My Ramblings

Tonight the MOTH and I are going to the Christmas break up for his Lions club.  I was fortunate enough to draw a woman in the Kris Kringle, which is meant to be between $5.00 and $10.00.  Yesterday afternoon and this morning I was industriously knitting...................
a leaf patterned bath set with facewasher,
soap sack (including a bar of nice soap) and
a back scrubber.

To add a little bit of luxury I also included a lovely wax candle from Sugar Creek Scents.  I have bought 
quite a few products from here, and have always been impressed at their quality.

On Saturday the MOTH and I will be attending the Christmas breakup of my Lions club, and once again there will be a Kris Kringle, similar costs.  This time however we are to take something "unisex", so I don't think I can utilise my knitting talents and will have to actually go out and search for something that can be for a man or a woman.  I'm not one who can easily source such a gift, so this is going to be quite a bit more difficult for me.  I'd much rather buy for a definite gender.  Ah well, we'll get there, I'm sure.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be grateful to hear them.

Well, this is just a short post isn't it?  Better than far too long though I guess.  Take care everyone, and happy knititng.

It is always wonderful when you get positive feedback from the recipients of your knitting efforts. In July I gave my Dad a pair of socks for his birthday.  Sometime later I asked Mum if he liked them and the reply was that he loved them, and wore them all the time.  One of the times when I went to visit him in hospital I noticed the socks in the clothes to be washed pile, so knew he had recently worn them, which was a great feeling.  The other day I was chatting to my daughter in MSN (she had been staying with Nanna for a few days) and Mum asked her to ask me if I could knit Dad some more socks, and also if Natalie could too.  Of course, we both said yes and promptly looked for similar yarns to the one I had used.  We both ended up at Royal Yarns and found lots of lovely Regia sock yarn as well a lots of other lovely stuff........more to spend our hard earned money on.

Dad has done quite well, and Mum has been told that he should be coming home around the 13th or 14th of December, and she was supposed to have a home visit from the Occupational Therapist today to make sure the unit was all in readiness.  However, the therapists are all on strike now, so that has had to be delayed, which will also delay Dad's homecoming.  It is interesting to note that these people have gone on strike now, just over a week since the elections threw out the Liberal government and put in Labor who are very pro unionism; infact many Labor politicians are ex union officials.  Sign of things to come I wonder?  Hopefully though this strike won't go on for too long and Dad will still be able to get home well before Christmas.

Whilst all this was going on with my Dad, I was aware that a close friend was due to go into hospital for surgery on her bowel on the 24th November.  Diverticular disease was causing blockages and these had to be resected.  The surgery was successful and thankfully she didn't need to have a colostomy (temporary or otherwise), but post-op wasn't so good.  The operation was on Saturday 24th and on the Sunday night she apparently suffered a double stroke followed by a hear attack the following night.  Her family were called in on the Tuesday morning and advised to say their goodbyes as Lyn was critical, however, they didn't count on her fighting spirit.  Lyn is now due to go home tomorrow morning (Saturday) and the only residual effect from the stroke is a slight slur and mouth droop and some weakening of the right arm.  All in all she too has done extremely well.  It is likely that I will go to stay with her for a couple of weeks as her nurse and rehab therapist, so once again I will be away from home.  Hopefully though my knitting won't be affected too much.

On the knitting front, there has been precious little due to constant visits to hospitals etc, though my shawl is coming along.
According to the pattern, the second lot of fan patterns should have had 6 repeats, the another increase row followed by 4 pattern repeats, then the boarder.  That would have made for an extremely small shawl, and as I'm a big girl, a small shawl would look rather ridiculous.  Instead, I made the second lot only 4 repeats, then the increase row and the next series of patterns will be 6 repeats, followed by another increase row then I'll take it from there.  As I have plenty of yarn, I will make it as large as I feel like making it, probably finishing when I've had enough of knitting this particular pattern.  It WILL be big enough to wrap me up all snuggly though. hehe

BTW, I am typing this on my lap top.......yep, the one that got dropped at the hospital.  Lloyd (my #2 son) was thankfully able to fix it.  Apparently it was just the power outlet jack (female) that was bent and not able to accept the plug (male) so no power was getting through.  I had tried to manipulate the plug and  jack, but being pretty much computer illiterate, I didn't want to go too far in case I damaged it further.  All that Lloyd needed to do was bend the jack back into place and hey presto.  The plug is now a little looser than it was and is more likely  to come loose, so I  have to make sure it is in properly, but apart from that, all is well.  Lloyd will still bill the hospital though, for his time, and for my fear and suffering. heehee.  Perhaps $100 - $150 dollars.  That will teach them to be more careful around the patients things.

