House for sale in Everett!

Lovely Craftsman / English cottage type, 4 beds, 2 bath, white picket fence. Finished basement with daylight. Fireplace, back yard, detached garage. Walking distance to Forest Park & its Petting Zoo. Cab not included but a ride in it is!

http://locator.nwmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Locator&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=2VOEb4QVGSOxbpmHZV9DvA%3D%3D

UPDATE: SOLD

Shabbit, expression, and Matt's triumphant return

Matt is back at work and kicking medical butt. He trounced a neonatal resucitation test which stymied some of his fellow residents, and he's solving tough cases at the hospital. His spirits are great and his health seems excellent. YAY!!!

We were talking last night about creative expression. I used to be a pretty good writer - I have won awards and garnered some minor publication - but I am most prolific when I'm unhappy. Following my divorce I was cranking out 1-2 interesting stories a week. Now I'm blissfully happy, but I haven't written anything decent in years. I had a cool dream two months ago and felt compelled, but in written form it was utter dreck. Awful. My Kaplan essays are servicable, but hardly lyrical. My blog entries here (I'm sure you've noticed) resemble the overpunctuated dribbles of a highschooler.

I'm so happy I found fiber art. You always hear about tortured poets, but nobody's ever said you have to be miserable to spin a good literal yarn, just a literary one. It seems the more content I am, the more driven I am to experiment with my wheel and needles. So here's some 50%/50% Angora bunny/Corridale wool. Matt calls it Shabbit.

I love my life!

Fine-tuning my wheelie skills - UPDATED

Top: That black wool & red mohair you saw in progress earlier, a standard 2 ply. The fun here was mixing the two roving colors. The pic doesn't quite capture its sheen, unfortunately.

Left: Wensleydale wool roving bought at the Black Sheep. I spun it superthin, then did a Navajo triple play. The result was a small, soft yarn that retained the color blocks.

Right: 100% percent mohair! This was a crazy experiment. I had AJ's bag of uncarded locks, and nothing that looked good blended with it. After a few failed mixing attempts, I decided to go for a wacky novelty yarn. There are curly bits hanging out, and some thick & thin variation. It should make a spectacular scarf. She has emailed me and says she likes it. :)

Most impressive: Heather's first skein! Ok, mini-skein. I'm still incredibly impressed that her first yarn is actually usable. Way to go, girl!

As always, click to enlarge. Quarters for size comparison.

2006 ABFM - Wendolene brings home the GOLD!

... And we bring Feathers home! He has finally been judged able to leave the shop and looks utterly adorable next to the Taxis. He only takes up half a lane! Despite his diminutive appearance, he performs admirably on the highway (60mph) and is a joy to drive. We look forward to having the liquid assets to paint and rechrome.

The 2006 All British Field Meet was this weekend. There were nearly 600 cars there... and Wendolene won 1st Place in the Specialty Vehicles class! Quite impressive since it's her first real show, and she's a daily driver. There were plenty of trailer queens there with immaculate lacquer paint, but I always prefer a real working car. Evidently the votors did, too. Feathers was also very popular. He didn't take a prize because there was no class on his windshield card. I think they didn't know how to assign him! On the right is a lovely 1954(?) FX3, the London Cab that preceded the FX4 body style of our taxis. The owner lives on Vashon Island, and we met him during the strawberry run. Very nice chap! Heather took a liking to Morris Minors, so they are added to her shortlist for post-house-sale purchase.

Help Bamboo!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003123619_elephant13m.html?syndication=rss

Check out this article. Bamboo is an elephant at the Woodland Park Zoo. In addition to the neurotic rocking behavior exhibited by most captive elephants, she has become agressive towards her keepers. She needs to be moved to an elephant sanctuary. This picture is a WPZ press release photo. Bamboo is on the left. They all look wretched!

This has been a long-term desire for me: To help elephants get back to the 30-40 miles or so they need to walk each day, and to the large herds they need for their mental health. Elephants in small zoo enclosures with only a few friends simply go crazy. It's a cruel mistake. I can't wait to be rich so I can use my financial power in their defense. In the meantime, I am using the weapon of email. Please read up on this problem and do the same!

gigi.allianic@zoo.org
woodlandparkzoopr@zoo.org

Proud to be an enabler

I've done it. I've gotten Heather committed to getting a cute little car of her own. Even better, the object of her love is an Austin! A Mini Countryman, to be exact. This blessed event occured at the Strawberry Festival at Vashon Island. Another gorgeous ferry ride to a car show & parade. Wendolene was much loved and admired by all except the announcer, who declared her to be "um... uh... some sort of prison car" despite her lit TAXI light.

Heather is saving her pennies for a woody wagon of her very own. Since we now need a way to tow & move our fleet, I fell hard for this burly Mack truck. Note the curved roof! Fear not, I won't be acquiring one... yet.

You may notice that Wallace and Feathers are conspicuously absent from the show. Feathers is still at the shop - it turns out that thermostat housings for the little guy are tricky to come by. We finally have one and should be driving him by Wednesday. Wallace had an unfortunate run-in with a winch while getting a wheel alignment. Not at our usual shop, of course! He will require many thousands of dollars in repairs (on their tab). Hopefully he'll be done by the All Brit Field Meet on the 22nd, but I doubt it. Pictures of the damage are NOT being posted due to their graphic nature.

Pics of the car parade here: http://www.finchhaven.com/Festival_2006/Sunday/Classic_Car_Parade/index.html

Fish & Fireworks

Heather, Matt & I went to the harbor early yesterday and hung out all day. A huckleberry ice cream waffle cone couldn't quite beat the heat, so we took a refreshing ferry ride to a Bainbridge Island casino, where we each bet $1 at the nickel slots. We renewed our Aquarium membership and went to their July 4th party: Communion with my otter friends, a behind the scenes tour, and a great view of the fireworks from their deck. Another terrific day!

"It was GREAT until I almost died!"

I have links now! These are a few of the sites I peek at regularly. More to come soon.