a dog, a skunk, a tooth

Well this past week has been interesting if nothing else ......................... Do you know that the phase "may you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse.................... so who out there has been cursing me .............. you can stop any time.

DD Had her neck surgery on Thursday very early a.m. and went home at 3:00 p.m.. She is doing well and every day is better so that is a relief. She goes back to see the neurosurgeon in 6 weeks so will see what he plans from then on as she has problems in her low back as well. Aarron is taking good care of her and I was there yesterday while he was at work.

About the dog .......................... Charlie ............... not Leda (she is either too smart or too chicken). It was 11:00 on Friday night and I was going to bed. As usual I let Charlie out ................. I hear him yelping and run out to see what is wrong. I am calling Charlie and he comes .............. sees me coming out side and stops ....................Turns and starts barking. I can't see what he is barking at so I go across the patio and what do I see............................... an animal................ coming towards us and it is black with a white strip and the tail is UP. At this point I start frantically calling Charlie and we head into the house quickly and close the door. OH OH WHAT IS THAT SMELL .................... Bill said Charlie didn't get a full shot but enough that he sure didn't smell very good. Fortunately we had tomato juice ........... open the can ............... take Charlie into the bathroom. He of course won't climb into the tub so I lift him in and start pouring tomato juice on him .......................... GREAT he is licking it up off the bottom of the tub. I rub him all over with the juice as I try to stop him from drinking it.................. now to get the tomato juice off??????????????????? THE SHOWER WILL WORK. HE DOESN'T WANT TO STAND IN THE SHOWER ...............SO I CLIMB IN WITH HIM........................It is now midnight........................ Charllie and I are both soaking wet but he does smell better................... not completely skunk free but almost. I dry us both off and stay up long enough for my hair to dry.. ................no Charlie on the bed tonight so put him on a bed on the floor. ............ climb into bed and go to sleep.

POUND POUND POUND............................... "WAKE UP"

POUND POUND POUND .............."LET ME IN"

POUND POUND POUND .......................GRAMMA GET UP"

It is 9:45 .............. Shelby is at the door. Jill has to go to work so Shelby will wait at our house for her Dad to pick her up. It is his year to have her this Christmas. I let them in and they say "WHAT IS THAT SMELL" .............................. so I tell them the skunk story............... light more candles and try to get rid of the smell. THEN Grumpy (DH) gets up and says " I didn't get any sleep. My C-pac machine picked up that smell all night." Now if I had a c-pac machine that sat on the floor and picked up the skunk smell............ I WOULD PUT THE MACHINE ON THE DRESSER. I did refrain from telling Grumpy this.

To just add to the morning I am eating breakfast and I lose a crown............... the post broke right off so now I have to GO TO THE DENTIST........................... I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST...................I WOULD RATHER BATHE A SKUNKY DOG.

Yesterday I looked after DD#1 while Aarron went to work and today I am having a little pity party as I am really missing all my family this Christmas. I have cleaned a space to put the tree but that is now the only clean space in the house. I guess the stuff that came out of the corner where the tree is going will go into the still messy, disorganized, too full ROOM.

This is what I made for Shelby but she doesn't like it. Her comment was" That doesn't really suite me Granma." I am going to see if it "SUITES" Gail's DGD.




I think I will make myself a cup of tea and have some CHOCOLATE with it.

Moving

furniture. When I am stressed I either move furniture or clean. Today I decided to change the living room furniture................
Like most everything else I do in this house it is not a one day project. The main furniture is moved but there is still "STUFF" to deal with.................. baskets and baskets and baskets of yarn and baskets and baskets of fibre ,,,,,,,,,,, three spinning wheels.............books, books and more books...........plus library books. This does not include Bill's "STUFF" or Shelby's "STUFF".................... not to mention dog "STUFF".
This is one sure way to get the room clean and sorted so I can put up the Christmas tree................ Plus the Christmas Village and the Christmas Snow globes ................. I love to wind them all up at the same time as it drives my Childrens "NUTS".......
.........they all play different tunes.

Here are photos of some of the things I have been working on:
This is a cowl and the pattern is my very own design.............. the very poor photo is mine too



Fingerless mitts I made using the Mermaid Sock pattern



Maine Morning Mitts



Swallow tail Shawl



Slam Bam Thank you Lamb Cowl



Hat and Cowl for a wee one . I need to look up the name of the pattern.

I don't feel any older

Well it is time to update this blog. There is just Charlie and I at home today. DH is off with his buddies and Leda has gone to DGD's for the weekend.
I have been madly knitting for Christmas but that is nothing new........................... will I still be knitting Christmas eve............ probably ............................ or maybe I will be finished the Christmas projects and work on something for me. This is rather a lean Christmas as far as money is concerned but that isn't what Christmas is about. We will see some of our family and friends so that will be nice.
DGD #2 was complaining that they don't decorate but just put up a tree. I said "You can come and help me decorate". Reply " I don't know." She is now 9 and not too helpful lately. What is it about 9 year olds ...............Not my favorite age group ..........they don't want to bathe, wash or brush their hair and teeth, change their clothes and they are smart alecs...............
................... Fortunarely I do love this child. My other DGD is coming on the 23rd for the day so I will have to see what she wants to do.
Last weekend Jill, Shelby and I were at DD Cory's and made centre pieces. Here is one of mine.



It was my Birthday on Tuesday and I went to Jackies to quilt. All my Children plus all my Brothers and Sisters have phoned this week. I was wonderful to talk to everyone. We didn't do anything on my Birthday as Bill had to work until 11:00 pm. Wednesday my friend Molly took me out shopping and then for Lunch. Gail took me to supper before we went to WNK. As usual we had desert first and it was delicious. We ordered a sampler so got to taste three different desserts. This is the lovely gift from Gail ( she made the fingerless gloves)


Friday I was supposed to spin at Doris' house but cancelled out as I had this horrible headache. Discovered yesterday that I forgot to take my pills on Friday.
Yesterday was Cory's birthday she was taken to emergency by ambluance because of the pain she has been having in her neck and arm. The Neurosurgeon admitted her and today she will probably have an MRI and will very likely need surgery. Not the way you usually want to spend your Birthday but she was so relieved to finally have someone doing something about the problem that it may be the best Birthday ever. Visited her last night and will probably go again tonight.
Usually we celebrate our Birthdays together with DGD #1 whose BD is the 23rd but don't know how much celebrating we will do this year.
I missed my Dear Friend Margaret's graduation celebration last night. She now has her Masters Degree. I really give her credit for this as she was working full time , looking after a family and doing at least 2 courses a semester. Needless to say she is very happy to be finished. I did phone her to say congratulations and all going well I will get to see her and her family this coming week.

Well I must get back to my knitting so that's allfor now.

PHOTOS at last

Well today DH and I looked for the plug-in-thingy to download photos from my camera. I just knew it.......................it is lost forever in his truck ..................... maybe it is hiding with the instruction manual for the fax machine, because he took that to the truck as well. Now he can't get the fax machine to work as he doesn't know how to program it or the phone....................
I think it is time he cleaned out the truck.
Anyway I went to London Drugs and for $20.00 I got this little thing that you put the memory card in and it downloads the photos to the computer so here are some photos.
INTRODUCING CHARLIE



This is Leda and



this is how she feels about Charlie!!!!


