Belated Merry Christmas and Early Happy New Year.

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas. I did. I was at home and had my kids and family around me.
I love Christmas, the reason for it, the family gathering, all the wonderful food, the decorating, the songs and movies, just all of it.
I used to start playing Christmas carols in Aug and start my holiday cookie baking in Sept. I would bake dozens of cookies of all kinds. Then the kids grew up, D developed hypoglycemia, and I just don't need the calories so I have all but stopped baking for Christmas. This year I baked a couple of "packages" of store cookies. I really cheated. Oh, well.

D and I are back here in VA. We will be here all week so the kids are on duty at home taking care of things.
My son called this morning to see if my cell phone was working because theirs were not working back in Ohio. Then my daughter called to see if Crit the RoboHamster had died. He is not in his cage. Nope, he had not died as of yesterday. Guess they are now tearing the office apart trying to find him. I hope they do. Crit is a little cutie and so soft to pet.

It is almost time to go on my daily "food forage" to get dinner tonight. I think I will fix pork chops for dinner tonight. I also think I will try Shake-N-Bake on them. Hope it turns out ok. D's Grandma always used to use Shake-N-Bake. Grandma also always would unthaw things for dinner. I'll fix a baked potato. a veggie, and a biscuit for us. I'll see what "package" cookies they have to bake. Hey, I don't have a mixer down here to make my own (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it LOL).

D and I will be here for New Years so I have to come up with something special for Wed evening. Some easy to prepare snacks. I told D to ask the project manager if he wanted to eat with us Wed evening since he will be away from his wife and he and Dale have become good friends. This is the 3rd job that they have worked together on.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a great 2009. God Bless.

Going home...

Yesterday we made the trip back down here to VA thinking that we would be here until Christmas Eve, then have to turn around and come back down here Christmas night. Well, they didn't get some kind of dig permit so we get to go home in the morning and don't have to be back for him to work Friday. Hooray!!!
Now I should be packing up everything to leave in the morning but I am not. I will get it done. I am the one who does all of the packing and usually I even pack it into the van. I seem to be able to pack in more than D can. I have the knack I guess.

Now I will be home for Christmas Eve and can get things ready to take to my MIL's and have time to get everything done at home. Thinking that I might not be home until late Christmas Eve I did make sure that all packages were wrapped and the cleaners will be there tomorrow or Wed so I am pretty much set.

Back in the spring or summer (not sure exactly when) I had a crown put on. I don't know what is wrong but boy is it hurting now. I can not bite down on anything with that side of my mouth and have to be very careful biting down on the other side also. I called my dentist but he cannot see me until Jan 5. I don't know if I can stand it that long. I am on the cancellation list though. I will have to call again tomorrow and let them know that I will be home this week but not next week.

Well, I best be getting busy starting to pack things up to go home in the morning. Woohoo!!

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Home, Sweet Home

I have been home since November 14 and I am loving it. We will have to go back to VA at least once more but I get all of last week, this week, and probably all of next week at home. I love it.
I have been busy the last two days cleaning the house and getting ready for our company Christmas party Sat night. The cleaning people are coming today, but there is so much that has just piled up since I have been gone that I have to do. I have just about got it conquered. I also have most of the decorating done. There are just a few minor things to do. I need to put the lights up around the deck, but am waiting to see if D gets an outlet put in for me or if I have to run extension cord. Where I start the lights will depend on where I can plug them in. If D gets the new outlet put in I can start at the end of the house and I will be able to turn them on and off with a wall switch in the family room. I am hoping for the new outlet, but then it was "supposed" to be in last Christmas so I am not holding out much hope. (I went and bought a timer for an extension cord.)
Just as soon as I finish my cleaning I need to go start embroidering the long-sleeve tees for the guys. These I just bought a couple of weeks ago so I am not wayyyyy behind on getting them done like I was the short-sleeve tees (I had had them for over 2 years.)
This past Sunday we had Thanksgiving at D's Moms. She started doing that when all of her boys were older and D and I were married That way the boys could be with their sweeties on Thanksgiving but she and G would also have a Thanksgiving with the kids. It works out fine.
Thursday we go to our son's house for dinner. His wife asked me several years ago if it would be OK for her to do the meal and I told her to go for it. I will fix several dishes to take down but I don't have the full meal to do or all of the cleaning, although this year it will be done anyway. But I won't have the cleanup.
Back to work.
Ta...Judy

Can you believe it?

I never thought to see gas this low again. Just over a month ago, Sept 28, we filled my van up and gas was $3.83, that is almost a $2 drop. It is nice to see the price go down but it is also scary. Time will tell.

I am still down here in VA but I have both of my dogs with me. Betsie, the smaller dog, now sleeps in Katie's old cage. Yesterday when my little friend A and her Mom and brother came to visit me A decided that she wanted to play that Betsie's bed was her house....

At one point Betsie was in there with her but I must have missed that picture. It was cute and Betsie was very careful to not hurt A.

Katie says, "Just let me lay here and keep watch."

Later in the evening Betsie got into her little hidey hole and took a nap.

That is the fireplace in my room. It is a gas one so it is just a flip of a switch and I have a nice fire. Only bad thing is that it has been too hot this week to use it. Well, D did turn it on Monday morning but it was so hot in here I could barely breathe so I had to shut it down. Looks like we will be in this room pretty much the rest of the year so I should get to use it.

Back in Virginia

We got back to VA Sunday evening. This time I have both of the dogs with me. It is so good to have Katie along. I really missed her when she was at home and I was here. She is a good dog and a good traveler. Her one big problem is that she is mouthy. She has to bark at anyone new she sees until I tell her to hush. Betsie hardly ever barks.

I got a new "toy"/work item. Here it is. Is'nt she pretty? It may not embroider as fast or as large as my commercial machine but she is portable. This way I can get all those shirts for D done that I just do not have the time to do when we are at home. Monday it took me about half of the day to figure out how to run her, how to set up the design, and which presser foot to put on so I only got 4 shirts done. Yesterday when I started I had all of that figured out so I managed to get 12 shirts done. One thing about her sewing slower is that I have time to knit a row or two between having to change shirts. (So I am getting some knitting done this week.) I have 4 more XL's to do, 17 L's, a pullover sweatshirt, a zip sweatshirt, and 11 fleece beanies. I hope to get all of that done before we go home this weekend. Then next time we come down I hope to have some longsleeve tees to do up. It makes the day go so much faster with something to do.

