UGH - COMPUTER PROBLEMS

If I didn't have Bad Luck, I'd have no luck whatsoever! A week ago Sunday, I sat at my computer to post to my blog. The mouse went crazy and I thought well, maybe the mouse was going bad....so I rushed out and purchased another mouse, installed it when I returned home and alas, I started getting really strange error messages. Guess what? The darn computer crashed. Just a little bit of history on this, for the past two years my computer has crashed the second week of August. I know, it seems unreal, but it's true. This is the second year that I've had to replace a computer. Well, did I back up anything? Did I make restore disks (they don't give them to you anymore - you either make your own restore disks or purchase them at a later date (if they're still available!) NO! My IT guy always tells me, it's not if your computer will crash, it's WHEN!!! Thus, all of you that are reading this blog, BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER, MAKE RESTORE DISKS AND HAVE AN EXTERNAL BACK UP DRIVE!!!! So, not wanting to be without my computer (I do all my banking, etc.) I rushed out and purchased another! Oh, BTW, I don't believe in extended warranty conracts. They are too expensive and most of the time you don't even use them, but in hindsight I guess I should have learned the first time. Many, many years ago (12-13) DH and I purchased a new TV along with an extended in-home warranty service. Well, we still have the TV and it works fine and we've never had to use the extended warranty service. Go figure!

I now have my new computer - hurray! I've made my restore disks, have an external hard drive back up system and I'm ready to go. My IT guy is going to help me rebuild the old (one year old mind you) computer and I'll put it upstairs in my craft room with a wireless connection!

Oh, and one last thing. Our DVR from Bright House, which has not worked properly since it was installed several months ago, took a puke. All of the shows I taped are gone!!! They actually came out Sunday afternoon to replace the DVR and after DH threatened to move to Verizon, we got HBO and Showtime free for one year! Go figure!

As I prepare myself for my ROOT CANAL tomorrow afternoon, I leave you with blessings of crossed stitches. I now have to retake pictures of my finishes and will post them over the week-end. Keep posted and thank you for visting my Blog!

Knitting and Stitching in Paradise

Welcome to my Blog. Finallly, I'm doing this. My first post is to thank all of you for visiting. Although I'm a cross stitcher from the heart, I'm posting the picture of my first hand knitted sweater. When I left Connecticut some 16+ years ago, I gave away all of my needles and yarn thinking, Oh, well, I won't knit in Florida, it's tooooo hot. Well, it is too hot most of the time, but there are some items that you can knit 0 socks, pot holders, wash cloths, etc.. I took a knitting class in Tampa at the LYS. The instructor, Caroline (the owner) taught the class. I learned so much I can't even begin to tell you all. My mother taught me to knit at a very early age, but never, never, said anything to me about gauge (duh), needles, etc. So of course my first sweaters and vests were horrible! I persevered and became an accomplished knitter. I've made many, many, many afghans and scarves and mittens and hats. Oh so many years ago I knit hats and mittens for my nephews! And each of my nieces had a knitted or crocheted blanket! About two or so years ago, I took up knitting again, and decided I wanted to make socks!!! Quite an engineering marvel if I say so myself. And just lately, I'm attempting a lace shawl. Well, I'll talk about that at some other time. I'm very proud to say that this is my gorgoeous sweater. The pattern is from Knitters Magazine, Fall 2008, Lines & Vines. The fiber is Cascade Venezia (merino and silk) in Forest Green. I finished it just in time to wear it once before the wather turned warm.