This is my parcel from Bauschkebear in the wee tiny sock swap.


This is the felted bag "My Constant Companion" by Janet Scanlon. I made it with DK yarn and smaller needles.

HE WENT OUT THE CAT DOOR

I guess I need to do a little explaining here before I tell you the story but FIRST I AM A GREAT AUNT and my Wendy Sister is a Grandmother. Her DD had a baby boy Friday November 13th,2009.




His name is Tristyn Jay, 9 lbs,11 oz. i wonder if that hair is RED.

The other news that is not so noteworthy except to us is we have a new dog. A Cocker Spaniel whose name is Charlie. The previous owners called him "The Inspector General " but he should be called HOUDINI. We have had him a week and 2 days. The first morning I let him out in the back yard he managed to get out the back gate as it wasn't shut properly and he was able to PUSH it part way open. Off Bill and I go to find the dog. Bill in the car and me walking. Fortunately one of the other dog walkers found him and brought him home.

It is now 2:30 AM ................. yes you read that right 2;30 IN THE MORNING ....................Charlie got up about 1:30,
he got off the bed and did not come back but I did hear an odd noise. .................. so I get up.................... no Charlie anywhere in the house. Where the heck is he................. aaaaaaaaaaah .................. that odd noise .................the cat door. Now this is a standard size cat door and Charlie is a standard size Cocker Spaniel .................................I have no idea how he managed to squeeze out the cat door but he did. He had to go out that way unless he can turn doorknobs and lock doors behind him. I get my coat and shoes on and start to look for Charlie. Two houses from our place and I say to my self "Self is this a good plan to be walking around on your own in the wee hours of the morning?" ........................ NO ....................... so I go back to the house and get the car keys, start the car and head down the street , around the corner and into the alley. Cocker Spaniels are always hungry so I figure he is out looking for garbage cans he can get into. Sure enough there he is in the alley, 2 doors up from our house and soaking wet. How did he get out of the yard? I have no idea whether he found a small hole to crawl through or just climbed over the fence. Apparently he can climb over an accordion style child gate.
We are now home and I am wide awake, Charlie is sleeping in Leda's basket even though it is too small for him. I have blocked off the cat door and will try to go back to sleep after I finish my hot chocolate. Now to see if I can keep Leda quiet when Charlie and I go back in the bedroom. Bill has to work in the morning and will be very grumpy if we wake him.

Flying Brussel sprouts and other events -

Well I figured I better update this blog. It has been very busy since I last wrote so this will be rather long..
Thanksgiving dinner was here at our house. Cory, Jill, Shelby and Jamie came for dinner. Aaron had to work so we didn't get to see him. Dinner went well and we had a nice time but Jill is teaching MY Granddaughter bad table manners. No one is supposed to feed the dog at the table so when I caought DD Jill feeding Leda (the dog) brussel sprouts I told her "Do NOT feed the dog at the table". She then gives Shelby (HER daughter) a brussel sprout and says;" You can't feed the dog at the table so throw it into the kitchen." Whizz goes a brussel sprout past Jamies left ear and into the kitchen....................... Scoot goes the dog after the brussel sprout. Now the dog isn't stupid, she knows where the sprout came from and goes back to Shelby's chair hoping for another sprout. This is the woman who gave me heck because I told my DGD she could spit food she didn't like into her napkin..................
Wednesday (the 14th) I went to Vancouver to pick up Donna's magazines and sisal. The magazine box was about the size of a liquor store box but the sisal box was 3 feet high, 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep. Pat brought it out on a dolly and we sort of tipped it into the car. Friday I went to Gail's and her DH loaded the sisal box into the back of the pickup truck. We loaded all our stuff for the spinning retreat into the truck, hopped in and left........................ oh, oh ............... we forgot the magazines.................... Guess whaty Donna wanted the most ................ right .... the magazines.

Well we had lunch 20 minutes out of Cache Creek rather than our usual spot which is 15 minutes out of Cache Creek. Then arrived at the retreat center unloaded our stuff and went to greet everyone. The retreat was fabulous as usual and we all had a great time. Lots of laughter, some fruit and way too much food. I was very self restrained and didn't buy anything. I did sell some of my stitch markers and counting bracelets so that helped pay for the quilting retreat the following weekend. Dispite not buying anything I came home with more than I brought. I got a Grden ornament (sheep) fot the yard from the gift exchange,flax for spinning was a door prize, a sheep in a tin from the hostess's, some lovely lace weight yarn from Lynne. hair braids from Isobel and a lovely necklace from Sheila. Then Marie gave several of us some lovely aplaca yarn and challenged us to have it made into something for the next retreat. Speaking of challenges .................. there was the other Challenge................Donna gave everyon a bag of the SISAL to make something before the next retreat................ If I had known she was going to do that I would have left it at Pat's and just taken the magazines................... NOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS STUFF THEY USE TO MAKE ROPE ..........................WOW what a great weekend you should have seen the show and tell. There are some incredibly talented people at that retreat. Sunday came too soon and it was time to pack and hug people goodbye. I did get the purple fibre spun up and started on the BFL from Lynne. My but it is nice to spin and great colours. If DH ever gets my camera thingy fixed I willl post some photos. Gail and I followed Doris home as she was having trouble with her brakes on the trailer but all went well. I arrived home in time for Shelby's Birthday dinner cooked by the children ( the adult ones). It was a lovely end to a lovely weekend.
To top the weekend off there was a small envelop that had been hand delivered and inside was a small card with the Disney Princesses on the front. Inside the card:
" Dear Karen
The quilting princesses wish to enjoy your company on this coming Thursday for purely selfish reasons on their part. Please say you will come.
Hugs and Kisses from the
Quilting Fairy"
Included in the envelop was enough money to pay for one more day at the retreat. As I have said before I am very blessed to have the friends I do.

Three days at home, clean up after the DGD's party, unpack , do laundry, tidy the house a little ,put away the spinning supplies and pack the quilting supplies, find all the projects I want to take, pack wine and nibbles, try to get some sleep. Thursady morning Jocelyn and I are off to the quilting retreat where again we had lots of fun, Good friends, good wine, good food and lots of quilting. We even did some shopping. I had to get more fabric for my neices wedding quilt as I didn't like some of the fabric I had planned to us. Saturday night some of us were up rather late, when I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. there was still four people up and they didn't go to bed until 6:00 a.m.. Crazy women, I won't tell you what we drank but it was a fair amount. Some people woke up with "Skull Cramps" Sunday morning. I have almost finished the baby quilt for Justin and just need to put hanging tabs on the Manly Man challenge quilt and hand sew the binding. The Halloween wall hanging has most of the faces appliqued in place and some of the blocks are sewn together. I started this last year at the retreat and the way I am going I may actually get it done for next Halloween.
Have to go now...............

I am back, had to go to the Dr. about my knee which is much better this week as something went "kuthunk" earlier this week and I have less pain and more range.

