Guinness Book of World Records...

...That's gonna be me. Because I will most certainly beat the "oldest woman still menstruating." 

Here's the thing. Saw the hematologist. Who looks about 12 years old, but is a very nice, intelligent man. I was, however, a little creeped out because he's in a cancer center, and I was surrounded with folks in various stages of treatment. I felt like I was bringing germs into their space...

So the doc says that my case is "easy to fix." The anemia is likely something I was born with, called Thalassemia - an inherited condition from somewhere in the gene pool. It's common, apparently, in both Middle-European and Mediterranean heritages. Often called Mediterranean Anemia. 

Strangely enough, he says that iron infusions are one method that he would use. But according to the Mayo Clinic - one should avoid iron supplements. 

In the meantime (and I didn't know this before I saw him, so now I'm confused) - he says "Take your iron and B-complex; come to see me in a month, because it won't help, and then I can do the iron infusion. That's good for at least a year.

"And it would help if you weren't menstruating." 

Yeah. I know that. Trust me. 

I did The Google and saw that on one website, it states that women "in their 60s" can still be menstruating. 

Shoot me now. I'm 56. I don't want another four years of playing footsie with my hormones. 

The only GOOD thing is that the hematologist says "You will likely never have osteoporosis, since you've still got enough estrogen running through your system to keep your bones healthy." 

But the periods. They're getting old. As am I, I suppose. Hubby will be delirious at the prospect of me having periods for another 4 years. Delirious, I tell you.

Reading...

So, working my way through P.D. James' autobiography - which is a diary she kept for one year. I want to write like her! It's both mundane and soaring in some spots, when she gets her descriptions on. I have to go back and see if I've got her works. They're marvelous mysteries. 

And while I'm at it, a little church-reading... I went to the Episcopal Book Store (online) and found a couple of books to read up on. This one is very nicely done - not overly deep, and with enough information that you end up knowing more than you thought you would. It's nice to have answers to some of the questions. 

And it's nice to see that some of the answers, I already had.

Also catching up on a bunch of Mother Jones magazines. Wondering, if I really do have to reinvent myself yet again, how hard it would be for me to learn to code. As in, learn computer code? Apparently, the US lags far, far behind in educating kids in Code - which may well be the next "second language" we all need to know. 

Hubby, who I thought knew how to do this, says he has no clue, other than some simple HTML stuff he figured out himself. I'm just curious. I mean, I'm not an idiot. What I actually AM, though, is tired of reinvention. 

Maybe that's the secret to Eternal Youth or somesuch concept - but I've already got a resume that most people don't believe, so why add more to it??

I have a couple other books in the queue, so we'll catch up soon enough. 

Knitting...

We have BABY SOCKS! And yeah, my hands are hurting a bit. Wee little socks; 3" cuff and 3" foot, and they're adorable. I still have to work up the courage to start the hat. Then the cardigan.

And I had a brainstorm! Since we have 2 different shades of blue, I want to use both of them. See, the hat and cardigan have snowflakes embroidered on them. And in the picture, it's the same color yarn - they did the entire layette in a color called Bleach. It's a cream-ish white. 

I'm doing these clothing items in Atlantic and the afghan in Ice. So I propose to use Ice to embroider the snowflakes. "Ice." Snowflakes. Whaddaya think?? I kind of like the idea and we'll see how it goes. 


In the meantime, I set aside my striped socks for this yarn, which was calling my name... It's Lorna's Laces, and the colorway is St. Charles. There's a hook here, too.

Anyway, the pattern I'm using is Vanilla Latte, available on Ravelry, and I can't link to it - join Ravelry if you would like the pattern. 

The KAL I'm sort of working on is a "stripes" theme. And I wasn't sure how this would work out, but (a) I'm enamored of the color; and (b) there's a cosmic thing to all of this.

And (c) -- it's freakin' awesome! I love the bold purple stripe. I love the autumnal colors. I love the feel of this yarn. 

And I think it'll work for the KAL by virtue of this wide purple swirl. The orange bracketing it could also qualify as a "stripe" - and if it doesn't, then I don't care. I really like these. 

I did something funky on the cuff; started off at K3, P1, and then went to K2, P2. Then the pattern, which is pretty simple, K6, P2. It's shaping up really nice, except I have to remember to knit the alternate rows! I'm using my row counter, thanks. 

Anyway the "cosmic" angle is that my assistant and I are hoping that, since our campus is being closed, we'll be moved with "the operations" to the new place: the St. Charles Center. See? The YARN is called St. Charles. I found this while I was searching for some TARDIS-colored yarn on the Jimmy Beans website. 

Must be fate. At least that's what I'm telling myself. We should know soon. I hope they don't string us along till December, because that would be cruel. 

Would I like to not have to work? Yeah. Am I going to retire? Nope. It's just the facts. I need to work. At least to keep myself in yarn!

Still Pickled...

Yes, we think we MAY have finished pickling. At least we hope so. The tomatoes are coming in now, so we hope to switch to tomato sauce. 

