Christmas 2019

   Christmas has come and gone for another year.  My cousin, Ed, and Jeff's sister, Sherry, joined us for Christmas dinner this year.  We did a pork loin on the Ronco with baked potatoes (in the microwave), gravy and green beans.  I even made baking powder biscuits!  For dessert I had made a sugar-free chocolate pudding pie and a sugar-free cake.  Ed went the other route and brought petite-fours and frosted brownies...definitely not sugar free!...for dessert.  Everything was delicious!!  Can't beat the Ronco for doing a piece of meat.  We put a dry rub on it the night before and left it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag over night.  Never had a roast been so tender and flavorful!  Jeff did the green beans...he calls them 'fried' actually you saute them in olive oil and butter and seasoned with garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper.  I'm not sure if he didn't put in a jigger or two of hot sauce, too.  Anyway, he opened 2 cans and they all went!  
    Dinner was suppose to be at 1-1:30 but we couldn't find all the leaves for the table.  Years ago, Dad and I had measured and cut 4 pine boards and he had drilled and put in holes and pegs to create the leaf system.  (In those days it was nothing to have 25 people or more here for Christmas Eve dinner!!)  I even had numbered the sides of the leaves (1-1,1-2, 2-3, 3-4) so we could save time putting it together!  This year we couldn't find leaf #1 and while #2, 3 and 4 fit together they would not stay put in the table because the pegs that fit into the table were in the missing leaf #1!  Finally, we just gave up and put them all away and used the table without and leaves.(There were only 4 of us so while it was cozy it wasn't that crowded!!) But the time we wasted trying to get the leaves to fit...I forgot to start the Ronco at noon so we ate a little later than we had planned...but it all worked out ok.
    Sherry went home a little after 4 pm so she wouldn't have to drive after dark but Ed stayed and we talked.  He's sold his house in E Herkimer and now lives in Sherwood Acres.  It's been a change he's still getting use to but he likes it.  It's got me thinking about all the stuff (read: junk) I've collected over the years,  what Jeff brought with him and what we've accumulated since his arrival and I'm thinking maybe we should start downsizing and not wait until it's just one of us left to do it.  We'll have to wait and see.  Jeff is a bit of a hoarder...worse than me with yarn...and I'm sure it will be difficult to get him to part with any of the old computer monitors, keyboards...just look around our living room!!
  I did get the hat that I was doing for 

Sherry finished in time.  I used Red Heart's  'with Love' in Metallic Blue on US 7's.  The pattern, A Lady's Hat by Nurcan Kaya, that I found on Ravelry called for a larger needle but Sherry prefers a snug hat.  And that's a braid not a cable around the hat with the button holding the ends together.  For Ed I made a pair of socks

using Paton's Kroy sock yarn in 'Route 66'.  It made up rather nicely, too.
(I also got a shawl/scarf finished for Maggie with Red Heart's 'with Love' in Metallic Pewter using Liz Abinante' Saroyan, another pattern I found on Ravelry.  I had it all ready to take to the Post Office to mail to her on Christmas Eve when she stopped her on the way home from her husband's PT at Little Falls Hospital.)
   Before Ed left, Zoey started playing tag with her friend, a mouse.  They'd chase each other around the TV room but never let the other one get closer than touch.  Then they'd sit and stare at each other for a few minutes and then the race was on again!  It went on for over half an hour!!  It was so cute...and sweet...and funny.  Zoey never got closer to the mouse than to kiss it's head or ass depending on which way the mouse was heading.  Suddenly it was over and the mouse headed back into it's hiding place and Zoey jumped up on a chair and went to sleep.
   Saturday Ed and I went to Cooperstown to unload my display in the shop.  The ride was nice, no snow or ice on the road...or on the hills along the way, either!  I was disappointed with my December sales in the shop so we had a lot of stock to bring home.  The parking lot of Doubleday Field is still a muddy mess!  It was dug up to replace water and electrical lines as part of the $$ renovation of Doubleday Field and won't get it repaved until Spring.  While we got new stairs up to the shop and a 
and a new wall along the big parking lot, our flower bed took a direct hit.  I don't think it will be as nice as usual next year.  And we still have to have a new railing installed.   After we finished in the shop I took Ed over to the Doubleday Cafe on Main St for lunch.  It was crowded...lots of tourists...but we got lucky and didn't have to wait long for a table.  Jeff was waiting for us at home with coffee to hear about the trip.  Now I've just got to find someplace to put all that stock until next April.  
   Last night I was working on Jeff's

Christmas socks...yes, Christmas 2019 but I was close!...and was ready to do the heel on the 2nd sock when the power went out.  There was no sense in trying to knit by flashlight and it was almost 10 pm so I just took my pills and went to bed...and the dogs went with me!  The power came back on in about an hour and woke me up because the lamp by my chair as still on and the clock on the night table started flashing!  I got up and took care of them...and the flashing clock on the stove in the kitchen...and then went back to bed.  The power went out twice more during the night and I got up to let the dogs out and stop the clocks from flashing around 5 am.  We all went back to bed after that!  You've got to remember when the power goes out around here it means no heat, water or lights so bed was the warmest place in the house...especially with 2 dogs!  Zoey even crawled under the blankets for while!!
   Jeff's got PT this afternoon...not that he's looking forward to it.  His range of motion has improved but the pain hasn't lessened.  He was evaluated last week and the recommendation was for another course of PT.  We've got to stop at the grocery store on the way home, too, and I've got a movie overdue at the library.  (I've got 12 books waiting for me at Ilion Library, too!  How do I get so many of what I order to come in at once??)  It's been raining steady all night and day but most of the ice and snow is gone.  There isn't much snow in the forecast for the next week, either.  
    I ordered some more sock yarn...this time from JoAnn Fabrics...so I can finally make myself a pair.  Ed got a pair for Christmas, and Jeff got his birthday socks...due in March but finished in December, and another pair I found that I had started for him besides these I'm doing now so the next pair is for ME!!  I usually order sock yarn from Mary Maxim but the last couple of times the color runs in the 2 skeins that were suppose to match haven't.  The socks I'm finishing now had a couple of yards of yarn wound around the skein...like an after thought...just to get the weight up to where it should be?  I ordered the same label yarn, Paton's Kroy, but this time from JoAnn Fabrics.  Let's see if it's the yarn or if Mary Maxim had gotten bad skeins.  Oh, I also joined KnitCrate, a yarn club.  Once a month they send a box with enough yarn to make...in my case a pair of socks...Sock Crate.  But I think merino and baby alpaca is too good/nice/soft to be walked all over so I'm planning to use my first skein, a beautiful green called Garland, for a shawl.  I've already found several patterns that call for only 400 yds of yarn...the amount that's in that skein.  Photo to follow!!
   Now it's time for Jeff's PT!!

