Yes , today was my birthday . Hubs took me out to dinner , we went to Billy Bob 's BBQ , near Vassar College . A friend of mine from our former work opened it up with his family . It opened sometime last fall or winter , I think . This was the first time we were able to get there . I must say , I wish we had gone sooner ! The food was really excellent , with large portions ! We started with some chicken wings , in four different flavors . All were yummy ! We sampled the Hot , Teriyaki , Honey Garlic and General Tso 's flavors . Then Hubs had the PiggyMac , pulled pork , covered with mac n cheese then topped with bread crumbs . He really enjoyed it , even though he couldn 't eat much of it . I had a traditional pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw on it . Also very yummy . I couldn 't eat it all either , the portions were that large . It could be that we filled up on the wings . . . I had dessert also . I chose the raspberry cheesecake fritters . Oh . My . God . It came as three fritters , they were deep fried and topped with cinnamon sugar . They were so very rich ! All in all , it was a very satisfying dinner ! It was so good to see Bill , he was outside having a smoke when Hubs dropped me off and went in search of a parking space . I can 't believe he remembered that I used to say that he was my favorite medium sized person ! The first thing , he asked me if he still was . I said " yes ! " and gave him a big hug ! But I think the best part of the evening was when I was sung " Happy Birthday to You " by a really good friend and her delightful Cherub daughter , over the phone . That was a nice surprise ! Now I 'm all tired out and ready for bed . See y ' all tomorrow ! Today , as yesterday , the sun is shining , and it 's gorgeous outside . I looked at the creek through the bathroom window , and the water has gone down a lot ! You can see the grass under the water , not like yesterday when the whole thing looked like a raging river . The island of trees in the middle were actually on the close bank of the creek . I will try and get out later for some post high - water photos . Hubs and I traveled to the house in Fishkill yesterday , to check on flooding there . We had had a call from the neighbor across the street , she was very upset that her basement was flooding , the water was coming in through the walls ! When we got there she came out and we talked . She told us that there was a literal river running in the yard , from west to east , towards route 9 , through the side yard , and across the front of the house . We went inside . Hubs checked out the basement . There was hardly any water ! There were signs that there had been water , possibly several inches , but the sump pump had taken care of it . All that was left was a few puddles in low spots in the floor . It is a really good thing that the basement had already been cleaned out ! Even the furnace is gone . So that was a load off of Hubs ' mind . There is still a lot of flooding around here , Staatsburg is horrendously flooded ! I was looking at photos on facebook last night . I know route 9G was closed in places , we couldn 't get pizza from our favorite pizza parlor last night ! They are right in the middle of a shut down section ! All in all , we were tremendously lucky , and we know it . My daughter still hasn 't returned to work , her school still has no power . Son 's girlfriends parents whole town still has no power . It could be next week for them ! We lost power for about two minutes , at 7 : 10 pm Sunday evening . It came right back on . And it did flicker off and on for a little while before that . But that 's it ! Now on to crafty things . I 'm working on what I 'm calling the hurricane afghan for friend Gordie in Texas . He wants it six feet long ! It might be a little BicraftualMe It 's just after 11 a . m . here and the hurricane is still here , but seems to be petering out . We have not lost power , at least not yet , and have minimal water in the basement . And yes , I did go out and dance in the rain . I just wanted to be able to say I did it . I really wanted to do it skyclad , but Hubs frowned upon that idea . I still might , but later tonight after dark , when I won 't freak out the new neighbors . I 've been up since pretty early , at least for me . It feels a lot later than it is . I 'm tired and could use a nap . A few hours ago I suggested to Hubs that we should drain some water out of the pool , we don 't want it overflowing . He agreed , so we went down and turned the filter on , then set it to backwash . It took a long time to drain low enough , even with the rain coming down so hard ! We sat and played backgammon , which I won as usual . I believe it was three out of five . . . I have had to go out once so far and bail the water out of the Jeep cover . There was a lot of water in there . I have to keep a better eye on it , so it doesn 't get so full . As I was bailing , I was wishing I had parked him tucked closer under his tree . I got soaked during that activity , and that was when I danced , on my way back to the house . I also hope to work on the hurricane afghan today , yes I want to crochet for a while . But first I want to shower , I got all sweaty vacuuming the flea powder off the couch . I put the sheets that were covering it in the wash , and have to wait for them to be done before I take a nice hot shower . After they are dry , I will re - cover the couch again just to be safe . Hubs has gone to Ti - Yogi for a while , to shoot . He needs to get in some practice , hunting season is just around the corner . For those of you who don 't know , Ti - Yogi is a bow club . He 's been a member for quite a few years now . They are a good bunch of guys , and even some women belong now . The club has a connection to Eleanor Roosevelt , she was an avid bow woman , and the club is named after her pet ocelot , I think . I know it was a wild cat of some kind . They have pictures of her at the club . So it seems the hurricane isn 't as bad as they thought . I can only say thank the Goddess , and Yippee Skippee . . . Of course , it 's not over yet , and the lights have flickered a little while ago , so we could still lose