Tag Archives: blanket

Projects

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I finished the blanket last night! My very first blanket. I plan on making another one like it, using the same pattern, but the second one will look slightly different because the yarn colour gradation will follow a different order.

Attila has one small segment of floor tile still to lay. Then the project will be on hold until we can obtain the floor polish. The commercial floor polish we need is made specifically for this commercial flooring. The Home Depot was out of stock, and they ordered it at my request. Yesterday their web site said there were 12 containers of it in stock, so we drove to the city to pick it up. Unfortunately the floor polish could not be located, the staff could not find it anywhere in the warehouse or on the floor, so we left empty handed. Except for a small strip of floor trim for the door by the living room, which was $10, but the fellow gave it to us for $2 as an apology for the web site saying an item was in stock, and it being unavailable when we made the drive in to pick it up. Before we try again I will telephone and insist they go and locate it on the shelf.

DSCF1628a My first crocheted blanket/afghan. This small blanket was originally meant for Grace The Trailer, but Attila loves it and wants to use it a home, for keeping warm while watching TV. I will make a second one for myself. But in the meantime, I can use this blanket all day long when Attila isn’t at home, and in the evenings let him use it and take out one of the many other blankets we own.
Details:
Hook: 5.00 mm,
Yarn: 4 worsted, Bernat Pop, Foggy Notion, 100% acrylic (8 x 5 oz; 8 x 280 yards)
Foundation: 140 stitches ch 1 turn, repeat until desire length
Stitch: Suzette Stitch
Edging: Top End slip stitch, sides and bottom single crochet, single crochet across top.

DSCF1631 The last few fiddly bit of the flooring project. Circled are the three layers of flooring. A is the original tile flooring, glued on grey tiles, many broken. B is the roll vinyl flooring, probably installed in the early 70s, although functional it is torn and worn and ugly. C is the new commercial vinyl tile, plain, solid, functional, cold under foot, and easy to keep looking good. If we every replace the kitchen cupboards we will remove all of these floors and the underlay; then we will install new underlay, and new flooring. This may never get to the top of the project list, as I like the old cupboards, a so-ugly-they-are-cute sort of thing. The cupboards are homemade, out of plywood, and still function as they should.

DSCF1637 And the tiles are down! The baseboards still need to be installed, that is for another night. Then we need to find and purchase the floor polish so we can finish this project!

Worldly Distractions

Weather

9°C
Date: 9:00 PM EST Tuesday 21 November 2017
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.0 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 8.6°C
Dew point: 3.2°C
Humidity: 68%
Wind: SW 24 gust 34 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”
Okakura Kakuzo

Not the plan…

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Yesterday I was making real headway on my crocheted blanket project. When I woke up at 2:30 p.m., sitting in my easy chair, feet up, crochet hook in hand, blanket warmly draped across my lap and legs, I realized that I had been asleep for nearly two hours. An afternoon nap was not the plan. After a fitful night I try to stay awake the whole day through, the next day. Whatever made me think that I could indulge in the totally relaxing activity of crocheting, cozy and warm beneath the ever lengthening blanket, and stay awake. I am no worse for it either. I slept soundly through the night last night.

A lovely sunny day out there today, with a real nip in the air. We went out to the Rideau Camp this afternoon, leaving as soon as Attila had changed out of his work clothes and into his bush clothes. I was ready to leave when he arrived home, with a packed dinner of hummus and pita bread, and grapes and muffins for snacks.

Attila emptied the compost toilet buckets into the the dedicated compost bin, covering it well with fresh straw and the wire mesh that prevents animals from digging it up. I scooped water out of the full-to-the-brim water barrel that sits below the end of the eves trough installed on Winnie. It, and the screen that covers it, were stored in Winnie, along with the empty compost toilet buckets. We brought the unused peat moss home to winter in the garage. And that was all that was left to accomplish at the Rideau Camp. Just in time too, as tomorrow night the temperature is predicted to dip to -12C, a good hard freeze, making dumping buckets and water barrels far too difficult. The Camp now sits as it will until April, when the snow has melted and warmer weather returns.

