Scotch and chocolate

Isn't that always the way things go? I had tried about four times to get Blogger to upload my pics and it wouldn't do it. I post the lists and suddenly, the pics upload just fine. Oh well, guess there's worse things than two posts in one day.


These are the goodies my secret pal sent me. It's hard to tell, but the Silky Wool is a deep purple and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get more and do a sweater or make the gloves and hat from the Silky Wool book. Probably should do the later as the Stash is of epic proportions and doesn't need increasing. The little gold box had some yummy chocolates in it that went well with the Bowmore I was slugging out of the bottle as I organized the Stash. There's some great notions and a book from my Amazon list in there too. My pal put a lot of thought into this box and I love everything she sent. Thank you secret pal!


This is some of the Stash. This scene sent me into the house for premium scotch and chocolate. It was that or just lie face down on the lawn and ponder what was wrong with me. I thought scotch would be better as the lawn is really dried out and prickly right now. Most of this fit into the cabinets, but I still need one more for the little that remains. The monkey was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Smiled sweetly when I suggested that I was insane and nodded a little when I said I should never again be allowed to buy wool. He never even asked for a drink! Just went back into what is now the giant, walk-in, wool closet and continued assembling the cabinets. His "get out of jail free" credit is very good right now.
There will be a full (and frightening) tour of the giant, walk-in, wool closet as soon as all cabinets are in place.


I did manage to get a couple of things done this week. The Point o' the Wave stole is finally finished. The color is actually much deeper than this pic shows. More of a deep plum. The insane cardy is also finished and just waiting for buttons. Since Holly will likely want to go to the button store downtown, figured I'd wait and see what they've got rather than start beading buttons. The cardy needs 10 buttons, so I'd rather buy some than make them.
I'm almost caught up again on the Mystery stole. Still have to do two weeks of pattern on one side, but the other side is almost there. Only two more clues and we'll have the whole pattern.

SP8 bonus questions and Holly's Meme

Blogger has finally decided that it's my turn to not be allowed to upload pics, so I give you silly lists instead. The first one is for the Secret Pal exchange and the other is a meme that Holly tagged me with. BTW, Holly is evil and so are memes, but you already knew that.
Evil Holly is coming to visit on Friday. I plan to put her to work sorting stuff in the workshop. I might let her play in the Stash, if she behaves herself.
The Stash is mostly put away in it's new home. I need one more cabinet to fit the rest in. I took a pic of it on the back lawn. It gave me a pretty nice panic attack seeing it all laid out like that. Scotch was involved. Very scary. When I can post the photos I will.
My secret pal sent me another really nice care package and there's a pic of that waiting as well.
On to the lists:

1) What is your favorite season of the year?
Summer
 
2) Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Anywhere screaming hot
 
3) If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?
It's a long list, I can't decide. See 2.
 
4) If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Huh?
 
5) If you won a shopping spree to your favorite yarn store, what would you get?
When I post the Stash pics, you'll see why no one should ever allow me to do this.

The 5 thing meme:

5 Things always in my purse:
cell phone
wallet
green cards for spinning wheels
breath mints of some sort
lip balm

5 Things always in my wallet:
cash
bank card
cheques
driver's license
frequent reader card for Black Bond

5 Things always in my refrigerator:
mineral water
some sort of veg trying to make soup of itself
homemade jam
salsa
fresh ginger

5 Things always in my closet:
something I'm too bloated to wear
more sweaters than I can wear in one lifetime
shoes
a skirt that will only be worn once 'cause I don't wear skirts
a leather coat

5 Things always in my car:
cds
window scraper
phone charger
tire gauge
umbrella

5 Things always on my desk:
pens
yarn (if you have to ask, you don't know me)
post its
calender
drop spindles (again, if you have to ask...)

5 People to tag:
I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to just do this if you want. Hah!

Trekking on the beach

I just finished my third pair of Trekalong socks. I'm completely hooked on the Trekking ombres. I've even managed to get past the fact that it doesn't seem to repeat, so my socks will never be matched. The OC in me hates this, but the yarn is so nice to wear and knit, I'm letting it go. The next pair is already cast on, but I don't like the pattern, so it'll likely come out and be made into something more cabley. Seem to be in cabled, lace sock mode.