power . But all in all I think we will be ok . And the one tree that Hubs was concerned about still stands . . . . so far . Posted by A facebook friend , that I 've known since my teenage years , has asked me to make him an afghan . All he asked for is purple and 6 feet long . I can do that . He also asked that it not be " girlie " , or his granddaughters would steal it from him . He sent me some money for the yarn , and I 've gotten started ! I am using my favorite pattern , I just thought about it and I 've been crocheting this particular pattern for about 20 years ! I had originally planned to use one of the yarns that come in one pound balls , but then I remembered that the last afghan I made in that yarn , just a few months ago , went square when I washed it . Julie loved it anyway , but I was unhappy about it . Knowing it might not be long enough with its original stitch count , I added thirty more stitches to the starting chain . Or so I thought . On the last row of single crochet for the first section , I counted stitches as I crocheted along . Turned out I had miscounted a bit . Instead of the planned 181 stitches , I had about 172 . But I think it 's plenty long enough . I haven 't measured it yet , but it 's more than 6 feet in Hubs ' opinion . One reason I favor this pattern is that there are only four rows of any one stitch . It starts with four rows of single crochet , then four rows of V stitch . Four more rows of single , then a funky row of loops . The next row connects all the loops , and then four more rows of single crochet . It 's done side to side , so you start with the length and work until it 's wide enough . Usually seven panels of the V stitch . So this pattern isn 't boring ! I did an afghan almost 25 years ago , before I knew better , that was straight double crochet . Endless , mindless , boring double crochet . By the time I was halfway through that one , I was suicidal . I learned from that experience to find patterns that mix stitches up and don 't get boring ! I 've been knitting so much lately that I 've been feeling guilty for neglecting my hooks . But they were still there for me , and rattled pleasantly in their plastic containers as I searched for the right hook . I find myself questioning Gordie 's sanity for asking me for an afghan . He lives in Texas . They have endured more than 70 days of triple digit temperatures since May ! Maybe he has his a . c . set too cold , I don 't know . But he 's given me the opportunity to crochet again , and for that I thank him ! Posted by This morning , Hubs and I discussed what needs to be done to prepare for the coming hurricane . Mostly outdoor stuff needs to be moved indoors . Easy , right ? Maybe not . We have so much stuff just hanging around outside , especially after living here for twenty years . I imagine some of it we can throw away , but I need him to help me decide . I have a feeling that whatever I decide to dispose of will be of vital importance to him ! So a lot of it will have to wait until tomorrow . He 's sleeping today because he works tonight , but when he gets home in the morning his weekend starts . He will probably stay up and we will sort and argue , dispose of and argue , and store and argue . But in the meantime , I will do what I can . Today I received a check , a friend wants me to make him an afghan . Why he needs one , when he lives in Texas , is beyond me . But I adore shopping for yarn , so I went . I immediately changed my mind about which yarn I wanted to use , and found some of what I did want to use , in the color he wants , in my stash ! Sweet ! So when I got the craft store , I headed right to the yarn as usual . ( Side bar - you know you spend too much time in the craft store when the employees know you by name ! ) The other color he wants in his afghan ? They don 't have any in the right yarn . I find a compatible yarn in a good color , and they only have three skeins of it . I buy what they have and head to the second choice craft store , which is in the same plaza . They have the second color , but not the first ! We are talking purple as the first color , and gray as the second here . I wanted to pick up another skein of the purple , so I have enough to get a good start on the afghan . But I am not going back to the first store . I will make do with what I have , for now . I should be able to get a good start on his afghan , and send him pics . I tried to take a photo of the purple yarn yesterday , in a basket , but it looked blue . I wasn 't happy . The sun is shining now , so maybe I will try again . I am way too busy today to knit , maybe I will get a chance laterBicraftualMe I 'm just sayin ' is all . . . Not only me , but bunches of other people too . I 've had more facebook friends with birthdays this month than any other month ! And I can 't forget my cousin Dana , who shares my birthday with me ; next Tuesday , for those who need to know . Actually , it 's not a birthday I 'm looking forward to , who wants to be a speed limit age ? I know it 's only a number , and I truly don 't feel as old as I am . Usually . It helps being married to a man 8 years younger than myself ! But this is not exactly what I wanted to talk about today . This morning , I went to visit a friend . We have been crocheting together since we were both laid off 2 + years ago . Well , now she 's gotten herself a " part time " job . It 's really cutting into her friend and crafting time ! Not to mention her family time ! Anyway , I took my camera with me on my visit today . I 've sorta decided to take it with me everywhere I go these days . I took a few photos today at her house , when we were out in the craft room . This is the back of her unco - operative dog , she wouldn 't let me take a picture of her face . . . Isn 't she cute ? I was hoping to find some purple yarn in my stash that lives at her house , but there wasn 't any . I did find some in my stash here , though , when I got home . I still need to buy some more purple , and some gray . A friend in Texas would like me to make him an afghan . I don 't think it needs to be heavy , it 's still in the triple digits , heatwise . . . Maybe I could make it out of ice . Time to sign