Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

Photographs are also helpful with reviews.   When I started thinking that I wanted to become a top reviewer on Amazon, my ranking was like #95,460 and my goal was to be below 90,000 by the end of the year. That's because I did not know how long it would take, nor what kind of competition there is for such a thing. I write honest reviews, try to give the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of all items, whether they are a cool pair of ear buds or a mundane item like a loofah scrubber. Reviews, and GOOD reviews are helpful to other customers. To write a good review, you have to set aside your personal bias for or against an item. That comes easier with the items I've won, mostly because they are so random. I take a look at the item, at it's advertisement first. Then I look the item over and see if those aspects DO sell the item. If they don't, that is written in the review. If they do, I say how much that aspect helps me in my life. For instance:...

New Year, New ME! Bwahahahahahahahahaha! Just kidding.  Same old me, same old knitting, spinning, poultry-raising me. I don't need to redefine myself every year. It's just not going to happen. Brenda in a Lab Coat watching the Autoclave frizz her hair. I have goals for the next year: graduate school, get a job. pay off some bills. But other than that, I'ma let it roll. 2016 was bi-polar to the extreme: 2 garden stakes and scrap yarn make a great way to block a shawl Most of the projects knitted for charity were baby blankets this year.....only to find out that the pregnancy resource center is full-up with donations. Which is good for them, not so much for me. Oh well. I'll find homes for them. Same with the hats.  I finally gave them to a lady who works in a middle school. Kids are always in need of hats. Hell, they'll lose about 1034 of them this week. The shawl on the right was given to my new Daughter In Law for the amazing feat of marrying m...

David and I have been married 16 years this past week. Yay, Happy Anniversary to us! Here's David with my Niece's new boy, Sky. Dave loves babies, they love him. He thinks it's because he has a deep voice and all that hair. Honestly? I don't think how long we've been married it much at all. Some days it feels like we're just married, sometimes it feels like 32 years. I still learn new things about David and about us every day. Case in point: We decided to head to Menard's...(it's like Lowe's but locally owned) for some things. Dave has a list. Twenty seconds after hitting the front of the store, he's off on his own. I spend a bit of time trolling for stuff and then the rest of the 1/2 an hour trying to find David again. I've got some things in my cart and I'm just enjoying some time out of the house. Oh and at one time, the muzak starts playing "Let it Go" from the movie frozen. Now I'm rarely serious, so I'm ...

I had intended on getting the two goslings outside this morning, but they are under my feet twittering while the rain ensues. There may be time later to get them outside, but for now they are fine. So let's see, some of the fun we've had here in the last two weeks. School started, so I've got that going for me. Biochemistry, Immunology, Phlebotomy and Lab Skills. A full boat this semester. The work is made less due to the fact that I've had experience in the lab and spend two semesters in Chemistry already.  Immunology seems to be challenging for my mind to grasp, but that's what Youtube is for. Phlebotomy? Well! I get to stick people and draw blood. I'm only nervous about doing it correctly. Last weekend we went to the County Fair and it was blazenly hot. As we trolled around looking at animals and chugging water, we sweated and sweated and sweated. While near the food aisle, Dave pulled me over to the Italian Ice guy as I started to look at bit peaked. A ...

Is it safe?Are all the integrals gone? I'm also sporting a Deephaven Cowl that I finally finished! I will never have to take another difficult math class again! Yes, I advanced far enough to pass Calculus 2 with a dip into Differential Equations. That is, unless I bombed the final. I would not recommend that someone decide to abandon their course in University two weeks before a final. You find that your give-a-shit busts in every way. I wanted to do well in Calc, and I didn't even take the Circuits final, because..there was just no way that I was going to get anything other than an F in the class anyways. And If you are in WI, thinking of taking the UW Platteville "Collaborative" course in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, DON'T. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY...................DON'T! Mango, made for a couple who sat next to me in Calculus. They have a daughter who is young. It's a ruse: They take your money, show you a decent la...

This is a short video of our goosie Sissy chewing on Dave's hair.  She does this every night when we put away the animals. As geese go, she is the only one who shows affection towards us. Of course, she's the only one we hatched and raised.  The others were hatched elsewhere, shipped to us. Sweet Pea will come up and give us 'kisses' by nibbling at our lower lip.  That's another video that will need to be taken to believe. 