It is a little after 9 so it is time to go "shopping" for the day. I have to get a few things for dinner tonight and I need to find some silicon spray for my embroidery. Also, I go out at this time so Wilma can come in and clean without having to work around Katie. (Katie is too big to fit in the dog cage.)

Audrey and Marit, I mailed out your PIF packages last week. Aud, yours may be there now or in a day or so, Marit, I don't know how long it will take for you to get yours. Hope you girls like what I sent. :)

Maybe more later.....

It's a St. Nard!

I was watching an old "I Love Lucy" show and Richard Widmark had a St. Bernard. It was nowhere as pretty as my Katie, but it was a St. Nard.
Gee, I miss my baby. It looks like it is going to be Tuesday before we get to go home.

My cold decided not to get better. My throat is not as sore and I can talk a bit better but now I have a hard cough and a runny nose. I got a box of Puff's with lotion and Vicks yesterday and will probably have to go back and get another box today.

The rain has stopped but it is still chilly out, not as chilly, thank goodness.

The pizza Thursday evening was delish. I will probably fix that meal again when we are back down here.
We were supposed to go out with another couple so I didn't go get anything for dinner so we had to eat out. D didn't see the other man to make plans so we will go out with them another time. The man is going to be having hip replacement and wants to talk with D about it. D has had both of his hips replaced. The first was in Nov 99 and the second in Jan 01. It was the best thing he could have done. I am not sure he would even be able to walk now if he hadn't had it done.

If my head clears and stops hurting I am planning on going out to the craft stores that I can find today. I will take my camera.

Pizza tonight.

The pork chops and baked potato last night were delicious. The gravy was more of just a thin sauce that we put over the chops, but it was good.
Tonight I am fixing pizza. It is a recipe that I got off of E-diets. All you do is use pizza crust and top it with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms. You can add shreadded cheese if you wish. It is really delish. It sounds very plain and flavorless but it really isn't. If I were at home I would also put some Italian seasoning on it, but since I am not it will just have some fresh ground pepper and maybe a little sea salt. I am cheating a bit on this one as I have bought already prepared pizza crust instead of making it up myself. You have to make concessions sometimes.

What little knitting I have done today has been on my fingerless mitts. I am coughing so much I just don't feel like doing anything. But the coughing means the cold is beginning to break up so I should start feeling better soon.

Nothing

Nothing special to tell today, my cold has still got me down so I haven't made it out to the craft stores. Maybe tomorrow.

After finishing my socks I started working on a sweater but I am not sure the yarn is going to work with the pattern. It may be to soft and drapey. So I took some leftover sock yarn and decided to make a pair of fingerless mitts. They are an easy knit and I do like to wear them this time of year.

Tonight for dinner D and I are having porkchops in gravy and a baked potato. I bought green beans for dinner last night but we didn't have them. I need a can opener to get them out of the can and I don't have one here and I did not want to go buy one. So I will take them home and fix them there.

Last evening I baked a pack of chocolate chip cookies for D to take to the plant site with him. He likes to take in sweets occassionally so when I was out shopping yesterday I decided to get a package of them and bake them. If I place them just right I can get 8 on a tray at one time. Since there was only 20 in the pack it didn't take too long to do them.

Doesn't Betsie look sad? That is her normal look. She has the Saint Bernard sad face. She is in her bed here in the hotel room. She spends quite a bit of her day in there since we have been down here. I guess it is her safe and familiar place. The only time we shut the door on it is when we leave the room to go eat or something. The rest of the time she has freedom to stay in there or out in the room, her choice.

Me again

D liked the chicken in mushroom soup so well that he said to fix it again tonight. He also said that if I did not feel like cooking he would take me out for dinner. I told him that I felt so bad I would rather cook here than have to go out to eat.
I am such a baby when I have one of these colds. I just hope it does not turn into bronchitis like it usually does. If I am going to be that sick I need to be at home where I can go to my doctor and get the special prescription of meds that works for me.

I see so many use strike through in their blogs but I can't seem to find it. Anyone out there have a clue of how to do this on blogger? On some things I have used it has a strike through icon but none here. Hmmmm.

I leave you with a picture of my Coley. I do miss him, I'll see him this weekend though and I don't think we have to come back to VA until the following weekend.

more socks

I got pictures of my October Sockamania socks this morning. As usual I can't seem to get a picture with good detail of the design. One of these days I may figure out the secret to doing good pictures but I am not going to hold my breath waiting. I tried putting them on and that did not help either. So there they are. The yarn is called Alpaca Sox. It is 60% alpaca, 20% merino wool, and 20% nylon. I did my usual toe up, ML, two at once on my KP Options size 1's.

When I had them on my feet they felt really soft and luxurious. I think they are going to be a cold weather sock, so I will have to wait a bit to wear them. Even my cold feet are not ready for them yet.

Here is a picture of my "kitchen". It does a really nice job here. I would go crazy if this were all I had at home to try to cook on. Last evening I fixed chicken in mushroom soup w/ biscuits on the side. The chicken was so moist, tender, and delicious. I was going to have mashed potatoes with it but the potatoes in the deli really looked dried out and icky. I was going to get a can of some veggie and forgot to. Now what to fix for this evening?

My cold is really bad now. I can barely whisper and my thoat is so sore I can barely swallow. I guess I am going to have to go get me something for the sore throat. I need to get some Nyquil to make me sleep, but that is a problem since I get up at 5:30 to fix D's bucket while he takes Betsie out for her morning walk. I'll just suffer through.

Maybe today....

I didn't make it out to the craft stores on Sat. I had lost the list and did not think to just look in the phone book and make a new list. (Bad headache was keeping me from thinking straight.) I will try to get to them either today or tomorrow. I will also try to remember to take in my camera so I can take pictures for Silfert. I don't always think to take the camera and take pictures, I seem to think about it after the fact. Which is really strange since I am the one who usually takes the pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I need to take some of my Oct. Sockamania socks. I finished them up yesterday morning. They won't be blocked as I don't have a means of blocking them here in the motel room. I'll do my best.
The camera is now here with me. Now I only have to take the pictures. Maybe later, I am going to go take a nap since I was up several times in the night and am very sleepy now.

Later....

