As predicted, I ditched Secret Garden in favor of starting something else. This will become "Sam" from a Mission Falls book, though I don't know which one. I don't even have a picture from the pattern or anything to show you what it will look like. Sorry! You'll just have to watch this space...
Anyway, this is being knit from Patons Classic Merino in the denim colorway on my beloved wooden needles from the folks at Peace Fleece. I believe they are US 7s. Sorry for the crappy picture, but the predicted sunshine has yet to appear today. In fact, as an aside, it's only in the 40s here today. It sucks! But it should be 80 by the weekend so I'll bear through. The cooler weather and rain do help my allergies.
Here is part of the reason why Secret Garden is being ignored and Sam isn't too far along. This is my generic 60-stitches-on-size-2-needles sock using the Lorna's Laces my mom gave me. I was feeling antsy to knit something brainless...plus I'll probably be able to take these to the hospital to knit on whilst I a) wait for surgery and b) recover from same. Though general anesthesia is not kind to me, so these may just languish by my bedside while I barf. Whatever, in any case I'll be prepared. Oh, and the colorway? Sand ridge. Very pretty.
Not much fun stuff got done over the weekend - just work. Hub hates lawn & garden work with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, so I have to take advantage when he is willing and able to help me. Saturday we (he) mowed and trimmed, I raked and swept and hosed, and we worked together on tilling the front bed and planting a few things. Whoever originally planted there was on some serious crack because they put two hosta, a rhododendron, and some sort of prickly, spiny berry shrub all within about 18" of one another. Oh, and a sad little fir-like shrub behind it all. The rest of the bed? Empty. Well, it had weeds.
So last summer I ripped out the prickly thing (it was half-dead anyway), moved the rhododendron waaaaayyyyyyy over, and planted lots of marigolds so there would be some color. Hey, I had a newborn, it was a start. This year we moved the pathetic fir-like shrub to the backyard, tilled the hell out of the soil, added lots of topsoil, and planted two more hosta. I'm waiting on flowers because I started my seed trays a little late this year. I would take a photo but it's freezing out there. Plus there are men putting a fence around the neighbors' pool right now and I don't want to head out there and be taking dorky garden pictures in front of them. Because I'm sure they really care. And anyway, it still needs some sort of edging and some mulch. So maybe I'll take a picture when it's all done.
On a somewhat related note, I think we've changed our minds about selling the house right now. We kind of hate our house and where it's located, but frankly, it would pretty much wipe out our finances to move. I'm not 100% sure this is our final decision, but Hub has at least asked our realtor (who is his H.S. buddy, as I may have mentioned) to wait on the listing for now. We're just thinking with me being pregnant w/ some slight complications, me having surgery, and me already having responsibility for an almost-toddler, as well as Hub working on a degree and spending mad crazy hours on work projects...well, this might not be the best time to try selling. Plus the money thing. We'd be mega-broke when the dust settled. I think we're going to set a goal of having $X in the bank before we try moving again. Don't ask me how we're going to get to $X...we haven't quite figured that out yet. Rob a bank, perhaps?
The thing is, we're unhappy about our house for mostly cosmetic reasons - they are legitimate reasons to be sure, but they mostly speak to our embarrassment about having people over. Hub and I both come from very nice homes that our parents built, so we are spoiled. We bought this house because it was in our price range and it had all the appliances (which were only about 5 years old). But the porch is an uneven, patched up concrete disaster, the kitchen ceiling is...uh...semi-sagging in a few places, the coat closet is unbelievably gross, and there are many unfinished areas where someone just quit and didn't put up trim or whatever. Plus the boiler room looks like something from a horror movie set. Ugh. We are desperately trying to decide what to do...try fixing stuff up ourselves with some money from savings? Take out a home-improvement loan and call in the pros? Do nothing, just sit on the house till we can afford something better?
We're just not sure if our problem is that we're spoiled, or that this house is really bad. I guess it could be a bit of both. I don't know - at 30, should we be accepting of where we are in life, or should we be struggling so everything looks better? Part of me says we're young, it's ok, we have student loans, car payments, etc., so we have to stay here because we can afford it. But I don't know how long that applies. When I'm 40 do I still want to be saying that?
Aaaaannnnd there I go again, complaining about my life. Sorry!
2 comments:
I understand completely - we've got a less-than great house with LOTS of small-medium problems, including an unattractive facade. And yes, I'm a bit spoiled as my parents have lots of $$$, but I don't want to be here in a few years worrying about the dent in the garage door and did we really get ripped off when we bought this house!?
Love the new projects - so pretty!
Amen to all that house talk. We bought what we could afford, and at the time I liked it. Since moving in though, there are a million things about it that sort of, um, embarrass me... it's an alright house, but so many of our friends have bought newer, shinier houses and I have some envy. But we can't afford to sell it right now and I know we won't live here forever. {sigh} Thankfully my hubby LOVES the yard work, so he's done wonders to pretty it up from a curb-appeal standpoint, at least.
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