It is June 24th

Check out the little white things all over the place and no they aren't rocks.
That's all I'm sayin...

How I spent my summer vacation

Yup it is raining again. I have never seen it rain this hard. The thundering and lightening are weird enough and loud enough that I can't hear myself think. To make it even more fun it is raining little rocks. Yup, hail. This all would be sorta cool if it weren't for the fact that I am sweating. It is humid. It is wet. It is summer for gods sake!

Ok, enough of my whining.

A picture of a picture of a picture

Last time Evan was at our house in Alameda, a hummingbird got inside the house and couldn't get out. It flew over to our leaded glass window and Evan got a shot of it. I had the picture blown up and printed on canvas. I will now have it hanging in my den and it will remind me of Evan and our old house. You can see the Oakland hills in the picture which I love.

Stuff

Dakota (aka Esther [because my friend Julie refuses to call her anything else so I put that for her]) turned 7 months old a couple of days ago. First time I have ever known the actual birthday of a pet. Her birthday is November 9th. I can't believe how fast she is growing and her dog classes are going great. She is really smart (for a Saint Bernard that is). She has really mellowed out and she obeys commands most of the time (if you happen to have a piece of hotdog in your hand).

On the home front...





All the cabinets are done and we are waiting to get our stove and hood and to get the counter tops put in. Oh yeah, we also have to paint and tile the backsplash. I can't wait for all of this to be done because washing dishes in a bathroom sort of disgusts me. Call me crazy.

Fern

Yes indeedy, I have been knitting. This is Alice Starmore's "Fern". I love the yarn and I love the sweater so far. I don't love knitting on it in 100 degree weather but it will be worth it when it is 20 below.

I never knew why people in other parts of the country talked about the weather all the time. That is I didn't understand it until I moved away from California. It has become an obsession. Everything revolves around it. I suppose that I will get used to it but in the meantime it freaks me out. For instance, last night lightening (and yes it was still in the 80's) hit a tree on our street and we were without electricity all night. This meant that there was NO air. I started to panic when I tried to go downstairs and realized that it was pitch black and I couldn't see. Me being stubborn me felt my way around the room until I was trapped and really didn't know where I was. Mr Yarn thought it was pretty funny that I was in the office and was groping around banging on the printer. I got downstairs and slept on the couch.

I really don't want to turn into one of those "what about this weather we are having" type of people. I have to refrain from getting stuck with that nasty habit.

Um, how is the weather where you are?

Kitchen remodel Part I

I thought I was sorta unpacked and done moving the kitchen stuff in. We try not to think about the millions of boxes in the basement and garage and the pool room. So, having to start all over isn't much fun. Here is what it is looking like:







Not good.

Here is the beginning of the new kitchen



another shot



If I don't die from the stress and the heat I will keep you posted as this progresses. Oh yeah, I also will take pictures of the new sweaters I am working on because despite the sweltering heat, I am knitting.

I beat the heat wave

Got up first thing this morning and finished painting the room. I guess rolling on paint is the easy part because it only took me a couple of hours.

Someone that bet that I wouldn't get my ass off the couch to paint the room while Mr Yarn was in India owes me some money.

Fun and games in Massachusetts

This is what I see out my window today. Yesterday it was 90 and today is 60. I swear I don't know how I could have given up my "70 degrees no matter WHAT" weather. Mr Yarn owes me BIG TIME. Mr Yarn is in India so I am amusing myself with color. I am painting another room. Who knew that not all walls are alike. Mine were built by Mr Magoo. The ceiling doesn't meet up with either the moulding or the walls. How do I know this? I cut in by hand with the paint. I faked it so don't mention that I may not have gotten it perfect



Oh by the way... I am not done yet. Tomorrow I will roll on the rest.