Here is the total damage done at Loopy Ewe Central by the earthquake at 4:36 a.m. We found a needle that had slipped from it’s package on a peg, and was laying on the floor. Yikes. Think this is a matter for the insurance agency? We’re considering it. In the meantime, did anyone else here in the midwest feel the quake? We have a major fault line running right through St. Louis, but it’s normally pretty boring. I think we have had 2 tremors in the last 20 years. (Tremors, where you say, “What was that? Did a truck just drive down the street?”) The one this morning was a 5.2 and things were definitely shaking. Besides a few aftershocks, that will probably be it for another twenty years.
We have an Adopted Elf today! Keri (Kyrana on Ravelry) lives about 90 miles away and is coming to the Spring Fling next weekend. She called yesterday and said that for one of her Random Acts of Kindness this month, she wanted to offer to drive in and help us for the afternoon because she figured we were “probably going crazy right about now, trying to get everything ready.” How fun is that? She’s doing a top notch job of unpacking t-shirts and folding them up all nice and neat. (And she brought me one of her wonderful bags – woohoo! I’ll have to photo that next week for you.) How is everyone coming along on our April Blog Contest? The contest is to do 3 random acts of kindness for the month, and then we’ll have Reporting Day on Wednesday, April 30th. I hope you’re looking for great opportunities to help others this month.
This week’s recipe is another one that we enjoyed on vacation. It’s a gray, rainy day here today and supposed to get cooler, so soup sounds like a good dinner to me right now. This is thick and delicious – just add some fresh bread and a good salad and you have a great meal.
Cheese and Broccoli Soup
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 stick margarine
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans cream of potato soup
1 1/2 lbs Velveeta Cheese
2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli
sour cream (optional)
Saute finely chopped carrots, celery and onion in margarine. Add chicken broth and simmer for 30 minutes. Add broccoli, potato soup and Velveeta cheese. Simmer 10-15 minutes, or until broccoli is cooked through and cheese is melted. Garnish with sour cream if desired.
Good news – they called to say our Noro Sock order has shipped! As you know, we have been waiting for a long time. (And yes, we do have another order in already.) We hope to have that within days. We also have Boye DPN’s going up soon, as well as Pattern Tamers – did you see those reviewed in the latest issue of Knitty? Great magnetic strips for keeping track of where you are on your pattern (but made to look cute!). What else? Numma Numma’s BabyBoo, Chameleon Colorworks, more Schaefer, more Casbah, more Duets, and some Black BFL roving that has me totally addicted.
Want to know how many steps the average Loopy Elf (oh – none of them are average – they’re all amazing. But you know what I mean) takes on a post Sneak Up day? Donna (one of our newest Elves) wanted to find out, so she came to work with a pedometer on Wednesday. During her day, she pulled orders for 4 hours (so that involves walking around) and she packed orders for 2.5 hours (which means she was mostly standing still while others did the pulling and walking around). She racked up 4110 steps that day. How about that? A fun job with yarn, and exercise too. Life is good.
Sheri whoseofficeisover-runwithspringflinggoodybagcontentsatthemoment
butthatwillbegoingawaysoonbecauseTheFlingersarealmostontheirway!
The soup recipe is perfect! We’ve got a return to cold weather here in the Seattle area and I’ve been thinking soup and a good chewy bread for dinner. (or maybe lunch – it’s that time).
I chuckled a little this morning at the interviews on the news about the quake. A 5.2 by West Coast standards is almost a non-topic (and I’m a California native so). There was a line in the movie Indendence Day where Will Smith was making fun of people standing outside because of a little bitty earthquake. I was in Tennessee at the time and I was the only one in the whole theater who laughed out loud – I guess it was a California joke 😉 I was glad to see it was NOT the New Madrid fault Sheri – now THAT would be bad news in your part of the country for sure.
How nice of Keri to help out. But are those t-shirts…..*blue*??? I didn’t think Loopy allowed anything that wasn’t red! 🙂
I didn’t feel a thing this morning, but I’m near KC and was sound asleep. Glad to know the damage over there was minimal!
I’m glad the yarns and etc. stayed on their shelves/hooks. Loopy and the elves don’t have time to be cleaning up after an earthquake!
I’m in Central Indiana. I slept through the initial 5.2 quake, but felt the 4.5 aftershock at 11:15 EDT. Ooooh, flashback to Pasadena, long long ago. Earthquakes are just…weird. I am not a fan.
But fwiw, Independence Day is one of my favourite movies. 🙂
It woke me up. I’ve been in a much bigger quake in California, so like Tracy said, this is nothing.
Glad to hear you’re all safe and sound. I’m just hoping my mom doesn’t hear about the earthquake or she will be begging me not to go next week!
It sounds like things are really hopping there. Hope you find some time to relax on the weekend and work on your special projects.
It woke me up, and I thought a cat had jumped on the bed (I have a 16 pound cat, you KNOW when she arrives). The wardrobe was rattling, but I put that down as another Act of Cat and tried to go back to sleep.
Hubby slept through it all. I had my suspicions before, but now I know he can sleep through anything, even an earthquake!
