The Operation Was A Success!

   The procedure Jeff performed on the PTO of the Cub Cadet was a success!  At first he didn't think it had gone well because nothing had changed...the machine was still dead.  Then he watched about 2 hours of home videos on YouTube and discovered what one of the problems was.  There is a safety switch under the seat of the Cub Cadet and while you can start the machine, the PTO will not rotate unless someone...or something heavy like a bag of sand...is on the drivers seat.  Once that was corrected (I got to sit in the driver's seat and turn on the ignition) the PTO clicked on and rotated...but we still didn't know if it was rotating in the correct direction.  (Jeff was afraid he might have reversed the wires when he soldered them together.)  Today he put on the mowing deck...itself a big job...and started up the machine.  And, viola!  He was mowing the lawn!!  He got the front...along the driveway...and most of the side lawn along the house cut before the machine died.  It had run out of gas!  It took him about 15-20 minutes to mow what use to take me a couple of hours with the walk behind mower.  If it doesn't rain tomorrow Jeff says he'll get gas for the Cub Cadet and mow more lawn.  Personally, I don't care.  The part that shows looks pretty good and that's enough for right now!

Never A Dull Moment

   Yesterday we had invited my cousin Ed over for supper so I decided a 'picnic' menu was in order.  I made Angie's Fried Chicken and it came out better than I ever had done them before!  Of course, Jeff wanted gravy and baked potatoes instead of pasta and sauce but it was still a very good dinner.  During the meal we noticed that one of the legs on my grandmother's round pedestal table had loosened and the table kept shifting.  By the end of the meal the table was listing dangerously to one side!  So after I cleared the dishes from the table I put a piece 

of firewood under the leg
to stabilize it till
morning.  I really did not want to be woken during the night by the sound of the table and Jeff hitting the floor.  (He is a notorious midnight snackier.)  Instead this morning I was woken by the sound of him clearing the table so I got up to help.  Then we turned the table over on it's side (not an easy job...remember this is a 100+ year old solid oak pedestal table) and I held it steady so Jeff could tighten the loose bolt and nut.  Then we turned it back up right and reset the table.  That was the first time in the nearly 60 years that table has been in this kitchen that a leg has loosened.  Hope it's set for another 60 years...it will be nearly 200 years old by then!!
   Since I was satisfied that the table was back in good condition Jeff got down to his original task for this morning.  He's been planning a repair to our Cub Cadet and I had to be his assistant.  I got to hold the wires he was soldering back together.  That went smoothly and he put the PTO back on the machine but something is still wrong.  Either he soldered the wires together wrong (?) or something else is wrong with the rider because while the Cub Cadet will start and drive, it won't cut grass or blow snow.  Jeff was afraid that would happen.  Now he's trying to decide if it's worth taking the part off and trying to re-solder the wires or just give in and order the part. 
   Zoey loved having company last night and even climbed onto Ed's lap for awhile.  She kept trying to get him to give her a piece of chicken but he wasn't falling for her 'poor hungry puppy' routine.  I ended up giving both dogs some chicken and gravy with their dog food for supper and they cleaned their plates, too.  In fact, the leftover chicken I had put away thinking it would make a nice chicken sandwich for lunch today had disappeared overnight.  I told you Jeff is a midnight snackier! 

Is is the end of May or April???

     Just back from a trip to the shop to stock my display.  The weather was not the greatest when I left home around 11 am, cloudy and chilly (temp in the mid 50's) and it did not get any better on the way to Cooperstown.  Traffic was light and it seemed there were more cars coming up the hill out of town than behind or in front of me as I drove into Cooperstown.  The corner of Rte 28 and Chestnut St was a traffic nightmare and after waiting several minutes trying to turn left I gave up and turned right and went around the block.  It was much easier turning east onto Chestnut St from Susquehanna St!  The parking lot at the shop was empty...except for the Anita's car...and the main parking lot for Doubleday Field was closed because tomorrow is the Old Timers' Game and the work crews were busy setting up vendor tents.  
   I filled the spaces in my display with what I had brought with me.  The 2 baby sets I hung on the 

wall at the back of the display.  They are both size 6 mo.  The one on the left is knit with Patons' Astra in Aran and the one on the right is done with Bernat Softee Baby in Baby Denim Marble.  Both were worked on US 4 and 7's.  They are machine wash and dryable.
  I also brought down this baseball v-neck sweater
(below).  It is a size 2 and is worked on US. 4 and 7's

with Red Heart acrylic worsted in Cherry Red.
It too is machine wash and dryable.  I especially liked the way the baseball looks knit into
the front of the sweater.
And I brought down 3 baby baseball hats.  I originally made them to fit

babies up to 1 yr old but last year started to make some a little bigger...to fit 2-3 yr olds.  They are
knit on US 7's with Red Heart acrylic worsted in white.
   My display looked pretty full when I was finished putting these things up!  Now if they would only sell!!
   After visiting with Anita for awhile I started for home.  It had warmed up a little but it had also started to rain...or drizzle.  It was a boring ride but again, traffic wasn't too heavy.  
   When I got to Herkimer, I made a quick stop at Walmart.  The new layout of the store is still rather confusing and a lot of the shelves are empty or only partially filled.  I had to get bread and butter and luckily, remember to pick up a package of Solo cups.  (I'd rather throw them out than wash the few glass ones I have left!)  I wanted to get paper napkins but that shelf was empty!!  I got out of there fast and was home by 1 pm to be met at the door by Zoey! I should clean house a little but I really feel like taking a nap.  (Jeff and both dogs already are!)  The one thing I know I'm not going to do today is knit.  My left thumb joint is so sore...I've even been wearing my brace to bed the last 3 nights!  I think I deserve a day off!!

