Husbands, tea towels and dogs

What is it about DH that he can't tell a dish cloth from a tea towel. I mean one is at least 4X bigger than the other. He has done dishes in his life so knows dish clothes are used to wash dishes and wipe counters while tea towels are used to dry dishes. But at home if he spills something he wipes it up with the TEA TOWEL......... part of my Birthday present from DD#1 was a lovely WHITE tea towel with Christmas embroidery on it. Like a fool I put it out in the kitchen to show it off. Last night HEwas making a snack and spilt BEET JUICE. ............. Can you guess what happened next........ YES HE WIPED IT UP WITH THE NEW WHITE TOWEL. Yes he is still in the land of the living but only because my car is broken and I have no way to dispose of the body ............well not really but he is at the top of my "shit list". My dear son-in-law Aaronis taking Cory to Mexico for her 40th Birthday. We get to take care of Doozer who is a very round, white Chihuahua who has spent the last hour whining at the door. He finally came and sat in my lap .........until Jill came by just now and he is at the door whining again. Aaaaaaauuuuuuuggghhhh. To top things off Jill is looking after Kujo who is a chihuahua crossed with a boston terrier. So when jill and Elizabeth come to visit in the morning we will have 4 dogs. I may lose my mind over the next week. Elizabeth tries to pick the dogs up by holding them around the neck so is not real popular with anyone when she does that. If she is not doing that they are all playing dog tag which involves a lot of running, chasing and laughter.

Knitting needles

I know you aren't going to believe this but I don't have enough knitting needles ................ Yes you did read that correctly. I really don't have enough. This year for the first time in eons I am not knitting for my family, except the DGD of course. I planned to knit one of the Advent Shawls so last night I found the yarn in my stash, yes I went stash diving and found just what I wanted. Not only did I find what I wanted, it was the yarn recommended by the designer. So what does all this babbling have to do with not enough needles. I needed size 2.75 or 3.0 in a 16 inch length. I don't have any, I cut down the cable of one of my bamboo circulars but the yarn wouldn't slide on the cable so that was an exercise in futility. So maybe today I will go buy one 16 inch 2.75 circle knitting needle. Yes I know I can use a bigger needle and keep pulling a loop of the cable but that drives me crazy and I am crazy enough as it is. I am also knitting an afghan. The pattern is one I borrowed from Gail. She had bought this lovely kit that had all different kinds of yarn in it to do the afghan. I went through my stash months and months and months ago, started the afghan and then left it sitting in a basket that Elizabeth tended to sit on. The afghan is now half done and I am really pleased with it. I got up this morning, cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes. The hot water loosens up my hands and takes some of the soreness out .............. Meanwhile in the Living room (think scary music here) , Priscilla is checking out all the yarn for the Advent Shawl, labels included. Go in the living room with my first cup of coffee and pick up all the yarn and labels, put them back in the "Dottie Knitting bag", sit down and a bird flies into the room. Yes that's right a BIRD. I think it walked in through the open dog door. Oh darn that was one of the things I meant to get yesterday, a new dog door. Anyway I opened the front door and it did fly out. Oh yes I found some rubber boots that fit me .......... Hurrah. The only thing that could be better about them is they could be clear to show off my socks. Need to go check on my Dragons.

I know, I know

I haven't written since October something. Desert Mesa spinning retreat was great fun and was an extra day, so that made it even better. The following weekend was my Quilting Retreat. I had just managed to recover from the spinning retreat in time to go to the quilting one. Don't know wether it is sad or not that I go on these retreats and then spend two days recovering. It used to take only one day to recover but I was younger then. I have been babysitting little Miss Chatterbox and trying to sort out my house. Unfortunately it is really difficult to do these things on the same day so the house is still a disaster ( worse than usual). I have been trying to pare down my stash of knitting and quilting supplies. I took a large tote full of fabric to give away at the quilting retreat and I keep taking things to Knit night for some one else to stash. Met a Friend for Coffee on Tuesday. We haven't seen each other in over a year. We have decided to try and meet every Tuesday afternoon for coffee and knitting. We have a lot of catching up to do and there is always knitting to do. Jackie and I try to get together at least once a week to quilt although one day we re-organized her shop so no quilting accomplished that day. I have several projects that need to be finished. This includes two wedding quilts that I better get done as I have another one to do for a May wedding. Mind you the Girl my nephew is marrying is Menenit. I Don't know if they are the women who made the quilt for john and Janine but if so mine won't be a patch on that one but it will be made with love. Now I need to find out what colours they like. I am not knitting for Christmas this year. My adult children don't really want anything but I will do a couple of things for the DGDs.

