Catching up the details of 2012

I did promise to come back and add some details didn't I?

 Well, we finally found a wonderful young man who turned out to be the SON of the fellow we bought our lovely old stove from! He spent all morning trying this and that and tinkering along with some feline help. But by golly he got the oven door fixed and the whole thing working better than ever. Then he charged us a pittance and left us very happy.

 David came up sometime in the Spring and brought his boat to go sailing in the Straits out of our Marina. It was a lovely visit! I know I had a picture but danged if I can find it!

 I guess the next thing that came up was the death of my ex, the abusive father of my sons. He left behind a huge mess starting with a bogus will that left everything to one of his old bimbos. Turns out SHE wrote the will during his last few days, mostly out of his mind on morphine. The boys had to contest the will and wound up being coerced into a 3 way split. So One house has been sold, the other is up for sale in Stinson Beach and everything else has been distributed or sold. The creditors have until February to make their demands and then the boys will each get 1/3 of whatever is left over. David & Jenny made a few trips up here from Los Angeles for various things and are very tired of traveling. I don't blame them. It's a long drive. The whole thing was very upsetting to Matthew but he is doing much better now. He gave us this HUMONGOUS new television and we just got it working today. Yay!
 

Let's see... Thanksgiving was next and our usual group was mostly sick. So it was just me and Alex and the kitties for dinner. Nephew Seth was recovering from his second perforated ulcer and Nephew Alec and their Mom were trying to take care of him and fight off the flu.

 Then Alex's old childhood friend went to the hospital for a stent and wound up with a quadruple bypass. His recovery had been very slowed and complicated by a long hidden problem Deits had and is still in denial of having. He finally checked himself out of the convalescent hospital against the doctors' wishes. So now he is home and depending too much on Alex. But Alex is a good old friend.

 And then Christmas came and again our dinner plans were thwarted. On Christmas Eve Mary had a bad fall and spent all day in the hospital. They sent her home on morphine and she has had to do some serious resting. So I had planned on making dinner and taking it to her house. But Nephew Alec had made their dinner and all was well for the time being.

The way the tree is between my chair and the new tv I can only see one little corner of the tv. So the tree will be coming down sooner than later. I'm really looking forward to seeing my soaps on the big screen! And movies too! In HiDef no less! LOL!

So it is time for me to clean up my extremely messy room and decide what I am going to work on next. The cleaning and tidying alone is a daunting task that should keep me busy for a while. It will also give me an opportunity to review and tidy my stash. My hands are beginning to ache so it is time for me to get something on the needles to keep them limbered up.

So, here's to a better year ahead! Please God, no more heartbreaking tragedies such as has been suffered through this year. Let the New Year be bright and full of hope and Joy! Amen!

The end of the world? Nah, keep knitting!

Well, the end of the world did not arrive. Just the end of an old calendar. I bet lots of old Mayans are having a good laugh. :o) So... where were we? April it was. Well, I've been knitting like mad since then, with a bit of crochet too. Making Christmas gifts ALL year! In my last post I was in the middle of a Kimono style sweater for my niece. Next came a filet crochet Dragon banner for my nephew Alec. Then a Unicorn for his Mom. Still need a couple of bamboo sticks from our jungle out back for hangars for the banners. Getting Alex to cut any of his precious bamboo is difficult at best. Then came a beautiful Celtic pillow for Alex about his favorite tree, the Oak. It has leaves and acorns and the celtic rune for the Oak tree. It's been hard to hide it all this time! Then a lined Celtic bag for my Mom. Dang! I never took a picture of the finished bag! It has a beautiful cable up the side that goes right into the strap. It came out really nice after the lining. I mailed it today before I knew I needed another picture. Sorry! Then a Celtic bag for my sister-in-law. It was finished long before she made my brother's life so miserable and tossed him out of the house. Not sure what to do with it now. And then I got brave and tried colorwork! This sweet little bag is for my very dear daughter-in-law. So now I am totally hooked on 2-handed colorwork! So I hope my son Matt will like this pillow. It needs a pillowform. May have to make one myself! Then a darling gingham rug for my brother. I pictured it at his bedside but now that he has to stay with his witch of a mother I don't know...

Then some beautiful colorwork Scandinavian mittens for my grandson. White on red. And a matching pair for his serious girlfriend. Red on white.

I need to go to bed so I'll publish this for now and fill in some details tomorrow. Nighty night!

Catching up again!

