Cataracts...To Remove or Not?

   It looks like my cataract procedures are back on.  Early this month I saw Dr Manns at Bassett in Cooperstown but he wasn't satisfied with the results of my right eye so I had to go back for more tests.  Finally he was satisfied with the test results and ok-ed the procedures.  The Scheduling Office called a few days later to tell me the right eye would be done at Little Falls Hospital in 2 weeks and the left eye 3 weeks later at Fox Memorial in Oneonta.  I said NO Way.  Little Falls is the most convenient location for us, it's only 6 or 7 miles from the house, so I was glad to have the right eye done there but I was willing to go to Cooperstown, too.  The 2nd procedure was too far away in distance (over 50 miles) and time.  Because I have to take Warfarin for my mechanical heart valve, I'm going to have to bridge on and off of Heparin (which is an injection) and I'm not going to shoot myself in the stomach for longer than I have to. And it seems Dr. Manns doesn't have 2 open dates closer together at Little Falls or Cooperstown.  Now I have to see another ophthalmologist, Dr. Lamanski, next month in Cooperstown before they can schedule my procedures.  I'm not all that sure about having the cataracts taken care in the first place, so this new bump doesn't have me excited at all.  

Bye Boxes Bye!

    The raised garden boxes are no more and the clumps of enriched
dirt have been smoothed down with Wally's help...and invention.  That's 2 pallets tied together and dragged over the clumps of dirt by one of the garden tractors.  After a few passes the ground is almost level again!  You'd never know the boxes had been there!  The main 
hazard is a buried board
with a nail protruding.
Wally managed to pick one up with a back tire but so far the tire hasn't  gone flat.  Hopefully, the nail didn't go all the way thru the tract.  Just have to wait until morning to see.  What a difference it is with the boxes gone!

Oh,no...Jeff just picked up a board with a nail with our tractor and, yes, he got a flat tire...a front tire! He took the tire off the tractor and we took it to Tallman Tires behind KFC in Herkimer.  They could change the inner tube but they didn't carry that size tube.  We went to Tractor Supply and got the inner tube and took it back to Tallman's.  Then we went to Walmart to do some shopping.  When we came back to Tallman's the tire hadn't been changed yet so we decided to go and get lunch at Mona's in Mohawk.  After lunch the tire still hadn't been changed.  Jeff was getting upset...who could blame him?  I took Zoey out of the car to give her a chance to move around and maybe pee, and when we got close to the door Jeff came out and asked what was wrong.  I told him I was just exercising the puppy and Fanny didn't want to get out of the car.  The manager saw us and came out and started talking to Jeff about beagles and before you knew it the tire was changed...and no charge.  If it was only going to take 5-10 minutes why did they make us wait so long?  Not charging us helped a little, but not much.

   8/30/17:  This morning Wally moved the burn barrel back next to his garage after empting it one last time in our driveway then Jeff raked the cold ash and shoveled it up and disposed of it.   When we went to town this afternoon we bought a magnetic sweep at Tractor Supply and Jeff swept what was left of the ash pile once.  He's planning to do it a couple more times.

Good thing we weren't parking there or driving over the ashes...or letting anyone else do that!  How many flat tires do you think that pile of screws, nails and staples could have caused?

The Boxes Are Done!

      Another day spent dismantling and burning our garden boxes but the job is finally done!  All the
boxes have been burnt and the weeds left in the  clumps have been leveled with the BushWachker.  All that's left to be done is the spreading of the

    

clumps of dirt.  That will happen Monday or Tuesday.  In the meantime, Jeff used the Bushwhacker and attacked the overgrown mess on the west side of the house.  He has opened it up twice as wide as I was ever able to do with just the walk behind mower and a regular weedwacker!
  We've been outside from 10am to 4pm and at least one of us needed a little nap.  Our garden and yard is full of new

wonders to Zoey and Fanny is right there showing her the way...even when it's just finishing off my coffee!.  What still gets me is that the pile of ash is so small...and this is after 2 days of burning!!

The End of the Garden Boxes...is in Sight!

