A Day to Give Thanks

With two deaths in the family this fall, it's been hard emotionally. Today is a day to look at the good in my life.

• For over 50 years, I had a good partner in my life, (almost 50 of them we were married.).
• My wonderfully supportive and loving children, who have gathered around for family support.
• My sister Carol, who had a rough start at married life, but she and her two children found a good man and a good life.
• My sister Beth who found her man on a blind date and they're still together.
• Family gatherings like Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house.
• My house is paid for and remodeling continues, with most of the work being done by family members.
• My friends, mostly knitting ones.
• My weight loss. I started after Easter, and am reaching the end. I've dreamed of this for years, and finally found something that works for the rest of my life.
• Not to forget my dog. I am never alone in my house.
• My yarn stash. I can knit for a long time without spending money on yarn. Buying yarn is optional.
• A freezer full of good food that I have cooked over time. Cooking is optional, although I've done a lot of it recently.
• My new iPhone acquired when my last phone went swimming and drowned. I'm still learning about all that it can do.

What can I say?

Another death in the family

Last month it was my husband: 9/8/1941-10/13/2011. He had been among the walking wounded for years. Then he caught pneumonia and was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was too much.

At the same time, my sister was also fighting cancer. She went in the hospital for her final treatment, and got pneumonia. Her body struggled with it from the end of September and finally lost the battle.

My sister Carol: 3/31/1945-11/18/2011.

 We lived at opposite sides of the country, and weren't as close as we would have liked to be.

Thankfully, there are no more known illnesses in the family. I have my children, their spouses, and my one remaining sister to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I really don't know what to say!
word seem so inadequate.

Random Thoughts

Both soups were yummy, and I have more Scotch Broth in the freezer. Today, DD and I had tuna fish salad sandwiches. My next cooking project will be meatloaf patties. Cook as needed!I think my solution to cooking for one, is don't. Just cook as usual and package for one. Some things can be cooked to a certain point, put aside, and finished when ready to eat.

I'm getting used to my new computer room, across the hall from my bedroom. It was handy when I woke up the other night and couldn't get back to sleep. Things like the printer don't work like they used to, but they work. The family computer gurus will be in again soon, to do more work like replacing cables with new ones.

I'm getting used to my new iPhone. Did I say that my last phone drowned? There have been some problems with installing e-mail and with my contact list, but they seem to be straightened out now. It helps to have family with iPhone knowledge. I find it interesting that my Bluetooth now has customized ring tomes, so I know who is calling. That is a new to me feature.

I lost my weight/food tracking program when I lost my phone, so went with My Fitness Pal on the recommendation of my daughters. The phone version has a bar code reader, which may come in handy. Since Easter, I have been losing weight by eating smaller portions and exercising more. Tracking shows me progress and helps with nutrition.

Knitting progress - I have a few photos.

The tree bark sweater progresses. I hope I have enough yarn. If not, I'll knit it again on larger needles. I might be able to make it smaller too.

I have a secret project I call a nose warmer for an elephant. It is my purse knitting, being a stockinette tube, just knit round and round.




These socks are from Crystal Yarn Palace Panda Cotton. The pattern is called Hypnosis by Janel Laidman.

I also have a pair of men's socks in Burgundy, but not much progress yet.

Cooking for One

and one, and one. This afternoon was spent in the kitchen. DD Jan missed out on a delicious soup for two that took longer to cook than I had planned for. I hadn't read the part where it said to cook for one hour before adding the last ingredients. It's a vegetable and pasta soup. The trouble with meals for two is that instead of leftover meal, you have left over ingredients. I have made the soup again, through the cook for one hour part. She'll be here on Tuesday, and I will heat it up and add the last pieces.

I also made a big pot of Scotch Broth Soup, with lamb, veggies, and barley. The taste reminds me of Campbell's Scotch Broth, which I hear is discontinued. It made enough for 8 meals, 6 of which will go in the freezer. DD Jan was talking about how I'm eating a lot of lamb. "Did Dad not like lamb?" He liked it, but it seems to be more of a winter food, in addition to being more expensive than some other meats. I recently ordered lamb curry in an Indian restaurant and also bought and ate some lamb chops, which prompted the question.

Before the gym, this morning, I went to my son's house for breakfast. We were in the habit of going out for breakfast once a month, but when he took a look at his current finances, he suggested eating at home. He and his wife made pancakes, bacon, and a scrambled egg casserole. Last month they came to our house, and his Dad enjoyed it thoroughly. It made more sense for me to do the traveling this time. No need to try to keep things warm in transit.

I'll be reading/listening to King Lear in the near future. DGD Luci will be studying it in school this year. It is one of those things I know a lot about, but don't think I every read it and know I never saw it. I remember that the library has a section of audio books of Shakespeare plays. I think the audio will be closer to a staged version. I'll look for a video also. This is a case where the printed page has limitations. I may also read the play from the book I inherited from my mother.

This morning, Luci was deep into a copy of  Les Miserables that I gave her last week for her birthday.. It seems she loves old books. The first thing she did with my gift was to open it up and smell it. She loves the smell of books. The one I gave her, I had bought as a teenager and just read recently.

Moving On

I feel like a lump in the middle of a whirlwind. So much has happened and so much is happening. I'm somewhat numb, while things whirl around me.

