Happy Spring! And, An Introduction.

I was originally planning to write this post this morning, while it was still winter, but now Spring Has Sprung!

I have already noticed some buds on some trees and flowers, so hopefully we won't get a freeze that kills them off, because they look so happy! And I have all kinds of plans for what I would like to try and do with plants and flowers this year. So maybe at least one of those ideas will actually happen. 😊

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Now I must introduce you to the newest member of our family. A couple of months ago, The Tim said we should get another dog. No argument from me! He said that he wished we could get another Golden Retriever or a mix, because those are his favorites. Well, as you might be able to imagine, those are few and far between in rescues, especially around here.

So after I spent a LOT of time looking for that kind of dog, he casually mentioned one day that we should instead look for a smaller dog, Towards the end of both Dug's and Hamlet's lives, they had trouble with the steps, and The Tim would have to sometimes carry them up and down. He said that he thinks he couldn't really handle that anymore. OK, so I was on the hunt for a smaller dog. Trying to find a dog who was good with cats proved to be extremely difficult. But one day I was perusing one of the rescues I had been checking (having expanded my area for looking out of just the city), and I saw this photo:

Now really, when you see a face like that, you have to fill out an application, right?  Well, the description said he was approximately 7 years old, was part Schnauzer, and weighed 18 pounds. It also said he was good with cats. So I applied to adopt him, and we had a meet and greet with his foster, and on March 6, we brought him home!

His name at the rescue was Paper Boy, but we changed it to Angus Podgorny, which was the name of a character from an old Monty Python sketch that we always wanted to use for a pet.

Angus looks a bit different now - when he got to the rescue and was vetted, it was discovered that he needed several teeth pulled, and that his fur was so matted that he had to be surgically shaved (as opposed to shaved to look like a Schnauzer, I guess). So now he looks like this:

 

Get a load of the ears! I freaking love dogs with weird ears, and his have two entirely different lives!

He is very sweet, but also quite crazy and completely ridiculous. We do not know what cats he was tested with, but he's sure not calm around our cats, which we're hoping with time and training will no longer be an issue (the cats, I'm sure have already alerted PETA to their plight). But he's catching on, and already understands a few commands. It's only been two weeks today, so he gets some grace, you know? 

And he kinda sorta does look like a Schnauzer until you see him next to the purebred Schnauzer across the street! Then it's clear that there's something else going on, but he remains a man of mystery regarding that part of his heritage. 

Considering everything is still new to him, he's doing better each day. I have plans to hire someone to help me train him, just so he becomes a better member of society - people and animal-wise. The rescue said they had no idea how long he had been a stray, but they guessed quite a while from his condition when he was brought in to them. 

Next week we have a visit with a vet, because I wanted to establish a relationship before he would get sick or need care urgently. When I called, the woman on the phone asked me his name, and I said, "Well, we call him Angus, but his complete name is Angus Podgorny," and she responded, "Oh I LOVE a good Monty Python reference!" so I think we'll do OK there. 

So hello from Angus, who I'm sure you'll see here somewhat regularly. 

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Our plans for this weekend are to start cleaning up the garden, and also do some shopping. The weather is supposed to be agreeable for the most part, so hopefully we can start to make some progress on moving biggish pieces of trees that ended up there after storms out of the way. Also, we had a crazy couple of extremely windy days, so a lot of paper stuff flew into the garden one way or another and we'll clean that up too. 

And that's the news from here. I hope that Springtime will bring some light and happiness to all of us, and that whatever you decide to do (or not do), that you have a good weekend!

Goodbye, Sixties

It's true - this is the last day I will spend in my 60s; tomorrow marks the Big 7-0 for me.

Frankly, it seems weird that I'm having my 70th birthday. Not because I am denying my age - would I be writing this post if that were the case? It's just because it always seemed like a number that was so far in the future. 

But, I have full expectations that I will wake up tomorrow to a new decade of my life, and as there is nothing I can do about it, I'm just gonna see what it brings.

Here are just some of the things I've been thinking about, related to turning 70 years old, in no particular order.

1. I have outlived both of my parents. My father died at the age of 53, and my mother died at the age of 69 years and 7 months. 

2. I have survived several bouts of, and types of, cancer. 

3. I have been married to the same person for 48 years as of this coming October. 

4. I never graduated from high school, but I have a master's degree.

5. I have only gotten more liberal as I've gotten older, unlike what you are "supposed" to do. If the general feeling is that as you age, you become more conservative, I can't guess what viewpoints I must have at birth! 

6. I am fortunate to have good health. Not that I'm in great shape, but I can still do all of the things that I have to do and want to do, for the most part. Maybe slower, maybe with more creakiness, maybe with a bit of difficulty, but I am fortunate that I can still take care of myself and enjoy my life.

