photo of my pink sneakers taken with my iphone



Mothers' Day is not until May 8th (here in the US) but I have already received my present.  Pk has been trying to convinve me that I "need" a smartphone.  I insisted that my little pink phone is just fine but I will admit to a niggling desire for the technology.  I just didn't think I needed one.  He has one and that's all we needed.

But I caved.  In all honesty, it didn't take much arm twisting.  Elanor and I went to the phone store last night and I got an iphone.  So, now, instead of just making phone calls, I can play word games with my family and friends.  It's mildly addicting.

I think that new technology is headache making.  Trying to learn how to use all the various parts and make it work with my computer is mentally exhausting.  I think it's set for now and I can just enjoy using it and playing with it casually.  I have finally figured out how to get an ebook on it and now both Pk and I can read A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson. 

Today was a tiring day even without any new technology.  I have been working at my job for almost 17 years and have met a lot of people in that time.  I have come to care for quite a few of them and enjoy interacting with them when they come in to see the doctor.  I ask them about their lives and their families and they ask about mine.  I can't say we're friends but we're friendly.

There are a few, however, whom I've known for so many years who have a permanent place in my heart.  Today I went to see one of them.  He's dying of lung cancer and he's 57 years old.  I've known him for all of my time in my job and adore him.  I haven't seen him in a while since he's been sick.  His mother called me and said that he was asking about me and if I wanted to see him I could come to the house.  The hospice social worker told me "make it sooner rather than later" so today I treked into South Philadelphia to visit my friend.  He wasn't feeling well and slept most of the visit.  He was awake long enough for his mother to snap one photo of he and I together and I'll cherish it.  He's an artist who has sold his artwork (one picture to me) and I have a drawing he did of me that needs a frame.  I will look at that drawing and smile and feel grateful that I was priviledged to be a part of his life.  And I will miss him forever.

Sad week, this one.  The memorial for my niece is Friday.  I think it will be hard.  After I visited with my buddy today, I walked back toward the train and stopped to sit in a park.  Just a small place with some grass and some benches and some huge tulips.  I took this with my iphone.  Not a bad photo.  I sat in the park and let myself feel sad until I heard the thunder. 

It wasn't supposed to rain today, not until tomorrow but the sky got dark, much darker than it looks in the photo, and the thunder got closer and the rain started coming down.  Thankfully, I always have an umbrella in my bag so I was fairly dry. 

I made it to the train and got home to sticky, humidity.  I chose to sit outside the station and wait for Peter Kevin to get home.  It was too hot to sit in the car.  And I didn't want to miss any of the sideshow going on at the station.  Four police cars to deal with one scrawny young man.  I don't know what the problem was but they were searching him and his backpack and a nearby car when I came out of the station.  He wasn't resisting or even being mouthy so why they felt the need for 4 police officers, I don't know. 

We got home and played with the technology to figure out some bits and then had a cold supper of leftover ham and potato salad.  It was delicious.  Hard to believe it's almost bedtime already.  I'm going to find some soothing, plain knitting and listen to some audiobook and go to bed soon.  Tomorrow is a busy day (I'm covering in a different program) and I am tired.

Have a good Wednesday night and a terrific Thursday.

Peter Kevin works for a company that still gives its employees Good Friday off.  It's rare in our country for that to happen.  While Easter is a holiday (and recognizable by the candy and bunny shaped decorations all over) it's not as widely celebrated in the secular community as Christmas. 

I took Friday off and I left early Thursday after the health and wellness fair.  Kate and I set up a table and once again spread the fiber word.  She is such a good teacher.  We sent several folks off with needles, yarn, instructions and directions to my office if they had any questions in the future.  There were a lot of folks at the fair and I think it was a success. 

I ended up taking a nap when we got home.  Allergy season is in full bloom (pun intended) and my head was full.  We spent yesterday running errands.  Pk bought a printer/scanner to replace the very old and mostly non-functioning one we had.  We also decided to replace the 25 year old KitchenAid mixer that was still working but has lost its lowest two speeds (and sends flour shooting all around in a gusher when you turn it on necessitating covering the whole thing with a towel to keep flour from all the kitchen surfaces) with a new one.  It's down on the counter now waiting to make babka with me.  And cheesecake.  I have an unnatural love for this particular kitchen appliance.

We also did the grocery shopping and put away all of the food.  In support of our local firemen, we bought Easter flowers.  Lovely tulips and hyacinths and some daffodils which are all blooming downstairs right this minute.  I have a feeling that's why I woke up this morning sneezing my head off with a nose that is running like a faucet.  Either that or I have a cold.  It doesn't matter.  I took some antihistamine and it's not working so I'll just carry a box of tissues around with me as I clean and cook for tomorrow. I've never had a reaction to flowers like this before.  What a pita.

