Weekly update

Our Saturday sky
picture taken at 4:20 pm.
(the last eruption was at 3:30)
didn't get any actual footage of the eruption.

And then Sunday evening
we were back to this......



coke a cola cake anyone?
recipe from recipzaar.
did cut the ingredient in 1/2.
(very rich)

haven't had Athena pic's lately...
(bumpkins decided Athena needed a tent).

Attack of the spiders....
"have i eaten one to many?"
oh, thought i was dreaming.....

Knitting: not going to get DM's socks completed on time. but did figure out a way for them to fit wider feet.

Redoubt has been very active. check out the AVO link, there are some incredible pictures.

Now i understand about everyone who has trouble blogging due to having to share a computer with the fam. I have my own but we are no longer networked, so I have to wait my turn for the internet. And blogging takes some thought and cannot be rushed.

This last Thursday I broke out in hives. Only thing I have done different was to wash Hugo. After much discussion in finding out what is causing the hives, DH thinks it is because of the volcano. Reasons: 1) the only known medication I am allergic to is Septra- it is a sulfuric compound. that gives me hives. 2) there is a lot of sulfur in the air right now.
any thoughts on this one?

Bumpkins and Hugo both had a busy day today. Hugo pulled the large tub of margarine off of the table. Bumpkins picked it up, the only thing destroyed was the lid. Thankfully he didn't get into the margarine. After he was in time out for that one, I let him outside. Where he promptly jumped up on some guitar students. He then had to go on the dog run. very subdued pup after a bit. Bumpkins meanwhile decided to turn her hair gray w/baby powder. While she was doing this I was doing some deep cleaning vacuuming (the inside of the dryer, under the furnace, top of the hot water heater, sucked up specimens of bugs that i didn't identify, more cobwebs than you can imagine, and enough cat hair to transplant on another whole cat)


Well that is life in a nutshell.

Weather: sunny and temps 26F. (the sun now has warmth to it.)

Random Monday

Well not much going on here. Except we did get to go outside for almost 30 min tonight. Finally got Bumpkins to sleep before 10:30 also. DH was fired from his job, so cleaning house is more doable. Before someone was always sleeping, so doing chores and getting Bumpkins to bed at a decent time was not happening. Hopefully something will come forward soon. DH did contact the Army recruiter and the recruiter response as to why he hasn't gotten back was "the internet system was down and everyone was out on leave for Christmas".

Knitting; today's knitting was working a BOM square. 12" square of double moss stitch. Am using US 10 needles and Paton's Decor yarn. I really like how the decor feels in my hands, soft. It is a wool/acrylic blend.

Did errands today and went grocery shopping. Bumpkins asked if we were going shopping and I replied that we already did. She said "3 Bears not shopping, no cookie!"

Dinner was a 10 USD pizza. Very large.

Random website: For those of you not in Alaska, check out this wonderful site.... Bookcrossing it is everywhere! (but Alaska). Very similar to geo-caching but w/o a gps and you get books in return. Kazul there are lots of drops in the area in which you now live.

ETA: and if you thought we were cold the last few weeks, people up in Fairbanks had -40 and there were others who had -52. With wind chill -60. Now that is COLD!

Sunday Quotes on Monday.....

"I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep.
That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?"
-Jean Kerr
Some fingerless gloves that I knitted up in September.
Used a full skein of Twister by King Cole.
lovely soft yarn- want more.
(60 yards) Easy pattern
Knitted rectangle in garter stitch pattern
then sewed up the sides leaving a gap for the thumb.

These will be DH's for Christmas.
(Kazul or Princess you like/want?)

Knitting: Almost finished w/Bumpkins mitten, 2 more rows than then the finger decreases.


It is late so I will leave you with this link. Strange but funny especially with sound.

Weather: it is snowing again...... possibly another couple of inches. Wonder if this stuff will melt also. Snow tires get put on on Friday.

Random Website Monday

bumpkins stirring our latest
batch of "eyebrowns".

Another quilt from the quilt show..
a friend made up this pattern.
(If you do a close up, you can see
a bear, fish, cabin)

Knitting: am going to finish up the foot part of the sock tonight.

Today was a busy day... first got up and made phone calls so Thing 2 could get a physical for football. While making those arrangements got another phone call from work saying that there was training today. Didn't make it to that. Honestly didn't think that there was training because we had it last week. Got Thing 2 to practice went grocery shopping and the library (still no Kool Aid swap package). Came home and lounged. Made pizza for dinner. DH picked up Thing 2 from practice and went to DMV for a drivers permit renewal. Now the only things still up in the air is waiting for a phone call from Red Cross and to determine where to take my car to for a new windshield. And waiting to see what happens w/DH's new band. So how was your Monday?

Think a trip outside is in store for all of us.

Weather turned nice and sunny.

Random website: It is absolutely cute pictures of animals. (appropriately called Cute Overload!)

What I saw on Mulberry Street

Another interesting thing seen.....
(of course it was at the Parade)

what a motorcycle that has 2 wheels up front?

