Saturday, November 24, 2012

Channeling My Grandmother!

I knit these little slippers from a 1950's pattern book.  I used two strands of leftover yarn together and made them thick and cozy. 

And I am baking biscuits.  My grandmother did make great biscuits.  I like biscuits dripping with honey or sorghum molasses. 

We had a little bit of frost this morning.  A change in the weather-cooler and windy.  So baking is called for to make me feel a little warmer.  I also like my wool sockies. 

Noodles has been ill.  He got into a fight.  I only found this out by the limping and the scabs that appeared.  Now he has a lump on one side that I am hoping is only a pus pocket.  I have been giving him antibiotics, but will have to load him up and take him to vet tomorrow.  Sigh!  Just as I think things are going to level out financially, I have emergencies.

My neighbors loaded me up with food late on Thanksgiving.  I had already eaten turkey and sweet potato, but now I am eating and eating and eating leftovers.  Last night was the first night that I craved anything sweet.  So I ate a small bit of peanut butter.  That helped.

My brother called me yesterday afternoon as he was driving home from his daughter's house.  He sounded really tired.  I think we are all getting too old.  He is going to Italy in a coupla weeks for work.  Must be tough-huh?  To have a paid trip to Italy?

A woman in my knitting group is going to Italy next week for the winter months.  I think she will be back some time in February or maybe March.  She is visiting her son and her daughter.  One lives in Florence, I think it is her daughter.  I don't know that Italy will be any warmer than here, but it will be more fashionable anyway. 

I am happily knitting the second sleeve of my sweater.  Then I can join the body and sleeves to start the yoke.  Yeah!  Finally an exciting part!

I am also knitting a mosaic hat that is easy and I am using leftover yarns.  It is going quickly.  When it is done, I will go back to colorwork bag I had to frog. 

CJE's mother has had a severe battle with shingles.  Enough that she was not cognitively engaged.  Now that they are under medication and subsiding, she is aware of what is going on and is in pain.  And of course, CJE's shingles flared up and she is on her medication.  Sigh! 

Well-gotta go.  Biscuits are ready to come out of oven.  

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Thanksgiving-A Celebration of Thanks!

It still feels odd calling this Thanksgiving Week.  It still feels too soon, too early,too something.

But in my quiet and silly way, I still have so much to be thankful for that I don't care that it is early.

I usually spend my day of Thanksgiving thinking and praying and giving thanks to the universe for all that is important to us all-peace, love, happiness, joy, friendships and all relationships.  I like to spend the day to myself, and I try not to interact with anything other than my quietness.  I don't need to stuff myself silly with food to find thankfulness.  I just need quiet time and me time.

I have almost finished with the pink yarn.  Whew!  It has been a marathon to finish the last bits and get it plied.  I did most of the spinning singles with a really good YA audio book called Gone-Away Lake.  It is about cousins spending the summer holiday exploring the woods and having adventures.  He is 12 and she is 11.  They find a hidden swamp that was once a summer lake resort.  The homes were abandoned when the lake disappeared.  But they find a very eccentric couple of elderly people living in two of the abandoned homes.  It is a really interesting book, and helped me get the work done.

I also am done with one sleeve of the winter sweater.  I am going to finish the body now and then knit the next sleeve.  I am so close to starting the yoke.  I am doing a very simple stranded colorwork, but it has to be more interesting than the stockinette of the body and sleeves.

I also started another hat, and I want to finish that before I start over on the colorwork bag. 

Today has been a gloriously warm and sunny day!  I just ate a sandwich sitting on the back deck in the sun.  I am getting plenty of sun on my arms with just a tee shirt on.  I also am barefoot, so the feet are getting some sun, too.  I remember when I had to scrape ice on my windshield at this time.  So this is glorious weather!

One of the women in my knit group just published her first pattern.  Yeah! Cassie Dominnick.  I don't think she will mind my telling her whole name.  She will have more, I am sure.

My friend CJE has been so worried about her mother.  She has been very ill, and not managing herself well.  Yesterday at the doctor she is discovered to have the worse case of shingles the doctor has ever seen.  She has never had them before, and suddenly she is covered up one side of her back, down her hip and groin, and down the leg.  The doctor told her it is following a nerve path.  That is probably why she is so sick and weak.  It is scary, isn't it?

I need to take advantage of days like today to work in the front flower bed.  But....I think I like just sitting in the sun.

Noodles has not been well, and I haven't figured out totally what is wrong.  I finally figured out why he is limping so much.  He has scabs all over his head, neck and shoulders,  There is one big wound(scab) under one arm pit.  That means fights with a straggler who has ventured into our yard.  Yes, he is very defensive about his territory.  But I haven't figured out the occasional tics in the face.  I researched it online, but just like humans, he could have a brain tumor, or seizures, or anything.  He doesn't show any ataxia, so I am ruling out seizures or a brain tumor.  Oh, well, it is almost time for yearly well-check and shots.  So unless he shows major changes, I will wait.

H and R have had to put one of their dogs down.  But they now have rescued Georgina and added her to their family.  Granddogs are great!

So nothing else new.  Remember to have a lot of gratitude this Thursday for all you have.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 12, 2012

What Is Going On With The Calendar!?!

Okay-something is wrong with my internal calendar!  I mean-is Thanksgiving really next week?  I guess I haven't been paying attention to anything.  Suddenly I noticed that everyone is talking about Black Friday.  I never pay any attention to Black Friday, and I just didn't pay attention.  Then suddenly I noticed the anchors on t.v. saying that prices were going up on Thanksgiving turkeys and the fixin's. 

