Medieval Needle's Stitchings

MOVING

2011-09-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

This blog is moving to WordPress to make my life easier.

http://medievalneedle.wordpress.com

Yeah - I know - I never say anything.

2011-04-21T07:56:00.000-05:00

Things are weird and busy and crazy here.

And the power has been out since 10:45 Tuesday night. Yes, it is now Thursday. I'm fully, fully aware. Everything in the refrigerator is ruined (guess what - I went to the store on Tuesday night!). The cats keep sneaking up on each other and fighting. The bird thinks he is being punished because you can explain to a small child why the lights do not work, but not to a bird.

I have finished socks. I did that Tuesday night at least.

These are from the Rockin Sock Club (Blue Moon Fiber Arts) and I did one sock from each pattern. So they are the same yarn but different socks - fraternal twins.

My attempt at being artistic. Because sometimes I get all weird with the camera.

Here is Mark's birthday cake too. I had the image printed and then with the help of a friend who is good at this sort of thing stuck it to the top of the cake. It was tasty, and not the least bit weird.

I'd leave you with the bird, but sadly it is hard to take photos in the dark.

See you soon!

What I accomplished in 2010

2011-01-04T19:27:00.000-06:00

2010 was one of those up and down years. But I accomplished a lot:

I ran 62 miles. My fastest mile was 10'19" and 29 of my miles were in October as I prepared to run my first 5k. I ran the Race for the Cure in Memphis on the 31st of October and finished just under my goal time of 40 minutes.

I knitted lots of things - socks, shawls and gloves. I finished my white shawl and white opera length gloves before DAR Continental Congress in July and wore them both to Page in Washington - another first.

I went to Knoxville for the first time for State Conference (not my first) and Washington DC for the first time for National Congress (which was a first). I went to Kansas City for a few days to visit with some stitching friends too.

2011 is going to be a good year too. I'm going to knit a lot of socks, and finish my shawl that I started last year. I'm going to Nashville for State Conference where I will serve as a Vice-Chairman of Pages. Probably no DC this year.

I also plan to complete the Gateway to 8k plan and run a few races this year.

I need to get photos of some of my knitting and post them soon. Until then - Happy New Year and may 2011 give you all of the blessings you desire!!

Right - sorry

2011-01-03T08:49:00.001-06:00

So this poor blog has been totally devoid of content for six months. It's been a busy, crazy and yet uneventful six months so let's just start where we are and move on shall we?

I'll get some new knitting pictures up here soon. Including photos of the knitted gifts this past Yule. But we are all alive and well. Bogart is still talking his little birdy head off. Both cats are still snuggly and sweet. Especially if you happen to have a heating blanket.

Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!!

I promised knitting, but instead you get the bird

2010-06-10T08:33:00.002-05:00

Bogart's new Pac-O-Bird Carrier came yesterday. We have tried the harness and His Zonness refuses to wear it. We just all end up bleeding and in tears and it is not worth the trouble. So, we decided this would be a decent alternative to allow him to get outside with us some. Also, it will make it easier for me to take him to visit friends for an hour or so or to take him to the vet for his annual rather than having to fight with his larger lucite travel carrier that is also his sleep cage. It's bigger, and very heavy and unwieldy.

So, on to photos:

'
He went in without a fight. Took a few good looks and inside he went. He seems to know it is his.

He also is a camera ham. Once he decided it was his, he didn't want to come right back out but wanted to hang out and explore.

This is his MINE pose as I tried to lift him out. Ok, more photos then.

This is him looking out at me with flash, but the expression was so cute I had to keep it.

Without the flash you can see that it is really pretty sheer. We got the stainless steel mesh option.

Just to see what it looked like from inside I took this photo. So he really can see out too.

Here is the back. It is very well built, very well padded, very sturdy frame, and the straps are very comfy.

We have not started moving him in it. First step was to put him in and let him hang out. Tonight we'll close the top and see if he freaks. If not, then we might take him out on the patio in it for a few minutes. Even though he is great about new experiences, we are taking it slowly and gently.

I think this is going to be a great boon to our lives and his. He can go places and be protected from himself and from the idiots who might poke or frighten him. The only thing we will probably change is that the dragon wood perch seems a bit slick for moving around a lot, so I will probably put a short rope perch in there where he can get a better grip.

DAR Gloves finished

2010-03-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

I decided to knit my own opera length gloves for DAR Congress - this will be my third year at State and my first year going to DC for Continental Congress, and I wanted to do something special for it.

Fingers are fiddly, but really all told these were pretty darn easy. Took about two weeks per glove, same as a sock.

Now to wash and block, which will take care of some of the irregular bits in my knitting.

Pattern is Farinelli by Ysolda Teague - yarn is Louet Gems fingering weight in White.

2010-03-08T09:20:00.000-06:00

Since our 13th anniversary is coming up in a week, we decided to get away. Just for a night, someplace close but something different.

Meadow View Farm B&B in Hernando was perfect. $95 for the night, the room was beautiful (we chose Cotton and Kudzu with a walk in shower). Mark relaxed on the dock at sunset and we had a great little dinner at ChatterBox restaurant in Hernando (catfish and awesome home baked deserts). Breakfast was awesome. Everything was comfortable and we felt right at home. Highly recommend it!

This is a farm, so there are animals. I conquered my fear of goats finally by standing in the pen with the pygmy goats. They did not eat me. I admit to screaming the first time one licked me tho.

They practice natural horsemanship so there is a long lesson before you get to ride where you and the horse get to know and trust each other. It was really helpful to Mark, who has never had that experience. He actually rode a horse and enjoyed it!!

First we have the dog, Abbie:

And then there are the house and the pond and the field:

And the goats.......

And finally, the horses (Mark rode Rebel and I rode Dottie):

Namaste Monroe Review

2010-01-22T14:20:00.000-06:00

So I ordered the new Monroe Bag and it arrived today. Have to say that so far it is EXACTLY what I wanted.
I have been carrying the Zuma, which is also a Namaste bag. However, the Zuma is a big pocket in the middle where everything sinks to the bottom. Plus the sides are a little more open than I like and it tends to be a floppy bag. I have always been scared I'd lose something out of it. But as a bag, I liked it. The other issue was that I had to have my project in a bag inside my Zuma or it got all tangled up with my purse crap.
The Monroe is a more structured bag. Very professional. A little bigger than the Zuma, but that is great because I can fit all my purse crap, plus my knitting, plus my iPod, Kindle and lunch in it and it will still close all the way. The color is a true lipstick red (blue based red, not orange based) and is beautiful.

This is the Monroe (red) behind the Zuma (black). It is a little bigger, but more structured.

This is the Monroe next to the Zuma again for comparison.

This is the Monroe with a letter size legal pad against it.

This bag has 3 main pockets inside:

The purse stuff pocket. This is where my random crap is like hand sanitizer, medicine, epipen, lipstick, iPod, hair tie, etc. The small zipper pocket on the side holds my bluetooth device and my iPod ear phones.

The middle pocket is the knitting pocket with my sock project (currently a pair of finished socks, two balls of leftover yarn, and the needles) plus my buddy case and my knitkit:

And finally there is the important stuff pocket. My wallet, pens, cash, blackberry in side pocket (not shown), smokes and lighter in side pocket, checkbook in zip pocket, and plenty of room for the kindle:

There is also a document pocket on the back that will be handy for stuff. Now I can carry my stuff to work all in one bag instead of a purse and a plastic bag of bills to pay and my lunch. As you can see, I have plenty of room left in this bag for more stuff!!

The front of the bag is very nice without the document pocket. And the little tab you see - that snaps around both straps to keep them on your shoulder better. Only thing I don't like is that it is not attached in any way to the straps, so it will be easy to lose if I am not careful.

These are top views, showing it closed and with the pockets open enough for the snaps not to engage with their magnets:

Finally, here are front and back of me (5'4" 135 pounds) holding both the Zuma and the Monroe:

I hope that all the photos will help you make a decision if you were on the fence about the bags!

Smitten with the Kitten

2010-01-06T08:46:00.000-06:00

Yeah, she's fitting right in. She loves her Mark and she loves to cuddle with me too. She got her stitches out today and poor baby peed her carrier - she was terrified - guess she thought she was getting dumped again. She was so glad to come right back home.

She and Kismet had the hissy/meowy fits for a couple of days but seem to be mostly over it. They start every once in a while, but more for show than anything.

New Years Blessings

2009-12-31T08:46:00.000-06:00

It has been a long year, and a very difficult one for many, many people I know. We have had a lot of ups and downs, but thankfully nothing drastic.

I wish for you all a New Year filled with joy, hope and prosperity. May you be healthy, may you be surrounded by those you love, and may your dreams come true.

Aislinn has come home

2009-12-31T08:44:00.002-06:00

She walked in, sniffed around the guest room, and climbed on the bed. She was sweet to Mark and really totally unfazed by Kismet or the bird. Kismet hissed, and we threw her out but tonight we are going to try letting them get a little more time in together.

She's got a sweet little face and a cute bobbed tail. And when they went to do her surgery, they discovered she had already been spayed, they just could not find a scar (and the vet tech said they really looked but nothing was there even after they shaved her belly). So the surgery was a little less major than usual.