This weekend, 17 more jars; these are dill (with sugar) and about half are spears, and half are chips. I added some garlic cloves to a few jars, and then 1/4 teaspoon of pre-packaged roasted garlic to some of the chips. We shall see. 

We're pickled out. 

In today's Chicago Tribune FOOD section, there are recipes to freeze your "garden excess" and except for the pesto starters (which have olive oil in them), I think I can do the water bath for the roasted tomato puree. I wouldn't mind doing the pesto starters, if we can find enough basil left in the garden. 

Harvest Moon/Super Moon...

On the way home from yoga on Monday, I was FINALLY able to get the Harvest (or Super) moon. The last few times, we had clouds. 

This is from my phone, so it's not perfect, but it's an amazing image all the same. 

Love the way the moon floats above the clouds and colors them with a light that's both mesmerizing and beautiful. I stopped several times on the 7-minute drive home to catch different angles with the phone. I wish we would have had time to get the telescope out or the nice camera.

But it being Monday and Hubby having to work on Tuesday - that's not conducive to getting out into the country to take a really good shot of this moon. 

It's in my head, though, so I'll remember it. 

Our weather has been slightly nuts. As I type, the clouds are rolling in again. We've had tons of rain and I know that if folks are reading this in certain parts of the world, they may well say, "send it our way." I would if I could! 

I'm supposed to go to a United Way dinner for our Free Clinic. And the Google maps optimistically says "It'll take you 11 minutes to get there." Ha. 

If I take Rt. 80, at anytime after 4 p.m., it's likely it'll be a parking lot. Same with Rt. 55. So I'm taking River Road, which Google says takes "17 minutes." I'm not sure how they figure that, but I'm sure it's with no other cars on the road. 

My phone has Cortana on it, and in spite of the TV commercials, I haven't figured out how to get traffic updates. It translated "Minooka" into "Tim Ocka." So we may have a failure to communicate. I'll check both the weather and the maps again before I leave. 

Random Picture...

Ok, one thing the phone does really well is manipulate pictures. So here's a close-up, cropped of Quinn resting. She twists and hangs her head off the couch and I swear she's going to fall off. But she never does. 

And in a dog update, we had a 3-dog fight yesterday. Which I did not need. 

No blood, thank goodness, but man - they were hard to separate. They confirm what happens in humans: females fight more fiercely and are buggers to stop. 

It started with antlers. They'd been playing with trading of antlers till Raisa decided she wanted the one Tippi had. The one Tippi had and had walked away from. 

Before I could get the 2 steps to them, there was a growl and then a pile-up. Quinn had no dog in the fight, so to speak, but she's never one to let a confrontation escape her. My clipboard was a tool used to avoid getting bitten. My knitting went flying, my notebook went in the other direction. 

I used my COMMAND voice, and finally got Quinn to back off, but Tippi wouldn't do that. Finally threw everyone in their crates for a huge time-out. Luckily, no blood from either the dogs or me! Removed the antlers and then this happened...

This morning, as every morning, the girls get their cow ears. Tippi is usually the last one to finish. 

And I see Raisa eyeballing her. After a shout of "How STUPID are you??" I got her distracted. I know - she's only 1 year old. She's feeling her oats. 

But you don't mess with the big dog. And at this point, I don't mean Tippi. I mean ME. 

Nick & Steve...

Yesterday, at church, something totally cool happened. As you may remember, Hubby and I changed over to the Episcopal Church - for a variety of reasons, which I'll someday enumerate, but suffice to say that we had had it with the Roman Catholic Church, just about the time they started telling the nuns how to do their jobs...

Anyway, our organist, Tom, has been sick, so last week we had a "said service" with no songs. This week, there were 7 of us - which was most of the choir - and we thought we could muddle through most of it a capella. 

I looked in our service bulletin and saw what I thought was a baptism. Nope. Well, yes, but MORE. We had a "Blessing of the Adoption" AND a baptism. 

We have a lot of lovely families in our church, and as usual, everyone's baby-crazy. From Fr. Matt's youngest, to the most adorable Emma who sits and gurgles at the choir, to Oliver. 

And yesterday was Oliver's day. His dads, Nick & Steve, had their whole family in the pews to celebrate, with us - their faith community - the adoption of Oliver and his baptism into the church. 

In the RC church, to my knowledge, we never had a "Blessing of the Adoption." Well, RCs usually are good at keeping things in the closet, so I didn't ever expect such a thing. At St. John's, we blessed the adoption. That was the segment before the actual baptism. 

At the baptism, Fr. Matt invited everyone in the pews to gather round the font. He did warn those close that they were likely to get wet! And when it came time for the actual baptism, Oliver, good baby that he is, gurgled and kicked his feet. Not a peep as Fr. Matt poured water over his head 3 times, baptizing him. 

We sang a beautiful hymn for the baptism, and we did a lovely 4-part hymn in Latin for Communion. And at Communion -- Every. Single. Person.... Each one came up to a beaming Nick, Steve, and Oliver, and chucked Oliver under the chin and congratulated Nick and Steve for adopting Oliver and bringing him into our faith community. All three of them just glowed with happiness.

