Sitting Pretty

I have been parrot sitting this week and it has been wonderful. The 5:30 am "Hell-ohhhhh" is adorable and she even called out "Hey, hon" when I was in another room. I see now why greys are so popular.

I finished _Dracula_ at long, long last and it moved pretty fast - for the last three pages at least. I also finished listening to an audio book lecture series called "History of Fantasy" and that was good fun for a week of commuting. My 'to read' list is much longer now! Many of his observations had me saying, yes, yes, that is obvious, but there were a few very good points I had not considered before. I am still reading The Last Samurai (not related to the movie) and finished a quick teen novel that was a free download. A brain-expanding week!

Also keeping me entertained during parrot snuggling time were some movies - "The King's Speech", "Jeeves & Wooster, season 4" and "The Last Samurai" (yes, that one). "TKS" was particularly excellent - I think it will earn a place in my drawer of movies next to "Gosford Park".

Not much to report in the home garden. A weeding / pruning / harvesting / deadheading day needs to be arranged post-haste. The tomato is growing, the lavender is blooming, the sunflowers are opening, the lettuces are bolting... spring has sprung.

Knit a few rows on a simple scarf while listening to the audio book before work / at luch, but still no serious knitting progress to report. The knitting mojo is still gone; it's going on two years now. I have thought about pulling out a cross stitch project of an evening, but haven't made any actual progress. Same for weaving - I stare at cones of yarn but do not approach the warping board. The cats are pleased with my increased petting schedule, however.

Slogging...

I am still reading _Dracula_. How anyone ever finished this book, much less encouraged enough other people to read it to make it a "classic", is beyond me.

Speedy Sunday

Where did the day go?! It seems I was just zipping over to gardening day at Martha's. I brought home a tomato for my garden, but did not get as far as planting it today. There will be time before work tomorrow.

Groceries, tv, nap, free flight time for the cockatiels and suddenly it was 7pm. Whew! I took some excedrin for a massive headache and now it is 10pm and I am wide awake and ready to go. Fabulous.

This evening I am making a little progress on a handwoven pouch and flipping through my book on huck lace with an eye to weaving up some dishowels for sale. There has to be a way to rig up my swift (which is missing its clamp) so that I can wind off some warp tomorrow. I am also pondering a way to make a single (huge) cone of 1ply into a useable 3 or 4 ply... I see a lot of re-winding in my future. Aha! I just looked to my right and found the two cones of white cotton 8/2 that I was missing. Someday I will get all the weaving yarns in the same place.

A nice hot day today - which serves as an incentive to get the windows & screens in good order so I can get some breezes in the evenings.

Just in Time

I am still awake from Saturday, so I am counting this as a Saturday post. So there! Another quiet day today... work from 6am to 3pm, home, read, nap, computer time. I didn't get any chores tackled but will apply myself tomorrow.

Might even go wild and pick up my sock knitting for a change!

Week in Review

Taxes done? Check! Refund coming my way, even.

Chores tackled? Check! Well, I am putting more energy into them at least. It seems that the more I do, the more I see that needs to be done. But the trash and the recycling went out this morning, I did some weeding in the yard today and I didn't run out of gas once all week.

Knitting done? Not so much.

Cats snuggled? Check!

Inquiry made about the path to home ownership? Check! The path is long but I have a savings goal. Now, to save that amount before house prices triple. Again.

Spring is for Weaving

I added a new weaving blog to the sidebar - Blossom Merz - for your enjoyment. His work is quite lovely and his posts about the process of starting a viable commercial weaving business from the ground up are enlightenting and encouraging. It is a lot of work, but he has vision, a plan and persistence. It is paying off! You may have seen him and his work last year at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire or run across his Etsy store. Do click over and visit!

Wednesday Update

I have really been slacking in the "post every day" department.

Things are okay but not very exciting this week. I have a surprise day off of work tomorrow and about 345 things I would like to do with it. Options include doing my taxes, going to the beach, washing the dogs, scrubbing the house, cashing in some cans, weaving like a maniac, sleeping all day or being glued to the computer.

I have been spending more time each day in the "bird room" (I moved the computer in here several months ago so I can interact with them more), and have noticed a reduction in my lung capacity / increase in my fits of coughing in the morning. It may be time to look into getting an air filter / HEPA unit. Cockatiels are dusty birds, all right!

I am still reading _Dracula_ and watching "Jeeves and Wooster" in spare moments. Fry & Laurie are comedy gold.

Treading Water

Budget worries are still uppermost in my mind, I am sorry to say. It's all I think about all day, so it is hard to avoid talking or posting about it. When I don't have money I feel ashamed and worthless because I don't earn enough to get by, and when I do have money I feel embarrassed and that I don't deserve it. Let's not even venture into the land of asking for help. People keep telling me I am not a bad person because I earn a low wage, but having things and eating food are a huge part of our identity as Americans. Hours are being cut at work and it seems like every day I find out that someone else is not absent, they got laid off. It is scary and worrisome and I can't put it out of my mind that if the company does not do well, we might literally be out of a job. Naturally worrying makes my performance suffer, which makes me worry more ... you can see where that is going to lead. I will have to take some nice, distracting pictures of the garden to substitute as blog posts for a while.

Move Along

... nothing to see here. Depressed today.

Little Steps

Today has been a day for this-and-that. A little coffee, a little gardening, a little weaving, a little web surfing, a little cleaning, a little TV, a little laundry, a little reading... you get the idea. Saw the snuggliest house for sale down the street from me. 3 bdr / 1 ba, built in 1925, 1K sq feet on a corner lot. There is even a walled in porch / mudroom / birdroom / catio! I am obsessed and yet it is pretty much a hopeless dream. The baby cockatiels are just about weaned and Valentine(a)(0) is just about ready for his new home. I have hit maximum cockatiel density. The ringneck is on my shoulder supervising this post and one of the budgies is still on walkabout after cage cleaning day. Hopefully she will just fly back in later... catching her is a real bear. I am still reading. I finished _The Moonstone_ and it was pretty satisfying by the end. Right now I am reading a very odd book called _Bone Rattler_ that is set in the Colonies about 10 years after Culloden. Martha recommended a book called _For The Win_ which is about video games - that is next on the list.