Monday, Monday

Just can't trust that day.  In which we all stop by to see what happened this week.

Last week, I told Monday it needs to stop dropping by every week.  This morning, I woke up and stepped in a great big ole pile of it.  Monday.  The good thing about it was I was off.  Restraining orders against Monday are in the process.

It was cold and rainy today.  A good day stay home and mess around in the kitchen.  I finally made that apple pie, I kept saying I was going to make but didn't.

Then I noticed, the refrigerator is on the fritz, yet again.  It's turned up to nine and just barely keeping things cool. The repair man kept saying he was coming.  Until the manager called him again at 6pm and he said, tomorrow.  The manager said, and in the meantime their food is going bad.

My yarn I ordered on October 21st arrived.  It wasn't exactly was I was expecting compared to the picture I saw on the website.  I will review it in another post.

Then I made bacon honey maple caramels for Duane.  He and I got to bickering and I forgot I had the pan on the stove.  The sugar scorched the bottom of the pain and I thought it was ruined.  I tasted a bit of it on a spoon and it was ok, just looked funny.  So I carried on.  Duane says he likes it and that's all that matters.  I'll have to make another pan next week while I'm sleeping or something.

I found a new fudge recipe that is easy, in the microwave.  I'm going to make one recipe of my time trusted Never Fail Fudge and one recipe of the new easier stuff.  Then compare.

Next two weeks are going to be interesting.  I work the next five days, Sunday off, then five days and Christmas eve off.  Not too much time to get things done.  Christmas Eve will be spent in kitchen making Duane his kolaches and Dutch speculaas koekjas for me.

Back to sock knitting and fudge making.

Cookie Made My Day

This is the first Saturday that I've worked on the floor since training.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  Friday is viagra Friday, Sunday is birth control Sunday.  I'm dubbing Saturday, Sucky People Saturday. But, more on that later.

Last night, when I planned out my morning bus commute, I "mislooked" at the schedule for my second bus.  I looked at the weekday schedule instead of the Saturday schedule and ended up sitting at a cold bus stop on a dreary cloudy morning for over thirty minutes.  That's when I realized I looked at the wrong day and cursed myself for the fact that I could have slept an extra half hour.

Cookie made my day when I came home tonight.  She posted about the scarf she made with my handspun yarn she won from me last year. She really did a wonderful job.  I so rarely ever get to see what people have made with yarn and fiber that I've either given away or sold.

Which reminds me.  I found the yarn that I owe a couple of friends from a contest the weekend the Duane first became ill.  They understand the long delay, due to circumstances.  This next two days off I need to make my way to the post office and mail off a bunch of packages.  Outfits for my granddaughters, for one thing, before they outgrow them.

Slow progress continues on my sweater.  Just a couple more rows and I start on the waist shaping.  I love the color of the bfl/silk.  It sort of reminds of the camel hair coat I had in the late 80's.  I'm dubbing this the Faux Camel Jacket.

Sucky people suck on Saturday, especially when I'm accused of stealing from elderly ladies.  A woman called because she ordered her mother's "I can't eat cake" pills when her mother needed her "Help me get up" pills.  She didn't realize this until she got back with the medicine and went through her mother's 5 gallon ziplock baggie of pill bottles and saw she had several bottles of "I can't eat cake" but was all out of "Help me get up."  She paid the cash price for the pills and wanted us to return the wrong the ones and give her the right ones.

She accused me of stealing from elderly ladies when I said we can't take medication back once it's left the store. I told her it was federal law, and she called me a stupid, lying, thief.  Wow!  Really? The tirade of verbal abuse continued until I offered to refer her to a supervisor.  I came home and looked it up.  It's a state law but the feds back it up.  There were other calls of screaming people, that one was the worst.

I'm amazed at how some of the people think they can demand that I break Federal laws.  Prison orange didn't look good this past spring when the nursing home held Duane hostage.  It definitely doesn't look good now.

You know, I could have yelled at the bus driver this morning for my stupidity.  I just got on the bus, said my usual good morning and sat down still silently berating my "mislooking".  By the end of the day, I was ready to head for the Misty Mountains.

Have a great Sunday.  I'll be helping the good people of Arizona get their prescriptions filled.

