Furby Wranglings

So far I've ordered Onglyza for me, and two different joint care supplements for Bel. That's not counting the heart-worm preventative for both Bel and Jethro which I will pick up from the vet at lunchtime today.

Mom fell on Monday; landed wrong against some furniture and broke a rib. She blames the malfunctioning artificial hip, which was supposed to be repaired back in March but got pushed back due to the COVID-19 thing because it was considered non-essential surgery. It was supposed to happen next week; now it looks to being postponed again for another month. This makes the 3rd time this month she's fallen because that leg is dragging. I worry because she's 90 and lives alone.  I was supposed to go out and stay with her next week after the surgery while she did rehab.  Now we don't know what's going to happen. Youngest sister in Texas is talking about driving north to stay for a couple of days as well ...

Been catching up on "Kyo Kara Maoh"  English manga scanlations --  wow, there's a lot that I don't remember from the anime! When we re-organized our anime shelves last winter, I discovered that I seem to be missing some episodes; I don't know whether they were lost/damaged during the move  10+ years ago, or if we never had them in the first place.  They were released back when anime was first becoming widely available in the U.S.; most anime series were released on DVDs that held 3, maybe 4 episodes, so a series that ran 26 episodes would be on 6 or 7 DvDs, each sold separately  -- so it was always tricky finding the entire series.  Later on, of course, the producers started selling combo packs and thin-paks.  When I had the money, I'd often replace my multiple DvDs, especially if it was a series I enjoyed and anticipated watching over and over.  I have incomplete sets of the first and second series of KKM, and have recently learned that both are now available again in combo packs, as well as series 3 and possibly 4? Alas, still on frugality measures, as most of the family stimulus check went to pay off half the property taxes this year.

The church has been holding Sunday worship in the parking lot the last two weeks; the forecast for this coming Sunday is 'scattered showers', so I'm not sure what the plan will be..... in the meantime I've worked ahead in anticipation of taking next week off to help Mom, so again -- not certain how things will work out.

Knitting: -- finished the 'leaf motif' shawl, including the borders and the beaded fringe. Haven't decided on my next project yet.

But welcome to Day Four (not counting the weekend)!
So far I have done lots and lots of laundry, mostly bed sheets, towels and wash cloths; more than the usual amount of dishes (that's what happens when there's two couples in the same household cooking and eating separately and the Gov has shut down most of the restaurants in the state); reread six books I haven't read since before the move 10+ years ago; finished a pair of hand warmers started back in January; worked on the leaf motif shawl (now approx. 3/4th done) and binge-watched an interesting anime version of Sherlock Holmes...I stopped last night at episode 19 because the Chows were demanding noms and "Out! Now!" --- spoiled brat Chows. Gotta love 'em.

Been catching up on reading some fan fiction as well.

Had a call yesterday from the Church Treasurer that my paycheck is waiting on my desk if I happen to stop in; think I will do that tomorrow and if no one else is around (shouldn't be), I may spend an hour or so putting together the Palm Sunday and Easter Bulletins -- just in case.

Talked to Mom for a bit Sunday night; so far so good with the rest of the family. Husband has stayed in daily touch with Aunt Marie. Husband's workplace is still open (different State Gov.) but they have gone to two shifts to reduce that number of potential infections.

Actually, I'm not really missing my music, per se; we have Google Home, so I can just ask Google to play some 'whatever', and I usually get a close approximation of said 'whatever'. For example, if I ask for 'Neil Diamond', Google will usually start with a Neil Diamond song, then branch out into John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Simon and Garfunkle, Glen Campbell, etc, with an occasional Diamond song tossed in to stay honest. Kinda nice hearing the music from my junior high/high school days. If I ask for 'Andrew Lloyd Weber', I get that plus Les Mis, Wicked, My Fair Lady, bunch of Disney tunes, Hamilton, The Book of Mormon, etc.... Only music I CAN'T seem to get is my Eric Stuart-sama.... phooey!

Well, my sweet Beldandy is making weird noises at me, which means she wants SOMETHING... so I guess I'll go play 20 Questions with an impatient Chow. Later!

 After almost a week of High Heat Index warnings from the National Weather Service, during which it did rain once thereby pumping up the humidity again, yesterday (Sunday) was actually cooler! SO we went out and hacked at the pile of tree branches some more.  Reduced it by maybe half, but still a bunch to go. It's halfway decent today as well; too bad we have an after dinner appointment this evening. 

