Welcome to Paradise.
In cool news, yesterday I heard from Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day’s people that his wife Adrienne, wants some VHC ROCK to knit with in the color I named after him. Pretty cool. I’m knitting up some Hand Like a Hole wristlets for him to include in the package as well. Oh and speaking of those wristlets, the pair I knit out of “Trent” are going to be feature along with the pattern in an upcoming issue of the music magazine, Alternative Press. Ya know, ’cause knitting totally rocks and stuff. 🙂
In not so cool news, my up-and-coming neighborhood seems to be down-and-going. A couple of weeks ago our kids bikes got stolen, there’s been a rash of daytime break ins on our street, and on Sunday night there was a high-speed car pursuit involving grand-theft auto that ended in our front yard with the suspect ditching the car and my husband diving into it as it was rolling back, in order to pull the emergency brake before it smooshed a cop that was trying to get out of his own car. The guy got away on foot and our kids had to hide in our bedroom just to be safe. Good times. Needless to say, I immediatly contacted a Realtor about other options. That’s what I get for trying to be all “anti-establishment” and avoiding suburbia, I guess. I’m gonna miss our little house with the turquoise door. *sigh* It’s hard being an alterna-parent sometimes. 😉
xo,
Vickie
you can still be alterna-parents in suburbia..!
oh..steal the door!
I mean, take it with you, however replace it with a regular…yes.
The neighborhood that we’re looking at has a homeowner’s association that prevents people from painting any of the house exterior a different color. Let the uniformity begin. 🙁
I had a pretty door once and I took it down and made it into a table. Just a thought if you can’t bear to leave it behind 😉
UGH! I don’t see why homeowner association’s insist on controlling everything nowadays. I can see trying to control crime, excess trash or even working on cars in your front lawn, but really the color of a door? I can handle suburbia but I can’t handle someone telling me what color my house or door should be, or what should be planted in my yard. I think the homeowner’s should pay the property tax if they want that much control. Sorry for the rant. Good luck on the house hunt I know how stressful it can be.
So sorry to hear about your housing woes. I also live in an on the fence neighborhood. Always an adventure !!
Anyway, wanted to say THANKS – went to look at the new varigated line of yarn and saw “Prince” – Thanks – thanks a lot – now I’ve got “Purple Rain” running thru my head this afternoon ! LOL!!
BTW, love the “Jonas” line – it’s the colors of the San Jose Sharks hockey team and that’s where I live, so I’m looking forward to getting some! 🙂 Sue
I am looking for a knitting pattern for yarmulkes. I would love to make one..
Ugh, homeowners’ associations… Makes me want to move out to the country. (I second making a table out of the door!)
Stay away from the association tracks. I live in a nice burb with no association & I can paint my house any color I want, and plant any kind of trees/flowers I want. They do exist, you just have to find them.
Sometimes you just have to do these things for your kids . . . Good luck!
unfortunately, no place is truly safe any more. i lived in a small town for a large # of years, and with meth labs, and gangs (yes, gangs in rural nebraska!), it wasn’t nearly so nice any more.
happy to hear DH did his civic duty, and saved the cop! maybe he’ll get an award, lol.
I’m with the other commenters: BOO on HOAs! I live in one and also work for a law firm that represents HOAs and my husband and I have decided we’ll never live in another one. Try to find somewhere to live where you aren’t governed by anyone but, well…the government.
Oh Vickie, are you in luck! So the neighbors and subdivisions want to keep you down, ya right 🙂 This is what you got to do. (The following is a great fundraiser by the way.) Take an old/new toliet seat, splurge and get the new one 🙂 Anyways, contact all your crafty friends, and then divide the seat & cover by number of friends. Pass the seat around and let the creativity begin! Now Vickie, I realize this my seem off kilter, but come on…wouldn’t you love to hang that on the president of the home-
owner’s association’s door. Do it real early, and then casually ride your low-ride bicycle by. Run/walk/attack the door bell and be all like, “Hey now I can’t have a blue door, but you can have a toliet hung as a decoration?” Then get a possey together, and make subdivision life sweet. It all starts with a toliet seat. Don’t ever let the man get you down, get crafty! 🙂
Am I loosing it, or did this post get a new title?
Luckiy for me I don’t live in a development/assoiciation, I think I’d go nuts if I did! My sister does however, uggghhhhh. The stories.
Regardless of the color of your door, you will still ROCK. The door won’t change you……
g3doherty- New title? I have no ideas what you’re talking about. 😉
Thanks for the kind words. 🙂
Vada– I’m pretty sure you’re insane. I like that about you. 😉
Vickie – I share your sadness & fear for your current neihgborhood. My mom, my two daughters and I were on lockdown for about 8 hours in the neihborhood I used to live in California. Definately on the edge of not being a great neighborhood, but it was our first home purchase when my oldest was 6 weeks old – sniff – and we put so much love and time into it. Anyway, some people up the street were harboring a fugitive and the FBI had them on surveilance for weeks. This guy was the head of a Richmond gang and had murdered someone. It ended up that the guy went running when he got the clue that they knew where he was, so he went running and was hiding from the police next door to our house in my neighbor’s car. He ended up running thru my yard when the police started setting of flash bang grenades. I could go on and on about everything that happened that day and night, but the good news is that we were able to sell our house a few months later and we got our butts out of CA and over to CO. One of our conditions when buying this house – no HOA. They are ridiculous. There is actually an HOA community out here that is so bad that people refer to it as Pleasantville. Search, if you can, for no HOA’s. One of my best friend’s lives in a nice new neighborhood in Austin…I wonder if she has HOA’s. I’ll have to ask her.
