hand eye crafts

Sometimes, you go to the Humane Society thinking maybe there's a kitten for you there.  Except you find one you feel would be better for your daughter. Happy birthday #5, Theo.  Enjoy your wet food. Also --- show of hands: how many of us had crushes on Richard Chamberlain at some point?  Sad news to wake up to today.

 Posting food pictures has never been my thing.  How many times can people look at my peanut butter and honey sandwiches?  Today, though, I made one skillet ramen, and I'm kinda proud.

 I am culling.  There are dozens of boxes in the garage that are holding things that I decided to save, but didn't need in the house anymore.  When my mother died, I was positively overwhelmed with how much stuff there was to go through.  I don't want my children to go through that, so packing up when I can seemed a good thing to do.  Now, though, I'm sorting through those to decrease their number, and there are boxes EVERYWHERE here.  Boxes that have been emptied, boxes that are partially filled with things to keep, boxes for things to be donated (each place has its own box), boxes of things that might be sellable, boxes that may wind up being broken down but won't be because I might need them yet.  The house is an absolute war zone right now, but I am finding good stuff. Me with BF and erstwhile roommate Lisa, when she came in for a weekend. This also provides proof that my hair was once not white. My two Britons confabbing over pizza. Hannah's senio...

This week has been hellish.  Headaches.  On the endlessly-despicable-Sackler-family's 1-to-10 pain scale, I was at a 9 for three days, and flew past 10 periodically.  Ice packs,  Zok , heat wraps, focused breathing*, prayer**, massages with the little handheld things. .  . Therefore, there has been lots of lying around.  ("Prostrating migraines" are a thing.)  Activities that take the least amount of motion have been on the menu.  One day, I watched --- well, listened to --- police bodycam videos on YouTube.  Which leads me to these: What's the fastest you've ever driven?  (116 for me.) Should ketchup be kept in the refrigerator or a cabinet?  (I have heard that commercial FAR TOO often.  Still, refrigerator in this house.) Hope and trust that you are all well. *She typed sarcastically. **Perhaps less sarcasm here.

Boot season is waning.  A rainy Monday morning's dental appointment made for an excellent chance to wear some, though.  Knee-high ones, yet, with a dress. Just a couple of cavities, nothing dramatic.  Except for the weather.   I came home, had some lunch, and took a nap.  Whee! The word from Hannah is that Chopper's urinary problems were most likely due to stress (which will stress Hannah out, wondering what she did to "cause" that stress*), and that getting Chops spayed will help with that.  That's a matter of money and figuring out when an appointment and her work schedule are in sync.** *Nothing, of course. **Because why have only one stressor when you can have two?

It isn't what I had planned, but most of this afternoon was spent reading this: I was straightening up in my bedroom, and sat down on the edge of the bed to thumb through this book.  Before I knew it, I was reading, and then I was at the end.  Breezy little chapters, fun and interesting, and another entry on my Goodreads page. Hannah says Chopper is doing well --- "acting like nothing ever happened" was her exact phrase.  The vet was supposed to be back in touch with the results of the urinalysis, and word on whether she (Chopper) needed antibiotics.  I haven't heard anything, so maybe she's in the clear. I am plum wore out.  Driving to, through and back from Atlanta is always draining.  Having to stay level when your daughter is FREAKING OUT and ALL OVER THE PLACE is draining.

The other side of the waiting room, and this one is crooked, too!

 I spent the day in Atlanta, because Hannah called in a panic saying Chopper was sick and, "I need my mom." Hannah doesn't drive, couldn't find anyone who could give her a ride, was too stressed to call/take an Uber, so I went down to get her and Chops to the vet. It's probably a UTI, but Chopper's bladder is too tiny (!) and was too empty for them to get a urine sample.  She was sent home with Gabapentin (which I take!) and "orders" to return tomorrow for a urinalysis.  Which means I'll have to do another run tomorrow. Waiting, this made me kind of crazy: They're both crooked!  Aaaarrgh!  Would you have gotten up and straightened them?

I spent a good amount of time today watching reaction videos to  this blistering performance .  I think of this song as one of those "deep" songs that WMAK (1300 AM in Nashville) played at night.  The organ in the song always takes me back to my room, listening to my little transistor. Does anyone even remember   transistor radios? At any rate, I was 7 when the song was released, and more interested in listening to  Still, I've always appreciated the song, acquired a new "sophisticated" opinion of it, and have enjoyed watching people hearing it for the first time.  And I just want to say, it gives me goosebumps every single time.

At least tiny-needle-wise.  I've not decided on a new project yet, for which I blame that fox.  Then again, one of the pieces under consideration does have a fox.  If chosen, can that one fox absolve the other?  Or maybe that was taken care of when I did this:

The nasty weather didn't materialize here, though I read that some people in Athens had their power knocked out.  Other counties had much worse luck than this one. Kind of a knockaround Sunday.  I tied the second ball of that pesky yarn to the rectangle jacket and look! Again with the dark rows!  Again, I'll keep it, 'cause it's interesting.