By the time we completed our tasks the evening had waned and the stars had come out. Not an artificial light in sight, no other sound than a cackle of geese overhead, the air crisp and tangy with the scent dead wet leaves and earth, how beautiful it was. I admit to a little pang of longing, as I took in the season’s final look at the trees and the sky, a farewell breath of the cold clean air, then bundled into the car, and we drove away.

DSCF1540 The last glance, evening falls at the Rideau Camp, as we ready to leave, not to return until the spring.

Attila found my winter boots last night, sitting where I had left them under the captain’s chair in the basement. I looked there myself last week and could not see them, I could swear they were not there. But I know they were, if Attila says so, and wonder at my ability not to see things, even if I want to. I have always been this way.

My dental issues have improved a bit, but I have distance to travel in that department. I am still on a soft food diet, which I hate, due to its limitations, straining an already highly restricted diet. Patience, and time, is required. This too shall pass.

Well there it is, another day lived to the fullest. Thank you universe.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

8°C
Date: 2:00 PM EST Wednesday 8 November 2017
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.4 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 7.8°C
Dew point: -1.3°C
Humidity: 52%
Wind: SSW 26 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.”
Charles M. Schulz
1922 – 2000

Woof! 🙂

A Warm Blanket

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DSCF1348 My current crochet project. I am loving this blanket, which will be a twin bed size when it is completed. The colour pattern is random, as each ball of yarn begins with a different colour, and I like the effect. (Suzette stitch, Bernat Pop Foggy Notion, 4 worsted, 5.0 hook). This blanket was originally intended for Grace The Trailer, but Attila wants it at home, so it stays at Mist Cottage. I think I might crochet a second one, so that we each have one for our beds, and then maybe another few for the living room so we can cuddle under them in the winter, while reading. And then maybe another couple for Grace The Trailer… luckily I am enjoying the simplicity of creating this blanket!

It is chilly today, with the sun popping out from behind the clouds from time to time, to fill the living room with light. The weather people predict one more gasp at warmish weather, and we are considering staying overnight in Grace The Trailer, at the Rideau Camp, on that warm night. It will soon be time to bring home all fabric and food from Grace The Trailer, to close the slide out, and to put the winter covering over it. Once the cover is on Grace The Trailer, we will visit the Rideau Camp, but not stay there overnight.

I am looking forward to getting back out to the Rideau Camp. Attila has installed new windows in the dining area here at Mist Cottage, which has required that we stick close to home for the last few weeks. The window install began just as I was dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s related to the property dispute. This means that we haven’t been back to the Rideau Camp to relax after the kerfluffle. The property dispute was deeply disturbing, I felt violated, and then had to fight for my rights as a property owner. I do not like fighting for anything, I like challenges, but I am not keen on conflict between humans, particularly when it is uncalled for. The whole exercise exhausted me on many levels. One side effect was that I had stopped sleeping through the night, an affliction that persisted until last night. Last night I slept soundly through the night. It was a great relief.

The new windows in the dining area at Mist Cottage turned out much better than I had anticipated. We bought inexpensive, energy efficient windows, a common stock item. I did not expect to like them. I love them! Attila finished the project last night, the paint is dry this morning, and I am contemplating what window treatment to use, if any. We don’t really have to have a window treatment, as they are very high and no one can see in. In addition, they are protected from the southern exposure sunlight by an awning. Curtains would make them even more energy efficient than they already are, so I am thinking about it.

Dining windows 2017 The new windows in the dining area of the kitchen, completed just last night. The kitchen is still in chaos. I find kitchen renovation to be the most intrusive of all the types of renovations we have done. We have decided to put down a commercial grade vinyl tile floor in this kitchen. As you can see on the left side of the floor, part of the existing vinyl flooring had been torn up, and was like that when we purchased the house in 2010. We had planned on waiting until we had finished replacing all the insulation and drywall on the main floor, before tackling the floors. In that long term plan the kitchen would have a red pine floor, painted white. But that is taking too long for my liking, and putting too much pressure on us to undertake new projects, so that we can get to the point where we can install the pine floors. So, I want a new floor right now, and Attila agreed. We will put white vinyl tile over the existing floor, anticipating that perhaps someday, and perhaps never, we will tear it all up and install red pine floors. If we decide to replace the kitchen cabinets at some future date, then the red pine floors would be installed. However, I like the old, owner installed cupboards, in all their crudeness.

