Did you say something?

One of the best Maggie photos I've taken.

She stayed that way for maybe five minutes, while I laughed, looked away to try to stop, looked back and saw her and started laughing again.

Oh, Um, Hi There! (Plus, Eyes)

Yeah, everything's fine here, just got busy and blogging fell farther down the list. I've been:

• Working, as usual; I finally got to do a report in Word, after weeks of powerpoints, so that was oddly nice!
• Recovering from my second booster; it was pretty annoying last Tuesday/Wednesday, then started to improve after that, and I'm back to (what passes for) normal now
• Doing my usual round-the-house tasks, plus things that Mom would be doing if her right arm worked normally (what are we having for dinner, and is it time for a grocery run?) (And can I get you an ice pack? a drink? anything? please let me do that heavy thing)
• Trying to keep Mom from overdoing it, as the pleasure of her (slow) recovery from the shoulder replacement means she can forget that her right arm doesn't work normally 
• Getting ready for a friend's visit, which is exciting! I'm looking forward to it! But it does mean things like making room for the airbed in my office/craft room, as well as some closet and drawer room, and tidying generally.

I don't know, it doesn't seem like a whole lot there, but it's certainly taking a lot of time and energy. My friend gets here Thursday, so I may not be back here again until after she leaves, but I didn't want anyone worrying. Fine, busy, tired: lather, rinse, repeat.

Oh, wait, one exciting thing! Know what this is?

A couple of years ago, when I wanted to try multifocal contact lenses, there was one (yes: one) brand that made them in my prescription. (My eyes are very bad, and the contacts I wear are -10.5 and -11.5.) I tried them, of course, and unfortunately found them too uncomfortable to wear. Like little pieces of sandpaper on my eyes! 

But at my eye check this year, instead of them saying that was still the only option, they found that these now come in my strength! They got me trial ones, I put them in today, and ... they're perfectly comfortable? And improve my vision to where, though I won't be throwing the readers away, I don't need them for EVERYthing? It's early, but this feels very promising. Fingers crossed.

Still Ow

Here's what annoys me--ha, ha, like there is only one thing that annoys me! Are you new here, to believe that? Well, this is the thing that is currently annoying me the most.

I got the second covid booster, and just like before (both the second shot and the first booster), the lymph nodes on that side are swollen and tender, so it's really uncomfortable. Googling it tells me that it's a normal reaction, it's nothing to worry about, it means my immune system is reacting to the shot and that's what we want! It's like the immune system is yelling, Fire drill! Fire drill! Places, everyone!

However. It also says that if you don't have such symptoms, don't worry, it doesn't mean that your immune system isn't registering the vaccine, it's just not showing that exact effect for you.

So why do I have to have the ouch reaction, if that's the case? 

It's worth it for the protection, but owwww.

Also: if the ibuprofen is actually helping with the inflammation, then without it, I would look like I had a grapefruit under my arm.

Ow Here, Ow There, Ow Ow Ow

How many places do I hurt? Let me count:

• Left arm, because I got my second covid booster yesterday (delayed after CVS cancelled on me last weekend, but Walmart got us in on Sunday). It's worth it! But I have a sore upper arm, and a very sore and swollen underarm. (Also, this morning when I opened my mouth, my jaw was sore on that side--but it diminished during the day, so I'm not too worried about that.) I also felt tired and draggy all day, but maybe not more than your average Monday.
• Right arm: I have a pretty deep bruise on my arm that I got Saturday. I was putting stuff in the back of my car at a store when I noticed that a car on the other side of the parking area was inch-inch-inching out, as though me being behind my (not at all large) car was really cutting into their space (though they weren't close to me at all). I moved to the side, and when they still were taking forever, I tried to pull the liftgate down from the side, and bonked it onto my arm. While I am not, nor have I ever been, coordinated, I don't count that one as my fault at all, but it still hurts.
• Leg muscles, as apparently I have reached an age or stage where crouching and squatting to pin out a shawl to block leaves me hurting for a few days afterward. Ow!
• Right foot--this one is getting better, but the dermatologist treated something on my foot last week and I've been a little limpy since then.
• And of course, all the usual aches: sore spot on back, aching sinuses from allergies, some heartburn... I'm a mess, basically!