Be Careful Of What You Wish For .......

That's what my Grandma used to tell me when I was much, much younger.  Because you just might get it.  Of course, being very young, I thought that was the most absurd thing I ever heard.  Back then, I was wishing for Barbie Townhouse, kitchen sets, Easy Bake Oven and Baby Alive.  Which my neighbor got for Christmas and I didn't.  I used to think Santa got the houses mixed up, then I decided he was just a jerk. But, I digress and regress, this time.

That looks innocent enough.... just wait... there's more....

Back in 1999, I had the perfect job three days one week, four days the next, making more than I do now.  I lived with a complete jerk, who wouldn't leave and the kids were out of control.  I remember wishing I had more time for my crafts.  Really, I was just wishing the jerk would leave and the kids would settle down.  Instead, I injured my back and was out of work for the next two years.  Two weeks before that, I vacationed in Vermont and wished to move there.  That sure didn't happen.

This past July and August while I was filling out job applications 8 hours a day, I said to Duane,  "I wish I would just find a job, so I can go to work, come home and go to bed."  Yeah, that's what my work days consists of, when I take the bus.  I leave at 7:45am and don't return until a little after 8pm at night.  Eat supper, then in bed by 10pm.

This morning, my friend was supposed to be working the same hours as I.  She called last night and said she would be here between 9 and 9:15 in the morning.   This morning while getting ready for work, I wished I could have an extra day off to get some cleaning done.....

My friend is always a super early, very responsible type.  I was concerned when she hadn't arrived by 9:20.  Thinking she might be stuck in traffic, I called her cell phone and got her voice mail.  She's been out of work since Friday with her blood pressure.  Still nothing by 9:30 and just her voice mail.  That's when Duane got up and we conferred.  If I left on the next bus, I would be two hours late and that's a half a point.  Duane said, "Well, the perfect attendance you were going for November is shot anyhow, just call in and take the whole point."  Besides, I would have been a nervous wreck when I finally arrived, and had a lousy day.

At 5:30 pm, I still haven't heard from my friend.  Which isn't like her and I'm beyond worried that something bad has happened.

Anyway, as tempting as it was to just go back to bed, I'm not one to waste a day off with something silly like sleeping.  I tackled one of the corners I've been wanting to organize since before I started work, but was lazy.

Anyway, onto the insanity.....

This is a very small part of my life insurance.  Nicole thinks this is a small part of her inheritance.  I have her fooled.  I have determined that I can't die until I've finished every WIP in my possession that I have started. This includes any new things I may obtain.  That pile alone insures a very long life.

That's most of my cross stitch minus a few other projects and my books.  I've suggested that I could post a new picture every week for a few years and never have to take a stitch.  I wasn't kidding you.  There is a reason, I call myself the Queen of WIPsluts.

This is a very teeny, tiny portion of my fabric stash.  There is four more huge totes in my closet.  A bit of this is  fabric that will be making it's way to Cambridge very soon.  There is dress fabric and some tapestry fabric I bought to make a knitting bag.  Except I need to clean off the dining room table to set up my sewing machine.  That never lasts more than an hour as there no space in the closet we call our kitchen.

Needles need to be organized and stuck in that yellow box from which they jumped out.  I had been thinking I could use more knitting needles.  Except, that would mean I could start more WIPs and I don't need that.

This tote is full of odds and ends that I can't bear to throw out as I might use the stuff someday. (Who am I kidding?) It also has a jumble of cross stitch thread that I just threw in there when we moved.  I organized the thread this afternoon.  Just have to stuff in the right spots of my floss boxes.

Ah, that corner looks much better now.  Bottom tote is the fabric that could use some more organizing.  Middle tote is all the cross stitch projects.  The thought of that tote is so overwhelming it gives me the vapors just thinking about it.  Maybe I should make a list and try to knock them out one at a time.  I'll be around longer than cock roaches with that one alone.  Nuclear holocaust will happen, cock roaches will die off and here I will be sitting in my rocking chair stitching away, refusing to die until I finish them all.  Satan rests easier at that thought.

