Greetings from a Tiny Town in Far Western Kentucky

7 days of traveling

2012-02-10T19:10:00.001-06:00

But only locally.

About noon on Saturday, Alyssa called and asked if I would meet her in Paducah in a couple of hours and bring Lexi home with me to spend the night. Sure. So we arranged time and place, and I had the company of my favorite ten-year-old for a few hours.

On Sunday, Lexi and I went to church in Paducah and then I took her home to Metropolis. I had not much more than arrived home (I was still changing clothes) than Sara called and asked if I could come over and watch Rose while she and Reggie went to a Super Bowl party at Alyssa and Stephen's. Sure. So I spent a few hours with my favorite six-year-old. I got home about midnight.

Monday morning I got up at 6 am (I'm not used to that since I retired) and drove to Metropolis. I stayed with Lexi because she wasn't feeling well, while Alyssa took my car to Marion IL for an obstetrics appointment.

On Tuesday I had an appointment with the oral surgeon in Lone Oak, which is now part of Paducah. My mouth has healed well. I can stop using the Peridex rinse when I finish the bottle I have on hand and just continue with warm salt water rinses. I'll go back in three months.

On Wednesday I went to Paducah for the noon Eucharist service at Grace Church and then to the coffee shop to knit and visit with my knitting friends.

I was going to stay home for the rest of the week, but yesterday morning I decided that I wanted to have lunch at the senior center in Mayfield. I'm glad I went, because I had a chance to talk to one of the center's board members. I think he's still the vice-chair. He's been spending more time there recently, since the director is ill.

And than this morning, I got a comment on my last entry here from Christa, who mentioned the lace guild meeting today. I don't do bobbin lace, but I did belong to the guild for a couple of years. I thought, "Sure, why not make it a whole week." It was nice to see that group of women again. I got several inches knitted on the scarf (for the Seaman's Church Institute) that I started on Wednesday.

The lace guild meets at Grace Church, so while I was there I took four or five skeins of yarn from the supply that was donated for prayer shawls and other charity knitting. It's not that I don't have a lot of yarn, but there are a couple of things I have in mind to make that I don't have the right yarn for here.

I'm continuing to weave about half as much as I knit. I now have a loooong (14 yards), narrow (32 threads) warp on the loom. I'm making mugrugs - I expect to get about 80 of them from this warp and then repeat that a couple of times. I'll donate them to be 'sold' in the rug stall at the Walk through Bethlehem in December. That should use up some of the 'stuff' I have here.

My Day

2012-01-31T19:57:00.003-06:00

I did more weaving today than knitting. Last night I got a five-yard, yellow warp for placemats wound on the warp beam, and tied unto the front apron. I also looped together all of the yellow, plastic bag loops that I had already cut into long 'strings' to use as weft. Today I have woven two placemats,

but didn't have enough 'string' to do more. Only about half a shuttle-full.

So I had to cut up more bags.

I did that while listening to All Things Considered, so I'll be ready to do more weaving in the morning.

The first placemat has a flaw in the middle. One warp thread didn't get tied on to the old warp well, and came loose while I was winding on. The fix I tried while winding on didn't work either, so there are two threads side by side that are threaded on the same harness - i.e. going over and under the same weft threads. Before starting the second mat, I put the loose thread through the empty space in the reed and the empty heddle in the back harness, then hung it over the back beam with a weight. I don't know why I didn't do it that way before I started the first one.

It's sort of blurred, but that's a large clip from the office supply department. It is supplying just the right amount of tension. Of course, I need to move it down the thread as I advance the warp, but at least there won't be any misthreadings in the rest of the mats.

I also did some knitting on a shawl that I started a couple of months ago. I'm not sure why I keep putting it aside.

It's a lovely, soft, cotton yarn and an easy stitch pattern, that I think I have upside down here. I'm about 3/4 done - unless I run out of yarn before I get it the length I want.

Early spring?

2012-01-28T17:10:00.001-06:00

We can hope, can't we?

I went to Dollar General in Fancy Farm this afternoon. As I went down my driveway, I saw a lot of daffodil foliage, AND several daffodil buds! It's almost a month early for that.

Weaving:
I took these two rugs off the loom yesterday. Today, I cut them apart at that white line you may see, and hemmed one of them. They are actually both about the same length.

One of them will be for my great-niece and the other for the silent auction at the Mayfield Art Guild's Gourd Festival in September. Red and black are the school colors for the Mayfield School system, and also, along with white, for Barry University which Lexi will start attending in the fall.

Now I have started putting a yellow cotton warp on the floor loom. I plan to make as many placemats as I can with a five-yard warp, using yellow plastic bags from Dollar General and ShopRite as the weft.

On other looms, I am making mugrugs and bookmarks.

The mugrugs are on the BonHop loom, which is sort of a toy.

The bookmarks are on the 8-inch, metal Structo. It isn't really cockeyed, just appears that way because of the angle from which I took the picture.

Baa, baa black sheep

2012-01-26T19:11:00.001-06:00

Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three (or four , or five, or . . . bags full.

Yes, those bags do contain wool. Looks like I need to put a new drive band on this wheel and get busy spinning.

Last Friday, when I talked to Marcia at the senior center, she asked if I could make some small felt balls for her cats to play with. The wool I have in the house is a breed that does not felt well, or is some I don't want to use for that purpose. This morning I went to the shed and brought in all of the wool that was out there.

I was glad to discover that some of it was dyed - with Kool-Aid.

I took out a handful of each color. I started to card it, but then decided to just 'pick' it by hand to fluff it up.

Made quite a difference, didn't it?

I started forming the balls by hand (like rolling a ball of Play Doh) in a basin of hot, soapy water, and then put them in old knee-high stockings and ran them through the washing machine.

Two of them turned out horribly, but the other ten are OK. Most of them are larger than Marcia wants, but Alyssa's cats may like them.

Dishcloths

2012-01-22T12:10:00.000-06:00

I've been on a dishcloth kick recently. I had one started at year end, but the other eleven are all from this month. Five of them will go to a friend of my sister in Florida, and the orange one is for my grandson's girlfriend, Jaimee, in New Jersey. I have tentative plans for the others, but nothing I'm ready to talk about yet.

I've also made a pot holder, also for Jaimee. It's not the best job, but I'm not used to double knitting. I am happy with the orange stitches on the veriegated side, which hold the two thicknesses together. What I'm not happy with are the edges. Maybe the next one will be neater.

I am also slowly (15 threads at a time) tying a red and black warp into the old one.

But then some are smart alecks

2012-01-21T12:52:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I decided to go to the Mayfield Senior Center for lunch, since I hadn't been there for several weeks. I was bookkeeper there for six years, but it has been six years since I retired. In that time several of the regulars have died or become too incapacitated to go to the Center - we are talking about senior citizens, after all. There are also 'new' people who are now regulars, whom I don't know. One of those new women often serenades the people on the piano during lunch time. She was playing yesterday, but was taking a little break when I got up to leave. She was talking to someone near the door to the hall when I got to that point. Seeing me, she said, "Oh, wait. Someone has asked me to play a song for you. Stand here while I go back to the piano and play it."

So I stood there. I figured it was probably Byron who had requested it. When she started playing "The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be . . ." I had to laugh, I looked to where Byron was sitting and knew I was right. I went back to talk to him, and he admitted it. She also called over, "He's the one who asked for it."

But not all my friends there are smart asses. It was good to see Marcia. She didn't go to the center, except one night a week when the bridge club met there (and I was at home), but has recently started having lunch there a couple of times a week. She's one of the first people I met in Mayfield, because she is also an Episcopalian. When we closed St Martin's, she transferred to St John's in Murray (it's closer to Mayfield) and I transferred to Grace in Paducah (it's closer to Milburn), so we don't see each other often. It was very nice to talk to her for a few minutes.

Aren't friends great!

2012-01-18T19:13:00.001-06:00

Friday through Sunday I stayed home and 'worked' - knitted, of course, hemmed the rugs I had cut off the loom, did a little weaving on two little looms (an 8" metal Structo and a BonHop. I think you can find information on them by Googling.) Monday I had to go into Mayfield to pick up a jug for the 24-hour urine collection Dr Winkler had ordered, and then dropped three rugs off at the animal shelter. I wanted to go to the senior center for lunch, but it was closed due to Martin Luther King Day. Yesterday, I stayed home.

Today was my busy day. I had intended to leave about 9 am, but I didn't get up until 8:30. By the time I showered, dressed, and had breakfast in front of the computer, while I checked email and did a couple of puzzles on JigZone, it was 10 o'clock. My first stop was the electric company to pay my bill. Then the hospital to return the jug I had picked up on Monday and let them take a vial of blood. By the time I got out of there it was 11:30 - too late to get to Paducah for the Wednesday noon service at Grace Church. So I drove past a 'drive-up' mailbox to put some bill payments in, and then went to Big Lots. I spent more than I had intended to, but I got quite a bit of food stuff. From there, I went through the bank drive through to cash a check so I'd have more than a dollar in my purse. Then I headed to Paducah.

In Paducah I went to Michaels for some Sugar and Cream 'dishcloth' cotton. They had it on sale this week for a dollar a ball. I should have gone earlier in the week - some of the bins were empty, and others almost so. I did buy quite a bit of it though.

Then I went to the coffee shop for the Wednesday afternoon knitting group. I was surprised that I had to park in the next block - I guess my guardian angel wasn't on duty. Or maybe she thought the walk would be good for me (I am too sedentary). I took with me eight of the rugs I've woven recently, and asked if anyone wanted them. They wanted to know the price, but I said whatever they wanted to give me, from zero on up. I came home with three of them.

I also had with me two 'wheels' of black, jersey fabric that had come from a pajama factory. It was about four inches wide, and the wheels are about ten inches in diameter. I want to weave some red and black rugs with it, but four inches is too wide; the red is half that. I asked if anyone had a saw that would cut through it. Valarie made a phone call to Jim, who builds sets at the Market House Theater. He came over in a few minutes, looked at what I had, and listened to what I wanted done. He took the stuff with him and said he'd see what he could do. He came back in an hour or so with four 'wheels', two inches wide - PERFECT! He said he had wound up using an electric knife - like you use to carve your Thanksgiving turkey. He had to stop every few minutes to let the knife cool down, but it did the job. I asked how much I owed him, and he shrugged and said, "Anything more than a dollar but less than a thousand." So I gave him $20 from what people had given me for the rugs. I think that worked out very well. I may need to buy an electric knife.

Two more stops before I went home: the library to return two books and Kroger. I was too lazy to go inside the library, but they have a drive-up drop box out front. At Kroger, I stocked up on frozen vegetables and yogurt, as well as buying a loaf of bread. a pound of butter, and a few other things.

It was almost dark by the time I got home. Since I had made so many purchases, I did something I hadn't done for a while. I took my purse, knitting bag and coat with me while I unlocked the door. After I turned on a few lights, I took the wheelbarrow from the porch to the trunk of the car, loaded everything in it, and pushed it to the back door. That way I only made one trip. From there, it was easy to bring a few bags at a time into the house. I should eat well for the next month with just a few purchases of things like bread and butter.

I'm still OK

2012-01-13T09:27:00.001-06:00

I had an appointment with my oncologist yesterday. It was supposed to be three weeks ago, but I had to change it because of things that were happening at that time. All of the lab results are within normal ranges, and the 'bone survey' that I had done in September showed nothing bad. I had figured that was the case, since I had not heard from his office. My blood pressure was 114/70, so I guess the one Atenolol a day is doing the job. I go back to him in April. I guess it will be every three months as long as I stay in remission.

Wednesday afternoon, I got a 'robo' call from our county judge executive about a Red Cross blood drive yesterday in Bardwell. Then yesterday morning, there was another one from him saying that the drive was still on despite the weather. I always feel bad that I can't give, but I know they don't want my blood.

When I got up yesterday there was slightly more than a dusting of snow on the ground, but nothing coming down. The roads I took to Paducah were mostly dry, even though I saw no evidence that they had been pretreated. About 3 pm, when I had been home close to half an hour, it started snowing again. Several hours later, the radio announcer said we were having 'snow squalls.' This morning there may be an inch of snow on the ground, but the sun is shining brightly. I went out on the porch about 8:30 to check the thermometer - it read 26 degrees. Not bad. So far this winter, we have not had any really cold weather, and almost no snow. I just hope that holds true for the next two months.

Now it's time to get back to my 'work' - knitting and weaving, One of these days, I'll even put a new drive band on my Schacht and order the part I need for my Louet, and then I'll add spinning to my 'work.'

Phew, it stinks!

2012-01-06T15:23:00.000-06:00

One day last week, I thought I had a plumbing problem. I was thinking there is no way I can hire a plumber. The next day, the odor was gone. On Sunday there was a little whiff of it again. When Sara and Reggie brought Rose to spend the night, I went outside with them. Then I knew the source of the bad odor - the paper mill at Wickliffe, about twenty miles north of me. That smell doesn't often travel this far; the atmospheric conditions need to be just right - or wrong.

Tuesday I went back to the oral surgeon for a follow-up visit. My mouth is healing well. He said the stitches will come out on their own, but he did have an assistant trim them a bit.

Since today is Epiphany, I put all the Christmas decorations away, so things are back to normal. I hadn't put much stuff out, so the un-decorating didn't take long.

Change in Plans

2012-01-01T09:09:00.001-06:00

Reggie was planning to go with Sara yesterday to pick up Rose. However Friday morning, on his way to work, he hit a utility pole. He has two broken bones in his right arm, and a lot (off topic, one of my recent pet peeves: I wish people would stop trying to make that one word) of bruising in other places, including his face. He was in surgery 4 1/2 hours Friday evening, getting metal plates screwed into the bones. The surgeon had estimated two hours, but found it was worse than the x-rays looked. I was surprised that he was discharged yesterday.

Sara stayed at the hospital until he was brought back to his room and settled in for the night. She got home at 2:20 am. I was there sleeping on her couch. She said she had slept a little in a recliner while Reggie was in surgery, and was afraid that if she went to bed and managed to fall asleep, she wouldn't be able to wake up in a couple of hours. So we left for West Virginia then. We had about four hours of driving before it got light, and got to Elkview WV about 11:30 (of course it was 12:30 there) Chris, his wife and father-in-law, and Rose got there 15 or 20 minutes later. They put all of Rose's 'Christmas loot' in Sara's trunk, and we headed home. We heard, "Are we there yet?" many, many times in the next seven hours.

When we got back to Mayfield, we picked Reggie up from his parent's house before going to theirs. Then Rose had to open all of the presents under their tree. Between NJ and KY, she got enough toys and clothes for ten kids, to add to the abundance she already had. I got home a bit after 9 o'clock.

Finished Projects 2011

2011-12-28T19:47:00.001-06:00

It's a couple of days early, but the only thing I may finish in the next three days is another baby blanket. While I ate lunch today, I went through my logbook and counted the projects I finished in 2011; only two of them had been started in 2010.

shawls - 26
short capes - 3
scarves - 9
hats - 9
dishcloths - 19
lapghans - 6
baby blankets - 11
doll clothes - 4
toddler jumper - 1
slippers - 3 pairs
sweaters - 2
apron - 1 (for great-granddaughter's dance costume)
Christmas stockings - 3
mittens - 3 pairs

According to my logbook, I have the following projects in progress:

purse - 1
lapghan - 1
shawls - 4
scarf - 1

I have also woven six throw rugs, and have the warp for six more on the loom, with one of them half woven. In addition, I have two bookmarks woven and warp for several more on the little Structo loom.

