Honey Chain

this is my scary halloween story (insert scary ghost sounds here)

a couple of weeks ago, when it was still unusually warm out, i was driving home after dark. i turned down a back road and was stopped at the train crossing by flashing lights. while i was waiting for the train (with my windows rolled down, singing along with the radio, enjoying the evening) i started thinking about how wooded the area was and how dark it was and how this would be just the place for someone to be attacked in a horror film. hahaha. then, i started to think about how secluded the area was and how far away the nearest house was and how even if there was a house within earshot they would not be able to hear my screams of terror because of the train. i looked around the car and into the surrounding trees but it was too dark to see anything. i turned off the radio so i could hear crazy hacksaw killer person sneaking up on my car but the train was too loud and all i could hear was the clicking of the tracks. i looked at the train willing it to go faster and hey are those feet i see on the other side of the tracks? i locked my door and then thought it doesn’t matter if my door is locked because the windows are open. so, i leaned over the passenger seat to roll up the window (yes, my car is that old) and i instantly regretted it because here i was leaning over with my back to an open window. why don’t i ever use my brain? crazy hacksaw killer person could easily sneak up and pull me out the open window (okay, i know in reality i’m a pretty big girl. crazy hacksaw killer person would be hard pressed to fit me through that window, but it’s my imagination, alright?). i rolled the window up as fast as i could. i think i broke a nail, i don’t know, it was all happening so fast. i rolled up the drivers side window. i looked around the car some more. i checked the back seat just in case the killer had somehow gotten into the car already. i tried not to look nervous as i kept my eyes on the trees around the car and the feet or whatever on the other side of the tracks. i didn’t want the crazy hacksaw killer person to know i was on to them. i wanted the element of surprise on my side.

the train took forever, but finally the gates went up and i sped over the tracks and away from certain death.

this week, i would like to shine the grateful spotlight on the unsung heroes of my life, my pets. i am grateful for my pets, past and present. it is not easy living with me day to day and i can be pretty ungrateful. they love me anyway, everyday.

he barked at her and she hissed and swatted at him for hours until, finally, they were too exhausted to fight over the sunbeam anymore.

i am grateful for guilty pleasures. you know, all those things you enjoy but know are more than likely “bad” for you or maybe make you feel a little embarrassed to admit liking. guilty pleasures make life a little sinful and that just makes life more fun.

for a week or two now, the shower has been draining slowly. getting slower and slower. i tried the liquid stuff, but it didn’t help. i thought, this is a job for plunger girl. so, i got the plunger and put on my cape and got to work. i plunged and plunged and managed to stop up the tub too.

and all this black gook was coming up and the water was going nowhere and i thought maybe i needed to walk away for a while and the ugliness would slowly drain away.

it did not. i plunged some more and some more and it wasn’t working and i was cursing plunger girl. i mean really, what was she thinking? i took a break, i plunged some more, i took another break…and so on all day. i was ready to give up, but decided to try one more time and eureka! and also eeewww!

and then, i did a victory lap around the bathroom and into the hall humming the theme from rocky. loudly.

see this

these are the projects i’ve been working on. unfortunately, i’m doing more frogging than knitting. i’m looking for new projects for some of the yarn and i’m determined to finish another and that one in the back, it’s a stole i finished months ago but refuse to weave the ends in. i just keep putting it off. aaarrrghh! it’s so hard not to just start something new. i’m thinking about it though. i want to crochet an afghan like this one i got at a second hand store in sacramento a couple years ago.

isn’t it sweet? i have some reds and brown just looking for a finished object to a be a part of.

on the presents front, i have now jettisoned the “i’m going to make christmas presents” idea. i didn’t get my ducks in a row and time is running out. why stress about it, just let it go.

and moon - yes, i do use the cupcake pincushion, but only for big needles. the little ones get lost.

i am grateful for vegetables that look more interesting than they taste. i am grateful for squash which is fun to grow, to look at, to decorate with, and also to eat. i am grateful for the fruit i only see in the fall/winter; persimmon, quince, pomegranate and clementines. talking about seasonal fruit, i am always grateful when i find ugli fruit at the store. i never remember when it’s in season. so, it’s a sweet surprise. i am grateful for the recent warm up and also the hour of sunshine we got today.

there have been many times over the last two years when i have asked of the po’s “are you kidding me?” followed by a trail of expletives. today was one of those days. the windows on my house are sorely in need of some tlc and restoration, which i am getting closer and closer to being able to do (there is a real lack of info and parts for steel casement windows out there). i was cursing the po’s earlier this year when i was trying to get some/any of the windows to open. i mean, how hard would it have been to…okay, i’ll stop right there. now, one of the kitchen windows i had gotten to open wouldn’t close all the way. i went outside and made sure the ivy wasn’t getting in the way. it still wouldn’t close. so, i decided to take off the screen and see what i could do from the inside. one of the few maintenance type things the po’s did was paint stuff, weird stuff like the window operators and the screens. when they painted the screens they painted them in place. “#%&**!@$&##!!!!” this is what could probably be heard in my driveway as i jiggled and pried the screen off the window. i finally got it loose and the window closed, but why? why? why did they do that? why were they such messy painters? why were they so concerned with painting things like the screens and window operators, but when it came to cleaning up a rusty spot and painting that no go?

on a more positive note, in the spring i planted cosmos seeds. even though they are very late they have finally bloomed

i have been putting off doing the mowing again and boy am i glad. if i had mowed, i would never have found out that one of the marigolds from the border had moved house.