I am Grumpy

 I have been having a really hard time with social isolation lately. I am beyond the blues. I am at the point I feel this will never end.  Now the are saying because of a shortage of a basics like IV fluids it’s best not to leave the house.  I can really see their point. People have forgotten how to drive and lost the ability to be nice.  We also hit a grim milestone today, 900,000 people have officially died of COVID19 in the United States.  Unofficially I am sure it is much higher.  My prayers go out to the families. 

In other news climate change researchers say the the weather for the last 50 years has been getting more extreme.  So if I have this right I was not even a teenager when the weather started going to hell in a hand bag.  It’s just getting worse.  What does this mean in the long run, because 50 years is a drop in the bucket in weather years.  I guess I will  have to find the article by University of Arizona researcher's. 

The only good news is that I am caught up on laundry.  I will not have to do any until Sunday.  

My Ramblings

 Its Girl Scout Cookie time and I have place my order. Two of my daughters nieces are selling cookies this year and they both got an order.  I kept it equal.  Their mom is an absolute saint for agreeing to keep the cookies that I ordered for her kids.  I think this is a win on so many levels. First I don’t have cookies at my house. Second she has extra snacks for her kids. Third it helps the girls.  Fourth I don’t have cookies in the house.  

I have still not been able to get duck eggs.  I got up early and went to Lee Lee’s. Lee Lee’s is still out.  I wish that I knew who else sells them in Tucson. Its not a COVID19  thing, this was happening long before COVID19.  Specialty foods like duck eggs and goat cheese seem to have a natural cycle. I just have to live with it.  I know they will be back soon.  

Winter has hit in Tucson, not like back east. It is expected to get into the 20’s tonight. No snow or rain in most of Arizona, with the exception of the mountains.  We have left a tap running so we will not need a plumber tomorrow.  I am so glad that I have my new gloves to keep my hands warm tonight.  I am also glad that I have a Bluetooth key board for my iPad.  Now I don’t have to stop typing to warm my fingers up.  The iPad touch screen is not very fond of cold fingers.  I just have to remember to hit the shift key for capital letters. 

Despite a very bad body day I did manage to get a lot of things done around the house.  I did however fall asleep near the end of folding laundry.  I did feel better after my nap. I have one load left to fold.  Not to bad in my humble opinion. Don’t get me wrong I still have more laundry to do but there is no more room on the cloths line. I did sleep through dinner preparation time so we did a freezer dive for dinner.  This leaves the last of the chili for dinner tomorrow.  Yeah, I don’t have to cook dinner tomorrow night.  

A Recipe Hack

 Yesterday’s dinner was an adventure in making.  I have not had corn bread for a couple of years now. I have just needed a piece for a while now. I just love the taste and convenience of Trader Joe’s Cornbread Mix, The mix as prepared by box directions has 14 grams of fat and 40 grams of carbohydrates. That would wreck havoc with my body. So I needed to think about a redo.

As per the box the recipe calls for 1 egg, 1/2 cup of oil and 3/4 cup of milk.  As you can see a whole lot of fat. 

So here is where yesterdays hack took a weird turn. I found my bottle of vegetable oil in the cabinet.  It still had 5 months to the Best Buy sell date. I opened it up and it had gone rancid. Great I had already opened the box and cracked the egg. What was next? To find a different oil of course.  I had some olive oil, now I know in some countries they use olive oil in cakes. Cornbread is more like cake than bread, so I thought why not give it a try. The absolute worst thing that could happen is that the experiment would be tossed. 

So here is my change to make it lower in fat. 1 egg, 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, 1 cup of water. The egg has 5 grams of fat. The olive oil has 54 grams of fat. For a total of 59 grams of fat divided into 9 servings brings the fat content down to a more manageable 6.5 grams of fat per serving. Compare that to 14 grams of fat if you prepare it by the package directions.  It is still higher than I like to go but it is definitely more manageable.

