Thursday already?

It was downright chilly today (for us California weather wimps)! In fact, it even rained. I walked to the shuttle stop in South S.F. and it wasn't raining, but it was wet. While waiting at the covered bus stop, it started raining! It was supposed to start rianing tonight, and probably in the North Bay (which is NORTH of San Francisco), but apparently we were all fooled, so I didn't have my tiny commuter umbrella. At least I didn't have far to walk where it wasn't protected. Yep, that's rain at the Fremont train station.
Tomorrow is Halloween! I shouldn't say this, but it isn't my favorite holiday. I don't really like dressing up, and the doorbell keeps ringing, and little kids want candy...OK, the kids are cute, and I love candy, but it's still not my favorite holiday.

I do like pumpkins! It's band night, so with Will not home, my cats are once again NOT keeping me company!



Mowry is on his new favorite spot, the bed.

Alex is on his alternate spot, the cat bed on the couch in the spare bedroom.
Cinders is in one of her spots, on the toilet seat cover atop the scanner atop the file cabinet in the office. At least she's in the same room as me.

OK, I staged this. They were next to each other, and I moved Alex's tail so it was over Mowry's tail, but the rest is real! So I guess I'll knit. It's now chilly enough to start working on my sweater again. The green yarn under the right arm tells me where the round starts. The color didn't come out good.

It's a beautiful brown that is more accurate here. This was one yarn I bought at Stitches that I love. The pack of sock yarn that I bought is good, too. The yarn I bought two years ago I didn't like, but I'm learning more about what I like to work with, and what I don't like. Here's the color, but you can't see detail.
I can also work on the black sock. I finished sock #1, and I started sock #2. I like to start working on sock #2 right after I finish sock #1 so I remember what I've done! That doesn't always happen. The ends on sock #1 have not been woven in yet, so that is what you are seeing.

I've knitted other things, but they are gifts, so not posted here.

My neighbor adopted a new dog, and he was poking his head thru their cat door. It was hilarious, but he moved right before I could snap a good picture.

Cats Rock!

If Alex can't be with "his Will", he can at least move over on the couch to sit next to his cymbal. What a cat!

Tuesday Photos

It's Tuesday and it's overcast and it's chilly and that's all good. I'm not scheduled today, but I do have a little work to do from home for one of my clients, so that's also good since I get paid only when I work.


On Sunday we hosted a small gathering of former co-workers from my last "real" job. That was 1999! Time flies. It even seems funny typing 1999! I asked people to bring things to make it easy, and it was. We provided beverages, chips and dip and I made this fruit display that I copied from an industry luncheon I attended several months ago and photographed on my cell phone camera! Good thing, as I probably wouldn't have remembered what it looke dlike! It wasn't as elaborate as those done by the professionals, but it was fun and fine. It's a little hard to see since I used a "candy corn" decorated tray.

Out back the pineapple guavas continue to fall from the tree. Some are eaten by critters and some are perfectly good. I gave away a bag of them yesterday to someone who posted on Fremont Freecyle that she wanted PGs. This was the 2nd bag I've given her, and she said this bag was even better than the 1st bag. Apparently they eat these in the Philipines - her Filipino friends were happy to share with her. And you thought I just recycled paper and food scraps!

That was a segueway....when I got to my client's office yesterday, the garden maintenance guys were taking out perfectly good flowers and replanting with new ones. You know where this is going, right? I asked if they were throwing out the ones dug up, and they offered them to me. So I took this plant with purple flowers and planted it out front....
and this one that I planted in the pot because they told me this one will definitely come back with pretty flowers! I was only going to take the purple one, but how could I resist!

I had to carry them on BART, so I must have been quite a scene when Will picked me up and I had two plants dangling amongst my stuff. The purple plant was in a paper coffee cup, and I had wrapped the dirt of the larger one dirt in a coffee filter and then a plastic ziploc bag.

The front is looking good! The new purple flowers are in front of the statue next to a plant that looks almost yellow, but is really light green. They are small compared to the other plants!