I spent the week after the quilting retreat recovering from the retreats. My friend said "I thought retreats were supposed to be relaxing?" Relaxing YES but restful NO. I was rather sleep deprived.

Last weekend was HALLOWEEN and we went to an ABBA party at Lisa and Rene's. Everyone dressed up and all the kids were there. A good time was had by all including the students that board with L:isa and Rene.

This week has been fairly quiet re: doing things. As far as noise we have the dog and Shelby has been here most days. I have finished a felted bag with matching little zippered bag. My fingerless gloves are almost finished. They maybe for me this time but you never know. The faces are finished on the Halloween quilt and I want to start doing my Dear Jane and Quilted diamonds blocks. I need to finish my neices quilt first and then do her a baby quilt. I am waiting to find out whether the baby is male or female before I make the quilt. That porbably doesn''t really matter as the quilt will be BRIGHT IN YOUR FACE COLOURS because baby's should have bright happy things.
Well I see I have all the seating in the living room covered with knitting and quilting projects so I may have to break down and clean ................ darn........... OH well life must go on and peole who visit do need a place to sit down.

Busy week

Well the dog was sick, my car needed to be fixed, Jill's car needed to be fixed, Cory fell down the stairs, Doris came over , Mo and Barb came over, I went to Jackies, and WNK, Shelby was here for 2 nights, I made three counting bracelets and many stitch markers, I finally mailed Sue"s parcel, almost finished a wee sock, almost finished my car-knitting-socks, dyed yarn for my 'No ducks 'socks.and ripped out the heels as the socks were too short, vacumned (yes you read that right), finished the applique on a gift quilt, did some spindle spinning .......pause for a breath ..............re-organized my bead stash, found a home for three boxes in THE ROOM, send two big bags of fabric home with Doris as well as some patterns and thread, went to Micheal's and the Dollar store, shopped for groceries, hung up my wee sock collection, did dishes several times. Swept the floor, broke a glass dish I liked. I can't remember what else I did but there was more.
What's happening this coming week..................Well
Tomorrow Barb is coming over to do some crafting,
Monday I am cooking Thanksgiving Dinner,
Tuesday is sewing at Jackie's,
Wednesday I go to Vancouver to pick up magazines and sisal for Donna, then knitting at the Pool Hall in the evening
Thursday - I know something is happening just can't remember what. I better phone some people.
Friday- Gail and I go to Desert Mesa Spinning Retreat
Oh on Thursday I have to pack for the retreat. I have a little note book that has retreat information and what I need to bring so every year I review the list and add or remove anything that needs to be changed.

This was my parcel from Rebelyarnmuse on ravelry.My wee timny pickle sock is in the forefront of the photo. I loved all the goodies but the sock is the best. (Gail took the photo and sent it to me)

WONDERFUL FRIENDS

I have been blessed with some very wonderful friends and two of them spoilt me this week. I was unable to go to OFF with them so they each brought me something. Gail brought me a square spindle made by Spindle wood Company and Lynne brought me spinning fibre from Dicentre Designs. It is hand dyed BFL top in a colour called Edmund. Lynne also brought me a small amount of merino/yak that I am spinning on my new spindle from Gail. This spindle is wonderful. It spins forever.

When I think about it most of my friends spoil me and I am very blessed to have them in my life.

I have been busy spinning, knitting and quilting. I planned a lot of things for the past weekend to try and make up for not going to OFF. I stopped to see my friend Jackie then took Shelby to see the baby alpacas. We went for lunch at a Japanese restaurant where they were a little slow taking our order. Shelby got up and went over to one of the waitresses and asked when someone would wait on us as she was HUNGRY. One of the waitresses was right over (with a big smile on her face) to take our order.

We then went to Black Sheep Yarn shop as they were having a sale. There was some very cute knitted animals in the shop and Shelby really liked the elephant so I bought the pattern. Shelby checked out all the grey wool in the shop and picked out a good one for an elephant. I said "I suppose I need to knit your elephant right away".
NO ............... Shelby said" GRANDMA - you have been working on Briannes dog for months and it is NOT finished. When we get home you need to work on that ." ....................... BOSSY child. I have now finished all the pieces for the dog and just need to sew it together. .........................Have I said how much I dislike sewing knitted projects together? ........................ in case I haven't I REALLY , REALLY DISLIKE SEWING KNITTED PROJECTS TOGETHER. That is probably why I like to knit socks and shawls
....................no sewing of the knitted project.

Well today I have to go out and get a new battery for my phone as the one I have won't fully charge any more. Lets see ........
I need to do dishes, laundry, vacumming and other house work.............................. if I go to the phone shop, then the library, followed by Micheals and the loony store that may take me until 4:30. Time to think about supper before I leave for the Pool hall for the evening......................... Housework will always wait until tomorrow. In fact you can do it today and still do it again tomorrow so I THINK I WILL DO THINGS I LIKE.

My camera downloader thingy is still not working. DH took it to get it fixed so now I think it is lost forever in his truck. I really like blog postings with photos but will have to do without for now.

Why would she give us an empty teapot???

My friend Molly and I went out on Monday to do something we will never do again ...................... we went to Value Village 50% off sale................ aaaaaauuuuaghhhhhh ...................... toooooooooo many people pushing buggies and waiting in line and I think all the good stuff was already gone. I came home with 2 bead bracelets and I can't remember what Molly bought.
I think I have teflon brain ............ nothing sticks. Anyway all this doesn't explain about the empty teapot.
Molly is a tea drinker so when we went for lunch at Tim Horton's we ordered tea with our sandwich. Now the girl wants to know what size we want.
Molly asks " You will give us one teabag right no matter what size of cup we get?'
The girl says"Yes".
Molly " So you are going to charge us more money for a bigger cup of hot water."
Girl " I guess so "
Molly " Do you have tea pots?"
Off the girl goes to find a tea pot and finds some so Molly says" We want 2 small mugs, 2 teabags and two teapots full of hot water." Not hard to do right .................... WRONG............. There is a young man putting our order on a tray and he gives us our sandwiches. and 2 small mugs full of hot water with the teabags in the cups. At this point the girl says to Molly " OH here is your teapot." Are you ready for this ............................ I hope you are sitting down ..........................she hands Molly an EMPTY TEAPOT. Now why would anyone go into a restaurant and order an EMPTY teapot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really what would you want with an EMPTY teapot?
Molly hands it back and asks for it to be filled with hot water. We finally got 2 teapots full of hot water..................... this was no trouble ............ right.
I only ordered tea because I was with Molly as I am annoyed ( that is putting it mildly) with Tim Hortons. Did you know they make this "SPECIAL'" tea ................ it is steeped. How $&(&F else do they think you make tea. If you don't want this "SPECIAL " tea you get a cup of hot water, the cost is determined by how big the cup of HOT WATER is. THIS MAKES ME CRAZY SO I GUESS I NEED TO WRITE A NASTY LETTER AGAIN.

I haven't written as I have been busy canning and cleaning THE ROOM. There is a floor in the room ............ amazing, and it is carpeted. We have turned 27 lbs of cucmber into dill pickles and 35 lbsof garlic into pickled garlic. Don't know what else I have been doing other than knitting and looking after DGD.

