The end of the year is a big tidying-up time for me. All year long I’m accumulating projects that I want to finish “by the end of the year,” and the last week of the year becomes a mad dash to the finish line. Some I’ll finish; some I won’t. It’s the trying that’s important.

I wanted to close out the year by following up on some unanswered questions:

Omly asked two questions: Did you ever end up being able to repel the mice in the car? How was your harvest of compost from the worms?

Ha ha! That’s a no on the mice. I tried noise, lights, dryer sheets, Lysol, ammonia, cat box leavings, and probably a few other things, to no avail.

The Honda sat alone in the driveway for several months after my dad gave me his Saab. One day I noticed that it had a tiny maple seedling, four inches tall, sprouting from the accumulated tree droppings that had piled up below the windshield wipers. The next day I drove it to a used car dealer and sold it for cash.

(And by “used car dealer,” I mean “the guy up the road who has a sign that says USED CARS spraypainted on a sheet of corrugated tin.”)

The worm box has been a rousing success. Although it’s running a little behind at the moment, with the cold weather. I relocated it outside over summer because I was having a fruit fly problem, which wasn’t sourced from the worm box, but wasn’t being helped by it either.

The only problem with the worm box is a workflow issue. There are times that I need vermicompost, and times that I feel like separating it out from the worms and raw food (a tedious process which takes at least an hour). Those times never overlap. Usually when I separate out the vermicompost, I end up just scattering it around the lawn. Which I guess is kind of a waste, but whatever.

Lisa E asked: I know you are a Linux fan, and I was wondering if you’ve worked with Ubuntu? If so, how do you like it?

I like Ubuntu quite a lot. I’m not running it as a desktop at the moment, but I used it for several years at home in the past. Ubuntu is great – incredibly easy to install, and the best driver support I’ve ever seen in any OS. Sadly, it is not compatible with The Sims 2.

(This is someone’s cue to suggest I try WINE. I have noticed that the people who suggest WINE have not actually tried using WINE for something. The answer, just to be proactive, is NO.)

Patti said: I know I’m not the only one who wonders how Mr.Burrito is doing.

Mr. Burrito is doing very well, and his family loves him a LOT. For privacy reasons I can’t release his new name out here on the internets, but he does have one. Here’s a recent picture that his family sent along – he was 5 months old when the picture was taken, and weighed just under 100lbs:

Fiona asked: My question is what happened to all the kale? Did you ever find new (read: edible) recipes for it?

Oh lordy, the kale. I try to eat kale once a month, because it’s ever so chock full of vitamins, and I always feel supercharged the next day. (Note that this may be the placebo effect at work.)

I have discovered that if you chop it into fine shreddies, and steam the heck out of it, you can then tuck the shreddies into other things. Like potatoes au gratin, and homemade mac and cheese. I’m not sure if that counts as a recipe or not, but it is edible.

That’s all for this year! I want to wrap up with sending a big hug and thank you to everyone for your friendship, advice, and entertainment. This blog has changed my life in ways I never would have expected, and it’s all because of YOU!

Tags: snif

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The forecast calls for: wind. Yesterday I was shocked at how strong the wind was. I saw all kinds of unlikely objects being pushed around by the wind, like rogue shopping carts, and the big metal dome-shaped lids of outdoor trash cans.

The plastic adirondack chair weather report is: tipped over.

On my way home I had to dodge several downed trees. This one nearly defeated me. I went out without my digital camera, but I took this cameraphone picture on my way home. This is what confronted me on the private road, about 100 feet from the driveway:

I know what you’re thinking: it doesn’t look that bad. It’s barely blocking the road. But here’s the thing: it’s blocking the left-hand track. And what’s outside the tracks is six inches of slushy snow. Which I can’t drive through. In fact, you can see one set of my tire tracks there in the center. I had to back down the road and get a run at it 3 times before I finally made it past.

