Eventual Homesteader
• Monday, September 8, 2008 - Nervous
| I start a new job today. I'm nervous, I've never been an andministrative assistant before. Hope I don't suck. |
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• Monday, September 1, 2008 - Hmm
So sorry the link doesn't work. The new blog is:
http://tiffibug.blogspot.com/
Just copy and paste into your browser. |
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• Saturday, August 30, 2008 - New Blog
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have a new blog dedicated to knitting. I know, I'm such a dork. 
So here is a link to the new blog:
Blog
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• Sunday, August 17, 2008 - Hedera Photos
• Sunday, August 17, 2008 - On the Knitting Front
As you may well know, I am obsessed with knitting. If you didn't know that. Well, I just had to put that out there. I'm an addict. I've been to a few meetings. Not technically meetings to get over the addiction. See, it's a knitting group. It's a club. We talk about knitting. Properties of knitting. We may even have a banquet.
Ok, did anyone besides Brandy get that movie reference?
Anyway, time to talk about...you guessed it. Knitting!
I've made a few projects for women having babies. Why is it that so many people I know are having babies right now? Is it because I want one? Are they taunting me?
I had a sock sit in my "I'm not going to think about it" box for a few months. I forgot where I left off on the pattern and didn't mark it either. Yep, not so smart, am I? So I let it sit there, since May. So for knitting group last week I dug it out and counted every single row, until I figured it out. I finished that sock before group and started the second one. I finished it in 2 days. I could have done it in one if I didn't have to work. So, the pattern is called Hedera by Cookie A. on Knitty. Ok, well I can't post pictures on here from flickr. Hmm...
I told you I was obsessed right? I immediately cast on another sock after finishing Hedera. This pattern, also by Cookie A. is called Monkey. I love it. I'm down to the gusset on the first sock. Not bad for a first time through this pattern. It is knitting up really fast.
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• Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Big, Dorky Bookworm...that's me
Apparently most adults have only read about 6 of the following titles....
Here are the rules:-
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE, or strikeout the books you read but didn't like.
4) Reprint this list in your own blog so we can try and track down these people who've read only 6 or less and make them read.
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
Ok, so I've read 34 of these books listed. Not bad for a random list, eh? Oh, I swiped this from a British blog, so the list could have been much different if it had been made in America.
How many have you read? |
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• Sunday, July 13, 2008 - Good News
Finally some good news! My dear, sweet husband has joined me in Fairmont. He took a job at the Fairmont paper. Tonight is his first night. Yes, it is a night job, but I don't care. He's here, that's all that matters. He's so relieved, it is oozing from his pores! LOL I haven't seen him smile this much in, I don't know how long. The cats are just as happy to see him, as he was to see them. Truth be told, I think he missed them a tad more than he missed me. 
We still have quite a bit of things to be moved. We'll be going to Romney next weekend to try to get most of it. I can haul an amazing amount in my station wagon and we'll use his mom's truck for the big things. Hopefully we can make it in just one trip. Then he'll just need to go swap vehicles.
The only sad thing is that there is no Book N Bean anymore. We are still devastated over the loss of our beloved Bean. He made a wonderful post on his facebook page about it. I'm going to copy it here, to share with you all.
I wanted to share what I drew in the book for Mike and Lorie, but thought maybe words this time. Cross-posting for saturation.
I cried today for, I think, the first time since my father died.
Some of you know why, this is for you. In honor of one of the most important and loved of all my favorite places:
Top 5 songs my unconscious offered up to make me cry:
5. Cheers theme
4. Change is gonna come - Sam Cooke
3. That catchy Beta Band song, everything is not going to be alright.
2. Both sides now - Joni Mitchell
1. Landslide - Dixie Chicks
Top 5 things that meant the most to me about the bean:
5. Hot Java on tap.
4. It wasn’t going back to my empty apartment.
3. I met the nicest people, and count them among my friends.
2. Thursday Night Open Mic - the best ever.
1. Tiffi and I met there.
I will take it with me where ever I go, that sense of peace, of belonging. I feel a montage coming on, gotta go. |
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• Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - The End of an Era
| I'm so very sad today. Our beloved local coffee shop, the Book N Bean, has closed it's doors. It was such a huge part of our lives. My husband found it almost immediately upon moving to Fairmont. My friends and I have gone there ever since I started college. I met my husband there, at open mic night. He was the bass player in Michael's, the owner of the Bean, band. Numerous friends have had baby showers, Mary Kay parties, bridal showers there. I suppose to sum it all up, I'll really miss it. In fact, we all will. So, here's to the Bean. |
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• Monday, May 19, 2008 - New Do and a baby brother too!