Darn,I nearly forgot.  I was visiting Deb's blog when I came across this great swap.  Now I know I said I wasn't going to participate in any more swaps for a while (well at least to myself I did), but how can anyone resist this one?  Go on, I dare you.

 

Well, that's all folks.  Stay well and happy knitting.

I'm back enjoying my knitting, although the warmer weather is creating havoc at times.  Since finishing my HRB I have knitted this.............
a halter top for one of my granddaughters, knitted in Lily Sugar 'n' Creme.

I have also received some goodies from Amazon;
and 
  both of which I have wanted for a while.

I have a book on Folk Socks, sent by my lovely SP10 Pal  and she also sent me the yarn and needles to knit one of the socks.  In Favourite socks I have found another pair, so now I want to knit both of these;
I think both will look best in white or cream.

Some time ago, Gina  sent me 3 skeins of Knit Picks Bare 4 ply yarn, too loosely woven for socks but perfect for this
a half circle shawl I found in my new lace book.  It's knitting up really nicely, and will be a lovely light shawl, but will give some warmth on a cooler night.

All is going well with my Dad.  He is at a rehab facility now, but so far doesn't seem to be getting much in the way of therapy.  He is improving though and is now permitted to  walk around the ward assisted only by his walking frame.  He's still not permitted to go into the shower on his own, and still needs thickened fluids and pureed foods, but hopefully that will change soon.

I loaned Dad my lap top  so that he could excercise his brain by playing some games, and it has certainly been good for him.  The other day though, a very careless member of the cleaning staff knocked it off the table and onto the floor.  All she said was "ooops".  Yeah, oops is right, the bloody thing is broken.  It turns on, and will run on the battery, but when you put the power cord in, the bracket is obviously bent and the computer doesn't recognise that it on mains power, so I am unable to recharge  the battery.  I have informed the hospital that I expect them to pay for repairs to the computer as it was the negligence of one of their staff that has caused the problem.  We'll see what happens.

Take care folks, and happy knitting.

HRB

Just  a quickie...........................
Having its first bath, I'm sure it enjoyed it as much as I always enjoy my baths, though it didn't get to stay in as long as I do, and it didn't get a good book or a glass of wine.

Out in the sunshine having a good stretch (or on the torture rack if you like). I'm rather pleased with the way it has stretched out, just a few little rucks, but all in all it's ok. It's very warm today, and it was drying as I was pinning it out, so it shouldn't be too long before I'm able to unpin it and bring it inside.

Addendum:

Just after writing this post I went and checked the blanket, and sure enough it was dry so I brought it in and threw it on my sofa.  Guess who has fallen in love with it????......................

That's it for today.  No other news at this stage. Happy knitting everyone.

Things are much better.

My back only gives me pain now when I move suddenly or wrong, or when I hiccup (yes, true).  I'm able to walk, drive and knit with little or no pain which is a relief.

My HRB has progressed well too................................

Binding off is in progress, but still a long way to go.

Finally off the needles, and a sad and sorry sight much in need of blocking.

Off today to Spotlight to buy some blocking pins and dressmaking pins............

.............then I saw this and couldn't resist.  So much for going to ONLY buy the pins.

I will be blocking the blanket tomorrow hopefully as it's been a bit wet today and the only place I could really do it is outside on the lawn.  I will definitely get photo's to show you.

