It was a no good, very bad, horrible day…..I did not eat a box of brownies or cupcakes. Sorta of good.
I did my physical therapy and exceeded my walking goal. Really good.
It was no way in the world a break even day. Sighs!
Plus I did not buy enough yarn for a weaving project. I need 3 more skeins of the yarn for a woven summer shawl. Sighs!
I hope I can still get some more Circulo Whoopee in color 9883 batch 698459.
I started physical therapy for my right hand. I am hopeful that this will bring much needed pain relief. I am also hopeful that I might start to get more sleep. All I need to do is a lot less. Wish me luck.
I went out for my walk today. This plant seemed to come to life overnight. The flowers are more plentiful when we really cut back this bush. I am really not sure what kind of bush it is. It was here when we moved in so last century. The rest of the front yard does not really come into life until the summer monsoon rains.
I was finally feeling well enough to vacuum almost all the tile in the house. I skipped the knitting room. That will get do after I finish the next round of de stashing. That makes a little bit of a mess. After that I steam mopped half the house. After 1 1/2 hours of cleaning I called it quits. We have an awful lot of tile in the house. Let’s just face the facts. At the time it was easier to push Eric’s wheelchair over tile than carpet. It is also easier to clean up messes on tile rather than carpet. It was a strategy that worked well for us. In that cleaning time I did not include the 4 loads of laundry. That happened before breakfast, well at least the start of the 1st 2 loads. The washing machine and dryer do most of the work.
I also got a bit of knitting time in while listening to my current audiobook All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny. I just love her writing. I am also not listening to the books in order, just what I can get at the library when I need a new book.
I can tell when I have a very active day. My hands get very, very tired.
We made it to the 4th Avenue Street Fair today. My find of the day was a pair of Calla Lily earrings made from Pennie’s from the 1960’s. Kate Hast is a very talented metalsmith. She is also the owner of Le Duc Jewelers. You can find her work on line at Le Duc Jewelers. There you can sign up for her newsletter to see where she will be at or order online. She will be at the 4th Avenue Street Fair until Sunday. She is on the eastern side of the street towards the back.
This was my shopping splurge today. I do use the lavender in my knitting room and boxes to ward off evil little bugs that eat yarn. The hand cream is wonderful. The lip balm just because it’s dry in the desert southwest and they had peppermint. You can shop online at Life under the Oaks. They also have a news letter and events at the farm. Check out the current details online. Events change with the seasons.
I did something that I have never done before. I typed up most of a new pattern before I have finished knitting the sample. I have to admit that has a lot to do with my recent hand surgeries and the slow healing process. There are still a few tweaks to do. The sample to finish. A bit more editing. It will definitely take me longer to finish the knitting. Then it’s picture time. I am thinking some time in April with any luck. Then there are 3 more patterns in the pipeline. Just maybe I am getting my mojo back.
I also have hit my walking goal 10 days in a row of a minimum of 5,500 steps. I think my current decluttering efforts have a lot to do with the high numbers. I also tend to get a lot of steps cleaning house. Also it is easier to walk with hand pain than knee pain.
Today I tackled over 20 years of accumulated knitting patterns. On this first cut I got rid of almost all the lace patterns. Also patterns that were aspirational at the time, as I will have the skills to knit these some day. Well a long story shortened, I have the knitting skills and I no longer want to knit them. I emptied three 2 inch binders plus took some out of 3 inch binders. I will bring them to the next knitting guild meeting so other knitters can pick and choose patterns that were published pre Ravelry days by indie designers I even had to start a second bag to accommodate all the knitting patterns that are leaving. Next on the agenda is to make a second cut as to what I can realistically make. This should cut thing’s further, however that will take more time. So today I cleaned off 8 inches of shelf space. John and I are happy about that.