This top tote is the yarn for my Bargello Beauty afghan that I worked on for a bit last year with a few other odds and ends of stuff.  It's been in very slow progress since 2007.  One day I will finish it, really I will.

Now, to tackle this corner. In my defense, the large box that you can't really see next to the wheelchair is the bunny cave.  It holds the shower chair that Duane never used.  The bunnies have chewed themselves an entrance and exit holes.  They say we can send the chair back, but they are keeping the box. (That's a post for another day.)  Mostly, it's book boxes back there.  Just a yarn tote, the big box in front of the chair and the bookcase needs sorted.

Then there is my walk in closet. That gives me nightmares just thinking about that and I'm wide awake.

Not to mention the tote and bags beside my chair that holds my current projects.  We'll not talk about the stuff that is stored in my daughter's trailer back in NY that I still need move down here.  When I visit, I think will sort it out and hand much of that off to her.

Whew, I'm going to have to re-think this living long enough to finish it all.

The Weekend That Was

My first day off started with shopping.  This is snow bird country and we had fun with that in Wal-mart.  While in the girls section, I see a dress I want to get for Faith.  So, I whip out my new phone and call my daughter to get Faith's size.  She said she got the package and enjoyed the prickly pear candy Duane sent her.  I told her to hold on he's right here.  He's sitting on the store scooter talking to Nicole while I'm looking at dresses.

Dress for Faith, t-shirt for Nicole and sleeper for Anna.

On the way to the grocery store is Grandma's Spinning Wheel.  My favorite yarn shop.  I like Kiwi Knitting, but Grandma has more of a selection of hand dyed yarns.  I picked up a second skein of the merino silk that I bought last month to make my sweater.  For some strange reason another skein just jumped onto the counter with the one I came to buy.  Yarn is sooo sneaky like that.  Vouch for me ladies.  Duane reads this blog and the comments I get.

This is Alpaca Peds 20 % superfine alpaca, 65% superwash merino 15% nylon.  It comes with a smaller co-oridinating skein for the heels and toes.  That's the melon color in the background.  I'm making this into socks for someone who may or may not read this blog.  I'm not telling which.  Then again, this person has the same size foot as me and I might decide I like them too much.  The weather is getting cooler, or so the weatherman claims.

Taken with my Nikon digital camera.

I haven't been able to find 20 ounce apples since we moved down here.  A Google search and I noticed that my favorite apple farm, Herman's sells them mail order.  $16.00 for 18 apples which is a good deal.  But then $19.28 for UPS ground shipping for a total of $35.28.  Which is kind of expensive, but I was going to do it for a good NY apple.

At the grocery store, I saw these huge honey crisp apples, which is what they are selling back home.  They were on sale for .99 a pound.  I just about did a happy dance right there in the store.  The strangest things amuse me to no end.

Taken with my phone camera.  Granny Smith is placed for size.

I bought five of the big ones and four granny smiths.  Now, I have to decide.  Do I want to make my yearly apple cake, or apple pie, or an apple tarte tatin? Duane is wanting pie, but that means I'll have clean off the clutter on the table.   Once I go back to work on Tuesday, I won't have the energy to deal with them.  I'm not sure if these apples are as appley as the NY apples.  We'll find out and I'll let you know.  I'm a bit of an apple snob being I come from an area that has both an Apple Blossom Festival and Apple Festival every year.

I thought I could come home, help put the groceries away, then play with my new yarn. This past week, our dollhouse size frig has been acting up.  It took several days for the manager to get his guy to bring us a new one.  Friday night, we get the new bigger frig.  When we came home, the new one was worse than the old one.  The ice trays were filled with warm water.  We had to throw out everything that wasn't a condiment. A somewhat quick trip to CVS on the corner, carrying back twenty pounds of ice.  I called the manager and he came to look at it an hour later.

I'm pissed that I'm about to lose another $200.00 worth of food that I just bought.  Plus, my late ex-MIL was thawing.  Over the summer, when I suspected that all the things going wrong was my ex-MIL's curse,  Nurse Rudee suggested I write my MIL's on a piece of brown paperbag put it in water and freeze it.  Which I promptly did and shortly there after, Duane got his disability, the boarder left, and I got a job. I grabbed up the container and went next door to the manager.

