Friday 26 July 2013

Casual Friday

So what's YOUR thoughts on casual summer wear in the office???  As I type this (am at work - shh! - it's supposed to be my day off!) I'm wearing shorts and flip flops.  Respectable knee-length shorts, mind!  And I won't be here all day.  We have all adopted casual Friday wear, and would like to do this year round.  So far, no clients have complained.  In fact, a few have actually commented that our office feels very friendly because we're not all in "suits"!

How many of you remember when we called flip flops "thongs"???  I have to watch I don't say "thongs" when referring to summer footwear ... or risk giggles and funny looks.

I know at least one of you lurking blog readers is going to text me about being in the office on my day off.  Let's just say if I'm HERE, I'm NOT at the yarn or fabric store ...
16 degrees Celsius temperature here and climbing rapidly toward the high 20s -- that's about 85 Fahrenheit, I think.  Good day to be near a cool fan! 

Monday 15 July 2013

Thanks

Thank you to you bloggy-reading folks who commented or emailed or phoned to say KEEP BLOGGING!  Okay ... I get it!  I might be boring now and then, but overall, y'all think my blog is worth reading, or that my cat is entertaining, or that I occasionally share a good recipe, or that I have "unfinished business" with y'all in the knitting department, or that I share the odd bit of humor.

It's like this:  I get unsettled now and then.  When I'm feeling unsettled, I start doubting the validity and benefit of whatever I'm currently doing.  Such as blogging.  And current furniture arrangements.  And hair styles (used to be hair colours). 

Do YOU ever feel that way?

It's like an itch you can't quite reach to scratch.

Fall is the worst time of year for that for me.  I know, it's not quite fall yet ... but summer rolls right into fall before we can say "Jack Spit" in this part of the world.  September is like New Year's for me.  I want to start NEW things in September.  I get really itchy to GO BACK TO SCHOOL in September.  Unfortunately, neither current bank account, job commitments, nor personal energy levels are up to embarking on too many new things in September.

Part of the reason that I'm feeling unsettled right now came from a surprise visit this past week.  My first Douglas College instructor.  It's not everyday that someone from a couple of decades back walks into your office and says "Hi!  Remember me?"  She was here in PG in a totally different capacity from college instructor, but we managed a few minutes for a quick catch-up.  As always, she "nailed the nail right on the head" with her observation that I'm missing academia and "you should be writing, you know!" 

Yes, I know.  I KNOW!!!

Trying to sort out what's going on in my unsettled head is a little like ...
 ... taking a basket full of odds and ends of wool and making something useful out of it.  In a timely and organized manner.  Above are my "fall" mittens ... minus one thumb ... knit up from current odds and ends in my knitting basket.  They look quite "fall-ish" to me.

I prefer mittens over gloves as my fingers always feel cold in gloves.  For "winter" mittens, I knit them double-layered or "thrummed" with bits of wool fleece inside.  Besides, I can tuck things down inside mittens that won't fit in gloves ... such as my bus pass.  Or keys.  Or tissues.

Knitting mittens helped "settle" me a bit.  My balcony garden didn't help.  It usually does.  Usually I'm content to just sit out there and enjoy ...

... all the little green tomatoes.
 My radishes are done.  They were in boxes on the balcony railing.  Here are the last of them, bolting.  Radishes get woody and tasteless when they start to bolt, so they have now been pulled and consigned to the compost bucket.  I haven't replaced them with anything yet.  Can't decide what to put in there.
I have lots of little hot peppers too.
See?  I'm still a little scattered, but coming back together again! Thanks again for your encouragement!  Y'all are GREAT bloggy-readers!

Thursday 11 July 2013

Trying hard to post more often

And now that I've typed in that title, MY MIND IS BLANK!  Maybe my mind is still in work mode ... and it was a busy work day ... or maybe it's just blank!

What do YOU blog about when your mind is blank?  Or do you wait until you have something brilliant to share?

I have absolutely nothing brilliant to share other than it rained a bit today, my potato is outgrowing my Norfolk pine and my tomatoes are sizing up nicely on my patio.  Miss Boots hasn't done anything remarkable yet today -- no horked up hairballs or unexpected claw swipes -- and I'm not reading anything in particular at the moment.  I'm not even knitting anything in particular at the moment -- am between projects.

Perhaps this is the MOST BORING POST EVER? 

Perhaps this is a sign that I should get rid of my home Internet service and thereby put an end to blank minds and boring posts?

Wednesday 10 July 2013

I should post more regularly.

I should.  But I don't.  My bad!  I find I'm not terribly interested in computer time at home because so much of my work day is at my desk and computer.  In fact, I'm even seriously thinking about giving up my Internet service at home.  I use it so infrequently and it's gradually climbing up in price.  I could use those $ for more fun things (like more wool ... or dinner out ... or ...)  But when I start thinking like that, I remind myself that I don't own a television (by choice), and I don't subscribe to a newspaper (by choice) ... so if I discontinue my Internet service, am I turning into some kind of weird recluse?

Thoughts, anyone?

Speaking about computers, THIS is my current work computer desktop ...

NO, that's not Miss Boots ... but it certainly looks a lot like her, and I can totally "hear" her making the above comment!  (Thanks for the pic, Natalie!)