Anyway, yesterday, after a cool-down break, we took a little shopping jaunt -- socks, underwear, work boots, etc, and wound up at DISC REPLAY's 'Going Out of Business/Consolidating With Iowa Location' sale.  I'm going to blame the fact that rhi  has been posting  comments regarding her watching selected episodes/seasons of HIGHLANDER recently for my impulse purchase  of a 2nd - maybe 3rd-hand set of Season 2 on DvD.  

Not certain how long my sense of nostalgia will last.  Never did finish watching THE RAVEN when I picked that up a couple of years ago. 

On the other hand, I FINALLY finished reading "Pride and Prejudice", by Jane Austin.  For several years it has been one of my 'unofficial' New Year's resolutions to actually read some Jane Austin, as one of my currently M.I.A.  LJ friends had started drifting away from media fandom to spend more time and energy with literary interests.  Believe it or not, as an English Major, I had never read any Jane Austin.  I read "Jane Eyre" for a high school book report back in the 70's ---during my high school years I systematically read through a 'Recommended Reading" list of classics which included "Lorna Doone", "Ivanhoe", "The Count of Monte Cristo", etc.  My best friend liked Georgette Heyer, which I never really got into; likewise Dorothy Sayers, but between us we manged to check out and read every Agatha Christie and James Bond novel in our local library.... but I digress. It took a while; I had a hard time wrapping my head around the social conventions of the period, but I persevered. neadods , this one is for you!!!! SALUD!!!!

I have also finished the 'Shades of Blue' triangular shawl I started waaaay back around Easter, and am now cursing myself for changing yarns so often, because I hate weaving in the ends.  I also ended up re-teaching myself how to crochet in order to finish the edging properly.  Going to take a little break from knitting, maybe to start up again in September with hats and mittens and socks....


See you on the flip side!

 Well, here we are -- tomorrow is officially the 1st day of Summer..... but it has already been both wretchedly hot, and rainy.... and the Hispanic Americans in our neighborhood have ALREADY started with the firecrackers and fireworks.... I have no problem with ethnic groups other than my own (cough* TRUMP* cough) in general, but for the love of God, people!  Have some consideration for the domesticated creatures who share our living areas!  Jethro absolutely refuses to go outside if he hears firecrackers in the evening; which usually results in an unauthorized deposit on the living room rug.  Which I then have to clean up in the morning. I realize that it's part of their cultural heritage to celebrate loudly, but must they do it so often?

Sigh.

Still on the Frugal Living Plan.  We managed to get the June Property Tax installment paid, but are now saving up for the August & September installments. Husband has not had the usual seasonal overtime at work this year; things at the plant have been unusually slow for the past six months.... and some of the newer hires have been 'temporarily' laid off.  My hours are still reduced as well. I actually wouldn't mind so much, since it gives me more leeway when scheduling doctor's appointments and such, and I honestly don't really need even 30 hours most of the time to get my normal week's work done.... but it would really be nice if the Finance team and Session could see their way to a COL pay raise this year?

Belldandy gave me a scare towards the end of May!  We never DID figure out exactly how or what happened, but Jethro and Bel had one of their RAWRS, and then there was a yelp, and suddenly Bel was pawing frantically at the right side of her muzzle!  Husband grabbed Jethro and shoved him outside on the tie-out, and I tried to calm Bel down and see what the problem was.....there was blood from her lower jaw, and a very incomplete look inside her mouth left me with dented fingers (but no punctures) and the horrified impression that Bel had somehow lost her right front canine fang -- either completely gone, or broken off and swallowed.  This occurred on Saturday night.  I managed to calm Bel down; she (mostly) stopped the  muzzle-pawing, and let me dab lightly at the bloody spot on her lower jaw.  Husband thought that maybe Jethro had bumped her and she'd bitten her own lip and that she'd be fine; but I was concerned because that Canine Tooth seemed to be missing! 

(Cue visions of Major Canine Dental Work swarming through my head, with NO handy Savings Bond available to help pay the bill this time!!!)

