Knit & Play with Fire

Holiday Weekend

Like I said, I have been working out quite a bit lately. Mostly, my friend Patty and I have been walking 4 to 5 miles at a time. I am getting back into running but she isn't a runner. I will be running tomorrow night with another friend. But here are some pictures from my favorite place to walk and run - the C&O Towpath.

I actually am even considering buying a trail bike so that I can ride the towpath. And that is saying quite a bit from some one who has wrecked a few.

But I love the water and playing in the Potomac so if this summer turns out to be pretty warm, I will be down at the river a fair bit.

Still Among the Living

Rather than bore you with where I have disappeared to, I will instead show you some pictures. I have been. I have been pretty busy lately with working out and fire service stuff. Okay, mostly I have been working out quite a bit and going quite a bit.

Last week I went to DC on a tour with my mother to visit the Taiwanese embassy. Okay, they can not be officially recognized as an embassy but they function as one. They are officially know as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). We also had a chance to have tea at the former ambassador's house. The food at the tea was a mix of Western and Asian. Me, being me, I strictly ate the Asian food. Everyone else took a tiny bit and ate the Western food. I love my Asian food.

We also hit the World War II memorial. This is the first time that I have been there in daylight. That place is wonderful. Of course, I really like the duckies best.

I broke it off with the guy I was dating simply because we weren't clicking. And since than, I have made a whole new bunch of friends on MySpace and we have been going out a few times during the week and on the weekends. We are now known as "the gang". And yes, the group is all female and we have quite a bit of fun together. One of my new friends works out with me and we have really clicked. For someone who normally is a bit of a loner because I tend to be some one who would rather hang out with the guys, being part of a female group is totally different. I will hopefully have some pictures to share after Saturday. We are all going out together to hear The Reagan Years which is an 80s cover band.

And it is too hot here to knit anything other than socks. It wouldn't be too bad if my a/c was working like it should but it is giving me fits. It will be repaired here on Monday.

Tea Stash Flash

First of all, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have just been busy. And now for a non-knitting and non-fire related post. I am taking part in the Knitters Tea Swap and here is the post that I posted flashing some of my tea stash.

Okay, I finally had the chance to take some photos of my tea stash and a a few teacups. I did include in the photos my very first tea pot.

The teapot is part of a set that I still have all of the pieces. And that in and of itself is amazing!! I received this tea set when I was four years old and living in Naples, Italy. And, no, I will not say how long ago it was that I lived in Naples. What makes the fact that I still have all of the pieces to this tea set is that I was a military brat and moved every 3 years all over the world.

The tea cup with the yellow roses on it is an antique cup that I picked up several years ago at an antique mall. I can tell you that is was made in Japan and it probably dates back to the 1950's.

The other tea cup was a gift from a friend in England. I used to be a big time quilter and I took part in a series of swaps and I had the opportunity to become friends with a wonderful person in England. She sent me this Royal Doulton tea cup and saucer. The pattern is Old Country Roses.

The cup tucked in the back is actually a coffee cup but I use it as a tea mug. It is from Krispy Creme Doughnuts. Can you tell that I am a Southern girl? Give me my Krispy Cremes and no one will get hurt. And no one comes between me and a hot Krispy Kreme.

Some of the teas in the photo are Empress of China (loose) from Teavana, Honest Teas Hirst Nation peppermint and Earl Gray, Celestial Seasonings Mango Darjeeling, some Tazo Iced Passion tea, and a tin of Russian Caravan tea. The Russian Caravan is why there is a lemon in the one teacup. A very thin slice of lemon brings out the flavors in the Russian Caravan tea.

Photos to Fall Into

Sorry for not posting. I really do have to do something about this addiction I have to MySpace.