I followed the package mixing and baking directions.  I cooked it for 40 minutes. This is the time it took for the toothpick came out clean. I did notice that it did not brown on top the same way as when following the package directions. I then let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting. 

The corn bread was lighter and more cake like. It was still on the sweet side. It did not need additional Margarine. I knew that I had made a good hack when John went back for a second piece of cornbread. John never goes back for more cornbread. John usually just eats 1 piece of the 9 and leaves the rest of the pan for me. This is why I don’t make it very often. John also made sure to wrap the cornbread up so he could have more with dinner tonight.   

Try it and let me know what you think about it.  

A Rant

 Today was not a fabulous day.  It took me all day to run and empty the dishwasher. It it got done.  I got up early despite a bad night. I got to Trader Joe’s early, all I can say it is winter in Tucson.  I was not in the store 5 minutes when some older lady started walking off with my cart.  She apologized and said she could not tell the carts apart. Then kept on apologizing.  Then there an older gentleman who got stuck in the frozen food aisle, he just stood there. Ten minutes later when I realized that I had forgotten something and went back, he was still in the same spot.  

I really wish people would pay more attention to the older people in their lives. Ask me how I know how hard it is to be the sandwich generation.  Despite having 2 kids at home. Volunteering at their schools.  Doing community service projects. Carving out time for me. I still found time to make sure my father in law got to all his appointments.  Made sure he had all his shopping done. Took him out to lunch and family time.  I also helped take care of an uncle too. Took him out to lunch. Checked in on him. Did errands for him.  

There comes a time when you have to step up and become the adult.  There comes a time when you have to say no, you can’t go south for the winter. Where you have to reverse roles. It is not fare to put someone with mild dementia in a situation where they are all alone and confused.  They probably should not be driving either.  The accident rate goes up in the winter in Tucson.  When our snowbirds get confused they drive in the bicycle lanes which is dangerous for everyone.  They ignore traffic signs and lights, that might be a visual or cognitive problem.  They confuse the break and accelerator pedals.  They will drive 20mph in the fast lane in a 45mph zone.  They will drive here even when they lost their drivers license back home because we are the Wild West.  It is a state law that you have a valid license to drive here.  

Please be kind to the elders in your lives.  They have great stories to tell.  If after everything I  have said you still want to send your elders to Tucson, please take advantage of the many care companies and adult living homes. 

Thank you.  

They Are Finished

 The fingerless gloves are finished.  I am going to wear them tonight to keep my hands warm.  They are a little wonky, but the pattern was very vague and open to interpretation. There was only one very bad picture   So here’s the deal   If you can’t see any flaws or artist interpretation from 5 feet away they are perfect. 

Gloves

 It occurred to me this morning that I have a very serious shortage of gloves.  I have not shopped for new gloves for 3 years. I did get rid of the worn out gloves though.  In 2019 I was not in the mood to shop for gloves.  After losing Eric in November, it just seemed like too much work to get myself dressed and ready for shopping.  In 2020 and 2021 the COVID19 numbers were too high to go shopping.  I just can’t buy gloves online.  They must fit right and be comfortable. Glove sizing is not uniform.  They can’t have polyester or acrylic or they would be useless for me.  You would be surprised at the number of makers who just Ignore Labeling laws. They advertise wool gloves that are actually up to 95% polyester. 

So today I started knitting a pair of fingerless gloves in Ella Rae super wash wool in red.  I finished the second glove this evening and promptly started the first glove. I had a good knitting friend, Barbara who insisted that if you do the second mitten or sock first and then go back and knit the first one, you will never have the I just could not finish the second one syndrome.  You will never have a drawer of one of a kind 1/2 pair of anything. It seems to work for me too. I know it’s all about my personal perception on the project, but that’s all that matters.  So below is the picture of my second glove.  

I have already pulled the project bag with the second pair of gloves  I just have to pull everything out to cake the yarn and start. You will get to see those too. 

