On my way to the Masters in my NEW car...

The Master Knitting Program that is. (I know. You can say it...I am a geek.) I got my instructions on Friday. I read them through once and almost had a panic attack. But then, I broke them down into swatches, questions and such and I realized, it wasn’t as overwhelming as I first thought. I was going to cast on for the swatches this weekend but (1) I wanted to finish the City Mouse and (2) I just couldn’t seem to find the energy.

As the title says, my NEW car. It is a 2001 Blue Nissan Sentra. I was a little worried when the salesman told me the year but then I looked and saw that it only has 64,000 miles and the interior looks brand spanking new. Mom, Princess Ivi and even my brother deduced that it must have been owned by an old person and I have to admit it has a bit of an old person smell, a bit like moth balls and some stale cleaner. But that is okay, I bought a three pack of lime-vanilla Yankee Candle air fresheners, threw one in the trunk and one in the back window and all is well. All in all, I am really pleased with the car and the cost. I will take some pictures and post them here soon.

Speaking of moth balls, Mom found a snake in the chicken coop and almost keeled over with fright. She had my brother Dan remove it for her. It was some sort of non-venomous snake that was about 4 feet long. Can we say ick? Anyway, as a way to combat the snakes in the chicken coop, bugs in the house and storage shed, and rats in the bird houses, I bought 4 boxes of moth balls. Mom then proceeded to throw a handful (or two) under the porch, sprinkle some around the chicken house, throw some under the shed, and she will put them in the bird house tomorrow. Hopefully they work and keep the pests away.

Mom and I were discussing the fact that Barbie is turning 50. Here is our conversation:

Me: Barbie is 50? Wow.
Mom: She is looking pretty good for 50 but it is clear she has had some work done.
Me: Yeah, she's all plastic.

See, as Princess Ivi says, geekiness is genetic and it abounds in our family.

Well, my lunch hour has flown by so I will say adieu for now.

Champagne Bubbles

I just finished House of Daughters by Sarah-Kate Lynch (as in about 10 minutes ago). I started this last night at about 10:30, read for about an hour, and then read for about two hours here at work.

This was a good book but it was difficult to read coming from a girl who didn’t have a father or any evidence of that father’s love. I love the story of the sisters coming together and the wonderful details about the champagne. It makes me thirsty for some.

The best champagne I ever had comes from a vineyard in St. Augustine. All the others that I had give me migraines.

Anyway, I would recommend this book to people. My daughter wants to read it but I think I will warn her a bit about the father part. She has no father. Well, she had a father but no dad which is his loss but I fear that the theme of daughters, fathers, neglect and love may be a bit much for her. She normally handles the situation pretty well but there are those rare times when it hits her that she has no father and that he doesn’t love her. I don’t want this book to bring on those thoughts.


Reading the section about the author reminded me that I want to read her other books, Blessed are the Cheesemakers and By Bread Alone. Those will go on my "to be read" list.

I worked for a bit on the City Mouse Toy. I tried really hard to finish it up last night but I couldn’t do it. Princess Ivi and had some mommy-daughter tickling time and then I got a shower. By the time I sat down to knit, tapioca pudding was up and that took precedent over knitting. Maybe I will finish it tonight.


I am taking tomorrow off without pay to go car shopping. Given the state of my mom’s van, I don’t want to put it off any longer. I am so worried every time I drive it that the constant state of panic seems to be eating a hole in my stomach.

I had planned to go on Saturday to pick out the car and then get the insurance and tag on Monday morning but I really can’t put it off any longer. The battery light is now constantly on, even though it is testing okay at Advanced Auto, and the stalling while you are driving down the road is very stressful. I always have a vision of stalling and getting plowed into by someone behind me.

So Mom and I are going to go to Palatka tomorrow. I am going to get my Florida license and then we will car shop, go by the insurance company and hopefully drive home with a new car. If I have to, I will pick it up on Saturday but I would prefer to do it all in one fell swoop. Hopefully, all will go well.