Last day of the year ! And I had an appointment with my oncologist . The Cancer Center was quieter than usual . There was only one other person in the treatment room when I got my Zometa ; there are usually at least half a dozen . My kappa and lambda light chains were OK in my blood work four weeks ago , so Dr B is just going to keep an eye on those numbers for a while longer , and not refer me for evaluation for bone marrow transplantation . My white cell count is low , so she wants another CBC done next week . My blood is a little thinner than is should be , so she told me how to adjust my coumadin dosage . She also wants to adjust my Thalidomide dosage , partly because I 'm having slight tingling in my fingertips when I type - sounds like the beginning of neuropathy caused by the Thalidomide . LexiShe spent Saturday night here . Yesterday I awoke about 7 , but decided not to get up until Lexi did . I opened one eye several times when I heard her cot creak , but I must have dozed off at some point , because I didn 't hear or see her leave the bedroom . Next thing I knew , she jumped into the room and said ( loudly ) , " Breakfast is served . " She had pulled a stool over to the refrigerator and got down two boxes of cereal ( Doesn 't everyone keep the cereal on top of the fridge ? ) , and actually put the stool back ! She used the last of the milk , so she rinsed out the container to be recycled and threw away the cap . She was very proud of herself , and even had to tell the priest about it after church . Her vacation is coming to an end . School resumes on Wednesday . I think she has enjoyed the time off , and is happy with the things she got for Christmas . Local DisasterLast Wednesday , the Carlisle County courthouse burned . No on was hurt . There are fewer than thirty people who work in the courthouse ( it 's a small county ) , and they will be housed in other places temporarily . I 'll need to find out where to renew my car registration before May . I went into Bardwell after church yesterday to see what it looks like . I was surprised to see a crew there withPosted by I 've been enjoying a few days by myself . Lexi 's Christmas vacation started at noon on Wednesday , and Alyssa dropped her off at her grandparents ' house on her way to work a few hours later ( her daddy lives next to them ) . She 'll be back in Milburn tomorrow evening for the rest of the vacation . At 4 pm tomorrow , she will be a sheep in the Christmas pageant at my church . The pageant will be followed by a eucharist service . Since I will be going to that , I 'm skipping church today - thirty miles is a long way . I 'm probably the only person who has acrylic rings on her eucalyptus . That 's Lexi 's work , of course . I think I 'm developing a reputation ! And I guess I helped spread it this morning . I decided that it 's time to get all of the hats , socks , children 's sweaters , etc that I 've been knitting the last few months out of my house . Except for the watchcaps and mariner 's scarves that I make specifically for the Seaman 's Church Institute , I thought I 'd donate them all to Paducah Cooperative Ministries . Then I decided to see if I could donate some things more locally even than that . I called the local state social services office and asked if they knew of a local agency that could use such things . They suggested the Family Resource Center at the school , so I called that agency . They were glad to accept my work , so I drove over there and gave them a grocery bag full of handknit items . That 's the ' spreading the reputation ' part . When I got home from there , I called Paducah Cooperative Ministries , told them that I had some handknit items to donate , and asked if someone would be there tomorrow to accept them . I wanted to take them on the same trip that I take bottles and cans to the recycle ' event . ' No one will be there tomorrow . The lady asked where I live . When I said Milburn in Carlisle County ( people get us confused with Melber in Graves County ) , she said , " You go to Grace Church , don 't you ? " I had not said my name , but she knew about me because I had donated a bunch of stuff several months ago . That 's the reputation part . Anyway , I 'll take that bag of stuff to church with me on Sunday , and ask Matt ( parish administrator , or whatever his title is ) to get it to PCM . Then I can start all over again , using up more of my stash . I 've pared it down by about 37 pounds this year . That 's what I 've knit . I 've also given some yarn away - yarn that I know I don 't like using . I should lose that much in body weight ! Posted by Last Wednesday ( 12 / 5 ) morning I got an email from my daughter saying that her workplace was again providing Christmas gifts for women in a shelter . The