The beach has been amazing lately. Incredibly low tides, beautiful, hot, sunny weather and a ton of wildlife that doen't seem to care that there are humans around. We got nice and close to this bald eagle. He buzzed our heads as he came in for a landing.


We found a live sanddollar! I've never seen one before. We find a few dead ones when the tide is low, but never live ones. This guy was on his back, legs wiggling, so we put him right side up in the water. He looked like bumpy purple velvet on top. Couldn't get a good pic of that.


And that is the Canada/ US border marker in the middle of the bay. The middle of the bay! The tide was out past it. We could've just walked across the bay into the US. We didn't have enough time, but Roz's dog, Kelpie challenged authority as she ran unchecked into another counry and back.

Almost FO

Isn't it lovely? Doesn't it just inspire you to go knit?
Yup, that's the heap of finished pieces for the insane cardy.
Yup, it looks like a pile of cat yak.
I don't blame you. If I saw that, I wouldn't want to knit it either.
Maybe this will help...


Okay, I know it still doesn't look like something anyone would want to knit. Ends everywhere and obviously stupid amounts of grafting. And the sleeve seam is off centre. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?!
But...


It has potential doesn't it?


Teaser.
We ordered storage for the Stash yesterday and it will arrive tomorrow.

Spinach Pie porn

This is one of my favorite quicky recipes. I've never met anyone who won't eat it. Even kids. Don't tell them it's spinach, tell them it's pureed kryptonite. They'll eat it. And with the weather so hot right now, it's nice to have something around that's as good cold as leftovers as it is hot. So, here it is:
Spinach Pie
1/4 cup onion (I use less and shallots instead)
1 clove garlic
oil
1 package thawed, chopped spinach with the excess water squeezed out
1/2 cup cooked rice ( just stick some of the leftovers when you make rice into a baggie and then into the freezer and you have it when you want to make this)
1 1/2 cup cheese ( I use old cheddar)
2 lightly beaten eggs
2 tbsp milk
salt and pepper
3 tbsp parmesan
1 package cresent dough (the new whole wheat stuff is really good in this)
1. Saute onion and garlic in oil.
2.Mix together all ingredients except dough.
3. Place some mixture into each cresent and fold corners in.
4. Place around a 9" pie plate and bake for 40 min. at 350.

Sunny daze

Ever have one of those days where you just can't seem to focus, but it doesn't seem like a bad thing?
I feel like that today.
I was working on the Mystery stole (see pic below) even though I really need to work on the the insane cardy (see pic below pic below), and it just wasn't working for me. What to do? Nothing seems to be ready to be finished. The pile of WIP is massive and I. Can't. Focus.
So. I put on loud, heavy music and clean house. Come on, we all do it. Put on loud music, sing along over the sound of the vacuum cleaner and bop around. Curtains closed of course. Wouldn't want the neighbors calling the nice young men with their clean white coats. Very cathartic. Feel better and now the dishes, laundry, dusting and vacumming are done. Bonus points for me!


This is the aforementioned Mystery Stole. I'm almost caught up, but with a clue a week and piles of other crap to do it's a bit of a struggle. It's kinda cool though. The big medalliony thing in the centre is neat and it's different from other lace knitting I've done. The fact that's it's not a repeating pattern and therefore needs to be knit with pattern right at hand does make me mildy batshit, but I'm dealing.


Yeah.
This is the insane cardy. Progress has been made and hopefully later this week I'll have a "which part of the sweater is it", guessing game. It won't be easy. Hell, I'll be lucky if I can get it right.


On the positive side, I have the nicest and most talented friends. People who make me laugh till I need clean undies, and are amazingly generous with their love and their time. Don't worry, you won't need fillings if you continue reading.
Roz made this for the impending niece. How great is that? Very freaking cute.
And hey, the new addition's name is Aurora Rose. Should be here in about a month. I'll try and get a pic of the bloat she's causing her mom next week.


