Various Topics

Let's see - where do I start?

OK - for those of you who do not quite comprehend the concept of  "sillie sox" - here is a brief synopsis.  Each time I knit a pair of socks, I inevitably have a small amount of yarn left over.  To create sillie sox I scrutinize all the available amounts and colours, then try to choose some that will blend nicely for texture and colour.  So...  here is the beginning of some sillie sox for Uncle Brian.

Then I take all the bits and pieces and try to assemble them into a relatively pleasing pair of socks.  You can see the very beginning of his first sock in the foreground.  I'll let you see the finished product when it is done.

In the meantime, Poppa had a mission of his own.  While putting some stuff under the kitchen sink the other day, he noticed a small puddle under there.  This, of course, caused him to begin an immediate investigation of the situation.

  Remember last year, he used his ingenuity to repair a crack in the housing of the under-sink garbage disposal?  Well, to his dismay, he discovered that it was opening up again - only larger this time - too large to use the same method he used last year.

Upon further investigation he discovered that there was another - larger - crack on the back side of the unit.  He decided that there was only one solution to this problem....

Yep - A trip to Home Depot (oh yes - that was really a chore for Poppa - Hee) and he came home with a new unit. So - out came the old one.  Then he showed me the crack on the back side....

It looks like it had been leaking for a while, but it was getting larger.  So he removed it and checked to see if he could determine why.  We looked inside (kinda yucky), but couldn't see any thing there.  But, when he had it disconnected from the drain pipe, it appeared that there was paper or cardboard blocking the drain.  He thinks that the blockage was creating stress on the unit when it tried to expel the macerated garbage and caused it to crack.  The next step was to wire up the new unit...

....notice the small, furry helper.  Then install the new unit...

...then clean all the connecting pipes.....

....hook up all the pipes again, test the unit and check for leaks....

...TaaDaa!  All good, working fine and no leaks!  So he put the booklet and instructions into a small plastic bag and put them in the cupboard with the other manuals for the villa.  Mission accomplished!

Yesterday was very warm, but overcast.  However, a couple of days ago, it was cool in the morning....here is what Taffy looked like when we went out to the lanai for breakfast....

It warmed up nicely later in the day...but more about that later.