**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEPE**!!

I DID SOMETHING, that I "haven't" in AGES!! -- KNITTING!!

With the *exception* of a rather Brief Period over a Year ago, I haven't "PLAYED" with STICKS in almost 40-YEARS!! -- WHY..? Well.. to be Honest, *doing* so HURTS My Hands! They cramp up... And, strangely enough, I've *never* had that Problem with CROCHETING.

Not to mention, I find CROCHET *more*...

• VERSATILE - Imagine having to do that whole "SURVIVOR" Thing..? One can always Crochet with Their Fingers if They don't have the means to whittle a Hook. And, a Crocheted FISH NET is much more Stronger than a Knotted one. BTW, have You ever TRIED Spearing Fish with Knitting Needles?
• FASTER - In the Time it TOOK Me to KNIT that Half-Square-Yard Sampler Last Year, I could have CROCHETED at least TWO of My Larger BLANKETS!
• THREE-DIMENSIONAL - I Love TEXTURE. Depth. A place to *hide* the Tailends!
• SAFER! -- Seriously! KNITTING = "SHARP POINTY OBJECTS"!!

HOWEVER! *THAT* Said... ALL of that "LUX" YARN I bought Yesterday was just SUCKING Me **OVER TO THE DARK SIDE**!!! -- Last Night... I found My Circular-Needles and, *began* THIS...

IT's that WOOL-SILK Mix which I have 3 Balls of... I. HAVE. **NO**. IDEA. OF. "WHAT". I. AM. MAKING! -- I... am JUST... MAKING...

And, I'm curious to see HOW Far a Ball will get Me. -- BTW, This Yarn FEELS GREAT!

  

MEANWHILE... Today, is My Late Maternal-GRANDFATHER's Birthday!! He passed away in '84... I was His Eldest Grandchild and He was the only Grandfather I really *knew* -- [My Paternal One lived in ENGLAND and I had only seen Him ONCE for a Few Weeks when I was 6!]

"PEPE" and I spent a lot Time together. Shared a love for Books, Conversation, and a Thirst for Knowledge. He loved to "Debate"... I miss Him..

*********************************************************

"..the Pesky Whabbit, Made Me DO It..!!"

YARN "ACQUISITION" -- IT IS a DISEASE... Albeit, an Enjoyable, Comforting, and IF "Maintained" properly, perhaps a Resourceful and Profitable one..?

HOWEVER, SOME Times, IT's the RESULT of being *under* the Inescapable-MIND-CONTROL-Of-The-RESOURCEFULLY-PROFITABLE-I-Sooo-Have-The-RUN-Of-The-SHOP-Cute-Fuzzy-Watchout-You-Might-Not-Want-To-Step-On-Sorry-About-That ANGORA-RABBIT...

...Who, also, comes with BACK-UP!

"RESISTANCE" *really* IS, FUTILE!!

...There were these 2-Cubic-Feet sized BUCKET-BASKETS. On Wheels, with long Handles...

THEY made Me FILL IT!

33 SKEINS from The BARGAIN TABLE... Or, as MOTHER called IT - The SANDBOX...

Odd BALLS of SUPER SOFT MERINO kept bouncing off Me INTO The BUCKET! -- Oh! LOOK! "Wool AND Silk"! -- PLOP!

BTW, let's NOT Forget having to GET as MANY COLOURS as We CAN of that "Alpaca-Merino" GUANACO like I bought Last Week!

The COLOURS are much more Vibrant than Here. And that BLUE one is actually more of a Sage-Green.... And the ABOVE-RIGHT one, much more OLIVE.

TWO BUBBLE-GUM PINK BAGS of nearly 3-KILOS of YARN not quite covering the Ginormous HOLE in My WALLET, Later...

I'm fairly Convinced that MOTHER was ALSO under the "Influence"... How could I tell? -- Easy! She *NEVER* Blinked OR B*tched ONCE over how MUCH I bought and/or the COST!! - Whenever
I buy My COTTON YARN - [sans nearby Bunnies] - She's *usually* all OVER My Case!

It was quite *SCARY*, actually...

Eventually, We were Released from the BRAIN-BENDING-BUNNIES of KNIT-KNACKERS, and spent the Next Couple of Hours in SEARCH of Additional SIDEWALK SALE "Booty"... NO Luck... We headed Home...

So... To "REVIEW"...