card she had drawn was from a 50 - year - old woman , who wanted a shawl in brown or peach , not wool . Carmen wanted to know if I had anything like that on hand . I didn 't , but have plenty of brown in a cotton / silk blend , with probably polyester thrown in . From experience , I know that it is machine washable and dryable . I figured that if I set everything else aside , and used size 10 needles and an easy lace pattern to keep it interesting , I could knit a shawl in a few days . I finished it yesterday , and will get it in the mail today . It 's about 28 inches wide and six feet long . The yarn is some I got at an auction for a nickel a ball , so what I used for the shawl only cost me fifteen cents . I hope it 's something like what the lady has in mind . It helped that Alexis was with her dad and grandparents for the weekend , so I had no distractions . I 'd knit for an hour or two and then get up and do something else for about half an hour . The weather has been so nasty that I had no desire to be outside . Last night was Lexi 's first night sleeping in the ' new ' house , in her own bed , which I 'm sure she has missed for the past two months . This morning Alyssa dropped Lexi off a little after 6 am , because she was counting inventory at a Lowes store in Mayfield . After I put Lexi on the bus , I had a second cup of coffee , did a little housework and crocheting , and then headed to Mayfield about 10 am . It was not the most enjoyable drive ever . In Fancy Farm I got behind someone who drove about 50 mph ( certainly better than most of the farm equipment goes , but I like to go a little faster ) and thought he should take his half of the road out of the middle . I was afraid if I tried to pass him , I 'd wind up in the ditch . The road is rather narrow , and , typical of KY two - lane roads , does not have a shoulder . I was glad when he turned into the driveway of Mills Manor ( nursing home ) just on the edge of Mayfield . I didn 't need to go to the library , because I 'm only on the third of the four books I checked out last week . Instead , I went to the Senior Citizens Center . I haven 't gone there many times since I retired as the bookkeeper there almost two years ago . I got a lot of hugs , answered a lot of questions , and was glad to see some unfamiliar faces , too . When I went back to the director 's office to say hello , she told me that someone had recently brought in a bag of crochet cotton , and asked if I wanted it . Of course ! They are always collecting stuff for their semi - annual rummage sales , now collecting it in the room across ( that 's one of the simple words that always throws me - does it have one c or two ? ) from her office . I went in and found that it was a large trash bag and it was full ; there was quite a bit of acrylic knitting yarn under the crochet cotton . I dragged the bag while I was in the building , but managed to lift it up a couple of inches when I carried it across the parking lot . Pam said some of the others wanted to throw the stuff out , but she wouldn 't let them , figuring I 'd show up sometime . I gave Tamy , the receptionisPosted by Yesterday , Alyssa signed the six - month lease and paid the deposit and first month 's rent on this house , and moved several boxes of things in . She wants to get everything moved out of the storage building tomorrow , so she doesn 't have to pay any more rent on it . She 's gone today to pay the deposit at the electric company , among other things . She has a couple of friends lined up to help move the big stuff . One of them has a truck , which is a big help . One of my friends offered the use of her truck , as well , but one is sufficient . The storage building is about a quarter mile from the house , and the shed in my back yard , where there are a few things of Alyssa 's , is only three quarters of a mile from it . After Lexi got off the bus yesterday , Alyssa took her to the house . Lexi 's first reaction was that it 's small . But when she got inside , she decided that it 's pretty big . I think it will work very nicely for them . Lexi will continue to get on and off the school bus at my house . She 'll often be sleeping here because of Alyssa 's work schedule . Although it is also in Milburn , the address is Arlington ; mine is Bardwell . Strange , isn 't it ? Posted by Alyssa and Lexi got home about 2 o ' clock Saturday morning . They had a good trip . They went to Philadelphia on Monday , Wildwood NJ on Tuesday , and NYC on Wednesday . The trip to Wildwood included a visit to Alyssa 's dad , who is considering moving out here . On Friday I drove to Bardwell , the county seat , to get extra keys made for the new lock on my back door . This picture shows the traffic light in the middle of the town . I believe