The rugs are woven on a 4-harness floor loom that is about a meter square and has six treadles. The reeds I have for it limit me to a 27 inch width, but I think I could use a 30-inch reed. The Structo loom also has 4 harnesses, but it sits on a table and has hand-manipulated levers rather than treadles. It's maximum weaving width is 8 inches. I put a short (2 yards, I think) warp of 20 threads on it one day when Rose wanted to weave. I decided yesterday that I want to weave off that warp as bookmarks, and then put on a wider one to weave mugrugs. I may even decide to carry it to the knitting group sometime.

Rugs

2011-12-27T19:15:00.001-06:00

Christmas Day, I hemmed the rugs that I wove at the walk through Bethlehem earlier this month. There are six altogether. Three are good enough for human use, but the other three will go to the animal shelter.

Yesterday I started tying a new warp onto the ends of the old one; that way I don't have to go through the whole threading process. Here's the way it looked at one point today. I've been knitting, as well, so this process is going slowly.

After I weave these six rugs, I plan to tie on a narrower warp and weave some placemats - some with plastic bags as filler and others with the same cotton thread as I'm using for warp. My intention is to spend at east half as much time weaving as I do knitting. Does that sound like a good New Years resolution? Maybe I can use up a lot of this stuff I've accumulated over the past I don't know how many years.

I think my mouth is healing satisfactorily. The swelling is almost gone, and I'm eating the things I normally eat. I just need to continue with the antibiotic and the rinsing, and go back to Dr Heine next Tuesday.

Stocking no. 3

2011-12-23T14:28:00.001-06:00

The day after I took the Lego Man stocking to Devin, I said to Sara that I supposed I should do something or Krya. She laughed and said, :"She wants the same angel that's on mine, but not the words. We've already had that conversation." (Nothng shy about that kid!) For this angel, I worked from the same chart that Carmen devised 25 years ago, but I'm sure I interpreted some things differently. I also don't have the same yarns I had than, and couldn't find what I wanted at either Michael's or Hobby Lobby. If I'd had time to mail-order yarn, I probably could have gotten exactly what I had in mind. As it is, working from my stash, the darker blue is cotton and the medium blue is linen. The light blue of the wings and all the others are acrylic, I think. I hope Kyra likes it.

Now I ned to get back to some other knitting.

Oral Surgery

2011-12-22T13:44:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday (12/15) when I went to the oral surgeon for a follow-up in the bone-scraping he did last year, he said there was still a little piece that was stopping the complete healing, so he wanted to do more, plus some on the other side of my mouth. Since I was being 'put to sleep,' I had to have a driver. Tuesday morning (12/20) Sara drove me there for the 9 am appointment (after dropping Rose off at school for her final day before Christmas vacation). About an hour later, she helped me walk to her car, drove me across the road to the Davis Drugs in the Super Valu store to get three prescriptions filled, and then took me home with her. As the anesthetics wore off, my mouth started hurting. I took two doses of Percoset that afternoon and evening, but have not needed any since than. I'll be taking Augmentin and rinsing with Peridex for at least two weeks until I go back to let him check the progress of the healing and remove the stitches. It really feels funny to have all these little pieces of thread in my mouth. I also look sort of funny, with a great deal of swelling on the right side of my jaw I've started using heat packs on it today.

Lexi was with us, as well. Alyssa had called me Monday morning and asked if I could pick her up from her grandparents' house and let her spend a couple of days with me. So Lexi slept on the top bunk in Rose's room and I slept on the couch in Sara's living room. Then we females all got up about 4 am (Reggie got to sleep a little longer before getting up to go to work) and left about 4:30, headed to Charleston WV. There we met Rose's dad and let him take her back to NJ for ten days.There was drizzle frequently on the trip out, but it was clear most of the way back. We took Lexi home to Metropolis and then Sara brought me home. I had her call me when she got home so I wouldn't worry about her. She did all the driving - I was just her navigator.

Another stocking

2011-12-17T15:05:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, Carmen emailed me a question, "Does Jaimee have a stocking?"
I replied, "I'm sure I haven't made one for her. Should I? If yes, what should I put on it?"
The answer was yes.
Less than a week later, here is the result. The manger and Mary were done 'free hand.' The star is from a chart I did many years ago. The letters were as Carmen designed them for her children's stockings - also many years ago. The heart on the bottom of the foot is from one of my stitch dictionaries. It is actually meant to be worked in seed stitch (all one color, with the stitches done here in red done as purls). I like it in two colors. The wreath is from something I found in my 'Christmas stockings' folder, with the beads added.

It is now wrapped and ready to travel to NJ on Wednesday. I hope Jaimee likes it.

Hey! Three Little Kittens . . .

2011-12-12T18:34:00.001-06:00

I found your mittens!

These are the ones I made to help a girl at church get one of her Girl Scout badges. They are what my husband called 'idiot mittens' - with the cord joining them, not even an idiot could loose just one. When I washed them this morning, the cords got tangled up with the other clothes. I untangled them before putting them in the dryer, of course.

In the dryer, they left the other clothes alone, but did their own little dance around the Maypole. More untangling.

I also spent a little time outside today - burning paper trash and taking the other trash down to the end of the driveway to be picked up tomorrow morning. Why does 55 degrees outside feel more comfortable than 70 degrees indoors?

Weekend with great-granddaughters

2011-12-11T18:58:00.000-06:00

Lexi spent Friday night with me. I picked her after she got home from school. Before leaving Metropolis, we went to the Hallmark store there. I found one of the remaining ornaments I was looking for, but still am missing the one for Rose. Then we stopped at Kroger in Paducah for a few things, including something for our supper. We got a garlic herb rotisserie chicken and some frozen spinach. The spinach package we got said it served four. I decided to cook the entire package (with olive oil and garlic), because I know how much Lexi likes it. I like it too, and probably took one and a half servings - she ate the rest.

She wasn't satisfied with the star Rose had drawn for the top of my 'feather' tree, so she made an angel and moved Rose's star down a few branches. She also strung more popcorn to put on the other little tree.

She has started playing trumpet in the fifth grade band, so she brought the instrument along to practice. Not very melodic, but then she's just starting. I could get nothing but squeaks out of my clarinet at that age, and didn't continue. I hope she won't give up. They're having a concert tomorrow. I'd love to attend, but it's at 6 pm, and I don't like driving that far (about 40 miles each way) in the dark. I told her there will probably be another concert in the spring that I can attend. She seems to be all right with that.

Alyssa was going to pick Lexi up yesterday, but she called and said she had a migraine, and also had no gas in her car, so I drove Lexi home. As soon as I got back, Sara, Reggie and Rose came. Sara had called earlier and asked if I would keep Rose overnight. They had a Christmas party to go to. These girls are both great kids, but I do prefer to have them here one at a time.

This morning as I was cooking breakfast (French toast), there was a call for help from the dining room. "Grandmother, I've started a fire!" Rose had decided to light the candles on the table, but had dropped the match on the edge of a placemat. So now I have one placemat with a badly burned fringe. I told her she's a bit young to be using matches..

Miscellany

2011-12-08T12:23:00.002-06:00

Monday afternoon, the pastor and another man brought my loom home. They brought a little sort of bad news, too. When the pastor opened the door to the fellowship hall earlier, dirty water gushed out at him. There was a leak somewhere, and an inch or so of water covered the floor. The loom had stood in it for a few hours. After they left, I mixed up some Spic'n'Span water, got down on the floor, and performed a foot-washing on the loom. Later I sprayed it with some disinfectant. It's fine now.

I wove off the rest of that warp, and cut the six rugs off today. I remembered to tie off the warp strings in front of the reed so I can just tie on a new warp rather than going through the whole warping process.

Later Monday evening, there was a knock on my door. It was Lexi's grandfather bearing this fruit basket and some candy. While he was here, I told him about the utility closet door falling out on me last week. He fixed that side of it, but then a piece broke on the other side. He'll come back sometime, probably with a helper, to fix that. Although I think Mary may have a good idea - take off the doors and put up a curtain.

Tuesday, when we met at the Art Guild, Mary was knitting mittens for her granddaughters. We both have the same favorite glove and mitten pattern booklet. I looked today to see how old it is. It says MCMLIII - I was only 12 then, and I think Mary wasn't born yet. It must have stayed in print for a very long time! I probably got mine in the early 1970's; the price printed on it is 65 cents.

Yesterday afternoon, when I read the church newsletter for December, there was an article about one of the girls in the congregation who is working on her community service (or whatever they call it) badge in Girl Scouts. She has chosen as her project filling 'family stockings' for a group of families served by a local agency. She is asking for donations of items from the church parishioners. One of the items on the suggestion list is mittens. So last night I pulled out that pattern booklet and some yarn and cast on for a child's mitten. Such small projects don't take long. Except for the thumb, I finished the first mitten last night. I finished the thumb this morning, and have started the mate. I'll probably make a couple more pairs before I take them to the church next Wednesday.

After doing several other errands yesterday, the last one before going to the coffee shop to knit, was taking watchcaps and scarves to the Seaman's Church Institute. When I opened the door, I forgot/didn't notice that there is a step up right there. I fell into the building. The last time I was there, the little lunchroom to the left of the door was full of men. I am glad there was only one man there yesterday. He immediately came over and helped me get up. After I assured him that I was OK, he gave me a hug. I find that, as I get older, I can accept such hugs graciously, without embarrassment. A couple of hours later, I noticed soreness in the base of my right thumb - I guess I reached out to catch myself.

The Forecasters Were Correct

2011-12-04T18:16:00.001-06:00

It was very comfortable (considering the layers of clothing I wore) at the Walk through Bethlehem last night, and then it did start raining some time during the night. About 2 pm yesterday I thought we might need to cancel last night, too, because it was windy. However, the wind died down, and it was beautiful. About quarter to eight, the pastor came around saying we were going to stay open an extra ten minutes because of the number of visitors who were still in the 'village.' But, just about eight o'clock the wind picked up again, and the pastor announced that all visitors needed to make their way to the village gate, and 'inhabitants' should wait for further instructions. I started closing up my loom, getting ready to leave about the time he started giving those instructions. Men came quickly for the loom (and me - they've always given me a ride on one of the golf carts, since I slipped, fell and broke a bone in my left ankle the first night I participated three years ago).

When we were back in the church basement (I'm glad it has an at-grade entrance), and out of our costumes, they announced that there were about 475 visitors. So there were close to 1,000 visitors over the three nights. It's really a shame we had to cancel tonight, because several churches would probably have brought their youth groups.

Since it was probable that we would cancel, I brought my costume and my rug home with me. I figured that if it didn't rain, I could easily take them back tonight. In fact, they're still in the car. I'll bring the costume in tomorrow, wash it and put it back in the closet until next year. The rug will go back on the floor. I guess someone will bring my loom and stool back to me some time this week. Then I'll finish weaving off that warp and tie on another one to weave a few more rugs. During the pause after I got the loom opened last night and the first visitors arrived, I was planning a fair amount of weaving I want to do in the next few months - got to use up some of this 'stuff' I have. I have to get myself to put down the knitting needles sometimes.

Blanket or Swatch?

2011-12-03T11:20:00.001-06:00

Both, actually. My daughter wants me to knit her an afghan with cables on both sides. You can see the three cables on this side; the six stitches between every two cables here are made into cables on the other side. Simple! But makes a nice, reversible blanket. Carmen bought the yarn when she was here a year and a half ago, but she has yet to tell me how wide she wants it to be. The yarn is the same as I used recently to make a baby blanket (different dyelot, though), so I decided to use the leftover from the blanket to make a gauge swatch for the afghan. That way I can figure out how many stitches to use when Carmen does tell me how wide to make it. I like making swatches large enough that Lexi and Rose can use them for doll blankets. I don't know which one this doll belongs to.

Sad Occasion:
The building that was St Martin's Church in Mayfield has been sold - we closed it six or seven years ago, because there were so few of us remaining. Yesterday, the bishop came to 'secularize' the building. He didn't know the name of the buyer, only that it is a woman who plans to make it her home. I'd love to see it when she gets the remodeling done. There were nine of us there yesterday - five clergy (the bishop, three other priests and one deacon) and four lay people. It was especially sad for the two who were St Martin's parishioners before they built the building sometime in the 1970's.

Walk through Bethlehem:
It was cancelled Wednesday night because the ground was too soggy. Thursday night we had fewer than 100 visitors - because it was a weeknight? It was cold, as well, but not cold enough to cause frost on the loom like I had last year. Last night was much better. It was not quite so cold, and there were about 380 visitors. The two hours went fairly quickly - lots of people (especially kids) to explain a little about weaving to. Sara and Reggie brought Rose and Kyra, and Reggie's grandmother and little sister met them there. Casey is 12 or 13, and I've been hearing about her ever since Lexi learned to talk. (They go to the same church as Lexi's grandparents, and there is also some round-about family connection.) The younger girls all love Casey, and Lexi has worn many of her hand-me-downs..

I took the rug I usually have inside the door from the driveway into my bedroom, and hung it just behind me along with other rugs that members of the church provided. That way I could point out the type of rug I was making, and say that the other rugs were made on other types of looms.

Tonight may be the last night for this year, although it is scheduled to go through tomorrow night. It is forecast to be warmer tonight (high 40's), but then rain is expected after midnight and throughout the day tomorrow. Since we're outdoors, rain cancels.

Weather Report

2011-11-29T10:12:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love it when you're listening to a radio station 40 miles away and they're saying rain with a chance of snow mixed in, but you look outside and see this.

This isn't supposed to happen yet; it's still November. And the Walk through Bethlehem starts tomorrow.

Time with Rose

2011-11-27T14:14:00.003-06:00

Sara called yesterday to ask if Rose could spend the night with me, so she and Reggie could go out with friends.It was almost bedtime when they brought her, so Sara had her put on her PJ's and brush her teeth, while she helped me set up the cot. It may have been her bedtime, but we stayed up for a while longer. She wanted to show me that she can string popcorn, so we popped some (she punched the buttons on the microwave). She threaded the needle and I tied a knot in one end of the string. Here she is hard at work.

But before she did that, she put her dolls to bed on the living room floor.

This morning we went out to the shed and brought in two trees.

The one on the left was made for me a few years ago by Lexi and her Nana (her dad's mother). I tried to catch it with all the lights on, but they cycle too fast. The one on the left, I made many, many years ago from a broom handle, wire coat hangers and garland. I got down one small box of ornaments from the utility closet and we decorated the tree. The first thing that went on was the string of popcorn. The paper on top has a star drawn on it.

After Sara called yesterday, I decided to start a project in crochet. Rose always wants me to teach her to knit, but I don't have the patience to do that. I thought maybe it would be easier for me to teach her to crochet, if she wanted to try that. She didn't say anything about wanting to. What I started was a narrow strip, mostly white, with stripes of a red/white/green with silver - very Christmasy. I was planning to make several strips and sew them together to make a laprobe. However, Rose had other ideas. Here she is wearing her new scarf.

The Stockings Were Hung . . .