Sorry for the lack of content

2009-12-28T20:16:00.002-06:00

This is Promise. Promise is coming home tomorrow.

She is about a year old, and is being spayed before she comes home.

This morning I called my vet's office and told them that I was looking for a new cat since Mallory died in November and Kismet is not good at the only cat thing. I told them I wanted a gray cat with gold eyes, short hair, between one and three years old. Not very specific, eh? Well, I've dreamed about this particular cat several times.

So Cindy at the vet's office said ok, she'd keep an eye out but they had nothing right now on the board. She said it really wasn't the time of year when they get cats. This is about 10:30 a.m.

4:00 p.m. Cindy calls back. A groomer they know had a cat dropped on her doorstep. When the groomer walked in with the box and said she had a cat but couldn't keep it Cindy said "Let me guess, it is gray with gold eyes." Well, the groomer about dropped the box. She thought Cindy was psychic. Cindy wonders about me.....

Cindy called, and I left work early to go check it out. And there was my girl. She is so soft, and very friendly. She got off the table and onto my coat and I snuggled and petted her for a while. But I knew the minute I saw her and she walked up and nosed my face that she was mine.

The groomer who brought her in paid for her visit and shots as a gift. I'm having her fixed and then she will come on home tomorrow.

Believe in your dreams. They come true sometimes!!

I rarely ask anything of my readers......

2009-11-13T08:21:00.003-06:00

ht tp://bibliofreak blog.com/great-kindle-giveaway?ref=b1b2ce7642

She is giving away a Kindle II. Please go visit her and sign up. Or at least go tell her you saw it here. I'd love to win one for Mark.

Is there such a thing as knitting furniture?

2009-11-11T08:53:00.005-06:00

I think there is. Behold, the new double swift made by my wonderful husband. I re-skein yarn for a friend who is an indy dyer known as Big Bad VooDoo Mama - http://www.etsy.com/shop/bigbadvoodoomama - this involves winding from one skein to another to make a finished product.

That is not my house in the background. Not at all. My house is never such a mess. (It is the Jedi Mind Trick - tell me it worked)

2009-10-16T17:04:00.000-05:00

We went to Florida last Saturday and came back on Wednesday. Had two days of hell getting caught up at work. Mark was off the whole week so he caught up on 7 loads of laundry yesterday. Fun and stuff.

On Saturday we landed, got the car, ate lunch, hung out, and then went to dinner at Bonefish Grill. It was good, but life is hard for the girl with the late life shellfish allergy in Florida. I love crab and shrimp and now I can't have it so it just makes me mad.

Sunday was my knitting class. I got to meet Wendy Johnson of Wendy Knits (wendyknits.net) and thoroughly enjoyed my class. I had my "aha" moment with socks and now think I can move into doing bigger and better things with them. We came back to Grandmas and then went to eat at TJ's Italian Cafe. To top off the lovely day, we crossed the street and stood on the beach looking at the gulf, listening to the tide and watching the lightening. I recharged my batteries then.

Monday we went to the Reddington Long Pier to fish. I rented equipment and bought a bucket of live shrimp. I baited my own hook (except the once where Mark showed me how with a live shrimp) and I removed my own fish (except twice, once to watch it done and once when a particularly spiny bugger arrived and I couldn't get a grip). In 2 hours out there I caught about 10 fish - mostly Jacks (with a yellow tail) and a pinfish and a small ladyfish. Great fun. But my sunlight limit is 2 hours. That afternoon we went book shopping and also stopped at a bird store where I held 4 month old baby blue front amazons. It made me feel better as I have been missing my boy (he comes home tonight). We had leftover pizza from the night before with grandma and then played Park and Shop and cards.

Tuesday we went to the beach, took a nice walk and visited the wild bird sanctuary. Then we played in the water some and went home, where I took a swim in the pool. We stayed at the house for a while and puttered around and then we took off back out for a round of Adventure Golf. I was not going to be near the water, so I took a camera.

Mark holding his ball:

Me sunning myself

After golfing we went home for a shower, then had dinner at Olive Garden. Went home and played more cards with grandma. Because we are exciting people you know.

Wednesday we got up, got packed, and kind of hung out until time to go for the plane. Mark wanted to detour to ANOTHER bookstore on the way. Easy flight home, and we were back. Yaay.

One thing we took photos of.... lizards. Tiny wee lizards everywhere. We were the paparazzi.

And when we went to play Adventure Golf - they had bigger lizards. They called them Baby Alligators. See if you can find the ex-baby-alligator-chew-toy in the photos.

All in all great trip, total blast, give it a 10.

More knitting

2009-08-27T09:13:00.004-05:00

These are some socks in progress for my friend Aimee. She dyed the yarn - it is Big Bad VooDoo Mama Lindy (BFL Superwash Sock) in Canyonland colorway.

These are for my boss, Richard, for Christmas. They are Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids in Tangerine. These are to be "hunter orange" socks ;)

Both of the above are using the basic short row heel pattern from Socks from the Toe Up.

And this is Ulmus. I started it last night. The yarn is Wollmeise in Honigtopfchen (that's the gold) and I'll do the lace edge in the Ebenholz (brown) left from the shawl I finished yesterday.

Yes, we have knitting

2009-08-26T09:17:00.005-05:00

It has been a wild and crazy summer. Ok, maybe not so much. Nothing to report at least. We've been working on the house some, but nothing exciting just painting doors. Well, there is a new back door that I should post about sometime, but I was waiting until we had a matched set.

There has, however, been a bit of knitting.

Ishbel Shawl (small size) - yarn is Wollmeise Ebenholz.

Sorry, it's been a while

2009-04-29T08:53:00.002-05:00

Not much has been going on. Well, a lot has been going on, but not much has been blog-worthy.

However, I have a few things for an update now. Let's start with knitting:

Slip Up Socks - Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn
And the March Sock Club Kit from The Loopy Ewe - Under the Sea with limited edition Casbah yarn. The first picture is without flash and shows what it looks like in the normal light of a room. The second is what the yarn looks like in bright light and shows off the beauty of the colors.

OK, now for the update on me. I went to D.A.R. State Conference this weekend. Here is my picture from Friday night at Opening Ceremony. I paged again for Ms. Patricia Rhoton and had a BLAST. If you ever wondered what the Daughters of the American Revolution is all about, or if you are interested in becoming a member or doing further research on your ancestry, please feel free to contact me about it!!

And now for the final pictures - both cats and the bird. I know you've all been waiting to see the bird again!

Bogart says "bye bye bird"

Been doing stuff

2009-03-19T12:50:00.002-05:00

My lack of posting is no reflection on my readers, if there are any left.

I finished the Colts socks for my father-in-law. Please note the self-striping yarn self made an I and a C on the bottom of one foot.

I started new socks with Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn - these are called "slip up socks":
And my darling project of the moment, the Clapotis, aka the Clap. This piece is so beautiful. The yarn just glows. It sings. It was spun by unicorns and dyed by elves. Or something. It is both expensive and hard to get. VERY hard to get. This was a trade for something I had that was hard to get. I feel very lucky. (For any yarnies, it is Wollmeise, Wild Thing Suzanne 80/20 Twin)
Now, the fun in this is that you drop stitches. On purpose. And pray a lot that the whole thing doesn't fall apart when you do. If you did it right, then you are ok. I have done it right, so far.
And because he cannot be left out of an photo shoot, I give you the bird.

Major SQUEEE!!!!

2009-01-20T10:11:00.001-06:00

I made it into the Loopy Ewe sock club!!!!!!

Major, major squee.

Yeah - I kind of fell off the earth

2009-01-13T08:50:00.002-06:00

Not much has gone on. There were holidays. There was knitting, most of which you've already seen. Nothing was really finished. No photographs were taken.

And this past weekend I experienced my first real dental issue. I went to the dentist last week because my mouth hurt - he said it was a mouth sore and provided a rinse and some paste stuff to put on it. Well, it got worse and worse and Friday I was ready to go nuts. I thought I was just being a wuss.

Nope - Sunday I was at the dentist (I love my dentist - he saw me on a SUNDAY for an emergency) and it was an abscess that opened through my cheek. So my tooth got drilled out as it was dead, and he packed it with calcium and gave me massive antibiotics to get the infection under control.

I can now close my mouth again, but I still can't really eat. It aches, but the major pain is gone.

I guess at least next time I will know what it is.

And I'll try to have a sock or two off the needles in the next few days to show you - there should be sock goodness ready soon.

More knitting - Beverly's mitts

2008-12-09T09:55:00.003-06:00

These are for a dear, dear friend who taught me a lot about beading. I always said I wanted to be her when I grew up. While I hardly ever bead anymore, the hours of pleasure and wonderful patterns and techniques she shared with me can never be repaid. I hope these go a small way to showing her how much I love and appreciate her. Go visit her over at No Easy Beads and say hi - http://www.noeasybeads.com/

Finished hands!

Closeup of the lace
Finished mitts!!!
And me. Don't faint - it's another update in less than a month!

I know - it has been a month

2008-12-05T10:59:00.005-06:00

Things have been decidedly crazy here. My boss is going (gone?) on maternity leave. So the month has flown by and here it is December.