In case the loud, heavy music mentioned above didn't tip you off, I'm not exactly a "granny" knitter. This is my baby and the monkey and I waxed her this past weekend. Shiny! Nothing says summer like a convertible.
And see what I mean about talented? My brother did the side splash of spideys.
Well, think I'll go read in the sun for a while. The rest of the laundry can wait.
Hey! Almost forgot. My SP got her parcel. You can check out what I sent here, but keep it on the down-low, 'cause she still doesn't know who I am.
PS: I've added a couple more Nihon projects to the gallery. The Effing Oak Leaf Cardy (as it's lovingly referred to) is there now.

KSKS ready to go

I've finally got my sock kit pal's stuff ready to go.
There's the felted bag to cart around all the gear, a hemp wrist bag (that I just finished this morning) for sock knitting on the move, pattern, Fancy image hand-dyed yarn, some funky sheep markers, a chibi with the smaller set of darning needles, tape measure, bamboo needles and some edibles. Hope she likes it!


These are the colors I spent a whole day dyeing in Olds. The color wheel reds we did are pretty sucky and I'm going to redo them. The red is very orange and the separation of colors is almost nonexistant. Back to the dye pot for those.
The blue and purple runs are gradations that I have to use in either my final project or a small project. We only have to use eight colors, so I'll likely take the fourth one out of each run so the separation is more noticeable. I'm thinking of doing a pair of gloves with the blues and a hat with the purples. Neither colors fit into my final project.
The mauvey skeins above the color wheel were injection dyed as balls and then squeezed to blend the colors. Not as dark as I wanted and they may be done over as well.


I did buy a couple of Cotswold fleeces and some suri/silk roving in Olds, but the wood gadgets really outshine the wool. Most of this I bought from Mr Tabachek but there are few things from Forrester as well.
Here's the low-down: mahogany 1yd niddy, purpleheart sample niddy, bubunga noste, maple noste, purpleheart and maple darning egg (thing's huge, I could use it as a sap!), zebrawood diz, lacewood support bowl, bubinga diz, redheart and maple compact deluxe, bubblegum laminate compact deluxe.
I'm pretty pleased with the haul and I hope Mr Tabachek recovered nicely from the scare.

I'm Baaaack

Well, the socks and I were trekking around Olds College all this past week. Here's the second sock of the third pair checking out the color wheel dyeing on day two. We were in the dye room from 8:30am till at least 5pm. Dyed for a color wheel, eight gradation shades and injection. Very long day, but hugely productive.


Olds is an agricultural college and the gardens around it are stunning. Unfortunately, it also has huge blood-thirsty mosquitoes. They chase you! Most unpleasant. But I did manage to get a pic of one of the less bitey bugs that fly around there. It was almost like he posed. He sat there long enough for me to dig out my camera and get a pic. Cant tell if he's smiling or not.


This one's for you Kerry!
That's (wait for it) Mr Tabachek!
We got to meet him and buy large sacks of his spinning tools. I think we scared the bejesus out of him. He looked kinda deer-in-head-lightsish when I asked for a photo. And very confused, but he did it amyway. Most likely to get the crazy ladies the hell out of his condo.


And here's the awesome load of goodies my secret pal sent me! Of course the parcel came while I was away and the monkey opened it. But I got paw all the stuff when I got back. It's great! All things I really love. Just check out the vintage needles. How cool is that?! Thanks secret pal!


Ah, it's good to be home. The second pair of trekalong socks is done and ready to get back to the beach. My walking buddy is back from France and we get back to our routine on Monday. She doesn't get up at indecent hours like her hubby. The dog and I can sleep to a reasonable hour again. Yay.

Adendum to Murphy's knitting law

I've now knit both sleeves of wretched sweater. Took a little under five balls to do both. It would seem that I had enough yarn in the first place. Perhaps even a little more than I will need. So now I realize that once you've gone to great lengths and expense to procur the yarn you are all but sure to run short of, you will have too much. You will have too much by exactly the extra amount you bought plus one. When I meet Murphy, I will give him the beating of a lifetime.
I'm off to Olds tomorrow afternoon and not back till Friday night. I will take pictures.
Be afraid.

Gallery

Due to popular demand (two people can comprise popular demand right?) I've finally figured out how to link to a gallery. I haven't got everything up yet as I exceeded my free limit and I'm trying to decide just how cheap I really am. I'll likely give the flickr people the paltry sum they demanded and do this right, but for now, suck it up 'cause that's all ya get!
And yeah, some of the sweaters aren't blocked and my compostion is crappy, but sheesh what do ya want? I'm no Ansel Adams and this isn't MOMA. Deal.

