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!

Twelve Days Later

   It took 12 days for the mechanics to 1) discover what was wrong and 2) fix what was wrong with our Forester.  That's 2 days, a weekend, a week, another weekend and 2 more days from when they towed in the Forester on Thursday afternoon, April 18th, until Jeff drove it home yesterday, Monday, April 29th.  During that time we were taken to the grocery store once...after 5 days without a car...so we could restock the cupboard.  Then we just waited.  And slowly started to run out of things. 
    Bread was the first thing we ran out of but I was able to make bread twice so we were able to hold on for a few more days.  We finally ran out completely on the 2nd Sunday.   (When I actually ran out of white flour and yeast.)  We ran out of butter about the same time but when there's no bread, butter doesn't seem so important.
    Prescriptions were next to empty out and Jeff started hitting the bottom of his Rx bottles by the end of the week.  I managed to last until the 2nd Sunday and then ran out of only 1 of my Rx's.  
   We drink a lot of  coffee and the canister of coffee beans got low quickly. I went into Jeff's stash (he's a prep-er and has a stockpile for when 'shit hits the fan') and dug out a bundle of coffee that he had sealed in small packages.  That gave us enough coffee for the rest of the time.  We finally ran out of coffee this morning...actually last night but I tried to make a pot of coffee this morning that was just so weak the proverbially dish water was stronger!  We should have bought coffee yesterday when we finally got to the grocery store but neither of us remembered,
   We ran out of other things along the way, too.  Things like certain can veggies (there's still more than enough cans of beets in the cupboard) and coffee creamer.  Dry cereal and soda didn't last the entire 12 days either (but I did get $1.85 in returned  bottles when I returned the empties yesterday!).  Good thing Easter Sunday was at the beginning of this experience because it gave us some special desserts...for a few days.  And we never ran out of meat and potatoes.  Our freezer is full and Jeff had just bought a big bag of potatoes for Easter.
   And now to the cause for all this, our Forester.  On Thurs., April 18th, it stopped running on Rte 5S between Herkimer and Mohawk without any warning.  The lights on the dash came on and with a weird sound, the engine stopped.  (Actually, it was the transmission that stopped).  Jeff was told a couple of bolts on the rear fly-wheel sheered off causing everything to stop.  We had had the transmission replaced less than a year ago so everything was still under warranty (thank God) and when the mechanic finally found that 2 of those bolts had broken he charged us only $156.24.  The only way those bolts could have broken like that, Jeff and the mechanics agree, is because someone did not tighten them correctly.  Now I don't understand exactly what that means.  You can tighten a bolt only til it's tight, right?  Well, I guess not.  You have to tighten a bolt so many pounds so it won't loosen.  Too much and it will break; not enough and it will wiggle around until it snaps.  The mechanic wasn't happy and neither was Jeff.  I won't say how I felt except that I had gone to Cooperstown alone the day before.  Now that's 35 miles of up and down hills to Cooperstown and 35 miles of up and down those same hills back home.  Just thinking that the bolts could have snapped during those 70 miles....   Any way, they didn't snap then and they're replaced now.  I don't care if the Church has sort of pushed St Christopher off to the side of the road, I called on him and every other saint I could think of those 12 days and they all came thru. I just hope that's the end of my automotive adventures for this year.  
p.s.  Oh, Jeff had to take a taxi from our house to the mechanics in Little Falls so he says I should add the cost of the cab, $11, to the bill bringing the total up to $167.24.

Something New for Spring

    I tried something new for Spring to put in the shop...Baby cocoons.  Don't know how well they'll sell but I thought I'd give them a go.  One is plain white with a Guernsey inspired design around the bag and the other has my Black Sheep design on it.  

The black sheep is on the back of the bag, of course, surrounded by a field of flowers while the 3 white sheep are scattered across the front.  The sheep are knit into the bag but the leaves and flowers are done with a duplicate stitch...and

they took almost as long to do as the bag!  These baby bags get a hat to finish the set but I think they'll end up being plain.  A sheep is too big for a baby hat and I'm afraid people will think the set is only for girls if the hat has flowers on it, too.  This set is knit by hand on US 6's with Herrschner's Kid's Brite in Caribbean, a wash and dryable acrylic.

   It's difficult to see the Gurensey design in this photo...but it's there!  The hat will have part of the design...the simplier part...around it.  This set was knit with Bernat Baby Sport (also a wash and dryable acrylic) in white on US 6's.
   Let's hope they both sell!
  