2011-11-26T08:48:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, Alyssa asked me to knit a Christmas stocking for Devin (her boyfriend's son) similar to hers and Lexi's. Alyssa's has an angel and Lexi's has Winnie the Pooh. Devin loves Legos, so Alyssa took a picture of one on his Lego men and emailed it to me. The 'peace, hope, love, joy' is from Alyssa's stocking as designed by Carmen 26 years ago. The Lego blocks I put on the toe don't show up very well. I hope Devin likes it.

I've also been making scarves (only 2) for Seaman's Church Institute.

This one has a 'message' worked in the rib patterns. One end says SCI and the other says TUG. Can you read Morse Code? (.... -.-. .. and - ..- --.) Someone on one of the Yahoo groups gave us a link to a 40-minute lecture linking knitting, Morse Code and binary notation. It intrigued me, so I printed out a copy of Morse code to see what I could do with it. This is my first such project, but I have others in mind. Am I nuts?

No code here, just an easy stitch pattern that looks nice on both sides.

Even though I had my car back in operation, I have not done much 'running.' After that quick run to Fancy Farm on Thursday, I stayed home until Tuesday. Then I went in to Mayfield to the Art Guild and WalMart. Wednesday I went to Paducah to the coffee shop; there were only two other knitters there. On Thursday, I had Thanksgiving dinner at Sara's boyfriend's grandmother's house with some of that family. I had met some of them before, as long ago as 10 1/2 years.

Black Friday, I stayed home - I don't do crowds if I can help it!

On the Road Again

2011-11-18T10:58:00.001-06:00

Here are my mechanics, hard at work Wednesday putting in the new radiator. Sara came back yesterday to make sure nothing had leaked overnight, and to top off all fluids. Then we drove into Fancy Farm (7 miles) to the post office and the Dollar General store. The car is running well. She checked fluids after we got back, too, before leaving to pick Rose up from school and get on with her other responsibilities. I need to call the auto selvage place (sounds better than junk yard, doesn't it?) to see if they have a hood for my car. I couldn't possibly be lucky enough to find one the right color, could I?

Now that I have my own transportation again, I have no place that I need/want to go until next week. I may go into Mayfield just for the heck of it.

Knitting:
These are the watchcaps I've made for the Seaman's Church Institute in the last week, between loom-warping sessions. I may try to get a scarf or two done before I take them to SCI. I had planned to do more hats, but by the time I got 2/3 of the way done with the fourth one, I decided that was enough of working with a 16 inch circular needle for a while. I know I could knit them flat, but I don't like having a seam in a hat.

Finishing the warping process

2011-11-13T13:14:00.002-06:00

But first: Last night as I was sitting at the computer, I realized that the wind was pretty fierce. It was blowing the porch swing against one of the chairs out there. So I took about two yards of clothesline and lashed the swing to the porch post.

While taking this picture this morning, I also took one of the maple tree next door. This was a spectacular tree until the Ice storm 2 1/2 years ago. You can see a couple of large limbs still hanging. Angela had some men trimming it a few weeks ago. They wanted to take the whole thing down (I think they should), but she still wants to save it.

Anyway, back to the warping. I started threading the heddles yesterday after I posted. First I took the reed out of the beater.

Then I used my sleying hook (sley rhymes with they)

to reach through the harnesses/shafts, grab a thread (in the correct order) and pull it through a heddle (a thin wire-like thing with an eye in the middle). My loom has four harnesses, but I am only using two of them for this project.

I took eight threads at a time out of the raddle, threaded them through the heddles and tied them together in a slip knot to make sure they didn't slide back through.

This procedure means I was sitting, leaning over the front beam, reaching and pulling. I got about 2/3 of the threading done, and took a break from it until this morning. After having oatmeal and coffee, I finished the threading, and removed the raddle from the top of the loom. Then I put the reed back in the beater and started sleying it; that is pulling one thread through each space in the reed.

Again, I pulled through eight threads and tied a slip knot to keep them from sliding back. After this was complete (I took a couple of breaks to stand up and move around.), I tied the warp onto the cloth-beam apron.

See all those nice little knots? The red stuff is to space the threads out evenly. After this I wound two bobbins with the same thread I used for the warp, put them in my double shuttle, and wove about three inches. When I take the rugs off the loom, I will make a hem out of this three inches.

So now I'm ready to weave some rugs, but I will do that at the Walk through Bethlehem five nights next month. I'll be weaving outside with freezing fingers, by the light of an oil torch, so I know the weaving will not be very good. I'll donate the rugs to the animal shelter - the dogs and cats don't care what they look like.

I loosened the wing nuts on each side of the loom, pulled out the pins, and folded the thing up to be ready when someone from the church comes to transport it.

Did you notice the long shoelaces in several of the pictures? They come in very handy. Here are a couple of ways I use them.

Holding the beater between the castle (that middle section of the loom that holds the harnesses/shafts) and the front beam while I sley the reed.

Holding the lease sticks between the castle and the back beam while I wind the warp on and do the threading. I also use them to lash the raddle to the top of the castle while I need it to help spread the threads out to the desired width.

Another item that makes things easier is my secretary's chair. I have it all the way down while I thread the heddles, and all the way up while I sley the reed. Having the different heights makes those operations much easier on the body.

Weaving and Knitting

2011-11-11T19:11:00.001-06:00

Well, not weaving exactly, but preparing to. I'm going to weave some rugs. I don't know yet if it will be at the Walk through Bethlehem or at home.

First I wound off 200 threads, 8 yards long, making a cross between the second and third pegs on the top of the board. (You can see a very small bit of my yarn stash in the storage boxes behind the warping board.)

I wound off the warp threads 22 at a time and placed each group with the lease sticks on either side of the cross. What looks like a real tangle of thread really isn't.

When I moved the warp to the loom, I used my raddle to place the threads evenly across the width I want the rugs to be. There are eight threads in each one-inch space.

Then I had to tie the warp onto the warp-beam apron. After this, I wound the warp onto the warp beam. I used slats from an old venetian blind occasionally to separate the layers. Tomorrow I plan to thread the heddles and the reed and tie onto the cloth-beam apron. Then I'll be ready to weave.

I took several knitting breaks during this warping procedure. I didn't feel like working on any of the projects I already had going, so I grabbed some burgundy yarn left over from my grand-niece Kaillee's afghan (yes, Pauline, I finally remembered what I made for her), a size 9, 16-inch long circular needle and cast on 80 stitches to do a knit 2, purl 2 ribbed watchcap for the Seaman's Church Institute. I started that first round just fine, but about halfway through it, I realized that I had switched to the knit 1, purl 1 of the seed stitch I've done so much of recently. I had to tink (that's knit spelled backwards for you non-knitters) to the spot where I went wrong. I did it again in the next round, but caught myself after only a few stitches. It took a few rounds to get my hands reprogrammed.

I have about eight inches done so far. In a few more rounds, I'll start decreasing for the top. I'll need to use double-pointed needles after the first or second decrease round. I think I'll go work on that for another hour or so tonight - I may even finish it.

Car update

2011-11-09T19:06:00.001-06:00

When I unlocked the back door (the one we, and everyone else, use) this morning about 8 o'clock, there was a large package lying on the porch. From the size of it, I figured it must be the radiator for my car, although when I moved it, it isn't nearly as heavy as I thought it would be. UPS must have delivered it yesterday after the last time I was near that door before it got dark - I'm sure they didn't come before 8 am. I called Sara and told her that it has arrived. She said she'll let me know when they can come to install it. I don't know what Reggie's work schedule is.

Much as I like being alone in my house, two weeks is a bit much. I know Sara would have provided transportation, but there was no place I had to go. I was too lazy yesterday to walk to the fire house (about a quarter mile away) to vote. I was glad to hear this morning that Bashear will remain governor; I really had no feelings one way or the other about any of the other races.

Scarves

2011-11-08T19:13:00.003-06:00

I've been in scarf mode for the past week.After finishing the one in the previous post, I did three for the 2012 Special Olympics. For this project, we are required to use certain colors of Red Heart brand yarns, because they are one of the major sponsors of the events. The colors for 2012 are red and navy.

I did three very different scarves.

This is a slip stitch pattern, On the back it just looks striped.

This one I worked side-to-side rather than end-to-end. I worked it in seed stitch, alternating colors every two rows. I started and ended the red stripes at one end of the scarf and the navy stripes at the other end. I left the ends of yarn hanging to be fringe, so one end has red fringe and the other has navy.

The third scarf had the message I'M SPECIAL worked into it in reverse stockinette. I wasn't able to get pictures to show it.

After I finished those scarves, I made one for the Red Scarf Project, which puts the scarves in 'care packages' to foster kids in college or trade school at Valentines Day.

I used the 'I'm special' message on this one, as well. It's very hard to photograph, but you can see the I'M pretty well in this shot.

I also finally finished a watchcap for the Seaman's Church Institute that I started back in February. Pooh Bear agreed to model it for me, even though he said it clashes with his red shirt.

Here are two other pictures I took today, both in my back yard.

A beautiful rose.

Nandino berries.

Finished Projects

2011-11-02T18:52:00.001-06:00

No, not the car - it's still in sickbay.

I'm talking about knitting projects finished within the past week.

First a short cape hat will probably go to a nursing home. I started it on October 2nd and finished it on October 28. It is some yarn that was donated to Grace Church for the knitting ministry. I haven't selected buttons for it yet - it needs two fairly large ones.

Next is a random shawl in mostly reds, with some purple. I plan to send it to a friend who lost her son not long ago. It contains about twenty different yarns; I love doing shawls and acarves this way. I started this September 29 (a month before I heard of my friend's loss) and finished it yesterday, November 1. I still need to trim the fringes.

This is a scarf fro my friend's husband. I started it October 30 and completed it November 1.

And the one that has been in the works the longest: a baby sweater in sock yarn on size 2 needles. I love this pattern! it is called Baby Surprise Jacket. It is all one piece and looks very strange until you sew the shoulder seams. I modified it this time by adding a hood. The hood looks bigger than the jacket, doesn't it? But then babies' heads are proportionately large, aren't they? I started this August 30 and just finished it today.

Tomorrow, I need to wash then all. I'll gather the fringes on the shawl together and tie them before putting it in the washer so they don't get tangled. And Of course, I'll use the 'hand washables' cycle.

Rose's Birthday

2011-10-27T13:17:00.001-06:00

Rose turned six yesterday, so after spending the afternoon knitting at the coffee shop in Paducah, I drove down to Sedalia for birthday cake. As I left to come home, Sara said, "Don't hit any deer." (Yes, Jim, there are a lot of them in western KY) I think she jinxed me!

That's my dogwood tree in the background.

I was about five miles from home when it happened. It was too dark for me to see where the deer went. The radiator light on the dashboard came on, but the car didn't overheat. I'm hoping it's only a hose knocked loose. When I got home, I discovered that the driver's door wouldn't open more than four or five inches. I've lost a lot of weight, but not enough to get out through that small a space. I had to push my seat all the way back for me to get my feet up over the console. Then I climbed across the purse and knitting bags in the passenger seat and got out that way - not easy for an old lady who's not very agile!

The right front quarter-panel is pushed back, blocking the door, and the hood is a bit crumpled. The plastic on that headlight is also cracked, but the light still works. I called the insurance company this morning, but they can't do anything for me - I dropped the comprehensive last year, since the car is so old. Bad move!

What's kept me busy

2011-10-25T18:17:00.001-06:00

I've been knitting baby blankets with Christian symbols on them. I'll take them to church tomorrow. I don't know if any babies will be baptised on Sunday when the bishop makes his annual visit or not, but I want the baptismal/christening blankets to be available if they are. There are a couple already there, I think. These are the two new ones:

The first one is off-white and the second is yellow, although it doesn't look like it here. The motifs don't show up well either. I'm not a good photographer.

Now that these are finished, I can get back to my other dozen projects.

Dance School Fall Fesival

2011-10-22T17:58:00.000-06:00

After I took the apron and bonnet (see last post) to Sara, she embellished it with artificial flowers and leaves. Here is what it looks like now.

Rose was definitely the best dressed Munchkin!

There were five different groups dancing to different 'Halloween-y' songs: Monster Mash; Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead; Purple People Eater; The Munsters theme song, and I don't know what the fifth one was, because Lexi and I didn't stay until the end. The Purple People Eater group was the really young ones.

Alyssa called me while I was at Big Lots and asked me to pick up Lexi at a birthday party for her cousin, because Alyssa wasn't going to be able to get there from Metropolis on time. Afterward, I dropped Lexi back at her grandparents' house - it's almost on my way home.

Tomorrow is the children's birthday party for Rose at the YMCA pool. I asked Sara today if it would bother either her or Rose if I skip that and just attend the cake and ice cream, family party at their house on her actual birthday. She said that's fine. I bought Rose's gift on Wednesday when I was in Paducah. I like to give kids books, since there are plenty of others who give them toys and clothes. Not knowing what books she has, I went to the Amazon website and searched for new children's books. The first one that popped up was Everything On It by Shel Silverstein. Perfect! I still need to wrap it and select a card from my supply, but I have plenty of time - her birthday is Wednesday.

Special Request

2011-10-12T18:15:00.000-06:00

Sunday, when I was at Sara's house, she told me that Rose's dance school will have a program/mini-recital next week. Rose will be one of a group of munchkins dancing to the "Witch is Dead" song from the Wizard of Oz. Sara had bought a suitable dress for her, but asked if I could knit an apron and a bonnet. Since Rose is the one who thinks that I can knit anything, I figured I'd better try. I had Sara sketch what she wants and include measurements. So, when I got home, I pulled out suitable yarn and needles, and started working on the apron. I made a few false starts, but finally worked out how to make the bottom semi-circular as she drew it. I finished knitting it on Monday.

On Tuesday, I looked at bonnets on Ravelry to get ideas, and then sort of did my own thing there, too. I ran in the ends on both garments this morning. Here's what they look like.

Beautiful Day

2011-10-06T18:08:00.000-06:00

I think I agree with my niece that she was named for the best season, although I like spring a lot, and parts of summer and winter are OK. I spent a lot of time outdoors today. The temperature got up into the 80's, the sky was clear, and there was an occasional soft breeze. I mainly sat on the back porch knitting. Every few minutes I heard a walnut or two or three or a dozen fall. Looking at that part of the yard, one wouldn't believe that Rose and I picked up hundreds of walnuts on Friday. I only picked up one bucketful today - of the ones that had bounced a distance from the others. I also tromped around on the ones we had placed on the rocks to loosen up the hulls. I used a walker to make sure I wouldn't fall. Then I picked up several dozen nuts without hulls; I wanted to bring them inside before the squirrels got to them.

Family Reunion Reprise

2011-10-03T19:03:00.000-06:00

My sister Pauline just sent me two pictures from the reunion in July that I hadn't seen before. At the supper Friday night, we went by 'families' to one end of the room so people who wanted to could take pictures.

We are the Ethel (Mother's name) family. From left to right: Mac (Pauline's husband), Pauline, me, Renee, with her grandson Aidan in front of her, Liam (Renee's other grandson) and Autumn (Renee's daughter, mother of the two boys). We had 'introduced' ourselves, and were ready to return to our tables, when Renee belted out two choruses of "Y'll Come." I love the expression on Autumn's face. She obviously didn't know her mother was going to do that.