Faster

I had a very bad night last night   My joints were stiff and my normally soft bed felt like I was lying on cement. I am not sure why my body perceives the bed as being hard when I am sore.  I am sure if I Google it the will be a perfectly acceptable answer. I just don’t want to know know.  I doubt it will make any difference.   Just like I don’t want to know why some flare ups last a week and other are a few months long. 

 Today I managed to shave 3 minutes off my walking time around the block. A 19 minute mile.  I don’t expect progress like this everyday. I really wanted to take a nap but walked instead. Then I came home and took a nap.  I also got 32 minutes on the elliptical after dinner.  I have not gained any weight since November but I feel more puffy.  I need to work on that.  

I also managed to make a small dent in the current skein of yarn on the baby blanket. I think because it has a little more weight to it, it is not curling up.  The knitting is going faster.  

One Small Step

 Today was the first time I was able to walk around the block since I got that weird 24 hour bug in November.  I did the mile in a record setting 22 minutes.  Not bad for a first try in a long while.  Followed by 42 minutes on the Cubii2 after dinner.  I don’t know if it was the long walk or the Sjogren’s flare up but my joints and tendons are very stiff   I hope they are better soon   

In knitting news I have made progress on the baby blanket.  It is looking good.  

My adventures in on line shopping went very weird. They delivered all but the carrots. I thought they were out until I got a message from the store that I needed to pick up my carrots.  So strange.  

Very Short

 I got to the first color change on the baby blanket. That is all the news that is to print. 

In other news,  shopping has gone back to 2020. I send in my wish list and see if I get everything that I need.  Nope not today. Only got 50%.  I will try again tomorrow.  

A Weird Kinda Day

 Despite wakings up to a very bad body day the day turned out okay in the end.  By evening I was feeling better.  I managed to get 6 more rows of white knit on the baby blanket. No, I did not quite reach the color change yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  I know I have been saying that for a few days.  It is one of those infinite balls of yarn that just seem to stay almost the same no matter how many rows are knit. I also managed to get 50 % of my to do list done, although truth  be told John  did 50% of my work today.  

I have read the National Institute’s of Health report on inflammation and weight loss. Yet I am still perplexed as to why my clothing just keeps growing in the closet.  Like the pants I got around Mother’s Day.  When I bought them they sat at my waist and were 2 inches above my ankle. The bottom of the pant leg now sits at my ankle and the waist just hit the bottom of my rib cage.  I have not lost a pound yet.  I have also read that the body reconfigures it self after losing x amount of pounds and then the weight loss starts again.  This is the second size down without losing any weight.  I am going to propose a different theory on the subject. It is just as absurd.  It is the desert air that is making the clothing grow.  It is also changing the size tags on clothing at the store so I think that I am buying smaller clothing sizes. This is just as crazy as the 2 vetted and published articles above.  By the way I will wait until the pants go halfway up my rib cage and then I know that I am down another size. Then it’s clothes shopping again. 

I got the strangest call from the car dealership today.  Since I have less than 4,000 miles on my 2 year old car I should let them buy it back so that they can sell it to someone who will love it more and drive it more.  Haha, in this car market they have got to be crazy.  Besides Tessela, which does not come with leather seats, heated seats or steering wheels which is fantastic for arthritis. I am not sure about the padded steering wheel’s which are great for arthritis.  What other car is there on the market.  Most of the car makers are still paying the price for canceling those computer chip order’s at the beginning of the pandemic.  You’ve got to hand it to them they do have gull. I am keeping my car. 

An Outing

 Today we went for a drive going north on Oracle Road. Truth be told I am going stir crazy at home.  Did I mention that there were over 1,000 new cases of COVID19 in Pima County today, yet again.  We drove all the way to Pinal County.  There is an over 55 community up there. Although it looks nice since we don’t golf or play tennis it probably would not be worth the monthly maintenance fees.  Did I mention that not one person we saw was masking up? Although if one could snag a house overlooking the golf course that might be worth it. It is basically out in the middle of nowhere.  15 minutes to the nearest grocery store.  A definite lack of places to eat out.  Since it is an over 55 community there would be no trick or treaters at Halloween.  I really love watching the kids grow up. It’s not for us, we are staying put.  I love being part of a multi generational community.  I love being close to things. 

