New family members...

Once again, I come out of the lengthening shadows; this time, of late summer.  It's been a rough haul.  Without going into too much detail -- because sometimes people just don't know what to do with all that information -- I'll say the fibro has been quite active on and off all summer, my back is crap -- I threw it out again yesterday -- and the migraines just are.  I'm pretty much literally running on empty.  I have little left for friends or even family.  All my strength and energy are merely going to care for my ailing/achy body.  Well that, and the new member of our little furry family:

Oliver doing what he does best...other than crazy-playing.

His name is Oliver.  And I adore him.  Banshee (our first kitty) could take or leave him, to be sure.  But every once in a while, I catch her playing with him.  Chances are, she's actually plotting to kill him -- and us -- and take over the house, but I like to lie to myself and say they're playing.  She chases him around the house and he in turn makes her life a living-hell most of the time.

What big eyes you have...

We adopted him three and a half weeks ago at the local SPCA shelter.  We were warned when we were leaving -- gotta love their timing! -- that he was a bit feral when he came in.  He was brought in alone, and from spending nearly a month with him, I am fairly sure he was quite abruptly taken from his mom;  his nursing tendencies are strong.  The first few days were...special.  He'd hiss whenever I entered the bathroom we were quarantining him in -- so Banshee wouldn't eat him!  And would cower at every little thing.  I was a tad worried he wouldn't settle in, and he'd be afraid of us forever.  About two weeks in, though he really just settled down and truly became part of our little family.  I call him Olly, and Mr. Wiggles, because he generally never stops moving.  I'm very horrible at sticking to the official name I give my pets.  I have a cat that lives at my parents' house who's "real" name is Zeus.  I call him Bug.  I have no idea why.  Please don't ask;  contemplating this hurts my brain.

More than anything, he's a delight to have curled up in my lap all afternoon on the really awful days.  He's warm, and purrs very loudly, which I love.  And boy, oh boy, is he filled with a kitten's energy!!!  But then he'll crash (hard) for a few hours of cuddling, which is amazing.

So, even though life is tough -- when isn't it? -- there are huge silver linings to the fog-banks!  I'm keeping up as best I can with knitting.  I'm working on a few projects right now, plus one or two that aren't documented at the moment.  I'm making a pair on mittens for evening walks with Jon, and I know there's something else, but I can't remember what it is right now.  Plus, trying to finish up some WIP's.

This feels like it's been more of a journal entry than a blog-post, but I think I needed it.  And whatever, no one is forcing anyone to read this.  :P  I hope not, that would be cruel and unusual punishment; for both of us!  I'd love to hear from all of my readers -- whoever is left, at any rate.  What're you summers like?  Are you doing anything fun, or relaxing, or (hopefully not) stressful?  Drop in and we'll chat.  I hope that everyone is doing well, and enjoying the last few weeks of summer -- although here, summer-type weather can last into October.  It's when the fog finally goes away for a while, at least.  But shhhh don't tell the tourists that Monterey is the best in the early Fall.  We locals like it to ourselves at that time!  Heh.

Take care, my lovelies.  Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Happy Thursday!
~j.b.

Two acres of Echoes

           

Our beautiful front yard...

door squeeks

Hello? Echo

Anybody still here?  Hellooooooo?

I don’t really know where to start, other than, Hello.  I’ll catch you up by saying we have (finally) moved successfully, and have been living in our own home for about 6 weeks or so.  My goodness was this an adventure, in the truest sense of the word.  I will be exceptionally happy if I never go through buying a house again.  It’s a lot of work.  And at this point, it was all completely worth it. 

my favorite tree...ever.  It's soooo pretty!

            Our house is beautiful – if a little empty.  We are still working at tracking down some furniture for our “Library” and we are in desperate need of area rugs what with entire house being floored in 12”x12” white tile!  It’s cold and somewhat sterile at the moment.  Although slowly and surely it is becoming a true (gigantic) home for the two of us.  Jon has been busy pretty much every single weekend with yard work.  Fortunately, for him, my dad lives two doors down, and has been able to walk him through the process quite well.  That, and he’s been able to lend Jon all the tools we don’t have quite yet.  Like a lawnmower and pruning shears – just to name a couple.

            And fortunately for me, my mom is also two doors down – because you know, they’re married – and she has been able to give me a hand unpacking boxes and getting various rooms set up.  I have oddly not gotten around to setting up my sewing studio, which would be really odd, if I weren’t doing a metric crap-ton of knitting currently.  Which – you like my segue here? – brings us to one of the main reasons for this welcome-back post.

            My giveaway.  Saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t really express my feelings.  I feel horrible about walking away from (yet another) unfinished project.  That is not at all how I wanted that idea to end.  And, because I am no longer allowing myself to “burn bridges” I have returned to make it right.  For you.  But also for myself.  Because acomplishing things is important to me in a way it never has been.  And I promised myself when I started this blog that I would not just abruptly leave it hanging. 

