It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Longtime readers will remember just how much I love Halloween in general- and the Little 5 Points Halloween parade in particular.

This year's parade was no exception.

I just went back and re-read last year's post, and while I am no author, I don't think that I could say anything much differently. This year's parade was every bit as fabulous (and the weather every bit as perfect - I swear, it's just a little bit charmed...)

So - if you're not sure what the L5P parade is all about, you can read what I wrote about it last year.

There is one big thing different from last year, though...
I got some really fun pictures...

---

Why do I love this parade so much?



Because *everyone* lets their "freak" flag fly!

---

---

---

---

---

---

Psssst - interested in more? These are just a few of the pics I took. You can see the complete set over at Flickr!

Enjoy!

In Which Thing Two Gets Ready For Halloween*...

Thing Two, originally uploaded by lla.

---

How nice is this? This is my cat, ThingTwo, covered in cobwebs.

And no, I didn't do this to him. He just showed up on the couch looking like this.

And yes, I *am* freaked out.
Seeing as how he's an indoor cat and all.
(Do you now see why I was soliciting housekeeping tips earlier a while back?)
(Maybe he's been hanging out in the basement with the possum?)

It's all fun and squalor here at the House That Crazy Built, I'm telling you...

---

So - now you know why it's been so quiet around here lately - I've been busy picking cobweb off my cat.

OK - that's not really why it's been so quiet around here.

It's more like I have found myself in a phase where I can either do what I need to do in "real life" *or* I can have fun on the computer. But I can't seem to manage both. So, the computer has fallen by the wayside a bit. :(
(and yes, I just resorted to putting a frowny at the end of that sentence. I actually tried to come up with words to express how I feel about my not having any time for computer fun, but the frowny summed it up best.)

I'm looking forward to feeling like I've got my head back above water - I'm so far behind on my blog reading, and there are a lot of people that I'm missing bunches! I'm actually kind of hoping that the fact that I found 10 minutes to post this is a positive sign - maybe I'll be fully back before you know it...

In the meantime, it's back to TCB.
And cobweb removal.

---

*He may be the only thing around here that looks like it's ready for Halloween... As I was headed down to the basement to start dragging out the boxes - yes, you read that right... boxES, plural - of Halloween crud that I use to gussy up the place, Shecky stopped me. He asked no, he *begged* me not to put up all the lights, bats, pumpkins, etc. that I usually use to festoon the house. "Please," he said, "can't we have a normal house just one year?"

How sad is it that at *NINE* - my kid no longer thinks that decorating ala Clark Griswold is cool.
And that at my advanced age, I still do...

Great Minds Think Alike???*

I had to smile when I read Autum's recent post at Creative Little Daisy... it seems she and I are on the same wavelength these days.

---

As a vacation treat, I bought this cute little kit (from Michael's, using a 40% off coupon, of course!) I thought that perhaps it would help me in my quest to teach myself crochet.

I immediately decided that I hated the yarn (icky acrylic) and the plastic hook seemed awkward. So I scrounged through my stash and found some less-objectionable yarn and a metal crochet hook that I have on hand to help me weave in all the little nibbly bits when knitting. And I set to using the kit's enclosed instructions.

I can not remember the last time that I did something that felt quite this awkward. Or that I was quite so bad at.

But I struggled through it.

And ended up with what is quite possibly the most awkward and laughable granny square ever.


At one point, as I was struggling with it, Bubba asked me if I were going to blog about this. I think my exact words were "As if!" (Because I've never really outgrown Wayne's World.)

But since Autum was kind enough to show us hers... :)
(Of course, hers did look fabulous...
Hey - does this maybe get me some "Get Real" credit???)

Maybe something constructive can come of this - those of you who do crochet, help a grrrlfriend out! Can you tell what I am doing wrong? Am I possibly on the right track, but just need more practice? Inquiring minds would love to know...

---

*For the record, I don't actually believe this. I don't think that great minds think alike. I think truly great minds must not think like anybody else. But that makes for a much more wordy title...

WIP Friday - 23 March

I've been setting my WIPs up on the mantel, so as to keep them safe from marauding Things.

I was struck this afternoon by what an odd-looking tableau I had inadvertently assembled...

---

Experimenting a bit more with little knitted & felted critters.

Making a friend for SmittenKitten, whom you've already met.

Playing around with the felting technique to see what else I can make it do...

---

In other news - we got a bit of rain today.
Initially, I was all excited - thinking that it would make some of the pollen go Gone, Daddy, Gone.

It didn't.

In fact, it was such a light smattering of rain that all it did was combine with the pollen to make this superindustrial strength pollen paste. It's both impressive and horrible at the same time.

Since hellacious pollen is a novelty to some of you - I've taken some pictures of the sludge. You can view the entire pollen set over at Flickr.

Be warned - it's not for the faint of heart.
Although, I did throw a few gratuitous pictures of my boy, Schecky, in.
Just 'cause...

Guess Who Went to the Optometrist Today?

And that's about *all* that happened today.

I had an appointment first thing this morning, and the doctor dilated my eyes. And - boom! - that was pretty much all she wrote for the rest of *my* day...

Unless you count walking around looking like an anime character, or the subject of a Margaret Keane painting - because I did a lot of that...

---

That would be me...
Originally uploaded by lla.

I got home from my appointment, and realized I couldn't read, or knit, or even see the computer screen. Also, the sun was just killing me...
I spent the entire time that Scheck was in school sitting in a darkened living room, listening to trashy television.

I kind of hate myself, because in spite of protesting that I would never watch that "Who Wants to be the Next PussyCat Doll" show... please don't make me finish that sentence. I'm too ashamed...

Picked Schecky up from school, and had to tell him that we couldn't go to the park, despite it being a gorgeous 70°, because Mommy was a vampire and the sun was killing her.

Instead, we went to the soothingly dark Lizards and Snakes exhibit at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Where Schecky tirelessly read me all the signs by the exhibits. He's a good egg, that boy is. I may have to go back with my camera to take some pictures, because lizards and snakes are way cool...

Eight hours later, I am just now starting to be able to see small print, etc. again. And my pupils have gone down slightly. But only slightly. I can't decide if they changed the stuff that they put in your eye, or if I'm just getting old. But I don't ever remember this ever being this big of an inconvenience in the past!