Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a week since my last post! Sorry folks. It’s been kind of busy around Casa de Soliel. So without further adieu, here is all the news that is fit to report.
The jacket for Bugs is about one-third complete. It would be more but I have had trouble staying on task with knitting this week. I think all my FO’s of the last few weeks have burnt me out a little. Not sure. Anyhow, the back and one of the front pieces is done. I still need another front and two sleeves, then I piece it together and add a collar. It is darling so far and the yarn is great for this project. The yarn is one of the other things causing delays though. See, I am using it double stranded and I was having some trouble with finding an easy way to do that. I have since learned that I can wind two balls of yarn into one and it’s very much more easy to work with. But the winding is a little challenging, so I need to get back on task with that part too. Anyhow, I expect this item will be done in the next week or so at the most.
In addition to the jacket, I decided that Bugs will need some new pink socks soon. I have a single skein of Lorna’s Laces in the color Wisteria, so decided to do a pair of boring old stockinette stitch, toe-up, two at a time on 2 circular needles for her. The yarn is so cute that any sort of fancy pattern would take away from the colors. Anyhow, I know she will like these if I make them fit right, and the added benefit and reason I love Lorna’s Laces so much is that they can go through the washer and dryer with no issues. The socks are maybe 1/8th done, BTW. See how bad I am being about staying on task?
On to other stuff, primarily the weekend. I was off on Friday, so I had a nice long 4-day weekend. And my GOD it went by fast. How does that happen???
So on Friday I woke up at a reasonable hour because mom and dad were on their way to the house. Oh, did I forget to mention that this last weekend is usually a major event in my family? It was the opening day of dove season. I don’t hunt for doves but it’s a big day for DH and dad because it’s the first real hunt of the year. So anyhow, mom and dad were coming down Friday morning so the boys could play with their hunting toys in preparation for the opener on Saturday, and mom and I were going to our annual Fair Day.
See, I love the fair. Not the midway, but the food and exhibits and all the things to look at and buy. Any the California State Fair has the added benefit of being connected to a water park. Since mom and I probably have hidden gills and fins, this is a good thing. The biggest problem with the fair has always been the heat, but once mom and I discovered that we can go to the water park during the day and the fair part in the evening, it has become a great fun time.
This year we spent about 5 hours in the water and then hit the fair. The water park was pretty decent this year. Last year they had let the maintenance go so badly that we were concerned about going this time. But a new company bought it and put in some $$$, so we were happy. They did not have a part open for most of the day, and when mom asked a manager about it, he said that he would do his best, but just in case he couldn’t get it open, he gave us some comp tickets for next year. That was really cool, particularly since mom truly wasn’t complaining, just asking a question.
On to the fair… I did not consume as much fair food as I planned. But what I had was pretty good. Here is what was eaten over the course of the day:
- Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream
- Pepperoni Pizza
- Pesto Tortellini
- Deep Fried Artichoke Hearts
Pretty wimpy, huh? I am rather disappointed with myself, but I think it was just too dang hot to eat much. But it was not too hot to shop! Here is what I bought:
- Watkins dip mix in cucumber and dill flavor
- SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia, grape flavor
- At the kitchen stand: small lighter refill thing, lighter shaped like a fire extinguisher with an adjustable nozzle for lighting the BBQ, butter dish
- 2 turban towel hair wrap thingies (cheaper than the ones I buy at Ulta, but also not as good of quality)
It seems like I bought a few other things, but the heck if I can remember what! The most impressive purchase to me though is that Liquid Stevia stuff. I think I had heard the word some time or other, but I didn’t really know what it was. The guy manning the stand was giving out samples, so we decided to try one. Basically, it is super-concentrated sweet stuff with flavor to put in water (or whatever). It is all natural and has no calories or any bad stuff, and is a great alternative to things like Crystal Light.