            So, here I am.  Wanna get some free stuff??  Do you?  Come on!  Of course you do!  We all do.  I do!  So, here is how this is going to work.  I am going to randomly pick a number between one and twenty-one (the number of comments on the giveaway post).  There is absolutely NO scientific method to the picking of this number, I’m just picking.  So, with without further ado:

            drum roll, please

Aaaaaand, the winner is –

Contestant Number Four.  That’s right folks!  Number 4.  Pickle, is our winner!  Come on up and claim your prize! 

            You can refer back to the original post to see all the amazing stuff you have won.  It’s honestly pretty exciting, if I do say so myself.  I hope all of my darling readers aren’t so frustrated with me that you’ve walked away to never ever return.  That would make me very sad.  And I accept it if you have.  Because sometimes that’s just life.  We clean up the messes left behind.  And, on the good days, we give awesome yarn to a complete (lovely) stranger.

            I am going to contact you, Pickle.  I am also going to see if Jamie over at Scissors and Steam – who also just came back to her blog) will put a blurb in a post to help let Pickle know.  When I can get ahold of you, I will be sending you an email with all the pertinent info.  Once again, contratulations my dear!

Happy happy Friday!

~j.b.


Oh, p.s.

I will honestly be back...very soon.  I have two+ months of stuff to talk about, people!  You really didn't expect me to stay quiet forever did you?!?  Ha!

My apologies...

Wow.  I have had a week and a half from the deepest bowels of my own personal hell.  And because of this, I have vanished from Blog-dom and left everyone hanging about the Give-Away.  For this, I completely apologize.  This was obviously not my intention, and I feel really horrible about it.  Sometimes life just truly gets in the way, and one has to clean up the mess it makes while it runs through.  So, instead of giving you a play-by-play of the last week or so, I'm just going to say I am very sorry I vanished, and will get the winner of the give-away posted just as soon as I pick her/him.  Which, I plan on doing this weekend.  I will see if Jamie over at Scissors & Steam will announce that the winner is posted, just so those of you who came from there don't miss it. 

Thank you in advance for the understanding, and I can't wait to get the box-o-fun-stuff out to you!  Have a great weekend!!

~j.b.

Breakfast of Champions...

Greetings, my lovelies, on this nearly bright Tuesday morning!  This is what I had for breakfast.  It was meant to be my dessert last night, but I had a migraine, in its place.  Go me!  I think it may have been worth the wait, though...because I think I may not have snapped a picture of it last night.  And I would be sadly unable to blog about it.  And what would my life be then? And yours?  Lacking, for certain.

Anyway, while this may seem highly inappropriate for breakfast, this is from the woman who would gladly eat pie or ice cream in place of more common breakfast goods.  Such as cereal or *gasp* toast!  But, before you cry "but it's whipped cream" at me, know that it actually isn't.  It's home-made greek honey yogurt.  I'd like to claim I made the yogurt -- which is on my to-do list -- but I bought it at Whole Pay Check (tm).  I did however mix in Honey, a teeny tiny bit of agave and some vanilla extract.  It's a much cheaper way of getting the yogurt we love without having to spend as much or visit multiple grocery stores.

As far as the fruit goes.  *giggles maniacally*  This is soooo good!  I cored and sliced strawberries.  Macerated them with sugar, a splash of orange juice, some vanilla extract and some orange zest!  They are ridiculous, and should be illegal.  In fact, I'm sure they are in like three counties.  But I don't care.  Because they're delicious.  Very.

At any rate, I am loving all the comments my giveaway post is receiving.  This makes me a happy person.  Which is what you want.  Well, it's what I want in any case.  There's just a couple more days left to sign up, so go...leave a comment.  I promise I won't bite.  Mostly.  On a good day.  Haha!

Happy Tuesday!
~j.b.

Worse for Wear...

This whole house-buying...thing...can be, at times, irritating and exhausting.  I recently received an email from the Under Writer wanting "satisfactory" explanations of things I didn't think anybody knew let alone needed explained.  Everything from why my Husband has two last names -- we both hyphenated when we got married -- to an explanation as to why Jon lived at my parents' house at one point.  Which, by the way, he never did, so I don't know why they think he did.

My initial reaction to these "requests", which read more like demands, was shock.  Then fear!  It felt like a trap.  As though if I answered any of these incorrectly, the possibility of the house would be yanked out from under us.  So, lots and lots of pressure was being heaped onto my shoulders.  But, I was putting it there.  Which is quite common for me to do when I'm already stressed.

Then, after speaking with our Loan Officer, and hearing her explain that it seemed a lot worse than it actually was, and even she was confused as to why they needed some of the info they are asking for, I feel much lighter and not quite so stressed out.  Basically, they just need us to prove we are who we say we are, and let them know we don't have any unaccounted-for debt they don't know about.  Basic stuff, honestly.  I've just never bought a house, and I was young enough when my parents bought their current house that I wasn't privy to everything they had to sign and seal.  Thank god!  If it freaks me out this much now, I can't imagine what it'd have done at 17 years old!  Good grief! 

