We have POWER...sort of

We pulled up to the new house this week to see a newly installed power line and meter!!! We did a little dance, jumped around...and then realized of course we still don't have POWER, we just have power. Does that make sense to you? Most of our wiring was pulled during the demo last spring. So to keep it safe we pulled all of the fuses out of the breakers. So while there is power coming into the house...it has nowhere to go. (Try to explain that to my kids who excitedly ran to the camper and started flipping switches, only to find that they still didn't work)

But, don't fret...we'll be wiring up a couple of outlets this week and hopefully by next week we'll be in the camper. We can't wait. I can't even explain how much we can't wait. I'm ready to get the garden started. Every day that passes by (sunny or rainy...and we've had lots of both lately) is one day less our garden is growing. It's nearly April in Georgia...I'm a bit behind the gardening curve!! Our goats should be coming along soon after that, and then the chickens. Laurel in particular can't wait, though she's stuck between naming the goats Goatie-Goatie & Junior, or Boots & Diego. I was voting for Darcy & Lizzie, but as I'm the only Pride & Prejudice fan in the family I'm out of luck. (I could also go for Anne & Gilbert, or Laura & Manly...I'm such a sucker for a good romance)

No matter...whatever they are named we will be waiting for them...at our new house...starting next week. (I hope I hope I hope)

Laurel Reporting 2

Laurel Reporting

I swear we're moving soon

Moving day is getting closer and closer thanks to an AHA moment by my husband. Last week he said if we passed the electrical permit, then we'd move next week. In my head we had to finish packing up this house and preparing it to sell BEFORE we moved (which would be ideal)...but it isn't a requirement. So for the first time in a long LONG time I believed that we'd really be moving soon. Unfortunately, while we did pass the electrical inspection the power company could take 14 days to restore the power. ---so get this, the power company removed the meter and the line while we weren't living there, it's an anti-theft thing...but to get it restored you have to go to the city and get a permit (and pay a fee), then request an inspection. If you pass said inspection they will send the notification to the power company, at which point you can contact the power company and schedule a restoration of power...which takes 10-14 days--- So this is where we are. At the same time we need to put in a 220 outlet for the camper and some indoor outlets for power tools, lights, etc. (We aren't quite ready to wire the whole house yet, that will come soon enough.) We also need to figure out how to hook our camper to our septic tank...and while we're at it we'll need to find our septic tank and get it checked out. (Remember EVERYTHING is 60 years old) Money is getting spent fast. Three vehicle repairs, a new AC systsem, a new water heater, spectic check, inspections...and this is barely the tip of the iceberg. (It might be a bump on a speck on the tip of the iceberg) So we're ALMOST there. In the meantime we've been up there a lot more lately. Playing, picking flowers and having a good ole time. Here is some video to prove it...

Getting It DONE

I didn't post last week. I had nothing to post. I didn't make or do anything new or interesting. But don't feel bad...what I DID do was work. Work work work work work. I packed, I unpacked, I cleaned, I had a yard sale, I got rid of bulky old furniture taking up space in the garage, and we made decisions on how to keep moving forward with all the stuff we have going on. So for this week:

1) Get rid of my car. The first car I bought myself. The one that took me 5 years to pay off. The one that has driven me all over the country. The one that drove me to the hospital when I was in labor with Laurel...and the one that drove us back after she was born (despite the lack of AC on the 95 degree day in August). And...the one that's been sitting at my parents house broken down for the last 2+ years. It's time to say goodbye.
2) Get the electrical permit for our new house to get the power restored.
3) Finish packing up this house...seriously...it's been long enough.
4) Get the old appliances to the metal scrapper guy

And if that isn't enough...we still have another vehicle to get rid of, another to purchase, a house to finish packing/cleaning/repairing and get on the market, and a camper to move into. (Plus kids to feed and that sort of thing...)

So keep me on track people. Hold me accountable for all of this. At the end of the week it needs to be done. (Just 1-4, I don't expect the house to be on the market by Saturday...but maybe, if we work hard enough it will be by the end of March)

UPDATE- I can check off get electical permit I got that done today...but I can add replace water heater since it busted in the "good" house. 50 Gallons of water all over the place. We own two houses...neither of which has running water...that's not good. I bathed the kids at grandmas house tonight, and washed my hair in the cold water that I turned on just long enough to wash my hair, but not long enough to flood the garage again. Oy.

UPDATE-2- We got the all clear from our electrical inspection to reinstate power...woo hoo! And my WONDERFUL husband has already bought and installed our brand new water heater. NOW he's in the middle of replacing the water pump in our car...when it rains it pours.

Ruffle-y Flower-y Awesome-y Kids Sweater

This was my first attempt at a sweater.

