But It's Summer!

I was afraid this would happen.  (Do not think that I'm complaining about the lack of snow--now that Memorial Day has passed.)  But for a few days it seemed as though we had bounced from winter to summer.

It is cooler now and more like spring with lilacs blooming today and the woods here are full of trilliums.

So why am I knitting these?

Because, my dears, the memory of this past winter is still fresh in my mind.  The beaches opened at towns on Lake Superior and there is ice floating in the bay.  I don't mean slush, I mean Icebergs!

Plus the fact that I have huge stores of beautiful warm woolen yarn and I am pledged to make a dozen pairs of mittens during the summer.  These beauties (she said modestly) are only pair #2, so I have considerable knitting to do.  I'm making these for the reservation foster kids.  It is easy to do small things for the little kids, but the teenagers might need mittens as well.  I will see how much of my wool stash I can use in this way.  I might even branch out and use a new pattern, wild woman that I am!  However, one advantage of doing these is that they are portable and if I know the pattern, they don't require too much concentration.  This will leave lots of time to contemplate the ice floe at the beach.  

Chuckle....

Comes in Handy

I have been retired from nursing for a long time.  I have not missed working as a nurse, though I have sometimes missed having co-workers.  I have worked with some really terrific people in the past, in all areas of service in the hospital.

But this past week has called old skills into service---a little bit, at least.

I was expecting to serve as a driver and friend to a friend who underwent surgery.  That's pretty easy and only took time, of which I have the usual allotted supply.  No sweat.

But when she went home after one day, she was needing to have dressings and drains tended to.  I got to check almost every day, though she did well without any complications.

Then tonight a neighbor called and asked me to teach someone how to give injections to her elderly father.  Off we went to meet another person and do our best to put him at ease and help his daughter. This dear man has had lots of experience with the medical community in his long life.  I wasn't causing him any distress.

More challenging are experiences that loved ones are having with people close to them.  There are people in various end stage scenarios, people too young to go, or too unexpected for us to comprehend easily.  Sometimes all you can do is listen and let people talk it through for themselves.

At this stage of my life-----as a granny-----I value the skills I learned working with hospice care.  I know lots of people who are bereaved or expecting to be bereaved.

Life can change really quickly.  Savor each day together.
Just sayin'.

Give it to the Busiest

I haven't been reading many blogs since many of my regular stops "are no more", but I do check on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville which is a treasure trove of information for this quilter.

Bonnie is a whirling dervish of activity.  She writes books, she travels to give classes, she posts to her blog daily and sometimes multiple times, with pictures of what is happening in her classes.  She is tech savvy and has harnessed social media to keep quilters interested and informed.

You know the old saying, "If you need something done, give it to the busiest person you know."

After having a busy week, I realize how much of a slug I usually am.  It is an eye-opener, to say the least.

I'm not making any promises, but I'm here today. Plus I realize that the more often I post, the more I have to share.  It's like reconnecting with an old friend.  If you talk often, you have a lot to say, but if you only chat now and then, it's more difficult.

In the "thread-bending" department, I'm knitting mittens to use up some wool and just to have something portable to take with me, and piecing flannel for baby quilts for the reservation.  More about that later.

Thanks to all our veterans, past and present, and another big thanks to those who are serving now.  We truly do appreciate all that you and your loved ones have sacrificed.

Bumble Bear

Meet a part of one of this month's quilts.  I fell in love with the print fabric with the little trees, birds, deer, and bears printed on it.

I got it all pieced and looked at the print again.

About the only no-no in sending things for the children at Pine Ridge Reservation is that we avoid owls, a harbinger of death in their belief system.

Hmmmm.

As I examined the print more closely what did I spy but a little owl sitting up in one of those trees.

Awk!  That will never do.  So I needed to do a remedy in about three different places where another bird----rather too large for the space-----covered the place where the owl used to be.

Lesson learned.  Be sure to examine cute fabrics closely at the store, or,  for sure, before you decide to use them for the reservation projects.

In knitting news the Eternal Orange socks for Good Guy are progressing at a rather slow pace.  I will finish the second sock this weekend and proceed to the third.  (The first sock is too tight.  He thinks it's okay, but I think it isn't.  If I need the yarn to finish sock three, I will rip it out.)

So much of it is done that I will wait and see if I've bought enough yarn for two full pairs of socks.  But GG's socks come first.

I hope this isn't my only April post.  

What's Been Going On?