Nope, I'm not dead.  I bought a wool fleece off a farmer on Ebay.  Four pounds of wooly goodness.  I've been washing and spinning up bits of it all week.  About 500 yards of fingering weight cream colored wool has come off my spindle. I happen to go off in my own little world with a fleece.  I totally immerse myself in the process of washing, drying, carding and spinning.  I find it very calming. In fact, you know in the Harry Potter movies, where Harry is being taught how to produce a Patronus charm and he must remember a very happy moment? This is one of mine. The other one involves snuggling with my honey on the couch watching the Packers. At the time I had sprained both my ankles and could not go anywhere.  My ass was planted on that couch whenever I was home for like,  4 months.  When there's no where you can go, and nothing you can do...you accept it. Dave sat near me while I had both ankles under ice packs watching the Packers pla...

Ducks and geese do this thing after they've been resting for a while.  They stand up, extend one wing and then lift the corresponding leg.  It's a ballet move if I've ever saw one!   

I'm nice? Well-behaved? Taught better manners?  Ah I don't know. Y'all remember that shortly after Christmas I invited family to our home to celebrate Christmas, right?  Man, I had the best intentions, a good dinner, great family fun...even Skyped Deb in so she can see her family. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.  I've saved the photos from this debacle, because up until the moment my BIL intentionally started the fight w/Dave...it was going very well.(I'm deliberately trying to forget my BIL's emotional abuse of me. I'm considering the source) My In-Laws' were talking of this huge get-together in the summer for their 60th Wedding Anniversary.  It was going to be fun. That weekend is here and all the rest of the family are in BRF celebrating.  We got an invite, and discussed it.  After all was discussed, we were pretty sure it was an empty gesture.  We don't go where we're not wanted. There's still a lot of animosity, ...

A knitting pattern for a shawl. Based on the 1/2 linen stitch knitting pattern, it makes a great striped effect when done in two skeins. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzee85NJjrtbRGVkdFdZRk1NUVU/edit?usp=sharing Happy Easter!

or AKA: I need two tickets to San Diego, please. Every year the Janesville Area Knitting Guild holds a Knit-In.  For the last 4 years, I've been their door-prize coordinator. I was every excited to learn they were going to move the even to Lake Lawn Lodge and get bigger stars in the Knitting world.  I saved up my $$ for a room and was ready to go. Then I got some news from my Son, who finally  made up his mind on the whole military ~~~~thing~~~~. He signed his paperwork two weeks ago and is going to enter the Marines.  Which was kinda a surprise from his Mom, considering the efforts to join the Air Force.  He's an enigma when it comes to expressing himself on issues like this.  I've learned more from his friends on what is going on than what he tells me. That's a photo of our son, who does not like his photo taken.  He's decided on going into the Intelligence field. So in a sense he'll be doing the same thing my Niece and Nephew do in the Air...

Hands-down the best commercial of the big game.  Transcript below: And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer. God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer. "I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer. God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a pers...

Ok, so this time I'll try to remain upbeat and stop bitching.  Although I have to say that being cursed with SADD at the same time as Christmas is challenging.  Seasonal Affective Disorder...whatever that last D means just means you get the winter blues.  Last year was bad, let's see how this year goes. Ok, so one thing I really wanted was an Ipad, but I settled for an Ipod touch for 200 bucks less. I've had it a few years and it's my smart phone without a phone.  I carry it everywhere.  It's got wifi and a lot of apps I use every day. I can email, skype, take pictures, video, get weather updates, check the doppler radar, look stuff up on the internet and read books on it.   Just like a $400 ipad but much smaller.  I used to call mine the Ipad Mini............until Apple came out with the Ipad Mini. That's one of my lab partners goofing with a long-chain polymer we made in Chemistry. We mixed two chemicals added a bit of food coloring and we ...

Hey, wanna see what I look like these days?  I had to take a picture of myself for my online profile for school.  That's me, in the kitchen with my hair down. Which usually doesn't happen due to the fact that it gets in my face or gets eaten by geese if I leave it down. School: Yeah, it's going pretty OK right now. I'm taking Pre-Calculus, Organic Chemistry and Engineering Fundamentals.  The last one is online. The 3 classes keep me plenty busy, thanks.  That and driving back and forth between Janesville, Beloit and Orfordville.   Once we get another car for me, I'll stop having to be in the van for about 3 hours a day driving 100 miles just to go to school. I've got 3 options for cars: 1988 Mustang Convertible, 2001 VW Bug, or a 2005 Aveo.  Really? I want the Aveo. It's new but costs more than I'll be getting for financial aid this semester. Unless we can come up w/ about $2000 in financing, I'll be driving a Mustang Convert...

