Lazy day, NOT

I seem to end up working at something nonstop whenever I am home alone now, instead of being able to take some time to just laze around and enjoy being alone. I know why; its because I get so far behind with Bill home so much. I don't know why he can't schedule his days to visit his girlfriend on days I am home instead of going there on the same days I work at the auction. It is irritating, although I suppose I should be touched that he wants to spend the time with me. The problem is that he feels my time is his to dispose of but his time is also his. So I never get to do anything I want to do, and especially on the computer or sewing machine. He thinks it is his duty to keep me from spending too much time in the studio, and he thinks more than an hour per day is too much time. So, I have many other things to do today and I'd better go do them.
Robin is doing pretty well. THe vet says she does have a nice deep groove on her patella, so the trick is to put it back whenever it does out, and give her RImadyl to control inflammation. It does seem to work, and hopefully she will outgrow the slipping patella. Anyway, its not near bad enough to require surgery, yet.

CIC Christmas vests

And here are the 3 vests. SO, correction, total is 17 pairs of socks and 3 vests instead of 18 socks and 2 vests. Pretty good, huh?

more Christmas CIC socks

Here are another 8 pairs.

Christmas CIC socks

I didn't knit all 11 pair of these in December, but I did most of them. I also knitted 9 other pair and 2 vests and sent the whole she-bang to Children in Common in the names of my loved ones. Some, like my MIL, do no charity work at all, and others, like my DM, do other charity things but cannot knit, and others like my sis and nieces are just so busy that they end up giving money instead of time. THat's what I used to do, but my circumstances have changed, and now I have more time than money. And I really love knitting socks for kids that really need them.

AJ in AZ
http://luvkuku.blogspot.com/
http://luvkukukitty.etsy.com/

Etsy sales

Today I sold 3 bags to the same person from my Etsy store, so I am mailing them Priority in the morning.  That really helps me; the deposit will help me pay my credit card payments. I was worried, as my work has begun to figure the way they pay for auction day differently, and I am making about $100 less per week than I was making before.  I may have to add another day to my workweek unless I get an end of year substantial raise.

 

We went to the Lakeside Farmers Market at Estrella Mountain Ranch yesterday, but there was really only a couple of farmers selling produce there.  Most of the booths were crafters and artisans.  DH and I actually discussed selling my quilts and felted bags there, but once I started talking to the people who run the place, pretty much decided it would be too much trouble.  You have to have an Az state tax license and a million-dollar liability insurance policy in place before they will even discuss letting you rent a space.

It would begin to be too much like a real business then, as I would have to sell  a lot, and spend most of my time making more salable stuff to justify the expense, never mind how cheap the actual booth rent is.  For now I will just stick with Etsy.  Its not steady at all, but should build as more and more people get disgusted with ebay's expense and plethora of sub-standard goods.  Etsy only lets you sell handmade stuff and has a reporting function if you think someone is trying to turn it into a little ebay and resell cheap goods from elsewhere.

http://luvkuku.blogspot.com/
http://luvkukukitty.etsy.com/

Ranting, again

I have thought of a long blog entry every day this week, but unfortunately they always turn into rants about DH, no matter what subject I started with. There are a lot of things I need to get off my chest, though, so I will have to just start writing. I can't really call up somebody and tell them all these things; who would be interested anyway? And I can't afford marriage counselling, and he refuses to go there with me anyway. He won't even agree to go visit a friend who is a psychologist because he doesn't want to hear that anything he chooses to do might be wrong. Like having his girlfriend (who he doesn't even have the sensitivity to keep a secret, but instead goes with openly and TELLS me where they go and what they do(no sex, thank goodness)), and like complaining that I don't talk to him anymore, but jumps all over me for absolutely any comment I make, or like telling me I can't give HIS dog any training because he doesn't want me ruining him, then deciding that I need to put MY dog to sleep because of her health issues. See, it all gets out of hand very quickly.
Don't forget, I am only allowed to use the computer when he isn't here, and actually I can't spend more than a half hour in my studio sewing either, when he's here, and I have to give him more than half of my paycheck to run this place, but somehow I have to come up with the money for extra groceries, and vet bills, and etc, etc, but heaven forbid I should work on anything that can make me some money when he's here. He went ballistic last week because I drove down to the mailbox to mail out a package containing a felted bag that I sold on Etsy. I drive too much according to him, while he drives to North Phoenix to visit his girlfriend 3 or 4 days a week.
I have to take RObin to the vet to have her hips x-rayed now, and I'll have to pay with my secret credit card, because I am forbidden to use his cards, and I have to give him the money from my paycheck that I could pay it with, and I have orders from him to take her to be x-rayed NOW. I doubt that he cares if she is in pain; he just wants a vet quote to surgery on her to use for ammunition when he rants about putting her down. There I go bawling again; I'd better close. I will write how the vet visit goes.

Dogs and exercise

I was thinking this morning while taking the 1st of the daily several long walks with Robin and Sammy that its no wonder so many Aussies end up in shelters and pounds.  Novices may THINK they know what it means to have a high-energy herding breed, but reality is always a surprise.  We knew what we were getting into with these 2, as we had regular Aussies back in the 1980's, before the show breeders made them so huge.  THe miniatures now are just a little smaller than the original Australian Shepherds I remember from the early 1960's in eastern Colorado.  THe toys are sheer indulgence.  THeoretically a toy should require less exercise, so a city dweller could manage one successfully.  I think that anybody contemplating getting ANY Aussie should realize though that they will NEVER get too much exercise, no matter the size, and will rarely think they have enough.  ANd that will only last a few hours.
We have 20 acres that is all up and down, so can just go for walks several times a day.  ANd it is still a pain sometimes, but worth it.  THey are still wonderful dogs and add so much to my/our quality of life.

ATVs in the desert

With the wonderful damp ground out there from Fridays all day rain, the ATVers were out in force yesterday, and they are again today.  I guess the opportunity to tear up the desert oven worse than usual has them all excited.  THey can make new marks everywhere they go, and then SEE where they have been.
I hate them.  There are marks on our land that look as if made yesterday that I know for a fact are at least 100 years old, since we are only the third owner since the original homesteader.  They didn't know any better then, but any fool ought to be able to understand that there won't be any NEW ground once all the old ground has its original covering destroyed.  Here in the desert, things never grow back; not in human lifetimes anyway.

Rain, finally

It rained nearly all day yesterday and late into the night.  We lost our power from around 4-6 and then again from 7-9, so lit the oil lamps and candles while we listened to it rain.  I love rain.
Miss RObin the Princess is nearly a year old, and has never really been rained on before, so she was determined not to go out until it stopped.  Even when I carried her out and halfway up the hill, she just hunched up and held up a paw and refused to move.  It got fairly irritating after a while, and she did finally pee, but managed to keep from number 2 until this morning after the rain stopped.  Sam has never been rained on before either, but like everything else, he took it as an opportunity for enjoyment and had a great time splashing around.  They are SO different.