Some Whine, Some Books, and Some Bunnies

I have been trying to avoid turning this blog into a whine-fest, but I am tired. Sick and tired of everything. A lot of changes are happening here, and I should be excited, but mostly I’m just tired. I don’t know if I’m overwhelmed at too many changes at once, or if I’ve just been overwhelmed for so long that nothing breaks through.

Next week I’m transferring to a new position in the agency. It’s a legal secretary type position that has the potential to turn into full-blown paralegal status (where they pay for school!). I’ve been spending the last month wrapping up all my projects, streamlining my files, and trying to train my replacement, who’s been trying to wrap up all her projects. I think I will be excited again at the end of next week, after the move.

And speaking of moves, in the next few months, we will be moving the House at Two Palms lock, stock, and barrel across the street into a new house. The new house, while still a rental, is cheaper, closer to the beach, and has a back yard that the monsters can play in. It’s fabulous the way it’s all worked out, but, sheesh, moving! And we have a lot of stuff to move… It’ll be rummage sale and freecycle time!

And last, but not least, I just dumped an ungodly amount of cash into plane tickets back to North Dakota. I’m dragging the monsters back home to see the family and meet their new cousin (due May 29th). I can’t wait to take a real vacation, but OMG! I could have used that money as a down payment on a house in God’s Armpit, ND!

Okay, okay, enough whining. Heather tagged me with a book meme; here goes!

1. What book are you currently reading?

Magic Bites, by Ilona Andrews – I love dark urban fantasy, but the genre can be very hit or miss. This one is definitely a hit. I just ordered the sequel and pulled this one off the shelf to re-read while I wait. It has a nice urban noire feel to it, with a tough, sarcastic heroine who is still likable. I’ve walked away from many books that have made their women protagonists full-blown bitches; I want to be able to like the heroine. This book has many interesting twists on the genre: magic is taking over tech, with the world hanging in the balance, and vampires are mindless undead controlled by Masters of the Dead. Enter Kate Daniels, a mercenary investigating the death of her guardian and trying to prevent a war between the Pack (shapeshifters) and the People (necromancers). The book isn’t amazing, but it’s interesting and quite a good read.

2. When you think of a good story, what are the first 3 books that come to mind?

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card - This was a life-changing book for me the first time I read it at the grand old age of twelve. I’ve carried the lessons I learned from this book my entire life, especially those on empathy and what it means to be human or alien. I have probably read this book hundreds of times, and each time it brings something new to my life.

The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley – When I think of epic I think of this book. Robin McKinley is a masterful author, and this book is a prime example.

Anything by Patricia A. McKillip, although if forced to narrow it down I’d have to say The Cygnet and the Firebird. Patricia McKillip’s prose is magic, each sentence crafted like a Faberge egg.

Looking back on these I’ve noticed that the common theme is the misfit. Hmmm, does that say anything about me?

3. Which 3 books would you recommend for summer 2008 beach reading?

Since I live (almost) on the beach, all my reading is beach reading, so I’m going to steal this as three more books I wish everyone would read.

Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen – absolutely fabulous take on the Apocalypse. Makes me laugh out loud every time.

The Shape-Changer’s Wife, by Sharon Shinn – this is her first novel, and really my favorite. It’s an enchanting story with twists and turns and a bittersweet ending.

Winter’s Tale, by Mark Helprin – a beautiful, lyrical story about good and evil, love and loss, and life and death. It can be a tough read, but it is so worth it.

4. Any knitting books you would care to share?

The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters: A Knit-to-Fit Workshop, by Lynne Vogel – I am using this book to knit a cabled raglan sweater for my husband that I’ve designed myself. Following the Twisted Sisters guidelines, I mapped out the sweater and the stitch pattern, did the simple math, and now I am halfway through a sweater that is turning out perfectly.

5. What is next on your reading list?

Here’s the list I just ordered, although I’m sure I’ll read a number of others before they arrive:

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) by Ilona Andrews
American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends), by Richard Erdoes
Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 3), by Karen Chance
Living with Sheep: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Flock, by Geoff Hansen

6. Tag three other knitters for this meme:

I would love to see what everyone’s reading. If you find yourself inspired by this post, consider yourself tagged!

Last but not least – baby bunnies! Here they are on their one month birthday.

And for comparison, here's Mom on the same stool (her wool's still growing back in, so she's looking a little rough):

Black as My Soul

This morning that was actually my answer to “How would you like your coffee?” I even shocked myself! I never really say these things out loud – I just think them! However, my out burst is appropriate today because I have a Wicked little sweater to show off.



I started this March 20 and finished it March 30! It was fun, fast, and I love it.

