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Still don’t have the cable for my camera, so will try to describe this for you.

My kitchen is a 14×14 square with a window looking out the north side. I placed my boyfriend’s antique, gate-leg table along the wall with the window so I could enjoy my morning coffee and watch the trees dance in the breeze.  Just outside the window is a shrub; I don’t know what type.  The shrub kind of softens the view from the window.  This morning, as I sat watching the rain fall - straight down I might add - a small, bright red bird landed in the shrub.  He looked at me.  Studying my outline closely.  Then he flew away.

After the rain stopped and I took my mid-day break from boxes, I sat again at the table with my book.  Again, the little bird landed in the shrub to study me.  This time it was a mutual sort of observation; me on my side, him on his.

This went on for the rest of the day.  Every time I would sit at the table, this little bird would land in the shrub and join me in my relaxation.  He has no fear as long as I stay on my side of the glass.  I can  move around.  I can talk to him.  I can tap on the window.  He doesn’t care.

After a bit of studying, I have decided that my newest little friend is a juvenile male cardinal.  His crest is very small as of yet and he is still on the smallish side.  But, I could find no other bird that resembled him.

Until tomorrow, my newest friend.

Another post, sin photografias. (still haven’t found my cable)

Still in the process of unpacking stuff. This move was THE worst move in my more than 20 year history of moves. The packing that was done in Wyoming was shoddy. So many things are broken and useless. It wouldn’t be so bad, but most of the broken items are things I cannot replace, such as Goebbel figurines (not Hummels but the bisque nudes that are gorgeous!), my Giuseppe Armani figurine, a Turkish Coffee urn and one of the cups that I purchased on my one and only shopping trip to Turkey, and some of my furniture. Many tears have been released as I unpacked the above item.

As far as the house goes. It is still trying to cleanse itself. Found a leaking sink drain yesterday.

Today a local contractor is coming in to give us an estimate on refinishing 1/2 of the downstairs hardwood - floors, window frames, molding and doors. Most of it is good. It is the floors that are bad. Somewhere along the line, someone decided to refinish them. When that anonymous someone did, they didn’t remove the area rugs that were on the floor. Each room has a nicely refinished border around a dark spot the size of a large rug. Looks rather slip shod! And funny in a sad, I want to cry and kick some ass sort of way.

Well, off to awaken the sleeping beauty that I call my DS and get busy unpacking more boxes. It would be like Christmas but for the possibility of broken items. (maybe a Lemony Snicket Christmas, ya think?)

Sorry, but this is a pictureless post.

We are now the proud owners of an early 1900s American Four Square. There is a debate between me and the locals as to whether or not it is a Sears home. Much of the original woodwork remains. It wasn’t lost to a well meaning re-muddle. Most of it remains in the natural wood color! Only 2 windows and 2 door frames were painted white. Oh well.

The previous tenants didn’t do anything to the house. And I do mean nothing! We walked in the first day to air redolent of a smoking house. The bathrooms were bad and I won’t go into the odor that greeted us. The place was so filthy that the house was trying to wash itself! Every commode, every faucet and some of the pipes were leaking!

It is structurally sound, which is a great bonus. Most of the work will come from catching up the neglected maintenance and undoing the damage done in the 60s by some well meaning re-muddler.

The boyfriend is now removing a fugly built-in unit that was done during that 60s updating attempt.

I wanted to cry when I saw the top of the China Cupboards that had been removed at that time, chopped apart, and stacked in the pantry for use there. Across the top someone had written “Ship by rail to T.J. Britcher, Clinton, New York, from Cincinnati, Ohio”. Regrettably, there was no date. I do know that the Britchers gave a little over 1/4 of an acre to Thomas J. Britcher in 1916. That would put my guesstimate of construction at circa 1918.

If you hadn’t figured it out yet. Our goal is the restoration of this almost pristine American Four Square.

Because my house is now full of boxes and furniture all in need of attention, I can’t take pictures yet. Not that I don’t want you to see the turmoil I am living in, but because my camera is buried somewhere in the debris and can’t be found at the moment.

Can’t wait to share the pictures on it of the woodwork and the rooms - pre furniture delivery!

Until then - wish me luck with the leaky plumbing!

Back after a long silence. Yes, I am still here. But not in Wyoming. We are now living in a small efficiency apartment until the closing on our new home.

