Hiya Hiya Corona Virus and Flowers From My Sister's Garden

I have started the ridiculous scarf over again. In truth, I have started it over several times since last night. I finally have decided that I am not as inept as this pattern is making me out to be. I have been using the wrong needles (at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.) My go to needle is Knit Picks Sunstruck, which is a birch needle and not terribly pointy even for the size 2 needle. It is a really great needle in regards to warmth and molding to hands during knitting. But with this yarn, the needle has been repeatedly slipping down and instead of pushing through to the back of the loop, it pushes through the mother loop (or loop on the row directly below the one I want to knit). I decided that to amend this I need a sharper, more pointy needle. As luck has it, I have a nice pair of Hiya Hiya circulars. I'm not sure where I purchased them. I probably found them at Tuesday Morning, but I have had them forever. Unfortunately I have to give up a bit on the length of the cord. My Knit Picks have a 40 inch circular and the Hiya Hiya are only 32. Either is sufficient to knit a scarf, but I may have to resort to point protectors when I'm not actively knitting. They keep stitches from falling off the needles when not in use.

Hiya Hiya needles are an upscale btand. That is why I suspect that I purchased them at Tuesday Morning. I simply object to paying premium prices for just about everything. A lot of "professional" knitters prefer them. Knit Picks is a moderate priced set. You aren't going to see a knitting community guru on YouTube touting using them if he or she wants to impress anyone. But they are really nice needles. Just not the right one for this project. I need something that is going to poke into the space I want it to go into without me paying an undue amount of attention to it.

Also, I think my penchant for knitting by the light of my very dim Victorian lamp in the wee hours of the morning isn't helping much to get this project done and  looking somewhat acceptable. I prefer the dimmer lights in the evening, thinking that it will help me get to sleep. And I excuse not being able to see the item that I'm working on by thinking that I should be able to knit it from feel. Millennia's of women knitted in the evening by candle light, right? Yeah, I'm not as good as them. Daylight Savings Time begins next week. That should give me a few extra hours to knit with decent light. Oh well, I'll get it done eventually. Or it will be stuck in a bag and forgotten along with countless other projects I have going. I think that at some point I will need the needles and go finish a couple of them

In other new, it has been confirmed that the Coronavirus has come to King County. Since people have the virus two weeks before they show symptoms, I would guess that it has actually been here for a few weeks. The funny thing is that while we were in Panera yesterday a man stood right beside me as he sneezed without attempting to cover his mouth and nose. I joked that in the coming weeks actions like that will make him a pariah. Maybe I should have been a bit more concerned.

It seems that we should have been expecting a pandemic of some sort. It is historical that each century is ushered in with one. In 1817 the first Cholera Pandemic hit. It killed 150,000 people in the US. In 1918 the Spanish Flu killed 50 million people worldwide. We are right on target for another round of population culling infection. Not really surprising at all. I think the main difference is our ability to obtain global news and worry over it.

In happier news, Nora came over last night and brought us some spring flowers. One year when she was in high school she planted a bunch of spring bulbs for Karen as a Christmas gift. A few years later when Karen and Jim divorced, Karen was sad because she was leaving her flowers behind. Now every year Nora goes over and cuts them when they come up and brings them to her mother to enjoy. When her father objects, she tells him that he flowers were never for him in the first place. It makes Karen uncommonly happy to have them.   I wonder at the feasibility of helping Nora dig the bulbs up next fall and transplant them into flower boxes that we can have with us wherever we go. We don't have any plans to move from here in the near future. But eventually that will happen. I guess, assuming that we survive the pandemic.

An Afternoon Out

Yesterday I was talking to my sister when she got home from work, and told her that about my afternoon walk. I said I'd like to visit the local museum. I'd walked past it and noticed the hours and the very inexpensive price to get in. I haven't been in it. I thought it might be interesting. She said that a friend, Carol had called and requested that we meet her for coffee today, and that she'd agreed. With Carol a request is more of a summons. She doesn't really understand the word no. So, my trip to the museum has been put off. I may go there tomorrow.