He says, "The guy is coming in an hour with a different one."

Me: "That's good.  In the meantime, can you freeze this little container for me."

He reaches for it. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"My ex-MIL, I can't let her un-thaw."

He jumps back, and looks at me like I was holding a body part in my hand.

"It's just water and a paper with her name on it."

"Oh, ok." He warily takes it from me and puts it in his freezer.  I then explain the above.   He's looking at me sideways.  I'm suddenly not the normal person he thought I was.  Possibly a witch!

Hello, I was hoping to appear on That 70's Show. 

Frustrated as I was, instead of playing with yarn, I cleaned the living room. A couple hours later and the guy dragged this beast in, straight out of the 70's.  Harvest gold, Kelvinator. Duane said the next one would probably be avocado green.  I said, "There better not be a next one and most certainly not any avocado green."  That color gives me nightmares from my teenage years.  Luckily, we had ice within a half hour, and not the kind that I had to walk to the CVS and drag back.  Then, I went back to the manager and collected my late ex-MIL. He's still looking at me funny.

Butterscotch says, "These are my colors."

Sunday morning, I spent quietly knitting on the purple sock until Duane got up.  He was angry that his Bears that were in London wasn't on TV.  Talked to my daughter for an hour on the phone.  Then cleaned the bedroom.  My neck was cramping after that, so I thought I would take the luxury of an hour nap.

Something had attacked my plants.

When I woke up, I took my coffee out on the patio.  I noticed something wasn't right with my plants.  They were fine just an hour ago, before I laid down.  Upper left corner and bottom right.  When I inspected them, the bottom right one had been dug up, chewed and laying on the petunias.

The upper left plant wasn't completely dug out, but certainly had been trampled and chewed on.  I'm suspecting it's the kitten from the apartment across the way.  The man who isn't supposed to be there (that's another story), has been letting the kitten out the past few days.  I've saw this kitten run through my planter a few times.  Duane says, it's all circumstantial evidence.  I've had plants since January and never a problem until now.   While I was fixing my plants and watering them, that guy tossed a ball out the door to make the kitten go outside.  I asked him if that kitten had been in my planter.  He ignored me.

One of the few things lately, that has made life enjoyable for me.  I'm pissed.  When the manager walked by and I showed him the damage, the man closed his inner door.  I didn't get to tell the manager my suspicions as he was holding heavy bags of groceries and was in a hurry to get inside.  More circumstantial evidence is, when that man let the kitten out this morning and it ran for planter, he came and got it.

Today, is my last day off.  I need to walk up to the store to get carrots and spinach, for the bunnies and birds.  Do the laundry and maybe make a pie or a tarte-tatin.  Any thing else happens and I might beat it with my broomstick and remove all doubt about whether I'm a witch or not.

I want to thank everyone for you kind wishes about my granddaughter on Friday.  Sadly this is a nightmare that is probably going last a long while.

FO & Fiber Arts Friday

My last free Friday, for who knows how long.  Next week I'll be working.  This FO has been technically finished for awhile.  However, I just skeined it off  my plying bobbin today.  The llama has been spun and I'm now plying.  The skein above is Tempted Fibers  merino/silk,  in colorway, can't remember, but I do have the tag around here somewhere.

This is part of the fiber that K brought to me in February when she came down for the day.  Since I have tons of handspun yarn, I told her I would spin it and give it back to her.  Hopefully, she'll be pleased with laceweight 909 yards approximately.  My goal was anything above 800 yards for the four ounces, as that is what millspun would be.  The llama should be finished this weekend.

While I was out this morning doing the boring shopping, cat food, cat litter and bird seed, we stopped at the yarn store that is conveniently on the way home.  The one on the left is another Pagewood Farms Yukon SW Merino/Bamboo/Nylon in the Navajo colorway and that one said, Baby Boy.  The other one on the right is K1C2 SW Merino/Nylon/Silk and it said Baby Boy.  When I got home I showed it to Duane and said, you know with the silk, maybe I should make my mother socks.

