See! I said it wouldn’t be long!

So this shoulder stuff is for the birds! I am right handed. My right shoulder is what hurts. Just about every activity I want to do or need to do requires my right arm to be functional. Yes, I am whining. Many people are much worse off. BUT I HAD PLANS!

There will be no pictures today. My camera is in a place I can’t reach with my left hand.  I can’t even draw a picture for you.

What I am able to do is slowly sort my stuff and rearrange my nests. Most people have only one space in their house where they nest. Everything needed for whatever activity is performed in that area is within reach. Since my shoulder injury, I have knocked over and spilled trays of beads, containers of chain in progress, tools and I don’t even know what else. Of course the stuff is between and under pieces of furniture. I can’t even vacuum there until I have salvaged the things I need. There I go, whining again.

So far November and December have been full of doctors. I get new glasses in a few days. Then my MS doctor wants me to have another MRI. The doctor taking care of my shoulder wants an MRI.. If the insurance company would hurry up and approve the shoulder one, I could have it all done at once. But that would probably seem too sensible to someone. They will probably ask me to make the fifty-mile round trip twice in one week.. One of the big problems with MS is the fatigue, and those trips really exhaust me

The other thing I am still able to do is knt. I had better get back to it!

Life just keeps on going…

Just Twiddling Threads Blog

It has been almost two years since I have posted here. Some might believe this is because nothing important has been happening. Others know that so much has happened that it is hard to choose what I will write about.

I have been doing a lot of knitting. Some of it has been for family and friends.

Some of it has been for designers like Donna Druchunas.

I don’t know where all the pictures have gone!

A lot of the time has been spent with the grandchildren.

Tesla looks so much like her father! . It is truly a delight watching them learn and interact with each other and with me. I like being able to see them interact at daycare via the internet. They are beautiful children, so much like their parents. (I am not at all biased!) They both are real hams when the camera comes out, and…

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winding down

a room of my own

in less than two weeks i will be officially on leave, and at the end of my academic year. this is the end of my first full year as a permanent academic, and my third time running my subject (it runs every semester, so i dont get a break). it feels good to have a whole year under my belt, and i feel like im finally coming up for air. being so busy really helps to pull things into focus i think, separates the wheat from the chaff, as they say. i’ve learnt heaps, had some successes, made some mistakes. i still have a lot to learn, but i’m grateful to be in a supportive and caring environment (one of the few such in modern academia i fear).

this week just gone we had 6 hours of meetings to declare all of our student results, and i pulled out my knitting.

i…

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Life just keeps on going…

It has been almost two years since I have posted here. Some might believe this is because nothing important has been happening. Others know that so much has happened that it is hard to choose what I will write about.

I have been doing a lot of knitting. Some of it has been for family and friends.

Some of it has been for designers like Donna Druchunas.

I don’t know where all the pictures have gone!

A lot of the time has been spent with the grandchildren.

Tesla

Charlie

Tesla looks so much like her father! . It is truly a delight watching them learn and interact with each other and with me. I like being able to see them interact at daycare via the internet. They are beautiful children, so much like their parents. (I am not at all biased!) They both are real hams when the camera comes out, and they love watching videos of themselves.

Tesla and Zaius

Zaius

Their parents up and got married on Halloween at a local haunted house. Neither family heard about it until the deed was done. We couldn’t be more pleased. I have considered Hilary a daughter for several years. It is fun to have the legal stamp!

I had planned to have my Etsy store opened by now. I am accumulating handcrafted jewelry inventory, I have supplies for making more. My body is not cooperating. I had cataract surgery on November 4. My vision is still changing. I may have to have the other eye done sooner than planned. Then I dislocated my right shoulder a week ago, and again on Sunday. It is one of the most painful events I have experienced. It is really hard to create with only one hand/arm, especially your non-dominate hand. We will see what the doctor says after the muscles calm down. The MS symptoms come and go, but nothing major on that front. I hope it stays that way!

Sooooo that is a brief update. I promise it will not take two years to get back here!

Musings on Christmas Eve

I’ve written dozens of blog posts over the last few months. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they were all in my head.

I will compose a post at midnight, while I am knitting, thinking I will write it out the next day. But then life happens and another week has passed.

This has been the year for dealing with health issues. While there have been no major changes, I have had lots of annoying things that have required medication or other attention. Just when I start feeling nearly normal, something else crops up.

Through it all, I got to spend some very nice time with my granddaughter, Tesla. She is so wonderful! We sing and giggle and carry on like two-year-olds. Oh, right. She is a two-year-old.

Tesla’s birthday party

She loves cuddles and books and people.

The dogs also keep me busy and happy. The were born the same week as Tesla, but two-year-old Border Collies are very different than two-year-old little girls. They can be very mellow, or all wound up. Most of all, they are very loving.

While they spend quite a lot of time inside with me, they love to run the whole two acres.