To be filed under they don’t make things like they use too. The television we bought when Eric was no longer able to go on vacations about 15 years ago, died this week. John picked out a great model, don’t ask, because I don’t know. I stayed home for that shopping trip with all that new technology. I really did not want to break the store. I do know that it is about the same size and has a better picture quality than the old one. I sat and knitted while I watched them install it. 3 technicians and John.
A busy but wonderful day.
I have finally lost enough weight and inches to start shopping from my closet. I can’t wait to see where that takes me. What style trends can I start with clothing that I bought when my daughter graduated graduate school. I now have more energy because of the weight loss and as a result I am doing yet another round of deep cleaning.
Leaving this time are lace knitting patterns. Those who know me are quite understandably happy. Quilting patterns. Also patterns for outfits that I will never make that are back in style. Not to mention all the things that went into recycling. Did I mention that the Goodwill box is overflowing? Less is turning into more. Less time to find things. More time to do things. More open space. A win- win for me.
This week I might even try my Lucet for the very first time. A kind artist at the renaissance fair in Phoenix showed me how to do it. Now it is my turn to try it. My right hand is still wonky so wish me luck.
I got some bad food last Saturday and landed up with a mild case of food poisoning, but have finally fully recovered. It was a rough couple of days. We have all been there.
TTFN
Today it took 3 tries to find a pair of pants that fit. The first 2 tries got way to big. I will try shopping in my closet to see if I have smaller pants that fit before I go shopping again. Wish me luck. Also I have almost filled another box of clothing that has gotten too big for Goodwill.
I spent the afternoon catching up with plying yarn. This is some art yarn plyed on my Louet Victoria. 100% wool plyed with Little Flowers by Crystal Palace Yarns. It will go into a hand woven scarf. No tears or deleted words involved. Just relaxing joy.
A good but all around tiring day. I had knitting guild this morning. Followed by lunch with John. Followed by a long nap. Followed by lots of small cleaning tasks which lead to some great progress.
I raffled off my last spare yarn swift at knitting guild. Now it just the Shepard’s Woodworking squirrel cage for me. That makes me very happy. That cleans out a bit more room. I am finding that taking many smaller steps in cleaning and decluttering are leading to bigger strides.
Which has lead me to break down bigger tasks in my head. I will have to see if this works out.
I have started pre spring cleaning. The more weight I lose, the more energy I have. Except when pain wakes me up at night. So I am trying to do tons of small little things that seem to be adding up to bigger things. I am also trying to walk more. Today I got over 7,000 steps.
It was interesting shopping at Target today. They are remodeling the whole store. Moving everything around. They have extra staff on hand to help. I can compare it to a home remodel except it is super sized. Almost everything is going to be in different places, even the freezer and cold Food sections. It looks like they are adding more energy efficient freezer and chiller cases.
My hand was even feeling well enough to knit a few rows on the doodle shawl. I am taking baby steps with my hand.
As I promised myself. Today I tried on all my summer dresses and skirts. Most skirts will have to be worn with heels because of the design on the skirts. For some reason they all got longer over the winter. All 5 of the sleeveless dresses had to go, they were just too big and showed too much. They are now in the Goodwill box. Some of my summer dresses were regulated to house dresses. Others we will wait to see if they are going to be worth getting them hemmed. They seem to have gotten longer and looser over the winter. Since it will be about a month or so before I have to make up my mind, I will let them stay for now.
Below is the pile of dresses leaving. Three are from my favorite designer Bryn Walker. Someone will get a Ganga at Goodwill. The other 2 are pandemic online shopping off of eBay. Somehow I thought the pile would be bigger.
We had our first 80 degree day of the year. Since I have lost so much weight and a whole lot of inches, I plan on getting a jump start on summer by trying on all my summer clothing to see what fits. This will let me know what will need to be filled in. Of course the clothing will be bought closer to summer. A good closet purge is good every once in a while. Goodwill will get the clothes that are to big. I already know that I will need some summer weight long sleeve tops in light colors, especially white.
