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Sunday, December 31, 2017

Too cold

It's 3:30 pm and about 15F -- too cold to go outside for pictures.  But I finished my Kara cowl, and have worn it a few times.  It's an excellent layering piece, adding a deep red splash and a warm neckline to any outfit.  I have also been knitting for Sis and Miss A:  Swiffer mop head covers for Sis in two patterns, and the Hans My Hedgehog patterns for Miss A.  There are two of the hedgehog patterns, one making a tiny pocket "hog" about 2.5" in fingering yarn, and the other in worsted which made up to about 7" long.  The larger one used some of the yarn Sis gave to me over Thanksgiving, and looks a lot like Miss A's actual live hedgehog!  So maybe the pet hedgie can have a buddy....

Sis keeps hermit crabs in a sandy habitat next to the fireplace, with a heat lamp for continuous warmth.  They are some pretty weird little critters.  I watched an episode of Blue Planet the other day, that had me cracking up -- a conch had caught a smaller snail, and was emptying that snail's shell with a rowdy audience of hermit crabs all vying to get into the emptied shell!  At one point there were four hermits fighting each other to get that shell, then one actually climbed up the conch and into the shell before the conch turned it loose!  A risky move, as the conch could have eaten the hermit crab too, but it paid off since that little guy hustled away with the shell.

Well, I had to fill out another set of forms for the disability, so much fun.  It's a good thing I scanned and saved the earlier documents, as I had to attach some of them to this new form.  I suppose this will be a nearly endless process, so I'm scanning just about everything.

One of my Christmas presents was a two-week rental of a power chair, pretty nifty.  This one breaks down into four bits, with the heaviest bit just 36 lbs. and well within Disco's lifting capability.  I should get her to take it apart & put it back together several times; she's been letting Plaidman take charge of that but she says she wants "us girls" to be able to go places without him.


Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Back from the boonies

The entire Plaid Patrol rode to south Texas for the week of Thanksgiving.  It's a long darn drive, but then we spent the whole week with family.  We were only able to do that because we'd hired a pet sitter to come in twice a day, to keep the elderly cat at home & happy.  And he seems to have warmed up to the sitter, even playing with her and letting her pet him, and he was quite happy to see us back.  I would have posted from Texas, but never got near enough to an unused (& functional) computer.
I delivered the Diamond Halter top to niece A, did not get to see her in it but made her promise to send me a picture.  I'm still working on the red tweed capelet, just have about 6" of ribbed turtleneck to go on that one.  I got about an inch of ribbing done while there, but most days we had other fun stuff to do and the knitting just stayed in the bag.  Speaking of bags, Sis did not disappoint in the "birthday present" bag: It's a Dooney & Burke tote with Pittsburgh Pirates themed print on white leather, just gorgeous and a great bag for the knitting.  I will have to send her something wonderful and knitted asap.  Sis brought Pup over from his assisted living facility Tuesday, then Disco, Plaidman, the nieces & I went to the facility the next day and had lunch with him.  Later that afternoon Plaidman went back to Sis', while us ladies went to Savers.  Guess who we found there -- the Shopping Queen herself, aka Sis!  We all spent some time together there, then the nieces departed for home.  I spent way too much money there, even with the 30% discount card Sis gave me.  Most of it was for stuff Disco wanted, I wish I could find the receipt to show her!  We finally got all our purchases out to Sis' Giganto Craft (an ancient Escalade), then it took all three of us (Disco, Sis & me) to get me into the front seat.  I am not anything like nimble anymore.  In fact, since I stayed in the upstairs guest room, I had to climb 16 stairs every evening to get to bed, and come down those stairs (dressed & ready for the day) every morning.  I thought my knees would give out.  Then there was the guest bed, wonderful to sleep in but so tall that I needed both a stepstool and my walker to get into it.  Slept like a stone, until it was time to visit the loo.  And that was for six nights.  I've been home a few days, and I've recovered some.  Thursday we had Pup back over to the house for our noon Thanksgiving supper.  Afterwards, the annual T-Day lawn tournament was held out on the front lawn, with 3 father & daughter teams and one niece + boyfriend team.  Pup teamed with Sis, Steverino teamed with the Peerless niece, Plaidman teamed with Disco, and Miss A teamed with Seth.  Pup has macular degeneration, so his shots were guided by other players standing near the "hole" and waving.  It was agreed that Peerless & her Dad won the tourney.  I wasn't the only spectator, we had some neighbors come by to check out the game.  Then we all went back inside and played LCR; Peerless took a $27.00 pot!  Just her day.  Pup got delivered back to his home, and we all pretty much called it a night.  Friday Peerless treated a bunch of us to a movie, Justice League,
which we all found marvelous.   Saturday we began the long drive back home, and got here about 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Weekend continues...

When one is no longer employed, it can be difficult to determine when the weekend commences or stops.  Appointments can be a "heads up", since most of them occur during the week.  I did get some good news by phone last Thursday: my long term disability has been approved!!  Plaidman went to the mailbox on Friday, and I think he must have missed a day or two because it was stuffed.  He brought in a ton of stuff, most of which went directly to the recycle bin.  But he wasn't sure he'd gotten it all, because a) it was dark when he was there, and b) he didn't use the stepstool we keep in the car for the purpose (the mailbox is up over his head).  So he went back mid-morning on Saturday, and found my first disability check.  And of course that was the only thing in there, since Saturday was Veterans' Day and there was no mail delivery.  I'll take a moment here:
     Thank you for your service, Thomas Paul Devine & may you rest in peace, most excellent father-in-law and infantryman.
You are missed more than I can say.

