30 January 2007

Things are looking up!

It looks like the tide is turning. I got to see the doctor when I was with my Grandmother yesterday and she is probably being released from the hospital today! Yay!! They say the antibiotic is working and she should get better soon. She already seems better. I'm going to leave work today and help my mum take her to her new home. I'll probably spend a few hours there with her helping her get used to it and figure out where everything is.

Tonight is knitting class and I haven't gotten any more done than I had a few days ago. I hope to maybe get those last few rows finished today while Grandmother is napping. We shall see! I'll try to get a picture of my progress on it soon and get it posted.

I still didn't get any work done at home last night other than two loads of laundry. I know I won't get any done tonight either, but maybe tomorrow I can get to it. I have a birthday party to go to tomorrow for my best friend's oldest daughter. I don't get to see them often so I'm looking forward to it. And this weekend I've got to get the house clean and get all the supplies and stuff ready for my trip! Yes, I'm going back to CANCUN! We leave on the 10th and come back on the 17th. I'm so looking forward to it.

Alright, I'd best get off of here and get some work done. I'm not leaving the office though because I need to be ready to go when mum calls to take Grandmother home!

Thanks for the thoughts and well wishes. I appreciate it!
Blessings,

~*~

29 January 2007

Unable to blog

I've missed blogging these last few days. I wish I had the time. I have been swamped with stuff for work, my grandmother and all kinds of other things. I didn't get a chance to even turn on the computer this weekend. I did take a Saturday sky picture but haven't had a chance to get it to the PC to post. I hope to do that tonight.

When I leave work today I have to go straight to the hospital to sit with my Grandmother and then home late to do laundry and general cleaning. I hope to fit in a few minutes of knitting as I only have 2-4 more rows before I change to something I haven't done before and will need assistance.

It turns out my Grandmother does not have a uti...she has e. coli. They aren't sure how she got it, but it is in her blood stream and the only medicine they know that works well to cure it, she is allergic to. Supposedly today the doctor will have the results of a test that will tell him what other medicine they can use to cure it. I'm very worried about it getting to her other organs. It just seems to me that the longer they wait to give her something the more likely it will get to her organs. But, I'm not a nurse...or a doctor. So, I just have to trust them.

Well, I better go. I have to go pick up lunch and bring back to the office to eat before we head out again.

Blessings,
~*~

25 January 2007

Stuff...and knitting...

We will start with the knitting. I managed to get quite a bit done last night while watching the UNC vs Wake Forest game. (Go Heels!) I have only a few more rows before I'll have to switch to a different type of stitch that I'm not familiar with. I'm very pleased with my progress so far. I'll try to get a picture tonight and post it.

This morning I was getting ready to leave the house around 7:15 for an appointment before work when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but it turned out it was a doctor at the local hospital er calling about my grandmother. She had been brought in by ambulance and they needed someone to come down. My first thought was where is my mum? She would be the one listed to call first so I was worried when they called me.

Turns out she has a urinary tract infection that got into her kidneys and bloodstream. When she arrived in er they said she had a temp of 103 degrees. She apparently was very agitated and didn't know who anyone was or where she was. She was very scared, I could tell when I got there. Currently we are waiting for a room as they are admitting her for a few days to try to get the infection gone.

I'm so worried about her. She is so miserable and I hate seeing her in so much pain and so confused. They think she has severe dementia and early stages of Alzheimer's. It is so sad watching her fall apart like this.

Blessings,
~*~

22 January 2007

By gum I think she's got it...

I think I am finally, FINALLY getting the yarn overs correct in my sweater! I had to put it down when Prison Break started so I wouldn't mess it up. YAY! I still have several rows to go before I'm ready for the next step, but I finally feel like I know what I'm doing! I hope I have some time tomorrow before class to work on it.

Anyway, gotta finish watching Prison Break and then 24. :-)

Blessings,
~*~

Old news

I just realized that I had promised to post photos from our day of snow last week and had yet to do it. Sorry! My brain has been on overdrive lately and I just have tons on my mind. I can't keep up with anything!


Here are a few pictures from our snow. Please remember I live in the south, so there isn't much in the way of snow. :-)





This particular photo I took in the parking lot at work from inside my car. It was really coming down. :-)




To the left is my bird feeder after the snow had pretty much quit. As you can see, I need to feed the birds. I haven't done that in a while. I don't know the official amount of snow we received, I was just happy to see it coming down.