   There are 2 raised boxes left in the garden...a corner one(that's a 3-tiered one) and an extra large one that we grew corn in one year. There is one

The last 2 boxes!

demolished one ready to be burned and that's all!  The process of demolishing the boxes went faster than we thought and today's fine weather made burning them a snap!  The burn barrel is about 1/2 to 3/4 full of ash right now and by tomorrow morning will be down to about half.  Tomorrow Wally wants to try knocking down the clumps of dirt by dragging 2 wooden pallets thru the garden behind one of the Cub Cadet garden tractors.  His machine is a little bigger than ours and he thinks it will do a better job of flattening the square clumps of dirt left when the boxes were removed.  Nobody is bothering with cutting the weeds before flattening the clumps!  After the dirt...which

is a mixture of compost and manure...is leveled Jeff wants to till it and spread some more compost.  Then he'll just let it sit till spring.  Kind of let Mother Nature take over.  We should be mowing grass out there next summer!  Oh, when all the burning is finished and the ash cooled off, the guys are planning to shovel it into a bucket and dump it into the old well that's on the side of the house and already half full of ashes.

What's left of an old well

  The guys decided to quit work early this afternoon.  Wally went home to take a nap because he's planning on going up to the Casino tonight to watch the big fight instead of watching it at home on pay-for-view TV.  Jeff's been wanting to go fishing so he took the opportunity to go!  We had a good lunch and I don't have to worry about cooking supper tonight.  The dogs are exhausted from being outside

 since 10am and Fanny's napping in her chair by my computer while Zoey is curled up on the couch in the TV room.  She has

 been managing to get 

Fanny's chair unassisted-
it takes her a bit of effort and if Fanny see what she's trying to do, usually beats her to it!  Meanwhile, Zoey uses the covered basket of yarn as a footstool to help her get on the couch.  
  With Jeff off fishing and the dogs napping I can do what I want for a couple of hours.  Humm, nap or read or knit...or play on the computer?  What decisions I have to make!

More Garden Boxes

   Wally and Jeff have kept busy this week demolishing and burning our rotten raised garden boxes.  They have managed to remove and destroy 1 1/2 rows plus the bean tower. 

Jeff really didn't want to take down the bean tower but Wally did it without asking and when he did he uncovered a nest of red ants...and paid for it with quite a few bites!  They have been burning the rotten wood in a 50gal drum that Wally brought over so it's been

slow going.  Tomorrow they hope to finish off the 2nd row and some, if not most, of the 3rd.  They've decided to dump the

the ashes of 2 rows of boxes

ashes...when they're cooled off...into our old well which is near the garden.  Unfortunately, it is surrounded by weeds so Jeff had to mow around it today.  When he did he got the garden tractor tangled up in a sheet of plastic and the mower stopped.  The guys spent most of the afternoon taking the mowing deck off the tractor, cutting the plastic away from the mower's shaft and then putting the mowing deck back on the tractor.  But in the end, everything works again and it is something that will have to be done...exchanging the mower deck for the snow blower...so it was good in a way that Jeff learned how to do it on a nice, bright, sunny, warm day in August instead of a cold, wet, day in November.  Jeff said he had walked around the well looking for obstacles to avoid...or remove...and never saw the plastic.  He thinks it might have been covered with leaves.
  I spend the afternoon knitting on a Pin-Stripe sweater.  I actually got a sleeve finished!  Hopefully,
I'll get the 2nd sleeve done tomorrow and the rest of the sweater finished over the weekend.  I'm not scheduled to work in the shop until next Friday, Sept. 1st, so I should get the sweater finished.  And some hats and maybe even some booties that I saw on Ravelry.  We'll see how the weather holds and if I can sit outside and knit.
   Fanny and Zoey spent the morning outside playing in the yard...just having doggie fun.  When I went inside to fix lunch for Jeff they came with me and the 1st thing Zoey did after being outside for 2 hours was pee on the bathroom floor.  I guess she figured if everyone else pees in this room, why can't I? (And yes, I was using the facilities at the time.)  After I took Jeff's lunch out to him, I went back outside with Zoey but Fanny took that opportunity to take a nap inside alone.  Later I went in to get Jeff some coffee and asked her if she wanted to come out but didn't get much of a response so I offered her a dog biscuit and left her inside.  I think she enjoyed her afternoon alone.  After Wally went home Fanny came out and played with Zoey until it was time for supper.  Both dogs had worked up an appetite and ate well.  Right now they're both asleep...Fanny next to the computer table and Zoey on the pillow under it.  I think all of us will sleep well tonight after spending the day outside.   (Jeff may not be moving so well tomorrow after crawling around on the ground taking the mower deck off/putting it back on the tractor.)

