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.

Distraction

My week has been distracting my way through the impeachment trial. I feel that it is my respectful duty to at least watch it since I have the opportunity to. I have seen most of it. But I was in luck that one of my not so impulse buys arrived in the mail on Monday.

I have been wanting to get back into doing some counted cross stitch. I know that as an art form, even a craft form it is considered outdated and not highly valued. When it was popular back in the Eighties it was my craft of choice. I loved making patterns made by the colored x's. I loved the pictures made by the subtle patterns. It filled a need to create beauty around me. I was captivated by it again back in November when I found an old Good Housekeeping pattern book at my favorite thrift store. My fingers and soul long to work with it again.

It was an affordable hobby back in the day. Floss, fabric and all other supplies were easily had anywhere you buy craft supplies. The price was fair, most of my project required only minimal financial investment. I was surprised to discover that a skein of floss that I could have bought for twenty cents now costs nearly a full dollar. And most stores only have the barest of selections. There isn't much demand for it anymore.

My brother bought me a good selection of floss for Christmas. But every project that I was interested in doing required ten or twenty colors that I did not have. I was getting discouraged until I saw a Facebook ad for Wish. Generally, I do not like wish. The prices are excellent, but you get what you get and it takes a long time. I also have grave misgivings about the origin of the products too. Still, this was an almost complete collection of the floss that I prefer to use for my product and with shipping, it was less than ten cents per skein. I knew that at best I'd be getting factory seconds, but it's a good start. So I caved and purchased it.

As I said above, it arrived on Monday. It was packaged in a small, see-through, clear plastic pouch. In that form, it was of little use in a project. I needed to organize and store the floss in a manner that I can find the skeins I need of the projects that I'd like. I had anticipated it and bought some plastic boxes and cards to do it. As I watched the sad spectacle of the worst of American politics take place in living color, I wound each skein onto a spool and placed it in numerical order into the storage boxes. I finished this evening about the time Rep. Nadler usurped Rep. Schiff's final answer for the evening and the end of the question and answer phase of the trial. As happy, thrilled even, as I was to be finished wrapping all of those spools of floss, I was even happier to be finished listening to the long throng of useless and leading questions asked. I am equally saddened by the lack of simple moral character I have seen. So many people not willing to stand up and call out what is wrong. They simply don't care about right and wrong. I give up. The man is made of Teflon. He will never be held accountable for any of the evil he commits.

Why Do I Let It Bother Me?

Yesterday I posted this picture of the socks that I made here with my blog post. I'm rather proud of the socks that I knit, so I also posted the picture on Facebook. I got a lot of nice comments both here and on FB about how nice they are. I really appreciate them. But I also got this comment:

I know, it's a nice comment, but that is part of the burn. You see, I used to be married to the man who made it. I'm glad that he finally acknowledged that I do have talents and that I do nice work. But while we were married all those many years ago, he complained about each and every sewing project that I did. It didn't matter if it was knitting, sewing garments, quilting, embroidery, whatever. He did not like that I did it. So when I saw his comment this evening I wanted to say something hurtful, like "Glad you finally noticed". But then, what would be the point?

They say that forgiveness is for the person who forgives, not for the person being forgiven. And I want to say that I have forgiven him. But then things like this pop up and I realize just how far I am from truly forgiving him. I know that it's not good for me to hold on to those hurts, but honestly, until things like this pop up and remind me, I don't even think about them. I probably should go to counseling, but this is cheaper.

I Make Pretty Things With String

I started knitting a pair of socks after Thanksgiving. I was hoping to get them completed to give to my sister for Christmas. That shouldn't really be much of a problem. Some people can complete a pair of socks in a day if they are doing nothing else. I, however, am not some people.

It took me a week of knitting to master Judy's Magic Cast On, and then some to decide that eight and twelve stitches per needle were simply too pointed of a toe. I need fourteen to make the toe comfortable. then I knit the eight and three quarters of an inch to complete the foot only to be stumped at creating an acceptable heel. I want a heel without holes that looks at least comparable to what can be bought in a store. I've made other socks with a flap and gusset heel, but I was not at all pleased with the look or the feel of it. To add to the dissatisfaction of it, I do not enjoy the fiddliness of trying to pick up stitches on the sides of the flap. I knew that I didn't want that. I had planned to use a German Short Row heel.

German Short Row Heel  (I didn't knit this sock)

But as I was knitting it, I realized that the short rows were leaving a lacy line on either side of the heel. It's fine, but I didn't want the holes. So I decided that instead of German Short Rows, I should try to do a Wrap and Turn Short Row. It wasn't much of an improvement in closing up the holes. At this point Christmas had passed and the new year was approaching. I didn't want to bring the frustration of the project into it. So I switched yarns and tried again to create a sock that I can knit without tears and wear proudly.

Forethought Heel (I did not knit this sock)

After several attempts with the new socks I gave up on the idea of a short row heel and decided that I should attempt a Forethought Heel. That in the least keep me from wanting to pull the needles and throw all of my sock yarn to the curb. I have been afraid of this heel because it requires that you mark the heel location with a length of scrap yarn and pick up all of the stitches around it when you are ready to work the heel. I knitted what looked like tube socks and finished them off with two by two ribbing and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Stretchy Sewn Bind Off.  Then it was time to return to the heels. Picking up the stitches was fiddly, as I had expected it would. But I much prefer it to picking up stitches on a heel flap. After getting all the stitches back on the needles knitting the heel was a breeze and left no holes to have to patch up on the sides. I Kitchener stitched the final 12 stitches of the heel and I was done. I had not started with the intention of having a seamless sock, but after all was said and done, that's what I have.

