We got a call from my husband's sister-in-law in Iowa. His father, at 96, is doing very poorly and may not last through the night. This will be the last of our parents to die.
I've been struggling with the first anniversary of my mother's death, too. I may not be here much for a while.
Showing posts with label Mood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mood. Show all posts
03 July 2007
Hot Cross Knitter
It's really hot here, I'm tired and grumpy, and my latest knitting project is giving me fits. Other than that, everything is going just fine.
My friend and I have been spending weekday mornings over at my mom's house, packing things up, throwing things away, and and sorting everything else. We've cleared out the bathrooms, the linen closet, the video tapes, and about half of the kitchen. I've also made some real inroads into the mass of financial material, most of which belongs to the volunteer organizations for which she was the treasurer.
On the way home yesterday my friend and I went by Costco to buy just one thing, an inflatable queen-sized bed (her daughter and son-in-law are coming from South Dakota in about two weeks). I'd seen the beds there Saturday, when my husband and I went by for more fans, and told her about them. She's not a member, so I had to go with her. We didn't have a written list, because who needs one for just one thing? However, we ended up buying twice as many things as we'd intended. She remembered that she needed compact fluorescent lightbulbs, so she picked up an eight-pack of the sixty-watt equivalents. I had fun teasing her about getting twice as much as she'd intended.
My lace shawl has me perplexed. There's a line in the chart that I can't reconcile at all. I've sent an e-mail message to the designer in the hope that she can straighten me out. Until I hear from her I'm working on my baby blanket. I enjoy knitting this so it's not a hardship.
Last weekend I got some of those big thick boneless pork chops at Costco. I brined them, using the usual salt and sugar, and adding black peppercorns, allspice, and chopped garlic, for about 48 hours. However, I think the standard brine is just a little too strong for chops, so next time I'll use about 75% of the salt and sugar. I think I'll use a little more garlic, too. All the same, they were really good. Very moist and tender. The brining really makes a difference.
My friend and I have been spending weekday mornings over at my mom's house, packing things up, throwing things away, and and sorting everything else. We've cleared out the bathrooms, the linen closet, the video tapes, and about half of the kitchen. I've also made some real inroads into the mass of financial material, most of which belongs to the volunteer organizations for which she was the treasurer.
On the way home yesterday my friend and I went by Costco to buy just one thing, an inflatable queen-sized bed (her daughter and son-in-law are coming from South Dakota in about two weeks). I'd seen the beds there Saturday, when my husband and I went by for more fans, and told her about them. She's not a member, so I had to go with her. We didn't have a written list, because who needs one for just one thing? However, we ended up buying twice as many things as we'd intended. She remembered that she needed compact fluorescent lightbulbs, so she picked up an eight-pack of the sixty-watt equivalents. I had fun teasing her about getting twice as much as she'd intended.
My lace shawl has me perplexed. There's a line in the chart that I can't reconcile at all. I've sent an e-mail message to the designer in the hope that she can straighten me out. Until I hear from her I'm working on my baby blanket. I enjoy knitting this so it's not a hardship.
Last weekend I got some of those big thick boneless pork chops at Costco. I brined them, using the usual salt and sugar, and adding black peppercorns, allspice, and chopped garlic, for about 48 hours. However, I think the standard brine is just a little too strong for chops, so next time I'll use about 75% of the salt and sugar. I think I'll use a little more garlic, too. All the same, they were really good. Very moist and tender. The brining really makes a difference.
10 June 2007
Baby Blanket Progress
I've finished three pattern repeats and have twelve more to go. That means I only have to knit 144 pattern squares and I'll be done. If I could remember where my camera is and find the energy to go get it, I'd put up a photo. Maybe about Tueday I'll manage this. Right now I'm yawning so hard it's interfering with my knitting.
We're in Lancaster and I'm feeling quite frazzled. It's a lot easier to pack things in a leisurely manner than it is to unpack that way.
I had some beautiful yarn waiting for me when I got here. Cashmere and silk, rayon and mohair, and merino, all in wonderful colors. And some new books, too. A few about knitting but more about military science fiction or mysteries.
It sure is sad to be here without any collies around.
We're in Lancaster and I'm feeling quite frazzled. It's a lot easier to pack things in a leisurely manner than it is to unpack that way.
I had some beautiful yarn waiting for me when I got here. Cashmere and silk, rayon and mohair, and merino, all in wonderful colors. And some new books, too. A few about knitting but more about military science fiction or mysteries.
It sure is sad to be here without any collies around.
31 January 2007
Ennui Or Emotional Exhaustion?
My cousin left on Friday morning and I've plunged into the shallows of ennui, except that it may just be emotional exhaustion. My mother's funeral is over, her body is buried, and there's nothing urgent for me to do right now.
The Red Scarf Project is over for the year, my scarves are sent off, and there's nothing urgent for me to knit right now.
The books I'm reading are good, but not as compelling as the John Ringo books. There's nothing I'm dying to read.
And I'm 15,000-plus postings behind in AFCA! That's alt.fan.cecil-adams, a newsgroup on Usenet, that I recommend to all my clever, intelligent e-friends. Reading the postings there, like participating, will lead me out of this ennui. The intelligence, the curiosity, the friendship, the humor--all of them will speed my re-engagement with life.
As a sign of this re-engagement, I just started casting on a scarf made with blue India ribbon. Every knitted thing begins with a single stitch, usually a slip knot.
Now and then, as I knit, I think about topology and Knot Theory. People who study knots would define a knitted piece as one big knot. Even the simplest garter-stitch potholder is, as I understand it, more complex than they can handle. A lacy shawl would bring their tools to a standstill. Yet we knitters produce such complexity routinely, never worrying about theorem or axioms.
Of course knitters aren't special in doing complex things without concern. When we've gone on a cruise we've liked to sit up near the bow of the ship and watch the water solve the Naviér-Stokes equations in closed form, in three dimensions, in real time. That's vastly more than aerodynamicists or hydrodynamicists can do, even with best and fastest computers.
The Red Scarf Project is over for the year, my scarves are sent off, and there's nothing urgent for me to knit right now.
The books I'm reading are good, but not as compelling as the John Ringo books. There's nothing I'm dying to read.
And I'm 15,000-plus postings behind in AFCA! That's alt.fan.cecil-adams, a newsgroup on Usenet, that I recommend to all my clever, intelligent e-friends. Reading the postings there, like participating, will lead me out of this ennui. The intelligence, the curiosity, the friendship, the humor--all of them will speed my re-engagement with life.
As a sign of this re-engagement, I just started casting on a scarf made with blue India ribbon. Every knitted thing begins with a single stitch, usually a slip knot.
Now and then, as I knit, I think about topology and Knot Theory. People who study knots would define a knitted piece as one big knot. Even the simplest garter-stitch potholder is, as I understand it, more complex than they can handle. A lacy shawl would bring their tools to a standstill. Yet we knitters produce such complexity routinely, never worrying about theorem or axioms.
Of course knitters aren't special in doing complex things without concern. When we've gone on a cruise we've liked to sit up near the bow of the ship and watch the water solve the Naviér-Stokes equations in closed form, in three dimensions, in real time. That's vastly more than aerodynamicists or hydrodynamicists can do, even with best and fastest computers.
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