Winter Is Coming….Knitting Update

Hi folks
I have quite a few projects on my needles these days, and a couple finished waiting to go to my son and his girlfriend in S Korea. I am a little less than halfway finished with one final scarf to include in that box.

I will post photos once they arrive in Seoul as they are Christmas and belated birthday surprises. Can't wait to get everything completed and send the goodies on their way. Just wish I had thought to make them wool and alpaca instead of the blends that have been readily available here in the sub tropical part of the US. I will send a second box with some of the alpaca and wool that I have my eye on when Knitpicks has the big sale. I also have some assorted alpaca and wool in my natural fibre bin that seems like it would be very good choice too. Some icelandic wool, LettLopi in a wheat and also an autumn shade of orange will work nicely. Also some alpaca hanks found at Tuesday Morning in Baton Rouge, great finds!! I might use some of the 100% alpaca with one of my wool blends since the alpaca has a tendency to grow, it will add a bit of color and knit up quickly. I think I have a couple of bulky hat patterns in my Ravelry library that I wanted to try.

I found a great mystery dishcloth KAL on another blog, very enjoyable, and she awards a prize to the first one to guess the image. I am using a green, (sage was the only shade I had handy) I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby. Very easy to work with, especially when trying to knit tightly. I normally have to go down a needle size, so I am using size 7 silicon(flexible tips) needles and this particular brand of cotton slides easily. It reminds me of the hanks of pima cotton, but the price is much less: 3.29 as opposed to $7 for the pima that I found on sale at Tuesday Morning for 4.99.

If you would like to join in this one, or any of the monthly KALs, her blog is Domestic Dash at
Link to the Christmas themed KAL riddle
All of the pattern up till this point is posted, and she posts two rows every day. A very doable pace for even the busiest of knitters. Hope to see you there!

Oh well, break time is over. I must get back to work on that scarf. Another 35-40 inches to go.
And another hour or so to go before the Saints game, so have to leave it on WWL.  Geaux Saints!!!

Karen

Mahvelous Dollar store Swift Idea...webecca says: Tilta Swift

webecca says: Tilta Swift


This is a link to a fellow blogger's post with directions to make a fabulous swift out of very inexpensive items. I will be making one of these very soon. Had to share

Two years is a long time

While looking through some knitting related blogs, I rediscovered my own neglected, forgotten blog. How sad...

My last post was written more than two years ago, and a kind blogger left a comment a couple of weeks ago, "Welcome Back." I guess I was back for a fleeting moment, then gone again. This was written two years ago, and I had forgotten about my little blog. I realized that I guess I really should get back to posting again. It does help to put things down on paper, so to speak. The relative anonymity of the internet helps the cathartic process a bit too, although I am fully aware that whatever is posted is here to stay. After all, my little blog has survived all this time, all alone.

A lot has happened in the last two+ years too, though nothing as tragic as losing my Dad, thank goodness.

Friendships came and went, some of those considered friends came and went too. Sad to say that at times not all who claim to be friends truly have your back when it comes to that moment of truth. But with time and experience, eventually we learn to tell the difference between true friends and acquaintances.

I have been slowly, much too slowly, recovering and regaining strength after a femur fracture back in April. Loss of a well loved job and a move back to the home neighborhood all i the last 7 moths- a lot of change. I am working on ridding myself of the cane and really strengthening my muscles so I can get back to taking care of patients again.

I taught myself to knit, have not done any ceramics in a while, but will resume this when I am finished with some repairs on my house. then I will be able to move back home and have my space again. Still enjoy photography, but have not shot much since I fell, as managing a camera, bag, equipment and getting into quite a bit of stooping, kneeling, climbing, etc to get that shot would be somewhat difficult when using a walker or cane. So, that will also be resumed in the next few months if all goes according to plan.

In the interim, I will continue to knit and crochet.

There have been a few changes in the makeup of my little family, mainly the furry kiddos. I lost two of my loved Boston Terriers a year or so ago. My Mackie boy, a rescue from a puppy mill, had intestinal cancer and we had to say goodbye to home in November 2011, then the following early fall, I lost my baby girl, Frannie Rose, also adopted from American Boston Terrier Rescue. She was my first transport/foster failure and such a special girl, I loved her so. When I felt I was ready to adopt another Boston, I started looking on the website and fell in love with a fuzzy little puppy, a Boston mix.

