Happy Leap Day!

And to celebrate I am having a GIVEAWAY!
Open until midnight (PST) tonight - and tomorrow I will pull the name of the winner!

So that means you have to reply on this blog to be entered!

It is just the pattern for this California "license plate" pouch

Good luck!

If you are not into sewing - tell your friends who are!

Lovely Day For A Picnic!

So we went to Troia's - got our sandwich to share, some guac chips, drinks, and dessert....and had a picnic:

 And my sweater, which I completed yesterday, finally finished drying so I could photograph it. This is Briki by Cristina Ghirlanda on Ravelry. This is the 2d of my 3 sweaters made for The Loopy Ewe Grad program. This will most likely go to the Pine Ridge Reservation - maybe at Christmas time - or for fall school time. I used Cascade 220 Superwash in the navy and orange; and Cascade 220 Wave Superwash in the green and yellow. Hubby talked me out of the 4th color (and I think he was right!)

Great pattern - lovely sweater - still some issues I need to work out but I will likely make this one again for gifting

I Feel Old...Oh So Old...

Not so pretty - witty - or gay! I understand that song have been left out of the new stage production of West Side Story...I guess I can see why it isn't PC, but it is such a pretty, perky song!

Doctors....doctors....doctors.....I HATE going to doctors. But I am getting it all over with - and it is funny, I find myself more patient during the interminable wait involved with doctor visits. Maybe because I don't feels as though I am wasting one of my valuable days off?

So I went to see an old person's doctor today. And he himself was old. But very nice, and funny. Took my ugly toenail in....got most of it cut off and sent off for biopsy. After which time we will decide if we try treatment again, or permanent removal. ICK!

I have a relatively high tolerance to pain, and grossness, but a very low tolerance to ICK. And today was ICK.

But I got to see some Xrays of my foot - and saw where the break was decades ago - and what is now probably some arthritis in that toe. And he told me I have/had a "near miss" for club feet!

Next up in bone scan and mammogram. Both on the same day, right after each other. Thank goodness. Oh crap, I just realized that is next week. Well, at least I am getting these over and done with....

And now I am awaiting the rheumatologist's office to call me and schedule an appt for me. I don't know that I am happy for this (answers?) or scared to death (mostly this - reiterate: I hate doctors!).

Yes, I know I let things go too long and this is payback....and I should stop whining since I have insurance that makes all these visits workable.

Before During and After

I usually remember that I should have taken a "before" photo when I am actually taking the "finished" photo. Although I do not have a good photo of before, here are some photos of the backyard ….we have been working on it for a week, and finally finished the majority of it yesterday morning (before it got really windy and chilly) thanks to help from some very good friends.

All the well we kept saying - a few years ago and we would have finished this in a weekend.....so maybe we have come to our senses and learned to pace ourselves?? No, we have gotten OLD.

BEFORE:

 DURING:

 AFTER:

We have one little area at the very back of the house that we need to rototill, so that we can level the dirt, and then put down the tarp )AKA weed barrier) and we have what we are hoping as just enough bark left to do it all. Then we want to fill in some areas with a little bit more of the small rocks.

Then we have to decide what to do with the side of the house - a bit of the back - and we need to fill in more bark on the front yarn.

But today? Today we ran errands, replaced some light switches (INSIDE) and switch plates and outlet covers. I planted a second crop of radish seeds since the first ones are coming up, and made a trial recipe of pecan pie muffins I found on FB.

And now I am going to go and knit.....We. Are. Tired.

Physical Labor is Good For You - Right?

So it has been a sunny, but chilly, weekend. So of course it is a good time to work outside!

We got the weed barrier spread on 2 sections of the backyard (only one huge section left, and a smaller section). And the oval part was a royal pain.

Today we bought and covered it all with bark. 1 cubic yard of bark does not seem like that much....until  you are filling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow with it, dumping it and starting all over!

But it covered more than we expected!

Also dug out an old, ugly, neglected hibiscus. Need to dig out the unknown fruit tree that doesn't bear fruit - or many leaves either! Still having our ongoing argument about one of the trees that I WANT GONE! And hubby says no - so it is either that one goes (and I think I am allergic to it when it blooms in early summer) or the two palm trees that look like hell because they get no sun at all because of it).

Husband also put a temporary gate into the fencing around the largest part of the garden - to make it easier for us to work in - but we also want to put a couple of chairs under the oak tree(s) and be able to enjoy the shade. Oh, and if you are wondering why the fencing? The answer is one simple word: dogs!

The miner's lettuce and the sour grass is blooming - signs that spring is coming! And several of the succulents have beautiful blooms too!

Weekend Highs and Lows

So this weekend we drove down to Irvine to see 2 of our grandsons participate in the KAP7 Waterpolo Tournament.

Watching the weather forecast - gonna be sunny and in the 70's.....ok, now mid 60's and sunny....

Got down there Friday and the weather was lovely. Then listening to the news - what?? Rain??? There was no rain in the forecast!!! Do we have umbrellas? Nope, because we took the truck and they are in the car. Do we have ponchos? No.....luckily they have Walmarts down there....

