Thermalgal’s Temperate Mumblings

I’m a Contestant!

Turtle Picture Contest If you scroll down my picture is the fifth one under Contestants. I probably won’t win, but I still think it is a good picture. I have the big 5Mpixel version as my desktop background on my home computer.

I’m going on vacation next week. My church does a Habitat for Humanity week in Western Maryland and I’ve gone three times so far I think (plus two long weekend trips). I didn’t go last year since I went to Honduras instead. Next year I’m hoping to do an international Habitat trip. So there won’t be any blogging from me since I highly doubt that the church basement we will be sleeping in will have computer access for us. Okay, I don’t doubt it, I know for a fact that I won’t have computer access. I won’t even get tv or phone while I’m gone (not that I care). I mean, even the shower facilities are across town at the community college. But it will be a good trip. We aren’t quite sure what we will be doing, maybe pulling wiring or doing some plumbing work or maybe even some siding. I was hoping to help frame one of the houses, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening.

And after I get back, I’m going to start back on a real rotation for my stitching so I can get some things finished. I’ve worked up a 4 week rotation that I’ll start the beginning of July.

Turtle Pictures!

I know that is why people come here… in the hopes of seeing more turtle pictures! Right, Erin? This is a picture of Crush swimming around in the new set up. I upgraded the filter from a tiny little Whisper that hung on the back of the tank to this:

A Fluval 404! I’ve been reading Red Eared Slider OaSis after I did a search for filter for my turtles. I also found the recommendation for this filter on another site, so I went ahead and got it. I removed all the gravel since it could be a hazard to the turtles and it is easier to clean with out it. I also filled up the tank with more water. The turtles love to swim and it has been lots of fun watching them dart around the tank.

I also painted the living room this weekend. I still have one coat left to do on the edges near the trim but I have to get a bit more paint tonight to finish that up.

I tried to start Ribby Shell over the weekend. I was making great progress and was about to change to the next sized needles when I realized that I was knitting a mobius instead of a cylinder. So, I’ll have to rip it all out and start again. After I realized that, I put it aside and attempted to spin some of the Kool Aid roving. Well, after having it break on me four times, I gave that up. I decided to use my destructive forces for good and ripped out the hideous wallpaper in the dining room. DH joking said that he wanted me to finish one room before I destroy another. But who cares what he says (I think he was joking), I lasted three months with that stuff, I couldn’t take it any longer!

Can you see the green and burgandy floral wall paper on the bottom with mint green walls on the top (and check out the burgandy curtains they kindly left for us). I took this picture when I first saw the house (as in three months before we went to closing and moved in). This is what it looks like now…

Doesn’t everyone keep turtles in their dining room? All I did was remove the wallpaper. And boy, the things I found! There is a huge patch job on one wall. They only adhered the wallpaper on the edges. They wallpapered the outlet covers and painted the outlets green! The additions that were done by the previous owners were done after the wallpaper was up. As in, the wallpaper is behind some moulding! For the future, we are leaning towards beige with bamboo accents (very Asian).

Almost done!

I finished up the last square for the baby afghan last night. Here is a picture of my squares minus the blue ones my mom is working on.

So, now I’m at a loss for what to do during my lunch hour. Since March I’ve had knitting project I’ve need to work on. The first big decision is do I knit or stitch? I think I’m leaning towards stitching. But every time I think about what I can start, the list gets longer and longer. Right this very second here is where the list stands:

Chatelaine Mini Mandala
Laura Perin Kimono
Walk Me… Please by Vickey Brickle-Macky

Maybe I’ll sort through my charts tonight and see what grabs me. But until then, what should I start?

Our Wild Cat…

Our wild cat decided to play outdoors last night. Not sure exactly what happened, but when DH went to get him from the garage (Like his parents, DH puts the cat into the garage because he can’t stand the meowing all night long. That is another rant, but not right now), the garage door was open and Pushkin wasn’t around. He was found sitting on the hot tub on the deck and is safely back inside. But I wonder what our wild cat did on his free night.

And then this morning. I locked the door from the garage to the house behind me as I walked to my car… and then realized that I left my keys inside. We haven’t stowed away a spare outside yet and all the doors and windows were locked. Luckily, I remembered that I had a spare car key in my purse (which I did have with me), so could at least get to work. Tonight I just have to make sure that DH gets home before me.

Cotton Candy

I fnished my cotton candy, err… I mean the wool is dry from my dyeing experiment. Not only does it look like cotton candy, it smells like it too! Especially the bright red one. Here are the solids and handpainted rovings rolled up into balls:

Colors from the blue clockwise: Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Black Cherry, some berry cherry mix, Lemonade, Orange, and Pink Lemonade. In the middle is the one undyed ball that I had left. I’m a bit disappointed in the yellow. I thought it would be brighter.

I’m thinking of using some the finished product to make my sister another Booga bag. She asked me a while ago if I had another one “lying around” that she could have since she liked the one I made for her so much she wanted another.