Now for my Dad.  He is doing superbly well, but he is being typically him and not listening to the nurses. He wants to do it all NOW thankyou very much.  Since the strokes, he has had to have a minced diet and thickened fluids, so even tea and coffee have to have a thickening agent put in, and if any of you have ever had to drink thick tea, coffee and water you will know how unpleasant that can be.  Yesterday Mum tried him with ordinary tea, and told him to sip it slowly.  He did, and didn't choke or cough.  Brilliant.  He later enjoyed a cup of unthickened coffee too, so things are looking up.  Next we will try him on food that he actually has to chew, so hopefully he'll soon be able to eat normal foods and not have to have everything vitamised.  He is walking well too...............perhaps not quite as well as he believes though.  Yesterday he rang Mum while she was home to tell her that he couldn't use his bedside phone as the company mistakenly thought his time was up.  Mum then spoke to the company and they re-connected it for him.  Mum thought he had gone to the nurses station to phone her, but when we got back to the hospital we found out that he had actually gone to the receptionist at the front door of the hospital, some 300 metres away.  THAT is a seriously long way for him at the moment, and no doubt he would have been very tired before he got back, and of course that is when he can have falls etc.  Luckily no harm was done, but the nursing staff hadn't even realised he'd done it.  We will have to keep an eagle eye on him.  Hopefully a rehabilitation bed will become available very soon, and they will keep him busy.  I'm sure he will work extremely hard to get back to a state where he will be permitted to return home.  Perhaps he will even make it home before Christmas, what a great present for both he and Mum.

left to right, Mum, Dad, youngest sister Janet and me.  Middle sister Dianne is in front. 

Take care everyone, and happy knitting.

Another Tough Week.

Things HAVE to start getting better now, surely.  It's been a hard few weeks that is for sure.

While I was still trying to get my back our of spasm I had a phone call from my mother saying that my dad was in hospital.  The news was that he had collapsed that morning, Monday 5th Nov.  From what she told me, it sounded like he had had a stroke, and sure enough the eventual word came back that he had had a small clot.  10 years ago he had had a series of clots and had been put on Warfarin which he had been taking till a few months ago when he was taken off is as he was bleeding internally.  Instead he was put on Plavix, a milder form of medication, and in the meantime has had the bleeding areas fixed.  All was well till last week.  It seems that the Plavix hasn't controlled the clotting as well as the Warfarin.

I was finally able to make the 1 hour journey to visit him on the Thursday, and he had apparently improved a little from earlier that week.  That night however he had yet another clot, and the doctors said on the Friday that he was unlikely to come home, and that he was deteriorating.  After a discussion with my mum it was decided that they would add aspirin to his list of meds, and when I went to see him on Friday it was like a miracle.  He was much more alert (though very restless) and wanted to get up and about.  We took him for a walk, with him using a wheelie walker, and he did exceptionally well.  He has improved a little each day since, and will be going to rehabilitation soon.  The only thing is that he is now getting bored, and therefore somewhat despondent as he has nothing to do there, time is dragging, and he's not improving as fast as HE would like.  He is very demanding of mums time too, so she is getting a bit stressed and tired, so hopefully once he's at rehab, and his time is more filled, she will get a bit of a rest.

As for my back, it's very much better, though not fully pain free as yet.  At least  I can get around though, and that is good........for me, as I too was getting bored and restless. lol  Driving and knitting are still a bit difficult, but I'm getting there. My HRB is growing slowly, but over the next few days I hope to really get stuck into it and hopefully get it finished........yeah, I'm getting impatient too........do I sound like my fathers daughter? haha.

As you can see, it has grown a little.  I'm now up to row 99, so almost into triple figures now.  Send me good vibes so that I can get it done........I'm itching to cast on for another project, possibly a pair of socks for moi.

Take care all, and happy knitting.

OUCH

Hi all,

Sorry I've been silent for a while, but I've more or less been confined to bed and my couch with a severely sore back.  I'm not sure if it was because of the seat on the plane on the way home from Perth or not, but about halfway through the flight I did start to get a back ache.  The seat on the flight home seamed to be much more upright than the one on the way over; it had no curve or contouring or anything, and didn't recline as far either.  My back was ok once I got home, but then a few day later, on the Saturday while at my youngest son's housewarming party, I noticed it aching again.  By Sunday I was in a lot of pain, and it's been like that since.  On Friday just gone it seemed markedly improved, but on Saturday we went to #3 son's house for his daughter's birthday.  I had to leave early because my back was spasming, and by the time I got home I wasn't able to walk or move without pain.  I am now making great freinds with paracetamol, and ibuprofen with codeine, and falling in love with my wheat bag. 