Lets back up a bit. Hubby decided we would go down 101.
Remember, it has been a long time since we drove down there - now we usually hop Southwest and go.....So we went 101 just cruising along. Stopped at CRACKER BARREL!!!!!!!!!!! Have been looking forward to that ever since we knew we were going down. And it did not disappoint....until we found out they. did. not. have. the. carrot.cake. THE MAIN REASON WE STOPPED THERE!

And it went down hill from there....we were supposed to meet up with daughter/family at Disneyland to spend Friday afternoon/evening there. Well, we were still stopped in traffic when the closest we could figure is we MIGHT get to the parking lot by 5:30 PM - and they had been there since 4 PM.
Tired. Cranky. Needing to pee. We told them - enjoy yourself! We are just heading to the hotel. Which we finally got to closer to 6 PM.

So priorities - checked in - headed to room to pee - and then to the bar for the complimentary Manager's Happy Hour! 2 (mini sized) glasses of wine/beer, and a couple of bowls of snacks later, we got our things out of the car and went back to the room.....watched a little TV, and went to bed.

Saturday Luke wanted us to go to his favorite place for breakfast down there. They had had a late night so they slept in a bit. We drove over with them to this place called Stacks (http://stackspancakehouse.com/) and the line was literally out the door and across the patio seating. But he really really wanted to eat there. I think we were actually there a couple of hours, between standing in line, waiting for food, and eating. And it was alright. Not really worth the wait - and the meal Luke was so looking forward to? He didn't even really like it.....but we left and went to Walmart and got rain ponchos, umbrellas, and snacks cause their games didn't start until later in the afternoon. Way later.

Husband and daughter went to Jack's games (which they lost). SIL and I went to Lukes games, which they won. The first game was awesome. There was about an hour and a half between games so we went back to the hotel (yay - time to pee again! LOL) (and scarf down some snacks). The rest of the team all went out to dinner. We got back and just as the game started husband, daughter, and Jack showed up - they had gone to hotel first because by now it was COLD! The most beautiful full moon though! They were winning this game but ended up tied. So they had to participate in a shootout. That means the first team that has two goals in a row, wins. So 1 person from one team gets up and shoots; then a person from the other team; then back to the first team....you get the picture.  I think they went through their whole line up (they chose 4 players) twice - and on the 3d time through the other team won. These kids were tired.

On the way back to hotel they drove to Chik-Fil-A so we got a chicken sandwich, ate it about 9:45 and went to bed.....

Woke up to rain. And cold. And to find out that Jacks first game was at 2:40 and Luke's wasn't until somewhere around 5. The coach tried to get Luke's games changed because people were planning to leave - driving or with plane reservations. But they wouldn't change the times. So they told the coach Luke was not going to be there.

My biggest complaint - and daughter said this was new this year - they had the older boys playing in the mornings - and the younger ones in the afternoons and evenings. Now we all know teenaged boys like to sleep late, and they know how to chill with video games etc.....and younger boys don't really know how to chill....so this was just plain stupid. And it seemed like the SO CA teams got the best time slots while those who had a long long drive home, or flights to catch had the worst....

Great lunch at BKs Brewhouse (whoever thought up that name?) and then we got to watch Jack's team win. FOR THER FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!!! And after watching his team play a couple of games, I have to say, this was the first time I saw them actually play like a team.

And yes it rained - and drizzled - and poured - and rained throughout the game. So after talking it over with the parents - explaining that if things went well, the 2d game might - MIGHT - be around 6 PM , the coach scratched the 2d game.

Daughter and family left from there to drive home. We headed back to the hotel. Hubby too wet and cold to want to even go to Downtown Disney like he planned - and we were both still too full from lunch to even think about going to Knott's Berry Farm for chicken dinner.....so after 3 (mini sized) glasses of wine/beer and some snacks we got to go back to the room and watch - my favorite! NOT! - the Academy Awards.

Got up Monday and had breakfast - finished packing and left. Beautiful clear, sunny, and warm day!
And this time we went home on I5 - cut over to 101 at Paso Robles - got to eat at the wonderful Cowgirl Café (http://stackspancakehouse.com/) and we were home just after 3:30 PM.

The side of the Highway 46 was lined with these piles of tumbleweeds, which they were coming along and burning

So my funny story is I took 3 knitting projects with me. One was a pair of socks that I just needed to finish the toe and graft said toe on the 2d of the pair....which I did before we even got out of the county and I am so glad......got back to the room that cold and wet Sunday afternoon and immediately put them on! The other project was another prayer shawl for www.alicesembrace.org - I thought I had a lot more to go on that one.....finished it about the time we hit the traffic in LA area. Luckily, I am still working on the 3d project - I would have really been miserable if I had finished them all!

I cannot believe that people actually live and drive in the mess that is considered LA area. The traffic in the Bay Area is bad - but usually just during rush hours. And only in certain areas. Down there, it feels as though it is a 100 mile radius of parked cars on the freeways (probably only 50 mile radius) and it goes on and on and on and on. And people do that every freaking day of the week....twice a day. How??????? WHY?????????????