drat!

Drat, drat, drat, drat, drat!

I am kicking myself.  It was a rookie mistake and I should have known better.

I was working away on the heel flap of the Watermelon Sock when something twigged.  All those stranded rows?  The ones I was so proud of?

Too.  Tight.

I had completely forgotten to adjust the size of the sock so that it would actually fit over the size of the foot for which it is intended.  Stranding takes away a lot of the horizontal stretch in the knitting.  Duh.

a good day if you're a duck

We got thumped with a massive rain system over the last 24 hours.  It was like someone was emptying a bucket right on top of us, constantly, for hours.  After a wet summer last year and a winter with a lot of snow, the poor soil just can't absorb much more water so it pooled where it could and flooded anywhere low lying.

Portions of my back yard had small lakes sitting on top of the grass/rocks.

 Cooper just had to taste the water.

(If you click to embiggen, you can see his tongue lapping the water.  It cracks me up.  Apparently I'm easily entertained.)

Bentley was interested in what lurked in the puddles.

Soggy Austin and Robbie were less impressed.

 

 

The water dripping off of the lilac blooms was pretty.  I love lilacs!

 The wind picked up this afternoon and blew heavy, water-logged branches off of the trees.  The yard is completely covered in litter but clean up will have to wait until the wind dies down.  It would sure be nice to see some real summer weather for a good stretch now.

 And it's been an exciting couple of days because we have been attending Dan's formal retirement functions.  At the end of June he will officially be retired from his thirty year teaching career.  Unfortunately the lighting wasn't great for pictures and this is the only one that turned out sort of okay.

It was a crazy day for Dan.  He was in a rush to get to a dental appointment after school and found that one of his tires was flat so there he was in the pouring rain changing his tire.  It was a definite case of Murphy's Law.  He was a little late to the dentist and very wet by the time he got there.  Then he rushed home to shower and change to make it across the city through flooded intersections to the banquet and presentations.  He's glad that tomorrow is Saturday so he can take the offending tire to be fixed.

After two evenings of dressing up and going out, my jaws hurt from visiting with colleagues, and my feet, knees, and hips hurt from wearing heels.  Jeesh, I feel very old some days.

seeded

Here's the start of the first Watermelon Stripes sock.

 It's a fun pattern with the color changes and the two rows of knitting with both colors at each change.  I'm glad that I learned to knit with two colors using the Philosopher's Wool method.  Here is the inside of the sock.

 All of the ends are woven in already.  Because the yarn is superwash, I  left the tails of yarn from each color change.  I will thread a needle to pierce each end into a couple of strands on the back before I wash the socks.  That should anchor them for good and then I will snip off the ends.

Trish posted on her blog about buying a new dining table and then discovering that she couldn't clamp her ball winder and swift to it.  I have the same problem with every table in our house.  I solved it simply by buying an inexpensive tabletop ironing board.  It works great and it's portable.  I thought that I would share this in case other people have the problem.

 When Geoff moved out, I took over this table in the basement to use as a winding station.  It's nice to have everything ready to go when needed.

what Bentley's wearing

For those that asked in the last post about what Bentley is wearing in the picture, it's a belly band.

A belly band is just a strip of fabric with a fastener, in this case it's velcro, to wrap around a male dog's belly.  Having several males over the years that were show dogs for a few years before being neutered, I've had boys "marking" (lifting their legs) in the house.  Some breeds are worse than others.  You can tuck some protection, usually a sanitary pad or an incontinence pad, in the belly band and it protects the house from spritzes.  It's a terrific little fashion accessory!

Although shelties are very good about not lifting their legs in the house, the bichons and the dachshund - not so much.  In fact the dachshund is hard to catch in the act because of those little short legs and furry underside making it pretty tough to know when a leg is being lifted at all.  So it's belly band to the rescue!  B wears his in the house all the time and my carpet and furniture are grateful.  When we stayed in hotels with the dogs, I always mentioned that the dogs wore them in the hotel room and they were very appreciative when I explained what they were.  I can remember one desk manager who was thrilled and stated that they should keep a supply to hand out to dog owners.

The downside is standing in the checkout line at the store with the jumbo box of Poise pads.  I'm sure people look at me and wonder why someone as "young" as myself needs them.  Of course, checking out with sanitary pads probably also has people wondering why an "old" lady such as myself needs those too!

life is good

Although the rainy, cool weather persists, Bentley is very happy that it's warm enough to be in the sunroom.  When he's in his favorite spot, he can relax and keep an eye on his world.  Everyone should have life this good.

mmm, watermelon!

Thanks for all of the well-wishes left on the last post.  It has been a rough week but I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm nearing the end of the pain flare.  The migraine left me a couple of days ago which was a huge relief.  Chronic pain can certainly take the joy out of life.

Anyway, it's been easier to dye yarn than to sit in one position for long.  The latest dyeing was for a specific project.

I decided to make the colors a little stronger than the ones in the picture which looks like a baby sock to me.  If all goes as planned, the Watermelon Stripes Socks will be a gift for a certain young lady.

And I will leave you with some pictures of Mr. Greenjeans.  No, not the lovely cardigan pattern - Cooper.  Dan cut the lawn then went to do some garden chores.  Cooper watched him and raced around on the grass as a light rain fell, making his white legs a lively shade of chlorophyll green.

Here's a close-up.