Cataracts

   Had another set of tests done yesterday at the Eye Clinic at Bassett in Cooperstown.  The first set was done last Monday (8/14) at Cooperstown and the surgeon, Dr Manns, wasn't pleased with the results.   While there was no question about the size, etc of the cataract in my left eye, the right eye wasn't so easy to diagnose.  He wasn't sure about the condition of the retina and wanted a clearer view of it before scheduling cataract removal.  He wasn't sure removing the cataract would improve the vision in my right eye that much.  So yesterday I reported to the clinic at 11:45 and sat in the waiting room for about half an hour before it was my turn.  The tests took about an hour and then it was back to the waiting room for another hour's wait.  Finally I got to see the doctor who decided to schedule another test before oking the surgery.  Finally,he was satisfied with the test results and he okayed cataract removal.  The scheduling team would be in-touch.
   In the meantime, Jeff and the canines were waiting for me in the parking lot.  He was talking to people about beagles and Zoey was making friends.  Fanny was just putting up with all the strangers...she doesn't like meeting new people, remember?  Everyone was happy to see me and after a quick stop at the shop to leave some new stock, we headed for home.  It was too late to plan on stopping at Mona's in Mohawk (the purple house on Main St closes at 2pm)so we decided to stop at Mr. Shake's on Rte. 28
near Columbia Center.  Jeff got a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it, I had pulled pork and the dogs shared a plain hamburger patty.  We got 1 order of French fries and 1 order of onion rings, 2 sodas and a bowl of water.  We sat on the deck in the shade next to the mini-golf course...what a nice breeze there was and when some kids started to play golf and the water feature was turned on it was a very nice spot and we enjoyed our lunch.  We even had ice cream cones for dessert...I shared mine with the dogs!
   When we got home all four of us were beat so it was nap time for us all!   And we slept thru the supper hour so I didn't have to cook!  After watching the President on TV last night Jeff decided he was hungry so he went down to Burger King but the dogs and I were still sacked out!  Fanny heard him after he came back when he was straightening things up around the burn barrel near the driveway and she managed to wake up the rest of us.  Zoey may still be little but when she starts to bay....!!!  No one can sleep thru that!
   The Scheduling Center at Bassett called this morning to schedule my cataract removals...the right eye at Little Falls Hospital on Sept 21 and the left eye at Fox Memorial in Oneonta on Oct 1.  I said no.  I explained to the woman that I have an mechanical heart valve and take Warfarin and would have to bridge off Warfarin and on to Heparin for both procedures and while Little Falls Hospital would be my 1st choice,Fox would not be acceptable at all due to the distance.  She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes and then said she would try to schedule both eyes at Little Falls and would call back.  I'm not even sure now if Dr. Manns will end up doing the procdures!  All I know is that I'm not going to drive to Oneonta to have it done when Little Falls is 6 miles away, and Bassett is 35 miles away.  Oneonta is about 50 miles away and neither one of us is familiar with those roads. I'm willing to wait until they can schedule both eyes at Little Falls.