It's very still here at the moment.  The stillness that precedes a storm.  Not a leaf is moving and the birds are quiet.  It's eerie and fascinating.  We are forecasted to get rain and I think it's coming. 

I have potato salad to make and beans to season and put into the crockpot and some babka and cheesecake to bake.  You'd think we were having a housefull  but it'll only be Elanor, Peter Kevin and I.  I think Kate and Patrick are going to Emily's for dinner.  Easter dinner was never one of those big "have to get home" dinners.  This is the first year without Aunt Joan and I suppose I should have invited my cousin to dinner but I didn't think of it.  I've been preoccupied by all the other family stresses and Cheryl got forgotten.  I'll call her tomorrow and make sure she's ok.  She'll be spending the day with her friend Walter (whom Emily calls the "beigest person I know") so she won't be alone.

Cooking is like knitting for me.  Therapy of a sort.  I like to cook and I plan to set the table with china and silver for dinner tomorrow even if it's only three of us.  We should celebrate life and spring and renewal.  We're waiting to hear what form of memorial is being planned for Mandy.  There was some talk of a memorial at the school where she taught and gave so much of herself.  I think that would be lovely. 

I do have some photos to share but they're still in the camera which is in my purse which is downstairs.  Yes, I am that lazy.  Sorry.  I'll share them later in the week. 

When I can put down the tissues and stop blowing my nose.

If Easter is your holiday, then I wish you a joyous Easter .  If not, then have a wonderous April weekend. 

Just a quick post.  My niece died this morning.  She had only discovered the cancer had come back a few short weeks ago.  It was a shock.  We weren't sure of her chances to beat it again but didn't think it would win so quickly.

It doesn't seem real or right.  She was a young woman and had so much ahead of her.  I think the saddest funeral service I've ever attended was the service for the young son of a coworker.  Something about memorializing such a young person just seems so wrong.

One of our strongest and happiest memories is of Peter Kevin teaching her to disco dance.  It was the early 80's and disco was in style and he taught this lovely little blonde child to wave her arms and dance like John Travolta.   We were smiling at this memory this afternoon. 

I'm not sure how to deal with this.  One day, one breath at a time.  Just like anything else I guess.

This has been a wet, windy weekend.  Friday night the clouds rolled in and we waited all day Saturday for the rain to start.  It was windy and then we got bursts of downpour on and off all day.  It was unsettling weather.  Cold and windy with occasional thunder and lightning. 

Hobbes is keeping Peter Kevin company as he picks up sticks and does some clean up around the front yard this afternoon.  The bed under the tree with the spring bulbs could use a weeding but we kind of liked the wild look of the flowers coming up through the grass.

The sun is shining and feels warm but the air is still very cool and damp.  The ground is soggy after the inch and a half of rain we got. 

I made some breakfast and am now working on my kal shawl because the next clue comes out tomorrow and I'm not finished the last one yet. 

The mural at work is moving down the hallway.  We have ducks with a nest and an egg.  And he has started some trees that will surround the bulletin board that has all the required information.  (and the ubiquitious hand sanitizers).  The colors are as soft and muted as the photos suggest which I find soothing and enchanting.  And I've learned that I can elicit whichever response I want by how I ask what people think of it.  If I say, "look what they've done to our walls", I'm likely to get a negative or neutral response.  If I say, "look at the mural we're having painted", I get more positive responses.  The staff continues to be divided.  I'm enjoying watching the creative process.

I managed to get a few photos in the museum on Wednesday before I noticed the "No Photography or Recording" signs and the docents reminded me that taking photos was forbidden.  One of them is of a "quilt" (the label uses this word)  from the early part of the 20th century North Dakota.  I say "quilt" because if you look closely, I think it's crocheted.  It's beautifully colorful and in spectacular shape.  You've got to love granny squares.

There were a lot of interesting displays of clothing bits and sewing machines but I tried to obey the rules and keep the camera in my purse. 

I love hyacinths.  I love the smell and the color and the waxy feel of the blossoms.  Every year I plant the ones I get for Easter in the garden.  If I'm lucky and the squirrels don't eat them, they come up in little bits the next year and then get just a bit bigger.  These are like a scrapbook of spring flowers from years past. 

There are a few red tulips which always seem to come back just as beautiful.  Unless, of course they don't get eaten.  Tulips are evidently a delicacy to the local rodents.