I thought I would be on the next color strip on the baby blanket. I am almost there.  Tiny needles plus fine yarn equals skeins that go on forever.  Hopefully tomorrow will be the day for the next color.  

I had the energy to get a few things done around the house.  Although it required a rest afterwards. Yup, still in that blank ity blank flare up.  I think I will freezer dive for dinner tomorrow night.  Since I managed to snag a few ready made meals the freezer is full. That will be about my speed too.  

Some Knitting

 I am in the middle of a project that I am writing a pattern for.  Yes I am using a pair of U.S. size 4  (3.5 mm) knitting needles.  Something I usually don’t do.  The anticipated size will be 40 inches by 57 inches so it will last longer.  I am still on the first of eight 100 gram skeins of yarn.  The blanket is not going as fast as I would like it to.  I think it is more this stupid arthritis flare up.  It is leaving me very tired, sometimes too tired move.  I hope with a little more rest this week will the flare up will fade into history. 

I have not had the energy to sit and type the last pattern.  I am hope to add the fringe and start typing it up. Wish me luck on that front.  

A sneak peak of the newest pattern.  

My Ramblings

 I finally felt well enough to get some work done around the house today.  I did 3 loads of hand wash and 1 regular load.  I also caught up on a little bit of folding.  I found an hour to block the new pattern.  Found an hour to work on a present.  Spent a couple of hours sleeping after a walk. It felt good. I have not walked this far in a while. It still leaves me a bit winded.  Maybe we will have an answer soon. Placed an on line order and got most of it put away   

I did not catch up on paper work including typing the new pattern.  Well there is always tomorrow.  But for now I will call it a day. 

Blocking

 If you have ever wondered why we block some things in knitting, just take a look at the picture before blocking.  This came of the knitting needles this week and has not yet been blocked.  It was raining today, so it was not an ideal day to block anything.  I will try again tomorrow.  

By the way there is absolutely no way to tell what this is before it’s blocked   It just looks like a piece of hand knit fabric   

Another New Pattern.

 I am currently working on a bespoke baby blanket.  I will publish the pattern after the mom to be gets it.  One thing I can tell you now is that it is simple and colorful.  There will be a nice gradient in colors.  It is a fast knit.  It will use 8 100 gram skeins of yarn on US size 3 knitting needles. Those without arthritis in their hands should be able to finish in a week or so. It will be large enough to use until the toddler stage.  

Somehow having a space of my own where I can shut out the world while looking at a nice desert landscape is helping my creativity.  I only wish I could knit more hours a day right now.  Right now I knit for a bit and let my hands rest.  This seems to have cut down the soreness and swelling.  Maybe this way I can avoid further surgery on my hands.  I can only hope. 

Finished Knitting a New Pattern

 I finished knitting a new pattern today.  All there is left to do is weave in the ends.  Wash and block it. Photograph it.  Type up the pattern and notes.  Insert the pictures.  Then the hard part. Working on the listings.  

I pulled out another notebook for the next design that is already 2 1/2 inches into the pattern.  Don’t worry this is much easier than the pattern I just finished.   I should be able to catch up on the notes in no time at all.  

On the 5 foot long scarf that I am knitting while watching television, I made fourth color change tonight.  The green that I started should take me almost to the end of the scarf.  Then maybe some yellow if I still need to add inches.  

This has been a bad body day, which on top of being stuck at home because of the COVID19 numbers is making me cranky.  I just want to cry.  I know that won’t do any good so I don’t.  I just want to go out.   I just want people to wear their masks and get their vaccines.  I want to eat out. I want to knit with friends.  I want to travel.  I know it’s not to much to want, but it seems like a lot right now.  

