs to younger son and has been in the location shown for over a week now. Said son is building a loft bed for the mattress and his room in a group house in Northern Virginia. The bed may be done today, but it and the mattress may not move until next weekend, or when transportation issues have been worked out. See, having low standards in housekeeping really can pay off.

Rabbit Reproduction?

A candid shot of a dust bunny in its lair. The sad thing is that after I took this photo several hours ago, I did not immediately set the broom in motion. I admit it. I am something of a slob. It may be time to entertain again to give me an excuse to clean.

Potted Wool

The pot was made by a friend and came to me as a birthday present. My initial thought was to put a plant in it. A second later, I knew I would keep wool scraps in it. It now holds my supply of wool gauge swatches, yarn ends, and the like that I will use someday. Use how? I'll know when I'm ready.

Beard ... Bared ... Bread!

I tried a new bread recipe this morning, one that is lactose-free. Both older and younger son have pronounced it "tastylicious" and requested that I bake it again. I expect that I shall, and next time I will know how to make both loaves as loaf-like as the one on the right here is.

Putting the Best Foot Forward

It's not raining at the immediate moment, but puddles abound and the rain could start falling again at any moment. If the feet ain't happy, ain't nobody happy here.

Raindrops Keep Fallin'

Wet courtesy of Tropical Storm Lee. We do need rain in that we are about 3.5 inches behind the normal precipitation-to-date total, but really? All the rest of the week? One can have too much of a good thing, you know.

I'm Old Fashioned That Way

The husband can get by reading the daily news on the web. Not me. I like a newspaper, even when it leaves ink smears on my elbows as I lean over to read it. I am very spoiled, too, having The Washington Post as one of my daily papers, though even it has declined a bit in quality over the decades I have been reading it.

Still in the Studio

This guy, a present from a close friend, sits on a shelf and watches me create. I have always had a thing for dragons; as a child, I would have given anything for a real Puff the Magic. It is probably not surprising that I found Daenerys Targaryen to be one of the most compelling characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. And for what it's worth, today I'm wearing the dragon t-shirt I rescued from the dumpster outside younger son's dorm during this year's move-out week.

Today In the Studio

Meet Xena the Warrior Bernina, my partner-in-crime-and-quilting. And this is the quilt that I would like to get to the hand-sewing-the-binding stage by the end of this long weekend.

Another Mouse About the House

I gave this mouse to the husband for one of the 26 wedding anniversaries we've celebrated. Younger son has the large paper mouse shown in an earlier post. His parents have a brass mouse. I guess we actually have more than one resident rodent.

You Come Here Often?

Another month has flown by and, yes, I'm pretty much repeating the shot I took for August 1. It's my blog, and I'll repeat if I want to. I have been in a bit of a fog of late with lots of little in the air, some of it bigger than others. I'm hoping to stop in the calendar's "present moment" at some point soon, take a deep breath, and just be.