Tearing Down the Raised Boxes

     Jeff and Wally decided today was a perfect day to start tearing down the rotten garden boxes and burn them.  Wally brought up his burn barrel and they started taking the first row of boxes apart and  

feeding them into the fire in the barrel.  Eventho the wood was wet...and rotten...the box parts burnt nicely, sending up bellows of white smoke. I

asked if they were sending smoke signals or electing a Pope.  Wally and Jeff compared lawn tractors (ours is newer) and Wally finds it hard to believe how few miles our has on it!  (Less than 60 hrs of use and it's 10 yrs old!)  Jeff sent me down to Tractor Supply to get the small cart to complete the ensemble.  It does seem a lot easier to put things in the cart and drive it to the burn barrel than having to drag them over to it.   Fanny and Zoey ran around the yard keeping an eye on the guys while exploring between the boxes.  I don't know how long it will take to burn all the boxes but they were busy and happy today...guys and dogs.

Our Cub Cadet is Here!

   Our Cub Cadet garden tractor was delivered this morning.  Here's Jeff getting the lesson on maintaince...the when and how to change

oil and air filters etc.  (Come to find out the guy who delivered it is a distant relative of Jeff's mother's family!)  

And then it was a quick pass in front of the garden boxes and up the side of the house!  I wish I had been faster with the camera because the look on Wally's face when he drove by was worth a photo!  What do they say about a picture being worth more than words!  Now Wally and Jeff can have races on their lawn tractors to see who gets to the mailboxes the fastest!

   Jeff says the snow blower will be a job putting on but once it's on for the season it will stay on till spring!  The tractor came with extra weights in the back wheels and chains for them!  All we need is snow!  (But it doesn't have to come to soon!!)

    Fanny didn't care to come out and greet the delivery or inspect the tractor so I hooked Zoey up to her leash and then to Fanny's so she had 3 lengths of leash to roam.  It wasn't long enough for our puppy and she managed to get tangled up around a chair and the table leg.  She did some exploring between

the house and the garage but it wasn't enough for her.

  OH, no!  It's raining and Jeff's back inside!  Seems the tractor threw the drivebelt!  He's on the phone to the dealer right now!  The dealer is now on his way back here to pick it up.  He's going to have to change some more belts!  
  The guy from J.B.'s Small Engines in on Rte.5 was back in no time, loaded up our lawn tractor and took it away.  He just came back with it...with 2 new pulleys on the mower deck...and profound apologies. Seems something was put together wrong during the overhaul and that caused the drive belt to slip.  Nothing lost on our part.  Jeff is outside now mowing around the house, along the west side, across the

the house back, in the front.  He's done more in the last 15 minutes on the tractor than I could do with the walk behind in an entire day!  We finally have a back yard, again!  I am officially admitting it.  Jeff was right.  We needed the garden tractor/riding mower...just no one tell him I said so, OK?

A Channel Catfish

Jeff went fishing tonight and got this channel catfish near the Frankfort marina.  It weighted 8 lbs. and was 26" long.  He released it back into the river after this photo was taken.  He had several more hits...they got his bait...but he couldn't land anything else.  His brother, Tim, got an even bigger one last week in about the same spot but that one went home for supper!

A Riding Mower and Snow Blower

   I had to mail a card yesterday afternoon so we all went for a ride.  Zoey started out in front on Jeff's lap crying to beat the band.  After the quick stop at the post office we went to Tractor Supply to look at riding mowers that are usually on display in front of the store.  Nothing.  We went inside leaving the dogs together on the back seat of the Forester with the windows down a couple of inches and the moon roof wide open.  Fanny gave us a dirty look as we walked away leaving her with the crying baby.  We never got to ask about riding mowers because Jeff stumbled upon the last folding chair in the store.  It was marked 'half off' making it $24.  He broke the last of the 4 chairs we got last summer the night before.  This chair was rated to hold 300lbs and had an attached awning.  It was a little higher than the other chairs, too. He's been wanting one all summer.  We've both been having difficult getting out of the other chairs because we were sitting too low in them and the chairs were too light.  Anyway, he got the chair.  It will be nice with the awning on hot sunny days and at night with heavy dew or light rain.
   Our next stop was at Luther's Outdoor Equipment on Rte 5 outside of Frankfort.  Jeff had seen some used riding mowers there and wanted to check them out.  They had several parked in front of the place and they all looked USED (rode hard and put away wet)to me.  They did not impress me in the least.  And the place was closed anyway,  so we headed to our next location JB's Small Engines in Schuyler, a Cub Cadet dealer.  Sherry, Jeff's sister, had once bought a very nice lawn mower from them that we now have...but it doesn't work because the blade shaft is jammed and Jeff hasn't been able to get it apart.  Anyway, we went there just to look because we didn't think they'd have anything we could afford.  BUT...they had just taken in a riding mower with a snow blower as a trade-in. They started the engine for Jeff and opened the hood (all man impressing moves) and told him that the set- up had about 50hrs use.  We asked the price and exchanged glances.  It was in our budget and after a few more questions, we bought it for $1500.  It will be serviced and get new tires and delivered next week.  Jeff's pleased with the machine and I'm grateful we stuck to the budget. Jeff still says I have to learn to drive it and I'm still saying NO WAY.  I'm happy with the walk-behind mower and I don't care about snow removal.  We celebrated by stopping at Arby's on the way home and picking up supper. 
  Once in the backseat Zoey seemed to like riding in the car more and stopped crying.  Fanny was still giving us dirty looks.  Zoey actually fell asleep on the back seat!  This morning we all slept late.  Good  

