Love/Hate

That describes my relationship with my new found habit/obsession Facebook. My sister-in-law got me into it under the pretense of sharing family photos with those back home in New Jersey. To say the whole set-up makes me slightly uncomfortable is an understatement! Imagine if you will a dinner party where I invite all my geeky gymnastics friends, my compulsive cross-stitch friends (all a mix of Americans and Europeans), my sister-in-law, my 12 year old niece, my 80 year old aunt, long-lost high school pals, my co-workers and my boss. Is this really a group that I want all together in one place conversing about me?! Well, that's Facebook. And that search feature. How many long-forgotten (not really) names have I typed in there with trembling fingers? Half those people I didn't want to speak to way back when. Why in the world would I want to know about them now. Facebook did serve it's purpose for me this week though. I "outed" a lady who's owed me money for doll clothes to the tune of $192.00 since November. Her daughter promptly "un-friended" me but she did finally make a PayPal payment grudgingly this morning.

Under the topic of 'Problems Solved', first of course was the $192, then there was the huge Hobbs doll that went out in the mail to my mother's house to be hidden...if an 18 x 18 x 29 box is hide-able. Back to Love/Hate, mostly hate. The Post Office. Not only have their rates gone up consistently every year, now they are thinking of doing away with my favorite mail day, Saturday. Then there is the latest ploy using the ever-popular scare tactic "terrorism". It seems that now all Customs forms must be filled out on line, then printed out on the home computer and brought to the Post Office. I don't have a printer at home, so am I now excluded from mailing internationally? I was informed by the postal woman (complete with eye-rolling and exasperated sighing) that she would now have to convert my hand-written Customs form on to her computer and weigh the package and then calculate my postage. Hmm, sounds an awful lot like WORK to me. Isn't that what she's getting paid for? Preventing terrorism indeed. You would think the Post Office would like a face-to-face encounter with anyone trying to mail something dangerous or illegal. With the Internet-only method what is to prevent them from filling in 'chocolate chip cookies' on the line for package contents, when the box really contains Anthrax or a bomb? Then they simply pay for it on-line with some random credit card, dump it off at the Post Office and run like he**!

OK, enough of the Hate, how about some Love. Spring is really here.

I actually tilled up the vegetable garden today and spend most days outside with the pets,either knitting socks of stitching.

(notice Elliot in the background?)

It's been mostly socks lately.

New starts: Men's socks in Lang "Color Aktion" #235 and anklets in Red Heart, Heart & Sole "Berry Bliss"

Boy's socks in hand-dyed from Etsy. Cedar Grove colors for my nephew.

Re-do of my very first pair for my mother. Sock Ease "Cotton Candy"

My head is filled with inspiration for cross-stitching, but I just can't get my hands to catch up with my brain.
The Red Bud trees are in full bloom, the Red Wing Blackbirds are back and my little vegetable seeds are sprouting.

lettuce

I am also starting some Zinnias and the ever-popular Cat Nip. My larger Cat Nip plants usually over-Winter here pretty well. They get their little green sprouts very early in the Spring, but the cats just don't give them a chance. As soon as a new leaf appears, it is promptly eaten! The zinnias will be hot pink and lime green. I still haven't bought the seeds for the Zinnias I really want, Queen Red Lime, which are both hot pink and lime green in one flower. My $80+ worth of pink daffodils turned out to be mostly yellow/orange with a few muted pinks thrown in. They are still very pretty and I was able to reclaim a long-neglected area near the shed.

Just going on and on today. I think it's because I feel so much safer here then I do on Facebook. Yes, Facebook is more modern, more hip, more now. But when have I ever been any of those things?