And while this started out as a knitting blog, and a diary for me to post pictures that I love to take, it seems that my readers (all 4 of them) mostly want to see pictures of cats, and not just any cats, but Mow Mow. Today I logged in and saw that my sister posted a comment about Mowry. And then I went to email and got a message telling me she had posted a comment on my blog. I beat the email notification. So here he is!

And while Mowry is the star of "KnitMareKnit", Cinders was looking pretty cute on top of Will's laptop. She looks like she could be a techie, but she's not!

Saturday

It's another beautiful day. It's 3:30 pm and it's 82 degrees outside. Nothing found at garage or estate sales today.

We took a walk into town. I never noticed this stairway covered in part by a purple potato plant that looks like it is the stairway to nowhere!The lady who lives by where the stray cats are, the one who asked us not to feed the kitties, said she was going to capture the mama and two kittens. We went by today, and the mama and two kittens were still there. The orange/buff kitty ran away again as we approached, but the tabby just hid under the bushes. What a beauty! I hope she is feeding them.Mowry was inside but he spotted the praying mantis on the gardenia bush. Can you see it? We had one two years ago when we first moved in. He was scratching at the window.

Closer....

If Peety was a convertible, he'd look like this:
Or if he was the police chief's car, he'd have no front license plate and have the windows rolled down. Curious. I happen to know this PT belongs to the PC.

Several signs telling people who and what people are voting for. I, personally, don't care what others are voting for.

Around the corner there is a No on 8 sign on one corner, and a Yes on 8 sign across the street. I bet those neighbors don't like each other, at least not this week!

Maybe they are telling ME who and what to vote for. I don't like that, either.

I will vote, but it won't be for someone because they have a sign on someone's lawn.

Second Street is beautiful in the fall.

And by special request from cousin Barbara, two pictures of the orange kitty. Mowry is 2 1/2 years old, but all he does is sleep. I guess that is what kitties do!

TGIF and Pictures

Another warm October day. It's 6:20 pm and the sun is going down, but it's still 75 degrees outside. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the more I'm around people, the more I want to be around my cats. Earlier this week some stupid person was driving down the wrong side of the street coming right at us. Luckily for two things - we were both going 35 mph or less, and we saw her. There are other examples, but it's Friday, and I'd rather think about that then the lunatics I've encountered during the week. Stay outta my way, and I'll stay outta yours. That's my motto.



Speaking of cats, this is how Mowry and Alex kept me company last night when Will was at band. By sleeping on the bed in the other room.

When he finally came out, he didn't want to look at me! Maybe he saw the camera!

I carried Mowry out, and he sat on my lap for a few minutes, but then he jumped off to stretch on the floor.

So I knitted my black sock. The colors are really off - the bag is a dark purple.This morning I went to pick up some more pineapple guavas for someone who asked for them on Fremont Freecycle, and I found several that had been eaten by critters. I don't remember this from last year. The critters always get the avocadoes (on the left), but I don't remember them getting the PGs (on the right).

Tonight Mowry was sleeping on the bed, so I woke him because if he sleeps now, he'll be all frisky in the middle of the night. What a yawn. This was pretty close to the position he was sleeping in, thus the reason I ran to get the camera.

And now that he's awake, he needed a stretch.Cinders is the only one who sleeps behind the monitor on my desk.

Tuesday

I took the Dumbarton Express to Palo Alto today. It seems to be getting more crowded. For $7 round trip, and the toll across the bridge at $4, it's a GREAT price. It can be bumpy, but I'm not driving and I can read or knit.
I did a search on the internet of Dumbarton Express and found a great picture of the empty interior of the bus, but I wasn't able to open it when I saved it. The perfect bus is one on which I am the only passenger. Ha!



A local columnist found an orange cat in his tomato patch and has adopted it, much to the dismay of his "dingbat" black Maine coon (his words, not mine). Alex, does that mean you aren't the only goofy MC?

Gotta love an orange tabby!

His blog is at www.ibabuzz.com/garybogue and there are some cute pictures posted of this orange kitty. He is having a contest to name the orange kitty.

