Unwinding

For the last couple of months, Chris and I have been running in circles, between work and the house and cycling events and all the rest of it. Every Monday I'd get on bloglines and read posts about blissful Saturday afternoons where knitters sat on their balconies or decks or porches and knitted for hours. Can I tell you how envious I have been?

Finally, this Saturday, I had NO plans. The first thing I wanted to do was sit out on my own deck, gaze at the garden, and knit. Though I'm no Jane, here are some of my flowers:

  Festiva Maxima peonies

Reine Victoria rose (bourbon)

Nelly Moser clematis

Seeing Robin's and Kristin's camisoles inspired me to get out my own and work out the complications. When we last left it, I had been knitting it inside out because yours truly picked up the stitches from the hem backwards, from the left instead of the right. In a happy accident, the new pie wedge shawl I am knitting uses short rows and there is a lot of "turn work." I got an idea...rather than suffer through all that purling on the camisole, I would turn the work now, and hide the little glitch on what would be the side seam under the arm. Unfortunately, after a few rows, I realized that the decreases were not lined up. So I'll need to rip those rows out, and start again. There has been good progress on the pie wedge shawl too, and I'll try to post a photo of that soon.

House update: The offer for the house we like was finally accepted, but the sellers' agent continues to play games with us. She seems to tell lies about the house, either because she's deliberately deceitful, or not motivated enough to double check her facts; I'm not sure. They are easily refuted by, for example, pulling the plot plan of the house at the local town hall (no, the yard does not back up to conservation land!). We had the inspection yesterday, and it will be interesting to see what her response is to our requests.

To cheer myself up, I bought these:

Pink Jelly Shoes. I know they are kinda tacky, and I doubt I'll wear them outside the house. But when I saw them in the store, for whatever reason, they made me incomprehensibly happy. I had a pair a long time ago, and it was like seeing an old friend again who knows you at your least graceful moments, and loves you all the same. Yes, I read a lot into a pair of funky plastic shoes. Yes, I know "incomprehensibly" doesn't sound like a real word, but it is, according to dictionary.com. Now please tell me what secret funky things you keep that make you incomprehensibly happy. :)

Comments

[2paw]

Oh, I hope that woman sorts herself out soon!! To cheer myself up I buy a book, preferably a cook book or a knitting magazine (which if they are imported cost as much as a whole book here) or a fiction book by my favourite author and then a bag of lollies from the shop where they make their own from scratch. Heaven!!! I had shoes kind of like that when I was little. They had a t-bar and a little buckle!!!

[tiennie]

Glad you finally got a Sat. to enjoy. Hope the house dealing works out for you. What a pain dealing with that woman.

The shoes - everyone needs shoes that make them happy!

[Julie]

I'm guessing the agent is just lazy or not too bright; we see a lot of that type of agent come through our office! Hopefully, everything will workout and you'll have your new house soon.

I'm glad you finally got some time to relax and enjoy the day.

I love those shoes; when my daughter was little she had to have a pair in all the colors we could find. Then she'd wear 2 different colors together everyday. She's always been a little "different" :-)

[Devorah]

Great shoes! I know there are things that affect me like that but my brain is still to sleepy to get specifics out of it. Just the thought of something like your shoes brings a smile to my face.

[Kristen]

I also long for days that are free of plans; they are so few and far between. That realtor sounds incompetent, can she be reported to someone? Hope the rest of the deal goes smoothly.
Yummy pink jelly shoes! What makes me incomprehensibly happy...I have to give that some thought.

[Brigitte]

As long as they make you happy! I remember when they were popular.

Your flowers are beautiful...

[Helen]

I LOVE your jellies! I had a couple of pairs back in 1985, and I would love to get another pair. :)

[Jenn]

I loved me some jelly shoes. If only they didn't give me blisters....Very cute!

[Chris]

I'm glad the house offer was accepted! And glad that you finally got a little time to relax.

[Sarah]

The flowers are beautiful!

[Lolly]

Jellies are SO fun! I practically grew up in those things. I wouldn't mind finding a pair now... wonder who is selling them? :)

[Lynne]

Nellie Moser is beautiful, Debby! Mine will be a few days away. Let's see, what makes me feel happy? Stickers. I don't know why, but I love stickers...the rows and rows of stickers at the craft stores. And Beads and Buttons. I could just look at them and to collect them would really make me happy!

[Cookie]

I remember jelly shoes. Was that really 20 years ago? o.0

I bought a tiny plastic duck on a key chain as a gift for the boy. A total impulse buy. Got it home and realized that it has a tiny little button that makes the duck quack when you press it. I giggled like a loon and think I need to go back and get one for me. Even though, I'm not into duckies.

[Laura]

they still make jelly shoes?

You and all your northern bloggers are making me so jealous with photos of peonies. I never knew how much I loved them until I found out that I can't grow them here.

I'm sorry that your seller's agent is a PITA. If you weren't so close to getting the house you want I would suggest that you dump her and get someone else. You should have to put up with such behavior. I can't wait to see photos of the new house!

[Sheepish Annie]

Jellies take me back to younger, happier days! And in pink...well who could resist? They were a "must have!" Good luck on the house process. Both my dad and my brother were in real estate and they had some real horror stories of less-than-up-front colleagues. But these deals generally work out in the end and I'm sure that you guys are pretty savvy buyers who aren't going to get burned on this one.

[Jen]

There's no way I could have passed up a pair of jelly shoes if I saw them in a store, either! I had about ten pairs of the things a million years ago - your feet get all hot and sweaty, and then the plastic starts to cut into them - they're wonderful!

[Jane]

Your flowers are lovely, as are your photos of them. And you know all their names, which sadly, I do not for most all of the flowers I photograph. You'd think I'd take the time to learn, wouldn't you? I like your little jelly shoes. Sometimes you just have to get what makes you happy, no matter what or why. Today, I bought a whole bunch of quilt fabrics, just because I felt like it. And no, I don't quilt. Fingers crossed that that dumb agent gets her act together. Can't wait to see photos of the new place!

[hege]

Your flowers are beautiful! The peony on top looks like it has three flowers in each flower head, wow! I hope you can take some of them with you to your new house. Hope all gets straightened out with the house. It sounds great that it's backing up to open land, even if it's not conservation land as per the shifty agent. :)

[Felicia]

I'm glad you bought those shoes since they made you so happy. You need a bit of sunshine when dealing with realtors! Love your fluffy flower photos :) Don't worry, your restful Saturday afternoons are coming.

[debb]

ohhhh I love the pink shoes...I want a pair!!!! :(

[Robin]

There's a lot of lazy, not so intelligent real estate agents out there - so it could be more laziness than maliciousness - it doesn't make it any less annoying though!!

Thanks for the mention on the cami, and the jelly shoes brought back a little nostalgia for me too!

[Sue]

I used to love my jelly shoes. Even when my feet would get hot and sweaty and slide around in them, I still thought they were pretty neat.