Feeling better

Well other than my asthma I am feeling lots better. Went out today to do a little shopping. That wore me out but there were some things I had to get done. Have started packing for Desert Mesa,but haven't figured out my 10 or found a baby photo yet.

Crude

The Gremlin gave me her cold and I am not happy. My nose is running, my chest hurts, my throat is sore and I have coughing fits. This better be gone by next week as I am planning to be at the spinning retreat and I have things to do and places to go before I leave. Haven't done any knitting, spinning or sewing as my brain isn't functioning very well.

Today really is Saturday

Went to Jackies to do some quilting but we didn't get very much done other than visit and catch up on things. I did cut out the smashing for some star blocks I have had done for ages. (Ages is a term for ........ It has been so long I can't remember when I did them.)

Priscilla

We have a new dog. She is a Yorkie/Maltese cross who is called Silly for short.

Dogs

Yesterday Bizeth and I went to Heathers so she could take Priscilla's stitches out. Elizabeth did a lot of giggling as she loved all the dogs at Heathers. She is down to six at the moment.

OFFF

This past weekend I went to Canby,Oregon with Gail and Lynne. Despite the almost constant wind and rain, I had a great time. There was as pinning/knitting circle, a gallery with fabulous displays and a multitude of wen doors. Some of the poor vendors were out on the lawn and almost got blown away. In fact some didn't come and some left early the weather was so bad. Lynne said that for the first time in 15years the vendors were allowed to leave early. I actually did do some spinning, filled one bobbin,(or almost). Bought some lovely fibre and found a bargain on some books. Have to have coffee before I write any more Lynne.

So many, many things to do.

Well I am off the crutches for a week now and rarely use my cane.  I am still waiting for the steri- strips to drop off.  I keep trimming the edges as they become loose. have to see the surgeon next week so will see what he has to say.My knee is great, sore if I over do    It but oh how far modern medicine has come.  I will have two little scars not the 6-8 inch or bigger scar that people used to have after this type of surgery.  Fibre optics have made an amazing change for surgery.

I have finally put one of my patterns into a semi-proper formate and one of my friends is test knitting it for me.   I think I have redone the pattern about 5 times and I think it is right now.  Poor Tammy has received at least four revisions.  I need to re-knit this pattern myself.  I tried it with some variegated yarn to see if the pattern would show up but that was a bust so now I am doing it in a Teal colour called Snow Cone, Sock- ease from Lion Brand yarn.

I now have ideas for other patterns to write up, some I have already done and others are still in my head. I do need to find a better program for charting.   I really want to do a stole but haven't yet got past the wanting to do one.  I really need to finish some of my WIPs before I start doing this.

I have to go as The girls are here and Elizabeth wants to play "The Cleaning Game".

It's over

The surgery went well, I have gauge and a tensor on my knee for four days.  Amusing crutches but can put weight on my leg. I was very well cared for at Jim Pattison Medicial Centre and would recommend it to anyone.

Tomorrows the day

Well tomorrow they go in and remove the bit of torn cartilage in my knee. Boy has this procedure ever changed since I first started working as a Physio.  At that time this surgery involved a large incision ( about 8")  , massive bandages , crutches and lots of Physio.  Now they poke two little holes, put fibre optic scope in one and the instrument in the other.  I may require 1 stitch in each spot .after the surgery is over.  It is day surgery so I don't even have to stay there.

