CaliforniaGirlinOz (now just California Girl)

What a WONDERFUL day! Alfonse le Soot has been found...alive and well! A small sore on his nose, as you see below, and both ears have some scratches, he is just skin and bones, but he's doing fine. Here's what happened: Ross went for a walk up our street last evening to visit our neighbors' property about a quarter mile up our road. They are rebuilding their house, but don't live here full time, so we sometimes stop in to take photos of the progress and e-mail them to our neighbors, so they can see how things are going. As he finished photographing, he suddenly heard a very loud meow right behind him. He turned, and there was Alfonse, just standing there looking at him. He scooped Al up and cuddled him, shedding a few tears of joy, I can tell you! Then he started carrying him toward home. As he neared the edge of our property, Al suddenly got quite agitated and tried to escape. We wonder if there was some kind of incident or attack near the edge of our proper...

Long time with no post...again... and I need to start off with the sad news first. Our lovely little Alfonse le Soot disappeared last Saturday afternoon. He was a prince among cats, and we miss him so much. The likely culprits in his disappearance are Mr. Fox or Mr. Eagle, both of which abound in these parts. Alfonse was not a wanderer, and indeed, on this day he spent his time climbing around on the trellises and roofs of the house, climbing trees, and snoozing under shrubs in the sun. We saw him on the trellis around 3:30 PM, but by 5:20, at the dinner call and time to be locked in his kitty condo for the night, he didn't appear. We are so very sad...thank you for being part of our lives for 11 years, Alfonse. So, after a long hiatus during which we made a trip to California to recharge our batteries after the stresses of the construction, we are now in residence in the remodeled house, and I've begun to make the space that is the quilting studio a real, happening place. Som...

We're in, at last! Gorgeous weather on Friday meant we could have a crew there bringing our stuff from the shed over to the house, even though the driveway (STILL!) isn't finished. Some guys wore shoes and schlepped through muck to bring stuff over, while others in socks delivered things to the appropriate rooms. In parallel, the carpet layers were putting carpet into the bedrooms, hallways and my quilting studio. What a performance! By late afternoon all was in, and we were exhausted. No pics yet of the lived-in house because it's all still too disorganized, but here's how it looked before we moved in...first up, the new kitchen: Here's me standing where the new barstools will go, once we find some tall enough. That end of the room will also have our dining table and chairs. And this is from the kitchen, looking toward the view end of the living room. Once I can find places to put everything I'll post again...I KNOW you want to see my new quilting stu...

Hmmm, so I was tagged by Dorothy to resurface with 7 random facts about myself. But first, a word to explain my absence. As you know, we've been in the middle of a huge remodel and extension project. Well guess what? We're supposed to move back in this Friday. I'm very skeptical, though, because there are still a raft of things needing doing to the house, and not enough workmen turning up when expected to make them happen. For instance, here's what our driveway looks like at the moment: On the other hand, here's how the house looks on the view side: Wish the other side of the house looked this good! Still, someday it will be finished and we will actually live there again! This has NOT been an experience I would wish to repeat, though. It's our third building project, and believe me, if this had been the first, there would NEVER have been a second! Can you spell High Blood Pressure? How about Stress? Or even Depression?! Nearly there, though... So, on to my 7 ra...

Hooray! Today I finished the Pi Shawl! Here it is, in all its unblocked glory: 56" across, which will likely grow to 66" or more after blocking. And here's a detail of the Gull Wing lace pattern just before the final garter stitch border. This shawl was "unvented" by Elizabeth Zimmerman, and I made it pretty much as she suggests in the Knitter's Almanac: follow the pattern till you are out to 576 stitches (!!), then do as many rows as you can stand (I did 37 rows), then add a few repeats of the Gull Stitch pattern (I did 3 repeats), then a final cute sideways garterstitch border of 8 stitches, where you knit the final stitch of the border together with a stitch of the shawl, neatly avoiding ANY seaming. Details: 5.0 mm needles, starting with dpns, then to 16" circular, then 24" and ending with 40". I used about 3.5 "plates" of Unspun Icelandic wool in Blacksheep. This thing is warm, warm, warm, and so light you can't believe it...

Actually, I've made even more progress since this pic. I've added another set of 20 rows or so, and have started a lace pattern...the last section before I add the sideways garter stitch border. It's slow going at this point, with 576 stitches on the needle, and it's murder on my hands and arms! Each round takes me about 20 minutes or so, so this will take awhile. Still, it's fun to see the progress. Can't wait to get it off the needles and see what it looks like blocked. And there's big progress at the farm, too. They finished digging the huge hole this morning for the 110,000 litre in-ground water storage tank. We are on town water here, but given how dry many areas of Australia are, we thought it would be prudent to collect all the rainwater from our roofs and channel it into this tank. We can use the water for the house, the garden, and for topping up the dam that's closest to our house. Here's the last scoop of dirt before the guys sta...

