Stasia's Place Of Grace

     

Friday, June 24, 2005

 

Quick Update On Previous Entry

Stephanie asked about the Eastern Uncrossed knitting method - also known as Combination Knitting. More info can be found here and in the book "Confessions of a Knitting Heretic" by Anne Modesitt.

It is a great technique for those with finger, hand, or wrist pain. Hope that info helps!

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Gilbert and Sullivan, five-month-old rattie boys who were adopted last week. As rat neutering is $95 per rat, these guys currently have separate living quarters from The Girls. We'll talk about neutering after the septic is fixed and paid for!

Have a GREAT weekend!


Animal Breed Zip Code

Thursday, June 23, 2005

 

Help Wanted!

My computer is in intensive care on life support. It is hanging on by a thread. It is time to sign up for high speed cable Internet access (we cannot get DSL here in the sticks) and to get a new Mac.

Since I no longer work outside the home, I don't need the latest and greatest thing that can print, fax, or access the web wirelessly from out in my yard or at the local Starbucks. Nor do I have much use for the PC side of my current Mac.

I would just like to be able to write and print things, balance the checkbook, and access the web at something other than turtle speed, and stop getting "The Bomb" all the time. (Yes, I have rebuilt my desktop, eliminated unnecessary extensions, run Disk First Aid, etc. - my Mac is over 10 years old and I'm running system 8.6 with a dial-up connection and a 31200 bps connection rate! Grrrr!)

Jeff would like to burn CDs and DVDs, and use a new digital camera for photos and movies (my digital camera has disks you insert. My computer has disks you insert. When's the last time you saw that?)

Jeff is not thrilled with the idea of a laptop but I would like a computer I can close up and put away because my rats live on top of my computer desk and they tend to toss crumbs out of their cage for some kind of rattie entertainment. It makes for a rather crunchy keyboard. (Speaking of rats, watch for an exciting update concerning our newly adopted boys, Gilbert and Sullivan!)

The ISP we are thinking of going with (I don't think we have a choice...) is Charter.

So your help and advice are wanted - if you can make a recommendation on what Mac I should be looking at, or warn me about any OS or browser versions I want to avoid, or give me the lowdown on whether I need to spend the additional $10 a month for the super-duper-fast-Internet-access, I would very much appreciate the help! Please e-mail me at NOSPAMMEjeffnstasiaATearthlinkDOTnetNOSPAMME removing all capitals and inserting proper punctuation. Thank you so much for any help you can offer!


Fibery Pursuits

My second project for the KnitTheClassics "Middlemarch" book is a Clapotis in Brooks Farm Yarn's "Four Play" silk and wool in the "Classy" colorway:

Thanks to Kary and Nan, I was able to figure out a way to make this despite my Eastern Uncrossed knitting method. I do love the way I knit - it's so fast and requires less hand movement than "normal" knitting - but it always creates a problem when it comes to interpreting a pattern. In order to make a twisted stitch, for instance, I find I must knit through the front loop of a knit stitch instead of the back one as the pattern calls for.

Rather than using the markers that the pattern suggests, I'm purling all stitches between the sets of two twisted stitches in the pattern repeat. It is going much faster this way - thanks again, Kary!

The yarn is very soft and I love the colors. This will be great to dress up a white cotton shirt and jeans come fall.

I also love glazed pottery and the bowl in the pic is my favorite. It is by a local artisan.

I am making good progress on "Middlemarch" by listening to it on tape as I knit. There was no way I could keep up with the actual reading and get any knitting done.


Septic Progress

A big digging machine a la Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel showed up this week and proceeded to dig seven-foot-deep holes all over my yard. Then it filled them back in:

Apparently they were only here to do soil testing. No one can tell me when the actual digging of our new septic bed will commence. Permits are still being requiested from the county. I am still rationing dishes and laundry, never mind a long, hot bath which I could REALLY USE TO EASE THE STRESS OF THIS SITUATION. Ahem.

Actually, a hot bath doesn't sound too good today - it is 96.5 degrees here now, and as you can see from the brownish grass in the photos, we haven't had much rain lately. In fact, this is the fourth driest spring on record here in Wisconsin.