it is the only red , yellow , green light in Carlisle County ; there are several flashing lights , though . If Bob ( Alyssa 's dad ) moves out here , it will be a big change for him , even though he grew up in one of the more rural parts of southern NJ . " I can weave ! " One day last week , I put in about an inch of plain weave at the end of the piece my friend Shirley had woven when she demonstrated in September , and was going to cut it off the loom . Then I decided to leave it and let Alexis play around with it . Yesterday , I gave her a brief weaving lesson . She was very excited and proud . She wove a little over an inch , and when a friend came over for supper , she had to show him how she did it . I lay in bed for a while this morning listening to thunder , before I finally got up to get my coffee and cereal . It 's gray and wet - a perfect day for reading , knitting , crocheting . I 'm glad I don 't need to go any place , and that I have plenty of books , yarn , needles and hooks . I 'm alone now for a week . Alyssa , Alexis and one of Alyssa 's co - workers left after an early supper to drive to New Jersey to visit Grandmom Carmen , Aunt Sara , cousin Rose , and Uncle Bobby . I think Uncle Dominic will also be there for Thanksgiving dinner . Austin ( the friend ) has never been ' out east ' and is looking forward to spending a day in NYC , which they plan to do on Monday . Alexis is excited about that , as well . Austin 's mother offered the use of her car for the trip ; it 's better than either Austin 's or Alyssa 's . On Wednesday , I went to the Hallmark store and bought the series ornaments I 've been giving to various family members for years . I really wasn 't thinking about Alyssa 's trip when I did it , but later decided that she may as well take them along and save me the trouble of mailing them . Instead of digging out wrapping paper , tape , etc . , I grabbed yarn and knitting needles , and knit these little gift bags . I 'm pleased with the way they turned out , and that 's four more ounces of yarn gone from my stash . Carmen and Sara can probably find things to do with the bags after they take out the ornaments . Posted by Means no school ! So Lexi was with me all day . We left the house some time after 9 am , and went first to the Milburn Fire Department so I could vote . We were not in the area where the trucks are kept , so she couldn 't see them , but she did watch as I voted and learned a little ( maybe ) about the process . One of the poll watchers gave her a sticker that said " I voted . " We talked a little about it on our way to Mayfield . She said her PawPaw votes and has given her his sticker before . Small towns definitely have their advantages . As we were getting out of the car , a man who had just voted told me that there was no waiting . I had figured that ; I 've never had to wait here . Even in a town the size of Mayfield , there were usually several people ahead of me , but nothing like the lines in Collingswood NJ . Of course in Collingswood I was always voting after work along with all the other 9 - to - 5ers . Anyway , the man who had just voted asked if I lived nearby , and I told him by the water tower . He asked if I had lived there when the Wilsons did also . I told him I live in the house they had lived in . They are his son and daughter - in - law . When we got to Mayfield , the first place we went was WalMart to get the new lens put in my glasses . Now I can see with both eyes ! Then we went to the library . After finding two books , Lexi made friends with a boy ( probably 7 or 8 ) and they played chess . They both claimed to know how to play . I think they had checkers in mind , because I heard " king me " quite often . They really seemed to be enjoying the game . After checking out six books ( 3 children 's and 3 adult ) we went to Taco John 's for some crispy tacos and a bottle of orange juice for Lexi , which we took to the Ice House to eat . It was close to 12 : 30 when we got there . We wound up spending about three hours there . Lexi took the camera and took some pictures . She took one of Dana , the Art Guild director , busy answering the phone , and one of Jo knitting between registering people who brought in artwork for the next exhibit . And no group of Art GuildPosted by I know - we usually say All Saints Day nowadays , but to get the connection to Halloween , it 's necessary to say All Hallows . I 'm reading a book to Lexi now that has an apostrophe between the two e 's to indicate that the v is left out of the word . The book is by Rumer Godden and is called Mr . McFadden 's Hallowe ' en . I have other books that I want to read to Lexi after I finish this one . When I tried to read one of them to her last year , she wasn 't interested in anything