I love New York! No, I am not playing with the “heart” bumper sticker! I truly love this area! It is green! The wind isn’t blowing constantly! There are trees! It is green! There is water! It is green! (have I said that before?)

My internet service is shaky right now. Will be getting that hooked up in the new home on the 26th of this month.

I will leave you with this picture of the surrounding area for now and get you more as they are taken.

Oops! Did I say I was going to show you pictures of Clinton, NY? I….’m…..S…O…R…R…Y!

Here is the picture I pomised…

Next time, we can take a walk together through the woods.

While perusing in the poetry section of our local Buns and Noodle, I came across this poem.  It struck a chord.  It caused me to get a tear in my eye and look to see if anyone noticed as I wiped it quickly away.  It made my day.  Now I want to share it with you.

i carry your heart with me

by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Hey, me here. Just another note to let you all know I am still alive. Haven’t been on-line much. Keeping busy. Snapping back at the blues and the desperation that sets in when you have a house for sale and nobody is looking.

Began going to the gym to get my girlish figure back. Lost it somewhere along the line. But now is a great time to go searching for it again.

Been knitting too! Have Nantucket ready for the blocking board. Then the finishing. Got to a point where I was needing a brainless - really brainless - knit. So I made a dish towel and cloth. Will post the pattern and a pic later. Been swimming with Mermaid as well. And caressing Maidenhair. All of these little loves will be discussed later in a picture loaded post.

Went to a cat show with Jack last weekend. He got his Championship! Now he is ready to get bulked up and jump in the ring with the big boys. He is still small and very light for his age group. Any suggestions for a food that cats cant resist? Right now he is eating Royal Canin Selective (formulated with the picky kitty in mind) and Avoderm Selects - Tuna and Crab is the only combo he will touch. He spends hours trying to bury any other combo. The tile around his food area is developing runnels because of my attempts to find a food he will eat!

Am getting ready to head to the gym for my afternoon of fun and frolic. I will leave you with this until I can get my camera downloaded and more pics for the posting.

Yes, I am the man. It was nothing. I just sat there and looked awesome. I can’t help it if I am the best lookin’ dude on the block. What? Me conceited? No, that would be that other cat that got Best in Show.

And, I really, really need to get caught up with my internet/blogger friends.  Boy, have I been bad or what???

Well, still here.  Still on the High Plains of good ole Wyoming.

The boyfriend left for NY yesterday morning.  The week before was spent busily repairing the little things, building a new porch/deck on the front of the house, painting the older decks, hauling the accumulation of wood, fencing, and other discarded items to the dump.

Haven’t been doing much else.  Just wishing the house would sell so DS2 and I can hit the road in June.

Don’t have much to say.  But, will get better.  Just need to get into the single mom thing and not focus on the tunnel ahead.  Yes, that one.  The one with no light at the end of it.

Just a quick bit to say that I am still here. Haven’t been writing due to the disaster zone that is my home.

Today, my mudroom is in my family room alcove. My kitchen can be found in my front room. The den is conveniently located between the refrigerator, range, bench and the front door.

Why the DZ? We are replacing the kitchen floor so the new tenants, whoever they may be, can enjoy brand spanking new Armstrong vinyl flooring! Lucky poos. And the den is getting new carpeting.

Answer me this. What is it about moving that activates the home improvement gene in some people?

Helen, this first one is for you!

On the knitting front, Mermaid has come out of hibernation and is swimming right along. Now that I am immersed in the pattern, it is fun. It is an interesting construction. I want to make another one. Wonder what it would be like in cotton or rayon. Hmm…. Great summer evening jacket.

Nantucket is coming along as well. I was so excited about the pattern and the ease in knitting that I made a “why the rush?” mistake. Easy fix, just a bit of frogging and a re-knit of the collar on the left front.

Alice Starmore’s Maidenhair is a work of art. It may take me a year of knitting to finish her, but, what a finish! Have gotten 50 rows into the back and have only 4 to 5 inches of fabric! Small needles, fine yarn, wonderful finished product for anyone that can stick to it!

I know, I know…no pictures. Once the DZ that is my home is put back into some semblance of order and I have a clear space on a table to get some, pictures will happen. Until then, take my word for it. The garments are here. The garments are under construction. The garments are great!