This afternoon we met Carol at the bakery that she'd specified. When we got there we found it unsatisfactory. It was extremely crowded with young mothers and children. The place was so noisy that we couldn't hold a conversation and it was a bit of a mess. All employees were busy behind the counter waiting on customers and there was no one busing the tables. We didn't stay. Instead, we drove all the way across Kent to  the Panera's.  For a fast food chain, the food is decent, but Panera's has never been on my top ten list of places to eat. Dining out here is a bit on the pricey side. It is usual to pay the same price for a meal at a fast food place here as I would pay to eat at an upscale restaurant in Atlanta. I suppose that is why I tend to have melt-downs over it. It makes it a bit of a pill to swallow when I;m visiting fast food chains. But the food was decent and I did enjoy seeing Carol. It was an okay outing. Probably more enjoyable than the museum that will still be there  tomorrow.

The bakery we started out at was near some shops that we'd planned on visiting. Since we'd changed location we were no longer near them. Karen did offer to drive back across town. But it seems a bit silly. We decided to visit St. Vincent de Paul's and Fred Meyer's that was on our way home instead.

Here in Auburn, we have two St. Vincent de Paul;s. One we have frequented a few times looking for furniture. It only has that and appliances there. The other carries everything else that is donated. I had never been in it. For a thrift store, it is a thrift store. Not really much to write home about. It does have a lot of books that I didn't take the time to browse through. The store is within biking distance. I will make my way back over there when I don't have my sister with me. She doesn't have as much patience for shopping as I do. Mostly, she wants to run in and grab something, then run right out when she has found it. Thrift stores take me a bit more to work to find out what's in them than that.

She found a shirt that she likes a lot, I found a frame. Well, I kind of think that it's a frame. It may be a framed print. I really kind of like it as it is. Cross stitch has become an expensive hobby, but the real expense is in framing the work after it's complete. I have been looking for nice frames at thrift stores for future projects. This one was being sold for $4. But the tag had a red mark on it and today was the day the items with red tags were half off. So it would have cost me $2 for the frame. But, senior citizens get a 10% discount so the frame came to $1.80. Then I got it home and the print, though it is a bit dated, looks nice in my room. I may just hang it and find another frame for cross stitch. I've opened the back to find the the print is signed, numbered and dated. It may mean that it is valuable. But it may mean that someone is using the technique to make the print appear valuable. The bottom line for me is that I like it. And if it really is a Walmart item that some one is glorifying, I only paid $1.80 for it. I wasn't taken advantage of. I wonder if I could copy the butterfly shield in cross stitch and replace just the center. I have time to think about it.

After the thrift store we went to Fred's and I was able to get out of the store without spending too much. I thought about getting a corned beef for St. Patrick's day. But I decided to wait and see if they'd go on sale. My sister says they usually do. Karen stopped by the Girl Scout table in lobby on the way out. The cookies are selling for $5 a box here. Considering that there is only 20 cookies in a box, that is one pricey box of cookies. But I think that I was paying $6 a box for them in Georgia. I'm trying to slow down on sugar and don't really think the cookies are all that special. I didn't buy any.

It rained after we got home or I may have gone out for a walk. It isn't much of an excuse really. I have a rain coat, umbrella and rain boots. I am just a wimp and wanted to spend the afternoon knitting. One of the items that I have been working on is a simple garter stitch triangular scarf. It is inspired by the shawl that Claire Fraser has been wearing on Outlander this season. It is the most simple of mindless knits imaginable. I'm sure that someone will write out the obvious pattern and sell it on Ravelry as if it is in anyway possible that other knitters can't figure it out on their own. But I keep making stupid, sophomoric mistakes like dropping stitches, mostly dropping stitches.  Seriously, you'd think that I was knitting while intoxicated. No such luck, only knitting while watching YouTube and Sister Wives. Tonight I took a look at the sad state that it was in and decided that I'm unlikely to wear a scarf with as many mistakes in it and tore it all the way out. It's better to begin again and have something that I'm not ashamed of. I had knitted though about half of the dark teal skein and this is now all I have to show for it. The contrast yarn is left over from the socks that I knit a few weeks ago. I think it pairs well together. Hopefully this will be an exercise of concentration and determination for me and I will someday have a scarf to show for it. I'm really annoyed with myself that I am having so much trouble with this. It only employs the most basic of basic skills. I could just work on the new socks I'm doing. But I'm getting a bit bored with socks too.