Oops! my mistake

The cell phone is not broken. I had it plugged into the wrong charger. When D came in Thursday evening I was telling him about it when all of a sudden I noticed that I had used his charger instead of mine. Changed chargers and voila! I have cellphone again. I felt like such a ditz.

It is Saturday morning and in a bit I need to go out and get some "groceries". The cupboard, or in this case the drawer, is bare. We are out of most of the essentials like frozen waffles, chips, fruit, water, & peanut butter. D has to have his peanut butter to put on his frozen waffles that he has for breakfast. Got to keep him happy.

I am almost done with my October Sockamania socks. I have about 1 1/2 repeats to do on the leg and they will be done. Then I am going to start on my alpaca sweater.

Today I think I am going out in search of a yarn/craft store. There are 1 or 2 around here close and with the GPS I feel safe in saying that I can probably find them.

The trees down here in VA are really getting pretty. The temp is changing and getting colder so they will probably hit their peak soon and begin to fade. I'll try to get some pictures of them. I love seeing the fall trees.

Technology - it will get you

Of all the times for my cell phone to break this is about the worst. I am down here in VA and the only way D can reach me is by cell phone and the danged thing decided to quit. It gave me no advance warning at all. It had been just fine. I was talking to my daughter and the battery was getting low. While we were talking it just quit. Natch I just thought that the battery was dead and needed recharged so I plugged it in to charge. That was around 3 and it still will not turn back on. It is a pink Razr that I have had about 2 years so I guess it is about time. I hate getting a new phone. I suppose D and I will have to go out tonight to try to find me a phone.
I KNOW he is going to come in this evening and accuse me of not charging the phone or charging it and not turning it back on. I am famous for that. :)

I like my new counter. I was about to just give this thing up since I got very few comments and thought that that was all that was reading. With the counter I have found that there are a few more reading, they just don't leave comments. So I will hang in here for a while longer.

For anyone out there who can answer, I have a question. I know how to make a link and have it be the nick and not the URL. My question is how do you find the URL without going out of this part and going into layout to find the URL. Is there an easier way? Anyone who reads this and has the answer, please tell me. Thanks, in advance.

PIF Recap

Why do I always hit enter after typing the title? I have posted just a title so many times and then had to go back and edit it. Geez, you would think that I would learn.

On Oct 1 I posted a PIF post. I finally got 2 firm wishes to do PIF. The winners (?) are Silfert and Marit. Congratulations. Your *surprises* will be in the mail as soon as I can find the post office. The ladies at the hotel desk told me where it is but they didn't have a street address for me to plug into my GPS so I am not sure I will find it, but I think I can.

Last night D wanted to go out to eat so I am going to fix the pork roast this evening. I should have gone out today and got a vegetable but I just didn't feel like it. So no veggies this evening. Besides, I don't think I have room in the *oven*, it is sooooo big. lol

NeoCounter

I put that NeoCounter on my blog to see just how many were coming by but not leaving comments. I think it is screwy. It say 22 people from Thailand have come, 1 from the US, and 1 from Singapore. What is up with that?
I'll leave it there for a day or so, but I might just ditch it. How would someone in Thailand or Singapore find me? Don't know.

I just got back from my daily "food pilgrimage". We are having pork roast w/mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and biscuits for supper. Dang, I should have gotten some green beans (not sure I have enough room to do all of that though). Not a bad meal considering that I have to fix it all in one little toaster oven.
Last night we had porkchops in salsa and a side salad. The night before it was skinless, boneless chicken breast in salsa and a baked potato (D had the leftover chicken in his bucket). I wanted to fix meatballs in spaghetti sauce last night but the smallest bag of meatballs had 64 of them. No way the two of us could have eaten that and the fridge is just a small one with an even smaller freezer, so I had to ditch that idea.
Tomorrow night I am thinking of black beans and shrimp.
It is fun coming up with meals that I can fix in the toaster oven. I could just get frozen dinners but where is the fun and adventure in that? Besides, there is way too many calories, salt, fat, etc in them.
This is fun. Hey, I need something to fill my days while I am here at the hotel.
Speaking of which, it is time to take Betsie out for her afternoon walk and then we will come in and have lunch.

edited to add:The NeoCounter has been replaced by a BlogPatrol counter suggested to me by Silfert. thanks.

Back again.

Can you believe it? We just got home from VA around 5:30 Friday evening, got a call around 6 that we had to be back in VA the next day as D has to work today. Soooo, we slept in our own bed one night and back on the road.

Thankfully they just put all new mattresses in the hotel last Monday and they are nice mattresses. This Super8 is 8 years old but to look at it you would think that it is only a couple of years old. They really keep the place clean. I am very impressed with the place. This little town only has 3 motels in it and this is the best of them. We have been here so much here lately that the ladies at the front desk made a special reservation for D and I and put us in the biggest regular king room. It is probably about 6 foot longer than the normal room, which may not sound like much, but when you only have one room to live in for two weeks it means a lot. I makes for more room for me and Betsie to move around in during the day.

The staff here are all very friendly and super nice. They are love Betsie and make a point to pet her whenever we are out walking. I take her walkies 2 to 3 times a day for 30 minutes.

Friday when we were going home we had to stop and get gas and can you believe these prices:

We thought we would never see gas below $3 again. This was down here in VA, at home in OH it is $3.13 a gallon. I didn't have my camera with me when I saw the prices in Ohio.

When I was packing clothes to come back down here I took a break to go out to lunch with D and our kids. I hadn't seen them in a week and I won't get to see them again for 2 weeks, so it was a break that I was very glad to take. When I got home I found this:

I had left my lingerie drawer open and Coley climbed in it. He even stayed there while I went down and got the camera and came back to take a picture. He is a very intellegent cat, he is sleeping on my hand knit socks. LOL. Love the little baby.

I'll leave you with a picture I took of Katie, my very special baby.

??????

I am back down here in VA. Have been here since Sunday and hopefully we will be going home tomorrow. Then we turn around and come back down again Sunday to spend another week. This job is supposed to be all tied up by the end of the year, but we all know that construction jobs never end on time. Since we are doing the surveying we probably won't be here until the work is all done. Maybe we will get all the layout done by then though, if they quit making changes and we can just do the layout work once instead of over and over.

I am missing my Katie and my cats, especially Coley who I *belong* to. I'll spend as much time with them this weekend as I can. I would bring Katie with me but she is old now and I am not sure she would take the change in her schedule very well. She is a good traveler but not to be gone for a whole week.