2 socks 2 needles

Well I am trying this again. I find I am quicker with DP needles but I am testing this pattern for a lady on Ravelry and the pattern is toe up, and has sea things in it. So I am knitting 2 socks on 2 circular needles inside out. Yes you read that right INSIDE OUT This means I purl instead of knit but that is fine. Inside out you say ...................... why would anyone do that .................... well when you are doing fairisle type knitting in the round if you knit it inside out the yarn is loose enough so you can get the socks on. I think this is a very important point ........................ who wants to knit socks you can't get on. I did that once................ not intentionally.................. I made these beautiful fancy turkish style socks and couldn't get them over my instep............... yes I have a high instep, wide foot........................ but Turkish sock have a differnt style heel and the sock didn't have any give so it WOULDN"T GO ON MY FOOT. They decorated the wall until I found someone with a skinny foot that could wear these socks.
I want to knot ( that should read KNIT, who wants knotted socks) both socks at the same time so the pattern is the same on both. Normally this is not an issue for me or maybe I should say having identical socks is an issue as I prefer fraternal socks and earrings. Not that earrings have anything to do with this but I just thought I should add that. ( You never know when someone may take it into their head to buy you earrings.)
Oh yes I couldn't find the colour of yarn I wanted for these socks so I food colour dyed two skeins of white. They are now aqua. I found green, blue ,pink, red and orange in my stash.

THE ROOM actually has a floor and I am filling the recycling bin with paper. If it is blank on one side it goes for the printer. Doris has a neice who is starting to sew so I am going to give her some fabric and other sewing stuff that I am parting with. I still have to decrease the pattern section of my room as everything will not fit in the space I have allowed. I was feeling so proud of myself that I had all this floor space and then I looked at the other end of the room. THEN I turned around and walked OUT OF THE ROOM.

Update time

I checked to see when I last wrote on this blogand it was Sunday. Time , I thought to myself to write again ............... only one problem. I CAN"T THINK OF ANY THING TO SAY. Will try again later.

THE ROOM

actually has some room. I have been sorting binders and magazine holders for at least a week or is it TWO ...................... who would have thought there was that much to sort............................. Well that would be anyone who has ever seen THE ROOM. Anyway I am almost done with that............... now if everything fits in the area designated for it that portion will be done. I do hate to say it but I may have to get more ruthless and get rid of more STUFF...................... soon I am going to need a tall person to come over and take boxes off the top shelves. I don't want to climb the ladder as my right knee is bothering me. Believe it or not I am feeling really good about THE ROOM now and may have it sorted by the end of the month. OOOOPS .......SORRY.....were you sitting down when you read that????

CREDIT FOR THIS HAPPENING BELONGS TO LISA as she came and helped me get the deck cleared off so I have a place to sort STUFF. THANK YOU LISA ..... THE QUEEN OF ORGANIZATION.................

The thingy that downloads my camera to the computer is broken, DH took it to get it fixed ..................... he PUT IT IN HIS TRUCK .................It maybe lost forever. The new camera we got for Christmas does movies and stills but it is not compatible with the Mac computer....................... where will I find a space to set up the PC. Maybe I can locate one of those drying racks that hang from the ceiling and rig that up for the PC............ lower it to the cutting table when I want to use it and put it up by the ceiling when I don't.
I realloy would like to put photos on my blog ...................... I may have to dig up some old ones...

I decided I needed to knit something I could finish in a day so I made a felted bowl from the book "Oneskein" by Leigh Radford. I would like to be able to put links in my blog but I don't know how to do that. Now I am making another bigger bowl of my own design. This one is light grey and dark brown The first one was yellow and dark brown.

Time to go work on the room. May do some spinning later.

Dreaming

Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:45 ................... tooooooooo early to get up so I go back to sleep and I am having this really weird dream. There are several people in the dream but one particularly nasty man. He is saying all sorts of derogatory things about the children so I knocked the wine glass out of his hand (he poured this himself without being invited) and told him to get out of my house. I said if he ever came back I would punch him square in the mouth. Now those of you who know me realize that I don't hit people. Well later in the dream this guy comes back and I line myself up and start punching him. The dog is barking and there is yelling and I can't move my arms .............................. DH is saying "WAKE UP!!... KAREN ...... WAKE UP" .................... He is holding my wrists and doesn't let them go until he is sure I am awake.................................
I had punched him right in the head ................................... I couldn't believe I had done that.................... he said he wasn't hurt but I don't know that I believed him as my hand hurt. He said " I have told you not to hit any one in the head .... you will only hurt your hand. Then Wednesday night I apparently was kicking him in my sleep ........................ he did sleep with me again last night but said he may have to put some sort of barrier in between us to protect himself if I keep beating on him .................... He is still asleep so I don't know if I am sleeping on the couc tonight or not !!!!!!!

I realized I hadn't posted the photo of the felted bag I made. The two shades of red yarn are recycled from a thrift store sweater.





This is some of the paper that Iris and I made earlier this month............... or was it in July ...................... the time just seems to fly by.

Spinny broad

My DH sometimes calls me a spinny broad and last night I really was. About 11:30 pm I bent down to pick sometime up off the floor .................... not that that is unusual in this house..................... but was really dizzy when I stood up........... that is unusual. I sat down but it wasn't much better so I decided to go to bed. I didn't tell DH as he gets all goofy about these things and would want to take me to emergency. WARNING do NOT allow him to take you to emergency unless you are dying and have no other choice.............. but that is another story. This morning I am fine and I think I know what the problem was. Yesterday was the day to fill my weekly pill holder, reminder, plastic thingy, so I did. This morning I go to take my pills and there is a BLACK one in my container ............ in fact there is SIX ................ yes SIX black pills in my container. ARRRRUUUUUGHHHHH that means that yesterday there were SEVEN black pills in my container and I swallowed one. I don't take black pills. I look very carefully at the pills......................................................... every thing is there but the Salmon Oil and there are these BLACK pills that aren't supposed to be there. THEY ARE DH's PILLS FOR HIS PROSTRATE. I don't need those ...................... I don't have a prostrate .......... How did I manage to put black pills in my container instead of the LARGE YELLOWISH CAPSULES OF SALMON OIL. They are not the same size or colour. Anyway I guess the moral of this story is DON'T TAKE YOU HUSBANDS LITTLE BLACK PILLS or you really will be a dizzy broad.
I haven't been doing much knitting or quilting because ................. are you sitting down?????????????????????
I have been working on THE ROOM. I have been going through binders of patterns and magazines. I really have. I am down 8 yes EIGHT binders so far and 16 inches of magazines. (Most of the magazines will go to our quilting group so I will still get to have access to them.) The living room and dining room are a total disaster as this is where I am sorting these things. I can't do it in THE ROOM as there is no room.
I looked at the two rooms yesterday and said this house is a mess. DH, the sweet man, looked around and said " I wouldn't say that. It's more like organized chaos." So here I am in this organized chaos with papers , binders, magazines( in and out of holders) trying very hard to downsize my patterns to something a person could do in two life-times instead of 4 life-times. Maybe one of these days I will get it down to what I can do in this lifetime but what fun would that be. Besides I would have to know when I was going to die and I don't want to know that at least not yet.

