Our Tree

    I finally got our tree up and decorated today.  It wasn't a great feat...it's only a 2ft tall (and spindly) table topper that I've used for the last 10-15 years.  (Putting up the big tree got to be too much work, so I switched to this tabletop one.  I actually gave away the big tree and all the ornaments Mom and I had made over the years...a dumb move but....).  I've got 4 strands of mini lights on it and a couple of dozen snowflake and star buttons that are hung on ornament wires.  I also hung the cute little stitch markers

that I got in swaps over the years ('balls of yarn', enameled and silver animal charms), there's a crocheted wreath and a Hallmark ornament or two.  Last year I got 2 paper gift labels that were 'special' so

they were added.  I found that Snowman on a Sled that Mom had made in the back of a cupboard and he's perfect to hide the battery paks for the minilights.  I don't know what else I'll add this year...it looks pretty good to

 me!  I'll add a photo of the tree when the sun goes down.

   I really had to do some cleaning to get this far.  I wanted to move the table my printer was on over so the tree would be more visible from outside...incase a squirrel or deer walking by would be interested.  To do that I had to move the printer to the other end of the cedar chest.  I decided to move the ceramic dogs (Samantha and one of her puppies, Lady Di-can you guess when those puppies were born??)  I thought they'd look cute next to the tree, so they got dusted off and moved closer.  I think I'll find a placemat to put down for them as a rug to make the scene more natural.

   I had to add a layer of styrofoam to the tree's base because Fanny had knocked it over so many times with her tail it wouldn't support the metal rod that's the 'tree' trunk.  I had planned to replace the styrofoam in the base but decided it would be very messy and just added a 2" layer to it.  I taped it all together with packing tape and it seems a lot sturdier now.  I just want it to last this year.  I looked for a new tree at Walmart this week but they were too big and too expensive.  I think I'll order one from Amazon and turn this one into a bird feeder or something!

   While I was cleaning for this move, I found things that I didn't even know were missing!  A pair of 'good' scissors, a single short size 8 knitting needle, and a long circular size 4 or 5 needle, the dvd "Mama Mia", a nice little rollup tape measure from a Swap, the dog's muzzle and the newest pair of dog's nail clippers (who hid those??), and a dime!

My New Thought to Live By for 2024

 

It's Beginning to Look A Little Like Christmas

   Had to change the lyric to the Christmas song because the snow we've been getting hasn't stayed for more than a few hours so, it's beginning to look a little like Christmas!  We picked up the tray of cookies I ordered from the Java Shop in Herkimer yesterday and oh, were they worth it!  They look so nice and taste out of this world!  (I enjoy baking but it's so hard to do 4 or more kinds of Christmas cookies alone!  Besides, Robbie is a better baker than I am!!)  Anyway, I put most of the cookies in a Tupperware-type container and put them in the cupboard to try and save them for Christmas but I did fill a plate and put it in a ziplock bag and put it on the table so we would have something to have with our coffee. I picked a Cucidati for my 1st cookie when we got home and after supper, I tried another and what to my wonderful surprise, found I had an almond paste cookie!  Right there, those 2 made it worth the cost of the tray!  Today I tried a biscutti (it had yellow frosting and was lemon flavored) and a sesame seed cookie.  Both were better than I could have ever done. Jeff likes the Reese's treats (a PeanutButter cookie w/a Reese's cup on top) and the Cucidati's. I know we'll have enough cookies to make it to Christmas if I keep the big container hid in the cupboard!!  

   We went to Ilion today to the Library and made a quick stop at Aldi's.  I saw last Friday that they had panettone...an Italian dessert bread...so I got one.  It lasted until today (I was the only one eating it!) and I decided to get another.  It was great for breakfast, lightly toasted.  They were only $5.99 and the ones I got were filled with chocolate chips.  Traditionally, panettone is filled with dry fruit but since I'm not a big fan of dried fruit I went with the chocolate.  One of 

my mother's older sisters made it for Christmas and Easter but this one beat her's hands down. My mother never made panettone but until this year, I didn't know how good it could be.  My aunt's version was good but this one from Aldi's is better.  The score between homemade and storebought is Homemade 0, Storebought 2.  Now if I could just find some Honey clusters....

