Just back from Jeff's appointment with the vascular surgeon, Dr. Ignatovskyy, at Basset in Herkimer. While there is a partial blockage in his right carotid artery, Dr. Ignatovskyy wants to wait 3 months and do another ultrasound before deciding if stents are really necessary. We are both very relieved. It was not something either of us was looking forward to. Don't know if 6 months on Plavix will lessen the blockage but it will prevent it from getting any worse and, besides, any surgery should be avoided for at least 6 months after a MI...a heart attack. We see him again in April. He's also interested in the old 'green break' in Jeff's right leg. Wants an ultra sound of that, too. Seems every new doctor Jeff sees is interested in his right leg! Too bad a doctor wasn't interested when he was hit by a car and it was broken when he was six.
Now, for a celebration dessert, I think I'll make a chocolate pie...before the dogs get a hold of the 2nd box of chocolate pudding mix!
Monday, January 13, 2020
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Such A Weird Winter
I will be glad when winter will be over. It started out lousy with Jeff having a heart attack and needing stents put into his heart arteries and it hasn't gotten much better. Then Jeff started going to PT for the arthritis in his shoulders 2 months ago and while he's improved his range of motion, the pain hasn't lessened. Now he's got to see a vascular surgeon because of a blockage in his left carotid artery. Looks like he's going to need a stent in that one. We'll know Monday after we see Dr. Ignatovskyy, a vascular surgeon.
The weather hasn't been the greatest lately, either. It's been hard to tell it is winter outside if you just look out a window lately. Either it's been blue sky and sunny with no snow on the ground or the sky has been dark gray, with the wind howling, pouring rain and the trees swaying like mad. The temperature today was in the mid 60's!! I almost wish we'd get a nice, heavy snowfall and have a foot or more of snow on the ground. Might make the house warmer. We just got fuel oil this week, too. Over $500's worth. That's the 3rd time we've gotten fuel oil this season. And I don't keep the house that warm, either.
Last weekend Jeff's nephew, Doug, came down and put up a new chimney
pipe for the wood stove. That will help some...if Jeff ever gets the stove clean so we can use it. Jeff said now he knows how Uncle George felt when he (Jeff) first went up there to live with him. Doug had the old chimney down and the new one together and up in practically no time. Jeff said it made him feel like an old man. Both dogs barked and then hid when Doug first came in but Zoey worked her way out from under the kitchen table during lunch...had to see what she could beg from him to make it worthwhile, I guess.
I finally got my Yarn Pal package ready to mail-within the deadline. Some of the yarn I had ordered took it's time getting here but it finally all made it Thursday. I had fun looking for candy to include in the package that wasn't usually available in Canada, and instead of buying a large bag of 1 kind of candy, I bought several 'snack' size packages of different kinds...hope she likes them! However, when I took the package to the post office it was rejected because the clerk said there was an omission or mistake in the address I was sending it to. When I got home I sent the group moderator a PM and told her my problem and she gave me the info again. Maybe it was just typed wrong at some point. Anyway, I asked for the 3 day extension to be on the safe-side and I'll go back to the post office Monday. I also wrote a thank you letter to the woman, Maria Bentley, in New Zealand who sent me the fabulous Yarn Pal package I received last week. That's ready to mail on Monday, too.
In the meantime I'm still working on a pair of socks for Jeff using some of the New Zealand Merino wool Maria sent me. It is so soft!
Eventho there is enough of the navy Merino she sent to make socks and a shawl I'm tempted to make socks for myself with this one, too. I could start the skein on the outside so the stripes spiral the other way so we wouldn't get our socks mixed up. That and the fact that his socks are 2" longer in the foot than mine should be enough so we could tell them apart!!
I volunteered to be in a Test Knit...to do socks but haven't been notified if I've been chosen. I'll have to learn a new cast on for toe-up socks and a new way to turn the heel. Hey, anyway to learn something new! Just have to wait and see.
The weather hasn't been the greatest lately, either. It's been hard to tell it is winter outside if you just look out a window lately. Either it's been blue sky and sunny with no snow on the ground or the sky has been dark gray, with the wind howling, pouring rain and the trees swaying like mad. The temperature today was in the mid 60's!! I almost wish we'd get a nice, heavy snowfall and have a foot or more of snow on the ground. Might make the house warmer. We just got fuel oil this week, too. Over $500's worth. That's the 3rd time we've gotten fuel oil this season. And I don't keep the house that warm, either.