So, we kept a close eye on Bel for the rest of the weekend; she was drinking water, and even managed to eat some 'Moist & Meaty' soft food, but she still was oozing a bit of blood and occasional muzzle-pawing. First thing Monday morning, I called our Vet and explained the situation. She said to bring her right in, as they'd had a cancellation.  Poor Bel.  She does not like visiting the vet.  Shivering and shaking ensued.  Much to my relief, Husband was partly right -- Bel had somehow bitten through both her upper lip, and the bottom lip.  The upper lip was stuck to the Right upper Canine, essentially hiding it from casual viewing.  But the wounds were infected (I'd wanted to do something to treat the one I could see, but didn't know how and didn't want to be chomped again), so Bel received a ten-day course of anti-biotics and pain relief, and a Collar to discourage her from pawing at her muzzle while healing (the Collar didn't even last until noon; she kept banging into things and couldn't reach food and water while wearing it....). Even bigger relief, with the way our finances were tied up that month, the Vet allowed me to pay half (THANK HEAVENS there was still some credit on the Capital One Card!) and bill later for the rest.....  

Whew!  Bel is fine, now, except she apparently became accustomed to the hand-fed pills/M&M and soft canned foods twice a day.... and paws at my knee wanting her 'noms' every so often.

Um,  on a cheerier note, although we have not added any new plants to the back fence butterfly garden, the plants that survived from last year have certainly flourished: cone flowers, Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed, butterfly bush all doing splendidly.  No new residents of the Tree this year, nor wandering varmints, and the rabbits seem to be leaving the cone flowers alone.  We've seen so many lightning bugs this year after dark!  Makes me very happy.  Not so much the bees and the Monarchs yet.

I have now read all (except the last one) of Elizabeth Peters'  "Amelia Peabody" novels.  I waited until "The Painted Queen" came out in paperback, and it is now sitting at the top of the "to-read" book stack.  Did I mention that I finally renewed my Library Card?  I'd let it lapse after the move -- I can't believe it's been ten years!!!  On the knitting front, the Prayer Shawl ministry is on summer hiatus, so I am once again knitting hats for the children.  I came across a workable mitten pattern, too.  Not ready to try socks again, yet.

I might be going on a road trip with Mom in September to Ellis Island.  We'd talked about it last year, but it didn't materialize due to Mom having a sewer pipe problem last summer.

That's about it for now.  Later, Gators!

 Just a week until Thanksgiving -- what am I thankful for?  Mom still with us; Daughter showing an on-going interest in adult independence (if only Texas wasn't so far away!); the Goodyear credit card I qualified for back in February during the car brakes crises, which I managed to pay down by half just in time to re-spend on four badly needed tires for Adric, the Demon Malibu (still needs that gas tank sensor replaced!); the Astros beating the Dodgers; Husband NOT backing into the bicycle-riding homeless man in the dark and the Police believing Husband in the matter (between the Running out of Gas Incident, the Dog-Chomp, Vandalism at the Church, and Homeless Bicycle Man, we seem to be rapidly acquiring a 'first name' acquaintance with our local Police force.?!?) ...

Thankful that we have insurance, even though the co-pays and deductibles tripled and they want us to mail-order our medications instead of going through our local pharmacy.  

Because Mom is going to Youngest Sister's in Texas over Thanksgiving -- she wants to attend an Oklahoma University home game so she can see the Nephew in the halftime marching band -- we are going up to Woodstock to have turkey, etc. with Aunt Marie.  Which kind of leaves Older Sister on her lonesome (Younger Sister will probably go to  Her S.O.'s grandmothers'), which I feel bad about, so I will probably drive over that weekend to visit her.  I do sort of wish I'd had the spare income to go to TARDIS-Con since ANIME-zing!  this year was disappointing, but it has seriously been one thing after another this year (though not nearly as bad as a few of my friends -- wish I could have done more, my 'Polly-mio!)

On the knitting front:  I found a simple sock pattern, and am knitting at least one pair for the PW Mitten, Hat and Sock tree.  No major projects since Nephew's comforter and the shawl for our church Music Director.  Two almost finished hats, one for the tree, the other for Boy Friend Z.

Books read: I have been working my way, more or less chronologically, through Elizabeth Peters' 'Amelia Peabody' series; "Arabella of Mars" by David Levine (borrowed from Older Sister); "House of Four Winds", by Mercedes Lackey & ???. 

Also, manga: "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid", "The Devil is a Part-Timer", "Food Wars".

Manga on order: "Kaza Hikaru" (finally! it's been 2 years!); 'Natsume's Book of Friends" (Jan. 2018), "The Ancient Magus' Bride" (Feb. 2018).

Guess that's pretty much it for now....

