Big Money, Big Money!

So I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had entered some knit items in the Mariposa County Fair. And I may or may not have mentioned that I was blessed with third place ribbons for both of my entries, yay me! And here they are in all their prizewinning glory,

a hat


and a pair of socks


And not only do I get bragging rights, I actually get a cash money prize! Sort of...


Yep, siree. One dollar! Tee hee. They probably spent way more in time, effort and postage, poor things. Now I just have one question for y'all.

Is the mascot on the above ribbons a butterfly wearing ruffled bell bottoms?

I thought so.

Not For The Faint of Heart

Dudes. Do you wanna see some scary stuff? Well grab your teddy bears and safety blankets...

The house that we bought was pretty bad to start with...


Then the termite repair started...


Bathroom before and after...




And just the post destruction picture of my future craft room...


Um, yes. That is our house up on jacks. Our contractor had a nasty health issue that needed to be tended to last week. So we were a bit more open to the elements for a little longer than desired. I guess they patched him up for now, and supposedly he's back to work this week. Eeek. Send him some nice healing thoughts, we promise we'll take it easy on him, and hopefully we'll all come out the other end of this process none the worse for the wear...

A Week Late, But A Month Early...

I've gotten a bit behind on the old bloggy here. So here is a quick recap from two weekends ago... The highlight was the County Fair, of course. Tankster loved seeing all the animals, we saw sheep, pigs, cattle, bunnies and all manner of fowl...



Its funny that he looks so mezmerized by chickens here, as they have two at his daycare that free range among the kiddos. But the turkeys were taller than him, and many of the pigeons were above eye level, so chickens it was!

Here he is checking his line while driving a tractor through the fair crowds. I tell you, its the best way to get to the front of the line for the choo choo train ride...


And here he is NOT displaying any of the joy or glee that the train ride actually brought him. He LOVED this thing. Wanted to ride it all night. They make you buy tickets to ride the rides, so somehow it seemed less like money then. So we actually ended up spending WAY more on this silly thing than we should have. He's also too small to ride alone, so one of us got to go each time, doubling the cost. Eeek. He rode one other roller coaster-y kid ride, but he really didn't like it, and kept asking for the choo choo again. So we caved. Big softies.


There was one more highlight to the fair, that I forgot to get a picture of. I had entered socks and a hat in the crafts part, and they both won third place in their division! Woot woot!

Sunday we had planned to actually do more agricultural (and knitting focused) exploration, as I thought it was the "Mariposa Agri-Nature Trail/Weekend in the Country" weekend. So we drove out to the local alpaca farm. Just as we got there, I actually looked at the pamphlet in my hand and noticed that it was supposed to take place at the end of September, not the end of August. We were a whole month early. Oops.

Karen and John couldn't have been any nicer about our mistake, and gave us our own personal tour anyway. I hope to be able to return the favor and maybe get a group of local knitting ladies to come out and peruse her fiber wares during the regular tour weekend!

Next up! A wedding outside of LA, Tanks first ocean visit, and kicking the ball around on a college football field...

Honk Honk

So when you wake up in the middle of the night to hear your wee son honking and barking like a performing circus seal, you will soon come to know the joy that is croup. A quick call to the Blue Cross advice nurse landed us in the lovely rural John C. Freemont Hospital at 11:30 Friday night. Whoo hoo, party weekend.

On the plus side there was no line and no waiting. On the down side we had to physically restrain our (strong!) little tot to administer the vaporizer medicine. The nurse kept assuring us that it was a completely normal reaction for a two year old, but somehow that didn't make the fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks, the balled fists, and the raw two year old anger any easier to take. Eventually he crumpled into a resigned and sweaty lump in Poppa's lap and let the Horkasaurus do its job.



Then he forgot it all and gleefully downed a cup of steroids diluted with grape juice. And asked for more. Ah, that's my boy. Won over by the sweet allure of fruit squeezin's, the little juiceaholic. And then we were sent home with advice to keep a close eye on him for the rest of the night. So momma got to sleep on the floor with her thrashy little tot, who did stupendously the rest of the night. And now we are the proud owners of a new cool mist humidifier. And the Tanskster is doing awesome, with nary a honk in the last 24 hours.

