Other people's hobbies

Really, who am I to comment on other people's hobbies. I knit. My neighbor: well, he builds nuclear power plants. Yes, you read that right. He is building his very own nuclear power plant. Thankfully I am moving in two weeks

I am knitting on the Girasole as a house warming present to myself. If I do something wrong. No one is going to die. My new neighbors should be grateful.

So, I talk so much about the house, but do I post pictures? Here is the house. Exterior insulation is up. Oh, so pretty! The 2/6 trim is around the windows. Furring is going up now. Today I am installing the treated plywood for the rock work. (yes, I will post photos of that as well) Here is the furring on the back of the house. Parker or Isaac cuts, while the other runs the board to me. Do I feel nervous with 12 and 13 year old cutmen? Heck yeah. Hey kid, let me show you how to use a miter saw. Heck, they are learning angles and measurements better than any math lesson at school, right?

While I am was working last week, one of the contracting jobs was completed. Oh, so pretty facia and soffits. The almond color matches the windows. It is so odd picking out all of these color choices. I never knew how many decisions are necessary for home building. Everything is a compromise or a suggestions, or an opinion on how it should be. Mark and I have gotten very, very good at coming to agreements. (or just keeping our mouths shut if the other is firmly committed to something).

When the floor was the radiant floor tubing, it was SO hard to walk around. Especially at 20F when we were worried about the tubing cracking because of the cold and pressure stepping on it. I was wearing my bunny boots, so there was a softer cushion if I hit one with my big feet.

Finally, we were able to get a contractor in and pour the floor. It has been so much easier walking around!

This is a view from the garage entrance into the back of the kitchen. You can see the island in the middle of the picture. Just past that is the main house entry (not that we will be using that at all, I assume we will be coming through the garage 99% of the time). On the right is the stairs to the second level.

Again, with the stupid Blogger

This damn program messes with every formatting option I choose with photos? Seriously? Would someone tell me how to make it work? It took two hours, and this was the best I could get from it? How the heck do they expect me to fix that? hello? *text, picture, line break, repeat from * ? AHHHH!

long time... no talk

Wow! I have had some serious life events since March when I last posted. April happened and now June.

Long story, short: The company that I have worked for, for 15 years, since I was 19 years old, transferred their Alaskan assets to a newly created company run by what was then our competition, now supposedly our teammates. Some of my coworkers lost their jobs outright while the rest were fortunate enough to keep what mangled wrecks were left of their jobs by transferring into the new company. Unfortunately, I was excluded from both of those groups. After 15 years of loyal and dedicated employment, I was called at 10:30am on tax day, April 15th and told that the property that I was managing was sold to a local small family business and I would be offered employment with them. So long, good luck, may we have our cell phone back, please?

All I can say is that there was NO sensitivity training of management on how to properly handle a merger, or terminations, or release of work. Harsh. Harsh is the only word I can think of that wouldn't burn your eyes reading it. Harsh.

I have worked almost two months for my new employer only to come to the conclusion that the changes are too much "not in my favor". Since Fairbanks is too small a town to burn a bridge (and I sincerely do not wish to slander their reputation), I merely have chosen not to continue my employment. 'Nuf said.

But... with that cat out of the bag. That means come August 1st, I am: 1) homeless, 2) carless, and 3) jobless. Truly a painful trifecta of lifestyle carnage.

1) I will be homeless. Right now we live on company property and are building a house (see previous posts). Said house will not be livable come the end of July. Not a chance in hell. Maybe we can live in the garage. Maybe we can buy a camper. Maybe we can live in a wall tent. All these maybe's, but one definite: we will be homeless. Renting is pretty much out of the question with 5 boys, 2 adult, and 2 dogs. A short term lease would make it so we would have no cash for building supplies. One of the boys has pretty much moved out of the house already anyway. He will be 18 in 2 weeks and has graduated from school already. So that cuts down the responsibility by one. I am totally not worried about it. We still have over 6 weeks to figure it out. The thought of living in an RV scares the hell out of me. It isn't the RV that is the scary part. The scary part is the husband LOVES the idea. Love it like he loves food, and air, and... well, shelter. He loves it as much as I hate it. I hope we can get the garage finished. Oh please, Gods of the Drywall, hear my prayer.

May your trowels be smooth, may your mud dry fast, may your skill and professionalism be a testament to your craft!

2) I will be carless. I took the management position here in 2001 and it came with the unlimited use of a company truck. I sold my 2000 Subaru Impreza Outback in 2005 because I hadn't driven it in over 4 years, after paying it completely off . I sold the Subaru, paid off my student loans, paid off a couple credit cards, and paid for a 2 week Mediterranean vacation. Rome, Greece, and Egypt were worth it. Never hearing from my stupid student loan creditors again was worth it. At the end of the month when I am riding my bike handing out resumes? Worth it? Maybe not.

3) I will be jobless. Not a stresser. It feels so damned good to be doing something new, anything new. So very, very, very damned good.

