Yes Donna, it is this time of year when the nests are getting bigger and there will be many more YJ's as they keep reproducing. Under the shingles can be tricky and most Pest guys have the gear to fog them very effectively. Luckily, my local garden center has a Pest guy and their price is very reasonable. A few years ago in early-July I noticed a few YJ's coming and going from under the hot tub. I didn't think too much about them. I don't use the tub in the summer so I forgot about them. By mid-August there were hundreds of them coming and going and by early September there were many more. They were coming and going at the rate of 2 per second and it was scary to watch and I should have got rid of them back when I first saw them. In Nov it was cold and they had all died and we turned the hot tub over on its side. The nest was only 2" high, but it was 3 ft by 3 ft in area. Must have been over 1000 of them at their peak. I have found it is best to get rid of them as early as possible. Over the last 8 years I have had a perennial problem with YJ's and usually by the time I notice them the nest has become fairly large and the YJ's are ornery. For the 7 previous years I did not have a problem with them. The Pro's have stuff which they don't stock in most stores which is stronger and with a better knockdown ability. As well as fogging machines good for small or large jobs. Of course, you are going to spend a few bucks if you buy what the Pro's use too and my problems with YJ's just does not warrant buying the stuff. Yet. One can buy the stuff the Pro's use...its just a Google away, Cheers, JK

I just completed my first BSJ......it is a simple enough pattern to do ( although I am an accomplished knitter, not a beginner)....BUT....you will have to follow the chart which is included ....exactly. During the knitting I could not imagine how this silly thing was going to go together ! It does, and nicely too. I did make an error when doing M1 . In order to avoid a hole you must K that st in the back of the st. I ended up with nicely spaced holes near the beginning of each sleeve edge and decided to weave a ribbon through it and tie it in a bow. Cute addition for a girlie sweater. My only advice is to choose a good yarn that will knit up in an interesting way. The variegated ones sometimes don't do up as well as you'd think. I imagine that a self-striping would be really nice. My advice: DO IT !!

I'm sorry to hear of your friend's sudden passing, and am sure your chosen attire is/was perfectly acceptable. I have a funny (at least to us) anecdote about my mother's color preference for her own funeral. Being in the legal profession for most of her life, she was used to preparing things with minute detail. Mom had always told us where to find her instructions, regarding a separate bank account, specifically meant for all fees incurred upon her passing, from newspaper obituary, taxes, hospital, funeral, burial/gravestone, to post funeral luncheon for family and friends. We come from a large Irish family, and Mom's generation usually had open casket funeral viewings and cemetery interment back then, rather than cremation. Thus as well as which music she preferred for her funeral mass, she also detailed the burial outfit she liked best, and even the color of satin lining for her casket! Mom loved color and always wore either pastels or beautiful jewel tones. I don't recall ever seeing her wear white for any upper body clothing, unless she was in a choir or something that necessitated a uniform look. So we weren't surprised at her last request. "I would love it if you can find a casket with a soft pink satin lining, but at least not white. It's always made be look bland, and I know some family and friends will have come a long way to be here. I know I'm dead, but I don't want to look TOO dead!" with a big smiley face drawn beside it. We laughed so hard, and yes, she got a lovely pink satin lining.

I made the jacket extra large so that there is room for air to circulate between the jacket and the body, and so this helps, but the terry cloth is warmer than necessary in the desert. It was 115° here yesterday, but we waited until after 6PM to go in the pool so that it would be in the shade, and the temperature was below 110. The water in the pool yesterday was 92°, which is a bit tepid but still okay for swimming or floating. I do plan to make several jackets of different weights, but I will have to get fabric for them, and that might take a while. The next fabric I want takes a couple of months to get because it is printed to order. As for UV protection, we stay out of the sun in the summer and in the winter we wear sunscreen. December is the coldest month in Palm Springs, but still most of the days reach 70° or above. I heat the pool to 85-87° in the winter, and so it feels comfortable even if the air temperature is 70, but it does feel cold when we get out. On those days, I wear a full length terry cloth robe. The jackets will be good only for warmer days. We do not have a pool in Los Angeles, as we are close to the beach, which makes the weather much cooler in the summer (usually mid 70s), and we have wetsuits to wear if we go in the ocean. I'll look into a different fabric (other than terry cloth) for lining, but I don't think I have enough white cotton right now for that. I do have a shirt that I sometimes wear - Kevin might have one also, but he has been wearing a long Turkish cotton robe this week.