Here are 3 new hats that will be going to the shop this weekend.  Do the bottom 2 need pom poms?

Prayer to Mary the Mother of God

 For my Catholic and non Catholic friends:

Today, is the day that Mary passes through your house. This is a Novena for those who believe in the power of Prayer,

Hail Mary full of grace! the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus!! Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen!

Make your special request please don't break the Novena, just copy and past on your timeline.

Praying today for anyone struggling in anyway, battling illness, in mourning ,fighting fear, anxieties of the future and every prayer request. We all need the power of prayers. Amen

Thank you, Yarn Pal!

     This was swap week for Yarn Pals and I got a fantastic package from my new Yarn Pal, Maria Martin, today.  Maria lives in Oklahoma and the box was HUGE!!  Besides the 5 pattern books, there were multiple skeins of all the yarns shown.  There is so much yarn, I don't know where to start!!  And on top of that 

there is more!  That "Stars & Stripes" is a mini sewing

kit!  And there a small pouch to hold a mini pack of tissue.  And a small, zippered project pouch. And one of the round yarn cutters that can go on a key ring. There was even a package of dog biscuits for each dog! (Fanny swallowed her treat in 2 gulps, but Zoey ate hers like a lady...then looked to see where I had put the package!)  But the yarn was the heart of this package.

   I have never heard of this label before and that is something I regret very much.  The yarn is beautiful...so soft and the colors are so rich.  There is some fine yarn (for a shawl? I'm in a shawl-state of mind), some worsted, some bulky yarn...there is just so much I really don't know what to make with which yarn first!!  But I do know, I am going to enjoy just sitting and dreaming about using it for a while!

    But I got excited as I unpacked the books, too.  The baby book has some really cute patterns and so does the hat book, but you can't see the book with the directions for knit animals!!  They are so cute!! And by the time I reached the Arne & Carlos Christmas book I was completely blown away!  I have been looking at Arne & Carlos books for a couple of years now but always managed to resist the urge to buy one. I am so grateful and happy to finally have one of those, and all of these pattern books.  I know I will use them...for Christmas gifts and for new stock for the shop for next season.

   Thank you again, Maria, for this over-the -top Yarn Pal package.  It is more than anyone would imagine and makes me feel very privileged to be your Yarn Pal.

p.s.  If you knit or crochet and would like to join a great group for some friendship and fun...and some swaps...consider Yarn Pals.  You can't go wrong with them!

All Set To Sail!

      Jeff's brother, Tim, and Tim's step-son, Mark, got together and built a trailer for Jeff to use with his fishing kayak and Tim brought it down today. (Jeff's been putting the boat on top of the car.) Driving around with it up there hasn't been too bad except that the back hatch on the car has been off limits because the boat's braces blocked it. I wasn't too thrilled with Jeff lifting the boat up, but he kept telling me it wasn't that heavy. The main drawback was that the trolling motor and its' battery and the fishing seat couldn't stay attached when the boat was upside-down on the car! That made a lot of extra work for Jeff every time he wanted to take the boat out. And Jeff said the battery alone weighted more than the boat! Now all Jeff has to do is get the car wired to accept the trailer lights and get a trailer hitch installed on the car. Since we have an appointment to have some mechanical work done on the car this week the timing couldn't have been better. As long as the mechanic has the car he might as well do what is needed to get it trailer-ready.  The trailer will also come in handy moving other things, too.  The Town has a 'Dumpster Day' at the Town Barn coming up in October.  If the trailer gets registered in time it will be perfect to use to take bags of trash and items too large to fit in the back of the car over to the dumpster.  (Tim drove it down here from his house w/o plates(!!) but since the town barn is across the street from the Troopers' station, I don't think we should chance it!)

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Another One of Those Days

I had an appointment for my regular INR today but nothing about it was regular. The nurse had to prick 3 of my fingers before she was fast enough to catch enough blood to test! I scored 7.1. Never has my result been so high in the 14 years I've been on Warfarin. Between the stress of Jeff's PET/PFT procedures last week and trying to watch what I've been eating...I scored 'critical'...it was practically red water instead of blood! Whenever you score in the'critical' range, the nurse has to draw a vial of blood and send it to the lab for testing. It took 2 nurses 3 attempts before they got 1 vial. I just got an email from the lab that I scored 6.9 this time...still high and critical. Then I got a phone call from Bassett because it seems that one of the nurses forgot to record the instructions to me and they wanted to be sure I knew how to cope with such a high INR. Besides the doctor instructions to hold the Warfarin for tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night and to re-test on Friday what could they say? Avoid sharp and pointed objects (like knitting needles)? They could have easily just said I OD-ed on Warfarin! No wonder I've felt so beat/tired lately. Now I get to go 3 days w/o any Warfarin and after re-testing again, we'll start adjusting the dosage. Wonder how long it will take to get back into range? I've been out-of-range before but never like this!

Yarn Pals and Other Happenings

     I got a really nice package from my Yarn Pal, Janice Pushak, last week.  Janice lives in Pittsburgh and must be a mind reader!  She sent 2 books (one of them a knitting mystery that promises a knitting pattern at the end!), beautiful yarn and a lot of stitch markers!!  I was so desperate for some markers that I had been looking under chair cushions last week for lost ones!  There was also a sturdy bookmark, some cookies, tea and a tote bag in my package.  And a nice note introducing herself arrived a day or so later!  I got the photo taken today so here it is!

  

   With that finally done I tried to send a photo of the receipt from the post office that showed I had mailed my package to a Yarn Pal on time. Of course, my little Kodak 'PixPro' doesn't focus really well on USPO receipts, and I had a hard time getting any of the printing to show or be in focus.  After several tries, I ended up sending an out-of-focus view and then had to send all the info that wasn't in focus. My package has to travel just about 166 miles...the shortest trip I ever sent a Yarn Pal package...but it caused enough headaches for me and for the group monitor in-charge.   I knew it was going to happen like this, that's what's been happening the last couple of swaps I've been in.  Oh, well, maybe the next one will be better...easier?

   I had an INR done today and scored a 2.9... nearly perfect! I don't have to have another 'finger pricked' for 2 weeks and my daily warfarin dose stays the same.  I've been taking arthritis strength Tylenol lately and was a little afraid it might cause my numbers to be 'off' but it didn't bother them.  My shoulders and arms ache a lot since I've been using the walker (a good reason to get off it) but I'm still a little unsteady when walking longer distances. Jeff has been encouraging me to drive and  yesterday and today I drove to town with him as copilot.  No problems...but today I got beeped at by a white SUV that turned out of a driveway after I turned on to a street.  I never noticed it until it beeped!  When I made my next turn it kept going by and we both gasped to see that it was a county Sheriff's SUV!  

  Jeff took me to Arby's for a late lunch after my INR and instead of their fantastic burgers we had our regular Arby's sandwiches (beef for him, Buffalo chicken for me).  One of the counter girls had just made 3 small chocolate shakes for some customers but another girl had done it faster and she was offering them free to those who were waiting for their food.  I took one and that was my dessert.  I have been hungry for ice cream lately and that chocolate shake was so good! It really hit the spot and not to mention it cooled it down after their Buffalo chicken!

   I think it's about time to give the girls their peanut butter treat and maybe a potty break.  I think I'll get myself a bowl of dry cheerios, too.  Or maybe a couple of some of those cookies in my Yarn Pal box??