A Hard Day

It’s been almost two months since we lost Eric. I needed to do Eric paperwork which in it self is not hard, but the emotions will over take me in a snap. I got through about half of what I needed to do.  Then it was time to find smiling pictures of Eric to remember the happier times. Eric had a smile that just lit up the whole room.

After that I went on a small cleaning spree.  I managed to get a lot in the recycling can. I also did 2 loads of laundry.  There seems to be a lot less laundry now. The loads are also smaller.

Before I knew it time had flown. It was time to reheat some stew for dinner. After dinner it was. I needed to figure out how I managed to get 6 eye lashes stuck in one eye. I still don’t know how I did it.  The skin around the eye is still a little tender.  My advice is not to get 6 eyelashes in your eye at one time.

It’s getting late so it’s time to call it a day.

A Little of This and A Little of That

Today I was all over the place in terms of getting things done.  This morning before lunch I wove about 25 inches more on the scarf I started a few day ago.  I did 4 very small loads of laundry, John and I don’t make much.  I think Eric’s washing machine is missing him.  Yes, we bought it, but Eric claimed it as his own.

Then it was off to knitting.  To help my student start her next block.  A nice lady with questions on a hat.  She did come to the right person. I also got to show a knit front, knit back, knit front in the same stitch for a bobble ( kfbf ). It’s not a stitch that I like but can demonstrate it as necessary.  I am also working on the pattern for 4 of 3 a shawl study.

John took me out for dinner and then we came home. I spent 20 minutes in Eric’s room and filled a bag for Bookman’s and another for Goodwill.  After all that I was to tired to knit or weave tonight.  Well it is almost tomorrow so it’s time to say goodnight.

Still sick

I spent the day trying to sleep off this cold. I got more sleep today than in an average night.  This cold is leaving me a little light headed so I think I will skip driving tomorrow unless I feel 100% better tomorrow.

I did manage to gather some laundry and do one load but that was exhausting today.

To tell you how hard this cold hit I have not picked up my knitting needles or gone through withdrawals from not knitting.  I think that I will try to get more sleep now.

Me Time

I am not quite sure why but lately me time involves a 2 to 3 hour nap.  Which in turn messes up my plans for the day.  Although I have to admit that I feel a whole lot better after the nap.  I still did manage to get to 2 grocery stores and get most of the house restocked.  I even managed to find a turkey breast to cook for dinner.  The leftovers will be tomorrow nights dinner.  A turkey salad with pecans, celery and cherries served over a nice salad.

I did not manage to catch up on the laundry. My prediction for this weekend will be knee high.

I even managed to finish knitting a hat and cast on the next.  For the bonus points I emptied a knitting bag.  Tinked two half finished wash cloths. I do not need any more wash cloths, I have a few dozen in a storage tub if anyone needs some.  The yarn went into the hat bag. The extra knitting bag now very empty went into my closet.  The knitting needles will be put away tomorrow.

John and I started binge watching Highlander tonight.  We got through season 1 episodes 1 & 2.  So far it is fabulous.  I am wondering if some of the actors were also in The Game Of Thrones?   The  scenery is wonderful too.  I like all the costumes.

Eric spent most of his day sleeping.  That about sums up today with the exception of steps. I got over 12,000 today.  I am trying to  exercise away the stress.

The End of May 2019

My day started off at full speed ahead this morning. I had 2 loads of laundry finished before breakfast.  I had all the laundry for the day done by 10am.  Some how Eric hijacked my day. All forward progress came to an immediate halt.

I felt with my frustration by going to the grocery store and wondering the aisles looking for low carb treats. vegan doughnuts came to mind but at 65 carbs per doughnut it was a no go. I don’t even want to think about how many carbs a scone has, but I am guessing more than a doughnut. My treat landed up being a couple of pieces of fresh fruit and a hot lunch that I did not have to cook.

My timing was so bad I missed an opportunity to get out of the house to knit.  I did manage to get dinner with my sister tonight. We knit after dinner.

I did manage to get a little more cleaning done before Eric decided that the afternoon was all about him.  I am a bit tired and way behind, but there is always tomorrow.

Exhaustion

Exhaustion has set in. Eric is almost over P, but to do that we have a medicine that is given every 6 hours. That with extra suctioning and laundry on top of being sick and getting over a very bad cold.  Yes, the one that gave Eric P.  Today I slept through knitting with friends. I layed down for 20 minutes and woke up 2 1/2/hours later.