And last, but not least...In an unusual turn of events school was not canceled or delayed that day, so my co-worker and I had to go out into the county to deliver some equipment. While riding out in the northern part of the county and getting lost (because I was navigating and couldn't remember how to get there) we stumbled upon this house. I had to take a picture of it because I just thought it was so beautiful! I love old houses and as I explain to people who ask why I have such a fascination with them, when I look at an old house I see what it is, but I also see what it was or could be. Even ratty old shacks that are falling down. It is like there is an overlay on top of what is really there that has the grand beauty of it showing. I don't know...it is hard to explain. Someday I hope to be able to find an old house that is in need of love and bring it back to the life it deserves. :-)


On the knitting front, I had to frog my sweater again! I had gotten all the rows done that I needed to for the part I'm on, but I had too many stitches on the last row and when I looked, my yarn overs were not in the right places. ARGH!!!
So, this morning, while sitting in the doctors office having some tests, I ripped it out and started again. Tomorrow night is class and I would really like to get in there having complete this first part correctly. So, I suppose tonight while watching Prison Break and 24 I will have to work very hard on it. Although, I may have to wait until those shows are over so I can concentrate on the knitting. :-) Both of those shows require attention in order to make it through them and know what is going on.

And here's a question...while I'm sitting in the doctors office this morning, the receptionist comes in and is coughing, sneezing and just sounds horrible. She tells the doctor she just doesn't know if she can make it because she feels so bad and has been throwing up all night. Now the doctor I'm there seeing is a general practitioner so he would treat this kind of thing. He tells her she needs to see someone about her cold. Um...hello...why can't she see him? Are doctors not allowed to treat their employees?

Anyway, after spending an hour and a half in there with her, I sure better not get sick!

Blessings,

20 January 2007

18 January 2007

it ... is... SNOWING!!!!!!

WooooHOOOO!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!! It is really snowing!!!!!

I guess all the snow dances and snow spells I worked yesterday helped! Pictures to come later...

(runs to the door to go play in the snow!!!)

17 January 2007

Oh no...I've been thinking...

I've been thinking about my old blog. I miss it. I really like the one I have now, but I kind of miss the old one. When I first started it I was hoping to make one of those blogs that was full of interesting information about witchcraft. Somewhere I could post spells, rituals and anything that felt like it belonged. I ended up going off on a tangent somewhere. I guess my biggest problem is there are just too many of 'me'.

Let me explain... I'm a Gemini and anyone who knows anything about astrological signs knows that Gemini is the sign of the twins. Geminis tend to have multiple sides to themselves and I'm no exception. I have more 'sides' than a hexagon. My point is that I don't always feel comfortable expressing them all in the same place. This is probably why I have about 15 different email addresses. I can show my different 'sides' using different emails, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not schizophrenic or anything. I have been diagnosed as bi-polar with a chemical imbalance, but these days, who hasn't? Wait...there goes that tangent thing again. :-)

I think I'm going to start posting to the old site again. But I'm going to post with my original intent when I started it. I'm going to try to stick to witch type things. This blog will still be my primary and I will post here all the time. But occasionally I will post things to the old blog. For those of you that didn't find me through that or have forgotten and want to check it out, it can be found at SpiritWitch. If you know me in real life, remember the rule of three.

1. You can read it, but you can't hold anything you find there against me.

2. What you read there or here may or may not be about you, so get over it. (I never use real names, except my own and any initials I use, aren't the actual initials of the people I've written about.)

and last but not least...

3. Don't piss off the Witch!

Blessings,
~*~

I am just not getting it...

So I went to class last night very excited about the progress I'd made on my sweater, only to have confirmed for me that I was doing it wrong. I spent the two hours of class undoing more than doing the knitting. I am still not quite sure I'm getting the whole yarn over thing. I think the problem is the row of purl between the last row of yarn over and I can't quite recognize the seam stitch. Ugh... of course when I got home I had to finish reading the book for the book club and couldn't work on it. I read until about 10:30 (I did finish the book) and then went to sleep. I was very tired.

I hope tonight after the book club meeting that I'll get to work on my knitting and try to get the hang of it before next Tuesday night's class.

On a weather note, it has finally gotten cold here and I am thrilled. The current temp is at 32 degrees and they are calling for a light wintry mix here tomorrow. I am hoping very much that they are wrong and we get an amazing amount of snow. That would just make me so very happy.

Anyway, work is very busy today so I must get to it. I missed about an hour earlier due to an appointment with the vampires and am now playing catch-up. Guess I'll have lunch in again (I've been doing really well on that front and saving loads of money by not eating lunch out every day) and then I need to leave a little early for the book club meeting as I must get home and take care of the beasties first.

