A Busy Day

 Today was a day to get things out of the house.  We started out by dropping off 2 cubic feet of socks, hats and scarfs at Flowing Wells School District for their students.  The it was off to Costco to drop of a 4 month old coffee maker that died yesterday.  That was another cubic foot out of the house.  

Now on to the good stuff. We picked up 16 duck eggs from Lee Lee’s grocery store. If you are allergic to chicken eggs I would highly recommend trying duck or quail eggs. They might just surprise you.  We did one more pick up.  I left my husband to put everything away.  While I took a nap.  

Then after lunch I went through my piles of mail and packages that had to be sent out. I will have at least another cubic foot of mail leaving the house tomorrow.  

We are reclaiming space left and right.  Then Tuesday another 2 cubic feet will leave the house unless I can manage to get more stuff done and ready to leave the house. 

All of this would not have been possible without my husband doing all the driving.  If I use myspoons wisely I can get a lot done if I ask for help and take naps. 

I also had to add an extension to my current knitting project.  I also managed to get some spinning done too. 

A Bumpy Day

 I made a very short to do list today by my spoonie standards.  I got half my list done by lunchtime.  After a small salad for lunch I thought it would be nice to close my eyes for 15 minutes.  Three hours later I woke up still feeling very tired. I made scrambled eggs for dinner  along with vegetables and honeydew melon.

I guess shopping at 2 stores and doing the driving in one morning is too much for me right now. I guess I still need help with the driving . Just when I thought I was finally getting my energy back.  My body decided it was in charge not my mind.  

In other news my dresses decided to get longer all on their own.  I see some hemming in my future.  

The Road to Recovery

 The road to recovery can be very bumpy.  This morning I was feeling very good. So I packed my car with shopping bags.  My first stop was Walmart where I picked up some Rit dye remover to try to fix one of my husband’s shirt that got some bleed over dye in the wash.  Yes, I had a fully saturated color catcher in the wash.  It is the first time in over a decade that the dye catcher did not pick up all the stray dye in the wash. 

Then it was off to Whole Foods to get some fresh fruit and goat milk yogurt. I got a treat for lunch too.  My husband graciously carried in the heavy bags and put the groceries away.   Then we had lunch.  I had planned to do paperwork and spin after lunch. Instead I spent the next 3 hours resting.  The morning activity had worn me out.  

I still do not have the stamina I had before I got sick in mid February.  Just walking around two stores and the house I managed to get 100 minutes in the Zone of moderate to vigorous exercise.  I have really got to figure out how to get back into shape so it is actually exercise instead of  just walking that causes an exercise heart rate. 

I am getting very tired of not being able to do much.  I am not a happy person right now.  My mind feels that I should be able to do more.  My body says no.  

Just Tuesday

 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.  

A Very Long Day

 My day felt so long that by dinner time I felt it was Friday. My days with physical therapy are always long.

  Some knitting for kids got done. Nothing was completed. A couple of color changes happened on the next 70 inch scarf . I am using up a lot of smaller skeins. John even got a peak into the box of yarn that I want to use up. Even though I made a dent in the number of partial skeins, I still think there are about a dozen 70 inch scarfs left in the box. I really hope that I am wrong. 

I really think that measuring my yarn use in gallons and pounds means that even after 4 big destashes this year meansI still have a lot of yarn.   The good news is I finished 2 partial skeins tonight.

Some knitting got dropped off at the Family resource center aka the Flowing Wells Clothing Bank. They were very happy with an XXL Ziplock bag full of knitting and socks.  I try to find the fun socks because I know it is a rarity that the kids get the fun socks.  

The winter visitors are here and the supply chain has not caught up with them yet.  Target was was out of a lot of things I needed.  They had a lot of people stocking the store as I shopped. They no longer ask did you find everything, because they already know we did not.  

Getting Scrapy

 I am currently working on another Stash Dive Scarf by Summer Lee Designs. It is not exactly as written.  I have gathered all my small skeins of sock yarn and cotton yarn.  As you can see by the second picture there are a lot of the smaller skeins.  The first picture the very colorful scarf so far. I am trying to do my best to make a fun and colorful scarf.  This scarf is going to be between 5 and 6 feet long so it is definitely going to a 7th or 8th grader. With all my recent destashing I now have room in my closet to store it until next fall.  