I have been knitting.
These socks will find a new home at Christmas. They are from the Seaweed Socks pattern.

These socks will find a new home at Christmas, but they are long overdue from a birthday in July...... I had yarn problems. They are Temptation Top Down pattern.

These will also get a new home at Christmas, altho only one is done now. They are Healthy Spine pattern.

Mallory, Kismet and Bogart are all doing fine. They are not knitted, and no pattern is available :)

Derby Ball

2008-10-31T08:58:00.003-05:00

It has been brought to my attention that I never posted pictures from the Derbytante Ball. OOPS!!

2008-10-31T08:57:00.001-05:00

So I get up this morning, and put the elf ears on Mark.

He's so cute. So we go outside and he gets into his car and I smoke. Now, every morning we do this. And every morning I check the door behind him. So this morning do I check the door? No. Guess what? As he pulls away from the house I discover the door is locked. By the time I get to the end of the driveway, he's past the stop sign and gone.

So I try to find a neighbor who is awake. I find one, but it takes about 15 minutes. I convince her that yes, I am a lone white chick in my bathrobe and PJs and not trying to rob her but please can I just use the phone. She lets me use her cell on the porch and I call Mark's dad. He heads over. And gets stopped by the train. So after another 15 minutes he arrives and lets my half-frozen ass in the house.

I got to work and got my ears on. Let's see who notices. I have hair to hide them some. Also, my orange hose have bats and pumpkins and cats on them.

Tonight we are going as Velma and Shaggy from Scooby Doo. I hope that red dress fits Mark......

Boo!

2008-10-30T09:42:00.002-05:00

I found this cute pattern on a friend's blog (Thanks Annette). And Mark wanted one. So, here is Mark's Boo:

Birthday!

2008-09-19T08:36:00.002-05:00

So I had one. I am now 36. Which means little, except that I no longer check the 29-35 box on forms ;)

My husband and his dad made me the most wonderful present!! They are so creative. For those of you scratching your head over the photos, it is for my yarn. It sits next to my chair, and my yarn ball/cake goes in it and the working end comes out the hole in the top. It keeps it from getting away. And the last photo is the sock blockers they made for the different sized socks.

2008-09-15T13:52:00.002-05:00

Catching up on a lot of things:

First, a picture from the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century where I gave a presentation on Schoolgirl Samplers:

And a photo of me with my "other mother" Elizabeth at the meeting:

Now, on to my recent trip to Nashville.

Dana met me at Cracker Barrel where we had brunch before shopping:

I bought a lot of pretty yarn:

And then Dana learned to knit. She's very good and will be out knitting me soon!

On Saturday I attended a district DAR meeting. I helped with Junior Sales. And my sock went on walkabout some more:

And then Dana and I met up for more food, laughter, and knitting. I cannot wait to get together with her again! Unfortunately, I did not photograph her with her wonderful husband. Nor did I get pictures of us in our jammies at our knitting slumber party on Saturday night. I know you're disappointed - sorry ;)

Wow I got an award!!

2008-09-02T09:19:00.003-05:00

Thanks Whiz!!! I love reading Whiz's blog - http://whizgidget.blogspot.com/

I also really needed this today as my computer at work died thanks to Mr. Dell Man and his motherboard replacing skillz.

The rules are:

1. The winner can display this award.

2. Link to the person it is from

3. Nominate 7 other blogs for the award.

4. Set links to the other blogs

5. Comment to let them know they got an award.

So, here are my 7 other blogs that I read a lot:

1. http://www.bellastitch.com/blog - I love her beautiful stitching!

2. http://noeasybeads.blogspot.com - Bev has been a good friend for many years and her beadwork is stunning!!! Please say a prayer for her and her family as they have fled New Orleans again due to the most recent hurricane!

3. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ - yeah everybody reads the yarn harlot and I'm sure she has gotten multiple awards, but she makes me laugh on an almost daily basis. And I love her knitting.

4. http://wendyknits.net - I love Wendy's blog, her sweet cat, and of course her lovely sock patterns!

5. http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/blog - she ran Summer of Socks again and survived - she has lovely roving and spinning and knitting and fibers galore!

6. http://tkdchick.blogspot.com - Love Dani. Always something interesting here.

7. http://ftnfk.blogspot.com - Erin's blog. She always has something cool that she is stitching on. And I think she has my kitten at her house......

Socks & Colonial Dames

2008-08-30T18:27:00.000-05:00

Here are my finished Nanners - 3 weeks - it is a record.
Today I spoke on schoolgirl samplers for the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century.
And here is a picture of me with Elizabeth - my "other mother" and dear, dear friend.

More stash......

2008-08-29T09:09:00.003-05:00

The Loopy Ewe is my very favorite yarn shop online. Right now the hot yarn is called Wollmeise.
You have no idea what it took to get this yarn. I had to beat 3 old ladies with my handbag.
Ok, so not really, I just got lucky. I happened to log into Loopy when it went up, and I snagged this and one other. By the time I put in my paypal, I only made it out with this one and the whole rest of the lot was gone. I'm not complaining - I just wanted to HAVE some to know what all the fuss was about. It's cool - the color is amazing. I think I'm going to make Firestarter socks with this one.

And now I give you the bird:

Bogey says "Put that thing down and let me out."

I hardly ever ask for favors.....

2008-08-26T09:31:00.001-05:00

Would you please go to this website and vote for my friend's photos?

The Stoddards have been family friends for as long as I can remember. And these are some very cool photos.

If you love any of them especially, please be sure to click the "love" icon on the right below where you vote.

Thanks!!!!

http://www.capturememphis.com/people/Will

Nanner #1

2008-08-18T09:02:00.002-05:00

So silly me, I signed up for a little thing called Ravelympics on Ravelry. I said I'd complete my Nanners socks (by Wendy Knits) between opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies. Start to finish.

And there might be a snowball's chance in Atlanta that I can finish. I actually finished one whole sock in 9 days (cast on Friday during opening ceremonies and cast off at 9 pm last night).

Pilot Light

2008-07-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

Koigu KPPM sock yarn - 2.5mm (size 1.5) needles - for Karen. Pattern is Tequila Phoenix from Vog On in Knitty.

One down....

2008-07-02T08:51:00.000-05:00

Tequila Phoenix from Knitty.com - Koigu KPPM sock yarn.

Hencircle

2008-07-01T11:14:00.002-05:00

So most of you don't know about plurk - but it's a lot of fun - www.plurk.com - kind of like stream of consciousness blogging.

Anyway, I joined plurk through Wendy Knits. And I have met a lot of really cool people there.

And a group of the lovely plurk ladies started a hen circle. It sounded fun, so I joined.

The Hen Circle is all about releasing your inner farmgirl. To quote:

A farmgirl believes in the strong arms of friendship, community and the just plain fun of being together. A farmgirl takes joy in the quiet satisfaction of making things with her own hands. She exudes kindness, grace, humility, gentleness, patience and generosity, and loves the simple pleasures in life. A farmgirl is loyal and caring, especially when it comes to her family, friends and community. She gives generously of her time and talents. Farmgirls love to get together to share their ideas. She can be with or without fields and stock. Farmgirl is a condition of the heart.

So, what makes me a farmgirl?
Well, I'm just like that ;) My mother was a farm girl. My aunts are farm girls. And I guess over the years I kind of picked up some of that too. I love to make things with my own hands. I love to fiddle in the kitchen and the garden. I'd really like to make my garden enough of a success that I can learn to can and preserve. And I enjoy the community of friends and sisters that I have built both online and off.

King of the World

2008-06-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

Or at least the Sproing. We had to put plexiglass on the ceiling.

SOCKS

2008-06-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

Finished Elizabeth's socks last night. Simple 3/1 rib all the way down the top - this is the first pair I've done with a different top and bottom. Lana Grossa Meilenweit Stile Color 8003 on size 2.75 mm needles.

Not much to report

2008-06-12T15:11:00.002-05:00

Lots going on with Memphis Roller Derby. Not much else going on. I have successfully turned the heel on Elizabeth's sock. That is about the high point of my week. Sad, isn't it.

Must....knit.....faster.

Bogey is doing well and we are settling in after vacation and then a crazy week last week. On Tuesday night (3rd) we had tickets to Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum. As he says, it is a self-regulating crowd. It was a ton of fun and well worth the money. We had GREAT seats too. I hope I can get seats like that when WICKED comes next summer.

Anyway, all is well, I'm still alive, bird is fine. Husband is fine too. The house looks like a bomb went off but we are working on that - with 2 crazy weeks in a row there was a lot of laundry.

I am waiting on my most recent stash acquisitions. Two patterns from Loopy Ewe (Wendy Knits socks patterns) for Summer of Socks 2008, and a kitchener stitch dogtag (http://www.knitcellaneous.com/Kitchener%20Dogtag.htm).

MRD v. Birmingham coming up the last weekend in June in Birmingham and I'll be there!