that I couldn 't read at one sitting . I 've been reading poetry to her quite a bit , and one day last week she was talking in rhyme . The picture is of Lexi in her Halloween costume . Alyssa went to the school yesterday afternoon and helped her dress , and then watched their parade of costumes and was in the classroom for the party . I took the picture in the brief time between their coming home from the school and Nana picking Lexi up so she could go trick or treating with her cousins . I think they go mainly to family . Andy brought her home just before her 8 o ' clock bedtime . She had fallen asleep in the car , so her carried her into the house and back to the bedroom . She woke up enough to take off her shoes and jeans , but slept in her shirt . The neighbor next door brought over a bag of candy for Lexi . I showed it to her this morning , and told her that she 'll have to thank him for it . She said she will , and commented that he talks funny . I told her that is because he had a motercycle accident and his head hit something hard . I went to the ophthalmologist this morning . My left eye has changed very little since my last exam , five years ago , but the right one has gotten much worse . It has gone from - 6 . 5 to - 9 . 5 ; most of that change has been in the last six or seven months . There are cataracts starting on both eyes , but it will probably be several years before they need to be removed . Since my eyes had been dilated , I decided to have lunch in the hospital cafeteria ( the medical office building is connected to the hospital ) , and then to sit in the public area and knit for a couple of hours before driving the 16 or so miles home . They are having a ' health fair ' there from 3 to 6 this afternoon and from 7 to 10 tomorrow morning . All the tables were set up , and a few of the ' vendors ' were already setting up their displays . I may go in earlier than I had planned tomorow and stop there before my weekly pilgrimage to the library and the Art Guild for the knitting group . Saturday was the big moving day for Alyssa . She had two friends help her move her furniture into a storage shed here in tiny town ( and a few things into my sheds ) , while another friend worked her hours at Domino 's for her . She has gotten almost all of her and Lexi 's clothes organized into the closet and dressers , and I worked on putting the food away . I think she has every herb , spice and seasoning mix available ! I think I used to as well , but I 've sort of narrowed things down over the years . I 'm glad she likes to try different things . She said one advantage of Andy 's leaving was that now she could cook more adventurously . He grew up on chicken , beef , pork , potatoes , dried beans and a few vegetables - I think corn is the only one he eats . And he isn 't interested in trying anything different . He and his father hunt , so there is always venison in the freezer , but his mother refuses to touch it . She also refuses to let fish be cooked in her house . His dad makes deer - jerky and I guess gives the rest of the meat away . Alyssa brought several pounds here last week and I made a small stew with some of it . I 'm glad to have it in my freezer . To fit the foodstuff on the shelves in the back room ( there 's canned goods , pasta , etc . as well as seasonings ) I had to take some things out to the shed . Alyssa 's freezer ( not plugged in ) is now full of wool . There was enough space in my freezer to fit what she had in hers . SchoolSo today Lexi is starting her second week at Carlisle County School . They are talking about drugs , and the importance of staying off them , this week , and having a special ' fashion statement ' each day . Today is camouflage - she has a t - shirt . Tomorrow is wild hair , wig or hat . I think she has decided to wear this one . Good fall colors . Wednesday is the color red ; Thursday is the school colors , which we think are gold and maroon ; and Friday is pajamas . I don 't know if she has any gold or maroon , but that 's Alyssa 's problem . I really don 't like the idea of wearing pajamas out of the house , but I guess I 'm terribly oPosted by Alexis started her new school today . Alyssa took her there this morning with the idea of just registering her and then taking her to the old one to say good - bye to her old friends . However , Lexi decided that she wanted to stay at the new school . So Alyssa stopped at the old one later to tell them about the transfer and to pick up Lexi 's bowl she had done before fall break . I guess the teacher had them make the bowls just before vacation so they would be well - cured by the time they got back , and the kids wouldn 't be bugging her about when they were ready . Smart ! Alyssa and I were both waiting at the end of the