• FREE BUS FARE for SENIORS on Wednesdays -- A Good Thing!
• Having to Herd MOTHER onto Two Buses -- Not so much...
• Taking The CAR to THE MALL -- Brilliant. Saved at least one Bus-Ride.
• Outdoor Downtown SIDEWALK SALES -- I think We'll SKIP Next Year!
• MOTHER got a chance to SEE "The Sights"... -- I hope THAT is out of Her System for a while!
• I Spend TOO MUCH Money on Yarn! -- But, that 20% Off SALE seriously took the Edge off...
• YARN-STORE-BUNNIES are **EVIL-ENTREPRENEURS**! -- I Need to WIN *more* LOTTERIES!

***********************************************************

Shopping, Sub-Sandwiches..SNAKE-Sighting??!!

YOU KNOW... On *SOME* Days, The BLOOG "Subject Matter"...IT just Writes Itself!

The Day began, "Normal" enough... Up LATE. Breakfast. Read the Paper. Phoned the Yarn Store to
"Hold" some of the Other Colours of that Yarn I bought Last Week - [MOTHER & I are BUS-Tripping out that way Tomorrow for the BANK STREET SIDEWALK SALE]. Got ready to go "Solo-Shopping"...

Needed to go to THE BIG MALL... Bank. Art Supply Store to get MOTHER a specific Scrapbooking Sheet for SISTER. General Power-Browsing... Hey! I *was* a Good Girl! -- Only got Two ON SALE Slub-Cotton T-SHIRTS at THE GAP!

And, a SUB-Sandwich at SUBWAY... It was WHILE I was at The Checkout, that My Attention was directed - via the exclamations of The-Older-Cashier-Guy - toward "THIS GUY" strolling by With-A-Snake-Around-His-Neck!?!

I only caught sight of the Back of His Head and the SNAKE-Collar... I didn't see ITS Head, so I'm
"assuming" that IT was most probably a BOA..?

Huh. I didn't know the FOOD COURT had a "McMICE"? -- Won't TheBronxZooCOBRA be jealous..

From THAT *excitement*, it was on to COSTCO for the rather placid MILK-Run... The concluding Stop at THE MALL wasn't all that Inspiring, either!

Oh, well... That'll leave Me with *more* Cash-Flow to Spend Tomorrow, at KNIT-KNACKERS!
-- Oooo! SWEET!! Another $7. on The LOTTERY again! There's ONE SKEIN paid for!

********************************************************

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM**!!

...AND, SHE WAS SUCH A *CUTE* KID, TOO!! -- What happened, eh?!

************************************************************

"...When, Along Came..."

ANOTHER ABSOLUTELY **NON**-EXCITING DAY!

...Well...*EXCEPT*, perhaps - at LONG Last - for the Part where I got to Speak to My Bestest BFF, SISTER-S!! What with being THREE TIME ZONES apart, AND the whacky "Logistics" of Our Lives, We've been Playing PHONE-TAG for *Months*!!

We *chatted* for an Hour or so... over Family, Our respective weird Weather, the usual BFF "stuff"!

Anyway, My Long-Distance Plan certainly had a workout! -- Earlier, MOTHER had been speaking with My Paternal COUSINS in SCOTLAND and ENGLAND... "Apparently", FATHER's BIG-SISTER has taken to NOT answering either of Her Phones! - He had been concerned about NOT being able to Contact Her...

So. As to the Rest of My THRILLING Day..!!

• Did My "SUNDAY" LAUNDRY Load.
• Played with One of My *new* USB JUMPDRIVES that I purchased Yesterday.
• Hung the LAUNDRY up.
• A GINORMOUS [..Is that a S.A.G. Card?..] SPIDER tried to Ninja ITS way into My "Personal Space"... [-- Seriously? Rappelling behind My Laptop WHERE-I-CAN-*SEE*-YOU ?!!]
• I ZEN-ned IT!
• Returned SISTER's E-Mail.
• Called up SISTER-S.
• Did My OLD NAVY "Receipt" SURVEY. [The Discount covers the Taxes..]
• It Thundered...
• Took care of more Cyber Stuff.
• Read.
• It RAINED.
• IT really was a **BIG** Spider!!

****************************************************

Buying-Bargain-Booty-By-the-Byte!

WE ONLY FOUND One YARD SALE... So, WHY am I totally Pooped?! -- Oh! I know... Maybe,
it was BECAUSE We were OUT for almost SIX HOURS!!

Granted, it was a NICE Day out. SUNNY between the Ginormous-We-Want-Be-Silly-Shapes-Then-Rain-&-Thunder-On-Someplace-Later CLOUDS. HOT! ...And, Everyone seems to be Up-At-The-Cottage for the most part. The "Saturday-Traffic" was on the lighter-side.