thing my bed is a Queen otherwise there wouldn't be enough room for Fanny, Zoey and me.
   Jeff was also interested in the Cub Cadet BushWacher, weed wacker that JB's had on sale.  He wanted go back and get one but had to think about it for a day or two first.  Luckily, they still had some in stock when he finally got around to it today.  Now I just have to hope he doesn't wack all the naturalized flowers...lilies, forsythia, bleeding hearts, etc that are growing around the foundation of the house.  I may have to put up signs "NO MOWING HERE" to save my flowers! 

Packages, Snowblowrs and Whatever

     I checked at the bank to make sure my math was right then informed Jeff that he could start shopping for that riding mower he has his heart set on...as long as he keeps the mower with snow blower attachment within the $$ limit I set.  If he can find a used/rebuilt John Deere tractor for a decent price he can buy a new blower attachment.  Or he can go to Tractor Supply and look at their Cub Cadets.  Maybe even go to the Cub Cadet dealer and see about a rebuilt one there.  I don't care which make he buys or where, just don't ask me to learn to drive it.  He can now mow the majority of the lawn...I'll do the edging and around the trees and what-have-you's.  This was his idea and I'm willing to compromise.  I'll pay for it but I won't use it.   And as for blowing the snow....
   I finally got my Yarn Pal package put together and in the mail today.  When I took it to the post office the young guy behind the counter asked what country it was going to.  It was clearly addressed to Glasgow, Scotland.  What country did he think it was going to?  No comment on our educational system.  The package has several skeins of yarn, some chocolate that I bought in the shop...one piece is in the shape of a sheep!...a book of patterns, stitch markers and hand lotion all in a project bag that I finally finished with Zoey's help (wanted or not).  I put everything in the project bag and then put the project bag in a giant Ziploc bag before putting it in the mailer.  It was a tight fit and hopefully that will help the sheep from breaking into too many pieces! I also put a shop brochure and one of my business cards as well as a letter I wrote in a card. I had some hand drawn postcards of Cooperstown landmarks that I was suppose to put in the package but I don't know if I did or not.  Hope I did since I can't find them....  I won't tell you how much postage was and the package weighted 5 lbs!  I just hope my Yarn Pal doesn't have to pay duty on it.  I also sent a thank you note to Heather, my Yarn Pal in England, for the great package she recently sent me.  I sent her a chocolate sheep, too, and that package cost  $12.00.
   I switched work days with a friend in the shop and now I have to work tomorrow afternoon.  Half-days aren't bad and this will be my first time going in from 1:30 to 5pm.  Zoey is such a handful I haven't got much knitting done.  She loves balls of yarn and can ferret them out no matter where I stash them.  I'm going to try and get a hat done tonight.
   I have an appointment with an ophthalmological surgeon Monday morning to see if I'm a candidate for cataract surgery.  If Dr. Mann approves me, he'll schedule my procedure.  Because of my mechanical heart valve I'll have to bridge off of Warfarin and give myself injections of Heparin for several days before and after the procedure.  I had to do that when I  had the meniscus in my left knee repaired before I retired and did not like it.  I don't think I'll like it any better this time but if it helps my vision....   Anyway, I'll know on Monday.
   Monday afternoon Fanny's scheduled for another mani-pedi at the groomer on the corner of Main St. and Park Ave. in Herkimer.  Zoey needs a mani-pedi too...boy, are her nails sharp!...but the groomer prefers puppies who have had more of their shots than Zoey has.  Zoey has had only the 1st set.  She's due for the next batch and after that then she can have her nails clipped.
   Jeff seems to collect Mormon missionaries and has 2 young men here visiting with him this afternoon.  They try to teach him their ways but he manages to trip them up and teach them a thing or two every visit.  I think these guys have made Jeff their 'project' and wish them all...the 2 Mormons and Jeff...luck.