Maybe an over-used word. But here it is: Awesome. Awesome how we embrace everyone. Every. One. No matter who you are. All are truly welcome at St. John's. That's what makes us such a mighty community. Not large, but definitely mighty. 

And This Makes Sense How??...

So this happened:  Looting after a shooting. 

I'm having a concept problem here. I'm hoping that the comment by a resident of Ferguson, MO is correct: That (sadly) these were outside agitators who took advantage of the community's sorrow. During a candlelight vigil for a shooting victim (investigation ongoing), there were incidents of looting, stealing from a cash store, a cell phone store, and a tire rim place. There were also people taunting the cops -- standing atop the squad cars. 

I mean REALLY? Seriously? 

The community came together to mourn a victim. Who did what to whom and when is currently under investigation, so we won't even get into that now. Because all the facts aren't being reported to us and they're still investigating. Best not to theorize prior to the facts. 

But the basic sociological trend of looting in response to violence by cops? What kind of sense does that make? Because I'll tell you now that this just reinforces stereotypes. "Look at those animals." 

Right or wrong, that's what's running through a LOT of peoples' heads today. I know all the arguments: the cops are armed to the teeth. The cops are too violent and haven't been adequately screened and/or trained. The community has no respect for authority. The poor are desperate.

Ok. Fine. That's not without merit on a number of levels. 

But really...How would MLK have handled this? How would Gandhi have handled this? How is this a good way to resolve these kinds of community issues? 

Yes. We have an enormously unequal society. Both racially and economically. And the divide hasn't been this big in a long, long time. Sad to say that in 2014, we're no better than during the times of slavery, when a small percentage of the rich held all the money and the rest of the population either worked for them or belonged to them. 

But it's how we face up to this and how we make the system change that will be our legacy. Do we do it by this kind of criminal behavior? Does that make us "better" than those who responsible for the shift in power and wealth? 

I don't think so. The community of Ferguson came together for a vigil. Now, whether it was outsiders or not, LOOTING IS NOT THE ANSWER. No matter what the question. 

The Silence...

Yesterday, in the Chicago Tribune, John Kass wrote about his twins going off to college and leaving him and his wife as empty-nesters. I've corresponded with him off and on, and spoken to him over the phone. And his column resonated with me. So this is what I sent him yesterday via e-mail. 

Dear John:

It’s the silence that gets you. The silence and the sudden space.

I read your column this morning and you encapsulated what I’ve been writing about for the past few weeks. You see, we too are empty-nesters (albeit a bit more suddenly), and like you – I’m not buying the “freedom” song.

Our turn came on with a confluence of other events: I had an atrial ablation procedure that rendered me in “recuperation” mode; The Kid had to move because he obtained a teaching gig about 50 miles from the house and Fall Semester is upon us; Older Kid has been gone for a little over 5 years now.

See, the plan was that Kid #2 would move out eventually. He was teaching at a local school, and he planned on buying a house somewhere in the neighborhood. Instead, this opportunity presented itself, and before I was out of the hospital, he was ready to go.

It’s the silence.

Nobody playing random riffs on the bass guitar. Nobody laughing on the cell phone. Nobody playing with the dogs. Neither kid would qualify as a “big talker” – being boys, they’re inherently more quiet than girls are. But once you wound them up, then just sit back and enjoy the conversation. Older Kid is a welder. Kid #2 is an English teacher. Both of them are brilliant (ahem, I think so, and so they are!) and can converse on a variety of topics from “the state of the music industry” to literature, to politics, to sports. And both have pretty strong opinions.

Nobody comes home late at night; the dogs feel a bit bereft of their duty to guard the house. Nobody really “needs” dinner. Nobody asks your opinion. Nobody needs to borrow your guitar or your reference book, or ask you how to do something.

And as for that whole “reconnect as a couple” thing? Well…I’m not sure about that. Hubby works from home. I work at a local university. We notice that it’s a lot quieter because neither of us are big talkers either…And after dealing with people all day, the quiet is our “recharge” time. Like you, we’re not going to be taking art lessons or ballroom dancing lessons. We’re not even big “go out to dinner” folks.

But it’s that “other” silence. That’s the one that gives you pause.

Kids take up a tremendous amount of real estate. Not only the physical kind. Not only because of their stuff. But because of what they bring – and take – emotionally. Verbally. Dimensionally on many planes. And now, that’s gone. It’s us and the dogs.

I realize 50 miles is a piffle. Other families have sons and daughters continents away, whether for education, work or, God help us – war. My own mother-in-law has a daughter doing mission work in the mountains of Peru.

And maybe it’s because it’s the youngest one who’s gone. Maybe it’s because it was, in my opinion, pretty quick. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to face the empty nest, in spite of years of proclaiming, “You raise ‘em to let ‘em go.” And I truly believe that. But still.

It’s the silence. And the space. 

Knitting...

Worked at my new system for a bit yesterday. I knitted about 8 rows on The Teal Sock. Then I worked on the Fluro sock for a while. Still haven't tackled the afghan, and I have to get on that ASAP.

