running from marbles and piracies

Snowed in weekend!!!

ducksrfriends — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:58:21 +0000

originally uploaded by ducksRfriends.

The snow just kept coming and coming….. tomorrow morning will be a subway ride, but the weekend was at least lovely. Being snowed in was a great way to actually get some work done on the presents I have to finish by next weekend…. I’m dying to post photos, but they’ll have to wait till after everything is gifted.
Off to sew……..

Only Wednesday….

ducksrfriends — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:17:47 +0000

Oh, its been a long week so far. Its been a long couple of weeks. I’m feeling the holiday crunch- so much to do, and so little time to do it! These days, working full time has less appeal. No time to go Christmas shopping, no time to get to the post office, no time for anything other than office. Its going to be a small Christmas this year, my siblings are staying in their respective cities, and I only get Christmas off, so no fun relaxed family reunion time. Instead, rush-rush-rush to get everywhere and do everything. Oh, I wish I could take a vacation and hole up in some cabin and knit, go on long hikes and sit by a fireside. Alas…. hop on my bike, head to the office, and hope I get a call about my new glasses, with the right prescription this time.

Robot lights!

ducksrfriends — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:52:41 +0000

A long slightly-lazy Sunday hanging out with friends… the best kind. First off, a stop at the ‘freaky flea-market’… which wasn’t to freaky or too much of a flea-market, as far as I know flea-markets. More, a rockabilly guy trying to pawn off his accumulation of various collections. But Chris got a good small-parts drawer case to use for cable adapters, and I scored these totally rad robot christmas lights. They’re definitely cheap and some of the robots are too big for the lights, some of the lights way too big for even the too-large robots… but its okay, they rock anyway. Then brunch at the Abbaye (good food!) and on to some craftiness…. mostly making a mesh helmet/hair base for a giant ogre! I can’t wait to see how it turns out, the pieces are pretty exciting. And I finally fixed my mittens! Its getting rather chilly out and I thought it was about time to take care of them. Now my hands will be nice and toasty on the way into work tomorrow, yay!

so much yarn!!!

ducksrfriends — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:37:48 +0000

I just bought a bunch of yarn from Nangellini for some Christmas presents…. yay!!! I just love this yarn. Its Ella Rae bamboo silk, and it is softer than anything. I even love balling this yarn up, its so soft and nice.

yarn!!!!!

Also, I bought new glasses today and should have them around Wednesday. I’m pretty excited about them, even if they were a bit more expensive than I was hoping for. They’re a pretty classic looking frame, so should be good for day to day wear as well as comfy enough for knitting at night on the couch. Now off to ball some yarn, sew some soft circuits, sear some tuna and drink some wine. Yay for Saturday. (PS- its snowing. SNOWING!!! Ugly, cold, wet snow, but still…. winter has arrived! Guess I really should winterize my garden now.)

finished socks!

ducksrfriends — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:43:13 +0000

I’ve finally finished my second pair of socks. I have to give credit to the monday night group at Ultimo as well as the Thanksgiving drive to push me to get to the end of these. I don’t know what it was, the ribbed uppers just took me forever. I got so bored with them! But now that I have the socks all finished, I’m super happy with them. They fit well, and keep my feet nice and warm. Chris gave me this yarn last year for Christmas, so its nice to have it knit up before Christmas comes around again.

Thanksgiving was pie-licious. We got to take home some pumpkin, and I’m definitely looking forward to finishing that off. The four-day-weekend is shaping up to be quite lovely. I’ve got more projects ahead of me, and a night of wine and hockey to inspire the Redwings scarf for Chris. I have no idea how I’m going to make it, but I have the yarn now so its time to attack the task. I’m still putting off the beadwork necessary for one of my presents, and a new challenge is a perfect way to procrastinate. Scarf here I come!

awwww, he brought me flowers!

ducksrfriends — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:18:25 +0000

tulips

Two awesome date nights in one week! Sunday was Shelly’s Indian dance performance. Dinner and a show, such a lovely night. I’ve been helping her with the costumes the past few weeks, (I didn’t help with anything too complicated, some dying and some seam ripping) it was really nice to see them all together. I really hope that she is nominated for a PEW fellowship this year, she’s very talented and I think she’d be perfect for it. The costumes really were beautiful. I’m amazed with what she did for the black dress- the fabric looked so strange sitting on her work table, but was just great on stage.

Tonight he picked me up from work, with a rosemary tree, some wine and some tulips. Oh, and a pumpkin cookie. :-) Dinner at my favorite sushi place ever….. awwwwwww…….. now the house smells like rosemary, and I feel festive. I know its a little early for Christmas, but its ok if its an herb tree, right?

This weekend I have quite a list of tasks, we’ll see what actually gets finished. The most complicated task will be replacing the zipper on my mid-weather coat. It was a cheap jacket, and now if I try to zip it up I get stuck in it. I hate sewing zippers, but its really a perfect coat for right-before-it-gets-cold, so its worth the headache. I also have some work on KK’s doc, some sewing, some beading, some audio editing for work, some christmas-present-making and organizing…. sheesh! But at least I have the lovely little tree to smile at when I feel overwhelmed.

i was going to get crafty….

ducksrfriends — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:20:53 +0000

some beadwork, originally uploaded by ducksRfriends.

but instead I’m going to curl up and read…. I was feeling too disorganized to get anything done anyway. Pulled out some knitting, but couldn’t concentrate, then got some beads and fabric for a cuff… I have plans of LEDs and real switches, but it shall have to wait. Though I did order yarn for C’s scarf so at least I was a little bit productive. :-)

The Girls From Byakkoya

ducksrfriends — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:57:45 +0000

The Girls From Byakkoya
Originally uploaded by ducksRfriends

I think the flu is officially kicked, and Jes and I rocked out at the Hipnosis hafla. I’m really glad that we chose the song and costumes we did. It was so silly and fun! Eventually I’m sure I’ll post up the video, but till then… I have a few photos of our costumes posted over on flickr, but none really catch the petticoats or the hoods that really upped the cute-ness of our tops. It seems everyone is so serious at these performances, and we really wanted to just laugh and have a good time. What better than a fun song and some silly costumes to make people smile? I’m exhausted but happy, and I hope we brightened a few people’s evening.

Being Sick Sucks

ducksrfriends — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:53:25 +0000

my feel-better-soon kit

I don’t know if its the swine or if its just the flu but either way this sucks. I went home from work early on Tuesday, and felt like death. Basically slept from then till this morning, when I ventured back out into the world. Still not riding though… the cold rain and recovering flu doesn’t seem like a real good equation. Instead I carry a cup of tea and brave SEPTA, tucking my head into my scarf to avoid breathing on anyone. But I am determined to feel better…. not only do I have work to catch up on at the office, but we’re performing at the Hipnosis hafla on Saturday, so I definitely have to be in good shape for that. I’ve been drinking lots of tea, eating soup and taking it easy…. its amazing how much a simple flu takes out of you.

tea at ultimo

ducksrfriends — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:56:48 +0000

mint tea at ultimo

Its been a long week. Accomplished some things this weekend, put aside some others for another time….