Merry Christmas to All

We had a great Christmas gathering last night. My family has always celebrated Christmas on the eve. I'm not exactly sure how that came about but we have continued the tradition. Last night my two sons and their partners came to our house. We had food, talk, hugs and opened our stockings. We avoided gifts for all this year - brought on by several of us being out of work this past year for months at a time but I like it like this. I would like to continue this pattern of not spending a fortune on Christmas but I would like to do some gift giving. I suggested that we do a secret santa - each couple only buys 2 gifts that way, and since we have a name to buy for we can really personalize it. I don't have total buy in yet but we may do that with those who agree and just let those who don't agree not participate.

Bob and I exchanged gifts. I chose an iPad air for myself (my previous I pad was old and decrepit and didn't work well anymore.) and Bob got a nail gun. He works on house improvement projects all the time and would have probably gotten one eventually so we made it a Christmas present so he would feel less guilty. ;-)  Eldest son and his partner are coming for dinner today so Bob will get a lesson on how it works.

I plan  to spend the day knitting, helping with dinner prep and doing laundry. Yes, I know its weird to do laundry on Christmas but the dirty clothes are piling up and maybe this way I will be free to do outdoor things if it stops raining. We had very weird weather this Christmas. It was like being back in southern Texas. UGH. Warm, rainy and VERY humid. Bring on the cold weather and snow!!!!

I hope you all have a healthy and happy Christmas.

Fiber Goals and the Chesapeake Bay

Hi. Sorry I've been gone for a while. I got very frustrated that I can't add photos to the blog and just stayed away for a while after several unsuccessful attempts aggravated me way too much. Sigh. One day I'll figure out how to get current photos from my phone and I pad to this blog.

ETA - I did it! i figured it out! WooHoo!!!!!!

I came home from work feeling under the weather yesterday. I think I have a cold … I went to bed and rested last night and plan to take it easy today, resting and taking lots of Vitamin C so I can try to fight it off. I am too busy at home and at work to get sick. Also, some of our patients have a compromised immune system and don't need me sharing germs with them.  So, I am doing laundry, posting this blog post and maybe decorating the tree today. I am sleeping in the guest room so I don't share my cold with my husband. The shopping I have left to do will happen tomorrow or Monday evening. I still have some stocking stuffers to buy. I love stocking stuffer shopping. We did the bulk of it the other night but when I tallied things up we need a few more things. But not today. Today I work on getting healthier.

Since I last wrote we have been fishing 3 different days. The weather being so unseasonably warm has allowed me to go out on the boat without freezing and being miserable. We went to Point Lookout State Park last weekend and stayed over night.

This was the Chesapeake Bay at about 9:30 am on December 13. :-))

We went fishing both days and brought home a nice striped bass, which we ate upon our return. Yum!

The boat motor has been winterized, though we still have work to do on the boat itself for winter storage. Boats are a lot of work and money! But when you are out there on the water it all seems worthwhile. :-)

Knitting - I've made progress on the Architexture shawl/stole (I am past the halfway point).
Lilli Pilli is moving slowly. I have to really pay attention to the stitch pattern. I have it memorized but I have to pay attention when knitting it in order to avoid mistakes. Its the same with the Conflagration scarf. Actually more so. I have to have no distractions at all for that knitting so it hasn't progressed at all.
I started my second blanket for the Alzheimer's group Alice's Embrace. The pattern I had planned to knit didn't look as good as I thought so I chose another one and it is moving along nicely. I am using up Plymouth Encore  (left over from eldest son's blanket from many years ago) and a bit of woolese yarn also. These blankets were great stash busters. Unfortunately I have to buy 2 skeins of the sand color to finish the second blanket. I used about 10 skeins from stash though, so that's good. I'll be looking for more of these types of projects for next year.

Bob's sweater front and back have been finished for a while. I blocked the pieces and hope to seam it this weekend so I can pick up stitches for the sleeves and get back to work on it. I have a few other projects on the needles but those are my main projects right now. I want to finish at least one of those projects before I pick up anything else.

I have had a change of heart regarding my plans for next year. I was planning to make 2016 the year of finishing UFOs. I have so many ….. I faced the fact that I was setting myself up for failure, though, with a plan like that. Instead of all UFOs, I plan to choose 1 UFO per month and either finish or frog it. That will allow me to knit/start current projects also. I have some yarn in my stash that I am dying to knit. So, one goal for 2016 is to work down my UFOs in a systematic and regular way.

Another goal is to take part in a monthly knitting challenge. I belong to a Ravelry group called Sock yarn Round Robin. They do a lot of swaps but they also have a monthly challenge. (things such as knit a lace project or knit something with buttons, ties or other fasteners) You can choose your challenge and your project to fulfill that challenge. You get points for each according to yarn weight and yardage used but of course the points don't get awarded until you finish the project. I started this year but not at the start and didn't plan things out well, so I dropped out. For 2016 I will plan out my challenges and what I will knit for each. I can change my mind, of course, but if I plan it well, I should be able to double dip on some KALs and finish the projects I start instead of adding more UFOs.

