From Me and Mine

to you and yours! May your day be a good one. May your yarn never tangle and always be free of knots. May dropped stitches be found before 10 rows later, and may they be picked up easily. May all felting be on purpose. And may you find all the soft and cuddly parts of your life and cherish them.

FO's and a Happy Surprise

Yes, finally there is an FO here. Yay! There really is some good that comes from doing nothing but take naps, watch Court TV or A&E and knit.



I think I started these in October but they got ignored for awhile. I can't remember why. I made them a bit too long as most of my socks seem to felt a bit or shrink a bit or something. Once I've had them on for awhile they stretch out but I was thinking that they might wear out faster that way. Then today I realized that the only ones that had that problem were my Knitpicks..or maybe the Regias and the Monkeys all just happen to be longer. Oh well...they aren't that too much too big. And yes, there really is a PAIR. I tried taking a picture with both of my feet up on the door and promptly tumped over!

Sometime towards the last of the week I decided I wanted to make a pair of socks out of some Cascade 220 that I had. I found a pattern. So, I got out the bag that has worsted in it and found it. Hooray...except it wasn't enough. I really thought I had purchased two skeins of it...but there was only one there. :-)

Yesterday was hideously cold and the north wind was blowing snow and the roads were slick. I really didn't think I wanted to drive to the City for yarn. Besides that I haven't quite recovered all the energy I wasted last week. Oh well..there are other things to knit.

While blog reading, I read a sad story over at the Farm Witch's. It seems someone she's spoken of before had her whole house burn down. Saved the kid and her purse and a sock on the needles. And, she (FW) asked if anyone had any yarn to spare.

Well sure, I have sock yarn. Not fine handspun but sock yarn all the same and I think it breeds because some of it I don't remember buying. So this afternoon I was gathering up some needles and stuff for a kit..you know, scissors and tape measure etc. And then opened up the cedar chest to get out some yarn. And there...right in the middle of the sock yarn was the other skein of the Cascade.

So, I think I'll eat supper and start a sock! If I don't see you again, enjoy the week! Do something that makes you feel good whether that be a bath or starting a new project of sleeping through the 25th. And be glad you have a home! xo

Not Much

going on here other than cough, wheeze, pant. I went back to the Dr. on Monday and was told that if I wasn't better by today, I would go to the hospital. I'm better, really I am. But sheesh this stuff is big time bad. So I've been being really really good. I've got to get better soon. I'm almost out of groceries. Well, that IS an exaggeration, but I'm almost out of the stuff I eat/drink all the time.

In the meantime, I haven't been a total slug. I made myself a new hat. I was looking for a pattern for a hat with earflaps, printed out a couple and then off to read blogs and found exactly what I wanted.

Meet Thorpe: And no..I'm not modeling it..you don't want to see that!
Specs: Miscellaneous stash yarn that I have no memory of.
Needles: Size 10.5 CP dpns
Time Spent: Not really all that long considering all the naps I take.




I should have made the small size, and then realized it a bit late so I cheated on some of the next rows. For what it's really supposed to look like and on gorgeous models go see Kirsten. It's much cuter there and the pattern is free and fun.

A Little Bit

of snow is all that fell yesterday. I'd heard predictions of from 4-6 inches but it swerved northward before it made it this far east I'm told. Still pretty coming down. I think we got maybe an inch. Still sticking to the grass and bushes but the streets are just wet.

I had big plans for fun yesterday but except for finishing up the holiday cards, I spent most of it curled up on the couch. That respiratory stuff that I had a couple of weeks ago came back with a vengeance on Friday. Didn't feel really bad but was coughing a lot by the time the work day was over. Fed the animals, threw a load of clothes in the washer and started shivering like crazy. I was so cold. It was cold outside and I thought it was just that my bones were cold. But a bit later I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and my ears were as red as Rudolph's nose. Uh oh..temp of 103. So dosed up with Nyquil and headed for the couch. Where I remained until 3 am and my fever broke. Again I was freezing LOL. Changed into real pjs and read a blog or two and headed back to the couch. The cats were thrilled. There's no way I can sleep on there without major cuddling going on. Someday I will maybe get a regular couch instead of a love seat.

Woke up feeling a bit better although all my muscles are so sore from coughing. I was truly glad I had no errands to do but a bit sad that I felt too bad to do any of the fun things I'd lined up. I won't complain though. I could have been as unlucky as Katya...geez girl!

Oh, I'm wondering if any of you know about the legality of buying prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies. And if you know of some that are really legit. Apparently I'm not googling right because although I can find lots of Canadian pharmacies, I can't find the answers to my questions. I buy my meds from our hospital and get a good deal on them, but they cost several hundred dollars a month. They deduct from my paycheck but they never deducted the total amount, instead they deducted 1/4 amount every pay period (every two weeks). I was really happy with that as it allowed me to pay bills, buy food for me and the babies, and even some yarn and fabric now and again. But a new policy has been instituted. The $9++ that I'm behind will be deducted in equal payments from now until July 1st..which will make my take home a bit larger. However, all meds must be paid for completely when you get them. I just can't quite figure out how I'm going to do that. I am amazed at the difference in Canadian prices. For some of the really expensive ones, it's like 50% less. Something is wrong with that picture. I'm going to talk to my PCP about maybe switching some of them to less costly ones, but I've asked my cardiac doc before and he's always said no. And they are all working well. /sigh. I'm sure I'll get it all figured out eventually.

UPDATE: I found the info so you can just disregard :-)


In the meantime, Hershey says a nap will make everything better.

You Say It's Your Birthday~~~~

Do you hear the Beatles singing? No? Maybe it's only at my house cause It's My Birthday too yeah! And I just love it! I don't think I've ever not wanted to recognize a birthday..after all, it IS all about me :-) And as for getting older..well for me it's a good thing. Hey..I survived another year and can look forward to the next year to come. More yarn, more knitting, more fabric, more books more friends, more giggles. Yay!