Josie is lovingly nicknamed the FuzzButt and is a typical wild and crazy playful puppy. We think the puppy daddy might have been a Shih-Tzu because of her long body and fuzzy coat, but it seems that her personality and energy level is typical Boston.

So, I still have Turbeaux, who will be 13 in December, Libby who is 6 as of September, Zoe Claire, We think she is 6 or 7 and her birthday/gotcha day is in July(another AmBTR foster/adopted kiddo, and the Fuzzbutt- Josie, who will be a year old mid November. My grand puppy, my daughter's dobie, also is here. Pippin gets along wonderfully with all the Bostons and BT wannabes in the house. I think sometimes that he doesn't realize that he is a big dog, he gets on the floor and plays with them, especially the puppy, Boston-style. I have to try to video the two of them playing bitey-face, it is so funny to watch!

Anywho, hope that you and your families are well and peaceful.

Might try to post some more about my newfound hobby- knitting as well. Thank goodness for you tube and other video tutorials, that's all I have to say. My motherinlaw tried unsuccessfully to teach me to knit in the early 70s. Let's just say that this is much more enjoyable. ;-)

Karen

long hiatus but I am back

Too much has happened in the last 4 months, some very sad, and that is why I have not been posting. Grief paralyzes a person, as much as I try to say I won't let things keep me from a normal life, it creeps in and I have reminders every day, several times a day depending on what I might be doing. The grocery shopping, I don't have to buy Boost or those particular Stouffers dinners. I miss the Loud TV, and I seem to still listen for the squeak of the wheel chair that lets me know he is up from his nap. Dad has been gone over three months now, and I still seem to hear him snoring, or calling out in his sleep-dreaming about working, he would have his hands moving, sawing and hammering when I would peek in to check on him :)

Anyway, I am back, if anyone is reading this. I have been busy planting and potting my container garden. The Torpedo Grass prevents me from considering planting a normal garden. I must find some way to get rid of that horrible weed. It seems to be the Louisiana version of kudzu. It is invasive, will grow through all landscape fabric, black garden plastic, mulch, rocks, concrete cracks. It tunnels under garden edging of all types, and even makes its way under and through roofing shingles and 90 pound paper. Have I expressed how much I want to get rid of this plaque??

I will try to post some photos of the porch and entrance containers if I can remember how to post photos LOL

Let's see, maybe "Post options"? nope...will try from photobucket :)ope that didn't work either.

check back for photos if I can get them to post, I will

Time to....

to get off my backside and go do something. I need to do some work in the house while my Dad naps, so off, I go. First some spring water and baby carrots. I found the most delicious baby carrots and apple slices in the organic veggie section. Not that much more than the regular stuff and sooooo much more flavorful. My dogs like them better too =)

life lately

I am a year older, a good bit grayer and a lot more tired.

My Dad is still cruising along, praise God! He had a bit of a crisis a couple of weeks ago with extremely low blood pressure, the kind where I would be calling the rapid response team and getting the code cart near the room. 72/34 is not consistent with life for too long without some intervention. Sometimes it is a disability to know more than the average daughter. Hospice nurses started continuous care which means that there was a nurse for 12 hours and a hired sitter for the night 12 hour shift. I was not ready for the expected outcome, despite his faith and mine, it is really difficult to remain strong when faced with the possibility that I was losing him, watching him slip away. I love my Dad. he is a good and just man, like Joseph was. He and I have had our frustrations with each other, but I dearly love him. He is so generous and thoughtful, patient, kind, soft -spoken, slow to anger...it sounds like Corinthians, doesn't it? Well, yes, but he is stubborn. I do get aggravated with him sometimes, I'll admit it, but that is me--I am impatient, judgmental, critical, etc., so it is my short fuse that usually is the culprit when we disagree. I am as stubborn as he is, too, so that battle of wills sometimes gets in the way. I am his 56 year old daughter who happens to be a nurse trying to tell him what to do. Sometimes it just works out better if I get one of his hospice nurses to tell him the same thing-he listens when Jennifer or Theresa tell him ;-) My daughter can usually tell him too and he listens to her better than to me. She says no, but I see him light up when she is here. :-)