     Thank you for your service, Cameron Eiseman Cherry; may you continue to be our family's guide & light for many years, Cadet of the Army Air Corps.

Plaidman's younger brother served in Viet Nam, repairing tanks.  His son has seen service as well.  Last I heard, the two of them are not on speaking terms.  I salute them both, and pray they'll reconcile their differences soon -- Viet Nam vets aren't getting any younger.
Okay, that moment stops now before I get weepy.

I have started on the final segment of the Mi Kara "capelet", which is very pretty in it's cabled red tweediness.  However, I really thought the thing would be longer, more of a short poncho than an elongated & elaborately cabled cowl.  So ... the length is disappointing.  I'll finish the ribbed turtleneck, try it on, and see if it's something I might actually use.  I do have a lot of tops with rather open necklines; I guess I could extend the "season" for those tops with the red capelet.
We've hired a sitter for our aged kitty, so when we go out of town we can just contact her & she'll come in to feed him, change the litter box, and give him some loves and attentions while we're out.  I hope this works out well.  Surely it will be better than putting our little old man in a cage at the vet's!  I still can't get over how stressed out the poor little beastie was after being boarded for a week.

We had EJ and her recently acquired hubby come stay with us for a few days.  We'd gone over to American Freight and bought a queen sized mattress set, which fits Disco's bedframe.  Disco had the mini-Keurig set up, with a selection of K-cups and some disposable coffee cups.  So the newlyweds had their own little apartment downstairs.  We took them out to Bicentennial Mall, which they found pretty interesting for the wall of history all around it.  We also cruised through the Farmers Market, where I got a large head of purple cauliflower.  One night we treated them to our favorite local Chinese buffet, they loved it.  The next night we ate at home, with homemade black bean dip, roasted cauliflower & Yukon gold taters, and smoked pork chops.  EJ liked the dip so much she was trying it on everything.  Danny is a little less adventurous with food, he'd never eaten roasted cauliflower before but discovered he liked it a lot.  One of the perks of having only a few folks to feed is trying new things without having to make enough to feed an army.  I was kind of surprised when all the roasted veggies disappeared -- that had been one huge head of cauliflower.  And roasting hard veggies like taters & cauliflower is so easy: Pre-heat the oven to 350°F, prep by washing & remove any "poorly" bits, chop the rest into slightly larger than bite size pieces,  smash a few cloves of garlic & dice, dump all in a large mixing bowl, add some seasoning (I used a garden herb mix, little salt & pepper), drizzle lightly with EVOO, stir to cover all with seasoning & oil.  Spread in one layer on a large rimmed baking sheet, pop into the oven.  It will take about 40 minutes for your veggies to become fork-tender, but pull them out at 20 minutes to stir & turn, then back to the oven for another 20 minutes.  Couldn't be simpler, and they come out fragrant & tasty.  The purple cauliflower did turn quite dark, but retained a lot of the purple and looked nice with the golden taters.  As to the bean dip, it was delicious but somewhat thinner than I liked; this was the first time I'd made it so I will try to remember to drain more of the liquid off the beans before mixing.  Again, a simple recipe, just cooked black beans, cumin, cilantro...and something I can't recall right now.  No cooking required, just use either the blender or (we are so cool this way) a small handheld blender stick in a plastic bowl.  Disco was in charge of the blending, having learned her lesson about not using the stick blender in glass or ceramic (she cracked the ceramic pot on the last crock pot, while it had hot food in it!!).  She also cooked the smoked pork chops, although not quite as "crispy" as usual because guests.
And can you believe neither EJ nor Danny had ever eaten smoked chops before.  Well, folks, you just have to look at other offerings in the meat dept of the grocery store.  Explore a little.  Heck, I've even eaten calamari, something I swore I'd never touch, but it was beautifully cooked: paper-thin and seasoned, like a seafood chip!  We don't want to think too much about what it is, and one may have to already have one's mouth "set" for this dish, rather like with frog's legs.  Tasty, if one doesn't think too much of where they come from.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Howdy, stranger!

It;s been over two months since I last posted.  Which is ridiculous, since I now have scads of "free" time -- I've been on short term disablility, and now I've applied for long term disability, and I only do what I need to do around the house.  Of course I'm kinda limited as to what I can do, but I did manage to clean the entry room's & kitchen floors with the Swiffer, and wipe down both the upstairs toilets with Lysol cleaning wipes.  I also did a bunch of shredding of old documents.  We are all working pretty hard at cleaning up the shared areas of the house, including getting the contents of 3 big boxes distributed to better storage, the trash or recycle bins, or into the shredder as needed.  We've been expecting company for about a month now, and they will finally arrive sometime tomorrow.  I am just thrilled because we are finally in a place big enough to hold company.  We bought a queen mattress set for Disco's apt downstairs, and a new sheet set (already washed, will go on the bed after Disco gets out of it tomorrow), new tablecloth and placemats.  I've more or less planned two crockpot dinners, which should hopefully yield enough leftover for lunches.  Disco says she'll sleep on the cot in the living room; I think our cat will be very confused. 
I have been knitting a bit almost every day, working on the Kara capelet (a free Drops pattern).  I'll try to take a picture tomorrow.  I'm having an ultrasound investigation of my kidneys tomorrow, so I can't really promise anything that's not vital. 