Good luck!!!
That sucks…I hope you will still live close by or at least South. ps: did the bikes still have the little instruction/warranty thing or whatever it came with attached to the handlebars? I thought that was so cute. 🙁
By any chance was there a “COPS” camera crew on that chase? I would pay serious cash money to see your new Mr. in action.
P.S. My Mr. says this is the greatest story he’s heard in a long time. So, there you go.
P.S.S. Knit on.
Tami–Thanks for the story. Sorry you had to go through that. Yeah, after looking at HOA neighborhoods last week, we decided we probably couldn’t hang.
Jen-Yeah, Tristan still had the tags on. He was still pondering whether or not he was ready to take them off. 🙂 We’re going to try and stay south-ish, but aren’t sure yet.
You and your boys should come over, BTW!
Kelly-Tell Michael that 4 days later, there was a shooting 2 streets over–IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. It wasn’t a domestic dispute. Good times.
Ms Vickie & family, Sooo grateful to hear no one was hurt & I pray no thefts either since your post). About moving to a dictatorship run neighborhood? EEEKKK! CanNOT imagine you & yours in that sort of environment! Your love of color & style deserves to be courted,not threatened with court!! Best of luck finding the best new home for you & your fellas. And thank you for all you do teaching, promoting, & creating with fiber & more! You are a hero to me! Maybe someday I’ll have the joy of knitting, hooking, or crocheting with you, until then, “knit on!” 🙂
OMG!!!! my DH is a cop, so i get my fill of these kind of stories without living it. and seriously, thank your DH for me–not everyone has the same respect for the boys in blue.
unfortunately the cops crew is here in KC. so your hubby won’t be on film–however last week mine was. he had to sign the release form, tell them how to spell and pronounce our last name, and all that jazz. yay for us.
Sorry to hear your woes. We were burglarized 3 times in the last year and we live on the north side. We bought an alarm system, started calling 311 for city code violations in our neighborhood and got to know our neighbors a little better. We printed and placed flyers about our burglaries to our neighbors and included our phone number. We received phone calls from our neighbors whom had similar experiences and became a closer community because of it. We are more aware of our community because of our experiences and because we shared it with our neighbors. Our north-central community is rapidly changing so we are staying put and riding out the storm. I hope all goes well and I hope you don’t have to “settle” for an HOA community.
Good Luck!!
awwww geesh, I am terribly sorry for the neighborhood problems. My husband and I are looking for a new home and have been doing so for a year now 🙁
We live in the burbs right now and while the house is charming and lovely, the neighborhood is lovely and we have a great back yard, perfect for kids to play in….what’s the problem then you ask….and please, no offense to anyone of a wee bit older range….we have absolutely,positively, NO children for my kiddos to play with. The neighbors are ALL 55 and over. We did not know that when we moved here and thouht that since a public swimming pool that I grew up going to, is right smack dab down the street, not even a half a mile, that the neighborhood is probably riddled with kids, nope!
it is now a problem for the kids, they are lonely and want friends that live near them:(
We have been looking in the city, as we would get more bang for our buck but the problem with that is the areas. We have not found one that is in our price range yet that is in a safe neighborhood.
Good luck on your new house search. Has anyone been caught for taking your kids bikes? Were they replaced yet? Hey everyone, how about trying to help a fellow knitter and a kick butt yarn designer out…Vicki, I have a bike that is brand new, it’s yours if you’d like. I am sure one of your boys will be able to fit on it. It is a boys little mountain type bike with black and orange stripes. You pay shipping and viola, there ya be. My son has been diagnosed with a muscle disorder and he has trouble with dexterity (bike riding and balance). PLUS he outgrew the bike a little faster then we thought. I am sure someone else may have another bike to get for your boys. I would much rather know someone is using my sons bike and having fun at it, then to just take it to our local goodwill and then they SELL it 🙁
Linda-LOL. Well unless you’re Martha Stewart, professional crafting (even on TV) doesn’t pay as much as one might think. It’s all smoke and mirrors, my friend. 😉
Debbie–Yeah, I totally understand what you mean about the no kids thing. It’s hard to find a neighborhood conducive to young families that’s not, a planned community. I totally understand why people go for that!
I bought the kids scooters that they could ride on our fenced-in driveway. We may wait until we move, to get them bikes again. My husband has his heart set on surprising them with them. 🙂 Thank you sooo much though, for your offer. That was so, incredibly kind of you! I’m really sorry to hear about your son. Positive thoughts to him, from the Lone Star State!
xo,
Vickie