The list of what doesn't hurt might be shorter today, really. What about you, how are you doing?

Yarn Shop Shopping: The Haul

I started this post a while back, to show you the yarn store I went to last month, but like so many things, blogging has been bumped down the priority list recently. It isn't that my mother needs a lot of care, but she can't yet do a lot of things that she usually does, and I'm finding it mentally, if not physically, tiring to stay on top of everything. But it's all good, she's getting better, and it's certainly good that I'm here when she needs me.

Meanwhile, yarn shop! With sheep!

And this beautiful yarn, which I totally craved but could not come up with a plan for. But the colors!

This is what I did end up with:

What do they have in common? Well, they each contain some cashmere. Surprise, right?

I also picked up some knit blockers, in a cheery rainbow of colors.

And a row-counter ring, which came most intriguingly packaged, layer upon layer.

And a shorter needle for the Close to You shawl, where a long needle has been very in the way.

They gave us each a project bag.

And this cute little pin!

Which I immediately put on my pin display.

So I can smile at it regularly.

Any questions?

Frog, Frog, Wait...

A couple of months ago, I wrote about frogging an old knitting project that I was ready to admit wasn't working. This week, based on something mentioned in talking with knitting friends, I felt inspired to do some more. I pulled three project bags out of a cubby and assessed them.

Number one, time to go.

Number two, also ready to go:

Then I pulled the third one out, and wait...this is a finished project. It needs to be blocked, and have the end run in, but it's done. How did it get put away like this?

I have no idea. No memory of it. I do remember finishing it, because I had to scrounge up some different yarn when I ran out with 30 stitches left in the bind-off. But then I just ... didn't block it? Well, apparently! So it's off enjoying a nice soak, and I'll show you how it goes later.

EDITED: I found another one! What on earth? What was going on with me in the winter of 2015-2016 that this happened not once but TWICE? I am so confused by Past Me right now.

So that's six projects frogged so far, and two "WTF, run in the ends and they're done" discoveries.

Getting Shot

I made an appointment today to get my second vaccine booster!

Are you eligible? Have you gotten yours? Please do. This thing is not over, and we all need to do what we can. 

Still Here

Thanks for the kind comments on Maggie's birthday and Mom's surgery. We are hanging in. 

Mom and I had both heard from many sources that shoulder surgery is a tough one, harder to recover from than hips, and so far I think we are seeing that. And of course knowing it's coming and actually going through it are different, aren't they? 

Mom has pain medication, so that's good, but it means she can't have her wine while she's on it, which is tough. The ice packs and exercises are going to be good for her recovery in the long run, but are bothersome in the now. I try to encourage her without nagging too much.

As for me, in the normal course of life we both do various household tasks, and now the majority falls to me, plus there are things she simply can't do that need to be done for her*. And don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to be here for her, so she doesn't have to go to a nursing home/rehab to get through this. But it's the strangest combination of stressful and boring. 

*Not to get into the things she tries to do for herself anyway: Mom, get off the stepstool!

This role doesn't play to my strengths, which are in planning and anticipation, not spontaneity, handling things are they come up. But being here is important, and I am.

As is Maggie.

Recovery Phase

My mother had her shoulder replacement surgery on Monday, and the hospital sent her home last night. She's doing quite well, considering, and I'm not having to do a ton to "take care of her" so far, but I do find the worrying about things part exhausting.

Anyway, if I get quiet for a bit, this is why! We're good, just busy recovering. 

The Ten-Year-Old

Yesterday was Maggie's birthday; now that she's ten, has her life changed much?

Not so you'd notice! Happy birthday, furball.

Tomorrow

Going to a yarn shop tomorrow! A fun day out with friends, and a yarn shop! And you know what that means.

I can't wait to report back!