Due to being confined to bed or couch, I haven't been able to access our PC; but thankfully, my gorgeous MOTH has now set up our laptop so that I can now be in communicado again.  While I'm on here though, he can't be on the PC, so I will need to get a wireless router ASAP so that we can both be "on" at the same time.  I'll try to get that this evening and #2 son will come and set it up for us.

I also haven't been able to do any knitting as even moving my arms wrong can send the back muscles into spasm.........can you imagine me trying to go to the loo?  Must uncomfortable and ungainly, lol  Shower I can just manage, but getting in and out is difficult as it's over the bath. 

Well folks, that's about it for the time being.  Now I have the computer I can check out YOUR blogs, so I'm off to do some reading.

WOWEEEEE

When I got home last night there were two big boxes waiting for me.  I knew they would be there as my SP11 Pal said they were on the way, and the MOTH told me he had been to the post office to collect them.  I was too tired to open them last night, so did so today: and what a surprise I got.
Two boxes like this, and so well taped that nothing could have been taken out without a great deal of trouble; no wonder customs didn't even bother. lol

Just look at the contents of the first box, lots of lollies (candies to you in the US, sweeties in the UK.)  Lollipops, nerds, marshmallow ghosts (I think), and lots of other goodies.

I love these little boxes which were filled with the lollipops and other small lollies.  I'll be keeping these as trinket boxes.

A lovely gift back containing several wrapped parcels.  I could hear something tinkling and hoped that nothing had been broken in transit.  I needn't have worried; these are what caused the tinkling..........

Tweedle Dum, and 
Tweedle Dee.  Even the original arachnophobe me couldn't be scared of these cute critters.  I'm now trying to figure out where I'll hand them.  Somewhere away from the curious kitties methinks.

And some lovely socks.   I love socks, and am always buying novelty pairs, so these suit me right down to my toes.

The second box contained knitting related goodies.........
A stubby/can holder of my very own to keep my drinks cool and my fingers warm and dry so I can keep knitting.  It even has my initial on it, and it was made specially for me by my pals sister.

Another gorgeous trinket box containing.............

A skein of Tofutsies sock yarn in acid green (I can't stop petting this), a lovely dish cloth, (going straight into my kitchen drawer), a small sachet containing a bar of Provence Gardens lavender soap (yumm),a purply blue face cloth and a head band (perfect for keeping my hair out of my face), some  beautiful stitch markers and matching stitch and row counter bracelet which are good enough to wear as earrings and bracelet......except the bracelet wouldn't fit on my fat wrist.

And the cards, hand made.  Such a talented lady.  The one with the house is 3D and embossed I think.  It feels incredible.

So far, I know my pals name is Marie, and that she is from the states. (I have a return address), and that she hasn't been knitting very long.  Other than that I don't know if she has a blog etc.  I'm sure that will come to light when the time is right, and I'll be able to get to know her better, as she has so obviously gotten to know me.

I am so humbled by all these lovely and thoughtful gifts.  I am so looking forward to knitting some socks from the Tofutsies as it feels so wonderfully soft and luxurious.  They will definately have to be for me.  Right now my mouth is watering and I'm fighting very hard against going and getting my teeth stuck into some of those tempting goodies currently resting on my bed.  Thankyou so much Marie, you have really outdone yourself.  Don't sell your self short, I am sure you could knit socks, they are really not that hard.

Back at home.

I got home last night (or rather this morning) at 1230.  Latte was ecstatic to see me and jumped all over the place, my son was already  in bed, and hasn't surfaced yet, it's 0802 so far too early for him.  My poor MOTH, after picking me up last night was up again at 0515 to head off again.  As a chauffeur he often has early morning jobs, and late night ones too.  That's fine for younger people, but he's 66 and shouldn't be doing it this hard......still, it's his choice.