To unwind tonight,I spent 2 hours spinning. I finished a small bobbin for teaching plying. Then there was a 4 ounce blend of silk and mohair, it is in the sink ready to be washed. I also got the second plying spin on some lace weight yarn that I was given to make hats with.  In my very humble opinion it turned out gorgeous. If I can leave Eric’s room tonight, I will take a picture. See below., the lace weight was first Z plyed and finished off with an S ply.  Next it will get a hot bath to set the twist.

Now I am just waiting for Eric to settle in for the night. I have already filled the suction machine a 1/3 of the way up.  John emptied it before he went to sleep.  At this rate it will need to be emptied soon. Also the later I stay up, I get hungry.

Taking It Slow

This morning the laundry room was knee high. Still being in the recovery mode, I choose to take  it slow.  Of course Eric’s laundry came first, he had 2 overflowing baskets.  I still can’t figure out how he makes so much laundry all by himself.  Then since it was Sunday, I washed the sheets, just because they take up so much space when they are dirty. This still leaves 3 loads of laundry for tomorrow,if Eric does not make any more tonight. The truth is he has already made a good start at filling his basket.

Most of the day was spent resting.  I would do 15 to 20 minutes of work then rest. It seems the older I get it takes me longer to recover. Tomorrow will be spent resting and doing a little spinning research. I think that Eric has settled down for now so I will take this as my cue to get more rest.

I will leave you with a little yarn porn tonight. I don’t think I could have gotten much more yarn on this bobbin. The spinning wheel is a Louet Victoria on the art bobbin. It went slightly over the edge.

Feeling Better

Tonight I finally started to feel better.  After a few days of napping and being a couch potato I really wanted to spin tonight. Since I was not up to much, I plyed some sock yarn to make it more suitable for charity hat knitting.

Eric and John are feeling better too. We fell line dominoes with this cold, first Eric, then John and because I was exhausted I got it too.  I hope to have my voice back soon, right now it is very spotty. Some times I have it and sometimes it is gone.  Although I think we will be staying home until our regularly scheduled activities next week.

I expected the laundry to be knee high tomorrow.  I do not intend to get caught up for a few days.  We will e on minimum work and maximum rest for a few more days.

No Carpe Deim

Not all days are a Carpe Diem kind of day around here. Some days my standards are very low as long as everyone is alive at the end of the day and the laundry is not above knee level, I will call it a win.

I did get some Spinning done. This is going to be plied as an art yarn.  Pictures will follow when finished.

I did barely manage to get my 8,000 steps today.

Busy

Despite Eric wakings me up every 2 hours last night, I got a lot done around the house.  I did not finish the laundry and only did 2 loads.  Other chores were done instead

On the fiber side of my life Eric did help me start and finish 4 new bibs. I really don’t think he quite understood how many steps there are to making his bibs.  I only have 8 more to make and we can then retire some of the worn out bibs.  I cast on a new hat and got the first 1/2 inch of ribbing done. Only another 6 1/2 inches to go before the crown work.  I added another inch to the hand spun sherbet shawl on Raverly.   It was pointed out to me that I might just need to rewrite the pattern for a zourball. As not everyone can look at a basic pattern and just decide to use different yarn and needles and know it will come out.  Last but not least I got my Louet S15 out and started spinning some rolags from The Wooly Witch on Etsy. I am getting an nice fine spin.  Once plyed it should be a sport weight yarn. It has been on my to do list since the spring of 2017.   I am still on the first rolag.  See the yardage so far.

 

Today

laundry, 3 loads
Nap, a long one
Knitting, not as much as I wanted
Cleaning, just the right amount
Bookman’s, sadly no

Eric is Sick

When Eric gets sick he usually does 2 things. First he makes a not literal ton of laundry. Second he shares his cold.  Well he managed to fill the washing machine to the top 3 times in 12 hours with dirty laundry And had dirty laundry to spare. John called it an apocalypse of laundry.

He did manage to share the cold with me too. Since John was home I tried to sleep today since I was up with a Eric last night. The good news is I am already in an arthritis flare up so the cold is almost gone. The bad news is it will add about 6 weeks to the current flare up from Eric’s last cold. Let’s hope that John does not get it.  

This picture does not include the weekly load of bath towels that got washed before the start of everything going into the Blender. Also over 90% of this is Eric’s laundry.  Our young man certainly knows how to make laundry.

