A treasure in the mail.

I went to the post office late yesterday afternoon...actually it was evening...and I was met with a very pleasant surprise. A package!

I thought of taking pictures as I went along opening it but I couldn't wait to see what was inside so I just ripped into it.  I put it all back together this morning and did the photo shoot...err...maybe not photo shoot so much as snap shots.

Please excuse the quality.

Prettiness!  I was excited already.

Even the tissue paper is cute.

 

 

 

But what was inside that cute tissue paper was gorgeous!  What a wonderful color!  I love it!!

 

My first thought was "What a wonderful shawl that will make!".  (I even said it out loud and it was only me and the cat at home.  I was pretty excited!) 

 

I've never knit with this before so it'll be fun to try it out.

 

And how did this wonderful yarn happen to get into my mailbox, you ask??  Well, Karen had a contest on her blog and I WON!!  Thank you SO MUCH, Karen!

 

Of course, you know, that as soon as I saw that yarn and knew it had to be a shawl, I got on Ravelry and spent a couple hours, I mean a few minutes, looking at patterns.  I might have narrowed it down to two.  Sweet Tantalate or Semele.  Time will tell if one of these wins or if I spend a couple more hours minutes on Ravelry!

 

A little update on the tulips...

 

 

They did all bloom!  And I had no clue what colors I had planted so it was a pleasant surprise when they opened up.  :)

Actually the daffodils bloomed too.  How did I miss getting them in the picture? 

Even the grape hyacinths are doing their thing!

Thanks again, for the awesome yarn, Karen!

It took 7 months for results.

Last fall, being anxious to have color in the spring, I planted tulips, grape hyacinths, and daffodils.

Yes.  I am that obsessive.  I used that tape measure to try to center the bulb plot in the bed and to dig to the correct depth.

There was good snow cover all winter so I wasn't afraid of winter kill.  The bed is right next to the house so it should keep gophers from invading and eating the bulbs.  And there wasn't any of that.  Phew!

I did start to worry about having planted them too deep though.  Would they come up in the spring?  If they come up, would they bloom?

I didn't need to worry.  They came up.

The daffodils are blooming.

And the tulips soon will be. 

WooHoo! 

Spring color!

Even if spring is very very late.

Easter creations*

Many, many years ago when the boys were truly boys, we made these eggs and basket. It was a great way to occupy them for a bit and just think...I have Easter decorations yet. All these years later.

They were relatively simple to make.  All you need is:  balloons, crochet thread in different colors, rick rack, lace and/or ribbons, glue or hot glue gun, sugar and water.  Oh...and a little time.

Blow up the balloons to the size egg/basket you want to make.

Wrap the crochet thread around the balloon in every which direction.

Dip/roll the whole works in a mixture of 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water that has been boiled to dissolve the sugar and then cooled.

Choose which end you want for the bottom and press down to flatten slightly.

It's gonna be a drippy mess so if you can put them in a sink or bathtub to dry that'd be good.

Once they are dry, cut out the front to make an egg or a handle to make a basket.  It's tough going...you gotta have a strong scissors and even stronger hands!

Decorate the outsides and insides as you wish.  And they don't have to be for Easter.  They make cute springtime décor too!

Great project for grandkids also...I think I need to get the materials on hand...  :)

*I know.  I'm late as usual but thought I'd post it anyway.  You can be ready for next year?

Back Surgery*

I believe it was in December, when I lifted an extremely heavy present (ok, it was a bench vise for one of our sons' shop benches) to wrap that I hurt my back.  Actually, I herniated a disc in the lumbar region.  Down below my waistline.

I don't remember there being pain right away but eventually it started to hurt in my left hip and advanced down the side of my leg to the calf.  Pain that makes a person squirm. 

After that my left foot had a weakness in it. 

I had an annual checkup during this time and mentioned all this to my doctor.  He did a simple test in the office and declared that I had Foot Drop and that I needed to have an MRI.

MRI.  Does that strike fear in your hearts?  It does with me.  I'm claustrophobic.  Yeah.  So there are 2 kinds of MRI machines that I know about.  One is a tube that the normal person just so barely can fit into.  I am not a normal sized person...umm maybe call me supersized.  And the other machine is where you are the hamburger and the machine is the bun.  Oh how I hoped to get to be the hamburger.  No such luck.  I got the tube.  Let me tell you, I played lots of mental games to get through those 45 minutes!  If I ever have to do this again there will be drugs.  Lots of drugs.

After that, they found out about the herniated disc and I was told I needed to see a neurosurgeon.

