Update: Me, The Garden, A Knitting Project

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you well and that you are having at least a tiny bit of springtime weather to enjoy. 

I am back, with just a tiny bit of my upper respiratory infection left - you know, enough of the cough and congestion to keep you remembering that it's not *quite* done with you. In my previous short post, I mentioned that I was hoping to get some help from my dr's office with some medications. Well, it turned out that they had me trudge over to the office to see a nurse practitioner. She informed me that I didn't have pneumonia (knew that); that it seemed I had an upper respiratory infection (duh); and that I would just have to "wait it out" because no one at their office prescribed medications anymore for it, because too many people "thought they needed it, when in fact there is actually no real treatment." 

So I trudged back home and coughed until I cracked a rib (which they said Tylenol would help), and did not get more than 3 hours of sleep for about the last ten days. Good times. 

Also - the cats are NOT amused. They liked the idea that I was pretty much just always in one spot, since I was really wiped out. But they were highly annoyed with my noisy, violent cough and the fact that I kept blowing my nose. Please offer a thought for them during their time of need.

Anyway, I'm more with it now, which is an improvement, and things are gradually settling down. But I still think I would have felt much better much sooner if I could have had some cough syrup at a minimum. (No, I'm not a doctor, but I think I could play one on TV.)

Anyhoo, I'm on the mend, just a lot more slowly than usual. Onward, right?

In some VERY exciting news, today I went out into the garden and brought these inside:

For the first time since I bought a lilac bush three years ago, there were blooms! These are all of them, but they make me so happy, and even though the bush itself is pretty spindly, if I can get a few blooms every year, that's fine with me. I figured that since it is supposed to rain later today and through the day tomorrow, I would bring these inside for us to enjoy. I've always wanted lilacs, and I'm happy for any this plant will provide.

Also, I noticed when I was outside that my clematis plant has approximately 20 buds on it - if even half of them bloom, it will be absolutely stunning! I'm sure you'll be seeing photos of it down the road, because well, any blooms in my garden are miraculous as far as I'm concerned, since I'm not a talented or very dedicated gardener. I was thrilled when my spindly forsythia plant had blooms on it around Easter, since they are another fave of mine. 

We may have to disrupt things in our garden this year since a neighbor might have to have some work done on a wall we share (long, unpleasant and very annoying story, I'll spare you), so I don't know if I'll try to plant very much. I'm hoping we'll know sooner rather than later if anything is going to have to happen. Fingers crossed it will be able to be left alone. 🤞

I did feel good enough after our guests left on Easter Sunday to finish the body of my bulky sweater that I've been knitting.

The color is more of a light blue than this photo shows, but I was happy to make progress. I managed to get one sleeve underway, but put it aside because it was hard to concentrate with all of my coughing, etc. 

It's funny, because when I started it, everyone kept saying, "Oh you'll be finished before you know it, bulky knitting goes so fast." Well, maybe for them it does. I do want to finish this sweater, even though I won't be wearing it until next year. But I can't say I'm a fan of bulky knitting. This has taken me as long as it has because after a pretty short amount of time, my hands hurt from the large needles. So I can't really sit and work on it for any more than maybe an hour or so, which explains why it has taken me so long to make any progress. Not that I had a deadline, but I have to say I will be glad when it is finally completed, and I can go back to "regular" sized needles! 😊

And those are the main updates for you today. I have been up since 1:05 a.m., when woke up coughing, and then was just plain wide awake. Sigh. But at least it wasn't a work day for me.

I have a few small things I want to accomplish today, but otherwise I hope to read and knit. Tonight I'm planning to make quiche for dinner, so I walked over to the market to buy some frozen pie shells (my pie crust skills are quite tragic. Not bad - tragic!) We have some nice peppers and mushrooms to include a long with lots of nice cheeses, so I think it will be yummy. And I'll make some roasted asparagus to go along with it. There are some frozen homemade brown-and-serve rolls in the freezer that The Tim made at Easter, so I may give us each one of those as well. 

(Now I've just made myself hungry.)

Anyway, I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your day, and manage to fit in some time to do what you like. Take care.