The Pattern from Hell

 I started knitting a baby blanket for someone I know.  No, it’s not a family member.  I am using a kit that included the yarn to make a baby blanket and the pattern. The pattern sold well a few years back but I never did see any of the finished blankets.  Now I know why.  I also now know why so many people gave me their new kits   

First off the finished baby blanket size is 27 by 40 inches.  That is much to small for a baby blanket.  It’s more like the size of a shawl.  Second each stripe is supposed to be 10 inches wide and there are 4 of them.  I might not be the best a math, but by the patterns calculation the blanket would be 40 by 40 inches.   A nice size baby blanket.  For 40 grams of yarn I got 2.5 inches, so for a 100 gram ball that would give me 6.25 inches not 10 inches as stated by the pattern, 3.75 inches too short. Assuming it really was 100 grams when I started. By industry standards they are allowed + or - 5% for each skein of yarn for weight and yardage. 

Since that was only the beginning of the problems with this pattern.  I would have to rewrite the whole thing to send to the company for an errata.  One or two things ok, but the whole dammed pattern no way. So I came up with a work around.  

So I went stash diving to see if I had yarn that matched. Even if it was not the same dye lot I could make it work.  That’s for a lesson or another log post.  I had no luck there.  So I went to start looking at kits that were waiting to be knit.  I found the same kit in the same color.  In the very first basket.  Yeah, there are 5 baskets of kits waiting to be knit.  I  found it in the first basket. I now have a very workable solution.  I will have another pattern to write up shortly.  I usually don’t like writing and knitting 2 patterns at a time , but I will use separate notebooks and different yarn bowls, yarn weights and colors.  So that should help.  

Wish me luck.  

Sighs

 I am not sure what I absolutely hate more, a Sjogren’s flare up or COVID19.  Right now my vote is for the Sjorgren’s flare up only because my face is so swollen that I can’t see my ears.  John votes for COVID19 because we both want to go out and do things.  With the flare up I am tired I can’t concentrate on things for long.  My hands get wonky at time.  I may have to read the same book section 2 or 3 times to understand it.  With COVID19 I am just bored and stir crazy.  

I have been doing a little knitting.  I am trying to finish a 40 inch square baby blanket before the baby comes and I only have 38 inches to go on itsy bitsy knitting needles.  I think that they are a U.S. size 3. I can get between on half inch and 1 inch done per day.  I hope that I get a little faster.  The ever other Purl rows slow me down, but make the blanket so much nicer.  I have about 8 inches of the first color to go. There will be 4, 10 inch sections when I am finished. Gradienting from white to purple.  

While watching television I am working on a random scarf.  I like the pattern because I don’t have to watch what I am doing.  I just let the knitting needles fly.  Tomorrow I should be at my third color change. Only about 4 1/2 feet left to knit.  

It’s Fixed

 I got an emergency dental appointment today. The crown has been reseated. A different method and glue was used. So hopefully it will stay put.  I did manage to crash my blood sugar afterwards. We’ll long story short I have a bad habit of throwing up if I go to the dentist with a full tummy. So I skipped my lunch. After the dental work I could not eat until 3:30. Don’t worry I ate a little before I drove anywhere. I waited until the food kicked in before I even started the car.  Also if you are in need of a dentist in Tucson I have the name and numbers of 2 very good dentist.  

I did manage to get a short walk and 2 thirty minute Cubii2 workouts.  So I am starting to feel better.  I also finished one Grandma’s Bag of Necessity, I will post a picture to Raverly tomorrow, this was knit in wool.  The pattern is also on Raverly.  If for any reason you do not use Raverly just message me and we can figure out away for you to buy the pattern.  

The Sjogren’s flare up is still kicking me in to naps.  I woke up did a little work and slept for 2 hours even though I set a 20 minute timer and reset it once.  When my body needs sleep it does not matter what I have to do it wins every time.  That is the down side of giving up high sugar energy drinks.  Well there is always tomorrow.   

B.B.D.

 I took the opportunity to sleep through most of my bad body day.  There are times when I am sure that I am not over doing things, however my body says not so much.  I did manage to finish another chapter of The Witch Ash. It has taken some unexpected turns.  It is a real page turner.  