Ok, as promised here are the pics of my new haircut.
First is one of me and Monkie Du when my hair was long.
Next is the ponytail after it was cut off.
I took one of the top of it so you could see how thick it is, it didn't really come out well, but I'll post it anyway.
Ok, so drum roll please...
Last, but not least is my baby brother Zack.
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• Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - I just couldn't do it
| I just got a hair cut. I tried, I really, really tried. If some of you don't know. I was trying to grow it long enough to donate to Locks of Love. I had 8 1/2 inches. I know, only and inch and a half left. But it would have taken another six months for my hair to grow that much. It is so very thick and heavy. To give you an idea just how thick it is...I saved the hair in a ponytail and measured across the top. It is 1 inch across! Can you imagine that? I have had a constant headache for at least a month. All I could do with it at work was put it in a ponytail. The dry cleaners is not the place for long flowing hair. Too hot, too sweaty. So...I have my preferred cut again. I'll post pics later when I get them off the camera. |
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• Friday, May 9, 2008 - Realizations and Plans
So, being here alone I have had many, many hours to think. Don't act so shocked, I do think occasionally. I have finally decided what to go back to school for. I'm going to go into massage therapy school. I've discussed it with my husband and he thinks it is a great idea. I've been interested in it for a while, but pushed the idea aside for others. We still need to discuss things fully, but we have settled on it as a career path for me.
I feel more calm and settled now, I suppose it helps to have a set plan. Now if we could just get dh's affairs in order and get him a job things would be better.
I've been sick for the last few days. I ended up taking a sick day today, I had severe intestinal distress. I spent much of the day in the bathroom. Not fun. I'm feeling better now, hope to be back to my old self in no time.
It's been raining for a couple days. We need the rain for the gardens, but it is also preventing any more garden work. I haven't been in the garden since Monday. I'm not sure how much more Grandma got put out since then. I just love gardening. There is the most tremendous satisfaction in growing your own food. I'd much rather live on the food I can grow myself than have to shop in a grocery store. I like the idea of being like the "Old Timers" and being self sufficient. I may not be able to raise cows or other livestock, but I'd gladly keep chickens and maybe even goats.
Enough of my rambling. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy your families and relax! |
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• Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - Gardening
I finally got to get my hands in the dirt yesterday! I was so excited. We got the garden tilled at Grandma's on Saturday. So after work I went over and got started. So far we have planted onions, carrots, radishes, green beans, peas and lettuce...that's all I can think of right now. I'm sure she planted more today, but I didn't talk to her to find out. We also got some basil seeds planted in the greenhouse.
I just can't wait for that first tomato sandwich. It is my favorite thing! I like just plain old tomato, mayo and cheese. Mmm. Sometimes if I get adventurous I'll add sliced cucumber too. My mouth is watering already.
I'd like to can a bunch of green beans and peas. Plus I'd like to make and can pesto, hence the basil, and some salsa.
Need to make sure we have Roma tomatoes started for that.
How are your gardens coming along? I think it may still be a bit early in the season for some of our friends to the North.
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• Thursday, April 24, 2008 - Stuff and Nonsense
Let's see...on the knitting front I have two projects going simultaneously. I have been working on a sock pattern called Hedera, by Cookie A of Knitty.com. It is such a great pattern. I don't have the proper yarn to shoe off the pattern though. It is a lovely lace, but my yarn is variegated, so the pattern isn't really visible. Alas, my feet are too big to fit in the socks. ~Sigh~ I suppose I'll have to develop my own pattern one day, so my huge feet will fit into handmade socks. I have also begun a baby sweater for a friend. She just found out she is having a girl! So I thought I'd make the same sweater I made for Hannah and Abby. I'm using a white and yellow variegated cotton. It should be soft and comfortable for the baby. I hope she likes it.