I am in awe of people who write blog entries daily with pictures and funny observations about their interesting lives.  I thank those who do, because it's very inspiring.

Hereabouts our days are quite the same as one another, and though he looks very handsome sitting and reading, I'm sure you don't want a picture of Good Guy every day.

But------a few things have happened.  I don't have pictures of our trip to Red Wing last week, but we had a nice couple of days staying at a B&B, eating delicious food, and getting in a little visit with my cousin, Evelyn.
We even witnessed some snow melt---a rare and wonderful occurrence

I'm working on a quilt which is using blue pre-cut pieces which I found in some fabric I "inherited".  I am filling in the light colored bits with leftover fabric I had cut into strips.  I have enough blue bits cut for a total of 25 squares, so I'll be doing this for "a while" yet.

This one was pieced out of flannel edges passed along to me by my friend who does long arm quilting as a business. The edges of batting and backing get trimmed and she shared those with me, and there was enough to come up with this:

It isn't beautiful, but it is cozy with flannel on both sides.

And there's a pair of men's socks in the works at the moment as well.  They haven't been photographed yet, but they will be amazing when they're done.  She said, modestly.

Today is quilting day with friends, so I must waddle off.  Have a great Wednesday.

Fine! Be That Way!

I am not the only blogger who is finding that blogging seldom leads to a steadily diminishing number of readers and comments.  It is hard to maintain a connection when you only touch base once a month.

Of course, the same lack of feedback is the very thing that sends bloggers to other places where there is more interaction.  I am not a Facebook lover, but I do have access to more people I know there; who will leave comments when I make a contribution.

This diminishing number of readers reminds me of the sinkhole that businesses fall into once they cut their hours.  Fewer hours, fewer customers because there is less chance you will remember when the business is open.

Good Guy and I went through the town of Crivitz this weekend and remembered to stop at the bakery----which is open only on the weekend.  That fact can't make them a regular resource for the people in town.  It must be difficult to be a business owner in a small town, especially during the winters here.

It makes me thankful for the people who persevere in spite of the difficulties.

In a completely different vein, I'm in the midst of a project for Good Guy, who requested a pair of warm, but fine gauge socks.  Never the conservative dresser, he picked a self-striping yarn with the color name, Red Hots.  With a little backtracking, which was necessary due to not reading the pattern well, I've progressed past the heel and onto the foot portion.  They seem very nice so far, and since I have his feet nearby to take measurements, I should be able to get a perfect fit for him.

I was inspired by my friend, Kay, who knits for her husband's painful feet.  He loves his wife-made socks and brags on her skill.  She is a wonderful knitter, I must admit.

Here is what they look like, so far.

 

I think they will always LOOK warm.  Don't you think?

Fragmented

I had every intention of writing lots of posts in February.  Unfortunately for me, our days were so much the same this winter there was nothing much to share with you.

How much do people want to hear about sock knitting, or making quilt tops.  My kids remind me that it's about as interesting as watching paint dry.  But, of course, what do they know?  They think watching golf and baseball is boring too.

For me, I'll watch them now just for the sight of green grass and people in shirt sleeves.  My friend, Gary, posted pictures of their house and neighborhood on his Facebook page, asking, "Will this winter ever end?"
I reminded him that the groundhog predicted on six more months of winter.  Buck up, you whiners!

I count myself among the whiners.  I dash outdoors long enough to fill bird feeders, and put the trash in the bin, and sweep the snow off the porch----on a good day when sweeping is enough, and then I come back indoors and am thankful that we have a warm place and can afford to heat it.

On Wednesday, when I had the car in the sun, the ice cap on the roof of the car finally dislodged and slid off. Can I consider that a sign of spring?  I promised to send snow pictures to a friend in Germany but I keep forgetting the camera.  When I'm out in the car, I want to show her the way we have to creep into an intersection.  The banks are too high to see around in lots of places.

Oh well!  (Insert sigh.) It is bound to warm up and then we'll be whining about the unbearable heat.  I think the Lord made weather so strangers would have something to talk about to one another.

Speaking of strangers, my sister reported that she had an interesting conversation with a tourist.  She is in a town in New Mexico, where they spend time each winter, (escaping the UP weather).  She was peacefully sitting outdoors reading and a lady berated her for wasting her time sitting around.  She should be out seeing the sights.  The nerve....

Well, I'm going out to celebrate my friend's birthday.  Perhaps I'll even include her in the celebration, you never know.

Have a nice weekend!