Rachael

Migraine today. I simply MUST get the doctor to give me something. (That means I have to both make and keep an appointment, something I’m terrible at doing.)

I’ve been fighting low-pressure headaches all week from the storms rolling through. But I’m finally (unfortunately) getting to the point where I can tell the difference between a bad headache and an impending migraine. There’s a low heat in the base of my neck and tops of my shoulders that foretells what’s gonna happen. That part hit about midnight last night and when I was still awake (and ready to die) at five am, I called in sick to work. The worst is over now, but I still can’t face light (the monitor is turned down so low I can hardly read it) and noise is killing me. And the neighbor boy got drums for Christmas. I can’t fuckin’ wait for him to go back to school. He started playing at ten this morning, a not-unreasonable time, I suppose. But they have as little wall insulation as I do, it seems, as when he starts playing I think he’s in the room next door to me, not across the driveway. The volume of it is ridiculous.

Kay. I’ve now headached and kvetched my way into being even grumpier. Excedrin does nothing, nor does Aleve or Tylenol or Advil. I’ve had all of ’em, all night and all morning. If I felt better, I’d go to the doc right now. As it is, I’m going back to bed. Erg. But I might take a sock to knit on. Yep. Hope your day is headache-free.

The rain broke yesterday and allowed us to put the top down as the sisters drove down the coast. Bethany mostly rode in the back because she’s the youngest and we can still make her do things. That and she likes the view. That and she’s just a leetle hardier than Christy (Christy, yesterday alone, had 4267 good traits going for her, I counted, but being hardy in the face of cold wind wasn’t quite one of ‘em. She bravely volunteered for the backseat at one point and we drove about six minutes. Bethany looked up at the trees and said, “The view’s better in the back,” just as Christy yelled, “It’s FREEEEEEEZZZZZING!” They traded back.)

Oh, see? Here’s Bethy:

Here’s Christy:

After some shopping at Phipps General Store, where I bought olallieberry jam and we looked at the animals (chickens, peacocks, a couple of rangy goats, and a baby pot-bellied pig wedged between the boards and its huge snoring mother), we ended up at our destination: Duarte’s for lunch.

They put us in the back dining room, which is a long walk through two other dining areas, and then through the bar where only locals sit and where the juke is stocked with Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. The back room still had its Christmas tree, which smelled like it had been sprayed with that fake tree scent. I was a little scared it would make the food taste like camp rations. But, oh, it did not. A crab melt and a Newcastle made the afternoon taste right. It was just us in the room, so we could be as stupid and loud as we liked. Which we were.

And the reason for the trip? Olallieberry pie. Christy had never tried it. And yep, it was just as good as I remembered. I’ve told you before, I don’t even LIKE pie. But this pie…. with its crust….. and the rich vanilla ice cream that places way more emphasis on the cream than the ice….. Here we are, in the midst of deep happiness (you’ll notice I’m wearing Olallieberry, my homage to the pie):

It was the perfect ride, with only one brief stop at Fengari in Half Moon Bay where I only bought one skein of Lamb’s Pride – you’d have been proud of me. Oh, and a Sirdar pattern I liked. I think that’s it. Then back home, top up in the dark.

Bethany and I celebrated New Year’s in the best way possible, I think (I’ve always hated that Search for the New Year’s Party, where you end up fighting with your significant other and not wanting to kiss ANYONE at midnight). We flaked on all the other things we could have done, sent Christy off with her boyfriend to do the Search, bought champagne and those little wrapped cheeses, and invited Rachel and Kira out from the City. While waiting for them to arrive, I called Maggi, who’s even more darling than can be believed. She has the best southern accent, something I hadn’t ever imagined in her writing voice but now can’t get out of my head. It was really truly lovely to talk to my friend, live and in person. Aren’t we blessed?

Then I picked up the girls from BART, and we all sat around knitting and watching old taped Buffy episodes until the ball dropped.

(New Bucket-O-Chic on m’head — need to block it a little still, but I love it.) I gamboled outside to let in the New Year and stood there, happily listening to the fireworks and the pops. And then I realized that although I live in north Oakland, it’s still Oakland, and there was an awful lot of gunfire, so I went back inside for more champers.

A good way to open the book of the new year, wasn’t it? Now we’re trapped inside in an enormous rainstorm that’s been pounding since two-thirty this morning. Digit just came in, a wet muddy snarly animal who hated like hell getting dried off. But he ain’t going out again, if that thunder I’m hearing means anything. Bethany’s in the tub, her favorite place, and I’m in my new favorite place, sitting on my grown-up loveseat, so all’s well. I hope all’s well in your corner of 2004, too. Peace to you.