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Um...oops?

The last time I visited Dr. R, he let me slide without the great big "horse" shots I usually get.  I got a prescription for a pill instead.  He wanted me to continue with the other pill he gave me last month, a fairly new product called Ibrance.  Last month he gave me a sample bottle.  We had our discussion about pain control (so far so good on OTC NSAIDs) but he didn't say anything about the MRI (Should I assume no news is good news? ).  I got my other shot, and was told the dispensary would fill the new pill prescription.  So when the dispensary gal caught up to me in the hallway, I asked her what about the Ibrance?  She said she couldn't fill that one, but would ask Dr. R about it, and call me later.  Ok, that was last Wednesday.  When I hadn't heard anything by 3 p.m. Thursday, I called the doctor's office and asked about it.  They would have to ask him & get back to me.  I did get a call back that day, letting me know this has to be filled by a specialty pharmacy (up on Church St.) and it might take them a week to get it!  The pharmacy called me early Friday to say they had the order, and would call again when the product was available.  Now, I have no idea (yet) whether my insurance will pay anything on this product.  So I went online & found a co-pay card from the manufacturer -- I hope it helps!  Wow, talk about the vibe movin' around:  I went into Blue Access to see if my med will be covered, then on to pricing the med--this has to be mail-order in order to be covered.  BUT! there should be no co-pay, which is terrific because a month's supply is over $10K (!!!) and I'd just have to say no thanks if it was up to me to pay that.  So I called the local specialty pharm (the one that called last Friday) to see if it was ready to ship or if they needed any info, and they told me the script was transferred to a specialty pharmacy in Memphis.  They were able to give me a couple of phone numbers, and I was about to call Memphis, when I got a call from them!  I should receive it tomorrow, and I have a third phone number specifically for that dept.  So, that's worked out.
Why is our healthcare so screwed up in this, the greatest nation on earth?  You can easily see how a patient could be driven into bankruptcy, trying to pay for just one drug each month.  The biggest part of the problem is GREED on the part of the providers, whether they're the pharmaceutical manufacturers or the doctors (gotta have homes in the best part of town, fancy cars, trophy spouses..), or the insurance companies.  And the Republican party agrees that those folks "ought" to have it all, provided they share with their representatives!  Let's face it, if you're worth a billion, you could afford to pay a big chunk in taxes without suffering a huge hit to your lifestyle, if you weren't GREEDY.  Who needs eight fancy autos?  Couldn't you "get by" with just four?  For your family of four, do you really need a house with ten bedrooms & bathrooms?   Just sayin"!!
Ok, end of rant.  You may return to your regularly scheduled activities.

Friday, August 4, 2017

The saga continues

One topic that came up on Sunday, during our turkey dinner on the deck, was a visit to the grave sites of Tom and Betty, the parents of this large brood of siblings.  Our little group had to head home on Tuesday, and had a plan to spend most of the day Monday in Chicago.  We just couldn't work out the logistics to include a long trip to the cemetery.  What we did instead was agree to meet everyone (except Mike & Atha) at the IHOP for pancakes @ $.59 a stack, before hitting the highway home.
But I digress -- this post is about Monday.  When we got up early on Monday, Atha's scooter was still folded up in our trunk.  We all got dressed & ate & took our meds, then got on the road to one of my favorite places, Chicago IL.  There is entirely too much to do in the Loop, and we only ad the one day, so we chose to visit the Art Institute.  Erin had never been before; I'd been once a very long time ago.  It has grown considerably since!  We cruised (me in the scooter!  What fun!) through the ancient art:
Some fabulous jewelry
Amazing small statuettes, two bronze
A terrific covered dish - have you seen it from this angle?
Greek griffins, finest kind.
And some more modern art, Picasso & Remington
Chagall windows!  So beautiful.

Most of the exhibits allowed photography, and we respected those that did not.  There was a special exhibit of Gaugain's work, which required additional tickets.  We got the tickets, and wow was that a terrific exhibit.  Huge, too!  Room after room of all kinds of items, from paintings to sculpture to adornment of ordinary items, like this dresser he decorated for his father-in-law:



Ahem, I guess you can tell I was impressed, I took at least 3 pictures.  Well, Melodee had asked me to get photos of any Salvador Dali work exhibited.  I got a few, and have sent some to her already.

One that I sent to her will not appear here as it is NSFW.  But she got a kick out of it.  We had an early supper at the museum cafeteria (French cuisine!), then cruised around a bit more, and finally decided we'd had enough.  Headed back to the underground parking, folded & loaded the scooter, and went back to our hotel.  Whew!  Slept, woke in the early a.m. and skipped the hotel breakfast, then met up with the folks at IHOP.  They all continued on to the grave sites while we bid farewell to northern Indiana.  We got some of their pictures later.  I did some of the driving coming home.  And could not wait to sleep in my own bed!