driveway this afternoon when the bus dropped Lexi off . She had a good day . She has done her homework for tomorrow - a bit of arithmetic and some reading . Lexi 's also been playing with her PlayDough here at home . She did the butterfly this afternoon , and the fish on Saturday . She said the fish is a bluegill . I asked if that was because her last name is Gill , but she said no . Her dad and pawpaw are both fishermen , so she knows that there are fish called bluegills . I think the fish is really cute . Like most six - year - olds , she likes to act silly . One day last week , she decided to tangle herself up in yarn - a common commodity in this house , and asked me to take a picture of her that way . The yarn isn 't quite as evident as I hoped it would be . I have to be careful what I write about her now , since she reads well . I 've probably said that here before , haven 't I ? While I 'm taking them , it 's OK . I start getting some side effects like edema on about the third day , but not bad the last two or three months . I 'm glad I only take them four days during each four - week treatment cycle . The two or three days after I finish them is the worst time . Yesterday was day four , so today is the first day after them . I thought I 'd go out and finish the mowing , but I just don 't feel like I can - I 'm very shaky . The last two days I 've mowed for an hour or so , and I enjoyed it . The weather has cooled off so that it was comfortable for mowing - barely broke a sweat . But today I just can 't do it . Perhaps by Monday I 'll be able to . So instead I 've been reading , knitting , and playing computer solitaire . I 'm working on the replacement sweater for Lexi . I 'm almost to sewing the shoulder seams . Then I 'll have her try it on to make sure her head will fit . At this point I can easily rip back and adjust the neck before I pick up stitches for the sleeves . She found some other yarn in my stash that she wants a top from as well . Perhaps with her living here I 'll do more knitting for her . I may also finish the sweater for Alyssa that I started at least four years ago . When I finish it , I may have enough yarn left to make a matching one for Lexi . I didn 't realize it had been so long since I posted . I didn 't do anything particularly interesting last week . This week , however , is a bit different . I took these pictures a few days ago , but haven 't had much chance to post them . You can see how the cypress vine / hummingbird vine has grown over everything that hasn 't been moved for a while . Alexis has now freed her bicycle and the walker . Alyssa and Alexis are moving in with me temporarily . Alyssa is using Dominic 's room and Alexis sleeps on her cot in my room . This week is her fall break from school , so she was with me from Monday afternoon after my oncologist appointment until her dad picked her up last night . She was very excited all day yesterday about Daddy picking her up . I had him do a couple of things for me while he was here . We 're putting all of Dominic 's things into the shed at the back of the property . It 's one that was meant for a riding mower , but since I don 't have such a thing , there 's plenty of space for other things . I went out there yesterday morning and swept it out , then pulled one of Dominic 's Rubbermaid storage containers on wheels out there . The other two containers are heavier , so I don 't want to try to move them . One of the things I had Andy do was move them to the back porch . If he had gotten here earlier , I would have had him take them out to the shed , but it was starting to get dark and I didn 't feel like going back out there . He made me feel really weak ; I didn 't want to even pull them , and he lifted one up on top of the other like it was nothing . I guess that a difference between a 23 - year - old man and a 66 - year - old woman , isn 't it ? Some of Alyssa 's co - workers are going to help her move stuff , so they can move them then . Some of the rest of Dom 's stuff Alyssa and I can move by wheelbarrow or luggage cart . MedicalMonday was my oncologist appointment . I 'm still doing well on the treatment . However , Dr Balbastro scared me a bit , talking about what may happen in the future , if my reponse to the current treatment stops or reverses . She asked Posted by The temperatures are cooling off to mid - 80 's with mid - 50 's at night . Nice ! Saturday I did some mowing , and cut down a small evergreen bush that had died . This morning I burned paper trash , as well as the trunks and roots of some bushes that I had cut and killed off two years ago - they were finally ready to come out of the ground without digging . Then I started doing more mowing . I noticed that my neighbor , Robbie , was finishing up the mowing