What's up at Chez Crazy

Sorry I've been absent lately. Things have been busy at Chez Crazy.

Moe turned 17. How is that possible? He was a baby just the other day.

He used to look like Cindy Lou-Who's brother.

Little Moe, who used to be so cute and sweet, is now almost 6 feet tall. He wears size 13 men's shoes. He is LARGE.

Moe had specific requests for his birthday gifts. These were his specified needs:

• A replacement mp3 player for his crappy broken mp3 player - does not need to be an Apple product.
• 2 cans of Spam.

"If I get these, I'm good!" he told me. What's a mother to do?

Of course he got these little things, plus a few more things which he was very pleased with. What a good boy!

The big news at Chez Crazy is related to me. After many months of on-again, off-again job hunting, I have finally landed a terrific job! I start Monday working at an international business consulting firm. I'll be supporting their internal Accounting functions (I'm an IT geek). The pay is really outstanding - I feel like I've won the lottery! And bonus - some international travel! Probably a week per year in London, maybe other places. Woo-hoo!!!

Many at my old office are sad to see me go. And I've been there for some time - 7.5 years is really a long time in the IT world. So I'm being thrown a little party today and having a big going-away luncheon tomorrow. It's really nice to know that you've been appreciated.

Want to see a few things Larry's come up with? His Superheros have rock bands!

Blue...

And Red.

I don't know who won his battle of the bands.

I leave you with my little sugar maple in my front yard. If you look carefully at the top, you'll see a wren puffed up on a branch.

Other doin's

A bit of tatting has been accomplished.

My old favorite, Mary Konior's Large Cross from Tatting with Visual Patterns, done in Lizbeth 142 (turquoise twist) size 20. My cell phone camera does not do justice to the vibrancy of the colors. I'll block or press it tonight. This is for a church friend, a recent widow.

BTW, if you are considering going to Palmetto Tat Days this year, this may convince you. Take a look at the pictures of patterns here! Some are mine, as I'll be teaching. One of mine is at the top of the list! (I love Dinky the Cat - too cute!)

Larry is doing a bit better, mostly since his demon mother pried him out of bed. I'm taking him back to the orthopedist tomorrow. He's pitiful. 

Things are growing in my yard.

 

Container grown tomatoes. Larry, Moe and I don't like these raw, only cooked. DH adores tomatoes any way he can get them.

Look carefully - those are plums on our tree!

And things are blooming.

Butterfly bushes, planted in front of our dining room windows. That way they become entertainment for the cats. Vader loves butterflies.

The occasional rose is blooming at the base of the plum tree. We have salmon colored ones elsewhere.

 

Some pretty fleurs Mother brought me last year, sitting on my front steps. They survived the mild winter.

Hosta thrives by my mailbox. Hmm, the Stooges need to edge the curb and sidewalk here.

Hope things look good where you are....

 

Tuesday catch-up

Ole Sol was waiting for me this morning before I got on the interstate.

Another day of 90+ F temperature. (That's 32 Celsius.) And tomorrow it's fall. When will the temperature cool down?

Recently, I did a thread exchange with Eliz of Tatknot. As you can see, she sent me some lovely thread, Manuela size 10, and Mettler quilting thread. All nicely labeled and packaged. I've never worked with Mettler before and I've got to figure out some worthy things to make with the thread. Earrings, perhaps? Should be great fun. Thank you, Eliz!

I got home and took a gander at my fig tree.I'm not sure what kind of fig tree this is (any ideas, Hegla?) but it's quite large, almost 20 feet tall. The leaves are huge - most are a foot across. If you click on the picture, you can see figs hidden in the leaves. And some are ripe!

I got under and into the tree to see if I could pick a few figs. Most of the figs are green, but there are a few getting ripe. There's one ripe fig here, the brownish thing next to the branch, behind a thick leaf stem. And a bunch of green ones further up the branch.

And here's my bounty for today. Lovely fresh figs. Many chefs would be jealous of my haul. In truth, I'm not sure how to cook with them. Anyhow got any ideas?

I'm continuing to finish the UFOs from Tat Days. Hope you are all well and not suffering from the heat...

Miscellaneous stuff

I have been looking at the first pattern I need to do for my Tatters Across Time Apprentice test.  It calls for size 10 thread, and I don't normally have size 10.  But I had recently acquired some pink size 10 crochet thread (Aunt Lydia's), and I found a similar toned blue thread from the same vendor.

I'm just playing with this.  The thread is awfully soft and fuzzy.  I'll have to practice to get the tension right.

A few other things....

My fig tree is going like gangbusters.  It's at least 12 feet tall.  Last year, the chickens roosted in it and ate a lot of the figs.  This year I need to harvest the figs and do something with them, as the chickens are gone.  Any suggestions?

Thursday I have to move my office to another building, back to where I used to be.  The weird thing is they want me to move back to the building I'm in now (but on a different floor) in a month.  Seems like a waste of time and money.  I think my final cube will be horribly tiny - about four feet on a side.  Really.  The rumor is that the department is planning to put 168 people in cubes on half of a small floor.  And how is that possible?  My answer - they'll double deck the cubes and hire dwarfs.  I wouldn't put it past my company.

Nerd humor.

I got a new catalog for this place and was reminded of prior orders I've made.  Each of the Stooges has one of these, and sometimes I hear them screaming in flight.  It's pretty funny.



I finally got a decent picture of Curly in his cap and gown.  They dried out just fine.  The cap's corners are a little floppy, but it's good enough.  I couldn't get a picture of him clean shaven though.  Mr. Fuzzy Face the Graduate.