Last weekend Jeff's nephew, Doug, came down and put up a new chimney
I finally got my Yarn Pal package ready to mail-within the deadline. Some of the yarn I had ordered took it's time getting here but it finally all made it Thursday. I had fun looking for candy to include in the package that wasn't usually available in Canada, and instead of buying a large bag of 1 kind of candy, I bought several 'snack' size packages of different kinds...hope she likes them! However, when I took the package to the post office it was rejected because the clerk said there was an omission or mistake in the address I was sending it to. When I got home I sent the group moderator a PM and told her my problem and she gave me the info again. Maybe it was just typed wrong at some point. Anyway, I asked for the 3 day extension to be on the safe-side and I'll go back to the post office Monday. I also wrote a thank you letter to the woman, Maria Bentley, in New Zealand who sent me the fabulous Yarn Pal package I received last week. That's ready to mail on Monday, too.
In the meantime I'm still working on a pair of socks for Jeff using some of the New Zealand Merino wool Maria sent me. It is so soft!
I volunteered to be in a Test Knit...to do socks but haven't been notified if I've been chosen. I'll have to learn a new cast on for toe-up socks and a new way to turn the heel. Hey, anyway to learn something new! Just have to wait and see.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
A Large Squishy Package
I got the most fantastic Yarn Pal package yesterday. Actually I got a notice that the Post Office had attempted to deliver a package last week but I never got to town to pick it up until yesterday. And then, I had to ride around while we were doing our errands and shopping with this huge, squishy package at my feet. When we finally got home...and got all those bags from Aldi's in the house...I finally got to open it. (When I got the 'notice to deliver' I checked the sender's name with the membership list on Yarn Pals and found it and knew that my package was from New Zealand and who it was from.)
It was definitely worth the wait. There was so much yarn I was overwhelmed! I didn't
know what to pick up and squeeze first!! Jeff spied the red-white-blue balls and asked if that was sock yarn. It was...and enough to make a pair for him! It's 100% New Zealand Merino, superwash and still so soft!! I know I said the next pair of socks I did was going to be for me, but that yarn...Paton's Kroy ordered from JoAnn's Fabrics...hasn't gotten here yet, so last night I started those merino ones
for Jeff. Oh, I love
the way that yarn feels! He's never going to want to take them off!
There were several balls of navy merino, too, probably enough for socks for me AND a shawl. But the topper was all the Alpaca! For awhile all I did was hold it and stroke it. I have never used alpaca but I got on Ravelry.com and quickly found several shawls that would look speculator in it.
Most Yarn Pal packages include knitting accessories because knitters never have enough stitch holders or stitch markers. I
never do because I usually can't find my stitch holders and I manage to flip stitch markers instead of slipping them. (And once a stitch marker is airborne and one of my dogs sees it, it becomes a target and my dogs both feel its their sworn duty to catch that bugger and eat it.) There were also cable needles...I've seen them in catalogs but never would have bought them for myself. And the point protectors were shaped like sheep instead of cones! Oh, those long, 3-pronged things are stitch holders. Again I've seen them in catalogs recently but.... So much here I just wouldn't have bought for myself....
The calendar that was included besides having photos of beautiful New Zealand,
highlights holidays and seasonal days...like the 1st day of Autumn-March 1st, the 1st Day of Winter-June 1st and Picnic Day-August 3rd. There are a lot of Anniversary Days highlighted without much explanation, so I think I'll have to do some research on Google on them. Oh, and I never knew any other country had Daylight Savings Time, too.
There was also a box of Lindt's Gourmet Truffles that I think may just have to be saved for the March birthday dinner.
My Yarn Pal is Maria Bentley and she lives in Wellington N.Z. I think this was just about the best soft squishy package I've every gotten. Thank you, again, Maria. I am going to enjoy every bit of this.
It was definitely worth the wait. There was so much yarn I was overwhelmed! I didn't
the way that yarn feels! He's never going to want to take them off!
There were several balls of navy merino, too, probably enough for socks for me AND a shawl. But the topper was all the Alpaca! For awhile all I did was hold it and stroke it. I have never used alpaca but I got on Ravelry.com and quickly found several shawls that would look speculator in it.
Most Yarn Pal packages include knitting accessories because knitters never have enough stitch holders or stitch markers. I
The calendar that was included besides having photos of beautiful New Zealand,
There was also a box of Lindt's Gourmet Truffles that I think may just have to be saved for the March birthday dinner.
