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!

*****

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!