Knitting: nothing new.

Quilting: still working on the Round Robin Quilt- it was supposed to go out in the mail on Tuesday, well looks like another couple of days will do it. Bugger it.

Almost had to cancel lessons today, the power went out at the pool last night and shut down all the comps. that run the pool equipment (the circulation pump, the hoppers for chlorine). No one was around to reset them. So most levels were off this morning- no one was in the water at 7:30 when I got there. Thankfully all was well by 8 am so we could run lessons as scheduled- I am taking a vacation day on Friday, and that would have been a bad day for me if I had to do make ups.

well gotta run out of here early tomorrow... paperwork out at the pool needs to be done.

Strange stuff: Sometimes the recycling bug can go a bit too far- like in the case of this purse.

And to think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.......

On the way to work today....
I saw 7 Police Cars in less then a
1 mile radius!
(didn't realize there were that many
Kenai City Cops and State Troopers on at 7:15 am!)


And other things seen on Mulberry street.........

(Yes the above pic is a DeLorian
aka: Back to the Future Car)

Below is just another really old car
that doesn't even have windows.
Hmm... early A/C?

Question of the Day:
How would you wax a 120+ foot long slide?

A) Put the wax on all of it and then go back to the top and buff it out?

B) Put the wax on in sections and buff it in sections?

Answer:
If you guessed B, you were correct.

Today between Swimming lessons sets much time was spent sitting on
towels going down the slide to remove the excess wax.
Best results were achieved when hot tap water was poured down
the slide, then slide was turned on and more towel sliding commenced.

Knitting: Cast on and am a few rows into this... market bag. Not sure if I am liking it, and I am going to run out of yarn for it also. This is not a Sugar and Cream one ball knit.

Sewing/ Quilting: nothing.

Made brownies w/Bumpkins tonight. While mixing the brownish mixture, Bumpkins said "Mud". Later she asked to eat the "eyebrowns". Translation is Brownies! So her bedtime snack was fresh "Eyebrowns" and warm milk w/a drop of vanilla extract.

Strange stuff: Last night while surfing around and getting Bumpkins quieted down for sleep, I surfed across an interesting free knitting pattern site. Well Bumpkins decided she liked these- and no she isn't going to get them!

Random Website Monday

Everybody has a job to do...
(the pooper scoopers from the parade).

A new Bistro in Kenai.....
"The Funky Monkey"

Knitting: nothing finished. The chenille is very hard to frog because it likes to stick back upon itself.

Sewing: nothing today.

Another rainy day, so no outdoor play group today. Went grocery shopping instead and the big purchase of the day was.... door knob protectors. You know the ones that stop chilluns from opening the doors. Well Bumpkins doesn't like them- she thinks the doors are all locked (from both sides!)

Well that's about all folks.

Random website: And what time is where? One of the official Greenwich Meantime Converters.

Dinner: baked potatoes, with cheese, broccoli and sour cream. Bumpkins ate carrots, broccoli and sour cream and a 1/2 pint of chocolate milk.

Another recipe: Cornish Game hens stuffed with 1/4 of an apple and glazed an orange marmalade mixture. 2 T orange marmalade, 2 T soy sauce, 2 T Teriyaki sauce and 2 T butter. Heated up in micro until warm and melted then spread 1/2 of glaze over 2 game hens and bake uncovered at 325 for 1 hr. After 1/2 hour spread more glaze over hens. This also can be prepared in crockpot- just use more liquids.

Random Website Monday

A random photo of
Bumpkins after eating chocolate ice cream.

Knitting: nothing.
Quilting: didn't finish either of the quilts and DH comes home in 5.5 hrs.

I must get some sleep, but the house is slightly messy... Athena brought in a mouse earlier today and released it. It finally was trapped in the bathroom (interesting site, put Athena and the mouse in the bathtub and shut shower doors. Athena was scratching at the tub to get out and the mouse was right under her scratching.) Bumpkins and I released it into the yard... that critter booked it away from the house! Probably shortened his life span by a day or so. LOL
Cleaned out the girls bedroom, it is so much nicer now. Threw out a lot of stuff (empty plastic bags, a pair of worn out slippers, broken backpacks, toys). Had training today so was at work by 9 am and Bumpkins went to school. She got to see a police car and now has a police badge sticker.

Random website: Just the place to go to find out what kind of bug that really is. It is a pretty creepy site!

Tuesday's Strange Stuff

The price of gas 2 weeks ago....
The price of Gas today.....

And Tesoro's Nikiski Oil Refinery
(I drive by it to go to work each day-
and the gas station is less than 1 mi away from the facility).

Knitting: couple more rows done the scarf.

More melting going on... there were swans out on the Kenai River flats when I went to work. But they were gone by the time I came home. Did take pictures of the geese but they were all blurry. The good news is the Snow Geese, ducks, Canadian Geese, and swans are back. Haven't seen any Sandhill Cranes yet.... so Spring is here!

Strange Stuff: Actually these "britches" are kind of cute.. not very strange at all.