Jeff's Birthday Socks...A Little Late!

   Yesterday I finally finished the 1st sock of a pair I was making for Jeff's birthday last March 1st when I suddenly put it away.   It sat unfinished in my stash

 for months!  When I pulled it out yesterday and started working on it again I couldn't remember why I had done it until I pulled out the 2nd skein.  See, Jeff wears a size US 12 shoe and is about 6'3".  It takes an entire skein of sock yarn to make 1 sock so I always buy 2 skeins...that way I'm sure the numbers match and the self-patterning/striping will.  Well, these 2 skeins of Patons Kroy Sock yarn in Sunburst did not match.  Oh, the numbers did, and the name did but the colorways didn't.  At first I thought one skein had been wound up backwards so I rewound it.  Nope, the colorways still didn't come anywhere near matching.  All I can figure out is that the machine operator started to wind one of those skeins in a different place in the colorway.  Jeff said who cares?  My feet will be in my shoes!  Well, I care!  I like my wild and crazy patterned socks to match!  The only way I can get this pair to do that is to 'cut and paste' the colorway but since I had about 2" left over after I BO I'm not doing to try that!
   To make matters worse, I was later going thru my stash looking for something when I came across another pair of unfinished socks I had been working on for Jeff.  These were done with Patons Kroy FX sock yarn in Chambray and 1 sock was still on the needles!  (THAT'S where those 2 short circulars were!!)  This time the colorway was different.  The blue gray in the 1st skein...and sock...had changed to blue brown in the 2nd! Again, he said So What?  In fact, Kroy FX is his favorite sock yarn and he was thrilled to get another pair especially since they discontinued that yarn.  
   I am so disappointed with Patons Kroy sock yarn right now that I don't know if I'll continue to buy it.  I've got another pair of socks in Sweet Stripes I'm doing for a friend that are coming out a match and I have 2 skeins each of Landscape Stripes and Route 66 that are going to be socks for Jeff and me that I have my fingers crossed over.   But after that I'm going to have to decide if I want to continue to chance getting matchable skeins or switch to another sock yarn.  I just joined KnitCrates...or rather SockCrates...so I'll wait and see how that yarn is.  There isn't a yarn shop anywhere near me so I have to order yarn and take chances.  Patons Kroy Sock yarn was always so reliable.

Jeff 13 Mice 0

    Jeff got a couple more mice yesterday and 2 more overnight.  I sure hope that wipes out at least 2 nests.  A mouse nest has an average of 6-8 inhabitants and he's gotten 13 so far!  I know there are at least 2 still alive but their days are numbered.
    It was another of those gray, damp, chilly winter days yesterday but with rain instead snow.  My body knew something was coming because I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep last night...kept tossing and turning.  I knew it was bad when Fanny, the Australian Cattledog/mix sighed deeply, got up off the bed next to me and jumped into the armchair at the foot of the bed.  She stayed there for a couple of hours...until she was sure I had fallen asleep?  I remember looking at the bedside clock at 2:40 am and then it was suddenly blinking at me!  I must have fallen asleep (at last) and the power had gone out.  When it came back on, the clock started blinking wildly!  After I realized what was happening I managed to turn on the light and reset the clock...my cell phone in it's charger said it was 3:45 am.    I decided a quick trip to the bathroom was probably a good idea then and when I got into the hall realized something in the kitchen was blinking, too!  Turned out to be the clock on the stove!  Got it reset and finally made it back to bed around 4 am.  Fell back to sleep quickly and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing!  It was 8:30 am!  A telemarketer!  I not too graciously nor ladylike told her what I thought of her calling at that time and hung up.  Two more telemarketers called after that...about 45 minutes apart...but I had given up and gotten up.  Jeff was up by then and both dogs had been let out and brought back in but that hadn't stopped Zoey from 'going' on the TV room floor.  (At least she picks the room with vinyl flooring instead of hardwood.)  Today's weather turned out to be about the same as yesterday so I layered up before we headed out for Jeff's PT...scheduled for 2 pm.  We stopped at the car dealer on the highway across from the florist on our way past because we both saw Subaru's(different ones) in the lot.  We stopped again on the way home and got the details.  It looks like we may end up buying a used Outback (my preference) or Forester (Jeff's preference) if they can find us one and we can make a deal.  Their mechanic also rebuilds Subaru's so that's probably where we could get the best deal  for ours.  We told them we weren't really in a hurry...just by Spring!
   I took a sock I was making for Jeff's birthday (March 1st) with me to work on while he was in PT.  Got plenty of questions and

comments about it.  Got quite a bit of it done, too!  I'm about ready to turn the heel and start on the leg.  Jeff likes wearing wool socks...wears them all year...and really needs some new ones.  (You can darn them only so many times!!)  When I got home today I started looking at online catalogs for sock yarn but couldn't find what I really liked.  Then I found Knitcrate...a monthly club that sells yarn.  I joined and ordered some sock yarn.  If I don't like it...for Jeff...I'll use it for me (I need new socks, too) and the yarn I was going to use for myself will just become another pair of socks for him.  One thing I do have to say about Jeff, he doesn't complain if the colorway of the sock yarn is a little wild.  He always says...his feet are in his shoes...who cares what color his socks are.  That sure gives me a lot of leeway when picking out yarn.  (I do compromise a little and stay away from the purples and pinks and the beaded yarns.) Now let's 
see if I can finish his birthday socks AND make him a pair for Christmas. 

 

Finally Over That Storm!!

   Thanks to Jeff's nephew, Doug, we are finally ready over that last storm and ready for the next one!  He was here yesterday and changed the decks on the Cub Cadet and plowed the long driveway with his truck and plow.  The riders and walk-behind blower do great jobs of removing snow but a truck with a plow has them both beat.  That was the verdict by the 'old men's club' at lunch yesterday.  Jeff had made one of his soups (chicken and sausage) and between what was eaten and what we sent home with Doug, about half the pot was gone!  Not to mention half the cake I had made!  Any way, Wally and Jeff were in awe of Doug for getting his truck and plow for such a great price (The original owner didn't want to pay the mechanic for some work done, so the mechanic kept the truck and sold it...to Doug...for that price!).  Wally kept saying we just have to find a truck that runs.  He doesn't plan to register/insure it, just put a plow on it and only use it to keep the driveway open.  As long as it has a heater that works!!  After opening the berm created by the town plow's in the mouth of the driveway with the walk-behind blower, Jeff agrees.  Wally has peripheral nephropathy in his hands and feet from diabetes and the cold really bothers him.  Jeff is so full of degenerative arthritis most activity hurt him.  A heated, truck cab sounds like a great luxury to those two right about now!
   I told Jeff before Doug got here that I was going to 'hire him' to change our wood stove pipes.  Jeff actually agreed with me without an argument!  (I knew he was hurting then!)  Jeff had had some trouble the last time he changed the outside pipes climbing up the ladder while balancing 5 lengths of stove pipe on his shoulder.  Now he couldn't do it.  His balance is pretty well gone and his shoulders are so full of arthritis it hurts to move his arms.  When I talked to Doug about it, I showed him the chimney from the living room window.  Jeff explained what had to be done and I added we'd get the pipes.  Doug agreed.  Now we just have to get the pipes and call him.  Oh, I am going to love having my wood stove back in operation again.  Knitting on a Sunday afternoon while watching the NFL...that's my idea of a good weekend!!  Today I'll just layer on an afghan!!
Let's see...Baltimore v Buffalo then KC v the Patriots.  I should be able to get a lot of my Christmas knitting done during those games!  