Blessings,
~*~

16 January 2007

Back to work again...

I'm back at work this morning after a long weekend. It wasn't a spectacularly wonderful weekend, just long. It was unbelievably warm for January and I spent yesterday morning weeding my garden and herb bed. The rest of the day was spent reading, continuing the purge of magazines and watching tv. I did watch "The Devil Wears Prada" and it was pretty good.

I have knitting class tonight and have not knit a single stitch since Saturday afternoon. I have to keep going on this particular part until I have 170 sts across and right now I have 136 but there is no more room on the needles. So, tonight I have to get there early to get longer needles and also stitch holders (whatever those are) as I will need them possibly before next class.

Tomorrow night is the book club meeting and I still have quite a ways to go on the book. I guess I know what I'll be doing at lunch and any break I get. :-)

Well, I guess that is it for now.
Blessings,
~*~

14 January 2007

Green Thumb Sunday

The weather here is so mixed up that we have trees blooming in January. I think this is a flowering cherry tree, but am not sure. I saw this near a shop I was at and thought it was beautiful.
Blessings,
~*~

13 January 2007

12 January 2007

knitting progress

The night before last there was no progress to report on the knitting front. I was planning to spend the evening in front of the fire knitting, but was waylaid by a request from my mum for some family history information. That required me to dig out my ancestor charts, family group sheets, etc, etc and took well...all night. I went to be shortly after the basketball game (UNC won by the way) around 11ish.

Last night, on the other hand, I spent knitting. I'm still having trouble getting the whole when to yarn over thing and when I sat down and looked at it I felt like it was just wrong. So...time to kiss the frog. Yep, I ripped the whole thing out and started again. I knitted until about 11ish last night, until my eyes were crossing in my head, and then went to bed. The problem I'm having now is that while I think it looks okay, I don't think my needles are long enough to keep all the stitches on it that I have to. I'm supposed to keep repeating two rows of instructions over and over until the stitch count on a row is 170. But I have tiny little needles (size 8 us). I'm not sure how close I am to getting to that point because every time I tried to count the stitches as I went, I'd lose count. And I have the sweater so mashed onto the sticks to keep from losing stitches that I cant count them that way. Ugh... maybe tonight I'll get to do some more knitting and find out how many stitches I have. I know it is over 100, but I'm not sure how far over. :-)

I don't have any pictures of the knitting today mainly because I felt like I'd be showing the same thing as last time. But I just can't make a post without a picture! So, here is a pic of my baby kittie. Actually, he isn't the baby. He is my first kittie that I ever had. Isn't he cute hanging through the bars on the rocker?

The red eye isn't from the camera. He occasionally gets well ... possessed. And when he gets this way, his eyes literally turn red. He runs through the house chasing ghosts or fairies or something and actually tries to climb the wall. When he was a baby we used to get such a kick out of him. When I first got him I was very worried because he has blue eyes and there were suggestions that he might be deaf. But he isn't. Other than a weepy eye, he is perfect! He is my baby (he's 12 years old, btw) and I love him.

Okay, I'd best get back to work. I'll try to check in later with more knitting progress and maybe a photo of it.
Blessings,

~*~

11 January 2007

Royalty

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Royal Highness Laura the Unusual of Lower Hellswicke
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I'll never forget you...

It has been one year since you left us. You were the sweetest, most wonderful friend to us and we will never forget you. There will never be anyone else like you. You protected us, loved us and never quite understood that you were too big to be a lap dog. When you lost your sight, you kept on going and were more aware of things than I think you were when you could see. I miss you and love you, always.

10 January 2007

Isn't this fun?

So last night was the first night of my knitting class. Apparently, there is only one other person in the class of about 10 that doesn't already know much about knitting. Everyone else had already worked with the teacher before and all seemed to know each other. They also were all talking about the church they attend. :-)

I did feel a little intimidated and uncomfortable, but I get that way around people I don't know. Hopefully I'll start to relax as the class goes on. Last night I learned about yarn overs, learned how to take out a row of stitches without having to start the whole thing over and also how to purl! Yay!

Here is a photo of the progress I made last night.
When I got home from class I ended up working
on it while watching House, but I did have to take out a row and start that one over to get the yarn overs correct. I'm still not sure they are right.

Anyway, I brought it with me to work and hope to continue on during my lunch break. I'm still not sure how this is going to turn into a sweater for a baby. It just doesn't seem large enough? I don't know.

Okay, I'm off for a while to do some work. Have a great day!

Blessings,
~*~

09 January 2007

The fun starts tonight...