There is always room for improvement....

I got this from Tama's blog. You Are 60% Interesting

You are a fairly interesting person. Many people find you to be intriguing. You have a dynamic, adventurous life... a life that others envy. You are genuinely interested in and open to the world. You love making new friends, and you're always up for an unusual experience. Like everyone else, you can get a bit boring from time to time. That's normal. But unlike everyone else, you can pull yourself out of a rut. You don't stay boring for long.

Are You Boring or Interesting?

Sometimes we think we are the be all, end all and the center of the universe. I never thought that so this was a surprise to me. I am 60% interesting. I would have thought only about 5 or 10%. Nice surprise.

Last night Dale and I took the employees down here in VA and the wife and kids out to dinner. This is a small town so there is not really that many options. We went to a nice little pizza place. Anna had a child's pizza of which she ate all but the small sliver that hit the floor, well done Anna (she is my little playmate friend). Mitchell who will be 1 the end of Nov had already eaten so he just chewed on a dill pickle. He was so cute. The first pickle he chewed on must not have been too dill but when he dropped it and I gave him another pickle it must have really been sour, he made the cutest sour face. I laughed until I cried. I had thought to take my camera with us but went out the door without it, oh well.

I had a real brainstorm yesterday while sitting here in the room trying to decide what I was going to do. In 1995 I purchased a Melco industrial embroidery machine. For the next 10 years I had an embroidery business that I ran from my home. Three years ago Dale needed me to come do the books for the business and run the office so I quit the embroidery business and started full time for him. I am not sorry that I made that change, my business was really beginning to slow down and with this economy I doubt that I would still have it anyway. I did keep all my equipment since it was paid off and not really worth what I felt it was, it was worth more to me to keep it than to sell it. I still use it for gifts and to make shirts, jackets, hats, etc for the business. Sooooo, I got to thinking that if I was going to be stuck down here in a hotel room if I had a small machine I could embroider the shirts that I have been trying to get done for better than a year. I went online last evening and was looking at Bernina and Pfaff machines.

When we go home this weekend we will be going through Charleston, WV and there is a shop there that has Bernina. We will stop in and see what they have if it is a decent time when we go through Charleston.

Time to go take BetsieBoo for the first walk of the day. I will probably be back again later.

Pay It Forward

Almost a year ago I answered a Pay It Forward comment on Anni's blog. I kept meaning to post it here but I was very sketchy about posting then. Well, I am doing it now. The first 3 people (I am really optimistic here, LOL) will get a handmade gift from me. I am not sure just what it will be but it will be handmade. So if you want a nice surprise in the mail, leave a comment. (Edited to add: Since I am so long in doing this anyone who answers is not going to have to pay it on. If you wish, it stops here.)

Yesterday afternoon my little playmate came over and we played on the Nintendo and had a really nice afternoon. She told me stories again, had a snack and cried when she had to go back to her room. That made me feel good that she wanted to stay with me but bad because I made her cry by taking her back. I really had to since I needed to take BetsieBoo for her afternoon walk.
Right after she got here she made me cover my boo-boo with a band aid as she didn't want to see it.
Today I am leaving the band aid off as much as possible since the sticky stuff has made a sore spot on my hand. I really don't need any other trauma on it. :)

Having Betsie here with me is good for my weight loss efforts. We go out 3 times a day and walk for 30 minutes. I am sure it is 30 minutes each time since I check my watch. Sometimes after only 5 minutes it seems like it should be time to come in but I hang in there for the full 30 minutes.

I am knitting on my Tailored With a Twist sweater. The pattern was in March 200 Creative Knitting magazine. This is the sweater that I made out of wool/alpaca/silk yarn, wore it for about a year, washed it and it smelled like wet sheep, washed it again and forgot to set the washer on delicate and felted the danged thing. I loved that sweater so much I decided to redo it in the yarn it called for. I am not loving it as much. I just hope to finish it. The yarn called for is Cotton Fleece from Brown Sheep. That yarn is 80% cotton and 20% merino wool. It is nice yarn, just not what I had before.
As soon as I get home I am going to my LYS and get my baby alpaca wound in large balls and I will start that sweater. I am really wanting to do that one. I found a pattern, but it is at home and I can't remember what it is or where I got it. I'll post that later.

It is time for a nap as I didn't sleep well last night, had a tummy ache and a bathroom problem. Oh, well.

Everyone have a good one.

Back in Virginia again.

We are back in Virginia again and this time Betsie is with us. She is not too happy as "Daddy" is gone from her all day and "Mom" just doesn't cut it since she is "Daddy's" dog. She really perks up when he comes in.

I have a new hand boo-boo to show. This one is a doozy. I was being a dummy and was trying to cut a zip tie off with a large kitchen knife and I cut my thumb. Aren't my stitches cute? I need my head examined for doing such a stupid thing. I just hope that this is the last hand boo-boo I show you guys.

I do have a better pic to show. I finished my sockamania socks this morning. They are out of Tofutsies, done ML toe up. Love that ML. When I finish one sock the other is also done.

One of our employees that is also down here in VA has his wife and two kids with him. Their little girl is a real sweetheart and for some reason really likes me, of course I adore her also. She came over to my room and spent the afternoon with me yesterday. I thought that if she were over here then maybe Mom could get their little boy down for a nap. We had a grand time. We watched cartoons, drew with colored pencils, I made her a bracelet out of some beads I had and she told me lots of stories (she is 3). She is coming back later this afternoon so that she can play a game on my Nintendo DS. I bought a childs game at Kohl's one day so we will play that one. She helps my day to pass more quickly and also it helps her mom with the little one. They have been down here about a week and a half now and will be here until Sat or Sun. I really am not sure how she does it with two little ones in just a hotel room. I would have been nuts long before now. LOL

It is chilly out there, folks!

I thought it would still be hot/warm down here in Virginia, but it is amazingly cool. I had to break out the long pants this morning. I hate having to start wearing long pants, I love my capris even though I am a shorty.

Sitting here in my hotel room I made a few pretties this morning. I had to go to the Wally-M to get some wire last night. I had brought the beads with me but the wire I brought was too heavy and it also was necklace memory wire so I could not do them yesterday.

One of these days I will learn how to take good photos. I just keep trying but somehow I just do not have the knack just yet. I will keep on keeping on.