I was kind of hoping, though I knew differently from the order I placed with Jimmy Beans, that I could start small and work up. I wanted to do the booties, then the hat, then the cardigan and THEN the blankie. Oh well... 

Anyway, in with the knitting, we did this.

Canning...

We are officially pickled out. Well, the vines are still producing, but we're now overrun with pickles. Yesterday we did 21 pints of Bread & Butter pickles, and 15 pints of Hamburger Dill Chips. 

Cucumber overload!

This is what it looked like: 

We got 16 lbs. of cucumbers off the last picking. Yes. SIXTEEN pounds. So Hubby ordered them roughly by size, and grouped them on the table. 

Then he went out to buy onions. I must say, the Ball Blue Book, usually my bible in all things canning, has a strange proportion in regard to Bread & Butter pickles. There seemed to be a LOT of onions in ratio to the pickles we were using. Hubby went by weight, though, and so off I went while he took Raisa to training. 

Prep

Oh, I learned how to operate our food processor. Scoff. Go ahead. My idea of a "food processor" is a good set of knives and a cutting board, but I succumbed to technology when it came to cutting up pound after pound of cucumbers and onions. 

So I got the totes ready. It's layering the cukes, onions and salt and then using ice cubes over the top for about 90 minutes each batch. 

This would have been a good time to have an ice maker... But I digress. I set the batches to marinating and went back to the Carole Lombard movie marathon and my knitting. 

Marinate

While off topic, it's worth mentioning that it's tragic that Ms. Lombard was killed so young. Her talent was amazing and it was a lovely way to while away an afternoon since the weather wasn't cooperating and I couldn't get outside -- unless I wanted to be rained on. 

After the time expires, you drain them, rinse them and drain again. And then you assemble the liquid in a large pot. Bring it to a boil and then dump in your veggies. 

That has to come back up to a boil and then you're ready to stuff the jars and plop them in the boiling water bath.

I wasn't sure yesterday whether it would have been an advantage to open the house up. While it was around 70* outside, it was beastly humid what with the rain. We had fans running and the A/C was on. But it was still a steam bath in the kitchen. 

The first batch cooked up fine, but we were short on liquid. Again, following the recipe, it almost seemed like "Pickled Onions with a Few Cucumbers Tossed In" and we were DEFINITELY short on liquid. But it was all weighed out, so it had to be reasonably accurate.

Bread & Butter cooking

Lucky for us, I had set aside and canned some of the liquid from a previous batch. It was similar enough so that it wouldn't totally confuse the pickles. So we tossed a couple of half-pint jars of that into the first batch. 

Hubby came home during the finish of that and helped with the second batch. We adjusted the vinegar and sugar for that batch so that we did have a little more liquid, but even with weighing out stuff, we had much more than the 7 pints the recipe called for. 

Cooling off

While we had the kitchen heated up and in chaos, we figured we'd finish off the second round of the pickles. We had intended to do a "garlic" variety of Bread & Butter, but I found a Hamburger Dill Chip recipe in Ball which would take far less time. And no onions.

So I guess I can make more Vidalia Onion Conserve this week. 

For the Dill Chips, we couldn't use the processor because our slice-thingie was too thin. They needed to be 1/4" so Hubby did the cutting. On the bias, even! So fancy! Only wish I had a "ruffled" slicer. 

For the Dill Chips, you pack the slices into the jar, add the spices, and then you ladle in the liquid. We did essentially a double batch, though we went over by 1 jar. And we sadly had a TON of the pickling liquid left. We did discard that, though. And the waste annoyed me. I should, if I do this again, go one-and-a-half times instead of a double batch. 

I was able to use dried dill. Our dill in the garden went pfffffffffthhhhhhh and the butterflies and bees enjoyed it. I have to time the growing better - needs to coincide with the proliferation of pickles in our patch. 

Dill chips prep

So I fiddled with the recipe (no surprise there), adding more peppercorns than called for. If you're interested, it's about 1/4 teaspoon of dried dill to equal one head of dill. 

Since I'm such a Pickle Pro, let me proffer a product for your perusal. It's Heinz Pickle Perfect apple cider vinegar. It's a nice apple cider vinegar perfect for just about any kind of pickling and any oil & vinegar recipe you'd like to try. Nice tang. Crisp taste. 

Anyway, the brine for these dill chips was 50/50 water and vinegar. The only bad thing about the bias cut is that you have to be careful how you stack them in the jar. But Hubby is a big puzzle guy, so this was the perfect task for him. 

We were on a "10 minute boil" roll for the Bread & Butter, but Dills done in this fashion (where the pickle part is raw and the brine is hot) need a little more, so that was a 15-minute boil. In 2 batches, we were done. 

As they cooled, you could feel the heat radiating. 

Here are our finished products... A sight to behold, and we've already been asked, "Do you ship??" My siblings are lining up with their hands open for any of the varieties we have ready to go.

These have to sit for a month for everything to fully develop. Hubby is designing labels today and we'll be ready to go. 

Dill chips done

Bread & Butter done

We really do love to do this. In spite of the grumbling, it's fun to see your creativity come alive. And it's been a great garden year, too, so we may as well take advantage of it. 