Keeping Up The 'Chooch' Tradition

     Wally cried "Uncle" today and admitted he couldn't get the entire driveway open even on his riding blower.  He really felt the pain he has in his hands and feet from peripheral nephropathy from diabetes when he tried to clear around his garage and house.  He also said he tried to get someone to plow us out but that guy...a friend of his...isn't that reliable and hasn't showed up yet.  Wally suggested Jeff try to knock down the berm that the town plow has created in the mouth of the long driveway.  
   That's what Jeff is doing now...outside trying to open the berm with the walk-behind blower.  If Jeff wasn't low on a couple of Rx's I don't think he'd be out there...at least I hope he wouldn't.  I told him we belong together.  We're what my mom called  'chooches'.   Good-hearted folks who will help others without being asked but have to beg for other to help them.  
   Mom had a glass donkey with a cart where she use to put her earrings at night that she called her 'chooch' cart and always said that if we ever had a

Josie's Chooch Cart

family crest or flag it would have a 'chooch' cart pulling a load of manure on it. I don't see why we couldn't wait until Dougie comes down with his plow on Saturday....  (I really have learned when to keep my mouth shut!   Sometimes!!)  Anyway, I made a packet of potato soup so Jeff will have something hot to eat when he come in and it smells pretty good!  In the meantime I think I'm going to go back to my knitting...if the dogs let me.  Both are barking up a storm and Zoey keeps running from window to window to try and see where Jeff is!  I tried that but I can't see him or the arc of snow from the blower.
   Well, Jeff got the berm cleared out but the effort did a number on him.  He is really going to need PT on Tuesday.

Still Snowed-In!

      That snowstorm on Sunday left us about 13" of snow in the driveway and it's still there.  Wally cleared around his house and garage and that's all!  Our Cub Cadet is still waiting for the decks to be changed...not something Jeff can do right now with his shoulders the way they are...so he thought of using the walk-behind snowblower.  I volunteered to help but thank heavens, Jeff thought better of it and called his nephew, Doug.  Doug has a pickup truck with a plow on it and while he can't come down today, he will be here on Saturday.  We can easily wait til then. 
   I called the clinic and rescheduled the INR that was suppose to be repeated today until Monday.  (I was .2 out of range when I was tested last Wednesday.)  The only thing that may have done it was the Chinese seasonings Jeff used a couple of times last week.  The chicken and pork chops tasted great but if it pushed me out of range I'd just as soon not eat it.  Jeff was suppose to have PT today, too, but I just called and rescheduled that for next Tuesday.  They'll fit him in for his other session then.
   I talked to my cousin, Ed, last night.  The closing on his house had been postponed by the storm, too.  He doesn't know when that will happen now.  He said he went up to the house yesterday to turn the furnace up a little.  He said it was starting to smell damp and musty inside.  I had promised to lend him my statue of St Joseph to put in the house until the closing but forgot to give it to him on Thanksgiving.  If it doesn't close by Saturday I'm going to call him to come over and get it. 

Baby Norgi by Wendy Johnson

   I've been trying to do a Norwegian ski sweater called 'Baby Norgi' by Wendy Johnson that I found on Ravelry.    I really liked it but finally had to admit defeat.  I got all the patterns right but it just doesn't fit on a raglan-sleeved sweater top. Left too much open spaces.  I ripped it out yesterday and started a 'Flowers and Lace' sweater instead.  Today I'll do the sleeves and start the body.  Maggie was going to stop here after PT on Friday to pick up my stock for the shop but that's out of the question now with our snow-filled driveway.  I really wanted to do this 'Baby Norgi' sweater....  Maybe I'll try it again after I finish the 'Flowers and Lace'.
   I've done 4 Hats for the Library Fence but since they're not going to be delivered this week, I might do a couple more.  I'm using patterns I've been collecting but never had time to try.  Had a bit of trouble with an adult swirled rib watch cap.  The swirled rib worked fine until it was time to decrease the top and then it became a mess so I had to improvise.  Ended up looking pretty good, too.
   Jeff and I have a bet on how long Wally will last snowed in.  I said until he got tired of eating TV dinners.  Jeff doesn't think that will happen.  We'll just have to wait and see until then it's time to get back to knitting!
   Oh, yesterday would have been my cousin Tom Paul's birthday.  We lost Tommy a couple of years ago and he is truly missed...especially this time of year.  Tom and his father (and in the beginning, brother Jerry) would get a Christmas tree for us every year.  It wasn't always a 'perfect' tree but it was always a wonderful Christmas tree.  They'd bring it up and my mom would put out an Italian feast...meatballs, hot peppers...you name it!  Boy, those were the days!  This time of year it's easy...and difficult...to remember those who have left us.  At Thanksgiving my cousin Ed said he never thought it would get so lonely, there were so many people around all the time but....   Tom, you are still loved and greatly missed.😢

Black Friday? Bah! Humbug!!

      Black Friday sales were not up to those from the recent past.  It was still a decent weekend...till the snow storm hit on Sunday...but I didn't sell what I had hoped.  It looks like my display will be well stocked for the rest of the season with just a few admissions.  I've got those 2 Fair Isle hats ready to go and I started a raglan sweater based on the Baby Norgi pattern I saw on Ravelry.  I think I'll keep it to a size 2.  I got stuck on Hat #4 for the Library Fence...really screwed up the pattern...and it was just a spiral rib!  I want to finish that today and do 1 more and then I've got to finish sewing in the lining for the Puppy Helmet and get that in the mail, and finish a pair of socks for a friend THEN I can start my Christmas knitting.  Maybe if we get a couple more days of being snowed in I can get everything finished!!
   That snowstorm produced quite a lot of snow (13") yesterday but not the whole 12-24" that had been forecasted.  Our driveway is full and Wally kept his word and did not snowblow it's entire length.  Jeff hasn't been able to switch decks on the Cub Cadet yet (with his shoulder problem) so the only snowblower we have is a 'walk behind'.  He said he's going to be able to clear between the garage and the house with that without any problems.  (Wally cleared between his garage and his house with his riding blower but did not open up the long driveway.)  I called and rescheduled Jeff's PT so we don't have to go anywhere until Wednesday.  Maybe the garbage truck will make a wide enough track tomorrow so we can get out after him.  I just hope it doesn't get stuck!!
    I think I'll have another cup of coffee and find some lunch.  Maybe I'll make some Oatmeal Squares before I start this afternoon's activities (knitting).  It looks very pretty outside but not very inviting!