Well, the quake did wake me up this morning or I was just drifting off to sleep again.
I just couldn’t get up out of bed and look to see what was going on. I live in a
senior center and we are all old and sick. I thought maybe it was 911 taking out
the lady upstairs from me. The biggest quake I went through was a long time
ago when my boys were little. We were at the “Y” and they were taking swimming
lessons. All the mom’s (and dad’s) were sitting on pews that were staggared and
the pews started to really shake. The kids in the water didn’t feel anything. We
thought we would all land on the floor but we didn’t. We still weren’t smart enough
to figure out what was going on. When we left the “Y”, we went to the grocery store
and everything was on the floor. That’s when we found out that there was an
earthquake. At home everything that was on shelves and hanging on walls was
on the floor. We had another little one today at 10:10. I’m glad everyone is o.k.
Happy for you that you found a helper. Wish that I could.
Ok I was wrong on Ravelry i said 4 Am but if it was 4 AM Loopy time then it was 3 AM our time. I think i am too far west to feel it. But my baseboard heater went out, now did the cat come against it or was it a quake. Probably the cat. Your sopu recipe made me hungry and i just ate two wholesome sandwiches minutes ago but i love brocoli and cheese. Will have to try this one some time.
I love the adoptive ELf idea just cute. I second that: blue Tees? At Loopy? I already wondered at the pink a few days ago. but pink is still in the red family. Or is Loopy turning blue from the drop in temps. Is it just me or did it get cooler than predicted since that cold snap that brought rain and snow. FPS! make up your mind. Sometimes i wonder what is better to listen or not listen to the weather report!
If you lived around the corner I would be always dropping by to help out. I think it is fun. I am a very messy person but i like order with thing like material, yarn cross stitch, clothes hanging up. But papers, books and such o dear! You should see how it looks around my computer when i am writing a paper for college.
loveya
Yikes, you were lucky Sheri. That sure would have been a huge mess. I can’t even imagine what it is like. Good old New England. Today is hot, 83 degrees. Uck! How nice of Keri to volunteer. I wish I could, a little more then 90 miles though. I really am excited about the new Loopy wearables instant gratification not like knitting. Hope you and the elves have a great weekend. Hugs
Soup looks good, but perhaps on another day… it’s 85 degrees over here in New Jersey! Gotta find my shorts and skirts! Wasn’t it just snowing yesterday? LOL
Enjoy the Spring Fling!! I cannot wait to read all about it!! Share as much as you can please!
Glad to hear the earthquake damage was minimal! Whooosh!! I must be all the yarn fumes, keeping all safe and sound… LOL
Michelle
The 4:30am quake woke the entire family up. It just freaked me out. That was a first for me. I’m from FL and am use to big winds and rain (we are Andrew refugees and were dead on for Charley too). You can have the rolling ground and the shakey building stuff, I’ll take the big wind and rain. I was at work for the 10:15am one and it rattled our building pretty good. We had a few things side off shelves but nothing major. Glad Loopy Central did not suffer any damage. All of the Little Loopy’s must have been so scared. I can come babysit them if you need someone to do so.
If you need more help getting ready, let me know. I’m right around the corner and am happy to help.
When I heard about the Quake I wad hoping everybody came out ok!! In SW Mo despite the fact we have off shoot fault lines all over the place we didnt feel a thing either. BTW I live in McDonald CO which is further SW than Springfield and about as far SW in the state as you can get 🙂
I live in Lafayette, Indiana and we were awaken by the shaking. Then around 11:00 A.M. there was a “larger” after tremor. No damage here, but I am pretty tired today since I woke up an hour earlier than normal. 🙁 Good thing it is Friday. Maybe the kiddos will sleep in tomorrow. Yeah right!
My kids felt it. I woke up at that time but didn’t know why, rolled over and went back to sleep. But according to the kids their bedroom doors were rattling. I did feel the aftershock at around 11:15 or so, but I was awake then.
What a nice thing for Keri to do. If I lived closer you wouldn’t be able to keep me away, I would have to be one of the elf staff : )
The soup sounds yummy, I will havce to give it a try.
Have a great weekend
This time, the quake itself did not wake me. Rather, it’s affect was what woke me. It caused the antenna to fall off my TV and slide down the wall. (Said antenna is not well-attached anyway.) Of course, my first thought was that the cat was up on the dresser, and then I went to a raccoon having gotten in my room somehow (don’t ask, I had been sleeping, and at the moment my room is such a wreck that an entire zoo could live in there and I’d never know it). Didn’t find out until I got up and was making my tea that it was an earthquake.
Now, LAST time (I think they said it was 2004, but I think there must have been one in 2005), I woke up because my closet doors were shaking, and I thought, “Oh, my, a raccoon has fallen through the ceiling from the attic into my closet and is trying to get out.” Again, sleeping. 😉
I missed the one early this morning, but I felt the 11:15 aftershock here in Michigan. Sitting in a meeting and just felt a weird vibration wave thing in the floor and my chair for a few seconds. It was kinda cool, but I don’t think I’d want to experience it from any closer than 600+ miles from the epicenter!