Pippi Longstockings is sleeping on my bed tonight and every once in a while lifts her head to complain at me. She is the most feral of all our cats. It makes her a fantastic mouser, but kind of a bitch at the same time. If she's not in the mood, she'd rather bite you than look at you. For some reason, she's taken up with me over the past few weeks. Now she's taken to crying and pouting when I don't do her bidding. Right now, she wants me to blow the candles out and go to bed. How did I ever survive making my own decisions for so many years? Who knew I needed a cat to parent me?

Almost Like Spring

Last weekend we had an incredible storm. I woke up on Sunday morning with wind and rain pounding my windows so hard that they were actually bowing in a bit. It reminded me of the tropical storms that used to hit when I lived on the beach in Hollywood, Florida in my late teens. Then the storm blew threw and we've actually had a fairly nice week to follow. Today though, it was perfect. The sky was sunny. The air was warm, with just a bit of a nip to it, and it smelled so good. It would have been sinful to waste such a beautiful early spring day sitting inside. I've done way too much of that in my life. This afternoon was not one to be missed. So I slipped on my light coat and went for a walk. I felt positively silly wearing a coat. I should have left it at home, but the weather changes on a dime here. I was afraid that the slight nip my become more of a bite by the time I headed home. That didn't happen. Wearing a coat was ridiculous. The weather was wonderful. Even with the lovely blooms on the trees, I know that this is only fools spring. Real spring is still a month or more off. It will get cold and wet again. If I were "home", which is what I have starting calling Woodstock in my thoughts, I'd be wrapping up in quilts and drinking hot drinks. They are experiencing a late winter snow. Better that I am here.

My, oh my, what the weather is doing around the world. I have heard that it is flooding in a lot of really diverse places. It seems like much of Great Britain and Iran are under water. And in Australia, after all those fires, they are now flooding in Queensland and New South Wales. My heart goes out to everyone effected by it. It was bad enough for me last year when I was the only one experiencing it. At least every where else I went was dry and clean. It must be horrible for the whole area around you to be affected.

And do we have pandemic?  A few years ago I was living in Atlanta when the Ebola patients were treated at the CDC. I had an echo scheduled at Emory Hospital while they were there. Then they called me back to do a PET/CT scan. On the third day I was called in first thing in the morning to have an Angiogram. Three days in a row I was asked to go to the hospital that the patients were being treated at, and have an invasive procedure on one of them. The part of the hospital where the patients were was quarantined, but the hospital stayed open and working. But now, here, for Coronavirus places are getting closed down. A teacher at one of the local high schools attended a wedding where someone else got sick. They have closed the school to disinfect it. I don't think anyone actually was sick at that school. Man, they are taking this thing seriously. I'm enough of a hermit that I don't think I'm a prime candidate to get it. But then, the Three Kittens are all in school and they come here at least once a month. I wonder if this is the next world plague, or Y2K scare. When I was a kid in 5th or 6th grade a teacher asked where the best place to be when an atomic bomb dropped. I think she was going for an answer like "In a fallout shelter" or "Under your desk". I answered, "Underneath where it lands." The amount of trouble that answer got me into taught me why it is never wise to be honest with teachers. But it is how I feel about world wide disasters. You have to consider what you will be living in a worst case scenario. Some things aren't worth surviving. I've given up political commentary for Lent, so that is why you aren't seeing any of that here.