Okay, no spoilers, but Return of the King was awesome. Lemme just say that a galloping Gandalf can make me cry, and Viggo singing…. well. I do believe I lost several years of my life, right there.

More hanging with the sisters today – driving down the coast, must get us some olallieberry pie after a quick yarn trip, perhaps? (Remember the camera, remember the camera, remember the camera.) It’s looking a lot like more rain, so the top might stay up, but it’s always down in spirit when the three of us are making faces out the windows.

Happy New Year! If you go out, be safe. If you stay in, open the door at midnight and let in a peaceful new year. Love to you.

Yippee! Sister Bethany’s in town! But that means that while I’m playing more, I have less time to blog. But I’ll do a quick photo-blog, kay?

It’s my weekend, thank god, and the rain’s finally stopped. Don’t get me wrong, I aDORE rain, but it’s hard to move furniture in a downpour.

Das right. Got a little furniture today. Just one piece, a loveseat, but it’s enough to throw me into a total freak-out. Beth and I were out last night at breakfast (I know you do it too) and she said, “You’re so mellow about everything else, why does moving stuff in your house make you lose your mind?”

Not sure. Only know that I can take life-or-death phone calls and keep track of where and what my officers are doing, and I can change tires in the rain, and I can catch thirty-two dropped stitches in a bar by candlelight, but moving a couch flips me OUT. I turn into a gibbering idiot. I think I’m like my cats. I move furniture and pile crap on top of the bed, and then I just pace around back and forth, blowing air between my lips, saying, “Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.” It feels insurmountable.

Bethany is always the one to pet my head and shush me and say, “No, look, just move this here. It’ll be okay.”

So today, we got rid of my old divan (I LOVED this thing, but I finally had to admit that it’s stained beyond recognition, smells like damp from my old apartment, leaks foam, and has a spring that threatens to remove any remaining child-bearing capabilities I might choose to keep. Plus, it cost me five bucks at a thrift store when I was eighteen. I’m thirty-one. I think I got my money’s worth.)

I bought a CHEAP loveseat from a consignment store, online (craigslist), sight unseen, and had it delivered today. I adore it.

The old one, with Bethany and Adah.

Adah, waiting for the pickup. (I’m losing my mind at this point. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.)

The new one, with Bethany and Adah.

And it made space for a new little yarn center. Yeah, baby.

And me! Happy, calm again. And it’s comfy! No rogue springs.

I’ve had such a great day. And I tried out my new toy, from Mom and the Boys:

(That’s an Indulgent hold-out… not yet sure what I’ll do with that yumminess…)

The ball-winder is working its way east, thanks to Christy….

And here’s me and the kiddo, just taken. Innint she cute?

Lord of the Rings tonight (finally!) with both sisters. Steak beforehand, at the dive bar down the street. What could be better? Peace, darlings.

I went out for a walk this morning before work. Oh, it was cold. And although there isn’t snow, of course, there was a layer of ice on everything in sight. The black top of my covertible was white. And I realized as I was walking that I kind of missed part of Christmas, didn’t I?

I had a marvellous Christmas (see below) and I had a ball knitting all my gifties and getting ready for the holiday, but I was so busy with work and people and doing that I hadn’t been walking, and I missed all the pretty lights, one of my favorite things in life. This morning I silently thanked all the people who were either up early on a Sunday morning and had turned on their Christmas tree lights, or had just left them on all night. Bless them. There’s nothing like a walk in the liminal light of dawn or dusk, twinkly lights inside the cottages gleaming into the chill, the suggestion of hearth and home, of warmth and family. Of course, inside are actually probably kids spilling red juice onto white carpet and people drinking wa-a-ayy too much spiked eggnog and falling over too close to glass coffeetables.

But it looks good from out here.

And hey! Here’s my pal Laura modeling her Villa from Knitty. She asked me to tell you that it’s not just artistic blur, but the slight bulge is actually the wee baby she’s carrying under there. (Hey, ponchos were MADE for pregnant ladies.) Didn’t it turn out great? Love the colors, and the way she seamed it inside out, creating that fab ridge. *Almost* makes me ready to make one. Of course, as soon as I do, the fad will be totally over, so the longer I hold out, the better for y’all.

And here’s me, trying on the sleeves of my orange cardie that I’m winging. Don’t mind the headset.

Whee! And to those of you with lights still up, the walkers thank you.

https://rachaelherron.com/hopefully_i_wil/

You asked for it, you got it. Enjoy some holiday pics.
Or:
What I did on my Christmas vacation.