And this was a moment later, when we all applauded - even Renee. The shirt I'm wearing is from the reunion sixteen years ago. It is a family picture from 1935 showing Grandma and Grandpa Lien, with all twelve of their children. The names and birth dates of the twelve are printed around the picture. That time, each 'family' had a different color shirt; it helped in identifying the younger ones.

I got my flu shot Thursday -

2011-10-01T11:24:00.000-06:00

at the pediatrician's office!
I guess this is an example of why it's good to have family around when you have young children. Rose was sick Thursday morning (she didn't seem sick, but Sara knows her child), so Sara took her to Reggie's grandmother's house rather than school. Since she can't make phone calls from work, she asked Alyssa to call the doctor and get an appointment for her and let Jane know when it was. The one she could get didn't work well with something else Jane needed to do that afternoon, so Alyssa called me. I had planned to be knitting with the charity knitting group at that time, but I agreed to pick Rose up from Jane's house and take her to Dr. Paul. Rose has flu. She made an awful fuss about the test they use to confirm it. I had mentioned in passing that my immune system is weak, so they asked if I had gotten a flu shot yet this year. I said that I needed to call the county health department to find out when they are giving them. Dr Paul and her nurse said that they could give me one. Since I was being exposed to flu right then, I decided that was a good idea, so I gave them my insurance information, and Rose watched while I got the shot. I commented to the receptionist while I was giving her my insurance cards, that they probably don't often bill Medicare. She said they had one other grandmother so far this season.

Rose spent Thursday night with me, and most of the day yesterday. Since she was feeling OK and it was warm, we went outside and picked up black walnuts. They were so thick on the ground, that she filled her one-gallon bucket without moving. I raked some of them together and then sat on my canvas camp chair to fill my five-gallon bucket. I lost count of how many times we filled them. I've been making a pile and letting the squirrels have them. However, a friend told me a few days ago that she has a nut cracker especially for black walnuts, so we spread some of them out on the rocks between the back porch and the herb garden to dry out. After we get the hulls off, I'll take them to her house to crack.

Later, Rose played 'school' with a bunch of stuffed animals and dolls. It was picture day.

And then the group picture with the teacher:

Sara picked Rose up after she got off work yesterday, and then I met Alyssa halfway between here and her house and got Lexi. This morning I had her model my most recently completed shawls.

This is a 'random shawl' done in many different green yarns, plus one silver eyelash one.

These two are basically the same - a solid and a variegated worked in alternating garter stitch ridges, and then with a simple border in the solid color. Very easy, but I like the way they turned out. Do you thing the orange one is bright enough?

The Rest of the Week

2011-09-25T08:34:00.001-06:00

Tuesday I went in to Mayfield and sat at the Art Guild for a while, but no other knitters came. Dana (former director) was there; it was good to see her. She was entering some gift shop items into the 'consignment book.' I asked if any of my stuff had sold. She checked my pages and discovered a couple of items, so she had Shane give me a check for $22.??. After I left there, I cashed the check and then went to Big Lots to get more of the Earl Gray teabags I like. I picked up a few more things, as well. When the clerk rang it up, it totaled $22.04!

Wednesday was church, doctor, knitting. My labwork is still good, so I'm still off medication. Dr Winkler ordered another bone survey (a series of x-rays of every bone in my body), because it had been a year since the last one. That will tell if there is any myeloma lurking in my bones. Knitting at the coffee shop was good, as always, and I did get that lapsang souchong I mentioned in my last post.

Thursday I stayed home. Sara brought Rose out in the evening to spend the night. She has changed jobs and needed to be at the new one at 7 am for and IR seminar about benefits, so she had asked me to take Rose to school and then pick her up after school.

Friday I was up early to take Rose to school. After I dropped her off, I drove to Paducah for the aforementioned bone survey. Then I returned to Mayfield and went to the senior center. They were having a Health Fair there, so the place was very busy. They were also doing a survey, asking everyone if they were registered to vote. If not, they would register you. I had lunch there and then stayed (knitting, of course) until about 1pm. Then I drove to the school, parked in the lot, reclined my seat, and dozed for an hour and a half. By 2:40, there was a line of cars waiting to pick kids up, so I put the seat back up and got into the line. After Rose got in the car, we went to the library where they were having a used book sale. I noticed several of the books I had donated last week. Rose selected one book, so I spent 25 cents - I thought it was supposed to be 50 cents, but the woman gave me back $4.75 from the five I handed her. When we got home, we picked up walnuts until Sara came. We had only picked up a couple of buckets by then.

Yesterday I 'harvested' some of the sunflower heads - Lexi wants the seeds. I also picked up 22 dozen pine cones. There are still several dozen under the trees, as well as a couple hundred in the neighbor's yard. My other neighbor's family dragged the downed tree limbs from my yard to his burn pit and then he mowed part of the yard. I spent most of the day knitting.

Today I'm staying in - it's been raining off and on.

Tea

2011-09-19T11:02:00.000-06:00

I've been a coffee drinker since college. I like it dark roast and brewed medium-strong, with half 'n' half, no sugar (I'm sweet enough). I used to drink coffee all day, then sometime in my 40's I stopped drinking it after noon, and several years ago I cut out all but one cup in the morning. In the last three or four months, I've stopped even that as a regular thing, having it only occasionally.

I've switched to tea. My friend Peggy introduced me to a variety of teas in college. Until then, I hadn't known that there was anything other than the pekoe/orange pekoe in teabags. One of my favorites is lapsang souchong, which is not one you find everywhere. I bought some a few months ago at the coffee shop, but for the past month or so I've been using Earl Gray. I used the last Earl Gray teabag yesterday, so this morning I rinsed out my little two-cup, enamel-wear tea pot, and had some lapsang souchong - almost the last of my supply. When I took the first sip, I thought, "Mmmm, that's good. I need to buy more when I'm at the coffee shop on Wednesday."

Missed Opportunity?

2011-09-17T14:21:00.001-06:00

Thursday, when I went to the oral surgeon, I was about 15 minutes early. They all take lunch from noon to 12:45, and lock the door during that time and put a sign on it telling when they will re-open. I parked so I could see the door, rolled down the window to get fresh air, and started to get out my knitting. A man came over and asked if I knew anything about the building and the one next to it.

I replied, "A little."
"Do you know where these people are?" He showed me a slip of paper with the name and number of a matchmaking service on it.
"No. These first three doors are all an oral surgeon, and there's a children's dentist a little way down, but other than that I don't know what's here."
"Hmmm. Well, do I need to go any farther?"
"I don't know."
"I mean, are you married?"
"Oh, is that what you're asking? No, I'm not married; I'm widowed."
"Me, too. It's been thirteen years since my wife died."
"It's 35 or more for me."
"And you never found someone else?"
"I haven't really been looking. At first I was busy raising my kids."
We talked for a few more minutes until one of Dr Heine's nursed came out to get the mail. He asked her about the matchmaker, but she didn't know either. She told him that this building was all doctor's offices, but she didn't know about the other one. He headed back over there to find someone else to ask.

Gourd Fest:

I went in to Mayfield again today. First I took 9 'WalMart bags' of books to the library for the book sale. The girl asked if I wanted them marked for the sale only. I said, "Huh?" and she replied that they also take donations of books for the shelves. I told her that if they wanted to put any of them on the shelves, that would be great.

From there I went to the Art Guild for the annual Gourd Fest. I talked to several people I hadn't seen for a while, and one I saw on Tuesday. Here are a few pictures of the event.

The main throughfare.

Aren't they lovely?

The cosmos provides a beautiful background for the birdhouses.

Passing the time making more birdhouses.

More Downed Limbs

2011-09-16T17:32:00.001-06:00

When I went out yesterday to straighten things up on the porch, I discovered that another branch of my walnut had fallen. However it is not all the way down - it got caught on other branches. I tried pulling it down, but I'm not strong enough.

Here you can see the first limb on the ground, and the second one hanging.

And here is what the neighbor's tree to the south of me looks like.

Or rather what the latest part of it to fall looks like. This was a beautifully shaped, huge maple tree until the ice storm hit 2 1/2 years ago. Several large limbs fell during that storm, and others were left hanging and have fallen during various high winds since than. The tree looks very sad now.

Medical:
I went to the oral surgeon yesterday. My mouth is healing OK, if slowly. He wants me to continue using the Peridex rinse twice a day (he'd really prefer three times a day), and to return in three months.

Move:
While I was in Paducah, I drove past a few more apartments. Today I called a couple of them and also found websites for a couple. I think I should be able to find something nice for a reasonable price.

Storm!

2011-09-15T08:34:00.001-06:00

I made it home from Paducah just in time yesterday - well, not JUST in time, but I hadn't been here long. Only enough to spend a few minutes online at the Paducah Housing Authority website. When the wind started, I shut down the computer, and almost immediately the power went out. But it came right back on, then went off and on three or four more times in the next ten minutes, before going off for about an hour. The storm didn't last long, but the wind and rain were terrific while it did. Shortly after it stopped, I heard a chain saw not far away.

When I went outside, I discovered a lot of things on my back porch blown around and a fair-size limb from my black walnut tree on the ground. And the north end of my house looked like this:

There were also some branches from another tree on the ground.

My neighbor's mother and sister came into the driveway while I was out assessing the damage. They had just come back from Paducah. They had to pull over on the way, because they couldn't see to drive. They said that a tree had fallen on the power lines just at the edge of Milburn, causing the power outage.

While I was in Paducah yesterday, I drove by several apartment buildings/complexes. I need to make some phone calls to get information on some of them.

Right now, I need to log off and go outside to set the back porch to rights.

Donations

2011-09-13T18:25:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I loaded a bunch of things into the car. This morning when I went to Mayfield, I stopped first at Mills Manor nursing home and gave them these three laprobes and one short cape.

Next stop was the Graves County Library. They will be having a used book sale next Friday. I cleaned these books off my shelves a few days ago.

Next I dropped a bag of clothes off at Kevil Corner (a local entity similar to Goodwill). Then on to the Hope pregnancy resource center with these baby blankets and sweaters.

After that I went to an old house that houses several agencies and gave them these scarves, children's sweaters and hats. I think there were a couple of other items I stuck in that bag after I took the picture, as well. I had a lovely conversation with a lady there about needlework of various kinds.

Finally, I went to the Art Guild ostensibly to knit. But first I looked to see if there were any 'new' books in the Books & Bargains Corner that I'd like to read. About the time I finished that, Mary came in and we talked for a couple of hours. I wound up not knitting a stitch and I think she didn't do many on the bag she's crocheting. She brought a new knitting book for me to look through of patterns to make with one skein of sock yarn. It's hard to believe that some of the shawls were made with only one skein. We talked mostly about non-knitting things - her recent trip to New York state to visit family and my upcoming move.

Concerning that move: I had a realtor out to look at my house yesterday. I plan to sell it and move into an apartment. I really can't take care of 1.4 acres of ground, and I'm also tired of having to drive 15 to 30 miles to get to the places I want to or need to go. Now I need to decide whether I want to live in Mayfield or Paducah. I dread moving; I wish I could wiggle my nose and plop this house down on a flat, quarter-acre lot in or near one of those towns.

Outdoors morning

2011-09-11T13:16:00.001-06:00

I had my tea and toast on the front porch about 7 am, and knit a few rows on the baby sweater I'm working on (sock yarn, size 2 needles). Then I brushed my teeth, used the Peridex rinse (UGH!), put on my gardening shoes and went outside. I took the leaf rake and the wheelbarrow, and started raking up the 'hay' from when neighbor Robbie cut my grass on Friday. I dumped three barrow-loads of it in an unplanted quadrant of my herb garden, and put some in the little flower bed around the sunflowers and marigolds. By that time I was pretty hot and sweaty, even though the temperature was no more than 75, so I took a knitting break on the back porch. This time I worked on a lap robe in worsted weight yarn on size 9 or 10 needles.

After about an hour, I went out into the yard again, and raked up three more loads of 'hay' and dumped them in the same place. Right now that looks like a quite a pile of grass clippings, but it will go down as it rots.

After another knitting break on the back porch, I went out again. On this third foray into the yard, I had pruning tools and weed killer in the wheelbarrow. I filled the barrow with weeds and prunings, mostly of suckers coming up from the roots of two trees. I put all of that into the burn barrel. After it dries out for a few days, I'll add the paper trash from the house, and start a fire. By that time I was walking rather wobbly, so I quit for the day - and it was only about noon!

I'm spending the rest of the day knitting.

End of Summer?

2011-09-05T12:22:00.001-06:00

Saturday our temperature was in the high 90's; someone told me it hit 100. Today it is not quite 70, cloudy and windy (Because of tropical storm Lee?)

Rose spent all day Saturday with me, and Lexi was dropped off mid-afternoon. Rose decided that the bathroom needed cleaning, so I gave her a can of cleanser and a cloth, and pointed out the toilet bowl brush. Here she is hard at work.

She was still in her pajamas when her mother dropped her off before 8:30, and hadn't changed yet.

Yesterday was a double birthday party. Granddaughter Sara was 25, and her boyfriend's daughter Kyra was 7. They cooked out hamburgers and hotdogs and had two cakes - a regular one and an ice-cream one.

And, of course, there were presents - mostly for Kyra.

Kyra is wearing the Hello Kitty ears Alyssa and Lexi gave her and the shawl I gave her. I think Rose is helping her figure out what she wrote on the card she made.

So Kyra now has a shawl, but it's not pink. Lexi started the shawl thing about two years ago. One of the shawls (gray cotton slub) I made for church turned out a bit small. Lexi thought it was just her size, so I let her have it. Then Alyssa wanted one just like it. I thought I had more of that yarn, but discovered that I didn't. I made swatches of three yarns that were close (many of the yarns I have are no longer being produced.), let her choose which one she wanted, and knit her shawl (greenish-gray cotton boucle). When Sara and Rose moved out here last year, Rose wanted a shawl, so I knit one for her (gold cotton). Not long after that Kyra wanted a pink one. I told her father and Sara to tell her that I don't knit for people who don't eat well. She has asked me several times to make her a pink shawl. The other girls say she shouldn't get to choose her color, because they didn't. I didn't have enough of any shade of pink for even a small shawl anyway. Now Sara is the only one without a shawl. She wants black, but my eyes won't allow that. I will make one in any color she wants that is not too dark.

Trip to Central KY

2011-09-02T10:14:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday, I drove to Stanford to visit my sister Pauline. The trip is mostly parkway driving, but around Bardstown I took US150. It is two-lane and in some places it has no shoulders (typical of KY), but most of it is quite nice. Before I knew it I was in Perryville (site of a Civil War battle), then Danville (where the KY constitution was drawn up) and finally in Stanford (one of the first three settlements in the state, when it was still part of VA). They are starting to reconstruct the fort.

On Friday, Pauline, Mac and I drove to Cynthiana to visit our aunt Edna, and have lunch with her. She's the widow of our father's younger brother, and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Mac tired to take pictures of Edna, Pauline and me, but they came out blurry, so I deleted them.

On Saturday afternoon, some of Mac's high school class got together for lunch/supper. I was only in 7th grade when they were seniors, but in such a small school, 7th through 12th used the same classrooms and the same teachers, so I walked the same hallways they did that year. Out of their class of 35, only two have died, but only a dozen attended the reunion. (I think about a third of my class have died, and we're five years younger.) I enjoyed the get-together. They started telling stories on each other, which was fun.

While we were having our meal, my sister Renee drove down from Louisville. It's always nice for the three of us sisters to get together.