off , I think I 'm getting punchy . . . Today I finally got to sit and knit ! I switched colors last night , and made some good progress before I went to bed . I picked it up this morning and kept right on going ! However , I did run into a problem . On the way back across a wrong side row , about half way , I realized I had done the center stitches in the wrong place ! ! I put it down , totally disgusted with myself . After a little while , I talked myself into fixing it . So for an hour , I tinked the purl row , then back across the knit row . I even managed not to drop any stitches while tinking ! That was a first for me . I successfully fixed my center stitches , and knit on . Whew ! I 'm glad it 's over , but at least I know I can do it if I have to . After fixing my boo boo , I took my shawl outside and took some photos ! I wanted to show the color change , and how much has been done with the new color . Today has been an extremely frustrating day . I have not been able to knit at all today . Instead , I 've been at war with fleas . Yes , again this year , we are having a flea problem . And again , they are resisting my attempts to train them for my imagined " world famous " flea circus . Fleas are not as smart as people think . I spent a few hours a number of days ago , sprinkling the citrus scented powder on my carpet , then getting the broom and sweeping it in , according to the manufacturers instructions . Later that day , after I could breathe again , I did the sprinkling thing to the couch , which I then covered with clean sheets to keep the chemicals off of us as we use it . The next day , it was time to vacuum the carpets . While I was doing that , I noticed the vacuum was moving easily , it wasn 't hard to push at all . I figured someone had adjusted the height to the wrong setting . Today when I emptied the canister , I didn 't even notice the filter was missing . I had just noticed the canister was full , I couldn 't see the filter . When I went to use the stupid thing , it started blowing dirt out the vent . I stopped and asked Beloved Hubs for help . He ended up accusing me of dumping the filter out and not putting it back in . I didn 't . The filter wasn 't in the bag of dirt I had just dumped , ( he emptied it and searched ) so that would mean it wasn 't in the canister to begin with . But I did something wrong . Uh - huh . So I went to the appliance store on 9G and got a new filter . Now the vacuum was hard to push , like it usually is . Nice . So I finished vacuuming the floor , then uncovered the couch one section at a time , and vacuumed each one thoroughly . Now it 's almost 3 : 30 and I 'm exhausted . I wonder if Beloved Hubs would object if I knit for a while ? I think I 'll wait until he 's napping . Posted by Yesterday , as I sat and drank my orange juice , I had two stories in my mind . I shared one of them . Now , for the life of me , I can 't remember the second story . But I shall persevere . Several years ago I bought my Hubs a nice digital camera for Christmas . He hasn 't used it that much , just to shoot pics of a turkey he shot , a bunch of pics of birds on the beach in Rehoboth , and some of our now deceased dog and two fish . I decided to ask him if I could use his camera to take photos of my craft projects , for use on facebook , this blog , and possibly even my etsy shop . Of course , he said yes ! So I have spent the last couple of days familiarizing myself with the camera , and have taken a few pictures . As I look around as I type this , I don 't see any way to add my fabulous photos to my blog . Wait a minute , there 's the " Add " button . Let 's give this a shot ! Nope , that 's just to let you all know where I am , location wise . Not what I am looking for . . . Dang it , I can 't drag and drop the photo . I can 't copy and paste it either . . . I guess my blog will continue to photo - less , at least temporarily . I hope it doesn 't take too long to figure it out ! If anyone has any ideas , please feel free to fb message me , or leave a comment the blog . Now , I 'm cooking dinner . Hubs and I were up at 5 a . m . So , we are both pretty tired . He actually got to take a nap , but I couldn 't get to sleep . Now the chicken breasts are in the oven , seasoned with Montreal Steak seasoning . I love that stuff , on almost everything . I 've used it on chicken , pork , lamg , even steak ! It 's also good on veggies . That 's for you , Laura . Time to go , side dishes are waiting to be prepared . Have a good night and if anyone can help with my photo problem , please let me know ! Posted by Today , as I sit here drinking my orange juice , I have in mind two stories to tell you . But which one to share today ? I 've been thinking a lot about a former friend and how she got that way . It still makes me angry , even now . So that 's the one you shall hear about ! Years ago , I worked at a small manufacturing place , with a small work force . It had four shifts that rotated through the week , 24 / 7 . As usually happens in such situations , some of us became close friends , even spending time together on our days off . I had my own apartment , but was having trouble paying all my bills on time . So I decided to take on a room mate . " C " was more than ready to move out of her mother 's house . So she moved in with my daughter and I . The very first thing , she moved in two weeks earlier than we had agreed , and didn 't pay for the whole month . Now , I had a two bedroom apartment , and in order to accommodate a room mate , I had to share my bedroom with my daughter . So we moved her into my room and C took her room . It was a rocky relationship from the start . She didn 't know how to lock the bathroom door , I guess she 'd never seen a " push and turn to lock " door knob before . So instead of asking me how to lock the door , she refused to shower when my daughter had friends over to play . She stood there , towel in hand , asking if the guest was leaving so she could shower . She thought someone would walk into the bathroom on her while she was showering . It was a small apartment . We knew when someone was using the bathroom . C also objected to my keeping my scissors on top of