I had to go to the calendar and look to make sure.  YES! Next week is Thanksgiving!  How can that be?  It is happening too early in the month. 

There is still one full week afterwards.  That's not right.  Isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be right before a short week right before December? 

Anyway-the end of the year is approaching.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Discombobulated!

This has been the strangest week for me.  It started as a rush of phone calls on Monday.  I usually can go days (literally) without talking to anyone at all.  It seemed strange to have calls waiting in queue for me.

Then on Tuesday I went down to Boston Mountain to pick up my things from the October fiber show at Ozark Folkways.  I picked up my friend TR and we ate lunch before going up the mountain.  I drove the old highway to view the foliage.  It was absolutely gorgeous with the sun shining and just warm enough to need a light sweater or a long-sleeved shirt.

Then Wednesday I felt ill again, and I couldn't believe it!  I thought the tummy bug was gone.  Luckily it only lasted one day.

Because I purposefully did not want to hear anything at all about politics and commentators babbling about nothing, I turned off all electronic media.  I did turn on my computer and watched Brother Cadfael on Netflix.  I got quite a lot of spinning done during that and I am quite happy that something got accomplished.  It was a nice Wednesday.

Thursday was Knitting Group, but I only lasted about an hour this time.  There was standing room only this week, and it gets way too noisy and you can't really talk to anyone. 

Friday was yard work.  Can you believe I actually mowed the yard again?  This is November for pete's sake!  I actually wanted to run the gas out of the mowers, but I guess I haven't been too diligent with my mowing.  I still have way too much gas left in both mowers.  I am going to go to Lowe's and buy some stabilizer and call it the end of the season. 

I did get some of the old pokeberry stalks cut down again.  It is definitely the end of season chore that has to get done. 

And suddenly it is Saturday.  I am not going to go to the weaver's meeting this a.m.  I did not sleep well and had the most weird dreams.  I also want to finish my bobbin of yarn and get to plying.  I can't decide if I want to watch Netflix or listen to a book on tape.  Tough choices.

I also have been in a knitting funk.  I guess it is normal, but I am in a bad funk this time.  Since I was outside all day yesterday working in the yard, I was sure I would be ready to sit and knit a while last night.  I did not knit a stitch. 

I am not sure if the weather has anything to do with all this.  I think if it was normal November weather, I would be moving into hibernation.  That is my most productive time with needlework of all kinds.  Right now we are expecting a cold wave of rain and chill on Sunday night.  Then I suppose after that we will have another heat spell. 

I am so amazed at all the flowers blooming.  I know that the frost we will get Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will probably nip them.  But isn't it strange to have all these flowers blooming in November?

Patty is outside right now lying in the sun on the deck.  Noodles is enthroned in the deck chair in the sun. 

I don't mean this to be a long detailed grouse of the weather.  I am certainly happy to not be knee-deep in snow or to have ice hanging from the eaves.  It is only a commentary of odd behavior.

I have been mulling over how to get that rich deep burgundy color that is seen this time of year on the leaves.  And that rich orange-y color that is slightly peachy, but not so yellowish.  I guess persimmon orange is closest to the color I am thinking of.  I am  not too sure of my dye stash, but I may have to think about this some.  I think it would all be gorgeous blended with my ashy beige I dyed with black walnuts.

Well-enough bad news and good news all in one package.  Have a great weekend!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Is It Over Yet?

I hate to say this-but I am really, really, really tired of all the politics.  Can we as Americans think of something other than who is making the most empty promises and the most slurs, etc?

Anyway, it has been a week of tragedies since the storm in the northeast.  And I think a Nor'easter is moving in next.  More water and wind on top of everything else.  We were supposed to get some rain this weekend, but evidently it bypassed us.  Sigh!  It is just so dry. 

I am only knitting on my sweater at this time.  It is endless row after row of stockinette stitch in the round.  That is so much easier since it is only a knit stitch.  It goes fairly quickly, but it is also 13.5 inches.  Then I get to do the yoke.  And that is a colorwork pattern and will require more concentration.

I did finish the cute little baby sockies last weekend.  I like to have baby sockies on hand for new babies.  You are never too young for handmade socks.

I am also spinning on my pink yarn.  It is really pretty.  I am really glad I scoured the pink Coopworth.

I also did a quick dye job on some BFL.  I did a pound of roving in a very old, very, very old pot of black walnut.  Evidently there wasn't a lot of dye left.  But it came out a beautiful ashy beige color.  I really like the color.  Just a soft neutral to add to the mix.

Other than that, I have had a little bit of a stomach virus, and that is finally edging out of the picture.  It saps my energy to focus on what to eat and what can make it quit hurting.  I don't like to think about food that much. 

My friend OSM was here Friday afternoon and spent the night.  She left early yesterday morning to meet a friend in Tahlequah.  She is returning to California next week.  I think she is finally feeling better and her health seems to be turning to the positive.  She has gained some weight and her skin looks better.  She has more energy, and that helps.  The only negative is that her newest dog peed twice in the house before she left.  I don't like that at all.  I had to stop getting ready to leave the house to clean my carpet twice. 

So nothing else to report this week.  Nothing new and exciting.  I did get some seeds planted Friday. I have no idea when is the time to plant anymore.  By now we should have had a hard freeze and cool down on the weather.  I have a sunflower blooming, the calendula is blooming like crazy in the back, the catnip has blossoms, and there is one little long-nose coneflower blooming in the front.  Who knows anymore?  I just hope the new seeds will settle in the cooler earth and sleep through the winter.  I planted more prairie flowers this time, and hopefully the drought will not get here too early next Spring.

Have a good week this week.  I am going to finish out this little bit of pink fiber and get this bobbin filled.