First let me say that it was one of the nicest Christmases in memory – no quarrels that amounted to anything more than giggling, everyone was home, and even though I was Bounced at seven in the morning by two younger sisters, all was utterly fabulous.

Bethany and I drove down on Tuesday, cats blessedly silent in the back of the car. At one point on the drive, we had a rainbow to our left and deer to our right. Oh, the central coast. (There’s snow on what I call the Steinbeck Hills, the low mountain range that separates his valley from the sea he wrote about.)

Got home in time to…. knit. Yep. Did a lot of knitting. Felt a bunch of earthquakes. Was woken early Wednesday morning to a 4.6 followed eleven seconds later by a 4.4. I get queasy before earthquakes, so I had rather an unsettled night. But these are the kind of earthquakes I like – you know they’re just rumbling by. There’s never that moment of thinking “Is This the Big One?” You can just lie in bed and enjoy the rolling. (Wonderful and necessary site here.) Aside – I can’t be flip, though, when it comes to the recent earthquake in Iran. I just can’t imagine…..

On our way down, we hit a hobby store and I grabbed some yarn to make an emergency oh-shit-I-forgot-someone hat. Hat went well. But oh-shit-I-forgot-her-son, so I made some fingerless gloves, which I’m very pleased with! No pattern, no inspiration other than T-minus four hours and a dash of panic.

I also worked a bunch on the sleeves of the Rachael cardie (AKA WingIt) and cast on for some more Koigu socks.

And look! Everyone got knitted goods!

Beth got Koigu socks! (Can’t remember colorway, but the boys know.)

Mom got a hot water bottle cozy (100% silk). (And the hot water bottle came with it. Good thing, ‘cause she had just bought a new one, which she heated and thoughtfully placed in my bed, which burst upon sheet contact. This wasn’t discovered for another hour or so, enough time for the water to spread from coverlet to mattress. The only thing I could grin about, while sleeping between the stacks of towels, was her present, wrapped and under the tree.) Didn’t get a good pic of this, sorry.

Dad got a Marsan watchcap! (Alpaca, forgotten brand.)

And the Super Secret Project is revealed for those of you who didn’t see it on Rob’s site: Christy’s sweater, Harry Rodgers.

An homage to two of her Great Loves, Harry Potter and Fred Rodgers (couldn’t quite squeeze Lord of the Rings in (damn, should have used NZ wool….). She dug it. See?

Damn, I couldn’t WAIT to give this to her. That’s the best part about Christmas.

Other gifts:

From the folks, Christy got a bodhran. Think she likes it?

And from Dad (mostly), Mom got an……

Accordian! Actually, what she first said was, “Oh! What a terrible thing to do to someone!” We’re not sure whether she meant it was terrible to get it or to give it. But she loves it. I think she snuck it down to the garage to play it later in the day. But I was taking a Christmas nap, rain falling outside, EmmyLou Harris’s new album on the stereo, Christy cooking turkey in the kitchen. I couldn’t follow the accordian sounds, tempting as they were…..

Oh, and on the getting side, I got a ton of cool things. Like this:

A Japanese-made swift from Mom (via the boys ) that came with the best translation sheet. It’s the All-Powerful Reeler. “To close shake gently as you do your parasol.” Um. Okay?

And check it out: Dad invented the Magic Parabola.

Do you get it? It’s for reading and knitting at the same time! God bless him. It’s very clever, actually. I was impressed. But now that I’m home and I’ve experimented a bit, I’ve found it works best in two pieces. The thin board works well propped in the lap, a bit of yarn tying the book down and open. Or, and I like this best, just the stand, the front feet hanging off the chair and resting on the legs, scraps of yarn holding the books pages open (Koigu and Paton’s seen here).

Isn’t that just the best?

I got other wonderful things, too.
A present from the East, from a new friend who is already priceless to my heart.
A tummy-ache from too many goods made with real cream.
A chat with Em, who’s as wonderful in voice as she in writing.
The opportunity to play Cranium with my entire smart-but-crazy family.
An incredible dinner, seen here (gotta love a Nikon with a timer).

(Oh, yeah, you can see here that Mom was gifted with the Sweater-I-Hate. Looks fab on her. She said, “Oh, I was HOPING you would give it to me.”)

Lord, I MUST be about done, mustn’t I? The kitties had a good time (Digit only growled fitfully and Adah set a new world drool record) and snuggled as close as I’ve ever seen them (adversity in the shape of Mom’s cats drawing them closer).

And they, as do I, hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or just a good day to chill out. Mwah, darlings.