the refrigerator . That was where I wanted them , they were easy to find . It got to the point that I fantasized moving out on her , because everything was mine , the dishes , the living room drapes , all the furniture , everything ! Everything except for her bedroom stuff . She would wake up and there 's nothing in the place , not even my scissors . Then I met my future husband . C objected to him from the beginning . He would sleep over , and she didn 't like that at all . Unbeknownst to me , she went to my mother and told her that he was only seeing me for sex . She really did ! I didn 't know about that one for a long time , until after we were married . She finally decided that she had had enough , and found herself a small apartment in another town . Buh - bye ! All in all , we were room mates for less than a year . She moved in in January , I met Hubs in June , and we were married in December , and she was long gone by then ! But she left a lasting impression . C and I remained friends , even after the company we worked for moved out of state , and I left that job . She followed the job to another state . She met a guy , fell in love , again , and they bought a house together . He , as far as I know , he is still refusing to marry her . If they are even still together . Mind you , this is like twenty years ago . She would call me when she was coming back to NY for a visit , and we would meet , and spend time together . How many times did I urge her to drop that guy , make him buy out her half of their house ? I 've lost track . She wasn 't happy and I tried to help . She liked that I was so straight with her . The visits got further and further apart . Finally , we were just emailing each other . One day , just a few years ago , I emailed her with the news that my daughter had found her knight in shining armor . She was getting married ! I was so happy , and wanted to spread the joy . Well , she sent me back an email saying how immature my girl was , and totally making a mistake , etc . , etc . . Since then I have forgotten exactly what she wrote . Mind you , my child is now a grown woman , in her thirties . She went to college . And graduated with a very high GPA . She also has a job she loves , teaching at a nursery school . My " friend " objected to the fact that my future son - in - law gave up his own apartment to move home into his mom 's basement to save money for the wedding and a house . And C objected to the fact that he worked in a supermarket . In my opinion , teaching , and working in a supermarket are two jobs that will endure , even when the economy is bad ! People still need to eat , and educate their kids ! ! I steamed when I read her email . I immediately started an answer , blasting her every nasty comment . Then I stopped . I decided she wasn 't worth it . I never did answer her . I deleted all her contact info from my computer , my cell phone , my address books and my home phone . To this day , I have had no contact with her . I hope she 's happy . But I know she 's not . She 's a very bitter middle aged single woman living withBicraftualMe At last is right ! I got lots of things done early today , so now I have time to sit and knit and just relax ! I made a list this morning , all the things I needed to do , the places I needed to go . And most of it is flea related . Yup , the fleas are back this year . So I went and bought the powder to sprinkle on our sectional , and a different one to sprinkle on the carpet . At some point tomorrow I will be vacuuming it all up again . The hardest part is moving all the stuff off the floor . I still haven 't decided what to do with the excess karate trophies from the son 's room . We have so many of these things , we 'd need a bigger room in a bigger house to store them all . Now Hubs has left for work , and I can sprinkle the carpet . The good news is that he was pleased with all I got done today ! He told me not to kill myself to get it all done , do a little each day . I told him that when I do it that way , it doesn 't look like I 've done anything ! A big effort makes a big impact . Anyway , now I get to sit and knit . The shawl is coming along nicely . And I 'm looking forward to the color changes . It even relaxes me to just knit one row and purl the next , mindlessly . Gotta love stockinette stitch . One of these days , I will have to crochet something , so I don 't get out of practice ! Wait , I forgot , I have an order for a 6 foot long purple afghan for a friend in Texas . I just need to nail down exactly what he expects , pattern wise . As I proof read this , it strikes me again , what is in my mind to write seems so much longer than the actual end product ! When I 'm thinking and planning what to write , it seems like pages and pages . What I read when I 'm done seems very compact and brief ! What 's up with that ? Maybe I can learn to stretch out my stories , with more in - depth descriptions , and junk . Could be I have a book in me after all ? Posted by Good day ! Today we were expecting thunderstorms , so I didn 't uncover the Jeep and go anywhere . Besides , I am not all that eager to spread the fleas . Yes , we have fleas . Again . This time I think I caught it early , so it won 't get insane like last year . Anyway , I decided to wind up the rest of the yarn for my newest shawl project . It 's been staring at me , calling me , sending me subliminal messages . So I caved , got out my swift and ball winder , and wound my yarn . I enjoy seeing the swift spin , but do not enjoy the winding of the handle of the ball winder . By the time I 'm done , I am usually in pain . This time wasn 't too bad ! I am making some solid progress on the shawl , and I 'm looking forward to changing to the next yarn . It 's getting bigger and bigger . I think I will be putting it on a bigger circular needle soon , I love to spread it out and see how it looks . Just as Hubs was getting in the shower today , We started hearing thunder . It got louder and closer , until I told him he better get outta here , or he was gonna get soaked on his way to the truck ! Luckily the rain held off . But he called me from Fishkill , it was hailing there and they were marble sized ! He said it was hailing so hard , there was a coating of hailstones on the hood of his truck ! He also told me that he would drive thru the hail , stop at a stop light , and the hail would catch up to him . Over and over this happened . Then finally it turned to just rain , just as he pulled onto the site . I wish I could have seen the hail . Now I think the storms are over . I do love a good thunderstorm ! I can feel the electricity in the air . It 's very energizing . Posted by I realized I neglected to mention that the name of the shawl is The Comfort Shawl , designed by Sarah Bradberry . I found it on a free pattern website . I will admit to changing it a little , however . I didn 't like the original design done in garter stitch , so I do it in stockinette . It 's just my own personal taste . And best of all , no pattern errata ! Thank you , Sarah ! Posted by After spending a few days thinking about it , I have started my next shawl . And yes , I started thinking about it * before * the Pi shawl was done . In my stash , I have 2 balls of Chroma fingering weight that I bought from Knit Picks . It amazes me that with all the awesome colorways they offer , I chose " natural " ! I have also been given a skein of beautiful hand dyed yarn from my friend Kim , of AtKnitsEndYarns , in a colorway experiment that she wasn 't happy with . Its gorgeous , shades of pink , with natural also . Then there 's another skein Kim gave me , in a beautiful bright fuschia . She told me it 's just not her color , but she knew it was mine ! My shawl is going to be done in stockinette stitch , to show off the different yarns and colors . It will start with the center top , and expand out from there . To explain better , the stitches on the needle ( circular , of course ) will be the two long sides , so it will look like V stripes when it 's done . Anyway , I am starting with the natural , then moving to the hand painted shades of pink , then to the solid pink . Three stripes only , and when I come to the end of a color , I 'm just gonna attach the new one , whether I 'm at the end of a row or not . I am really looking forward to seeing this one , I wear a lot of pink , so I should get a lot of use out of this one ! While I have you , I must tell you about how the Pi shawl came out ! It 's awesome . It 's plenty big enough , and so pretty ! And it only took four hours to dry . I was a little concerned about the purple section , as I had run out of the Malabrigo sock yarn . But the Malabrigo had quite a bit of purple in it , so the solid purple works , and looks great . Posted by To my great delight , I got to block my 2nd Elizabeth Zimmermann Pi Shawl this morning ! I had a few other things to do , phone calls to make , but suddenly found myself ready . While my shawl soaked in the bathroom sink , I went downstairs and started the pool filter , and did my other associated pool duties . Except the skimming . There was no point in that . On my way back upstairs , I gathered up the boggest pool towels . Meanwhile , in my bathroom sink , the water had drained out . I expected this , it won 't hold water for some unknown reason . So I squeezed water out of my shawl , then set it to rinse in plain cool water , until that water drained out . I squeezed it out again . I took the pool towels and spread two of them on the floor of my son 's room . I spread the shawl , folded in half , out on the towels . I folded the edges of the towels in on top of the shawl , so it was covered . Then I rolled the whole mess up , and moved it to the door , so I had something to hold on to for balance . I proceeded to stand on the towel roll , moving my feet from the edges to the middle . I repeated this several times , until my feel were getting wet . I unrolled my towels , and took out the shawl . I spread it out on my son 's bed , centering it , and worked on the side nearest the wall first , then spread the rest of it out . It is definitely bigger than the indigo one ! I am very pleased . And this time , like the last time , I didn 't really need to use pins ! I guess the fleece sheet on the bed put enough tension on the shawl to hold it in place . I turned on the fan in the window , and left , closing the door behind me . At that point , I got dressed , since I was meeting a friend for brunch at Cranberry 's ! I love going there , and can 't wait for school to be back in session , so Stitch n Bitch can meet there again ! It was nice to see Joni again ! We talked for a long time . I asked her if she had applied for any jobs online . When she said no , I explained how absolutely annoying it is , since the first thing you have to do is attach your resume . Then they proceed to Posted by 1 . There was once a movie called Sharkboy and Lavagirl . I remember it specifically because the kids that starred in it , the boy and the girl , were both named Taylor . And now this boy is mostly grown up , and he stars in " Twilight " as Jacob the werewolf . His name is Taylor Lautner . It rang a bell in my brain when I was watching something show business related , and Mark Wahlberg said that Taylor is the biggest new hunk in Hollywood . . . Why does no one remember this earlier role ? I 'd like to watch it again , and see how he 's changed . 2 . I ran out of purple yarn today before finishing my shawl . I was greatly bummed . I had no desire to go and spend $ 10 for another skein , just to use a small portion of it . But I went to Michaels this afternoon , encurring my husbands wrath . I also went to Stop n Shop , so I was killing two birds with one stone . When I returned home , Hubs informed me that I better put the top back up on my Jeep at the next opportunity , from which I gathered that he would not be letting me use his truck on rainy days anymore . Some times men can be such assholes . But he 's in a much better mood now , since he retrieved the memory card from one of his field cameras , and there were pictures of some really awesome deer on it ! 3 . I also used Hubs ' truck this morning to go to spinning group at the library in Clinton . I had a really good time ! There were lots of people there this month , so there was lots of lively conversation . It was so good to see Terry and Denise ! I brought Denise her order from Pampered Chef , And she was so excited to get it ! 