My Yarn Pal is Maria Bentley and she lives in Wellington N.Z. I think this was just about the best soft squishy package I've every gotten. Thank you, again, Maria. I am going to enjoy every bit of this.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
It's 2020 already and the more things have changed, the more they've stayed the same! I started in the '50's, enjoyed the '60's, and '70's, endured the '80's and '90's, got my mojo back in the '00's and made it thru the '10's. Don't know what to expect from the '20's but whatever it is, I'm ready for it! Like a cartoon I saw on FB yesterday, 2020 was the setting for the Jetson's so where's their space car? (or the robot maid?)
I decided to watch the Rose Bowl Parade on TV yesterday morning but didn't watch long. It didn't seem as exciting as it use to be. The bands were as big...and loud...as usual but the few floats I did see didn't impress me like they use to. I left the TV on and went to help Jeff in the kitchen. Ed was coming over for supper and Jeff was doing a 1-pot meal but he wasn't using the crockpot. Instead he was using the dutch oven that is part of the set of enamel-coated cast iron cookware that Sherry gave us for Christmas. And instead of a pot roast, the meat was chicken. (The veggies stayed the same: medium and mild peppers, carrots, mushrooms, onion, potatoes.) He's been trying different seasoning mixes, too. Yesterday it was a Thai skillet casserole but he had more meat and veggies than the packet called for so he put in a can of cream of chicken soup and half a can of whole milk. My contributions to the meal were brown-and-serve dinner rolls and a sugar-free pudding cheesecake. I thought the cheesecake was a little bland so I put out a jar of Maggie's strawberry jam. The guys seemed to think that made the dessert! Everyone had 2 slices! And the main course disappeared, too, along with the dinner rolls!
After supper Ed and I sat and talked over coffee as usual while Jeff went to take a nap. Then Fanny, our big dog, got sick under the kitchen table and I had to call Jeff for help! The Head School Custodian in him came thru like a flash and suddenly there was kitty litter (that we keep and use for icy stairs outside) on the mess. He had it swept up in no time and headed back to finish his snooze, telling me to 'mop the floor'. When Ed and I got back to the table for a 2nd cup of coffee we got talking about our high school, college and life experiences. He was surprised his mother hadn't told my mom some of those stories but she never did. I explained why while not keeping my Hodgkin's Disease a secret, I chose not to talk about it a lot at the time. (I had 2 very good friends being treated for breast cancer at the same time. I saw what they were going thru, how they were being mutilated and how it effected them and how my treatment was effecting me. I had only 1 surgery...a biopsy. They had multiple surgeries. They had reoccurring malignancies and I didn't. I felt they needed all the good thoughts and prayers that might have come my way if I had been more open. In fact, I wish they had had my oncologist, Tom Ryan!) Anyway, 2 pots of coffee later, we had solved the problems of being only children with older parents and maybe got to know each other better. Ed is 8 years younger than me, l of 2 of the younger grandchildren, I am the middle grandchild and the rest of our cousins were all at least 15 years older than me. Most of the cousins we grew up with were the children of our cousins! We even called cousins 'aunt' and 'uncle' because that's what they called our parents! Talk about a large Italian family!!
Fanny recovered enough to eat a bowl of dry dog food later last night and she slept thru the night. I don't know what she got into outside that could have made her that sick but she is the one noted for picking up stuff left by other critters! She spends a lot of time grooming her feet so she could have walked thru something, too, and ingested enough of it while cleaning herself. Sometimes dogs are as much bother as babies.
Since I finished Jeff's Christmas socks on New Year's Eve I didn't have anything on the needles to work on yesterday. I got the notice Tuesday that 'My' sock yarn should be delivered Friday-tomorrow and I don't know if I want to start something else before then or just wait and start MY socks. I guess I'll make a couple of cotton washcloths til then. We need some new ones!!
It's 2020 already and the more things have changed, the more they've stayed the same! I started in the '50's, enjoyed the '60's, and '70's, endured the '80's and '90's, got my mojo back in the '00's and made it thru the '10's. Don't know what to expect from the '20's but whatever it is, I'm ready for it! Like a cartoon I saw on FB yesterday, 2020 was the setting for the Jetson's so where's their space car? (or the robot maid?)
