Bushwhacking

I may have mentioned that I'm having the outside of my house painted. It certainly needed doing. Unfortunately for me, the best thing for my dog was a vacation at the kennel. I miss her!

I found an iPhone app called "Map my dogwalk." It is sponsored by Subaru and is free. I'm using that to track how far I walk. I'm still walking, although alone. This morning's walk was almost 2 miles, then I walked the track at the gym as usual for a warm up before hitting the machines. I skipped the treadmill that was scheduled for today. I figured that I had already walked farther than usual.

Here's a before and after example from the house painting. The scraping is done. The window and trim are aluminum. When the windows were put in, my DH planned to aluminum side the house. It no longer makes sense, since I won't be here long enough to make it pay.

The dormer twin is already primed. It's hard to tell,because the house color is almost white. The front wall below the dormers is already painted. The paint is sprayed on, which is why the window is masked. Makes for a nice even coat with no drips.

Did I say something about bushwhacking? The side of the house to the left has a couple of trees and used to have five Rose of Sharon bushes. When I told Rockie, my neighbor that the bushes would have to be trimmed because the touch my house, he said he didn't care if they were cut down. He hates that variety of bush. I agree that they are a weed. The seeds scatter and grow everywhere. I said I would cut them down. He will pull up the roots. I left about a foot of bush to grab onto when pulling roots. That's a lot less than the 8 - 10 feet high bushes that were there this morning. Out came the saw and the big pruners. I really had fun destroying the bushes. I have two big piles of

greenery tied up waiting for trash day (next Tuesday). You can see them under the tree, to the right. The white things behind the trees are my downspouts. They'll be replaced tomorrow, as rain is expected in the evening.

I had already spent a bit of time weeding in the front yard, and spraying miscellaneous plants that needed to be killed. I finished the day with another "dog" walk before dinner as usual. I was afraid to delay it, because if I sat down, I might not get up. A very productive day, although as usual plans got changed along the way.

A Break From Knitting

I started this shrug in April I think. The plan is to finish the back, and then get back to knitting. I have a pair of socks started, need to do another pair, and get back to Christmas stockings. Why do we think that projects will be done almost overnight? I thought that I could work on this shrug for a day or so and finish the back. Two days later, I've worked from round 8 to round 17, out of 24. Of course, each round is longer. I don't like putting projects down for long, because of the time it takes to find your place and get back into the rhythm of the work. I'm there now and think I will give myself until Friday to finish the back. I will have to move on to the socks at that point, but finishing one piece is a good stopping place.

The yarn is, I believe, British. It's called Crevenna Wool from Tioga Yarns. Oops, the label says made in the USA. The yarn company does seem to have a Native American name, possibly from New York State. It's a fingering weight wool, with a crepe texture, that I bought at a house sale years ago. I had just enough of this color for the project. 

Home life

My life is being upset by the painting of the outside of my house. I put my dog in the kennel for the duration, but I miss her. She really doesn't need to be home when strange men are doing things to her house and I'm at work, so not at home to comfort her. I might have tried keeping her home if I were there. 

Electronics

My daughter Jan fixed my computers and got the printer to work. My son stopped over this morning to retrieve the yoga DVD from the dead player. He was on his way to the motorcycle shop for a minor repair. I'm sure he had a laptop with him, so he could work while he waited. The advantages of a computer based career, sometimes he gets to work outside his office. What does he do? He's a computer geek for Cleveland Clinic, working in the Cadrdo-Pulmonary department. He has a PhD in Statistics. I'm really enjoying having adult children, especially when they have time to take care of me a little. 

Did I Fall Off the End of the Earth?

I had a beautiful post written and just needed a photo of my sweater.That was back in June!

Knitting
I did finally finish the black sweater. I still need to write the pattern. Better do that soon! Oasis Yarns Aussi Wool Worsted. Cuffs, front bands and collar are reversible cables. Hook and eye closure. Right now my computer is not talking to my printer. One of the kids will look into why, and figure out what needs to be done to fix it.


Medical Update
Hearing aids work well. Cataract Surgery was a breeze. I was worried about seeing to sew before everything was finished and healed. Not a problem. I need reading glasses, but have a source where they cost $.88 a pair. I can have glasses to match my outfits, as many pairs as it takes. The store is out of my strength tight now, but I already bought 5 pairs before my second eye was done. All other maintenance on my body is done for a while!

House
Painting the outside starts tomorrow. The dog will be going to the kennel for the duration.

My kids have convinced me that I need a smaller house. Domestic Archeology has commenced. It's surprising how much "stuff" a family can accumulate in 40+ years of living in the same place. I find that most of it has no sentimental value, making it easy to dispose of. This is a two year plan.Right now I'm trying to get rid of at least an extra garbage bag each week.There will be donations, house sale, what ever it takes.

I just finished knitting a Christmas stocking, one of five I need to do this year. Four are for a customer, and one is family.Max is the new stocking. It seems that every year, I get to knit stockings to add to what grandma knit. This is an old Bernat pattern that I've knit twice before.

Miscellaneous
I grew up when life was simpler. When things broke, you got them repaired. They were made to last forever and could be repaired. I really like televisions, computers and smart phones. as well as microwaves and refrigerators with ice in the door. I forget that I didn't grow up with any of these things. We listened to the radio, made ice in trays, and didn't make many long distance calls because they were expensive. We walked to the store, although my mother knew how to drive, we only had one car. When she wanted to go grocery shopping, she had to drive my father to work and pick him up again. Stores were closed evenings and Sundays.

That may explain why I get so frustrated when things break, or just don't work. Right now, my laptop is misbehaving, my DVD player died, my printer may need replacing, and the album my son loaded on my computer won't play on my phone. They all will get resolved, but make me grumble.

On the plus side for modern conveniences, I talk to my oldest daughter who lives in Florida every morning, using my cell phone and blue tooth earpiece. Computers and everything they do is wonderful. I plan to play my yoga DVDs on my iPad. The laptop and printer will eventually be replaced, I hope not this month.