I enjoy this group a lot and have taken part in some of their swaps. I just received my package from the latest swap and I love it!

Finally I have some self striping yarn! The colors are hot pink, purple and a bright green. I received a Christmas project bag that looks very well made and is cute without being juvenile. I also got some great looking stitch markers with a fish on the lead marker. Considering how much time we spend fishing, I thought that was especially cool. Oh, and my swap partner added some Masham fiber

 for me to spin. I really enjoyed my previous spinning experience with Masham but I lost most of it in a singles snarl that I just couldn't salvage. Now I can try again. I have some other fiber that looks like it would work well with this Masham so I will be able to make something nice with it. Maybe mitts and a hat?

A main goal for me for the next year is to not buy yarn. I have lots, I love it and need to knit with it. I am giving myself a few exceptions, such as MDSW. I know I won't be able to stay home or not buy yarn if I go, so I am accepting that and allowing yarn purchases at that time. I  will also allow a purchase if I need a gift and can't find a workable yarn in my stash or if I need yarn to finish a project.

I want to spin more fiber and spin more regularly. I want to spin with a purpose in mind so that I am not converting fiber stash into yarn stash. I want to knit with my handspun.

I plan to participate in the Canadian Crazy Train KAL that starts on January 1 but I am not going to participate in the Tour de Sock or Sock Sniper KALs this year. I haven't knitted the patterns the last few years so why sign up? I'll follow along and cheer people on and that will be enough.

I will also plan on doing  a few other KALs that fit with my planned projects for the year. I enjoy the camaraderie of KALs, the enthusiasm and sharing of progress and problems. It enhances my knitting fun.

I think the weekend of Christmas I will review my UFOs and choose the first few that I want to address in the new year and keep them in the house. The rest go out to the shed in an effort to declutter the house. I hope the challenges for next year are posted on the Sock yarn Round Robin thread because I would like to find the yarn for the first few projects and keep that in the house and easily available as well. I don't want to change plans because I can't get to the yarn in the middle of a snow storm or some other foul weather.

I feel good about these goals. I think they are reasonable and since I spend so much time knitting, I feel better that there is a general plan with flexibility. Lately I have been getting frustrated by lack of organization. I don't want to set hard and fast rules for my hobby but I want to accomplish certain things and I think this way (flexible goals) will work.

Since I finally got the photos to upload, my next post will include some back tracking to show you some photos from Rhinebeck and our vacation in Montauk this year. Until then, stay healthy and happy.

Black Friday is more like fantastic Friday

I've just had a rather self-indulgent 2 days. Last night we went to Target to get their deal on a new IPad for me. I had the original version and it's about 5-6 years old. I can't upgrade the OS so I can't get many apps that are available. Safari keeps shutting down and the battery doesn't keep a charge very long .... So my Christmas gift is sitting in the gift pile. I am very excited!

Today I shopped Talbots black Friday sale (I love their clothes for work) and got 2 pair of lined wool slacks and an adorable winter sweater for about $200.  That's a great deal and I am very happy with my selections.

Tomorrow we will go out on the boat (probably for the last time this year) and today we will put Christmas lights out and not freeze! It's about 55 degrees outside - a gorgeous fall day. I am savoring all the good things this weekend, the best of which was having my family together and healthy for a great meal yesterday.

I have a migraine right now but considering everything else, even that isn't so bad. ;-). I plan to sit and knit on something simple for a while, until the migraine meds kick in. Have a good day, all.

Feeling Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I feel thankful for a lot of every day things every day. :-). I learned to do that initially when DH was given his eye diagnosis/prognosis. And again when I was diagnosed with cancer. Thanksgiving is the designated day to speak of those things, though, so here I go.

I am thankful for my family, health, love, a job I like, a husband who is wonderful. I am thankful for sunny days and for the rain that comes in between those sunny days. (the cloudy days I can do without) Those things I am thankful for without much effort. I live in a country that allows and encourages freedoms. I can (within limits) choose my job, my clothes, what to say. I have a house, running water, heat and cooling and more than enough food.

I am thankful for the armed forces who protect my rights and my country. I am not at all thankful for the current government. It seems to be more important to stand up for the party than to actually compromise and get things done. I rarely comment on politics or religion but this one day I have to say that I would be very thankful if the politicians would work together and accomplish what they are supposed to do.

I am also thankful for my knitting and spinning and for the friends that I have made through those hobbies. knitting and spinning give me joy. Giving knitted garments to others makes me happy. It's great to have a hobby that makes things that others value.

