The good news is that I finished both socks, and wore them on Sunday. The bad news is that is the last time I'll wear them, because I accidentally felted them in the washing machine today. Here's a picture of how small they are now. My hand barely fits over them.



I guess it's a live and learn situation, but it bugs me because the yarn was expensive and I was so stupid and forgot to put them in the handwash cycle, plus I didn't think that you could felt wool in a front-loading machine. WRONG!

Java is still feeling better. Her pain patch was removed yesterday and there's no difference in her today, which is good. She even jumped on the chair this afternoon, which she is not allowed to do. She had a good acupuncture session yesterday and things for her are moving along. (That was a veiled reference to yesterday's post.)

The good news is that Java is feeling much better after being on the prednisone for a few days. I brought her for a re-check yesterday and the vet thought she was standing much better. I do too. Plus we haven't heard the pain noise she makes since she started the medicine. I'm taking her today for some acupuncture. I'm also bringing a little plant of flowers for the vet who does the acupuncture as a "thank you" from me and a "sorry" from Java for trying to bite her sometimes.

The bad news is that Java hasn't pooped since Sunday. It's funny how animal owners become obsessed with their animals' poop. It's a way of monitoring their health since they can't talk, I guess. Hopefully there will be some movement soon. I'm not sure if I'll update here or not. Probably not.

Another really upsetting thing is that I learned that Java's vet's husband, who is also a vet, is suffering from brain cancer. From what I understand it's just a matter of time for him, and I'm so sad. He has seen my animals on occasion and he is so nice. Plus they've got two little boys under three. I am just devastated for that family. I can only hope for a miracle.

Java is having a flare-up of her back problems. It's making me crazy and eating me alive to see her in such pain. She's on a bunch of medication, but I don't know how much relief they're giving her. When she's really bad, she can hardly stand on her back leg; she folds it up under her and sits and looks at me pitifully as if she's saying "why do I hurt so much?"

The good news is that there's medicine we can give her but we have to wait until the old medicine is completely out of her system. So there's a lag time where she's got no anti-inflammatory to ease her pain. Tomorrow morning is the earliest we should give her the steroid. If she's as bad as she was today, she's getting it.

The extra good news is that she was on this medicine twice before and it helped both times, so I have high hopes that it'll work this time.

Sock update - I'm over halfway finished with the second one. I should be able to wear them tomorrow!

Yesterday we got a little snow. I would guess about 6 inches. The world is sugar-coated. I love it when this happens, it's so pretty. Too bad it's so cold!





And we've redone the cellar, to make Robert an office. Here's his office and the new banquette and ottoman.



Today is the third anniversary of my Dad's death and the 2-month anniversary of my Father-in-Law's. I can't help thinking of them today and wishing they were still here.

I made a sock!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made a sock! I started last week, paused for a few days until I could get some help and then finished today. Now I just have to make its mate. It fits perfectly and is very comfortable. I'm thrilled that I finished it.

Here is a video of Java being bossy. Bob is making a ham sandwich and Java wants some:

The laundry is one thing I refuse to let Robert do. I mean the actual placing of clothes into the machine, adding soap and turning it on. The machine we have seems to act up if we add too many clothes, so the load size is a concern to me. If it becomes unbalanced it can take up to two hours to run one load. Ugh. Who has time for that?

Robert has always thought I was mean for not letting him run the machine. I don't think I am mean. I know he loves to tease me about stuffing in a whole basket of clothes to be washed, but he always tends to add more clothes than I want in there at once, so I don't allow it.

Hence my surprise when this morning I heard the washing machine beep after he went into the laundry room. I questioned him and he explained that he had sat in some mysterious goop at breakfast and wanted to wash his pants. He added a few other items he said so he wasn't washing just one pair of jeans. I thought to myself "Maybe this man has some laundry potential. Maybe it wouldn't be too dangerous to allow him to do some laundry once in a while."

My warm fuzzy feeling about Robert doing laundry screeched to an abrupt halt when I heard the expletive he uttered upon opening the machine after the cycle was completed. Yes, he had neglected to take his wallet out of his jeans before washing them, so it and many things inside were ruined. The picture is of the things that could be saved drying out.

I should learn to trust my gut.

We got Java's tumor results back yesterday. It was a Grade II, which has a chance of recurring, but if it does, it'll be somewhere on her skin. While not the best type it's far from the worst type. The vet got clean margins which is the main thing. So we're happy and we're going to keep our eyes on her and check her over thoroughly for recurrences. I feel like we dodged a bullet.

I've been making a few beads lately. I don't find myself working for hours and hours anymore but rather for one or maybe two at a time. I need to get on the stick and start listing my beads somewhere for sale. Once I start selling again, I'll get motivated to make more.

It's been quite a week. We had a lovely time in Vermont. We had a very homey room:



We went to Simon Pearce and watched them blow glass:


We dined with movie stars:


We sat by the roaring fire:


We watched football:


We played foosball:

And we worked on the crossword puzzle:


It snowed:


It got more eventful when we got home. I don't think I want to dwell on it, because we're waiting for results, but Java had to have a tumor removed from her leg this week. It popped up almost overnight because I never saw it. Luckily some sharp eyes at the vet's kennel did see it. It's gone now, along with a painful broken tooth, and we're waiting to see what grade tumor it was. Cross your fingers for a good pathology report!

