After getting caught out with no knitting while having to wait around for tow trucks the other day, one of the first things I did when we got home was go dig out a skein of yarn and cast on.
While most of my time has, unsurprisingly, been eaten up by house stuff, I have tried to take an hour or so each night to chill and do a little stitching. As a result…
TThe yarn is deep stash… it was missing the ball band, and I can’t remember the brand. I do recall that it was a handpainted yarn, the colours was called Butterscotch, and it’s sport weight… but beyond that, everything else is blank. The pattern is Oyster Ridge. It’s very easy – a four row repeat, and only one of those rows has pattern. It is, however, one of those patterns that looks better stretched out on a foot.
Such pretty little shells! I have the second one started, but it’s being set aside as travel knitting for now. I have a deadline project I have to get started on!
I hope you all aren’t too bored with the house posts. As you can imagine, getting things together is pretty much all-consuming right now.
I mentioned before the that sun porch kind of ended up as a staging/storage area as we were moving in. Even though I’d tidied it up so that the cats could get out there, every time I turned around, Dave was filling the empty spaces with stuff. (We’re having the same problem in the kitchen!). I finally put my foot down and told him “NO MORE CRAP ON MY PORCH!!!!”
Then I went out and cleaned it up again. I wanted to get my table set up so I could sit out there with the cats. Of course, all the hardware to put my table back together has gone missing. When I took it apart, I put all the bolts in a ziploc, along with the allen key. I even labled the ziploc… but do you think I can find that ziploc? Nope. It’s around here somewhere, and will turn up eventually I’m sure.
For now, Burton and I are making do with a little plastic side table. Despite Burton’s face, he’s actually thrilled to have the chairs out again.
I still need to get a plant stand to replace the one that broke. and the porch is still storage for a few things (our big fish tank and accessories and some screens from the windows), but I now have a nice space where I sit and knit and hang out with the cats.
I’m happy to say both Burton and Relic have mastered the cat door and now go in an out as they please. Rupert is slower, but I brought him out the other night. He was skittish at first, but soon calmed down. By the time it was dark, he didn’t want to come in! (No pics because my camera was charging.)
During the downtime on work days, I’ve been slowly unpacking my office/library.
It’s the smallest room of the house ( little bit smaller than my old studio/office at the townhouse) and it’s the last room at the end of the upstairs hallway. It makes it ideal for a home workspace.
Like every other house in the room – eventually the wallpaper and carpet will be removed, and it will be freshened up. In the mean time, it’s a nice quiet little space where I can earn those dollars to help do all those renovations!
These aren’t great pictures, but I just had to share.
I moved all the garden pots to the outside of the catio so I could mow the lawn inside. This is Burton trying to pull the catnip through the fence for a little nibble!
Many of you will remember Dave’s big white ’67 Bonneville.
She’s one of the reasons we bought this particular house – it had a garage that could easily accommodate it’s width (8 feet) and length (19 feet), as well as his other classic car (a ’67 Charger).
While we lived at the townhouse, she was stored in the underground of Dave’s Mom’s condo. He’d being her out regularly during the summer (as above when we took her to his uncle’s wedding). At the end of last season, we decided that she couldn’t really go another year without a new top. It was still original, and was developing holes that were beyond patching (most convertible tops don’t see 54 years like our girl!)
In January, he put the wheels in motion to get it done in a shop an hour east of the townhouse. She was supposed to be done the month before the move. But due to COVID and supply issues it got delayed.
Two days before the move weekend, we got the call that we could bring her in the next week. We ended up rescheduling it to this past Tuesday, because things were just so chaotic for us.
Now we are 2 hours and 15 minutes from her storage location, which is an hour and a half from the shop that will replace the top, and that shop is now 3 hours from home.
So, we planned to get up at 4:30 am. Pick the car up by 7:30, drop the car off at the shop by 9, and be home around noon (and I would work late to make up for the hours missed in the morning.)
At first things went as planned.
We got to the underground on time. As it had been 2 months since he’d last driven her (because of the move) we’d brought booster cables just in case. He got in, and she wouldn’t start. But there wasn’t even a click… like there would normally be when you turned over a car with a dead battery. There was just nothing.
It was ominous… but we decided to try boosting it, just in case. Still nothing.
As we were standing there with booth hoods open, we heard a “pssssssssssssssssssssss” noise coming from my Dory. I turned to see a small stream of coolant pushing out of a crack from the overflow tank.
Greeeeeeeeat. I had a jug of coolant in the back, and as soon as the level got to the bottom of the crack, it stopped. It wasn’t an emergency (we could still get home with her) but it wasn’t an ideal time.
We pulled the battery from the Bonneville, closed up both vehicles and headed to the parts place (just a block from the condo). We tested the battery (it wasn’t toast, but it could do with replacing), got a new battery, and ordered a new overflow tank for Dory (it would be in within an hour or so).
We went back to the underground, put in the new battery… still nothing. I sat in Dory while Dave poked, and prodded and swore at the Bonneville for an hour.