Anyway, the "crisis" lasted 5 days. He was confused, very weak, unable to stand to safely transfer to the commode or wheelchair without a lot of assist. He fell a few days before this started, fractured two facial bones and had a huge black eye for a few days. I brought him into the ED since he hit his head and had a laceration, the doc closed the lac with dermabond , checked his labs, and did a CT of his head. I was concerned that he might have had an infarct or bleed, but no sign of either, just atrophy (age related) and the fractures. His hemoglobin was 7, pretty darn low, so his anemia has probably had a lot to do with the weakness and shortness of breath. Low hemoglobin=low oxygen for the essential areas of his body. His concentrator is on the max 8-10 litres/minute.

He had a lot of visitors, including two wonderful priests, a lot of prayers were said, Joe brought his guitar, some good friends from the Center came on Saturday afternoon for praise and worship and Fr. Lance celebrated a Communion service for him. Prayers were said by good friends on my rescue email list, dog group friends, neighbors, family, dog forum friends, the Center community and as far away as California, Boston and London. I really thought that this was his farewell, the nurses pointed out all of the physical signs indicating that he was working on leaving here. He and I even talked briefly about funeral wishes, that was extremely hard, but I felt that he might need to get it off his mind as he worked through this.

I am extremely happy to give praise to Jesus because all those prayers were heard and he is back to reading his paper and watching TV, eating his favorite breakfast of grits and coffee, then a Boost, and sleeping in the wheelchair in the kitchen while the TV blares a "cowboy movie" His hearing was not healed...

I am so glad that he has returned to those things which he enjoyed before, just wish I could work it so he could work with wood again. He wants to go to help my daughter install a doggie door in the back door of my house as her Doberman does not fit through the Boston Terrier size door in place now. That will help him, I am sure.

He has started sitting on the front porch in the evening when it is a little cooler and enjoys getting outside. The neighbors came over to visit with us the other evening and I know he enjoyed seeing them both. I think we have resurrected a tradition of stoop sitting from long ago. New Orleanians spent most summer evening sitting on the stoop, or porch, to catch a breeze and to visit with the neighbors. It is a good tradition to bring back if the neighborhood is safe, it is a shame that some areas are too dangerous to enjoy your own front porch.

Okay, time to stop, I am on the soapbox and must get down before I get carried away.

I will try to write more often, it is great therapy, and it is free!!!

God bless each of you and your families

Karen

What happened to all the middle aged casual clothes?

My friend and I went to a couple of stores that historically have womens' casual pants, with comfortable elastic waists that can expand when we visit the buffet ;-)
We were planning to get some of the deep discount clearance items-can't argue with 70% off. I was able to get some things for my daughter, but nothing for us. The dryer has shrunk all of our clothes and we both have to pick up some things that fit, We went to the next large discount place, the superstore...surely there had to be a good selection and a lot of things on clearance, right???
Nope, the only clothing in our size was full price, dressy blouses and slacks and a few tiered skirts with glittery something across the front of a black tiered skirt. The majority of the clothes were geared toward young girls, and some rather immodest girls, skirts 6-8 inches in length and thong underwear in preteen sizes EWWWWWW!
We still were in need of clothes, but I did get a couple of 6 packs of Boost so not a total loss =)

shopping can be a drag...

My Dad claims to be suffering with cabin fever, so I asked him if he wanted to go pick out some comfortable slacks, or I could bring some home and let him try them on. He was anxious to "get out of the house".
We took the short drive to the closest mall, parked outside the door that led to the men's departments. I found 4 pairs of khakis, my poor Dad was worn out after trying them on. He has been sleeping in the recliner since we got home. It takes a lot of energy to go anywhere, thank goodness he rests well in his recliner.
But, we experienced shopping success - J. C. Penney has men's slacks on sale ;-)

My daughter is here!!

I am so happy to see my daughter who lives in Texas. She came in for an all too brief visit and it is wonderful having her home. Can't wait till she is back home for good.

We went to lunch at Quarter View ~ seafood gumbo and oyster po-boys, with sweet tea of course...best food evah!! My Dad enjoyed getting out a little, I think, but it tires him out.