  The 3rd thing that is different this year is I'm not involved in any swaps.  I've been so busy trying to keep my stock up in the shop and do some special gifts that I just didn't have time to do anything else.  Besides, since I wasn't working in the shop, I wasn't tempted to buy any of the fantastic and different stocking stuffers that the shop members produce and that left me at a loss as to what to include in a swap package.  Just as I was feeling really disappointed because there wouldn't be any great packages in the mail, the group administrators decided to skip swaps this year.  I'm not sure why...I haven't been following the FB pages that closely, but hopefully, next year things will be back to normal for all of us.  I know I'm not the only one who is missing those great packages!!

  We haven't got our Christmas tree up yet but that should be done tomorrow.  My little table top tree has taken a beating over the years as Fanny, our Australian cattledog mix, usually knocks it off the table with her tail at least 2 or 3 times a year.  I've pushed the tree 'trunk' (a metal pole) back in the styrofoam base so often there's not much styrofoam left to hold it steady!  I bought a piece at Walmart today and tomorrow I'll try to fix things.  Last year I ended up having to tie the tree to the window frame to keep it upright! I looked at artifical Christmas trees today but they were all too big and too expensive! I'll post a photo of our tree here:

Cucidat

Happy Thanksgiving!

     Yesterday we went with my cousin, Ed, his cousin, Carolyn, and her sister-in-law, Delores, to the H.C. Smith Benefit Club, in St. Johnsville, NY for their annual Thanksgiving dinner.

Besides the fact I didn't have to clean house or cook a big meal, that was the best turkey dinner I had in a very long time! Served buffet style, you had your choice of white or dark meat (or both), mashed potatoes, squash, green beans, stuffing (out of this world!!) , and gravy. And you could have seconds! (Yes, Jeff and Ed did!)

The dessert table was overloaded with pie! We all picked a different variety, so I can say all the pies were delicious!

Delores's grandson told us he and his father (there were others) delivered over 400 meals as far as Canajoharie! There was a steady stream of take-out dinners, too. Over 40 turkeys were cooked for this feast and I'd be surprised if there were any leftovers! (They did run out of squash but that wasn't a shame to me!)

This was a 'free will donation' meal and was better that some you could have gotten in a fancy restaurant. Bread and butter and cranberry sauce was also on each table. They served soft drinks, milk (white & chocolate), eggnog, fruit juices and punch but no coffee. On the way out, Ed said we'd have to remember this for next year! Oh, yes!!!

p.s. When we got home, I made a pot of coffee and Jeff, Ed and I drank our fill!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Isn't This How It All Started?

   I've recently gotten interested in Knit Teddy Bears and have purchased several patterns in the past few months.  Sarah Gasson's "Knit A Teddy" has really captured my interest and at the same time allowed me to make changes to her designs.  I finally have a Teddy about ready to be put in the shop (hopefully for our Open House, Nov. 24-26th) and here she is...step by step.

This was after the first day's work.  I got her stuffed and her arms and legs attached.  I am so glad I remembered how to use buttons with shanks to attach arms and legs to make the doll sit more naturally.  I had a lot of fun getting her this far...and a lot of trouble!  Stuffing was not my thing!!  When Mom and I started out in the craft business, she sewed and stuffed the bodies and I handled the hair, faces and clothes.  Mom had a real knack for stuffing animals!  I think I got the arms and legs ok but the body is a little lacking!  It had a bigger belly at one point and suddenly, when it was all sewed up and the arms and legs were attached, she lost her belly!  I missed my Mom so much that night!  I kept calling her, asking for her help stuffing the bear.  I finally decided to name the bear Josie.

   I was so confused by the time I gave up and went to bed that night I wasn't sure what I was doing.  The next day I went thru the clothing bag looking for the bear's bloomers that I thought I had finished the night before.  No, what I had finished were the boy bear's baseball pants.  I finished the bloomers in the morning, dressed the bear and took the first picture.

   Today I dressed Josie in her pink dress (it still needs some butttons on the back) and made her one sock and shoe.  Tomorrow I'll do the

other shoe and sew a black bow on each.  It was suggested I knit a strap and make the shoes into MaryJane's but I'm not sure where to put it.  (There is a pattern available with MaryJane's that I might buy to settle that.)  Tomorrow I'll sew the buttons on the back of the dress and make a headband out of white grosgrain ribbon and the knit flower that was suggested to go on the bear's dress. I even got some elastic to put under the flower to make it easier to put the headband on.

   That leaves my problem of the rolled hem.  I guess I'll just put some water in the iron and try to steam the bottom of the dress. I'll add that picture tomorrow!
  

September Already?

   I haven't been the most faithful posting here lately.  Life has slowed down (like me) and not much has changed.  