I decided to watch the Rose Bowl Parade on TV yesterday morning but didn't watch long. It didn't seem as exciting as it use to be. The bands were as big...and loud...as usual but the few floats I did see didn't impress me like they use to. I left the TV on and went to help Jeff in the kitchen. Ed was coming over for supper and Jeff was doing a 1-pot meal but he wasn't using the crockpot. Instead he was using the dutch oven that is part of the set of enamel-coated cast iron cookware that Sherry gave us for Christmas. And instead of a pot roast, the meat was chicken. (The veggies stayed the same: medium and mild peppers, carrots, mushrooms, onion, potatoes.) He's been trying different seasoning mixes, too. Yesterday it was a Thai skillet casserole but he had more meat and veggies than the packet called for so he put in a can of cream of chicken soup and half a can of whole milk. My contributions to the meal were brown-and-serve dinner rolls and a sugar-free pudding cheesecake. I thought the cheesecake was a little bland so I put out a jar of Maggie's strawberry jam. The guys seemed to think that made the dessert! Everyone had 2 slices! And the main course disappeared, too, along with the dinner rolls!
After supper Ed and I sat and talked over coffee as usual while Jeff went to take a nap. Then Fanny, our big dog, got sick under the kitchen table and I had to call Jeff for help! The Head School Custodian in him came thru like a flash and suddenly there was kitty litter (that we keep and use for icy stairs outside) on the mess. He had it swept up in no time and headed back to finish his snooze, telling me to 'mop the floor'. When Ed and I got back to the table for a 2nd cup of coffee we got talking about our high school, college and life experiences. He was surprised his mother hadn't told my mom some of those stories but she never did. I explained why while not keeping my Hodgkin's Disease a secret, I chose not to talk about it a lot at the time. (I had 2 very good friends being treated for breast cancer at the same time. I saw what they were going thru, how they were being mutilated and how it effected them and how my treatment was effecting me. I had only 1 surgery...a biopsy. They had multiple surgeries. They had reoccurring malignancies and I didn't. I felt they needed all the good thoughts and prayers that might have come my way if I had been more open. In fact, I wish they had had my oncologist, Tom Ryan!) Anyway, 2 pots of coffee later, we had solved the problems of being only children with older parents and maybe got to know each other better. Ed is 8 years younger than me, l of 2 of the younger grandchildren, I am the middle grandchild and the rest of our cousins were all at least 15 years older than me. Most of the cousins we grew up with were the children of our cousins! We even called cousins 'aunt' and 'uncle' because that's what they called our parents! Talk about a large Italian family!!
Fanny recovered enough to eat a bowl of dry dog food later last night and she slept thru the night. I don't know what she got into outside that could have made her that sick but she is the one noted for picking up stuff left by other critters! She spends a lot of time grooming her feet so she could have walked thru something, too, and ingested enough of it while cleaning herself. Sometimes dogs are as much bother as babies.
Since I finished Jeff's Christmas socks on New Year's Eve I didn't have anything on the needles to work on yesterday. I got the notice Tuesday that 'My' sock yarn should be delivered Friday-tomorrow and I don't know if I want to start something else before then or just wait and start MY socks. I guess I'll make a couple of cotton washcloths til then. We need some new ones!!
Monday, December 30, 2019
Christmas 2019
Christmas has come and gone for another year. My cousin, Ed, and Jeff's sister, Sherry, joined us for Christmas dinner this year. We did a pork loin on the Ronco with baked potatoes (in the microwave), gravy and green beans. I even made baking powder biscuits! For dessert I had made a sugar-free chocolate pudding pie and a sugar-free cake. Ed went the other route and brought petite-fours and frosted brownies...definitely not sugar free!...for dessert. Everything was delicious!! Can't beat the Ronco for doing a piece of meat. We put a dry rub on it the night before and left it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag over night. Never had a roast been so tender and flavorful! Jeff did the green beans...he calls them 'fried' actually you saute them in olive oil and butter and seasoned with garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. I'm not sure if he didn't put in a jigger or two of hot sauce, too. Anyway, he opened 2 cans and they all went!
Dinner was suppose to be at 1-1:30 but we couldn't find all the leaves for the table. Years ago, Dad and I had measured and cut 4 pine boards and he had drilled and put in holes and pegs to create the leaf system. (In those days it was nothing to have 25 people or more here for Christmas Eve dinner!!) I even had numbered the sides of the leaves (1-1,1-2, 2-3, 3-4) so we could save time putting it together! This year we couldn't find leaf #1 and while #2, 3 and 4 fit together they would not stay put in the table because the pegs that fit into the table were in the missing leaf #1! Finally, we just gave up and put them all away and used the table without and leaves.(There were only 4 of us so while it was cozy it wasn't that crowded!!) But the time we wasted trying to get the leaves to fit...I forgot to start the Ronco at noon so we ate a little later than we had planned...but it all worked out ok.