It has been a long day. I had some problems at work earlier that really got under my skin. But the good thing about today? I start my knitting class tonight! I'm very excited! Finally I will understand what all those abbreviations mean and be able to look at a pattern and know what to do. And I'll be able to knit something other than scarves! Yay!

I need to run by B&N to pick up a book for a book club that I'm in. I have to have "The Four Agreements" read by next Wednesday. Supposedly it is a small book and hopefully a quick read. I need to get that and The Lakota Way and also Julie Garwood has a new book out I want to read.

Anyway, last night was mostly cleaning and getting the trash to the street. I also did some laundry and watched some of the bcs championship. It really wasn't much of a game!

I was just watching the movie Slither, and let me tell you...it sucked! Literally! I couldn't even watch it I thought is was that bad. I am mailing that one back to Netflix having only seen about 20 minutes of it. Ick!

Next up is Monster House. It looks cute! Well, I'm going to run. I need to get some work done and I need to leave by 4:30 so I can get home, get the kids all squared away and then get to knitting! Yay!

Blessings,
~*~

07 January 2007

Green Thumb Sunday

This morning I went out to take some pictures so I would have something for the Green Thumb Sunday post that I signed up for. I took several pictures of different things and after looking them over tonight, decided that I liked this one best. You can see a jonquil bud almost ready to bloom. Normally, I would be thrilled to see this, but people...it is freakin' JANUARY! There should not be jonquil blooms in January! I can't believe how hot it has been here. I really hope that winter decides to show up sometime soon. :-)
Blessings,
~*~

06 January 2007

03 January 2007

Let me introduce...

A little while ago, the beast(big black lab) was whiny and fussy and wanting to go out to pee. So I take him to the back door and let him out per our usual agreement for nighttime pee breaks. He took about 3 steps out on the deck when suddenly he starts barking as loudly as possible, takes off like a flash into the back yard. I think he literally flew off the deck and skipped the steps completely. I am standing on the laundry room watching and wondering what he is on about, when I see a slight movement near where he stopped. The movement was slow and meandering so I knew it couldn't be a cat, even though he has chased after several that have dared to invade his territory in the past. Watching how careful he was to not get too close and yet determined to complain loudly to whatever was invading his yard, I began to get concerned. I ran to the bedroom where I keep a large flashlight by the bed (in case of power outages in the middle of the night) and ran out to the deck to see what it was. By the time I got back the beast had stopped barking and was sniffing near the fence where I had seen "it" climb out of the yard. I shined the light around the area, careful to keep an eye on the beast lest he be attacked from behind or something and never could see anything.

After a few minutes of the beasts pee breaks and sniffs I saw his tail start to wag in an overly excited fashion. I watched him go to a spot on the fence and stick his nose in the air and sniff and I knew there was trouble. I shined the flashlight on him and then up the fence above him looking for the antagonist.

Let me introduce:

Purl the Possum...

This photo was taken later, after I had run out into the yard chasing my dog away from Purl because the beast almost had Purl's unbelievably long tail in his mouth and then dragging my vicious dog into the house. The entire time from when I found Purl on the fence and chased my dog around, finally got him in the house and then went to get the camera... Purl never moved. She just sat there quietly, not making a sound. I wonder what she was thinking. At one point while chasing my dog away from Purl I was about 6 inches distant from her. I am not sure about rabies and if possums can carry it or even if they bite. I really didn't want to find out. I hope I don't have to start scanning the yard with a flashlight before letting the beastie out at night to pee...

Blessings,
~*~

Knitting class

I know I mentioned it, but I haven't had a chance to talk about my knitting class. On Saturday, after I went to the doctor, I went to the place where the class is being taught to pick out a pattern and supplies. The lady that is teaching the class is very sweet and very fragile. She is a little old lady, just the way you picture little old ladies who knit. :-)

Anyway, after talking for a little bit about my previous knitting experience, she suggested a baby sweater. I was very hesitant at first, basically because babies are a very sensitive subject for me. Since I really didn't want to share with a complete stranger the whole, 'oh well, I had oc and can't have children and don't think I could stand to learn to knit on a baby sweater since I'll never have one' saga, I decided to just do it. (Think, Nike) A dear friend of mine had a baby girl two weeks ago and I can give the sweater to her or I can save it for my brother's children. Maybe working on the sweater and having to 'think baby' for eight weeks will help me move on from the grieving thing that I just can't seem to let go of.

So, where was I... Oh, yeah, for my first knitting class, I'm knitting a baby sweater. The yarn I picked is, I think, just beautiful. I also had to get new needles in the right size. If you click on the picture you can get a closer look at the sweater. I'm thinking after I accomplish the sweater, I may feel brave enough to try the hat. It looks really cute too.