I Should Be Mowing Grass

    The sun is out today but I don't know for how long.  I mowed the space between the house and the garage while Jeff watched the dogs play in the still tall grass.  Got to find the energy to mow more.

      Zoey follows Fanny around smelling the grass a lot.  Fanny is loose but Zoey is on leash...she doesn't understand what 'stay in the yard' means yet and the trailing leash behind her gives Jeff an extra 3 feet in the race to catch up!  When they find something that smells good Fanny will roll over


in it and Zoey has 
caught on quickly!  Fanny also takes this as
an opportunity to do a quick 'touch-up wash' of
Zoey.   Zoey will follow Fanny around the yard and try to stick her nose under her when Fanny stops to pee but she hasn't got it yet that
that is something she should be doing, too.  Zoey loves being outside.
    Now both dogs have crashed.  Fanny on her chair next to the computer and Zoey on the pillow under it.  Jeff went fishing and is going to bring home something for supper.  No, not fish.  Probably pizza and wings.  I told him that was easier because I didn't know when he'd be back and it would be difficult to have a hot supper ready for him.  Sounds good, doesn't it?
   I should knit while the knitting is good but frankly, I don't feel like doing anything.  I'm not sick just not myself.  Jeff thinks after I have my cataracts taken care of I'll feel better.  Sure hope so because I don't like the way I feel.  Oh, well, I guess I'll force myself and knit.

What Happened to Summer?

     Seems summer has left us.  At least the warm temperatures are gone.  Sure hope they come back soon...maybe not back to the near 90's we had at the end of last week, but how about the low 80's?  
    Yesterday would have been a perfect day to knit except for one thing...a 9 almost 10 week old beagle puppy.  If Zoey sees yarn in my hands, she tries to steal it.  I've tried slapping her and saying NO firmly.  Doesn't work.  I put my WIP in a plastic bag and try to knit with the yarn coming out the top...but I'm using 3 balls of white and 4 balls of navy and they get tangled up quickly!  It's slow going!!  Once the sleeves are done it will be just 2 balls of navy and 1 white and that will go much faster!
    Zoey still hasn't gotten the hang of pee pads.  She seems to think 2 paws on one is ok, or running over one just before squatting is ok, so her hit or miss ratio is about 1/4.  I make a big deal out it when she does hit the pad but I don't think she's connected the praise and petting with the squat and squirting. 

    Last night Zoey and Fanny went to bed with me around 10pm.  We all crashed on my bed and Zoey curled up and was asleep on the hassock between my bed and the west window before I was even in bed!  She stayed there until Fanny was stretched out across the bed and asleep and then she crawled over next to her.  This morning she was curled up between Fanny and me.  I think as it got cooler during the night she moved closer.  Fanny wanted to go out around 6am and when she came in I gave them both breakfast...dog biscuits with peanut butter. They played Tug of War, It's Mine, and Tag until almost 9am when Fanny came to me and jumped on my bed.  (A sign of 'I'm beat.  Get that puppy away from me!')  I picked up Zoey and she tried to snuggle up to Fanny who voiced she wasn't in the mood with a loud snarl so Zoey picked a pillow instead.  And we all went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Fanny wanted to go out again so Jeff took them both out.  He said Fanny took care of her business and then sat on the steps and watched as Zoey took Jeff for a romp around the house.  Zoey likes it outdoors and will sit on the back of the couch in the TV room looking out the windows with her nose to the screen.