Sherry went home a little after 4 pm so she wouldn't have to drive after dark but Ed stayed and we talked. He's sold his house in E Herkimer and now lives in Sherwood Acres. It's been a change he's still getting use to but he likes it. It's got me thinking about all the stuff (read: junk) I've collected over the years, what Jeff brought with him and what we've accumulated since his arrival and I'm thinking maybe we should start downsizing and not wait until it's just one of us left to do it. We'll have to wait and see. Jeff is a bit of a hoarder...worse than me with yarn...and I'm sure it will be difficult to get him to part with any of the old computer monitors, keyboards...just look around our living room!!
I did get the hat that I was doing for
Sherry finished in time. I used Red Heart's 'with Love' in Metallic Blue on US 7's. The pattern, A Lady's Hat by Nurcan Kaya, that I found on Ravelry called for a larger needle but Sherry prefers a snug hat. And that's a braid not a cable around the hat with the button holding the ends together. For Ed I made a pair of socks
using Paton's Kroy sock yarn in 'Route 66'. It made up rather nicely, too.
(I also got a shawl/scarf finished for Maggie with Red Heart's 'with Love' in Metallic Pewter using Liz Abinante' Saroyan, another pattern I found on Ravelry. I had it all ready to take to the Post Office to mail to her on Christmas Eve when she stopped her on the way home from her husband's PT at Little Falls Hospital.)
Before Ed left, Zoey started playing tag with her friend, a mouse. They'd chase each other around the TV room but never let the other one get closer than touch. Then they'd sit and stare at each other for a few minutes and then the race was on again! It went on for over half an hour!! It was so cute...and sweet...and funny. Zoey never got closer to the mouse than to kiss it's head or ass depending on which way the mouse was heading. Suddenly it was over and the mouse headed back into it's hiding place and Zoey jumped up on a chair and went to sleep.
Saturday Ed and I went to Cooperstown to unload my display in the shop. The ride was nice, no snow or ice on the road...or on the hills along the way, either! I was disappointed with my December sales in the shop so we had a lot of stock to bring home. The parking lot of Doubleday Field is still a muddy mess! It was dug up to replace water and electrical lines as part of the $$ renovation of Doubleday Field and won't get it repaved until Spring. While we got new stairs up to the shop and a
and a new wall along the big parking lot, our flower bed took a direct hit. I don't think it will be as nice as usual next year. And we still have to have a new railing installed. After we finished in the shop I took Ed over to the Doubleday Cafe on Main St for lunch. It was crowded...lots of tourists...but we got lucky and didn't have to wait long for a table. Jeff was waiting for us at home with coffee to hear about the trip. Now I've just got to find someplace to put all that stock until next April.
Last night I was working on Jeff's
Christmas socks...yes, Christmas 2019 but I was close!...and was ready to do the heel on the 2nd sock when the power went out. There was no sense in trying to knit by flashlight and it was almost 10 pm so I just took my pills and went to bed...and the dogs went with me! The power came back on in about an hour and woke me up because the lamp by my chair as still on and the clock on the night table started flashing! I got up and took care of them...and the flashing clock on the stove in the kitchen...and then went back to bed. The power went out twice more during the night and I got up to let the dogs out and stop the clocks from flashing around 5 am. We all went back to bed after that! You've got to remember when the power goes out around here it means no heat, water or lights so bed was the warmest place in the house...especially with 2 dogs! Zoey even crawled under the blankets for while!!
Jeff's got PT this afternoon...not that he's looking forward to it. His range of motion has improved but the pain hasn't lessened. He was evaluated last week and the recommendation was for another course of PT. We've got to stop at the grocery store on the way home, too, and I've got a movie overdue at the library. (I've got 12 books waiting for me at Ilion Library, too! How do I get so many of what I order to come in at once??) It's been raining steady all night and day but most of the ice and snow is gone. There isn't much snow in the forecast for the next week, either.
I ordered some more sock yarn...this time from JoAnn Fabrics...so I can finally make myself a pair. Ed got a pair for Christmas, and Jeff got his birthday socks...due in March but finished in December, and another pair I found that I had started for him besides these I'm doing now so the next pair is for ME!! I usually order sock yarn from Mary Maxim but the last couple of times the color runs in the 2 skeins that were suppose to match haven't. The socks I'm finishing now had a couple of yards of yarn wound around the skein...like an after thought...just to get the weight up to where it should be? I ordered the same label yarn, Paton's Kroy, but this time from JoAnn Fabrics. Let's see if it's the yarn or if Mary Maxim had gotten bad skeins. Oh, I also joined KnitCrate, a yarn club. Once a month they send a box with enough yarn to make...in my case a pair of socks...Sock Crate. But I think merino and baby alpaca is too good/nice/soft to be walked all over so I'm planning to use my first skein, a beautiful green called Garland, for a shawl. I've already found several patterns that call for only 400 yds of yarn...the amount that's in that skein. Photo to follow!!
