No Coffee For The Mace

Mr. Grumpbump is now proficient with our stove-top espresso maker.  There is nothing I like better than my husband making me a cup of coffee.  I pretend to be inept at the whole process and ask him to "help" me.  The cup I'm enjoying now is super yummy, which is made all the better because he's also cleaning up the percolator too!   I let Miss Macy smell my coffee but she was not interested in it all.  Her loss.

We hired an electrician to put up our ceiling fan and track lighting in the kitchen nook.  It is so nice to have actual overhead lights in the living space instead of relying on table and floor lamps.  The fan will come in handy once the Florida weather heats up.  Mr. Grumpbump also installed a light in the front hallway so he can maneuver the front bedroom in the morning (he keeps his uniforms in the front bedroom closet).  

Ceiling Fan front and center - kitchen track lighting visible in background

I've made some progress on my latest ripple afghan.  I've switched up the color blocking on this one so there more color changes than with the previous two.  Basically, it means that I have a lot more ends to weave in. While I enjoy the pattern immensely, I think I might retire it for a while after I finish this project.  

Fall colors for my winter project

  

Miss Macy has a new sleeping position I like to call Nautilus (because she's curled around like the seashell). She's constantly sleeping on or near my knitting project.  Macy has to have her teeth cleaned this Friday (Feb 3).  The teeth cleaning will involve the pulling of some back teeth that are unhealthy and potentially harmful to the Mace.  I hate to do that to her and trust she will forgive me someday for this but I'm very nervous about it all.   If you are reading this, please keep my Mace in your thoughts and wish her a speedy recovery.

Definitely cuter and fluffier than the real-life nautilus

No Delilah on today's entry because she's just too mean to me these days.  Unless she's asleep, Delilah treats me like her servant and yells at me whenever I approach her.  Then she runs away.  

Cat Tales

Ugh.  I love and hate Sunday nights all at once.  Sunday nights mean I have to go to work in the morning, but they also represent my last little bit of freedom before the work week.

I've started my third version of the Ripple Stitch afghan.  I've changed up the striping on the pattern just a bit; not sure how it will turn out.  I think the colors (chocolate brown, beige, burgundy/wine and cream) are reminiscent of fall and autumn and hope they work well together throughout the entire project.  I'll know more as I knit more rows of the pattern.

Macy supervising my progress.

Delilah made me laugh this morning.  She was out on the patio and I was checking up on her when I saw a familiar sight.  Delilah had her tail in the pool, while she was drinking water out of the dish Mr. Grumpbump set out for her (it's actually a plant dish, but Delilah insists on drinking water out of it so that's what it is now).  I was able to grab my camera to document the moment.

Tour de Grumpbump

Early Saturday afternoon here in Florida and the temperatures are back up in the 70s, although it is overcast right now as I sit on my patio. Maybe overcast is the wrong word; there is a lot of cloud cover and you can't really see the sun or the sky. Just light gray and white clouds everywhere.  I'm waiting for Mr. Grumpbump to get back from Lowes.

Since receiving a bike for Christmas, Mr. Grumpbump and I go out on Saturday mornings - he runs, I bike.  It's the first opportunity I've taken since moving into this house to see the neighborhood and the houses around us. I enjoy riding and would be willing to do more exploring of the other subdivisions on this side of the main roadway.

La Bicicleta - Yo quiero un (como se dice... "basket")

But today, I realized that I could right my bike to the Farmers Market just a mile or so from the house.  The only problem is that I have to cross a MAJOR roadway to get there.  There are plenty of sidewalks to take me all the way to the shopping center where it is hosted every Saturday, I just have to be very careful about the traffic when crossing the road.  Once I get across the street, the sidewalks keep me away from the cars and I'll feel very safe.

My trip today yielded some beautiful tomatoes and cucumbers.   But there were so many other good fruits and vegetables (strawberries are in season, the onions and peppers were so bright and colorful).  I'll have to get a basket for my bicycle so I don't have to stuff everything in a knapsack.

Dinner Tonight

I'm still getting used to riding the bike.  I know they say you never really forget how to ride (which is true) but as I have aged I have become less sure of myself (physically).  I'm very aware that should I crash on this bike, I could hurt myself very badly.  I don't take my hands off the handlebars, and even the process of looking around can cause me to very quickly over correct.  I need more practice before I will feel confident on the bike.

The Color of (Grumpbump) Money

I finished my second slouchy hat in time for the two days of cold weather here in Florida.  I love this hat and this time the yarn I used is perfect for the project.

Back of the hat -

Just a bit of slouch

I'm starting another ripple afghan.  I'm not feeling the love for it as I have previously, but I attribute that to slouchy hat pattern that I can complete in just a few days.  I'm going to have to really focus on this afghan because I think the colors I picked are going to pop.

Mr. Grumpbump got his pool table.   But the story definitely does not end there.  Mr. Grumpbump was supposed to set up the pool table in the dining room space of our great room.  Days before he bought it and had it moved, I made him assure me that he had measured and that it would work in the dining space.  After the movers got here and unloaded the table, they spent about an hour re-felting the table. I was in the bedroom with Delilah, trying to keep her out of the way. When Mr. Grumpbump revealed the table to me, I was very upset.  The table was HUGE and much too big for the space. I did not hesitate to tell Mr.Grumpbump of my displeasure.  

My solution was for the pool table to go into the garage. Mr.Grumpbump pouted and said he couldn't afford to lose the space for his car (my response to that?  Let's sell your damn car.).  One thing was certain - the pool table could not remain in the space.  After mulling it over for a day, we decided to compromise. The pool table will remain in the house, in the front room, but we turned it 90 degrees.  The benefit to this is that you don't see the pool table the second you walk in the front door.  It still takes up most of the great room, but I can live with it and it is sort of cool to come home and play a game of pool (even though I suck at it).

Mr. Grumpbump owes me BIG for this concession

We are going to move the furniture all around this weekend to come up with the best layout for the room.  You can see that the loveseat is up against the pool table. I'll post final pictures to show how we will make this work.

No Yarn Was Harmed During the Making of this Blog

I made white wine sangria today.  I was tipsy after only two glasses and promptly passed out on the couch.

I spent way too long in Michaels today, trying to decide what yarn to purchase.  They had a 50% sale on Country Loom, and I loaded my basket with 10 skeins of it, imagining I would knit an afghan.  However, this yarn reminds me too much of Homespun and  I had a terrible time trying to knit with it.  I put it all back and moved onto a new Bernat yarn called Waverly, which had the most beautiful colors and was so soft.  I couldn't think of a pattern to make with it so I put it back too (although by searching their website, I found a beautiful pattern so I might be going back to purchase it).  I ended up going with the Loops & Threads Impeccable Yarn (acrylic) in order to make my favorite ripple stitch afghan.

I'm still working on my second slouchy hat.  I hope I can finish it before Tuesday because the temperature is supposed to drop on Tuesday.  Hoping this hat will fit better than my first attempt in cotton.

Macy in the middle of my knitting

Tomorrow, Mr. Grumpbump gets his pool table (another Craigslist find).  The delivery company is not only going to move it for him but they will also re-felt it. I believe it's got a green felt now, but Mr. Grumpbump is going to have it re-done in a wine felt.  I'm happy for him because he's very excited about it.

I'm going to take all of my leftover stash yarn and start knitting an oddball blanket. I must be saving these remnants for something, right?  I also have a drawer full of leftover sock yarn but I don't know what I can do with it. I'll have to search Google and Ravelry for ideas on how to de-stash this.