How A Woman Survives

...and maybe some chocolate.  And a few skeins of yarn.

More Knitting...What Else Did You Expect?

       I had promised myself I would start my Christmas knitting on Dec. 1st so this week I've been trying to keep busy.  I made 2 baby animal helmets to send to my cousins' children who are expecting babies in the coming months.  The 1st one, a Baby Rabbit

This helmet went to Bryce Clayton Hanneman who was born on Thanksgiving: 8# 7oz, 21" long

helmet,  made up cuter than the original size one!  It should get to it's destination in Colorado tomorrow.   The 2nd one, a Puppy helmet is

almost finished.  Just have to finish fitting the lining and sewing it down and adding the pompoms to the I-cords.  It looks rather cute, too.  How about those ears?  It will go to another cousin in Colorado sometime this week.  I had to take a break from the hand-sewing.  Boy, do I get cramps in my fingers from holding a sewing needle!  I always say I prefer knitting to sewing!
    In the meantime, not doing anything, not really interested in my library books, I was getting bored so I decided to do a couple more hats for the shop...JUST in case there is a major run on my display during our Open House/Black Friday celebration this weekend I'd be prepared and wouldn't have to interrupt my Christmas knitting. HA! (And remember, the easiest way to get to Cooper Country Crafts due to the construction in Doubleday Field parking lot is to turn off of Chestnut St on to Doubleday Court opposite the Cooperstown Fire station.)

The 1st hat I did was this gray and blue Fair Isle watch cap...with a big blue pompom.  I used the border designs from a Norwegian Fair Isle sweater pattern called Baby Norgi that I found on Ravelry...spreading the motifs out a little to fit around the hat.  It's done with 100% acrylic, KnitPicks Brava Worsted on US's 4 and 7's.  The blue and white yarns were just leftovers...also acrylic.  It is machine wash and dryable...just be sure to take the pompom off first. It will fit a child 6-9 years old.
   Then last night I started fooling around with this

pink heart watch cap.  I was all out of gray so I had to stay with pink and white. That's not a row of tiny hearts above and below the big hearts but a row of single pink stitches that ended up looking like hearts!  I wanted just a hot pink pompom but didn't have enough yarn so I used all the hot pink yarn combined with the pink and white to make the pompom.  (It looks OK but would have been better just hot pink.)  This hat is knit with Red Heart's Soft Pink acrylic worsted yarn on US 4's and 7's and will fit a child 6-9 years old. 
   OK, so I'm prepared for a GREAT Black Friday at the shop but since it's only Monday, what do I do until Dec. 1st?    I was talking to Nancy the Children's Librarian this morning and asked if the library was going to have their free hat give away this year.  (People donate hats that are placed in plastic bags and tied to the fence that runs in front of the library.  Anyone who needs a hat is welcome to help themselves.)  She said a couple of plastic bags have already been put on the fence so I told her I'd bring in some hats later this week.  After Jeff's PT today we went to Walmart and I got a couple of skeins of yarn so tonight I'll start working on Hats for the Library.  I think between now and Friday (Jeff's next PT appointment) I can probably make 5 or 6 and we can drop them off on the way home.  That should keep me busy till it's time to start my Christmas knitting Dec.1st.  Oh, Jeff just asked if I finished the socks I started for his birthday (March 1st) or the ones I started for Theresa (for that favor)?  I think I have enough knitting to do, the question is:  how much time do I have?

Something New

   Today I finished the first version of a baby helmet based on the patterns in the book "Animal Hats" by Vanessa Mooncie that I got thru the MidYork Library system earlier this fall.  I got the book to make the Fox for the granddaughter of a friend but got such

good comments on it I decided to make the Fox, Rabbit and Dog for the shop.  Then this week I learned that 2 cousins were going to have babies...both boys...within a few months and it was suggested I try to make them animal helmets.  
   I started looking for baby helmets and found that 'Ravelry' had several.  I ended up using 'Earflap' by Jane Richmond.  It's a top-down pattern and while the Fox and friends is bottom-up it was easy enough to add the facial features and ears to the helmet after it was knitted just by following the directions for the big helmets.  I even CO the same number of stitches...just on a lot smaller needle (US 1's and 3's instead of 10 1/2's and 11's)...and worked the same number of rows!!  I used US7's and KnitPicks worsted Brava in a light gray for the baby helmet with small balls of left-over white and gray for the features.  When it came time to line the baby helmet I used 100% cotton flannel but I had to improvise the pattern.  It took some time but it worked!  The only problem I had was with the wiggly eyes.  They would not stick to the buttons...even with SuperGlue.  They stuck to my kitchen counter, my shirt, my thumb but not to the buttons!
   Anyway, the Baby Rabbit got finished

and came
out fine,  More than fine, just perfect!  I think it's even cuter than the big version.  The next helmet will be a Puppy for the other pregnant cousin.

I Got It Finished!!

     Well, I didn't think I'd get it all finished but the last sweater and hat were in the dryer and all that was left to do is sew the pompom onto the Norwegian Star watch cap.  And that had to wait until morning!  
    I spent all day doing the pin-striping on my navy and white hoodie.   It's a size 4 and was done on

circular US 5's and 7's with Red Heart worsted weight Soft Navy and White yarns, both are  100% acrylic and are machine wash and dryable.  The hoodie has a Henley neckline with 3 baseball buttons and the sleeves have a rolled cuff.. 

   The cold weather we've been having, with snow and sleet, inspired the next set of sweaters and hats.  That Norwegian Star watch cap that was in need of a pompom was knit on US 6's and 8's using

Red Heart's Light Blue and White.  It will fit a child 5-10 years old.  There is a Norwegian Star cardigan in the same yarn and color combo in a size 4. 