Wow, I feel so much better getting all these feelings out in the world.  It's much nicer than leaving them cooped up in my head.  They're much less powerful, now.  Which is good.  I really think the feelings we hold onto, and the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, can be very powerful in terms of manifesting things, situations, and events in our lives.  We so completely want this house.  It will be such a good move for us, and fulfill a good number of dreams we've had.  And I don't want to do anything that could jeopardize our ability to obtain this house.  This is why I write.  To lighten my mood, and release stress.  So I don't carry it with me day after day.  It can get very heavy, very quickly.

Alright.  Thank you for listening.  I am so (!) happy to see everyone popping over to say hello.  It means the world to me.  Thank you all.

Happy Stress-Free Thursday Night,
~j.b.

Nonsense and a Giveaway!

Edit: this give-away is now closed.  I will be posting the winner in the next couple of days!  Thanks for your patience!

 Edit:  I have just made it easier to comment, and opened the comments up for all.  I am sorry to anyone my previous settings may have disqualified from the giveaway.  Don't give up, yet.  Just come on back!  :D

The day has finally arrived!  It is time for the giveaway!  And there are even options for this one.  I want to first say Hi Hi to all arriving from Scissors and Steam, and say Thank you for stopping by.  I know you're just doing to get free stuff, and I'm totally and completely okay with this.  I'd do it too.  Haha!  No, seriously, I would.  I have.  You're in good company.

So, this is mostly a Thank You (!) to all my followers and readers for putting up with the lax postings over the past few months.  And for reading when I'm sure I had nothing interesting to say other than moaning about my health.

Firstly, the rules -- I know, the boring part.  There are two steps to entering this give-away, and they should both be completed.  #1) Become a follower -- I promise I will not jump off a bridge...mostly.  #2) Comment on this post and let me know that you are a follower -- you know, confession time -- and say something funny.  No pressure, just say something, anything...I really don't care.  Just want to hear from you.

If you already follow this blog, just comment and let me know.  

You will have until the 7th of April -- I was going to do this on the 1st, but thought that might be kind of mean -- to enter in the drawing.  I will make the announcement of the winner on Monday (the 9th).  I will pick the winner as randomly as I am able to.  I know there's a tiny little app you can get that will pick a random number, but there really is no such thing as an algorithm that can truly pick a random number.  Plus, I don't know where to get it.  So...rambling over.

Let's get onto the important part. 

The first and best part -- in my opinion which isn't biased at all -- in this giveaway is the Stitch Markers from last week's Tutorial.  You will receive:

 

This set will actually include two more of the small orange and blue markers.  I just don't have pictures of them all.  So, all totaled, you will receive one large marker, plus four small markers.  A pretty good deal, if you ask me!  :D

Next, you will get to choose from one of two different colorways.  Here's the first:

There will be enough yarn here to complete a pair of Fingerless Mitts from PurlBee's blog.  The pattern for which I will print off and include in a page protector.  There will also be quite a bit left-over from each yarn for another small project.  Here is the second choice:

Each choice will contain two skeins of Cashmere Blend yarn from KnitPicks, and one skein of 100% Alpaca.  Also from Knitpicks.  Please understand, no substitutions are possible.  Sorry.  

I am also going to include the two sets of needles needed to complete this project -- although I do suggest you make a swatch to determine your unique gauge.  And if the needles I send don't work, then...you have two sets of dpns you didn't have to pay for!  Woot!  

Alright, I think that's it.  On Monday-ish the 9th of April, I will make the announcement.  Best of luck to all who enter, and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!  Why I just quoted Hunger Games is completley beyond me.  Forgive me, please.  I promise no one will die.  Really, I promise.  Stop looking at me like that!  

Happy Thursday,

~j.b.

Rain, rain...every day!

The weather has been lovely here.  And by lovely, I mean rainy and dark and dreary and beautiful.  I absolutely love this weather.  I always have.  It was this type of weather that first started me writing poetry -- along with serious depression -- and I've always had a thing for Lightening storms.  I think they're magical and powerful.  

This weather makes me want to curl up in a blanket -- hand made, of course -- and knit or read...or write.  Just depends on the mood I'm in.  It's also great tea weather.  Which is my beverage of choice.  I just found Teavana, and it's pretty much heaven in a cup.  Or a pot. Which is how I make it.  I drink a lot of tea.

I stopped by today, on this dreariest of dreary days to let you, my readers and followers, know that I am going to be having a give-away in the next couple days.  And it's going to be a wonderful one.  I'll be posting it as soon as Jamie, over at Scissors & Steam finishes her's up.  After you've received her give-away (lucky lucky) head on over here and check out mine.  I'm quite excited about it, and you'll all love it too.  

I'll give you a hint.  *whispers* it's going to contain fiber!!!

Make sure you pass that on.  And I'll see you all soon.  

Happy beautiful rainy Tuesday,

~j.b.