finally recovered

Well as you know the Olympics are on. Ravelry (a knitting and crocheting site ) is having Ravelympics and you get medals for completing events like the Ariel unwind, WIPS Dancing etc. So far I have earned 6 medals and hope to earn 5 more.







Needless to say I have been on a mad knitting streak plus looking after DGD when her Mother works.

Friday Molly and I decided to go see some of the events around the cities so we got on the bus.............. went to Richmond to the 0zone. We should have checked somewhere to get a time table as 'BC Street ' was closed to the public because of a media event , something else was closed so we waited in the line for "Heiniken Holland house" Half an hour later we got in only to find that the only things that were open were the ones that wanted to sell you something. We then decided to take the Sky train to Vancouver as we wanted to go to the Art Gallery ........................ an hour and a half wait .......................... we couldn't stand in line that long after alll the standing and walking we had done. One of the volunteers suggested we come first thing in the morning as the wait was a bit shorter then so that is a plan for this week.
We then decided to wander around and see what was going on................








I arrived home that night rather exhausted only to find out the BIll had not been able to take DGD to see the Musical Ride so Saturday what happens................... a rather tired Grandma takes DGD to the Surrey Olympic site for the day and we still didn't get to see the Musical Ride................................if you think I was tired on Friday night you should have been me on Saturday night......... It is now Tuesday I think I have recovered........ 9 year olds are very busy people and we had a great day.
The thing that is the most amazing is the number of people and there is no pushing, everyone seems to have a smile on their face and so many people are wearing something that signifies Canada. It is a wonderful atmosphere no matter where you go .

the adaptor blew up and the library

Today I went off to the library to return the books that were due yesterday. I love the library. I find something very restful about being surrounded by books. Anyway I thought I should see if I could find the first book in this series that the Gals have said is a very good. There is only one problem ...................I can't remember the name of the series, the book or the Author. This makes it very difficult to find the book so I phone Gail and say " What was the name of that book I wanted to borrow that you thought you had but didn't?" There is a long pause ................... then Gail says "I can't remember." .................. After a few seconds she remembers that the second book in the series is "Dragonfly in Amber". I check out on the library computer and find out that the first book is "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. I then phone Gail to tell her what I found out. I sure hope this is a good book.

Saturday Hugh and Molly are here for dinner, we are waiting for Bill who is late. We are just chatting and enjoying a glass of wine when the adapter/charger for the laptop BLOWS UP. Yes that is right it BLEW UP .................... there was noise, sparks, flames and smoke. The case burst open and the insides burst forth.......... what a mess, It is FUBAR and now we don't have a computer to use. There is the PC in the ROOM but it isn't set up and there is no anti-virus for it and no place to set it up ............ darn ...............darn ...........darn.

BUT as you see I have made this post................. right. Darling Daughter Jill has brought over her laptop for us to use. I think she figures her Dad will loose it without his daily computer fix.

Maybe by Friday we will have things back to normal around here or as close to it as we get.

Groceries

You know how you are encouraged to have re-usable bags for shopping....................... well I have lots .............. unless Bill takes them. Then they go into his truck which is a no return zone. So this morning I get up .......... get dressed............make the coffee ................ grab my purse and go to the Safeway five minutes away. I get everything on the list as well as a couple extra things (as usual) ............. now I did remember to bring my bags into the store with me ...........usually I forget them. Anyway a man is checking out the groceries for me and a woman is packing them in the bags I give them. This is how she did it. .............. ice cream.popsicles, cheese, creamer, and cheese in a large bag, bread all in one large bag, milk and nachos-no bag, 5 glass jars in the floppist bag and in the INSULATED bag she put ................ SIT DOWN PLEASE ...................................... two boxes of cereal ................... yes you read that right . She put the cereal in the insulated bag. I think I might suggest to the manager that he train his people how to pack groceries as COMMON SENSE ( which isn't very common) does not seem to play a part in this process.

Catching up

Well I know it has been a month since I updated this blog but life has been happening around here.
Cory's surgery and recovery has been stressful. Christmas was difficult for me as everyone was somewhere else except Bill, Jill and I. I love Christmas but it involves family and I was missing most of mine. I didn't even make arrangements to see most of our friends as I felt so down.
We also had a rather stressful waiting period but now that we know everything is alright I can tell the world that ....................... are you ready for it .......................... I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMOTHER AGAIN ........................... DD Jill is expecting , due in July. She is definitely a Welsh/Telfer child ....................... she was taking birth control meds. She and I think this one is going to be a boy as the pregnancy is different. She didn't have morning sickness with Shelby. Shelby wants a sister but I think she will be happy with a baby. When Jill told her about the baby she was all excited and one of her comments was "That's why your stomach is getting bigger."

Boy do I need to get quilting. Need to get in THAT ROOM and clear off the table and the sewing machine stand. Wedding quilts to finish and baby quilts to start.

Yesterday I went to the dentist and he pulled the root from my tooth that broke at Christmas. It had a crown and the whole thing broke off at gum level. The dentist had to cut the bone down a little on each side to get hold of the root. There was a lot of wiggling and pulling to get it out but it did come out in one piece....................... it must have been 1/2 inch long. There was sure enough of it. I now have a gap and a stitch and a sore jaw and gum............................ but I SURVIVED ................I really hate going to the dentist. It is an energy draining event no matter what they do.

I am working on the Shawl for my Sister Janice. I started one that I thought would be great but 2/3 of the way into it I didn't like the way the cables pulled in at the point where all 9 of them crossed. So off to the frog pond with it and I am now knitting a shawl out of the book 'Folk Shawls' by Cheryl Oberle. I am very happy with the way this one is turning out. I should have it done this month.
I signed up for this Ravelry group '10 shawls in 2010" and they all have to have lace in them. Janice's shawl will be number one.
I have three pairs of socks on the needles, a pooling cowl, a modular scarf and two more shawls. I am not counting my projects that are hibernating at this time.

Charlie took off once over the holidays as the gate by the house was falling apart and he got out. fortunately it was 7:00 in the am not 2 or 4. After Jill and Jamie fixed the gate for us Charlie snuck out the cat door figuring he could get out of the yard again but we had fooled him......................... pretty soon I hear the cat door clicking.................... its Charlie wanting in.

Oh yes we have also been over to the island. Went on Thursday last week as Bill had an appointment with a specialist and then we went and saw his Mother and Frank and came home on Friday. The Doctor was Pleased with the results of Bill's tests so that was good but Mum had failed some more since we saw her last and even Frank looks a little frailer. They are both 91 so I guess it is to be expected. We took Shelby with us as she really wanted to see Gran and we don't know how much more time we wil have with her. Thursday evening Shelby had a meltdown and was awful.When she gets really hungry she gets REALLY CRANKY AND I MEAN CRANKY. Papa (DH) finally got her to eat something and things improved after that.This was the one time I have been thankful that Mum's Short Term Memory is so bad. Friday we had lunch with Mum and SIL Karen and we arrived home about 7:00 or was it 6:00. Didn't have time to go see my DB and DSIL in Port Alberni.

Well it is 9:37 pm and I am tired. I may just go to bed.............. I HATE THE DENTIST

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.