I've washed the socks and have them laying flat to dry and started to knit the original pair of socks, that I will give to my sister when they are done. But now I have my own "How I knit my socks" pattern. It's only taken me two months to come up with what some people are accomplishing in a day. Gratefully this second pair is going a lot faster. I expect to finish them within the week.

Snowy Day

I am in my room with the lights off and only a few candles burning. The electricity is still on, but I don't want the light in the room to keep me from being able to see the beautifully peaceful scene outside my window. It started snowing in the late evening hours last night. I had tried to wait up to see it, but it got the better of me. I woke up to a snowscape that lasted only long enough for me to get my shower. Again I waited all day and then as soon as it got dark snow came back. We have had showers of it since 5:00 pm. The yard is covered once again. The forecast is for the showers to continue through the day tomorrow and take a break for the night. I've heard that more snow is expected on Wednesday.

The cats freaked out about it yesterday. They roamed the house crying to be held and given treats. All of our cats are rescued cats who either started out feral or cast off by someone. They don't like change and I think the weather made them feel vulnerable. Tonight they have all settled down, finding the warmest place they can and staying put there. They do not like the snow. On the other hand, the dog is loving it. He has been running outside all evening chasing snowflakes and then coming in to be toweled down until he is no longer cold. It is fun watching him play, but I am more like the cats than him. I am happy to stay in and watch from the vantage of a warm couch with a hot cup of tea in my hands.

Bombshell

My sister announced on Monday that the three kittens were coming over for New Years. But she said that she was going to take them home really early so that she, Nora and I would be able to spend the day shopping and got to the movies to watch Bombshell.

I didn't mind that the kittens were coming over. We didn't have any real plans and it freed their mother up to be able to celebrate with her friends. What I mind is being voluntold that we are going to watch them. It may have been an in the minute decision she made when Carley asked her if we could watch them, but still.

The weather here didn't comply with anyone's plans to ring the new decade in. Rainy and very windy, even the casino cancelled their fireworks display. It didn't stop the people who decided to use the alleyway behind our property to shoot off fireworks by the rail road track. They had nice fireworks, but I was glad that everything was soaking wet due to the rain. In the summer, I would have worried about them setting fires. Still, they had nice fireworks, the expensive ones that shoot colored explosions into the air.

The kittens tried hard to make it to midnight, but were asleep and had no interest in waking up to drink sparkling grape juice and yell Happy New Year! This year the television was bigger and I watched the Space Needle light up instead of the Giant Peach drop. I went back to my room and smoked legal pot. I watched the same fanatics who were wringing their hands over black eyed children last year quake on about men preaching at the temple mound this year. Did you know that they found the Arc of the Covenant? Depending on who you believe, it's either in a cave in Ethiopia, under the north side of the temple mound or on top of Mount Sinai. Only they don't seem to know where the mountain is. I stayed up until 2:00 am to find that out. I also instant messaged with a friend from Glasgow.

Karen may have taken the kittens home early this morning. I wouldn't know. I woke up at almost 1:00 PM. I know that I stayed up late, but not that late. I think that my lack of energy is probably an effect of the arthritis that I have been struggling with lately. There are a lot of immunologics that have come out in the past few years, I know this. But after my bout with cancer I don't trust anything that can lower my body's ability to fight it off. I'm taking aspirin and ibuprophen. It works as well as anything else. Which is to say, not well at all.  It didn't really matter that I woke up so late. Nora went home after midnight and didn't come back until shortly before I woke up.

We went to see Bombshell, which is a movie that Karen has been wanting to see. I, not so much. It is an excellent movie and very worth the money paid to watch it. But it put me back into corporate America, and I'm not ready for it. It also put me right back into the stench that is politics today. All of the Me Too rebellion and this country is still being held hostage by a group of larcenous reprobates. It's even all of the same actors. Nice way to start the new decade isn't it? Being smeared in the same muck from the old.

My brother had wanted black eyed peas and collard greens for dinner tonight. It's his superstition. I don't care for it. But I was willing to buy it and cook it for him. Then Karen announced that she's done for the day after the movie. There was no shopping like she'd promised. I'm off the hook unless I want to go out and buy the food, which I don't. If Ken goes out, I'll cook it for him.

Now I'm home. I need to eat something besides the barrel of popcorn that I had at the theater. Protein would be a good option. I've put a pot pie in the oven. Tomorrow I will go out to the store on my own. I will buy the some nice steaks to make up for the collards and peas to Ken. I am also going to buy some fly spray. The damned things don't die here. In Georgia, flies hibernate after the first freeze. Here they don't, they just fly in circles in your house forever.  Karen doesn't like pesticides. I'm not a great fan of them either, but I'm getting rid of these flies.

Lately, I've been hard on Karen. She is a lovely, giving person. She just doesn't seem to understand the effect she has on people sometimes. It's not that she wants to break promises or disrespect Ken's traditions. She just fails to see that it's important to him. Unfortunately she can also claim that if it were that important, he'd have gotten the collard greens himself, and that is true. So for myself, I think that I'm going to have to understand that. Accept Karen for her good, and ignore when her intentions try to box me in. That is where my disappointment comes from.