More Pics - and a FO

2008-06-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

This is my latest sock. I finished last night. Simple k3p1 rib pattern but the first I've done with a pattern all the way down the foot. For Elizabeth Stoddard. Second sock coming soon if it doesn't get stolen first.
Because everybody loves the bird. Right? But he's so cute!
Playing coy with the mint leaves.
This is Kethry - she belongs to our friends in Huntsville and was a big part of our getting Bogey. Kethry is 5. Just so you can see the difference. Birds do not all look the same.

Vacation Recap

2008-05-30T08:29:00.002-05:00

Blogger is singularly uncooperative when it comes to uploading pictures into my blog. So sorry for the multiple posts of photos from vacation but I am sure you'll deal :)

We left for Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. The bird was on his way to Huntsville to stay with our good friends down there and his bird friend Kethry. The drive was easy, and we didn't get lost.

At Mt. Ida we checked in to our cabin, and then went for a walk. Nature girl I am not. We'll get to that later. After Mark cooked up the burgers we had a soak in the hot tub and went to bed.

Sunday we had breakfast and then went to Arrowhead Crystal Mine. We spent from about 11 until about 3 digging. We decided to actually buy a pocket and have a pile to dig through rather than just wandering around on our own this time. We had a great time, and found lots and lots of crystals.

Monday I went for a trail ride while Mark stayed at the cabin, as he's not much for horses. Note that he would not even come down and take a picture of me on the horse. Yeah. He just doesn't do horses.

In fact, note how many pictures of me there are. Because he didn't take any. Well, he took one, but it was so bad I cut it down so you can only see the fish. Note also that I bought a new camera for this trip.

After my trail ride we went for a canoe trip. 6 miles down the river. I fished, and I caught a fish (and let it go after our photo op).

We left the cabins on Tuesday morning and drove to visit my Aunt Sarah and Uncle James. Sarah is my mom's sister, closest to her in age. We had a great visit. We took a trip out to the farm and Sarah is nature girl. Mom never let me go into the buildings, or look at things because she was afraid of snakes and ticks and spiders. Now, I don't do spiders or ticks or things that crawl in my hair or my face. I used half a can of Off before going into the woods. Sarah just charged in. I got to see things I didn't know existed out there, and look forward to going back on a salvage mission when there has been a good frost - maybe January.

We visited the cemetery and my grandparents' graves. We also visited the Arnold cemetery which I had never been to and saw my great-grandparents' graves. I photographed all the stones in both cemeteries for the online cemetery project.

It was sad to head home on Wednesday but we did. And we drove all the way back to Mt. Ida just to visit The Crystal Seen. We stopped there on our way out of town for acid to clean the crystals and enjoyed our visit so much that we decided to go back to buy our thank you gifts for Mark's dad and for our friends in Huntsville who kept the bird.

While it is good to be home, it is lonely without Bogey and I'll be glad to get to Huntsville tonight to see the little boy.

The farm part 2

2008-05-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

This rose bush has been growing wild for who knows how long around where some old cabins were.

A ladder still stands against a tree. Wonder why?

Inside one of the cabins - looks like a stove or a cupboard??

I have been told the green door was a kerosene stove.

The farm

2008-05-30T08:13:00.000-05:00

This was once the front porch step - looking at it from the back as if I was in the house.

The inside of the smokehouse

The inside of the chicken house - these were the boxes where the chickens laid the eggs. Behind you can see the roost area where the chickens would roost and their droppings would fall through to a concrete pad below that could be hosed off. I remember gathering eggs - I always slammed the henhouse door first to scare the chickens out of the boxes so I didn't get pecked. Sometimes there was a snake in one of the boxes trying to eat eggs. Pop-pop put golf balls in the boxes and often the snakes would eat those.

The Cemetery Visits

2008-05-30T08:10:00.000-05:00

My mother's mother's parents

My maternal grandfather

My maternal grandmother

Vacation Part 2

2008-05-30T08:02:00.000-05:00

The Crystal Dig - we were digging next to the people where you see the orange bucket all by itself.
And of course our crystals after a first wash.

And of course our crystals after a first wash.

Vacation Part 1

2008-05-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

The sock arrives at the cabin.

Grill Master Mark

I caught a fish!!!

Dear Person Who Broke Into My Car

2008-05-13T08:10:00.002-05:00

You can keep the 75 cents in pennies you found in my console. You can even keep the bag. But for all that is good and holy in this world

PLEASE RETURN MY SOCK AND MY YARN AND MY NEEDLES

See, that one sock you took was almost 6 months of work. And it fit my husband. And I was going to start the second one this week. Plus the needles, well, they go with the set of Knitpicks DPNs that I bought. And the yarn, well, it's kind of irreplaceable seeing as how it was hand painted and I don't remember where I got it.

I know you don't understand these complicated terms, as you are a thief not a knitter. Your grandma could probably explain them, but you'd have to tell her where you got the knitting in the first place and I don't think she'd be proud of you.

I am very sad for you. Because not only do you have the karma on your soul that you stole, you have the karma on your soul that you stole something of absolutely no value for absolutely no reason. That's even worse. If you were starving, I'd have given you something to eat.

Now I'm just sad. And I'm going to have to replace my needles and start a new pair of socks. Perhaps that isn't such a bad thing after all.......

Wet Bird

2008-05-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

Bogey showers with me almost every morning. He loves his showers.

Sometimes he has so much fun he does a little dance:

Then he gets the wings going - sometimes this causes him to fall off the perch and get VERY wet.

And when it is all over he gets the hairdryer on very low heat, which is his favorite time of day.

DAR State Convention

2008-05-05T11:02:00.003-05:00

This weekend I was a page at the 103rd State Conference of the Tennessee Society Daughters of the American Revolution. It was my first year as a page, and it was quite an experience. I was personal page to Ms.Patricia King Rhoton ( Mrs. Alex), Honorary State Regent of Tennessee, Past Vice President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR School Committee Board of Trustees for Kate Duncan Smith School and National Society Advisor to the DAR Schools Committee. It was a pleasure to serve Ms. Rhoton and I hope to have the opportunity to do so again.
On Friday things were generally more relaxed and I worked at the TSDAR sales table selling license place frames, Kroger cards and our State Regent's project pins to raise money for the NSDAR. Friday night things got interesting, not only with very strong storms and tornadoes rolling through our area, but also with our formal opening ceremonies. To see all the pages in their white, with gloves, all the ladies in their finery. To watch our colors be paraded down the center aisle, to say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem. The feeling of patriotism in the room. It was an experience I will never forget and hope to repeat.

On Saturday I attended the business meetings and heard the reports of our national and state officers present. And on Saturday afternoon I attended my first Juniors meeting. As the Junior Chair for the Zachariah Davies Chapter it was an educational experience. And on Sunday I attended the memorial service for the Tennessee Daughters who passed away in the last year. It was another moving and touching experience. When I die, I hope somebody will stand up for me and say I was a good DAR.

Many congratulations to Cindy James, our Tennessee State Outstanding Junior Member!

Here we go again.

2008-04-21T08:32:00.001-05:00

In October of 2005 I lost my best friend to suicide.

This weekend, I lost a dear friend and co-worker. Again, to suicide. So once again I trot out the pact.

By commenting to this post you are agreeing to the following:

We, as friends, will hold each other up and hang on tight. We know we can talk to each other about anything, anytime, anywhere. We are friends for life. In memory of Donna, in memory of Preston, in memory of all those who felt that there was nobody who would understand and took their own life, we agree to live.

We agree to hold on to each other for life and never let each other fall.

I love you - all of you. No matter what.

Happy Dance

2008-04-15T08:26:00.000-05:00

This is a snapper kit. Not really spring, unless you count that DAR State Conference is in May and I wanted it done before that. It is for our good friend Elizabeth Stoddard.

Detail of the flag:

Detail of the little star charms:

Happy Dance!

2008-04-01T08:38:00.003-05:00

Rosemarkie by Long Dog - done in black Splendor silk - I left off the strawberry motifs.

O - Hai!

2008-03-27T08:45:00.000-05:00

Bogey is doing great.

We are not the least bit attached to him. Nope. Not at all.

And if you believe that I have some land for sale......

Some words on the bird

2008-03-10T08:17:00.002-05:00

In response to several frequently asked questions:

Bogart (Bogey) is a Double Yellow Head Amazon. When he is fully mature his head will be totally yellow.

He is now 7 months old. Just a baby. He will live approximately 60 years. Yes, we have a plan and he will have to be willed to someone most likely.

He does talk - so far he says very plainly:
Hello
Hi
Step up
Whatcha doin
Where'd ya go
No
Bad bad bad bad bird
Good bird
Good Bogey
Dropped it

He also whines like a puppy and barks like a puppy. The lady who raised him also raises puppies.

He eats what we eat for the most part. Last night he had chicken and rice with Mark. The vet says we can give him chicken bones, as they are marrow scavengers in the wild. He mostly eats veggies - green beans and broccoli are a favorite. He likes some food warm. This morning he had cinnamon toast for breakfast. He likes meatloaf, baked beans, coleslaw, potatoes, pot roast, hamburger buns. His favorite food treat of all is apple. He and Mark share an apple most nights.

He showers with me most days. Amazons are from the rain forest, so they like the water. Mostly he likes to drink the water as it runs over my shoulder. They are total hams in the shower - singing and laughing and talking. They go through all of their words in the shower so when he learns something new it shows up in there. This morning he said "be nice" for the first time in the shower, and we'll see if that has stuck.