Today at work, my office coworkers and I are going to have pizza for lunch..AND breadsticks too. And the weatherman says he will 'give' me snow later in the day. Which may mean that I save money. Because an Oklahoma City branch of a nummy yarn store is opening Saturday and I'd planned on helping them celebrate. No matter. I'll stay home and be warm and snuggly (I hope)

If it's not your birthday today...well pretend like it is and do something nice for yourself. French toast maybe?

Paying it Forward

In the midst of watching the lights flicker (still on, yay!)I signed up for this over at Cat's blog. Sounds like great fun to me and no biggie time limit. Here's how it works.

The guidelines: "I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Want to participate? Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and make the same promise on your own blog.

Note: Realistically I will not be knitting you a cabled sweater. But I promise you that whatever I make you will be made with lots of care and love.

And a request...please keep the people affected by this storm in your thoughts. People are dying from using bad choices in keeping warm. Who knew the generator had to be way away from the back door. Not me. And I would imagine there are others that nobody knows or cares about that are suffering. Today in Oklahoma City they opened the Convention Center so people that have just reached their limits can find some warmth and food. I have a friend that's been without power since Sunday. She's ok, but I know from experience that it's very wearing. Anyway, just keep them in your thoughts.

And hug your thermostat :-)

Oh the weather outside~~~

The day's adventures started early. The power went out with a bang around midnight but Mary, the most demanding cat, didn't care. "It's 5 AM and I'm starrrrvvvinnng!" Clamping on my headlight I fed them, and discovered that Zoey is absolutely terrorized by that light. I guess she thought it was chasing her. So whimpering, she hid out behind the love seat. As soon as they finished, we all went back to bed to listen to the radio which picks up one of the local tv stations. Guess what. It's icy and the power is out.

All snuggled up we went back to sleep until dawn sort of arrived at 7:30! I can't remember when I've slept that late. Although very cloudy and dim, I at least could get around without the light.

So, off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. One pan of water heated makes a big mug of instant coffee (I know) and a big mug of instant oatmeal (blech, I much prefer real oatmeal) and enough water that once cooled can provide face washing, teeth brushing etc. A bit more heated and dishes are done.



Then with a full tummy we went out to explore a bit and to maybe get some ice off the car.

It was a bit tricky exiting the patio, but the intrepid explorers found an alternate route.



If it wasn't so destructive, I'd have to say it's absolutely beautiful. But then sometimes the most dangerous things are the most beautiful.




This little branch is about the size of a skinny pencil. The rest is ice..I'm not sure how ice can be all around something. Must freeze fast before it falls off. I measured 1/2" thick ice on the trunk of my car.



In the center of this picture you can maybe see a broken off tree limb. I don't know where the rest of it is..I'm thinking it's on the roof.



I got a call that the office once again had lights and just as I was trying to get excited about going to work MY lights came on. Yay!! A bath, clean hair and off I go again.

All day long it rained. And rained. And rained. Very uncomfortable as it was very cold but NOT freezing so the streets and sidewalks got much better. The trees are still a disaster. And on the evening news they said that there were 638,000 electric customers without power. I am so blessed!

Lights are a bit flickery tonight and they say there might be freezing drizzle but for now I'm warm, safe and have knitting to do.

See ya tomorrow maybe! xo

More Ice Means Home Early

Home early today as ice or something took out a transformer and my office had no power. It gets really old sitting in the dark listening to the computer batteries beep. As per usual, our emergency lights didn't come on. Plant services brought us a couple of flashlights...they had more, but it seems that D batteries are on back order. :-/.

Unfortunately, there was no power at my house either. Although very gray outside, there was enough light to see my way to the basement and I retrieved My Buddy propane heater and the little one burner propane cook thing. Got them all hooked up, made sure I knew how to turn them on and then I heard a really weird noise. Took me a minute to realize it was my printer turning itself on. Yay..lights! Camera! Action!

Well, not too much action. I'm making a batch of potato soup..it reheats nicely in case the power goes away again. And the down comforter is at the foot of the bed just in case. That funky headlight is in my knitting bag and I have a sock that at this point is just mindless stockinette and some quilt pieces cut out and lots of books and fresh batteries in the radio/tapeplayer/cd thing. I'm good to go. I just hope I'm prepared for nothing.

The roads were really better than they were this morning but we get periodic batches of freezing rain so I'm sure when the sun goes down (I know it's out there somewhere) that will all freeze again.

And so it goes on this frozen prairie. xo

Ice, Ice, Baby

That's what the outside world has been about today. Fortunately I got to stay inside except for brief forays to retrieve propane from the garage and jaunts with Zoey. Except for that, it's all been about the inside.

And inside, it's been warm and happy. Christmas lights on alllll day. Fabric to be cut out. A bit of sock knitting. Just a lot of fun things.

And after fighting with yucky respiratory stuff for way too long, I felt really good. Even when not feeling so well, I couldn't complain too much as I'd dodged it for the last couple of years. Or, perhaps as someone suggested, I needed a rest. Certainly got that. Lots of naps were taken. Lots of tea drank. Mindless tv and some mindless reading. Must have worked...either that or it was the steroids :-O



And I even have a new friend. Meet Axel all the way from the UK, brought into the world by Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits. He was a bit shy at first and thought that he could hide in the tree and check things out before jumping into the softie community here. Now all is well, and he's been telling all sorts of tales to the other bears and lambs and cats and moose and reindeer and hippopotomii that share my home.

Time for lights out now..and the hope that in the morning they'll come on, unaffected by freezing rain weighing down the lines!

xo