The people that lived in this house before me must’ve been huge mail order catalogue shoppers because I get at least 4 catalogues EVERY DAY in the mail. It’s sortof irritating to me, because it just creates a lot of trash, and Waco is not exactly the recycling capital of the world. The stack of mail and catalogues I have for them is now about 2 feet tall, and that’s only after one month. Must do something with it soon.

Friday afternoon I drove out to a local farming/religious community called Homestead Heritage. They have a huge craft fair each year on Thanksgiving weekend to sell the handmade items they have made throughout the year. (There are also some shops that are open year round). Anyway, I picked up a few items for myself since I’m a sucker for handcrafted things…. a pair of coffee mugs, 2 hand woven dish towels, some yarn dyed with natural ingredients, and a lathe turned drop spindle. I took a quickie lesson on how to spin roving on the drip spindle and so I also bought some wool, and hopefully throughout the next few weeks, I can spin enough 2-ply yarn to make a hat or something. So far, I think I have about 10 yards.

Been working on the back yard this weekend, too. My leaf blower is also a leaf vacuum and mulcher, so I’ve been able to create some cut up leaves and things to put under the trees. It’s been a lot of work, but I think if I can get the yard under control now, it will be much easier to maintain. It’s just so overwhelming right now because there are so many branches down, and the grass is so bad, and the leaves just do not stop falling…. would be so much more enjoyable to be out there working if I wasn’t alone, but I think if nothing else, this afternoon I will pull the stereo closer so that I can at least have some music outdoors.

Is “adrenal fatigue” a real medical problem, or is it just a TV thing?

One very nice thing about working in education is the extra holiday days that are spread around the calendar. This week I only worked on Monday and Tuesday… and today has been total bliss so far. Even though I got up early, it was because I was asleep by 9:15pm last night. The morning has been quiet and long, complete with lots of coffee (I’ve been sipping at it all morning - think I’ve drunk almost a full pot by now), mindless daytime TV, and knitting time on all the unfinished projects I’ve been shlepping around with me for months. In my bags of mostly knit items I’ve found the following things:

1. A baby sweater with both sleeves missing.
2. Another baby sweater with 2 missing sleeves.
3. A baby sweater with only ONE sleeve missing.

(do you detect a pattern here?)

4. A sock with everything but the toe knit.
5. A sock with everything but 1/2 inch of ribbing knit.

So, anyway… all of those things have been finished up now, apart from one of the baby sweater, which is coming along as well. I have a lot of blocking to do, but this sweater made with cotton needed less help so I’ve already grabbed some shots of it.

Um…. can you see the HUGE house that is across the street from me? Turns out the owners have lived there for over 25 years. They are very kind, although I haven’t seen them much lately…

I love this tree in the front of my yard… and the view down the street:

Right now I’m also dog sitting for a friend - a little Shidoodle named Tuck. He’s been fun to have around, although honestly Clem and Bear are not huge fans. Luckily, the only cats Tuck are chasing are outside… poor Smokey seems to be his favorite. He seems to be loving the yard and running around in the leaves. Makes me think I could actually have a dog here, since it wouldn’t require walking on a leash three times a day… I still don’t think it’s the type of pet commitment I’d want to make though.

Anyway, more pictures of the other items once I have a chance to soak and block them. Too bad both of the socks were only the first of the pair, so it doesn’t really feel like finishing anything. I guess it’s not bad if I don’t mind having unmatched socks.

II got the camera out to take some pictures of the fall leaves this afternoon after church to prove that it’s not *quite* the same, but there really are seasons here. While I was doing that, I decided to take a couple more shots of the house. Only took pictures in a couple rooms, and I didn’t really straighten up in preparation, but at least I can show a bit of where I am. Here we go:

Porch light out front. I love it.

“Formal” Living Room. Couch was $40 from someone’s garage in Columbus and the pink and blue chair and ottoman were a gift from Brad and Michelle. Random wall decor I grabbed from Toby’s basement and some cheap lamps from Lowe’s. The little rocking chair was also in Toby’s basement and my mom and dad put a new seat in it, using some random scrap of leather we bought at a craft fair in Gravevine, Texas. It’s really cute.

Other side of the living room. This rocking chair I thought belonged to my family, but now I’m thinking must’ve been Tammy’s… oops. Sorry, Tam. If you want it back, you might need to come get it. The little table is from the auction and the lamp I bought for $2 at Salvation Army. I think I’m going to start a collection of cute little table lamps… they are just so handy and give off such nice, warm light.

Beautiful Calle Lilly flowers given to me by Karen at my housewarming party. They are making my kitchen feel so much more alive.

This is the view out of one of my kitchen windows. I love having so much natural light in the room, even though it still needs more light for good cooking - even during the day. I just think the room looks bigger without a lot of the high cabinets.

This is on the other side of the kitchen, with the sink, looking a bit cluttered, since my clean dishes are still out on the counter.

Corner opposite from the sink… got this hutch at the auction as well. (The bottom part is built-in). It perfectly holds all my brown dishes.

When the front door is open, Clem and Bear like to watch the other cats that run around in the front yard. They are good friends now, thank goodness… even saw them licking each other’s head tonight. (Of course, starting Tuesday, I’m taking care of a friends little dog, so we’ll see how long everyone is happy here after that stars).

This is the back deck…. in desperate need of the leaf blower. I need to invest in a longer extension cord… In the close left corner you can see the very top of the firepit I got for the yard… it’s great fun!

This is Smokey… the cat that “came back” after his owner’s took him away. I try to feed him when I remember, but I think he mostly eats next door where they feed like 6 other cats. In any case, he is a total sweetheart and definitely thinks this yard is his home - regardless of who lives here.

This is the side yard (with the same tree as in the kitchen window). Up on the right is the deck that you can access from an upstairs bedroom. There’s a hammock stand up there that just needs a new hammock… first thing on my list to buy when it is a) spring or b) on a good sale.

This is in my “TV room” which is like a casual living room. I just bought all these shelves at a used furniture store a few blocks from here on Saturday morning. All together they were $60 and I love how it looks all stacked up like that. Plus…. it was fun to get all the yarn out and arrange it by color. Not usually my type of organization, but I think it makes it look like it has more purpose as decorative rather than just clutter.

A lot of these straight needles belonged to my grandmother who was a knitter…. I’m glad I got them out to “display” as well because I love the look of all the needles together.

And… I think that’s enough. Next time I’ll show pictures of the dining room, bathrooms, and bedrooms if I remember. If you’d like to move here and by my housemate, I’m accepting applications.