My hand is also healing nicely. The bruisin is beginning to fade away. (Isn't the hotel room decor lovely behind my hand? LOL)

I have now bruised both of my hands so I can quit with the bruising. Don't you agree?

Boy oh boy, I need to cut those claws. When I knit my pinky finger on my right hand digs into my palm. I have to keep adjusting the way I hold my needles so that I don't make myself have a real boo-boo. It will have to wait until I get home, no nail file with me, just clippers.

Since my foot is not healing as quickly as the doctor would like it to be he put me on mega calcium tablets and I think that they are making my nails grow even faster than they usually do.

I have some finished socks to show you all.





This pair (below) is my favorite. They are made out of Tofutsies, my all time favorite sock yarn. I do so love that yarn. I checked in my stash and I have 9 balls of it, which is a lot since my entire sock stash is only about 20 pairs worth.





I have a skein of possum yarn that I need to wind and knit up. It maybe my new fave but I will only have one pair of it as it cost pretty dearly (over $35). It was a impulse buy. I just could not imagine possum so I had to get it. LOL. It does feel really soft though. I will probably make my next pair of socks out of it. Unfortunately I have no picture of it.



That is about all for now. 'Everyone have a nice day.

Me again

A few evening ago I was sitting on the sofa knitting. Cole was laying beside me and as is my usual habit I reached over to stroke him. Well, he must have been in coma Lala Land as he jumped like I had shot him and jumped up on the back of the sofa. When he jumped he pushed off from my hand. WOW, it hurt like the dickens and began to bleed a bit. Then within about 10 SECONDS my hand had swollen a bump about an inch high! It really shocked me. I immediately put an icepack on it and kept one one (off and on) for the rest of the night and the following day. Now a few days later here is my hand. All I can say is that I bruise easily. It will go away soon.
At least I am still able to knit. The first day it hurt to try to knit, but I persevered and managed to do it.

It is good that I can knit as I am stuck in the hotle room again. Even if Dale left me the truck I couldn't go anywhere as I am not allowed to drive just yet. Soon, I hope, we will just have to wait and see.

I brought OTN: a pair of socks, a sweater,and a pair of Norwegian mittens. I also brought yarn to make preemie baby caps, an adult cap, and a pair of fingerless gloves. I am well and truly prepared. I also brought some beads to make some stitch markers. And still I am bored. I just don't want to do any of those things. I also don't want to read the books I brought or play with the little pink thing (this is what I call my Nintendo DNS), or balance the 3 checkbooks that I brought along to do. I don't know what I want to do I just know whatever it is I don't have it.

Maybe I will take a nap.

Katie is thirsty

Katie loves to drink from a faucet. Until the last year or so she always got her drink from the sink in the powder room. She loves the running water.

Is it September (almost) already?

I am a baaaadddd blogger. I have great intentions but I just don't seem to come in here and post like I intend to. It has been about a month and a half since I last updated. So here goes.

The Foot:

It is coming along nicely. I am off of the crutches, thank goodness and am back into my surgical shoe and limping around nicely.

I managed to fall off of my crutches 3 times, fall over in the laundry room once while balancing on one foot and turned the walked over once. I was really on a roll, or should I say a fall? Luckily I did not break anything else when I fell.

My animals:

I have a new critter. Two weeks ago I purchased a Booda Cat Litter Box at a pet store in Chillicothe. They had had to order it for me as they no longer carry them in the store on a regular basis. We had been in Columbus all day and it was late when we got home so we did not unpack the van. As a matter of fact, we did not do so until Sunday when we were getting ready to go to a family reunion.

When D got the litter box out of the van he dropped it and it fell apart. That is when he realized that there was a small critter in the box. (I found out about a week later that it is a Robo Hamster.) When I saw it I told D that we would take it back to the pet store when we went to Chillicothe the next time. Wellll, in the meantime we put him down in a cat litter bucket with a cup of water and a bit of cat food, I had nothing else to feed him. Since there was not critter litter in there, he soon became a really stinky mess and I decided that there was no way I could take him back so I decided to just keep him. D put some hay in the bucket along with a flat rock and wedged the water cup down into the hay. This really helped him out a lot and after a day or so he didn't look so bad. When I finally got back to Chillicothe to get a cage and other stuff for him he didn't look half bad. I told the clerk there what had happened and she said that probably some kid had put him in the litter box. I said that I was going to bring him back and she said no, never mind. I asked her what they cost and she told me $25.95!!! Can you believe that for a little hamster?!

Anyway, D's dog has taken a liking to Crit and will sit for long periods of time and just watch him. She also takes great exception to any of my cats trying to come and look at him. I may have to take him out to my office to keep the cats safe from Betsie. The cats cannot get to him but Betsie just does not care. She does not want them near.

A few pics of Crit, Betsie, and Cole.

Katie has an infection/fungus/? on her foot and I have to put a glove on it if she goes out to potty when the grass is wet. We went to Wal-M Friday evening trying to find some child's shoes that we could use for her foot. We found a pair of knock off Croc type shoes but her foot would not fit into them. D tried a rubber glove that he uses for washing the vehicles but it would not stay on. Finally I tried a latex cleaning glove and it worked. When I put it on her she pouts and acts all mistreated. She is so funny. She is 9 years old now and that is old for a St Bernard. I have talked with people who have had St's live for 12 to 14 years. I can only hope. When I took her to the vet because she was limping I ended up with a $253+ vet bill. She is worth every penny of it. Even D did not complain. I guess St's aren't that popular because they are a high maintenance dog. They don't eat alot but they do have health issues and when they need meds it is mega doses. I love her, what more do I need to say.

The owls:

The owls I told about in the last post seemed to have moved on. Then the other night D and I saw one of them. Again, it was dusky and we could not get a picture of it. I still have hopes of getting a picture. I am fascinated with them.

Guess that is it for now. I have pictures of some finished socks, maybe I will be back tomorrow to post pictures of those.

