This & That

The 'watch dawg'

Jeff got more of the garden tilled/planted Friday and then the rain started...hasn't really stopped yet. At least we haven't had to water the garden in 2 days! I mowed the lawn as he worked in the garden. Got the entire side lawn finished. Boy, it looks good! I pushed the weeds back another 4 feet so I can mow around the trees. Looks like a professional job if I say so myself. I got tangled in the longer weeds and fell once...but I didn't let the mower stop (too hard to start it again). Got the back and part of the other side lawn to do if it every stops raining. I would like to get the entire lawn done at least 2 times before I have to have the loose screws in my right leg removed July 29th. I saw the orthopedic surgeon last Wednesday and he agreed it was time to get rid of my loose screws. He even gave me a copy of the x-ray that shows the screw heads sticking out of the bone! That will mean 2 weeks off work so I probably shouldn't plan on mowing the lawn then either.

It was my turn to work in the shop in Cooperstown yesterday and coz of the rainy weather there wasn't many people wandering around. Made for a very quiet day. I did get a lot of knitting done...an entire Victorian Lace scarf on size US9's in a light olive imported cotton-silk-viscose (rayon??) blend. Only 21 stitches/7 rows for a pattern and that went fast! Last night I tried to read before going to bed but gave up after a few minutes. I was asleep by 9pm and didn't wake up all night. All that mowing Friday and walking around in the rain Saturday really got to me. Boy, did my leg ache.

These are photos of my display at the shop in Cooperstown. Mostly baby sweaters but I'm trying to expand into adult...the olive lace shawl and behind it a lime lace cowl. Maybe I should say I'm trying to expand into lace....

Ol' Farmer Day

Here's our latest project: Jeff's garden: 30'x30', already deemed 'too small'. He's planning to till up another 4' on the driveway side and 2' on each short end. If all grows, we'll lave beans pole & bush, carrots, beets, corn, zucchini, eggplant, wintersquash, cucumbers, onions, garlic, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, red, yellow, orange, green and purple bell peppers, 2 or 3 types of hot peppers, ground cherries (I don't know what they are either). stivia (sugar substitute), head lettuce, endives, spinach and 3 or 4 types of tomatoes including that cute patio tomato in the pot. My herb garedn (parsley, basil, oregano, chives and dill) will be in the old dog's wading pool (one way to get rid of all the rocks that have been tilled up). Jeff's planning next year's garden already! So far, if the crop of rocks and mosquitoes are any indication, we'll have a good year! And there's Dawg...previously known as Lady...watching the garden grow and Jeff work.
(He renamed her last summer. Said he wasn't going to take her out at camp and have to call out "Lady, where are you? Are you done peeing?" :)

what's happening...

Things have been very interesting here. I joined a couple of swaps and have been having a lot of fun with that. Got my lst swap package in the mail...from England! And got my packages ready to mail when last Thursday, around 1:30 in the afternoon I got a phone call at work from Jeff…his doctor had just called and told him to get to an ER faster than fast so I left the library to drive him. He had had his regular 3-month blood work the day before and the MD was very upset with his blood count, seems he was at 7.5 (normal is 12-15 and time to transfuse is 7? )and she wanted to stop his bleeding out. (What bleeding where???) We spend from 2 until 7pm in the ER and left knowing as much as when we arrived…except his numbers had gone up to 8.2. No transfusions--no IV’s--no cause for the drop or rise in numbers. Also no food or meds for my big diabetic guy except a candy bar from a machine in the waiting room! He was told to call his doctor the next morning to find out what to do but their phones were down all day so after work we went over there. Another waste of time. Doctor wasn’t available, system had crashed, please call on Monday. Made for a very interesting weekend…everytime the phone rang I jumped. Ripped out as much as I knitted! Monday he called them again. Went thru it all with a secretary and was told she’d pass the info on to the doctor who was covering for his doctor and one of them might or might not call him back. Just before supper the covering MD called back and told him to go over the next day for more blood work and he would be seen immediately afterwards. About 15 minutes later a secretary called told him the same thing…except she said they’d give him an appointment to be seen. Jeff told her what the doctor he had just talked to said about being seen and she hemed and hawed. Tuesday morning we went over and his doctor was very upset. She had assumed he had been admited from the ER, had had a transfusion and everything was better. She was sending him back to the hospital…skip the ER--go to the admission’s desk…by ambulance but Jeff managed to talk her into letting me drive him. Anyway, another version of hurry up and wait. I know everyone has a job to do in a hospital but some times I think they forget why the patient is there…it’s not a social call. Anyway, he finally gets into a bed expecting a blood tranfusion but no, the hospital wants more tests. Finally they’re ready to start the transfusion around 6pm. Jeff sent me home…actually told me to go to my knitting group! I knitted at home next to the phone and again ripped out as much as I knit. Jeff was rather cranky when I got to the hospital Wed afternoon coz the old man in the other bed had put in a restless night and neither of them got much sleep. Jeff’s 2 unit blood transfusion had lasted until about 2am…w/o complications. They had done some more tests Wed morning and we just had to wait for the doctor. And, Jeff really wanted a cigarette. Around 3:30 this goodlooking youngish doctor comes in and we all talk. Seems they can’t find out why Jeff is anemic but he is. His numbers did not rise as high as expected after the transfusion but were back in the safety zone. He could probably go home. As the doctor was leaving the room I asked if the anemia could be a result of low vitamin B12 or Iron and the doctor half-heartily agreed. About 14 minutes later he comes running and jumping back into the room yelling ‘your B12 and iron numbers are in the toilet! ’ and orders a series of B12 shots. Jeff looks at me and we both say ’ I told you so’. He had gone thru this when he was younger but none of these doctors would consider it. Anyway, after his shot, he got dressed and finally with an armload of paperwork we went home around 6pm. I put together a fast supper and while Jeff napped all evening, I knit. I had barely managed to finish a pair of baby socks from the ‘baggie in my purse’ during his stay in the hospital but that night at home with him asleep in the other room I was able to do 1 entire sock ! Yesterday I left him at home waiting for the garden tiller man and went to work for a couple of hours before taking him for more blood tests and grocery shopping. Today he had to see his regular doctor but I was not asked to come along…just have to wait until after work to find out how he offically is doing.
I’m glad the week is over…maybe I can get back to deciding which pattern I’ll use for my next swap.