 Well, the Raccoon has apparently vacated our tree.  I'm a little sad -- it was mildly entertaining to peek through the knothole  and spy a ball of grey fur, or a pair of beady little eyes, or even on occasion, fur plus small foot sticking out of the knothole ....  At a guess, I'd say that the Raccoon decided that our neighborhood was a bit too noisy for its liking, what with the hippie neighbors (NOT US!!!) playing Neil Young and Oak Ridge Boys well into the night on the weekends, barking Jethro, lawn mowers, ambulances and police cars  next door (again, NOT US!!!).    The river, I might mention, is still very close to Flood Stage, despite it not raining locally for almost two weeks.

Nephew's afghan/blanket is most likely close to 2/3rds done. I have 16 inches to go, before I knit the end border, and then add borders to the long sides.  The total size, according to the directions, is 50" x 58".  

Confession Time: when I said in the last entry that I didn't have time to read, due to the knitting, it wasn't quite true.  When my fingers get tired and start cramping, I set the knitting aside and pick up a book for a while.  I have read "Song of the Lion", by Anne Hillerman,  and Season of the Hyena, by Paul Doherty, and re-read Chapel Noir by Carole Nelson Douglas.  My Husband is on a Dan Brown kick, and has been nagging at me to read The Lost Symbol.   Ummm, sorry, I really have no interest in reading about conspiracies involving the Masons.   Also, since Crunchyroll has been running Series 6 of "Natsume's Book of Friends", I've been re-reading the manga as I locate them (scattered throughout the house).  

Wretchedly hot weather.  Of course, it COULD be wretchedly hot and HUMID weather.... and probably will be soon.

Last week I was celebrating  that I'd manged to make it through the winter without slipping and falling on the ice ... so what happens Monday evening?  I slip on the rain-slippery wood  of the back porch, take a tumble and manage to  pull muscles and/or bruise my right side ribs against (I presume) a porch planter box.... (insert snarky references to 'Pride" and downfalls).  I was doing okay with Ibuprofen, until yesterday when I decided to switch to Tylenol... mistake.  I'm hurting again today, so back to the ibuprofen. If this continues through the weekend, Monday I will go visit a doctor.

Speaking of doctors, New Doctor was not happy with either my Blood Pressure or my Blood sugar numbers last month; I blame the Blood Sugar on holiday chocolate and not being able to do much walking in February and March.  The high blood pressure?  I've always tested high at doctor visits; my Old Doctor called it 'Office Anxiety' -- he didn't worry TOO much about the blood pressure and A1c so long as my other levels (cholesterol, potassium, calcium) and liver function were good.  But now I have yet another prescription pill to take  - a diuretic.  This tiny orange pill -- I think my Dad took this one when he was first diagnosed with hypertension.  Personally, I defy anyone to NOT have High Blood Pressure after nearly $2,000 of unexpected automobile repairs (front & back brakes, plus tie-rods), in addition to stressing over a faulty gas tank sensor which would have required removing the gas tank to get at, and would have taken the final cost OVER $2,000....   and  figuring out how to pay for all  this on my reduced salary.

Tax Refund?  Um, most of it went to refilling the Furnace Oil Tank, and the remainder is stashed away to pay Property Taxes this year.

Sigh.

Our Russian Overlords  on Live Journal are now requiring that users acknowledge and agree to a new TOS document before they allow access.  I'm stalling, but I will have to do something sooner or later.  I have yet to fully import to DW .... I did a partial import back in 2014(?),  got my entries, but none of the attached comments.  I'm not sure if it will work properly this time, especially with entries that are duplicate.

Um.

On the knitting front: finished the ruffled triangular shawl, despite having lost the instructions 2/3rds of the way through -- I was able to fake the decreases sufficiently, although the bind-off looks a bit odd. Almost finished with a 'spring' children's hood.  Finished a pair of mis-matched arm/wrist warmers (trying to use up left-over yarn).  Have started, frogged, and restarted twice more an 'intermediate difficulty' shawl -- the YO's and repeat from * are tricky.  But the yarn is gorgeous.  

I used a gift card from Christmas to purchase a few e-books from Amazon - one of Bujold's Penric novels, a Christoper Fowler  'Bryant & Mays' mystery, and the first in Patricia Wrede's  '13th Daughter' series.  And then discovered that apparently my Kindle PaperWhite's battery has gone bad and will not hold a charge longer than two days...... sigh.  Add that to the list of things to fix/replace when I have spare money.