He said, he thinks it looks like it would make a nice small sweater to go with my new work tank top.  Except, I would need one more skein, at least.  I'm pretty sure they had another one or two and I've been trying to call them all day to see if they will hold it for a week or two.  While I was there, I heard them say the internet was out, so maybe that's why the phone keeps ringing.  Try again tomorrow and hopefully they still have it and will hold it.

My rose bud has decided to start to bloom.  I love them at this stage, just a bud starting to unfold.

The other one is thinking about it.  Let's see if they come up missing.  Hope not. Really hope not.

My bright pink geranium.

I'm feeling better today and organized the corner by my chair.  I've been wanting to do that since before Duane went in the hospital.  Of course, I organized it in my usual fashion by moving everything to the other side of the room. No picture, as all it is, is a blue tote with a few things on it.  Tomorrow, I will attempt the other side of the room and see how far I get.  Goodness knows where I'll move all that stuff over to.  Not the bedroom, I cleaned that last week.

For more Fiber and FO posts go to Wonder Why Gal and Tami's Amis.

WIP Wednesday

One week left to go.  My last week of freedom, then I start work.

Many other bloggers are posting what their reading with their knitting and I finally remembered to go get the books off my stand.  I need to get that baby sweater finished this week.

The first week of September, Kaleidoscope Yarns was donating 25% of purchases to the Vermont Foodbank after the hurricane.  As I needed some blue fingering weight superwash to make a sweater for my youngest's baby coming in November, I ordered a skein.  I love the state of Vermont and it felt like a win/win situation as I needed the yarn.  Except the skein looks nothing like that on the website.  It's Pagewood Farms Yukon 70% superwash merino wool 20% bamboo 10% nylon. 

It didn't say baby boy sweater to me, so I started a sock to see what it looks like knitted up.  Duane says it looks like tie dye to him.  I think it's looks like dye bottle barf.  It will become socks and I'll just have to go to one of our local shops later so I can see the yarn in person before I buy it. Yarn shopping, I'll have to make the sacrifice.

For light reading, I have Tender at The Bone by Ruth Reichl.  Funny book, and the characters are colorful.  I love books with characters that are colorful people.  Nothing will make me stop reading a book faster than cardboard characters. It's about her growing up around food in the 1960's.  The other book is Les Miserables.  That one will take me awhile.

I've been so busy the last couple weeks, so much I could have posted about but I was either too tired or too lazy when I had the time. It's the stupid Fibro.  I keep hoping to build my stamina, but it's not working out so well.   We had a week of evening rain that ended with a bang last Thursday.   Two years living here and finally we had a monsoon storm that impressed me.  That is the hail you see there.

I waited til the hail storm slowed down enough to take these pictures.  They were about half inch size hail stones.

Why yes, those are new plants in my planter.  I told you I had stuff to post, but am too damn lazy. My poor plants took a beating.  One of the plants is a two foot tomato plant that for some reason I didn't take a picture of.  I was really worried about it and was going to run out and get it, except Duane said that would be dangerous.  So, I stood in the screen door saying, "Be brave, little mater, be brave."

I finally have my patio looking almost the way I want it, but I'll save that for another post on another day.  This week, I plan to try to post almost every day til I head back to work.  It's the first time I've worked a job in seven years and I'm kinda anxious about that.

Last week, Nurse Rudee asked about the bird video, Do they sound like that all the time?  Well, most of the time, yes.  There are times when they are very quiet and I notice them being quiet more.  It's that mother's deaf ear I have turned on, so I don't notice them.  Except on Saturday nights, when I'm trying to watch my British shows, they are horrid little creatures.  I turn the tv up and they turn their little amps up.

For other blog links there is Yarn Along and Tami's WIPW.

WIP Wednesday

Not much crafting is happening here.  So much to do, I feel like I'm running in circles.  It's not the patient, it's everything else.

About an inch was added to the tank top, not really interesting enough to take a picture of.  It would probably look the same as last week.  The good news is my daughter told me she has my boxes stored in bathroom.  I know a bit more of the yarn I'm using for the tank top is in one of those boxes.  Bad news, I'm still waiting for her to send me Girl Scout cookies since October.  I'm thinking they got eaten by now.

My spinning wheel sits next to my swivel rocking chair, so it's very easy just to sit, spin for a few minutes, then jump up to do something else.  I've finished the second half of the merino/silk and have now begun plying.