Our next project, a new kitchen floor! At last!!

042369108706 ca The vinyl tiles to be installed in the kitchen: Armstrong 12-in x 12-in Cool White Speckle Commercial Vinyl Tile.
These are old fashioned tiles, the colour runs the whole depth of the tile, so if they get scratched the surface colour remains the same. We find that the vinyl with the thin surface of colour on a backing do not wear well at our house. The layer of colour is easily marred by a falling knife, a moved refrigerator, anything, and then it looks bad, and it is hard to clean. This tile is also much cheaper, at 88 cents per tile we are able to put the new floor in for well under $200. Attila will use a special bonding agent to lay the new floor over the old floor.

Blanket/Afghan

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Another hot one out there today! I am happily and comfortably ensconced on my easy chair, content with my crochet project. I finally decided to create the whole blanket/afghan using the Suzette Stitch, which is a stitch that is created with a foundation chain in multiples of two, which simplifies figuring out how to make the blanket. I decided on a width of 36 inches, then crocheted a foundation chain approximately 36 inches long. The only decisions left to make will be how long to make the blanket/afghan, and what border I would like to add when that length has been reached. Because I am using a yarn that changes colour, there will be only a few ends to sew in, where I have to start a new ball of yarn.

I like to listen to audio books, or “watch” videos while I am crocheting. The audio books are my favourite, and I can borrow them from the library online, so they are affordable and accessible without a car. We have Netflix and Prime Video, which offers enough variety between the two subscriptions to provide enough interesting viewing. Prime has mostly standard popular offerings, most of which I have seen elsewhere, and a lot of vapid crap, and violent crap that I won’t spend time with. Netflix has more variety, some unusual offerings. However, I know there is an inaccessible world of film out there, and I wish it were within my reach. I cannot subscribe to PBS or BBC programming, and I would if I could. I find the Canadian CBC offerings superficial, and provincial, perhaps because being a Canadian I am well aware of what life here is really like for many people, and how different that is from how life here is characterized by our national broadcasting organization. I cannot watch it without feeling disappointed.

Our Scarlet Runner beans are producing a bumper crop this year. The seeds are those saved from last years plants, pods left to mature and dry before removing the beans, which we planted this spring. Attila feels the harvest will slow down now, as he has left quite a few pods to mature for seed. He brought in a six quart basket of beans last night. We eat our fill of fresh beans, and blanch and freeze the rest for the winter. Our tomato plants are not producing a bumper crop, but the tomatoes are plentiful enough that I eat at least one every day. We have our fingers crossed that our squash matures before frost, we don’t have many, but the those that are there are huge. Attila has been picking dill seed, which he enjoys in his tuna salad. I don’t like dill. Attila also harvested one of our cabbages last night. It is quite small, so the whole cabbage was chopped and went into Attila’s favourite cabbage soup, to which he adds salt, so I cannot eat it. Food preparation is an ongoing project for us here at Mist Cottage. It keeps us very busy, as Attila is very fussy about what he eats, and I have extremely restricted choices when it comes to food.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

26°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Thursday 21 September 2017
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.9 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 26.2°C
Dew point: 16.4°C
Humidity: 54%
Wind: NNE 13 km/h
Humidex: 31
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.”
Charles Bukowski
1920 – 1994

And so you have it. Women have been not just saving, but creating, one man at a time since time immemorial. They also create one woman at a time.
Bukowski’s formula can be approached by anyone and everyone… a little kindness and compassion reach further than we can see.

[I am always saddened by the use of “man” as representing all members of our species, even if it was the accepted usage of their time… wise people should have known better, rather than blindly accepting the social mores of the day.]