Yucky Flare Up

Nothing but 5 loads of laundry and 2 hours of deep cleaning got done today.  I have almost another foot of knitting books for Bookman’s and a pile of craft magazines for my knitting friends.  My hands were to sore and tired to knit.  I did spend a lot of time napping. This flare up has knocked me out.  Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Time to Laugh

Today I gave myself a very short chore list. My plans included typing up not one but 2 new patterns. This involved finishing the second one, which is on the verge last round right now. Going to the computer and typing them. Taking some pictures.  Seeing if a friend had time to read through the second pattern.  I also wanted to start a baby blanket, there must be something in the water, I have 2 to make so far this year.

What actually happened was that I got half way through my chores.   Then the sounds did not sound right at the other end of the house. I got there just before Eric created 3 more loads of laundry. So the rest of the day was spent dashing to the washing machine to put a finished load in the dryer and start the next load. The last load of the day hit the dryer at 11:45pm.  Did I mention how grateful I am to have a washer and dryer at home?

Because I was popping up and down no knitting was done until after 5:00pm, when I just had a little time while training a new aide. She was great. She was quick and smart.  I only had to show her things once. To bad she was just a fill in. She would be perfect for our Sunday night opening.

I was so tired that John made the sandwiches for dinner.  Thank you John. Right now I am waiting to see if Eric is going to go to sleep before the sun rises later this morning.  Wish me good luck on that one.

Playing Catch Up

Eric and I are now over the tummy bug that is going around. So today was a catch up day.  I have finished the 1st stripe on Eric’s new hat. Yes this is hat 3 for Eric for the year. The first one was too short so we are giving it to a friend of Eric’s. The mittens will be started once hat number 3 is finished. 5 skins of yarn were washed in a hot water bath and thwacked. I just checked on them and they are still wet.  Cold damp weather is not ideal for drying yarn.

Some of the baskets in the laundry room are still knee high and with tomorrow being Sunday there will be sheets and towels to add to the laundry room.  I did manage to get 2 loads done today.  Picking up is still a work in progress, but I am sure everything will wait until tomorrow.

Tomorrow, tomorrow is only 40 minutes away.

Mindfulness

I am sitting here wishing that people would be more mindful. On a personal note it would result in less laundry and sticky floors for me to clean up after. I really hate to clean up medicine spills, that would not happen if people would just pay attention.

Outside my house I bet that there would be a lot less accidents and just maybe we would all pay less in car insurance.  If people would be more mindful maybe they might just pick up after themselves.  One can only hope.

Have a very mindful and happy day.

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.

11,482

As of 9:00p.m. tonight I have taken 11,482 steps.  That is 4.79 miles for me.  I did not go hiking or shopping. All I was doing was trying to zen the house.  My closet looks a lot better.  I found that I had room to move 36 quarts of yarn into more accessible drawers.  Yes, I knit and wove through 36 quarts of yarn since the last reorganization of the yarn. That made over70 hats and a a little more than a dozen scarves for kids in need.

Now if I could only have the G.E. 1960’s self cleaning house of the future. I could use more yarn up faster.  Just imagine if the laundry washed, dried and folded itself. If the dishes washed themselves and magically made their way to the cabinets. Self mopping floors and self vacuuming carpets.  On second thought just give me Rosie from the Jettison’s. Then I could spend my days playing with yarn.

I just have a few more chores to do before bed so I will cut this short.

Impressive

Eric made an impressive 5 loads of laundry today. There was one swimming day load, two eyrpy loads and two regular loads. This of course does not include the laundry from other family members or all the fiber stuff that needs to be washed.  So the weekend forecast is laundry as far as the eye can see. I would like to thank the good folks at Proctor and Gamble for making the Tide laundry detergents that work so well on what ever Eric throws my way.

If I have time I will warp the loom and weave a scarf and repeat.  As long as I am home, I might as well use up as much of my yarn stash as possible.  I wonder how many projects I can finish this weekend? I will let everyone know later.  I will also do some knitting.

Well it’s nap time.

Shh Don’t Tell Eric

It is more rare than a blue moon. I can’t even remember the last time that it happened. The odds are very much against this ever happening in any given year. What is this you are wondering. I will tell you only if you promise not to tell Eric. You must really promise and pinkie swear that you will not tell him.

OK, now that we have gotten that out of the way. I will tell you. It is a completely empty laundry room. Not one piece of dirty laundry in any basket. The picture below is the current state of my laundry room. I am not sure that this is cause for a world wide celebration, but around here that makes me very happy. I would also like to add thank goodness that the laundry line is in the garage or my freshly washed load of dress clothes would be soaking wet. It started raining not more than an hour after I hung all the dress clothes to dry.

Now I am off to sit with Eric to watch children’s programs and weave in more ends on Teri’s blanket.