Sunday, January 1, 2017

Happy New Year

From our family to you and your families we wish you all a very happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.  May 2017 be a good year for all.

Best wishes,

Sheri, John, Teri, Tej and Eric

Friday, December 30, 2016

A New Spot

The new couches were delivered today . They look very similar to the old couches that left the house yesterday. The new ones have power recliners, so that John will not have to rescue me when I am having a bad body day. I just have to remember that the power is there when I get up. Oh, did I mention that they are perfect for napping too?

Because of the way we set up the couches, I now have a dedicated place to put one of my spinning wheels again. The Lendrum DT is tucked in a corner so that I can leave everything set up. I am trying to decide weather I have room to add the Louet wheel too. I am worried that there might be too much sun in the second spot which could damage the wheel. So I will have to pay attention to the sun that hits the area. 

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Down 2

I really enjoyed having a full house. Having Teri and Tej here was beyond wonderful, but the full house had to end sometime. As working adults Teri and Tej have limited time off.  John, Eric and I are really grateful that they choose to spend a whole week of their precious time off with us. Now it is time to go back to our everyday routine.

I have decided to work off the pound I gained while the kids were here doing more deep cleaning of the house. This is what I call productive exercise. Who knows, someday I might just finish with the house and move on to the garage. Only G'd knows when that will happen, real soon I hope, before it's summer again.

I always like to end on a very bright note. To that end I am getting my knitting mojo back. I even have enough in the finishing bowl to tag and bag some hand knits to night.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

A Full House

I have everyone home for the holidays and aside from the roving cold we are having a great time. I love having a full house. We even got out to see the new Star Wars film Rogue One which was pretty good. We also saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I can't wait for the sequel for this one. Yes I know that there is no sequel that they have announced, but there are just too many story lines that were left open for there not to be one. 

Tonight I finally finished knitting the hat I was working on before my hands went wonky earlier in the year. I also surprised myself by doing all the finishing work in the finishing bowl. I switched from a finishing basket to a finishing bowl, because the bowl holds less. That means that I get things sorted and tagged sooner. 

While everyone is home I took a break from deep cleaning to spend more time with Teri and Tej. I just feel so lucky to have them in my life. 

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Mock Cheese Cake



I love to make this very simple snack as a late night dessert or a decadent breakfast. This has also gone to more than a few potlucks and got the thumbs up from most people. It takes more time to go to Trader Joe's to get the fixings than to make.

Ingredient's
1 box Trader Joe's Honey Graham Crackers, 1 sheet per serving.
1 tube Trader Joe's Blueberry and Vanilla Chèvre or any other flavor that you like. 2 thin slices per serving. 

On a nice plate, place 1 Trader Joe's graham cracker broken in half. Slice 2 thin slices of the chèvre and place 1 slice on each graham cracker half. Your mock cheesecake is now ready to eat. 

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Deep Cleaning

I have found out something surprising to me. If you have been reading this blog, you know that I have been on a multi-year deep cleaning of the house. Every time that I think I have finished purging the house of things that we don't need and take a break for a week or two, I find more stuff to re-purpose, recycle or toss.

The end result is that the house is getting less cluttered and more organized. I have more time to do the things that I want, because I don't spend hours looking for things. A lot of things now have their own places. I know that I am not perfect and have a long way to go. I can promise Teri that there are no unpacked boxes from our 1994 move, unlike my parents that still had boxes sealed from a 1965 move when mom moved out of the house that I grew up in.

So if you do come from a multi generational pack rat family like mine, I can tell you there is hope. Start with a timer set to 5 minutes. Clean for 5 minutes, if you want to do more fine, but remember that you only promised yourself to work for 5 minutes. Also when you are looking for other things, if you find something that you don't need just toss it or put it in a bag for charity. I find that I get rid of a lot of appointment  and expired discount cards this way. Well, I am off to do more purging.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

I Need Help with This

Please call the Governor Ducey's Office at Phoenix: 602.542.4331 or
Tucson: 520.628.6580 or
write to:
Governor Ducey
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Arizona is on the verge of losing respite services for the disabled because of the increase in minimum wage. This was a November ballot issue that passed. 

Please ask our governor to increase funding or come up with a plan so families do not lose all their respite hours. Currently families receive a maximum of 600 hours of respite per year. Not all families receive the maximum number of hours. There is already one possible plan on his desk.

As a parent of a disabled child I can tell you that this is a vital help to all families. 25 years ago when all states cut back or eliminated the institutions for the disabled they promised the families that support services would always be available. If the funding issue is not resolved my greatest fear is that more parents will opt out of keeping their special needs children and adults at home because they will be just too burnt out to provide optimal care for their loved ones.