It was a great day for lunch and dinner outside too. Now if the wait staff would stop insisting that all salads need salad dressing I would be extremely happy. If I had wanted salad dressing, I would have ordered it. If a salad is made with fresh and tasty ingredients no dressing is required. It dulls the flavor of the vegetables. Not to mention adds a few hundred calories to a very healthy meal.
I almost forgot to mention that yesterday when I was looking for a shirt, I fit into the petite size clothing. It has been decades since that happened last. Yes, I know it was the PXL, but it is moving in the right direction. Go me.
Some days are harder than others at the grocery store. Today at Trader Joe’s they had my favorite jam filled cookies that are dairy free. I really wanted to buy a box or 2 but left them behind at the store. I consider this a win for me. Since I have passed the 20% total weight loss things are slowing down. Although I am losing inches like crazy. Maybe once my body is finished losing this round of inches the weight loss will pick up again. I can only hope.
I also found out that it is next to impossible to spin silk on a drop spindle outside when it is windy. I put the spindle back into its bag and knit 4 rows of my doodling shawl. Then stayed outside until it became too cold.
My right hand is still an issue. I hope it makes a full recovery soon. It is driving me crazy.
I drove from one end of Tucson all the way to Marana then back to a grocery store by the house doing errands today. Then it was lunch time and nap time.
The biggest news of the day is that I folded socks today. The first time since my hand surgery in January. It is definitely baby steps. But I will take them all in hopes of running in 6 months to a year.
Today did not go as planned. A wardrobe malfunction caused a change in plans. So I went shopping. The bad news was the mall was a bust. The good news is that with less product in the stores almost all the stores I went to were ADA compliant with a minimum of 36” between racks. I am not sure why it took almost 30 years and a pandemic to make it happen.
Even better news. The internet still works and I was able to order what I needed in a couple of hours. Most everything should be here by Thursday.
I did 12,074 steps today. Which is 5.05 miles. John had to walk further to get less steps. That is the penalty for being taller and having longer legs.
I am really beginning to hate post pandemic shopping. Big retailers say come to our stores to buy what you need. So I went to the stores only to be told that item that they used to stock in stores is only available on line. However they will order what they think I want or that they are over stocked with and not what I want.
So now I try calling the store ahead of time when it literally across town. I land up at an out of country call center where I repeat my question a minimum of 5 times and the person just wants to data harvest. If we land up getting through to the store, they don’t carry it in the store. Then we get a callback from the out of country call center saying head on over they have them in stock.
A Hint to Big Companies. Customers don’t like or need the run around that you are handing out. We don’t have to shop at your stores. Customer service is job one, yes I said job one. Without customers buying whatever you are selling you are out of business. We deserve and demand good customer service.
I am going down through sizes at a good clip right now. When I lose a size, I really need to try on what I want to buy instead of just guessing. Please try to do better. Running companies has always been hard work. Companies that are not well run fail. Poor customer service can cause problems to your bottom lines. Which leads to Chapter 11 or 13. Both you may want to avoid if at all possible, it’s really bad for you if you depend on quarterly bonuses to pay you personal bills.
Please try to make shopping like it was 2019. When shopping was easier for all involved. We need a reason to get off the computer and head to the malls. The extra walking is good for us. The selection should be awesome.
Last night it started snowing at our house. Since we live in the Sonoran desert. This is a rare occurrence. I stayed up past midnight to watch the snow and get pictures.
Four hours later the Santa Catalina Mountains looked like this.
While I was cleaning yesterday I found 3 years worth of so last century day planners. My feeling on the subject is that if I have not needed the information since 1993, 1994 or 1995, I really don’t need to keep it. I also managed to empty 4 inches of shelf space. They are now in the recycling bin.
It is currently snowing at our house. The only place it has not melted is on the barbecue. The only question is will there be any left by the time I wake up tomorrow morning. All I have to say about this winter is that the weather has been very weird. We are fluctuating between the mid 70’s to snow to lows in the teens.
Part of the backyard covered in snow. Not enough for a snowman. This is a big deal in Tucson.