Books read:"Industrial Magic" by Kelley Armstrong, 'The Heretic's Daughter' by Michelle Moran, "A Study in Scarlet Women' by Sherry Thomas, 'Leviathan' by Scott Westerfield, 'Day Shift' and 'Night Shift' by Charlene Harris,  'The Saint vs Scotland Yard' by Leslie Charteris.

Books re-read:  Most of Charlotte MacLeod's 'Sara Kelling' series, one or two of Maggie Sefton's 'Lambspun' mysteries

Still working on: "Guns, Germs and Steel"

Got into work early today, and got 10 minutes of walking in before any one else showed up. It's easier to walk when no one else is around to ask, 'Mary, what are you doing?', or 'Mary, can you do THIS for me since you're here?' I generally walk up and down the halls and around the sanctuary -- I figure the Omnipotent One won't mind, since I'm making an effort to be healthy. I actually started doing this and the BG monitoring back in December -- I had to get creative with the walking while the sanctuary was decorated for Christmas, but it was all good. I wanted my doctor to be proud of me instead of mildly disappointed next time I saw him -- which unfortunately will be never, since he retired unexpectedly mid-December.

Cue the scramble to find New Doctor! especially since I was almost out of refills on three of my four medications. New doctor is young, so hopefully won't be retiring soon - Plus! on the Minus side, I will have to break her in; AND she's part of a Health Group, which could lead to switch board miscommunication -- has actually already happened: I called to give New Doctor a 'heads up' that my pharmacy would be calling about Prescription Refills, and when Pharmacy called, the switchboard told them 'No Such Patient in our Files'.... fortunately, I'd rather expected some such difficulty occurring and had allowed a few days of leeway before I was actually in dire need. Got it straightened out, and New Doctor wrote two of the prescriptions for an 90 day supply -- I'm surprised the Insurance let her do that.... maybe because she's in an Approved Health Care Group, whereas Old Doctor was an independent GP.

I miss my Old Doctor -- he had a great sense of humor and a practical attitude towards health care.

Efforts to get healthy include Eating Health(ier) -- My new Mantra is "More Salad, Fewer Fries", or as I told Daughter and Husband -- "French Fries are the Enemy!" Baked potatoes and baked sweet potato fries are okay, in moderation, because 'Fiber is Good.' Not making any headway on the 'Eat More Fish' campaign, however. Can't really complain, though; I'm not that fond of fish myself.


Being Thrifty: The rule about not buying more yarn, dvds or books does not apply in the following instances:

1) I need the yarn to finish a current project and am unable to find an adequate substitute in my stash;

2) my four current manga series - 'The Ancient Magus's Bride', 'Kaze Hikaru', 'Master Keaton', and
'Natsume's Book of Friends';

3) the remaining two live action 'Rurouni Kenshin' movies, the "Yuri! On Ice" anime, and 5th series 'Natsume' anime.

4) the OST to "Yuri! On Ice" if it becomes available -- absolutely captivating music, all of it produced for the anime, in multiple styles.

5) The books I have 'on request' at the Used Book Store: "The Captain's Dog" by Roland Smith, and the "Leviathan" series by Scott Westerfield. I placed this order before New Years, so I consider myself obligated to follow through. Actually, I have so much credit at UBS, anything I find there I consider fair game.


I currently have a prayer shawl, and a stocking cap on the needles; plus another two shawls that need additional finishing (crocheted borders, which I have been putting off since I will need to re-teach myself Crochet -- unless I can get someone from the ministry to volunteer?). Last fall I bought a book of knitted hat patterns; I've decided to knit at least one of each in due time.  I've made two so far; one went on the church's Mitten/Hat Tree, and the other I gave to the church's music director for Christmas.  Several I have my eye on for the children of a friend. Various hats have various difficulty ratings, so hopefully I will learn new techniques.

Writing and Fan Fiction:  I am making plans to send the faulty hard drive from three (?) years ago to a friend in Montana, who may be able to retrieve the data.  If The Moffett succeeds, I will have my lost stories back.  Am also continuing to research SteamPunk/Victoriam/Edwardian backgrounds for my FemRyou Bakura Egyptologist cosplay. 

No plans at this time for Conventions, other than the local one in July.  This may change once I get a few  Reduced Paychecks into the bank and work out a budget.

Sigh....

Thank you, Lucidscreamer, for reminding me.....