More wind is scheduled for tonight, and MUCH more wind is scheduled for early Friday morning. Wah!

Among the list of FO’s from the 17-day weather-related lockdown is a new pattern for sale: the Checkerboard Tea Cosy. Blog Page – Ravelry Page – Patternfish Page.

I have to say, I really feel like I’ve outdone myself with this pattern. I found it somewhat confusing while I was knitting it – twice I had to rip it back because I had changed the yarn color, but not the stitch pattern. It took me ages, just AGES to get the decreases correct. I second-guessed my own gauge swatch and had to knit a second one that fit properly.

As a result of all this tea cosy drama, I have created full written-out and schematic instructions for every aspect of the pattern. Some people might say that an eight page pattern for a tea cosy is overkill. I say, if you’re going to publish PDF patterns online, why not make them eight pages long?

The pattern is priced at $4.95, but if you want a free review copy, drop a comment and I’ll send it along!

Tags: Checkerboard Tea Cosy, FO, tea cosy knitting pattern, tea cozy knitting pattern, weather panic

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Omg! I’m out! At the post office! In my car! I drove! I’m free!!!

Tags: Sent from my cell phone, Twitter

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Buoyed by all the sounds of dripping and melting, I trudged out to my car to give it another go. After about 20 minutes of finagling and maneuvering and slipping the clutch to rock it back and forth, I managed to get my car out of my parking spot. Victory is mi-

Whoops.

You can’t imagine how humiliating this is.

Just to recap, I grew up in Alaska. I learned to drive in July, and by that October I was driving in the snow. I drove for three Alaskan winters, and witnessed many more from the passenger seat. I know all the tricks – kitty litter, floor mats, rocking it, everything. I instinctively turn my wheels into the skid. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion… oh wait, sorry.

Anyway, long story short, I got to the head of the driveway, slid on the ice, popped over the berm at the end of the driveway, and slid sideways into the ditch. Someone came out to help me, and we managed to work the car backwards enough that it’s not sticking out into the road.

Right now it is high-centered on the snow, and the left front end is angled into the ditch. Pushing it forward wouldn’t do much good, because the private road is impassible. (Something I perhaps should have investigated before driving the car into it. I plead temporary insanity.) It only has about three feet it could go backwards, because there’s a tree. The ground is soggy enough that I might end up in the ditch, even after everything melts.

In the meantime, there it sits, wedged diagonally at the head of the driveway. You better believe every neighbor who drives past it is going to snicker a little. Until I can either dig it out, or humiliate myself further by phoning AAA.

ETA: After half an hour working at it with a shovel, and using triangular chunks of firewood to chock the wheels, I’m un-stuck and parked at the head of the driveway, just like I did it on purpose.

To sum up: not stuck; still trapped.

Tags: weather panic

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I’m glad I bought a lot of groceries when my father was here. His visit reset the “house arrest” clock, of course.

Days of weather-related house arrest: 3.

For those of you keeping track at home, I have left the house 3 times in the last 15 days. The last time I left under my own power was Monday the 15th. Oh how I dream of the day when I can pick up my car keys, put on my shoes, walk out to my car, and… just drive away..

I have electricity, running water, and internet access (although the internet died for several hours this morning). Relatively speaking, I don’t have much to complain about. But I’m down to my last bagel, I have only one more Netflix DVD of Angel episodes to watch, and I WANT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE.

We’re definitely in a warming trend. It’s been above freezing for the last 48 hours. Today it rained for several hours, which helped melt stuff. See?

Not bad, right? But I still can’t get my car more than five feet from where it’s parked. It’s on a slight incline, maybe 10 degrees. Enough to outfox my attempts to get out. I did try, though.

Not today. Maybe tomorrow.

In knitting news, I finished the “first draft” of the checkerboard tea cozy. Alas, it is 2 inches too wide and 1 inch too tall.

Not today. Maybe tomorrow.

Tags: Checkerboard Tea Cozy, weather panic

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