in his back yard ( riding mower ) , and suddenly realized that he was mowing my yard . I guess he did it as a thank you for my telling him that he can drive his golf cart across my back yard . I 've been told that he had a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago in which he suffered a brain injury . This resulted in poor vision , a speech problem and a rather halting gait . He was living in Wisconsin or Michigan at the time , but his family brought him back ' home . ' His mother lives about half a mile away , and I think he has siblings in the area as well . He doesn 't drive a car , but does manage his own mowing , and has a golf cart to go places in this tiny town . I noticed that he was taking it out on the road in front of our houses . That 's really not a good idea , since the road is rather narrow and has no shoulders . Also , our shared driveway goes down and then the road goes up and around a curve to meet the main road through what once was the business district . By going across my yard , there 's no hill to contend with . At the edge of my yard , he can get on the water tower driveway , which leads out to the main road . Much safer and easier . Anyway , I continued mowing from rhe south side of the yard and Robbie was mowing from the north side . We had almost met when my mower ran out of gas . As soon as he heard my mower stop , he hightailed it back to his detached carport , turned off his mower , and went into his house - like he didn 't want me to thank him . I 'll catch him outside sometime soon and say thank you . There 's just a tiny bit left now to mow ; perhaps I 'll back out later and finish up . I 've been working a little at a time on getting Dominic 's bedroom and bathroom cleaned . At this point , I have only to clean the bathtub and put a comforter on the bed . I found two comforters in one of the Rubermaid storage bins on wheels that Dom has some of his stuff in . I searched high and low for one of those comforters a couple of years ago ; Dom had no idea where it was at that time . Alyssa was here for a couple of hours yesterday to use the Internet , and she helped me with some of the cleaning . I really appreciate that . Of course there have been several loads of laundry . as well , - sheets , blankets , shower curtain , etc . Here 's Dominic yesterday morning at the bus station in Paducah , ticket in hand , ready to board the bus on his way to New Jersey . From Paducah , he went to Nashville , Knoxville , Richmond VA , Washington DC , and finally Philadelphia . His friend Bob met him there . He 'll be working with Bob and living at Bob 's mother - in - law 's house . Dom has known Paula since he was in his mid - teens , so it 's not like he 's meeting someone new . I hope this all works out well for him . So now I 'm alone - most of the time anyway . I had only been home long enough to put away the groceries I bought on the way back , when Alyssa called and said she 'd be here in a few minutes to drop Alexis off . Having Alexis spend Saturday night with me gives me incentive to drive thirty miles each way to church on Sunday morning . She really likes my church . I do , too , but by myself it 's very easy to say that I don 't feel like driving that far . Does she look comfortable ? When I got a new computer with Windows XP a year ago , her mom set us four ' user spaces ' - Adele , Dominic , Alexis and Guest . In Alexis ' space , she put links to three web sites she approves of , so Lexi can go to them when she 's here , and play games , etc , designed for her age group . The headband fell off , and she put it back on differently . Which brings me to head sizes . The T - top I knit for her a few weeks ago ( there 's a picture of it a few entries back ) won 't go over head . Today I pulled out a tape measure and measured her head - straight around just above her eyebrows . 22 inches ! ! ! ! ! She 's only six years old ! My head is 23 inches , and I 've always believed it was large . I took the tape measure along when I took her home , to measure her mom 's head . Before I even had the tape completely around Alyssa 's head , she said , " I have a big head ; so does Alexis . " Alyssa 's is 22 1 / 2 inches . No wonder the top won 't fit . I don 't know whether to take the top halfway apart and re - knit it , or to just do a new one and put that one in the charity knitting box . A completely new one would probably be easier . FYI : The roPosted by Last October , my church put on a small ' Renaissance Fair . ' I took my loom and Kimberly , who usually weaves on a table loom , wove on it while I spun on a drop spindle . At the end of the day , I asked Kimberly if she would like to borrow the loom for a while . She said she would , so it has been at her house since then . A few