There are currently not enough beds to meet the states current needs. This care is also more costly than respite care. Agencies currently receive enough funding to cover about $9.00 per hour plus overhead. Without a change in funding for a $10.00 per hour wage, most would lose at least 25 cents per hour of respite care provided. Since most non-profits and for profit agencies cannot afford to lose money, they will eliminate respite services. This works out to a maximum $6,000, plus overhead, per special needs child or adult. Also being realistic it will cost at least $3,000 per month for residential care or at least $36,000 per year per special needs person not at home with family.

So it comes down to how much the governor wants to spend or save. Is it worth saving $30,000 per special needs person by increasing funding to $10.00 per hour plus overhead? Let the governor know how you feel. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

I can Not Unwind

Eric is feeling better and sleeping, he will go to program tomorrow. I on the other hand can not unwind enough to go to sleep. This is following the usual pattern. So I will listen to some music and hope that it will be enough to to go to sleep.

For almost 24 hours my soul focus has been Eric and I am having trouble shifting back to me. In the past 24 hours I have missed a going away party for Scott Z. who got a great promotion. I missed sitting around with friends just sitting, chatting and knitting. I seem to miss so much when Eric is not feeling well. There just seems to be no balance in my life.

I never wanted to be a nurse when I was growing up. Yet I seem to have spent a large part of the last 3 decades doing just that. Life can be so strange sometimes. My kids have taken me places that I would have never thought of going or doing and for that I thank them.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Roller Coaster of Life

Eric's MTBF really sucks now. We are back to 7 days. I don't even think a failure review board could help with this. The only thing that made Eric happy tonight was that he made a full load of laundry for me tonight

This is why I run as many errands as possible when Eric is feeling well. I even got to the grocery store today. My plans for tomorrow went into the the blender tonight. I guess it really does not matter when I give friends their holiday gifts, it's he thought that matters. Right?

To end on the bright side tonight Eric got to deliver a chemo cap this morning to a friend for her brother and got all the hugs and kisses for it. Yes, he did go to program today and even got the second highest score in bowling.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Just Another Saturday

Under things never to do in December. First I would pick never to try to traverse a Target parking lot at 1 pm on a Saturday. There were loads of people. Almost no parking spaces so people parked where ever they could find a curb even in the fire lanes. So I had to leave the parking lot to get to the Michaels on the other side of the lot. Even then people were parked in the Peter Piper Pizza parking for Target.

I did manage to make a few more gifts but I was short a few pieces. So I decided not to battle the parking lots again, so the extra pieces I needed will be delivered. I love on line shopping. I also found some time to reorganize some things. On the knitting front, I am almost done with the second of 3 chemo caps.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Crafting

Today I finished up the last of my holiday gifts. I have made about 200 pieces this week. Now the next project will be to repair about a dozen of Eric's bibs and make 2 more hand knit chemo caps for a friends brother. He loves the first one that I made.

I have a lot lot more energy now that my hand feels better. I also get about 10 hours back each week. That gives me more time to do everything.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Eric Was Sick Again

Eric got sick Monday morning on the way to his day program. This has meant 2 to 3 loads of laundry a day of just Eric's clothes and bedding. That laundry does not include John's and my clothes either.  A lot of very long days taking care of him, which has lead to a lot of anxiety on my part. I should be use to this by now.

Eric is finely feeling better and is back on formula. He may even go back to his program today.  I have gotten so tired and stressed this time, that my skin actually hurts. Worse yet for me is that it makes it very hard to catch up on sleep. So in the wee hours of Thursday morning here I sit trying to convince my body that the stress is gone and I should be sleeping. It is not working out very well.

Well I am going to try to go and get some sleep. 6 am comes very fast around here.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Pop Ups

Today I went to my first pop up market. I went to check it out to see if it would be a good venue for my high end creations. The answer is that my high end creations were a perfect fit in style and quality. The bad news is that the I don't have the right artistic pedigree that the hipsters are looking for.

The hipsters seem to value where the artist went to school, more than anything else. I just don't understand how a high debtload makes a person a better artist. I did not go to the right art school, so I guess that I don't have what it takes for a pop up market.

So so at this point I will consider looking for a local gallery that would be a good fit for my weaving and high end pieces. Suggestion are welcome because I don't know this area well.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Something New


Tonight I tried the convection mode on the oven. Yes, I know that I have had the new stove for over a year. I was making corn bread for dinner and then thought why not try it. The reusults were wonderful. Perfectly browned and the texture was superb. I think I will use it again.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Busy

It was a very busy day. It had some very exciting news too. The official physical therapy will end this week and I will continue to work on getting my hand more functional every day at home. This will add about 6 usable hours back to my week. I also got the OK to move to size 7 knitting needles and started a chemo for a friends brother. It will take me a little longer to knit than I am use to, but I am knitting again.