Hubby has been muttering about ripping out the vines, but we figure we see at least a dozen more pickles developing, along with at least 2 dozen more blossoms. 

I would just start handing out cucumbers, but these are mixed up. We didn't differentiate between the salad cukes and the pickling cukes enough... Now, when we do this 5 years from now (!) we will know that one variety has to go in one bed and the other variety has to be completely opposite. We thought we'd remember which was which, but honestly, after they grew like kudzu, we couldn't tell where one variety began and the other ended. 

I almost wish the tomatoes were that prolific. But it looks like there may be enough for green tomato relish. Or my friend Doris will take the green ones... she likes fried green tomatoes. 

Random Picture...

Because everyone sits on the couch this way. Of course. 

Isn't this how you sit on the couch?

I'm in doo-doo with our trainer! I've had to skip a couple of classes because of the heart thing and Raisa is almost ready to attempt her CGC. Which, I'm sorry -- I think she'll likely fail. 

Not that she's dim. Though she is. Sort of. But she's still a puppy. And a SIBERIAN HUSKY puppy. They don't get smart (a/k/a "stop acting like a lunatic") till they're a lot older. 

Anyway, this was a shot I captured when she and Kid #2 were playing with her bone. 

By the way, if she's in the mood to play, she will toss the bone at you. And she usually hits what she's aiming at. 

Nothing says "Love you" like being clocked by a slimy rubber Kong bone. 

Wow -- 400!!!

Just as I zipped on over here, I see by the stats that I've got 400 posts on this blog already. 

Wow. For the folks that follow me, please feel free to share away -- most of us who write are kind of inherently a bit "full of ourselves" and we like it when other people read our stuff. It's a creative thing, I suppose. 

Keeping a Secret...

Well, I shouldn't have been keeping this a secret. Here's one of the coolest Etsy stores. I was introduced to these bags through a Facebook group, Addicted to Sock Knitting. I'm in the category of "mildly addicted," I think. There are folks in this group who can knit a pair of socks in a couple of days. 

Whew. 

Drawstring bag

Anyway... meet Chicken Soup Designs. Carrie makes some seriously adorable and useful bags. I'm telling you: if you have an interest, she's got a fabric she can whip into a bag for you. Here's just ONE of the bags I have - the puppy print. I have the rose bag (which I won in one of Carrie's frequent drawings), and I have a set of the tea-print - but those are in stash because they're destined for Christmas gifts. Oh, and I pre-ordered the Dr. Who bag set. And ordered the knitting sheep.

I'm telling you: knitting sheep AND Dr. Who??? Who can resist? Not me, obviously. I love the drawstring bags for portable projects. They've got a square bottom so they sit nicely, and they're nicely lined. The drawstring is nice and sturdy, too. She also has matching stitch-marker keepers, too. They beat my current system of grabbing a big zipper bag! 

Anyway, go check her out. You'll love what you see. I guarantee it. 

Knitting...

Heel detail

As long as we're on the topic. The week off for recuperation from surgery brought with it knitting, but I really didn't get to this sock till I was feeling more human. 

This is the heel detail. One of my instructors just came in to admire them, and she wants to learn how to make socks. I can teach her!! As long as she wants to learn with DPNs, that is. 

I think I'm going to adopt a strategy to deal with The Dreaded Teal Sock. I will knit a few rows on that (though I'm not carrying it to work today, because I just decided this) and then reward myself with something I really do want to work on. I'm so sad that the Teal Socks have become jinxed. If I wasn't so sick of the yarn, I'd frog the first one and start over on both of them, but I just don't have the energy to do that. I just want to plod on through and get the second one done. Done. And DONE.

New stash

And you see my most recent stash acquisition... Yep. That certainly IS Trekking XXL in the upper left corner there. I've learned, though. I have to use smaller needles (probably size 1; Teal is on 2.5, I think). And this is actually a very pretty color, so I might do something not-so-plain, but definitely NOT the Nice Ribbed Sock pattern. No offense to the pattern, but like I said: Teal has encompassed me in such dread. 

I think the only thing worse will be if they don't fit me. Because of my own idiocy, the heels don't match (note to self: NOTES TO SELF are helpful!!), and so I can't even give them away. 

That Fluro in the upper right, Ocean, I think, will be in the Hermione sock pattern. It's a free download on Ravelry, so if you are a knitter and NOT a Ravelry member (and how could THAT be???), get on over there and join up. 

Now that I see how the Fluro works, I think I can be a bit more adventurous with the patterns on the leg. So maybe that lime-and-yellow in the middle will be a swirl rib with a plain foot. Even knitting this at 72 stitches (which my knitting friends gasp at) -- I've got plenty of yarn so I could make the swirl ribbed leg a bit longer than I did with the Madeline Tosh Robin's Nest. 

So many projects... But I have a job. 

If anyone's interested in Harry Potter projects, here's a link. I'll definitely be doing the Deathly Hallows hat. I loved it when I saw the movie. And I need another hat. 

Recovery, and Lunch...

Like I think I mentioned, I've been diagnosed as anemic. Joy. So I have to eat more protein, and the doc just called. I have to have labs way earlier. 