Now it's time for Jeff's PT!!
Dinner was suppose to be at 1-1:30 but we couldn't find all the leaves for the table. Years ago, Dad and I had measured and cut 4 pine boards and he had drilled and put in holes and pegs to create the leaf system. (In those days it was nothing to have 25 people or more here for Christmas Eve dinner!!) I even had numbered the sides of the leaves (1-1,1-2, 2-3, 3-4) so we could save time putting it together! This year we couldn't find leaf #1 and while #2, 3 and 4 fit together they would not stay put in the table because the pegs that fit into the table were in the missing leaf #1! Finally, we just gave up and put them all away and used the table without and leaves.(There were only 4 of us so while it was cozy it wasn't that crowded!!) But the time we wasted trying to get the leaves to fit...I forgot to start the Ronco at noon so we ate a little later than we had planned...but it all worked out ok.
Sherry went home a little after 4 pm so she wouldn't have to drive after dark but Ed stayed and we talked. He's sold his house in E Herkimer and now lives in Sherwood Acres. It's been a change he's still getting use to but he likes it. It's got me thinking about all the stuff (read: junk) I've collected over the years, what Jeff brought with him and what we've accumulated since his arrival and I'm thinking maybe we should start downsizing and not wait until it's just one of us left to do it. We'll have to wait and see. Jeff is a bit of a hoarder...worse than me with yarn...and I'm sure it will be difficult to get him to part with any of the old computer monitors, keyboards...just look around our living room!!
I did get the hat that I was doing for
(I also got a shawl/scarf finished for Maggie with Red Heart's 'with Love' in Metallic Pewter using Liz Abinante' Saroyan, another pattern I found on Ravelry. I had it all ready to take to the Post Office to mail to her on Christmas Eve when she stopped her on the way home from her husband's PT at Little Falls Hospital.)
Before Ed left, Zoey started playing tag with her friend, a mouse. They'd chase each other around the TV room but never let the other one get closer than touch. Then they'd sit and stare at each other for a few minutes and then the race was on again! It went on for over half an hour!! It was so cute...and sweet...and funny. Zoey never got closer to the mouse than to kiss it's head or ass depending on which way the mouse was heading. Suddenly it was over and the mouse headed back into it's hiding place and Zoey jumped up on a chair and went to sleep.
Saturday Ed and I went to Cooperstown to unload my display in the shop. The ride was nice, no snow or ice on the road...or on the hills along the way, either! I was disappointed with my December sales in the shop so we had a lot of stock to bring home. The parking lot of Doubleday Field is still a muddy mess! It was dug up to replace water and electrical lines as part of the $$ renovation of Doubleday Field and won't get it repaved until Spring. While we got new stairs up to the shop and a
and a new wall along the big parking lot, our flower bed took a direct hit. I don't think it will be as nice as usual next year. And we still have to have a new railing installed. After we finished in the shop I took Ed over to the Doubleday Cafe on Main St for lunch. It was crowded...lots of tourists...but we got lucky and didn't have to wait long for a table. Jeff was waiting for us at home with coffee to hear about the trip. Now I've just got to find someplace to put all that stock until next April.
Last night I was working on Jeff's
Jeff's got PT this afternoon...not that he's looking forward to it. His range of motion has improved but the pain hasn't lessened. He was evaluated last week and the recommendation was for another course of PT. We've got to stop at the grocery store on the way home, too, and I've got a movie overdue at the library. (I've got 12 books waiting for me at Ilion Library, too! How do I get so many of what I order to come in at once??) It's been raining steady all night and day but most of the ice and snow is gone. There isn't much snow in the forecast for the next week, either.