No photos again today but do you really want to see "organized chaos"?

WE HAVE TO LOCK UP THE GARBAGE

YES you read that correctly WE HAVE TO LOCK UP THE GARBAGE .................... I mean we lock the house, we lock the car, we lock the truck, we lock the workshop , we lock the outside freezer and now we need to lock the garbage.NOT BECAUSE SOMEONE WILL STEAL IT BUT BECAUSE OF BEARS. The city has sent out a notice saying people in certain areas need to lock the container or put them in a secure BEAR resistant garage or shed. I haven't seen any bears here but apparently there has been one several blocks away by the river............ so now we have to lock up our garbage. When the garbage strike was on many years ago, DH used to wrap his garbage up in gift paper and leave it on the seat in his car with the window open ......................... someone always stole that but garbage out of the bin????????????................ I guess it is appealing if you are a bear.

Well Tuesday Jill and I drove to the Kelowna exit on the Coquihalla highway to drop DGD off with her Dad and Grandma Pat. She is supposed to stay 2 weeks so we will see if she lasts that long.
Last week the heat and the air quality almost did me in but this week it is cooler and things aren't as bad. Let's see I have been sorting through my patterns for various things and have been ruthless in getting rid of stuff ..................... well I have been with some things. The sock patterns didn't see much thinning................. but some other things did. I have emptied five ...................... yes 5 binders. I have a binder of dish cloth patterns that I am going to see if someone wants. Other things have gone in the re-cycling or if the paper is only printed on one side it goes into the printer........................ I really am trying to recycle. I am also cheap.............. or should I say economical!!!!!!!

I have finished my Swallow Tail shawl. No photo to show you as the thingy that transfers the pictures from the camera to the computer is broken. It wasn't broken when I put it away but it is now. I don't know where the broken bit is but something isn't working . ................. therefore NO photos................ boring I know.

I have been doing some spinning and have started another pair of socks. This weekend is the SOCK SUMMIT in Portland but I am not going. Knotions on line is having special sock patterns etc for those of us that didn't get to go.

Didn't ride my bike last week because of the heat and poor air quality. I don't know what my excuse is for this week.

STUFF STUFF and more stuff

I went for another ride on my bike ................... did 5 blocks and did NOT wipe out. I even managed to relax enough to think about why I was breathing through my mouth .................... DUH ................ your asthma is not in good control you silly woman. This hot weather keeps all the air pollution and it makes breathing more difficult so I have started to use my inhalers again ................... I really don't like them but they do help me breath better so there isn't really an option here.

I took the sampler shawl to Lynne last Thursday and she was very happy with it. I was so surprised when she gave me the pattern to keep as well as two ............Yes TWO balls of oh so lovely Fiddlesticks yarn. I choose a greeny-blue colour and am going to knit the 'Queen of Earth Stole' again as it is such a lovely pattern. I am working on "tango' a shawl pattern I am helping to test as well as my bag for the KAL. My bag needs one more strap then I will felt it and TA DA it is finished. I have figured out the pattern I am going to make for my Janice Sister. It is from Elann but I can't remember the name at the moment.

WE HAD AN ABBA dinner on Saturday and it was so good to see everyone. I really have missed them as we haven't got together for about three months. I broke down and asked the gals to help with the ROOM. I find it very hard to ask for help so this was a major step for me. Anyway we need to figure out a day and "THEY WILL COME" .

Yesterday I had joined the cyber spin-in with the 'Wee Sock 'group on Ravelry . Then DGD cam over and we went to see DD Cory. We helped her plant sunflowers and DGD brought one home. I brought home more of the ground cover that DD dislikes so today I will have to plant it in the rockery.

Today I will do more spinning, some knitting, gardening and I will have to do laundry and dishes .................... the never ending things.

Whaa hooo

Five blocks and I didn't fall off once................ whoopee......................I even remembered that the back brake was on the right handle.
You know learning to ride a bike makes me feel a little like I did when I was doing my once a year snorkeling. When the children lived at home we used to go to Parksville camping for a week every summer. Every day I would put on my prescription mask and my flippers .............................. OH and my bathing suit (it was a family camp ground). Then I would wade out until I was waist deep, put my face in the water and swim back and forth parallel to the beach. To help myself not to panic I would tell myself (in my head of course I would drown if a spoke out loud............ I know about drowning )............ "Yes your face is in the water but the snorkel goes to the air above the water ........................... Just breath normally and you will be fine............. Just breath." Bill always kept an eye on me or should I say an ear as he could hear me breathing on the beach. The next day I would go out again, only this time I would go out a little deeper and swim parallel to the beach. By the end of the week I was able to swim out over my head and I didn't have to stay parallel to the beach. Then we would go home and I would put my mask and goggles away until the next year.

I figure if I can go biking regularly I will be fine in a couple of weeks. I am in bad shape as after the 5 blocks my legs felt like jello all be it firm jello but still jello.

I am planning to do something I haven't done in 4 or 5 years .......................... bet you can't guess what ..............................
I am actually going to do some canning. Believe it or not today it will be mango chutney. Oh yah I also have to do laundry and vacuum as between the dog and the DGD the carpet is a mess.

I finished spinning my silk/merino fibre . Now to decide if I want to do some plying or spinning ......................... decisions, decisions, decisions. Which reminds me I have to make a decision about what to have for dinner. Maybe I will phone Gail and ask her what she is making for dinner.

I have to do it

I really do have to do some housework today................. there is no alternative............................ it has become and absolute necessity ................................ the laundry has to be done TODAY ............... I have no clean underwear or casual clothes.
YES I know I could go commando and dress up but I really don't like dressing up unless I have somewhere to go. I am going to Wednesday night Knit night at the Pool Hall but that is hardly something you dress up for ........... So I am doing laundry.
It is raining again today and wonder of wonders I DON"T MIND............. The heat and the poor air quality have been getting me down. The rain has cleared the air and is watering the new planets my DD gave me. I really have trouble remembering to water things.I actually have 6 indoor plants that have survived for about 10 years now despite my neglect................. This is absolutely amazing. I do a little better with outdoor plants but not a lot some days. You know the garden I was going to plant this year .................... wweeeeeelllllll ................ I think it is waiting until next year. I guess I could still plant radishes and lettuce and maybe carrots ...............................

Knitting -------hum -------- the shawl pattern I am testing is going along slowly because this fool make a mistake and then couldn't seem to fix it right so 6 rows later............ yes I counted every painful row that had to be ripped out. Any way I am back on track and past the point I started ripping. The Bag Kal that I figured I could keep up with is BEHIND........I was finished part one in a day. Part two I started after part 3 came out, I now am 1/3 of the way through part 3 and today part 4 comes out. It is a fun pattern to knit and as you use two strands of bulky yarn it goes much faster than the cob web lace knitting. Hopefully I can catch up on part . it would be nice to finish a KAL on time for once
The socks I am calling "I don't like these colours" have become the car knitting socks and the next pair I plan to start will be with the hand painted yarn from Gail and the pattern on the front of the book "Knitting socks from hand painted yarns" .

