Bee Graveyard

We haven't been to our cottage the past few weekends for various reasons. We have wonderful neighbors there and crime, specifically break-ins, has not been a problem. I guess if you are small enough to enter the cottage through a vent, it isn't a break-in, right? The little would-be criminals would slip through handcuffs and there isn't likely a sheriff or police officer willing to arrest a bunch of bees anyway.

I am not squeamish about bugs. I simply don't appreciate anyone entering our home or cottage uninvited. We walked into dozens of dead bees on the floor and window sills and a few live ones flying around the range hood which vents outside near the kitchen window. I've been spared both the details of the hive that was constructed in the vent and the battle to dislodge the hive while ducking the bee militia.

After spraying them with something to numb them (I like the image of tiny tasers but we don't have bee sized stun guns), the exterior vent was taped off except for an opening large enough for the hose of the shop vac which ran for an hour. The end of hose has now been taped, sealing the bees in the shop vac to their untimely demise. Do I feel bad? No! It serves the little squatters right! It is a little creepy hearing buzzing inside the vacuum though.
Years ago we had a problem at the house with bees. What looked like a tiny hole in the mortar between two bricks was their entrance to a very large hive. A professional was called in to handle the situation. The hive was at least 24 inches long by a foot or so wide. Have I held a grudge all these years? Possibly, or perhaps I should say....may-bee.

I don't think I am klutzy, but I do go through spells that make me wonder if I am wrong in that assessment. I can hurry through a doorway many times a day for months without incident, then go through a day or two where I turn out of a doorway too quickly and catch a robe pocket (side seam, not a patch pocket) on the strike plate resulting in a robe popping open and spilled beverage, or occasionally being completely stopped in my tracks if the robe snaps are really secure. When I am under the spell of whatever gremlin curses me in such a manner, if it isn't a robe catching the door frame, it will be a knuckle or an elbow.

This week, that gremlin is at it again, but he is off of door frames on onto tape measures as my torture device.

Both of our sons are now out of the house. I am not suffering from an empty nest, I simply thought I would rearrange the nest. Would a narrow chest of drawers from room A fit next to a piece of furniture in room B? Priding myself for thinking to measure before I moved the chest from A to B and finding it won't fit by three-quarters of an inch (been there, done that, haven't you?), I took hubby's steel tape measure upstairs to measure the chest and the space. It isn't as if I have never used the tape measure, so why did recoil so quickly this time, catching my wayward finger that was loitering in its path? That resulted in an expletive but no wound.

The good news was that the furniture would fit where I wanted it to go. I've called it a chest, but actually it is a nightstand with a bookcase hutch that sits on top. When the boys were little, my husband added brackets to the back of the hutch to attach it to the nightstand. Loaded with books, games, trucks, trophies and rocks (don't ask...they were boys), the piece could become top heavy. Two days ago, the hutch and the drawers were empty. I used furniture sliders (Moving Men) to slide it out of one room and into another.

Hmmm, wonder what those nails in the carpet near the baseboard came from? When I am done moving this into place, I will have to see if there are holes in the wall from a long ago poster or something. Boy, I used to work harder than this and not sweat as much. Must be the humidity and not my age, don't you think? Slide, slide, slide this into place and now move it back into the niche and OH CRAP!!! the hutch is falling forward!

I am ok. The hutch is sitting in front of the nightstand, waiting for me to admit what I did and ask for help. Guess everyone knows where those nails came from now, right? I have a black and blue mark on my left forearm that is clearly my own fault, not because of the house gremlins. You think they'd take pity on me, wouldn't you? Not a chance. They even followed me to my son's house.

Husband and son went up on son's roof for a lesson in caulking around the chimney. Once they returned to the ground and I didn't have to worry about anyone falling off (acrophobia could be my middle name), I went inside to measure windows for blinds and curtains. Son's steel tape measure isn't as long so that should be safe right? Wrong! This dang thing didn't lock at all and recoiled faster than ours! I have a blood blister along my thumb nail now.

So what have I learned this week?

I hate to admit it, but maybe I see why I am not allowed to play with hubby's power tools.

A cloth tape measure is my friend.

33 Years

We recently celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. The older I get, the more elastic the measurement of time becomes. Thirty-three years is both forever and yesterday, or perhaps just a week or two ago.

I recently found some statistics regarding average costs in 1975 and compared them to today.
Average Cost of new house in 1975: $39,300.00 In December of 2007: $284,400.00
Average Income per year in 1975: $14,100.00 December 2007: $48,000.00
Cost of a gallon of gas in 1975: 44 cents September 8, 2008: $3.658
Ford Mustang in 1975: $4,105.00 Current, depending on options: $18,265.00 - $42,538.00

Our wedding reception was held in a K of C (Knights of Columbus) Hall which was pretty typical for the time in this area. The hall rental, buffet and liquor cost was $750.90.
All of the flowers and renting a runner for the church aisle came to $107.64.
A live band played from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am for $180.00.
A three tiered chocolate wedding cake was $65.71.
Invitations cost $43.11. Good thing we were married before the postage increase went from 10 cents to 13 cents!
I don't remember what the photographer charged us, but we have our album plus all the proofs. The whole wedding was held to a budget of $1,500.00. Hard to imagine now, isn't it?