Here we are in age order, left to right, Pauline, me, Renee. Mother always said I had the prettiest smile, but I certainly don't here. I'm looking rather gaunt; I guess that's from losing 65 or 70 pounds. And of course, pulling my hair straight back doesn't help, but it's much cooler that way in summer. It looks like Pauline was standing in a hole; she's not that much shorter than I am, and Renee is actually the shortest.

On Sunday, we went to McCormack Church; Mac's great-great-grandfather gave the land for the church to be build on. It is on the historic register. There were 15 people there, and no pastor. A retired pastor in the Christian Church serves them, but he has recently had surgery (I think that's what they said), and is not back yet. But Carolyn (she was a year ahead of me in school) was there to play the piano (so much nicer than an organ) and her son-in-law to lead the singing, so we sang some songs, did some responsive readings, and had communion.

After lunch, Renee and I drove to her house in Louisville, and I spent the night with her and Michael. On Monday morning, we did their usual breakfast at McDonalds, where their son-in-law dropped off the 2-year-old, Liam. (The 6-year-old goes to school with his mom who teaches kindergarten.) We dropped Liam off at the pre-school at their church; Renee would pick him up later and keep him for the rest of the day. I left after that and drove home. It was a very nice weekend!

Recent knitting

2011-08-24T19:10:00.001-06:00

Last Wednesday, at the coffee shop, someone told one of the new women that I knit a shawl every week. That's not really true; however, I did start this one last Thursday and fisished it on Sunday. It's really a very simple one, and not very large, but I like it.

This is a baby blanket - non-traditional colors. The yarn had three strands wound together, but not twisted together, so I decided to separate them. One ball had two strands of green and one of multicolor, while the other two balls had the reverse. I knit a mitered square and then changed my mind about what I wanted to do. I switched to a 'log cabin' style without binding off each 'log.' Then I did an I-cord edging to bind off the final stitches. I think it turned out well, and some of my knitting friends agree.

Here is one of the placemats I mentioned last time. It's woven with plastic bags on a cotton warp. Wipe clean with a damp cloth. But don't put a hot pan on it - the plastic will melt.

At the yarn exchange on Saturday, Stephanie gave me several skeins of this yarn because she didn't like the feel of it. Influenced by two conversations I had that day during which the room temperature in nursing homes was mentioned, I have started two lap-robes with that yarn. One is solid color, with three different simple stitch patterns, but this one is a bit more colorful. I really like this stitch pattern because it looks different on each side, but both sides are nice. I will probably crochet an edging around it when I finish.

And finally, here are some slippers I knit for Rose. I'll be making some for Lexi in a different yarn when she lets me know how wide and how long her feet are. It's like pulling teeth to get measurements from my descendents.

43 years ago, I was in West Jersey Hospital, Northern Division, in Camden NJ awaiting the birth of my son. He came at 10:01 pm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOMINIC!!!

Yarn Exchange

2011-08-21T12:37:00.002-06:00

Valerie hosted a yarn exchange at the coffee shop yesterday. I returned home without a couple of things I took and with a couple of new-to-me things. I shared a table with a woman I had never met before. It was interesting getting acquainted with her.

I took along one of the placemats so those who saw me creating the weft 'yarn' on Wednesday could see the finished product. I finished the weaving on Friday. I had planned to tie a new warp onto the remains of that one, so I wouldn't need to thread the heddles and sley the reed again. However, I wasn't thinking very well when I cut off the mats. When I made the first scissor-length of cut, I should have grabbed those warp threads and tied them together so they wouldn't slip back through the reed. But I didn't! When I made the last cut, the weight of the warp-beam apron pulled all the threads back through the reed and heddles. I could have cried! Now when I rewarp the loom, I'll need to do all of it again.

But before I went to the yarn swap, I went to the doctor - my primary care physician. She gave me a shot of cortisone, and prescriptions for eye-drops and an antibiotic. She said the shot of cortisone would work faster than a prescription for Prednisone. I said faster sounded good, because I'm planning a little trip next weekend. I am feeling better today and my eyes weren't glued shut this morning, but I still have a way to go.

I Stand Corrected!

2011-08-18T18:25:00.000-06:00

Carmen says the beach we went to was Sea Girt, not Manasquan. If we had been south of Atlantic City, I might have known one town from another, but the only beach I ever went to north of AC was at Barnegat lighthouse at the north end of Long Beach Island.

I still feel rotten, but I got three more placemats woven today, finished the applied I-cord edging on a baby blanket, and started a shawl.

I Feel Rotten!!!

2011-08-17T18:25:00.001-06:00

I started a cold the last day I was in NJ almost two weeks ago. I thought it was over, but either it has come back with a vengeance or it has sent its cousin. This time it is affecting my eyes, and causing aching muscles as well as sore throat and stuffy nose.

I went to Paducah today anyway. After the Eucharist service at church, I was talking to Kimberly (parish administrator) about weaving. She said her latest project had been a stole (the liturgical kind priests wear as part of their 'uniform') she wove for Megan, the new assistant rector. Just then Megan came into the office and asked if I wanted to see it. Of course I did. It is beautiful! Kimberly is a much better weaver than I will ever be.

Then I went to the coffee shop for the regular Wednesday afternoon get-together. Some of our regulars were missing, but Sandy's friend Kathy is still visiting, so she was there again. And new Paducah resident Cathy and her visiting friend Carol were there too. They all added to the conversations.

I took the loops of Kroger bags with me and was putting them together and rolling them into balls;everyone seemed interested in that. When I lamented the fact that WalMart no longer uses blue bags, Kathy said she has a bunch from some other store that are about the same shade. She said that when her family member (son? husband? I don't remember) comes to take her back to Cleveland, she'll have him bring them. Fiber people are wonderful!

When Hayley came, she was interested in seeing how I cut the bags up. She's going to show her UMW group tonight, because they have some project they plan to work on for the regional or national group.

It's early, but I think I'm going to bed. I may not even read, since my eyes are burning.

Knitting as incentive

2011-08-16T09:01:00.000-06:00

Last week, on the KnitTalk Yahoo group, people were talking about using knitting as incentive/reward for completing other, more arduous tasks - like housework! Sunday evening and Monday morning, I used it to finally get a warp in my loom, so I can weave some placemats. First, of course, I had to stand in front of my warping board and wind off 112 ends, 8 yards long. I did it in two groups of 56 ends each. I would have taken a knitting break between the two, but my sister called just then, providing the needed respite. After winding the second group, I sat down and knitted for at least half an hour. Then I put the lease sticks through the cross and suspended it between the castle and the back beam, lashed the raddle to the castle and used it to spread the warp to the desired width. After that I knitted for a while and then went to bed. Monday morning, I tied the warp onto the warp-beam apron and wound it on, then took a knitting break. Thread the heddles, knitting break, sley the reed and tie on to the cloth-beam apron, knitting break. Then I had to prepare my weft 'thread.' I'm recycling Kroger bags. I had previously folded them and cut them across so they form loops. Now I'm looping them together to form a long string. (This operation reminds me of the 'belts' we used to make in the office out of rubber bands and a paper clip to hike up our slips so they didn't show beneath our skirts.) So far I have one placemat woven and the second one about 1/3 done. I expect to get nine or ten mats out of this warp. I'm making the weft as I go along - one mat's-worth at a time. I think I'll take the bag of loops with me when I go to the Art Guild today and the coffee shop tomorrow.

This warp is alternate threads of beige and a tan/blue/white variegated cotton; the Kroger bags are tan. After I finish this warp, I'll put on another one with yellow and a tan/yellow/white variegated and use yellow Dollar General bags as the weft. I've also saved white bags from various places; I don't know what color(s) I'll use for warp for them. I wish WalMart still used the blue bags.

Home Again, Home Again

2011-08-07T19:27:00.002-06:00

We got to Alyssa's house about 3 am. I sacked out on Lexi's bed and she slept on a pallet Stephen had prepared for her on her floor. I woke up about 7 am, used the bathroom, lay back down for a few minutes, and then decided that I wanted to go home. It was good to get here!

The trip went very well. One day, Alyssa, Lexi and I drove down to Camden County. We went first to Collingswood, to the street where I lived for 28 years. My neighbor/friend/angel Marie was not home, but one of Alyssa's friends was, so we talked to her for a while. Another neighbor came home while we were talking, so he joined the conversation.

Then we met Dominic near his apartment in Oaklyn, and went to a park in Haddon Heights and talked for a couple of hours. He had his DSI with him and Lexi enjoyed taking pictures of us and making funny faces out of them. She also played on the playground equipment while we adults talked. We had supper at Friendly's in Westmont, then dropped Dominic off in Oaklyn and returned to Carmen's house in Jackson.

On Thursday, Carmen, Alyssa and Lexi went to NYC. I stayed at Carmen's and knitted and read. That trip would have been much too strenuous for me. They had a good time, though. They visited FAO Schwarz, The American Girl Doll store, the Natural History Museum, and maybe something else I don't remember.

While they were gone, I finished the 'chair socks' I had started the day before. Her downstairs neighbor complain about the noise when people move the dining room chairs. I'm not sure whether these will help, but maybe so.

On Friday, Carmen, Lexi and I got up early and went to the beach in Manasquan before they required passes.

I enjoyed sticking my feet in the water, and Lexi collected some shells, or pieces thereof.

Then we visited a lake where Lexi collected a few water lilies. I sat in the car while they did that.

We also drove through the woods behind the Six Flags Great Adventure Safari Park. We could glimpse some of the animals through the trees. Carmen calls that drive 'the poor man's safari.'

Greetings from New Jersey!

2011-08-02T07:08:00.001-06:00

Alyssa, Lexi and I drove to NJ on Saturday - arrived at Carmen's house about 3 am EDT.

Yesterday, Carmen, Lexi and I went to the IKEA store in Elizabeth. I hadn't been to IKEA since I stopped at the Baltimore store when I was moving back to KY in 1994. That time I was getting things to complete the configuration of my IVAR shelving units that I had planned for the room I would be using in my parents' house. This time I got some lingenberry preserves and some gooseberry preserves, as well as a waste basket for my weaving/knitting room. You don't find lingenberry or gooseberry preserves just anywhere. The gooseberries remind me of my childhood; there was a gooseberry bush in the lane to the pasture on the farm where I was born.

I don't know yet what we'll do today.

Little Girls

2011-07-24T18:22:00.000-06:00

First, some from a long time ago - 89 or 90 years. At the family reunion, a cousin had some pictures we could go through and take what we wanted. I love this one; I don't recall ever seeing it before. I'm sure the oldest one was Aunt Mabel. Based on that, and having learned the order of the twelve siblings very young, I believe the others are Ethel (my mother), Esther, and Nina (right to left). I like the way all their hems are the same distance from the ground. Those black stockings look very uncomfortable.

And then some current little girls - no pictures, though. Friday I picked Rose up from day care about 3:30 and we went to Metropolis. At 5 pm we followed Alyssa and Stephen to the Massac County fairgrounds where Lexi entered her cat in the cat show. There were five kids in her age group. I found it very interesting that the cats were ranked in the order that they were examined by the judge. Ginger (and Lexi) got fourth.

After that, we took the cat home and then went to the church where Lexi and Devon had attended Vacation Bible School all week. The kids did some singing and recited a couple of Bible verses. Then we had some refreshments and picked up their crafts. Lexi and Rose came home with me.

The girls spent two nights here and did a lot of complaining because I wouldn't turn on the A/C. Yes, it's hot, but I've remained reasonably comfortable with windows open and fans running. I go in most public buildings and freeze to death. I wouldn't want them to not use their A/C, but do they need to keep it cold? We're supposed to wear lighter-weight clothes in the summer, so thermostats should be set higher than in the winter.

Anyway, the girls survived and Sara picked them up an hour or so ago. About the time she came, a storm started rolling through, and the temperature dropped at least five degrees in five minutes.

Hats, etc.

2011-07-18T18:38:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why I felt like knitting hats recently. Winnie the Pooh was very obliging when I asked him to model for me, and of course modeling is Miss Head's (Edith?) sole purpose in life. Both hats are knit with sock yarn on size 2 needles. The one Pooh is wearing was done before my trip; the other was one of the projects I took with me, but only did a few rows.

This little toddler skirt I did in the last couple of days on a whim. The flowers and butterflies are buttons.

This little shawl is another of the projects I took to MN. I guess I did about half of it on the trip. I should have done a lot more, but I kept dozing off.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with any if these things.

Gardening?

2011-07-15T11:00:00.001-06:00

I spent an hour or so this morning in the yard. First I trimmed some branches from the Japanese Maple tree in front of the house. They were blocking my view, when I sit in my new knitting spot, of the Crape Myrtle that is in full bloom.

Then I weeded my little garden. I put this frame around the daffodils in the spring to protect them from my neighbor's lawn mower. About three weeks ago, I planted some sunflower seeds, and two weeks ago I set out some parsley, basil, marigolds, one tomato and one pepper. The tall plants on the right are the sunflowers.

I also harvested three cherry tomatoes from the plant that volunteered beside my compost bin. They were very good!

Family Reunion

2011-07-12T19:02:00.003-06:00

I got home this afternoon from my trip. Pauline and Mac dropped me off shortly after 2 pm, and then continued on to Stanford. Pauline called a few minutes ago to say they had arrived there safely.

I'm really glad I went! It's always nice to see the relatives. Unfortunately, we only saw one Ross cousin. Carol came over to Wadena on Friday morning and had breakfast with Pauline, Mac, Renee and me.

We went out to the 'old home place' about noon on Friday to see off those who were going tubing on Crow Wing River. They had plenty of tubes and life jackets for the twenty or so people of all ages who went. Autumn and Aidan (age 6) went, while Liam (age 2) stayed with Renee. Those of us who didn't go, sat in the yard and talked for a couple of hours.

There were several pup tents in the yard. We thought that the kids had slept in them, but Karen, who owns the farm now, said the adults had used them.

The old barn is still there - still used every day. Aidan enjoyed watching the milking and playing in the hay mow with some of the other kids.

Renee tried to convince Liam that the calves wouldn't hurt him. I don't think she succeeded - he's a city kid!

Looking out beyond the calf pens to the pasture. Isn't that sky beautiful? We had lovely weather for the entire trip.

Saturday night we had supper at the Pizza Ranch in Wadena. I think there were about 75 of us there. When I went to the register to pay for my supper, I asked if they took out-of-town checks. The girl hesitated and then asked the manager. He asked if I was part of Gordie's group. When I said I was he told the girl to take my check and said, "Gordie has a lot of influence around here." It's nice to have cousins like that!

I don't know what my cousin Grayce Trosen is saying to her son Brad, but I like his t-shirt. It says 'One of the Trosen Few' followed by the name of the dorm he and his wife serve as dorm parents at a school for missionary children in Africa (I can't remember which country).

Richard (second from right) is the baby of the family. That's his son Brett on one side of him and his wife Barbara on the other. Beside her is their daughter Beth, then Brett's wife and son. Dick and Barb's other three children couldn't make it.

Here are Dick and Barb later at the farm. They are the oldest of the group who attended.

Olive is the youngest (Or maybe Liam is). Here Olive is sitting on her grandfather Gordie's lap while he talks to Gene and others.

On Sunday afternoon, we had a picnic at a park. These guys are waiting for us all to gather 'round for the group picture.