And I am letting my knees heal from my practical on Sunday. No matter what I do, my knees always hurt after crawling around concrete buildings. Plus they end up bruised. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

But to entertain you, I am posting some photos that I took on Friday evening while I was down in Southern Maryland. I went with a friend to deliver some teenagers to a church retreat camp. The name of the camp is West River and it is a part of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. That place is so beautiful that the photos do not do it justice. We arrived just before sunset Friday evening. And neither of us wanted to leave but we had to since my friend has to work the next day and I had things that had to be done. But all of you get to experience the views through these photos.

And did you notice that there was not a single sheep or llama or alpaca in any of the photos? But with views like this who needs them? I will gladly go back there but I will take my sock knitting with me and sit on the porch and just knit.

Sheep & Wool

Okay, just so everyone knows. I will not be at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. I have class both Saturday and Sunday. I have a practical on Sunday for my truck ops class. Saturday will be spent doing drills between my 2 fire companies.

Saturday morning, my primary fire company has our apparatus check first thing in the morning. After wards, we will be packing the new hose line that we received under a federal grant. Oh joy!!! New hose line is no fun until it gets dirty.

After I am done at my primary fire company, I will be running home to shower and change into my uniform before I head down to the truck house. When I get down there, I am to start my my probie training. The assistant chief is going to be dropping off the information that I need to get started.

And Sunday is the practical day for my class. We will be throwing ladders all day. Oh joy!!! Now, I can throw a ladder but it is not pretty. Think about it, the shortest ladders are 14 foot roof ladders and I am not quite 5'2"... Are you getting the picture in your mind yet? Utility control is real easy for me since I can reach everything really easy.

Plus the written final for the class is Monday night. I need to study for this exam. And somewhere in the next month or two, I have a database to update with driving directions. I have finished the driving directions for my first due but I need to convert the driving directions for the neighboring fire district. I have their maps but they are written for coming from their fire house. Changing the info in the database will not be that hard but it is time consuming.

And yeah, I still find to knit. And I forgot that I have to add in time to go to the gym and for partying. I have started partying again after taking a looong break. My friends in the fire service like to party and it is time to go out and have fun again.

 

Being Good

I have been really good lately. I have not bought any sock yarn in a month! Amazing!! So according to the rules of the Sock Yarn Addicts Club, I am entitled to a gold star.

My wrist appears to be healed from what ever I did to it. So sock knitting has resumed. I have finished one of my socks for Sock-a-pooolza and I need to hurry up and knit the second one. I also need to email my person and explain that her socks will be a week or so late. Cross your fingers that constant sock knitting doesn't cause my wrist to start hurting again.

I finish my fire classes for the spring this coming Monday night. Yeah!! Three months off from formal classes. And on the fire side, things have been really, really quiet lately. That is when things get scary because when we get one it will be bad. (at least that is what the old timers say.)

And my new UPS driver is great. I have known him for quite awhile because he has filled in on this route before. But the best thing is that he is not only a really sweet guy but he is also a fire fighter at another station in the county. His station is just up the road abut 10 miles. And what he likes is that when he is out on this route, he knows that he can b***h about the idiots from the other companies and I know who he is talking about.

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Healing Slowly

Okay, what ever I did to my wrist is healing slowly but it is healing. Actually it is healing faster than I thought it would. Tendon injuries do heal faster than ligament injuries. I have been resting it, keeping it fairly straight, icing it, and taking anti-inflammatory meds.I knew that my EMT training would come in handy for something at some point. Well, besides allowing me to ride the band-aid wagon when I am told to get in the back. (I prefer the fire side to the EMS side. And I prefer riding the truck to the engine.)

So what have I been doing? Well, I have been playing with making a video for an idea I have. I want to do a recruitment video that can be posted on the web for the volunteer fire service in my county. And a friend has been working on one for the truck house and I have been going through my photos to help him out. Plus I have started one for my primary fire company.

And I have been catching up on my reading. I am almost out of books so that means I need to go to Borders this weekend. I can not run out of books to read. And that is saying a lot since I have a very large book collection and I do re-read my books. Actually that reminds me that I need to get together the books that I want to get rid of and take them down to the library. The local library has a book sale during our town's community days.