I saw the neurosurgeon and he said I needed microsurgery asap since recovery from foot drop is time sensative.  I had gone to the appointment alone, not expecting to hear the word "surgery" and so I didn't decide that day.  I went home to discuss it with DH.

A few days went by, I made another appointment with the neurosurgeon so DH could go with and that day it was decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Of course the only open date was March 12th, my 60th birthday.  Yup.  Well, when you have to do something asap, you just go for it.

The Saturday before the surgery, I got sick.  Head cold.  Sneezing.  Coughing.  Fever.  Surgery was called off and rescheduled for the 21st.

On the 19th, the neurosurgeon's nurse called and asked if we could do the surgery on the 20th instead of the 21st.  At that point I was basically over the cold and ready to get this over with.  Surgery on the 20th it was.

Well, let me tell you, surgery at 60 is a lot different than surgery at any younger age.  It knocked the snot right out of me.  Over a week later, I'm still sweating if I'm up and around for too long.  Naps are the bomb!

Everything went ok with the surgery.  I won't know for possibly months if the strength will come back in my left leg and the foot drop will be resolved.

For now I'm not allowed to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time.  Walk as much as possible, including stairs and if I'm not walking I lay down.  Don't ride in a car for more than 20 minutes.  Don't lift anything over 10 lbs.

Let me tell you....I'm bored.  Bored.  BORED.

And so I've learned to knit while laying on my back. 

 

And this is the proof.  Rachel's Table Runner from Green Gables Knits. 

It is saving my sanity, folks.

*This is long.  I won't blame you if you don't read it but I needed to get it down so years from now I can look back and recall all that was involved!

Laceweight handspun

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile.

The wedding was wonderful!  But, because the photographer didn't allow anyone to take photos while she was I have no pictures.  I will though...just give me a little time.

What brings me here today is this*...I just received an email from Peace Fleece and they are now selling handspun laceweight yarn in mohair.  There are 7 colors to choose from.  And they also have handspun laceweight in cashmere in 1 color.  It's not a lot of color selection but they are very pretty colors even if they are basic.

I know some of you can spin your own laceweight yarn (I'm looking at you Cookie!) but if you have a need or just a want for something like this give this a look-see.  It's an interesting story and you know, if we buy some, we could be women helping other women.

And now I am going to do some shopping...I think I like the sapphire the best...

*I don't get any benefit from saying these things...I just love Peace Fleece and the things they do and want to let others know about it too.

A bridal shower tomorrow

Our 3rd DS is getting married to a wonderful girl on March 1 in MN. We are thrilled! They will live on the farm and (future) 3rd DDIL will have laying hens, pigs, rabbits and possibly sheep at some point. She is a Veterinarian lab tech assistant and loves animals.

But, I digress.

Since the wedding is in MN and there are some people that can't get there, I was asked if there was going to be a shower here. I had thought about it but being a procrastinator I'd put off doing anything. I talked to 1st DDIL and she agreed that we should go ahead and do this!

A few days ago I made heart shaped sugar cookies.

Yea.  Just look at all those hummers.  I knew there was a reason I was reluctant to use my mom's recipe.  Now I remember why.  It makes tons and tons of cookies!

There will be some lots to send home with family.

I did some dipped in chocolate.  Of the two they are the yummiest! 

Today I'm cleaning house and making my share of the rest of the food.

Tomorrow is the day.  Wish me luck!

Oh yea...I almost forgot...Happy Valentine's Day too!!

On the knitting front

There is knitting happening/about to happen. 

DH gave me this sweet book for Christmas.  There were two patterns I immediately fell in love with and had to order the yarn right away.

All of the patterns in the book use Brown Sheep yarns.  This is what I got for the apron. 

Everyone asks what I'm going to do with an apron, and I say about the same as the shawls I knit.  Enjoy the knitting and then put it in the drawer.  I just love the idea of a knit apron!

This yarn is slated for the table runner.  And this won't just be knit and put in the drawer but actually used.  I have a dining room table just waiting for some pretty laciness. 

Strokkur is what I am currently knitting on.  The yarn is Patons Classic Wool. 

I haven't knit with this type of yoke construction so it'll be interesting when I get that far...

Yellow really isn't a very good color for me, so I'm changing out to plum instead.  Of course!

I just had to add another shot of Teddy.  The chair is new and guess who has been in it more than anyone else in the house?  Yea...you guessed right.  Teddy.

At least we ordered it to match whatever hair he leaves behind...