Eric had a bit of a rough night, but I am hoping the 1 1/2 hours spent tonight will make a positive spot in my day tomorrow. Well I said this morning that I wanted to be asleep by 10 pm and I am running a little late. So everyone have a very happy and healthy week.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Things That I Am Grateful For

In no particular order here are some of the things that I am grateful for.

1. My Family
2. My friends
3. Team Eric
4. Being ambidextrous, it comes in handy when one hand won't work right. Yes, I am sometimes that annoying person who changes hands in the middle of a meal. It is taking a whole lot longer for my hand to heal than I thought it would.
5. Being 4 inches slimmer since I gave up all high fructose corn syrup and aspertame. The inches come off more slowly than they went on. Bah humbug.

My challenge to you you is to find at least 5 things that you are grateful for and share with everyone.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Dilemmas

I woke up early with a headache. So I made a cuppa chai and tried to relax as I sipped it. Just as the headache was beginning to fade Eric woke up needing a complete change out and breathing treatment. After settling Eric back to sleep, I then realized that it was 3 am.

This being Black Friday in the United States, where the stores have historically turned the books from red to black. There are always sales. Most start really early. I was awake so why not go shopping and get some great deals.

Then I thought about what I needed. The answer was nothing. What was left on my holiday shopping list. The answer was nothing. What did I want that was on sale? The answer was nothing. So after an hour of deliberation I was finally sleepy.

Later in the day I was going to go shopping for yarn for a project, but decided to go stash diving instead. I found enough cotton yarn to make 2 to 3 chemo caps for a friends brother. Now I just need my hands to be less stiff so that I can knit them.

I then found time for a walk and some weaving. I took my loom outside and enjoyed the unusually warm late November day.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Candied Yams

For that quick last minute new family tradition. One of our favorite holiday dishes.

Candied Yams

1 large can of yams in light syrup - drained
1 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice - drained (the cook gets to drink the pineapple juice)
1 bag of marshmallows
1/2 cup of margarine
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 greased casserole dish with a lid or foil pan with extra foil to cover.

Put the yams, crushed pineapple, 1/2 a bag of the marshmallows and margarine in your large mixing bowl. I use my Kitchen-Aide K5 (TM) with the paddle. Mix until slightly lumpy. Pour into the greased casserole dish or foil pan. Cover with the remaining marshmallows.

Since I always have used a covered Corning ware (TM) glass casserole I always cook mine at 325f for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If using a foil pan cooking time may be less and you will need to uncover it for the last 10 to 15 minutes for a golden crust of marshmallow's.

This dish may be doubled. If doubling only use 1-20 ounce can of pineapple and one bag of marshmallows. If tripling add another 20 ounce can of pineapple and an extra bag of marshmallows. If quadrupling only use 2 -20 ounce cans of crushed pineapple and 2 bags of marshmallows.

*Updated to reflect the addition of Cinnamon and Brown Sugar on 11/24/2016.  Teri figured out that I forgot the last 2 ingredients. Thank you Teri.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Weaving

I finally got the loom warped today, it has been on my to do list since the summer. This is got to be a sign that I am finally ready to weave again. I might even have more than a few minutes here or there, or just maybe I stopped procrastinating.

Here is what I have done so far.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Another Milestone

Today we reached another milestone with Eric, he turned 27 today. Eric has taken us on quite a roller coaster ride since he was born. He has taken the entire family on the road less traveled and I have very few regrets. We have gone places we would have never gone. We have meet loads of incredible people along the way, some who thought that we were an extraordinary family for living and exploring as a family. In my very humble opinion they could have done the same thing as it surprisingly requires no experience to become a parent.

Eric has all that he needs in life. If however you would like to honor Eric on his special day please consider giving a donation to your local food bank or pantry, because Eric has always been a great fan of food. Perhaps collect tabs for your local Ronald McDonald house, one of Eric's favorite activities is collecting tabs and bring them to the Tucson House.  The last place that would make a huge difference in Eric's life is a donation to the Tucson JCC , go to the pull down menu select the "Taglit Program". As many of you know this is where Eric likes to spend time with his friends.

I do not know where our life with Eric is going, but the journey continues.


Tuesday, November 15, 2016

What do I do when Physical Therapy is canceled? Clean house of course. I have just about finished unpacking from our Trip to Prescott, Arizona. I have also just about finished putting away the things for the fundraiser for Eric's day program. I also spent part of the day sorting an estate donation to the knitting guild. Thursday would be an excellent day to attend if you are in desperate need of massive amounts of yarn on cones.

