Gone Without A Trace

   I noticed last week that something was loose under the car allowing my Subaru to sound like a souped up dragster but we couldn't see where.  Friday I had to work in the shop and by the time I got to Cooperstown part of the exhaust pipe (from the catalytic converter to the muffler) had broken loose and was hanging. Since there was no one around to wire it together I had no choice but drive it back to Herkimer the way it was.  There were a lot of troopers around on the ride home and I was sure I was going to be stopped and ticketed for the noise but they were more interested in stopping speeders.  I made it home without mishap...I thought...and Jeff came out to see what part of the exhaust I was loosing.  Make that lost.  It was gone. Without a trace.  The catalytic converter and muffler were still there but the pipe that connected them was gone.  Today we took the car to Marvis/Cole and for $249.99 I got a new muffler (the old one had a crack the length of it) and the missing exhaust pipe.  The muffler has 'a life of the car' guarantee so is the last one I'll have to pay to have put on that car...but there goes my new lawn furniture...again.  
   Last week after my doctor appointment in Cooperstown I had taken 2 new sweater sets to the shop and by Sunday night I had sold one of them plus 4 others (5 sets in all) so this week I was trying to produce replacements.  I managed to do a twin set with a knitted circular skirt and hat and another set all in size 1 in 4 days developing a terrible stiff neck with a lot of pain along the way. One of the shop's jewelers stopped in Friday while I was working and after seeing my limited mobility and asking some questions showed me some exercises for my neck that made a big difference.  So yesterday and today I've tried to knit for 30 minutes, do my exercises and do something else...like wash dishes or sweep the floor. I still have the neck pain but it's not as bad as it was.   Jeff had given me an aluminized polyester emergency blanket for my birthday (that reflects body heat because I'm cold all the time) and a corner had torn off it so last night I rolled up a small dry towel in the torn off corner and wrapped it around the back of my neck.  That worked better that any heating pad ever!
  Jeff put in another 4x4' box in the front garden and added dirt/compost to two of the bigger boxes in the back.   He's found potatoes, carrots, and other root veggies growing in the compost bin!  He's planning on building a couple more 4x4' boxes for the front garden.