Happy Labor Day to everyone who celebrates it

Foot Update

My foot is VERY sore and they can't seem to find a pain pill to help me. Hubs is on his way to the pharmacy to get me some new "drugs" to see if they will help.
All went really well with the surgery and I went back to the doctor this morning and he is pleased with the foot. I am very unstable on the crutches and have fallen onto it a few times but I have done no damage. He wants me to use a walker some as I am not doing well with the crutches.
Last evening I had gone out on the front porch to watch "our" owls. (We haved two or three owls out in our trees and they fly down into our front yard. It is a novelty to us even though we are out in the country. I want pictures of them.) I went on down to the sidewalk so I could see, which I couldn't, it was to dusky. When I was coming back up the steps to come back inside I somehow just went down, fast and hard. I went face first so I managed to keep my injured foot up and out of the way and I kept telling hubs and my MIL that I had not hit my foot. I just tore all the skin off of my left knee and skinned and scraped my right arm and hand, but I will survive.
My doctor sent me back to therapy for new crutches as he said the ones that I had were too long/high for me. They tried to get me some others but I am just a weird height and it was not possible. I am 5'1" and if they set the crutches to 5'1" they are too short and 5'2" they are too high. I guess I will just have to deal with it, or use the walker.
Enough whining. I am going back to my couch to lie down again. Remember me in your prayers.

My Foot

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 I have my bunion taken care of. Before I went to the doctor about it I thought that a bunion was just a calcium bump on your big toe bones. I know better now. It is actually a malformation of the bone and is hereditary. My Granny and my Mom both had/have bunions and I got "lucky" enough to inherit them.

These are my Celtic Cable Heel socks from Sockamania. You can't really see the cables in this photo. (I really need to work on my picture taking ability, or lack thereof)

These are made of YarnSmith's Silk Soc. They are 70% nylon and 3% silk. They feel just heavenly. They were knit ML toe up.

It is after 11 pm and my "babies" meatloaf breakfast just finished baking so I had better toddle off to bed and get a bit of sleep before I have to rise and shine in the morning.

I'll check back in in a day or two.

Everyone have a good one.

Knitters Connection

I am finally going to post pictures of the yarn stash adder-toer that I got at Knitters Connection and a FO or two.
The Knitters Connection (KC)was a few weeks ago but I just have not taken the time to post about it. I went on Friday to the Market. I was unable to go to any classes, but next year I am going to do the "Whole Kit & Caboodle".

This was the yarn that I bought at the market. Of course I had to get some more Tofutsies. I just love that yarn. Yes, it is splitty to knit with but it feels so good going through my fingers and it is just wonderful on my feet. It also seems to be holding up just great.The burgundyie yarn in front is a handpainted called Yummy (I have not details with me as I am in a hotel room in VA and the yarn is back at home. All I have is the pictures. )

The browns in the back left corner is Austerman, the one with Aloe in it. I have never knit with this but I am looking forward to using it.

The one in the middle is Saucony. It is a cotton/nylon blend. It feels greats but again I have never used to so I am looking forward it using it.

The burgundy/black/white/gray in the other corner I can't remember what it is but it is a sock yarn and is wool.

I'll give details on all of these when I knit them up and have FOs.

This is my wonderful find. It is 100% Baby Alpaca. I plan to make a sumptuious cardigan out of it. Just as soon as I find the pattern that yells at me, "I am the one!!"

I bought 24 ounces of this and really hope that that is enough to make a cadigan. It is not a worsted but is heavier than a sport so there is going to be a lot of swatching going on. It is just so gloriously soft and it will be so warm this winter. I want to make a cardigan because I can wear that more than a pullover. I am always so cold in the winter that I wear a lot of cardigans. Anyone have an absolutely fabulous pattern that I could try?

Now to the yarn I got in my KC membership bags. Well, one bag was mine and the other I got for my hubby so that he could give it to me. He goes to KC with me so I decided to get him a membership also since there is way more yarn in the bags than the $10 it costs. This year, one of the skeins in the bag was $15.95!! I know because I bought one at the Market.

This bag was deemed to be "hubby's" bag as it had more manly colors in it. LOL

Notice that there is a skein of Saucon in this bag? Yay!

The brown variagated skein in the middle is Claudia Hand Painted Yarn. It is a nice yarn to make socks out of. You will see a pinks in my bag that has already been used to make socks. Picture later.

At this point I am not sure what I will use all of them for, but I will find something. They are too nice to let languish in the yarn stash. It may take me a year or more, but they are all nice yarns so I will find them a knitted home.

This is MY bag. It was really great. There were 2 skeins of sock yarn!! That is a treat because with sock yarn if you have 100 grams you are there. The others you have to look for a small pattern to use them.

There is another skein of Saucon in the green and the black and brown is Lang Jawoll.

The small pink skein is Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. I took it and a VERY SMALL skein that I got last year at KC and made a pair of short socks.

The offwhite is an alpaca blend but I just forgot the brand. I think it may be Berrocco, not sure. I should have done this post at home where I could have looked at the yarns and had all the info I needed. Oh, well.

These are the socks made out of the Claudia from this year and last year. The toe/heel was made from a mini skein that I got last year that is called BabyGirl and the foot/leg is called Strawberry Latte. When I finished them I had about 18" of Strawberry Latte and 4 yds of Baby Girl left. THAT is why they are so short, but that is ok. I like them for wearing with my tennis shoes for walking or bike riding.

They are Sockamania Rainforest pattern designed by Anni. It was a fun and fast knit. I started knitting these on June 19 and finished them on June 24. I cannot believe that I made a pair of socks in that short of a time. I usually do good to finish up a pair in a month, let alone 5 DAYS!!!! I still can hardly believe it.

I actually managed to finish 2 compete pair of socks and reknit the leg on another pair last month. Maybe I am finally beginning to pick up some speed knitting Continental. I have only been knitting Con. for about a year now, so I knew it would slow me down.

These socks are out of the Tofutsies that I bought at KC. I did them in Tidal Wave pattern. It took me about a week to do these. I just don't know what has gotten into me. I am just a whiz at the needles all of a sudden. Think any of it could be because hubby has been traveling for work and I go with him and because he has the truck with him and we are out in the back of beyond I spend the day in the hotel room. (As a matter of fact the room that we were in last week is a whole post in itself. I'll try to do that one later today.)

I'll finish this rather long (for me) and picturey post with a mug shot of my special kitty, Cole.

He is so much MY cat and I am HIS mommy. He is so jealous of the other cats getting near me and even somewhat jealous of Katie . He is a rotten little sweetheart and a beauty to boot.

Llamas

When I downloaded pics to the computer I discovered that I had taken one picture of the Llama day. It is my two girls with the llamas.

