It Got Up to 45 Degrees Yesterday...Can You Tell?

DH came in yesterday from coffee and wanted the camera. I was a little startled since this is unusual for him, but I handed it to him. He came in with this pic... This is our meadow. The temp outside at the time was 45 degrees... I don't think the ice knew that...lol It looked like a winter wonderland with the sun glistening off all those branches of ice. It was beautiful.

Believe it or not, it still looks this way today...except for the fog. This morning is foggy and looks very cold out. 24 degrees I think it said on Yahoo.

Icy Roads and Home Again

It's cold outside! 21 degrees. Started dropping mist and light rain yesterday morning early, but had not frozen when we left at 6am to go to the hospital. It was still not bad when we came home about 3pm. But overnight everything froze. There has been very little traffic on the highway this morning. (I know, Phil.... this is like a heat wave...lol)

The cardiac cath went well. Did not have to have another stent. In fact, he said my heart is very strong...love that part...lol His immediate response to the "feels like a horse sitting on my chest" was hiatal hernia... I do have one, but it is supposedly very small. Anyway, I am home and all is well.

They're Here.. Cedar and Deer Antler Nalbinding Needles

They came in the mail a couple of days ago. I started this bag using them both..lol One is cedar and the other is deer antler and they both are comfortable and easy to use. Aunt Edna said Uncle Bobby had made about 9 of them so now she and the ladies at church want to learn to use them..grin And this is how the works of yesteryear are preserved...lol

I started the bag using the chocolate merino and the tan merino/romney x. This is my first 2 color work and the only problem I had was the beginning.. There is a little nipple of work at the beginning of the tan and at some point I will learn how to do it without that....

We got up early this morning and went to have all the pre-admission and lab work , etc..., done for the cardiac cath. I'm glad all that is done. Now all there is to do is wait for the call on Monday to tell us what time to be there on Tuesday. But they said to be prepared for it to be around 7am since I will be second in line. Yayyy...get it over and out of there...lol
I asked if there wasn't something I could do to keep from having this done every year... he said no... that some people just produce more scar tissue than others due to the stent being a foreign body ... That made me feel better. At least I know it's not something I'm doing that is causing all this...

No Weight Watchers, Stress Test, Grandson to the Army

I have decided not to do Weight Watchers. After considering that each meeting...once weekly, therefore at least 4 per month... costs $13.00 and that this adds up to $52.00 per month...and then adding in the one time costs of $20.00 here and there for cook books and meal plans and etc, and etc... I think not. This is not to say that it is not a healthy way to lose weight...it just means that I don't think I want to spend the money ...consistently ...and in perpetuity ...if you get my meaning.

Anyway... I have been having some heart issues more frequently over the last few weeks. There is an appointment for a chemical stress test on Monday and I am soooo ready to have that over and done with. The angina attacks are coming more frequently than they have since before the first cardiac cath, so they are making me a bit nervous.

Grandson Steven is leaving for basic training in the Army on the 19th (I think)... That will make 3 grandsons and 1 son in the armed forces during this war. His mother is not taking it too well, even tho she is very proud of him. It's always difficult when the first one leaves to go that far away... knowing that when he returns he will a totally different person... much more adult and having had experiences that you will never know about or be able to understand even if you knew about them.

Deer Antler Nalbinding Needles

Here we are on Friday... can't believe it's been a week.

Have I told you about my uncle who can whittle anything... and I mean anything... from wood just using his pocketknife. Well... he whittled a bas relief sculpture of his granddaughter from a piece of wood at least 8x10 and I think more like 11x14... Talk about being wowed.. I was! Anyway, I digress.

I sent an email to my Aunt Edna to see if Uncle Bobby might whittle me a nalbinding needle. She emailed back and said yes, he would and he was out looking for a piece of cedar. I spend the next couple of days thinking about how pretty the red color of the cedar would look in a needle... with the added plus of cedar needle stuck in wool... hmm.. no moths.. You can't imagine my surprise when I received this photo in my inbox of two deer antler needles... and asking me which one I would like to have!

I recall once upon a time in a land far away trying to whittle a bone... it was a stew bone and I wanted to try scrimshaw. I could not do it. Couldn't even make a scratch. And here he is ... made two needles in no time from deer antlers... I need lessons in whittling..obviously.

