Still in between

Still here at the in between house. Six months later, I might add. I think we are real estate impaired. No room for a real Christmas tree, so I bought a 4 ft tabletop tinsel tree. A purple one. With purple lights. My MIL has just about come unglued. Little Bit LOVES it. She wins.

Here are two little projects, for Little Bit, naturally:

I made up Molly the blue dog on the fly. With my very limited crochet skills, I am pretty pleased with how she turned out. Little Bit was the creative director for this one. Stripey Cat is from a kit that Little Bit talked me into buying for her when we were supposed to be Christmas shopping for other people. Little Bit insisted that she needed a hair bow, though, which was not included in the kit. Stripey Cat has almost supplanted Dora as the most favored toy, but not quite.

I have one of those, but I don't know where it is

Chez Squirrel is still the "in between" house (our rental). In the 6 months we have been house hunting, we have found three houses that we liked enough to make offers. On the first we just didn't come to mutually agreeable terms with the seller, so no hard feelings there. The last two went sour due to stupid seller tricks. The last one really hurt; the place was damn near perfect. 

When we moved into the in between house, I was not expecting to still be here now, and I selected the boxes to unpack accordingly. Throughout the time we've been here, I periodically have needed something I know I own, but it is boxed away somewhere and stored in one of three locations: the attic, the Pod or the storage locker back near the old house. The longer we stay here, the more frequently often that happens. It is becoming a running joke for me to then say that I know I have whatever it is that I need or am looking for, but I just don't know where it is. And now that cooler weather is approaching, included in that are jackets and long sleeved shirts. 

The Pod and the storage locker in our old hometown are beyond help, but the attic, well, I've put that off long enough. This weekend's project is to sort and organize the boxes, and maybe I'll find a jacket or two before the first real cold snap of the season.

All clean and nice

Stinky dog is no longer stinky! (Poor mutt, he hates baths.) We used the self-service pet bath around the corner - no clearing the drain of dog hair, no smelly dog towels to wash, no kneeling on the tile bathroom floor!

Sadly, the rescue kitties for adoption were not there this morning, so Little Bit's enjoyment of the trip was diminished, but she rallied her spirits at the sight of the soapy dog. Neither dog nor daughter enjoyed the hurricane force doggie dryer, however.

Interweave Knits

I am trying, I really am trying to find something to make me want to renew my subscription to Interweave Knits. I love print magazines. I also prefer double pointed needles over magic loop too.

I hung on through the last couple years when practically every piece already looked awkward or ill-fitting on the models. Ok, so IK wasn't unique there; just look around. And I get that they are trying to capture a hipper younger demographic than I belong to. But dammit, if I am going to spend the time, money and effort to knit something, I want it to not look dated before I even finish it and be reasonably flattering. 

The Fall 2013 issue landed in my mailbox yesterday, and I opened it with both excitement and trepidation. On first perusal it looks promising. My three-and-a-half-year-old had other ideas for me last night. Only a couple looks where the garment is poised to do something odd if the model moves. So, do I give the new editor the benefit of the doubt? Dunno yet. 

GRANITE!!! (and Bradford pear trees)

If I see another house with cheap cabinets in a crappy layout that the seller just went ahead and had some granite countertops installed and is calling it an "upgrade", I could just scream! Why, oh why do they do that?!!? 

It's as bad as builders sticking two Bradford pear trees in the front yard and then saying the lot has nice shade trees. Once they get any size on them, the damn things just split in half during a garden-variety summer thunderstorm.

Bumper stickers

I have gotten more good reactions to my bumper stickers in the two weeks we have been back in HSV than I ever did in BHM.

Several times I have seen other drivers point and smile, and this afternoon as I was walking back to my car from the grocery store, there was an elderly couple leaning down to read them and laughing. I asked them which one they liked, and she smiled and said, "Both!"

Then as I loaded my bags, across the parking aisle, a "country boy" called over, "Just what do you do with them pointy sticks?" 

He seemed a bit disappointed when I told him hand knitting.

So, thank you, Tonni, and thank you, Penzey's*, for getting a few happy little conversations started!

* www.Penzeys.com (haven't figured out hyperlinks using this app yet)

The Squirrel is looking for a new Chez

Yep, we moved. We listed the old Chez Squirrel, figuring that it would take a while to sell, what with real estate still being in the doldrums in our area, and then WHAM! An offer the next freakin' day. And a contract the day after that. And closing a month and a half later. 

Just my opinion, but moving during the Alabama summer sucks. It is real estate silly season up here, amplifying an already more robust market than in BHM. We weren't able to find a new place that we liked enough back in HSV in time, so we are two weeks settled into a rental house (the same one we lived in 13 years ago). Squeezing 2500 sq ft into less than 1500 sq ft has been an interesting exercise. For the first week the house looked like it belonged on one of those shows about hoarders, but I have vanquished most of the cardboard boxes to the attic or the storage Pod in the backyard. The furniture arrangement is creative, and the yarn stash is staying boxed up for the duration. Creative juices are not flowing right now.

The best thing about the rental house, other than it being available when we needed it and the terms under which we have it, is the old gas stove in the kitchen. It looks like a total piece of crap, is a PITA to clean, and the upper oven doesn't work, but those dinky-looking burners are dreamy to cook on (well, the two front ones anyway, can't really reach the back ones). I learned to enjoy cooking on this stove, and the schmancy dual fuel, sealed burner one I bought for the old Chez.