I finally decided that it was time to start taking care of myself, and got a hair cut. It's not a great picture, but it's the only one I have right now. The lighting isn't great. I'm surprised at how much the quality of my hair has changed over the past year. I've had quite a lot of hair loss and re-growth. What is growing back in is courser than it used to be. I can almost sculpt it to into shape without any product on it. It seems that the color changed too. My hair has been gray for a while, but after getting 11+ inches cut off, the hair that is left seems really white now. I'm enjoying the more manicured effect. It makes me feel better about how I looked.

I've managed to get finish a cross-stitch project. It's supposed to be a book cover, but I may put it in a carved wooden frame that I bought around Christmas. I made some mistakes that caused me to do a huge improvisation on the piece, but I'm very happy with the way that it came out. It was a very satisfying small project to do. I'm afraid that small projects are going to be the order of the day. I had forgotten how incredibly slow and knit-picky that cross-stich can be. It really takes a lot of patience. And unlike knitting, I can't read or watch TV while doing it. There are no mindless stretches. Stitch counts have to be exact. That's why I made some errors in it that caused the changes I had to make to the sampler.

I finished the pair of socks that matched my sweater and gave them to my niece. I had started them for her anyway. Then she complimented them. I felt that I had to give them to her after that. Now I am experimenting with the socks again. I went down on the stitch count and shortened to the toe and foot portion by an inch to see if the sock would fit better after it stretched with wearing. This time I'm using a different yarn. Both yarns are supposed to be the same size, but there is a huge difference in the socks. The sock I'm making now is thicker and chunkier. I really love the yarn. But I bought it on close-out and a Tuesday Morning in Georgia a few years ago. It isn't made anymore. I can find a few skeins left on the web, but they aren't in colors that I want or cost more than I want to pay for it. I'm just going to have to savor the yarn I have now and realize that another favorite yarn will show up. I really enjoy sewing, and I'm pretty decent at it for someone who is basically self taught. A few generations ago, my grandmothers were able to make a fairly decent living as seamstresses. I think it's sad that the opportunity to do that doesn't really exist anymore. For the most part, hand sewing is a hobby, and not one held in great esteem. Who knows, maybe making it a profession would take all the joy out of it anyway.

It's late, actually very early morning. I need to get to bed. I hope this day finds you well.

Dreamy Sunflower Wedding | Jake & Jess | Full Film

I was vegging out on YouTube and look what I found. Jess is Mollie's joined at the hip for life friend since high school. The beautiful woman giving the toast and talking about meeting giants is my Mollie. The film isn't long, but it is a great story. Some of it, if you've been reading my blog for a while you've read about. Enjoy ;o)

Monday

I woke up  this morning with an unusual sensation. It felt as if I went from total deep in the dream sleep to wide awake in the blink of an eye, as if I traveled up through darkness at a high speed that made me disoriented and angry at once. Instead of jumping straight up, I laid in bed until I got my bearings. I couldn't have jumped straight up anyway because Cheese decided sometime during the night that my abdomen was the softest pillow to sleep on. He was firmly planted there. Since I have no core strength to speak of, sitting up with him there would have taken more than I have. I had to call out to my sister, who was in the kitchen to shake the treat jar to prompt him to move. Thankfully, shaking the treat jar is the best cat whistle we have. Needless to say, my day got off to a rough start.

But I was soon to learn that I was not the only member of my family who wasn't having the greatest of mornings. My eldest son (40 years old) decided that it was time to have his wisdom teeth removed. When he was a teenager, we looked into it and were told that they'd all come in straight. As long as he kept them clean it was his choice to keep them or not. He chose to keep them. Last year he was in an auto accident and broke one of them. He tried to get the tooth repaired, but no dentist is willing to do that so he made the decision to have all four of them pulled while he as at it. I knew about the accident, but was unaware that he'd broken a tooth during it. Needless to say, he is having a rough go right now. Luckily for him, as when he was a teen, the teeth were straight in and not impacted.

