I think Argus had something to do with when Frankie and Daisy came to live with us. The day I came home from the vet with the news that it was "time," I was sitting on the couch feeling really sad. Frankie crawled up on the couch, into my lap and laid his head against my chest. It made me feel much better. It was such a generous, affectionate gesture.

And it helps that he is a clown. He makes me smile and laugh a lot.

I love this picture of him because you can clearly see he only has one eye but you can also see that it just looks like he is winking. And I caught his happy grin.

I've been knitting too. I have a lot of babies coming right now. This blanket is something I've been working up in my head for a while. I wanted to use sock yarn because it washes so well. And I love Blue Moon so I gathered a palette I thought would be beautiful and started the mitered squares. I love mitered squares by the way. And if I was in England I would be professing my love for mitred squares.

I worked out a layout for the squares that I thought would pop a little. I have all the squares together now and am just finishing the i-cord edging. Pictures when it is done.

So stay tuned and I'll satisfy your curiosity on how I put the squares together (it involved three needles and rhymes with "mind off").

Argus Blue

Sept. 26, 1993 - May 2, 2008

The best, sweetest, most wonderful dog in the world. I love you sweet pea and I miss you.

I do love living in Oregon. And this yard has been fun because everything is still new to me. This Spring I had crocus, and so many daffodil it looked like a hedge. Now the tulips have started coming up. I don't know what is planted so it is all a wonderful surprise.

I can't believe I just casually cut these from my front yard (under my cherry tree).

Can you believe I get to live with this and we are expecting snow tonight? But Oregon snow is pretty tame. It isn't very cold right now and it will just probably be snow as it comes down and nothing will stick.

And I planted a blueberry bush today. Fast growing with large sweet berries. Have I mentioned I love living in Oregon?

Frankie is having no problem making himself at home.

And I've been trying to get a picture of Daisy smiling. She is a grinner.

They both crawled into bed with me last night. You just don't realize how big greyhounds are until they start hogging the bed.

This has been an interesting week. Some new family members have moved in...

This is Frankie and Daisy. Mom was fostering Frankie and had decided he needed to come live with me. Then his sister Daisy needed to be fostered so Mom stepped up and Frankie and Daisy just had instant recognition and bonding. They were litter mates and they are still great pals. I knew I just couldn't split them up so I went ahead and adopted both.

It is very different living with two young dogs after Sapphire and Argus. Argus is 14 and Sapphire is 12. Argus has gotten terribly crippled with arthritis this last year and the vet and I have had quite a few "quality of life" conversations. It is terrible. But we have to let them go at some point and I just hope I do it at the right point. I'm not sure Argus will be able to let me know when it is time.

Sapphire is doing much better. In fact, she is the one playing with Frankie and Daisy in the video. She wants to keep up but since she is about 10 years older than F and D, she can't quite do it.

I've wrapped up some big projects at work which hopefully means I can get my personal life back. I didn't really expect work to take over like that since I don't often let that happen. I don't believe in letting work run my life but this crept up on me.

It probably didn't hurt that this work project popped up right when I was breaking up with the man I was seeing. I knew the relationship probably wasn't going to move to the next level but I liked him and I liked hanging out with him. I'm disappointed it didn't pan out. And work was a convenient distraction.

I'll tell you a horrible irony. I can't afford to do all this work! Not having any personal time means I eat out more, don't have time to shop "smart", fall behind in paying bills, and drive everywhere when I get time rather than consolidate my trips. Plus I haven't had time to get my car tuned up which hits the gas mileage which results in bucks. Ugh.

I have so many projects on hold I'm actually kind of overwhelmed and don't even know where to begin.

Think I'll play with the dogs instead. Right after I clean up what greeted me when I came home from work today.

Damn.

Everyone needs to go see what Iris found. Too too funny. And a testament to how knitting can get you through anything.

Oh yeah, sometimes it just needs to be thrown down.

Asshole.

That was a tribe known as the C'nel Lorne, the progenitors of Clann MacAoidh (or Clan McKay as we are known today). The C'nel Lorne are descended from Aedh, grand-son of the Irish king N'iall.

So I'll celebrate my Irish connection with a sampling from The Edge, a very fun column.