Thursday, August 3, 2017

A bit late in the day

It's almost 3 pm, but I haven't seen Disco yet.  I called her (she lives in the basement apt, but I don't like yelling down the stairwell) a little while ago because "her" cat seemed to be lost in the master bathroom.  And that seems as good a point as any at which to tell you about the aftereffects of boarding this 16 year old cat at the vet.  He was there for a week, during which we asked them to be sure and socialize with him daily--he craves love & attention.  When Plaidman & Disco went to get him back, the vet tech couldn't remove him from his cage without dire bodily harm.  Poor beastie was growling (!! never heard before!!) and slashing at the tech.  Disco had to go back to the cage, calling him softly.  As soon as she got to the front of the cage, he started howling and pressed himself against the bars.  Disco opened the cage, and he pressed his little head against her hand.  She was able to get him from the cage to his carrier without much fuss, but of course he howled the whole way home (all of about 3 miles).  The scary thing was the panting -- he would sit and howl, then pant like an exhausted dog, then howl some more.  Just stressed to the max, and the only thing that relieved him at all was being held, either in arms or on a lap.  At one point he got so stressed that he "caged" himself in a cabinet in the hall bathroom vanity.  And then howled to be let out!  I went in, and opened one of the cabinet doors and spoke to him, and he got quieter.  It took him about 10 minutes to figure out he could leave.  The panting was just an occasional thing the next day, and disappeared the next, but he kept on howling whenever he wasn't being loved & attended to.  I thought about getting some Feliway, so we went to the pet store.  We found a calming collar with pheromones and some soothing scent, and since he wears a collar anyway we figured we'd try it.  It took about a day for us to notice a difference in his neediness, and now he's almost back to his laid back self.  But I'm not going to board him again!  We've decided to try a pet sitter next time we travel, so he can stay at home.  Hopefully, we can find someone who'll be willing to put in the time to get to know him.
Yesterday's account of the weekend in Portage ended with Mike & Atha showing up for the wedding feast.  Mike & Terry talked, and Mike offered us the use of Atha's scooter for our day trip into Chicago!  It can be mostly taken apart and folded to fit in the trunk of a car, so the two old guys spent some time disassembling & reassembling it (while Atha was seated at the table having a bite).  After the shelter was cleaned up, we Plaid Patrolers went back to the hotel -- I needed a nap, Disco & Plaidman needed to wash clothes.  Sunday we went back to the newlyweds' home for a big turkey dinner, had all the sibs there except Mike but his daughter Beverly came by to "represent" her DOD.
We gathered out on the deck, everybody taking it easy, lots of talk & laughter.  I have some pictures, maybe the computer will let me have the edited versions but no guarantees:
Kim, a friend of the family (I think she's related to Danny), was one of the amateur photographers at the wedding; she's a bit of a pill but has a good heart.  She came by just to drop off an entire album with CDs of the wedding & feast, must have stayed up all night Saturday to have it done by Sunday!
Karen & Melodee studying this album:
Left to right: Erin aka Disco Dame, Laura, and Cindy.  Erin has the album open to pictures of Mike, Ellen and Terry at the event. 
 Left to right: Terry, Mel & Karen.  Everybody's got cellphones, we're all so well-connected.
Left to right: Laura, Cindy, Beverly!!!, Ellen.  Behind Cindy's head is a little mini-deck enclosure built out of a window, so the indoor cats can get a taste of outdoor life.  The gazebo was bought already built, and transported to the yard.  It's all screened, probably nice on warm nights. 
Left to right: Terry, a nice photo of the bride & groom courtesy Kim, Cindy on the phone, Melodee in her sweater (it got a bit chilly), and lo & behold the man of the hour, the tower of power, Danny!  He's got the album; we all expressed amazed admiration of the effort that went into it. 

Left to right: Erin's foot, Cindy in a beautiful coat she crocheted herself -- love the colors!, and Mel.  Cindy's thing is crochet; I did try to bring her over to the dark side (knitting) but she wouldn't bite. 
Here's my chickadee, Miss Erin looking crafty and just eating up all the talk.  I know she was hoping to hear another of her Uncle Danny's stories.  We're calling him the Turtle Whisperer now. 
The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!
Well, we stayed so long that we actually ate turkey again; the first time was like a late lunch.  We were planning to go into Chicago on Monday, so before it got dark we cruised over to Mike's to pick up the scooter.  Erin helped break down the thing, and it fit neatly in our trunk.  I think I know what I want for Christmas.  Just sayin'!  That thing was so cool, and made it possible for me to see a lot more of the Art Institute than I would have had I been walking.  And we still did not see all of it.  But this is a good stopping point, pretty much the end of the family time part of the visit.  Monday's tale is for another day.  Stay tuned.



Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Taking it (maybe a little too) easy

Gosh, it's August already.  I started on short term disability early in July, just don't have the energy to get through an entire work day.  So, we drove to northern Indiana to spend some time with The Plaidman's  sibs, who all showed up for the youngest's wedding.  We had dropped the cat off at the vet's for boarding -- more on that later, wish I'd been able to come up with another option.  Then we spent a day packing 3 graduated suitcases, the suit bags with 3 suits and my new dress, and of course the new shoes & shirts & ties to go with the suits.  The next morning we absolutely filled the car, taking (at the last minute!) my walker.  We drove all day, due to frequent stops (two old people in the car, you do the math).  However, we got to our hotel pretty late and called the gals to let them know we were not coming over that night.  We had a quick dinner at the Denny's down the street, then went back to the hotel and started unpacking (we stayed a week).  Right away we saw that Terry's new shoes and my dressy shoes did not get packed!  Much gnashing of teeth; Terry's footwear consisted of grey trainers and black sandals, neither acceptable with any of his suits.  I had my ratty old SAS tan sandals, much too beat up & casual for the nice sheath dress I'd brought.  The really aggravating thing was that if we had remembered to bring them out to the car, we probably would have to leave something else behind!  Erin shared the backseat with a pile of other essential items, including my support pillow.  So, here it is going on 11 pm Wednesday, and the wedding is on Saturday, and Erin is the only one with appropriate footwear.  Insert raspberries here.
Thursday we had the complementary breakfast at the hotel, and established the pattern for the rest of the week.  Then we headed over to EJ's house, and Erin & I just jumped right in among the sisters (4 of the 5 were present!) making decorations and other delights for the wedding.  A shelter had been reserved at a nearby park, which we would decorate, and there would be an arbor for the altar.  The bride and the oldest sister, Cindy, had picked up a half ton of peacock colored craft supplies and all the hot glue and other fastenings needed to make the setting lovely.  Melodee, Cindy, EJ, Laura, Erin & I just crammed ourselves into the smaller living room (the house is divvied between "public" areas such as the main living room & kitchen, Laura's bed & bathroom, and the happy couples' bed, bath, and living room) and worked on crafty stuff and told stories.  So much talk! Such a bunch of cackling hens!  It was terrific, so much fun.  I just feel so much at home with the sisters, just another one of the bunch.  After a while, Danny (the prospective groom) announced that the grill was fired up and burgers & dogs & brats! (This is Chicago-area, ya gotta have brats at a cookout) would be ready soon.  So the ladies shifted out to the kitchen, some to cook up sides, and some just to occupy the seats at the kitchen table and kibbutz about the cooking and world peace (somewhere in all that talk, I'm sure!).  We weren't sure whether sister #5, Karen, would show up or not.  Turns out she had other plans that night, but she pretty much hung in there with us the rest of the weekend.  We all ate, cut up and carried on for a while, then the Plaid Patrol was excused on the basis of my near-exhaustion.  We left for the hotel with a couple of stops at nearby stores to look for dress shoes for me & the Plaidman.  I think we hit the WalMart first; I looked for black sandals but the best I could find were some OP leather flip-flops with crocheted tops in a color that matched some of the flowers on my dress.  I also found a small crossbody purse, just big enough to hold the phone & ID.  Terry struck out there -- no wide sizes.  I think we found a menswear store too, but still no wide shoes.  So, on to the hotel.  We were unable to reserve a room with handicapped accessibility, so I was finding the bathroom to be a trial.  The toilet was quite low, but I managed.  The bathtub was awful, with a rounded narrow floor, and sides that were only just this side of possible for me to get my feet over.  I was very glad to have the old walker, which I used to get in & out of the tub.  There was a handicap access public toilet on the first floor; I made a habit of stopping there before going up to the room or on my way out of the hotel.  The bed was so tall that we brought in the little step stool from the car.  I had to figure out how to get into & out of the bed without falling, but I did get the hang of it.   Friday came, and the Plaidman was still without shoes.  EJ had asked her big brother to walk her to the altar, I was so pleased for both of them!  But the man's gotta have shoes.  So we spent some hours over at the house, having another terrific time.  At one point, Karen & I were shooting the breeze at the kitchen table, and she looked out the window.  She asks me, "Why is Danny yelling at those two old guys?" and immediately answered her own question: "OMG, it's Mike and Terry!"  And we both just about fell out of our seats laughing.  Both old guys are pretty deaf.  Terry is the firstborn, then Mike, then Cindy, and after that I can't keep them straight.   So Mike comes inside, and I was flabbergasted. He's gained 40 lbs since the last time we saw him.  We all go outside for pictures in various configurations (all the sibs! just the ladies, with Erin & Ann! just the old guys!) until I got tired of standing on concrete.  I went back inside, Karen had beaten me to the best seat at the kitchen table.  Now, just an hour or so before Mike showed up, Cindy had been regaling the sisterhood with the tale of her springtime auto accident, and decided a visual presentation was in order.  She took her phone back to a bathroom, disrobed her torso, and took a picture of her massively bruised chest.  She got dressed, and brought that pic out to her sisters (except Laura -- I don't know where she went).  We all groaned and gasped in sympathy.   Jump forward, Karen & I sitting at the table, we can hear Cindy talking to her brothers about pictures.  Karen asks what I want to bet that she's showing them "that" picture; we crack up.  Cindy comes in and takes the third seat, all bubbly about seeing Mike (she & Melodee flew up from Florida).  So, straight faced as I can, I ask if the gents liked the photo.  Cindy says, "Oh yes!" but before she can get another word out, Karen & I are ROFL.  We stayed for just a bit longer, then went out hunting for the elusive wide shoes.  We wound up in a really big mall, with about 6 or 7 possible locations of men's footwear.  Terry ran around the mall, hitting at least 5 stores, the last being SEARS -- and they had his size!  And they were handsome shoes, too!  I stayed in the first store we stopped at, Macy's, and found a great sale on ladies shoes.  There was a pair of black strappy Naturalizer sandals on sale...and I'm wearing them now.  The shoe hunt was officially over.
And just in time.
Saturday in the park -- we went by the shelter at 9 am to help decorate, then back to the hotel to change clothes.  Some pics:
Oldest sib Terry walks Ellen Jean to the altar