Finally, he gave up. He was pretty sure it was the starter. But without his tools and a jack, he couldn’t do anything. And even if he’d had them, he’s not supposed to work on cars in the underground (His mom can get flack from the condo board).
We called CAA. But there were two problems:
The underground is low – exceptionally low, even for an underground. Clearance is just 6’2″. (Dory’s antenna smacks things as we go through)
The car is loooooooooong – exceptionally long for a car, even by 1967 standards (apparently only Cadillac made a longer car). It should be towed with a flat bed.
CAA had this solution. They’d send a small truck to get it out of the underground. There may be a few small bumps, but once out, they’d send a flat bed to take it to the shop.
Without other options, we sat to wait for the first truck. After 40 minutes, he arrived. Only one problem. His truck wouldn’t clear the underground. It was about an inch too tall.
So he backed it down the ramp as far as he could. With the help of the superintendent of the building, he and Dave pushed the car from it’s spot to the ramp so he could hook it up. As I said, this is not your average car… it weighs about 4,000 lbs. Yikes.
They got it hooked and up the ramp with just a small scrape the the exhaust.
Then we sat and waited for the flatbed. As we weren’t stuck on a road or highway, we weren’t considered a priority call. It was a long wait. And I had no knitting! It was however, a decent day (warm but not humid) so we sat on the curb and I crafted myself some new jewelry with the materials I could find around me.
After a little less than two hours, the flat bed finally arrived.
The old girl got towed to shop nearby. While Dave and the mechanics poked her some more, I went and got us all refreshment. (The guys at the shop set aside another vehicle to work on ours right away).
By the time I was back, they’d determined it did, indeed need a new starter. But… being the diva she was… it’s not a normal starter. Years ago, when we first started dating, we spent many hot days waiting in parking lots for the starter to cool down. When it was cool enough, Dave would whack it with a hammer, and we’d be on our way again. He eventually got tired of this, and put in some fancy performance starter. This is what we now needed to find. After a few phone calls, he found one at a performance shop in Toronto. In theory, only 20 minutes from the condo. But it’s Toronto – where 20 minutes away can really mean an hour. We had to chance it anyway.
We hit the road in Dory again. Amazingly, traffic wasn’t bad – in either direction. We had the starter in the hands of the mechanic in under an hour.
We popped over the Dave’s Grandma’s to take a break and wait. By 4 p.m., the car was ready. We picked her up and put her back in the underground (Top replacement has been re-scheduled… again!)
We picked up the part for my truck on the way out. She was too hot from all the running around to replace right away, so we took it easy going home. We stopped for dinner along the way and were home by 7:30.
You can bet we didn’t stay up much later (not with a day like that started at 4:30 am), and I was VERY happy to see my bed!
Hopefully, next week, the big white Diva will get her new top and FINALLY be brought home where she belongs!
Monday was a holiday here, and the last day of my vacation. (Let me just say – I’m SOOOO glad I took a week off for the move. Not having to worry about work made going back and forth repeatedly so much easier). With it coming to and end, I really wanted to get the studio in order.
After a good sleep-in, and a late breakfast, I opened the door.
This is what I faced.
Yikes!
The day of the big move, it was so hot, and our workers were working so hard, that I told them not to worry too much about boxes that said Valerie’s office vs. Valerie’s studio. As long as the boxes made it upstairs, I’d sort them out later. As a result, there were more things in there than should be.
I started pulling boxes and things into the bedroom across the hall, just so I could get in the room and start to sort things out. One of those things was Peno’s old nap basket…
Burton immediately took up residence and settled in to watch the show.
Bit by bit, boxes started to disappear and the room started to shape up to what I had envisioned when we first looked at the house.
Burton eventually moved to a more active “helping” role.
By supper time, the room had gone from a sea of cardboard to this…
As you may recall, in the townhouse, all of this (with the exception of the grey table) was in one small room (about half the size of this one) along with my library (two large Ikea Billy Bookcases), and my office. (Now my office and library are in a separate room – I’ll share that another day as it’s not quite unpacked.)
In the townhouse, my office desk doubled as my cutting station. Now I have this HUGE table for cutting, as well as storing my current project boxes. (It’s our old yarn dyeing table). Notice those bins underneath? They hold all my yardage, and I bought them specifically to go under the table. They have wheels, making them easy to pull out when needed. I had lamented that I hadn’t bought a fourth, but it’s a good thing I didn’t – three is all that will fit between the legs.
Above the table, at some point, I will hang a small design wall. I was hoping I’d have space for a floor-to-ceiling one, but it was not to be. Still – it will be enough for partial layouts and baby quilts. My bed is in the room directly across the hall, so for larger quilts, I can still make use of that.
Beside the table is my fabric collection – all sorted and organized! Doing all that pre-sorting and labelling before the move really made a big difference.
