Long Post with knitting, cats, houses, and things! Pics, too!

MORE ADDED AT throughout blog at 3:15 PM

Yesterday I took the ACE train to Santa Clara to attend Stitches West. I was happy I could take the train and didn't have to drive.I took a shuttle one stop to the Convention Center, but I walked back to the train station after. I don't usually buy much at Stitches, but it's really fun to look! Last year was my big score - I bought brown Cascade Eco yarn and made a sweater (that I wore yesterday), and a closeout bag of sock yarn. The two years before I bought yarn I didn't love, or even particularly like, so after that, I got picky.

This year I met Diann and Holly at Stitches. It's fun to go with Diann because she knows a lot about yarn, and buys a lot of it. This year she bought beautiful shawl pins. http://shawlpins.com/

There is fabulously beautiful yarn at Stitches, but I can never figure out what I want to make, and I don't want to spend a lot of money on yarn if I don't have to. I've been buying the more expensive sock yarn with my credits from our Amazon credit card, but my favorite pair of socks so far are made with the cheaper Socks and Sole yarn from Joanne's, so go figure.

I bought an ironing board cover that Diann had purchased last year. It is supposed to make ironing easy. She's had it a year and still loves it, so that was my endorsement. The red bag was a giveaway that I used to carry my stuff.

I found Sockotta yarn - it's a cotton blend for socks, and I liked the colors, and it was on sale, so I was happy. Someone who reads this blog has requested socks from me (you know who you are!), so she may be getting a pair made from one of these skeins! The hard part was trying to decide which colors to buy. There were a few more, but I didn't want them all. I kept picking up a color, and putting it down. This is where I become extremely wishy-washy.There was a woman at Stitches who looked like my Mom. I snapped her picture with my cell phone (without her knowing), but I had to email it to myself, and it didn't go on the first try, so now I'm waiting for it. If it sends, I will post it later or tomorrow. My parents once met a gal who they thought was my "spitting image" (what a visual that term provides) so they took a picture of her with them, and sent it to me. It looked nothing like me. This could be funny if I get this picture to my computer! I keep getting a message that says "Http failure" - maybe because I don't get cell service in the house, but I stood outside to try the email transfer.

Today we walked around the corner to an estate sale at a house like ours. It wasn't even the mirror image, it was the exact same house. Some things were updated, and some were not, but we could tell from the things and the house that the woman had good taste.

These are pictures that were posted for the estate sale on Craigslist. Since it was to advertise the "stuff", it's not a great indication of the house, but hopefully when the house goes up for sale, I can secure better pictures. I wanted to go back with my camera, but decided not to.

This is the "estate house" dining area. Notice the gaudy chandelier and the pink and white striped wallpaper. The formal dining set is very nice. I really like dark wood.

And here's a picture of the dining area in our house!

This is what we call our TV room in the "estate house". Again, it's displaying the stuff for sale. The door goes to the garage. I don't love our linoleum, but I like it better than this! And with three cats and a husband, it works well.

Here's our TV room. Note the dark paneling. Everyone says we should paint it, but we don't mind it. Can you find two cats in this picture?

The cats - one is at the top of the Crow's Nest and one is in front of the door to the garage.

This is the TV room window in our house. The "estate house" had the huge window replaced by t in a sliding glass door to the backyard, but that wouldn't work for us. It's funny, but the only way to our backyard is thru the garage or thru the sunroom.Here is the "estate house" living room. Note the draps on the windows. We have only shades, and Will opens them first thing when he getse up in the morning.
This is the "estate house" dining area to the left, and the living room to the right. The wall with the China cabinet is where our low bookshelf is below.Same area in our house. Yes, those are Mowry's whiskers to the far right.

Diann called to ask about the estate sale while we were walking back from a walk into town, so we went again, only this time I brought my camera. Here is the chandelier in the entryway of the "estate house". YUCK!

The "estate house" also had a sunroom that looked particularly nice. It had tile floors, which I would like to do some day, and a nice sliding door to the outside, but we were told it also had leaks by the windows, and the steps in and out of the sunroom were way too steep. From the outside:

The inside. I love the tile floors. Someday I'd love to replace our patched carpet with tile.This tile is in the entryway of the "estate house". I think it's tile. I know it's ugly. It goes into the hallway by the bedrooms.

I'm glad our burgundy tile that I never liked until I saw this is only in the entryway!
This is the master bathroom in the "estate house".
And here's our bathroom. I am not crazy about the pink, but I like it better and than the "estate house".I took this when we were looking at the house when the former owner still lived here.

We even found a few things at the estate sale besides just looking at the house. Some original tupperware, a frame, two olive oil plates that Mow is checking out, some gift bags and wrapping tissue, a frame, and the two utensils at the bottom. Mow seems to get into many of my pictures!

When we went back to the estate sale, we found some more stuff. It's hard to tell, but the salad servers are yellow melmac!
The camelias look lovely in the new vase.Ziggy loves to sit on my lap when I watch TV, especially basketball!

We're all glad Ziggy's "First Human Dad" is out of the hospital and recuperating at home. He misses Ziggy. Cats seem to know when to crawl next to you and keep you company!

A few days ago this cloud formation caught my eye. It's so linear and unusual.

Random Wednesday Thoughts and Pictures

I can sit on the window perch too. Alex was next to me snoring while I was on a conference call! These paws are so furry! It's one of the distinctions of the Maine Coon breed.

I'm looking forward to Stitches on Friday. I don't really need anything, and I have no idea what I'll end up getting, if anything. Last year I scored a big bag of sock yarn that I shared with Diann, but this year I think I'll look for sock yarn and keep it all to myself. I also bought the brown yarn I used to make my sweater. I will wear that on Friday!