  The 3 of them (Fanny, Zoey and Jeff) had been playing 'It's Mine' with a stuffed toy, a BB bat that Fanny got in a Bark Box.  Fanny and Jeff had been playing Tug of War with it when Zoey came along and decided it was hers and the game became 'It's Mine'.  Now it's quiet as the 3 of them seem to have crashed.  Zoey is on the pillow under my computer with her horde of

bones...what she takes away from Fanny regularly every day.  There's one more short bone somewhere but

someone seems to have hidden it for the moment. And yes, she carries those long bones around even though one of them weighs almost as much as she does.

    I suppose I should take advantage of the quiet and get some knitting done but I'd rather run away for a couple of hours.  I think I'm beginning to know how some new mothers feel.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again, I'm too old for a baby or a puppy!

A Hot August Day

   I worked in the shop in Cooperstown yesterday and it started off hot and slow.  I got all the outside chores done quickly and settled in to knit.  I really needed to produce a couple of baseball hats (that's all that had sold for me over Induction Weekend) so I cast on for the 1st one.  A BB hat is a fairly mindless knit.  Cast on 63 sts onto a US7 and work in stockinknit for 41/4".  Usually takes about 1 1/2 hours and I don't have to pay much attention to what I'm doing.  I had a few customers come in and we chatted.  I actually sold my Pin-stripe sweater!  And a candy bar!!  Got the hat finished and sewed up by noon.  I even got it embroidered before I stopped for lunch!  Good.  Now I had 2 BB hats on the shelf!  After lunch I cast on for another BB hat but business picked up a little and it took me the rest of the afternoon to finish it...but I got it done and on the shelf!  I also sold an apple hat so eventho I replaced 2 hats I left 2 holes in the display.  (Some days you just can't get ahead!)  I work next Thursday afternoon so I think I should take down some hats and maybe a sweater or 2.  I sold 2 Fair Isle sweaters just before Induction Weekend so the sweater count is a little down, too.
   The weather forecast for the afternoon had called for thunderstorms so when I heard a loud clap of thunder I went out and closed the moon roof and the windows on the Forester. That seems to do the trick because we got maybe 4 drops of rain.  It rained a little more on the way home but no storms!
   Jeff had spent the day with Fanny and Zoey and I didn't know what to expect when I got home.  The dogs were glad to see me and Jeff must have been too, because after supper he said he was tired and went to lay down.  The dogs and I managed to stay awake until 9:30 when we all crashed on my bed and slept until 4am.  I gladly handed Zoey back to Jeff as he walked past my door on his return from the bathroom.  I don't think he was too happy.  She was back trying to climb onto my bed at 6am but she's too little to make it unassisted.  She didn't want to sleep and Fanny and I wanted to sleep some more so I took her back to Jeff.  Zoey carried on for awhile but eventually went back to sleep.  She is only 9 1/2 weeks old and isn't sleeping thru the night yet.  Oh, what a great night that will be!!
   Today we're suppose to have the oil burner cleaned so I think I can knit while the guy is down cellar.  Zoey is asleep under my computer with Fanny on the floor next to her.  Lucky them!!  I guess I'll go wash the breakfast dishes and then knit.