Last week was a sad week.  We were visiting Bill's Mom and she is slowly fading away.  It is so hard to watch. Then  Charlie who had not been good when we left got worse. Jill had to take him into the vet on Monday to have him put down.   I really miss him and have decided that as much as I love Cocker Spaniels my next dog will be small enough to bath in the sink instead of the tub. Not ready for another dog just yet but am thinking about a puppy.  I don't want to get an older dog again and then loose it in a few years.

My EPIC Shawl is coming a long slowly.  With 20 rows to the inch this is a long process.
Well I have to go make dinner so this is it for today.

I can't believe it

It has been three months since I wrote anything here.  I can't believe it has been so long.  I do t know where the time goes.  Tonight I am sitting here with the air conditioner and the TV On but most of the lights off.   It is too hot to knit plus I had Elizabeth here for 7 hours so I am rather weary. she is very good but very busy.
Had to take Charlie to the Vet as his skin condition wasn't clearing up, he was having vision problems and his ears were a mess.  Oh yes and the flea medicine wasn't working.  So $250 I find out the skin condition has become a different problem, the stuff I was using for his ears was making them worse and his eye problem was not enough tears.  The flea medication Jill got was only good for about 24 hours not the monthly type that we wanted.  They said it must have been one of the new girls.  They did give us a partial rebate on the flea medication we hadn't used.  Charlie is feeling much better, with pills , eye drops 4X daily, ear drops once a day. And I think the Vet should have prescribed a large glass of wine for the pet owner. I think I will go get one ............ No I won't ......... I still get the occasional hot flash from alcohol................ Darn
Well I have a date for my knee surgery ... August 23.  It will be nice to get that over and done with.
We have had lovely summer so far, a little warm for me but nice.  I am working on my EPIC shawl when no one is here to bother me and when I am not too tired.  It is very easy to make a mistake and very difficult to tink back.  I have been using life lines on this project.

Trouble

I am having trouble posting photos here as I can't seem to scroll down and type what they are.  Don't know what the problem is ............ Maybe it is blogger, or my IPad ..... Couldn't possibly be ME.

Today I had Elizabeth for a few hours in the afternoon.  She loves to go outside so it was a lovely day and Shay had come over to mow the lawn so out we went.   I was digging up the little flower bed I have in the back yard.  I have rocks surrounding the bed and weeds growing in it.  I was digging out the weeds and tiding up the rocks.  The weeds and small rocks were going in her little wheel barrel ( I don't have a big one) and Elizabeth was putting small shovelfuls of dirt in the wheel barrel.  Then she discovered the rocks I was throwing away, picked them out and placed them inside the circle of large rocks.  Then she preceded to cover all the rocks with dirt.  Not exactly my plan but nothing I can't fix.
When Jill arrived to take her home she didn't want to go as I think she figured we would stay outside for ever.  After we went in the house and told her that I wasn't going out again she agreed to go home with her Mom.
I am on row 18 of my "Epic" shawl and I have about 1" of knitting to show for it (211 stitches/row).  It will probably a little longer once it is blocked.

Issues with Picasa

Yesterday Picasa and I were having issues as it WOULD NOT accept my new photos .............. Today the photos are there................. MURPHY.  GO LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE.
 So here we go again, these are the little sheep clothes pins I bought for $1.00.

This is my " Dinner at the Eiffel Tower Shawl" . I took this for show and tell as well as another shawl , hats and mittens

Fabulous weekend

Dotty, Gail and I went to the DESERT MESA RETREAT in Cache Creek this past weekend.  Dotty drove so Gail and I got to knit.  We arrived at the retreat about 1:00 or so after stopping for lunch at a rather chilly rest stop............ Not that there was a not chilly rest stop.   Lynn had seats marked out for us with these lovely bags she bought for us. Gail's said " See Gail Knit", Dotty's had cats on it and mine said "A Fat Quarter is not a Body part."
Sheila and I agreed that rather than the gifts we have been getting each other we should only spend .50 - $1.00.   So I found  these for $1.00.