We sat and looked at recent photos, now she is sleeping on the sofa with my littlest Boston, Libby. My Dad fell asleep in his recliner watching King Kong, so i am sitting on the front porch, waiting for the rain.

Hooray...the a/c man is on his way

just got the call...
off to meet him and get some cool air circulating and get all my pups home again =)

Waiting on the air conditioner man

this is Turbeaux!





this is Joey!



Here I sit, hoping that my central a/c will be working this evening. 2 of my pups are still at the vets, boarding, as they can not tolerate heat. One is spending sleepover time with his friend Joey, I hear that each of them are teaching the other all sorts of neat stuff. Turbeaux has instructed Joey on the technique of BT "bitey face". Now Joey knows how to play like this, let's hope that he uses this only when playing with others who speak bitey face, but they both are enjoying this camp time, according to the head of 'Camp Joey's House'.

Joey has introduced Turbeaux to the fun of barking at everyone who walks near the front yard. lotsa fun!!

I have a good friend, Joey's "mama" who helps out any time help is needed. We have traded the role of caregiver a few times now, she even rescued me when I called her a few months ago with "I've fallen and I can't get up" Thanks Maddie!

I think I have figured out how to stay here and take care of my dad. I will let my daughter live in my house instead of looking for an apartment that allows large dogs. My house is definitely dog-friendly =) This will enable me to stay here. She also will take care of aat least one of my pups, which is a great relief for me. It is very difficult to have four dogs at my dad's house. I could make some improvements and it would then be safe for all pups, he has a short chainlink fence and the house has open space under the house. if I put a 6' wood fence and locking tall gates and closed in the crawl spaces under his raised house, it would then be safe to let them out freely to potty/play in the yard. I will table this till later, no decision needs to be made now.

it's late and i can't think of a title

Today, Dad's eyes are no longer red-rimmed. He looks better, still is coughing and the incision is sore, but he is trying to move around more. his labwork came back and he is still very anemic, though improved from the previous H/H before the transfusion. The home health RN is going to call the hematologist for any orders, they might want to order procrit. If they do, he will go to the clinic to get his injection.
Just a few days till his appointment with the surgeon. Dad has not mentioned any more about the possibility of cancer. Guess we will deal with it as it comes.
Tthe words that kept coming to me as I prayed this evening were. "I am the Author of hope" and I felt an embrace of peace which quieted my racing thoughts.
Thank You Lord for Your love and mercy, and Your peace which surpasses all understanding.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today was a special day for my friend, Maddie, and for me too! She was received into the third order of lay Carmelites today, on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Wow! What a blessing to be able to share this with her.

My brother will be leaving to go back home on Monday, so he can get ready to teach this next semester.
Our next appointment is next Wednesday, so we probably will learn then, so really just a few days away...part of me wants to know right away, the other wants to just hide, like those little toys-Furbies. they would close their eyes, saying "Hide!", then they would appear to be asleep until the "danger" was passed. I want to be a furbie at times, but then the Lord holds out His hand and I receive the strength and courage that I need. He does this in all situations, the problem is that I keep my eyes shut tightly and don't see Him reaching out to me. Lord, please encourage me to open my eyes and face the obstacles with the knowledge that You will always be at my side, in every situation.

My daughter sent me a message saying that she will be coming into town next weekend to surprise Dad, her Bampa. He is going to be so thrilled to see her as she has lived out of town since Katrina and has been unable to visit more than once a year. He misses her and so do I!

Good news, my air conditioning should be fixed this weekend, it will be so nice to have a cool house again, and I know the pups will appreciate the cooler temperatures.

Oh, almost forgot-the photo of the statue.

statue

Just a note, a reminder that my photos are my work my art, they are copyrighted, so please don't copy them without permission to do so. Thanks so much & God bless.