4 . I am so very sick and tired of all this rain . It feels like any minute now , Noah is gonna pull up in back of our house in the ark , and tell us it 's time to go ! I am beginning to feel like Swamp Thing , covered in green stuff that 's growing on me . I will be so glad to see the sun when it finally comes back ! 5 . My daughter and son - in - law celebrated their 1st anniversary yesterday . They went to Cape Cod , and I guess it 's raining there too . Poor babies , they will have to stay iPosted by Today was the annual karate school picnic . We usually have a really good time . This year , however , it was raining and I think that 's why so many people didn 't show up . There was supposed to be contest for the best tasting ribs . But no one who came brought any . There were lots of salads to eat , four different macaroni salads and a cole slaw . There were also several batches of cookies , and some brownies too . They were all good ! One adult student brought the only warm food , some corn on the cob . . . it was yummy ! The kids all went swimming , and most of the adults played volleyball . It rained on them the whole time , and they all got wet ! No one seemed to mind getting wet . I am not athletically inclined , so I sat at a picnic table and worked on my knitting . I got quite a lot done today ! It did get chilly , though , so I eventually put on my sweater . We called it a day early , around 4 pm . Some people had to leave for various reasons , and I think the rest of us had had enough of the frivolity . All in all , it was nice to see everyone who came , I just wish more people had come . Well , there 's always next year . . . . . Many years ago , when I first started working in the semiconductor industry , most of my co - workers were young people , like me . There were some older people , but mostly the workforce was in their twenties . And most of the workforce was female . There was this one petite , older european woman who mostly kept to herself . She was very timid , and startled easily . Well , once that was discovered , some people would go out of their way to drop things near her just to see her jump and cry out . One night , she was sitting alone in the break room , so I joined her . We started talking , and I ended up learning her story . It absolutely floored me . She was Hungarian , and had been in the resistance in that country 's civil war . She had been married , and her husband had been killed . She also had a young child , a daughter , who had to be left behind when her mother was secretly smuggled out of the country ! This poor woman was a widow at a young age , and had to leave her only child behind while she was smuggled to freedom in the United States ! It was many years before she would find her child and be reunited with her . Listening to her talk that night , it taught me a valuable lesson . You never know what other people 's life experiences are , what they have lived through . No wonder she was so easily startled ! After all these years , I don 't remember that woman 's name . But I do remember her story . How she survived , came to the U . S . and became a citizen , and found the courage to go on . She even got married again , and from what I could tell , was quite happy . I seem to remember that someone had a few words with her tormenters that got them to stop making loud noises on purpose . That experience opened my eyes and my mind . It got me thinking about others , as well as myself . And I still remember that night , as I sat open mouthed , while she told me her story . That one lunch break of an hour seemed to last a whole lot longer , as she transported me to Europe in the 1950 's and told me her story . Posted by I have a lot of thoughts running rampant in my mind tonight . Today was the first time I 've been to the house in Fishkill by myself since we moved back home . It was weird being there . Usually Hubs is with me , but he 's doing stuff outside . So I 'm in the house alone . But today , I knew he wasn 't outside , and it disturbed me more than I thought it would . My assignment was to clean out the coat closet in the living room , in preparation for some work being done in the house on Sunday . I successfully completed my mission . I sorted through the coats ; keeping mine , putting hers in a bag for donation . Then I had to clean off the shelves in the closet . This proved a bit easier . There were games stacked up , but nothing really worth keeping , like checkers , Monopoly , and Scrabble . I did keep the letter tiles from Scrabble for my mom , who plays regularly . I thought she could use them , and I was right ! The friend she plays Scrabble with is going blind , and on mom 's current tiles , the letters are wearing off . So she was happy to receive the ones from the closet . Tucked at the back of one shelf , I found some treasures ! Three editions of Trivial Pursuit , and an accessory set of cards ! I have no use for them , since Hubs won 't play with me any more . . . Ever since I knew that the names of the Katzenjammer Kids were Hans and Fritz . But I didn 't want to throw them away . I sent Sara a text , asking her if she wanted them . She answered " Yes " , so I packed them in the Jeep for the ride home . I also brought home a box of old photos . We have no idea who these people are , but an old friend of Betty 's will know . They grew up together in Rhinebeck . I just have to get them to her . All in all , I about half filled up the garbage can , throwing out all kinds of useless things , and things no one else would want . I 'm getting over the guilt , and it makes me a little sad . At the lunch after her memorial service , we were supposed to tell Betty stories . I had some ready , but it never happened . So I will tell you one now . My mom had a friend who lived up the stLastly , I will close with the fact that I brought my knitting with me , but didn 't get to knit today . Just so you know , I usually have either my knitting , or my nook with me whenever I go anywhere . Posted by I spent most of this evening with my best 9 year old friend , and her