DH and I were supposed to do some things together today and go out for lunch. NO GO................. He got called to work and then he got another trip after that. It is nice because we can sure use the money but on the other hand there goes our day together. After weeks of maybe one trip a week he has had 4 trips already this week.

Spinning - well I am not keeping up with the TOUR DE FLECCE but I am getting more spinning done than usual. I plied my green BFL with a commercial rayon and I don't think I like it ............... DARN DARN DARN .......... It feels a bit scratchy for a shawl. I was going to make the Dragon shawl with it but will have to see if it is nicer after I wash it. I am almost finished spinning my merino/silk braid. Now to decide if I will ply it on it self or ply it with something else.............. decisions.........decisions............decisions.

Well I have no photos today or do I hhhhhhhuuuuuuummmmmm

This is the Merino/Silk I am spinning.


This is a poor colour photo of my BFL with the rayon.


My finished "They are nice Grandma but I wouldn't wear them" socks


I have just had a bathroom break and decided while I was in there that I might as well have my shower and wash my hair. Then I actually got dressed. After all it is only 2:45 pm and I did have to get dressed at some point today.

More laundry is washing and drying .................. I am drinking a luke warm cup of coffee as usual ............ I think I am developing ADD ............... I am so easily distracted. Fortunately several of my dearest friends are in various medical professions:- two Physical Therapists, One Occupational Therapist and one Neuropsychologist.

Well I think the Rivers of Babbleon have flowed enough for today. So have a great day and hugs to you all.

No riding lately

I haven't fallen off my bike lately mainly because I have not been on it. I have been toooooooooo stiff and sore. I am not sure what is going on but it can't be just the biking.

I am working on the bag KAL, the Swallowtail shawl and Tango Shawl. I am having to rip out 6 rows on the Tango one because I can't figure out what I have done wrong......... any way it is fixed and tomorrow I will work on it again. I am trying to catch up to everyone on the bag KAL. Have almost finished part 2 and then on to part 3 before part 4 comes out on Wednesday.

I spent part of the afternoon with DD #1 and we worked on her garden. It was a very nice afternoon. Tonight's dinner was purchased at Safeway as I did not feel like cooking. The heat has been getting the best of me

OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW

You should see the package I got in the mail this morning. It is absolutely wonderful......... I joined a "swap sock yarn from your stash" group on ravelry. Today my parcel from Cindy arrived OH MY GOSH ......... it's wonderful. She spoiled me rotten ......honest............. wait until you see it. THREE ........ YES THREE BALLS OF SOCK YARN and OPAL which I love......plus Double pointed needles for knitting socks, stitich markers, 2 cute buttons, a monkey egg, two little bags, a package of different teas, several different hot chocolate flavours, a copy of the local newspaper (she works there), her business card and a lovely note card.










This is the sampler shawl I have been knitting for Knitopia. The pattern is "Queen of the Earth Stole" by Anne Corcoran. The yarn is Zephyr Wool-silk from Fiddlesticks Knitting. It is being blocked, I will try to get a photo of someone modeling it before I take it to Lynn.





As you know I like to find sweaters in the thrift stores and take them apart to use the yarn for something else...........it's like going on treasure hunt. I look for natural fibres so you are looking at silk, cashmere, merino wool and combinations of the above. There is only one problem ........................ I just can't pass up a bargain.................... I think this is about half of my stash of re-cycled yarn. I have made two shawls and 2 pairs of mitts so far. I have a bag on the needles right now as well as a shawl. ...................... I do have patterns to go with most of the lace weight yarn.



This is the Swallowtail Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark. My Dear Friend Gail gave me the ball of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn.

I did it

I did it............ Yes I did ........................... I rode twice around the block ............... didn't fall off or run into anything............... I even managed to ride on bumpy ground. I remembered that the brakes are on the handle bars and the right hand brake is for the back wheels.

It might have something to do with the amount of sleep I had last night and today. I got up at 7:55,...... took my pills .......
went to the bathroom and then back to bed. I got up at noon, had brunch, visited with Jill, Shelby and Jessie. At 3:00 I lay down for a nap............ until 5:00............... the phone woke me................. it was Bill calling to see if I was alright as I hadn't phoned him.
I have been working on the sampler shawl between sleeps and I am BINDING OFF............................................. Hurray. I will finish and block it tomorrow.

It is now 11:30 and I think I need to go to bed ..................... yes believe it or not I am tired.
Good night

No blood

Ww went to the park today on ours bikes but I had another wipe out. ........................ I am not sure exactly what happened but down I went. Fortunately there was no vehicle near by......................... well why would there be .................we were on the sidewalk and I know cars are not supposed to be there..... That's why we were there instead of the road....... Anyway I have a little less skin on my left arm but no blood and no head injury as I was wearing my helmet.
DH just shook his head and asked if I was okay. He suggested I find someplace to practice riding that is all grass. Tomorrow I am going to go and ride around the school ground.
I have had a hot bath and some ice cream ......................... other than feeling rather stiff and sore I am fine. I wonder how much skin weights......................... it 's probably not a viable way to loose weight .................... besides the way I am going I will run out of skin in less than 2 weeks.

Jello

works wonders to help prevent sore muscles after an activity you are not used to. I am not too sore today but DH is insisting that I go buy elbow and knee pads.
DGD will be back this afternoon and we will go for a bike ride, probably to the park meanwhile I am going to do some knitting and wonder of wonders.............................. some house work. I have to do laundry and vacumn. The white dog hair on the mostly black carpet is driving me crazy .............................. well maybe crazier.
I also have some light grey wool that I want to dye yellow for a bag I am making. I really need to get it together....... it is noon.......I am not dressed.............. I just finished breakfast and I am playing on this silly machine.

Oh it is so nice to be retired.

OUCH

Well Shelby and I went shopping to buy me a bike. I haven't ridden a bike in about 15 years but I thought it would get me moving again. I definitely need to get more exercise so the plan is for DGD and I to go riding every day that she comes over.
Off we go and buy me a bike................ Has to be a girls bike as the women's bikes are too tall for me................. I get a lecture from the 8 year old about how I need to wear runners when I ride my bike, etc, etc, etc.
We get home with a bike and helmet, change my sandals for my RUNNERS and off we go. I am a little wobbly but not bad ......
Shelby says you are doing okay Grandma. We are going around the block and I am doing okay until we run out of sidewalk and have to ride on the road. I try to slow down a little as I am taking the corner a little wide............ There is a truck coming .......OH OH......... turn too sharply.............. try to brake ......................CRASH........... down I go and slide into the truck which fortunately is stopped by this time.............. The driver gets out to see if I am okay as does the passenger. ....................... The four people down the street come to check on me. Other than scrapes on elbow and knee (left side only) I am fine. What happened???????.................... last time I rode a bike the brakes were on the PEDALS................ Just pedal backwards and the bike stops..................................... NOT WITH THIS BIKE..............THE BRAKES ARE ON THE HANDLES................ The driver helps me up , I pick up my bike and start walking home. DGD says I should just push my bike home but I get back to the sidewalk and get on the bike. Ride down the block and back PRACTICING BRAKING before I go home. DGD hurries ahead of me so she can tell Grandpa that I wiped out......... Tattle tail........
My knee hurts still as does my elbow but tomorrow it is back on the bike although DGD and DH think I need elbow and knee pads.
The sampler shawl is really almost done this time. I had to rip out the one border I had done as I didn't do enough garter stitch before the border pattern.
Did a cyber spin-in today and got a fair bit done.
Well time to get something to eat and do some more knitting. Have to make some "Mr. Noodles" for the DGD .