I'm back! Been a very busy bee, knitting like mad, thoroughly enjoying the kitties and lots more. So... where were we? Oh yes, Halloween. That was a while ago and I apologize for waiting so long to update my blog. Friend Lois says why not just give up the blog? But, you see, I think of my blog as sort of a diary, and I never was very good at keeping a diary, much to my Mom's dismay. But I like this one too much to quit! So, even though it makes me put down my knitting, just like eating and sleeping, I will find time for it and keep updating. I hope that's ok with ALL my loyal readers? I'll keep doing it anyway, because I like to go back and read it myself. :o)

What came next? Thanksgiving I guess. A little while before Thanksgiving our 1948 Wedgewood oven door broke. Not the door itself but a spring inside. Now the door wouldn't close all the way and I couldn't find any way to get the spring out without taking the whole stove apart, nor anyone who could help. So the day came and we put the turkey in the oven and made a sort of a plug for the door space out of heavy aluminum foil. It worked and the turkey came out fine. It was a quiet dinner with just 4 of us. But it sure tasted good!




Then the Christmas madness began. I was still knitting like mad and very behind on my gift list. I finished the Aran for Alex finally. That's Zoe giving her approval.



Then I got hold of some bulky yarn and started making hats. We had sudden news that my son and his wife and my Grandson Brandon were coming for Christmas dinner. Still no news of my Granddaughter Judy. So, this hat for my DIL Jenny. A nice Tam.




Then news that the onsie I made for my neighbor's new baby did fit! Yay!



Then Christmas arrived. We got our tree at the last minute .



Dinner was ham with the fixin's. There were 8 of us! Clockwise around the table are... nephew Seth, SIL Mary, nephew Alec, my DH Alex, grandson Brandon, DIL Jenny and my son David.



Didn't get any pictures of gift opening but a few of the results. Like Alex in his Aran.




My brother Greg and his family sent pictures of their gifts. Maria in her hat.



Greg with his afghan.



Laura in her silk cabled wrap.



Mary in her cardigan.



The New Year came quietly. But there was a painful war going on in my mouth. So it was decided that I should have the few barely functional teeth that were left surgically removed and get a lower denture. Surgery was all arranged but on the day it was supposed to happen the dentist cancelled saying that he was nervous about it. I had already paid him for the "temporary" denture (which still doesn't fit and is still painful to wear) so that was ready. So I went back to my old oral surgeon who is a wonderful friend and he did the surgery on January 18th. Since then he has put in 2 soft liners (that the dentist should have done), and last week he did a frenectomy and some bone smoothing. The denture is a little more comfortable but there is still a problem. So this week I am seeing a new dentist that my surgeon recommended and who is right next door. I think I trust him a lot more than the old guy. Whenever I was there I couldn't see any other patients in the office. And whenever he worked over me I could see his hands shaking. Scary! And last time I was there he just sat in his office while his assistant saw me. So, I'm still healing and looking forward to getting a decent, permanent lower denture that fits and doesn't hurt to eat with. Of course it will cost me all over again but I don't think I'll feel so ripped off and abused.

So far this year I have worked on a shrug for myself. Unique design, wonderful yarn, but it didn't fit at all. :o( So I will either rip it out and redesign the pattern to fit me, or will use the yarn for something else.

Then I made an afghan for one of my nieces. It is finished but I haven't been able to spread it out anywhere for a good picture.



Just finished a Kimono style sweater for another niece. It will look wonderful on her! This was the yarn from the shrug. Fortunately I have lots more!



Easter was quiet. It sorta snuck up on us this year. Another ham dinner with Mary & one nephew. Too much candy and we wonder if the Easter bunny might be getting tired. Nah!

We had a lovely bunch of wet storms, some thunder & lightening and even a couple of tornadoes but not near us.

So that's where I am now. I have a list of projects, many left over from last year. I will cast one on tonight!

OK! All caught up! Thanks for dropping by!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you are enjoying plenty of happy little ghouls tonight. We've has a few more than usual and it's fun!

Took some more pictures of the kittens and their Mom on a new cat tree we got just for them. They roar up and down it like squirrels! (Remember to click on the pictures for a bigger view.)

Chloe & Poppie



Tavi & Zoe



All the girls.



Zoe watching Mom act silly with the camera.



Chloe preparing to leap.



Still knitting on this green Aran for Alex. The body uses 3 charts, each a different length, and chunks of seed stitch at the sides. I need more row counters!



That's all for now. Twice in one month! Wow!

OMG! It's OCTOBER!!!

Here I am, catching up again. *sigh* Someone who reads my blog needs to rattle my cage once a month and maybe I would do better. It's really hard to put down my knitting! But when a reader lets me know she just looked at all the same project pics again I am truly chagrinned and must try to make up for my single mindedness.

Ok, what has happened since February? Let me think...

We gave my son (David) Alex's little catamaran that has been in sister (Alex's) Mary's garage for over 30 years. David came up from Los Angeles to dig it out of the garage and tow it home and restore it. He's been having a lovely time with it.







That yellow blankie I frogged? I decided to design my own, in soft red yarn. The trouble with designing as you knit is making changes, making it better, ripping back to the changes and reknitting. I couldn't see where changes needed to be made until I had knitted past the area. Hard to explain, but it worked and the recipient loved it. Expectant Mom/next door neighbor who I watched grow up from a tot. Gave it to her on her birthday, which happens to also be my birthday.