7. Though I am not by any means a tech-savvy person, I am able to use technology for things that I must use it for, and enjoy it for the things I actually want to use it for. 

8. I am, for the most part, a happy person. I suffer from a base level of depression and anxiety, but most of the time, they do not affect or define every minute of my life. 

9. I have an extended family that are a wonderful group of people, who I love to spend time with when I have the chance.

10. My love of animals has only increased as I've gotten older. Of course, my own sweethearts mean more than I can say, but I love helping animals through my volunteer work, and in any other way that I am able to do so. Even just feeding the birds in the garden fills me with joy.

I always say this, but turning 70 years old tomorrow is definitely better than the alternative. So I hope that this coming weekend, you will take a moment to be happy to be here, and to have your life, even if it's not perfect or exactly what you might like it to be. Let's face it, sometimes (especially lately) life and the world suck, but since "Hope is the thing with feathers," we can always look for it to take flight and allow us to have some joy.

Older me will see you next week.😄

The Good, The Bad, The Stupid of This Past Week

What can I say, some weeks just do whatever they want to and you just have to live with it, right? This past week was like that, but the good news is that obviously we have all survived.

I have photos of The Good.

First of all, the other day, Miss Esme decided that a) she would come up to the third floor (rare), and then also sit on my lap for about half an hour (even rarer!). She sat there and purred her sweet little head off.

I was also amused at the position of her tail. I was sitting next to a large pillow on the end of the couch, and she placed her tail straight up!

She can be a goofball when she lets herself be brave.

Another good:

These are the buttons I ordered for my completed cardigan, aren't they fantastic? I ordered them from Wooden Heart Buttons, and they are just perfect for what I wanted. 

Getting them was a challenge to say the least. Since the shop is in Canada, there was the whole thing with it being a "foreign package." I kept getting notices that it was being held in U.S. Customs to make sure there were no "contraband" ingredients. (Do lots of things get smuggled into the country with wooden buttons?) Then they were alledgedly delivered, but of course were not in the mailbox. I checked with the seller, and they had been mailed in an envelope, so I didn't think there was any way they could have been porch-pirated. Then after a week and a half, a whole s**tload of mail was sudeenly in our mailbox, and there they were! So I don't know what actually happened, but I have them, they are on the sweater, and someday I can hopefully get a photo to show you the whole shebang.

The Bad.

Take your pick. God knows there's plenty of choices. 

The Stupid.

A week ago today, I woke up and my right eye was swollen shut with dried blood all over it. It hurt slightly, but was more uncomfortable than anything else. So off to the emergency room - because obviously I haven't been there a while and we can't have that! - to see what was going on. It turns out that I scratched my lower eyelid while sleeping apparently, and so I had two stitches put into the area and even got an eye patch to wear for four days (this was the up side, I must say, matey!). And no, it was me, the drs agreed that it was in no way a cat scratch. As of today, my lower eyelid is slightly red, but there are no other indications that anything happened. And though it was kinda fun to look like a pirate for a few days, it messed with my perspective so I was happy to not wear it any more. Even more stupid: did we think to get a picture? Of course not.

The main thing that was an issue is that last Friday, I had made plans with my friend Louise to meet for lunch, and I had to cancel. We had made plans to do it last time we met, and at the time I didn't realize that it would be Lent; now that I know it's Lent, I'm gonna wait until after Easter to reschedule. Usually during Lent, I give up buying myself a coffee/tea/pastry/lunch during the week, and at the end of it, donate the equivalent (usually plus some) to a local food organization. Not that I buy something to eat or drink every single day, but it's not unusual to do so two or maybe even three times a week, so it does add up. So Louise, if you are reading this (and I know she sometimes does), let's plan for after Easter to get together again!

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No plans for this weekend, as far as I know, which is fine with me. Next week, I have things I have to attend to every day except Friday, so a no-plan weekend sounds good to me. 

I've been knitting and reading away, and have almost finished the second sock of my February yarn from Farmer's Daughter Fibers. Of course there is a story related to that, which I'll tell you in the FO post.

Have a good weekend. And be careful not to injure yourself in your sleep! 🙄

Well, I'm Back

I didn't really mean to not post for so long, but I got involved with finishing a couple of books that were coming due at the library, knitting away on a pair of socks, and trying to keep my mental health on keel. But I'm here now, so I'll give you a little peek from while I was gone.

Here we have an upset, scared, betrayed, and angry Miss Esmeralda at the vet's office. It only took three years, one new carrier, and an hour and a half of chasing her to make this appointment happen. But it did, and she was declared in perfect health - even good teeth! - and we came home where she hid for 2 complete days until we saw her again.

