35th Wedding Anniversary

Can you believe it? I can't...35 years married...37 all together. Wow. And, Look what my honey got me!!

You all know how challenged I've been for the last 2 years without a decent Camera.

So many instructions to learn now. But, I'm managing and THANK god Jennifer had one of these (or something similar) and can help me. Won't you dear? Maybe? Anyway...
Happy NEW YEAR..and Happy Anniversary to Billy and I......Wheeeeee

Merry Christmas from THE TURNER'S

Snow snow snow... ACK!!!

Merry Christmas anyway. Hope you are all safe and warm.
We're ready for whatever the weather brings but..we don't have to like it!!


Smootches and Hugs
Annie and the kids

SNOW

I CAN NOT believe how much snow we have!! I went to let the cats out the back door..which opens out..and it wouldn't go..a foot or more snow in the way!

Bill had cleaned off the walkway and driven his car only yesterday. You can't tell. The bricks that line the front garden..gone..disappeared like they were never there..but I know they are under there someplace. Poor tree out front looks like its going to break. Glad Bill trimmed back the big tree in the back since it breaks a few more branches every year. All I can say is WOW..

If it stays like this threw Christmas, I guess it will be postponed. Don't Hurt yourselves getting here. * Thats for Wyatt and Jyll..and my brother Mike. *
Everyone have a good Christmas and stay safe...Love you all!!

Christmas Knitting

Mitts inspired by Good friend, Terri Shea's book. I don't mean to brag..ok, so I do..but I did knit one of the pairs of mittens in this book :) I don't usually do this kind of knitting so doing it on my own, so to speak, was hard. I like how they turned out.
I also made several pairs of my usual..Cashmere/homespun mitts. They're kind of dark..hope you can see them.

St. Distaff's day.. moves

St. Distaff's Day Annual Spin-in. Saturday, January 3, 2009 10am to 4pm. Cavelero Mid High 8220 24th St. SE Everett, WA

I heard this today a Seaview Weavers guild.
I guess St Pius has gotten to small so its been moved to the above address. Yes, it is annoying since St. Pius is 3 blocks away but.. I do understand the need for more room. Hope its not snowing!! Hope people actually read my blog so they get this info!

Gamer Grandma

Bill snapped this photo of Trysten and I doing a mission with my sons Jerico and Marshall on Final Fantasy XI. He's making sure I'm following the right person and reading names off for me. I'm talking to the boys on the headset on Skype (an internet chat program) that works like the telephone. No pushing a buttons to talk, just talk.

We had a great time.

Meanwhile, his mama was taking detailed measurements of my spinning wheel for her graphic design classes at ITT.. or maybe it was Geometry..anyway.

Finished the black black BLACK fingerless mitts. WHEW!!

Catch up

Now that Thanksgiving is over ...Christmas looms in my mind. Oddly enough I'm nearly done shopping already. I love the internet! I love AMAZON.com ..hee hee

Been working on several projects mostly for presents so I'm not showing any pics. Always seems if I show a Picture of a WIP that I never start it or never finish it. Delusions I guess.

I've had a lovely case of the flu/cold all week so mostly stayed in bed. Feeling much better now ..Thanks. Seems that my friend Donny in Wyoming has it too. Now I only talk to Donny on the internet..how is it we both wound up sick at the same time?? Wierd!

Did alot of Flat feet dyeing last Sunday at Elsa's, with Brad and Debby, from VYT. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Guess what some of you are getting for Christmas?

Been having alot of fun (inspite of being sick) with my 2 sons(Jerico and Marshall) that play Final Fantasy XI online. We get on Skype (an internet phone program, free) and chatter at each other and run Jerico threw his missions. He's trying to catch up a little even tho we have 6 years on him. Sure beats typing stuff.. Like.. "WATCH out, theres a goblin behind you!!" Because by the time you finish the sentence..he's already dead..lol.

Hopefully next week will be more productive. Nearly finished with the knitted presents. But, still have a little shopping to do. My husband is impossible to shop for. He already owns every tool known to man. Thanks to his loving wife of 36 years.