Maybe if the digger came back and dug up all the sod from on top of the current septic system, it would just evaporate, considering the weather...

Don't even get me started on contractors. If, when I worked in the business world, I was ever as non-commital and disorganized as these people, I would have been fired within one week. Who drives around with a giant digging machine on a truck, and just shows up without warning, "taking a chance that you'd be home..."? (I wasn't, and he had to come back, though we'd ordered the digging to be done, and he could've just gone ahead without me here!)

Besides being roasted alive and living buried under piles of unwashed laundry, I had to drop everything and take a stray cat to the humane society today. If you have never tried to put a stray cat with all its claws intact into a box, with four dogs barking madly in the background, in sweltering heat, and then get said boxed cat into the A/C for a minute (past the dogs) so you can take the dogs out so they don't have accidents while you're away with the cat, and if you didn't bother to change out of your Pilates clothes or wash your hair (because you can't use any dang water!), take it from me - Do Not Try This At Home.

I'm sorry, this is not supposed to be a grumpy place... now, where's my martini?


Cocktail Of The Day

To weather the weather and the digging and the contractors and lack of bathwater, I have begun looking forward to The Cocktail Of The Day. I limit this to one, but try something new each time to make life interesting (and bearable under the current circumstances - that is why I limit it to one... otherwise I'd be in big trouble!)

Today's recipe is for a Clam Digger, which is awesome and has made me want fried clams and corn on the cob and a folding chair on an East Coast beach somewhere:

    1 2/3 oz. silver tequila
    3 oz. tomato juice
    3 oz. clam juice
    2 tsp. horseradish
    dash Tabasco sauce
    dash Worcestershire sauce
    1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

    Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a wedge of lime. From "Complete Home Bartender's Guide" by Salvatore Calabrese.

How funny are these cocktail-oriented sticky notes?

Maybe we should get away from the septic stress and heat, and take a trip up to The German Beer Place.


Von Rothenburg Bier Stube, Germantown, Wisconsin.


Step into the beer garden out back.

They have specials on BBQ ribs, or half-liters of beer, depending on the night of the week. Knitting is most welcome in the beer garden or on the balcony. Indoors, it is air-conditioned, and the chairs and tables are all made of beautiful wood - you'd think you were in Germany with the stained glass windows and displays of German specialty drinking glassses.

Thirsty? Just order up a boot:

Jerry's Old Town, located just next door and owned by the same guy, sells the highest amount of ribs in the country, I believe. They are amazing.


Rottie's and Jerry's.


We saw our first big brown bats the other night. The baby bluebirds have flown the nest. I heard crickets. The roses are in bloom. I have yarn, and a full liquor cabinet and wine "cellar", and weekly deliveries from the organic farm coming in - the bread from their new artisan baker is amazing. With all of that, who cares about septic tanks and crappy computers?

Happy start of summer!


Animal Breed Zip Code

Welcome To Stasia's Blog

Stasia is a knitter, spinner, weaver, writer, reader, and musician from Wisconsin, USA.

Join her here as she journals about beauty in nature, the joys of fibery pursuits, special people and pets, and great places to shop. It's her hope you'll leave spiritually inspired and creatively motivated. Thanks for visiting!

Mini Me

Recent Comments

Fab Fiberarts Rings

Knitting Bloggers
Previous | Next


List | Previous | Next


Previous | Next


Previous | Next


Previous | Next


Previous | Next

Buds' Blogs

Need To Mellow Out?


Daily Zen


Light A Candle

Need An Excuse?

My Fiber Pusher

The Knotty Sheep

Download Me

Subscribe To This Blog

Subscribe with Bloglines

Subscribe to Stasia's feed

Hear Me

Stasia's Place Podcast

Past Entries

Please come visit my new home at Yarn And A Barn -...
New Address
We Love Our Pets
Random Acts of Kindness Week
Sunday Funnies
Pink Scarves Are Easy
Yes Indeedy, Some Fiber News
All Creatures Great And Small
Holey Moley - Twins!
Visions Of Sugarplums...