I also think that I over did it a little on my errands.  I was only out for 1 1/2 hours.  I did 4 errands today.  On the 3rd errand I found kids fall socks on sale for 70% off. This was my *Ganga of the day.  So I went back and grabbed a shopping cart and pick out a whole bunch of socks for the clothing bank I support. Yes, I filled up half a huge bag.  My hope is that the kids who get them, like them.  I then came home and slept for 2 hours.  I still managed to get 1 out of 2 loads of laundry folded, but not all at once. I also managed to mis match the colors on 2 pairs of socks, oh well. No harm no foul.  I still have to put the clothes hanging in the garage away too.  

*Ganga is Tucson speak for a great deal.  

A Little Yarn Destash

 A little yarn destash has never hurt a knitter.  The yarn I am destashing today knit up well for a super wash wool. However after about the 5th time through the washer and dryer. Which this wool was supposed to handle with ease, it started felting and getting that burnt nylon crackle.  

I will not be replacing this yarn with any other yarn.  Instead I will diligently work through the yarn in my stash. Once I am down quite a few projects, let’s say in the few hundreds I might consider adding more yarn. Well I might get a skein here or there after all it’s yarn.

With the return on time invested on my last destash sale, I will be skipping that this time. Now that I have had a few minutes to rest and have some water.  I am loadings the three 64 gallon bags and the smaller 2 shoe box bag ( about 6 cubic feet of yarn in total) into the back of my car.  Then it’s off to Goodwill.  

If I have the energy I might just sneak into Target for some frozen vegetables and almonds on the way home.  

Errands

 A few errands left me exhausted.  Because of the Jiffy peanut butter recall Skippy peanut butter is still in short supply.  I will have to come up with another fast and easy protein.  I got 95 zone minutes for 5,200 steps.  I need answers.  I am just rambling. Time to go to sleep.  

Waiting

 We are currently waiting for our summer rains.  I think it is getting closer because I can smell the moisture in the air.  I am still waiting for the smell of the wet creosote bushes. That is the smell most people think about when they think of the after rain smell in the desert.  

I did get a bunch of errands done today too. The paperwork will have to wait for tomorrow.  I am glad it is cooler this week too.  Yes, I have hit the summer doldrums on the first day of summer. How is that for perfect timing.  

Busy

Today I felt like I did when the kids were little.  I had 2 doctors appointment’s, did 2 errands and was so tired that I skipped the last 2 errands of the day.  I was too tired to cook dinner, so John took us out to Cafe Ole for their wonderful Chicken and rice soup with a salad.  

After dinner we took a walk to LeeLee’s and found some duck eggs. The perfect end to a busy day.  

The Shawlette is Finished

 I finished the shawlette at 9pm tonight. Alas it was to dark to take pictures.  I also won yarn chicken.  I did not even have enough yarn left over for an extra row.  

I also did something I have not done since March of 2020. I went to Starbucks, ordered a tea. Yes I sat on the lovely patio in the shade.  I had the patio to myself.  I listened to my book and got a whole lot of knitting done.  I also got to the post office and gas station.  The gas was down to $4.79 a gallon.  Then it was time to go home and do a couple of loads of laundry.  A little picking up too.  

Busy

 I have been busy knitting, running errands and fighting a Sjogren’s flare up.  I am really hoping that the onset of winter is the real cause of my headaches and stiffness. Who would have ever thought that winter would rear its ugly side in the middle of December?  I going to try to call it an early night.  

 Today was a busy but fun day.  Well almost.  A house issue slowed down my start.  Then it was off to Bryn Walker for some smaller sized tops. Yes the tops that are too big are starting to go into the Goodwill pile. Then off to the post office to drop some outgoing mail in the mailbox.  Then off to Joann’s for an Ott light for my new work space.  

Then there was a very brief check in with my friends at Grandmas Spinning Wheel.  Then it was time to get my 6 month supply of soap at Tracy’s shop Artemesia,  the only winter favorite not in stock was gingerbread, but I got some pumpkin spice soap instead. If you are not in Tucson go to byartemesia.com  If you are in Tucson you can visit her shop at 6538 East Tanque Verde Road.  It’s in the same plaza as Grandma’s Spinning Wheel. After you finish shopping stop by a Tucson favorite of mine, Savaya Coffee.  They roast their own coffee and brew their tea by the cup.  It is well worth waiting for the tea to be brewed.  

Then home to do some cleaning and organizing.  I rested by starting a new charity scarf while listening to an audio book. . So my active UFO’s are 2 different charity Scarfs, a charity hat, a new pattern and too many more to list. Since I made a couple of small upgrades the knitting room is more comfortable.  

I have a busy day tomorrow. Also the cold weather of winter will arrive.  Burr.  