It's the usual stuff that keeps me away from blogging: family, fowl and knitting.  The family is good; in fact my Son was selected as Member of the Month at the Y. When he decided on joining the Air Force, he was 40 pounds overweight. Now he's down to the last 10.  That's pretty good! The funny thing? that's a 3x shirt he's wearing. Now it looks like he stole it from a hobo.  Not dissing hobo's mind you.  Fowl: Yeah, freaking fowl.  Geese are getting big and getting feathers. They are in a cranky, tetchy mood.  One of the goslings, Sissy has taken to chewing on her siblings' tailfeathers.  It's annoying them and awarded her her very own cubby next to the rest of the flock.  She can see and hear them, but she can't nibble on tails. Sissy was hatched with her left eye deformed. We suspect that she can see movement, but not clear movement.  Other than that stupid tailfeather thing, she's our most lovable goosie. She likes to be held an...

OMG! As my lame excuse, let me show you what we've accomplished in the last week: Those 6 chickens are now happily ensconced in their new coop.  Yeah sure, it's not shingled and it needs another coat of paint, but we're in crunch time here.  This Friday we are getting 25 more chickens and 6 ducks. They will be babies, but we needed to clean out the garage so we can put the brooder back down. To do that, these 6 chickens needed to be in the coop. By the way the ^%#^% chickens don't like the roost I made them.  They're roosting on the rafters now. Flipping chickens!   More goose eggs are incubating.  Expected hatching is in about 2 weeks. I have been candling them this time and from my novice expertise, I say about 4 out of 8 look viable. But because I am a novice we will incubate all 8 for the 30 days.  Hey, call me pro-life. Knitting is going on.  I've made a pillow for my aging Tigger, a Wingspan shawl from leftover yarn, a Mango for ...

Yep, it all fits into one song.  I remember this one from my High School days. Well you can tell ev'ryone I'm a down disgrace Drag my name all over the place. I don't care anymore. You can tell ev'rybody 'bout the state I'm in You won't catch me crying 'cos I just can't win. I don't care anymore I don't care anymore I don't care what you say I don't play the same games you play. 'Cos I've been talking to the people that you call your friends And it seems to me there's a means to and end. They don't care anymore. And as for me I can sit here and bide my time I got nothing to lose if I speak my mind. I don't care anymore I don't care no more I don't care what you say We never played by the same rules anyway. I won't be there anymore Get out of my way Let me by I got better things to do with my time I don't care anymore I don't care anymore I don't care anymore ...

We're doing a bit of adjusting to our usual holiday routine.  I'm pretty sure Dave is just as tired of all the driving as I am of all the riding.  We'll be making the trip to the In-Laws' and Daughter in Law next weekend.  So we got to spend Christmas here! YAY!!!! I did remember a few moments ago that this is supposed to be primarily a knitting blog.  So how about some knitting, right?! Get over the holidays and get to knitting girl! So let me introduce my Husband Dave in his Christmas Sweater: A nice wool sweater that can be worn around the house or at work.  The book I knitted it from is the Knitter's Book of Handy Sweater Patterns : The whole sweater took me about 3 weeks of nightly knitting to complete on size 10 1/2 needles. It's knitted from the bottom up raglan style. The yarn is Paton's Classic Wool in a deep olive color.  Actually it's leftover  yarn from my Gloucester Coat. I'm never going to finish that stupid thing, so I migh...

I've been working on the family genealogy for about a decade now.  It's something that I was full-bore onto about 5 years ago, but now that I've hit a few roadblocks, I've slowed down.  A few tips for the new genealogist: 1. Obits are still the best thing for finding out things.  Fortunately for me, my family has stuck around this area of South-Central WI for about 3 generations now. My local library has the Janesville Gazette on microfilm all the way back to the 1890's. I get cranky at the fact that a female ancestor was called, "Mrs. So&So" instead of her maiden name, but that's the thing that can frustrate you fast. 2. If you have the $, sign up for a year of Ancestry.com but remember to USE it. I used to set up Sunday's as my ancestor day and troll the databases looking for info. 3. Talk to your older relatives about their memories before their mind slips.  My Grandma on my Mother's side used to drop little tidbits that would tic...

I did reasonably well for a person who ignores her blog for months at a time. So I'm going to go random for today's effort: 1. Saw the remake of True Grit.  My Dad's a huge John Wayne fan and I've sat through the original dozens of times.  I don't like Glen Cambell's take on Le Boeuf.  It's 'dandified' as I say.  Matt Damon played the role better. The remake was excellent. It's a talent of the director to set out the story without allowing emotion. He just sets the scenes and lets the audience emote. Jeff Bridges played an excellent Rooster Cogburn, but Hailee Steinfeld, who played Mattie was excellent in her role. 2. We missed the last part of Harry Potter in the theatres again.  No spoilers please. I'm thinking I've got to go buy it so I can sob piteously in the privacy of my own home. 3. River Tam, the scarf is done and as a present to the world it is free.   If you are on Ravelry, the link is  HERE . My friend Kerri dyed it in...