Here is most of the group - some had started wandering off after the 'official' pictures were taken.

Off to Minnesota

2011-07-04T08:54:00.002-06:00

Has it really been ten days since I posted last? I guess nothing significant has happened. I've been mostly sitting here knitting, with windows open and fans on. I closed the windows and turned on the A/C Saturday when Alyssa and Stephen were on their way to bring me a hide-a-bed sofa and to take Lexi's bed and a few other things. I'll leave the A/C on until I leave tomorrow for Minnesota.

My sister Pauline and brother-in-law Mac will arrive this evening, and we will leave tomorrow for a family reunion in Minnesota. No idea how long we'll be gone. These reunions (Mother's side) have happened every four years since 1958.(Once they had one after three years; that's how they got to be in uneven-numbered years.) I've gone several times, but also missed several. Eight years ago I drove up by myself, mostly staying off the Interstates. It was a lovely drive. I stayed home four years ago, and would have this time also if Pauline and Mac hadn't invited me to ride with them. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Mom was number six of twelve children; only the two youngest are still with us. Number nine, Nina, whom we all have wonderful memories of, died a couple of months ago. Florence and Richard are something like 87 and 84. Then we start with the cousins, who range in age from 82 down to 46. I recognize the cousins, but when we get to the next generation - forget it.

A cousin on Daddy's side is going to try to get some of those cousins together while my sisters and I are up there. (My other sister, her daughter, and her two grandsons will be there, too.) Daddy and his six siblings have all been dead for several years. Since those seven were all within nine years and three months for each other, rather than the 25-year span in Mother's family, we cousins are not spread out so much in age - 73 down to about 55. There aren't quite as many of us either - 22 Rosses, 31 Liens.

I have a few more things to do today - finish packing (both my suitcase and my knitting bag - I should be able to get a lot done, sitting in the back seat), get all the trash out of the house (don't want any of it starting to smell bad while I'm gone), run the dish washer after I have my lunch (don't want it to start smelling either). Alyssa should be here sometime to get a few more things, including her cat and Lexi's turtle. Last week, Lexi went to Panama City, FL with her dad and a couple of his friends. She came back with a little turtle. She (and it) spent Saturday night here, and we left it here when we went to church yesterday. After church, we met Alyssa, Stephen, Devon, and Stephen's parents in Metropolis for lunch at a Chinese buffet (Yum! I love the way they do vegetables.) Lexi went home with Alyssa, so her turtle is still here. I didn't know where she had put it, so it took a few minutes for me to find it - I guess Ginger (cat) had knocked it off the shelf onto some stuffed animals that were sitting on the floor. The cage had not opened, so the turtle is still OK.

Jehovah, Hallelujah, the Lord will provide . . .

2011-06-24T14:23:00.001-06:00

That often ran through my mind years ago when I was treasurer of a small, poor church, I thought of it again Wednesday in a much different circumstance. (I hope no one thinks I'm being sacrilegious.)

I was planning to attend the Wednesday noon service at Grace Church and then go to the Downtown Coffee Bar to meet my knitting friends. I took a piece of the chocolate zucchini bread Carmen made last week out of the freezer and put it on a small tray. Then I put a new stick of butter on a butter dish, secured the top with pony-tail elastics and added it to the tray along with a few plastic knives. I wrapped all this up in a dishtowel and put it in my knitting bag.

I got to church a little early, and was looking at the yarn someone had donated recently, when my cell phone rang. It was Alyssa asking if I could pick up Lexi and Devon. They were bored and Lexi wanted to go to the shop where she and I had eaten hotdogs one day last year. It's around the corner from where the coffee shop was at the time. I told Alyssa she'd need to give me money, because I only had two dollars.

So I drove to Metropolis and picked up the kids; Alyssa gave me seven dollars. When we got to the shop, we discovered that it has new owners. I told the owner that the kids each wanted a hot dog. He started telling them to each get a bag of chips and one of cookies, and I told him that I only had seven dollars. He said that was OK, that he always takes care of the children. I had already eaten, so I only got a soda. That soda was all he would allow me to pay for! I will definitely need to go back there alone sometime for my lunch.

We spent a couple of hours at the coffee shop. The kids each had their DS (game device) with them, so they kept themselves entertained. My friends all said Carmen can bake for them any time she wants to. About 3:30, I packed up the rest of the bread and butter, and we headed back to Metropolis.

Alyssa was still working. She's doing customer service from home now for the company she's worked for for a year or so. She sits there with a headset and two computer screens and answers phone calls and emails. The kids know to be quiet while she's working. She was also peeling potatoes when we walked in. She had a stew of beef, carrots, onions and tomatoes in the crockpot, and was going to serve mashed potatoes and biscuits with it. She commented that she didn't have any butter to put in the potatoes or on the biscuits. I said, "Here's butter." She looked over as I pulled the tray with the chocolate zucchini bread and the butter out of my knitting bag. She said, "Oh, that's too funny!" and I thought, "Jehovah, hallelujah, the Lord will provide." Is that too bad of me?

'til next year

2011-06-17T18:43:00.000-06:00

Carmen's visit has ended. She's never spent two whole weeks out here before, but then she's never been unemployed when she came before. She left here shortly before noon to meet Sara in Mayfield for lunch. After that she headed to a friend's house in Tennessee. She'll spend a couple of days there, and then visit another friend in Virginia before she finally gets back to New Jersey. She did a lot of work while she was here, but also spent a lot of time with her daughters and granddaughters.

Medical:

Yesterday, I went to both the oral surgeon and the oncologist. Dr Heine said my mouth is healing well, but I should continue using the Peridex rinse and return in three months.

Dr Winkler was pleased with my last labwork. He ordered a couple of extra blood tests and another 24-hour urine collection. He also wants to see me in three months. I'll need to go back in six weeks to have my port flushed, as well.

Dance Recital

2011-06-12T12:18:00.000-06:00

Here's our little terpsichorean and her mommy after the recital last night. Aren't they both lovely?

I had never been to a dance recital before. This one had 65 'acts' and lasted four hours, with a ten minute intermission in the middle. Rose was in three pieces, plus the finale. There was a different costume for each piece. Some of the older kids had solos or duets. It was mostly fun to watch, but the auditorium was too cold and the music was too loud.

She's into double digits!

2011-06-10T10:11:00.002-06:00

Lexi turned ten yesterday!

Here's the cake Grammy/Carmen made. She's not quite satisfied with it, but I think it's fabulous! We couldn't see putting candles on it, so she made a little one for them.

Isn't it cute?! Carmen and the kids took it next door afterwards for Rob (who mows my yard because he likes mowing) and Bonnie.

More pictures of the 'party.'

The two cakes. The little one is on an eight-inch plate.

Hello Kitty, Rose, Lexi and Michelle, who lives nearby. Devon didn't want in the picture with the girls.

You can see a bit of Devon here, along with the young adults, Alyssa, Stephen, Reggie and Sara. I got a little work out of both of the guys while there were here. I asked Reggie to start the mower for me, and I mowed until the thing conked out on me. There was one spot that I had to do because I knew how much of it I wanted mowed. A few minutes later, Reggie refilled the gas tank, finished the rest of the 'trim mowing' (close to the house where Rob doesn't get), and then mowed the fenced area. Much more than I had asked of him! I had Stephen spray weed-killer around the mailbox (the county guys can't mow close enough, and last year the mail carrier left a note in my box saying the weeds needed to be cut), and bring up the mail and the trash can. Alyssa, Sara and Carmen took care of the food prep and clean-up. I didn't need to do anything. I like that!

Grammy's visit

2011-06-07T19:07:00.001-06:00

So far we're all enjoying Carmen's visit. She has cleaned all the carpets at my house except in my bedroom. They look great! The cleaner is now at Sara's house. I told her to let Sara do the work there.

She has also baked the cakes for the birthday and the dance recital. Today Lexi helped her with some of the work on the decorating project.

They made fondant.

Lexi learned to knead.

She added color.

How about those red hands?!

Grammy has lots of tools for making flowers.

Sick Bay

2011-06-04T10:17:00.002-06:00

Monday evening, Sara called and said she thought Rose had strep throat. She asked if I could take her to the doctor on Tuesday and then care for her until she was allowed back at day care. (If Sara missed work on Tuesday, she wouldn't get paid for the Monday holiday.)

So Tuesday morning I met them outside Sara's workplace, and then took Rose to the doctor. We had a heck of a time getting Rose to open her mouth for Dr Paul to swab her throat to do a culture. Sara happened to call on my cell phone during that time and I held the phone to Rose's ear so they could talk. After she finally opened her mouth and the swabbing was done, she said, "That didn't hurt at all; it sort of tickled. You can do it again." I was well impressed with the patience of both the doctor and her nurse.

Sara was right - it was strep throat. They faxed a note to the day care center saying Rose could return on Friday, and also a prescription to the pharmacy across the hall. After picking up the medicine, we came home. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for us to share. and tried to get her to eat so there would be something in her stomach before I gave her the Augmentin. She wouldn't eat, so I gave her the medicine anyway. While I was putting the bottle in the refrigerator, she threw up on the dining room floor. After cleaning that up, I gave her another dose and she took four nibbles (not big enough to call bites) of the sandwich, and then lay down on the couch. Within five minutes, she was asleep. She ate very little and did very little for the next 24 hours. She vomited twice more - into the folded bath towel I put next to her when she went to bed. By late Wednesday afternoon, she was much better. She ate some Chef Boyardee ABC, 1 2 3, and I took her for a little visit with her mommy. On Thursday she seemed back to normal, but I still made her play quietly. I took her back to Sara's workplace when Sara got off work. She was going to spend the night at home, and go to day care on Friday.

During her stay, we watched Peter Pan half a dozen times and The Little Mermaid at least twice. She also did some drawing. And she wanted to weave on my little loom. I put a 2 yard warp of 26 threads on it and she wove a bit. After I showed her what to do, I heard her repeating, "Put it (the shuttle) through, push it (one of the levers that control the shafts) down, beat it in."

About quarter to nine Friday morning, I was surprised when Rose came in the door and said, "Grammy's here!" Sure enough, Carmen had arrived; I wasn't expecting her until today or tomorrow. She brought with her the things she needs to make special cakes for Lexi's birthday on Thursday and Rose's dance recital next Sunday.

She also brought her carpet cleaner. This morning, she cleaned my dining room carpet; she'll probably do the living room tomorrow. She has now taken Rose home for Sara to get her ready for dance pictures to be taken this afternoon

Now I need to wash those sheets and towels Rose threw up on, and then I should mow.

Edible plants

2011-05-30T09:43:00.001-06:00

Christa asked how I know what's edible. There are only a couple of wild plants that I know are safe (and only in my own yard where I know they haven't been sprayed with weed-killer). Everything else I leave alone.

Speaking of weed-killer, I need to mix some up and spray a couple of places in my yard. I also need to mow again, and do a couple other bits of yard work. But knitting is so much more fun! Besides, it's a little too windy to spray anything.

Knitting Knews

2011-05-24T17:07:00.001-06:00

In the last three days, I have finished three of the projects I had going - a baptismal blanket, a small shawl/cape, and a laprobe. I got Lexi to help me photograph them.

Not the best picture (so what else is new?) It is pastel green and has a different cross in each of the four corners. It also has a crown, a scallop shell, a chalice, a star of David, and a butterfly.

I didn't realize she had it on crooked. I don't know why she was looking so solemn.

The laprobe is a '10-stitch' blanket done with leftover yarns. The technique is a great way to use up small amounts.

So now I have cast on for two more shawls and another baptismal blanket.

Foraging

2011-05-22T13:43:00.001-06:00

When I was mowing yesterday, I noticed some lambsquarters. They always remind me of my childhood (until age 10 1/2) on a farm in Minnesota. I took a little ice cream bucket out there today and picked some. Mother would never have thought of cooking them the way I did. I sauted them in some olive oil, then sliced up a poblano sausage and added it to the greens. I let them cook while I boiled some angel hair pasta. When the pasta was ready, I drained it, put the greens and sausage over it and topped that with some shredded Romano cheese. Delicious!

Knitting & Mowing

2011-05-20T16:44:00.001-06:00

Those were my two main activities today. I did three sessions with the mower - about 45 minutes each. That means about half of the yard is done. Now I can barely walk, so the rest will need to wait until another day.

The knitting has been on three projects - a shawl, a laprobe, and a baptismal blanket. I think I'll spend the rest of the evening working on the blanket. When I complete one of these projects, I can start another shawl I have in mind.

Awards Day 2011

2011-05-19T09:44:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I went to the awards ceremony at Mayfield Elementary School. Lexi got an award for getting all A's all year. She's the short one in the middle with the red shirt. They started with the third grade, which had at least two dozen in that category. The fourth (Lexi's grade) had about fifteen, and the fifth had only four (or was it six?) Today is the last day of school.

70 !

2011-05-17T13:54:00.001-06:00

How can I be that old? Three of my grandparents didn't live that long. My brother-in-law turned 75 a few days ago, and although he has had a couple of health issues in the last few years, he's still very active. He celebrated that birthday during a trip to Scotland. Grandpa Ross, who lived to be almost 79, was an old, old man at 75. However, except for one who died as a toddler, all of his children (7) lived to be at least 80 - two of them made it past 90. At 75 my father was still going strong - he was 89 when he died. I think my chances of seeing my great-granddaughters graduate from high school are pretty good, unless my multiple myeloma decides otherwise.

Visitors

2011-05-16T12:42:00.000-06:00

My brother and sister-in-law spent the weekend with me. They arrived around midday on Thursday and left after breakfast this morning. We didn't really do much - just talked. They came to help me celebrate my 70th birthday, which is actually tomorrow. Jim also wanted to pick my brain a bit about our younger years.

The cat enjoyed their visit, as well, because Judy played with her, which is something that I don't do.

We picked Lexi up from school on Friday, and went to a reception at the Art Guild Friday evening. (Another good exhibit of the work of Purchase Area artists.)

Sunday we went to church and then had dinner at Olive Garden. I wanted to drive past the Paducah flood wall so they could see the murals that have been added since their last visit, but the streets were blocked off because of the flood.

Graduation Day

2011-05-10T17:55:00.000-06:00

Rose 'graduated' from pre-school today. These are a few pictures of the event. There are five classes in the morning and five more in the afternoon, with about a dozen kids in each class. They do AM and PM graduations separately. The kids sang (with a recording) several songs, doing hand motions with a couple of them. We were also shown a video of them working throughout the year. I couldn't go to such programs for my grandchildren, but now that I'm retired and live close to my great-grandchildren, I'm making up for it (sort of).

Lexi still has school until next Wednesday, although it will be mostly fun stuff rather than studying. They had the Kentucky CATS (I forget what that stands for) tests and the Iowa tests (I remember those from when I was in school, I think) two weeks ago. She said she had no problem with them. She gave me a picture she drew on her 'scratch sheet' because she didn't need to do any scratch work.

Derby Hat

2011-05-09T18:32:00.000-06:00

The girls in Lexi's class made Derby hats on Thursday. The boys raced (the girls could race, too, if they wanted to.

Here are two shots of Lexi wearing her hat.

It's summer? Maybe?