So, this is what the socks looked like when the airline inspectors were finished snipping off the ends: (Sorry about the color...the yarn is actually a pale sage green.) (Also sorry I forgot to take a pic of the other pair...a variegated red pair of Nutkins, just started, that I put on new needles when I reached Oakland, forgetting to photograph the carnage.) So then, on the way back, I needed to try my hand at an end run around the inspectors, didn't I? And here is my triumph: bright red tweed neckwarmer, invented on the spot, comprised of simple K2P2 ribbing worked lengthwise, only I decided to add a ruffle at one end. Turned out kind of cute, no? It's a little loosely knit, though, because here's what I used to do the knitting... There's more than ONE way to skin a cat!! And here's what I've been working on since we got back to Oz. It's my first attempt at a Pi Shawl, from Elizabeth Zimmerman's fertile mind, knitted in Unspun Icelandic Wool...like ...

So, here we are in California, after three weeks of visiting, eating, shopping, and tomorrow it's time to head homeward. What else did I do while I was here? Well, I made this little sweater for Tess, who is likely being born even as I write! This was lovely pale, dusky violetty-lavender, a blend of cotton and bamboo. Lovely to knit, washable, soft -- what's not to like? And then I decided to make a little hat, 'cause it was COLD, COLD, COLD here! The hat turned out well, don't you think? Except when Thomas, the eldest grandson, saw it, he decided it was A-OK, so guess who got the hat?! And then, nothing else would do but that I should make a hat for William: And another for James: They were duly delivered last evening, and were well received. Granny can return to Oz, knowing the grandsons will have warm heads and cozy ears! I did a bit of damage to my credit card this trip: yarn from Schoolhouse Press for a sweater and a large shawl, yarn from KnitPicks for ...

Here's the latest kniting effort. It's actually all sewn together now, but sadly it's a bit small. I'm going to try to block it with steam to make it a little larger...it's my first time knitting with cotton, using Rowan Cotton Glace. Pretty color, though, don't you think? And it's not a Partridge in a Pear Tree, but how about this cheeky visitor to the apple tree outside our bedroom window a couple of days ago? In the few minutes I watched him, he devoured about 15 little apples! There are flocks of these sulphur-crested cockatoos that swoop into the trees in the yard here...very beautiful, raucous birds that can inflict a LOT of damage! It's New Year's Eve in Exeter, and we'll probably do our usual: in bed by 9:30PM after a glass of champagne! I tellya, we're real ragers around here! Hope you all have a safe and sane New Year's Eve. Here's wishing you all the best of all good things for 2008.

The builders wound up their 2007 activities around midday on Friday, and have departed till 7 January. Thought you might enjoy seeing where things are at this point. Here's the new "kitchen" in the garage. Pretty neat to have all this available out there...makes washing up after the cats much easier. I can also wash and dry their bedding easily, and it never hurts to have an extra fridge for wine, beer and soft drinks out there. This is the other side of that wall, with the new outdoor fireplace. The renderer has started with the chimney, and it's looking good. I think we'll use this area a lot, don't you? And here's our bathroom, just off our bedroom, with our closet on the left. The brickwork here will also be covered with sheetrock and painted...no brick will be visible anywhere. This is the view from our bedroom. The wall on the right will move to the right about one metre, and the opening shown will be much larger. There will be a large set of Fren...

Woo-hoo! They've started demolishing the inside of our house, and here you see me (left), with my darling in-laws, surveying the damage. Feels SO good to have this kind of progress, especially given the terrible weather challenges of the past few weeks. DH looks like a happy camper, don't you think? Patch is inspecting a big pile of windows and enjoying the lovely sunshine this morning...yesterday was glorious, too! Now, this afternoon, it's beginning to cloud over again, and we are expecting MORE rain this week. I tell ya, we should be building an ark, not a house! Can you believe this incredible pile of lumber that's come out of the house? Patch and the others find this all very interesting...especially on Saturday, when there aren't workmen around to make noise! As you can see, the connection between the house and the new garage is still a bit tricky! We're thinking of auditioning for the high wire act next time the circus comes to town... Do you ...

Friday was moving day, and over the weekend we got settled in at our neighbors' house. The cats moved into their new digs on Saturday: What you see above is the two outdoor screened-in rooms, with the two inside rooms just behind. The cats are allowed to roam around freely outside this complex during the day, and then they get locked inside each night. Here's what the inside of one of the indoor rooms looks like. We'll be adding more places for them to "roost" up high on some shelves, I think, but this works for now. You can see Cassie lounging in the camp chair. Since not everyone gets along with everyone else, the division allows for the two more agressive males to inhabit one half of the complex, while the other five more mellow types live in the other half. And both rooms have this view from the windows and from the outside screened-in area: Meanwhile, at the house, here's what's happening to the kitchen: After a few hours of messy work, the s...