A Murphy's Knitting Law

It's always the way and you'd think by now I'd know better.
I bought 16 balls of wool/cotton in a discontinued color. I thought, "hey, 16 balls should be enough to do a sweater". Which I should know is a knitter's equivalent to the "E" on the fuel gauge meaning "enough".
The Nihon Vogue instructor suggested that we might like to make this cardigan as the construction is challenging. I thought, "hey, I've got wool/cotton in that great color in my stash and it'll be perfect for that cardy!" Most people wish for a fairy godmother, I now wish for the dumbass fairy. The dumbass fairy is a burly little thing that comes around whenever a piss poor idea pops into your head and just gives you a good thump on the back of the head as she mutters "dumbass" under her breath. Thus, you smarten up and come up with a better idea. Sadly, the dumbass fairy has forsaken me and I continued with my charming idea.
The swatch took a ball and a half. THE SWATCH!
At this point, panic set in. I combed all the shops and the web in search of more of this color. I got lucky, sort of. Found 4 balls in two different dye lots. So now I think I have enough, but I have 3 different lots to deal with. Luckily, the way the sweater's worked will help me hide them.


I've got the better part of one sleeve done now. The lace is the underside of the sleeve and the seam is actually up the side of the panel. Kinda cool.
I've my kit going for my sock kit pal. Hope she likes it. My pal contacted me today too so it's all good. I've decided not to carry on with The Amazing Lace. Initially, I thought it was just a knitalong, but it's not and I just don't have the kind of time required to do some of the wild posts they're asking for. It has spurred me on to more lace knitting though, so it worked out for the best.
The Point O' the Wave stole is stalled as I ran out of wool. Don't ask. See above.
Where is that bloody fairy when you need her?!

Trekalong socks first Trek

Here's the first pair of Trekking socks all finished and ready for their first trek. I used the River Rapids pattern and color 104. Anyone who knows me will be amazed that I managed to suppress my seriously OC tendancies and NOT match the stripes on the socks. I think it's the first time I've ever used stripey yarn and not matched the pair. If I don't look at them alot, it doesn't bother me...


The second pair of Trekking sock out for their first trek. This is color 101 (which I'm totally loving) in the Yukon Leaves pattern.


With my regular walking buddy in France,(lucky bunt) I get to see some slightly different scenery with her hubby. We walk in the park adjacent to the beach at a completely ungodly hour. We go at 7am, which is a compromise. He originally suggested 6am. Once I managed to stop laughing, we agreed to the slightly later time. It's a pretty park with a small stage, a kid's park and a huge playing field that Loki loves to run around on. We even found some edible mushrooms there last week.


This is mostly unrelated to the Trekking stuff. It's a little note for Anthea.
I have, on occassion, been accused of knitting all day, every day in a beam of sunlight with birds flitting around me a la Cinderella. I won't mention names ('cause I already did), you know who you are. You've accused me of letting my house fall into disrepair and never feeding the monkey. All so I can knit more.
Just thought I'd dispell the myth once and for all.
This was my kitchen yesterday, for almost ALL of the day. Strawberry hell. Entirely my fault. I never thought to ask my walking buddy's hubby how big the flats of strawberries he buys are. I just assumed (you can see where this is going right?) that he bought the 10lb ones. Afterall, he usually buys four just for him. Thank the deity of your choice I only asked for two! Bloody guy buys the 20lb flats! I had 40 freaking pounds of strawberries in my kitchen! Couldn't stand the smell of the effing things by 5 pm. And. I. Still. Wasn't. Done.
I managed to bag up the last of them around 7 pm. During this time I had managed to do three loads of laundry and...


...bake a cake for strawberry angel food dessert.
I admit, it was a mix.
But I did knit 21 repeats of the edging on the Point O' the Wave stole. Had to slide some knitting in there so I didn't go completely batshit.