Details:

Pattern: Wicked by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Oceanic Mix (6285), 4 skeins
Needles: US 7
Size: 32”-35”

This was my first top-down raglan style, and I loved that I could stop at anytime and try it on. I had heard through the Ravelry grapevine that this sweater knit up a little big, so I cast on for a smaller than normal size. Since I could try it on every few inches, I easily made adjustments to fit my body.

Modifications:

I skipped the kangaroo pouch, knit three-quarter length sleeves, and repeated the crossover cable stitch at the bottom. My biggest modification was continuing the increases after separating for the sleeves. I don’t know about you, but my largest bust measurement falls well below my armpits!


The Ultra Alpaca is soft and warm, and a joy to work with. My only complaint is how long it takes to wind these never-ending skeins into balls – I really, really need a ball winder.



This little sweater very versatile: I wore it with slacks to work (where it kept me nice and warm in my frigid office) and it’ll look great with jeans on the weekends.

So, are you jonesing for a bunny fix? I missed the weekly Sunday photo due to circumstances beyond my control – note to self: the camera’s battery compartment has a diagram for a reason – so here they are at three and a half weeks.

Big thanks to Bubba for his help posing with the bunny!

In my last post, Heather asked about the bunny trance; here are the instructions so that you too can trance a bunny. YMMV

Tools needed:

A calm bunny
A quiet room
A lap

Gently, gently, gently place the bunny on its back on your lap. Watch out – bunnies do not like to be upside down! You may get kicked and bunny nails can be sharp. With one hand I smooth the bunny’s ears to her back and with the other I gently turn her over. I’ve found that if I angle my lap so that the bunny’s head is slightly lower than her body, she calms down faster. I gently rub the bunny’s nose until she relaxes into the trance.

A tranced bunny is perfectly relaxed and perfectly relaxing.








I am a disapproving bunny and I do not approve this message.

It's Spring!

It's spring break time in Florida. The streets are full of sunburned tourists, the grocer’s freezer section has been stripped of all microwavable convenience foods, and we're running low on booze...

Our economy is dependent on two things here: tourists and NASA. I love both, but it is disconcerting to run to the grocery store and find it wall-to-wall college students with carts packed with ramen noodles, microwave pizzas, and cases of beer. I just want to buy milk and eggs, people! Come on!

I’m afraid I get especially impatient when I’m on the highway, stuck behind a car with Ontario plates (or Wisconsin, or New York…) driving 10 miles below the speed limit. For goodness sake! The speed limit is 55, buddy! If we were on the beach road or driving through the wildlife refuge, I’d understand, but there are only dingy strip malls on this particular stretch of road.

On the other hand, there is nothing quite like watching people’s reactions the first time they see the ocean. They trudge from their cars, dragging their coolers and umbrella stands across the boardwalks protecting the dunes, and suddenly they stop in amazement. The ocean goes on forever, blending into the sky at the horizon. It takes my breath away too.

On the home front, T-ball has taken a turn for the crazy. I have always maintained that children’s sports are taken too seriously and haven’t wanted to expose the monsters to that. I deluded myself when it came to T-ball. I thought that a game that has no score, no strikes, and no outs couldn’t possibly become super competitive. Yeah, I was wrong.

Suddenly all the T-ball teams have to practice coach pitch, and during the games each batter gets five coach pitches before they drag out the T. Keep in mind that these teams are four to six year olds, and we still have to remind the kids to run to first base…

My boys are still having fun, and we’ll stay until that’s no longer true. Bubba was extremely proud at the last game to have caught a fly ball from first base. I didn't have the heart to remind him that it was his team’s ball and he was supposed to run to second.

I’ve made the Hairy One promise that we would switch to karate after baseball season and never look back.

So enough of my mad blatherings! I know you’re really here to see baby bunnies. These pictures were taken last Sunday when they were two weeks old. You can almost watch them grow.

A big pile of Awww

Look, Ma, I'm all grow'd up!

They’ve begun chasing Mama around, hoping for a meal. She has a baby-free shelf in her cage where she spends most of her time now. We have rabbit pellets mixed with oats (good for baby tummies) and crocks of water where the babies can reach them. They aren't very interested yet, but it won't be long!

Bunny Trance!

The bunny trance is one of the neatest things about rabbits. Under certain conditions, when a rabbit is placed on his back, he goes into a trance-like state, totally zoned out. It is utter bliss to have a bunny trance out on your lap!

More baby pictures can be found here.

One last thing: I promised Miss Fish that I would try chronicle all the funny things the monsters say. With the baby bunnies, I have had to tread a fine line between honestly answering the boys’ questions about the facts of life and having the sex talk with them.