What a treasure this will be. I can hardly wait to hold it in my hand.

Weight Watchers

I finally made up my mind and attended my first Weight Watchers meeting yesterday. It was quite interesting, but I think it may take more than one meeting for me to grow excited. I do think it will work and I do think it is the most healthy way to lose weight.... and at just pushing past the 200 mark, it's time. The low carb diet works..but I had been on it several times and am just tired of never having apples and pears and oranges and a glass of milk...sigh Don't think I can do that again.

There were several recipe books and things to buy at the meeting. I did not buy any, but only because I want to gauge my reactions to this before I tuck away large amounts of money on it. If I can get excited about it... that's great. If not.. no point in spending the money.

More to come later...

It's Cold Outside!

Frozen rain ... 2009

Tomorrow will be 55 degrees, but for today it is definitely home made soup and cornbread ..

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For today: January 5, 2009

Outside my window: the sky is a steel gray color that looks as cold as it really is... there is supposed to be freezing rain today with ice on the roads.

I am thinking: that this is not the most pleasant weather in the world. I was looking forward to going with DH for coffee, having my nails done and just getting out of the house after the long spell of being cooped up inside. But then the idea of staying home and making a huge pot of soup is good too...lol I wonder why purple kool aid has a tendency to fade and run more than any of the other colors I have used.. hmm... My ears are freezing.. Can you tell I have only had 3 cups of coffee...lol Looks like the number of cups of coffee has nothing to do with my thought process focus this morning...lol

I am thankful for: Johannes Gutenberg. Can you imagine life without books? And by extrapolation, the internet. Without the internet I would not know how to knit, spin, use a spindle, nalbind, dye my yarn, identify different wools, cook half of the things I cook, expand my friendships... or have met my wonderful DH...

I am very happy that my father was a real proponent of reading and education. Books were always to be found at our house. Reading was always encouraged.

From the kitchen: comes nothing really unusual this week. I made some no bake chocolate cookies a couple of days ago and have been eating myself into oblivion on them every time I pass them in the kitchen. This is why I don't make them very often...lol

I am wearing: that same favorite green housecoat. It is very warm and comfortable when I get up so early and the thermostat is turned way down for the night.

I am reading: Mary Mary by James Patterson. This is one of the new (used) books I got at 1/2 price bookstore yesterday. I am trying to complete my Patterson collection.

I am hoping: that the son in Arizona is feeling better today after not feeling well for several days. And that daughter who is back home now is feeling better this morning.

I am creating: another sock to go with the one that I made for DH that was too small and fit me. It might be nice to have a pair of that particular mistake.

Around the house: I spent yesterday putting away things that were moved around during the week it took to put down the tile floor. After being sick for so long, I was tired of looking at the formal dining room table filled with odds and ends. There is so much small stuff that I know it will be a while before I stop finding little things here and there. I think it is time for a garage sale..lol

One of my favorite things: is Balsam of Peru. This little essential oil is great for many problem areas of skin. It is the main ingredient for one of the most effective medications used in the medical field for pressure sores. I have been using it on DH's feet... we have to be very careful with his feet because of the diabetes. Whenever I make any kind of lotion or body butters, it always has this in it.

I am hearing: the whir of the tiny space heater that I keep beside my desk. It is a tiny life saver in the early morning when the weather is cold.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you:











I wish you this kind of day!

(Would you like to join us in The Simple Woman's Daybook? We would love to have you... Click here for all the details..)

What's Up?

We are finally feeling better. Went to the grocery store yesterday because the cupboards were getting extremely bare. We have been using Agave Nectar instead of sugar...well... I have. He doesn't use sweetener in his coffee. Anyway.. according to the research I have done, the glycemic index is about 1/2 as high for Agave Nectar than it is for sugar.

I finished spinning the bamboo roving that I got a while back. It was definitely different from the wool. I then spun a bobbin full of wool and plied the two together. Then I over dyed using purple (grape) kool aid to match the bamboo. (As I was in the process of doing this, I pulled off about 20 yards of silk that I had spindle spun into a single and stuck it in the dye pot...by this time most of

the dye had been absorbed by the wool and this lovely robin's egg blue is what I got for the silk!)