My flight home was ok.  I couldn't get a window seat, so was put on the aisle.  Being overweight, my elbows don't sit neatly by my side, so I kept getting bumped, as I knew I would.  During the flight I got up to go to the loo, and found that toward the back of the plane there were people with 3 seats to themselves, and I was put with 2 other people.  It was also over the wing.  Now, it seems that whenever I fly I'm over or JUST off the wing.  I'm beginning to think I have a big L tattooed on my forehead. lol  Still the people next to me were nice.  They were also returning home after a 2 week visit with their son and D.I.L.

Yesterday, we went to the zoo in Perth.  It's a lovely zoo, quite compact so easy to get around.  I love what they have done for the orang-utan's, with the climbing towers with shade.......

They appear to love it too.

I'm not going to bore you with lot's of photo's from the zoo, just a couple of the family......
Me with TPH and the kids.  Natalie of course took this photo.  We are outside the old Meerkat display which is now closed as they are either refurbishing this one or building a new one; I'm not sure which.

Natalie and I with the kids, this time taken by TPH.  We are sitting on a bench with a statue of an ape and her baby.  The sign above our heads reads "just haning out with some of our relatives".  Very cute.

Maisy riding the small carousel.  She kept asking for "one more" each time it stopped, mind you, it cost @2.00 per ride.  She most certainly showed her displeasure when we finally said that was enough.

#2 son Gage with his dad.

#3 son Declan sitting still (but only for a very short time) on a turtle statue.

Not able to get a photo of #1 son Reece on his own, so here he is with Maisy, standing among the plants.

After the zoo we went to Kings Park, which is huge and is elevated so you get great views over Perth and the Swan River.  There are lots of great places for a picnic etc.  We didn't stay, just went through so that I could see it as I have been to Perth several times, and never got to go to the park.
Isn't this view terrific.  The broad expanse of water you can see behind me is the Swan River.  When you first come upon it you would think its a vast lake, but no, just the river.  I've seen many rivers in my lifetime and on my travels, but I would have to say that this is the most magnificent one I've seen.  It's amazing, so wide and meandering.

And another view over to Perth, this is not the main part of the city, but that can't be seen from where I'm standing.  The actual CITY skyline is further around to the left and is blocked by other areas of the park.

The HRB is now up to row 83, and I will take a photo.............when I finally unpack my suitcase hehe.  I will be working more on it later today.  Right now I have to get ready to go an meet #2 son's ex and their child.  Tahli is nearly 2, and I  haven't seen her for a while, so I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time with her.

Stay happy and healthy and happy knitting

Penultimate day.

Tomorrow I head home, but not till after a trip to the zoo with Natalie and family.  Her TPH tells me it's a great zoo, and that I have to see it.  The boys will have a day off school so that we can all go, and then it will be time to take me to the airport for my flight home.  I leave at 6 pm and arrive in Melbourne around 1145.  I won't actually get to my home till well after midnight.  While I'm not exactly looking forward to leaving Natalie and the kids, I'm certainly looking forward to getting home, and seeing the rest of my family, and Latte of course.  I've been told she's doing very well.

For today, Natalie and I will go to visit my nephew at his phtography gallery.  (ooops, I can't spell)  He takes excellent landscape photo's and has some absolutely gorgeous shots of lightening.  Do go and have a look, you won't be disappointed.  We will have lunch with my nephew and his wife, then probably do a bit of shopping before heading home to get the boys from school.  Natalie of course will head off to uni early evening, as she does Monday to Thursday.

My HRB is growing nicely, I'm up to row 69.  I didn't do any over the weekend as I didn't have the pattern, and I was busy entertaining Princess Maisy anyway, so I'm not as far along as I would have liked.  I'm really loving it though, and it's such an easy knit once you get going.  Pity I can't knit on the plane, but I'll really get stuck into it when I'm back home......the housework will have to wait. hehe

Well, next time I post I'll be back at my own computer.  I'll then be able to reply to all the posts I've had since being here too as I don't get the messages here.

Happy knitting everyone.