Spring, Summer or Fall?

  As usual here in the Great Northeast in Spring, we can have 3 seasons in 1 day and that's the way it's been this week.  It's something waking up to low 40's and having mid 80's by supper!  It makes folks want to mow their lawns but not us.  We talk about it but that's all that's been done. 
   For one thing, the Cub Cadet is still on the disabled list.  I don't understand mechanics but Jeff has some work to do before he'll be bopping around on it.  Wally from next door towed it for him from the backyard (where the Cub Cadet spent the winter) to our garage (where Jeff thinks it will be easier to work on it).  Wally thought it would start but Jeff didn't but he tried it any way and was pleasantly surprised when it started right up.  Jeff 's been pricing the replacement part and decided he'd try soldering the original first.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I offered to use the walk-behind mower and do the front yard but either Jeff didn't hear me or he doesn't think much of that idea.
  Another reason no outside work has been done is our general medical conditions.  Both of us  have been bothered with arthritis this winter.  Jeff's right hip and lower back kept bothering him to the point where he now uses a cane some days just to walk!  The screws in my old leg break (right tib & fib) seemed to send Morse code to each other much of this winter--especially after I practiced genuflecting in the driveway a couple of times.  My knees snap, crackle and pop very well, too.  I'm so glad I played tennis and rode my bicycle all those years, giving my knees such good work outs.  The chemo I had for Hodgkin's Disease came back to haunt me, too.  (My oncologist told me it would.)  Last month my endocrinologist...deciding I may have had rickets(!!)...upped my Vit D3 to 8000 units/day.  And on Friday after supper Jeff tripped over the metal register that covered the cold air duct by his computer and fell thru knocking all the duct work to hell and jarring his back and hip pretty good.  You can imagine the sight...Jeff on the floor one leg thru the opening where the duct work/register had been, the other beside him on the floor.  I couldn't help him...nor would he let me...but eventually he got his leg back into the room and was able to roll over and work himself up to a standing position.  The next day he was sore but he said his back seemed to hurt less...like the fall jarred it back into place!  Oh, and we never figured out how the register had been raised so he could trip on it.  It always fit snug to the floor.
   

Well, these are the two sweaters I've been working on since Saturday.  They are both size 6 months and my friend Maggie gave me the yarn I used.  Both 

are done in acrylics on US 4's & 7's, the one above is knit in Patons Asta in Aran.  The one to the right is done with Bernat Softee Baby in Baby Denim.  I want my display to be overflowing this weekend with something to appeal to every grandmother who comes into the shop so I've got to finish these 2 sets (they need hats!)...they knit up fast...then do 1 baseball sweater...it's almost finished...and a couple of more baseball hats. (edited 8:18pm, Tues., 5/20/19)    
   It's time to start closing windows...Fall has returned and that cool breeze going thru the house is not very comfortable!  

The Calendar Says May But....

   Officially, the calendar says it's May but it sure hasn't felt like that around here.  The temperature outside today is in the 40-50 degree range and it's been raining all morning.  Not a very comfortable day.  We haven't done a thing outside yet...and we've never been this late in getting the outside work started!  
   The week we were stranded at home I had started walking down to the mailbox every day and adding extra distance beyond slowly.  I had planned to be able to walk up to Rte 5 in about 2 or 3 weeks.  (Remember, walking one way is fine but I have to walk back home, too.)  Then it started to rain again and my knees and my old tib and fib break started to ache...which they do occasionally...so I was taking it slowly.  I had achy knees for the last week and the thought walking let alone raking leaves and picking up branches just doesn't appeal to me at all.  My knees...and right ankle...hurt so much I didn't even get much sleep!  Laying down didn't help at all!  I had been using the cream, Voltaren, that our doctor has prescribed and that worked part of the time but I'm suppose to use it only twice a day so when it wore off I was in trouble!  And then the tube started to get empty.  I called the pharmacy to renew the Rx and of course, the script had expired so it took a couple of days to get it renewed.  When the pharmacy finally called to say the Rx was ready I was surprised find out that the cost of the tube had gone from $51 down only to $20 (that's with insurance!).  I'm not sure it's worth it.  Jeff has the same Rx and doesn't find it the least bit helpful so he gave me his tube...about 3/4 full.  I may just wait until I am totally out of it before filling the Rx.
   I did manage to find some relief by putting a pillow under my knees when I went to bed.  I didn't think it would make a difference but it did!  So for the last 3-4 days I haven't used the Voltaren and haven't had any pain.  We'll see how long this lasts.  Boy, talk about feeling like an old!  I could hardly walk!!  
  In the meantime I've been working on a sweater order I got...a size 2 hoodie for a boy with front zipper.  It's done in Red Heart's Paddy Green, a washable acrylic, with a train in rainbow colors just above the waist ribbing.  Baby things haven't been selling very well in the shop so far this month.  Last month hats were a good seller but so far this month...nothing!  Hopefully, it will all change by Memorial Day!