mom . We sat around watching the Disney Channel , and while we grown ups worked on our latest knitting projects , Miss Mellie put on a " pageant " which included her guinea pig , Fluffer . Her mom and I were the judges , so of course , Fluffer won , hands down . And I actually got a lot of knitting done ! I am almost done with the knitted on border that goes on forever ! Now I 'm looking forward to blocking this shawl on my son 's bed , while he 's gone all day ! Now I 'm home in the land of grown ups , and watching one of the shows I like , Burn Notice . And I 'm cooking my dinner , left over pizza . I am splurging tonight , and actually heating it up in the oven , not just nuking it in the microwave . Big treat for me . My most generous friend Kim gave me some more yarn while I was visiting ! She is keeping me supplied while my spending is suspended due to lack of funds . What a great friend to have ! And she gets to feel good too , since she can call it de - stashing ! My Hubs doesn 't approve , he says she 's enabling me . But I love her in spite of this enabling and mean - girl - ness that I hear she has . . . Now I have to go , because my dinner is ready , and I 'm hungry . . . Here 's wishing you a hot pepperoni pizza and garlic knots to all ! We have a pool , and it 's pretty big . It 's 20 ' by 40 ' , and goes from 3 . 5 ' to about 8 ' deep , in a straight slope . No hopper in this pool ! We estimate it holds around 44 , 000 gallons of water ! When Jesse was small , there were always kids going swimming , and when Hubs worked at the garage , he would bring all the guys home at lunch time to cool off . Back then , the pool got a lot of use . These days , however , I am the only one who uses it on a regular basis . I think Jess and Hubs both have only been in it maybe three times each so far this year . Sara has been here a couple of times too . Before we opened it this year , Hubs and I discussed having it filled in . It really is a lot of work for him , since he does all the vacuuming . And if , for some reason , we decide to move somewhere else , it 's too much work for Jess since he 's gone , almost literally , from near dawn til after dark , and has no time to do the necessary chores involved in taking care of the pool . I convinced Hubs to open it for one more season , then in the fall we can decide . I am making the most of the pool this summer . I am down there every day , for at least a little while . Every morning I get my suit on , go downstairs and turn on the filter , then go in the pump house and check the pressure on the filter . I let the air out of it also . Then I open the gate , and walk out to the skimmer , check the skimmer , and dump out all the pine needles , dead frogs and bugs and such that have collected there . I carry my nook , the house phone , and my cell phone out to the table and chairs we have at the far end . Then I have to go back to the club house , because I usually forget the test kit . I test the pool , then jump in the shallow end and reach under the bottom step and get the thermometer to check the water temp . We like to keep it down kinda deep , so we get a more accurate temp reading , and not a false reading since the water in the top four inches or so is much warmer . Then I start to skim . I always do it from inside the pool ! I have taken the skimmer head off the pole and I don 't know if I can convince Hubs not to fill in the pool . We are still talking about it , and he will not agree to making me a lawn backgammon board . I keep trying , though . I thing it would be fun to play backgammon in the lawn , with big playing pieces cut from some of the trees we need to take down . He thinks it would be too much work , to actually play the game . He 's probably right . Posted by Well , today I can report that I 'm breathing much better ! I listened to Hubs and turned on the portable a . c . unit we brought home from the Fishkill house . It 's working really well . I didn 't turn it on yesterday , because it wasn 't hot , just really humid . And frankly , it didn 't occur to me ! Today is humid too , but it 's also hotter than yesterday . And thunderstorms are still predicted for later on today . So now it 's on to knitting news . I am making some real progress on the border of my second Pi Shawl . It 's so pretty , made in a Malabrigo sock yarn . I only had two hanks , so I bought some solid purple sock yarn to end it with . I did the last ten rounds lacey , with YO , K2tog for one round , then straight knit the next , then repeat the rounds . I finished with the straight knit round , then added another before I started the knit - on border . It 's so cool , watching the border grow . I 've even had time today to work on it . In between washing dishes and doing some laundry . It feels good to be able to do these things , as I couldn 't yesterday . Let 's all hope it continues to get better ! Today I am having a lot of trouble breathing . I 'm exhausted , just from the effort that it 's taking to breathe . So many people don 't understand . But it 's Pulmonary Sarcoidosis . I was diagnosed after my youngest child was born . Those of you who have been pregnant and have had kids , you remember how , at the end of your pregnancy , it can be hard to breathe because the baby is taking up so much room ? After my son was born , that feeling didn 't go away . I would get out of breath walking up a flight of stairs , or sometimes even from talking too much ! I wasn 't too concerned about it . When I went to be prepped for having my tubes tied a few months later , a routine chest x - ray was done . While I was recovering from the surgery in the hospital , the Dr . came in and told me there was something unusual on my x - ray . At that time , I became intensely aware of every breath ! He had his nurse schedule an appointment for me with a pulmonologist . So I went to see him , and he told me I had Pulmonary Sarcoidosis . I had never even heard of it ! He told me about the particular pattern he could see on the x - ray , it looked like a pawnbrokers symbol , three balls , one over two . He turned out to be a very new doctor , and he was all excited that I was his first Sarcoid patient . He