During the day he is in the cage, with plenty of toys and food and the radio on NPR. No tv on - because what do they play a lot during the day? Commercials. And birds learn when they hear it over and over. Nobody wants a bird that sells cars. Seriously.

The cats like him. And he likes the cats. Kismet's tail is especially interesting to him. But they don't seem to look at him as a toy or prey or anything - they will jump up on the sofa and sniff him and are kind of indifferent really. Except Kismet gets upset when he screams.

Ok - any more questions? This concludes today's lesson on the bird ;)

More bird pics

2008-03-04T08:46:00.000-06:00

Nothing to declare here. So more bird pics.

It is hard to tell in the photo above - but he is upside down on his back on the cage playing with the toy Lynne and Melissa sent. He likes to be upside down bird.

Just checking in

2008-02-14T09:59:00.002-06:00

I have been bad about not posting. I was offline the week after the funeral for the most part and then this week at work has kicked my a**. I think I'm finally getting caught up, but OSHA probably has a warning out about my office area.

I had my first really hard mom moment the day before yesterday. I was buying valentine cards and I realized I wasn't buying one for mom. Or candy or flowers. I always made a big deal of valentines day with her because dad didn't. It was our little holiday together. And we all know how much mom loved chocolate candy - so I always made it my mission to find the biggest heart of chocolate I could.

Most of the cleaning out is done. If you are a family member or friend of the family reading this and you have not heard from me about a little something from mother, please email me. I have many things set aside for family and mom's close friends but have not had time to deliver or get with everyone about sending things.

I think the greatest thing I have from mom is Nana's bracelet. I wear it every day and think of her. It was mom's favorite - kind of stretchy and very pretty. There was a place for it to be engraved, but it never was. Knowing the history of so many of the family things means so much. Mom wrote everything down. Everything.

For example, in the box for the necklace I have on today - "This has been in my family for many years. It was Aunt Annie's then mothers and mother gave it to me long before she died." It's a beautiful piece - silver and gold with a large gold stone in the middle. I think it was once gold plated but in most parts the plating has worn off. The little earrings with it are adorable, but unfortunately I can only last about an hour in earrings at work due to the phone.

On Sunday I will do my ancestor ceremony and add mom to my ancestor shrine on my mantle. Currently, the shrine resides on top of the TV but I am moving it to the hearth as the center of our home and adding mother and some other members of the family that I now have pictures of (My grandmother's parents & Aunt Mary Letson).

Guess that's all for now - back to mailing out the bills at work.

Bogey came home

2008-02-04T19:23:00.000-06:00

Our baby bird - a 6 month old double yellow head Amazon. His name is Bogart - Bogey for short.

He liked baked beans a lot. Also coleslaw, and some of my husband's corn on the cob, and some smoked turkey.

Service Information

2008-02-01T17:43:00.001-06:00

Visitation:

Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 pm at Peebles West Chapel in Oakland. If you take Stage/Hwy 64 toward Somerville, go through Oakland and it is on the right side after you go through Oakland. Kind of in the country.

Memorial Service:

Monday at 11:00 a.m. at Highland Heights Presbyterian Church on Highway 64 past Wolfchase.

Memorials to Highland Heights Building Fund or to the charity of your choice (my charity of choice is Heifer International if you care).

Love to all, I'm still doing ok.

Mom has gone home to God

2008-02-01T08:39:00.000-06:00

Mother passed away at around 11 last night.

I went to see her yesterday morning and she was not breathing well. After my conversation with the doctor on Wednesday afternoon, I had thought things were going well and she would be going home on Friday. The nurses called respiratory and they gave her a breathing treatment and said she had an anxiety attack.They gave her some xanex. Dad called and said he was there and she was resting comfortably.

A few minutes later, the nurse called and said I needed to come. She slipped into a coma and was unresponsive. She fought hard, but her lungs were too damaged and her heart was too weak. She went very quietly in her sleep with her friends and family at her bedside.

No word on arrangements yet.

Sorry for not posting

2008-01-30T08:59:00.001-06:00

The last thing in the world I needed to happen did - I got sick. I've got bronchitis with a sinus infection and so have had to stay well away from mom and the hospital since I left on Saturday night. Probably shouldn't have been there Saturday but what can I do.....

Anyway, I can't go near her until at least tomorrow. I'll have been on antibiotics for 3 days then and should be safe.

All I know:

Mom has a small blood clot in her lung. They are treating it with blood thinners. She is still having lots of trouble breathing. It appears that the chemo killed off much of the tumor in her lung. It is still in the spine, but I have no idea how much. As for the bleeding - no answers. Also she has had some tests on her heart for irregular heartbeat and that has been medicated as well. I'm trying to get a little more info from the doctors today and will post what I find out.

Mom update - hospital

2008-01-27T08:20:00.000-06:00

Mom was admitted to Methodist Germantown yesterday. On Friday night dad called me and said she was bleeding from somewhere. We all thought it was in her urine. Saturday the pain in her back was bad and she wanted to go to the ER, so dad drove her and I sat with her from 1:00 until 9:00 last night. The blood is not in her urine, so it is coming from somewhere else down there. If you feel the desperate need for more detail, email me. They are going to do some further tests, and they did an MRI and an ultrasound last night. Her cancer doc came to see her while we were there and wants a brain scan due to some vision changes (I think he is looking to see if it has metastasised to her brain). The bleeding is not a good sign and she may also have bleeding internally so they want to probably do a scope for that.

I will keep you posted and you can call or email if you want her room number. They only plan to keep her a couple of days - so she should go home Monday or Tuesday if all goes well.

She does have a bladder infection, and they are treating that with antibiotics but that is all that we know for sure at this time.

Oh, and I'm getting bronchitis. Fun.

Mom update

2008-01-10T09:28:00.001-06:00

Mom is doing ok - she just finished her last chemo. She's more sick with this one than ever before, but we hope it will pass. She cannot have any more chemo after this, but they may do some other treatments.

Other than that, not much to report.

News on mom

2008-01-03T08:21:00.000-06:00

Mom got the results of her scan yesterday. They were good. Exceptional, in fact. Her numbers were high enough she could have started her chemo yesterday, but is holding off until Monday and doing it next week. This will be her last chemo. However, she thinks she may try some experimental stuff after that since she's doing so well. She's going to keep fighting.

Weekend projects

2007-12-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

Cat door: Moderately successful - the cats know it is there and go in and out, but only if we prop it open. Otherwise they think it is a low window and get confused.

We rearranged the living room so we could see the TV better. Because we are old and blind. In the corner is the cabinet Mark built for our Zombie Control Plan. ;)
My studio/sanctuary. The fan and mask are my favorite bits. Oh, and the cabinet Mark built me with his dad as my birthday present.
My desk in the studio/sanctuary.
The top of my card catalog. I have all my favorite animals up there - my Charlie Bear, my CATS cat and my hedgehog.

Christmas Photos

2007-12-26T09:36:00.001-06:00

Mom opening her gifts:

PJ's from Lucy:

Slippers from Peter:
Card from dad:
Neck wrap from Aunt Bev:
Candle from Aunt Bev:
Cat Bellpull from Lori:
Peanuts!
What's in here?

Updating

2007-12-19T08:47:00.000-06:00

MOM - she is in chemo again this week. I see her getting weaker and more tired, but on the whole she is still doing fairly well. We all know it's just a matter of time, but for the most part it seems like we will have a little more good time left.

KNITTING - still only one sock. Told mom to hang it by the chimney and see if Santa brought her the mate.

ANIMALS - I am sad to say that we lost our companion Daria, aka Black Forest Lady in Red, last Thursday. She was 12 and had a good life, but her sweet heart was giving out and we decided to let her cross the Bridge gently and quietly. The house seems a lot quieter without her.

YULE - Our annual Yule Dinner went very well. We were short one guest due to illness, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Tons of leftovers. The menu was: Pumpkin Soup, Salad, Ham, Neeps & Leeks, Roasted Asparagus, Spaghetti Squash, Onions and Cheese, fresh baked bread, and everyone brought a dessert. Also my friend Dawn brought a goose.

CHRISTMAS - FedEx is my friend....I hope

DERBY - Empirical data suggests that I cannot fit a roller skate wheel into my posterior. I managed to sprain my ankle, jam my thumb, and I have an interesting bruise...... I was trying to learn to stop. Empirical data also suggests that I did something wrong........

And that's it for today. Work is a bear - what is it with the holiday season and divorce? Don't answer that.........

Sock!

2007-12-12T08:09:00.000-06:00

My very first top down sock. It took me forever, but mostly because I had a hard time finding knitting moments:

First, the sock on my foot.

Sock from the side.

Bottom of sock:
My first grafted (Kitchner) toe:
All in all, I'm quite proud and very excited about finishing the pair. It fits me well, now to hope it fits mom who has feet that are a size bigger. They stretch some, right?

Picture Post

2007-12-12T08:07:00.000-06:00

Mom's cat - Peepers:
Mom's dog Misty:
Mom's other dog, Bess:
Nut butts that they are. Next post - my sock!!!!