weeks ago Shirley asked if she could use it to weave at The Homeplace 1850 , a living history museum in Land Between the Lakes on September 15 . LBL is the area between Lake Barkley , created by a dam on the Tennessee River , and Kentucky Lake , created by a dam on the Cumberland River . They have a big loom at The Homeplace , but it is in a naturally lighted cabin that is rather dark . Shirley wanted a portable loom that she could put on a porch and weave in the bright light . Last Monday morning , we went to Kimberly 's house and put the loom into Shirley 's van . Shirley brought it back Sunday afternoon , so now it 's in its usual place . My loom is a Kessenich folding loom that is about a meter square when set up , so it is pretty easy to move . I bought it about ten years ago . I don 't know how old it is , but the nameplate on it has a zone number rather than a zip code . Zip codes were started in 1963 . I was in Germany that summer , and wondered what those numbers were that Mother started putting on the end of her return address . I didn 't find out until I returned to the US in late August . This is some of the weaving that Shirley did on Saturday . Kimberly had left a bit of warp on the loom , and Shirley used that . It was threaded in a Rosepath pattern ( I 'm not much of a weaver , but they both knew what that is ) , so Shirley used that . She said she lost track of what she was doing several times - you know how it is when you start talking to people , answering their questions . Anyway , there are breaks in the pattern . She said there 's still some of the green thread on the bobbin in the shuttle , so I can finish it off with a few picks of plain weave and cut off the piece . LexiSix - year - old Alexis spent Saturday night with mPosted by Do you think it 's bright enough ! It kept me from going back to sleep after I awoke shortly after six yesterday , I wanted to sleep another hour or more , but got to thinking about making a holder for my large water bottle to attach to the lawn mower . As my friend Shirley said on Tuesday , thinking is not conducive to sleep . I dug out all the tiny balls of veriegated yarns left over from other projects ( mine or someone else 's ) and crocheted the holder . I had a slight disaster with it yesterday . You can see the extra knot in the cord , and my solution to the problem . The holder slid around a lot with the vibrations and movement of the mower and got caught in the space between the two sections of the handle . It continued to swing , of course , and the cord broke . I 've now tied a dishcloth there to keep the bottle holder from going into that space . The towel ( actually 1 / 4 of an old bath towel ) on the other side is for wiping my hands after I clean out the discharge space when it gets clogged . I can now bend down far enough to do that without pain in my hip . Another piece of that towel is around my neck while I 'm mowing to wipe my sweaty brow . ReadingLast night Dominic noticed that my light was still on about 11 o ' clock , so he came back to check on me . This is what he found . I had gone to sleep reading . The book is On , Off by Colleen McCullough . I 've been reading a lot of mysteries recently , but of what I call the fluff variety - quick , easy reads that you don 't have to think about , with ' girl sleuths ' who cook or knit or have herb shops . The books include recipes or knitting patterns . On , Off is NOT fluff . Colleen McCullough is a wonderful writer . I was not aware that she had written any mysteries until I saw this on the library shelf . One of my favorite books ( I 've read it at least three times ) is her The Ladies of Missalonghi . It 's short - under 200 pages - and delightful . Of course my children ( and perhaps my siblings ) would probably say I always have been . The Mayfield / Graves County Art Guild is hosting All About Gourds , its sixth annual juried exhibit of gourd art , with entries from gourd artists from around the country , now through the end of October . I was there today for the weekly fiberarts group , and took a few pictures of works by local people that I could ask permission to put their work on my blog . Ronn and Fred happened to be in the building , which made it very easy to ask them , and I figured Fred could speak for his wife . In July , Margaret Merida brought a box of these squares and circles of gourd to one of the Tuesday morning fiber - art groups , and sat there sanding them with a spongy sanding block . She wasn 't sure just how she would make something wearable with them , but that was her intention . She makes wonderful vests and jackets using quilting techniques , and dyeing much of the fabric herself , so a vest was a natural project for the gourd pieces . I wish I could have gotten a