Her colors (when I asked before the trip) "peacock" -- didn't understand it to be literal!  Terry has on his dark navy suit, a dark navy tie with the pink ribbon, and a blue plaid dress shirt -- he was probably the only one there warm enough to be comfortable!
Danny has on a bright blue shirt with a peacock painted (quite well) on the front, too bad you can't see it here.  The lovely white haired gal to the bride's left is Melodee, and Laura is at the right in the white sweater and blue trousers.
I just love how kids and other "photographers" feel free to jump up in front of the wedding party, don't you?!?  That lovely gal off to the left in the green & white is Cindy.  I'm pretty sure the very tall person wearing black to a wedding is related to the groom.  I guess we can't pick our families....
I have wrestled with Picasa vs Picasa 3 all motherf'ing afternoon, trying to get only the edited pictures on here and I give up.  This next lousy pic is an unedited version of what I would have liked to show you, with 4 of the 5 sisters plus one brother.

Oh hey, look at that: it gave me the edited version too!  From the left is Plaidman, then Cindy, the unknown kid, Melodee, an unknown relative of Danny, bride Ellen & groom Danny, some chick's head right over Laura, Danny's brother Roger Miller (he doesn't sing), an unknown gent, and our niece Beverly.  Note the arbor that Erin helped put up.  The sign says "It was always you" -- the story is that Danny & EJ have known each other since they were little kids, and he's always had a crush on for her.  So sweet! 

 Ok, here's an unedited shot of the happy couple.  Check out the cake!  The bottom layer was chocolate, the middle was banana, and the top was white cake.  There were cupcakes for all the kids.
Well, we had a terrific party with food & soft drinks (public park, no alcohol allowed).  Mike showed up after the ceremony, but Karen had been with her sis since the set up of the arbor & decorating the shelter.  Mike brought his wife Atha, her health is poor so she was riding a very nice scooter.  Everyone had a blast, and then we cleaned up our shelter & took down the arbor & went home.  There's more material from this trip, but I'm worn out.  Stay tuned.





Friday, June 30, 2017

ENOUGH with the celebrating...

Plaidman's birthday was two days before Father's Day.  We've been buying a new wardrobe for him ever since we got invited to his sister's wedding.  A menswear store just around the corner from us was (and still is) having a moving sale, so we went over there one Saturday in late May, to replace his double-breasted suit.  The sale prices were so good, we bought him 3 suits & ordered alterations, and got 3 nice ties too.  They said if we paid cash we could have the kit & kaboodle for $400, so we did that and saved about $100.

Well, new suits are all well & good, but he needed shirts and shoes too.  So a couple Saturdays ago we went to a big sale at Penney's, but no luck on the shoes.  We wandered over to Macy's, and walked into their HUGE shirt sale.  He & Disco spent about a hour going through lots of shirts for his size, and found ties on sale that they tried to match up to the shirts (and the 3 new suits, in black, navy, and charcoal) while I sat over in the shoe dept watching the show.  I had a thought, that I had created a monster; then I thought whoa -- Plaidman's turning into my Dad, the originator of the Natty Banker® style of men's dress.  Wound up getting 3 more ties and 3 shirts at Macy's, but still didn't find the shoes.  So, it was on to the Men's Wearhouse, where they were having a really good sale on dress shoes -- buy one pair, get another at half price.  We got the same style & Plaidman's size in black and caramel brown, and bought socks to go with both, and cedar shoe trees for both pair.  So, I guess he's kitted out for whatever dress occasions come up for the next several years....
So, this wedding we're attending in the near future is for his sister & an old friend, someone he & EJ have known since they were kids.  Since they both work and can't get time off right after the wedding, they're honeymooning in October.  They're heading south (good idea, going north from northern Indiana lands you in Canada), and we'll see if we can have them at our house for a day or two each way.  I'm retiring Oct 1, so I can be the hostess!  This is just so exciting, so much to do but I'm really thrilled.

Thursday, June 8, 2017

My assistant

Due to the world's weirdest fatigue, I've been conking out at my desk.  So now I'm working shorter hours, and I bought an iPod shuffle.  Having music piped into my ears helps tremendously.
I'm about 80% through with the second Outlander book, so I'll need to find the first one and send them off to Austin for SIS.   We're aiming for October for my retirement.  It sure will be nice not to have to drag my carcass into the car & ride the whirlwind that is Bell Rd/ Old Hickory.
I watched a couple of tutorials on YouTube about mattress stitch, then ripped out the seam on the Kat Coyle hat I'd started seaming.  It look better now.

Monday, May 29, 2017

So sad

Greg Allman passed.  I'm so close to tears every time I think it.  I've seen the Allman Brothers in action several times, always loved them.  Every time, it was such a mellow occasion.  RIP, Greg.