Hopefully 900 + yards of mind numbing plying.  The blue is the merino/silk, the purple is a strand of 6 ply embroidery floss. I think it's funny that when I'm spinning I can't wait to see the yarn plied, then when I get to the plying it's, this so boring.  Those of you who spin, is it like that for you?  I'm hoping it might be done by Friday.  Then I will start on the alpaca.

When my daughter called on Monday to say she's having another girl, I found this fingering weight cotton in the bin I'm going through.  I was going to sell this, but decided to start a top down raglan sweater like I made for my daughter and granddaughter when they were babies.  This is as far as I had gotten, then I was thrown off by thinking about buttonholes or to just leave it and sew on velcro.  Me, I'm totally overcome over the thought of buttonholes or no buttons.  Stressed just a bit??  If you've read my blog, or have seen my past projects, you might find this amusing.

Artfire, I'm thrown off by that one.  They won't let list until I have a banner and a number of other stuff.  I'm just going to put up stuff on my Ravelry page Knittingbunnies. It will be easier that way for me, and I need something to be easy right now.

Amy over at Dyed In The Wool and Carol Knitting Knot have both bought from me in the past.  There have been others, but I can't remember who is still blogging.  In fact, Amy's current project is with yarn she bought from me almost two years ago, I recognized it right off.  How cool is that?

The in-home case manager called and said they would pay me for two hours a day, 14 hours a week.  I think that's a little low, I was hoping for 20.  I got in contact with an agency and they pay 10.00 an hour.  Friday, I have to go for the CPR and first aid class from 9 to 4.  Then a few other places for TB testing, finger printing, state Id.  The cost of which will be taken out of my paycheck at 20.00 a week. Do the math.  14 hours times 10.00 minus 20.00 and taxes.  Not much is it?

She said, they weren't having an orientation for a couple weeks but she will see if she can get one scheduled for next week.  She didn't sound hopeful about me picking up extra hours.  She wanted to send me to Nogales, Phoenix and Three Points. Yikes. Even if I had a car, I wouldn't be driving that far with gas prices as they are.  It's $3.63 a gallon here. I know it's higher other places.

 I asked if she didn't have anything in town. Yes, but the busses are unreliable.  Really?  I've not had much of a problem.  She said in 6 months she might be able to get me 30 hours.  Honey, I need an extra 20- 25 hours now.  Oh well, I'll figure out something.  At least I'll be listed as employed and that makes it easier to find another job.

D called the cable company about our phone and internet, they gave us a whopping extra 3 days.  Not even 30 days past due and they are throwing a fit.  I have until June 2 at midnight to come up with $100.00 to keep the phone and internet on, plus the very basic cable, it's a package deal.  Which is really June 1 to make the payment.

I was going to take more pictures of stuff today, but it was the last day of school and the kids and neighbors were in the pool all afternoon, three feet from my patio.  I didn't feel like the third degree, so I'll sort more tonight, take pictures in the morning.  I have a couple places to go tomorrow, so will add to my Rav page when I get back.  Friday is a lost cause.  Start again on Saturday.  The plumbing here sucks, so dying the yarn  is a slow process,  In a dishpan, in my tub (the only decent plumbing).

For your entertainment, D is almost finished with his guest blog post.  He'll probably be more entertaining as he won't sound like the exasperated housewife. He's posting the recipe of my favorite meal we made together, pork loin with pineapple mango salsa and rice.

On comments about Monday's post.  My children, they are the product of their genetics.  Most of the people in my life since I was very small are self-involved to the point of narcissism.  Both related and in-laws.  The poor kids didn't stand a chance, so I just accept them as they are.  I learned at a young age that to get my emotional needs met, I would have to look outside my inner circle.  Sometimes that leads me to find yet more self-involved people, which I leave where they are because I have enough already.  Which is why I stay with D and was amazed at the lady who took me back and forth these past three months.  Plus all of you who continue to read my blathering.  I don't know why you keep coming, but I'm glad you do. .

Also, Teresa, it's why I moved 3000 miles away from my family.  Actually, 2,750 miles.

