Car Wash

Hey, get your car washed today 
Be in our band, you don't have to pay.

It’s homecoming week here. That means mums, parades and crowns! Mums are a tradition in Texas. A bit strange, but a tradition nevertheless. But what started as a simple corsage has morphed into something, well, hideous! Tiny girls are seen with monstrous contraptions completely covering their chests as well as most of their body, weighing them down until they resemble little old ladies, stooped and bent over, all in an effort to display their pseudo treasure. One flower, two flowers, even three or more, ribbons, bells, helmets, plastic figurines, stuffed animals and even lights adorn these prized possessions. They’ve become so noisy and distracting that most times they aren’t even allowed at school until possibly Friday, the night of the homecoming football game.

Unfortunately, not being of the cheerleader mentality, I didn’t even think of little Starr having a mum like all her classmates. It clicked on Thursday. I had saved a couple of garters (the male version of the homecoming mum) for some unexplainable reason. They just happened to belong to Ty in his younger days, which made them all the more appealing. I knew Jenn, my very talented and creative daughter in law, could take these and re-fashion them into something glittery and showy, although mumless, that could compete with any of the pricey (some of these contraptions run into the hundreds of dollars) ornaments the others might have. And she did!

Up close bling.

Finished non-mum with Dad's name even!

Something else that often accompanies homecoming week is rain. It was a cloudy, drizzly week that cancelled some of the traditional homecoming activities. And it actually rained all day until just a few hours before game time on the big day.

Friday night football by Alan Swinford

Even though it almost ruined some of the excitement for the queen and her court of duchesses, I’m ever thankful for the superstition (or not) of the carwash. It’s said that if someone washes their car it will surely rain soon and dirty the newly cleaned auto. So thank you, all who washed their cars this week! Despite the timing, we sure needed the rain.

A cloudy West Texas day.

Working at the car wash 
Working at the car wash, yeah 

A couple of years ago, in fact, probably the main reason for this blog, I participated in something called Knitayear. It’s back! The originator of the project describes it like this:

Knit, crochet, you name it. Join in!!

At the end of the project you have a fiber diary, ultimately creating a personal record of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed the endeavor, which you might not understand unless you like a bit of fiber yourself. And I finished. Now my dilemma has been to decide if I want to do it again. I have four very long strips that really aren’t anything and probably never will be. Do I want more?

365 days of knitting...

I have started. I just have to decide whether to continue or not. If I do, it will be a separate page on this blog and not at the bottom of each post like I did before. That’s because I don’t seem to have the time I did before. Or maybe I just don’t have anything interesting to say to post as much.

We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned…

Those cars never seem to stop coming.
Keeps those rags and machines coming...