When will I know if this has made a difference in our lives? Right now I want to say in  about a decade, but it will probably be on Thursday when I over fill the Accord with boxes of yarn,books and magazines to take to guild. So if you know any machine knitters or weavers this will be their chance to stock up at a great price and make my husband extremely happy by giving him back his workshop.

I did not forget Eric's new washer either. I have the second load ready to go into the dryer, but I must get to the shower and changed before I pick him up or put the laundry in the dryer or the dust will surely make his breathing worse than Eric normal.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Not Blue

I have officially ran out of the powder blue envelopes that we bought for Teri's Bat Mitzvah over a decade ago. So I guess it is time to start going through the birthday party invitation envelopes.  So it might be a few more years before I run out of fun envelopes. It might be a while before we move on to plain white ones.

I do believe that we are using less envelopes because of the advent of e-mail. It is so quick and easy to use. Which would also explain why the postal systems worldwide are having so much trouble financially . So less snail mail less envelopes and stamps.

I wonder if these are the transitions that are freaking people out. Causing people to retreat to the past. I personally like change and learning new things. I think it keeps my mind young and active. So lets see where this change takes us.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Weaving While Driving

To answer the obvious question, no I was not drinking and driving, rather John was driving while I was weaving on my on my Purl and Loop loom. I even figured out how to get the mudd rug off the loom without the weaving unraveling. This is hard enough to do at the kitchen table let alone while driving at 65 miles per hour on the freeway. It was very simple, I just cut the mudd rug like I always do,but instead of taking the weaving off the loom, I just flipped the Ioom right back over and started tying the ends.

Its funny too, I had a heck of a time spinning this yarn. I hated the finished yarn. It was so awful that I would not even consider selling the skein. Yet it turned into this wonderfully soft and pretty mudd rug.

Sorry for the very very fuzzy picture. It's hard to take a good picture while driving down the freeway at 65 mph.


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

A Little Progress

Today for the first time since my hand surgery I was able to make a few pairs of earrings.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Different Cleaning

I spent over an hour tonight trying to get rid of junk email. It has been a while since I have done this. They make it very painful sometimes. Some require 2 or 3 different screens and then say it could take up to 4 weeks to get rid of it. Just to annoy them I will send an un-subscribe with each email until they stop. Hopefully it will mean less emails in my in box. I know it is cheaper for the companies to spam my email box, bit I would rather that they fill my snail mail box and keep the USPS working.

A Busy Day

Today besides a doctor's appointment and a physical therapy visit,  I started organizing my handmade items for the November 10th fundraiser at the Tucson JCC For Eric's day program. At best I have 3 tubs of items with very few items left in the pipeline to finish. Well maybe John's dreams will come true and I will come home with 4 empty tubs.

We we also had less than 10 trick or treater's tonight. I blame it on being a school night. I bought as much candy as I did last year but had so few kids and we have so much leftover candy. John and I did not even touch the candy this year.  Yeah for us. Our leftover candy will be sent to Operation Gratitude so that they can include candy in the holiday care packages for our troops. 

The neighbor who picked up our unwanted Halloween decorations yesterday, thanked me for them tonight. They are in her front yard and her kids love the "new" decorations. I will have to drive around and see where they landed. This is recycling at its best. 

I just need to wait 1 1/2 hours so I can take some more Excedrin for my hand. I have noticed that about 10 to 12 hours after physical therapy my hand just starts to throb. So I guess that I will find a quiet activity to do and try not to wake the guys up. 

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Slow Progress

This weekend while putting up the Halloween decorations we decided to clean out the Halloween storage box. Some was trashed, but the best part was that some was passed on to someone else. I got very creative. I made a FREE sign and taped it to the box. Then I left it by the mail box. When we got back from dinner all of it was gone. Somewhere our unwanted decorations will be decorating someone else's house. How cool is that?

I am also cleaning out my closet very slowly. I put a bag by the closet and every time I go to pick out my days outfit, if I find something that I do want or need I just put it in the bag. This weeks total is 10 empty hangers. It's a slow start, it it is a manageable pace for me. And then it will go on to charity for its next life.

I have also also decided not to try create anything else for the November 10th fundraiser at the Tucson JCC. I will just be finishing what has already been started. I will suggest getting there early for the best selection. Now it's time to finish the next project.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Sharing is Caring or Is It?

We have always been told sharing is caring. Share your cookies with a friend. Popsicle's used to be made to break in half so that you could share with a friend. We give to charity to share with those in need. We break bread together as a sign of friendship. These and countless other ways are great ways to share.