2011-05-08T17:50:00.000-06:00

It's cool in the house, so I wore a sweatshirt over a sleeveless top. About 4 o'clock, I took some paper stuff out to burn. As soon as I stepped out the door, I knew I needed to take off the sweatshirt. It's in the 80's!

In addition to the bit of paper I took out, I burned the small stuff Rose and I cut off the pine and crab apple trees a couple of weeks ago. I also did a bit of trimming on the bushes beside the shed door and burned those trimmings.

I've cooled off now and the house is still cool, so I think I'll put the sweatshirt back on. When I changed sheets on my bed a few days ago, I put flannel sheets on again. Usually I have regular sheets on by now. The furnace was running some yesterday. Ridiculous!

Two scarves for my uncles.

2011-05-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

That reminds me of Perri Klass' book Two Sweaters for my Father.

I may be going to a family reunion in Minnesota this summer. This is my mother's family who get together every four years. Mom was number six of twelve children. Only the two youngest (and their spouses) remain from that generation. I have decided to take, or send with my sister if I don't go, shawls for my aunts and scarves for my uncles. I have a supply of shawls; I'm not sure which ones I will give them. However, I had to make the scarves when I decided to do this. These are what I made.

And this may be one of the shawls. I call it Red Tulips. There are 260 of them. I wanted the tulips to be right-side-up from both ends. The stitch pattern forms the tulips when knitted from the top down, so I started with a provisional cast-on and worked one half. Then I put the original stitches back on the needle and worked down to the other end. I don't do fringes very often, but this is one project that I was considering fringing. However, from two 7-oz skeins of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn, I only had about a yard and a half left, so no fringe.

Out of the mouths of babes

2011-05-06T18:07:00.000-06:00

Last Friday Rose spent the day with me. As we were eating lunch, she told me that my face is 'crumbly'. She meant wrinkled. I'll be 70 in a few days; it would be surprising if there weren't a few wrinkles.

And another one from 16 years ago. My three grandchildren and I were on a road trip together. (I took the long way around returning them from central KY to southern NJ - 3,600 miles instead of 700) At one point, 6-year-old Bobby said, "Sara's scooping up all the room." I love his choice of words.

Good Deed for the Day

2011-04-30T17:02:00.001-06:00

Not mine - I was the recipient. About 12:15, I heard voices in my yard. It was Lexi's grandfather and his friend. They had brought two riding lawn mowers and made pretty quick work of my yard. My little mower started right off for Bobby for him to get a couple of places he couldn't with the riding one. I think I just don't have the strength to start it sometimes.

The yard certainly looks better! With all the rain we've been getting, the grass and weeds had gotten quite tall. Now it looks like we will get more rain tonight and they are forecasting rain for the next two days. At least we had two nice days. It was dry enough that I was able to take the girls to a playground after picking Lexi up from school yesterday. Lexi was in the car with me when Rose came up crying because some boy was throwing mulch at her. I was proud of Lexi for volunteering to go back with Rose to be her protector. The boy had been throwing mulch at everyone, even the adults.

More Yard Work

2011-04-29T18:53:00.001-06:00

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last!

On Saturday, I wanted to mow again, but couldn't get the mower started. Instead, I crawled around under the roses and nandino, cutting down four small volunteer trees of some sort. I say small, but they were over six feet tall, just not very big around, although two of them were too thick for the long-handled pruners. I had to use the pruning saw. I also did a good bit of pruning on the rose bushes. I was wearing a sweatshirt and gloves (along with jeans, socks and sneakers, of course), but got a couple of scratches on my wrists. When I was getting ready for bed that night I found one quarter-inch 'bruise' on my right arm. Last year both arms would have been purple.

Rose was with me all day today. We did some work on and around the two pine trees in the yard. There were some volunteer trees of various kinds under them that I was cutting, mostly with the long-handled pruners. Three or four were tall enough that they were growing up into the branches of the pine. I couldn't get them out from my position on the ground, so I managed to hand the bases to Rose and she pulled them out. I also sawed off the limbs that the boys next door broke about four years ago. They were about 8 and 10 at the time, and tried to climb the tree. The tree wasn't big enough at that time for climbing. While I was doing these things, Rose was using the regular pruners and trimming off tips of a bunch of branches. I figure whatever she could do wasn't going to harm the trees. She also dragged some of my larger trimmings to the neighbor's burn pit and piled her smaller cuttings into the wheelbarrow. She really was a big help, and it kept her occupied. (Everyone thinks my house is boring.)

Again today I was wearing a sweatshirt and gloves. I got one half-inch bruise on my right arm and two on my left. One of the ones on the left got scraped open and bled for a bit. Fortunately, the sweatshirt is navy blue, so the blood doesn't show. It feels good to be able to do these things, even though I don't have the stamina I had a few years ago. I just hope I can continue to mow, prune, etc.

This was a busy week with the little ones. I think I picked Lexi up from school three times and Rose, twice. I also took each of them to school once. That means I was in Mayfield every day. I visited the Senior Center and the Art Guild a couple of times each. I didn't go to Paducah at all - I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find a parking space with all the visitors in town for the quilt show. The weather was also a factor.

We had a lot of rain, wind, lightning and thunder. The ruts in my driveway have been rearranged, and my herb garden was a pool most of the week, but I have no damage. Bardwell, the county seat town, which is about eleven miles from me had a lot of wind damage last weekend. Last I heard, they were still trying to determine if there was a tornado there. I think it was Sunday that the county emergency notification system told everyone who lives near a creek to prepare to evacuate, although I don't think they ever did require evacuation. The county school didn't have classes on Monday, but did go the rest of the week. Milburn is high enough that we really don't need to worry about flooding, but from here it goes mainly down to the Mississippi River, about fifteen miles away.

Rose's art

2011-04-22T09:05:00.001-06:00

When we left the Art Guild last Friday, I didn't pay any attention to what Rose did with her drawing. When I went there Tuesday morning, it was still lying on the work table. Not bad for 5 1/2, is it?

Monday evening, I discovered a message in my voice mail from my primary care doctor's office, so I called there Tuesday. The radiologist had seen something questionable on my mammogram, so he wanted a re-do of the left breast. I had that done yesterday. The order was for the re-do of the x-ray and then an ultrasound if indicated by the x-ray. The tech did three or four shots, rolling the breast various ways. Then she had me wait while she took the pictures to the radiologist. When she returned, she said I was free to go, no ultrasound needed. She said she'd see me next year, so I guess everything's OK.

I mowed!

2011-04-15T19:31:00.001-06:00

I know that doesn't seem like any big deal, but last summer I was not able to do it. I made one pass across the fenced area of the back yard (maybe 50 feet) and thought I wasn't going to make it back to the porch. Yesterday, after I finally got the mower started I mowed out one tank full of gas, which usually takes about 45 minutes. It felt good! If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll do more.

After doing that mowing, I picked Rose up at the front door of the school, then drove around to the side of the building and waited for Lexi to get out of cheerleading practice. Rose played on the 'big kids' playground while we waited. You can see the size of the equipment in comparison to her, but she handles it just fine.

After playing for a while, she decided to rest a bit.

When Lexi came out, we went to Paducah for her gymnastics class. Rose thinks the gymnastics looks like fun. It was almost 8 o'clock when we got home, and I was thinking of bed even if the girls weren't.

This morning I had to get up at 6 o'clock. I'm not used to that now, although I did it for many, many years. We left here about 6:45 and went to Lexi's grandparents' house for her Nana and Aunt Courtney to put her 'cheer curls' in her hair (I don't do hair, except a simple brushing). She had to wear them and part of her cheerleading uniform because of a pep rally this afternoon. We got her to school at 8, and then Rose and I came back home until about 10:30. I had planned for us to do some yard work, but it was raining.

About 10:30 we headed back to Mayfield to the hospital. I had an 11 am appointment for a mammogram. When that was finished, I told Rose that I had brought some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and suggested that we eat them in the hospital cafeteria. She didn't like that idea, and suggested we go to the Art Guild. So we went there. I ate my sandwich, but she never did eat hers. Instead she 'read' some books from the 'books and bargains corner' and colored.

At about 12:45, we left to go to the elementary school for the pep rally. The cheerleaders did their routine, The theme of the rest of the event was 'Happy Days.' There was a dance contest by the teachers, a Fonzie look-alike competition by the boys, and a spoof of the teachers by some students. It ended with the cheerleaders, now dressed as 1950's teenagers, jitterbugging. They've been learning how to do that all week in their daily practice sessions. That's Lexi with her back to us. She still has her 'cheer curls' in and is wearing a white blouse that belongs to her Aunt Courtney (not tooo much to big), and a gray skirt her Nana made for her this week with a nice flair at the bottom.

After that, Sara met us at the school to take Rose home and Alyssa met us at the bank to take Lexi with her to Metropolis. So I'm alone again.

2011-04-13T18:38:00.000-06:00

Two doctor's appointments today, and I still was finished in time to knit with my friends at the coffee shop.

Dr Heine said that my mouth is healing well, but I need to continue using the Peridex rinse.

Dr Winkler said that all of my numbers are good. He will put me back on a small (maintenance) dose of Revlimid in the future, but not until my mouth is completely healed.

They both want to see me again in two months.

I didn't make it to the church service, because I got out of Dr Heine's office too late, but I did drop the two baptism blankets off at the church.

I got out of Dr Winkler's office before 2 o'clock, so I headed to the coffee shop. It was a very small group today - just Pam, Sandy, Annie, Valarie (of course - it's her shop), and me. The number doesn't really matter. It's just nice to get with other knitters.

Latest finished projects

2011-04-10T08:35:00.000-06:00

This is one of the blankets that will be given to a baby baptised at Grace Church at Easter. Each of the nine block had a different motif on it. The ones on this blanket are: chalice, crown, butterfly (symbol of the Holy Spirit), shell (at Grace, a shell is used to pour the water on the baby's head), cross, chi-rho, heart, fish (I didn't have space to write the ichthus in it), and star of David.

This red random shawl has many yarns in it in shades of red and a bit of black. The eyelash yarns make it feel very soft and luxurious. This shawl will be in the group for Lexi and Rose to choose from for their teachers. Since Mayfield Schools' colors are red and black, I expect one of them will select this one.

Now blooming:

The lilac is in full bloom. It smells wonderful. Also smelling wonderful, but I didn't photograph it, is the holly. The little girls stay far away from holly when it is blooming, because it is then also covered with bees.

The dogwood has no significant fragrance, but it sure is beautiful. This is quite an old tree and had some damage from the ice storm two years ago, but is still pretty magnificent.

Much smaller, but large for what it is: bleeding heart. That's the air conditioner unit behind it, and you can see a little hosta under the left side. There is a lot of hosta along that north end of the house.

I almost stepped on this little guy. Isn't he cute. I love seeing the fauna of my yard.

Libby to the rescue!

2011-04-09T11:21:00.001-06:00

Wednesday after the service, I told Libby (our rector) that Jane had told me the dishcloths were in the gift shop. I said that some of them were definitely NOT good enough for sale and I'd like to take them out. After I finish the blankets, I'd be glad to make some dishcloths if they really want them in the gift shop. Libby replied, "Right now, they are on the conference table in my office. I'm going to put them back in the kitchen. The men will be cooking breakfast this Sunday. They will use them, and after they are 'broken in,' others will use them, too." I breathed a sigh of relief.

A few years ago, when I told my cousin Michelle that Libby was the new rector at Grace Church, she said, "Libby is awesome!" AMEN!

I saw a robin today!

2011-04-03T16:10:00.001-06:00

It must be spring!
This is spring vacation for Lexi and Rose. Lexi will be here some of the time, of course, and I've told Sara I'm available all week to care for Rose if she needs me to.

Rose was here from Thursday night until this afternoon. She helped me with some yardwork on Friday (preschool is only four afternoons a week), and again yesterday. She really wasn't too happy when I let Lexi go to play with a couple of the neighbor girls, but I know that the nine- and ten-year-olds don't want a five-year-old tagging along.

Rose, Lexi and I went to church this morning. It was only the second time Rose had been there, and Lexi and I had not been for a long time (I've been going to the Wednesday noon service instead). They spent some time on the church playground after the service.

Speaking of playgrounds: on Friday Rose and I had to pick Lexi up from school after her cheerleading practice. We got there early, and Rose played on the 'big kids' playground for about an hour while I sat in the car, knitting. The school has three playgrounds for the various levels of pupils. The one Rose's class uses is fenced in and has smaller equipment, including tricycles and scooters. I don't know what the middle one is like, because it's behind the building, where I have never gone. The one for older kids is open and has some pretty large equipment. Rose is such a little monkey that she had no problem with any of that stuff.

Knitting:
I'm still working on charting motifs for the baptism blankets. I have one blanket finished and a second one started, but I want each blanket to be different, so I need more designs. Thursday a week ago (that's good Southern terminology), when I went to the Vintage Grace luncheon for those of us in the church who are 'vintage', I took half a dozen of the dishcloths I had made to test my charts to donate to the church kitchen. This morning, one of the women told me they had put the cloths in the church gift shop because they were too good for the kitchen. At least two of the charts needed major adjustments at that point; I certainly didn't consider them good enough to sell! Oh well, it's out of my hands.

Word Problem

2011-03-25T18:34:00.001-06:00

Remember those things from your math classes? I always liked numbers, but didn't like word problems. I guess I didn't need to be convinced that it was important to learn to add, subtract, etc.

This morning as I was working on the first of the blankets for the babies that will be baptized at Grace Church, I thought that project would provide a good word problem.

Here it is:
Grandmother plans to knit a baby blanket, She wants to have nine squares, each with a different design. She will do them in three tiers of three squares each. Since knitting stitches are wider than they are tall, each square will have 29 stitches per row and 42 rows.

She plans to have seed stitch borders on all sides, as well as seed stitch 'ribbons' between the squares. The top and bottom borders will each be sixteen rows, and the 'ribbons' between the tiers will be ten rows each. The side borders will be ten stitches each, and the 'ribbons' between the columns will be seven stitches each.

1) How many stitches should Grandmother cast on?

2) How many rows will there be?

3) How many stitches will there be in each square?

4) What is the total stitch count?

5) If each stitch requires 3/4 inch of yarn, how many yards of yarn will Grandmother need to complete the blanket?

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

What do you think? Are there enough things that might confuse kids if they are not reading carefully? I plan to give it to Lexi to see what she thinks. And how well she can do it. I'll ask her to show her work - no using a calculator. In my opinion, calculators should definitely NOT be used in elementary school.

Medical:

I visited my family doctor today to get a new prescription for my blood pressure medication. I caught her up on my medical stuff since I saw her early last August. She had received reports on some of it, but not everything. In addition to the prescription, she gave me a list of bloodwork she wants the Cancer Group to do on my next visit there (4/13). Most of it is stuff they do routinely, of course, but there may be a couple of things they don't always check.

OK, Dominic, this one's for you.

2011-03-22T18:16:00.002-06:00

No, I'm not skinny, but I am about fifty pounds lighter than when you saw me last. The jeans are size 18 (as opposed to the 22's and 24's that were falling off me). They fit perfectly around the waist, but are 'relaxed fit,' therefore they look a bit baggy. I haven't replaced any of my shirts yet; I figure I can wear shirts a little large. Lexi is holding it in the back so it doesn't look toooo loose.

I thought you might like to see how much Lexi has grown, as well. She's still one of the shorter ones in her class though.