I've been having some problems with the sneakiest fatigue  at the office, one minute reading a report and the next snoring!!!  This lead to me taking some FMLA time daily, so I can come in later.  I know that music can keep me awake too, but we're not allowed to play our CDs on the company's PCs.  What to do?  I bought an iPod shuffle, and for a tech-challenged person like me it's been a nightmare.  I worked on it today from about 11 am until frustration just got too high at about 3:50 pm (yes, damn near 4 frikkin hours -- what can I say), when I asked my DD to take over.  It took her about 15 minutes to figure out what went wrong: the power cord wasn't plugged in completely.  After 4+ hours the *%&)* thing still has to be charged.  BUT I did get some music onto it (I think...), and hopefully will be able to use it tomorrow.  We'll see.
GO PENGUINS!!!
Tonight we start the finals!!  I live in Nashville, but my heart is always in Pittsburgh.  HR has said we can wear gold "to support the Predators" all next week -- but I'll be in black & gold!  I need to decorate my cubical too.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Cruise control

I'm still working on the Diamond halter top from Knitty.  I hadn't hit it a lick all weekend, and picked it up last night  -- 3 more rows done!  Disco was dragging her feet about cooking dinner, so I ate very late and barely had time to let it settle before I HAD to get into bed.  Wound up skipping the shower last night, so had my wondrous Seven Minute Shower this morning.  Yep, it is only seven minutes.  That allows me two minutes to slap lotion on all over.  Well, I have fixed Disco's little wagon:  I signed her up for the 5 Minute Dinners plan, with the shopping guides etc etc.  She'll get it in her email every week!  Much as I love Chinese buffets (we have two within a mile of the house!), it's just not a terrific value, unless one can eat about 3 lbs of crayfish or prawns in one sitting.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Been gone too long

I know, I'm a bad blogger for going a month without letting y'all know I'm still alive.  And knitting; I have a pink P$$$y Hat that's ready for seaming (mattress stitch being the No. 2 bane of my existence),  Miss A's halter top still working but getting closer to the finish line (and then it'll need mattress stitch up the back...sigh), a second P-Hat in work, and about 4 things that need to be blocked.  There's another process I need to learn to love.  Let's face it, finishing is the least fun part of knitting.
A couple of weekends ago, we went to the Golden Corral for supper.  It's one big invitation to eat way more than one should, so of course I did.  The Plaidman was driving, and he had an honest to Dog senior moment and got lost on the way home.  Disco was being a very obstreperous backseat driver, using her phone to find the way home, only she doesn't drive at all and has no idea how the interstates connect around here.  I kept trying to insert a word or two, to the effect that we just need to reverse the course we took to get there -- but she kept shouting me down.  I finally had to ask her to shut the f**k up so her Dad could hear himself think.  It was a bit scary, but once the loudmouth in the back buttoned her lip, Plaidman & I were able to sort out our route.  I think it'll be a while before we visit the Corral again -- and I'll drive!

Oh my Dog, have you read the last 3 posts on the Yarn Harlot's blog?  Be sure you have tissues handy; she could wring tears from a stone.  I keep telling Disco she needs to read them, sorta hinting- but-not-really; she doesn't realize how much I'd like to be a grandmother!

Monday, March 13, 2017

Three steps again

Yesterday I knit and frogged the same two rows of Miss A's halter top no less than 3 times.  I need to check the pattern for errata....None noted.  I checked projects and comments in Ravelry, no one else seems to have had any issues with the Diamond halter from Knitty Summer 2009.  Le sigh...I guess I'll just try it again and try to make sense of it.  The chart  refers to a C4FP, but only explains a C3FP in the stitch key.  The next stitch on the first row of the chart is a C3BP.  I keep winding up with more reverse stockinette stitches on one side than on the other, although my stitch count is correct for the reverse stockinette portion (the bust),  So I've tried shifting the cabled part over by 1 stitch, as I had two more on the right of the base of the diamond than on the left.  Then my WS had two too many on that side!  Grrr....

Sunday, March 5, 2017

In which I am sometimes busy

The dreaded Dry Eye syndrome has come back, I've been to the eye doctor twice in the last week and am due to visit again today.  Lordy, eye drops are pricey!  And now I've got 5 different ones I need to use, two for wetting the ol' eyeballs, 1 for glaucoma, 1 antihistamine, and 1 steroid.  Then the last visit they put a piece of amniotic membrane on my left eye, so the only drops I can put in that one are the wetting ones.  That membrane was really high-priced, but lucky (!!) for me most of my deductible has been met.
In spite of the eye problem, I have been working on Miss A's halter top.  I have been diligently resisting the urge to cast on any other projects.  I did start on the third ball of the yarn -- I sure hope I can get this made with just 5 balls, 'coz I'd like to make myself some ''therapy" mitts out of this stretchy stuff.  And of course I'd like to find a good substitute for the yarn, something as stretchy and soft.  Just cruisin' through Ravelry, I think I should try to find some OnLine Linie 119, which is cotton & polyester and has "stretch" in the name.
I did say I'd get a picture of the bracelet from the Crafts Fair.
A very pretty thing, in lovely colors,,,I'm sure this is some kind of agate, maybe someone will recognize it.  The stones are triangular cabochons in silver.  I nearly dropped it through the planks of the deck while trying to hang it up for another shot!