I don't believe it

First my Husband and now the dog.  You know how Husbands are,   " What are you doing? " ............. "When are you going to be finished?"  ................. "Are you going to come and sit with me?" ..............
..... Well now the dog has started ......... I get up, wash, brush hair and teeth, dress and go into the kitchen.  Charlie wants out so I let him out. Then he has to bark to let all the neighbours know he is up.   This is not allowed so I have to stop what I am doing to get him in .................. Now he wants a treat for going out ( thanks Jill for starting this).  Then he needs his breakfast in his dish.   Not that he is going to eat it now.  Oh yes he can't possibly eat dry dog food so it has to have some form of liquid on it ,  usually warm water. Cold water smells of chloride and that is not acceptable. Oh yes the reason Charlie is not eating his food now is he is waiting in the hopes that there will be people food.  Elizabeth is usually his go to source. She now thinks he is going to eat anything she drops be it rubber ducks, plastic cookies or pencils.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen I am working on what ever I was doing before I had to let the barking dog in......    Charlie on the other hand is barking at me to go into. The living room and sit with him.  When I finish what I am doing we go into the living room and sit down in my chair .............. Charlie
................... Who was desperate for my company climbs up into his chair and promptly goes to sleep.

I finished my " Diner in the Eiffel Tower" stole but need to take a photo.  Am knitting a hat out of the handspun I made from a colour way called " licorice all sorts" ( very black).   Both these items will be Show and Tell at the spinning retreat this coming weekend.

Dotty has decided to knit another " epic" shawl so several of us are going to join her.  We are making Gail join us as well,  just because.   I am going to do this shawl in a royal blue.

It is going to be a challenge for me but will be beautiful.

My Sisters have gone. my Sisters have gone, My Sisters have gone....

My Sisters and I had a wonderful time together. When we were young we were too far apart in age to play together but now that we are all adults with families we are having a great time together.  We went to the second hand shops, Coquitlam centre , Westminster Quay, Maple Ridge Mall,  Chapters, Jackies Quilt Shop.  Had lunch at Lorraine's one day,  dinner at Cory and Aaron's , Janice treated us to dinner one night and I stayed in the motel with them one night.  Oh yes we also went to Fibres West and  Wendy bought knitting needles, bodkin s and some silk  hankies.
Jill and Elizabeth came over every morning and Shelby even graced us with her presence twice.
The Girls said they were going home to have a rest besides we were out of wine and chocolate. Tuesday afternoon I had a 3 hour nap and went to bed at  10:00. I wouldn't want them to think I couldn't keep up.  Oh yes and we had lovely weather while they were here.
Nice day today and I was thinking of doing some yard work but haven't managed to get myself together yet.
Yesterday the dentist office phone to say could I come in right away as the crowns were in and he was going on vacation for 10 days starting Thursday.  Went rushing into the dentist and he put the crowns in and took impressions for the partial.  The partial should be ready in about 2 weeks, meanwhile I am eating liquid or soft foods ................... Maybe I will lose some weight.  That wouldn't hurt. Last night I went to knitting but didn't feel too social as I was tired,  the dentist visits always stress me out.
I am trying to get my "Dinner at the Eiffel Tower" before the Spinning Retreat.  I need something for "Show and Tell".  The retreat is still 2 weeks away so I should have it finished.
Time to go get something done.  Have to go to the grocery store today and somewhere else that I can't think of at the moment.

My Sisters are coming, My Sisters are coming, My Sisters are coming

I haven't got a date yet but they will probably come next month.  I am so excited.  We have so much fun together and laugh a lot.  Meanwhile I had better do some house work!

This weekend Sherri, Lisa and I had a girls night at Margaret's.  Lots of fun, laughter, wine and chocolate. Lisa  wanted to put blonde steaks in her hair and Sherri decided Margaret and I should get rid of our grey hair.  Fortunately she didn't want to pull out the grey hairs, instead she and Jeanette (Margaret's daughter) went to the store and came back with hair dye.  Here they are.

I survived

Hard to believe but I did survive that trip to the Dentist.  I have had some very bad dental experiences in the past and some bad dentists but I actually like this dentist. I saw him again Friday as my mouth was still quite sore.  He said there was a slight infection but I didn't need antibiotics unless it got worse.  He recommended drinking and rinsing my mouth with camomile tea.  He said that it was a very good herb treatment, but he would write me a prescription for the antibiotics if I wanted it.  I was not to fill it unless the area started feeling like it was pulsating.  To shorten this story I came home buying camomile tea on the way.
 I go to the Dentist again this Friday.  Just a side note .......... His receptionist is a knitter.
On the knitting note I have finished my Simple Lines Shawl. I would post a photo of it here but I don't know how to do that with my IPad.