A Travel Day

   I had an appointment with my eye doctor at Bassett in Cooperstown yesterday so we loaded up Fanny and Zoey and went for a ride.  Either Zoey doesn't like riding in a car or else she was afraid she was going to a new home...her 1 and only previous car ride had been from Linda's--her breeder's--in Hinckley to our house.  Anyway, she cried from home to Bassett.  I left Jeff with the 2 dogs, a bag with extra plastic bags, a small bowl and a couple of bottles of water and went inside for my exam.  He settled under a shady tree and everyone was comfy.  Zoey attracted people like a magnet attracts iron, he reported.  Young, old, male, female.  He had a steady stream of visitors coming over to see the puppy.  Fanny even got into the mood and allowed people to pet her...and that's something new with her!  She doesn't like strangers and usually hides even when family and friends visit us!  When I was finished inside Jeff called me over to join them and both dogs were excited to see me.  We loaded up the car and after a quick stop at the shop to see what had sold the 2nd day of Induction Weekend (not much), headed for home.  Zoey resumed her crying.  She has to be held by the front seat passenger until she's a little bigger and she'd rather be in the backseat with Fanny.  As long as she can see Fanny the cries were kept to a minimum and she fell asleep.  We stopped at Mr. Shake's on the Hill and had an early supper/late lunch on their patio.  Again, we attracted attention with little kids coming over asking to pet the puppy.  Fanny just backed out of the way and Zoey sucked up all the attention!  The waitress even brought out a big bowl of water for them (w/o us asking for it) when our water ran out.  Good thing, too, coz we needed it when Zoey peed on their deck while we were eating our burgers! Jeff had a burger with everything on it and I had a Mexican (which I shared with Fanny) and we shared the ff.  With 2 sodas, the bill was less than $15.  Mom always like stopping at Mr. Shake's on the Hill (on Rte 28., almost to Richfield Springs).  She especially enjoyed the ice cream there!  Zoey cried again until she fell asleep and she slept about half way home.  Jeff decided that was a good idea and headed in for a nap around 6pm just when Zoey was getting started again. 

Fanny and I put up with her until 8:30 or so when the 3 of us crashed on my bed.  Zoey really must have been tired because she slept until 3am!  I gladly got up and handed her off to Jeff and she kept him awake for the next 3 or 4 hours.  Fanny and I tried to get some sleep but she kept crying and he finally gave Zoey back to me around 7am.  Jeff tells me I'll be sorry when she grows up and I end up with 2 dogs sleeping on my bed but right now, she's willing to sleep between Fanny and me and at least we can get some sleep!
   The purpose of my Bassett appointment was to get a referral for cataract removal.  I'm not looking forward to this but I know it's necessary.  Dr. Russo referred me to Mr. Mann who I'll see on Aug. 14th.  Dr. Russo did mention the need for Heparin bridging, a procedure I did when I had the meniscus in my left knee repaired and do so dislike...no, make that 'hate' doing.  (Do you know anybody who would actually prefer self-injecting in the abdomen rather than swallowing a pill?)  And bridging is usually for 7-14 days.  That's just 1 reason I'm not looking forward to cataract removal.
   Jeff and his brother, Tim, have been fishing the Mohawk River and the canal together lately.  Jeff told Tim about the big catfish he caught and since then Jeff hasn't caught anything like that but Tim got a 15 #er that he took home and his step-kids cooked for dinner.  The first night they went to the Frankfort Marina they stayed out all night and when I woke up around 5am and no Jeff, I called his cell.  They were just packing up and looking for breakfast.  Even Mona's, Jeff's favorite breakfast diner, wasn't open yet so they ended up at Denny's.  Saturday night the Marina was full of fishermen so they checked the hidden spots under the overpass.  Full there, too.  They ended up at the fishing access spot between Mohawk and Ilion.  You can see the road to this spot from Rte 5s, it goes by soccer fields before getting to the canal but Jeff never could find where the turn for it was off of Main St.  Well, they found it and think it's a pretty good spot.  There's a grassy spot and a wooden dock.  And best of all Saturday night, no people!  I think they'll be visiting it again.
  Sunday I did pulled pork in the crock pot and invited Tim and my cousin, Ed, to supper.  Tim brought some Anzio Bros. rolls that went perfectly with the pulled pork.  Ed brought some dessert.  Fanny was actually much more friendly with the guys who she usually hides from and Zoey was just her usual puppy self.  I thought a 3.5# pork roast would have been big enough for 4 people but I forgot 3 of them were men.  It was but there wasn't much leftover!

  Fanny, Zoey and Jeff are all snoozing so I should take this opportunity to knit undisturbed but I think I better wash dishes first.