This last week was a little hectic. Saturday I worked and had nothing scheduled in the evening except peace and quiet. Sunday morning I had breakfast with our son and his wife's family at the Gunny Hall. Then I went to the gym and came home and baked cornbread for a neighborhood chili cook off. Monday was work and DSon came over to look at wine making supplies. His father in law has a friend who is interested. Also on Mondya morning, my cell phone jumped out of my pocket into the toilet. It drowned. Phone calls to DD Julie, whose plan I am now on resulted, ultimately in a new phone. Tuesday was gym time again, then off to the phone store to get a new iPhone, a big upgrade from what I had! Then I had to get DH's car title changed to my name so I could give it to DGS Craig. He needs to get the title in his name and then I will take the car off my insurance. He's been driving it for about 3 weeks now, since before DH died. Wednesday was a calm day, just work. Thursday was gym and then to the bank to add a signature to my business account now that I had all the paperwork. We tried to add e-mail to my new phone, and messed up my e-mail account. That took a while to straighten out. It's still not on my phone, we plan to try gmail and forward all other mail to that, knowing that gmail will work on the phone. Thursday night, a huge amount of wine making supplies left the house. The wine bottles are on the front porch and will be recycled. The large jugs were sold. I went to the knitting group at my LYS, DSon handled the wine stuff. Whew!


DD Jan is still working on patching walls and painting, causing movement of things that belong in the various rooms. She finished one small, but important room. The furniture from that room was blocking movement in the hall, so other rooms couldn't be put together. My knitting books are slowly being put back on shelves. There are new shelves for the magazines. I've had to move DH's clothes out of his closet in order to patch and paint it. They have left the house and may fit some of the men in the family. Mostly they will be donated to charity.

Today the computers are to be moved from the basement where the family room used to be. They will go in an upstairs bedroom. Eventually, one computer will be eliminated since there is only one of me.

DD Julie is the family finance expert, and has been making phone calls to various people on my behalf. Everyone in the family is rethinking insurance coverage, car, house, health etc. What worked before may not be the best for my future.

Knitting continues, mostly on my tree bark sweater. I have a couple of small projects also, including 2 pairs of socks, and something I'm calling a nose warmer for an elephant.

The weather is getting colder. At early morning dog walk time, it was 37 degrees, and there are lots of leaves on the ground. High temps are in the 50's. Tonight I think I will be home alone. Tomorrow I'll go to DSon's for breakfast, go to the gym and come home to make soup. I have 2 varieties planned. Chop, chop, stir, stir, and knit while it cooks.

Now for the rest of my life

I dropped off the face of the earth earlier this month. My husband died October 13.

He had been in poor health for years with heart and lung problems. He got pneumonia and we thought we had that beat when he came home the end of September. We were wrong! He went back to the hospital 3 days later. All of our out of town children were able to get here in time and stayed through the funeral. We are now picking up the pieces.

I have a wonderful family for support. They all are doing things, sometimes with a speed that surprises me. Home remodeling continues and rooms are actually being finished.

I will be working on the cooking for one problem. I don't mind leftovers, especially on the days that I work. I'm glad I still have my dressmaking shop. I can't imagine sitting home alone every day. So far, my days off have been filled with things to do. Today I went to the gym, saw a doctor for a problem thumb, installed a new cd player at the shop with DD Jan's help, and picked up my husband's ashes. He is sitting on my dining room table, waiting for the thank you note party Friday night. We'll be eating Chinese, writing thank yous, and moving things into newly painted rooms. I'm not sure what else will happen when the people gather.

Knitting
I finished the purple socks, The yarn is from Crystal Palace. Blue beads bought locally. Pattern from Knitty.com, it's Rolling Thunder by Sivia Harding.

Bad and good

Well, I finished the chartreuse socks. A large portion was knit while sitting in the hospital with DH.
He went into the hospital on September 21 with pneumonia and a broken wrist suffered a few days before. We thought that the wrist was only sprained. He got out Sept. 30 and came home wiith oxygen tank in tow. That was Friday. He was slowly getting better.

On Monday, I got a call at work, that his breathing was worse and to come home immediately to watch the dog. He'd called 911. TheEMTs arrived shortly after I got home and did not get attacked by the dog defending her master.

Back at the hospital, he ended up on a breathing machine. That helped take the stress off his heart.

He was sedated, so he was not in pain and was asleep all the time. By Friday, they reduced the sedation and he began to wake up. He's now awake and frustrated that he can't talk due to the tubes down his throat. They're trying to wean him from the machine, but it's a slow process.

Luckily, our son works at a different hospital complex in the heart department, so is a little more knowledgeable about heart/lung issues. Also, his MIL died of heart problems a year or so ago. He sometimes asks better questions and he is the one to track down doctors to get answers.

Back to knitting
The green socks are a mystery pattern for SKA last month, called Watercress. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Spring Tickle color. This pattern had to be knit in chartreuse to count for prizes this month.


I'm on to the October challenge. I'm doing beads and texture other than knit purl rib. The pattern is called Rolling Thunder by Sivia Harding, published in Knitty.com. The beads don't show well in this photo, they're light blue clear. The cuff has rows of thunderbirds and the rest of the sock is a garter rib. Yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Soyin Positive Purple color.

I'm still working on the feed only one person problem. Two of my daughters are alone much of the time, so I've asked them for advice. Today we have one solution to the problem of how to make one slice of french toast. DD is coming to paint bedrooms today. (One might actually be finished) She wants to eat french toast for lunch. I use raisin bread and top it with cinnamon. She lives alone and hasn't had french toast in a long time. I'll make 3-4 slices.

Last night when I got home, I made hamburger helper. The meat had been defrosted when DH was home, so needed to be used. I'll get 4 more meals from that, so won't have to think about cooking for a while. I don't mind leftovers and often freeze portions of large recipes, but most of that is winter food, and the weather is not winter like here right now. By the time I get it worked out, DH will be home.