As I've mentioned, she is really afraid of everything. So any time before that we tried to get her to the vet's office, it was unsuccessful. I wasn't too worried, because she never goes outside, and she lives with two healthy cats. But we have been thinking of adding to the family, and we realized that there is no way that would happen if she wasn't up to date on her shots.

The whole thing was traumatic for both of us, and I felt so awful, betraying the trust she had finally given to me. Now we're back to baby steps, but I am glad to know she is as healthy as I suspected. And unless she suddenly shows signs of being sick, we don't need to repeat the experience any time soon.

I did finish the first sock of the yarn from the February installment of the Farmer's Daughter Fibers subscription, and I am well into the second. The yarn is a slightly brighter red than this photo shows, with the wine-colored mini, which is just a lovely combination.

I've also added to my Cozy Comfort Throw, but even though it is a good chunk of work, it looks nearly the same. I'll probably only start showing progress on this when there's a substantial amount to show, since it will take me a while, and moves along kind of slowly.

But I do like how it's turning out, and it's using up a lot of scraps, which is a good feeling.

So that's what has been happening around here. We had a nice Valentine's Day, going out to breakfast at one of our fave places, and had a yummy Chinese noodle dinner last night for the Lunar New Year. 

And of course I have spent A LOT of time watching the Olympics, as I'm sure a lot of you have. Not being athletic at all, I am constantly amazed at how accomplished the athletes are - even those who don't win a medal. Think of how good you have to be to simply make the team in the first place!

So now you know what I've been up to and how things are going. Time to hit "publish" on this, and get ready for a trip to the dermatologist. Since I had that basal cell carcinoma removed from my back this past August, I was supposed to return in 6 months instead of a year. Hopefully this time the appointment will be completely uneventful. 

I hope the rest of your day today and rest of the week go well. I'm hoping I'll be back again before another week goes by, but just in case, take care!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Oh Ned Ryerson - don't we all know someone just like him? I have to admit that "Groundhog Day" is one of my fave movies, becuase it is so ridiculous, but also because I often feel like I'm living in the same kind of world - not one where it's actually Groundhog Day each day, but one where the events that keep repeating are unfortunately horrible ones. Even before recent events, though, I'll admit I'd still have days when I'd think "Wait, didn't this just happen yesterday the same way??"

If Gtoundhog Day is not your thing, it's also St. Blaise Day, when we used to get our throats blessed when I was in school. One of my favorite saints' days, since I have always had throat issues, and I always felt that St. Blaise was trying his hardest to help.

Or, if the saints don't grab you, it's also the birthday of James Joyce. We always have some gorgonzola cheese on rye bread with a glass of white wine, as Leopold Bloom does in "Ulysses." (Which I never made through - I was lucky if I read 20 pages. The Tim, on the other hand, can practically recite it.)

In any case, I hope you are doing OK and if you are in the storm area/deep freeze area, keeping warm. Frankly, I if I hear one more person tell me how many days are left until the first day of spring or summer, I'll find a way to bury them under the ice forever. But as usual, that's just me. (I do mean it though.)

Over the weekend, I was thinking of what I want to knit next, as far as a larger project. I am almost there, but I was in one of those moods where, no matter what pattern I'd see, even if I had the right yarn, etc., there was always some reason it just wasn't right. Do you ever do that? At one point, I stopped looking at things because I decided I wasn't going to be able to decide to try anything in the frame of mind that I was in. Which is an improvement, because in the past, I would usually keep going, and then just be ticked off at myself, my knitting, and the world in general for three or four days. 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I did start working on a Cozy Comfort Throw a couple of weeks back, in an attempt to use up a lot of scraps and minis that are not being used for anything else. I bought some yarn for the  main color - but before the end of 2025 ... I already knew I was going to try and not buy yarn for at least the first six months in this year, so I headed myself off at the pass, so to speak! It's only cheating if I think it is. 😉 I haven't tried to photograph it yet, because it's still sort of at the point where the needle I'm using is kind of twisted, and trying to get it to be flat for taking a picture is more work than it's worth. But I'm enjoying it, and it's satisfying to watch those small amounts of yarn leftovers turn into something that I think looks nice and that will be useful. I'm waiting to see how it looks once it's finished before deciding if it will be for us, a gift for someone, or a cozy donation. That's mainly because I'm not making any effort to make it look thought out - I'm just grabbing whatever is next out of my bag when it's time for a new addition.

Other than that, there's nothing much to report. We're all hanging in, and so far, other than the cold that The Tim had (which he claims I gave to him, though I didn't have a cold), which *he* then passed to me, no one has been sick, injured, or any other version of being under the weather, so to speak. Let's hope that continues. 

Here's hoping a good week is ahead for all of us!