I lived threw Thanksgiving

Turned out yummy. Smoked Turkey made by my lovely husband, Bill. Only picture I've stolen off his computer, so far. I will try to post more later. Wyatt and Jyll and 3 of the Grandkids came and made the day worth all the work. Jerico was home from the sea. Although Marshall had to work (!!!!!!!!) he still came. I saved him a plate of everything and half a fruitcake as requested. All in all a good day..especially after I had a beer and unclinched.
Picture shows a tiny corner of my kitchen. I guess you could call it the main working area. There is also a dining table (where Bill must have been standing to take the picture) and if he swung to his left you would have seen Wyatt and Jyll sitting at the breakfast bar, trying not to grab the turkey.

BUT, back to knitting. Working on BLACK, black, black fingerless mitts which I'm nearly done with. Restarted my Peacock sweater. Bought yarn to make a pullover out of Inca Gold in green (Thanks Mike for the Birthday gift card) picture at bottom. I may have finally found a yarn that will work for the cloisters sweater ,that I've had so much trouble with. I WANT this sweater bad. Only problem is that the original was knit in homespun. I haven't been able to find anything that gives the same gauge without being to loose or bullet proof. Debby at VYT suggested, Frog Tree Alpaca, I think it mightl work on size 3's. I ran up a couple swatches yesterday. But, I may have to wait till Christmas to get the yarn. Of course, it couldn't work out of stuff I had in my stash.. oh NO.. no way.. sigh. hee hee.

I should be knitting gifts. Maybe I'll sneak some of those in too!! Rather liking this little neck warmer from DreamWeaveryarns.com

ThanksGiving Thoughts

I love the food. I love my relatives. I HATE Thanksgiving. I always have a break down and cry. It doesn't matter who does the cooking. Whats up with that??

Marshall's Birthday Present

See what Bill made for Marshall for his 27th Birthday!!
Isn't this pretty? I know its hard to see but the large dial on the right is a Barometer/temp/humidity. The one on the left is a clock that can be turned to face whatever direction.
The woods are Cherry from our old Royal Anne tree that needed to be cut down and Oak from a neighbor who has long since moved away. The copper wire..lol.. is from the last telephone pole they replaced. It was the grounding wire and the phone co. just left it.
I think its really cool. Looks like something from Who-ville..lol. But, its still cool. Its sitting on a little table on my stairway landing.
Bill also made us a table clock. Pictured below

October.. ya I'm here

October, all ready. We've been on strike (Boeing) for 6 weeks now. I'm actually getting used to having Bill around. First week was horrid. I cried alot. My schedule was all f...ed up and I never seemed to get enough sleep. I'm adjusting. Alot of the time I wake up around 6:30 and just stay up. Its so bazaar.

Knitting. OH yes, I am.. thank you. I have more projects then 2 hands can handle. I'm taking a class in Cat Bordhi's socks. Its fun and for a while I found it terribly frustrating ,till I realized after ripping it out countless times, that I was on the wrong damn page! Deb Barnes is teaching it over at Village Yarn and Tea.

Other Projects are.. 1. The sweater ,from the latest Spin off magazine, The Cloister sweater by Sarah Swett. Out of stash yarn in a soft minty green with brown and white tweedishness. I'm really liking the pattern and the yarn.
#2 is a sweater from the, New, Debbie Bliss magazine. It doesn't seem to have a real name but its out of Tweed bulky..which I'm cheap and using Lambs pride bulky- in a peacock tourquoise.
#3 crocheted flowers for a friend. I've had alot of fun with the book " Crocheted Flowers" by Nicki Epstein. I've made several.

Life goes on..lol.. and knitting. I'm spinning cotton candy pink at the moment.

Boy, I'm busy. AND Christmas is coming.. OMG

Sock dye

Today, I spent the afternoon at Elsa's house dyeing Sock blanks from Knitpick.com
I've only dyed yarn a few times with marginal success. So, today was a real joy.
They turned out fabulous. We used Wilton cake icing colorings and Easter egg dyes in water/vineger put in squeeze bottles.
First, we lay out plastic wrap the length + an inch or so.. the size of the blank. Soaked the blanks in water for a time and squeezed them out before laying out to dye. We did all kinds of bazaar designs. I was rather sparing with the dye and tried not to waste it. Then we rolled up the plastic wrap the short way so, not to obscure our designs. Then the long way..like a jelly roll. Instead of steaming, like the knitpicks video, we Microwaved each packet for 2min and then let them cool. Gently, placed them in a sink 1/4 full of water to rinse. Almost no dye came out. Except the yellow which was easter egg tablet dye. BUT, the yellow did not rinse out totally. I squeezed the water out and when I got home layed them out on a sweater drying rack. Where they are drying now.
No pictures yet. But, heres the video with Acid dyes. Just substitute Microwaving for all that steaming..lol And, Food colorings instead of the Acid dyes. Good luck!!