Monday, February 6, 2017

HAHAHA...NO

Last night Disco asked me if the Steelers were playing in the Super Bowl this year.  I told her she needed to wake up occasionally.
Funny story: I love the Crafts Fair we have here, twice each year.  The spring version is usually just before Mother's Day, and the Fall one is just before my birthday.  It's gotten a little harder for me to do all the walking around to see the whole thing, but I still like to go.  Both Plaidman and Disco know to look for possible gifts for me, as I love love love handmade pretties.  So the last time we went, Plaidman found a super nice piece of jewelry for me, then gave it to Disco to hide it until Christmas.  They both totally forgot it, until last weekend.  I'd worn a blouse with nifty buttons: they each had a shiny nickle ring on the outer edge.  I'm walking around at work, and I keep seeing a tiny shiny ring on the floor -- I thought it was someone's earring, but it turned out to be one of the rings off a button.  I took it home & asked Disco if she could put it back on the button, but she said it would be easier to remove all the remaining rings and make all the buttons look the same.  She was right; the sleeves had 3 buttons each and none had the rings.  So, she took the blouse and collected the rings, then went looking through her beading supplies for an idea for using the rings.  Guess what she found:  a gorgeous handmade bracelet from the Crafts Fair!  It's silver, with green and pinkish/purplish agate triangular cabochons.  I've worn it two days running.

eta:  I wrote the above, fully meaning to get a nice picture of my new adornment, and promptly forgot all about it.  I did watch the Big Game until half time, when I thought the Falcons had it well in hand.  I have no interest in the half time show, so I got up & went about the process of preparing for bed.  When I got out of the shower, the Falcons were still leading 28 to 9.  I dropped into the bed, and didn't wake until the Plaidman came into the bedroom.  I am so very disappointed with the Falcons!  Boo hiss boo to Brady!
I did some knitting Sunday, and I've started on the top portion of the halter top for Miss A.  This part is worked on larger needles, so it should go a little faster, especially once the sides start decreasing.  I don't think I'll have it ready for her birthday....but it'll be close!

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

It ain't for sissies

Growing older...I guess it's better than the alternative, but it sure is a lot of trouble.  Back in October, my eye doctor told me I have early glaucoma in my left eye.  So now I use drops in both eyes to keep it at bay; at least I now understand why that left eye has been such a problem the last couple of years. I was never satisfied with the lenses for that eye.  In addition, I've got a tiny cataract in my right eye, which makes everything look darker thru that one.  I think if I want to knit the Aeolian shawl, I'd better get started on it while I can still see -- I'm kinda slow when knitting, it's liable to take me years to finish the thing!  I'll be using Knit Picks Bare Gloss lace, such a lovely mix of merino & silk!  I probably should have read up on the projects in Ravelry, as so many of even the big versions use a lot less yarn than I bought.  But I'd planned to knit some sample swatches first, to practice my nupps & bead application, so I don't think any of it will go to waste.  I still need to look over my 40" circulars, to see if any are sharp enough for nupps.
Hey, I have some Addi Lace Rockets, should be sharp enough.

Ouch

The sciatica has been stomping me down lately, making it hard to go to sleep, which in turn makes it hard to stay awake at work.  Last weekend I never really got "dressed", just changed into clean pj's after my shower!  I've been working really hard on a "commission", a halter top for a certain nameless gal.  The thing has about a quarter-mile of 2  x  2 ribbing.  Endless ribbing...except I think I'm down to the last 3 rows of that part!  Hurray!

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The bog

So, last week my cubicle neighbor came to work deathly ill, and just coughed continuously for the entire day Tuesday.  Thank goodness she got some cough drops for Wednesday, but I believe she managed to infect half the office.  It sounds like an old time cancer ward up here.  I have not escaped the plague, and am coughing & sneezing whenever I don't have a cough drop or hard candy in my mouth.  Ah well, into each life a little rain must fall.

How 'bout that Meryl Streep!  A class act.  And can someone else please carry the President-elect's phone?  Just don't let him have the phone until he submits his tweet to his speechwriter for a little presidential polish.  The man needs a filter!  He's an embarrassment to his party.  The sad part is, he'll probably decide the job is too much work, and delegate most of it to Pence.  I shudder to think it.

I've been looking at Delica beads, and have narrowed down my choice for the Aeolian shawl to either transparent pale blue or light green -- for just a hint of color.  I'm still looking for a good option for applying the beads, which will mean buying something for that purpose.  None of my steel crochet hooks are small enough.  I guess I'll try the flosser (an inexpensive option), but I really want a couple of beaders in sizes .8 mm & 1.0 mm, from a party that will not be named here.  So far I've found one source, that charges $2 more for each than the inventor.


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Like lightning

This has to be fast.  I never mentioned our one super Christmasy thing we did, right before the holiday.  We went out to Jellystone Campground to see the "Dancing Lights of Christmas"!  Very touristy, took forever & a day just to get to gate 'coz half of Nashville was in line, and the price!! Serious sticker shock!  The Plaidman grumbled, said it better be worth it.  Well..it was!  Frankly fabulous, absolutely amazing, and we all agreed we'd cruise through it again next Christmas.  So, if you get a chance to come to Nashville next December, maybe you could check it out.