Must. Be. Patient.

That's us.  Waiting by the phone for the house to close.  So we CAN START TEARING SHIT DOWN.

It's been a long while since I have been involved in purchasing a house (and I'm only peripherally involved in this one), and I forgot how endless it seems waiting for all the paperwork, inspections, snags and etc. to be finished.

The inspector did not care for the "clean up" job the bank had done on the roof moss.  Which looked like they hired a hobo to climb up and throw a few clumps of said moss off of the roof and onto the back deck.  So now they're being required to do an actual roof cleaning and certify that the roof is okay for 2 more years.  Which pushes closing back at least another week.

Guess we shouldn't start packing boxes yet.  But soon, very soon.

Loved It!

"Behind The Candelabra"!!!  So fantastic. 

If you don't have HBO, get it. Or watch here

http://www.solarmovie.so/watch-behind-the-candelabra-2013.html

Not that I'm suggesting you watch for free.

I am Watching the HELL out of THIS

Tomorrow night: "Behind the Candelabra", with Michael Douglas as Liberace. Cannot wait for this!

Love

Salt Water Sandals for adults?  Yes please!

http://www.mysaltwatersandals.com/

Hoping This Movie Comes Out Soon!

"All Is Lost", with Robert Redford.  Only Robert Redford.  "Imagine Life of Pi without the spirituality and animals, Cast Away without Wilson; just Redford on a boat with a hole in it, exposed to the elements, adapting to each new disaster with a series of ingenious small acts, and taking a major beating."

GoT Inspired Knitting!

Because I'm a bit of a nerd that way...I've been designing some cool patterns inspired by "Game of Thrones"  (ack, only TWO EPISODES LEFT for this season!  Thank god we have Dexter and Breaking Bad to fill in while we wait for Season 4)

My fabulous test knitter (that's you, Susna!) is knitting away on my shawlette, and my fabulous photographer (that's you, Pia!) is going to take some professional quality pix for me.  Hopefully, I'll have socks and shawl patterns available within the next week or so.  Meantime, here's a pic of my Storm's End Shawlette to give you an idea of what's I'm up to:

I'm a sucker for yarn with long color runs, and Zauberball is my current fave.  I also managed to work in my Weldon's obsession by using a lace pattern from their 1893 Practical Knitter, called "Seaweed".  Perfect for Storm's End, a castle by the sea:

My sock pattern is "Kissed by Fire":

Again with Zauberball.  This is my favorite colorway, called "Royalty".  Love it!

Breaking News

I have it on good authority (Katie googling at work) that our beloved 10,000 Silver Dollars Bar burned down. WHY didn't I buy those beaded tchotchkes the last time we were there?!  Tragedy!

ETA:  false alarm. It was the Silver Eagle Bar in Mullan ID. Our beaded tchotchkes are safe. Whew 

Happy Birthday, Sis!

This gal arrived on Mother's Day xx years ago (I'm not telling), and has ruled the world ever since. 

Happy birthday to my little sister, dear pal, and all-around great person!  Hope your day is full of family and fun and that you got a good report on your knee recovery. Love you, doll!

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mom, my sisters, my nieces, and all the other moms I know:

may you be as lucky as I am -- the proud mom of the four greatest kids in the world. 

And here's my favorite photo of my mama:

See, Guys Can Do Needlecrafts!

Loving this ad from 1943!  If I'd had a husband who would do latch hooking with me, maybe I'd still be married.  Just sayin'.

I Want This!

In 1950,  you could order a "Readi-Cut House" from the Aladdin Com. of Bay City, Michigan.  $1492.00 got you a five room house and "every hour you can put in on the construction of your Aladdin home means a saving to you of from $2.00 to $3.00 per hour on its cost."

A house-by-numbers, that's my skill level.  And I figure my labor is worth just about $3.00/hour based on my skill sets.

The First Cookies

I found Tony's third grade journal the other day. We died. Here are some excerpts:

"Resolution. Not to be mean to my sisters. Do not tatol (tattle). Eating better. Brushing my teeth. Cleaning my room. Not littering. To take care of my pets and feed them more often."  Except for tatoling, he could have written this list yesterday ;-)

"Report Cards. My social behavior is not that good...this is not a good year for me...avencholey I will improve with my behavior and my work and get a good report card hopfuley."  Lol, he did avencholey get better. 

We have NO idea what this assignment was, but Mrs Clemons gave him a "great!" For it:

"Flag, McDonald's,tolite, red white blue,woods, corn, ships, TCBY,fish, showers, Toad, pool, camping, guns, books, wars, sclogers, plains, stachyous of the solgers that foght in the war, war, being free, the first cookies, the revoulishinary war, the White huse, Washington, river, Spokane, NASA, English, clothes"

Just what WERE " the first cookies"?  It's a mystery...

The Best

Teachers. Nurses. We've got 'em in the family. And we are amazed that these dedicated ladies do challenging work day in and out with panache, love and skill. 

Bravo Nurses Katie and Megan and Teacher Pia!  Couldn't be prouder of you gals!

Happy Birthday Pofyliner!

A couple of days late, but happy birthday, Katie!

And So It Begins

We did a smidgen of primer coverage of the peeling paint in anticipation of the FHA inspection next week. They don't like that peeling paint at all. And we don't want Lulu chewing lead-based paint

Punch List

Katie & I went to the home inspection at her soon-to-be new house.  See that turquoise trim?  Top of the Punch List for change.  Inspection went well, very thorough and mostly cosmetic & cleaning up type stuff.  A LOT of yard work.  A LOT of scraping popcorn ceilings.  A LOT of painting rooms. A LOT of light fixtures to replace.  A LOT of wood paneling to remove.

But the roof is good, the furnace and water heater are new-ish, and we may be able to live with the downstairs carpet after a good cleaning (for a while at least)  A backyard fence has moved to the top of the Punch List, crowding out that new carpet.  The old fence is bockety, to say the least.

Also, the AC doesn't work.  It dates approximately to the Big Bang, so we'll have to think about replacing that.  It gets hot in the summer here, no AC is kind of grim.

Stay tuned for further adventures in home improvement.  We are watching the DIY Channel 24/7 to ready ourselves.