OH SH#T

I was going to have the sampler shawl finished today or at least be working on the border. That was until I discovered I had dropped a stitch and found it 6 rows down.......................... aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhh ......... I can't just fix it because the decreases go over stitch markers and things are confusing or maybe I am just confused so I sort of threw it in the corner and today I am fixing. I love the Fiddlesticks Yarn I am using it is so nice to work with. You know I could up-date this blog a lot quicker if I could type. That was never one of my courses in school. Thank goodness for spell check.

This is a busy week at least the evenings are busy. Tuesday was Weavers and spinners Meeting, Wednesday was knitting at the pool hall and tonight I think I will go to Knit night at the LYS which is 35-45 minutes away in an other town. DH looked after the DGD on Tuesday night but he lets her get away with too many things. She didn't go to sleep until after 10:00. ............. bed time is 7:30 for this 8 year old but she has Grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

Oh yes I finished the "they are nice Grandma but I wouldn't wear them" socks. They are for me.

I decided to put the information and samples of my re-cycled yarns in a binder in photo pages instead of the little book they were in. I put enough pages in the binder for 30 sweaters figuring that would be more than enough ................WRONG .......
I added more pages and am refusing to count how many sweaters I have purchased for recycling. In my defense I have made 2 shawls and 2 pairs of mittens from my re-cycle stash. I have many shawls planned and a felted bag waiting for the pattern.

You remember the lawn mower that wasn't stolen ............................ well it is now broken, my garden isn't planted but it is well watered because I turn the water on for the strawberry plants and then forget I have done it. I need to find a fool proof way to remember that I have the sprinkler system on and NEED TO TURN IT OFF.

I guess I will have to do laundry today as DH is complaining about no clean shorts..... Fussy man. I also need to vacuum the dog hair that is all over the carpet and the couch. Did I tell you I hate housework.

I mailed out my "Wee Sock Swap" package and my "Swap sock Yarn from your Stash" package. They are going slow airmail ..... 1 week to the States and 2 weeks to the UK. [ I would hate to be a passenger on those flights. ] This is only so if they don't spend time sitting in customs.

Things to come
Friday - need to fix my car that only makes noise when the mechanic isn't looking at it. Apparently it needs a rubber boot on a ball joint to keep the grease in. Now you know as much as I do about it.
Saturday- quilting at Jocelyn's
Sunday -Fathers day and maybe knitting in public with the LYS
Tuesday_ maybe quilting with Jackie
Wednesday - pool hall
Thursday - spinning with Kim and Knit night

Lisa wants me to do some surveys for her as well and they would have to be done before the end of the month. I haven't decided whether I will do them or not but I need to make up my mind today.

Well I guess I should go do laundry, dishes and vacuuming ........... darn, darn, darn

OH OH IT IS JUNE

I haven't written for ages but it has been very busy around here. Honest it has just read on. Two of my Children had Birthday's in May, I still have to talk to my son as I haven't managed to wish him Happy Birthday ...................... brain dead ..................
phone the cell not the house!!!!!!!!!
I thought the lawn mower was stolen because it was GONE from the backyard where I keep it. I looked back there FOUR times just incase my eyes were seeing it but the brain wasn't connecting. NO LAWN MOWER.............. phone DH "SOME ONE STOLE MY LAWN MOWER." He only cares because I am upset. As far as he is concerned the grass doesn't bother him so why should he bother it. I like to mow the grass ( well most times I do) It brings back memories of my Grandfather on my Mother's side, Pop was what everyone called him. I don't know why ...................... I think I did know at one time but that information is filed away somewhere in my brain............ you know the scene at the end of the Indiana Jones movie where they store the box with the Ark of the Covenant in that humungeous warehouse never to be found again. Well that is kind of what my brain looks like. The information is in there just not sure which box. Any way back to the mower. DH is phoning around after checking out Craig's list and finds 2 possibilities. Saturday we are making arrangements to go pick up a lawn mower when DD Jill and friend Jamie arrive. Jamie laughingly says" I hear some one took the lawn mower?" "Yes" says I. he looks at me and tells me he has locked them in Bill's shop.....................hhhhhhhuuuuuuuummmmm ....................never noticed the lock on the door. Didn't think to look there as the last I knew the shop wasn't level enough to get the door open. FOUR TIMES I looked in the back yard and didn't notice the lock on the door. Mind you, in my defense I was looking closer to the ground for the mower. The lock is at eye level so who would look for a lawn mower up there.

Well now I have been working on the lawn but the back yard isn't all done BECAUSE THERE IS STUFF EVERYWHERE IN THE YARD. That man has three...... YES THREE ....... buildings to store STUFF in and it is all over the yard. When he bought the shop they had to move the garage ( made of 2X4's and tarp material ) off the drive to put the shop in close to the house.
I was away when they did all this so I come home and the Garage is beside my garden providing lots of shade .......... great.....
The STUFF from the garage is all over the yard, some is under a tarp and the rest is in Shelby's ply house .............OH OH TROUBLE COMING. Now DH is really in trouble. I tell him the garage has to go back where it was and yes there is room for it.
Shelby sees her play house full of stuff and starts giving me grief." Wait a minute this isn't my doing speak to your Grandfather." Shelby, hands on hips marching towards the house says" I am going to give him a piece of my mind".
Do you suppose your can do this too many times and after a while you have no more pieces left ????????

Well Jamie and Dwayne move the garage only the flat deck truck is in the drive so they fit the open end of the garage around the end of the truck. GREAT JUST GREAT. The garage is back where it belongs but there is only one minor problem. YOU CAN'T PUT ANYTHING IN IT BECAUSE THE TRUCK IS IN THE WAY AT ONE END AND THE OTHER END IS UP AGAINST BILL'S SHOP.
Apparently they can't move the truck until they fix the fence because they took a fence post out to get the shop in and now the truck is the only thing holding up the fence at that spot. Do you wonder that I am a little crazy.................

Let's see what happened next ? Oh yes 7 of us in the wee sock group on Ravelry had a "Spin-in in separate house together" only I went to Gail's so we were in the same house. We all chatted over the internet and Gail and I couldn't always remember whose page we were on so we sort of morphed together and they never knew whether It was Gail on my page or Gail on Gail's page or me on my page etc. We all had finger food for lunch and actually did some spinning. I am spinning some silk/merino roving mmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuummmmm it is yummy stuff in blues and green.

All the sweaters I have to re-cycle the yarn are taken apart and unravelled or are ready to unravel. I have some unravellers that help me out but I try to do the really fine lace weight myself.