Here's the low-down. I was diagnosed by the cardiologist; called my primary care guy. My physical was initially set for the end of Sept. and then 2 things happened at once. I had to change the appointment and the nurse wanted to talk to me about the anemia thingie. 

The "earliest available" appointment is 10/6/14.... He said that he wanted to see me "earliest" and I told her that October was apparently what it was going to be.

Well... not so much. I have to go get the labs on Monday, pick up a test kit for fecal occult (yeah, poo test) and then I'll get a call back to see if "earliest" is actually earlier than October. 

I was wondering why my sister was freaking out about it. I suppose I should Google "anemia" to see what's going on, but actually, aside from being tired from the surgery, I'm not showing any other symptoms. And it's normal to be tired from the surgery. 

Eating more protein is turning out to be a chore. I don't like meat much. I have no philosophical differences with eating meat. I do try to buy locally farmed stuff as much as I can, and I don't like the factory farms; and ethically I am not jazzed about the cruelty that goes into "Big Farm." But I just don't like meat a lot. It's heavy. Makes me feel sluggish. 

But this is apparently more serious than I think, since yesterday she was saying, "I don't think he'll want to transfuse you unless you drop below 8."  What? 

What??? 

Ummmmmmmm. Guess I'll eat more spinach, beans and yeah - beef. 

Speaking of which, this was lunch. Spinach, baby kale and arugula blend, mushrooms, a quarter of a chicken breast, cucumber from the garden and the avocado dressing I made the other day. Oh, and raw pumpkin seeds.

And I couldn't finish it. I ate most of it. Ate the mushrooms, cukes and chicken. But I am just full. 

The nursing instructor here today suggested that I eat garbanzo beans. I love garbanzo beans. I can do that. Will keep you posted on that. Anyone out there with experience in anemia, holler. I probably would make myself frantic if I did a Google search. 

The Garden...

Pickling continues. We've got 2 batches of Sweet Pickle Chips under our belts. There will be more this weekend. I'm thinking that since Bread & Butter need to be sliced, we could perhaps beef up that stock. 

Our friend Bill just had a knee replacement. I think a Pickle Basket is a good get-well gift!

Pickles make everything better. 

At least that's my story.

I've also picked up a magazine from Better Homes & Gardens with lots of interesting chutney recipes, jams, spreads, etc. 

This preserving of stuff gets addictive. I haven't made jam in a few years, and I'd also like to do more tomato sauce, though I didn't plant the right tomatoes for sauce. 

But I could get some flats of berries and make a mixed-berry preserve. Or a pickled garlic, or a nice onion jam. 

The mind reels. 

Random Picture...

This is slightly doctored. Just cropped, actually. Quinn was napping and I love the way the sun shines through the blinds and makes her striped. 

She was worn out. She and Raisa are mostly at a truce now, and while Raisa plays with Hubby, Quinn will come play with me. They also do play together, but we're still watchful because Raisa is an idiot and doesn't always see when Quinn's had enough. 

She seems to know when Tippi has had enough. And there have been some pretty fearsome-looking "tooth fencing" battles. I can tell when it's just play because both Elkhounds are "snorters." They snort rather loudly as they play.

It's when the snorts turn to a growl that you have to be in a hurry to call a halt to the madness. 

Otherwise, it's a ball of whirling fur and teeth. 

Never a good sign. 

We go back to finish obedience this week. I think Raisa will actually have to repeat Advanced Obedience. She's not anywhere near ready for her CGC. She's still not quite a year yet, and anyone who knows anything about huskies knows that a young husky is just not going to do much but be a gigantic ball of whirling dervish. No way will she do the long stays or even a passable "heel" or "come front." 

No use stressing about it. I think we may have pushed her farther and faster than she was ready for. I know we were used to River-the-Robo-Dog, but I think we're realistic enough to know that Raisa isn't there yet. 

I Had Forgotten...

...How mind-numbingly, crushingly, amazingly BORING plain old knitting is. 

As I recuperate and the bruises from the IVs slowly fade (though I still have a most colorful groin area, if you want to know...), I thought I'd alternate knitting projects. 

So you know I finished the baby sweater. I had enough yarn to do "something" -- but not another baby sweater. I don't like "newborn" sizing because babies tend to run "linebacker large" in our family, and I'd hate to waste the knitting on something the kid wears for one picture and then never uses again.

I thought, "I need a go-to Super-Simple, Awesome Baby Layette to put together so that I have the items in stash, rather than knitting a sweater here, a couple of hats there, and  -- oh -- I've never done BOOTIES!" 

So that's what I've been working on, as well as knitting a few rows here and there on the Fluro sock. 

Ultimately, my Super-Simple, Awesome Baby Layette will be a combination of patterns. The sweater is a pattern I got from renewing a knitting magazine, so I'll try to find a link. The hat is my own pattern, so I'm working on it (there's the mind-numbing thing about knitting 14" or so and tossing in an every-so-often yarn-over to keep me awake) and will debut it if it works. And I haven't decided which bootie pattern to use. Once I figure all that out, it'll show up here. 