I haven’t done a lot of sewing the last few months, but the knitting needles are rarely idle. The biggest problem there is that I forget to take pictures for the blog or Ravelry before they go to their new homes. There have been several pairs of socks, some hats, things for Tesla and the new baby.

Did I not mention the new baby? Tesla’s new baby ‘bother’ (brother) was born this afternoon at 2:10.  The planned home birth didn’t get to happen, and he was perfectly content to stay inside. So after much discussion and consultation, a c-section happened.

He is here, he is healthy, and he is Zaius Charles Babbage! We hope he lives up to his name!

Super Bowl?

As I sit here listening to the final minutes of the big game, I realize that I am finally awake. Two weeks ago I watched my beautiful granddaughter, Tesla. One week ago I started having symptoms of ‘THE CREEPING CRUD’. Coincidence? I think not!

I have spent the last week snerking, sneezing, coughing and sleeping. I am finally starting to feel nearly human. I might actually finish my swirl!

 

Swirl

Hello, My name is…

My name is Jeanie, and I am a procrastinator. For the last six to eight weeks I have THOUGHT about blog posts, but obviously have not written and posted one. We have had a lot going on at the place hub calls ‘Rancho Babbage’.

There was a cougar siting.

I was in the family room, and saw this creature through the window. I grabbed my camera and shot some pictures through the window, but since he was not in a hurry to leave, I went outside and shot some more. It wasn’t as foolhardy as it sounds as there was a fence and a creek between us. I just wasn’t sure anyone would believe me without pictures!

We celebrated the boys’ birthdays the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Younger son brought remote control cars to play with.

Granddaughter showed off her walking skills.

She has almost outgrown the sweater I made for her!

We put in a driveway from the house to the barn. Next comes more fencing.

We got ready for Christmas with a small tree

I didn’t get too carried away with decorating this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there was the injured Ike. Tina had broken a casserole dish she was trying to take outside. She carried pieces out instead. Ike stepped on a large piece and slashed his toe. Trying to keep his dressing clean and dry has been a real challenge in our rainy part of the world.

 

And of course there has been knitting.

There was a dress for Tesla…

 

 

And gifts for her parents that I never photographed.

There was the hat that she seems to love. She has put it on by herself most everyday since she got it. It is Cat Bordhi’s ‘Anemone Hat’. There were several gift items that I never managed to get pictures of before they went away. Other than that, life has been pretty routine around here. It is nice that life is fairly calm as I really could use a quiet time!

I try

I try to post, but life keeps getting in the way. While that is no excuse, (I know plenty of bloggers post through floods and hurricanes) it is what it is.

We attended Tesla’s first birthday party at her other grandmother’s house. People were fun, food was good and the baby was ADORABLE! She doesn’t crawl, she uses one leg to scoot her bum over to where she wants to be. So funny to watch. She had her very own cake.

And she often has a serious look on her face. She does smile and laugh, but when she is pondering the world…

Then I saved my energy for Sock Summit 2011. That was held here in Portland over the weekend of my 59th birthday. I met so many wonderful people. I attended a few classes and learned a lot! I also got thoroughly exhausted. At least the weather was nice and I didn’t melt. (I also bought more yarn, but don’t tell anybody).

August was all about the house. Since the MS troubles got worse a couple of years ago, the housework has gotten away from me. I did what I could, and then I called a local service and they came in and did a deep clean. The kitchen and baths sparkle. The rest of the house is better. They will be back to do the carpets and some other things I need done.

Through it all, I have been knitting. There was a pair of socks for Tesla.

And a pair for me.

I am also working on a baby sweater

And a shawl!

All in all, I’VE BEEN BUSY THIS SUMMER!

I’ve finally realized that life doesn’t slow down when you get older, it whizzes by, and if you aren’t careful you can miss a lot!

 

Time flies when…

I know it has been quite a while. I promised myself that this was not going to be the place where I whine. Since that’s all I wanted to do for a few months, I have been quiet.
But now I’m back!
What I was afraid might be more MS problems turned out to be a bulging disc in my neck. I’m not sure how that will work out. The problem with my eyes might be glaucoma. More testing is scheduled. We will see.
Now for the good news. Tesla will have her 1st birthday tomorrow.

C and H have been able to take her to work with them and all has been working well so far.
The pups are also a year old. They still keep us very busy.

In June I went to Arizona for the first time. I attended a family reunion, and saw people I hadn’t seen in 40-50 years. I also met many for the first time.  Despite the 100° F temperatures a good time was had by all. I didn’t even get sunburned!

There were many who couldn’t attend. I look forward to meeting them at the next reunion.

At the end of this month is another large gathering. This time it is Sock Summit 2011. Knitters from all over will be descending on Portland Oregon for classes, lectures and just plain fun. Oh, and YARN! Vendors from all over will be here. I have been saving my pennies.