Knit Sock Kit Swap

Yeah, I joined another online thingy. What can I say, I'm weak. And this one's for more sock yarn, 'cause I NEED more sock yarn. Of course I'm sending yarn to someone else so you could say that it balances out. There's rationalization at it's very best. Hah.
So here's questionnaire for the swap:
What are your favorite colors?
-blues, burgundys, purples
Are you a new sock knitter? How long have you been knitting sock?
-I'm not new, let's leave it at that
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
-MULTI!
What fibers do you prefer in a sock yarn?
-wool, wool/nylon, wool/cotton/ nylon, cotton/lycra
Where do you usually knit socks?
-pretty much anywhere I go
How do you carry/store small projects?
-usually stuffed into whatever big bag is coming with me
What are your favorite sock knitting patterns?
-I like ones that looks fussy but are simple. Travelling lace is my current fave.
What are your favorite sock knitting techniques?
-I'm a big creature of habit, so I almost always knit em cuff down with a heel flap, but I can do other styles.
What new techniques would you like to try?
-I've been considering the two socks at once thing
Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting?
-dpns
What are some of your favorite yarns?
-Schaeffer, any of the ombres, Mountain Colors, Lorna's Laces and Koigu
What yarn do you totally covet?
-Schaeffer
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
-either Eleanora socks or Traveler's socks from Knitting on the Road.
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
-Crystal Palace dpn bamboo
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
-huh?
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
-Willie Wonka gobstoppers, or pretty much any kind of chocolate.
What's your favorite animal?
-herons
Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?
-dog, Loki, 10 yrs
-cat, Uzume, 9 yrs
-cat, Spike, 3 years
-hairless ape, Murray, 40 yrs
If you were a color what color would you be?
-again, huh?
Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else's)..
-black baby doll says, "You Can't Have Manslaughter Without Laughter". Has a fifties style guy in a suit, big smile on his face, brandishing a butcher knife.
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
-love pics of herons and eagles flying
Tell me the best quote you've ever read or heard.
-"There's such a fine line between clever and stupid." Spinal Tap
Do you have a wishlist?
-not really
Anything else you'd like to share with the group today?
-maybe later

Summer monster post

Well, it's mid June already and the flowers are blooming up a storm and the garden is starting to produce edibles. We've got fruit planted pretty much everywhere in the garden. There's peach, apple, pear and plum trees, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and hazelnuts. Those big green leaves surrounding the foxglove are kiwi. The thing puts out a ton of fruit these days, we're talking several hundred. I even made some kiwi jam and marmalade last year. I didn't manage to get the vegies in yet, but there's still time if I just buy some plants. Time got away from me. What were the odds?


Even though the monkey's home, I still manged to get some stuff done this week. Finished spinning the first pound of Targhee in the 3 ply sport for level 4 next month in Olds. I won't bore you with a pic as it's white and there's miles of it. Took me two hours to ply it and my hand went numb. It was still tingly 30 minutes later. Only one more pound to spin. Um... yay?
The first pair of Trekalong socks is done and I really like 'em. Cool pattern that knit up in no time and they fit great. The second pair is already on the needles. I'm using color 101 in the Yukon Leaves pattern. Looks good so far.
I took some other crazy knitter advice from the last post and started both the Wave stole and the cardy. The cardy pattern is not so good. Has anyone else done that one? Seems really poorly charted. I did what I thought it should be, but it's almost impossible to tell from the pic what the lace should look like. So the cardy is stalled, but the stole is really coming along. I've got the first half done and I'm 6 repeats up the second. Of course, it's got the mother of all knit on double borders, so it's not even close to finished.


More spindle porn. Couldn't let you down. The one on the left is from the always enabling Kerry. It's an Avi Wasserman. I was having so much trouble getting one of those effing things that I was starting to think they were the grail of the spinning world. But here it is and it's pretty damn neat. The other one is a Duane Larson I got off ebay. It's pretty big and heavy, but it should good for plying. Attractive spindle and you know me, constantly compelled to buy the shiny things.


Speaking of shiny things...
The monkey brought me some from Israel! Of course, which one do you think I totally love? The one he got in a proper jewellry store, or the one he got from a guy on a blanket at the edge of the desert that will probably turn my neck green? Yup, the blanket one. I'm such a cheap date. It looks like it was shaped around a horn, very cool. Don't get me wrong, the other is really gorgeous too, it's just not funky and weird.