 I figured out the person from Lima, NY  is my daughter popping in occasionally, to check on me.  I don't know who the person in Pittsford, NY is.  (waves Hello to the mystery person in Pittsford.)  It's nice to know someone from home reads me.

As an ex-Western NYer, I know all about complaining about the heat.  Yuck, a hot day up there is like having syrup dumped on you.  I'll take this dry heat any day. It's so hot and dry that when you start to sweat, it dries right away.   Though I will complain about the possibility of spontaneously combusting and the heat index of Hell.  When it gets to 110F, I'm going to fry an egg on my patio this year and take video.

Thanks for visiting.  I'm in the transition phase.  Transitioning back to creative endeavors (I hope) and less stressful whining (really hopeful.)   Clicking the button below will lead you to more creative people.

The Tired Chronicles

When I die, if I have to come back, I want to be Bootsie.

We are managing just fine here, though we both fall into bed totally exhausted at night.  Then our muscles wake up and complain.  I'm telling myself this exhaustion all the time will pass.  You'll remember I had these episodes of fatigue a few times before these last couple months.

The patient is pretty easy, 17 animals, and keeping the apartment clean for visitors that show up.  I have to two out three isn't bad.  What am I talking about?  The home case-worker was ok.  Friday, we had our first outing and it wasn't as bad as I had worried about the night before.  His new primary care Dr. is one of the Dr.s from ICU team.  That was a big relief.  Then there was the nurse from Nurse Finders.

He kept talking about advice his Dr. gave him that had nothing to do with D's issues, his whole families health history with hypertension and diabetes.  How much he hates McDonald's.  Twenty percent of red meat has MRSA and you can catch it if you have a cut on your hand while handling it.  We should all just go vegan.

He didn't bother D, whose seemed to have acquired super human amount of patience.  I had to restrain myself from asking him to finish up the Necessary business and leave now.  Especially when he asked where I worked.  Then while watching me spin on my wheel asked if I spin yarn and knit sweaters for sale.  Yeah, right after I open my boutique on Beverly Hills.  D told him, not many people could afford the sweaters I knit.

The link to my Artfire store, Knitting Kitties.  That's as far as I've gotten today.  Monday started with a call from my AWOL daughter at 8:30am and the phone didn't stop ringing all day.  Her internet and laptop is messed up is all the reason I got for her being AWOL for weeks.  She found out she's having a girl due October 13th but will have a C-section the week prior to that.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but last week I woke up, made my coffee, sat down, fired up Facebook.  Just as I was taking my first sip of coffee, up comes a post from my oldest son that he got married that morning.  Daughter informed me that youngest son got married two days before that, and his wife is due in December.  Poor Dot Whooten. (me) (reference to a character in Standing in the Rainbow .)

I found a package of ten skeins of undyed fingering weight merino from Knit Picks that I will dye for sale later this week. I'm thinking tonal colors. Any suggestions?  I looked on their website and they don't sell it any more.  I had bought this to dye for a Fair Isle sweater.  I guess I'll replace it with their merino/silk at some point, maybe.  I'm trying to sort through the confusion that is my stash.

A sneak preview of some things I'm going to list.  This is 2/20 silk 1200 yards that I dyed in pinks, peaches with a touch of violet.  I have a second skein to remake this Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl (my rav page).

Two skeins of merino/silk 70/30 fingering weight 440 yards.  Dyed in shades from medium to light blue.

That's as far as I've gotten.  Pathetically sad, I know.  I need to get busy, the phone/internet is due for shut off on the 29th.  I think if D calls them, they will give an extra week for a small fee.  I'll have him call later today.

Remember those birds that we hatched around Christmas and New Years?  The two on the perch, on the right are lifting the door together.  The one sitting on the food dish is telling them they aren't lifting it high enough.  They lift it just to the top of the dish, the bottom one tries to stick his head out and they let it go trying to follow.  The door drops shut and they have a discussion.  Then they pull the lid off the dish and that's when I get up to put a stop to their antics.

Summer is coming to the desert.  The watch for the first 100F/38C day has started.  The Weather Channel has predicted it will happen this weekend.  Fun times.  Very soon, I'll be whining every post about the heat index of Hell.  Very much like northerners with non-stop snow storms.