Speaking of babies. I've been loving on Cohen, the baby of our friends who own the coffee shop. The same coffee shop so near and dear to our hearts, because we met there. He is just the cutest little guy. He's always smiling and happy. Today I played with him while his daddy was eating and mommy was napping. We went outside in the sunshine and attempted walking. Then we went and sat on the swing. He LOVES to swing. I'll bet he would have been content to sit there all evening. I had to stop because I was getting some serious motion sickness! LOL He's my little buddy.
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• Thursday, April 17, 2008 - Prayers for Dana
Friends, I'd like to ask for prayer for my dear friend Dana, lovnmyboys. She is having problems right now. I'm not sure what she called it, I forgot the term, but it is basically this...she had fluid built up inside her head, it pushed her brain down inside her skull. It was causing vision problems by pushing on her ocular nerve. Which is why she went to the dr in the first place. She thought she needed new glasses. Anyway, she had to have a CT scan, they discovered the fluid, and had it drained. She is at home, on bed rest right now. She has a lot of pain, the dr said it is normal. Her brain is trying to move back into it's normal position. She should be fine in a few days.
Her family is being great and helping her out. She says she's so proud of her oldest son Colby, he's been such a big help. So, if you think of it, would you mind sending up a prayer for quick healing for Dana?
Thanks. |
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• Sunday, April 13, 2008 - Finally!
I am in Fairmont! I'm by myself right now, dh will join me soon. I feel very strange here without him and my cats. I left them with him until we get the furniture moved. I don't want to chance them escaping, as we live in town. I don't want to lose any of them. So for now, it's just me this computer and my knitting needles.
I am back working for the dry cleaners. They have been very gracious and glad to have me back. I am a "good worker and reliable too." So, it's been pretty smooth going so far. It is prom season here, so we're busy fitting and renting tuxedos. The other girl who works there keeps thanking me for knowing what I'm doing. She says she's so glad she doesn't have to hover over me or redo anything I've screwed up. It's been three years since I worked there, but it is honestly like I never left. Odd, isn't it?
I went to a knitting group with my friend Melissa on Thursday evening. It was my first knitting group. There were only four of us there, but still I had a good time. We chatted a little bit, but mostly worked on our knitting. We soon found that if we talked we made mistakes. So we didn't really talk much. I had a good time anyway.
I've been invited to three different churches since coming back. My grandma wants me to come to hers. Melissa plays piano and directs the choir at another and asked me to come join her choir. My friend Brandy is trying out a new church and asked me to come with her also. So, I may try them all and see which fits best. I know grandma's church is having revival this week. It should be interesting.
I still have a sore throat. I just can't seem to shake it since I had strep. It seems like every time I get a chill or the wind blows in my face my throat is sore again. I've been on antibiotics twice. I don't want to take them again. I'm hoping once it warms up for good it will get better.
I hope everyone is well and enjoying the spring, as it slowly makes it's presence known. I've got two glasses of daffodils from grandma's in my living room window. She has many varieties, so I picked several specimens of each. They are so pretty and smell so nice! |
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• Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Pictures!
I haven't posted any pics in a while, so I thought I'd give you all some!
Here's me & Monkie Du. She likes to sleep under the covers.
This is Pete flirting with me. He's such a pretty boy.
Here's some of the knitting I've been doing. I made Mary Jane Booties! Aren't they adorable?
I just have to have one of Hannah. This was the special funny face she made for Uncle Mikey.
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• Sunday, March 30, 2008 - Cat Bathtub
Weird blog title, no? If no one understands what I mean by that, I'll explain. I make the perfect cat bathtub. Seriously. I can't go an hour without being used as one. At least one of my cats will get up in my lap, specifically to bathe themselves. Sometimes, if it is Monkie, I will get washed as well. Kitty B takes his bath at night, in bed, on my belly. Every night. I currently have a Monkie C. Munkadu on my lap alternately sleeping and bathing. So, there you have it.
