Tuesdays Musings

I am canning more corn today.  Can't blame the weather as it is not rainy at all.  It was a bit on the chilly side this morning in the lower 50s.  I had to find socks my feet were so cold.  I guess it is a preview of the weather to come :(

I have finished the 2nd doll.  She is going to family in Scotland, so I have to get her packaged and mailed off.  I started on my 2nd glove as I only had done the first one before I started in on the dolls.

The kids start school next week.  Big day for them coming soon.  I think they are ready to get back to school, but the bus will be here around 7:05am so they are getting used to getting up early again.  I will probably have to get up earlier too in order to make sure they are up and ready to roll.  Such fun (not really - lol)

They have decided to go outside and play in the tent before we pull it up and put it away for the Fall and school.  Also keeps them out of the kitchen while the pressure canner is going.  :)

Rainy Day

So its raining outside.  Its been rainy almost all day and we had rain yesterday.  Mother Nature is making up for a dry July already in August I guess.  As it was cool and rainy I decided to can some corn the husband brought home recently.  With no air conditioning it can make all the deference in the world to can when its cool versus hot.

I have been knitting away too.  I am almost done with my 2nd doll.  Once I finish her I will go back and finish my 2nd fingerless glove based on the gloves that Billie Piper wore as Rose Tyler in Doomsday.  I already made one set, but I wanted them a little longer at the top and bottom, so I started again.
After that I will probably have at least 2 more dolls to make, one for each of my kids.  And I have lots of sock yarn, so I need to try a pair of socks with actual sock yarn, not just the red heart super saver yarn I was using before.

Speaking of knitting, I discovered square needles really are better.  For the dolls it called for size 1.5 US double pointed needles.  The options on Amazon were limited, so I tried the Kollage square needles.  I thought it would be fun to try.  I have bought a couple other sizes now, including the size for my gloves that I will be starting back up with soon.  I find they are easier on my hands, no achey fingers from holding the needles.  However they are pointy, so I had to adjust to working with the point, which in some cases meant poking myself until the skin toughened up.  I never drew any blood if you are wondering.  And the point can make picking up yarn easier once I got the feel for it.  So as I replace and pick up new needles I am going to try and pick up everything square.  I think I will be cranky if I have to go back to plain old round needles.

As you can tell I am not knitting at the moment.  I brought the laptop out to sit in the kitchen and watch my pressure canner do its thing.  So I also worked on my story, The Adventures of Pinky and BlackButt.  My kids have already provided some illustrations for it.  And Kaylee will be proof reading it soon.  It will be a story for kids, but I hope once I get it done and back in the flow of writing I can try something else.  Maybe I should come up with a good sci fi/fantasy knitting story.... hmmmm

What have I been doing???

I have been knitting.... some socks, neck koozies, more socks, a fire sleeve... now I am working on a shawl/shrug that I feel in love with in a magazine.  Here are some pics.  I am trying out ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/people/melissaox

Weather Weather What Is The Weather

We live out in the middle of no where.  Most weather apps will pick up weather stations that are rather far away, 20 - 40 miles away.  That can make a big difference in the actual temperature, wind and such.  We had the basic what is the temperature outside stations but wanted to see more as in the winter in Iowa the wind can make a huge difference and the news stations themselves are in a city an hour drive away.

My husband looked at some on amazon and then I can across a lightning deal on amazon on an Accurite 1500 weather station.  Below is the link on amazon if you want to see it.
AcuRite 01500 Wireless Weather Station with Wind and Rain Sensor

Overall it works great. My husband installed it on a shed away from trees.  It does recommend to use Lithium batteries in the outside portions if it gets cold, which it does here, so we had to pick some up before getting everything started.
The inside panel works great and has lots of info available.  It is back-lit.  It includes programmable alarms, but no silent mode to keep them from going off at 2am while you are sleeping, so we turned most of them off in the first day or two.

What this unit doesn't include is a way to see the data remotely.  I went directly to AcuRite to see what I could do.  They have a internet bridge which takes the weather data the sensor is providing and sends it to their online site that you can access via the web or smartphone app.
AcuRite (http://www.acurite.com) sells models that are like my 1500 with the same sensor and similar indoor screens but either include the bridge or have the ability to connect to your pc or laptop directly via USB.
However you still can only send data easily to AcuRite and Weather Underground.  I personally was fine with using Weather Underground, but my husband prefers Weather Bug.  And the AcuRite set up (Acu-Link) only sends data to WU every 15 minutes.
In comes the Meteobridge (http://www.meteobridge.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) which is a little box that the Aculink bridge goes through and it allows you to send data to other weather services such as Weather Bug and faster data updates to WU.  Its not cheap.  You can flash certain low end routers with the program, try it free for 14 days, and then pay the license fee for it.  Or you can buy on already set up and should include a license.  This works for more than just AcuRite stations if you are wondering.

So far once I got it all set up it seems to be working great.
Only drawback - the WeatherBug Andorid app doesn't let you see backyard weather stations as they call them.  So you have to go to the mobile website for weather bug to see it.  I had no issue with WU in the app seeing my station.

Its nice to see my actual weather conditions regardless of where I am.  Its also nice to share the data with others who would otherwise be seeing data that is far away.
I like to look at the graphs on WU each day.  Maybe it will wear off after while, but maybe not.
Below is a shot of the station if you want to see it.

I Tried Canning

Well, my parents are back in Florida.  It has turned cooler here in Iowa and today is rainy and cool.

I have actually tried some canning.  I picked up a beginners kit on amazon that came with some recipes that I have tried.  The apple butter turned out pretty good.  I think its just applesauce, but the kids and hubby loved the extra bit that didn't make it in a jar.  We have some apple trees here so I used those apples.
Today I am trying a barbecue sauce.
Which by the way, why is it called canning when its really jaring?  I am not putting stuff in cans, but jars.
If you want to check out the kit I started with its --
Ball® Home Canning Discovery Kit (by Jarden Home Brands)

Still working on unpacking the stuff and getting the new house in order.  Once we unpacked enough to get by we stalled out a little.  I am trying to figure out what to do with my clothes.  I am no good with this organizing and putting away of stuff.  But I am the worst with my clothes, not to mention I have a lot of clothes.  Also need to conquer the computer room at some point.