Spring Update

The bright yellows of daffodils and forsythia have been joined by the red of flowering quince (also known as japonica). the white of Bradford pear, the pinks and whites of other flowering fruits, the pink of an early-blooming variety of magnolia (I know it has a common name, but I can't think of it.), the chartreusey green of weeping willow, and the reds and greens of leaf buds on other trees.

Another variety of daffodil started blooming yesterday in my garden. I mentioned it to Bob yesterday, but he wasn't impressed. Lexi noticed it this morning, and picked one to take to her teacher. It has a white parianth and a yellow-orange cup.

Medical

Today was my oncology appointment. Numbers are OK; treatment plan unchanged. It's getting sort of boring!

Happy Easter, everybody!

Basketball Jamboree

Gee! Nothing for a week and then twice in one day.

We went to the elementary school basketball jamboree this evening. They started with the preschool and kindergarden kids and moved up the grades. We left after first grade. That's Lexi on the left in the picture with only four girls; she's not in the other picture. This was when the 'cheerleaders' were dancing (somewhat synchronized) to some song. Later they did the old '2 bits, 4 bits, etc' cheer. Some of the little kids did quite well at dribbling, both in place and while running. Basketball is a big thing in Kentucky, so some of them probably have been 'playing' it since they learned how to walk.

Spring must be here

These are the daffodils near the house. As we were getting in the car yesterday morning to go to Bob's doctor appointment, I commented on how pretty they look. His attitude was like 'yeah, I guess, if you say so. They don't do anything for me.' So I guess I won't bother to point out the redbud when it starts to bloom soon. The forsythia is also starting to bloom now; a few more days and my three bushes should be covered in yellow.

It was such a beautiful day that I didn't feel like going into the clinic, so I sat in the car and knitted. I also sat in the car at WalMart when Bob went in to get prescriptions filled. I must say the parking lot at the medical clinic is much nicer - there are trees around it, and even though the Purchase Parkway is right beside it, the noise of the trucks was not annoying.

Lexi and I cleaned out flower beds from the north end and the front of the house after she got home from school yesterday. There were suckers coming up around the holly tree at the corner of the porch. I had Lexi cut them with the pruners, but a couple of them were too thick for her little hands to handle. I actually managed to get down on my hands and knees and cut them. I'm glad no one was around to watch me get up - not a pretty picture. We took the stuff we had pulled up to the burn barrel and lit a fire. Little burning bits were falling out and we were stamping on them. The younger boy next door (I think he's 3rd grade) came and asked if he could help. After we got the burning under control, he moved the wheel barrow to the back porch for me, and the three of us sat there talking for a few minutes. When I went in to start supper, Lexi and Brett played frisbie (she'd been trying to get someone to play with her) until his mother called him in for supper. I guess he's decided little kids aren't so bad.

Today is gray and rainy, but I still enjoyed seeing the daffodils on the way to Mayfield. Or maybe I enjoyed them even more, because they are a bright spot in the greyness. Some places there are just small clumps and other places large areas covered in yellow. I really don't understand how anyone can not be affected by them.

When we went into the therapy office this morning, one of the former regulars at the senior center was there in a wheel chair. He said he broke his leg. It's one of those cases where they don't know if the bone broke causing him to fall, or he fell causing the bone to break. Then while I was waiting for Bob to complete his therapy, one of my oldest (not in age) friends in this area came out of her therapy session. She had knee replacement in late January. So we sat and talked for a few minutes.

Snowstorm

Lexi is excited - she says she's never seen a snowstorm before. Since there's a lot of wind along with the snow, I think this qualifies. It started about two o'clock with light snow, but they had already closed the local school a little more than an hour early. The wind has really picked up in the past hour. I let her use an old commercial sheetcake pan as a sled. I don't think it worked very well - there's really not enough snow yet for sledding. We'll see what it's like tomorrow.

Knitting

I finally sewed on the buttons and tightened up the buttonholes on the cape Lexi designed for herself and I knit for her. The buttons are red hearts to match the ones at the top. She's very pleased with it, and is looking forward to warmer weather when she can wear it instead of her coat. I don't know why she looks so solemn (that word doesn't look right, but I looked it up in the dictionary to be sure) in the one picture.

The top of the cape is worsted-weight yarn and the body of it is two strands of baby-weight held together - one strand of variegated pastels and one of pale pink. I ran out of the variegated when I was just past the halfway point on the bottom border, so I had to unravel the border. Then I used the pale pink and a not-quite-so-pale pink. I guess I'm pleased with the way it turned out; you just have to remember that the color choices were Lexi's.


I did more 'frogging' (for non-knitters, that's what you do when you rip-it, rip-it) today. I started a scarf for the Seamens Church Institute this morning using a stitch pattern that I though would lie flat. After eight or nine inches, I realized that it was curling more than I could put up with, so I unraveled it and started over with a different stitch pattern and a garter stitch border. It was only 33 stitches wide, so it really wasn't that much to 'frog.'

It's early (about 7 pm), but I think I'll crawl in bed and read. My current book is Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan. I've read one other book by her.

What a Lousy Day!

It didn't start out too badly - raining, but not dark and dismal, but it has wound up horrid. It's cold, windy, wet, and I want to crawl in bed and stay there. But I can't, because Lexi is here and needs to be cared for. Of course, Bob can handle that, but I'd better stay up just the same.

The March flowers (daffodils or jonquils in other parts of the country) are starting to bloom. That's always encouraging - Spring is on its way. I'm definitely ready for it!

It doesn't help that I have a cold. When I went to the oncologist on Thursday, she reprimanded me for not calling when my throat started getting sore a week before. She prescribed an antibiotic, but I don't know that they really help with a cold. I guess she's making sure it doesn't become something else. I'm getting tired of blowing my nose; good thing I have boxes of tissues all over the house.