I ordered some more sock yarn...this time from JoAnn Fabrics...so I can finally make myself a pair. Ed got a pair for Christmas, and Jeff got his birthday socks...due in March but finished in December, and another pair I found that I had started for him besides these I'm doing now so the next pair is for ME!! I usually order sock yarn from Mary Maxim but the last couple of times the color runs in the 2 skeins that were suppose to match haven't. The socks I'm finishing now had a couple of yards of yarn wound around the skein...like an after thought...just to get the weight up to where it should be? I ordered the same label yarn, Paton's Kroy, but this time from JoAnn Fabrics. Let's see if it's the yarn or if Mary Maxim had gotten bad skeins. Oh, I also joined KnitCrate, a yarn club. Once a month they send a box with enough yarn to make...in my case a pair of socks...Sock Crate. But I think merino and baby alpaca is too good/nice/soft to be walked all over so I'm planning to use my first skein, a beautiful green called Garland, for a shawl. I've already found several patterns that call for only 400 yds of yarn...the amount that's in that skein. Photo to follow!!
Now it's time for Jeff's PT!!
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Jeff's Birthday Socks...A Little Late!
Yesterday I finally finished the 1st sock of a pair I was making for Jeff's birthday last March 1st when I suddenly put it away. It sat unfinished in my stash
for months! When I pulled it out yesterday and started working on it again I couldn't remember why I had done it until I pulled out the 2nd skein. See, Jeff wears a size US 12 shoe and is about 6'3". It takes an entire skein of sock yarn to make 1 sock so I always buy 2 skeins...that way I'm sure the numbers match and the self-patterning/striping will. Well, these 2 skeins of Patons Kroy Sock yarn in Sunburst did not match. Oh, the numbers did, and the name did but the colorways didn't. At first I thought one skein had been wound up backwards so I rewound it. Nope, the colorways still didn't come anywhere near matching. All I can figure out is that the machine operator started to wind one of those skeins in a different place in the colorway. Jeff said who cares? My feet will be in my shoes! Well, I care! I like my wild and crazy patterned socks to match! The only way I can get this pair to do that is to 'cut and paste' the colorway but since I had about 2" left over after I BO I'm not doing to try that!
To make matters worse, I was later going thru my stash looking for something when I came across another pair of unfinished socks I had been working on for Jeff. These were done with Patons Kroy FX sock yarn in Chambray and 1 sock was still on the needles! (THAT'S where those 2 short circulars were!!) This time the colorway was different. The blue gray in the 1st skein...and sock...had changed to blue brown in the 2nd! Again, he said So What? In fact, Kroy FX is his favorite sock yarn and he was thrilled to get another pair especially since they discontinued that yarn.
I am so disappointed with Patons Kroy sock yarn right now that I don't know if I'll continue to buy it. I've got another pair of socks in Sweet Stripes I'm doing for a friend that are coming out a match and I have 2 skeins each of Landscape Stripes and Route 66 that are going to be socks for Jeff and me that I have my fingers crossed over. But after that I'm going to have to decide if I want to continue to chance getting matchable skeins or switch to another sock yarn. I just joined KnitCrates...or rather SockCrates...so I'll wait and see how that yarn is. There isn't a yarn shop anywhere near me so I have to order yarn and take chances. Patons Kroy Sock yarn was always so reliable.
To make matters worse, I was later going thru my stash looking for something when I came across another pair of unfinished socks I had been working on for Jeff. These were done with Patons Kroy FX sock yarn in Chambray and 1 sock was still on the needles! (THAT'S where those 2 short circulars were!!) This time the colorway was different. The blue gray in the 1st skein...and sock...had changed to blue brown in the 2nd! Again, he said So What? In fact, Kroy FX is his favorite sock yarn and he was thrilled to get another pair especially since they discontinued that yarn.
I am so disappointed with Patons Kroy sock yarn right now that I don't know if I'll continue to buy it. I've got another pair of socks in Sweet Stripes I'm doing for a friend that are coming out a match and I have 2 skeins each of Landscape Stripes and Route 66 that are going to be socks for Jeff and me that I have my fingers crossed over. But after that I'm going to have to decide if I want to continue to chance getting matchable skeins or switch to another sock yarn. I just joined KnitCrates...or rather SockCrates...so I'll wait and see how that yarn is. There isn't a yarn shop anywhere near me so I have to order yarn and take chances. Patons Kroy Sock yarn was always so reliable.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Jeff 13 Mice 0
Jeff got a couple more mice yesterday and 2 more overnight. I sure hope that wipes out at least 2 nests. A mouse nest has an average of 6-8 inhabitants and he's gotten 13 so far! I know there are at least 2 still alive but their days are numbered.