Only six days left until my knitting class begins! I'm so excited! Wish me luck!
Blessings,
~*~

Pictures, pictures...

Before we go any further let me warn you now...this blog is going to be very picture heavy. Now that I have a good camera, I'm going to explore one of my favorite things, photography. There will be pictures upon pictures on this blog. Some will be good and some will be bad and some will make you go, Huh? But hopefully it will be fun!

So, on to the rest of the post. I meant to get online yesterday to post, but never had a chance. Work was busy and when I got home, I took down the holiday decorations and that involved cleaning out the bins that I store them in and getting rid of some stuff that I have never used. It all goes back to that cleaning up my life thing I talked about a while back on my other blog. Anyway, that took most of the night and by the time I was done I just didn't have the energy to get online.

I did want to share with you New Year's Day dessert. :-)

Remember the chocolate chunk brownies with creme cheese frosting? Well here is a big piece with Edy's Peppermint Ice Cream. It was very yummy! :-)

Last night, there was no cooking or even eating. I was just too tired to mess with anything. I did get outside for a few minutes when I arrived home and was able to check the gardens.


I have a vegetable garden and an herb garden. This isn't a very good picture, but if you look closely you can see two of my collard plants and a few garlics that are growing.


Here are some closeups: To the top right is collard and if you look
closely you can see the holes where something is eating them. Just below that is a closeup of a garlic plant. I have been enjoying watching them grow and can't wait until they are ready. I planted about 20 sets of garlic and hopefully most of them will do well.

With all this warm weather we have had it is making me want to work in my gardens. I desperately need to weed my herb bed. I had done this a few months ago, but never put down any cover to keep the weeds from crawling back up and taking over. Now they are coming back and it looks like I need to get out there soon. I only have four things planted in my herb bed. I hope to expand it this spring with more herbs. I currently have mint, lavender, rosemary and thyme. I have several other herbs in pots, but I think most of those will go in the herb garden this spring.

Anyway, I'm going to run for now. I have work to do and need to head out to a site. I'm going to leave you with a picture I took during dusk last night. I thought it was pretty cool.

Blessings,
~*~

01 January 2007

New Years Day Tradition

To me, New Years Day is a time to bring new things to my life. My annual New Years day tradition is to cook. I used to go to my mum's for New Years until about
seven years ago. That year, I came home to find that the house had
been broken into and I'd been robbed. They didn't get much but it
was very disconcerting and ever since then I've made a priority to
stay home for new years.

I always cook a traditional southern New Years
Day meal to bring good luck into my home.

On the menu: Ham


Collards

black-eyed peas






and
cornbread.

So, the day was spent in the kitchen, cooking, baking and cleaning up after myself. It was a great day. I love being in the kitchen. I love cooking and enjoying the results of my efforts. In between stirring, chopping and mixing, I played with my new camera. These pictures come out so much better than with that old palm zire I was using. I still have a lot to learn about how to use it, but I'm really excited to have it.

Oh, I forgot to mention what I made for dessert!



Chocolate Chunk Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tomorrow is back to work for me. I'm not looking forward to it. I wish I could get over my cold. I was feeling better this morning, but the pressure has built up in my right ear again and the congestion seems to be getting worse. I hope it means it is breaking up. Now I have a fever blister on my lip and a strange red mark just beside my eye. It is very sore and keeps getting larger. Being sick is just no fun!

Okay, I'm off to try my brownies and see how they taste!

Blessings
~*~

A New Year... A New Blog

Welcome to my new blog. In keeping with starting a new year fresh, I decided I was ready to start a new blog. I'm probably going to leave my old one up, but this one is where I'll post. Why do I want to start a new blog? Well, I guess you could say I have decided to come out of the blog closet. :-)

I want to be myself and I've decided I can do that without hiding who I really am in blog land. When I first started blogging, I wasn't sure what I was doing, much less if I wanted to tell the story of who I am and risk it being found by people that know me in real life. So, I hid behind a pseudonym. Now that I've been blogging for a while, I've realized that I don't want to hide anymore. I am proud of who I am and what I like and am ready to share it with the world.

So, if you find my blog and discover that you know me in real life, it is up to you to read on or not. Remember, this is for me, not for you and if you don't like what I have to say, you can stop reading anytime.

In my new blog I'll post about my everyday life, my passions and well, my favorite things. Hopefully you will find something here that makes you laugh, smile or is useful in some way. Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!