It happens at least once a year....

2007-12-07T09:39:00.001-06:00

Somebody recognizes me from Antiques Roadshow. Apparently they have put together a compilation of the unique and different items they saw on the show, and I am in that too. I have the biggest book ever seen on the Roadshow - a giant floor dictionary.

So if you watch Roadshow, and you see the chick in the teal shirt with the giant book in Memphis, yep, that's me.

Update

2007-12-04T09:49:00.001-06:00

Mom's chemo went well. It seems to have helped quite a bit. She had her labs yesterday and everything is looking very good. She goes back for labs again next Monday and if all goes well she will have chemo again the following week.

Dad hired a sitter who comes in on the weekends. She is really, really sweet and does a great job with mom. I'm glad he has someone because it takes the pressure off both of us.

Mom update

2007-11-30T15:29:00.000-06:00

Chemo is over and she seems to be doing well. Dad says she's a little dizzy and tired, but doing well. She seems to be able to breathe better already, which is excellent news.

Also, I love LOLCats. Here is one for you today. The cat in the background looks like my Kismet. We all have days like this:

Photos because apparently Picasa hates me this week

2007-11-27T08:13:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T08:46:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! There was so much for us to be thankful for this year.

There are some photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Melanie.Simmonds/Thanksgiving2007

Mom had a good day. The other guests were Mark's dad (in the red shirt) and Betty and Bill Stoddard, longtime family friends. My DH Mark is not pictured, and I was running around a lot so I only made one and look irritated!

Spent time with mom on Friday and again yesterday. Today she starts the next round of chemo.

Doctor Visit Today

2007-11-19T15:07:00.000-06:00

Mom is doing well. Doctor visit today. Will do another round of chemo starting next Monday, in his office unless something goes wrong and we have to go to the hospital. We got a Thanksgiving reprieve.

Nothing else to report really. Saturday was a good day.

I'm kind of dreading going out there tonight. I'm really tired and am having my seasonal allergy attack.

Weekend

2007-11-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

So dad calls last night. He's lined up a potential caregiver and he's having her out tomorrow. At 8 a.m. Ok, that is SATURDAY. What do normal people my age do on Saturday (those without kids anyway) - SLEEP IN. I get up at 6:30 every day of the week to come to work. And it's been quite a week here. I see my house on Thursday nights and Friday nights and whatever time I eek out on the weekend - Tuesday nights I skate and Monday and Wednesday I go to moms. I have not put my laundry away in 2 weeks. My animals miss me. And my husband misses me too.

I told him I most assuredly was not getting up at 6:30 to be there at 8 on a Saturday. He said ok but be there by 9 because what if she needed something.

Where will he be? At the "land" he owns out in Whiteville. Because it's the opening day of deer season and he wants to watch for poachers.

WHATEVER.

Sorry - I've been bad

2007-11-15T10:35:00.000-06:00

I keep meaning to post but it's been a bear of a week. The power keeps going out at work, which means we sit in the dark for an hour or more and then have to play catch-up.

On to what you really want to hear about - Roller Derby. I skated on Tuesday and my fanny is not broken yet. But my legs hurt.

No, seriously. Mom - she is doing fairly well altho I can see her getting a little weaker each day. Mentally, she's all there sometimes and not so much at others. She's more tired and sleeping more.

The doctor will decide on Monday if she is going to get more chemo. I'm not getting my hopes up - we'll just have to see.

We are working on a Thanksgiving feast and I'm going to be washing china this weekend. She's had the china since she got married (almost 50 years ago this December) and has used exactly 4 plates of it exactly once - about 2 years ago when I forced it on Thanksgiving. So we're going to have a blowout and try not to break the dishes :)

I knitted my second ever hat and gave it to mom. She was not really impressed. I'm trying again with a better (read EXPENSIVE) yarn. I let her pick from the colors I had and hopefully she will like it. It's blue.

And now, back to the closing binders.....

Things are going well

2007-11-08T08:22:00.000-06:00

Mom is enjoying being home. She still has good days and bad days. Yesterday was a really good day. I visited with her last night and had to do a Hard Thing (tm). I had to cut off her hair.

Now anyone who knows my mother knows that she has beautiful, thick, and remarkably brown hair for a 70 year old woman. But it was falling out in clumps and she couldn't take it anymore.

It would have been a lot harder if she hadn't been so wonderful about the whole thing. She has a great attitude and was more relieved to be rid of it than sad to see it go. She loves having no hair. She also looks pretty cute that way - she has a nice shaped head. She has a chemo cap and I plan to knit her a couple myself. Need to hunt down patterns for that today. And some wonderful soft yarn......

Mom is home

2007-11-05T08:02:00.000-06:00

Mom came home on Friday. She is doing well at home. Dad got her a recliner and she is able to use the walker to make it from the bedroom to the living room to sit there and relax as well. Her hair is starting to really fall out now. But she is so glad to be home. Dad is learning that being a caregiver is harder than he thought, and I'm struggling with the guilt of having to walk away and let him handle things. I know it will all be ok.

Back at work today and struggling out from under a pile of work now!

Update 10:30 on 11/1

2007-11-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

Mom has been pretty out of her head for the last two days. Yesterday was really bad, and today appears to be about the same. She knows who she is, where she is, but then says things like "Pete needs to put those dogs up and keep them from running through the house." She's said some other, more disturbing things as well but I'm not repeating them here. Suffice it to say she has been crazy as a betsy bug.

Last night when dad was there around 8:30 she wanted to go to the potty chair. He called the nurses, and after no response he helped her onto the chair. He called the nurses again to get her back to bed. After about 1/2 hour, he pitched a fit. And I don't blame him. Now he sees what I've been dealing with the whole time. Well, apparently they didn't listen. Last night mom tried to get up to go to the bathroom by herself. Her bed alarm went off but nobody responded. Typical. She fell. She's ok they said, but still. When the bed alarm goes off on a patient like her, you run your fanny into the room. Period. I'm really tired of them. I told the nurse today that they either needed to move her down by the nurse's station where they could watch her or get somebody to sit in her room with her but this is unacceptable. We'll see what happens.

This afternoon I may get my boss to call the charge nurse. She has a track record of getting things done and it won't help for them to get the picture - I work for lawyers.

Will she get the port-a-cath put in today? What will the psych evaluation today say? Will she be going home tomorrow? Stay tuned - I'll let you know as I find out.

Still positive

2007-10-31T08:38:00.000-05:00

Things are still looking good. They drained 1/2 liter of fluid off mom's lung yesterday. She says she is short of breath, but her oxygen level is good. I am not sure - she may be having anxiety attacks. Her heart rate is up. The heart doctor will see her today and let me know what she decides. It may just be that they doubled her lung capacity so quickly by draining off that fluid and she's just not used to it yet.

Other than that, nothing to report. Mark and his dad met up with my dad last night and arranged the bedroom for the hospital bed and also rearranged the living room for the new recliner that dad bought mom.

I'm at work again today. Hopefully I can get tonight off and dad can sit with mom this evening so I can go have Halloween with Mark. We really enjoy this time of year and have always been together to celebrate and hand out candy.

Sorry Y'all

2007-10-30T13:07:00.000-05:00

I am trying to keep this up to date. But with no internet access of the hospital, and Mark not being a very good secretary, I just have not been able to for the last bit.

Here we go:

Thursday: The doctors called me and said she had a few days to live. So I went flying to the hospital again, and we started going through those motions again.

Friday: Better, but not much improved. Hospice discussions begin.

Saturday: Dad caves and says we can do inpatient hospice for a while and see how it goes as I did not feel in her condition at this point home was an option. We go to the hospital Saturday morning and mom is sitting up in bed eating breakfast.

Now, remember the saga of the feeding tube? Apparently the doctors said fine, since there is no hope if she wants to eat let her eat.

She's eating.

Saturday night was a little wild. I stayed with her and the pain meds make her pretty loopy sometimes. Also, she does not sleep. I do not do well without sleep.

Sunday was another lovely day. She ate, and she got the catheter out. Happy mom.

Monday again was great - and physical therapy took her for 2 walks.

Today they drained 450 cc's (about 1/2 a liter) of fluid off her lung. That should help a lot.

My mother the miracle. She is going home on Friday or Monday.

All of the prayers, love and good thoughts have done it. Please keep it up! Mom has stumped the doctors and us. No more radiation as we suspect that is what caused the worst problems - she can't tolerate it.

And to top it off - mom has not lost all her hair from the chemo either.

Strong women run in our family. I think people forget to give credit to mom's generation - she's 70. She has seen the Great Depression, WWII, lived in Japan for 3 1/2 years during the Vietnam and Korean wars, lived on a farm with no electricity when she was growing up. She is no stranger to hard work. She is strong and tough. And she is beating the odds every second.

We are taking this day to day. She may have 6 hours, 6 days, 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years. Nobody knows. Every day is a gift to be cherished.

Much love to you all!!! I will do better about posting I promise.

As of last night

2007-10-25T08:17:00.000-05:00

Mom had another radiation treatment yesterday. She's received all of the chemo for this round. She has 8 more days of radiation to go. She still has the feeding tube and the catheter. I spent about an hour and a half with her last night but did not stay the night. She gets upset easily. She's in and out of being lucid and gets very frustrated when she can tell you don't think she is making sense.