And soon, it'll be time to check on my bags for work tomorrow and put together a lunch and check the gym bag.  I bought some supplies for the health fair on Thursday.  A bag of mill ends of small balls of yarn that I can pair with some crochet hooks or knitting needles and some instructions for anyone who wants a kit to learn.  I've given away so many supplies.  I'm sure not all of them are being used but maybe some are.  I'd like to share the peace and quieting effect that working with my hands gives me.

And that's where I'm headed now.  Back to the shawl.  I'm only on row 165 out of 190 so I have a ways to go.  There's a lot of increasing going on so the rows get longer and longer.  Think of all that peace!

Have a good week!

Life around here has been busy/boring.  Does that make sense?  I'm surprised it's Thursday and the week has gone by so quickly.  I suspect that it's because work has been busy and at home, things are not busy exactly but there are Things To do.

As for my niece, Pk hasn't spoken to his sister yet so we are just keeping good thoughts and being available.  In other emotional news, Elanor has a friend who had a heart attack and died at 25.  Yes.  25 years old.  She is sad and heartbroken since they had plans to find a place to live together.  This is her first major loss of someone her own age and that can be a sobering event no matter what age you are.  We expect old people to die, not 25 year olds. 

Our health and wellness fair is next week so I'll be shopping for some inexpensive yarn (I gave away most of the stuff from the last one) this weekend so I can set up a colorful table to draw people in.  The spinning wheel does that.  For some reason, people can't resist them.  It's fun to see them watch from across the room and then gradually come closer until they're comforable enough to ask what it is and how it works. 

Elanor bought some Felici yarn from knitpicks for me to make her some socks.  I will admit to a great fondness for self striping sock yarn and this does not disappoint.  The one she chose is green and blue and it's gorgeous to work with.  It's a merino/nylon blend but it's soft and it makes a lovely fabric.  I'm using 2.0 mm needles and a few more stitches (I want a dense fabric but it still has to fit) in a plain sock pattern.  It's fun to work with and since it's plain stockinette, it has been perfect to watch movies and knit.

I sat in my first phone-in meeting this week.  It's one of the oddest things.  You call into the phone number they give you and a voices says "You are one of fourteen people" and then people are talking and you have no context for their voice.  I found myself making up images for people in my mind.  The one guy who talked a lot and had a lot of issues with the computer program I imagine has short blond hair and glasses.  I don't know why (he's probably a redhead with freckles!).   I didn't say much since it was my first time and I didn't want anyone to sit there and think "I wish she's stop talking".  I didn't realize how much we depend on our eyes for communication.  It was a fascinating experience.

I am working away on my In Dreams kal shawl.  I put it away when everyone reported that this clue was much harder for fear of making a mistake and having to tink a lot of alpaca (it does not tink well).  I finally picked it up and have done about 4 rows into the clue.  And I'm hooked again.  The rows are getting longer so it takes more time and I get less done in one session but it's so enjoyable and satisfying.  This will be one gorgeous piece of knitting when it's done. 

Our weather continues to be confused.  It was warm and balmy and gorgeous on Monday.  Nice enough that when we left work, we decided to swing by the fried chicken place and pick up the fixins for a picnic and ate dinner in a local park.  This one has swings and jungle gyms and we watched small children run around and laugh.  We capped it off with a trip to the ice cream place for desert.  Lovely.  Then it got cold again and remains so today.  No rain today, which is good, but you definitely need a coat.  The guard outside today said "maybe this means we'll have a mild summer".  One can only hope.  Last summer was brutal.

I spent yesterday on an outing with my group.  We went to the American Jewish History Museum.  It's gorgeous.  There are wonderful displays and a real sense of how the Jews at first tried to assimilate into life in this country and then finally said, "Look, this is who we are.  Deal with it".  It's so well done that you get educated and don't feel bored by just information. 

Other than that, I have to file my taxes today.  My fed is done, just not filed.  The state is easy and will take a short time.  Yes, I waited until the end but I knew we'd owe money and feel like we already pay a lot of taxes so I wasn't eager to pay more.  I have work to do and I guess it's time to get started.  I have some photos of the mural to show you but they'll have to wait until I'm home.  (My new computer does not play well with peripherals like my camera). 

Happy Thursday everyone!

Good Saturday Morning!  I don't know what the weather is like where you are but here it's grey and cloudy and wet.  Again.  It's Spring and we tend to get a lot of rain in the spring.  I have been feeling kind of out of things for the past week and thought I'd share some images with you.

Daisy strapped into the back seat of the car to go to Emily's house last week.  She sits very prim and proper right on the seat and the belt holds her secure. She carried Em's birthday present (wrapped in Transformers paper).  I'm looking for a pattern for a travel bag for her.  I don't want to pay well over a hundred dollars and I figure I can make one. 