Buying Yarn Online vs. In Person

There are many divisive issues in the world of knitting--circulars or straights? metal or wood? English or continental? acrylic or wool?--but I don't expect many knitters would argue that the best way to buy yarn is in person. Being able to touch the yarn, feel how soft or how strong it is, how light or how dense, sticky or slippery, these are all important factors depending on what you want to do with the yarn. And no computer can tell you with 100% certainty what the color will look like to your eyes, or if those two colors will really go together. Shopping at a yarn store or a festival is the way to go.

When you can.

And, of course, you can't always. Especially in these pandemic years, sometimes your choices are buy online or don't buy.

I have had mixed results with online purchases. If you've read here for long, you know that my top compliment to a yarn is how soft it is*, and I remind myself of all the times I've been shopping, touched a lovely yarn, and then dropped it back down right away because no, not for me, not soft enough. I approach online buying with caution, rarely buying a yarn unless I either have seen it in person before, or I am informed by someone I trust that it really is soft.

*And truly, soft isn't always the most sensible choice, depending on the project, but I am very tactile, and enjoying the process is hugely important to me. I may never knit with linen because "it softens up when you wash it, it will just get softer and softer" does me no good in the knitting with it before that happens.

And even with such caution, the color thing still trips me up regularly. Those two colors don't go together at all! Or, hey, I know this colorway is called turquoise, but it looks like a deep gorgeous sapphire--oh, look, in person it absolutely is turquoise. Hmm.

Therefore, when I was shopping Treasure Goddess's sale last week, and saw a couple of colors I liked, I decided ahead of time that I liked them both, even if they didn't go well together.

So, of course, they go great together. 

Reverse psychology, or just dumb luck? Either way, I'm happy.

This weekend, I'm going on a field trip with knitter friends to a yarn store I haven't been to yet. I can't wait!

Quick Yarn/Knit

I'll get better pictures in daylight, but look what loveliness the mail brought me!

So soft and squishy!

Also, I'm halfway through the yarn I have for the Wheelwright shawl, and it is this big so far.

And I am loving it.

The Ringling Museum in Sarasota

Really, mostly the grounds of the museum!

When I say I took a lot of photos, well. You'll see.

Proof that it was what I say it was.

It's sad that they have to ask people to be patient, isn't it? Mom and I ate at a restaurant recent that had put a sign on the door: "We are understaffed. Please be kind."

Winter down here is not winter up north, of course, but I find it's still nice to see flowering things.

But it wasn't just plants: lots of statuary, too. Of course.

Now this puzzled me. It's a little reflecting pool, and at the end of it, a sort of podium.

See? As though someone is going to stand there and, I don't know, declaim over the water.

I didn't get the ticket to go into the residence, but admired it from outside. It's quite a building; I can't imagine living there.

Back to plant life.

Encroaching on the roadway there.

Regularly, small planes were going by overhead.

Really, idyllic is the word for the grounds.

Back to the "oh, right, this is an art museum" stuff.

Including a reproduction of my favorite fountain in Rome, the Fontana delle Tartarughe (The Turtle Fountain). 

As a huge fan of the sculptor Bernini, I was enchanted with the theory that he added the turtles to the upper rim because he felt the fountain was lacking something.

I went down the long gallery on one side, where a guard told me the older works were. Nothing absolutely grabbed me, but I studied enough art history to enjoy it. At the end, though, was a special exhibit of contemporary art (which is not at ALL my thing), and the contrast was jarring.

This is art?

Anyway! If that's your thing. I'm not judging, but I was glad to go back outside.

An egret across the water.

And a cormorant (or possibly an anhinga).

I don't think I got close enough to startle the egret, but he did take off, and the reflections of his flight caught my eye.

Yellow flowers:

On a tree that otherwise looked dead.

Near the entrance, I almost missed the glass collection.

I'm glad I went in! A whole variety of types of glass art.

Including the amazing free-standing dress from the sign.

And this Chihuly-like piece.

And this mammoth piece!

Look at the detail.

This one was my favorite, though, for the colors and the patterns.

From the side, you can see it isn't flat after all.

Outside was this one piece, which I photographed from the front:

The edge:

And the back:

Waiting for the group to gather, my eye was caught by this composition.

And that's all! ("All," she says...)