Now here is where I get on my bandwagon. There are times when sharing is not caring. Sharing tubes of toothpaste, not cool, everyone should have their own tube of toothpaste. The plus side of this is colds will not spread as fast through the house. When you send your child to school sick or conversely go to work sick and share the illness, not cool. When you hug someone who is medically fragile, just because it makes you feel better and then tell the caretaker or person that you are sick, really not cool. What part of medically fragile is so hard to understand? When you go out shopping when you are sick, really!!! The person making close to minimum wage can not afford to get sick, they might not even be able to afford a doctor's office visit.

Lets face it we are living in an age where superbugs are a reality. The miracle drugs of my parents generations are losing their effectiveness do to overuse and bugs being able to evolve faster than scientists can come up with new versions of old drugs. So lets go very old school on this. When you are sick, stay home until you feel better. When your child is sick, keep them  home from school, day programs and afterschool activities. If you need to go shopping, Then go online, they delivery everything from groceries to ready made meals. Heck, you can even do your holiday shopping and they will even wrap and deliver your presents for you.  So let's care for each other by not sharing colds.

If you are wondering why this post now, Eric has been erypy for the last 4 hours. Eric has been exposed to any of those ways of sharing colds this week. I don't have the time to deal with this this week, I have too much on my plate. Most of all I don't want to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, it is not good for my hands recovery form surgery. I can expect a set back tomorrow.

So my request is PLEASE Don't Share Your Colds.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

One Step Back

My hand has taken one step back. I need to slow down a bit on physical therapy among other things. So I gave my hand a day of rest.

Thus the short post.

Monday, October 24, 2016

This and That

The day started out with a BBD, but I did my best anyway. Now that my hand range is increasing, the exercises at physical therapy are getting harder. I don't know how they mange to get my hand so tired in 1 hour, that I need a 2 hour nap after therapy just to recoup.

I did get a lot of finishing work done today. I also started tagging some of the items. I am caught up to the point where I need to take inventory and see what I need to make to round off my fundraising table on November 10, 2016 at the Tucson JCC. Remember that 100% of the sale price will go to Taglit, which is Eric's day program and other special needs expenses not covered by program fees.  So it would be a great time to get your holiday gifts. 

I also decided to reduce the number of craft bags that I have. To that extent, John helped me empty out the hall closet of all the bags. I then started to sort through them. I have a bag and a half of craft bags ready to leave the house, this is from the quick first sort through. I will go through the rest of the bags again at a more leisurely pace and make the final cut on what I am keeping.  I would estimate not more than 50% of what is left. This of course does not count the bags that already have projects in them, they do not count in this process. 

Well it is almost tomorrow so it is time to call it a day. 

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Projects Can Be Finished

Eric and I spent the day finishing projects. Eric and one of his Elmo's sat next to me as I worked. I managed to weight, label and tag all my Spinzilla 2016 yarn. Sorry friends have dibs on all the yarn. The good news is that it all leaves the house on Tuesday.

I managed to do the trimming on a dozen hand woven mudd rugs and trim the fringe. Next the failed attempt at twisting fringe was given up after 30 minutes. It did not help that the sound would not come up on you tube. The visual did not complete the necessary information to complete the task. So I did the fringe the way that I had learned.

Even without the sound I did learn that placing a heavy book on the woven scarf while tying the fringe did help a lot and made things go more smoothly. The scarfs were then washed and beat up. Yes, I slam freshly washed scarfs against a table. Then they get hung up to dry.

As as I was running out of energy, I decided to to set things up for tomorrow. I also emptied a knitting bag that tore and put the yarn away. I also decided not to repair the bag since it was not well made in the first place.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Zenning in 5 Minutes

Today after spending most of the day on fiber related activities I felt the need to do a bit of deep cleaning. Since it was 11 pm, I gave my self a limit of 5 minutes. In that time I cleaned out Eric's medicine cabinet and put a fresh bottle of shampoo out. Then I took the empty shampoo bottle to the recycling bag.

Most of the morning was spent setting the twist twist on freshly washed yarn and blocking hand knit and Chrochet items. Alas my blocking mat was not big enough so I will have to finish that later in the week as it is suppose to rain tomorrow.

A New Routine

Well it seems that I am starting a new routine with physical therapy. It goes like this, one hour of physical therapy followed by lunch and a two hour nap. Grrr. This does not help with my to do list. It also leaves me scrambling to keep Eric entertained while I try to catch up on my chores.