Bubba had been pondering this mystery of life and asked, “Mom, where do baby bunnies come from?”

Me: “Um, what do you mean?” hoping to avoid the “when a mommy bunny and a daddy bunny love each other very much” speech.

“Where do baby bunnies come from?”

“Well, the mommy bunny and the daddy bunny…”

“No, Mom,” eye roll, “where do they come from?”

“Can you ask me the question with different words? I don’t understand what you mean.”

Bubba is quiet for a minute, deep in thought. “Oh, I know. The mommy bunny just poops the babies out of her penis.”

“What?!?!” holding back shrieks of laughter. “No, honey, mommies don’t have penises. Only boys and men have penises…”

“Oh, you mean your penis falls off when you have a baby?”

I had tears from suppressing my giggles. I did explain the differences between men and women (again) with a brief discussion about the womb and the birth canal. I tried to be somewhat vague without being confusing. I absolutely do not want another frantic teacher call followed by the “penis is not a bad word, but it is private” conversation again.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Cuddles

We've succumbed to baby love at the House at Two Palms.

The baby rabbits are one week old and starting to show their colors.

My favorites are this red (fawn).

And this black. All of the babies can be seen here. Awwwww!

I have been scolded for not making it clear that these were baby bunnies.... They did look like little rats at birth :^) Mom and Dad are Satin Angoras registered with the ARBA and the NARBC; both are fantastic examples of the breed. We plan on keeping the best of the litter and selling the others. I hope the little black or the red have fabulous wool, because they really are my favorites.

In non-baby news, I have added two new soaps to the etsy shop - Triple Chocolate and a new salt scrub. I've sold out of the kitchen soap, but more is curing in the soap lab! It will be added to the shop shortly.

I've been knitting - I promise. I seem to be stuck in a teal phase. On the needles right now, I have Eiffel in teal Classic Silk, Wicked in teal Inca Alpaca, and a doll's sweater (my own pattern) in teal Lush. Looking at the list, it's obvious that I'm in a Classic Elite phase too! The only problem with this teal phase is I cannot get nice photos of any of these...

Where did the time go?

Whew - it was a whirlwind weekend here at the House at Two Palms. Even if you don't read everything, stick with me 'til the end. It's worth it.

The monsters had their first T-ball game this weekend. There's nothing like getting up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to hustle two boys into uniforms, find gloves and hats, fill water bottles, forget water bottles, forget gloves, forget which field they're playing on, go back for gloves, still forget water bottles, chase down wind-blown hats, and finally find the right field, only to discover that being on-time is apparently considered being early...

It really was fun watching the kids at their first game. None of the kids remembered what to do after hitting the ball, so there were the classic moments of delayed reactions, running with the bat, running the wrong way, and even running to first, then turning around to run back.

In T-Ball, there are no winners or losers: everyone bats and everyone gets to run the bases. I was expecting uber-competitive Bubba to ask who won, but it never came up! Hooray - dodged that bullet.

After the game I finished a little spinning...


This is Blackberries from loop - alpaca, bamboo and glitz. The three ounce batt became roughly 17 yards of two ply, 5 wpi.

Next on the wheel was a Merino & Tussah silk blend from Alpaca Direct. The roving was a blend of red and black with a hint of white silk. I'm leaving this as a single ply at 12 wpi. Four ounces turned into about 103 yards!

Well surely, Eryn, that's enough spinning for one weekend? No, no it's not. And don't call me Shirley!

Eight ounces of superwash merino from The Ranches Angoras in Desert Flower Sparkle. So far it's 105 yards of two-ply; 7 wraps per inch.

I also did a little dying...

Kool-Aid dyes with the boys. If you have kids, know kids, or even feel like a kid, you must do this! It is so much fun to mix and match the packets of Kool-Aid and guess at the colors you'll get. Our yarn ended up with a lot more pink than the monsters were expecting. They've declared it perfect for Sassy's (not yet born) baby girl.

Ta-da! My first "commissioned" yarn! A lovely lady at knit night asked me for kettle dyed turquoise and greens. I've been calling this Pickle because it still smells of vinegar. Nothing a little Soak won't fix!

I did manage to squeeze in a little knitting... I started working on Eiffel from Knitty. Purl three together sucks. It looks great, but it's a serious PITA.

The best thing this weekend? Nutmeg is a mommy! Sunday morning she started serious nest building and was pulling fur by Sunday evening. I bathed the boys, tucked them in, walked back into the living room and...

Babies! Six beautiful kits. I'm guessing three chestnut and three tortoiseshell since those are the parents' colors, but we'll have to wait and see. Of course, I immediately woke up the boys so they could see the babies. They are in love, and so am I!