6/26/10

So many posts!

I have been such a prolific blogger lately!

I have also been extremely crafty lately, getting things done around the apartment. My Aunt Anna Marie gave me some shelves from her first apartment a while back, and I had been toying with the notion of painting them. They were a sort of drab brown to start with, since, you know, they're wood. So Patrick agreed with me and we took a trip one day to Home Depot to get some paint and supplies.
Patrick wouldn't take much part in choosing a color, since he claims to be blind when it comes to picking things out. He didn't offer much more than, "Well, that one is a nice color. But I like that one, too. It's up to you."
So I took it on myself to pick the color. I ended up with "new grass green" which isn't as bright as it sounds. Don't get me wrong, it is still bright. I just don't think I'd call it "new grass green." New grass glows in the sunlight, a special green only for fresh foliage. This picture doesn't do the color justice, but it's the best I could do. It's a bit brighter than that, but not by much. When I ordered the paint at the counter, the guy said that he always liked it when someone comes in and gets happy colors. He gets bored mixing whites and beiges all day.
Glad to oblige, sir. I like bright colors.
The paint itself was special stuff, apparently. It was designed to act as its own base-coat primer. What this meant was that I could wipe the dust off the shelves, lay out an old sheet, and get painting. The finished product got two coats of paint and looks great. We haven't hung anything yet, but it's coming. Watch out, blank, boring white walls. I will conquer you yet.

In other news, one of my coworkers is having a baby at the end of July. Her babyshower is on Sunday, and despite the many months of warning I had (how could I be so dense?) I did not start knitting anything. I hit the two week mark and had a mild panic attack. What could I do? I didn't have time to knit anything now! The four-day mark came and I got a lovely quilt in the mail. As I curled up in it early on Friday morning on the couch, I had a stroke of inspiration. I can still make a baby blanket, I just need to sew it. I never understood why babies could only have baby things in pale colors. I object to that, and so I try and make it a point to get babies things with bright colors that they can hang on to for a while.
When I remembered the map and scraps of fabric that my mom had gotten me for Christmas a few years ago to go with my sewing machine, everything clicked.
I took a leaf out of Roxie's book and built it around a crib-sized fleece throw, so I had to cut a bit off the sides; Japan's westernmost coast is only just visible by the seam. But this is a hard-wearing blanket that is completely machine washable (it's for a baby after all), and it's warm and soft and squishy. Whether she uses it as a blanket or a changing table pad, or even if she hangs onto it until her little one is older, this kid should get a ton of use out of this blanket. And hey, when she gets into school, she'll have a head start on geography!
The back is a sheet that I got at Walmart for a few bucks. The colors match the map just about perfectly, though my camera decided to emphasize the yellow no matter what I did.
It's going to get a washing tomorrow morning, and then it gets wrapped for the babyshower. I'm so excited.


Work has been draining me more than normal lately, due in part to the overwhelming heat that we've had. The building's air conditioner is old, and it can't handle the stress that we put on it any more. Usually the back of the store is up in the 80's now, higher if you're standing nearer to the oven. Matt has gotten fans to put up for the workers, but hot air blowing on your hot face isn't always a better choice. We take turns standing in the walk-in for a few seconds to gives ourselves a break and then we go haring off again.
Some people in the area still don't have power, and likely won't have power again until Monday or Tuesday. It's tough, but because of the trees they have to wait for the insurance companies to come inspect the claims. The electric companies can't remove any of the trees or fallen lines until the agents have finished with their stuff. I hope everyone has somewhere they can stay until they get power back.

And now to finish off the blog post with a dog picture. Kobold apparently thinks he's a cat.

"Babies do not want to hear about babies. They want to hear about giants and castles."
~I can't find the book that's got this quote written down in it

2 comments:

roxie said...

The baby blanket is awesome! Good for you, you clever girl.

Many chefs will dampen a bunch of nakins and stack them in the cooler, then wrap one around thier neck when they need a cool-down. If you're a paper-nakin place, bring in a bunch of kerchiefs.

Donna Lee said...

I love the blanket. I had forgotten about that fabric and it makes a perfect baby blanket.