My second beautiful set for the Stitch Marker Exchange came from Ruth in Seattle! And with some Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate - can't wait to try it...
Turns out, Ruth and I traded as I sent to her as well!
Thank you, thank you!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Thank You Ruth!
My second beautiful set for the Stitch Marker Exchange came from Ruth in Seattle! And with some Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate - can't wait to try it...
Turns out, Ruth and I traded as I sent to her as well!
Thank you, thank you!
A requested Angel update
I do like to take her outside for fresh air and sunshine.
And a little 'cuddle' time.
Yes, she still sits in my hand, usually.
She hasn't been out in the grass in years. What would she think?
The grass apparently tickles. Angel spent a lot of time trying to groom herself, and the grass!
I even took her over to the ground below the birdfeeders and gave her some wild bird seed to peck at.
She just enjoyed the weather. There is always seed back in the cage!
As long as I squatted or sat down, she was fine. If I stood up, she got spooked and tried to get away. She still has trouble walking on flat ground, walking on the grass was even tougher! She also tried to fly a couple of times. She can get a couple of feet off the ground and then comes crashing down, face first. I don't think she did any permanent damage, just lost a few feathers and damaged ger pride a little. But she did seem to enjoy being out again!
Mother's Day ceramics from Brian
It whistles better than I do!
No mortgage...
Adorable!
The top was supposed to be bright white but the teacher 'antiqued' it. I like it!
Thank you Bri!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thank You to all our Veterans!
The story is excellent but you must go to the link at the end to get full appreciation.
The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood!
Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 a.m., and Bierstock, a Delray Beach, Fla. , eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event.
He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly.
At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you."
Then the old soldier began to cry.
"That really got to me," Bierstock says.
Cut to today.
Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach - a member of Bierstock's band, Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band - have written a song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful "Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WWII. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die.
"If we had lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "The WW II soldiers are now dying at the rate of about 2,000 every day. I thought we needed to thank them."
The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web, the song and accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and daughters and grandchildren.
"It made me cry," wrote one veteran's son. Another sent an e-mail saying that only after his father consumed several glasses of wine would he discuss "the unspeakable horrors" he and other soldiers had witnessed in places such as Anzio, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Omaha Beach. "I can never thank them enough," the son wrote. "Thank you for thinking about them."
Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute - this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.
GOD BLESS every EVERY veteran...
and THANK you to those of you veterans who may receive this !
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO HEAR THE SONG AND SEE THE PICTURES:
http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=playBYG
If that doesn't work, click http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=Before_You_Go_Home and keep clicking on "hear the song."
On the site, you will see that there is the original version dedicated to WW2 and Korean Vets and then they added another for the Vietnam Vets (same song, different pictures).
The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood!
Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 a.m., and Bierstock, a Delray Beach, Fla. , eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event.
He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly.
At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you."
Then the old soldier began to cry.
"That really got to me," Bierstock says.
Cut to today.
Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach - a member of Bierstock's band, Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band - have written a song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful "Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WWII. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die.
"If we had lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "The WW II soldiers are now dying at the rate of about 2,000 every day. I thought we needed to thank them."
The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web, the song and accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and daughters and grandchildren.
"It made me cry," wrote one veteran's son. Another sent an e-mail saying that only after his father consumed several glasses of wine would he discuss "the unspeakable horrors" he and other soldiers had witnessed in places such as Anzio, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Omaha Beach. "I can never thank them enough," the son wrote. "Thank you for thinking about them."
Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute - this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.
GOD BLESS every EVERY veteran...
and THANK you to those of you veterans who may receive this !
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO HEAR THE SONG AND SEE THE PICTURES:
http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=playBYG
If that doesn't work, click http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=Before_You_Go_Home and keep clicking on "hear the song."
On the site, you will see that there is the original version dedicated to WW2 and Korean Vets and then they added another for the Vietnam Vets (same song, different pictures).
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
do I really need more socks?!?!?
Bit of Lace Sport Footies out of Cascade Fixation.
Mock Wave Cable in Sockatta.
The beginning of Up-Down Spiral socks in Cherry Tree Hill.I'm not sure if I really need more, but I keep knitting them anyway....
I'm also trying the Little Leapin Long Legs in a 'mystery' wool....
thank you Jean!
The Lonestar Needler sent me these beautiful stitch markers and amazing dishcloth!
She adjusted the pattern for the dishcloth in order to use self striping yarn!
She adjusted the pattern for the dishcloth in order to use self striping yarn!
TODAY'S POSITIVE THOUGHT
The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and
does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse.
-- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher
does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse.
-- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Betty
I realized that this blog is named 'boys, knitting, and geckos' but i've never posted anything about the geckos.Here is Betty, curled up in her bowl. She is just one of a bunch we have but the first I've seen to doo this. I thought it was cute!
Another Saturn story...
But not as fun as the last one...
In March, after Cincinnati's so-called Blizzard, Steve headed off to work.
I had called in to work as I had pulled my lower back the day before and had a made a doctor's appointment to find out if I would ever be able to move again. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't get comfortable, etc. I was not a very happy person at this point. And the phone rings. It was Steve telling me he felt sick. I thought, if he's sick, he should come home and go to bed. He doesn't need to ask my permission or anything!
Nope. Not that kind of sick. He had 'tore out the entire side of the Vue.'
It turns out, they had been working at installing parking lot lights and just had the concrete pillars/bases in. Somehow, as Steve was cutting from one aisle to another, he managed to not see one and bounced the car off it. He said he hit pretty hard.
I actually surprised both of us and didn't lose it. What difference would that have made anyway??
He called the insurance company and got all that taken care of during the day. I spent several hours at the doctor, and then went to the pharmacy before I was able to come home. I couldn't wait for him to get home so I could see all this damage.
Finally, he made it home:
Not as bad as I expected!
We took it to the recommended repair place down at the corner. With that weekend's snow, they were scheduling for 2 weeks out! We were concerned about what mechanicals were now open to the elements with the broken 'skin' on the front door. We talked about trying to cover and seal it but then decided we wouldn't be driving it anyway (2 otherSsaturns to choose from after all!). They were concerned as well since the power window motor sits right behind the break. But if we're not going to drive it, why not leave it with them and they's squeeze it in when they could. They figured they'd probably be able to get it done before what they were even scheduling for.
They were right! It was done in just under a week. They had to replace the front door as the frame was bent and the skin of the back door (it cracked also). And the paint, etc.
I think the insurance company only had to pay about $1100 for their part plus the $500 deductible and it's back on the road!
All better now...
In March, after Cincinnati's so-called Blizzard, Steve headed off to work.
I had called in to work as I had pulled my lower back the day before and had a made a doctor's appointment to find out if I would ever be able to move again. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't get comfortable, etc. I was not a very happy person at this point. And the phone rings. It was Steve telling me he felt sick. I thought, if he's sick, he should come home and go to bed. He doesn't need to ask my permission or anything!
Nope. Not that kind of sick. He had 'tore out the entire side of the Vue.'
It turns out, they had been working at installing parking lot lights and just had the concrete pillars/bases in. Somehow, as Steve was cutting from one aisle to another, he managed to not see one and bounced the car off it. He said he hit pretty hard.
I actually surprised both of us and didn't lose it. What difference would that have made anyway??
He called the insurance company and got all that taken care of during the day. I spent several hours at the doctor, and then went to the pharmacy before I was able to come home. I couldn't wait for him to get home so I could see all this damage.
Finally, he made it home:
Not as bad as I expected!
We took it to the recommended repair place down at the corner. With that weekend's snow, they were scheduling for 2 weeks out! We were concerned about what mechanicals were now open to the elements with the broken 'skin' on the front door. We talked about trying to cover and seal it but then decided we wouldn't be driving it anyway (2 otherSsaturns to choose from after all!). They were concerned as well since the power window motor sits right behind the break. But if we're not going to drive it, why not leave it with them and they's squeeze it in when they could. They figured they'd probably be able to get it done before what they were even scheduling for.
They were right! It was done in just under a week. They had to replace the front door as the frame was bent and the skin of the back door (it cracked also). And the paint, etc.
I think the insurance company only had to pay about $1100 for their part plus the $500 deductible and it's back on the road!
All better now...
AAA or UPS??
A little background:
We have 3 Saturns, one being a plain old 93 SL. It may not be the most glamorous or in the best of shape but it's paid for and it gets the best gas mileage of the 3.
A few weeks ago, I was talking with Steve about some of the goofy things I learned early in my driving days (25 years ago!) and ended up telling him one of the stories of the 1972 Mercury Capri.
I was a junior in high school and had to ask permission (and have a good reason) to drive the family van. Dad was headed out of town on business for the week and said I could drive his car for the week!! Yeah - no school bus! Boy was I excited!!
Monday night, I was to attend a meeting at school so off I went. Up over the mountains, into the next town. It was probably dusk, so I had the headlights on but cars started flashing their lights at me anyway?!?! And then the dash was dark and...
then it wasn't running so well.