The sweater is a raglan, knit from the neck down.  For some reason the Norwegian Star reminds me of Frozen and the blue and white yarn just adds to it.  This is the first year I've enjoyed doing Fair Isle patterns and I think it shows. These 2 Norwegian Stars came out very well, if I say so myself!  And then there's the size 6 months cardigan and hat I did with Lion Brand's Molaine, a 100% acrylic Mohair-look alike in a blue

and white ombre on US 7's.   I was afraid the Molaine would be too scratchy for a baby so I washed it when it was done and the sweater came out so soft!  I think there's something not quite right with the hat but since was almost 1am when I finished it, I decided just to let it go.  Again, the blue and white carries the Frozen look.  Both of these sweaters have light blue buttons and rolled cuffs on the sleeves.
  And last, but not least, there is this Black Sheep cardigan...another raglan knit from the neck down 

with Red Heart Turqua.  This is a size 6 and is machine wash and dryable.  The apple green buttons match the swatches of green scattered around the sheep and the pink flowers.  If you ever

wondered why it's called A Black Sheep sweater, it's because there is a black sheep on the back alone in a flower bed!  This design was an original from The Yarn Barn in Speculator, NY,  where I was lucky enough to work summer a few times a lot of years ago.  Thanks, Jane! 

  With these finally finished I thought I could start on my Christmas knitting but I found out today that I first have to do a couple of baby hats for cousins's grandchildren due in the next few month.  That won't take long...I hope...and then there's the pair of socks (one is finished) that I owe a friend from the shop for doing me a favor this summer.  I'm just hoping I can get to Christmas presents by Dec.1st!
  Oh, just a reminder, Cooper Country Crafts will hold it's annual Holiday Open House beginning on Black Friday, Nov.29 thru Sunday, Dec. 1st.  There will be refreshments, secret discounts and I'm sure you'll find that unique item for someone special on your holiday list among our hand-crafted treasures.  And a %-age of all purchases will be donated to the local Food Pantry thru Dec. 7th.  Just remember, Doubleday Parking Lot is closed right now due to construction so the easiest way to get to the shop is via Doubleday Court from Chestnut St...right across from Cooperstown's Fire Station.  


Christmas Specials:

These nifty animal helmets are available for kids 6-10 years old.  They are hand-knit with 100% acrylic yarn and lined with 100% cotton flannel.

   And don't forget my original Snowpeople sweaters! These are size 4's and hand-knit with 100% wash

and dryable acrylic yarn but they are also available sizes 2 and 6.  They're just too cute to be called 'ugly' sweaters, aren't they? 
   Both animal helmets and snowpeople sweaters can be special ordered for Christmas delivery in your choice of characters and colors and mailed to your destination.  Prepaid orders are shipped postage free!  This offer is good until Dec. 2nd when placed thru the shop!!

PT Has Started!

       Jeff had his first official PT session this afternoon.  We couldn't get a parking space in the lot closest to the PT entrance so we parked in the Visitor's lot at Valley Health and walked down to the door.  It wasn't too bad...down hill...but going back to the car over an hour later it was raining so we went thru the nursing home.  Got lost, had to ask for directions, finally made it to the entrance.  Jeff sat down and I went and got the car.  I don't think we'll do that again.  Next time I'll let him off at the PT entrance and go park the car...maybe just across the road...just someplace closer/more convenient than the Visitor's lot!  He was lucky to get his 2 appointments next week both scheduled for the afternoon: Tuesday at 3pm and Friday at 2pm.  After that we went to Tractor Supply to get dog food and of course, Jeff picked the biggest bag...53lbs!  I couldn't move it in the cart for the clerk to scan it and when I tried to pick it up to put it in the car...nothing happened!!  Jeff got it into the car and that's where it will stay until I use enough of it so I can pick up the bag...probably sometime  next week!
    Before we went to PT, we went to the Ilion Library.  I had a big pile of books to return...and unknown to me, a bigger pile of books to check out!  I took back all the knitting books I had requested on hats...those animals hats, and Fair Isle knitting as well as the novels and mysteries I had hoped to read.  I've been trying to read regular 'type' books but I've given up.  Can't do it even with my glasses on, so I had a couple of books I just couldn't read.  Before I returned the animal hat book I had copies made of the patterns in case the 3 hats in the shop sell this season.  I also had a copy made of the sewing pattern for the lining.  I'm not sure I made it large enough when I copied it.  The directions said to increase it 200% on a copier but I just drew what I hoped was a grid 200% larger than the one in the book and went from there.  It would have been much easier to use a copier but at 11pm on a Saturday night I didn't think I could find anyplace open with one.  Anyway, now I have copies of the directions and the lining...like I said, just in case the hats sell.  
    We haven't been taking the dogs out in the car lately...too cold...and they've been pretty good about it.  Not too bad with 'accidents' and no one's pulled the curtain and rod off my window lately (Zoey's newest trick).  Today when we walked in...and were greeted by a chorus of barks and bays...the first thing I noticed was the ziplock bag with the potato chips was on the floor instead of on the table where I left it.  No one was able to get into it...or else the aroma of the Queso-flavored chips put them off...I doubt that, both Fanny and Zoey will willing eat handfuls of Queso-flavored chips when I offered them.  After I had poured us cups of coffee I noticed the ziplock bag of oatmeal squares was missing from the table, too.  Jeff suggested I look on his bed...Fanny's usual spot for taking prizes.  And there was the bag, emptied and cleaned of any and all traces of oatmeal squares!  Jeff tried to question them both as to whether any sharing occurred but neither dog was willing to implicate the other.  I guess I'll just have to make another batch tomorrow.  (I used coconut flour in place of half the white flour to reduce the carbs and it didn't change the flavor at all.)
   One of our former neighbors at camp is involved in a secret santa-type exchange that looked like fun so I signed up.  You only have to send 1 $10 gift to 1 person so I thought it couldn't be too bad.  Well, I've posted the notice 3 days in a row on Facebook and haven't gotten a single response.  I'll try again over the weekend but if I don't get a response I'll have to let Suzanne know and drop out.  This is the notice:

"Hoping to get some friends to do this with me! Its such fun and really gets you in the Christmas spirit! Let me know if you want to be in 💗ANYONE can do this with me!! Who doesn’t LOVE surprise happy mail!!??

🎅🏼🎁💃🏽🎄I am looking for ladies interested in a holiday gift exchange! Doesn’t matter where you live in the US - you are welcome to join. You have to buy one gift valued of at least $10 and send it to your secret sis. (Can be whatever floats your boat!) you will then receive 6-36 gifts in return.

This is so fun! My friends actually did this a few years ago and had a complete blastI Really such a fun experience getting a bunch of fun little gifts in the mail from ladies all over the place! 🎁 there is NO pressure, but if you do this but PLEASE PLAN TO FOLLOW THROUGH. That's what makes it fun! I just sent out my gift to my Secret Sister!

Let me know if you’re interested, and I will send you information about your sister. 💃🏽

We could all use some happy mail! Anyone is welcome to join the fun! Just comment “I’m in” if you will follow thru!"

PM me on Facebook or send me an email if you're interested.  I think this could be fun!