Today this lead to white and beige silk drying on one end of the clothes line and ten skeins of yarn from Spinzilla drying on the other with about four feet of empty line between the yarn and silk. I want a good distance between them so the dye from the yarn won't transfer to the silk. I would have finished setting the twist on the rest of the yarn, but I ran out of daylight. Since my left hand is still wonky, they will take longer to dry because I could not squeeze enough water out of them. I am really hoping that the lower humidity of fall will help the yarn dry faster.

I would also like to thank Prayag Verma for his very thoughtful suggestion for a new application for blogspot on my iPad. My post should be more regular now.

Night Time Pain

There is nothing quite like being up in the middle of the night with arthritis pain. Then having to take care of Eric before the aspirin kicks in. Eric was half asleep and still tried to give me hugs to make my hands feel better. It almost makes up for not being able to sleep.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Spinzilla 2016

For Spinzilla 2016 I spun 1,959 yards of yarn. mostly lace weight. Lace weight what was I thinking. The picture shows it all dumped on the kitchen floor. Now I have to wash it and set the twist.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Facts

1. It takes longer than a presidential town hall to fill a four ounce bobbin with lace weight yarn..just ask me how I know.. spinning

2. It is possible to fill the recycling bin to over full 3 weeks running..deep cleaning is the answer.

3. I really hate it when my screen goes blank and I lose an entire post.  Thank you iOS 10. Apple please fix the glitch. 

4. The universe has plans for all of us, it's just not talking.  

5.  I can't fix the whole world alone, but together if we all do a bunch of small things we can make the world a better place.  

6.  Children take you on fantastic adventures. Be prepared to follow.

7. I have spun over a pound of yarn this last week. Pictures and yardage tomorrow. 

It's time to end this post.. the screen has gone blank 10 times now.. John says at least iOS 10 has a mission..new tech hates me. 

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Delving Deeper - Less is Really More

Today I hit another level of deep cleaning. I started going through the note books that I started making 12 years ago as a new knitter. I tore out and saved everything the new knitter in me thought was important. Things like how to do certain stitch patterns. Patterns that I was going to knit. Patterns that other people thought that I should knit. To the very old knitting magazines that I just could not let go of. Things that were just plain neat to a brand new knitter.

Fast forward 12 years and the notebooks are a bit dusty. Some of the stitch patterns that I thought were so difficult that I knew I would need written instructions for if I was ever going to knit them. Now most of what got tossed I can do without thinking. They are also in knitting stitch dictionaries or on the web. Patterns for triangular shawls that were and still are so pretty, that do not look good on my body type, my shoulders are just too broad. Yes the boring rectangular shawls look much better on me.  To the very lacy patterns that 12 years later I can now knit, but do not fit into my knitting life style. To the hat and scarf patterns that I can knit while I am half asleep or busy talking, yes they got tossed too.

I still have piles of old knitting magazines to go through and decide which ones I want to keep. If there is an old or vintage knitting magazine you are looking for just let me know very soon. I might just have a copy.

I am keeping it very simple. I go through one notebook at a time or one pile of papers 6 to 12 inches in height. If I finish that and still have energy I go onto the next pile or notebook. Depending on the age of the notebook or pile of knitting magazines I toss between 30 to 70% of what I have. Now everything else can be condensed in an orderly fashion without having to buy or find more storage. This will be the third week in a row for an over full recycle bin too. I am going at my own pace, but I feel that some people want me to go faster and just toss without looking at everything. I am not quite able to do that yet. I know that in the end that I will have more room for fluff and yarn. That's not what my minions really want to hear, but I still have bins full of yarn and fluff in the garage that I would like to someday soon move back into the house.

So the short term plan is more tossing, gifting, knitting, weaving and spinning things in the house. The long term plan is to go through the things in the garage. So that in forty years or so whom ever is going to do the last cleaning of the house will not have to call yarn hoarder's anonymous to haul everything off to sell to other fiber people.


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Resting

After I over did yesterday, I had a very bad night. So I spent the day letting my body decide what to do and it wanted lots of rest. So I seem to be back into the cycle of do everything I can one day and rest the next. I really need to find balance again.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

More Deep Cleaning

OK, so today I actually hired someone help me with the deep cleaning and organizing. At times it really helps to have another craft person to help organize a craft room instead of an engineer. While we were deep cleaning we also managed to get a few quick projects finished and out the door including a 4 foot by 3 foot dog pillow. It is bigger than Eric and very hard to finish. It took 2 of us to get the last seam sewn. I did the sewing and Amber held up the pillow. I also found 2 sets of old soft cloth diapers that needed to be surged in half so that the cleaning rags don't land back in Eric's room as face wipes.

Amber and I also divided the yarn into kits and projects in progress and just yarn. I have officially turned 1 closet into a Fibber McGee closet with fluff.  Sadly all the fluff did not fit in the closet, so I will have to look for more homes. We also separated the weaving supplies out so I know what I have to weave.