The one on the right is my daughter and the one on the left is my daughter-in-law (but she calls me Mother and my hubs Daddio because both of her parents are dead so she is our daughter also :) )

Mama Cat

Does this pose look familiar? This is Erica, Munch's Mama. Guess I know where he gets that stretch from.
It seems that all of my cats and hubby's dog, also, like Kate's bed. She seldom can get on it of an evening because another is on it. Kate is a gentle giant so she doesn't mind.

Where are the pictures?

I went to Knitters Connection 2 weeks ago. I took pictures of the yarn that I had bought and also the yarn I got in my members bag. So where are the pictures? They are still on the camera. I just need to go get the cable out of the laptop bag and download them. I'll try to do that this evening.


My hubby and I joined Weight Watchers about a month ago. He has lost 20.2 pounds and I have lost 8.2 pounds. Not bad. At least we are doing this together which makes it way easier for me. I don't have to prepare 2 meals and since he also wanted to do this, he has to help me cook!! :)

(Hmmm, where did my smileys go? I'll have to look into that.)


Tomorrow hubby and I are taking a working trip down to VA to look at a job he took there. I enjoy these little trips. It gets him away from the office and I get to go too. YAY!!! I try to do some work while gone, but mostly I knit.

Back to work for now. Maybe more later this evening.


I'll leave you with a picture of Munch doing his favorite thing -- stretching out sleeping on Katie's bed.
He is my little sweety. He always wants lovings from Mom. I have had him since he was born and still have 1 of his brothers and their Mama.

I have been tagged...

The other day Marit tagged me for an alphabet game. Here goes:
A - alpaca yarn
B - bamboo yarn
C - cashmere yarn
D - delicious yarn
E - eyelets
F - front
G - gauge
H- heel
I - inset
J - jump ring
K - Katie
L - lace yarn
M - merino yarn
N - newbie
O - Opal yarn
P - purl stitch
Q - quaint
R - right side
S - slip stitch
T - Tofutsie yarn
U - undercoat
V - Volkswagon
W - wrong side
X - x-ray
Y - yarn over
Z - zigzag

There is my list. Hope I did as I was meant to. I kept going back from Marit's blog trying to find some instructions. Everyone did it in Norwegian!!! and I do not speak Norwegian. LOL

I tag Anni, Jane, and Silfert IF you ladies want to play along.

Llamas, llamas everywhere

I went to a Llama show with my kids last weekend because my girls were supposed to show some of them. Neither one of them had ever done this before or had even been around llamas that much so I thought that this was going to be a hoot.
When we got there the girls went to find the owner of the llamas that they are planning to purchase. The man took us out to the hauler and got 3 llamas out. He handed the leads to 2 of them to the girls and I ended up with the third. Hmmm, now how did this happen? It really was not much different that walking my 165 pound Saint Bernard, just the llama was a whole lot taller, like taller than me. Also, she kept trying to eat my hat. I had on a lace covered straw hat to keep the sun off of my head and it looked good enough to eat to her. When I would turn and tell her no, she would be looking of into the distance like she didn't even know I was there, let alone that she was trying to eat my hat.
It was interesting to watch the young kids show their llamas. They did some obstacle course things and some pack llama things. It was fun to watch but the barn was getting really hot and stuffy as it had come a downpour 2 or 3 times since we had gotten there and then the sun came out and it was steamy.
Around 11:30 my son told me that they were going to go get something to eat. I wasn't hungry so I told them I would just wait on them and please bring me back a bottle of water. They had just announced that the food booth was open so I just assumed that that was where my kids were going. I waited about 30 minutes and they had not come back so I decided to walk on over to the food booth just to move around and get off of the metal bleachers. Well, I could not find my kids. So I walked on over to where the llamas were and no kids. I wasn't too concerned until I went outside and the truck was gone. That really threw me for a loop! I got my trusty cell phone out and called my son. When he said hello I almosted yelled at him, "Where are you?!" He calmly said we told you we were going to get something to eat to which I replied, "I thought you were going to eat here." He just laughed at me. That was a really panicky feeling that here I was about 80 miles from home and no one was there to take me home. I knew absolutely NO ONE else there at the show! Well, they came back but just like kids there was no bottle of water for Mom.
When my hubby showed up around 1:30 I was more than ready to go home as it was hot and muggy and I had no comfy chair to sit on. Even if I had not wanted to go home hubby would have made me do so as I don't do heat very well and since I am still somewhat recovering he was not going to let me stay there in the heat. He had come straight from obedience training with his new dog so he could not stay either. It was too hot to leave Betsy in the truck and her lead was a web leash so if we had even wanted to just tie her to the truck we could not have as she would have chewed it in two to go find D. So home we went without getting to see the girls show.
Even though I left early I did not miss anything. They had so many more entries this year than last that the girls did not show. They were supposed to show around noon and by 3:30 they still had not and no one was sure when they would. They apologized to the owner but explained that they could not stay any longer. She understood and thanked them for trying.
It was a long day.

A couple of pair of socks.

Well, I did it again. I managed to post just the title of the post and not put anything there. I am not sure how I do it but I do. LOL, at least I can fix it.

I have finished two pair of socks but have not posted them.

The first is April Sockamania. I am really not a fan of Intarsia as I just cannot get my tension right so the socks end up being tight over the heel. At least this time I can get the socks on so I didn't have to give them away. These were made out of KP Palette. I don't recall the colors used or the size needle used. I did them top down using ML.

The next pair is May Sockamania. They were done in Patrons Kroy Sock yarn, using KP Harmony size 1 (foot) & 2 ( leg because I knit cables tight). I did them toe up and used a sewn cast off.

I finally managed to finish a pair of socks in the month that they were supposed to be.

My hubby and I joined Weight Watchers a week ago Monday. So far we are really enjoying it. There are so many things that are good to eat and we can still eat them. We have also been having fun in the kitchen coming up with new recipes.

One evening last week we were fixing pasta, shrimp, and black beans. Since the pasta was without sauce my hubby said to just put his beans on top of the pasta. I kind of cringed at the idea at first but then thought that there was not sauce so why not try it. It was delicious! We sauteed the shrimp with a bit of butter and some Caribbean Jerk seasoning. We liked it so well that we had it again this evening.

Also we were told at meeting to make brownies with black beans instead of the milk, egg, and oil. Believe it or not, they tasted just like regular brownies! Even my finicky daughter did not know that they were different.

As we come up with new dishes I will share them.

Have a nice evening.

Funny, but no pictures.