Well, the Secret Sister Christmas exchange was declared a scam on Facebook today so I guess that's that.  Too bad, because it seemed a nice and relatively inexpensive way to have some holiday fun.  Too bad some people have to ruin it everyone.  Another friend sent this link www.graydc.com to explain the scam. (9:47 pm, Sat., 11/16/19)

Is It Winter, Already?

   Yesterday we woke up to find 2-3 inches of that wet, white stuff that skiers and snowmobilers love but the rest of us in the Great Northeast grow to hate each year covering what was left of the dead, brown leaves on the ground.  It did look pretty...compared to the leaves...and we didn't have to go anywhere...we thought.  That changed when I poured myself a 2nd cup of coffee and found it was only lukewarm.  Jeff said the cup was cold and the coffee just cooled off fast so I cleaned the coffee maker and tried to start another pot.  The key word in that sentence is 'tried' because the coffeemaker didn't respond to anything.  Pulling the plug out and putting it back in.  Wiggling the on/off switch.  I came to the conclusion the pot had died and put water in a kettle on the stove to boil.  After I poured it over the dry coffee grounds that were sitting in the basket of the newly-deceased coffee machine (making a mess over the counter, but hey, the counter needed to be washed, anyway!) there was a pot full of almost hot coffee...for a few minutes at least.  When Jeff wandered into the kitchen looking for more coffee he questioned why I had done what I did so I told him the coffee maker had died.  He scoffed at that and started checking it out.  Played with the switch, the plug, who know what else because I turned my back to his endeavors about then.  After a few minutes he agreed the coffee maker was dead.  I turned to face him and smiling pleasantly said, 'I don't get to say this to you very often but I told you so!'  I drank instant cappuccino the rest of the afternoon and Jeff drank diet Dr Pepper.  When he had had enough of that he went to Walmart and bought a new 'Mr Coffee'coffee maker. (the old one was a Norleco.  We tend to alternate between the 2 brands depending on the sales at the time we need a new one.)  We do have a Keurig that Jeff's sister gave us but it's a one-cup-at-a-time brewer and we never bought the reusable mini-basket that we'd need to use it.  Jeff found 'Mr Coffee' on sale at Walmart and was instantly interested in the totally automated one until he saw that it also automatically turned itself off after 2 hours.  We make 3-4 pots (12 cups) during the day, 1 with supper and usually 1 more after supper.  That fully automated version would be turning itself off and on so often it would wear out before the heating unit burnt out!  This is a nice version and the price was reasonable...less that $20.  It should last 3-4 years.  Maybe next time I can talk him into a French Press...no parts to heat up.
   Today Jeff had an appointment for a PT evaluation of his left shoulder.  When he had a post-op checkup with his attending MD (after his heart attack and the insertion of the 4 stents) it was noted that he could not raise his arms above his shoulders.  The Attending ordered x-rays and while both shoulders show deterioration and calcium deposits, the left shoulder is in much worse shape.  Today we went to Valley Health for the evaluation.  When we went out to the car this morning around 9:30, the thermometer in the car was at 17 degrees.  By the time we got to Herkimer, it had gone down to 15 degrees.  While Jeff was being evaluated I talked with a man who's wife was having PT.  They live on a farm outside of Little Falls and the temperature when he went to the barn this morning at 7am was 12 degrees.  Come on, folks, this is only Nov. 13!  If it's this cold now what is it going to be like in January and February??
   When we got home, Jeff started cooking a whole chicken (Hannaford had them on sale this weekend and he got 2)in the crockpot.  It will be dinner tonight and then go on to be chicken soup.  Just right for these 'cold, winter days', huh?  I decided to make my cousin Carol Paul's family famous Oatmeal Squares.  It would warm up the house a little to have the oven on and I wanted to try to reduce the carbs and calories in them so Jeff wouldn't hesitate to eat them, too, not that he does but theoretically....  So I used coconut flour to cut carbs...in place of half the white flour, and brown sugar substitute in place of real brown sugar.  I'm not sure it will make much difference health-wise but the oatmeal squares taste the same!!  
   This cold weather has made me start thinking about Christmas presents...what I want to make for whom.  I think I'll do some gifts the same as usual: --------s for ----, of course, he expects them, but then I think I'll do somethings different.  Maybe an ------ for --, --------------- for ------ and a ----- for ------.  That may be it for my 'giving' list.  I do have to do a Yarn Pal box and I just signed up for a Secret Sis exchange, too. I'll take photos and fill in the blanks but maybe not until Dec 26th!

   

Animal Helmets, II

   The Animal Helmets are finished...at last! 

There were times this last week when I didn't think that would happen.  One reason is that bulky yarn isn't my favorite weight to work with and the needles are so big is another!  The old ones I have...straights...are so long I kept getting them stuck up my shirt sleeves! Jeff suggested I buy some new circulars...I already had gotten a new circular 10 1/2's at Walmart but I didn't want to spend $9 for big metal circulars if these hats don't sell.  I  found a pair of straight US 11's...Susan Bates, wooden and 14" long...in the old needle box that Mom and I used.  It came in handy for other things too...like snagging the skein of yarn without getting up out of the chair and reaching the crochet hook when it fell under the ottoman.
   I put the linings in Saturday night and yesterday.  I sewed in all linings to the ear-flaps first and then fitted the helmet linings to the helmet.  That took some time because each lining had to be fitted to each helmet individually and sewed around the bottom of the hat.  Then I tacked the linings to the helmets around the noses and ears.  Last came the pompoms.   I decided to put poms on the dog, too, because it looked unfinished without them.  Jeff suggested I do the black and white poms there.
   I checked the yarn department at Walmart again yesterday and it's still fairly empty.  I think I have enough yarn to do 3 more hats...1 of each...on the off chance that these 3 do sell...so please keep those fingers and toes crossed!  Now it's time to clean house a little (oh, my, did I actually say that?) and then start a sweater or maybe work on socks.  Anything as long as the needles are short, no larger than US 7's and are circular!
   The helmets were just picked up and are headed to Richfield Springs.  Maggie will take them to the shop tomorrow or Wednesday.  Thanks, Maggie!

Zoey saying "Good-bye" to the Animal Hats.

The Animal Hats...Update #1

   The responses I got to the photos of the Fox Helmet I made for Maggie's granddaughter has encouraged me to make some of those animal helmets for the shop. So I've been busy knitting and I have 3 critters growing in my project bag.  
    Of course, there's another Fox. All the parts for the fox are finished and I just have to sew the hat together.  I tried something different when I knit the ears and I think they look a little different...even better, maybe?  I was able to find black bulky yarn at Walmart this week and the outer ears is now done with that.
   The 2nd critter in the bag...and the 1st new one...is the Rabbit.  I got the last of the gray bulky

Rabbit Helmet waiting for its' lining (11/1/19)

yarn  Walmart had on display and a pale pink for the inner ears and nose.  It took a couple of tries with different needle sizes to get the nose and cheeks to look right.  (Jeff says he's never seen a rabbit with a pink nose.)  The eyes may be a little too high but this is the 1st one and once Super Glue dries...that's the way things are!     edited 11/1/19
   The 3rd critter bears little resemblance to the picture with the pattern. 