Glad you & the Loopy Elves & the yarn are all okay – I’ve lived in Southern California my whole life & been through many quakes, so I can relate. It was much easier to sleep thru them (or go back to sleep afterwards) as a kid than it is now!
As to the t-shirt colors, I figure if they were all red, then you wouldn’t be able to see Loopy’s red socks, right??
I lived in Los Angeles for eight years and we had two small quakes. Not enough to freak me out, but too many to make me feel totally comfortable.
Everyone out there thought I was nuts, but I’ll take tornados/hurricanes over an earthquake any day of the week. At least you have a little warning with the weather stuff!
Glad you are all OK! I’m in Toronto and slept through the quake but apparently you could feel it here!
WATCH Kyrana…it’s always the nice ones who steal yarn. Glad you’re fine…. but really- I’d have been glad to come down and help protect the yarn— yarnsitting or something?????
Some of my co-workers felt the earthquake this morning and were talking about it. Oh did I say we work in New Albany, OH..a little east of Columbus?! I was surprised some felt it this far away. How nice of Keri to help out Looks like she’s doing a good job. 🙂 Can’t wait to get there myself. See you all in less than a week. 🙂
I hope you managed to get “the earthquake damage” cleaned up before the weekend hits! The soup receipe looks good, but I’ll have to file it under things to make another day. Finally, it’s so much like spring out side that I’m thinking I should maybe make the seasonal shift in my closet this weekend. The problem with that is, then I would seriously need to start looking for my summer body. Hmmm.
Well, I’m glad that all is well with everyone. And, how sweet of Keri to volunteer to help for one of her RAKs. : )
That soup recipe is right up my alley – just love that stuff! I get it nearly every time I go to Panera Bread, which is about once a week – sometimes every two weeks. Now I can look into making my own! : )
Have a wonderful weekend!
Glad no major damage at TLE headquarters! I lived in CA for a few years and we had hundreds of microquakes centered in the city I lived in over a week time period. It can definitely rattle the nerves a bit!
Glad you got help getting ready for spring fling weekend. I just got official word today of my transfer back to Central Illinois, so perhaps next year I’ll get to come!
Happy knitting this weekend! I’m taking a break from my mr. greenjeans to get a little work done on a rocketry blanket…also in DIC!
Glad to hear you guys didn’t have any damage. We felt it here at my little neck of the woods and it cornfused me (I was asleep when it hit). That’s interesting how much work you guys do.
I felt it at my house in western North Carolina! I couldn’t believe it…Glad you made out OK.
Can’t wait to try that soup receipe! It hit 91 here in Central PA today but I LOVE soup anytime of year. Have a ton of fun at the Spring Fling!
I didn’t feel anything this morning and didn’t even know that there had been an earthquake until aroud 6 this evening! My husband said it woke him up and he didn’t know what was going on. I guess I’m too used to sleeping through him tossing and our two year old kicking me that I didn’t notice!
I can’t wait to see the pattern tamers…they sound like something I want:) Have a great weekend!
As tempting as it might be to fondle something out the door at TLE, I have a suspicion that they’d know who to cast the evil eye at! And I’m betting punishment would involve never even seeing Wollmeise on the Web site, even if it was in stock for more than 30 seconds!
At any rate, it was a fantastic afternoon, and the tshirts are super duper awesome! All of the TLE swag is pretty cool, but I just love blue. Loopy’s red socks show up really well on the blue background, so don’t worry – the red is there, and it pops!
I don’t know about this – you’re having earthquakes and I’m sitting here in Seattle looking out my window at snow!
I’m very much looking forward to seeing you and the store and the elves in person next week and I’m glad everything didn’t fall down this morning.
Glad to hear that everything was ok at Loopy Central. I grew up in California and know what it’s like. The little quakes aren’t so bad but the big ones can be scary, especially because there’s no warning.
What an excellent RAK idea! Another reason to regret living so far away…
All you Spring Flingers, have a wonderful time!
I got wolken up by both the 4:37 and the 10:16 quake. At the 4 A.M. one I had a dog run up the stair while anothe one ran up down the stairs. My husband was working that night, so after he came home I fell back asleep. I woke up a little after ten wondering if I was halucinating, but no, it was an afershock.
I woke up during the earthquake but I sure didn’t know it was an earthquake. I heard my roommate’s bed hitting our shared wall and my immediate thought (who knows where this came from) was that she was having a seizure! (Obviously I didn’t realize I was shaking too..lol)
After running into her room and realizing she was ok, we sat for a good long time trying to figure out if you can have a seizure while you’re sleeping and not know it, or whether I was just dreaming or going crazy!
Mom called about an hour later and told me it was an earthquake…I was SO glad to know I was mentally stable 🙂
I heard life is pretty busy getting ready for Spring Fling….You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!
Your Loopy Elves are simply amazing! I placed an order just a couple of hours ago and I’ve already received an e-mail saying that my order has been shipped! WOW!
Being a Loopy Elf is good exercise! I sometimes wish my job was as good for my health as that, but I love where I work and what I do which is the important thing.