The cross-stitch piece I showed you Tuesday was to have ended up like this: However, it is now in a steep and indeterminate time out.  I lost count of stitches in a couple of places, and that ballooned into a Big Deal the more I tried to "fix" it.  So, off to the Naughty Corner. We are due to get some gnarly weather overnight.  It has gotten more and more blustery as the day has gone on, though lots of weather maps and forecasts show lots of different things.  Still, there are enough tall pines around the house to make me wary. Other than that, just a Saturday here.  I just finished a very good book: The Lincoln Moon .  It choked me up/brought me to tears several times.  I've moved on to Wounded Shepherd,  a biography of Pope Francis.  Coincidental, I assure you, to his present health condition.

When I was growing up, you called almost all adults "Miss [first name]" and "Mr. [first name]."  I have always loved that, as it shows both respect and familiarity.  When I taught Preschool, the students called me "Miss Kim."  Most of my children's friends called --- and still call --- me that.  I do so like hearing it.  There are a handful of their friends who have always called me "Mom" or "Mommy."   ANYway, yesterday I came across this: A flower called "Miss Kim," and it's purple !  It's well-established that I don't do yardwork or plant stuff or anything like that, but this might be worth looking into, and having someone put them out for me.

My  Stitchery  catalog arrived yesterday, and this piece made me chuckle: While I don't call myself a Mary Engelbreit fan as such, there's some of her work I do like.  I may try to take this saying and plot it out to stitch, just by itself. Then, there was this piece, which is simply stunning. This is precisely the type of project my mother would undertake.  Not this piece per se, but a piece that is intricate and complicated and is fully stitched.  No fabric showing at all.  She was never intimidated.  I think she enjoyed the challenges.  Even she, though, would have balked at the $100+ price tag.

 No rain, no headache.  In fact, Tap and I just enjoyed an ice cream sandwich on the front porch.  It's a nice, sunny day. For TNT: If you know what it is, you can tell.  If you don't, stay tuned.

Still raining.  Still headache-y.  You know the drill. I'm finding myself kind of bored with my current craft projects.  This leads, as all knitters know, to casting on FAR too many new things.  The same thing doesn't apply with cross-stitching, or even collaging.  Both of them mean too much clutter if you start more than one project --- at least that's the case with me. I have turned to jigsaw puzzles to take up a wee bit of the slack.  A puzzle takes up the kitchen table, which blocks collaging entirely.  They've alleviated a bit of the boredom, at least so far.

The rain, my headache --- y'all know the drill. When I joined in a second ball of yarn to shape the armhole on my rectangles jacket, an interesting bit of pooling happened: The more I look at it, the more I like it.  I still have 14 more inches and another armhole to go before this is finished.  It's mindless, so maybe I should have more done, but this is where it is.

Did you ever get through with everything you had to do for a while, and it was an almost physical relief that your time is now free?  That's me today.  No obligations until next Thursday. Knitting group was tonight.  I took a Trader Joe's bag full of books to donate to the branch, but was told they were "pretty full up."  I told them to just go through them personally and see if there was anything they wanted to keep for themselves.  I don't need them anymore. Today I had bought as many groceries as I could afford to hopefully get me through any imminent price hikes.  Pantry is full, freezer is full, refrigerator is mostly full.  

 On my way to therapy, I fell down the front steps.  I'm not hurt, but I did spill my Dr Pepper, which upset me as much as anything.  It splashed onto my new sweatshirt: Then, my garage door would not go down when I used the remote.  So, I had to schedule a service call.  It turned out to be an easy fix, but, you know, the hassle... Then, Hannah called saying she's really, really sick, and, "Mom, what do I do?"  Knowing that your children still have that impulse to call you when they feel bad is sweet, but that you're not actually there to help makes you sad. Fortunately, trying a new pasta sauce helped. It's really good, y'all.  I certainly don't need a jar this big --- I'll be freezing alot of it.  This came from Misfits Market;  I don't know where else it's available.

My long dental nightmare is over. Finally.  There's still healing to take place, but I can eat and brush and even floss right now.  You've been through this with me, so you know how relieved I am.  And yet, after all this time, it now feels weird NOT to have a gap there!

Remember when I said Lego would be a relaxing break from needlework?  Turns out, nope. This is what looked like the simplest plant in the kit.  And it took MUCH longer than it should have.  There are several layers underneath what is viewed, and it was one of those deals where snapping one piece into place caused another pre-placed piece to come loose.  Obviously, it went together eventually (emphasis on eventually), but Lego and I are not on speaking terms right now.  How my daughter put that big pilot helmet from "Star Wars" together amazes and impresses me even more now.