We flicked through BEACON HILL. No Yard Sales. Decided to head over to CHAPEL HILL... Haven't
been There for a while... Nothing on the Northside, just the ONE on the Southside. -- Where, We bought FABRIC...

..yeah... Like I really "need" MORE! -- Anyway, MOTHER bought a Bunch, and I, got THESE...

THIS One - [ABOVE] - is a rather Heavy and Thick BROCADE. Upholstery-grade Quality. 52"-wide by a Meter in Length... For the whopping Amount of 50-CENTS!!

And, for $2. I got about 5-Yards of THIS - [LEFT]
- Light-weaved COTTON FABRIC [IT could possibly have some LINEN in IT]. The Machine-Embroidery
"Ribbon" is likely Polyester.

I suppose IT could be used to make SHAMS or a DUVET COVER...?

Doesn't matter, really. The Price was Right!

From There, it was on to "Grocery-Getting" and the "Acquisition-of-Other-STUFF"...

Made a quick Run through WALMART... I had wanted to go There for the Past Week to catch the SALE of THESE  USB JUMPDRIVES - [RIGHT]. Thankfully, They STILL were and, that there were LOTS Left!

At "$8. for 8Gb and $16. for 16Gb", I GOT a FEW!



Next, it was the Little LCBO [Liquor Store] - MICHAELS - VALUE VILLAGE - HOMESENSE - WINNERS Strip Mall... We started out in VV, then MOTHER ended up at MICHAELS and I, checked out HOMESENSE...

Where, I ended up Assisting some Nice-SHOPPER-Lady that We'd mutually bumped into Each Other
in the Carpet Section. She was looking for a RUG... And, was waiting for Her BFF to show up and
"weigh-in" on the "Choices". I think I managed to convince Her to get the One I thought would Best suit Her Needs. -- [hehe!] She *thought* I was a "Designer"!! ...Must have been ALL of those ADJECTIVES I like to throw around!

Whatever... For $200. IT *was* a Lovely Carpet... DARK BROWN and PEACOCK-TEAL in a rather Subtle "Oriental"-flavoured Floral-Stencil Patterned Chenille... Would've worked with Modern or Classic Decor.

-- Actually, I *have* Stuff that would have gone Great with IT! Although, personally, *I* would have preferred IT in a SILK rather than the VISCOSE. But, that's just *Me* and My I-Need-A-Huge-Lottery-Win Tastes!

Anyhoo... Afterward, it was brief perusal of The SUPERSTORE and back toward HOME with a Stop at THE MALL.

The CAR was Glad to get back to ITS *COOL* Garage!


MEANWHILE - before I Forget! - IF You have the Time AND Inclination... Head over to --

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/blogger-awards-submission

By Monday [the 15th] and VOTE for My BLOOG-BUDDY - KRISTIN NICHOLAS - at...

http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com

Unless of course, You *know* Someone ELSE more Deserving...? -- Truly, I don't know Anyone Else who is more WORTHY to receive This Recognition! - Seriously, She's like the "COUNTRY LIVING" *POSTER GIRL*!!

And, if it *hadn't* been for HER "Inspiration", I *wouldn't* BE Blooging! -- So VOTE! I *know* You WANNA!!

********************************************

Went To A Half-Price Sale And I *DIDN'T* Buy ANYTHING!!

WHAT'S THAT ABOUT??!!

There was this HALF-PRICE SALE - [on Clothing ONLY] - at The SALLY-ANN... MOTHER *WANTED* to GO! -- As it turns out, there was Nothing "Exciting" to Purchase... At least, *for* Me!

Anyway, We didn't stay out for too long, as FATHER, wanted to go Shopping with Her in the Afternoon...

SO.

I Cyber-Surfed for the Remainder of the Day... And then, decided to TRY OUT an IDEA I had the Other Day for a *NEW* Product -- MOA-MITTLETTs -- They're "CUFFS"...

I'm still Tweaking the Design and Sizing... THESE are just The Prototype that I whipped up Tonight.

So, WHAT do You THINK...? -- I'd Appreciate *any* FEEDBACK! And, focusing Past the Colour-Choice Here, would ANYONE actually WEAR This sort of Thing..? - Do I have a "MARKET"..?

"MOA-MITTLETTs" and The AUNTIE-HAND that *Makes* THEM!

********************************************************