That tree we're standing in front of is the redbud you and I couldn't dig up when we moved the other baby ones four or five years ago. I wish it showed up better - the flowers are about half open.

Knitting:
I am going to start making blankets for the babies that are baptised at Grace Church, with a variety of Christian symbols on them. I only have two suitable ones already charted in a stitch dictionary, so for the past several days, I have been charting more, and then knitting dishcloths to test the charts. I've had to make adjustments to the charts, but I figure it's OK if the dishcloths are not quite right. I plan to donate them to the church kitchen.

First Gardening

2011-03-17T17:31:00.000-06:00

I spent about three hours outside today. It was warm and sunny. First I sat on the back porch and knit for at least an hour. Then I decided to walk around the yard and look at trees and flower beds. The redbud is about to bloom and other things are getting ready to either bloom or leaf out. The iris leaves look good - it will be several weeks before they bloom though. I raked some of last year's weeds from around the largest planting of them, but there's a lot more work to do there. I also did some raking and weeding in the herb garden. The thyme smelled sooo good.

I sat on the porch and knitted for a while longer, but then came inside to listen to the news.

The cheerleaders' visit to Mayfield city council Monday night was brief, but nice. I introduced Lexi to the current mayor and to one of the former ones, who is now a councilman. After the call to order and invocation, Mayor Cantrell had the kids lead the Pledge to the Flag, She introduced them to the audience, and then dismissed them and gave a folder with a certificate for each of them to their coach. After we all left, the people who had come for the meeting were able to sit down; I'm sure they were glad to see us go.

Quiet Weekend

2011-03-14T09:41:00.000-06:00

I was alone until about 7 last night. Lexi was with her dad and his family, and Alyssa was at Sara's since they're both sick. Alyssa's feeling much better; I guess the medication the doctor prescribed on Wednesday worked.

I spent the weekend knitting, of course; finished one laprobe and worked on another, as well as on two shawls. I also made slacks for a Barbie doll. I have made a couple of others, but this time I did some short-rowing on the back so her butt doesn't show when she sits. I had a Barbie with a pair from my original pattern at the knitting group last week. Jennifer asked for the pattern, so I figured that before I gave it to her, I needed to make that alteration to what I had done before to make a better garment. I've typed up a couple of my other Barbie doll patterns for her as well. I should probably take more than one copy of them, in case others want them.

This afternoon, I need to pick Lexi up from school, do a couple of errands, take her to Nana's for her to change and for Nana to put in her 'cheer curls' (I don't do hair, except brushing), and then have her at Mayfield City Hall at 5:30 for the city council meetiing. The mayor is going to honor the cheerleaders. Now, which knitting project should I take to work on?

2011-03-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

Whatever shall I do with myself - I don't have a medical appointment until April 13! I guess I should make one with my family doctor though, to get a new prescription for my blood pressure medication.

Yesterday I took care of two things that I was about six months overdue for - a haircut for me and an oil change for my car. I look so much less like an old hag without my hair so long.

Later I picked Lexi up from school and took her to her gymnastics class. In between, she and I had supper at Subway with her Nana and Aunt Courtney. I enjoyed that.

I had not taken her to gymnastics for a couple of months. I knitted as I watched, of course. Of the dozen or so girls in the class, only Lexi and one other can do unassisted backflips. It's a new skill for them, and the others haven't caught on yet.

In all my driving, I noticed a few willow trees leafing out with that lovely spring green and some forsythias starting to bloom. My forsythias haven't started yet, but I have daffodils all over the place, including under the trees on the front slope. I love that naturalized look.

Fourth Grade Science

2011-03-01T09:40:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, Lexi's class was learning about volcanoes. The made their own, using a soup can in the middle. At school, they 'erupted' them with baking soda, vinegar and red food coloring. Alyssa helped Lexi make this one. I didn't see it after the eruption. According to Lexi, the class had great fun with this project.

I didn't go out all weekend, so yesterday was the first time I saw the daffodils beside the driveway blooming. That looks soooo good!

I saw the oncologist yesterday for the first time in about two months (I had canceled an appointment during out snow storm). Everything seems OK. He ordered a bit more lab work. I'll see him again in six weeks - it will be April by then!

A few Shawls

2011-02-27T15:43:00.000-06:00

I've been working on shawls lately. Not that that is anything new, of course, but I'm trying to get a lot made for Lexi and Rose to select from for their teachers at the end of the school year, and for my sister Pauline to to choose from when she visits this summer. Today, I took pictures of the ones I currently have.

I call this one Angel Wings. It is very simple. The stitch pattern (yarn over, knit one, knit 2 together) slants automatically. At the mid-point, I switched to the reverse (knit 2 together, knit one, yarn over), which slants in the other direction. The resulting shawl drapes very nicely in front.

I did another one like it, but using two shades of green, alternating colors every two rows. The picture doesn't show it well, but one side is narrow stripes, and the other is mottled. Lexi likes the mottled side better; I think I do, too.

This triangular shawl is rather small because I didn't have enough of the yarn to make it larger.

This is the detail of the lace triangles in the above shawl.

This fern lace pattern is much easier than it looks. The yarn is some acrylic, wool and mohair that I've had in my stash for several years; it feels wonderful!

This is a small baby blanket or laprobe that was worked from the center out. It seems so different in the picture than in person!

This is basically a triangular shawl, but with short-row extensions on both sides after I reached the length I wanted for the center back. That makes it hang better in the front than if it were simply a triangle. I really like the Snowdrop Lace pattern I used. Upside down it looks like tulips rather than snowdrops. I'm thinking of doing a rectangular shawl in red with that pattern, working from the middle to each end.

This one I'm still working on. I'm using 149 stitches and a size 15 circular needle. The scarlet yarn in the ball above the shawl is my 'foundation yarn,' I use another yarn along with it - a different one for each row, leaving several inches of the extra yarn at beginning and end to be fringe.

This type of shawl I work on only at home. I select the yarns and divide them into three groups - eyelash, other textures, and smooth. Then I lay them out on the floor beside my chair and select from each group in whatever sequence I decide on. This one is reds with a touch of black, but others have been all kinds of color combinations. People seem to like them, and it's a great way to use up leftover yarn.

Almost Spring

2011-02-22T19:54:00.000-06:00

The winter wheat is up enough that the fields look like gigantic putting greens.

When I took paper and other burnables out to the burn barrel this morning, I noticed that the daffodils around my black walnut tree are four or five inches tall - they'll be blooming within a week, I think. I'm ready!

Brown is a lovely color.

2011-02-14T12:54:00.000-06:00

About 99% of the snow is gone. On my drive this morning, I enjoyed seeing the browns, tans, and beiges of the fields and the dead grass and leaves. I drove very slowly down my driveway, watching the south-facing bank for daffodil leaves. Some of them are up about half an inch. The first ones will bloom before the end of this month, and next month they will be everywhere. I'm looking forward to that! Then they'll be followed by the forsythias, redbuds, dogwoods, lilacs. etc. And in July and August we'll complain about the heat!

More Snow

2011-02-11T19:27:00.000-06:00

Wednesday morning, I went around the corner to pay my water bill and my annual fire department dues, and talked to the two ladies in that office. They said the roads were not good, and there was more snow forecast for the day. I then went to the local gas station and filled the tank and went home. I called and cancelled my appointments for the day. It did snow off and on all day. I guess our total accumulation this week is about six inches. I know that sounds like nothing to many people, but it's a lot for us. The roads were still pretty bad yesterday morning, so I stayed home again. However, today things were much better, and temperatures are predicted to be above freezing for the next few days.

After my radiation treatment this morning, I went to church to put some patterns in the knitting ministry closet. The Heartland Lace Guild was meeting there, so I spent some time with them. This is a group that does bobbin lace, which fascinates me. I belonged to the group for a couple of years, although I never tried to lace.

The roads are clear today.

2011-02-08T18:32:00.000-06:00

When I was checking in at the radiation center, I asked how many others didn't make it in yesterday. One of the secretaries said that a lot didn't and that they already had a few cancellations for tomorrow. The forecast is for more snow tonight and tomorrow. I'll wait until morning to make the decision of whether to leave the house or not. I hope the roads are OK, because I have an appointment with the oncologist after the radiation treatment, and then I want to meet my knitting friends at the coffee shop. That knitting group is my main social event each week.

Snow!

2011-02-07T10:07:00.001-06:00

I'm missing my treatment today because of snow. It's really coming down and blowing around. I called the radiation place and left a message that I'm not leaving my house today.

Lexi's cheerleading team at Nationals in Chicago this weekend. They won their division by default, but the grand championship went to an older group. This group is first through fifth graders. They are coming home today, due to arrive in Mayfield about 1:30 tomorrow morning. I hope the weather doesn't mess things up for them.

We have lights!

2011-02-03T15:03:00.000-06:00

Actually, we've had them since Tuesday. The electrician will come back when it is not cold and raining to fix the problem, but for now he has disconnected something to make the rest of it work.

I had my eighth radiation treatment on my leg this morning - five more to go. I assume it's doing what it's supposed to; I can't feel any difference.

After leaving the hospital, I went to the Dollar General store in Lone Oak for a couple of things. After making my purchases, I sat in the car, knitting until about time for the schoolbus Lexi and the other cheerleaders were on to pass. When they did, I was standing on the sidewalk waving. I wonder is anyone noticed me. They were on their way to Carbondale IL to catch a train to Chicago for the national cheerleading competition. I sure hope the weekend goes well for them.

Then I drove about a mile up the street to the oral surgeon's office. I'm healing OK, but need to continue using the Peridex rinse at least twice a day. He'd really like me to use it three times a day. Sometimes I do, but sometimes it's only twice.

My Electrical Problem

2011-01-28T12:08:00.001-06:00

Last Wednesday I meant to post an entry here after my visit to the Radiation Oncologist, but then decided to wait until Thursday to do it. Thursday morning when I tried to turn on a light and the radio in the living room, nothing happened. Then I realized that the ceiling fans were not turning. However, in the kitchen, the clock on the range was on. I went to the breaker box and discovered that one breaker had flipped. I went around turning off light switches and unplugging things, then tried the breaker. It buzzed for a few seconds and flipped again. Everything is OK in my bedroom, bathroom and closet, as well as in the utility closet (washer, dryer, water heater, and the outlet where I plug the lamp under that floor to keep the water pipes brom freezing when the temperature drops into the low teens or below). Perhaps most important, the furnace works!

After fixing my coffee (boiling water on the stove and using my French press pot), I called Alyssa's father-in-law and asked him how he is with figuring out electrical problems. He said he's not very good, but he came over, bring his other son with him. Matthew had a class in electricity when he was studying computer technology, so he knows a bit more than average. They stopped in Fancy Farm and bought a new breaker, but discovered that the breaker was not the problem, so they returned the new one on the way back home. Bobby went around the house with a small lamp checking all the outlets, while I made a diagram of the house and marked them dead or live. They plugged the refrigerator into a different outlet and I later did the same with the microwave. We now have a couple of lamps in strange places, because that's where tha live outlets are. The worst thing is that I can't use the computer. Since my phone service is through the same cable as the Internet service, my house phone is dead. I guess it's good that I have a cellphone, even though I don't like the thing.

I need to call an electrician, but since I'm having radiation therapy every day for the next two weeks, it may have to wait until that is complete. In the meantime, I guess I'll visit the library more to use the Internet.

I had my fourth radiation treatment this morning. When I went last Wednesday, they put marks on both legs to help them position me correctly, and another one on my right leg to show where the radiation meeded to be aimed. They put small, clear, plastic dots over them to keep them from washing away. On Tuesday, they drew a larger box to show the whole area to be irradiated. It encompasses most of my femur, since the insertion of the rod may have pushed some of the myeloma cells further up the bone.

Things are looking up!

2011-01-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

Recently I've been able to buy Arnold's bread at Kroger; today I also bought Thomas' English Muffins! Doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

We have had only an inch or so of snow (on Monday) here, but it's COLD. I've been mostly staying in my bedroom with the door closed. It gets warmer than the rest of the house that way. I have several knitting projects to work on. Today I finally went out - to Paducah. I went to the midweek eucharist service at Grace Church and then to the knitting group at the coffee shop. I took two short capes and three shawls with me to church for the prayer shawl ministry.

At the coffee shop I had some lasagna for lunch along with two cups of coffee. I had not been there for a few weeks, so it was extra good to see the others. I didn't get much knitting done, but enjoyed the conversations.

Killing Time

2011-01-09T17:17:00.000-06:00

Last night, the company Alyssa and Sara work for had their Christmas party - they were too busy before Christmas. So the girls asked me if Lexi and Rose could spend the night with me. Lexi had a birthday party to go to from 5 to 8 pm. The original plan was for Alyssa to drop her off and me to pick her up. However, there were changes in the plans, so the little ones were dropped off here early in the afternoon. We left here about 4:30 and dropped Lexi off about 5 o'clock. I wasn't about to drive the 17 miles back here and then back to Mayfield, so Rose and I had three hours to kill. First we went to the gas station to fill the tank. Then to McDonalds (I was not surprised when Rose announced on the way to the gas station that she was hungry.) We took our time there eating our supper. Rose was flirting with two men at the next table. She likes to flirt with old men - not old-old, more my contemporaries.

When we got back in the car, I discovered that we had killed one hour. Next we went to Dollar Tree; I needed a few boxes of Scotties. We walked the whole store and Rose looked at greeting cards. She found a Valentine she wanted to give her mom.

I decided I wanted to have waffles for breakfast this morning, so we went to WalMart. We got waffles, syrup and hot chocolate mix, then headed to the back of the store to the ladies' room. We stopped on the way at a bench to rest my leg. On the way back from the ladies' room, we stopped at the bench again, and had a conversation something like this:

Me: "Can you think of anything else we should get?"
Rose, tapping the side of her head with her index finger (she's such a ham!): "Marshmallows, to go with the hot chocolate."
Me: "Good idea, we are out of them. Anything else?"
Rose. again tapping her head: "Bananas."
Me: "Good idea. We'll get some bananas. Anything else?"
Rose:"Onions."
Me: "How did you know I'm out of onions? But I don't want to buy any today."
She also suggested apples and oranges, but I didn't want to get more fruit than the bananas.

So we found the marshmallows and the bananas, checked out, and got in the car. By then it was 7:35. so we headed for the house where Lexi was. We sat there for a few minutes until others started coming to pick kids up. Then I sent Rose up to the door, telling her to knock and, when someone came to the door, tell them we had come for Lexi. She did a great job!

When we got home, we had hot chocolate with marshmallows and got ready for bed. I think I was probably more tired than the girls were.

2011-01-05T17:05:00.000-06:00

I had two doctor's appointments today.

Dr Heine said my mouth is healing well. There is still a small bit of bone showing, but it is filling in well with soft tissue. I am off the antibiotic, but still rinsing with warm salt water and Peridex. I go back to him on February 3.

Dr Winkler said my numbers are still good. The myeloma is not in my bone marrow, but only in that one bone. On January 19, I will see Dr Locken, the radiation oncologist. After that I will have two or three weeks of radiation on the leg. We hope that when I go back to Dr Winkler on February 9, my mouth will be healed and the radiation therapy will be finished. Then I will probably go back on Revlimid at a maintenance level, whatever that is.

After all that, I treated myself to a late lunch/early supper at Olive Garden. I love their Zuppa Rustica!