Irish is English set to music.
-- Mary Michael Malloy

What's the use of being Irish if the world doesn't break your heart?
-- John F. Kennedy

I have nothing to declare but my genius.
-- Oscar Wilde, at U.S. customs, upon entering the country in 1881

The Irish don't know what they want and are prepared to fight for it.
-- Sidney Littlewood

If you passed the pub as fast as you passed the chapel, you'd be better off, you little squint.
-- Maureen O'Hara in "The Quiet Man"

The people from Mayo are noted for their shrewdness and smartness. We're a smart, shrewd, poor race. Proud as hell. You don't say, "County Mayo," but "County Mayo, God help us."
-- John Ford

Anyway, it drives me nuts that it has been repeatedly suggested my ideas are ridiculous. But, since I'm the one that has to live here, I'm making the changes. However, have you ever noticed the smallest, stupidest thing can halt a project?

For example, I have a beautiful weeping willow that dominates the backyard. This is really a stunning tree that truly gives the backyard "curb appeal" (if a backyard can have curb appeal). The tree is just starting to bloom for Spring. Trust me, in the summer, it is very dramatic.

Now for some reason, someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to put this ugly shed right under the willow tree. Prime real estate in the yard. It should have a lovely seating area. This is a huge shed. I could park a small car in it. This would be the first thing I hate and want to change.

When I first moved in I had terrible trouble with hobo spiders. I suspect they are living between this shed and the fence. It is only about 5 inches back there and it is full of leaf debris. Perfect spider condo. Now that it is warming up again I am afraid they will come back. So now I have two great reasons to get rid of the hideous shed.

Oh wait, make that three reasons. This is the view from my bedroom. The master bedroom. Attractive...non?

Step one is to move everything being stored in the shed to the garage. And since I hate going in the shed (see above spider problem) I don't have much in there. This means I need to get an organization system in the garage. No problem, I have plenty of room for shelving. Which brings us to something else I hate about the house.

Some genius took a couple salvaged kitchen cabinets and put them up on the wall in the garage. Maybe it sounded like a good idea but in practice...it bites. It isn't enough room to store much (cans of beans, cans of soup?) and they are planted in the middle of the wall making any useful surrounding shelving impossible. It is truly un-storage.

This project accomplishes several goals. I take care of two "hates" in the house. I will have a charming seating/garden area just under the weeping willow. I could be eliminating the hobo spiders. (Have I mentioned the hobo spiders? *shudder* ) And I will have much needed shelving in the garage. The house needs storage space (there is no pantry, not much of a linen closet and no place for appliances or Costco purchases) I believe I'm creating real value in the home.

So why has this project stalled? One stupid screw. One screw in each cupboard will NOT come out. They are dry wall screws but they must be stripped or in mollies or something. They turn but they won't come out. I'm trying to figure out a way to get these off the wall without having to do demo and lose all that dry wall.

Ugh, when I looked at this picture I saw another reason to get rid of the cupboards. They are dark and a good hidey place for more spiders. I had my face in that cupboard working on the screw and never saw that big web.

So the whole big project is stalled. Every once in a while I go out to the garage and stare at the cupboards like that will help get them down. I'm this >< close to just taking a sledge hammer to them. So suggestions are welcome.

Chickadee update: The chickadees have made their home in the gutter. I don't know if they have laid eggs yet, I was hearing noise like there were chicks but I never saw any baby birds. I took a quick picture in the gutter but I don't see any birds.

The end of the gutter is about two feet from my kitchen window and both chickadee papa and mama sit there and watch me in the kitchen. They don't look afraid or threatened; just curious.

They are probably wondering when I'm going to get rid of that shed!

You Belong in 1951

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

But I can see why they got this.

Just looking at the last series of photos I have taken reflects the changes.

First, just two weeks ago we had a lovely morning of snow. For the most part, Portland has great snow in the winter. We just get a dusting like this, so that everything looks charming and it doesn't really stick long. Heck, notice it doesn't even really stick on the surfaces I'm walking or driving on.

But just this last week the Chickadees have just gone bonkers looking for places to nest. They seem to be really fond of the roof over my porch. The hideous Sears roof that is too low and butt-ugly. But apparently Chickadee-friendly.

This adorable little pair seem to have taken up here.

Same pair, I believe this is where they are nesting. This gutter opening is right outside my kitchen window. One night when I got up in the middle of the night with Argus (ah, the joys of living with a 14 year old dog) there was a little black tail sticking out of the end of this most of the night.

This is another pair nesting on the other side of the porch.

It is nice to have some sunlight when I get up in the morning now. This morning put on such a show I had to run outside to get a picture.

I was driving on a picturesque rural road last weekend behind this tractor. Them some big tires! But it shows the farms are getting active! It is fun when they start producing. There are family farms everywhere around here where you can stop and get fresh vegetables, flowers, plants, etc.