Errands

Today I got out of the house for some errands. I managed to get to the library to return the equipment on loan from the Library of Congress, Services for the blind and disabled. The librarian knew he was supposed to take them back, but had to research were to send them.  He was really nice.

Then it was off to the Flowing Wells School District main office to drop off the hand knit hats, socks and a few school supplies.  They were very happy to receive everything. All 3 bags full.

Then off to drive across town to drop off a check and check out a venue.  I think the event will be inside.  That’s great because it’s supposed to rain on Sunday. Then I went shopping and headed home. A 9 hour work day left me exhausted. Did I mention that I started making earrings and stitch markers at 6 am and forgot to eat breakfast because I was so busy.

After dinner I got in some weaving time on the new scarf. I even managed to empty a shuttle.  I am almost at the splash of red part.

It’s 10:30 pm and I am so tired that my body is saying go to sleep. I really don’t know how I managed such long hours with Eric. I guess I am a mere mortal now.

In A Rut

I have to admit that I am still having a rough patch right now. Although going away for the Thanksgiving weekend to hang out with Teri and Tej helped a lot. I loved their new couch.  As soon as I sat down I was sleeping. I am sure I needed the sleep as the general comments were that family members have not seen me sleep so much in years.

I am still trying to deep clean the house 5 minutes at a time. I need to do another Bookman’s run. I have a whole lot of errands and all the time in the world, but none of the energy. People tell me that this will take time.

I did get the loom warped tonight..my only plan for the design is to use up the yarn currently on the shuttle’s. I got a little over 3 inches woven tonight. I also got the bead out to make some earrings.

18 and 19

The next 2 hats are finished.  They have been placed in the bag going to the Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank when it is full.  This also added 136 rows towards the 1 million row challenge on Raverly.  I know I probably won’t make it to a million knitting and Crochet rows, but I can have fun trying.

I spent most of the day sleeping. I caught the bug du jour. I would just like to remind everyone to try to stay home when you are sick.  It is just better for everyone.  I put off my errands to stay home and not spread the cold.

I now have 2 bags of books for Bookman’s and will spend the trade credit on socks for the clothing bank too.   It’s a win win for everyone. I have less stuff.  Bookman’s has more stuff to sell and I am supporting a local Tucson business.  Some kids who need socks will get them.  Plus nothing goes to the landfill.  What could be better than that?

T

Less UFO’s

Today was spent finishing 3 small knitting projects and weaving in ,the ends.  It seemed to be a good day to tie up loose ends. I am really not sure how it became bed time. Since I have another busy day tomorrow this will be a short post.

Errands

After a very frustrating morning dealing with the company that was supposed to get parts to repair Eric’s bath chair, I gave up and ordered a new one through Amazon.  I can’t believe that this branch of Corman Inc told me that they were not sure how to go about getting competitive bids from different sources. Uh, you had FOUR whole months to figure this out.  The real kicker here is that all the Leckey bath chairs and parts come from one company and they have distributors in different countries that use the same price sheet. By the way if you do need a bath chair or a bath chair with a trolley I would personally recommend using Leckey. The first one Eric had lasted about a decade.  I am sure we could have just replaced the cover and been fine, but it was easier to order the whole chair.

I finally had some time to catch up on errands today. Between using coupons and rebates I managed to save well over $100.00. This does not even include the Ganga price on John’s cereal even without using a coupon.  It was a just restock the shelves shopping therapy after dealing with the durable medical equipment company. Triscuts, Chex, goat cheese and John’s popsicle were the highlight of the trip.

I tried a new method for washing wool that one of my students recently recommended.  It was so easy and worked so well that I will do a photo tutorial on it.

17 and Awesome

Hat number 17 is now finished. Hats 18 and 19 have been cast on and are in progress. I used the bulk of my energy running errands this morning. I purchased 4 rotery cutter blades so when the new blade gets dull it will not halt progress on the quilt. I hope tommrow I can be more productive.

Busier Than Usual

It was a catch me if you can type of day.  I started off making a sorting box for a friend of Eric's.  He was very excited when Eric gave it to him.  Then it was a quick breakfast and off to buy out one store.  Then it was time to print some coupons for the next store. The first Wednesday of the month I get an extra 10% off grocreys. So I get the things like laundry detergent and other things that happen to be on sale.  

Before I knew it, it was 2:20pm and I had not had lunch or put the groceries away. So after a few pita chips and a slice of cheese it was time to get Eric.  Then it was time to start the laundry and put things away. I even managed to make a home cooked dinner tonight.  

Would anyone be surprised that I have over 10,000 steps and have not done any knitting today?