They also have the stuff that is just a sweetener to replace Splenda and Equal and such. Anyhow, it is different, but in a good way. I was not sure about it at first, particularly since the 2 oz. bottle was $20. However, after walking around a bit I decided that it was a good idea. Mainly because those Crystal Light on the Go things are about $0.25-0.49 per serving, and this stuff was waaaaaaaay less. You only use a few drops in each bottle of water, so it truly is cheap. Also, if the info is true, it’s not unhealthy like the other stuff out there.
Anyhow, I am enjoying it. It’s pretty good and definitely getting me to keep drinking water. I rarely drink anything other than water, so sometimes I want it to have a little flavor. This fits the bill. I did find some places to buy it online cheaper, which is good. www.drugstore.com actually has it for $12, but they only have 3 of the flavors, only 1 of which I want to try. But I will add it to my next order through there, that’s for sure.
The other cool thing at the fair was that the Commodores were playing. They still have their musical talent, so mom and I watched from the grass for a bit. We also looked at the fur and feathers exhibit and fell in love with the chinchillas. They were available for petting, and they were so stinkin’ cute and soft! They really liked us, so we got to stay and pet for quite a while. We also looked at the crafts exhibit. We were a little disappointed this time. Last year there were these great miniature models of rooms and such that were just so cool. This year we only saw one or two that were remotely similar. Big bummer. But at the same time we decided that I need to enter some of my knitting next year. I think I would have a good chance at a prize based on what we saw the last two years. I will have to make something really cool to enter.
Heard enough about the fair yet? I figured! On to Saturday…
On Saturday mom and I decided we were going to go play bingo. When we got there, it was so crowded there was no way we would enjoy it, so we decided to just go gamble a bit and think about heading home. Well, I sat at a Pai Gow table and was doing pretty well. Not winning much but not losing either. Since I just really enjoy playing, this was fine with me. Poor mom lost her money pretty fast and came and sat by me for a while. There was a penny machine right by the table, so I handed her a wad of $1’s to go play since that was the only cash I had on me. Not too long after, she yelled at me. She had hit a $220 jackpot on her little penny machine! This was awesome, so I got comfortable at the table since I knew we would be there a while now.
After a bit, we decided to go get some dinner. I was down maybe $40 at this point, so it was all good. Dinner was just okay, but my comps from sitting at the table for so long took care of the entire bill. That was rather nice! After dinner, we went back downstairs and saw a set open at a penny Wheel of Fortune machine we enjoy. It’s one with a giant wheel in the center of the machines, and the seats are like benches for two people. Mom put in $20 (since she was the big winner) and we played the minimum bet of 80 cents. We kept getting the bonus spin and just couldn’t believe it! We got the $100 spin twice and several others ranging from $9-$25. We walked away with $270 and split the winnings. After this, I went to another Pai Gow table and mom went to the Penny Train machine. By the end of the evening (and after a couple more slot machines as well) I left up $510, and mom was up $100 (she had poor luck the second half of the evening). All in all, it was great fun.
Sunday and Monday ended up being lazy days to end all lazy days. Mom and I lounged around all day Sunday until the boys cam home from hunting, at which time we made them dinner. Mom and Dad went home on Monday and DH and I carried on with the lazy for the remainder of the day.
I managed to watch a few movies during the weekend that I had DVR’d at some point. Not sure if this is all of them, but here are the ones I recall:
- Shopgirl – Very odd. The story line was kind of weak and it was fairly boring. I vaguely recall the book, and it seems like the movie was pretty different. Either way, I don’t recommend it.
- Lord of War – Another odd one. I had some trouble following the story, but it was pretty good. I really like Nicolas Cage, so I enjoy most anything he is in.
- Invincible – I loved this movie. Which is surprising because it was a football movie and set in the 70’s, two things that are almost guaranteed to bore the hell outta me. But it was great. And since it was based on a true story, all the better.
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby – Incredibly dumb movie, but DH enjoyed it. I got a lot of knitting done while watching this.
- The Guardian – Predictable, but we both really enjoyed it.
So, what else do I have to report? Not much, I’m afraid. Oh, I have moved up to spot 1,454 on Ravelry. I am really anxious to get in. Beyond that, I don’t think I have anything else to report for the day!