Another Adventure

      We had errands to run yesterday but I never
thought it would end like it did.  It was a day from hell...and I don't know how it could have got much worse.
   I...no, we both...needed fasting blood work this week and I needed mine done yesterday at the 
latest, because I'm going to be switching from a once weekly Fosamax in pill form to a once yearly infusion. We finally made it down to the clinic around 11am and didn't have long to wait. The tech tried to draw blood from my left arm w/o success a couple of times and then from the right arm...this time with success. That completed we headed to Mohawk to Mona's Diner (you know, the Purple Place)for brunch...I really wanted some coffee!! A quick trip to the Ilion Library was followed by a stop at Aldi's where we found spiral hams on sale for $.65/lb. (regular price was $1.69)! With our Easter dinner and a few other things we headed back to Herkimer but couldn't cross the bridge to go east on Rt.5 because of construction
so I turned on to Rte.5S instead. We had barely made it to Mohawk when something snapped under the car! I pulled over to the side of the road as soon as I could and Jeff got out to check. Tires? Ok. (I had thought we had had a blow out.) He looked under the car and really couldn't see anything...at least nothing was hanging! He looked under the hood and all he could figurer out was that something had snapped. Handing me the cell phone Jeff said to call Dave and get a tow truck.
   I have a list of phone numbers in the  back of the pocket calendar that I carry in my purse but, of course I couldn't find it.  Jeff told me to dial 411 and I eventually got the number for Hillslide Repairs and ordered a tow truck. (We had to call them back and leave our cell number because neither one of us knew it and Jeff had to look it up on the phone first.)
   I tried calling my cousin Ed to ask for a ride home
for the dogs, grocery bag and me but there was no answer. The same happened when I tried Wally's phone. So we sat in the car on the side of the road
within walking distance of the bridge between Herkimer and Mohawk for about an hour before the tow truck arrived. It was one of the flat-bed types so Jeff and I got to ride in the truck while the dogs and groceries stayed in the car. (The dogs were not happy with this arrangement...at least Zoey was vocal about it.  Fanny is more the stoic/silent type.)  The driver
took us home before taking the Forester away. Don't know what's wrong, how much it will cost to fix it or how long it will take. But we made it home safe and sound and will be staying here for some time.  My infusion is scheduled for next Thursday and probably will have to be rescheduled...but that's the only appointment on the calendar for the next 2 weeks.
Hopefully, Dave will be able to get the Forester back in running order in that time.

My Display

   In case you ever wondered, here's what my display in the shop, Cooper Country, in Cooperstown, NY, looks like.  Well, sort of.   
   The hats are on the top shelf of the display and fit most babies up to 1 year old. The sweaters are raglan-from-the-neck-down and are various sizes from 1 to 6. They

are all hand-knit in acrylic (usually Red Heart but lately I've used some Bernat) so they are machine wash and dryable. The pink dress in the center of the photo is my version of a Fairy Leaves Dress, next to it are 2 Guernsey-inspired vests and

my original Polar Express Hoodie...w/back zipper. The sweaters in front are raglan-from-the-neck-down with different design elements knit in or are embellished.            There are more sweaters in the display but it's hard to photography the entire display because of it's location in this small-but-well-filled-with-very-interesting-hand-crafted-items shop! 

   Since Cooperstown is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame besides those baseball hats, I also do a couple of different baseball sweaters...a V-neck cardigan and a hoodie... usually in Yankee pin-stripes or Red Sox (or Braves) red, white and blue but they're still OTN (or not ready yet). 

   The shop also has a quite nice autumn/Halloween display (i.e. my Pumpkin Hats) and a fantastic Holiday area (Candy Cane Hats). Oh, and the pink pup is my work, too, but the one done in Red Heart Cornmeal (a yellow lab) is my favorite!

  I also have a couple of baby cocoon's or sleep sacks about ready and some ballerina-slipper booties that will be added to the display on my next trip.  Of course, I'll post their photos here, first!

Dolly and Me

   I think I finally got the Dolly and Me Sweater set right. I knit and ripped
quite a few 'Dolly' size sweaters before I finally just sat down with my regular raglan from the neck down pattern, the doll sweater pattern I liked the best...or was it the one I disliked the least...and a calculator.  It took several tries but I finally got a sweater that actually looks like the child's sweater I make but quite a bit smaller...just the size for an 18" doll like an American Girl doll.  Then I stated the child's sweater and...ran out of yarn!  I was using Mary Maxim's Baby Blankie, an acrylic self-patterning acrylic yarn called Sweet Pea...but it's not available
locally so I did as much as I could on the child's sweater...a size 2...and put them both aside until I can order a skein of yarn.
  Today I made another Dolly size sweater...this time with Red Heart acrylic worsted in Minty leftover from a child size 2 I had made in a design I call Flowers and Lace. The doll sweater

looks so cute! A real miniature version of the child's sweater.  Only thing...the buttons look
too big on the doll sweater to me but I don't have any smaller pink buttons.  The other Dolly and Me set is a Black
Sheep Sweater set with the child's sweater a size 6. 

They are hand-knit with Red Heart acrylic worsted in Perfectly Pink.  The purple buttons look really too large on the doll sweater but will have to do for now!
  I'm not sure how these sets will sell so I think this should be enough to start the season.  The shop opens on April 11th so time is running out!!