I did not go see her this morning as I got caught in a traffic snarl on the way to work and it took up my 30 minutes of hospital time getting through that. I'm going to Build A Bear today at lunch to get her a bear to keep with her since she borrowed mine before. I'll go see her after work.

She's in a regular room for now. I will keep you updated and let you know when/if I hear from doctors today.

Today's update

2007-10-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

So far mom is still stable and breathing on the oxygen (not needing the 100% mask anymore). She was resting when I went in this morning so I just gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left for work. The doctors have not been in to see her today so no orders have been written to move her to a regular room yet. That may or may not happen today. She still has the feeding tube. I went to see her last night but I think with my brother Peter flying in and seeing her that he and daddy tired her out a lot. I didn't stay long because she was not breathing well.

Will update as I know more. Back at work today. Trying to be at work whenever possible so I can get paid once in a while ;)

October sucks.

2007-10-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

FIRST - to any members of my family reading this - my blog is my opinion. I will state facts and opinions here. PLEASE do not discuss what you read here with mom or dad. This is my place to vent, to hurt, and to deal. I hold my mother's medical power of attorney, and I understand her wishes as to her living will and her care. I will do what she has asked no matter what anyone else believes. She depends on me to do so which is why she put that power in my hands. THANKS for understanding.

Now......

Wednesday we met with her cancer doctor, Dr. Jones of Jones Cancer Clinic. He was nice, but bossy. She immediately went to the chemo lab and started her first dose. They transferred her from there by ambulance to the hospital to finish off the next 2 days of chemo and to get her pump put in, etc. etc. I stayed with her.

Thursday they scanned to see how far the cancer had spread. It is in her spine. Which is bad, but not as bad as in her brain. Anyway, both are really bad. The prognosis is 1-2 years (at this point, it got updated later as you'll see below). She got her 2nd chemo bag on Thursday night and was scheduled to go to radiation on Friday. I stayed with her.

Friday she went to radiation in the morning and I came on in to work. I was very tired and at 3:00 I went home. I called dad on the way and he was at the hospital with her and said she'd been sleeping since she came back from radiation around 2:30. I took a nap and at 5:30 dad called and said that we needed to get right to the hospital because mom was going to ICU and he needed help getting her stuff out of the room since they would not let her have it in ICU. We rushed down and got her stuff moved and I went down to ICU. They let me see her for just a minute and she was out of it, on full oxygen and still gasping. I was told by the lung doctor that she might not survive, that very few people with her lung function ever come out of ICU or off oxygen at this point. My sister (dad's first daughter) decided to come up to help out. Gods bless Lucy. Chemo and radiation were suspended at this point.

Mark and I went home to rest. Mark got to the hospital at 6:00 on Saturday morning. Mom was up, off full oxygen, and eating breakfast. I got there around 9 and spent the day with her. Lucy arrived and we swapped in and out. Mom went down some as the day went on and her fever spiked. She had aspirational pneumonia from inhaling food into her lungs, but they thought she might get better. I went home to rest, Lucy went to dinner with dad and took the night shift and went home from the hospital when they kicked her out at 10:30.

Sunday morning Lucy and I met at the hospital at 10. Mom was back on full oxygen at that point and had been since 6:00 a.m. when she took a turn for the worse. The day went downhill from there. Sunday night the doctors told us she had aspirated again and they needed to take her off all food and water by mouth as she was unable to control the muscles in her throat properly. We agreed to a feeding tube. They also had to tie her to the bed because she was wild out of her head and pulling on her cords and wouldn't leave her oxygen mask on. We were told she probably would not make it through the night without being intubated and put on a ventilator. After much crying and discussing, Lucy and Mark and I decided that we would let her go peacefully instead of putting her on another machine. We spent the night in the ICU lounge, I slept off and on, Mark and Lucy slept none at all.

Monday morning she was doing better. By Monday afternoon they were able to take her off the mask and untie her hands. I went home at 1:00 Monday to sleep. This morning she was much improved and they are going to start her 3rd and final dose of chemo for this round, and may move her to a room today or tomorrow.

We have a bunch of hurdles here - first, she has the feeding tube. Speech therapy is working with her on getting her throat muscles functioning again and hopefully that will be able to come out. But she can't go home with it. Second, she's got a catheter and will have to get that out. Third, she hasn't walked at all since Friday and she will need some PT to regain mobility.

Finally, with the 3rd dose of chemo going in, we may start this all over again. The only reason we are doing chemo is pain relief. If we can shrink the tumor some with chemo and get it off her spine then perhaps she will get her swallowing reflex back and breathe easier and not be in so much pain. But at this point they have updated her prognosis to 6 months to a year.

She will have no resistance. The pneumonia may come back. We may not be able to take the feeding tube out. The chemo may not work, or may make her sicker. So basically if the chemo doesn't kill her the tumor will before long. It's just a matter of time. And if we can't get her lung function to stabilize then she may die from that since we said no machine. Once a person with her prognosis goes on a ventilator then they don't come off, they are so sedated you never talk to them again, and it's over. We're not doing that to her.

So, there you go.

I'll update as I can. I am doing well and at work today. Trying to get normal in small doses. I am sleeping at home now. I will visit mom as much as I can and make it count, but visits tire her and it's best for her not to have someone with her all the time. We don't need food right now, but thanks for asking :)

I have unsubscribed from most of my yahoo groups and put all other obligations to the side. Work, Mom and Mark are all I can focus on now.

Nothing to Declare

2007-08-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

It's too darn hot here. Nothing much is going on. Working, skating, staying in the air conditioning. Really not much to report.

I have picked up Celestial Dragon and am making slow progress. I get about a 10x10 square done a night, which is pretty good considering my technique. There are 2 kinds of blending filament in this one. So I stitch all the symbols that need clear BF, then stitch over them with a full stitch of only clear BF. Then I stitch all the symbols that need blue BF, then stitch over them with a full stitch of only blue BF. Then stitch all the symbols that don't need any BF. I do this in 10x10 squares to keep from getting confused. He's a very sparkly dragon!

Started seeing a psychologist last week. After 2 visits I think it's going to be a good thing. I need to get some strategy for coping with a bunch of crap - not only from my childhood, but how to cope with my aging parents and being an only child and all.

Mark is well for those readers who know him too :) He's working long and hard right now - they just moved the whole office and warehouse and that was it's very own cluster-f. You have no idea. Really. He's playing Bass and rowing on the machine and working in the shop with his dad.

Daria is doing better. After a second opinion we found that her not eating is not a behavior problem, it's really a health issue. Her body was not retaining the nutrients from the food she ate, it just went right through her. So we have her on I/D canned and dry, and a packet of stuff called "Forti-Flora" that is supposed to help the natural enzymes in her gut process the food better. She has gained a little weight but not a lot. We'll know how it's working in about a month.

Cats are cats. Kismet is very angry that the sunroom is not open for her pleasure at all times. But it's too hot to keep the door open - all those windows and skylights mean that room is very hot and the AC just can't keep up with that (nor can we afford to AC that room!)

Skating news - I can stop now. And do cross overs - learned that last night. Very excited. I get my new costume, a custom corset and skirt, in the next week or so. Semi-finals are Sept 8 and Finals are Sept 22. The new season starts on October 20.

Band news - Shortwave D is playing at Neils on the 21st of September and we're celebrating my birthday that night too. They are playing October 6 at the P&H cafe.

And that's all I know. I guess I'd better get to what they pay me for around here :)

MRD 4-0

2007-07-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

A big congrats to the women of Memphis Roller Derby - our travel team is now 4-0 and State Champions after beating Nashville and Knoxville last weekend.

And in further news, I bought my skates last Saturday.

If you want to read/see more on MRD - go visit u-tube and look for Memphis Roller Derby or MRD. Also you can see MRD on the front page of SPORTS (yes, not lifestyle, sports) in the Commercial Appeal from last Sunday. It also might be on their website. And somewhere there is also a Commercial Appeal podcast.

No, I'm not pictured. Thank goodness. You might catch a glimpse of me in the background, but I wasn't on skates at the time so I'm pretty hidden trying to stay out of the way and keep score.

Stitching - what stitching? Haven't really gotten very far lately.

Guess what?

2007-07-05T14:54:00.000-05:00

www.memphisrollerderby.com

I'm going to be a ref! My first bout is this Saturday night. Axles of Evil. It's so much fun to do this. I won't be on skates at first, just kind of learning and maybe doing some stats help. But I'm gonna be a Derby Girl :) My derby name will be Mid-Evil Torture.