Last, but not least, something you don't get to see everyday, monkey on a camel! Keeping the Israeli tourist industry strong!

Monkey's away, stuff gets done!

I've got one of the Trekalong socks done. I really like the pattern. It looks like cables, but it's really a lace. Very comfy too. The socks's pointing out the Peace Arch in the background. It's the shiny thing at the skyline about mid-sock. Very hard to see, but it's there. The beach is great at this time of year. The tide goes out so far that you can almost wade across to the U.S. The bay almost empties, it's very cool. There's usually herons and bald eagles sitting on beach at the delta, and jelly fish wash up onto the sand after really lows tides. Sometimes sand dollars and starfish as well. Beautiful place to have so close to home.


I managed to get Roz's socks done before she left for Britain and France. She was kind enough to model them (make sure they fit) for me. I used the cotton Regia so she'll have comfy feet trekking through the Loire Valley. She's my dog walking pal and I'll be going much earlier than normal with her hubby while she's off having fun in Europe. Hope he doesn't expect much perky chat from me at seven am. Mornings and I are barely on speaking terms.


My first Amazing Lace project is done! And the weather is cooperating today so I can block it outside. I had to keep the mister close at hand as it's so warm, the shawl was drying before I had all of it pinned out. I got these great foam locking tiles from the dollar store and they're excellent for blocking. You can change the shape and pins go in easily and hold. When you're done, you just take them apart and they store in a tidy pile. Much nicer than having a huge foam board for blocking.


Here's a close up of the lace. Nice easy pattern that knit up very quickly.


I also managed to get the Shapely Tank done this week. I used the Treasure cotton and it's worked up very light and soft. A great summer shell.
Now I have to decide whether I'm gonna behave and do my homework for the spinning course and the Nihon Vogue class, finish the two poor shawls from the last post, OR be really bad and start something new. I've been eying up Print O' The Wave Stole and this short sleeved lace cardy. Anybody wanna help me decide?

The Amazing Lace: Scary Extreme Knitting

You want extreme knitting? I'll give ya extreme knitting!
Here I am, knitting away on the Adamas shawl on a sunny day. Looks nice and not terribly dangerous right? But wait! I'm not wearing sunblock! Ooooooh! And I'm not using a pattern! Ahhhhhhh! And I've neglected to run any guidelines at all! Oh the humanity! Where will the madness end?! I was drinking martinis while I knit that lace too! I got yer danger right here baby.


There's more! Witness the wool/silk yarn I dyed myself that has been started and yet the pattern has gone missing. Will I ever find the pattern or will I have to rip it all out and start over. Even if I find the pattern, will I be able to determine what row I was on? Oh the horror!


See the Charlotte's web shawl that ran our of wool! Aiya!
Will it be relegated to the closet forever?!
Stay tuned...

Punis and finished stuff

I admit it, I just like the word "punis". It sounds kind of naughty and it's hard to say it without smirking just a little. Punis are tight little cotton rolags. I ordered some to compare them with the ones I make myself. The bought ones are far superior. They card the crap out of the cotton and it's very uniform and soft. Very easy to spin these suckers. I plan on using them with my Bosworth charkha that won't be here till the end of August. Until then, the punis taunt me.
The very pretty lacewood spindle on top of the punis is apparently the last Mielke made for the time being. Kerry was so nice to pick it up for me at MDSW. Her spindle karma is good!
The two spindles in the foreground are from a local guy who's selling on ebay as Viking Santa. Very pretty spindles that spin really well.


Another baby sweater done. Well, sort of. It doesn't have buttons yet, but this may a good excuse to go to the button store downtown. I loooove self striping sock yarn. It's making my life very easy right now. I'll do some more interesting baby stuff too, but the stripey stuff is so damn cute.


And hey! I got the massive beach sweater done. The monkey could even tell it was an owl, so I think I did an okay job of the design. I couldn't find a traditional cowichan design that tweaked me, so I did my own. The border is a traditional pattern, but the owl's all mine. It'll be great on those chilly fall mornings by the water.


The monkey's off in the middle east for the next week and sent me pics today. Of course he mocks me with a foreign market. He gets to shop in a foreign country, while I spent the day cleaning out the kitchen cupboards. I fart in his general direction. Hmmf!