There's no place like Home

Dad was discharged Sunday after a very tiring day, had somewhat of a rough night Sunday and Monday night with getting up nearly all night long coughing.
Yesterday he seemed to be feeling a little better so he was able to shower, the drainage had almost stopped, praise God! He was very tired after the shower, so went to his favorite recliner for a little nap...
At 1:30pm, my brother and I decided he should be hungry, and had to wake him up to eat lunch. He was very tired again and went right back to his recliner.
He is able to sleep much better in the recliner with less coughing to disturb his rest, so I guess he just needs to catch up on sleep.
I have a claymaking class at 3 so my brother was left in charge so i do not worry as Dad is in good hands and my cell phone is always with me these days in case he needs something.
He slept after dinner with his shows that he had marked to watch, waking every now and then to catch brief glimpses of talented americans on stage, then woke up at 10:30 and came into the kitchen to ask if it is 10:30 in the morning or night?
So he woke up just to get to bed, after his inhaler, tylenol and cough syrup, he slept better last night than he has in a long time. ..only once to cough. YES! i told him we are going to use that combo at bedtime until he stops the cough at night and is able to rest.
Today is a better day with less coughing...thank you, Lord!

home now- brief note

My Dad is home, very tired, coughing quite a bit, which is painful & frustrating. Home care nurse is coming twice a week. My brother is here till this weekend, and I stay with him too. Maddie- thank you so much for help with the pups!
thank you for the visits, bringing Jesus, the shoulders and the hugs too.
thank you for all the prayers ~ please keep them going.
We are waiting on Mayo clinic pathology report.

Carpentry is not the same as medicine

Went to get my brother and return to the hospital. We were gone maybe 35 minutes, 40 at the most.
We came in to find my Dad working diligently to d/c(take out) his IV from his arm, which seems to be one of patients' favorite pastimes when they are bored. It took his nurse, my brother and I to convince him that it is not his job to remove things inserted by nursing or medical staff.
Then we find out the resident would like to send him home today with his chest tube.
Uh - I don't think so...


to be continued....

wow, that was fast- thank you Lord

I just love when God answers prayers...thank you Maddie for listening :-)

rough night...

Dad was very restless all night, kept calling out and punching at something in his dreams, then later, a couple of stealthy predawn strolls in the room. Thank goodness for grippy socks! oh and thank goodness for recliners to catch a few winks this afternoon - both of us.

Tomorrow is Monday, good menu day, he agreed with all of the choices. Big favorites like red beans & rice for lunch and spaghetti & meat sauce for supper. Even the cantaloupe choice was well received as he said, "they can't mess up cantaloupe." I think he is getting his appetite back, Praise God!

i HATE cancer ...update on my Dad

I think I need to start a blog, but don't know the first thing about it...just this helps to put things down on "paper"..really laptop.


so here goes...

I could not do much yesterday except try to keep a smile on my face and run out to the other floor lobby to get coffee. I had my share of meltdowns & tears. I am better today.
I don't know if I have told anyone other than the people I work with at the church and good friends in Boston because I could not get the words out with each phone call. In fact I asked my good friend and manager to call the rest of the staff for me.

The preliminary biopsy results from this hospital pathologist are "suspicious for mesothelioma". They have been sent to the Mayo clinic for the second and final diagnosis, but the surgeon is pretty definite that it is a formality, and the diagram that he drew for my brother looked a lot like the diagram on the internet site that i visited. i'm a nurse, but not oncology RN, so I have to read up when faced with something new, and I decided to be cautious and go to the patient family education sheet rather than the journal articles.
My Dad worked for a local shipbuilder after the war as most returning GI's to NOLA did. hired every GI that applied to make sure these guys had jobs and could support their families. My Dad is a master carpenter and cabinet maker, so he was a ship's carpenter for them and a cold storage that built refrigerated cargo holds. Insulation used at that time was asbestos, and of course they all breathed it in when it was swirling around the room, blown by fans to keep them cooler in the hot summer. Then all of the ceiling tiles removed when he worked on remodeling school cafeterias in the 50's and 60's.
I said on my facebook: I HATE Cancer!


I don't know if he has grasped this bu i am not going to go there until we know for sure and treat it like a child asking about the birds and the bees, only what he wants and needs to know. I don't want to see him just be sick with treatment if it won't eradicate the cancer or make his life better. His surgeon agrees with this as does the oncologist team on the case. Their aim is to manage his symptoms, make him feel as good as he can so he can live his life as comfortably and as active as he can be.

He might get the chest tube out on Monday, he is better today after the blood transfusion last night, is sitting up in the chair, dozing mostly, but that's okay.
thank you for all the prayers. :-)

I'll update as able

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