Happy 2!

Leia's second birthday was last Friday - another baby born on the 13th, just like both her aunts - and her party was Saturday when daddy was home to help her celebrate. It was a fun day, especially for the kids. After a short nap at grandma's house, Leia got to jump on the jolly jump - watch her big brother be silly on the jolly jump - teach Auntie Rie-Rie how to jump - lounge in the pool - when it wasn't occupied by the big kids - play ball - supervise the grilling - open presents - take pictures - blow out candles - eat cake - and generally have a very great day. Happy birthday, Leia!

Routers and Beefcake

I've mentioned before what a camera hog Lily-kitty is. Saw her posed on the bed like this and she stayed there, watching me, while I went to get a camera and took several shots. As soon as I switched the camera off, she rolled over and got up. A little kitty beefcake, anyone?

A couple of people asked about my new router. I bought the Netgear Wireless-N 300. We tried to get it at Fry's but it was out of stock - and I would have walked away anyway rather than continue dealing with the very pushy, obnoxious sales clerk - and ended up at Best Buy where it was on sale for under $60.

With Netgear's very clear instructions, it took me less than 30 minutes to switch from the old to the new - and that included untangling cables. So far, I'm very pleased (hope that doesn't jinx me.) We have a strong, continuous signal throughout the house, even in rooms separated from the router by several walls, and we can have multiple computers online at the same time - neither of which our old router could handle.

There is a Wireless-N 150 that covers less area (for smaller houses) and a larger, business version that the tech guy said was overkill and too much trouble to get working correctly. Hope this helps - let me know if you have more questions and I'll try to answer them.

Fair Day

Friends, food, fiber, Fair - pretty darn nice day.

Happy Scary

I'm the resident geek in our household (scary thought!), so when our wireless computer network started slooooooowing down and giving very intermittent connections, it was my job to buy and install a new router. I carefully did my research - and then bought something totally different when we ran into a friend of Dick's at the computer store; he had paid a real-life geek to check out his system and tell him exactly what to buy, so - smart girl that I am - I bought what he did.
That was over a month ago. One reason to stall problem was that the modem was buried behind the bookshelf in hubby's den. He unburied it and today - with fingers crossed - I powered everything down, unplugged, replugged, linked, dusted and successfully powered everything back up again. It's soooo much faster now, and - miracle of miracles - we can both be on the innernets at the same time!
Leia was visiting today and wanted to help me play with all the pretty cables but she was quickly distracted by the books on hubby's bookshelf. She checked out several before choosing a small book on woodworking tools. Which she carried around with her, flipping pages, pointing at pictures and 'reading' to me for quite awhile. The funniest part? Reading while driving. Definitely a sign of things to come.

Doin' the Grandma Thing

Miles came to visit for a few hours today.

Modeling the Magic Miles Blanket; it's our "Miles Only" blanket - no sisters allowed.

He made himself at home, playing with our stash of building blocks, cars and the road blanket I made awhile back. Unlike the girls, who like constant attention from us, Miles is quite content to play by himself, with just occasional check-ins. Since I had some free time between those check-ins, I went with the grandma theme and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Unlike Naia who loves to help cook - mainly so she can lick the beaters and the bowl - Miles was quite content just to eat (and eat and eat) the finished cookies. I'm not positive, but I think he liked them. He's quite the cookie man.

Yard Sale Finds

On Saturday, hubby went for his morning walk and came home with treasure - a horse and a hot rod for the baby grands. Both needed a good cleaning and some minor repairs but that was easily accomplished in time for the grand unveiling when Leia came over today.

And the look on her face when she first saw her 'neigh-neigh' was priceless. I don't think she's ever seen a rocking horse before but the minute she was on board, Leia started rocking, bouncing and saying 'whoa'. She showed me where horsey's eyes, nose, mouth and ears were, all the while patting Neigh-neigh gently. (Unfortunately, the phone video I took of that lost the sound when I tried transferring it to the computer.) I think Leia's going to be as horse-crazy as her aunts. The car was the day's second big hit. We brought it indoors when one wheel kept sticking, sending Leia just a little bit too close to the street. Leia didn't seem to mind. She was all over the house, including following Marie to the bathroom and using the car as a (gentle) battering ram to open the (supposedly) locked door.

I'd say PopPop did okay with his treasure hunt.

Sheepies and Baseball

*Check out Rachel's new blog - and her winning Fair entries - here. (It's in addition to Love, Addy.)

Yesterday was packed with fiber from start to finish. We began about 9:30 (at the crack of dawn, according to Edie and me) with Sheep to Shawl at the Ventura Fair.

Yum! Fair food.

The idea is to take wool fresh from the sheep (ok, we cheat a little - the wool is washed and dyed before we start), card it into batts, spin it into yarn

The fruits of our labor - spun, plied, and ready for weaving

and weave it into a shawl before 5:00 pm. With the help of 3 carders, 11 spinners and 1 weaver - we did it. The shawl will be auctioned off tonight during a BBQ dinner at the fairgrounds.

Then a few of us were off to Unwind in Burbank to join the Stitch 'n' Pitch party. An hour of shopping, eating pastries, and drinking champagne, then a luxury bus ride to Dodger stadium to watch sit in the stands while the Dodgers got their butts handed to them played the Nationals. The two husbands that accompanied Colleen, Melinda, Edie and I actually thought they were there to watch the game. We knew better, of course. The game was just background noise for the important stuff.

And the icing on the cake? A knitting bobblehead complete with scarf, needles and ball of yarn at the base. A perfect(ly silly) end to the day.

Fair Results

Dear Daughter was at the Fair today for opening day and sent me cell phone pix of all the projects I entered. It took her a bit of sleuthing, but she managed to find all 10.

And the results?

Handspun crocheted shawl. Cell phone photo = not so great detail or color.

Four blues (1st place), three of them for spinning, along with the crocheted doily rug. I was very surprised shocked by the spinning ribbons since I thought they had the least chance for awards.

Both of my handspun yarns took blue ribbons

Three reds (2nd place) for Addy's Mermaid Princess Blanket, my handspun knit scarf and a crocheted sweater. One 3rd place for a crocheted scarf and an Honorable Mention for a crocheted shawl.

And the item with which I was most pleased, and thought had the best chance for blue? The Doily Afghan got nada, but is prominently displayed in one of the glass showcases. Goes to show what I know when it comes to judging.

Almost Two

Only 11 days until Leia's second birthday but she already has most of the "2" mannerisms down. She's getting very verbal, both using and understanding far more words than just a week ago. Her favorite word today was "mine" - it's the first time I'd heard her use it, so it was cute; bet that changes pretty quick - followed by "help, help" when she wanted something, like up onto the bed.

Leia loves singing songs, especially ones with hand motions like "Pat A Cake". She's usually more involved when she sings, but this time she was distracted by the camera.


Leia also loves wood puzzles. She'll play with this one for 30-45 minutes at a time, putting the pieces in, then dumping them out and starting all over again, usually while humming a little tune. We have another one with animals but she's not as fond of that one.



Notice the cat on the bed in the background? Snickers is our 'chicken kitty'; she doesn't care for most people, but especially not noisy little girls. Leia was all over the bed today, playing and singing, and Snickers didn't bat an eye. Pretty cool!