I  have also been spending plenty of time on MySpace. Yes, I do have a MySpace page. It is a fun way to connect with your friends and meet new people. Quite a few volunteer fire fighters in my county and the surrounding counties have pages there. I have actually been reconnecting with a friend from my fire fighter 1 class who runs in my county but I never get to see her. And I have been able to meet other fire fighters that I would have never had the chance to meet.

I did try some knitting last night. But I did not try any sock knitting. Instead, I pulled out my Clapotis to work on since it is on larger needles. I only knit 2 rows but it didn't hurt so that tells me that my wrist is healing. But I am going to wait to pick up sock needles for a few more days.

Oh, I forgot one other benefit of MySpace is that I have been exposed to some pretty interesting music that I would have never heard otherwise. Right now, one of my favorites is a song called 'Crazy B***h' by the band BuCk ChErRy. Since the only version that they have up on the website is the explicit version be careful about clicking the link if you are at work or there are small children around. The song is a little on the raunchy side. What can I say, I like it. And I have been called that name a few times.

 

No Knitting

No knitting to report. I was out weeding Sunday and I did something to my wrist. I think when I was pulling out those never ending dandelion roots, I may have torqued my wrist the wrong way. I didn't realize that I had done anything to my wrist until I went to pick up something and realized that my wrist hurt.

I am pretty sure that it is a simple case of a minor tendon injury. It only hurts when I bend my wrist a certain way. It is fine when I keep my wrist straight. I am icing it and resting it. And I am not knitting right now. If it is still hurting by next Monday, I will go and get it checked out. If I go to the doctor's right now, the advice that I will be given is the same thing that I am already doing. So my theory is why go to be told to do something that I am already doing? Plus I have injured myself before and I know when to head to the doctor's and when to take care of it at home. I used to be a gymnast and wrist injuries were pretty common. So I do have a good background in treating my own injuries.

Townhouse Fire aka Playtime Part 3

Okay, yet another posting about fire. I warned everyone that I have been out playing this week. Monday morning, I was at work when I heard Box 1-4 go out a little after 10 am. I had a feeling that my company would be going in to the city. When I heard the chief advise on the main channel that he had a heavy column of black smoke, I started getting ready to go down to the fire hall. And for me getting ready means taking out my earrings if I am wearing dangly earrings and pulling my hair back into two ponytails (one high and one low to keep my hair off of my face when I pull on my hood.)

I was already in my truck when the second alarm was hit out and on my way to the station when my tones were hit. I was almost at the station when I heard that there were possibly up to 6 people trapped. Let's just say my comment as I walked into the station with one of the guys was something to the effect that I was going to be on the wrong truck. (Add a few swear words of your choosing here.)(And an explanation for those of you who might not understand, the first truck on the scene handles search and rescue and by the time we got there, we would either be the second or third truck. And the first truck on the scene was the truck that I ride in the city.) There were 2 rescues but they were just a matter of removing people from adjoining townhouses.

When we rolled up on scene, there were flames shooting up through the roof as evidenced by some of my photos. Actually one of the guys I ride with took the photos of the flames on the roof. A few of the guys are getting familiar with my camera and how to use its various features. And they will grab it and take pictures themselves since they now know why I am taking pictures and what the plans are for the pictures. Plus I am now known county wide for taking pictures on scene and that I do share the photos so almost everyone who takes photos shares.

My job was to make sure that command knew that I had a thermal imager camera ready as a backup for any entry crew. We didn't want to take it up on the roof and have it be needed by an entry team. So basically all I did was hang out with the command crew and take photos.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a discarded cigarette tossed into a flower pot next to the house on the rear deck. Yeah, not smart!

But in the end, everyone went home safely and played together like good little children. And the only damage was to property which can be replaced. And the best part of the whole fire call for me was getting a hug from one of my fellow fire fighters from my other company when he came out of the house after being up on the roof. Trust me, there are some advantages to being a female fire fighters. And I am the only active female fire fighter currently running at either house.

Look for knitting content to resume fairly soon.