Not my creation -- I must state that. Except for the hat, I am not designing it. I'm just aggregating patterns that are go-to items for a gift. Often, I think, we resort to our old favorites, and there's totally no reason NOT to do that. 

I just want mine in a folder so I can find them the next time I have to baby-knit. 

The NFL...

Has blown the call. I mean seriously. Check out this editorial from The Schenectady Daily Gazette.  Apparently, in the grand scheme of "What an NFL player can do wrong" -- domestic violence is far, FAR down the list. 

See, here's the thing: The NFL has suspended player Ray Rice (Baltimore Ravens, if you're counting) for 2 games. Seems Mr. Big Man knocked his fiancee out and there's footage of a beating. So Commissioner Goodall says, "We simply cannot tolerate conduct that endangers others..." blah. Blah. Blah... It's only 2 games, dude.

The NFL has suspended players for LONGER for LESSER infractions, such as suspension for EIGHT games for failing a second drug test. I'm all in favor of clean players, but let's just wake up and smell the coffee... You're effectively telling me that DOMESTIC VIOLENCE rates a lesser suspension than failing a pee test. 

Just read the editorial. And then let the NFL know how you feel. I know I will.


The Great Pickle Relish Experience...

So Hubby has been a total champ. Since the surgery and the explosion in the garden coincided, and since we'd already thought that this would be The Summer of Pickle Relish, he's been doing all the chopping.

Yes, that's a LOT of relish!

First, I wasn't able to just stand up long enough to do all the work. Then - I'm on a pretty effective blood thinner. I think he's afraid I'll chop more than pickles! So he even tried the food processor, which didn't work. I mean, luckily, he did about a quarter of a batch and we realized "pickled mush" wasn't the look we were after. So we - HE - reverted back to chopping. And chopping. And chopping. 

The end result (and we're still not done yet) is FIFTY-ONE jars of relish. Half-pint jars. Today, though, we're giving up on relish. We will finish off the cucumbers, though he's threatened to rip out the remaining plants!! 

Today, we'll be doing - or starting - sweet pickle chips. He doesn't like dill pickles, and frankly, I have a lot of those left from the last Pickle Expedition. And I also have a couple cases of Bread & Butter. So we found a recipe for "sweet spears" and I don't see any reason why we can't make them "chips" instead of spears. So when he gets done with the dog-walking, he'll get to use the food processor (seriously, he really IS the only one who uses it!) and slice them into 1/4" medallions. Then we soak them overnight. Tomorrow, we process, by making a brine, packing the pickles into the jars and pouring the boiling brine over them. A 10-minute soak in the canning pot, and we should have a bunch of pint jars of pickle chips. 

Personally, I love them on a good pulled pork or on a ham sandwich. We also adjusted the recipe for the brine; we ended up throwing a lot of it away, and so we knocked it down a bit. We still have some "light" jars, but I think we can make "refrigerator pickles" out of that brine, by chopping up cauliflower florets, artichoke hearts, etc. and just stashing them in the brine for a couple of weeks in the fridge. Pearl onions would work, if you can eat 'em. 

Back to Knitting...

RAK package

So on a FB page I am involved in, we have what are called RAKs. Random Acts of Kindness. We choose a member and we mail something to him or her - just because. It can be knitting-related; tea or coffee have shown up. So has an abundance of chocolate. This is what I got as a RAK package, just before I went into surgery. 

This is a lovely sock bag in U of I colors (it was a fellow IL resident who sent it to me), a fantastic ball of sock yarn and a knitting mag - which has several patterns I'd like to start on. 

The RAK list got so overwhelming that the FB page administrators decided to move the RAK portion to Ravelry. Which reminds me - I have to go check to see if my package arrived to its sender. 

Random Picture...

What species??

Before I go back to the mind-numbing baby hat...I want to show you what turned up on the cone flowers yesterday. And I want to tell you that this is a photo from my phone's camera. I am not sure which species this is, but I've been fiddling with the cone flowers all summer, trying to catch the huge bumblebees and the various butterflies that have come along. I did see a swallowtail, but the little stinker moved so fast that I couldn't catch him. 

If anyone knows what this is, please let me know! 

All I can say is that he waited patiently for me to take the picture. I've also seen a slight uptick in hummingbirds, though I think we need to take down all the feeders and give them a good wash. 

And the birds are loving the bubbling water under the tree. We're fiddling with the other bird bath; I think it may need to go in the shade, but we're still working on that. 

It's been a really amazing season for the garden, and it's not done yet. We've gotten about 6 tomatoes, and before you scoff, realize: we planted tomatoes for about 4 years running and got nothing. Nada. Zip. This year, the cooler weather, the rain and the general timing of the season have conspired to make even a lazy gardener look "very productive."

Not Sure Why I Think Peacocks are Beautiful...

...since, right now, various spots on my body closely resemble the blue/green/purple/yellow combo...

I am sprung from the hospital and recovering at home from the atrial ablation procedure. I'll spare you the pictures... But suffice to say that I had IVs in both arms, both hands, two arterial lines, and FOUR punctures (two in each groin). 