(as opposed to the mug sweater I made before)

I decided to start small and make a sweater for Laurel. I did not use a pattern---I know WHAT A SHOCK!---I just cast on what looked about the right width (figuring for expansion off the needle), and started working. When the height from the bottom of the sweater to the bottom of the armpit measured about right (compared to a sweater she already has) I started decreasing 2 stitches per row until the armhole closely matched the existing sweater. Once it went in enough for the arms I stopped decreasing and continued knitting rows until I got the right height for the neck. I added some ribbing at the top, and then I duplicated the same "pattern" for the back.



I wanted a little ruffle sleeve, so I Googled how to knit a ruffle. (Oh the internet is amazing) I decided to start with a band of ribbing the same height as the one on the neck, once I knit the 6 rows I moved onto the ruffle. I made the ruffle by doubling the amount of stitches I cast on; I cast on 8, so I increased to 16, then 32, then 64. At 64 I stopped increasing and knit until it looked long enough to be a cap sleeve (I believe it was about 6 rows), then I started decreasing 6 stitches at a time for the last 3 rows to "round off the edge" of the ruffle. Then I bound off and the ruffle was done.



I used yarn and some kind of stitch---WOW, I sure am official sounding, I knitted the whosamacallit to the whatsamajiggit---to piece together the back and front and the sleeves to the neck-ribbing on the front and back. This probably would have been good enough...BUT, I had some holes on the front panel due to being a beginner and knitting in the middle of the night. And rather than unravel (which would have been the right, and normal thing to do) I decided I would make tiny little flowers to place around the sweater to cover my holes---err I mean to make it look special. Who says holes are bad? They're just an excuse to add flowers. As for the flowers I just crocheted different sizes, then using the yarn tail on each flower I sewed them onto the sweater. (I REALLY REALLY REALLY loved the look of the flowers on the sweater, and despite being a lover-of-color I liked that it was monochromatic)



It's hard to guess how long this took me...I knitted when I couldn't sleep, then I knitted during Parenthood on Tuesday and The Office marathon on Thursday. With the constant starting and stopping I'm really guessing...but I'll go with 6-7 hours. Thank goodness I liked the final product because that's A LOT of time to put into something that's just ok. (Ok...I didn't like it...I loved it) Laurel could tell I was really proud of it and she modeled it and wore it with pride. She even wore it to our family date night to a talent show at which Aunt Scabbers (aka Abigail) was playing piano. On a side note, it was a fabulous time. The kids rocked out to some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G young talent, ranging in age from 10-18. Bands, soloists, guitar players and pianists...WOWSA. It was a good time.

Sleep comes to those who have INCREDIBLE kids

I am by nature a calm and relaxed person. But that doesn't mean I am ALWAYS calm and relaxed. Sometimes I can be a big ball of nerves, and when that happens it's not uncommon for me to be awake until 4 or 5am before I can finally manage to fall asleep. It doesn't happen often, maybe once or twice a year. But it can last anywhere from 1 night to 2 weeks. (Depends on the level of the stress and how well I'm dealing with it.)





I finally managed to fall asleep around 4:30 am...and of all days, my kids woke up at 6 am. ARGGGHHHH!!! But...do you know what those rascals did? They let me sleep. And while I was resting they decorated my room with flowers and pictures and THEN they brought me breakfast (a banana, a piece of bread and a piece of cheese...arranged as a smiley face). How did I get so lucky? I seriously don't deserve these kids.

Once I did wake up (nearly 10AM!!!) I sat with them and knitted for a little while...then (after some coffee) I took the stress by the horns and came up with an action plan. I seriously don't know if I will survive this spring/summer...but if I do---I will be exhausted and completely run down---and I will feel like I can do anything. (I just wish I could press the fast forward button)

Update- I bought a second yoga Groupon (same place, posted under Athens instead of Atlanta) and went to class tonight. It kicked my butt, but helped work out some of my nerves---so hopefully I will sleep soundly tonight.

Take that cable, bind it up, all day long you'll have good luck!

I broke my last needle revisiting the fabric bowl idea. I sat down with the remaining materials from the first fabric bowl and made myself a fabric coaster. This one came out a little better, and I think a stack of different colored fabric coasters would make an adorable ROY-G-BIV coaster set. But, since I was out of cord and needle-less I had no choice but to find something else to do.



So last night as the kids and I were sitting in the living room, waiting for the storm to pass, I brought out a scrap of fabric and a needle and bound my little cable knit swatch like a little quilt. I had been wondering how it would look to knit a little blanket and then bind it like a quilt. Seems like it would add a nice pop of color as well as some extra strength and stability. I'm not sure if that's a thing people do, or if that's the kind of thing that knitters and quilters alike would look down upon. No matter...I think it's a fine idea.



So here it is, my tiny little cable-knit quilt.