Good Morning...January 19, 2022

 Good morning.  Up at 4:30am this morning.  Don't know what's up with early morning rising, but seems to be a new pattern for me.  I have to say that I do enjoy the quiet time.  

Found out yesterday that Covid Omicron is so prevalent here that most in our doctor's office are out with it.  Daughter who is working for one of the drs. in that clinic says we should stay home... go nowhere.  So once again there will be no beauty shop or nail appointments for a while.  This is the second year for the Covid threat and have been out to eat once in those 2 years,.  Not to say we don't order out and use the pick up window... but sometimes it's just nice to sit down in a restaurant and have dinner and conversation with someone you love.  I'm sure that most health professionals are aware of the mental health issues with this pandemic, but sometimes I wonder how much we are actually saving (as far as health is concerned) by the stay-at-home idea since the increase in depression is so markedly on the rise.  We have not seen our grandchildren for almost 2 years.  Not a good thing.

Several years ago I started this egg.  The idea was to see if I could do a Russian style icon.  It didn't turn out too badly, but then I was stymied on how to finish the back side of the egg.  Needless to say... I am still stymied.  It occurs to me that a lot of Russian art contains at least some geometrics, so I'm thinking I may get out the acrylics and do a geometric of some kind on the back.  Any ideas would be welcome.. :)

We're in for a bit of relief from the horrible cold...welcome relief.  Up in the 40s and 50s and then on Sunday and Monday it should be almost like spring with temps in the high 60s and even 70s.  That's always welcome, but the cold that comes after always seems even colder.. sigh 

When we take our dogs to be groomed, they always come home with a little triangle of cloth around their necks as a scarf.  Since our dogs are so "graceful", we always take them off to prevent them from tugging and pulling on them.  This time we cut the collar off Katie with the scarf!  We immediately ordered another one that comes with her name on it and other information, but it would take 3 weeks to get it, so enter the trust sewing machine... I really prefer this little collar for her than the new one she has now.  It is much softer and just as strong.  I'm sure it's more comfortable for her, but her new one has her name on it.  Anyway, I'll put up a tutorial to make a collar for your dog on Fabric Follies Too... very easy to do. 

Must get around.  Coffee cup empty and it's 6:10am.  Have plans for the day, just not sure what they are yet..lol  Have a wonderful day... 😊

 

It's New Year's Eve... again... so soon...

It's December 31, 2015.  How is it that I have been blogging this blog for 10 years now?  It's not possible.

My first blog post... ever... was here on August 13, 2005.  I have to laugh as I re-read all those posts as I gingerly put my toes into the blogging pond.  :)  Didn't take long until I was totally hooked.  Lots has happened in the intervening 10 years...  most good.. some bad.  The sadness of loved ones lost... the immense joy of new babies added to the family.  I must say that I AM GLAD that I started blogging.  I find that many times I will think of something and will either not remember the circumstances or the date or who did it.. or whatever..  and I can usually plug in a keyword in the search engine of my blog and there it is..

Except for that period of time after Google bought Blogger.. hrmmmpphhh   For about 6 months one time and about a year the second time Google refused to allow me to get into my blog!  So during that period it's anyone's guess what happened..lol

Be that as it may... today is the day.  The old year fades and a new one begins.  For the first time in many years I am totally sad that I am not going out on New Year's Eve.  For the only time in the history of my life I COULD be going to a concert of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.. sigh  He will be at the casino in Thackerville just outside Wichita Falls tonight.. my heart breaks...

But then again.. I have to say that YouTube almost.. almost... makes up for it.  :)

I hope your old year fades out sorrows, disappointments and unhappy incidents of the year.. and brings a new beginning of all the good things you could hope for.  :)

Today in My Life.... December 19, 2015

Today is:  Saturday,  December 19, 2015

I woke up this morning:  hot and sweaty with one dog on my left side all snuggled up and the other at my feet all snuggled up.  It's not that I mind all that snuggling, but it sure does get hot regardless how cool it is in the room.. :)

I am hearing:  the click of the pill cutter as my sweet DH is cutting his pills in half to fill his week's worth of pills in his daily container.  Such a mundane thing... but brings to mind how thankful we should be that we can in fact afford the medications we need.

As I look out the window:  I see the brightness of the sun as it squiggles through the blinds and lights up the curtains in bright lines of happiness that the day is new and full of promise.

I am thinking: that December is not a really good time to have surgery..  :(   While I feel much, much better than before I am still not in such good shape that I can spend all day shopping or working on gifts... Christmas may come in January... who knows?   :)

The current book:  is another re-read of the Vince Flynn novel Consent to Kill.  I bought a new Vince Flynn book not long ago (can't think of the name of it right now) and as I read it I was appalled to find that it was definitely not written by him.. the quality of the writing was nowhere near what I was accustomed to and my first thought was of James Patterson and all his ghost writers. So I looked it up.  And felt a bit ashamed of myself when I found that Vince lost his battle with prostate cancer and his Mitch Rapp series was being continued by another writer.  While I do not find the books as good as the originals, I suspect that I will continue to read them.

I am thankful for:  the gift of life at this particular time in history.  Sometimes I think that this may someday be seen as another Dark Ages by the coming historians... We are nothing more than the same people who lived as serfs under kings and lords... working every day and giving away a portion of our earnings to the local lord (or government) for them to spend making love or war at their whim.. As far as I can see not much has changed since the days of Charlemagne.  We are still at war with the Muslims .. or at least with the radical Muslims who kill indiscriminately since.. to them.. anyone not a Muslim is an infidel... We still have diseases that have no cure.  We still have religious charlatans who dupe the masses into filling their coffers with money while they tell the masses that the most normal and natural things are SINful (I do hate that word)... Young men are sent off to fight in wars and come back filled with the terrors they cannot escape.. I can see very little difference in our lives than at other times in our history... EXCEPT.. today we have the ability to learn for ourselves.  Information is everywhere.  Learning to read is the norm.  We take it for granted.  We should not.

Plans:  not many.  I will sew a bit today.  I will work on nalbinding the fingerless glove that I've been working on for a bit... try to get things ready to be mailed on Monday.  Perhaps grocery shopping this afternoon.  But for the most part... no real plans.




Creatively:  not much has happened during the last couple of weeks.  Surgery on the 2nd pretty much stopped everything for a while and I am just now feeling almost up to my old self again.  I did finish the nalbound hat that I was working on.








Then I spent about 10 minutes dyeing this mystery wool.  No idea what I will do with it, but I'm sure something will come to mind.. :)










Well, my feet are cold and I think I'll just mosey on into the living room and put them up in front of the fire.   Haven't done any painting but may actually do that sometime later today.  :)

Have a lovely day..

It's Saturday!

Have my youngest son here this weekend.  Even makes the coffee taste better.. if that's possible.. lol We're going to totally re-do the front flowerbed.  It's been quite a mess for the entire year and the fact is ... I'm tired of it!!!  Haven't the faintest idea what it will turn out to be, but it certainly can't be any worse than it is.. 

I don't know if I've mentioned my rash...  I've had it since February of 2014 and it seems quite content to set up housekeeping and stay until it retires.  The only reason I'm mentioning it is that I've totally set aside all the wool and fiber things to see if I can find the culprit that is causing it.  So.. I have taken up watercolors.  

I realize that I will never take the place of Picasso or Michelangelo...lol... but I do enjoy the process. So for the time being this will by my passion.  Not that I won't be doing some knitting or crochet or sewing...  I just won't handle the raw wool for a while.  (She says that and somewhere deep inside a voice is snorking... )  Well, I'll try to stay away from the raw wool... :)  

I had another heart cath a couple of weeks ago... results wonderful.  Dr. says will not have to have another one for years..  Now to work on the bradycardia.. slow heart rate.  I think this definitely is caused by the meds I take for familial tremor but I've tried 2 other meds and they didn't work so this is my last option... I think.  We'll see.. :)

Every year I say the same thing... can't believe how the year has passed so quickly.. but... Here we are at nearly Halloween and the holiday season is upon us once again.  All the heat from the summer will be gone and we'll be complaining about the cold...lol   Personally, I think we just like to complain.  :) 

I suppose I should get busy if I plan on accomplishing anything, so I will just say ... I hope everyone has a wonderful day.  I know I will.. since every day spent with my children is a day worth it's weight in gold.  

Hello Again...

It's been almost a year since I've posted.  Guess facebook just took over my keyboard and refused to let go.  :)   Must say that I have enjoyed it and have found many old friends that I haven't seen or heard from since high school... but... and there is always a "but"...  It seems that facebook is like email or quick phone call.  Once it's done, there's no going back to re-read it unless you want to search back for years.. and then there's no guarantee that you will find that one priceless gem you're looking for.  So I think.. just perhaps... it's time to stop. 

I have been really distressed over the past few months.  I could not get back in to my admin area to post on Mish Mash etc...  When my computer crashed a couple of weeks ago and I had to update to Windows 10 I found that..  (of course)..  all my passwords were gone.  Everything had to be reloaded and updated.  Talk about a chore.. lol  Anyway.. suddenly Google just jumped right up and let me back in.. yayyy

It's been a busy year.  I will try to update a bit as I go along.  Looks like blogspot is having difficulty and will not upload my photo so will try back later..  I'm just happy to be here... :) 


The big blue quilt is finished.. :)  My Aunt Sue quilted it for me on her longarm quilter and must say did a wonderful job.  It's a light, warm, cotton batting quilt and we used it all last winter. 

OMG!!! I Actually Got In to My Account!!!

I've been trying for almost a year to find a way to get back in here!  Google kept trying to use a different email addy and wouldn't let me into Blogger!  Yayyy!!  Happy dance!!

This is a Verbena.. I love it.  It made such a beautiful showing this year.  It seems there are so many things to catch up on. 

I think I will begin to print off my blog a month at a time.  I find that when something happens, I blog about it.  Then when I need to remember WHEN that something happened I can go back to my blog to see... :)

It's very cold here today.  Down in the 20s overnight.  It's up to about 42° F right now.  Hopefully will continue with the warming for a couple of days.

I'm so excited to be able to blog I can't decide what to blog..lol   But hang in there with me and I'll come up with something.. :)    Have a wonderful day!

Allen Grady Ingram, Jr...

We lost my uncle Allen Ingram, Jr. on November 7, 2013. 
Allen was just younger than my dad by a few years.  He was a warm and loving man who has 2 wonderful daughters and a loving extended family. When we were kids we called him Uncle Bug... until he decided enough was enough.. :)  He will be missed.

Phew!!

I'm tired today.  Yesterday was an exciting, wonderful.. "I get to see my Dear Daughter, Dear GrandSon and his baby.. my Dear Great Grandson".. kind of day.  I just don't think babies can be any sweeter than when they are yours.. ;)

Meet Nathan.. :)

Older brother DGGS Lucas also had his picture taken, but he wasn't too happy about it. lol  Got to go to lunch with DGS and Lucas and what a joy that was.  Couldn't have been a better day.

This only required a 4 hour drive..2 ways.. lol  So 13 hours after I left,  I got back home last night.  But it was so worth it.

DGSons back surgery seems to be going well.  Of course he wasn't totally comfortable and still has to take pain meds, but the incision looks clean, dry and in good shape.  Hopefully after a few more days it will ease up even more for him.

Had terrible rain on the way home last night.  Downpour so heavy that if there had not been a big 18 wheeler in front of me with all those lights I would have had to pull over because I could hardly see the road.  This lasted for about 30 or 40 minutes, but finally slowed down as I got closer to home.  Whoever you are, kind sir, that was in that truck.. Thank you for being there and for not being one of those cowboy truck drivers who think they can manage that truck at 80 mph in any kind of weather.. :)

Gonna go rest and maybe nap the day away.. :)  Gonna give my honey a big hug and kiss because when I walked in the door last night at 7pm  he had supper ready.  And no.. you cannot have him. :)

Have a good Sunday.

Mmmmm... Paul Anka

I'm on my second cup of coffee this morning.  Woke up around 4 or so and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up, emptied the dishwasher, took Sam out for his early morning wander around the back yard and banished Katie from the top of my desk. (Once again the speaker wires are chewed!)  :( 

I found the most wonderful Paul Anka album over on emusic.com a couple of days ago.  Just on a lark I decided to see what kind of new music he has recorded . (I had already downloaded Puppy Love, Diana and most of his early recordings)  Wow.. was I surprised.  The You Tube video posted just below this post.. It took me about 10 minutes to find it on emusic.com and download it.

The weather is cool enough now that I have dug out my plush robe to wear when I take Sam and Katie out.  Haven't looked to see if it is supposed to get warmer, but I think I heard my sweet DH talk about a little rain coming.  I'm sewing on the Big Blue Quilt and it's coming along.  I guess if I decide to hand quilt it my winter will be a very warm one.. ;)

Have a good day..

A Gift of Robert Frost

About a decade ago my sons gave me a book of poetry written by Robert Frost.  As I read through it, I came across several poems that squeezed at my heart a bit.  One of those poems was called "The Exposed Nest".  As I read along I found that my first mental visions were of two adults reminiscing about their childhood... one older than the other and perhaps acting as the care giver for that afternoon's play.  The second thought was that of a parent speaking to his/her child of a time past.

Here is that poem..

The Exposed Nest

You were forever finding some new play.
So when I saw you down on hands and knees
In the meadow, busy with the new-cut hay.
Trying, I thought, to set it up on end,
I went to show you how to make it stay,
If that was your idea, against the breeze,
And, if you asked me, even help pretend
To make it root again and grow afresh.
But 'twas no make-believe with you today,
Nor was the grass itself your real concern,
Though I found your hand full of wilted fern,
Steel-bright June-grass, and blackening heads of clovers.
'Twas a nest full of young birds on the ground
The cutter-bar had just gone champing over
(Miraculously without tasking flesh)
And left defenseless to the heat and light.
You wanted to restore them to their right
Of something interposed between their sight
And too much world at once--could means be found.
The way the nest-full every time we stirred
Stood up to us as to a mother-bird
Whose coming home has been too long deferred,
Made me ask would the mother-bird return
And care for them in such a change of scene
And might out meddling make her more afraid.
That was a thing we could not wait to learn.
We saw the risk we took in doing good,
But dared not spare to do the best we could
Though harm should come of it; so built the screen
You had begun, and gave them back their shade.
All this to prove we cared. Why is there then
No more to tell? We turned to other things.
I haven't any memory--have you?--
Of ever coming to the place again
To see if the birds lived the first night through,
And so at last to learn to use their wings.

Robert Frost

 

Today I found myself thinking of this poem and did a search to find it since I could not recall the name.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this short dissertation about this very poem .. 

Plain Jane: Thoughts on "The Exposed Nest" 

 

I have no idea what made this poem pop into my head this morning... :)  Perhaps it's the cooling of days and the realization that the childhood holiday of Halloween is coming upon us soon.  But it's a lovely cool morning here with temperatures in the upper 60s and there's much to do today.  

 

I hope you have a good day and have an opportunity to get out and enjoy some of this early fall weather.  

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Today: November 10, 2008

Outside my window... the intermittent rain is leaving brilliant glimmers on the fence. It's overcast and a bit dull today, so the glitter of the rain is a lovely highpoint. It's brought just a hint of green back to the brown grass of the yard.

I am thinking...that it would be very nice to have a few knitting books to look at and study. I think I might get very into knitting as I grow more comfortable with the stitches and how to correct mistakes, so I have been surfing through the knitting books at Amazon.

I am thankful....that it really doesn't matter too much that my desk calendar is still set to May 2008...

From the kitchen...was the wonderful aroma of a ham cooking yesterday. Today...it made a wonderful breakfast.

I am wearing... the same ugly housedress I was wearing last week...lol Having been laundered in between times, of course...lol I really will dress today but for now, this is great.

I am creating...more thread on my spindle to be dyed for embroidery on the handwoven wall hanging I am working on. You can see it here.

I am going...to the library later today...probably when DH goes to coffee this afternoon. I will be looking for Elizabeth Zimmerman knitting books and some rigid heddle loom books.

I am reading...Halcyon Yarn's catalog looking for threads that are good for weaving fabric. My daughter has decided that we need to have our own family plaid...as in Scottish plaid...only we are Irish..hmmm

I am hoping...to complete the tutorial for spindling that I took pictures for last week. Finding the time to put everything into booklet form has been less easy than I thought.

I am hearing...the Westminster chimes of the clock that DH finished making a few weeks ago. Since we now have 4 that chime..lol... one gets to hear several different songs thru the day.

Around the house...the chair still needs to be de-stashed. ... sigh...

One of my favorite things...

is this fan that I've had since the 2004 Ranger Reunion in Fort Myers, FL. Several of us girls were walking the flea market where Karen and Earl had their shop and it was sooo very hot that day. Even the misters that would spray a soft water mist on you as you walked by didn't help. Finally Marilyn...a lovely lady from Washington State...bought all of us one of these and what a life saver they turned out to be. Every time I see it I think of what a sweet person she is... and I keep it in a pencil holder on my desk..it's used almost every day...

A few plans for the rest of the week... include working on the wall hanging, spindling more thread, making appointment for carpet shampooing.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... to see if you can guess why I am hyperventilating...lol

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

Mark Twain

60

I've been 60 for a whole week now and I finally will admit that I don't feel any different than I did a week ago... or a month ago...



It was a lovely birthday.. with cards and calls from all the kids. Isn't this rose lovely? My wonderful DH has given me roses for my birthday every year we have been married.

This year he decided I needed a "Just Because" bouquet...beautiful.. These lilies just kept on opening and stayed lovely for a long time.

Slow Fe and Atkins Diet

I was going bald. For the last few years my hair kept getting thinner and thinner until one day a month or so ago I could fix my hair and still see my scalp! So I went to the dermatologist to see if any of those "hair loss fixes" that are advertised on TV were actually worth anything...he said "Let's do some tests and save your money..." A week or so later the report came back that my iron level was 36... The norms for iron should be around 10 to 242... He said when the iron level reaches down into the lower numbers is when hair loss is reported.

I have been taking Slow Fe for about 8 weeks.. my level was up to 47 a couple of weeks ago when it was tested again. And guess what.... tiny new hair growth! It may take a year or so, but just maybe most of my hair will return!

Well, I have been feeling a little guilty because I ..hmmm..REALLY...hmm...need to lose...hmmm...some weight...hm mm But you see.. I HAVE QUIT SMOKING and REALLY...the weight gain IS expected...hm mm Well, let me tell you.. the 200 lb. marker that was hit the other day completely did away with all the hmmms. And that old quit smoking thing will only hold up so far ..and 200 lbs is about as far as that goes. Out comes the old Atkins diet and this girl got on the bandwagon. We started last Friday and when we went to Dr. this morning for an all over checkup, I weighed 194. I know this rate of loss not last indefinitely, but it sure was a big emotional boost...grin

Garnish Wages?

Politics is not something I discuss very often, even within my family. It can become a very divisive factor if pursued hard enough... So it is seldom brought up... But I have to blog this...
It is an Associated Press article carried in Yahoo news and the complete article can be found here. This is an excerpt of the article...


By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer 58 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans...
The New York senator has criticized presidential rival Barack Obama for pushing a health plan that would not require universal coverage. Clinton has not always specified the enforcement measures she would embrace, but when pressed on ABC's "This Week," she said: "I think there are a number of mechanisms" that are possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment."...

Since when has it become the government's right to do anything at all with the paycheck we have worked to receive for our family... When did they suddenly have the right to decide whether we must do anything... much less garnish our wages for something that will give big insurance a guaranteed windfall of money...

Yes, the very idea of the blatant socialism this entails makes me nauseous... Sorry about the rant....

All's Well..

It's been another while since posting... In the interim my DH has had TULP (which is laser prostate) surgery on the 19th. All went well and he is recuperating very nicely. Up and about and off to daily afternoon coffee with friends yesterday..grin

The pic is my first try at coffee dying. I just used the left over coffee in the pot and added enough water to cover the yarn and about 1/4 cup vinegar...heated it just below the boiling point for about 30 minutes or so and then let stand overnight to cool. I'm really tickled with the light tan color and now am looking forward to trying a medium and darker color.

DH's Surprise!

DH went for some groceries yesterday. He had me sit at the kitchen table as he brought in the "surprise" from the car.

Look what he came back with... Twelve place setting of porcelain china for a real bargain.... He had been wanting to replace our dishes for about 5 years and he finally did! grin

Fischer's Market

Last Saturday, after spending the morning playing with Jim's new treadle sewing machine, we all decided to go to lunch and to Fischer's....

About a 45 minute drive from here is a very small town called Muenster.. yes, as in the cheese...;) It is a truly German small town and has a German store called Fischer's Market. Well, this is where we went on Saturday. They have everything from German Sausages to Hot German Mustard to home made sauerkraut.

I decided to try some of their home canned things this time and was totally surprised to find Peach Cobbler (with pie dough) canned. Wow.. had no idea you could do such a thing. We haven't tried the Chow Chow yet, but when the Hot Asparagus Bullets say Hot... they mean "Hot!".

We had lunch at a restaurant called Rohmer's, where they serve all kinds of German food. Very good German food. All around good day.

I Failed the Test!

Had to go for a nuclear stress test this week and it seems that there have been changes in my heart since the cardiac cath of last year. Sooo...we are off again on Wednesday for another cath and probably another stent. Booo...

Harry Potter...Gasp!!!!

Did you know that the Harry Potter series of books...beloved by millions (including my grandchildren) has made it to #1?

#1 on the Challenged Books List according to the American Library Association.

According to the ALA... "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."

My opinion: There are many books out that I personally would not read. If someone else wants to.. fine. But that's just me... (Personally, I like Harry Potter and find these books a wonderful read... )

It's kinda like the television...if we don't like what's on, we turn it off... but we don't demand that everyone else turn it off too....

Changing Times..

Every now and then I come across something on the net that reminds me "how it was"... These pics are a couple of those things.

I seldom remember that I was one of the first women in Oklahoma to be able to have my own credit card in my own name without my husband's consent. And that when we divorced my car insurance was cancelled because "women are considered unstable for 2 years after a divorce". But not men. Hopefully things will continue to change...