I have finished 2 pairs of fingerless gloves, Cory's twisted wrap , the secret MMario shawl ( I gave this to DH's Mum for her (0th Birthday), The second sock of "They are nice Grandma but I wouldn't wear them " is more than half done and I have the yarn ready for a felted bag KAL that starts the middle of the month.
I caught up one all my siggy blocks, DJ blocks went out to two friends and I am almost finished the second of four test blocks.
I need to finish the sample shawl and then do the one for my DS Janice. After that I am going to do one for me that Gail gave me the Noro yarn to make it.
Last week I did some work for a friend of Jill's who does market surveys and on the weekend we went to the Island to see Bill's family as Mum and Frank are moving into a suite in a care facility as Mum need more help than Frank can give. They are both 90 so I guess the move isn't unreasonable but it is sad. They get all their meals provided .......... maybe I will move in. Bill and i will be married 40 years this December and I was thinking the other day how tired I am of making meals. Its not so much the making as figuring out what to make. Let's see 40 years, figure I made at least 5 dinners a week ( Bill can cook and we did go out the odd time so I figure 5 is probably close), times 52 weeks times 40 years equals 10,400 dinners. No wonder I am tired of making dinner.
Back to the weekend ................. we had a great time with his family. We visited, played dominos, ate good food and drank wine. A good time was had by all. Then we loaded the truck to come home and I mean loaded. We came home with Christmas presents, Wedding presents, 12 framed pictures, an oak table made by DH's Grandfather in England, two teak packing boxes, a set of Shakespeare (38 volumes), a Tea set, the footstool we had made Mum and Dad for their 50th , binoculars, Dad's papers from the war and some other stuff. Now I only need to figure out where to put it. Cory and Aaron will take a lot of it because all the wedding presents are for them and so are the two big bags of linen.

Monday was unload the truck and then relax. Tuesday I didn't do much, Wednesday put things away, knitting in the pool hall last night. Tonight I may go to Knitopia but I am not sure yet.

Package in the mail

I received the nicest mail today ...................... there was my Wee Swap Package from Dragonyady with the cutest sock, tea, seeds and sheep. There was a siggy block from Claudia in Germany, and a family history package from my Sister
There was three tea bags but I used one already.


This is the little sock Dragonyady knit for me. She dyed the green yarn. I love the colours.


Here are my new sheep added to the herd, aren't they cute.

Family

Last night was a family night although we missed our son and wife. Everyone came over and we had dinner and then watched the video of Cory and Aaron's Wedding. Dinner was a Turkey Cory cooked with cornmeal stuffing ........... yummy....... I cooked a ham and made green salad and potato salad, Jill and Shelby baked a cake. It was a lovely meal and good company.
By the end of the evening Shelby was sitting on Aaron's knee so she has now accepted him as part of the family.
The Wedding was not your typical formal wedding but it was typical of our family. Lots of laughter and goofing off ( mostly by Aaron, the goofing off that is) ........................ no one in my family goofs off .....................
The dog still doesn't like Cory for some reason. We are not sure why but anyone she has taken a dislike to has been a woman so we figure it was a woman who abused her.
I did manage to get almost every chair in the house free of stuff ready for some one to sit on. The kitchen was clean and THE ROOM is still a work in progress. I am beginning to think this is a life time project.
I am getting some things accomplished. I have caught up on all the siggy blocks I owe people. They actually made it to the post office within 2 days of being ready.
Usually letters travel in my purse for several weeks before they reach the post office I think the difference this time is there were too many for my purse and they had to go in the knitting bag.
Talking about knitting DD #2 is slightly annoyed at me. I have finished her fingerless gloves but told her she can't have them until tomorrow which is actually today as I told her that yesterday.............. I have to show them off at knitting........... tonight.




I am off to Knitopia tonight for knitting. I haven't been for at least a month as I was doing retreats in March and then they didn't have knitting for a couple of weeks................... I still haven't finished the sampler shawl for the shop and am feeling a little guilty about that but had decided family comes first so been working on those projects. You know when I only work on one thing at a time it get done quite quickly but it is sooooooooooooo boring doing things that way.

I was bored once. It was awful and I hope it never happens again.

So I have one pair of fingerless gloves almost done, one shawl 2/3 done (shop sample) , two pairs of socks in progress , three shawls resting, one stole 1/2 done and I am eyeing some hand painted sock yarn from Gail ..................... that last one doesn't even count as a project ...... yet. Then in the quilting department there are three blocks to finish testing for Sandy, a baby quilt to finish , two wedding quilts to do , a duvet cover to make and my DJ and QD are resting. Plus I do believe there are several UFO's in THE ROOM. I would tell you I can't find them but that would be lying as I know where almost everything is in THE ROOM.............Yes I really do ........................ honest ..........despite the chaos in there I can find just about any thing I want. Mind you there was that thing I was looking for the other day and couldn't find but it doesn't really matter now because I can't remember what it was.
Don't you hate that when you can't remember things. It happens more as you age and although I don't do OLDE I must admit that I am aging. Thank goodness it is raining this week because my back is still sore from the gardening I did last week. I just can't do the hours in the garden I used to be able to do so I guess I will just have to do less but do it more often.

Well I NEED more coffee and should actually try to do something today. Mind you it is only 8:30 ......................yes I am up. I have been up since 7:00 ................... I have made coffee, cleaned up in the kitchen and read a few e-mails.......... I wouldn't want to do too much at one time........ LOL ................ Off I go for more coffee.

OH OH

I guess I didn't get back to label photos or write about the retreats .................................... Let's see what excuses can I come up with :-
1) my daughter eloped and got married in Mexico
2) the weather has been so nice I have been working in the yard and garden and have been too stiff and sore to type.
3) I have been busy doing housework - scratch that one. If you read this blog you know I don't do house work. Although I have been clearing off chairs in the living room.......... just in case someone might want to sit in one of them This was good until DGD came and left stuff every where.
4) would you believe me if I said I was working at organizing THE ROOM ........................... hum ....................... probably not. (Actually I did organize the sweaters I have bought for recycling into yarn as I have a friend who knows some people who will unravel them for me.)
5) I have been spinning - well not really............... spinny maybe.
6) I have been madly knitting to finish projects. ( This one might be good except the only thing I have finished is the shawl from the pattern I am testing.) I do have about a dozen UFO's some of which are slowly progressing.
7) I have been too busy looking after dogs as we had DD dog while she was getting married. How many of you would believe this one???
8) I have been doing dishes and laundry but I doubt you would believe that has filled my days.
9) I am too lazy to write on my blog?
10) I am just bloody minded and didn't feel like it?

Well there are 10 excuses ...................... pick which ever one works for you.

Should I go back and label the photos or just leave them be. Most people can figure out which is the spinning retreat and which is the quilting retreat.

Oh I thought of another reason I didn't update my blog. I have been hand piecing quilt blocks that I need to send to a couple of people. I only have 2 more to finish.

I am sitting here is my rocking chair, wrapped in the shawl Sheila made for me, listening to Julia's Harp music and life is good.
Here is a couple (or5) photos of the Bride and Groom.

too tired to add much

I am home and recovering from two retreats. I will write more tomorrow and add titles to the photos.