I signed up for Facebook, but I can't remember why. Actually, I remember why, it's why I'm still on it that I question. The one thing is that I can IM my niece and my friend in CT thru Facebook. Otherwise it's just kind of dumb. People post the most boring stuff, and then if you respond, you get no response. Whatever! There is a place to type in a response to: "What are you doing now?" It used to say "Joan is" (it put your name in for you, and "is" and most people didn't delete the "is" if it didn't fit, so it would read, "Joan is what is with this weather?!?!?" Only it wouldn't be "Joan" because I'm smart enough to delete the "is" and have it say "Joan asks what is with this weather?" or something like that. I guess Facebook realized they had a lot of morons for users (okay, maybe they are just lazy) because now it says "Joan " and they took off the "is" and you fill in the rest. Who cares if someone is tired, or waiting at the bus stop. Some of my favorites are - someone who posted that they are relaxing on vacation (then why are you posting to Facebook?) or they are with their family at a family dinner (again, why are you posting to Facebook?). I know you have a superphone from which you can post, but do I care?

Yes, Ziggy left a present this morning, and yes, it was clearly a message to the other cats. It was left right by the Crow's Nest cat post that Mowry claims as his own, but where Ziggy hangs out by the bottom - this is MY space down here, and don't you two other cats get any indeas!

Ziggy is such a love. Is this a cute picture of him, or what? BUT, apparently he's still into leaving us "presents". I'm told by Will that photographing Zig's "presents" would be gross, so let me just say that his message was loud and clear since his present was left on the tray next to a cat's food bowl. I wish Mowry and Alex would leave him alone.

Zig's former human dad has been ill, so we wish him a speedy recovery.

I've been wishy washy about the baby sweater I'm making. I liked the pink, but it was a little smaller than I wanted, and I ran out of pink yarn and didn't find the exact match. I started another in lavendar, but didn't like that, and ran out of that yarn, too. So I found pink yarn that is close. The color is fine, the texture is a little different, but with Diann's multi-color baby yarn, I think it will work. I wish I had put the other fancywork in multi-color, but I'm not starting over, so top and bottom will be solid pink. The sleeves are on a holder, and the length is still "growing".

The orchids out back are getting ready to bloom. See the flower buds (is that what they are called on orchids?) to the right?

The orange tree was chopped so we're hoping it comes back and produces more than one orange that grows into our neighbor's yard as it did before it was cut.

The "Christmas Cactus" apparently isn't a Christmas Cactus. I know some bloom in February, as does this one.

The sky was dark, but the sun was shining on the green hills. What a pretty setting.

That's our neighbor's lemon tree, and to the left of it at the bottom you can just make out one of the other neighbor's gas pumps (above the "n" in lemon above). He has a collection of them.

While I was typing this, Alex was right next to me on his perch, snoring away. He loves his perch. Now he spends all day in the office. He stopped doing that when we moved it around. He's looking out the window now, but he is even here before we pull up the shade. Then Mowry came up to check it out. If it had been Ziggy, there would have been panic, but Al just ignores Mow. Mowry also likes the perch, but I don't think it would hold both, in size (sprawly boy takes up all the room) and in weight (19 lbs 14 oz, AND 12 lbs on the same perch?)

I'll go find another place to hang out. This big lug isn't budging.

It's raining again today, and I'm glad to be working at home. I tried to capture the drops on the window in this picture, but they didn't show up. We'll have to wash the windows when the rainy season is over! They are all spotted now.Yesterday afternoon we were cozied up watching the Celtics. Ziggy was on my lap, and Will was next to me working on his laptop. That's rare for him on a Sunday. Ziggy is sneezing, so we're watching him to see if he needs a visit to the vet. We really love the Zigs. He is such a love.

Then we went to Ken and Diann's so Will could help Ken with a project, and Diann and I and another knitter friend ate and knitted and talked while it poured outside, and the wind howled.

Then we watched the Oscars on TV. Alex and Mow got comfortable on Will's legs again.

Aha, so that's how that new window cat post stays up. Alex can't wait to get into the office to sit on the new ledge.

I need to finalize my tax gathering and bring it to our tax lady. I wonder if she minds being called the tax lady!

Sunday EARLY Because of CATS!

Can you believe these sweet looking cats woke us up long before 6:30 am this morning? It's Sunday, they had food, and always water. I don't know what they wanted, except they wanted us awake.

Last night Mowry got onto Will's lap while we were watching a movie. Though not pictured here because it's hard to take a picture of myself, I had Ziggy on my lap.


At one point Will had Alex and Mowry on him.

This morning Alex was trying out his new window perch. We got it from someone on Fremont Freecycle. I wasn't sure if it would work, expecially with 20 pound Alex, but Will reverted to his old office fixit method using C-Clamps, and apparently it holds Alex.

I think my neighbor thought I was taking his picture when the flash went off, because he was outside getting his newspaper, but I wasn't takign his picture, and I didn't know that he was even out there until I looked up after taking the picture. He hasn't quite gotten the concept that he should look out the window, but he's a cat. And not just a cat, but Alex.

Alex always liked window access. When Will's desk was near the window, Alex was always right there. Can you see him back there?

That cat sure is BIG! This is like the picture that went around the internet that had people wondering about its authenticity. This is real - it's Will and Alex. Alex is bigger than this now!

Last night I started a sock with leftover yarn using the tiny 9" circular. The jury is still out if it's preferable to the DPNs (double pointed needles for those who aren't knitters), but it's sure compact, and the points don't rip thru my bag as DPNs do. Can you see how small the circular needle is?

So now it's 7:45 am and we're awake. Is it too early for a nap?