This helmet needs a lining, too. (11/1019)

That hat wasn't a helmet but a skull cap and I really like these helmets with ear flaps much better.  Anyway, the 3rd critter is the Beagle.  Zoey was nice enough to pose for it most of last night...I studied her ears...their shape, where they're attached to her head and how big they are...as she napped in the chair next to me while I knit.  This beagle isn't tri-color like Zoey, more like Snoopy ...black and white and I'm hoping at least one person looks at it and yells out "SNOOPY!" (or at least thinks that!) If that happens then I know my design is spot-on!  Don't know if it looks like a beagle but this one does look like a dog!  Jeff still wants me to try to do a tri-color one but I'm not that good!  edited 11/1/19.
   All the animal helmets are hand-knit on US 10 1/2 and 11 needles using Lion Brand's Hometown USA,  a super bulky 100% acrylic yarn that is machine wash and dryable.  They are lined with 100% cotton flannel fabric.  The eyes are wiggle eyes super glued onto flat buttons that were sewed in place first.  All 3 helmets have I-cord to tie their ear-flaps together.  And the Fox and the Rabbit have a yarn pompom on the the ends of the cord to represent their tails.  (The beagle has just the I-cord.) The patterns are all based on what I found in the book "Animal Hats" by Vanessa Mooncie that I got thru the MidYork Library system.  Of course, I made 'adjustments' and 'alterations' to the directions but that just makes these hats more original.
   Since Walmart had such a poor display of bulky yarn the other day I made sure I got enough so I can make another of each of these 3 critters in case they sell quickly.  (Keep those fingers and toes crossed, ok?)  I think they may make cute Christmas presents and I know one young lady who's getting one for her birthday. (Maggie's granddaughter's, Nora, birthday is tomorrow and I didn't know that when I made the hat for her!)
   This posting was edited and added to on Sat., 11/2/19.

A Fox For A Friend!

   My college friend, Maggie Schanz, has helped me a lot this fall.  She's been stopping regularly to pick up hats and mittens, and sweaters to take to the shop AND to bring me big bags of yarn that she finds at the thrift shop.  She is really keeping me going!  Maggie had mentioned how much one of her granddaughters like foxes so when I saw this helmet I decided to make it for her.  It was really a challenge.
   

I found the pattern in a book called "Animal Hats" by Vanessa Mooncie, that  was in the Midyork Library system.  It is knit in 100% acrylic bulky weight yarn on US 10 1/2's and 11's.   The ears are done in 2 pieces with the outer ear knit with a lighter weight yarn (I used worsted) and sewed together and sewed onto  the head.  The nose is knit in the same yarn as the outer ear.  The eyes are flat wiggly eyes super glued on to a flat button that was first sewed into place.  (I even used a black Sharpie and outline the wiggly eye on the button.  That made it stand out more!)   When the helmet was all together I lined it with cotton flannel.  The pattern called for using fleece...or even knitting a lining...but I thought the flannel was nice and soft and didn't add too much weight to the helmet.  (The helmet unlined was heavy enough!) And since I know there are 2 Singer sewing machines in this house but couldn't tell you where, I realized flannel would be easier to sew by hand.
   I had to enlarge the lining pattern.  The pattern was drawn on a grid of 3/8" and the directions said to enlarge it to fit or use a copier and enlarge it 200%.  I just drew a grid of 1" and drew on the pattern.  Then I held my breath and cut out the pieces from the flannel. (I wasn't sure what I was doing so I had bought 1/2 yard and the clerk at Walmart didn't like the way the last clerk had cut the flannel so she gave me a nice 'healthy' 1/2 yd.  When I got the lining laying flat to the curved inside of the helmet I stitched it around the cast-on edge.  That took a couple of times (stitch it around, rip it out, re-pin, restitch) to get it right!  Then I had to cut and sew the linings for the ear flaps.  In the end it was all nice and flat and snug to the helmet.  
   The pattern called for an 8" twisted cord at the end of each ear flap but I decided to make I-cords

instead.  I picked up 3 stitches from the cast on stitches in each ear flap and worked my I-cord from there.  (That way the I-cord was part of the ear flap and wouldn't have to be sewed on.)  The white pompom sewed on the other end of the I-cord represents the white tip of the fox's tail. I hope the pompoms hold...mine tend to explode!
   Maggie stopped over this morning after her husband's PT at LF hospital and I gave her a bag of hats for the shop and this hat.  She was surprised and pleased!  She gave me a bag of yarn! 
   (It looks like a Fox Helmet will be going to the shop next week...and maybe a Rabbit and a Beagle.  The Fox got a great reception on FB and gave me the encouragement to make another...and it's friends!  Too bad they'll miss Halloween but they'd make great Christmas gifts!)  10/29/19

Knitting and Old Friends

   I had a really nice visit with an old friend, Maggie Schanz, on Friday.  She stopped by to pick up a bag of hat and mittens to take to the shop for me.  She surprised me with a bag of yarn that she got at the thrift shop...I think its the SPCA shop in Cooperstown.  It's not the first time she found yarn for me there but this time it was the best!  That teal 

ball of bulky yarn is definitely calling to me...'make 
me into a hat!' it's saying in case you don't understand yarn.  I went on Ravelry.com today and found a pattern for a child's tam that called for bulky so I think that'll be my next project. I think I'll use the outside color from the Sweet Roll in the bottom row on the left for the band.  It matches almost exactly!

  But before that, this morning I had cast on for another child's watch cap/Fair Isle hat, this one with hearts worked in around the hat.  I'm using another one of the Premier Sweet Rolls I got yesterday in my order from Herrschner's.  This one is called 'Bubble Pop'.

The hat is finished. 