Emily's cake with stars and Princess candles.  She's coming by today on her way to visit some friends.  Elanor's present for her birthday came in the mail and she's going to pick it up.

The grape hyacinths are popping up through the leaves and grass.  They're everywhere.  Did you know they smell?  I think they smell like grapes, well, like grape-flavoring.  It's very sweet.

The daffodils are in full flower.  As is the forsythia.  Do you have forsythia?  It's one of my favorite

bushes.  Especially when it's left to look wild and untrimmed.  NJ uses them alot on the sides of roadways.  I tried to get a photo but we were always moving too fast and so I found this image. 

The work week went fairly quickly and Pk and I took yesterday off.  He met with the gastroenterologist for an introduction to his upcoming colonoscopy (or as he calls it, "old guy test").  The actual procedure will be in May but yesterday was just a "Hi.  This is what will happen" kind of appointment.  Since his appt was early in the day, we went to the lws to buy some wood craft things.  It's in Delaware and the term "local" is stretched.  It takes almost an hour to get there and we spend less than a half hour there. 

It's right in downtown Wilmington.  It's a funny place.  See those lights?  That's the light path for pilots bringing planes into the airport.  It's eerie to be sitting at a traffic light and have a large flying object fly right overhead.  You can see that it was raining yesterday, too. 

We went to the seafood store and got some shellfish to treat ourselves to a fun dinner.  Crab legs are entertaining to eat once in a while but oh so messy.  They were delicious. 



My handsome Pk at brunch on Sunday, wearing his sweater.

 Pk has five sisters and a brother.  Both of his parents had cancer and three of his sisters have/had cancer.  One of our nieces had a double mastectomy at age 25, and now, 5 years later, the cancer is back.  She's such a lovely young woman and this is just breaking my heart. This is where my unease has its root.  I'm worried about her.
And there's nothing we can do but pray and hope and be there.

We're off to the grocery store and then the house cleaning needs to be done and the laundry.  A typical Saturday because life goes on.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

"Your work is to discover your world

and then with all your heart give yourself to it."
~The Buddha

Isn't that a nice thought for a Monday morning?  I had a post in mind but haven't loaded the photos so it'll have to wait.  We had a good weekend. 

Saturday, I cleaned and did laundry and fell asleep every time I sat down.  I think I may need to go to bed earlier or have a blood test done to check for Iron Poor Blood (remember Geritol commercials "my wife, I think I'll keep her")?  I attempted to work on the shawl kal but was having some problems with numbers ( as of the end of the last clue, my stitches are correct so it's something I'm reading incorrectly) so I put it away and spent some time spinning and working on a pair of socks.

Yesterday, Pk and I decided we didn't feel like cooking brunch and went to a local place called The Bistro.  It was eh.  I make better omelettes.  I had a California omelette (roasted peppers, tomatoes, asparagus and monterey jack cheese).  Sounds good, doesn't it?  It had no real flavor.  I love roasted peppers and make good ones and now I have a yen to make some.  Pk had a Meat Lovers' omelette and he felt the same way.  It was underwhelming.

Oh, well.  We tried something new.  We came home and consoled ourselves with donuts.....

We have to make a concerted effort to make the gym a regular part of our lives again.  We go  in a willy nilly way and that's really not helping.  I like to eat far too much and I'm getting too old to depend on my metabolism to burn off the calories.  I am not buying new clothes just because the old ones don't fit.  So, off to the gym we go. 

We went to Em's house for dinner and cake.  The cake I made came out wonderfully.  It was moist and chocolaty and I made a plain buttercream frosting.  Yummy.

She loved her present.  We got her a starter kit from Earth Hues.  It's filled with bags and bottles of stuff for her to dye fabric and yarns and rovings.  She was eyeing my white t shirt with the opinion that it would look so much better after a dip in the dye pot.  I politely declined.  All of the ingredients are natural, no chemical dyes.  (so it's filled with parts of bugs, and roots and other lovely natural stuff).  She can't wait to get started.

Jim fell ill with a migraine while we were there so he missed the party.  He was sleeping when we left.  He missed Pk and Patrick playing Left 4 Dead (zombie killing game).  I think they killed each other more than the zombies. (I just texted Em and Jim is better today, thank goodness.  Tired but the pain is gone)

And now today is Monday and I am at my desk getting ready for the day to start.  It's supposed to be warm this afternoon but I'll wait and see.  It's hard to make the transition from weekend mode to work mode some weeks.

I'll upload the photos and show you our budding bits of spring later.  Now, it's time to answer the phone......