Amber and I decided that I was going to be the go to person during the Zombie Apocalypse. I will have all the fiber you could want for a price. We figured that I would have about a year's worth of knitting in my kits and at least 2 years worth of spinning. We did not even take a guess at the weaving supplies.  I also am passing on a sock pattern and using the yarn for something else. A few more balls of yarn were added to the destash bag too.

Still to go through tonight are a pile of patterns. Some from 12 years ago when I started knitting. I also found more knitting books not already on the shelf, so I think a book purge might be in order, but not today. My mind says keep cleaning, but my body says nap. So I will rest until its time to cook dinner. When John called after work, being the great husband that he is,"said that I sounded tired and is bring home dinner." 

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Dibs

Well it started again yesterday. The dibs game. I usually get my my skirts long to start with, usually about ankle length.  As I lose weight and inches they get longer.  So I have a whole process that I go through to avoid hemming the skirts.  First I hike the skirt up my waist about 1/2 of an inch. 

Next comes putting the skirt back to my natural waste line and adding 1 inch heels.  Staying with the 1 inch heels, I hike up the skirt up about 1/2 of an inch again. When that stops working I add the 2 inch heels. Then I hike up my skirt in 1/2 inch increments until I am 1/2 way up my rib cage. About that time, I am ready to buy the next size down. 

I know that at this size that I could add straps and turn the skirts into a sun dress and wear them, but I try to avoid the sun at all costs and would not wear the sundress.  So at this point I go to the 4th Avenue Street Faire and get some new tie dye skirts. Then I pass on the skirts that people called dips on.  

This is the slow road to weight loss and it goes 1/2 inch at a time.  To the next 1/2 inch down and beyond.  

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

More Progresss

My left hand has made a little more progress. As soon as I finish my silk shawl project on the size 13 knitting needles, I get to move down to size 11 needles.  After physical therapy today, I worked on my to do list. Only a few errands got done.  I just hate the way stores decide at the flip of a coin to change what they carry.This means that I will have to pick up some of the things tomorrow.  I seem to be moving at a snail's pace like my hand recovery.  Some days it seems like it's 1 step forward and 2 steps back.  I know my hand is a lot better, but it is not at 100% yet.

Today while shopping, I heard one of the all time stupidest sales pitches ever.  If you think some of the sales pitches you here for over the counter vitamins are bad, you will have to rethink everything.
When her supervisor told the demo person that she was not selling enough coconut oil, this is what the demo person came up with.
"Coconut oil is a cure for dementia. You can even use it on your toast. You will see results within days. "
After that is was flying of the display. So if your snow birds call or come home saying that they have found the miracle cure for dementia know that they have been scammed. I wonder who is responsible for this snake oil saleswoman and her comments?

Coconut oil is very good in cooking. Coconut adds a lot of flavor to food. I love coconut, but it is not a cure for anything but hunger or rough skin. 

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Empty

Today I emptied 1 - 60 quart bin of craft supplies. No they did not get tossed, but rather relocated to a cabinet that I had used to store odds and ends.  I should have cleaned it out much sooner. I found a bunch of very old tech in there.  Not 1 but 3 old portable cassette players with headphones.  I was really good at breaking them so 2 of them were spares, that were never opened.  The iPod's were made much better and only had to be replaced when I ran out of capacity. 

So the deep cleaning and purging continues.  I seem to feel a bit lighter with each batch of things that leave the house.  

Friday, September 23, 2016

Huge Boxes

I am beginning to think that 60 to 80 quart storage boxes might not be the best for art supplies.  So I am in the process of moving my jewelry making supplies to a more usable space. I am hoping that this will help with the avoidance of duplicate purchases. Also the 2 hour set up every time I want to make something.  Wish me luck in the process.  

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

More

Yesterday I started the next round of really deep cleaning.  I bought storage containers which turned out to be the wrong size for what I needed.  So they were returned today.  I bought a better solution today.  I started filling it with jewelry supplies and even with de stashing some things already, I appear to have  a space shortage.  My only current solution is to destash more and make a bunch of jewelry for the November Taglit fundraiser.  

So far today I have recovered half a shelf and a magazine rack.  I filled a bag so full of recycling that John will have to move it to the recycle bin for me.  I have also emptied out another magazine rack and taken that to the recycle bin already. 

 I wish I was not so tired from that really stupid cold that I got last week.  My mind is quite willing. My body is very tired.  I would throw some caffeine in, if I did not already know that is the wrong solution for me now.  So a quick nap before I go to pick Eric up is in order..