Thank you all for coming here. Have a wonderful weekend and I hope your Thanksgiving day was as great as mine was.

Saturday but no boating

Whew! This week seemed to be so long and yet I can't believe I haven't blogged in several days.

I worked the rest of the week after my stomach virus or whatever it was. It was quite busy and I wasn't at my peak performance level. I did my best and I think I'll make good headway before Thanksgiving.

We were planning/hoping to go out on the boat today. The forecast as of yesterday afternoon was for winds 5-10, waves 1 foot or less. We woke up this morning to waves 10-15 and with the temps in the mid to low 40's, that wasn't exciting. We both really want to get out on the boat 1 more time before we put it away to hibernate through the winter. The new plan is that I will work tomorrow and take off a day during the week. Staffing is down and everyone just wants to treat patients and get home, so I think this will work out fine. Tuesday and Wednesday both have favorable wind forecasts. Fingers crossed.

I went backwards in my knitting this week. I bound off the back of Bob's sweater and found that its too short between the arm opening and shoulder and too long over all if I just add length at the top. Bob told me not to rip but I really want this sweater to fit him well so off to the frog pond I went. Front and back are ripped back to 1 inch below where I originally started the arm opening and I am knitting away. Hopefully I'll remember to do the neck shaping in the right place this time. The short rows on the back seemed to help the back of the sweater lay flat and even so I will repeat those. I haven't knitted on much of anything else this week so I can catch up fast. I had hoped to have this sweater finished by the end of the month. that won't be possible now but I want it to be wearable as soon as possible. 

I'm sorry there aren't pictures. I still haven't been able to find a way to add photos from my phone. I have done what the instructions say to do to enable access to my phone pictures but it only gives me access to a few older ones. sigh. I keep trying to find a way.

I hope to go to work early tomorrow and be home in time to watch the Ravens game, get out on the boat this week,  get to Target on Thanksgiving night to buy my Christmas present I pad, choose a tree and put the outside decorations out. Hopefully circumstances will allow for that and not throw a wrench in the works. I will, however, be thankful for my health, my family, my job and most especially my husband no matter what else happens. 

I am thankful for those things most of the time but I want to acknowledge more openly those joys on Thanksgiving day. The losses elsewhere due to wars, disagreements and poverty reinforce my thankfulness. Please express your thankfulness for the people in your lives to them especially during this time of year. Don't take a chance that someone will be taken from you and you didn't tell them when you could. 

Sick day

Ugh. I won't go into detail but I don't feel well at all.

Monday Morning

I love my husband. Really I do. This morning, however, I could have cheerfully strangled him. At a little after 4:00am he woke up, made a very loud noise, got out of bed and proceeded to make the bed - with me in it! He then went to the bathroom, out to the kitchen (where I presume he found out what time it was), came back to the bedroom and climbed into bed. After I was completely awake, he went back to sleep! Grrrrr......

I'm getting ready to do some knitting. I have a migraine (again) so I am not going to attempt to work on Bobs sweater or my conflagration scarf. I would surely mess up the shoulder shaping or have to rip back the scarf. I'm going to do some nice, simple garter stitch. Lilli Pilli gets some time tonight. Hopefully my migraine will ease enough that I can do my stretches and planks.

My head is hurting and trying to figure out how to add photos to this blog post is beyond me. Have a good night and remember to hug someone you love today. Savor every minute and be kind to someone.

Sunday

Sunday. Sunday's are a mixed bag for me. I love the day full of football. I love being off. I can't entirely keep going back to work tomorrow out of my head so I'm always just a little sad. Since I have made my recent commitment to be more active and do more things with Bob, I try to be pretty productive in the morning, then take it easy in the afternoon to watch football. Today was a bit weird, though. We are cleaning the basement (a finished basement) out since eldest son has moved out. It needs a very thorough cleaning. He didn't do much cleaning in the last year and he is a smoker. Ugh. I have been moving furniture and vacuuming, then I plan to wash down the walls to get rid of cigarette dirt and smell. Fine plan but today I couldn't find the mop. I know we had a mop. Bob and I scoured the house, the yard, the sheds.... No mop. Plans foiled for today. We'll get a new mop tomorrow after work. I'll clean the walls and Bob will paint. Turns out eldest son had "borrowed" the mop. We weren't going crazy after all.

The Ravens disappointed us again. Sigh.

I spun on my wheel last night and today. :-) it feels good to spin again. A few more days of spinning and I'll be back in the habit again. I have the spinning wheel in the living room right now, so I just have to sit down and spin. I plan to set up the wheel in our spare room and hope that won't make me less likely to spin. I don't usually spin while watching TV, and I hope to set up a music source and good lighting and spin each day. I have my fiber and yarn displayed in that room on a shelf unit Bob made for me a while ago. I love it and can change what's on display very easily depending on my mood or needs. :-)

I did my stretches each day and added planks each day. I'll keep up with this plan for about 2 weeks before I add anything new. That will take me through Thanksgiving without changes but I should be well established in my routine by then and less likely to miss out on my exercise. I can feel the weight I added while on vacation - not much, but about 5 lbs. I plan to slowly work that off but no "dieting". I will try to increase activity and cut out a few snacks to do it.