Now, on to something completely different. I have been knitting like crazy. What's new right? I know. I have been working on a layette for a cousin's baby. My dh's cousin and his wife are expecting a baby girl in July. In fact , they just found out it's a girl. So far I've made a blanket, using the pattern Baby Blocks by Ann Norling. The link is to my Ravelry page. I've also completed a pair of booties to go with them. I've never made booties before, I'm really happy with them. I'll post a link later, when I get a picture of them. Now I'm trying to make a hat to match. I'm not sure how it will work out. I am trying to make a plain hat knit in the round with an I-cord at the top. It is turning out quite large. But, since she is due in July, maybe by winter the baby's head will be big enough for the hat.
Last but not least. Sunday traditions. I haven't practiced any in a long, long time. But today I decided to pull one out of my arsenal, so to speak. I made Deviled Eggs. Mmmmmm. I love, love, LOVE them. My grandma used to make them almost every Sunday, just because I like them so much. Ready, collective aww. "Aww!" Yep, she loves me. I love her too. I can personally eat a dozen eggs made into Deviled Eggs, no joke. She always used Miracle Whip, I can deal with that although I prefer mayo, and mustard. I use mayo and dijon mustard. No one in the family had ever heard of it that way. In fact here, in dh's family they always add pickles. If some people like it that way, great. I personally think it is gross. So, in the past year I have won over everyone in the family, including his grandmother. The biggest proponent of the pickles. Right now, as I type, they are in the fridge cooling down. I'm not sure how much longer I can wait before I scarf them down. My mouth is watering like crazy!
Have a wonderful week!
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• Friday, March 21, 2008 - Frost, Birkenstocks and stairs
So, as many of you know, I'm really clumsy. On Monday I took a spill down the stairs at a friend's house. They were the outside stairs and there was a heavy frost. I was wearing Birks, so had no tread on my shoes. I fell halfway down the stairs then bounced off the stairs and fell the rest of the way down a hillside. I landed at the bottom on a cinder block, on my bottom. I'm ok, nothing is broken, but I'm bruised up. I have a weird triangular shaped bruise from the corner of the cinder block. Not fun!
I must rave about a homeopathic remedy. I've been using Arnica gel for the bruising on my shin. I do believe that it is helping. It helped the swelling go away quickly and it is not nearly as bruised as the *other * area where I can't put the gel.
So, word to the wise kids...be careful when wearing slick shoes on wooden stairs covered in frost. |
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• Thursday, March 6, 2008 - Shoe sale
I feel a little guilty about an purchase I made this morning.  Let me give you the prologue. I bought a pair of Birkenstock sandals, the kind with a strap behind your foot, about 7 years ago, on sale for $25. They lasted me for 6, that's right 6 years before they gave up the ghost. I have been searching for a good sale on them since then. I recently found a website, shoebuy.com, where I have purchased 3 pairs of shoes. Today I got an email, take an extra 20% off for March Madness. Low and behold I found the exact sandals I was looking for already on sale! With the extra 20% off they will only be $78. I know, not as good as $25, but I can live with that, I think.  Especially if these last as long as the last pair. Bear in mind they are normally $130-$140.
What do you guys think? |
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• Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - Still Waiting
Well, I'm still waiting to hear from the bank. I called last Thursday, it had been a week since the interview. The lady said she's been busy with another project and hadn't had a chance to follow up with anyone. I still hadn't heard anything yesterday so I called again. There was no answer, so I left her a message. I really can't keep waiting around like this.
I went to Fairmont on Saturday. I took a car load of things to the apartment. Mostly just boxes of dishes, things I never unpacked. My step-dad met me at my grandma's house, then rode over with me to help me unload. He approves of the place. He says it is much nicer than the last apartment we had. Yeah, I know...that's why I wanted it. So then he took me out to dinner and bought me a new set of pots & pans. It was supposed to be a wedding gift. It's only 2 years late, that's ok. |
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