This weekend my family and I are going to the Woodstock Inn. We went last year and it was a blast. I read, knitted by the fire and relaxed. I plan to do the same this year. Last year's weather was brutally cold, but this weekend is supposed to be a little warmer than normal. That means no hunkering inside, but we'll be able to enjoy the outside too. Several family members plan to ski and I plan to shop downtown Woodstock. I hear there's a nice yarn store there. We're going to go to Simon Pearce for lunch and watch them blow glass. That's always a fun time. I'm bringing my netbook and my camera, so I hope to be able to update daily.

More knitting and other stuff

Here are some knitting projects I finished recently. This is a cowl. You wear it on your neck to keep warm. It's kind of like a neck hat, LOL. No ends to tuck in or worry about like with a scarf. I like it. It's made from Malabrigo Marino Worsted, one of my new favorite yarns.

This is the same hat I made for my mother in law, only in red instead of blue. I made it from some other merino that kind of matched the Malabrigo, which I couldn't find any more of. It's missing the orangey notes of the cowl, but it's close enough.

And here is me, wearing both and taking a picture of myself.


They will definitely keep me warm this winter.

I made a hat for my mother-in-law. I think it came out just like it was supposed to, which is great! I love the stitch pattern, it looks like it's really difficult, but it's not. It's the Amanda hat on Ravelry. I made it out of Malabrigo Merino worsted. It's soft and warm and snuggly.


Bobby is as cute as ever. It amazes me how sweet he is. It takes me aback sometimes.

This weekend was my father-in-law's funeral/memorial/mass whatever. It was very nice, with Frank and Angela giving the eulogies. Angela's made me cry. It was beautiful.

A picture of the snowfall:


The birds love the feeders when it snows:


Java and Bobby love the fire:

Gary relaxing:


Begging for cream cheese:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope the coming year is better in every way for everyone reading this. I'm wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

I had fun with my new camera at Christmas. I took many pictures and here are some of the silliest. Enjoy:

I'm glad Christmas is over. I was hoping to have a Merry Christmas, but for the second year in a row, Christmas was tinged with sadness. I was originally going to write that it was "filled" with sadness, but I can't really say that. We had some happy moments and made nice memories, too. We started out Christmas eve by visiting Robert's Mom, who was busy with her grandchildren cooking for Christmas day. Then we went back home for a while and then went up to Auburn to see my family at Sarah's house. Christmas morning we went to Mrs. Gaimari's for breakfast and then back to our house for a while and then up again to Sarah's. Mrs. Gaimari slept over on Christmas night. We took her out for breakfast the next day. Yesterday we were so tired we did nothing all day. We did drag ourselves to the movies in the evening to see "Up in the Air". It was good.

Today we woke up to rain, but with mild temperatures, so the snow was melting and turning slushy. I wanted to go to a new yarn store I saw a couple of weekends ago, so Robert came with me. On the way over, we decided to go out to lunch at Pickity Place in Mason. It's a cute restaurant in a cottage from 1830 or so. They serve a sweet little luncheon which is always quite tasty. Then we went to the yarn store where I bought a few notions and some very soft merino wool. Here are some pictures of our day:

Here's a poem from Keith, our contractor:

I have to be honest there is a part of me that feels cheated
Not enough time for us to cover all the things that were needed

Listening to his stories again and again, smiling all the while
His sweet sense of humor would always leave me with a smile

What a good man I was able to fall in love with so quickly
I would constantly pray for him who was so frail and so sickly

I loved to stop by unannounced just to spend time
Praying that today was the day he would start to feel fine

His advice always came if I asked for it or not
Blessed with his loving intentions was the feeling I got

I would sit with him for hours and cherish each minute
Wanting time to stand still with both of us in it

Being introduced to this man was truly God's gift
The moments spent with him would always give me a lift

He was a man you could not help yourself but to love
So gentle and kind, an obvious gift from the One above

I want him to still be here, to talk with his some more
To sit with this man I could not help but adore

I would do anything for him, any time, any place
Always a blessing to see a smile on his face

I am a better person for having known him this is definitely true
Being generous enough to share him with me, to all of you I want to say "thank you"

My parents-in-law on their 55th anniversary

My father-in-law passed away this morning. It was not unexpected, but it's still a shock. I'm glad his suffering is over, but I will miss him and his hearty laugh for a long time.

I know I'm just a daughter-in-law and not a blood relative, but I feel like he was my second father, especially after my own father died. I started dating Robert at age 16 - almost 30 years ago - so I've been around my husband's family for that long, and when you're that age, you can't help but see your boyfriend's parents as parents. You look up to them. It's part of nature. And when I married into the family, that just cemented the relationship.

I have such fond memories of him. One of the earliest times was of going to Robert's house to have home-made (by Dr. Gaimari) pizza. Robert had bragged about his father's pizza-making abilities and he didn't lie. Another early time in our relationship, Dr. Gaimari and Robert picked me up at my house to go to the lake for the weekend. We stopped at the Mall for pizza at Papa Gino's, which we ate on the way up. While ordering, Dr. Gaimari advised me to always get the soda without ice because that way, you get more. I will never have a Christmas that I don't think of him. He loved to buy presents for his girls, of which I was one. He'd find some cool kitchen gadget and buy 4 and be tickled at how much we all liked them. He had a twinkle in his eye and a keen sense of humor. He loved to joke and flirt. He also loved to get me going. He knew my buttons and he loved to push them to watch me go. But it was done with love.

A shining light has gone out but the stars in heaven burn a little brighter now. Rest in Peace.

I'm trying to take a picture of the dogs for my Christmas cards. It's not working out well. I bought them some little hats - one is a Santa hat and the other is antlers and all they want to do is eat them. I'm afraid to put them on them, because I'll have Bobby dragging Java around by the Santa hat. So these are two of the most promising pictures, but I think I'll keep trying.