Another scarf was finished.  Tomorrows UFO has been found and put on the knitting table.  I am not sure what I will do with this project when finished. It’s just so close to the finish line that I need to get them done.  Yes there are 2 small projects in one bag. The leftover yarn will go into the hat bag.  

I did start a charity box for art supplies.  Once it is finished I will drop it off at Eric’s old day program. His friends like to see what treats I bring. They like deciding what to do with everything. 

And to cap off today, the cap that fell off 2 weeks ago fell off again tonight. I am not happy about that at all.  How can the adhesive agent fail so quickly?  Well back to the dentist I go.  

Just Monday

 I decided I was not quite in the mood to do much cooking this week so I got up early and headed to the store. Most people were wearing masks, but there are a few that still won’t. I just assume since we have a county wide mandate that they are also not vax’ed, so I try to stay as far as possible from them. . I picked up a double turkey breast.  That should be good for at least 3 turkey dinners and one pot of soup.  

An afternoon walk and some time checking up on my older sister.  Then there was some easy knitting while working on a scarf.  I did not finish it but came close to the tinking spot.  I have gotten to an interesting spot in the Witch Tree. So more knitting time and listening time tomorrow. I have also changed chairs for my Cubii2.  I am using on of the chairs from the dining room table and a chair pad from the kitchen table.  It sounds odd but it works as long as I am wearing low heels.  I know being short requires heels for everything.  I did manage to get a full 30 minute workout after dinner.  Now we will see if I can get one after breakfast tomorrow.  

We are currently bingeing on the HBO British version of Ghost.  We are in the middle of the second season.  I highly recommend both the British version which is the original and the American version.  They are both the same yet different to reflect the society differences.  

Just Knitting

 I finished my first project for 2022. It is the Summer Lee Stash Dive Scarf on Raverly. See the picture below.  I really like knitting them while watching television.  Once they are cast on I just have to be mindful of the color changes.  I have also cast on the next Stash Dive Scarf.   The only problem with this one is that I did not turn on the lights in the knitting room and thought that I had pulled out a skein of a light green, it was blue and did not go with my color way. So I went back again and thought I had the right shade yet again.  No, it was blue green.  The 3rd time was the charm.  A pale green.  That works, so knitting continued.  I did modify the pattern slightly by crocheting the ends closed  this gives it a more uniform look and is faster  

I thought I was going to finish a second knitting project today, but had to tink it out.  I lost a few stitches along the way.  So, after the yarn was rewound I cast on my 15 stitches and started again.  Once I finish this scarf I will start a present.  I am going to see how many projects I can get done this month without destroying my hands.  More importantly how many UFO’s  

The numbers are up for COVID19 so I will be spending a lot of time at home.  

Fitbit Sense

 So I broke my Fitbit sense. I cracked the glass. It has been limping along for about 2 weeks. Today I had to attach the charger to see the dial and knew it was the end of the road for a very expensive watch.  I made the mistake of following the watch directions by wearing the crystal on the outside of my wrist.  Since I had a bad track record as a kid, when I was 9, I started wearing the watch face on the inside of my wrist. Problem solved, this is the first crystal that has cracked since the 1960’s for me.  Since the Sense is not the Mickey Mouse watch of my youth with the crystal being replaced every few months.  I had to replace the watch.  It’s all the fancy electronic stuff. John can explain it since it’s new technology.  

Even though I cracked the crystal, I still love the watch.  Although deep down  I still want my Fitbit One back. I just loved it   However the Sense does so much more. So I got another one   

Thanks to Target and Shipit I got it with in a couple of hours.  I set it up after dinner.  I think I am getting to much practice doing this because I did not need John’s help.  I even put my leather watch band on the new watch.  

Just so everyone knows, I paid for the new watch myself.  I am not receiving any money from Target, Fitbit or Shipit. There is no endorsement money or any other form of renumeration involved. These are my personal comments.  

I did however luck out and got it on sale just like everyone else who buys one this week at Target.