Sometime in March we had a big storm and a scrawny, dripping wet kitten washed up on our porch and, naturally, we took it in. Alex was positive it was a male and so we thought the very sore looking area on its tushi was a not-very-well-done job of neutering. We named it Tavish which is a male name for a Scottish redhead. (Orange striped tabby) After a few weeks Tavish started to look lumpy and had a growling fit whenever anyone tried to touch below the waist. I told Alex I thought Tavish was a she and pregnant at that. This kitten was no more than 6 months old when we took her in. She must've just been ravished before she got to us. The lumps grew and grew and started rolling around and I was worried about their little mother giving birth. On May 13th my worries came true. After 2 hours of hard labor she had only delivered one tiny back paw and the tip of a tail. Mom was too little and the baby was breech. Off to the vet where 6 babies were delivered by cesarian section. The vet said we had 2 boys and 4 females.

Tavi's first day with us.


Tavi & babies at 2 weeks.


At 4 weeks...


The little dark striped girl in front, yawning is Zoe. On the left front is Li'l Fuzzy, the only male. He went to live with a tall, handsome young man just home from college. He is called Calcifer now. The one behind him is LittleBit who went to live with my nephew when he came home from a long stay in the hospital. Next to her (the smallest) is Tawny (the biggest of the shorthairs) who went with IttyBit to live with my nephew. Next to her is Poppie and behind her is Chloe. Zoe, Chloe & Poppie all stayed here to live with us.



Eventually they started escaping to wobble around my knitting room and it wasn't really safe for them. So we moved them into the bathroom and put a big flat box across the door. There was kitten food, water and a litterbox in there so Tavi could teach them and they would be safe. The first one to get over the door box would free them all.



This was their first cat tree (in the bathroom).



This is Chloe at 2 months...



This is Poppie... For a while she was called Howie and was going to be adopted. When we all found out he was a she the adopter left in a huff and hasn't spoken to me since. Their loss! Poppie is an adorable little girl who loves my lap. So there!



This is Calcifer in his new home, making new friends.



This is Poppie today, and 2 bad pics of Chloe and Zoe. (New camera.)







Tavi loves to play with her girls and is finally putting on weight, but she will never be any bigger than she is now, I don't think. Her babies are almost as big as she is. She's a spectacular mom! She let them nurse until just a few weeks ago. She would actually call them! Now when they sneak up on her looking for a snack she just sits on them. LOL!

This is Alex doing docent duty at the Golden State Bonsai garden by Lake Merritt in Oakland. He does at least 1 day a month.



This is my Great Grandfather Stark's house in Joplin. I haven't found out yet if it survived the tornado.



Ok, back to knitting. This is for my Mom but needs to be blocked.



This is Flappy the Flounder, knitted for little James next door on his 2nd birthday.




This is a cardie I started for myself then put on hold to work on gifts. It is knit of sock yarn.





I got sidetracked working on this for a gift for Alex. It's counted and tiny! My old eyes needed a break so I went back to knitting. I'm still trying to finish the kitten! Maybe next year.



This is a onsie for a new baby coming in August. James' little brother next door. Presented at the baby shower. It has tiny little snaps in the crotch.



This is a gift for one of my nieces. It needs blocking and buttons.





This is a snuggly afghan for my brother. My niece will be jealous but she will get a nice one next year.



This is a jacket/cardie for another niece. The yarn is pure silk and a royal pain to knit with. But the color is perfect.




And right now I'm working on an Aran for Alex. I'm not far enough along yet for pictures but soon. I'm using a strand of worsted and a strand of DK in the same colorway (Tidepool Heather) held together to get the Aran gauge. The DK is slightly lighter in color which adds to the heathered effect, to me anyway. Any of you out there can follow the project on Ravelry as I shared it to the public.

http://ravel.me/gmcknits/aafa

So yes, I've been busy! But I am definitely behind.

My granddaughter Judy graduated from high school, turned 18 and seems to have just vanished. She was living with her mother and brother in one room at her aunt's. She should've been living with her father in my humble opinion but the idiot judge thought different and only let her be with her Dad and half brother every now and then. So now, hopefully, she is in college, maybe staying with her long time boyfriend (who lives with his parents and goes to college) and will eventually get back in contact with us. I sure miss her!

Alex just celebrated his 76th birthday. I gave him a nostalgic theater style popcorn maker. Best popcorn maker we've had in years! Keep throwing popcorn in the kettle and it keeps popping and overflowing into the bin. Very cool!

So now it's time for me to go to bed and I've only knitted one round on the Aran. But it feels good to get this done and off my conscious finally. Love and good knitting to all my readers! All 3 of them! :o)