Behold, There is Cool Air

Last fall, it seemed as though the a/c in the apartment wasn't doing its job properly. The blower would run constantly, even as the temp climbed higher inside. But by then, it was cool enough outside to open windows and deal with a fan. Fast forward to last Thursday. A friend came over for dinner, and I knew the place would be unbearable, so I put on the a/c for the first time this year. It ran. And ran and ran and ran and still didn't feel cool. So Friday I called apartment management (must say here they are fantastic - respond very quickly and do a great job!), and they sent someone around. When I left to head south for the weekend, he was giving the system a boost of freon or whatever they use now. Yay! I'd be coming back to a cool apartment on Tuesday. Not. It was still hot and sticky, warmer inside than out! So another call to management. The compressor was locked up. Oh, it's wonderful to have cool NON-humid air.

Tonight is knit group. Last week was my birthday, and someone is bringing a cake tonight for celebration. Honestly, I thought the bottle of wine last week was plenty of celebration, but I'm not complaining. Mmmm Cake. And silly me left the February Lady's Sweater there last week, on top of a floor loom. Hopefully my brain will be working well enough to remember to bring it home.

My car is sick. We dropped it off Friday night, and went back Saturday to pick it up. Unfortunately, it was not finished and needed to be kept for the week. It got two new tires, new rear brakes, and either the #3 cylinder is missing (feels like it isn't getting enough fuel) or an oxygen sensor is messed up that allows too rich of a mixture to the spark plugs, which they can't handle. Or something like that. And my clutch was feeling loosey-goosey too, no idea what's wrong there yet. Who needs money anyway? This means I am driving Good Husband's Big-Truck-That-Drives-Like-A-City-Bus. Vroom. What a pain to park!

This last weekend I concentrated on the melon shawl, finishing the body and getting over half of the border done. It's working up quickly, and the alpaca has a fantastic hand: very soft and drapey, which makes me wonder how it will block.

I made a dress last week for myself - dark olive linen, a Vogue pattern with short sleeves and a placket in front with coconut fiber buttons. It's very comfortable, but I may end up taking it up just a pinch. I find it difficult to sew smaller now that I've lost weight, like I must be mistaken or the pattern has to be wrong. Silly me. I'll get over it ;)

Leaving you with a blurry shot of one of my favorite trees - a catalpa.
My grandparents' town had these trees lining some of the sidewalks. We used to call them cigar trees because the seedpods are very long and brown and look like gigantic cigars. The flowers are almost orchid-like, and a huge tree in full bloom is a thing of beauty. There is an ancient catalpa on SEMO's campus that is huge and twisted... once the blossoms begin to drop, the ground looks like it is covered with a layer of snow.