30 August 2012

More soap bags

Just a quick-pic update as I struggle to pry my eyes open with a third mug of coffee.  I usually stop after the second mug, but it just ain't having the usual motivating effect this time.

I've been playing with the crochet thread a lot lately, and the focus has been soap bags.  I had to adapt the pattern I used before to accommodate the local soapmakers' larger sized bars, but I think I'll keep this pattern to myself for a while as they have expressed an interest in selling my soapbags.

First, the original soapbag next to my first adaptation:
size-adapted on left, original on right
Now, for a style variation for my solid colored threads, this one is for my son:
Soapbag in UK blue with the beer soap
I included the soap label, because some folks have expressed doubt about whether I was serious when I said I bought hubby some beer soap.  Yes, it really does smell like beer (hubby kept the first bar next to his chair for a week just so he could smell it).  I know the soap lady has a page on FaceBook, but I don't see an independent website listed on her business card.

So now I need to get the soap in the "right" color soap bag to son, who is having a great time as a college freshman 200 miles away from home.  I'm starting to miss him, although I am glad he sounds so positive and excited about this new phase in his life.

16 August 2012

The first step

The first step in hand sewing of any kind ...
Threading a needle!
Hubby found this one last evening, and when I finally got done laughing I begged him to send it to me.

While I'm at it, here's the official opinion of two of my three furry purr-monsters:
cat humor
Just substitute the big fat fluffy or the neurotic cuddle-kitty for the tuxedo cat in the pic, and this could be my house.  Although I have no idea where the cat fur is hiding in the pic!

14 August 2012

Changes

I've been grumpy lately ... so has hubby.  We don't quite like a lot of the changes that have been happening.  This morning as I started my first mug of coffee, I heard the familiar and distinct sound of a building being torn down and dropped into an empty dump truck.  It's familiar because the local college tore down every house across the street from me.  Instead of the college tearing another house down, this time it's the city, tearing down the pool house in the public park next door:
Backhoe and bulldozer at the pool house
They stopped opening the pool about three years ago, probably due to the economy ... but last time I peeked into the pool earlier this year I saw a small sapling growing in a crack in the concrete.  Pools take money to maintain (which is why I don't want one) so it's cheaper to tear it down, tear it up, then fill it in than to maintain it or even keep people out to avoid liability shtuff.

The backhoe and 'dozers will be busy again, probably within the week as my last neighbor on this end of the street sold to the college and moved out this past weekend.  We are now the last family on this side of the S-curve.  I doubt the college will wait long at all to knock the two houses down, at which point it will be visually obvious we are the last house standing.

We have already purchased our next house, and as soon as hubby gets out of the army we'll be gone as well.  It could be about six months - or it could be less or even more.  We're just waiting on the paperwork.

Son is off to college, doing a two-week "jump start" program for incoming freshmen.  According to his voicemail, they are keeping him too busy to get homesick or to even call at a decent time in the evening.  I do hope he's studying his books in addition to his classmates.  When I tried to call him, he said he was *at*dinner* ... with heavy emphasis on the "at dinner" part (and female voices in the background).

About the only thing I've been working on lately is my crochet, as that's about all I can do comfortably due to my back acting up with storm systems, yard clean-up, and keeping up on the housework.  Hubby's unit is currently obsessed with working late (actually, sitting around waiting for information on what needs to be done, which seems to always be handed out ten minutes after the deadline) so it's pretty much just me taking care of everything now that son is away at college.

Y'all have been waiting about two weeks for a post, and I put up a rant ... but I really don't like a lot of these changes going on right now.