   We finally got our car to pass State Inspection.  Took about a month.  We kept taking it to the mechanic who'd adjust something/change something/do something and tell us to drive it for a couple of days to see if the dashboard lights would stay off.  They wouldn't.  We'd drive it watching the milage, trying to get to "50-lights -off -miles" and as soon as we got near 45 miles--on would come the 'check oil' light and all the rest.  It got to be a real joke/pain.  Jeff kept trying to do what he could, too.  We ended up with several new filters, new spark plugs, clean oil and I don't know what else.  Finally, it came home with the new red sticker on the windshield that said it had passed inspection!  And 3 days later, all the lights came back on!  At least we've got until next July to worry about what to do with this car.

   I had just about decided to retire from the shop this winter.  I can't work in the store anymore and the drive to Cooperstown is too much for me to do alone.  Now, with the idea of replacing the car it looks like I'm going to have to stick with it for another year...or at least until I can save up a decent down payment.  I'm lucky enough to be able to send my stuff down and not have to spend several days every month down there thanks to a good friend in the shop.  Without Bonnie 'truckin' my stuff to Cooperstown I would really be out of luck!.  I started the season with just putting hats in the shop but managed to get a couple of small sweaters knitted for Labor Day.

This is one of them...a variation on my ol' sheep sweater.  I think it's cute...sure hope it sells!
I'm trying to knit a teddy bear for the new grandchild of a college friend and if it comes out OK, I may put some in the shop.  In the meantime, I knit when my hands allow/suffer when they don't...I never thought my fingers would hurt so much during the night!  The pain in my hands actually wakes me up!  Our summer weather this year hasn't helped much either.  It's rained a lot and there haven't been many 'hot, hazy days of summer' like in the past.  Or if there has, I sure haven't felt them!  I guess I'm just getting old.  Hey, it's better than the alternative!!

Life Goes On

     A couple of months ago Jeff's endocrinologist suggested he start using a new glucose monitor...one that you wear on your arm all the time.  That would mean he wouldn't have to prick his fingers multiple times a day to get a blood sample for a glucose reading.  That seemed like the way to go, so he agreed, and she ordered it.  His insurance company refused to approve the new monitor twice!  Finally, the doctor wrote a letter to the insurance company and...Viola!  the monitor/meter was approved.  It took a couple of weeks to be delivered but finally it got to us, and we had an appointment to learn how to use it.  Turns out it is quite simple to use.  The sensor rides on his upper arm and the monitor in his pocket.  The monitor beeps if his glucose level goes up or down and keeps track of the changes. He changes the sensor every 10 days, and he says it's easier than pricking his finger!!

  This week he had an appointment in Cooperstown for a Lumbar puncture with contrast and a CT scan.  He told them about the sensor, but no one seemed interested...they didn't cover it during the CT!  The Lumbar puncture took about 9 mins and the CT about 45, then he had about 4 hours in recovery. They let me go in and sit with him after he had been in recovery about half an hour.  When I got there his monitor was beeping!  (Jeff can't hear the monitor when he's sleeping and the staff in Recovery didn't hear it because of the other monitors beeping.)  I woke Jeff up and asked if he had eaten anything yet.  He mumbled something I took for 'no', so I looked for and found his monitor in his pants pocket.  His glucose level was 61 and I called a nurse over and showed her. They had offered him OJ and coffee but hadn't forced anything on him.  She got him to drink the OJ and got him some cookies (Fig Newtons and Lorna Doones) while she ordered him lunch.  The OJ and cookies got his glucose on the rise again, but I kept his monitor in my shirt pocket and kept checking it while he slept.  He ate the cookies...and his lunch (turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans) and his glucose level continued to

rise.  After 3 hours or so he decided he had to go to the bathroom, so a nurse walked him down the hall to it.  When he came back to his bed, she said he could get dressed and he would be released shortly.  I waited until I heard his discharge orders then I went to get the car to meet him at the door. The car and I made it back to the door at the same time as Jeff in a wheelchair, so I'd say I was hobbling pretty well!  We had gotten to the hospital about 9:15am but the only parking spot we could find was in the middle of the parking lot!  I was sure we would have found a space by the fence, but no such luck!

   The ride home was uneventful and when we got to Herkimer Jeff suggested stopping at BK... he was hungry.  The hospital lunch hadn't been enough for him!  He was uncomfortable overnight and yesterday (he asked if the area around the band aid on his back was"black and blue" ...it's not but it is tender!) but today he is more like himself.  I don't think he'll agree to another Lumbar puncture anytime soon.