Puppy sweater

Finally, The puppy sweater ON the puppy. Isn't she cute? Only thing I see that could be changed is making the neck smaller. But she looks happy.. don't you think?
I made this for my friend Don's dog Maya. What a sweetie.

My talented Hubby

We bought a glass lampshade for a lamp that belonged to my hubbies grandmother. We were horrified when we got it and it was to short to sit on the chimney properly. So we thought and thought and Bill decided to try making a wooden extension so it fit proper. Here it is on the lathe. Dozens of little pieces of wood glued to make a rough circle. Lots of dust and foot prints tracked threw the house... Here is the finished product.. Isn't it gorgeous!! Oh fyi.. the photos on the mantle are..Bill's Grandma.. Me as a 10 yr old and then at 28 ( the hippy look), behind is Bill in the Army.

Something New to me

I was sitting chatting with the ladies from my Saturday group. We get a bit loud with the laughing etc. But, I noticed we all got real quiet. Why was that?? They have background music playing most of the time. Today was mostly French probably from Debs vacation to Paris but something was playing that was different. I asked Victoria who it was so she went over to check and when she told me .. everyone in the room whipped out a pen to write the young mans name down.
Now.. Most of you don't know that I used to be a folk singer in the 60's and 70's..Haven't done much with it in years. I also have a passion for anything Celtic or folk music from the UK. So when I started researching this song I found the young man is from Scotland..you can hear his brogue in some of his music..anyway.. found an older YouTube before he cut his hair. Love my guys with long hair.. sigh Gonna embed it.. hope it works.

This is Alexi Murdoch.. the song Orange Sky

Knitting again!

Hello again! I took most of July off because of tendonitis. It seems to be better so I tried knitting and it doesn't seem to bother it. So, I started knitting socks out of this lovely Socks that Rock colorway called "Storybook".
I'm about halfway threw sock one and picking up the gusset in sock two. I seperated them for doing the gussets this time. Not sure why. I usually manage them both at the same time. Oh well.

The Alyce tee is sitting. I did get threw all the short rows without killing myself or anyone else. Tho, I'm sure Bill feels a little the worse for wear cuz I screamed and pulled my hair a bit. I read on Ravelry that someone is doing this sweater as their very first. I can't imagine. I've been knitting for 30+ years and its giving me fits.

The weather got cold for several weeks. Was a nice change but yesterday it decided to heat up. Usually its around 100 this time of year. Sigh.

My brother is going to have surgery. He was hoping to get out of it. Hoping they could just drain it now and then but no. So, Around the first of Sept its scheduled. I have no idea how they plan on getting around all the scar tissue from #1 surgery. They have to go threw his back and collapse his lung to get at it. Not so easy on a 350 lb man who doesn't excersize.

Jerico is coming home in..mmm.. 10 days. Trying to get my yarn mess under control so he can use that room. I'm hoping this time he'll get his own place. He's been talking about buying a condo with room for Marshall to share and keep his things safe while he's out of town. That makes good sense to me. He has also, talked about getting a boat to live on. Pfft...to have it sit 8 mo of the year empty, doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Thats it for now..

July update

Things have been slow since The BlackSheep Gathering.
My Saturday Knitting time was put on hold .
First Saturday after, Wyatt and Jyll came down for a few hours.
Next Saturday was Eryka(12) and Bryces' (2) Birthdays. They had a really nice Birthday party for them at Lou Anns (Jylls mother) lil ADOREABLE house. Its one of those Sweet old Doll house size houses. One person could be very comfortable there but two would be kinda tight. She's done a beautiful job decorating it.

I've been fighting, what I thought, was tendonitis from knitting or spinning at blacksheep. Which seemed odd because I didn't do THAT much of either. Now I'm thinking it was from weeding. Which I can happily put on hold till say.....ever. I really should just hire someone. Once I get down to weed I can't get back up. I could be stuck there all day! Not really but it gets worse the older I get. Heres a Pic of my fav Iris that I call "Caramelo"

I decided to start knitting again pain or no on Monday and it hasn't made the tendonitis any worse. My frustration level is at about 80 % tho. I'm working on the Alyce tee pictured a few entries below. For some reason I can't follow directions.. a 60s hippy not able to follow directions..who knew..lol

Otherwise, the month is slow..hot.. but progressing.