And talking about that .......... Coffee seems to be a hazard around here.  The other day Bill went to get up from his chair.............. OH have to tell you that he uses the top drawer in the side table as a flat space so it is always sticking out.   He also has one of those chairs that lifts up to assist you in standing.     Now he moves the TV table his computer sits on to the right ( same side as the coffee table) .............. Pushes the button to raise the chair ............... Tries to put his quilt to the right side but the drawer is in the way so he has to put the quilt on the drawer .............. This knocks over the lamp ............. The lamp falls forward hitting his coffee cup ( that he insists keeping on the TV table) ........
The coffee cup tips over dumping its contents all over his computer.  I grab the computer tipping it upside down to drain out the coffee. Bill is standing swearing at the lamp.......... Then I am busy telling him if he did as I told him and put the coffee on end table this wouldn't have happened.

Needless to say the computer couldn't be fixed so Jill found him another one on Craig's list.
It is newer and has way more memory so it may have been a blessing in disguise.   Tuesdays are seniors day at Value Village so we went and found this small computer table, on wheels , with two  shelves and a little round bit the pulls out the side where he puts his coffee.  It is 6 inches below the computer and I have the TV table as my little 3 legged table finally bit the dust.

While we were at VV I found two sweaters to recycle.  One is cashmere in a cream colour and the other is merino wool and angora in emerald green. The green one is all apart just need to skein the 2 balls Jill did.   Haven't decided what I will do with this yarn yet but think  I will put several strands of the cashmere together and make some fingerless gloves.  Dotty gave me some recycled cashmere in a green that DD2  loves so think I will make her something out of that yarn.

No Jill or kids the last two mornings and I am having withdrawal.  I am sure tomorrow they will be here so I will survive.  Well that's it for today.  Am going to frog sweaters or knit or spin or play silly games an my IPad.

I am not happy

I had to go to the dentist today and had. Tooth pulled. My entire face that was frozen is hurting as I forgot to tell him about that type of freezing.  I don't think this is making much sense but oh we'll. now I am going back to being miserable.

A NEW YEAR

I can not believe it is the middle if January.  Where has the time gone?..............
Bill is finally over the flu after about  6 weeks and has lost over. 50 pounds.  I have had an upset stomach for the past few days and have probably not lost an ounce.............. Life is definitely not fair.......... Not that I want  6 weeks of flu but would like to have lost a couple of pounds......

I am knitting a shawl for me right now. I am doing the 12 shawls in a year challenge.  Last year I managed to finish 6 and believe all but one were gifts.  Don't know if I will manage to make 12 this year but am going to try.

I am doing this on the IPad DH got me for my Birthday.  This was because Elizabeth spilt her Mothers French Vanilla Coffee on my Mac book and on the printer.  The Mac turns on but the keys don't work correctly.  The printer works but lies about paper jams.

 Christmas  was  lovely.  Jill had us over for brunch and gift opening and we all went to Cory and Aaron's for dinner and more gifts.  Che and Liz didn't get out for Christmas but other then them and Brianne we were all together.

I haven't figured how to put photos from my IPad on the blog so there may not be any photos for a while .

Cory went it the Island to visit Gran who was 93 this month. She is getting very frail and I don't know how much longer she will be with us .  Now that everyone is feeling better we are hoping to get over to see her this month.

Well today I think I will go root in my yarn stash to see if I can find the yarn I want for the shawl pattern Sharon gave me. alpacayarn.shptron.com/p/raku-suri-stole?pp=8&pp=8
This is one of those patterns that will probably take me months to finish.  I do tend to be easily distracted.............  OH look at that..............
Anyway that's why I have so many UFOs   .......... No I am not telling you how many.      Maybe this year I will actually get some of the UFOs finished ............. at least that is my goal.