The sunshine was so nice today. It felt great while I was outside hanging clothes on the line to dry and chatting with Mom on the phone. The forecast was for higher winds than we prefer to have on the water, but it turns out that the forecast was wrong. I really want to get out with Bob one more day. Maybe next weekend ....

I watched a friends children yesterday so they could go see a movie and be a couple instead of mom and dad. We had fun with crafts and pizza and watching a movie. I love having them visit. My kids are way past the age of that kind of thing and they don't appear to be providing grandchildren to me. So I borrow some from time to time. :-)

On a more serious note, my heart goes out to all who are affected by the cowardly attacks on the people of Paris. I stay away from politics on public forums but this is about people. Innocent people being terrorized by people who have no consideration for others. I have nothing but contempt for those who do this type of thing. My thoughts are with those of you who have lost family, friends, peace of mind.

Starting anew

My previous blog disappeared. I knew I hadn't posted in a while but this had never happened before. Oh, well.

I am in a frame of mind that leads me to want to organize my life and pursuits of happiness more than they have been in the past. I am interested in committing myself to fewer things, with more forethought, and to staying committed. Along those lines I have started on the path to a healthier life and more fit body. I have chosen a few things to work on, gradually, with the idea that these will not be temporary changes but permanent life style changes. I don't mean to say that I have changed into a different person - that would never work. I am not that strong willed a person. ;-) I can, however, take charge of my life and my body and work towards improving both.

I plan to talk about my plans, successes and "set backs" here. some of this will be fiber related because fiber is very much forefront in my pursuit of happiness. Some of it will be health related and some will just be thoughts.

I'll start with my body and health. I had breast cancer, diagnosed 3 years ago next month. I went through chemo and radiation and surgery. I am now healthy and appreciating every day I have. That thought has shaped my attitude towards life, current events and my body. I have had periods when I have said (to myself) that I should just do what I want - I might not be here next year. I have also (less frequently) said that I should change my life around so that it is more centered on health maintenance. Neither of those views is really me, though. I have pretty much adopted a middle of the road philosophy. I do want to improve my health but I don't want to "diet". I will work on increasing my intake of healthier things like water and decrease the amount of soda that I ingest but I have no plans to switch totally. I have started doing stretches (2 weeks now of just about daily stretching) and added a plank program last night that I plan to continue. I have a bad back and need the core strengthening and flexibility. As I move further along this road I will probably modify my plan depending on how I feel (mentally and physically) but still working towards improved heath and comfort.  I am following stretching and exercise plans from a website that I feel comfortable with.

I am working towards changing the way I spend my time. I have to work, so I do, but I am in a job that I like and feel good about what I am doing. I have changed the location of my work, thereby eliminating a minimum of 2 hours of driving per day. I am working on changing how I spend my "extra time" so that I feel that it is well used, not frittered away. I am limiting time spent on line, and spending more time doing things with or talking to my husband. We do more home projects together. We talk more. We enjoy being together. I am making sure I continue to allow for that time. Our house is ours alone for the first time. Both sons have moved out and I am relishing having our house to ourselves. I look forward to the "fish" part of my life - going out on the boat with my husband as often as we can manage, so he/we can fish and enjoy the great outdoors and the waters near us.

Time for fiber - that has been a part of my life for quite a while now. I need to be careful that it doesn't take over my time. It would be easy, but I need to keep it in it's compartment so that it doesn't exclude other valuable things. I also have to keep a rein on my fiber spending, and that has gotten better recently. I spent more money than I had planned when I went to the NY sheep and wool festival, also known as Rhinebeck. I love everything I bought, though, and plan to not buy any yarn (at all!!!) until at least May 2016. I have lots of yarn and I have lots of fiber. I plan to spend time this next year turing more of my fiber into yarn and then knitting that rather than buying so much. Bob is proud of my knitting and isn't trying to get me to stop. I just want to balance my life more.

One big way we do the balance and share things to go out on the boat together. He fishes, I knit. (and sometimes spin). I still bring the knitting but now I spend some time fishing, too.
I plan for us to do more together this coming winter - we can shovel snow together instead of him having to do it all. We can shop and plan meals together instead of me expecting him to do it all. I plan to continue to find things for us to do together without feeling like I am giving up too much of "me" time. We have been married for 38 years and I plan to stay married and happy for as many years as we have together.

I am particularly thankful today for what I  have in my life because of the tragedy in France, but appreciation for my life has been an important part of my day for several years now. I will continue.