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Silent Auction

I'm trying to fill a basket for the Friends of the Library's Silent Auction, May 3-5th, on the theme "One-Skein Wonders", asking everyone I know who knits or crochets to donate 1 skein of yarn...I'll buy one of the 'One-Skein Wonder' books. So far I've gotten 6 or 7 promises. Hope this keep going good!

Very Good Weekend

It was a very good weekend. Saturday was my 61st birthday and I was scheduled to work at the library. Not a good way to start, huh? But it turned out to be a good day. Jeff came up for supper and even cooked a killer chili! We had bought a large food dehydrator online and it was delivered Saturday. We had used a small round dehydrator for fruit and we were both looking forward to trying the larger one so after unpacking it, we went back down to the store and got $25 worth of fresh fruit...apples, pineapple, strawberries, bananas...and after supper we spend about 2 hours cutting up it all up. The dehydrator runs so quietly! Anyway, by Sunday morning we had 2 quarts of dried fruit. We all feel it was worth the $$$ to get it. After cutting everything up, we decided to watch tv...Stargate...SF...not my favorite genre but I'm getting to like it. (I've also discovered Bruce Willis movies...boy, can I sure knit fast watching those Die Hard movies!) Anyway, we didn't make it to the end of the show but it turned out to be a very good evening. Not a bad birthday at all.

The Shop

Yesterday Jeff and I went to Cooperstown to re-arrange my display. We were just suppose to put up a curtain rod so I can hang sweaters and other things on hangers but nothing is every that simple. Our building started life as a garage or stable and has been modified over the years. About 40 years ago, it was finished inside...if you call barn board on the walls as 'finished'. The shelf unit I use was built for someone else and another knitter used it in between us. Anyway, we took down a shelf and he put up the curtain rod fixtures...a couple of times. Seems nothing is exactly square or level and even tho he measured from the front edge of the shelf to the center the rod did not end up in the center. One end and the center holder were lined up but the other end was off by 1". Move that holder and the 1st end moved 1" in the other direction. Took several tries to get everything straight...sort of. Then the the pegs that held the shelves up had to be moved and either the holes broke or they were not lined up right, either. Finally got them up and if you don't breath hard on them, the shelves stay put. Jeff had a few things to say about women who don't know carpentry but think they do. The unit lasted all these years without a man's input so I think we'll be OK. The shop reopens a week from today and I've got to finish what's on my needles and get buttons sewed on and ends worked in by then.

April Fool!

The calendar says spring but the temperature is saying "April Fool"! We had snow this morning and while it's about gone, it is still very cold. Jeff's cataract procedure Tuesday went very well. Much less pain and discomfort...but more stomach upset. We even took a midnight...no, make that a 2:45am...ride to the ER coz he felt very light-headed and sick. Thought his bp or bloodsugar were playing games on him. Anyway, it was a nice night for a ride and everything checked out ok. His vision is pretty good, MD said no need for glasses to drive. Jeff's so excited! He's worn glasses since he was 5 years old. Yesterday he got a get well card from the OR team! Never heard of that before. Oh, and one of the OR nurses bought 2 pairs of my baby socks. She had seen what I was knitting during the lst procedure and I promised to bring some for sale at the 2nd one. Now I've got to replace them before the shop opens. Last night I finished 2 pullovers, a size 1 in a blue tweed, and a size 2 in a lavendar self-strip. Then I started 2 v-neck cardigans, both size 1. My sweaters tend to be ragalan from the neck down and 'grow' quickly. My display should be quite full when the shop reopens April 14th. Let's hope the customers are there, too.