I just have to decide if I want to put a pompom on it...probably...maybe just pink and white?  Then it will be time for mittens.  These sets will fit 3-4 yr olds.  I'm enjoying  working with this Sweet Roll yarn.  I like the feel and the way it knits up. I'll post a photo of both sets when they're finished.
   Maggie brought Jeff a sugar-free apple pie that we're both enjoying.  I noticed that a 'large mouse' had taken quite a hunk out of it for his midnight snack last night.  She also brought a bag of apples.  I think I may have to make an apple crisp.  Yesterday I made a carrot cake because I found a Duncan Hines box mix on sale at Hanneford's last week.  I was a little disappointed.  The cake didn't rise very much.  Jeff said my 9 x 13 cake pan is really bigger than that (it is) but other cake mixes fill it up.  I think the 'large' eggs Jeff bought weren't really 'large' at all.  Oh, well, we're eating it any way.  In fact, between the carrot cake...with cream cheese frosting, and the apple pie...that's about all I've eaten today!  Oh, yea and a big bowl of Cheerios for breakfast.  Go near the cake and both dogs materialize by your side.  (Last night I used the cake with a nice dollop of frosting to give Fanny her Benadryl.  Zoey got the cake and frosting without the antihistamine.  Since that was just after I had to take another tick off of Fanny, I felt she deserved a treat.  Zoey felt she did, too, just on general principles.)  
   My hat and mittens were greeted warmly at the shop.  Hope they sell quickly!  I'll probably mail the 2 or 3 sets I get done this weekend.  Oh...I was surprised in the shop...one of the knit toddler dresses I did sold yesterday.  I really enjoyed those dresses.  One was pink and one yellow.  The yellow one sold.  At last...something besides a hat sold!
    

Keeping Busy

     I've been keeping busy knitting, reading and going to doctor's appointments lately.  I got my 3 Christmas sweaters finished and Marion took them to the shop last Saturday. Haven't heard if any of them have sold yet but that would have been too good to

be true!  After I cleared up all the mess left over from those sweaters I decided to take a mini-vacation and read a book, one of Tasha Alexander's mysteries.  Her storyline is usually pretty snappy and eventho her books are written in 2 voices...alternating chapters...if I don't care for one of them I skim those chapters.  (They're mainly background to the main story.)  Then a college friend, Tim, sent me a copy of David McCullough's TRUMAN.  It's very interesting and I'm trying to read a chapter every day.  I never knew that much about Harry and now I think if I had been old enough to vote, I'd have voted for him. He was basically a good guy who tried to do the right thing.  Tim recommended another author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and I got 2 of her books from Midyork.  I'm half-way thru her autobiography, WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR, and I like her style.  He's reading her bio of Lincoln.  I've got that, too, but I want to finish TRUMAN first.  As an old History major, I've read a lot of bios of Lincoln and really haven't found any that I'd want to read again.  Tim thinks this one, TEAM OF RIVALS, is different.  We'll see.  In the meantime I've been working on hat and mitten sets.  
    I know it's only October but I'm cold (as usual, thanks to the Warfarin) so I'm starting early.  I got 1 1/2 sets finished.  The first has a tam and is done

with Premier's Sweet Roll in Gelatio Pop,

the 2nd one, the one I'm working on now, has a watch cap and is done with Red Heart in Fair Isle Derby. 
The mittens aren't finished yet...hopefully, I'll get them done tonight.  Both sets will fit 2-3 year old's.  I think the watch cap needs a pom pom.  What do you say? They are both are 100% acrylic yarns, machine wash and dryable and self-patterning.  The Fair Isle Derby

was a little more difficult to use because the
color runs are not the proper length for toddler-size items so I had to do a lot of 'cut and paste'...leaving a lot of ends to work in...and the yarn split a lot, something Red Heart usually doesn't do.

The Sweet Roll worked up beautifully...so well I went to the Herrschner's  site and ordered 4 more balls of different colors!  They were on sale for $3.99 each and even with sales tax and shipping they were cheaper than going to Walmart and buying the Fair Isle off the shelf!! Maggie, another college friend who lives near Cooperstown, is going to stop here Friday and get them to take to the shop. 
    I have a Black Sheep sweater finished ready to go,too, it's a size 2.  

I guess I better do some more pumpkin hats.  I just called the shop and there are only 2 left!  It's too early in October to stop doing them! 

   Last week Jeff had an appointment with a regular doctor arranged by his Diabetic nurse because his blood sugar was so far out of control.  (His attending was away for 2 weeks so we got to see a Dr Rule who was very nice and thorough.)  He said Jeff was doing quite good and his blood sugar was going down slowly.  He even laughed when we told him about Jeff walking out of the hospital!  Jeff gets to see the cardiologist next Wednesday and his regular attending doctor next Friday.  Then I had an appointment for my yearly mammogram and was pleasantly surprised.  The machine was new and did not squeeze as much as the old type did, the office was holding a month-long raffle for a nifty tote bag that all mammography patients were automatically entered in (and what knitter doesn't want/need another tote?), and at the end of the visit they gave me a gift bag as I left the office.  It had a pair of black and pink stripe socks, a pink fluzzy throw...perfect to use when I'm sitting by the window reading or knitting...and a black and white hat and glove set (and the gloves fit!).  It was a very nice visit and I'm glad I went...I really want that tote bag!!  Today I got to go for an INR (finger stick/blood test).  I've been trying to lower my cholesterol...eating Cheerios or oatmeal for breakfast and Cheerios for snacks...and I just learned by reading the package they are rich in Vit K...something I'm suppose to avoid.  I was surprised to be in range so I get to go back in 2 weeks and if I'm still in range, I get to go back in a month.  (One of the joy of taking Warfarin...blood testing for clotting ability.  That's something Jeff doesn't have to do with Pravix.)
   Fanny, our older, white dog, brought something in on her early yesterday morning that she didn't like.  She kept rubbing her head on the furniture and running from room to room barking and crying.  She jumped in bed with Jeff and tried to rub off whatever was on her head.  Then she tried it again on my bed but I got her out of there and shut the door on the bedroom so she couldn't get back in.  I gave her a couple of Benadryl and cleaned her ears and she slowly calmed down.  I eventually went back to bed.  When I got up a couple of hours later I felt something on my breast.  At first I thought Zoey had walked on me getting back into her 'spot' but the pain got worse and started to itch.  I checked it out and found a small tick!  I remembered reading on Facebook how to remove ticks from dogs with liquid soap so I tried it and the thing came out.  It was a deer tick.  I told my nurse about it today and she checked it out.  The site isn't infected...just sore...and she told me to keep an eye on it.  If I start feeling sick (flu-like symptoms) to go to Urgent Care and let them do a blood test.  This is the first time in the nearly 50 years I've lived here...with dogs...that I've ever gotten a tick from one of them!  If this is what was bothering Fanny I totally sympathize with her.  It hurts...still!!
   Jeff found a pork butt at Hannaford's on sale last week that he put it in the crock pot Sunday night, filled the pot with veggies and we had a delicious pork stew.  We invited Ed to come over for supper on Monday (he brought some crusty Italian bread) and I even made a coconut cream pie!  We sat around and visited for quite awhile.  I sent Ed home with enough stew for supper the next day and we still had enough leftover for our supper last night...and some to freeze.  Ed's finally settled in his apartment with his house cleaned out/empty and on the market.  Hope it sells before winter!   
   Well, I guess I've put off long enough working on a pumpkin hat.  I'll never get 2 finished tomorrow if I don't start now!!