We have been working on the house every single day since the weather turned workable (over 20F above). So every day since about the end of March, we have been busting tail and have ramped up some of the construction timeline to get the ball rolling faster. Boiler is almost in. Radiant floor heating is complete. Plumbing out is done. Electrical is all installed, mapped and ends finished. I am working on the outside of the house. Ground flashing, exterior insulation, furring for siding are on my list. Siding starts in two or three weeks. Interior insulation will be blown in after we install all the cable, CAT5, phone lines, low voltage items. And then drywall. The rest is finishing that we can do after we move in. Flooring, painting, cabinetry, etc can all be done when we are living in the house. We will have a real roof over our heads, doors, windows, running water (both coming in and going out) by the end of August.

But now we are packing. Packing everything we own. Eight years I have lived here. That is longer than I have lived anywhere in my entire life! I cannot believe how much I have accumulated in eight years here. 10 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, FULL. Crap! And the best part? I didn't truly realize how much stash I have accumulated. I had to pack all of that up first so my Darling Husband wouldn't use it as packing insulation. (cause it would have made great packing insulation had I not loved each so dearly.) Seven boxes stuffed with the best fibers possible. They are all sitting securely in locked, dry storage.

I did hold back the crème de la crème for my knitting pleasure over the next 4 months. It is like the Dream Team of yarn:

#1 BMFA RSC June'09 Pepe La Plume for Fraggle socks

#2 BMFA STR Citrine #3 malabrigo sock Lettuce

#4 Sundara sock Robin's Egg Blue

#5 Madelinetosh sock Shell from Monica "editorial goddess"

#6 Fireweed Studios Handpainted sock Gold Dust Woman for Buttercups

#7 Karabella Gossamer Brown w/Copper for Stardust, Knitty winter07

Fairbanks Fiberistas KAL Summer Sweater-a-thon

#8 Cascade Eco Alpaca Straw for FF KAL and a Loopy Ewe KAL

Girasole worsted weight blanket, my second Girasole

My orchid was lonely

Welcoming in the morning with snow. I love March 'cause you never know what you are going to enjoy from Mother Nature. Today she blessed us with snow. My cup run'th over.

My orchid was lonely. I bought her a friend.

Grocery shopping at Safeway is dangerous for me. I fear that I will always come home with more flowers. The other grocery stores segregate their food and flowers, but not Safeway. You can't walk to the bakery without stopping to enjoy the floral department. Smart move, Safeway!

My orchids friend is more like a little sister. Small and sheltered under her bigger sister.

Starting to replant

During the "Great Dredge Freeze-Up of 2009" all of my plants died. Frozen solid in their glorious state. Plants that I have had for years. All dead. The real kicker is I couldn't replace them in a snap. It isnt like I can just go to the store and pick up new houseplants. The devil is in the details. Store temp is 68F. House temp is 70F. The temperature between the store and the house is NOT. The air "shocks" most plants when you walk from the store, to your car, to your house. I have bought gorgeous plants in the winter, only to have all the leaves fall off when I get them home. This is why I was so happy when Mark walked in the other day with a gorgeous flowering Orchid. I love the mossy bottom. After it finishes its flowering, I will repot into the old orchids nest. I love the gorgeousness of the pink, the deepness of the red in the center, the blending of the orange to the yellow of the petals. I just love this color. Love it so much that they were my wedding flowers. It just grabs me. I walk into my changing room and just stare at them, and how the sun filters through the delicate petals. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful husband that takes hints so well. Hints like, "hi honey. I am calling from Safeway. Guess what they have in the floral section? Orchids! Orchids like the one's in my wedding bouquet." And yes, out of the many colors of Cymbidium orchids they had in stock, he brought the right ones home. I guess I will have to keep him. And since I am in a pinky-red mood, I finally jumped into my next Unoriginal Hat, mocked-up by the Yarn Harlot herself; Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Using the destashed, discontinued Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia in Brick, I knit this up in less than one day. (dont mind the bathrobe. I called in "under the weather" and refuse to get dressed today unless someone wants to meet me in town this afternoon for knitting.)

Unfortunately one skein was not enough, and with the discontinued yarn, I had the choice of frogging it to: 1) knit tighter, 2) skip two rows {row6 & row8 can be omitted in the second repeat without altering the design}, or be lazy and 3) continue on my path and pick it up with another yarn.

Welcome: My Unorginal Sunny Hat! I am just "beaming" with delight! And my Rockin' Sock Club January 2009 shipment of My Blue Heaven: Queen of Beads ...is complete. Bring on March's shipment!

Who knew?

I got a great deal wink, wink on a new bottle of SOAK (thanks Gin), so I was able to wash all my dirty handknits and wash/block my little sister's birthday present. And get this {enter: Earth Shaking Information} Noro softens after it is washed! Who Knew? I am f-kin floored absolutely amazed. I was so giggling with glee that I ran and grabbed my Entrelac Scarf that I havent worn and Soak'd that as well. Wow, even the kureyon softens greatly. top: Entrelac Scarf by Allison LoCicero Noro Kureyon #92 and #170 bottom:Noro Striped Scarf: Inpiring photos by Jared Flood Noro Silk Garden #267 and #275 The Day the wind blew. Wow, we do not get wind here in Fairbanks and it was alarming. Fortunately the new windows worked perfectly and we didnt feel any temperature difference in the temperatures of the rooms. With the offensive old windows, the kids couldn't sleep in the north-facing rooms. New windows? Didn't even feel a breeze.

The view from my bedroom window. Let the wind blow.

And the wind blew in another eight inches of snow. My back hurts, but my rump needed the exercise.