What's in store....

We're getting a new yarn store in town! Our only LYS closed this year when the owner retired, and I just heard that a new store is opening up soon! It will be in the downtown area, and called "One Row at a Time". I can't wait to see it. Hopefully they will have a knit-nite so I can happily leave my current knitting group (which has a very annoying child that will not. stay. home.)

Happy weekend! Unfortunately for me, I'm cleaning the garage all weekend.
We had to rent a dumpster.
It's that bad.

One bad book

So, a few months ago I was reading Pink is the New Blog, and in a post he mentions a book that is his absolute favorite book. The best horror book he's ever read. Well, that piqued my interest, as I am a huge Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan, so I went to Amazon and ordered House of Leaves to see what all the fuss was about.

I wish I knew.

It took me forever to get through half of the book (and I'm a fast reader), and I finally just gave up. The main story about the "haunted" house was awesome, but the little side-stories and useless information in the margins and footers were a complete waste of time. I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but it didn't.

I would be interested to know how many people that read PITNB rushed out and bought this book, and how many of them liked it.

That's all. Just wanted to vent!

Something funny for Monday

This n that #302856930

Taffy's been having a rough day.
First this......


Then this....


My Black Thumb of Death seems to be hibernating this summer, as I have beautiful flowers to show!


and some really gross beetles:


My hydrangea has a bloom! It didn't flower AT ALL last year, so this is a real victory.


We have grapes:


I don't know what this is on the grapevine, but the ants sure think it's tasty:


And progress photos! I have the first part of the Bohus body done (up to the underarms), and started on the first sleeve last night. For some reason, Lexi had to test the comfort of both knitting projects:


Here it is cat-less:

I didn't think I'd get to the sleeves yet. I was going to use 2 circs and do the sleeves at the same time, but I wasn't feeling the love. But I didn't have any size 7 DPNs, and our LYS went out of business last year, so I thought I was screwed....I wasn't going to Rockford just for knitting needles, and every time I place a Knit Picks order (which I did a few days ago), I swear I need something else the next day! Grrr. Hubby and I went out for dinner and a movie last night, and the restaurant is by a Joann Fabrics. Duh! Joann's! I ran in, and sure enough, they had them. Huzzah!

And my Lady Eleanor. Next time I'll take the photo on a different surface, I know it's hard to see:




And at Cub Foods today, I found some chocolates I just HAD to try. They are Starbucks Truffles with Chai filling! OMG, they're soooo good!


I almost forgot! I took my Nutrition final on Thursday, so I am officially off of school until August 18th. I think I did well on the final, but I won't get my grade until the end of the month, when the regular summer session ends.

My weekend

Here is the start of my Bountiful Bohus. The purple is actually MUCH darker than it shows up in the photo:


And the start of Lady Eleanor! This is a light purple variegated yarn (yes, I guess I have a thing for purple right now!):


On Sunday, we went to my Dad's girlfriend's house for a BBQ. There is a small pond on the property, and my sis was letting her dog Bailey go in the water:


The above photo was at the end of the fun. Bailey jumped in, lost his footing, and started panicking. Amy's partner Lisa had to wade in to save him. My sister is not hero material, but Lisa sure is!


Later that day, Amy got her karmic payback. One of the kids there, and I cannot for the life of me remember her name, latched onto Amy. She was really cute, 2 1/2 years old, but the sheer volume of questions from her was mind-boggling! She asked Amy why she had tattoos, what the thing in her eye was (she has an eyebrow piercing), if they still hurt, etc. Amy tried to pawn her off on me and get away. She said "This is my sister Lori", and the girl said "Hi Lori, can I go inside the house?", to which I replied "Of course. Have Amy take you"! The above photo is the two of them on the swing. Aren't they cute?

Lastly, some fun pics of the cats.
Taffy:

And Lexi: