I went to the doctor's today to hear the results of the tests. It turns out that the CT scan was absolutely normal. Not a thing evident that could be causing the pain. As relieved as I was to hear that, it was also frustrating. Because the pain can be breathtaking at times. He gave me some samples of Nexium ("the purple pill") which may help with the pain. It'll help if the problem is acid reflux. And now I get to go and see a gastroenterologist (digestion doctor). He might want to do an endoscopy. I looked at my doctor and said, "Why don't you just tell me you hate me? Instead of sending me to all of these tests and doctors who order nasty tests? I can take it, tell me to my face." He laughed and said hopefully the Nexium would help but it takes a week or so for them to take effect. Cross your fingers.

Here is a finished Lily of the Valley sock. When I put it on, it's so lacey. I wasn't sure I would like it but I really do. It's an easy pattern to memorize and like monkey socks, knits up quickly. I am about a third done the second one. And I am definitely making my supervisor a pair of socks. I told her (very tongue in cheek) that my goal for next year (it's evaluation time and the hardest thing is coming up with goals)was to knit 3 pairs of socks during meetings. She said right back "Only 3? I thought you were better than that!" This woman deserves a pair of handknit socks!

We watched I am Legend (with Will Smith) on Sunday night. We made popcorn the old fashioned way in a pot on the stove. That is a Calphalon pot we bought 26 years ago and except for some marks from extreme usage, it's still perfect. The popcorn was so good. Microwave popcorn is ok if you're in a hurry and air poppers are healthier but a good heavy pot and some oil on the stove makes the best popcorn. If this was a scratch 'n sniff you could smell the wonderful aroma of fresh popcorn. Too bad the movie didn't live up to the popcorn. I hate when they wrap up all the loose ends and tie them into a neat bow.

I was knitting on the train on the way home today and a woman sat behind me and leaned over the seat to watch me knit on my plain sock. She was fascinated with the fact that it was going to be a sock. She told me she knits but only flat things like blankets. She wants to learn to knit socks. I started to just tell her to look things up online and she'd find everything she needed but she was really interested. So I gave her a specific website which has instructions for socks from cast on to bind off. And it's loaded with photos. She wrote it down and was so excited, it made me excited.

And because I like to see photos of where people knit and spend their time, here is a sunny Sunday morning shot of my living room. The windows look dirty but that's the screens. You can see Saraspunda in her corner waiting to come out and play. This is where I like to sit and watch the world go by my window. I see the high school kids go one way on the street and the elementary school kids go the other. We live between the two schools and my kids walked all 12 years (a fact they often bemoaned). I just bought the hibiscus tree and also a large royal palm that I know won't last. They always die on me but the hibiscus will do ok if the cats leave it alone. I am not sure what drew me to take a photo of the living room except it was full of sunshine and peace. The couch is a sofa bed so Em has a place to sleep if she should want to stay over.

Tomorrow is Friday and then it's a weekend. I know I shouldn't wish my days away and I should stop and enjoy each day as it comes but that's hard sometimes. Tuesdays are just not as easy to appreciate as Fridays!

Ok, so how's this for odd? Yesterday the Director of my building asked if she could talk to me. We went into an office and sat down and she said "I owe you an apology". Confused, I said "For what?". She went on to say that she thought that I got 'caught in the crossfire' of a management issue. I had no idea what that meant so I waited to hear what she would say. It turns out she was trying to make a point about professional image and managers enforcing the same rules in the same way in the building. Somehow, my knitting came up. She then said, "I thought about this all weekend and felt bad that you would feel singled out. That was never my intention. I don't care if you knit during meetings. However, I don't think it's a good idea to knit in the presence of clients." I almost fell off my chair! She continued to explain what happened in the meeting and what point she was trying to make, which did not include me or my knitting (I think it had something to do with dress code and vacation time issues).

So, that was weird enough by itself. I thanked her for the apology, assured her I was not personally offended, explained that I can pay attention and knit but that I would not knit in the building anymore. (I have some pride). As I was leaving, the Asst. Director called me into her office to tell me that it wasn't her who brought it up in the meeting. ?!?! I said thanks for telling me and left.

I went to talk to my supervisor and told her that I wasn't aware of the influence I must wield in the building. After all, if the top two individuals in the building wanted to make a point to tell me that they were not upset with me and I was not in any way "in trouble", what does that say? She told me that she went to her supervisor on Thursday and told her that we had had the conversation about the knitting and she then defended me. She told them of the times I had taught clients (and given them supplies) to knit and how I had taught staff to knit and how I had tried to get the Social Rehab folks involved in making chemo caps. She also told them that I was the hardest working person in the department and they should just leave it alone. I guess she made a good case because I got not one but two apology/explanations. It was all too much after a long weekend.

Kate and I are planning a lace shawl kal this summer. We both want to knit one and thought it would be fun to knit one together. I'm not sure if we'll knit the same one or just knit different ones together. Whichever, it's a lovely thing to share a hobby with my daughter.

Meme time. Amy lane tagged me and so here goes.

. Ten years ago I was...

Ten years ago I was living in the same house with the same wonderful man and had the same job. My children were 14, 12, and 9. Life was filled with school activities and teenaged drama. Now, things are more peaceful. I can come and go as I please without worrying about whether the kids have food or someone to cook it for them. PK and I are enjoying this freedom. Ten years ago I was just entering my 40's and sure that I was finally a grown up and knew some of the answers. Now that I am in my 50's, I realize I know far fewer of the answers but it doesn't matter as much. I am more contented with myself now than I was ten years ago. I am also more forgiving of myself and others.

. Five things on today's to do list:

Since today is part of a holiday weekend, there is no to do list. I have already fixed brunch and gotten a pedicure and a manicure. I am going to practice spinning and do some knitting and just sit in the wonderful spring sunshine. I will fix quiche for dinner with some bread out of the breadmaker, simple, easy and very little work involved.

Things I'd do if I were a billionaire:

I'd bulldoze down my house and build one to my specifications with lots of craft space. I would live in the same neighborhood because I like it here but I would buy a house at the beach somewhere so I could visit the ocean when I wanted. I would give money to my family members so they could work at jobs (or not) they enjoyed and not just to make money. I would quit my current job and volunteer teaching literacy skills somewhere. I would endow the local schools with money for scholarships for average students who want to go to college but don't qualify for scholarship money. I would fund CPR and First Aid classes at the local schools and upgrade their technology. I would give a former coworker the money she needs to open a group home for individuals with developmental disabilities (her dream). I would build and fund a mental health facility that was recovery based and treated the individuals seeking services with respect. I would pay the staff well and treat them with respect as well. I would buy PK a trip to the Space Station because he really wants to go (although I think he's crazy!). I would travel some but I am really a homebody and am content in my little corner of the world. I would raise sheep and have llamas to guard them. Of course, I would pay someone to shear them. It looks like a tough job. There are so many other things I would do, it would take pages and pages to list them all....

. Three bad habits

Only three? I like to spend money and probably don't ration my money nearly as well as I could. I have very little will power and if I want to eat something (no matter how bad it is for me) I will do it. I interrupt people when they are talking. I am trying hard to overcome this but sometimes I get so excited by an idea or a thought that I have to blurt it out. I am easily distracted and have to force myself to focus sometimes.

Five places I've lived

Camden, NJ(born there and lived there for a few years)

Magnolia, NJ(most of my childhood in one home)

Prairie du Sac, WI (I was a domestic exchange student in high school)

Hollywood, MD(right after we got married. Tiny, tiny town with cows all around us)

Somerdale, NJ(They'll probably bury my ashes in the back yard)

Not a very exciting list but them I am a homebody. I like my familiar surroundings and I love New Jersey. I am close enough to the ocean to spend a day at the beach if I want or to drive to the mountains or go deep into the woods. There are cities near by if I feel the need for lights and music and lots of people.

So, there is some more information about me. I am not sure who is left who hasn't done this (I tend to get in at the end of these things) so if you'd like to share, go for it. Let me know so I can read all about you.

Now I am off to cast on the second Lily of the Valley sock since I finished number one last night. Fast knit and pretty socks. And maybe take the spinning wheel outside in the sunshine. I'm sure the neighbors would all like to see me spin.....

With all the rain we've had, it had to happen. Rainbows. Two of them. For a little while Thursday evening it was dark and cloudy out back of the house and blue sky/sunny in the front. It was like one of those weird sci-fi movies. Then the sky got all yellowish, (I kept thinking "oh my god, we're going to get a tornado!") but instead we got these beauties. I've seen double rainbows before but never so clear and bright and complete. It's too bad the electrical wires are in the way. Our development dates back to before they buried the wires. It was wonderous and we stood outside for a long time admiring the beauty. Kate took these photos.

That was a lovely way to end a crappy day. They are rennovating the offices on the second floor of my building and we have to move to other spaces to get out of the way. We spent the past two weeks packing up and cleaning out our stuff. After 14 years I have accumulated lots of stuff. Some of it is good resource material and some was just trash. On Tuesday I will go to this tiny little office that I will share with my current office mate until June 4th or so. It's a good thing he and I get along or we'd kill each other in this small space. That wasn't the crappy part . I taught a Crisis Mgmt class and it went well. I really couldn't take part fully because my incisions are still healing and a tad tender. I did most of the talking and made sure everyone got the holds and defenses down. Even that wasn't crappy. What was crappy was at the end of the day, my supervisor asked me to come in and sit down. She looked a little embarassed but told me that I was not allowed to knit during any functions in the building because "it is not professional". Apparently at a recent managers meeting, someone mentioned that they had witnessed me engaged in subversive activities (ie knitting) and it was very unprofessional. Now, I do not knit in meetings or with clients or in supervision. I just happened to be attending a VOLUNTARY presentation on diversity and took some knitting. I sat quietly and unobtrusively working on a pair of socks. Evidently, someone else who was there was offended and I have been told not to knit at work. It was just one more way they are trying to take the joy out of the work. When I started to work for this agency, the role model they espoused was that of the Good Samaritan (Take care of him and I will take care of thee) and they used to give out lapel pins with that on them in orientation. Since we were bought by a large health system, the motto is "what's the bottom line?" and "what's in it for us?". It's all about the money. It depresses me sometimes because I can see the difference. We are a community mental health agency and as such should have a heart and celebrate individuals, both staff and clients, in all their diverse glory. Sadly, we do not. So, from this day forward, I will knit on the train and if the weather is nice I will knit in the small park behind the building at lunch (if I can get away) but not during any other time. I won't be able to introduce colleagues who have asked to the joys of handknitted socks unless it is after working hours. It really bummed me out yesterday.






And today I got up early and went to the radiology place to have my tests. I found out I could only have one test, the CT scan because they both require barium ingestion and they both use different kinds of barium gunk. I was feeling stressed and said, fine. I tried to drink the white, chalky, orange flavored liquid and I even used a straw but it made me gag. I managed to get enough down to have the test. I am not scheduling the other tests in case this one shows enough and makes the others unnecessary. I am not drinking any more gunk than I have to. The doctor and I will talk on May 29th and discuss the test.




But today a miracle occured. On April 29th, Kate mailed the prize package that Amy Lane won in the blogiversary contest. I waited anxiously to hear that it had arrived but it seemed to be lost somewhere between here and California. I was preparing to put together an alternate package and send it out this weekend when the mailman told me he had a package for me that had "come back". I knew without seeing it what it was. It was the box I sent out three weeks ago. It had gone to California and back! I inadvertently put the wrong street name on it (I blame the post surgery drugs) and even though it had the correct town and name on it, the postal service couldn't figure out who it should go to. So, they sent it 3,000 miles back to me. It looked like it had been kicked by angry camels but the contents all seemed to be intact, except for one tiny bit that got broken but it's ok. I took everything to the UPS store and boxed it up and sent it right back out with the correct address. UPS said they would have it there in a week. (Well, June 2 but that's because it's a holiday weekend here). They also said they would have kept it in California and contacted me and asked about the address before sending it all the way back. That would seem to make more sense.



So now with the test out of the way and the grocery shopping completed, I have only to do the laundry and swap out the winter clothes for the summer ones. It still might be premature as the temp was only 48 degrees (8 C) last night. Not what we're used to at the end of May. We are going to take a picnic on Sunday if the weather holds and just have some lazy days.

Amy lane tagged me with a meme but I'll wait until next time as I have already rambled on enough for one night.


If Memorial Day is one of your holidays, I wish you a peaceful one. We should all spare a thought or two for the young (and they are so very young) men and women we have lost in this most impossible of all possible wars.

I have been working on the plain striped socks while on the train and they are coming along nicely. No charts to read or directions to follow. Nice, simple stockinette. But at home it was getting boring so I started The Lily of the Valley socks from Knitpicks. They suggest using their Bare yarn (wool/silk blend) but I am using Patons Kroy Sock (wool/nylon blend). The suggested needle size is 2.75. Now I know I have more than one set of this size but could I find them on Sunday when I wanted to start this pattern? No, of course not. I had to run out to the craft store and find some. They are Susan Bates and only come in sets of 4 so I had to buy 2 sets. Now I have 8. I will probably never lose one again. I tried this pattern about a year ago and got disgusted with it and put it in time out. For some reason, it felt right to pull it out and try again. I think a smaller size needle would be better but I'll keep on using these for now. They do give it a nice, lacey feel and look to them. They'll be light enough for air conditioned summer offices. I also chose not to do 5 stitch nupps but did the 3 stitch ones instead. I just didn't like the bumpiness.

And look! I think my spinning is getting a little better. There are still a few thin spots but overall, it's more even. And I am not overspinning it as much. This is Romney, hand carded and dyed by the lys near here. It's fuzzy. We have a long weekend coming up so after I get my tests on Friday, I've got some time to spend with Saraspunda. For my mother's day gift from PK, I am going to join a fiber of the month club instead of just buying a bunch of roving. That way I get gifts for a few months and I'll get to try bits of different materials to see which I like best.

It's raining here, again. We are coming up to our first "summer" weekend. It's always odd because summer doesn't begin for another month. The weather is supposed to clear up and be a little warmer. Memorial Day always meant swimming to me as a kid and thousands of people will make their way to the Jersey shore for the weekend that kicks off the summer. The water will be bone chilling cold and I'm not sure it will be warm enough to sit on the beach but it won't matter. People will be there on their blankets and with their beach chairs. I will probably spend the weekend cleaning, shopping and finally getting out the summer clothes. They are still in the attic because the temperatures have not been warm enough to make me want to take them out and wash them. I don't think we've ever gone this late. No complaints here, though. I know how hot it will get soon and I am in no hurry to get there. A little sun would be nice, though.

Monday morning is not a usual post time for me. I am usually trying to get my act together for two medication clinics and deal with any problems left on the voicemail over the weekend.

However, today's inspiration was one I thought was right on target for today. And by today, I mean right now in our history as we face another contentious (and seemingly endless) election season.

Change is not something that we should fear.Rather, it is something that we should welcome.For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they're meant to be.

Thought provoking? I thought so.

Have a good day all.

Pete, Kate and Donna Lee's Most Excellent Adventure! We have been blessed with an abundance of rain this spring. I say blessed because I know there are parts of the country/world who are not being so blessed at this time. In fact, they are downright dry. Our world is very green and overgrown at this point in time. A fact that PK is trying to rectify by mowing the front and then the back 40. I say trying because everytime he decides he has time to mow, it rains. And rains. And is windy and rains.

Today was a day of epic spring wonderfulness.With a sky as beautiful as this, who could stay inside? (This is a church in Woodbury that has gargoyles! Who knew the Methodists had a sense of humor?) It was cloud free most of the day (and when it did cloud over, they quickly dispersed) and comfortably warm. So, did we spend the day outside working on our verdant overgrown property? No, of course not. That would not be an Excellent Adventure!

Instead, we went to here. Can't read the sign? It says Cowtown. Yep, in the heart of Southern Jersey, we have a place called Cowtown. It's actually a rodeo, one of the oldest continuously running rodeos in the country. The rodeos run on weekends from May until the fall. But, they also have flea markets all year long on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So, we went to the flea market. We saw hats, lots of hats and knock-off handbags. If you wanted a faux Dolce & Gabana bag, this was your place to find it. Cowtown isn't my kind of flea market because they didn't have dolls without heads and worn out shoes and old chairs and other used stuff. This was all new items. We bought some fruit (asian pears and red grapes) and some sausage to make sandwiches for dinner. We also bought some bandanas because we use them a lot in the sweaty summer heat. New Jersey is the Garden State, yea, I know, go ahead and laugh. If you live in the north close to New York, it might be a little hard to believe but here in the south, there is still a lot of farm land and fruit orchards. We passed lots of stands that will be soon full with vegetables and fruit from local farms. Today we saw these. Probably not a thing there was local except maybe the asparagus. The tomatoes are too big this early to be local, we don't grow bananas or mangoes or lemons. Maybe the cherries, but I think it's still too early for those, too. No matter. It all looked good.

PK and I dropped Kate off at home and headed for the Berlin Farmer's Market for their flea market. This is an indoor market all year through with an often strange assortment of things and an outdoor market in the warmer months. It used to have an auction where animals(cows, horses,pigs) were auctioned. I remember hearing some of the auctions when I was a kid but I never ventured into the area. It seemed like a strange place, all dark and smokey. THIS flea market is a real one. They have all kinds of stuff both new and "gently used" and down right worn out. PK likes to go and find old tools that he can bring home and lovingly restore. Here he is looking for some old hand planes . The pile looked something like this, all metal and rusty and jumbled together. He picks and prods and finds a chisel without a handle which he can "fix up". He's in hog heaven doing this. We found a back pack for Kate so she can go backpacking with PK and they can do an overnight in some wildnerness campsite. It was in good condition and only cost 15 dollars. New ones like this are way over a hundred dollars so we got a bargain. Kate is thrilled because she loves backpacking/hiking. Me? You couldn't pay me enough money to strap a big pack on my back and walk for miles and miles and then sleep on the ground. No accounting for taste. I like camping but I want to drive up and unload my car at the campsite and set up a nice, tidy, little outside home.

I have resisted doing any cleaning or other chores today. Tomorrow we are due for more rain (surprise, surprise) so there will be plenty of time to do chores and laundry. I am going to go and cook sausage and peppers for our dinner with some left over potato salad. That is, if I can stop watching for the mailman. Elanor gave me a Borders gift card for Mother's Day and I ordered The Knitters Book of Yarn and I'm waiting for it to come. Impatiently waiting.

I hope you are all having a Most Excellent Adventure of your own this weekend.

It's a little demoralizing to have surgery to take away pain and have the pain still be there. But indeed it is true in my case.

Shortly after the surgery, I was having some pain and figured it was gas because they told me I would feel gas pain. But it's not gas and evidently it was not all my gall bladder because it is gone and the pain is still here. The surgeon mentioned pancreatitis. That is a possibility but it mostly affects alcoholic men. I am neither.

Today I went to see my doctor. He ordered another blood test (done) and a CT scan and an Upper GI series. Whooppee. I have had CT's before but the thought of drinking barium is nauseating. I have to wait for an insurance code to make the appointment but hopefully it will be soon. And I have to just live with the pain until we figure out what's causing it. Pain killers make me sleepy/sick so I'll just have to deal.

So, some non stressful socks. I gave up for now on the yarn Kate gave me because it makes a camouflage pattern with stripes and I am not a cammo kind of woman. (I think my nephew who is 2 might like socks made out of cammo and stripes. ) I instead started a plain pair of socks using Online cotton. The colors are muted because it looks like the colors are plyed with some white. It's self striping/patterning and after 3 inches it hasn't repeated. I am watching with fascination as the fabric unfolds.

Yesterday as I was walking to the train, there were two young girls in yellow cotton dresses in front of me. Something in the way the skirts caught the wind and the sun through the trees grabbed at a memory in my head but thatfast it was gone. I have been chasing it ever since because I think it was a good memory, maybe of a yellow dress that I had as a girl. I just can't seem to catch it. It made me smile anyway and that's not a bad way to end a work day.

I have the rest of the day off since I was at the doctor's this morning. I was going to sit outside since we are experiencing some truly spring-like weather. My allergies are raging but that wouldn't stop me. However, the men with the trucks and tree-cutting machines might. They are very noisy. I guess I'll wait until they're done.

Happy Hump Day!

I have decided I could easily be a woman of leisure. I have enough interests to keep me busy and I love bon-bons. But it doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon.

So, I went back to work today. It was pretty much as I expected, 2 weeks worth of email to pretend to read before I hit 'delete', 12 messages on the machine (12 people who didn't bother to listen to the message that said I wasn't there), and a mail box full of papers and memos and vouchers and stuff. It was all pretty normal and boring.

Except for two things. The first thing was a package from one of the student interns that I supervised this year. She sent me an exquisite box of chocolates as a thank you for sharing my "wisdom and caring and compassion" with her. I wish I could show you a photo of the box because they were beautiful. But I can't. They're gone. All gone. PK and El helped me finish that sucker off as soon as I got home.

Thing the second. In the mail box attached to my house was a package. From Australia. From Georgie. She sent me some of this. I know the photo is awful but if you could see the cold (and I mean cold) rainy day here, you'd understand. This is 100 grams of roving in a beautiful green/blue color. It's called Under the Sea (let's all sing it together!) and it's soft and silky feeling and just perfect. It turned a not so great day into a great one. It's from Ewe Give Me the Knits. It was such a lovely thing to do. And best of all it came with a kiss from Pirate Jim. Go ahead, be jealous. I would be. Not often I get kisses from young men who are not my spouse.

Kate gave me the book Folk Shawls for Mother's Day and some sock yarn. I started a new pair of make-it-up-as-I-go-along socks. I know I still have to finish the entrelac socks but I was feeling the need for a change in color. And this is definitely a change in color. It's Lana Grossa sock yarn and rather soft after working with the Noro. I wore the Noro socks today to work under a pair of light blue cordoroy pants. They looked great and I found every opportunity to show them off all day. No modesty here!

I hope you all are having better weather than we are. It was windy, pouring rain and 38 degrees (3 degrees celsius). It is May for crying out loud! I needed to replace the battery in my watch but didn't want to walk down the two blocks at work in the pouring rain to the jewelers. I kept looking at my wrist all day. Without a watch, my wrist does not tell time! Duh. So, I paid twice what it usually costs me when I go to the discount jewelers in Philadelphia. A very nice man replaced batteries in both my watches (yes, they both died at the same time, I'm thinking it was a suicide pact) even though technically his store had closed for the day. I guess I looked pitiful. Or maybe it was just karma. It doesn't matter. I will be able to tell time tomorrow at work. That is very important.

Have a good week. Monday is over and that's half the battle.

Happy Mothers' Day! I've always felt a little strange celebrating this day. As I said, my family is good to me and I don't feel unappreciated or in need of a day to be patted on the back for giving birth. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the day off. I like having someone else cook dinner and worry about other household chores. But, I get those things when I need them. I just have to say "I don't feel like (fill in least favorite household chore here)" and usually Peter Kevin will say, "I'll do it" or one of the girls will take care of it. Kate is especially good at cleaning the cats' boxes (ewww) a chore I despise but recognize the importance of! The only chore I usually can't get out of is laundry. I guess it's the control freak coming out but I like my laundry done MY way.

Do we need a day to tell loved ones they are important? Maybe. Maybe we should all take the time to tell them every day, or at least more frequently than once a year. Kate asked the bakery to write on a cake (white with white frosting and coconut, mmmmm a favorite) "We totally, like ,appreciate you". It made me laugh and is so perfect. We are an irreverent bunch around here but I think everyone knows that they are loved and appreciated for their uniqueness among mortal beings.

I'm not sure if my children realize that they carry large chunks of my heart out with them each day. As they grow and become more themselves, I see less and more of myself there. I see them make fun of my "miracle in every square inch of creation" philosophy but, I see them noticing the miracles. What they don't notice is that THEY are the miracles of my life. THEY are the best and most wonderful thing I have ever done.

No matter what else I do in my life, I have given the world three lovely, intelligent, smartass, beautiful Wood Women. Look out.

P.S. The photo is a shot of a local wildflower, Indian Paintbrush. I took it last Spring on a trip to the Wharton State Forest. No significance to the post, just a bright shot of color. Can you tell I found the text color button today?

The internet service keeps cutting out today. Maybe it has something to do with the wind. I imagine it blows those electrons around pretty well when it wants to. So, I'll hold my breath and blaze on through.

Today is my last day of vacation. The weekend holds laundry and grocery shopping and other chores. Peter Kevin will take care of most of the chores because it's Mother's Day weekend and I am supposed to be taken care of. Today is cold and windy and raining. Yuch. I think I'll curl up here on the bed with some hot chocolate and finish El's entrelac sock. I am tired of doing all the little squares and just want them to be done.

I finished the Kaibashira socks in the Noro yarn. As I said, the yarn is unevenly spun and there are lots of slubs in there. Lots. It feels scratchy but will hopefully wash up softer. I have to say that I have come to love these socks. I never thought I would and that they would go into a box for gifting sometime in the future. But I love the pattern and the colors are great. I was amazed to see that they even match. For some cosmic reason, the color stripes match very closely. Totally unplanned. These are going in MY sock drawer! I gave the Sockotta socks away to Emily's friend who graduated college with a nursing degree. She loves them so I consider it a gift well given. I can always make another pair for me.

Do you have these things? They are seeds for the maple tree in the back yard. I call them 'helicopters' because when they fall off the tree they fly through the air like little helicopters. We had some wind this week and I stood outside in a shower of helicopters. I tried to capture it in a photo but they move too fast! That is our overgrown back yard. It had been raining and the grass is knee high in some places. Peter Kevin has plans to mow and till up the garden but once again, it is raining...

Kate and I have been spinning. See, here's some of our yarn moved onto the niddy noddy. It's Romney and spins up fuzzy. I am getting better at being more even but there are still very thin parts and parts that definitely qualify as BULKY. We figure we can make some felted coasters out of the first batch. Yesterday we went to the store and bought some more roving to play with. And Peter Kevin is giving me some more for Mother's Day. I'll have enough to keep me busy for a while except that the pesky job thing will get in the way on Monday.

I saw the doctor on Wednesday. Everything is healing well and I can go back to work on Monday. No lifting for a while but I can deal with that. And my poor old hide has a few new scars on it.

Em is here. She came down after her friend's ceremony and spent the night. We are now off to the diner for breakfast. Well, brunch as it is now almost noon. It's going to be awful getting up at 6 next week when I go back to work!

If you're a mother, Happy Mother's Day! I wish it weren't necessary to remind people to cherish each other with days set aside for it. I feel loved and cherished every day and I know that I am a lucky woman. Have a good weekend. No, Make it a great weekend.

I have tried to photograph this sock in progress in every kind of light. In natural afternoon light, in natural morning light, in unnatural nighttime light with a flash. I cannot capture the colors. This is the Noro Kureyon sock yarn in a Kaibashira pattern. I can't link to the pattern because I got it on Magknits and we all know what happened to them. I love the pattern because it is subtle and does not fight with the colors in the yarn. These colors are much more intense than my camera can record. That blue is really a deep purple and that bit of green at the botom is almost an acid green. These are not colors for the faint of heart! The yarn itself is rather scratchy (although I have read that it will soften up when I wash it) and it is very unevenly spun. If you're uncomfortable with that, this is probably not the sock yarn for you, despite the colors.

I spent yesterday working on this and listening to Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. One of my alltime favorite books. When you listen to a book, it's hard to skim through the parts that look boring which I tend to do when reading. Once again, I was struck by how political his books are. If you've never read this, it's entertaining and thought provoking.

And to end on a positive note, I give you the Buddhist Inspiration for the day:

When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.

Are you a wall builder or a windmill builder? Discuss.

I opted to do the smart, adult thing and stay home this weekend and let my body heal. I was originally planning to go back to work tomorrow but I called the doctor's office to make my follow up appointment and they said, "NO. Not yet". Ok, I can deal with some more time off, especially as I can move around a little easier. I see the doctor on Wednesday and will probably go back to work on the following Monday. I already let my supervisor know and he was understanding. The center will not fall apart without me there. My clients will have to take care of themselves for a little longer.

I finished the Sockotta socks yesterday. A pair of socks in one week. Never happened before. See what lots of time sitting still will get you? They were perfect because stockinette stitch is so soothing. I like the socks and even got the stripes to match. Of course you can't see that because I am standing on one foot with my sock in the air trying to catch some of the sparse light on this grey day. I like the way the short row heel came out. I'll keep that in mind for other self patterning yarns. Now I am working away on the entrelac socks for Elanor. And I need to find a pattern for the Noro sock yarn that Joan sent me. Any thoughts? The yarn is so colorful that I don't want it to obliterate any pattern. I guess it could be another plain sock.

And I mentioned to Peter Kevin that there is another yarn show in October, in Rhinebeck. His eyes lit up. It seems there is a museum of old aircraft up there and now he is planning out how we can take the train together and he can go to see the aircraft and I can go see the yarn. I have a feeling he might want to come to the yarn show but we'll see. Old aircraft are a pretty strong draw.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Here it is Thursday already. I'd ask where the week has gone but I'm pretty sure I've slept it away. Today I have weaned myself off the codeine and onto plain ibuprofen tablets. This has helped me stay awake for most of the day. I still feel tired. I guess it takes a lot of energy to heal. PK and I went to the local diner for dinner. First time I've been out of the house all week and now I am ready for bed.

I have four incisions. Three little x's (one in my belly button and two on my right hip) and one straight line of about 2 inches under my right breast. That is the one that hurts. All of the incisions have bruises around them and all are glued. No stitches, just a cyano-acrylic glue. Yep, crazy glue. The stuff that holds grown men onto I-beams by the helmet is holding my skin together.

The soreness is much lessened today. I can move around and not hurt. It hurts if I forget and reach for something or pick up something or laugh. Oh god, it hurts to laugh. And we laugh so much around here. I was able to sit for a little while at the spinning wheel today. For the first time I actually got some yarn. Whoot! It's uneven and way overspun in some spots and way underspun in others but it's yarn. It's some Romney roving I got on Saturday while I was out with Peter Kevin. He thinks I'll be able to spin it into some socks for him. He's so optimistic. He also found a galoot to make a new whorl for the spinning wheel so I can use the bigger bobbins (now who's being optimistic?). I offered to make the guy some socks in payment. Seemed fair to me and a good trade.

In March I won a contest on Joan's blog. Today I got the prize package. It was full of goodies. Just look: There's a cute turquoise spring purse, some lovely smelling lotion for my hands, a candle that has my name on it and some Noro sock yarn and some pink yarn that is crying out to be something for me. Thanks Joan.

I have finished one of the Sockotta socks and I am in love with the yarn. I even managed a short row heel that doesn't suck too bad. I'd like to finish the other one before I go back to work. I am ready to work on the entrelac socks for El and hopefully they won't take too long to finish. I am pretty sure I want to make another shawl. This time I am eyeing one over at Sunflower designs. Susan has some beautiful flower inspired designs that have subtle beaded details.

I'm not sure if I feel up to a trip to Maryland this weekend. I think the car ride would be ok (despite what it would cost for gas) but I'm not sure about all the walking. I'd hate to get all the way down there and be too tired to walk around. Peter Kevin keeps saying "wait and see". I think he really wants to go . I think I am going to be obligated to attend some wood working show in the future!