My happy, aching bones

After Friday's closing fiasco, I had my doubts that my son's closing would take place yesterday. We still don't have answers that make sense, but the good news is that a closing did take place yesterday afternoon and the moving in process has begun!

I think we all lifted, scrubbed, dried, folded and completed many other motions within six hours yesterday than in many previous full days. Even when we took a break from moving things in, we didn't sit still. The chimney was heavily covered in ivy. It didn't take long for my husband and sister-in-law to decide to see how hard it would be pulling the ivy off. Poof! Within in 15 minutes it was gone!




There is much more yard work ahead, but the ivy was bugging all of us and its removal made the house officially our son's home somehow. Thankfully none of the mortar nor the eaves seem damaged.

Good thing I finished the baby quilt and got that to the baby and her parents over the weekend. Here is the Peek-a-boo quilt. I randomly sewed all the leftover strips of fabric together to make the binding. I echo quilted the seaming in the blocks, outlining the baby faces and adding hearts wherever a space seemed to call for more quilting.


I may not be a baby any longer, but I think a nap is in order this afternoon, especially with more boxes to move and unpack. After we get our son all settled in, I get to clean my own house again. Gee, I'll even have new spaces to claim for work and storage, provided I beat my husband to them!

Harmony Kntting Needles

After all the years I've been knitting, I have needles in most sizes, and in both 10" and 14" lengths as well as many circular lengths. I have multiples in sizes that I use most often because sometimes I have more than one project going, and because I went from Susan Bates aluminum needles in the early years to Quick Silver needles to various brands of bamboo needles.

With all of these needles around me, why am lusting for new needles? Because Harmony needles feel so wonderful and look pretty too!

My first experience with this brand was a short circular needle. Hubby couldn't believe I didn't have a size that I absolutely needed, but with a garage full of tools, he understands the importance of the right tool in the right length even if eye appeal doesn't apply to wrenches and hammers.

I felt justified in the switch from metal to bamboo and other wooden needles because knitting didn't accidentally slip off wooden needles. So why, at a time in my life when I am trying to down size my craft addictions (ha!) am I wanting a pair of these in every size? Aren't they just wooden needles too? Well yes, they are, but they are so smooth (make that smoooooooth) that they combine the slickness of stitches moving along on aluminum needles, yet not so much that they slide off which drew me to the bamboo ones.

*sigh*

When I die, do you think my sons will look at all these needles and think "so that is where our inheritance went"?
Nah...they'll have to get through all the fabric, yarn, paint, card stock, rubber stamps, embroidery floss, and books first. By the time they reach the needles, they'll be numb.

Not a happy weekend here

All it takes is one person not doing their job to make the dominoes fall.

Our son should have closed on his house yesterday. Actually, he should have closed on it last Friday, but the underwriter wanted a second appraisal. That went through just fine and we thought oh well, next weekend is a long weekend. We'll have plenty of time and assistance moving his things into his new house.

He was supposed to hear what the final amount he would need to take to the closing Thursday night. Nothing came. He'll hear by Friday at 9:00 am. That time came and went. So did noon. This wasn't without many calls on his part. The closing was scheduled for 3:00. That time came and went. Finally he heard at 3:45. He went to the bank to get a certified check. He called me en route to the closing. I packed my car. My husband came home and packed his truck. Our son came home as I came out with a camera to take a picture of the new home owner. He held up a hand and told us to stop packing.

After signing beaucoup papers at the closing, someone stepped in and said the wire transfer from Chase never came through. It was now past 5:00 on a Friday of a holiday weekend. That division of the bank was closed and merrily on their way to an enjoyable weekend. A phone call, or most likely a few key strokes, was all it would have taken for the closing to be completed and keys to be handed over.

We know this isn't the worst thing that can happen to someone, but it didn't help last night. Today we are just drained and living among boxes that are waiting to be packed into vehicles again. We'll be ok again soon, and good once this deal is done. Until then I am amusing myself with thoughts of what to do the person responsible for this. Imaginary gratuitous violence is a mother's prerogative.

ABCrafting Members

A while ago I lost email addresses that I had for members of a craft board called ABCrafting. I know how to reach a few women who were members via their blogs, but I have a question to ask about another member and don't feel right sticking my question on other blogs.

Does anyone hear from Tia? Mutual friends from another message board where she was once active have asked me if I know anything about her. Her blog no longer exists, a different name is listed at her physical address (home) and my last emails to her hotmail account went unanswered.

I'm sure this sounds terribly nosy, especially to those who never knew her, but this was the best way I could think of to try to find someone who may know how she is doing. If you'd prefer to answer by email, my account is Knitwit_1975@hotmail.com