It's Alive

After a little hair-pulling - both mine and the Husband's (the Short One pulled our hair, too, but I'm not confident it actually had anything to do with our lack of DSL) - it turns out that the problem was not so much with our DSL line as with our modem. After six years of dedicated service, it keeled over in such a quiet manner that it took us a while to figure out that it had keeled over. After being continually disconnected while trying to order a new modem via telephone through our Internet service provider (one agent actually told me I could go on-line to take care of it - I had to restrain myself from becoming too sarcastic at this point), it finally occurred to me that I might actually have a second modem from the company that was automatically sent to us when we renewed out contract a couple years ago. For once in my life, my tendency to never ever throw anything away no matter how useless looking the object in question might be was completely vindicated - after a bit of poking around in the garage, I found the dusty box marked "DSL" complete with modem, cables and installation instructions. So, anyway, the upshot of this meandering, not terribly interesting paragraph is that I'm back on-line. Which of course you already knew, since you're reading this post. Sigh.

Okay, on to more productive things. One of the items I was meaning to show you before the snow storm hit last week was this cute packet from Maria Grimes of Garden Path Beads. Maria is holding a designer's challenge - twelve people, including me, have received packets identical to the one above, which includes a variety of beads and charms, and some of Maria's cute porcelain flowers. I had no idea when I entered my name for the challenge what the packet would include (although I knew I would love it, since I love Maria's beads). I was pleasantly surprised to see these spring-inspired materials, and, as you know, I'm all about rose quartz these days. According to the rules, we must use all of the materials in the packet, but we are allowed to add materials. I imagine I'll be making something with PMC to go along with this, but I'm not sure what, yet. I am such a sucker for design challenges like this - I always love seeing the range of projects designers create out of the same set of materials. Anyway, the deadline for the challenge is March 31st, so I'll have a finished project to show you in early spring.

The second thing I wanted to show you (or at least provide a link), is this funky crocheted coral reef that was on exhibit in Chicago late last year. I did not get a chance to see it in person (I just found out about it), but the photos are nice and detailed. I am a sucker for stuff like this - knitted gardens, crocheted coral reefs. Just brilliant. Go here to see photos from the Institute for Figuring's "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef".

That's it for me, today. With our DSL up and running, I should be back to my usual M-F posting schedule. Have a good night! See you tomorrow.