The All-New Bunrab

Well, the roof is replaced. And the eaves/sofits and the gutters, and a few bits of the siding trim. Energy-efficient white shingles, that will get us an energy tax credit on our next income tax return.

And Fern bunny is fine, after the application of quite a bit of money at the veterinarian.

All of which is to say, we're not going anywhere this summer. No RG in Pittsburgh, sorry M-friends. No Knit and Crochet Show in Buffalo. Nowhere that we can't drive to within a couple of hours and stay at someone's house for free.

We are fixing up the other house for sale, since we haven't had much luck renting it - it goes on the market in a week and a half. A bit of interior paint, repairs to the sidewalk, replace a couple doors, stuff like that. We won't get what we paid for it; we bought it at the peak of the market, and that's not going to come again any time this ten years. But we should clear enough on it, if all goes well, to pay off the mortgage on the current house, replenish savings that were depleted by the new roof, and maybe, just maybe, enough to let us replace the pink bathtub with something we can stand to look at with our glasses on. There's no chance it would be sold and closed on in time to use the money for any of the afore-mentioned summer travel, though.

Anyway, that's what's been happening around here lately. I've gotten in a bit of reading, some crocheting and knitting, and have written some reviews for the Tea Review Blog -check out the blog here:
http://www.teareviewblog.com/
and a few of my reviews, specifically, here:
http://www.teareviewblog.com/?author=27

And, just so this has a bit more content, a picture of the most recent sweater I finished:



I've already worn this one a couple times and people seem to like the little sunflower, even though squirrel_magnet says it looks like a large-winged insect has landed on me.

I crocheted this sweater in less than 2 weeks. In the picture, I haven't done the row of shells along the bottom hem yet, but I did that this evening, after the symphony, while we were watching CSI, so it is truly finished! I might add some small flowers at the neckline in other colors, since spring green isn't actually my best color - figuring to add some orangey-coral and/or aquamarine flowers, should look better at the edge next to my skin.

And it was so easy to make, that while we were at the symphony this evening, I started on the back of another one, and am more than half finished with the back - that's in the dark, in between applauding, reading the program, and whatnot.

The program included Christopher O'Riley, you know, the guy from From the Top. He did two encores, including one of his adaptations of Radiohead, and hey, it sounds at least as "classical" as Philip Glass channeling Brian Eno. Then in the second half, the last piece was Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" and some of the audience started applauding at the pause that comes at the end of the section of the duel, where Tybalt is killed. So the guest conductor turns around and motions with his hand to quiet down, and says "Only one person is dead so far; we've got a couple more to kill yet." And they go on with the piece.

And we had supper afterward at Sabatino's. Life is good.

We got the across-the-street neighbor to take a quick picture of us. (And I slipped in a gentle word to her about her 3-year-old riding her tricycle in the middle of the street... and we discussed, in a casual fashion, with no names mentioned, people who let their dogs out loose, and people who don't put their garbage cans away.) It's not a great picture, but the price was right, so here it is:
( Kelly and Steve, Biker Skum )