Last evening my girls and my son were regaling me with stories of what I did in the hospital when I got to my room after surgery. I really think that they were exaggerating. LOL

The kids told me that as soon as I got to my room I had to have them put MY socks on me and put MY pillowcase on my pillow. (I sleep on a satin pillow case and I took one to the hospital with me.)

My DIL said that I kept shushing her. I do remember telling her to shush once or twice, but I don't remember as many times as she said. She said that at one point I even shushed nurses out in the hall. I guess I wanted quiet!

At one point in the afternoon my hubby went to get something to eat. (I don't remember a thing of this.) I had been holding his hand and when I woke and no one was holding my hand I panicked, so I made my son and daughter hold my hands. I was told that I looked at my DIL and told her that she was one of mine now but I was sorry I had no more hands to hold so she could hold my toe. (I told her that she really should feel honored as NO ONE touches my feet. LOL)

I also kept telling my daughter to sit down. For some reason I did not want her standing up. If I thought I saw her standing I would immediately tell her to sit down! She said that the nurses had to work around her as I had to either be holding her hand or she had to be sitting on the foot of my bed.

Everyone had told me that I would not be allowed to go home until I passed gas. I guess that was praying on my mind as I am really not a gassy person but my husband makes up for me. :) I told my DIL that if she stayed around long enough that day she would here me f***. Then I said oh wait maybe you can here me now and I did a raspberry with my tongue. They were cracking up. (My son and DIL have been married for 9 years and she is still waiting to here me. Unusual girl that one is. LOL)

I have talked about my dog Katie on here lots of times. I had taken a little stuffed Boyd's stuffed St. Bernard to the hospital with me. I lost it at one point and had my son looking for "Katie". When he finally realized what I wanted he found it.

They were so glad for their Dad to get back. My son told his Dad that he could hold my hand now as his arm was breaking from the way that I was holding onto him.

I guess I am a cheap drunk when it comes to anesthesia. It doesn't take much to put me out and keep me out. I had my surgery around 8 am on Monday and didn't really wake up until Thursday evening.

My DIL told my son that if she ever needed to have surgery she was not allowing ANY of the family in her room until she woke up completely. LOL. I really made an impression on her! I told her last night that she might not be like I was. It all depends on how she takes to anesthesia.

One thing is for sure I kept the family well entertained while they were there with me.

The day after my surgery when hubby came to see me I was still mostly asleep. He would have to wake me between bites of my lunch. I was still so groggy that I would take a bite and before I could get it chewed up and swallowed I would fall asleep. I don't think I managed to finish a meal while it was hot for several days.
The day we went home I remember leaving the hospital parking lot and then pulling into our drive and it is about a 40 to 45 minute drive home.

So are some of the highlights of my hospital stay.

Everyone have a good day.

The weekend is here.

It is now Friday evening so I guess the weekend has begun. Our weekend is supposed to be rainy and cool. Drat!

Sometime this weekend (maybe) my computer guru is coming out to help us set up an external hard drive over here at the house so we can back up the office files off site. Also he is going to help us set up passwords on our computers out at the office. It seems that someone has been doing some unauthorized using of mine and hubby's puters. I got a virus on mine that totally shut me down. Guru was able to fix things and I didn't lose anything, but it could have been much worse. Someone had gone onto MySpace on my computer. I know it was not me as I have never been on that site, even on my laptop over here at the house. NO ONE should have been on my computer! Especially without asking me first. I have way too much important info and employee info on it for it to be used by just anyone. So we set up passwords to avoid this happening again and being worse.

I just started Anni's lace shawl KAL. I am making it out of a really pretty pale pink silk yarn that I got on ebay last year. I don't know what brand it is or really much about it other than it is silk and feels sooooo nice.

I am worn out so it is off to bed with me. I will try to post a pic of a FO tomorrow, no promises though. :)

No pictures tonight

I was going to take a picture of my April Sockamania socks and post it but when I was all ready I found that the camera is out in the office and I did not want to walk out there to get it. It is also getting dusky so tomorrow I will do it.
Although I enjoyed knitting the socks I don't think I will do anymore colorwork socks. I just can't get the tension down right. My socks always end up being too tight. The first pair was so tight that I gave them away to someone with a smaller foot than mine, and believe me that was not easy to find.

Several months ago I posted pictures of a sweater that I had knit. It was a combination of silk, wool, and alpaca yarn. It was really beautiful and I loved to wear it. A few months ago I got BBQ sauce on the sleeve and had to wash it. It came out and the sweater was fine. The only problem was that is smelled like wet animal. So I decided to wash it again the other day as the odor would not just air out of it. Sooooo I washed it and it felted!!!! I was so upset! I guess I will have to remake the sweater. It really was my fave and I will miss it so I will just have to redo it.
Evidently when I washed it the first time I washed it on hand wash and this last time I did not. I even put it in a lingerie bag for all the good that did. I will probably put it away in my hopechest as a reminder to not do that again. Now I have to hunt out the pattern and figure how much yarn again and get started so I will have it by fall. DANG!!!

Those "dratted socks" - Done

Finally finished my March Sockamania socks. I don't really like doing cables on socks and add to that the fact that I started these right before I went into the hospital for surgery and did not feel like doing the cables when I came home but would not start a new pair until these were finished I felt as though I would never finish these. They are finished and on my feet as I write this.

They are made out of Trekking XXL, color 66, done on KP Harmony size 1 (2.5 MM), done toe up. I did 2 full repeats and ended with the first 6 rows of the pattern since I had done them upside down.

I will probably cast on the April sockamania socks and maybe get them done by the end of the month since I am only working part time now. I also want to get some special mittens done.

Wednesday evening

Let me look through my pictures and see if I have anything else to post. I should be able to find something.

This is a good one. We refer to it in the family as "Mom's Redneck Mailbox."

Sometime New Years Eve night someone took out my mother-in-laws mail box. In the time while she was waiting for a new post to be built she cam up with the solution. It may have looked really strange but it worked. The mailman never missed a day of leaving her mail.

The above beauty is my personal nursemaid. He has let up now, but for the first 4 or 5 days he very seldom left me. He still stays very close to Mom but he will leave me to go outside for a while. He was just a stray that showed up here about 3 years ago andjust claimed me as his own.

We occassionally get a bird in our fireplace. When one gets in there it drives my cats nuts. They try their best to get to it.