Oh, hey, and did I mention that last week Tank and I were snuggling on the couch after an especially traumatic splinter removal when things went a little wrong? Tank was coming in for an exceptionally vehement snuggle and accidentally head butted momma square in the schnozz. Crunch. Spurt. Instant double-nostril nosebleed. Wow. I've never had one of those before. I can't imagine being a boxer, because, dude, that was a deal breaker! Momma was pretty much done for the day!

So cross yer fingers that we all make it through this next week with our bits and pieces still attached. We really like our bits and pieces!

Got Sledgehammer?

Hello there! So things are moving forward here, I've started my new (old) job, back in Yosemite Valley for three days a week. I will be doing construction inspection on some sewer line replacement. Fun, huh? And now to get totally geeky on you, I will tell you why some if this will be especially interesting... The contractor will be doing directional drilling! Whoo hoo! Meaning instead of opening a gigantic long pit in the ground and laying pipe in the bottom of it, they will be drilling horizontally through the ground and hauling the pipe through behind it. Neeto, and less damaging environmentally! I knew you'd be just as excited as I!

I will mention here that it is very sad to leave my old job, they were nothing but wonderful. But the new job will be much closer to the new home. And speaking of which...

We are also starting some stuff on the new house. We meet with an electrician today to try and make it less of a spontaneous-bonfire-house potential, and then we will be seeing the lead paint inspectors in the next week or two. I'm not gonna sugar coat this at all. This house is a pit. It is disgusting. It needs a new roof,

new electrical,

new foundation, new flooring and an entirely new kitchen. There is a 2 foot by 1 foot hole in the floor of the bathroom. It stinks. (Um, literally, like really smelly.) But let me enumerate the benefits to you (so that I don't forget them myself!)

We will be living in El Portal, right on the border of Yosemite, closer to all of the fun things that we all love to do!
It is a wonderful neighborhood to raise kids in!
It is scads closer to The Hub's office, and Tankster's daycare, and with gas prices that is significant.
It is right next to a fire hydrant, and in this flammable state, that is significant.
It has city water and sewer, no more worrying about dry wells and overflowing septic systems.
It has fast internet. (If only it were in time for these fabulous olympic days!)
It has a better elementary school. (A few years down the road, but not too far!)
It has four(!) bedrooms, so we will have a guest room for all of you! (Maybe not all at once though...)
We already have friends in the neighborhood.
It has a mother-in-law apartment for monthly income or future housing of The Father-In-Law.

The house will be walking distance to the river, post office, community center, and when they get it rebuilt (after its own spontaneous-bonfiring earlier this year) the new community market. (Photo by B. Popp, not Potts like they list it!)

So it will be a good thing. But right now its a scary thing. An expensive, time consuming, dusty, dirty, smelly, and scary thing. So I might need your help in the future, if not actually toting that bale, then just mentally helping me stay in the game here. Just tell me that this thing has potential, okay?



All pictures from Ken Card of Advanced Home Inspections.

From Flashes To Flames

So three weeks ago I got to go on that wonderful all gals climbing trip to the East Side of the Sierras. Despite living on Advil for the aforementioned persistent headache and then breaking a chunk off of my car, I had a really fabulous time! The company was amazing, the climbing challenging yet satisfying. So without further ado, here is my standard MO, a slide show of fun...

And then we came home and there was this pesky fire thing, and even peskier evacuation thing and then before you know it your hard earned calloused fingertips are peeling off...



But we are back in the old homestead now, with nothing more damaging than ash on the back porch and spoiled food in the freezer. Can I just mention here how much we LOVE OUR FIREMEN!?

(Hmm, the slide show is looking a bit iffy on the preview, I'll deal with it tomorrow if it isn't working right...)

Hum hum hum, la la la...

Hey folks, we are fine, though still among the fire refugees. My husband has been much better at updating about this thing, so feel free to pop over there to check out his super duper telephoto pictures and insider information mappage.

I'm feeling a bit like hiding my head into the sand right now, so here are the long promised pictures of some finished knitting projects...

Tadaaa, the Reid sweater from the Spring 2006 knitty.com


and the Spring Forward socks from the Summer 2008 knitty.com , and of course a little sneaker who popped into the shot!

I've also made yet another Foliage Hat because a woolie knit hat is just what one needs during 100 degree fire weather. No pictures yet, seeing as I don't really know where my toothbrush is, let alone my camera...

Up next, pictures of climbing from two weekends ago!