Um.   Because I tend to spend my evenings knitting instead of reading these days, I don't seem to read as much as I used to.  However, I do get an hour for lunch, and I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer and reading for 20 minutes during my lunch hour (this of course depends on how much time gets eaten up with errands and fixing up something to actually eat). This seems to work best with anthologies and books that I've read before.  In this fashion I've re-read the first four (and in my opinion, the best) of Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who -- " books, several of Charlotte MacLeod's 'Inspector Rhys',  'Peter Shandy' and 'Sarah Kelling' mysteries,  several of Laurie King's 'Mary Russell's,  a number of manga (Food Wars & Natsume's Book of Friends) and  the first three 'Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?' light novels.

Also, a book I borrowed from my Mom -- "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Anne Shaffer and Anne Barrows.  The novel is written in the epistolary style, which made it both easier and harder to put down at the end of 20 minutes.... It deals with the experiences of the Channel Islanders (between England and France) during the German occupation of WW2.  According to Mom, she's tracked some distant cousins from her father's (English) side of the family to the Channel islands, which made the novel feel somewhat personal.
 I will have to see if I can find a copy for my own. 

On  the knitting side, I finally finished a Sideways-knit Ruffled edge Shawl which I mistakenly thought would be a fairly quick knit - HAH!   I am almost finished with the Very Berry triangular shawl, despite running out of the yarn -- I have a partial skein of a heavier double weight in very similar shades which I am carefully de-twisting because I REFUSE to buy another whole skein when all I need  are another five - seven rows worth to finish! 

A sad note: Our local yarn Shop, 'The Naked Sheep Yarn Barn' went out of business last month.  It was only operational for seven months; I'm not certain exactly what happened, but I suspect that Cindy and Kelly tried to do too much too quickly (and Kelly being in the hospital for a month certainly didn't help).  I am now not allowed to buy any more yarn for at least six months (I managed to pick up at LOT of skeins during the GOoB sale) unless I absolutely need it to finish a current project.

Can anyone recommend a good Steampunk novel?  I've tried the series by Pip Ballantine, and didn't care for main characters at all (too stereotypical); also a series set in a Victorian era w/ magic which offered up Sherlock Holmes' long-lost niece from his mother's side of the family, but found the magic system too intrusive...  I guess what I'm looking for is something that reads like a cross between the Robert Downey Jr.. 'Sherlock Holmes' movies and 'King Solomon's Mines'   --- 

Okay -- AniMazing 2015 has announced a 3rd Guest -- a repeat from last year whom I'd never heard of at the time, and I'm still not sure who he is (was too busy stalki--- er, supporting Eric Stuart-sama all weekend, my bad). Daughter has yet to start working on her cosplay 'Mami Tomoe' from that magical girl Puella anime. Me, I might just scrounge out my old SW Role-play garb (if it still fits).

Over Memorial Day Weekend, instead of going to MediaWest*Con (which I'd contemplated until ROADTRIP with Mom to Canada commandeered most of my spare income and vacation time -- and the overly-enthusiastic RGB-Bronies who've taken over the RGB Yahoo Group certainly didn't provide incentive!) Husband and I went to visit Aunt Marie -- prepared to spend a bit. Came home with a trellis, a decorative yard pole and a hanging bird basket outdoor chandelier from SteelHeart Decorative Ironworks; a skein of handspun from The Fold for my Amazing Technicolor Cardigan; a sleeveless Harley Davidsson t-shirt from the 2nd largest HD dealership in the U.S., and some transplanted milkweed shoots for our fledgling butterfly garden (Husband's farmer grandfather must be spinning in his grave!). On the way home Sunday we made a brief detour to visit Dad; Mom had been up earlier in the week to place some flowers for him, and Grampa and Gramma A. -- didn't stay long, because it started raining again, harder. Got home just in time to hear the Tornado sirens go off !!!

Spent most of the following week thinking it was June already, because when I was growing up, Memorial Day = May 31st, and I still haven't kicked that mental habit.... Finished and mailed off a lovely 'Sunrise' triangular shawl to Da Niece for a High School Graduation present, and am currently using the remainder yarn to make a cowl which may be gifted or not. This week we've been prepping the garden to FINALLY get the tomato plants in.

On the knitting front: two prayer shawls finished, one still on the needles. Once I finish that one and the cowl, I'm going back to work on the ATC because I want to have it done for September!