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Better

Eric and I are feeling better, we are over the cold. My physical therapist is very happy with the progress that my hand is making. I on the other hand want a totally functional hand by now. On most days I can knit for about an hour. I even managed to fold a set of Eric's sheets without any pain. Although I am going to hold off folding Eric's jumbo loads of laundry for now.

While driving Eric home from his day program, yes he did go. We were almost sideswiped by a red truck. Yes, I was driving my van that does resemble a big white brick.  It also has the aerodynamics of a brick too, not that that has anything to do with the incident today. The driver was too busy talking on the phone, while weaving in and out of traffic. I would like to point out that in the 3 miles that he was weaving in and out of traffic, he only moved up 1 car space. In my very humble opinion it was not worth the risk he was taking with everyone else's life and livelihood for a stupid phone call.

I learned to drive in the mid 70's and nobody spoke on the phone while driving. If we needed to make an urgent call, we pulled off the road and found a pay phone. Now, I am not saying that we need to go back to pay phones. After all I like my games and apps like Metropia to get me around traffic jams. I just want people to pull into a parking lot, make their call and go on their way. Right now Metropia is only available in Austin, Texas and Tucson, Arizona. Hopefully your city will be added soon so you can enjoy the app as much as I do.

Tomorrow I will tackle the house. So it is time to call it a night.

Monday, September 19, 2016

A Rough Week

Eric was sick all last week. He even shared the cold and aftermath with me. Poor John has been trying to keep up with 2 very cranky people. Even with the larger washer, Eric has managed to make 2 pretty full loads of laundry a day. Thank goodness for Eric's aides, they have been doing all the folding. I don't know if my hand is up to that much work yet.

I am really hoping that Eric will be back at program sometime this week. When he is at home sick this much, my world feels a lot smaller. I swear that my world can not get that much smaller or I might just fade into oblivion.

My left hand is a little better. I have been able to use it between 30 minutes and 2 hours on most days. I can say for certain that the arthritis flare up post cold is not helping the recovery process in the least. At least 2 out of the 3 fingers are almost, well at least 50% healed. The ring finger is another story. I am really working to get my left hand fully functional again. It will make my life so much easier and neater. I would really like to know, say before a meal, if my hand will work all the way through the meal.

I am hoping that Eric is not real clingy today. Yes I just noticed that it is 12:40 and it is time for a nap before I start my day with Eric in a few hours. By the way, it is getting easier to type too. Not a lot of mistakes. I can even reach for some of the keys.

My goal for the coming week is to have a better week and get a lot of crafting and cleaning done.

Friday, September 16, 2016

When Sharing Is Not Good

Eric has shared his cold. It's not my favorite thing to be sick. At least I have been able to do limited knitting and crochet projects. I am on a cup cozy binge right now. I have 7 finished with 4 waiting to be seamed. I have also sketched two other versions of cup cozies too. I plan on making 24 of each design by the  November 10 fundraiser.

I have also started to piece together the shabby chic quilt. Hopefully it will be finished soon so that I can make a few more sewing projects. They have the added bonus of not hurting my hands and being faster to make.

The more I use my hand the better it seems to be within limits. My ring finger is still not up to par, but I am working on that every day. I have not tried to fold laundry yet, but hanging up wet clothes for the clothes line is getting better. Each day is a little better.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The Right Project

This one color way of yarn has been the bane of my knitting for 12 years. It was one of the yarns in a kit I bought. I never finished he project, but used the pattern with other yarns.  Fellow knitters seemed to give it away in spades.  No matter what pattern I used, I was not happy with the results.

Fast forward 12 years and a new skill, Tunisian Crochet. At last a way to make to make this yarn look really, really good. Below is a cup cozy.  So after 12 years I can absolutely say it was not the yarn, it was the project and technique. So I might just have to see how much of this yarn I have and what to make with it.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

A New Design

Tonight I designed my first piece of Tunasian Chrochet. It has 12 rows including the cast on and cast off. It can be used, to use up partial skeins of yarn. It is a very simple but sturdy cup cozy. The best part is that it can be made in only a few hours.  Let me know if you want me to write up the pattern for your holiday crafting or if you want to order some in a certain color.  I will have some at the November 11, Taglit fundraiser. The color is actually lavender but my lighting is bad tonight. 

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Quilt Layout

I have gotten to the quilt lay out stage of the Taglit Memory Quilt. This is being made from 4 Taglit sweatshirts.  This will be the  center piece of the Annual Taglit Fundraiser on November 11, 2016. I will have the measurements after I finish the sewing.  This will be my first Shabby Chic Quilt. I will get together with my team to figure out the pricing.