Petunia rambles on and on….

Things I learned about my dad

Heather B. Armstrong of www.dooce.com

But this will make good reading for quiet, peaceful times.

This one is just to keep my hands busy and my mind empty – or at least, that’s what I thought when I started it.  Oddly, I need to count as I go, and my heritage doesn’t enable me to count and work at the same time.  Hell, there are days that I can’t count and breathe at the same time.

Anyway, I was in the local craft chain, looking for poster board in various subtle colors, to use as photographic backgrounds.  I have white at home.  White only.  This got boring a long time ago.  I thought – soft blues, maybe a gray, a pale green perhaps.  I found Atomic Orange, and Glow-in-the-Dark Pink.  They may have their place, that of getting the attention of the 2nd grade teacher so that she’ll look favorably on your entry in the Science Fair.  For my needs, well, its not what I had in mind.

But, because I was in the store already, and because I have a small, barely functioning brain, I went into their yarn department.  First, I looked at the Clearance section.  What a bunch of crap.  They are finding out that what wouldn’t sell at full price still won’t sell at 80% off.  Perhaps they could donate it to local pre-schools and the wee ones could cut it up and glue it to the Glow-in-the-Dark Pink poster boards.  What fun!  Write “To Mommy” on each one, and they can hang on the refridgerators of the world.

So.

Instead of leaving with a smile, I glanced around.  This is always my undoing.  Caron is putting out a new line called Country.   I was surprised at the softness and pleased with the color selection and how the colors relate to each other, but knowing that I have “stash issues” at home, the amount of money invested (hey, it’s smarter than putting it into the stock market) the space it’s taking to store, and the time it’ll take to knit it all up vs. my current age, I did not buy any of this new yarn.  Whilst I was walking around, privately congratulating myself on my ability to, especially right before my vacation (which is another way of spelling “spending spree”) walk away from the yarn without grabbing it up like its the last skein on earth from the last dying sheep, I actually got attacked by a big ball of Sugar and Cream cotton yarn.  Geez, who would believe it????   (Damn, I bet my husband won’t, either)  It certainly wasn’t the yarn that caught my eye.  That stuff has been around for YEARS AND YEARS.  It was the color combination, an off white, a deep green, and a reddish-purplish red-grape shade.  I looked at it and thought – Tuscany.   And then I thought, Joyce’s kitchen.   My SIL.  Her kitchen is screaming and crying for these colors – and apparently, I’m the only one that hears it.

So.

I’m knitting dishcloths.  For Joyce’s kitchen.

And I probably have enough yarn to make her a set of a dozen!

Hair

It was time to visit the hairdresser.  It was time to deal with the “Line of the Skunk.”  It was time to Make. The. Decision.

I am a weasel.

A quivering, indecisive weasel.

I did not look her straight in the eye and say – “No dye for me anymore, no, ma’am, but thanks.  I love gray and white together, such an interesting color combination so just give me a nice haircut.”  Nope, I didn’t.  Not even close.

What I did do, though, is have it dyed several shades lighter.  This will, uh, ease the transition.  She says the dye has been fading over the 6-week intervals between touch-ups.  Assuming it continues, it’ll be even lighter in a few weeks?  Thus, the roots will not show as drastically.  Maybe then, another shade or two lighter again?  We shall see.  I’ve left myself plenty of time to chicken out change my mind.  I am female, after all.

I’m not really ready to join the trend to “Embrace the Gray.”  I’m just thinking about all the time spent on keeping a certain hair color, and also thinking that if I no longer put out all this money at the hairdresser’s, maybe I can put it in my gas tank and continue going to work every day. And eating, too.

Old Dover Days

The annual celebration of Old Dover Days, held the first weekend of May every year, took place this past weekend.   I was there a short time, missed all of the morning festivities, due to late appointment time, delays getting started, the lengthy processing time and the aforementioned indecisiveness at the hairdresser.  By the time I got out of there, it was nearing 3pm, and things were winding down in Dover.

Still, people were milling about, vendors were, hmmm, vending for all they were worth.  I did get to see the Fife and Drum Corp. 

Guess that’s an annual thing with me.  Heard fifes and drums last May in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.  I do like the sound, and sat down on the grass to listen to their performance.

I’ve posted pictures before of the Old State House in Dover, so I won’t bore anyone with more.  It was in continuous use from colonial times until the 1930’s, when the newer, bigger building opened nearby.  It’s had some serious facelifts, and a beautiful restoration.  The Old State House was open this weekend, and I took a shot through a second-story window at the back of the building, looking out from colonial times to its more modern replacement.

Craft and food vendors under the tents!

Architectural details often fascinate me.  The patterns, the textures, the “feel” of old things intrigue me.  Brickwork, moldings on buildings inside and out from a day when labor-intensive work was readily available.   The exquisite detailing that is seen in restoration work.

This is suspended over the main front entrance of the Old State House.  I sat down and stared at the moldings on the windows and at the ceiling.  And at the sunflower up there.  They did a wonderful job.

Sunday

The early part of Sunday was spent doing some maintenance work on my laptop.  I found out that the virus protection/security on it had been out since last July and no Windows updates had been downloaded or installed since before the War of 1812.  As many of the steps in this process required re-starts, it took forever and involved lots of sitting around and waiting.  Well, it seemed like forever.  As I had a time-limit on me, I got little else done.   Pop and I will be gone for a week, and I’ll be taking it with me to keep up with e-mail, and perhaps put up some blog posts of the scenic areas we visit.

One of the things I’ve noticed with my new, fancy, fat-file digital camera is that a 2GB card fills up quicker.  I’ll need that laptop so I can download and clear it.  (And I really should just get another 2GB card)

The latter part of Sunday was spent pulling a shift at work. 

Cinco de Mayo

Some folks celebrate with Mexican food, which does sound like a pretty good idea. 

Three years ago today, my daughter celebrated the day in a different way.  Perhaps she mixed up Cinco de Mayo with Labor Day?   Easy enough to do, I guess.  One never knows.  What we do know is that after a relatively short labor, that wee little lady, normally a Size 4, delivered 2 beautiful full-term healthy sons 6 minutes apart. 

Happy Birthday, Nick and Alex.  You have brightened so many lives.

Congratulations, daughter, on a job well done, that day and every day.