It is still a little cool here in the mornings and evenings so I could use a hat. Crazy Aunt Purl posted this cute pattern and I thought I probably needed to make it. Unfortunately, I changed a perfectly good pattern so that I could make my very own shower cap.

Or is it a hair net?

Either way it isn't good and I think it could actually hold several hundred Chickadees.

What made these people want to record the moment? Look at the people in the background. Every single person is holding a camera and taking a picture. I'm not criticism or saying they are horrible people. I think this is related to the public hanging displays and car wreck syndrome. We can't look away. And now we are all holding the means to record it.

Do we feel more alive when we realize that "it could have been us?" Is that how we realize that life is precious? And do the cameras prevent us from this necessary brush with death? Do they remove us from the human drama?

I don't have a single answer. I just keep looking at that picture trying to figure out if I've let media get between me an my fellow man too.

I'm beside myself I love that blanket so much. It is the perfect combination of retro/modern.

Go now...bid.

We've had a little weather. Just a little. The day we were supposed to have freezing rain we could only come up with this:

Some little itty bitty icicles. Not enough for drama. I did manage to do a little slide into an intersection. But I managed to turn into it so it was more like I ran a stop sign than anything.

I found a whole KAL for the chevron scarf I've been knitting. Which is when I found out I probably don't have enough yarn. So I found another lone skein I've been saving because it is pretty and it has similar properties. But I couldn't quite bring myself to rip it all out (for some reason this thing is taking forever and it hurts my hands).

However, when I got ambitious and gathered a portion of my sock yarn to wind (yes, just a portion, have I ever acted like I didn't have a problem?),

I thought I might try using some skeins I've been hoarding here just because they are beautiful. I couldn't bring myself to put them on my feet (I'm telling you, I should marry this yarn I love it so much). I want to be able to look at the colors all the time so a scarf is a pretty good solution.

Socks that Rock. The purply one is a rare gem so you can't get it. I just lucked out because I was a member of the sock club. The other was also a sock club sample that should be available this year. Silkie Walking on the Wild Tide. So I tried using these two skeins for a stripey effect and it works really well. And even though this version is knit on smaller needles, my hands don't hurt me near as much so it must be that alpca I'm using on the first one. The only thing slowing this scarf down is that I have to keep stopping to admire the results.

Mmm...purply.

I'll be lucky if I can blog with any regularity because we have a big implementation at work which means having to do actual WORK at work. Jeez, that really cuts down on blogging time.

What a nuisance.

 HOG Butcher for the World,
     Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
     Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
     Stormy, husky, brawling,
     City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
     have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
     luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
     is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
     kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
     faces of women and children I have seen the marks
     of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
     sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
     and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
     so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
     job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
     little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
     as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
          Bareheaded,
          Shoveling,
          Wrecking,
          Planning,
          Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
     white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
     man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
     never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
     and under his ribs the heart of the people,
               Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
     Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
     Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
     Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

I'm not normally a product knitter. What this means is that I enjoy the process of playing with the yarn. In fact, I've often said that I only knit so that I have an excuse to play with yarn. I'm rarely concerned with finishing anything and most often I'm knitting things that I won't and don't wear.

I don't think this is a big shock for anyone that regularly reads this blog considering the few pictures of finished objects I show and the large amount of pretty yarn I gather.

But I really wanted this. I really wanted to have this to wear this week while it is so cold. I wanted to look cool and bohemian (this is a sickness with me) and be warm and practical at the same time. This was knitting with a purpose.

Which is why it is is such a bitter disappointment to have the cabling go horribly horribly wrong. I have marked the path the cables are supposed to take. It is clear there is no relationship between where it is supposed to be and where it has gone. I am beyond off track. I am not in the same state as the track. It is like I was drunk and never cabled in my life. Neither of which was necessarily true but might have made the whole experience better.

I shall persevere because I still believe this hat is the key to making me look cool and bohemian (no need to tell me otherwise, ignorance is bliss) but I'm consoling myself with some hand-painted yarn I got at Knit in South Carolina. I've been wanting a feather and fan scarf. It seems like a classic and I'm using the Last Minute Knitted Gifts pattern that I've seen others use and like. The yarn is a Schaefer Yarn called Judith. 100% prime alpaca (no more plebeian alpaca for me) in a colorway called Elena Piscopia. The color is part of a series named for memorable women.

Mmmm, soft and pretty...

I didn't even read Elena's biography when I bought the yarn. I went strictly by passion for the color. But I think it is interesting to read her achievement because I bought this yarn on a trip where I decided to go back for my doctorate.

I guess I got a little nod from the universe backing up that decision!