What's New?

What's new is waiting and more waiting for both DH and me to hear back from places that offered us jobs without firm start dates. In my case, it's no less than 3 part-time jobs for firms in competition with each other. Meanwhile, I'm doing my free-lance book chapter, and I've been selling vintage costume jewelry on a couple of sites. I had amassed quite a collection years ago. The market may be soft now but for the vintage silver pieces, it's pretty good. Also, I can repair costume jewelry, so if I find something for very little (and I have picked up pieces for less than a dollar than just needed a rhinestone replaced), I can sell it at a discount and still make money.

Also new is my baby bird Estella. Right before I went to LA in June, my little budgie Pip got his wing caught in his cage soemwhere and broke it. A family friend who's a vet and frequent guest was over on successive Fridays, and looked at it and thought he was slowly getting better. But while I was on jury duty he died. Poor Pip; I really liked that little budgie. His cagemate Merry went into a decline and stopped eating, even though Duncan the cockatiel is his other good buddy. So DD#1 and I went bird shopping. We found this adorable little hen pulling the other budgies to her so she could preen them.

I thought that meant she might have a good nature to temper Merry's more fiery one, and it turns out I was right. She's sweet and docile, and Merry has become more so.
DH shot several photos of her, including this one- and she posed for the camera. Don't believe me? Take a look:


Now Merry had to get into a photo, something he used to disdain:


Yesterday we went to Collie Gathering at Terhune Park (site of Sunnybank, home of Lad and the Sunnybank collies), where we met LASSIE!!

That's Skye looking totally unimpressed in typical Skye-fashion to be posing next to the most famous collie of all (and he's usually a ladies' man- go figure!). Because it was thundering in the distance, Rocky wanted to find somewhere to hide, rather than meet Lassie.

The last new thing is my father is moving from my parents' house in 2 or 3 weeks, so I have to book a mover to move the living room and dining room furniture to NJ. It's sad that my my father should have to reduce his belongings to what will fit into a sitting room and a bedroom. But maybe he's happier not to have to bother with the upkeep of a full house. Once he's decided which photos he wants to hang, I'll have the others sent to me. I couldn't bring myself to take down the family photos and leave my father with empty walls.

I have been knitting in fits and starts; I keep forgetting to take photos of what I'm making! I need a camera upstairs as well as downstairs so I can always have one at the ready.