Or at all.
I managed to get it into one of the gas stations and called home. My step-mother got in the van and came after me. She pushed me all the way back home. Broke the back-up lights and such but we got the thing home. It would hav e to wait for Dad to figure it out and fix it.
No car for the week now and it was only Monday!!
When Dad called home, we told him what happened. He proceded to tell me that if I had been a UPS driver (as he had been), I would have been told to take my shoe off and hit the battery terminals with the heel. It would have been fine.
It turned out that the alternator had failed so banging on the battery terminals wouldn't have actually helped for that situation but... the story stuck.
Flash foward 25 years and I drove the little car to work. After work, when all I want to do is get home and crash, I turn the key and...
NOTHING!
No cranking, no clock, no radio, nothing.
Being a stick, the first thing I decided to try is popping the clutch.
The only other person at work at that point is one of our truck drivers with a bad hip. But he wouldn't get in and let me push! What a sight we must have been!
But...
still nothing.
Pop the hood and find the battery terminals. They are hidden off the back side of the battery, poking out from under the battery cover. They looked ok but what did I have to lose?!?!?!
I took off my clog and smacked the first terminal. It almost looked like I pushed it into the battery. But nothing bad happened so... I hit the other one, too.
Then I got back in the car and turned the key.
(Plain) Jane started right up!
I drove straight home, do not pass go, do not collect $200, etc. (I really didn't want to run those errands anyway!)
She has started and run every time I've asked her to since.
Thank you UPS!
p.s. Anyone know how to reset the clock on an old Saturn radio??
We have 3 Saturns, one being a plain old 93 SL. It may not be the most glamorous or in the best of shape but it's paid for and it gets the best gas mileage of the 3.
A few weeks ago, I was talking with Steve about some of the goofy things I learned early in my driving days (25 years ago!) and ended up telling him one of the stories of the 1972 Mercury Capri.
I was a junior in high school and had to ask permission (and have a good reason) to drive the family van. Dad was headed out of town on business for the week and said I could drive his car for the week!! Yeah - no school bus! Boy was I excited!!
Monday night, I was to attend a meeting at school so off I went. Up over the mountains, into the next town. It was probably dusk, so I had the headlights on but cars started flashing their lights at me anyway?!?! And then the dash was dark and...
then it wasn't running so well.
Or at all.
I managed to get it into one of the gas stations and called home. My step-mother got in the van and came after me. She pushed me all the way back home. Broke the back-up lights and such but we got the thing home. It would hav e to wait for Dad to figure it out and fix it.
No car for the week now and it was only Monday!!
When Dad called home, we told him what happened. He proceded to tell me that if I had been a UPS driver (as he had been), I would have been told to take my shoe off and hit the battery terminals with the heel. It would have been fine.
It turned out that the alternator had failed so banging on the battery terminals wouldn't have actually helped for that situation but... the story stuck.
Flash foward 25 years and I drove the little car to work. After work, when all I want to do is get home and crash, I turn the key and...
NOTHING!
No cranking, no clock, no radio, nothing.
Being a stick, the first thing I decided to try is popping the clutch.
The only other person at work at that point is one of our truck drivers with a bad hip. But he wouldn't get in and let me push! What a sight we must have been!
But...
still nothing.
Pop the hood and find the battery terminals. They are hidden off the back side of the battery, poking out from under the battery cover. They looked ok but what did I have to lose?!?!?!
I took off my clog and smacked the first terminal. It almost looked like I pushed it into the battery. But nothing bad happened so... I hit the other one, too.
Then I got back in the car and turned the key.
(Plain) Jane started right up!
I drove straight home, do not pass go, do not collect $200, etc. (I really didn't want to run those errands anyway!)
She has started and run every time I've asked her to since.
Thank you UPS!
p.s. Anyone know how to reset the clock on an old Saturn radio??
socks, socks and other knitting
Some of what I've been working on the last couple of months...
(in no particular order)
Star of the Day hat and toddler socks:
Galaxy again:
Jaywalkers - finally!
assorted hats for the ShipSupport.com group:
(the last 2 are the Koolhas hat pattern from IK.)
BFF socks:
Phiaro Stole for Kim:
this...
became....
Fawkes:
and...
Falling Leaves:
(in no particular order)
Star of the Day hat and toddler socks:
Galaxy again:
Jaywalkers - finally!
assorted hats for the ShipSupport.com group:
(the last 2 are the Koolhas hat pattern from IK.)
BFF socks:
Phiaro Stole for Kim:
this...
became....
Fawkes:
and...
Falling Leaves:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