Adjacent to that is good ol’ Miriam and my handy dandy little ironing station. Curtains for the window she’s sitting under will be one of the first things I make on her. O
Beside Miriam is the “knitting corner!”. At the townhouse this was all tucked away in the closet (and could be hard to get at, at times. It’s all in ziploc baggies because we had a moth problem at the townhouse. The two totes and the cardboard box house yarn that wouldn’t fit on the shelves (though one is scrap sock yarn for another sock yarn blanket – or six). I’ve got to get knitting to make some space for the overflow!
Beside the knittin corner (and not pictured) is a HUGE closet. Right now it’s got all our Holiday decorations, and a few boxes of things I have to go through and decide what to donate and what to keep (I ran out of time to do that pre-move). Eventually, there will be more storage space in there.
But I fell SOOOOOOO much better now that it’s mostly in order. There’s some small things to file away, and as I finish unpacking the office, I’m sure I’ll come across studio items.
But the big work is done… and as soon as life slows down a bit – I can get back to the crafts I really love!
After returning from the laundromat on Saturday, I decided to try and tidy up the sun porch so I could set up my table and chairs out there and actually enjoy it at some point.
Burton, who has pretty much acclimatized to the new house, was right at the door when I decided to go out, so I invited him to come along.
He explored every inch of the porch he could reach. While he was nosing about, I opened the door to the fenced area.
Like Relic, he was cautious at first.
Unlike Relic, he wasn’t at all concerned about being fenced in. I think he was probably just happy to be leach and harness free.
On Saturday, I was feeling a little run down. I think the move was finally catching up with me. As a result, not much got done (at least by me – Dave was still going gangbusters).
I did managed to get some laundry done.
As you may recall, we still don’t have a washer. Luckily, we are two blocks away from a laundromat. I could walk there if I wanted. Since I had three loads to do, I drove this time. The place was empty, so I was able to get all three loads done at the same time. Even though it was empty, I kept my mask on just in case anyone came in. (I’m fully vaccinated, but the Delta variant is threatening a fourth wave here, and the government hasn’t lifted the indoor mask mandate yet – vaccinated or not).
I brought my book and got a little reading done. And 30 minutes later, all my laundry was clean. Dave hooked up the dryer on Friday, so I brought it all home to dry.
My dresses can’t go in the dryer or they will shrink. At the townhouse, I had lines strung up in the basement. Here, we plan to put in a clothesline outside… but right now it’s pretty low on our big list of priorities.
Luckily, I didn’t toss the rack we used to use for drying yarn.
(If you look closely in the upper right side, you’ll see a little black mass in the catio – That’s our Burton! More on that tomorrow)
It was a lovely, warm breezy day and they dried in no time! I love having the space to do this!
Well, I’m happy to say, he’s settling in. He’s still a little on edge, and still spends most of his time in the bed, but he comes down the stairs on his own several times a day to explore. And in the evenings, he comes down to sit and watch TV with Dave and I.
Mid-week one evening, he made his way out to the kitchen while I was out there, so I decided to see if he’d be interested in exploring the catio. I have to clean up and organize the sunporch (it’s currently being used as a staging area for stuff as we get things unpacked), so the cat door is still locked, but I opened the door to the porch for him in invitation.
He was cautious at first, but I think he could smell the fresh air. He didn’t hesitate on the door-step too long.
As soon as I opened the door to the fenced area, he was out and down those stairs!
All my garden plants are still in the centre, so he did a couple circles around them looking for a way out of the fence.
When he realized there was no obvious openings, he started pulling at the fence, and trying to get his nose under it. It’s staked in the ground with heavy-duty kinked stakes every six or so inches. And the bottom 2 feet are a combo of heavy-duty wire livestock fence, and the lighter mesh fence. His efforts were pretty much useless.
After a big, sad yowl, he came and sat down beside me near the steps.
… and he seemed content to sit there and watch the world go by for a while (a little red house finch came and perched on the gate for a little bit.)
When I got up to water my house plants on the sunporch, he stayed in the grass and chilled. By the time I was done watering, he decided he was ready to come inside again.
He hasn’t asked to go out again yet, but I expect once I get the porch cleaned up and start spending time out there, my little buddy will be right out there with me.
I know you are all interested in how things at the house are coming along… but what you REALLY want is…
…. PUPPIES!!!!!!
After finishing up at the townhouse on Thursday (and yes, we are absolutely finished – no more driving back and forth!!!!), I did do a quick stop by Mom and Dad’s. I had to wait for a prescription to be filled (we haven’t switched pharmacies yet), and that just seemed like a good place to wait!
Jem and her babies are doing fantastic. They are all gaining weight and Mom has already secured homes for four of them (all three yellows and one black). Jem herself is finally settling down and letting them be handled more, making it much easier for Mom and Dad.
These pictures are of them at five days old. You can see by Mom’s hands how small they are. Today they officially one week old. Mom says they will be going to their new homes at eight weeks.
Their nesting box is in a dimly lit corner of the diningroom. That, coupled with the fact that they are wiggly little things makes them hard to photograph well. Especially the black ones.
In another week, their eyes and ears will start to open, and will get much more mobile. Right now they just kind of squirm around on their bellies or sides until they get where they want to be.
Wandering Cat Studio 