Brother Mike is still having tests. We have done alot of research online and are hoping they can take care of his cyst without surgery, this time. They have already drained it. I know.. ewww.. but people keep asking how he's doing.

Oh and its here again..... Boeing is voting on if its ok to think about striking this year. Has it been 3 years already! The vote to sanction is today. One year we were out on strike till 3 days before Christmas. Not many presents that year. Most were homemade which is better if you ask me..anyway.
Marshall got me the nicest present. Non gamers won't appreciate this but he got me a disk of Final fantasy XI music, played on Piano. It also gives you a harpsicord for your Room (moghouse) in the game. It plays a tinkling tune every hour and looks so sweet. Not a great picture but.. this is my character Pixx's room. Showing the new Harpsicord. All the trophies behind her are for a small portion of the chocobos she's raised (Ostrich like creatures you ride and race). Its kinda cramped where its sitting. Never noticed I put it in front of the damn window.. I'll have to move it. Hee hee. Thanks Marshall.. really nice!! I love it!

I got Tagged!!

Ginger Tagged me:

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago ~ I was homeschooling Marshall and our neighbor girl Marie. I hadn't started to knit again ,I don't think. We were taking Gaelic classes and Taekwondo together. I was taking Tai Chi the other days.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?

Laundry, dinner, finish my book Kushiel's Mercy (by Jacqueline Carey), watch tv, sleep

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Ice cream

4. Places I’ve lived-

Tacoma, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Tukwila, Mountlake Terrace

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Ooo, mmmm.... Whorled Peas :)

6. What are some jobs you’ve had:

Babysitter, Nurse, Singer/Guitar player in coffee houses, Mom, Exotic Dancer, Cocktail waitress, food waitress.

People I'm going to Tag are:

Rebecca

Sheila

Jen

Sharon

Baah Baah, Blacksheep

We took off right on time Thursday afternoon and 5 hours later arrived in Springfield Oregon. We all worried about the weather. It had been cold and rainy for months and we didn't think we'd see any summer, maybe, ever.
Friday, Ginger had a class so we wandered and shopped as the temperature soared (by Washington standards) to a whopping 85. We searched for the only shade..so here you see..Me, Emma (with her new fast flier) and Jennifer. We drew a bit of a crowd. Several little girls spent time watching us.
I got a bit overheated and when Betty and Martha offered to take me back to the hotel, I couldn't pack fast enough.


We all spent alot of time hanging out on the hotels indoor balcony overlooking the entry. Spinning, knitting and chatting. Jennifer learned how to Spindle. Took a whole 30 sec. for her to get the hang of it. Good job!!


It was also Bettys Birthday. Our talented Emma made her special sheep cupcakes. Aren't they pretty. Happy Birthday Betty

Sat. we stayed at the hotel till Ginger was done with her classes and then hit the fair, to see the Alpaca. They were in a seperate building. Love the Alpacas. Think I spent most of my money there. Got a beautiful skein of heathered pink and soft green. The next day I bought all the lavender blue roving one vendor had left. AND, I broke down and bought -part- of a carmel/vanilla fleece. It was just to pretty to leave behind. I swore I wasn't going to buy a fleece..lol

Saturday evening, while Emma and I took a nap, the rest went to the Rose garden to take pictures. Jennifer had been drooling on the window everytime we past it on the way to the fair. She's a fabulous photographer. I'm waiting for her to post her pictures.

All these pictures were taken by the Lovely Ginger. My camera is so old. Kinda waiting for Jerico to send me a new one from Japan. Thats the plan anyway.

Bill made me a really cool wooden platform for my luggage/wheel cart. I'm working on a frog ballerina to paint on the bottom. So far I have one picture on paper but haven't "loved" anything enough to paint, yet. But, it will be a Froggy version of Swanlake.

ROAD TRIP!!

Black Sheep Gathering.. Here we come. Be afraid.. hee hee
Ginger, Emma, Jen, Betty, Martha and I. Heaven help anyone who gets in our way.. kidding!
SEE YOU THERE

Guess I'm an over achiever in more ways then one!!

80 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Quick update

Mikes out of the hospital. The Biopsy showed it wasn't cancer. They will still have to remove it, maybe. Its a rare solid cyst (I know TMI) in the same area as the one he had removed 11 years ago. He has an appt to see the same surgeon that he had at that time who has become an expert at laparoscopy, so it may not be such a big deal after all.
Fingers crossed!!