sent me to see another specialist in the Westchester Medical Center . He wasn 't so thrilled . He told me it would either get better , stay the same , or get worse . He began me on the regimen of drugs that , to this day , are basically the same . At first I had to carry them all with me everywhere I went , because I had to take the inhalers every 4 hours . Since that time , they have developed new longer - acting ones , so I only have to take them every 12 hours . Even one of the pills I had to take twice a day , now are only needed once a day . I have learned to take pills by the handful . People usually assume I have Asthma , because I wheeze a lot , and that 's the best known lung disorder . I have gotten extremely weary of correcting them , so I usually just change the subject . And it turnPosted by I was sitting here on my couch , knitting , and you know how your mind just wanders aimlessly while you knit ? Well , yours might , but I am busy counting the stitches of my knitted on border . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ! Then back again to 9 , and k2tog . When I don 't count , I somehow end up with more than 10 stitches . . . so I count . Anyway . I manage to get in some thinking while I 'm counting . I wonder what I shall blog about today . Shall I tell the promised story of how I met the man of my dreams and how we got together ? Should I bare my soul , once more , but this time about Living with Sarcoidosis ? ( Go ahead , google it , I 'll still be here . ) Nah , I think I 'll just talk about how good it feels to knit . The softness of the yarn sliding thru my fingers . The pleasure I get from choosing a wonderful yarn from a whole wall of gorgeous yarns . The ecstasy I feel as I run my fingers thru my stash , recalling where I found each skein . Mmmmm and the smells ! Yummy . I must give thanks to my friend Kim H . who introduced me to smelling my natural fibers . Which makes me think of my other friend Bonny , who goes " Eeewwww , do you know how many people have touched that ? " We just laugh . When I make my favorite crocheted afghan pattern , I only have to count the stitches every 5th row or so . It can be very freeing . That 's when I really have time to let my mind wander . How about you guys leave me a comment , tell me where your mind goes when you knit or crochet ? It will help me not feel like no - one is out there . And I promise , at some point in the future I will talk about those other topics I mentioned . I am really frustrated right now ! I was almost finished with this post , when something happened and it all disappeared ! I don 't remember all I wrote , so there 's no way I can re - create the whole thing ! ! I was pouring my heart out , telling you all how it began , and how it 's getting better now . Telling all about the recognizability I have because of wearing my hats , but it 's all gone . AAARRRGGGHHH ! ! ! ! I have Alpoecia . I 'm dealing with it . My hair is coming back , slowly . My eyebrows and eyelashes are back already . The hair I lost on my legs can stay gone , as far as I 'm concerned ! And the rest of it can join what 's already gone ! The hair on my arms is still gone too . Sometimes I look and see a few fine hairs growing there . I have friends who have never seen me with hair ! That 's gonna be wierd when it grows back ! Even my drivers license has a picture of me wearing one of my favorite scarves . I need to mention how much I admire the women I 've seen that can go without a hat or scarf . I can 't . I am not that brave . I do have some hair growing , but it 's white , and very sparse . So I shave my head about one a month . And when I 'm laying out in the sun , I will take off my hat , or roll it back so my forehead and my ears get some color . So far , it 's working , and I haven 't gotten sunburned . But then I don 't burn . My husband tells people I get a tan walking under a lamp . . . . While watching TV , I am perhaps one of the few who actually pay attention to the commercials . In general , I find them very entertaining . There are a few , though , that when I watch them , I think to myself " Something 's not right about that . . . " . I proceed to watch , and think some more , until it finally hits me what is wrong with the commercial . Here are a couple that annoy me . . . In one for a liquid soap , they make a big deal about the pump of the container being dirty . Well , what do you do immediately after touching the " dirty " pump ? YOU WASH YOUR HANDS ! ! ! ! So it doesn 't matter if it 's supposedly dirty , now does it ? A few commercials for medications advise you to tell your doctor about all the medications you take . Uhm , DUH . He ( or she ) is your doctor ! It is in their records what medications you take ! ! Even if you regularly see a specialist , the same thing applies . After your first visit , they should know what medications you 're on ! I 'm afraid that 's all I can think of today . Maybe some of you can let me know if you 've noticed this kind of thing . . . My second Elizabeth Zimmermann Pi Shawl is nearly done ! I finished the shawl proper today , and started the knitted - on border . YAY ! I am very happy , I can 't wait to see it all stretched out for blocking ! It should end up bigger than the first one , which didn 't stretch as much as I would have liked since it 's 50 % silk . I have to report that I was shocked by a recent catalog that I received from a company called Annie 's Attic . There , in amongst all the other crochet patterns , was nestled a very familiar looking object . . . Elizabeth Zimmermann 's Suprise Baby Jacket . . . but done in crochet ! The shocking part was that Mrs . Z didn 't get any credit for the design . Just because it was done in crochet ? It 's still her one piece design ! She should get the credit . The catalog even calls it a Suprise Baby Jacket , but nowhere is the name of the ORIGINAL designer , Elizabeth Zimmermann ! ! I tried to email her daughter at Schoolhouse Press , but my computer was unable to do so , something about a default email thing . So I thought I 'd spread the word this way . . . to all the thousands of you who are reading this ! Hahahahahaha . . . . See you next time !