It's Been Hot

Last Wednesday was the garden meeting at 8 am. I'm parking somewhere new, thanks to my Park and Ride lot's policy changes (only park 6 am - 6 pm). I was earlier than I needed to be because I was so worried about being late. Most of the advisory board was early, in fact. A couple of the new folks from the Employee Forum made it.

In the afternoon, I had to take a refresher course for work. I found out I needed it the Monday prior. Kind of short notice but there were two locations that were close to me and I took the earlier one.

I'm in a couple games on Storium. One is a superhero game and one is a 7th Sea game. The superhero is based on my Dresden Files sailor. She's a bit unusual because she's a lot older than she looks, because for a time she sailed with the Flying Dutchman.

I went to see Mom on Saturday. It was a grossly hot, so mostly we just hung out. We did go out to eat and hit a thrift shop. Mom found a couple pairs of slacks. However, her phone charger has disappeared. Her phone is dead, now, so I can't even call her.

I had ordered some blouses from Zulily and they arrived Friday and Saturday. One had sleeves that were too small, alas. It's a real shame because it's a cold shoulder one and I really want one.

 But the others fit and look lovely. There's one dress length, one wintry one, two tunic length, and one very thin, white one; I'll need a chemise with that one.  On Monday, I contacted Zulily to see how to return the blouse. Yvette, who talked to me, was lovely. She did everything reasonable (find a larger size, etc) as well as being sympathetic and commiserating with me. She did not do backflips through fiery hoops, but since I wasn't expecting that, I'm very happy with their service.

Palmetto contacted me about being a teacher's aide for two of my classes. I love doing that. I get to do the projects early and I get to help people! <3 a="" and="" at="" by="" couple="" craft="" for="" i="" items="" mom.="" nbsp="" needed="" notecards="" p="" picked="" projects.="" some="" store="" the="" up="" went="" while="" yarn="">
I had to walk to a lunch meeting today. With the recent hot weather, I was dreading it. However, the temp was only around 90 and it felt comparatively cool. If I had been sitting in the shade, with a bit of breeze, I would have been quite comfortable.

the bracelet I mentioned last week

packing string kumihimo

pollinators pollinating

 growing pepper

Two Weeks in a Row

I've actually posted on Tuesday, two weeks in a row. Yay me.

Wednesday was an all day retreat for work. I got some tatting done during the meetings; as usual it's my fidget-y habit. I got a bracelet done. It's in green and white thread with dark green beads. I've blocked it but not taken a picture yet.

I've also done some kumihimo with some faux leather cord mom picked up at a thrift shop. There's also some hemp cord. I've been looking at the cord but haven't decided which colors to use or pattern. There's at least 2 or 3 sizes of hemp thread. So I turned to some cotton cord. It's not fancy but it still looks nice; hey, I'm using packing string but you'd be surprised how well it turns out.

I was supposed to go see Mom this weekend, but the storms or something gave me a headache. I didn't get much done. Ditto Sunday. I got laundry done, at least.

I'm going to try and go see Mom this weekend instead. I'd really like to take care of her car, but it's 'someone to drive me there, help me jumpstart it, and then follow me home.' And that's not easy.

CD had to miss a couple classes last week. One of his tires went flat and his spare was low. So it was off to the shop to get the tire replaced. At least the spare was only low and didn't need to be replaced, too. On the other hand, the zipper of the cover for the spare tire had more or less welded or something. He had to cut it off. He had to buy a new cover. He got one that uses elastic instead. Maybe it will last better. The zipper only lasted like 10 years.

Yesterday, there was a frog drowner as I waited for the bus. It started raining as I left work and came down hard as I waited. It was still raining when I got off the bus, but not as hard. Today, the exact same thing happened, but it only spitting when I got off the bus today. At least I had my emergency umbrella. One poor woman yesterday did not have an umbrella and she was wearing a white shirt. Another woman was wearing white pants. I heard her wringing out her summer sweater, and I heard splashing. Poor woman. 

I do have some pictures. So, are thistles edible?

More plants (tomatoes and peppers and herbs and some big-leaf plant)

On Time This Week

A bit of a struggle this weekend. I managed to get some laundry done on Saturday but not much else. I went with CD as he ran errands and I started some kumihimo. I desparately needed a creative outlet but tatting and loom knitting required too much brain power. And I had been wanting to try a kumihimo pattern. However, I used the satin rattail I've used before, but before it was an 8-strand pattern and this one on Sunday was a 16-strand. It turned out a liiiiittle larger than I expected.

Pencil is for size comparison

Mom bought me some cords at the thrift shop. There are a couple leather cords so I made another one. Since my colors were limited (2 short strands, in separate colors, and 2 longer colors), I went to a webpage that helps me plan it. I ended up using all but part of 1 color. I ended up with 3 colors making a spiral stripe against the background of the 4th color.

Tomorrow is the Employee Forum retreat. I plan to have some tatting ready, to work on as fidget work. I have to work on that now.

Although I also finally blocked my stitch gauge swatch. Now I need to measure it to calculate my stitches.

Late, but Hey, It was a holiday

We had our Deadlands game on Thursday. DC's son joined us, playing an NPC as a PC. We started causing trouble, by releasing a T Rex in the enemy's camp. Hey, they created the thing, they can deal with it.

Saturday's tatting demo was cancelled so I just did some stuff around the house.

Monday was very slow. I got most of my work done by noon and after that I just answered the phone and dealt with a couple visitors.

The edible garden in front of work is going well. The tomatoes and peppers are growing nicely.

Tuesday, the 4th, I spent relaxing. In the evening, I had supper with CC. MB was supposed to join us, as she's been trying to do for months, but she's still unpacking from a recent move. Despite sleeping 10 hours Monday night, I was exhausted by the time I got home.

I found a neat crosswalk just off campus. It amuses me.

Wednesday was volunteering at the Carolina Campus Community Garden. The Employee Forum sponsored the workday, so I had to be there early to meet the caterers. Employee Forum provided tea, lemonade, fruit, and snacks. I took pictures with Claire's camera. I did get a few with my iPad, though.

Today, my boss and I had a meeting with the finance people about how to do travel vouchers. It's a new process but it looks pretty simple. And we got a look at the new form which may go live as soon as Monday.

I am finally washing my stitch gauge piece. Once it's blocked, I'll count the stitches and plan my mock cable wristlets. I made another ice drop but made a poor choice in thread color and it's kind of meh.