OK - stolen from Suz:

Scattergories:

Your Name: - Melanie
1. Famous singer/band: Moody Blues
2. 4 letter word: Merde (shit)
3. Street name: Main Street
4. Color: Melon
5. Gifts/Presents: Machinery
6. Vehicle: Minivan
7. Things in a souvenir shop: Mirrors
8. Boy name: Mark
9. Girl name: Melissa
10. Movie title: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
11. Drink: Milk
12. Occupation: Mortician
13. Flower: Moonflower
14. Celebrity: Melissa Gilbert
15. Magazine: Ms.
16. U.S. city: Memphis
17. Pro sports teams: Memphis Grizzlies
18. Fruit/vegetable: Mushmelon
19. Reason late for work: Migraine
20. Something you throw away: Mail
21. Things you shout: My Gods! Move!
22. Cartoon character: Mickey Mouse

Time to play catch up

2007-06-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

After my post at Mother' s Day on May 15 my mother had a brain hemorrhage. She was hospitalized for several days, and nothing has been the same since. Mom is weaker, more fragile, she cannot read or see well (peripheral vision distortion and noise), and sometimes gropes for words.

Again last week my mother was hospitalized due to low sodium. Low sodium will make you dizzy, sick to your stomach, and dementia. It's pretty scary. We thought it was another bleed, but thankfully her brain is clearing up nicely and it was just the sodium. Just. She is now on a restricted liquids diet of 1500 cc's per day and taking an antibiotic that also has the side effect of raising the sodium level. Her physical therapist today told her that she doesn't have to use the walker all the time, but she still needs it some for balance. And she still cannot read.

So the last month of my life has been pretty hectic. Running to mom's, taking care of mom, being at the hospital. I had to work through this last hospital episode so I was going to the hospital at 7 a.m., work at 8 a.m., leaving work at 5 p.m. and going back to the hospital until 8 p.m. It was exhausting.

I miss my husband. I miss my friends. I miss my stitching. Tonight I am going home to clean house - my house looks like a man has been cleaning it for the last 3 weeks because - guess what - he has.

And to top off the fun, as if I needed anything else right now, we have fleas. I suspect the dog brought them in from the yard and we have several stray cats, raccoons, and squirrels that spend time in our yard. She gave them to the cats, and tomorrow I am taking both cats and the dog to the vet to be dipped. Because I prefer my skin attached rather than flayed from my body and I'll gladly pay someone to dip the cats for me. And the house is being sprayed for bugs and fleas tomorrow as well. So tonight I have to clean, strip all the beds, strip the sofa cover off, spray the sofa with flea and egg killer, spray the beds with flea and egg killer, wash all of that, and then try to put my house back together tomorrow night.

I mostly finished Medieval Times as said in my previous post. I'm still short one delica color and will finish it off all at once when that comes in. I've started Old World Map and it's a BAP but the colors are not all blendy and such so it goes pretty quickly. When I can sit down that long. I did finish another angel on AP at the hospital last week so that is also moving along. Guess I should finish that up so mom can enjoy it some before she dies right? (sorry, bad sense of humor, if you knew my mom you'd laugh because it's the kind of thing she'd say to me)

Anyway, that's life. If you need something, email me. I do check that. I am catching up on blogs, and staying up on my forum on The Wagon.

OH - and the weekend mom went back to the hospital Lynne and Goldie had a stitch weekend that I was supposed to attend. Since I couldn't be there, the long tradition of becoming a stuffed animal was kept. I apparently enjoyed good food, stayed up waaaaay too late, didn't stitch a thing and tried to take home every chart I found with a cat on it. Which sounds entirely plausible! I'm dying to see pictures!

Well, ta for now - back to the working or something that looks like it.

Quick photo post

2007-06-05T08:21:00.000-05:00

Kismet says - do you want to play a game? Global Thermonuclear War? How about a nice game of chess?

My most recent almost finish - Midi Mystery I by Chatelaine aka Medieval Times. Complete except for the rest of the black thread (ordered), one color of beads (ordered) and one color of crystals (recv'd yesterday).

Mother's Day

2007-05-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

A mother/daughter picture for Mother's Day. We went to church and had lunch at a little restaurant out in the country that mom likes.

And this is my "victory dress" - I've lost 10 pounds on weight watchers and this dress finally fits. I'm very pleased - but I've got 5 more pounds to go!

Galaxy of Stars Con - Jackson

2007-05-09T16:28:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I attended Galaxy of Stars in Jackson, MS. It was a small con. And we were up close and personal with the stars. There were only about 200 people there. It was great. The stars are out of contract now and really, um, said what was on their minds. Some of them using more French than others !! But it was a ton of fun. We got to see Tim Russ (Tuvok), Marina Sirtis (Troy), Dominic Keating (Malcom Reed), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), John Billingsley (Dr. Pholx) and his wife Bonita Friederecy (guest spots), and Natalija Nogulich (the Admiral). Everyone was great!

Here's pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/Melanie.Simmonds/GalaxyOfStarsJackson altho most of them didn't come out due to the lighting.

8 Random Things

2007-05-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged! by Thutmosis. First the Rules.

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Eight random facts hmm? Ok, well here you go:

1. I've lost 10 pounds in the last 4 weeks on Weight Watchers.
2. I hate my handwriting.
3. I have to sleep with a large body pillow to curl around.
4. I developed a sudden shellfish allergy in my 30's.
5. I'm a cat person.
6. I hate goats.
7. I bite my cuticles.
8. I hate my toes.

OK, now to tag. Hmmm... Let's go with Goldy, Lynn, Melissa, Whiz, Suz, Arthemise, and Judith :)

Blogger ate my April goals.

2007-04-12T09:59:00.000-05:00

Doesn't surprise me. But I'll try again anyway:

March goals were:

Complete 1st of the month KAL - got almost finished and knew something wasn't right - then they posted and error on the group and I didn't like it enough to rip out and re-knit - so I ripped it out and recycled the yarn.
Complete 15th of the month KAL - nope - but I did knit a plain square dishcloth.
Finish Anjali's sampler - nope
Make shadowbox for Elijah - nope
Work on AP - yes, and I can now say that I officially hate lazy daisy stitches. I'm only halfway through the border full of them tho.

April goals:

Grid fabric for Old World Map
Finish A's sampler and finish Footprints and get ready for framing
Work on AP
Finish Spring Fever - stitch along with Goldie
Finish freebie cow - stitch along with Goldie and Lynn (except Lynn is finished already)

Hopefully I can deal with those pared-down goals this month.

Mr. & Mrs. Mark C. Simmonds - 1997 to 2007 and beyond.....

2007-03-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

While waiting on pictures from the party....

2007-03-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of pics of my ring - the top ring is the new one that Mark bought me for our 10 year anniversary. It matched really well, we got it from a place that sells estate pieces.

Spot RR

2007-03-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

Here is my square on Margaret's piece. The monkey is the spinning monkey (see SANQ Fall 2006 issue) and also pelican in its piety. Both represent virtues - one is work instead of idleness, the other is giving of ones self. And the M is for both Margaret and Melanie.

Catch up post

2007-03-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

Having found the digital camera finally, here's some catching up:

First, the Flying Spaghetti Monster wants to touch you with his noodly appendage:I knitted this for a friend of mine. If you don't know about the FSM please check him out.

Next, a stitching finish - Garland Fair by Blackbird Designs:

This is actually a birth sampler for a friend's baby. Her name is Anjali. I will put the name and date on the bottom, just haven't gotten it done yet.

And a woodworking finish - my lovely husband and his dad have been working very hard on this one - it was my Valentines day gift, but due to the cold they couldn't stain it until recently (stain won't dry under 40 degrees):
Now, a bit of explanation. First, the top holds the famous dictionary. Yes, famous, as in the one that was on the Antiques Roadshow with me. The largest book ever seen at the Roadshow! It has plexiglass to protect the dictionary's cover from the cats, who like it very much as a place to sit. And next to it on the top is the notebook and cancelled checks showing where my great-grandfather paid for the encyclopedias and also other things like "traded mule for 3 bales of cotton and $200". Bits of history there. The bottom case holds the encyclopedias, from 1911, in their original wooden case. At the very bottom are 3 very old childrens books and an old school speller. The cases are made from red oak, and the glass is plexiglass.

K - that's all for now. Ta!

Goals

2007-03-01T15:07:00.000-06:00

Call me a lemming. Here goes nothing.

March goals:

Complete 1st of the month KAL
Complete 15th of the month KAL
Finish Anjali's sampler
Make shadowbox for Elijah
Work on AP

In February, altho I didn't set any goals, I did manage to finish both the 1st and the 15th knit alongs and I also managed to finish off the Valentines gifts for the family kids. What I did not do, however, was remember Sam's birthday. Oops.

Sorry I have not been very posty lately

2007-03-01T14:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a bear of a month at work, and they've taken me off my thyroid medicine to do some testing to find out what may be behind the issue, so I'm drained of energy most of the time. I'm still around - still reading and watching other people, just not doing a lot myself.

HUGS to those who need them. You know who you are. Know that I'm here if you need anything, and I'm not lost in the mist. Maybe I'll have some Happy Dances to post in March if nothing else!

Pre-orders for New Album

2007-02-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

This is the band that Mark is the bassist in.Pre-orders are still being taken for Shortwave Dahlia's 2007EP.
$4 to shortwavedahlia@yahoo.com

Aaaand the track listing is:
1. Song For Vara
2. Automata
3. Call and Response
4. Survival
5. Loose Arrow (live)
6. Discontent (live)

To hear samples of Shortwave Dhalia's music, please visit http://www.shortwavedahlia.org