The stray cat we are feeding a block away while my neighbor is on vacation, did indeed have kittens. On Sunday a little gray tabby kitten and a little orange tabby kitten were out, but the orange kitten ran as we got closer. The neighbor right next to the park came out and was quite a grouch. She asked if we dumped the cats. Sure, lady, we dumped them, but we come back to feed them. Anyway, long story short, she has captured 3 of the kittens and is planning to capture the other two (and I think the mama cat) and is working with a rescue group. She gave us some song and dance about how feeding the cats caused lots of flies and oppossums, but I'm going to go on a limb here and say it's because she lives by the water next to a park area, not because of us feeding them. The food doesn't stay around long enough for this to be an issue. I've watched the mama cat eat as soon as I put the bowl down. Of course this lady puts a lot more than I do, so it's probably her food that sits there.

I wanted to take the orange kitten home once it gets captured, but Will says no! I guess we can't say no to my friend whose cat needs a home because her baby is torturing him as 1.5 year olds do, and then take in a stray kitten one week later, but ....... And I guess 4 cats is STILL too many.

Have I mentioned how glad I am that I am not at the industry conference this week in New Orleans? Yuck - look at the crowds! And the big deal in New Orleans is that you can take your liquor and walk down the street. So many of these people have been drinking for hours.

We've even seen a fight right on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. One friend said, and I quote, "It's so clean there. They hose down the streets every night." Think about this. EUUUUUuuuu. I don't want to be somewhere where they need to hose down the streets every night, although that's not a bad idea to do at the Union City Bart Station, but I digress.

This year the conference is at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside. It's a huge hotel. The good news is you may be able to avoid conference attendees you don't want to encounter, but it's unlikely. It's more likely you won't be able to find the ones you want to see.You've seen one hotel lobby, you've seen them all. This doesn't look that different from the church compound Will's band had a gig at earlier this year!
It's a pretty, but typical room. The last time we stayed at this hotel, our room looked like this. Will was with me, and it was big enough, but they gave one person I know, who was by herself, a HUGE room with a meeting area and a couch and TV sitting area. You'd think they'd give two people the bigger room, but you'd be wrong.

I'd so much rather stay home with these guys.

Sunday - Pictures and Words

I love this blog because I enjoy taking pictures, and this way I have something to do with the photos. And it's free. It doesn't get any better than that.

Yesterday we forgot to go to the Library Book Sale. It's something like 75 cents per inch on Saturday, but you get a better selection than Sunday, when it's $3 for an entire grocery bag. NOT that we need books, but we went today. I either reserve books from the library (and then I don't have to find a place to keep them when I'm done), or I borrow from the Lippman Library (that's Diann, who has so many books and encourages me to borrow them). But we find unusual things at the library sale.

These pictures are actually from yesterday. We went for a walk and here are some things we saw:

Very nice old house with Mexican Sage growing on the side.

Old Ford, old truck, very old Mercedes.

We wanted to check out the tree trimming on the other side of our back fence. They trimmed some branches from the magnolia tree....

but it didn't make a dent!
They also took out some bushes. Here is the picture before:And here is a picture after. I don't really like this, but for some reason they never liked the bushes that were here. They were a little annoying to trim, but now all I see is a huge magnolia branch, a shed they are building, and their house. Boo.I've taken this kitty's picture before, but I got a better picture yesterday. She really is a beautiful tortie. Which reminds me, we're on "kitty duty" today - we are on every-other-day kitty duty to feed the strays because my neighbor who feeds them is on vacation for two weeks.

There are lots of potholes on Second Street, and you should hear the people on our neighborhood email group whine about it. We call it "poor man's speed bumps". Speeding will get worse once these are fixed, so if you drive slow - the speed limit is 25 mph because it's residential and there's a school, then you won't feel these as much.

This is School Street. It reminds Will of the town he grew up in. That's Niles Elementary School on the left.

I saved this from the webcam in Ocean Shores, WA - it looked like a beautifully, clear day with white billowy clouds, and beautiful blue sky. It's so odd to us that cars drive on the beach. You can see the cars parked on the sand.

This is new! Usually Cinders sleeps here.

I'm working on a throw with the purple yarn I bought at the rummage sale in Stanford. It's more of a purple than it came out in this photo. The jury is still out....