Love, like life, has many phases. It has its ups, its downs, its fast and slow, its hot and cold.

Many times in life, we forget that love has a life of its own. We give up on it. We toss loved ones aside because the hot phase is working toward a cooling phase. We forget that this rollercoaster will bring us back, not to the same peak, but maybe one higher, better.

Sometimes, we just need to sit and enjoy the slow phase, work to make it through the down phase, and bundle up to endure the cold phase. After these difficult phases we might just find that it is all worth it. That the work turned that passionate love into something more enduring. It strenthened that love into a bond as strong and forged steel.

Today I realized that my relationship with my BoyFriend/DH has moved into another phase. It was like a smack on the head. I have moved from one of those “you are my friend and I enjoy being with you” phases, to one of those “I love you so much I don’t know what my life would be without you” phases.

What caused this movement? It was little things. It was noticing his consideration. It was observing his kindness. The way he talks about me to my friends and his. The little things like being there for me when I am not in the best of moods. And, the way he re-invents our marriage for the better whenever he can. His humor. His laugh. His strength.

With our upcoming move, he has made a real and valiant effort to come back to me as my friend and partner. With our upcoming move, our children are going to be scattered across the United States. It will just about be Just Us for the first time in over 20 years. He is making sure that we, as a couple, will be able to ride the wave of this next phase in our lives, and land, high and dry other side.

You know? When I met him so many years ago, I got lucky. He has shaped and formed my life, my very soul, in ways I never would have imagined that day, in the grocery store of all places, in Spain.

Hey, ya know what? I think I am in love!

The Nantucket Jacket, designed by Norah Gaughan, is a gorgeous garment! It looks good on everyone that I have seen wear it. It has cables and seed stitch and twisted stitches. Just enough variation in the pattern to make it a fun and interesting knit without being so overwhelming that you need to watch a chart.

That being said, I have found one problem that I would like to address for any hapless soul that is going to put the work into making this gorgeous piece of knitwear. The gauge isn’t right! No, it isn’t just a little off, it is waaaaaay off. Let me explain.

I am not a small person. I did my gauge swatch, I always do my gauge swatch. Don’t hate me because I can knit, hate me because I swatch. Anyway, I got the perfect 18 sts and 24 rows for 4 inches. Then I did the second recommended swatch and got the perfect 24 sts and 24 rows to 4 inches again. Did I say perfect? It was spot on perfect!
With full confidence that this would be a garment that I could wear and feel proud of, I cast on for the size that the schematic showed would fit me the best. I began to knit. My sweater to wear on the move “Back East” was progressing quickly. It was proving to be a fun knit. The yarn was working up wonderfully! Then, as I was working on about the 5th decrease for the skirt, a light went on in my head. Then a voice rang out in the zen-like silence that comes over me when I am working on a satisfying, gratifying project.

“Hey”
“What!”
“Hey You!”
“What!”

“Did you realize that you are using 32″ circulars?“

“Well, yes.”

“Do you see a problem here?“

“What?”

“Don’t start that again. Just go get a tape measure and measure that puppy!“

I got up, not wanting to anger the voice in my head, and got my trusty little measure. I laid the knitted piece out and, without measuring, saw a leetle bit of a big problem.

I was using 32″ circulars. Oh, my inner zen voice already pointed that out, right?

Right. The skirt, after 5 decreases, was wider than my needles were long. I measured.

“Crrrrrrrrrrrap!” said very loudly with a very satisfying rolling of the r. Not very zen-like, I admit.

It measured in at a full 48 inches! That wouldn’t have been so bad if I was knitting the entire body of the sweater in one piece. But, this was the back I was working on here!

I muttered a few very vile words and did some measuring and calculating.

Damn!

How could this be?

My gauge swatches were both right!

Spot on!

What happened?

In order to get the size I needed, I would have to go down to the small! I am not a small person! I didn’t want to go down in needle size because of the need for the length provided by the row count. And, because my gauge was spot on, what needle size would I go down to anyway? Is there an errata on this that I am not aware of?

Armed with the knowledge of the size I would have to make, I dove into the frog pond, muttering and grumbling the entire time.

I was amazed when, after casting on for the smaller size, how quickly the skirt reformed.

“Fewer stitches, Bozo“

“Oh - STFU!“