Chat Back for May 14

Responding to comments left since the last time I did Chat Back.

Dorothy asked . . .

Can't believe it's time for the Louise lunch already. Didn't you just have it?

Louise Lunch happens every year around Mother's Day, so yes it's time. In fact today was the day.

A "sore" topic, because we postponed it for two more weeks. My root canal from mid April is seriously aching and I'm anxiously looking forward to Monday when I can call and try to get it examined and fixed.

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Judy S. asked . . .

Looks like you wind your yarn into 2 balls? Care to share any secrets on doing that? Do you use a scale?

Yes, I wind my sock yarn into two balls with a food scale. It's not an exact method, but it works close enough for me.

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Kellie asked . . .

I love this sweater pattern ( Metro ) If the City Tweed doesn't work out, have you got alternate yarn in mind?

Shirley knit a beautiful Metro using, in her words, "WEBS Valley Yarns Northampton which was also the perfect gauge. It took less than 4 skeins."

She has pictures on her blog and plenty of good commentary on the pattern. Check it out here.

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Judy S. asked . . .

Any idea what caused the virus?

I asked the same question when I picked up my laptop after its cure. Richard, who has years of experience, told me if he knew the answer to that question he'd be rich.

The main virus resided in memory. My virus protection could and did eliminate the running version, but the memory version instantly replaced it. I think this falls in the category "Nasty virus".

I was thankful he didn't have to reformat my hard drive, even though I did have everything backed up.

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Dorothy asked . . .

And is that really your roof? That picture is priceless!

The raccoon picture is the roof of an old shed attached to the barn. The raccoons sit on the roof and growl at the dogs and me as we walk by.

The shed needs to be torn down which is going to disappoint the raccoons living in it. Last fall they made a hole in the wall at ground level and proceeded to tear out and carry out much of the insulation.

Having the shed torn down is on my list of things that may or may not get done this summer. I’m afraid every contractor I call is going to want to shoot the the raccoons.

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Lynn asked . . .

When you say grape jelly, this is the same grape jelly we put on our bread and biscuits, not some special bird grape jelly, right? I never knew birds liked it!!!! My husband just bought some suet because he heard birds are crazy for this stuff. It has yet to be touched but the black oil bird seed is going fast!

It's cheap grape jelly bought in large jars. I've heard the Orioles like the cheap stuff best because it has the highest sugar content.

Don't ask what this says about feeding healthy food to the birds. Hopefully their nutritional needs are not the same as ours. After all, we do feed sugar water to the Hummingbirds.

Our birds eat suet all winter but I stop putting it out when the weather warms up because it melts and drips.

Black sunflower seeds are the best, all round bird food. If you keep feeding through the nesting season they will bring their fledglings to the feeder for the sunflower seeds.