As I said, peacocks have such beautiful colors. You don't notice, in their sparkly glory, how much they resemble healing bruises.

Anyway, the doc is excited. Apparently, my veins separated nicely from the nerves and didn't try to reconnect. Instead of a 5-6 hour procedure, he was able to finish in about 3 - 3.5 hours. 

I had the WORST. BACK-ACHE. EVER. Worse than back labor. Worse than a wrenched back (though I can't swear to that, never having had one). Worse than someone ripping my spine out through my sacrum. 

Oh, and morphine? Good stuff, if they remember to give you the anti-nausea meds. 

So after about 5 hours flat on my back, I'm allowed to sit up. They put me upright in the bed. The room begins to spin. I have that "urp" feeling. The nurse, being a sensible soul, brings me a wash tub to yark into, not one of those puny "emesis basins" -- apparently, this woman has had experience with yarking. 

Sadly, the dietary lady had brought up dinner. Lasagne. With coffee.

Really??? I haven't eaten in about 2 days. I'm drugged up to my eyeballs with morphine, anaesthesia and the like, and you bring LASAGNE? And COFFEE? She looks at me and says, sadly, "Don't you like it??" 

Ummmmmmm. You got any pudding, perhaps?? Hubby fed me a little container of chocolate pudding, that I managed to keep down. 

I'll laugh about it. Later.

They got me out of there the day after the surgery. Not, however, before a night spent, every 2 hours, with a nurse checking my groin. I have the most-observed nether-bits in the community, I think. Though I am going to say that the hospital was lovely. 

I was at Silver Cross Hospital and I have to say that from my first experience, it was a lesson in patient care that went quite well. Overall, except for one little thing with the one procedure, I felt cared for, they listened when I freaked out, and they really did everything they could to make sure I was ok. 

Even the little Polish lady who took my final EKG... "You go home as soon as you can; we have germs here!" Well, I did manage to pick up a sniffle, but I really felt better at home. 


My friends sent flowers and cards. And my choir buddy came to visit, but honestly -- can't remember much of her visit, as it was the day of the surgery, and I was seriously loopy. 

The nurse anaesthetist told me "You won't remember a thing." Wowza. She was right. I remember the cardiac cath lab; it was a freezer! I remember nurse Ken, who was driving the cart, exchanging Cubs/Sox jokes with nurse Bob. And then...


Nothing. Seriously, not a blasted thing till I was in recovery.

The doc says that after about 2 months, once my heart calms down, I should be off all the cardiac meds. He said he could "barely" induce my heart to misbehave (it figures...) but that he was happy with how the whole thing went. 

Oh, and they tell me I'm anemic. Oh joy. 

I'm not taking iron pills, that's for sure. My tummy objects. Let's just put it that way and leave it there.

So, the whole "in sickness" thing? Major, MAJOR props to Hubby. The first night home, I'm really getting sick. Coughing, nose snotty. Fever, he thinks. About 2 a.m. I feel horrible. As in, "it's a good thing I'm on the bed because I'm gonna pass out." 

It's true love when Hubby gets up, gets me up, talks me through a crisis, and then gets me over to the toilet. And makes sure I'm ok. Truly no secrets when you gotta pee and you need help, that's for sure. 

After my veins decide to get better, I do have to have more blood work done for that anemia thing. But right now, I'm considering hiring myself out as a lawn sprinkler, since I have so many holes in me. 

Knitting...

I decided, since I have a week off, that I needed to finish the Blue Baby Sweater. And I did. It looks nice. I used some plain white buttons for it, and sadly, I don't have enough for TWO sweaters.

This is at a 6-month size, and I really probably could make a "newborn" size, but nobody I know ever has babies that small.

So I figured I could cast on a hat. Which I did. Simple, simple, SIMPLE. Just knitting around and I'll let the brim curl. If I get ambitious I'll cast on a pair of socks or booties. 

I have this yarn in a purple variegated, too. So maybe I make a "crazy hat" to give away. Not sure yet. 

All I know is that I actually needed a break from the socks. It's back at the socks in the next few days, though. 

I can take this one off  the list and add another one. Or just trim the list by one project. Though Heaven knows I have enough other projects to add to it. 

Not sure yet. But I do know I have to start working on Kid #2's afghan soon. Lucky for us, the weather has been cool, so it's not as bad to have an afghan on your lap.

Mooooooooo (with a Swiss accent)

Random Picture...

Since I've been in a news hole, I think we need cows.

Specifically, Swiss cows. Specifically, Swiss cows along the mountain near Reichenbach Falls from our trip. 

Suffice to say that the location was sufficiently remote that they were as bemused as we were... They weren't sure we should be there, and we were surprised THEY were there. 

Smelly little beasties, but very cute. 

Veggies...

We have 42 cucumbers. In 6 days. I'm not sure which are "pickles" and which are cukes. And when I searched The Google, I came up with this brilliant answer:

"Pickles are cured in brine and cucumbers are eaten in a salad."

Really?? Never would have guessed. 

Note to self: Next year, plant the pickles in the other bed...