picture of the lining - it 's a beautiful fabric . Margaret taught art in a high school in Louisville for years , and retired to Graves County several years ago . Her husband Fred had an art gallery in Louisville , and is very knowledgable about art . He also is very creative . Last year he had a full size replica of their dog ( I forget what breed it is , but it 's one of the big ones ) made of gourds in the All About Gourds show . Here are two of his entries this year . This woman is full size . The taller giraffe is Fred 's , while the shorter one is by Ronn Moyers , who has a BA in art from Murray State University and is very active in the Art Guild . He was there today helping prepare for the Gourd Patch Festival which will be held on Saturday . This is the third year for the festival . There will be people demonstrating various crafts , including wheel - thrown pottery , wood carving and gourd crafts . Last year I demonstrated spinning , but I don 't think I feel like doing it again this year . There 'll also be activitPosted by Or rather , the dog keeps coming to us . It belongs to one of the neighbors , but in the last few days it has spent a good bit of time on our porch . It also greeted me when I drove up on Tuesday . It looks really comfortable in that chair , doesn 't it ? Didn 't even lift its head when I went out the door with the camera . We 've been having rain part of each day for the last four or five days , so the grass is growing again . I guess we need to take the gas can to the station and fill it up . Of course it 's too wet now to mow , but after we have a day without rain , we 'll have to start mowing again . We 're finally getting some rain ! Monday afternoon we had a terrific storm here in Milburn , but in Mayfield , 15 miles east , they had only black clouds and a few drops . The wind and the deluge started simultaneously , so I didn 't have a chance to lash the porch swing to the post . I 'm always afraid it will hit the window when it is blown that hard , but so far it hasn 't . The storm lasted almost 15 minutes . One of the lightweight , resin chairs got blown off the front porch . Everything on the back porch is too heavy to move except in hurricane - or tornado - force winds . It 's also a little more protected than the front . When I left yesterday morning to go to Mayfield , I noticed that the wind had done a lot of damage to my neighbor 's patio furniture . Several of the chairs were scattered up to 15 - 20 feet from where they had been , and the umbrella was up - side - down on the ground . Worst of all , the table had been moved and the glass top shattered . That 's going to be very hard to get out of the grass . There was a little more rain yesterday , and it looks like we may get some today as well . I guess the grass will start growing again , and I 'll have to mow . I 've enjoyed the two - month break from that task . KnittingI finished the socks for Lexi , and made a smaller pair for Rose , who will be two in late October . She 'll have to grow into them , but that 's OK . Yesterday I knit a hat out of some self - striping sock yarn , and then knit a five - stitch I - cord belt with what was left of the ball of yarn . It is too short for an adult , but Lexi might use it . If not I 'll find some use for it as a rope . DroughtDominic burned the paper trash on Saturday . You can see how dry the grass is behind the burn barrel . We had a brief shower yesterday while we were eating supper . And I do mean brief - about two minutes . Not enough to make a difference to anything . After burning the paper , I started cutting the tent caterpillars out of the black walnut tree and burning them . Of course some of them are too high for me to reach , but at least I decreased the number somewhat . The pecan tree next door has a lot of them as well , and they 're all too high for anyone to reach . . Some of the walnuts have dropped already , but they 're small ones - not full - grown . I raked them out of the path from the house to the shed so they won 't mess me up when I 'm walking that way . I 'm not sure what I 'm going to do with the nuts this year . I still have at least half a bushel from two years ago ( it only dears every other year ) that I haven 't cracked . I took this picture on Saturday , too . Wasn 't that sky beautiful ? ! . The town water tower is beside the back corner of my lot . My daughter doesn 't like that - she 's afraid it 's going to fall on me . We had the windows open for several hours on Saturday , for the first time in a couple of months . It was really very nice , pleasant temperature , good breeze , but by mid - afternoon , it got a bit uncomfortable , so we closed the windows and turned the A / C back on . It 's good to air the place out every so often .