Star wars, flowers and paperwork

 First, wishing you a good Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you

My day started with an hour and a half taking pictures and sending them of documents for the HOA. 

My phone often drops the Wi-Fi then I turn to mobile data which is very slow, then Wi-Fi comes back and confuses everything. But I eventually got it done and hope there aren't objections.

Walking today was all about flowers, and a golfer who was amazed when I tossed back his ball which he knocked way out of bounds. He was so grateful! But I always toss back golf balls on my path.  

You can smell the honeysuckle from a distance. I know it's an invasive but in spring it's lovely 

Here's a neighbor's clematis

Home again and the honesty is just booming

 

As you see, both sides of the gate

The sweet William is coming along, too.

My Japanese maple is doing a whole lot better now that Gary's butterfly bush is no more. It was crowding and shading the maple. Its color is much better this year.

Down the street a dogwood is getting heavy equipment attention 

They used to just prop up a ladder, but I suppose this is safer for the operator.

Happy day everyone, plow through the paperwork of life then get to the flowers.

May The Fourth be with you

Today, here's the wish of the day*

*Written in Pitman. For those few who may need a translation: 

The Fourth of May is Star Wars Day. May the Force be with you.

And the last word from the Treasury Mog

On to less important things, yesterday was a knitting, weaving, spinning day. 

Sock Ministry sock, weaving of scarf/panel, and spinning of sari and other silk roving for future weaving in future panels.

I think the current weaving may be part of a bigger thing I've had in mind, a skirt with woven front and back panels, knitted shaped sides.  The idea is from Sarah Swett.  I'll use a mixture of artisan yarn and my handspun yarn.

Which means spinning. Some of my roving supplies 

And here left roving, middle current yarn on spindle, right handspun yarn, various fibers

This is a really exciting idea from years ago, I have notes and sketched pattern shapes that came back last night, as a side effect of reading this

It's a guided tour of his house, containing home and studio, shared with longtime business and life partner Brandon Mabley. It's a color riot of stitching and knitting and quilting, and collections of great decorative art pieces.

And here's a source of his inspiration

In Havana, Cuba, Fusterlandia, the creation of artist Jose Fuster, playful and happy work, full of color and movement.

It's a far cry from all this exuberance to my simple art weaving and knitting, but the Force is with me!  

My doctor agrees, after this morning's physical, which showed my mortal coil to be holding up nicely, all parts working, nothing hurting. She kept telling me how lucky I am. Well, I did know that.

And outside, Mrs Dove continues to do her bit for the life force

Happy day everyone, enjoy your life force!

Cattoine! Star Wars Day

 May the Fourth be with you!

The Kitties are Coming!

In other news: after a fruitless search by Handsome Son to match the busted valve cap, I called the plumber. Reluctant to incur a serious bill, but needs must.

And here's where the story improves. It's a family firm, been working with them since the present principal's dad founded it, they know me. 

Some female relative takes the calls and I explained the situation to her, pointing out that a shutoff should last longer than three years. She agreed warmly! 

The plumber I wanted got back to me in no time, and I put it to him that we were stuck unable to do laundry, and I needed him to put it right. Because three years was too soon. 

He said he'd send another guy I'm not so keen on, good plumber but argumentative. I said oh, sadly, can't you come yourself? Will he know this is only three years, too soon? 

He clearly knows he's being played but might have to answer to his mother for this, says well let's diagnose, and worst comes to worst just charge for the part.

Which came to pass. The guy who came was waiting for me when I got over there five minutes later. He first tried to install a blue cap instead of the red, because "that's the side that's supposed to be blue". 

I pointed out that two blue caps were not useful, that his boss installed the red one, and that plumbers over the years have noted the builders installed the pipes in reverse. And that three years is too soon. Whereupon he grudgingly replaced the blue with a red cap.

And when I asked him what I owed, said $20. Total. A big improvement on the usual $130 to even attend. Literally just the cost of the shutoff replacement. Even if three years is too soon.

HS came home later, tested the machine for filling, texted me to say he had a load of laundry in process. 

So we're now back to where we were before this happened and I can order the dryer.

Much better day! But I still maintain that three years is too soon. I will let go of this at some point, I expect.