It has rained or snowed here pretty much every day this winter. I'm not complaining as this is what I expected the weather to be like here. But yesterday and today we have been given a most welcome reprieve. Two warmish, sunny days in a row to enjoy. I decided that to shake off the bad start a nice walk was in order. The Humane Society Thrift Shop is one of my favorite places here, and it is about a half mile from my house. The entire walk is on a nice sidewalk through our neighborhood.  And with the weather the way it was it made for a very pleasant walk.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I just wanted to browse. They have done a spring cleaning on the store since the last time I was there. Everything was so much better organized and clean. It makes the store even more inviting. I found a picture frame and a cross stitch book while I was there. I was charged a whopping $0.66 for my purchases, paid with a dollar and told them to keep the change as a donation. Yeah, I'm extravagant like that... I then went to the market next door to get some toilet paper and to the local sub shop on the next corner for a couple of sandwiches for dinner. All in all my walk cost me about $30. I could have made dinner at home and saved most of it but I was in a better mood after my walk.

On my way home, my younger son, Matthew called to tell me that Tim had his wisdom teeth out that morning. It was good to hear from him. I kind of fussed at him for only calling me when someone is sick, and that I don't want to have a wedding and funeral type family. After talking with him for a while we finished the conversation. Within an hour I got a text from Mollie saying that Matt told her I was upset and that she'd call me soon. Seems I just have to fuss at the right kid.

The walk today really did me good, not only in the way my mood changed but I just felt good afterward. It doesn't really make sense that I choose not to get out on rainy days. I have rain boots, a rain coat and poncho and a very good umbrella. I can stay dry if I really want to go out. I think that I will give up a sedentary life style for Lent this year and try to get in the habit of walking or cycling every day.

In Denial

 Like many US citizens, I am in denial over the acquittal of a president that everyone seems to agree is as guilty as blood laden sin holding an ax. I have read that the republicans in the Senate secretly admit that they acquitted him because they fear him. I am glad that Romney had the moral strength to fear God more than he does a mob boss. That alone gives me hope. But for the most part, I am like Cheese here, I just want to curl up under the covers and pretend that none of it ever happened. I wish that I could say that I am looking forward to a red tide sweeping the country in the fall. Right now, I just don't think that will happen. There are too many people who feel the strong economy is worth putting up with an astounding lack of moral character. I wonder how they will feel about the strong economy when they find their Social Security checks cut and they are expected to pay a larger portion of their Medicare to preserve the tax breaks for corporations and the ultra rich.

Instead of hanging out on Facebook or watching Rachel Madow lately I have been working on my crafts. I finished the pair of socks for my sister and immediately started a pair for my niece. But I like this pair so much and they match so well with a sweater that I have, I may have to keep them for myself and make another pair for Nora. The cross-stitch is supposed to be a cover for a small notebook. But I have a hand carved frame that I found at an antique shop that I think may be the perfect thing to show this off in. I'll have to see.

Today I paid all my credit cards. I think that tomorrow I will go to the library and work on my taxes. They have someone there on Fridays to help senior citizens with get them filed. I think I may manage to get a few dollars back this year.

That's pretty much all I have for today. Life isn't exciting right now.

This Day

I woke up this morning to snow flurries. Though it snowed quite heavily for a few hours, there was no accumulation. I guess the ground was too warm. Just as well. It ended in the afternoon after the snow turned to rain. It has been raining steadily ever since. It seems like it has been raining fairly continually since Christmas. I'm not complaining. It is what southerners think that the Seattle area is like. But those who have been here for a while are balking at the rain. They tell me this is the most rain they can remember in years.

I gazed out the window and knit all day. It was a great day for it. But it doesn't make for stimulating conversation. And since I was ignoring the elephant in the room, it doesn't provide me with much to write about.

My sister and I watched a movie on Netflix or Hulu tonight instead of watching the elephant. It was called Still, and was a re-telling of Tuck Everlasting. I thought it was a bit darker than Tuck Everlasting, but my sister had never watched it or read the book, so she didn't have an opinion.

I need to start getting out again, if only to have more to think about. But I've gotten a few pairs of socks knit and I have a good start on some counted cross stitch. I've also been researching the early 1900's for a project that I'm working on. What I'm finding is all either Roald Dahl or Downton Abby. I think there must be something in the middle. Surely there was a comfortable middle somewhere.