July 28, 2002 August 04, 2002 August 11, 2002 August 18, 2002 August 25, 2002 September 01, 2002 September 08, 2002 September 15, 2002 September 22, 2002 September 29, 2002 October 06, 2002 October 13, 2002 October 20, 2002 October 27, 2002 November 03, 2002 November 10, 2002 November 17, 2002 November 24, 2002 December 01, 2002 December 08, 2002 December 22, 2002 December 29, 2002 January 05, 2003 January 12, 2003 January 19, 2003 January 26, 2003 February 16, 2003 February 23, 2003 March 02, 2003 March 09, 2003 March 16, 2003 March 23, 2003 March 30, 2003 April 06, 2003 April 27, 2003 May 04, 2003 May 11, 2003 May 18, 2003 June 01, 2003 June 08, 2003 June 15, 2003 June 22, 2003 June 29, 2003 July 06, 2003 July 13, 2003 July 27, 2003 August 03, 2003 August 10, 2003 August 17, 2003 August 31, 2003 September 14, 2003 September 28, 2003 October 05, 2003 October 12, 2003 October 26, 2003 November 09, 2003 November 16, 2003 November 23, 2003 November 30, 2003 December 07, 2003 December 14, 2003 December 21, 2003 December 28, 2003 January 11, 2004 January 18, 2004 January 25, 2004 February 08, 2004 February 22, 2004 March 07, 2004 March 14, 2004 March 21, 2004 March 28, 2004 April 04, 2004 April 18, 2004 May 09, 2004 May 16, 2004 June 06, 2004 June 13, 2004 June 20, 2004 June 27, 2004 August 01, 2004 August 08, 2004 August 22, 2004 August 29, 2004 September 05, 2004 September 12, 2004 September 19, 2004 November 21, 2004 November 28, 2004 December 05, 2004 December 19, 2004 December 26, 2004 January 02, 2005 January 09, 2005 January 23, 2005 January 30, 2005 March 06, 2005 April 03, 2005 May 08, 2005 May 15, 2005 May 29, 2005 June 05, 2005 June 12, 2005 June 19, 2005 July 03, 2005 July 10, 2005 July 17, 2005 July 31, 2005 August 14, 2005 August 28, 2005 September 04, 2005 September 11, 2005 September 18, 2005 November 06, 2005 November 13, 2005 November 27, 2005 December 04, 2005 December 11, 2005 December 25, 2005 January 01, 2006 January 08, 2006 January 22, 2006 March 26, 2006 April 09, 2006 April 16, 2006 April 23, 2006 April 30, 2006 May 07, 2006 May 14, 2006 June 04, 2006 June 25, 2006 September 03, 2006 November 05, 2006 November 12, 2006 November 19, 2006 November 26, 2006 December 24, 2006 January 07, 2007 January 21, 2007 January 28, 2007 February 11, 2007 February 18, 2007 February 25, 2007 September 30, 2007

About Me

My Home Page - Updating

I Support...

The Tibet Fund
Citizens For A Free Tibet
Monadnock Humane Society
The National Primate Research Exhibition Hall (NPRX)
The Primate Freedom Project

Your Click Helps At...

The Animal Rescue Site

I Believe...

I'm Involved...

I Listen To...

Important Note

We have a new ISP and my web pages are being moved. My old URLs will not work unless you go here and type them in to get an archived copy. As I upload the pages to the new server, the links in my sidebar will become clickable again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

My Patterns

Knit Koigu Kersti Shawl
Gaugeless Toe-Up Socks
Knit Beehive Hat
Knit Fingerless Mitts
Knit PodPocket For iPod Mini

My Websites

Dyeing Experiments and Instructions - Updating
Textile and Fiberarts Pages - Updating
Beekeeping Pages - Updating
Take The Spindle Quiz!

My Amazon Wish List

...Is Here

My Froogle Wish List

...Is Here

My Photos

www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from jeffnstasia. Make your own badge here.

Pet Rats Rule!


To The Ratlist
Image By Ophelia

Send Me E-mail

jeffnstasia[AT]yahoo[DOT]com

The Weather In Eau Claire, WI

The WeatherPixie



moon phases
 

Give My Dog A Bone

Adopt Your Own Virtual Pet!

Hosted By Blogger.com

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Stats By SiteMeter.com