The Monotony of Summer!

I haven't written because nothing is new.  It is the time of year I understand siestas.  It is hot, humid, and so far, really dry.  After our beginnings of rainy days, we are now in drought again.

I have my knitting nest set up exactly as I like it, and I am slowly progressing on my sweater.  It is the softest yarn- a merino and cashmere blend.  I am not sure that it will hold up to a lot of wear, but it will be nice to wear next to skin.  The pattern is challenging, and I do about 1 or 2 rows a day.  I am still plugging along with the lacy scarf.  Surely I will have it finished by the October show in Greenwood.  That is the goal.  I am still out of love with it, and that makes the knitting tedious.

I finished one skein of the British Babydoll Southdown.  Not my favorite wool to spin, but I wanted the experience of a new wool.  I know I will not buy any more of that.

This coming weekend is the fiber show in Kellyville, OK-Fiber Christmas in July.  I am going to make my annual trek for a day trip.  I know that I DO NOT need any more fiber, but gosh!  when did that ever stop me?  I also want to network with some of my vendor friends.

I have a dreaded appt. on Friday to get my teeth cleaned.  I HATE dentistry worse than anything.  Yuck!

I am almost Netflix-ed out for a while.  I know I am at a low place when I am watching Sherlock Holmes shows.  Surely some time in my life I have seen these. 

I am reading a lot lately, but I can't tell you what I am reading.  Cozy mysteries, I know, but none of them that memorable.  I finished the series of Shetland mysteries by Anne Cleese.  They were good.  I recommend them for mystery readers.  The others are just little books that take a day or maybe two to read.  I am back with the library since I am reading so fast this summer.

Another person stopped to "sell" me on sealing my driveway.  This is number three.  I am getting good at dismissing them.  I must have a sign marked out on the road somewhere that says "Sucker lives here."  At least they are creative about what their products do.  Oh, well, winter will come and the grass growing in the cracks will die.  One offered to spray poison on the grass for me.  I told him absolutely not while I have birds and insects so active right now.  He looked at me like I was crazy. 

I do have a great variety of bees right now.  They are loving all the good things to pollinate.  I have a lot of butterflies, too, and I noticed there seems to be a lot of dragonflies this year.  I saw lots of baby praying mantises about a month ago.  Of course, I have the usual number of birds.  I don't have so many hummingbirds as I have had.  The downy woodpeckers seem to enjoy the sugar water more than the hummers this year.

So this is the monotonous time of year to stay indoors, avoid the heat, and just keep plugging along towards the goals for October. 

Stay cool and drink lots of water.

What A Bizarre Week!

I decided to knit a color-stranded sweater for myself.  I have been so good to focus on what I need for the fiber show in October, and I am glad to say that I am caught up with that.  So now onwards with my own sweater.  It is a long-term project, but I am so excited about it.

I can't read the damn pattern.  It is printed in a very dark color and is a tiny print for the chart.  I did enlarge it on the computer after scanning it in.  That helps, but it is still hard to see.

Two of my friends have shamed me into buying the magnifying readers that the doctor prescribed for me last January.  I can read better (with less strain, I should say), but any movement makes me nauseous and makes me tired and headachy.  I decided that perhaps it is the movement that bothers me.  If it is stationary, I can read better.  If it moves (as in knitting) I can't handle it.  I do one row around and that's it.  At this rate I will never finish the sweater.

Of course, everyone tells me that I will adjust to it, and that it will make things so much better.  Yeah, right!

And today I got attacked by a yellow jacket wasp.  And then I discover that the nest is right by the back stairs in the cap of one of the support posts.  And then I panic that Patty will get stung.  And then I monitor her every move out-of-doors.  It has not been a good day.

Everything that I read online tells me this is a serious situation, and I already knew that.  My neighbor came over about 6:30 to check out the situation, and he bravely duct taped all the way around the tops.  I am giving it another day to make sure that the surviving ladies that did not get sealed in the tomb go away.  Then I am duct taping every one of the caps to make sure that it is safe.

I am spinning some English Babydoll Southdown fleece.  I have never spun it before, but it is weird feeling.  It is spongy feeling in the roving, and it is spinning rather tightly.  It definitely is not a long, lustrous fiber, and it isn't very soft.  I am thinking something like gloves from the yarn.  I don't know yet.  I think socks would be too thick and hot for me.  It isn't a difficult fiber to spin, just different than what I normally spin.  I wouldn't advise a beginner to tackle it unless a thick/thin yarn is wanted.  I am trying to control the draw, but it is a bit troublesome.

I wanted to get some mowing done this morning, but I never got started after the wasp sting and all.
It is 85 degrees at 9:35 pm.  We went from cooler to hotter real quick.  Of course, the up side is grass doesn't grow in hot and dry conditions!  Yeah! 

Otherwise, we are doing our usual hanging out in the house during the day and avoiding heat.  Noodles comes in about 1 pm and stays in until dark.  Patty just sleeps. 

My son turns 40 years old this Thursday!  Wow!  Isn't that impossible?

Have a good and safe rest of the week.  I am ready to go to bed and read a while.