Family Crap- read at your own risk

Ok.. here goes.. you ready?

So.. My brother thought he was having a heart attack on Tues.. Called an aid car. They couldn't get their gear into his messy apt (Its raining Junk mail in there). Off to the hospital.. So, no heart attack..maybe its acid reflux..back home he goes. Next day he can't breath..maybe pneumonia..that explains the chest pain too. Back he goes to the hospital..this time driving himself. I don't hear from him till the next day.

Seems they did a cat scan and he has a mass behind his heart. 11 years ago he had a cyst removed from there. BUT, no.. its not a cyst. Checked him into the hospital on Thurs. and then Friday they do a needle biopsy. Its now Sunday. He's still in he hospital and we don't know if he's going to need surgery or chemo or what.

Went on a HUGE crying Jagg this evening. Frustration setting in. Worry about my brother (Mike, by the way is his name) Worry about his insurance. They may have him in there for a week or more. Worry about,Who's gonna take care of him? Will anyone have to take care of him?? Should I go shovel out the junk mail from his apt.

God.. AND Imagine how he feels!!

Ok.. Rant finished... sigh

Catching up

I haven't written anything in awhile. Sorry. Been a bit hectic. Jerico was home for a month. That was nice. I miss him when he's gone. You see, he works on a large Ship 2 mo. on and 1 off. Because of that schedule, he hasn't bought a house or condo. He just stays here in my yarn room. Its always nice when he goes ..lol..cuz I get it BACK! But, I still miss him. He livens the place up with his jokes. For once I didn't get tired of him before he had to go back.

Jyll got HIGH grades at ITT. She's on the Honors list. I'm so proud of her but not really suprised. I always knew she was smart.

Marshall's Transmittion broke in his newish Cougar. So, he has been car pooling with his dad. Which means he has to go to work an hour earlier and get off and hour earlier. Thank goodness Microsoft is ok with that. Damn car has been in the shop for over a week because of the memorial day holiday. He's been riding his bike over here at 4am.. that'll wake you up!!

Bill and I are about the same as always... I keep knitting. The lace wristies are the latest project. Just started them yesterday. They look fancy but its just a 6 row lace pattern with lots of ribbing.

Project of the Month

Making these for my friend Valerie. The pattern is from Heart Strings.

Happy mommys day

Here is what Jerico and my hubby got me.

Marshall got me a new monitor.

Rainy day camping

Rain, rain, Noah and mmm... beer.
Jerico and Marshall enjoying some guy time

LOVE

Gonna have to buy more yarn..sigh
I love love LOVE this sweater. Pattern from White Lies

This is an April SHOWER????

That dark long haired blurr is my son!

This is from when Marshall worked at Silicon Mechanics.
The long version is here
He complains that he got cut and blurred alot in the shorter version.

Who are you?

Try this Quiz.. I found it interesting.

April

Finished the Heartstrings Smoke ring long ago. Made a fluffy pink scarf after ..which I haven't even worked the ends in yet on.
Right now working on a Feather and Fan comfort shawl. Definately NOT in the colors of the pattern page. Ewww! Going to make it as HUGE as I can manage it. So far, I've used the Potluck and some Baby DK. I can see alot of 4 oz balls of yarn around here that would look good with it.

Spent some time and money organizing my "yarn" room aka the spare bedroom. New drapes (fuschia and moss green silk with embroydery) and a 4 and 3 drawer plastic units that got most of the yarn under control. Oh and a round rug with a blue border and flowers all over. The room looks amazing and way less cluttered.

Marshall started his new job for Volt/Microsoft. He won't or can't tell me anything about it. Just that he's being trained and shadowing another guy. Sounds a bit boring but I hope he's paying attention for when the place melts down. Kidding.

I'm finished killing Vampires and the like. Won Oblivion and moved on to Fable which I've almost won. Started playing Final Fantasy XI again but not nearly as much.

Its kinda SPRING
if you count an inch of snow as spring?? Snowed everyday for a week and melted during the day or never stuck to the streets. Weather is the wierdest I've seen in 20 years when I lost sight of all the easter eggs I'd put out for the kids under 6 inches of snow on Easter.

Otherwise, just hanging with my knitting friends...yea girls..and Roger.