It was another of those gray, damp, chilly winter days yesterday but with rain instead snow. My body knew something was coming because I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep last night...kept tossing and turning. I knew it was bad when Fanny, the Australian Cattledog/mix sighed deeply, got up off the bed next to me and jumped into the armchair at the foot of the bed. She stayed there for a couple of hours...until she was sure I had fallen asleep? I remember looking at the bedside clock at 2:40 am and then it was suddenly blinking at me! I must have fallen asleep (at last) and the power had gone out. When it came back on, the clock started blinking wildly! After I realized what was happening I managed to turn on the light and reset the clock...my cell phone in it's charger said it was 3:45 am. I decided a quick trip to the bathroom was probably a good idea then and when I got into the hall realized something in the kitchen was blinking, too! Turned out to be the clock on the stove! Got it reset and finally made it back to bed around 4 am. Fell back to sleep quickly and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing! It was 8:30 am! A telemarketer! I not too graciously nor ladylike told her what I thought of her calling at that time and hung up. Two more telemarketers called after that...about 45 minutes apart...but I had given up and gotten up. Jeff was up by then and both dogs had been let out and brought back in but that hadn't stopped Zoey from 'going' on the TV room floor. (At least she picks the room with vinyl flooring instead of hardwood.) Today's weather turned out to be about the same as yesterday so I layered up before we headed out for Jeff's PT...scheduled for 2 pm. We stopped at the car dealer on the highway across from the florist on our way past because we both saw Subaru's(different ones) in the lot. We stopped again on the way home and got the details. It looks like we may end up buying a used Outback (my preference) or Forester (Jeff's preference) if they can find us one and we can make a deal. Their mechanic also rebuilds Subaru's so that's probably where we could get the best deal for ours. We told them we weren't really in a hurry...just by Spring!
I took a sock I was making for Jeff's birthday (March 1st) with me to work on while he was in PT. Got plenty of questions and
comments about it. Got quite a bit of it done, too! I'm about ready to turn the heel and start on the leg. Jeff likes wearing wool socks...wears them all year...and really needs some new ones. (You can darn them only so many times!!) When I got home today I started looking at online catalogs for sock yarn but couldn't find what I really liked. Then I found Knitcrate...a monthly club that sells yarn. I joined and ordered some sock yarn. If I don't like it...for Jeff...I'll use it for me (I need new socks, too) and the yarn I was going to use for myself will just become another pair of socks for him. One thing I do have to say about Jeff, he doesn't complain if the colorway of the sock yarn is a little wild. He always says...his feet are in his shoes...who cares what color his socks are. That sure gives me a lot of leeway when picking out yarn. (I do compromise a little and stay away from the purples and pinks and the beaded yarns.) Now let's
see if I can finish his birthday socks AND make him a pair for Christmas.
It was another of those gray, damp, chilly winter days yesterday but with rain instead snow. My body knew something was coming because I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep last night...kept tossing and turning. I knew it was bad when Fanny, the Australian Cattledog/mix sighed deeply, got up off the bed next to me and jumped into the armchair at the foot of the bed. She stayed there for a couple of hours...until she was sure I had fallen asleep? I remember looking at the bedside clock at 2:40 am and then it was suddenly blinking at me! I must have fallen asleep (at last) and the power had gone out. When it came back on, the clock started blinking wildly! After I realized what was happening I managed to turn on the light and reset the clock...my cell phone in it's charger said it was 3:45 am. I decided a quick trip to the bathroom was probably a good idea then and when I got into the hall realized something in the kitchen was blinking, too! Turned out to be the clock on the stove! Got it reset and finally made it back to bed around 4 am. Fell back to sleep quickly and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing! It was 8:30 am! A telemarketer! I not too graciously nor ladylike told her what I thought of her calling at that time and hung up. Two more telemarketers called after that...about 45 minutes apart...but I had given up and gotten up. Jeff was up by then and both dogs had been let out and brought back in but that hadn't stopped Zoey from 'going' on the TV room floor. (At least she picks the room with vinyl flooring instead of hardwood.) Today's weather turned out to be about the same as yesterday so I layered up before we headed out for Jeff's PT...scheduled for 2 pm. We stopped at the car dealer on the highway across from the florist on our way past because we both saw Subaru's(different ones) in the lot. We stopped again on the way home and got the details. It looks like we may end up buying a used Outback (my preference) or Forester (Jeff's preference) if they can find us one and we can make a deal. Their mechanic also rebuilds Subaru's so that's probably where we could get the best deal for ours. We told them we weren't really in a hurry...just by Spring!
I took a sock I was making for Jeff's birthday (March 1st) with me to work on while he was in PT. Got plenty of questions and
see if I can finish his birthday socks AND make him a pair for Christmas.
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