Meanwhile, Spring continues...

Back in business again, energy returning, but I keep on sneezing since my poor old beezer thinks it's congested. Actually it's bruised inside, ow, but if that's all I have to whine about, well, poor me!

Meanwhile, wonderful Hali D. sent me an Alaskan care package, not related to the recent medical adventures (though she's had a few of her own, which she related with great good nature and poise, very Her!) but in relation to another transaction.

Anyway, you see part of my bounty in place on the bookcase, one of the few places the cats don't venture onto.



The ceramic dish, courtesy of her motheroutlaw, and two lovely rocks, one hematite, the other picked out by a two year old participant in this venture, is a lovely tablescape.

And nearby is the first daffodil of the year, which I brought in as a tightly furled bud, so that HP could see it progress, he being unable to see the daffodils out front. But the patio ones are coming along a treat, and we spent hours out there yesterday, lovely mild day, which he enjoyed a lot, bird watching, daffodil spotting and breathing in fresh air.

I also walked over to the woods out back to get him some pictures of our 9/11 memorial daffodils that he and HS and I all planted right after the attack, as our family's tribute. We got a huge sack of mixed varieties, HP pointed, HS and I dug (!) and they come up year after year. So I give you a picture of the first clump out there in bloom.




When he and I shuffle off this mortal coil, neither of us wants a funeral. But since we know friends like to have Something to Do, we both (and these are plans we hope will not be in action for years and years!) want friends to go out and plant daffodils if they work in their climate, or any other perennial that works better, so that life comes back year after year and reminds us of the great cycle we are all involved in at different places on the wheel. Also to give money to foodbanks and to animal rescue. There, that's about it. Make a note!!!

And the bigger tapestry is under way, with Heather's wonderful variegated yarn in evidence.



What you see here is the beginning, where I'm parting the segments, so that I will tighten up the right one to shape it differently, while the left part goes up straight. Later I will redivide them and create more openings and different shapes, but the red is the foundation yarn, before I go on to other kinds of fibers.

This is great fun, and as usual a joint effort: red areas courtesy of Heather, loom which is a set of canvas stretchers, courtesy of Stefi M., progress in spite of helpful Duncan who is determined to have that red yarn to play with. I did manage to get a picture of the work in progress without him pushing his head into the frame.

He was busy drinking milk out of a lovely Chinese ricegrain bowl, talk about spoiled. This is a kitten who started life in an open field! but he has come into his own.

Humans make plans, God says HA!

This blog first appeared on paper, you'll see why if you read on. It's written from notes and drawings I did yesterday.

Since last I blogged, was it only a couple of days ago? I had a rollercoaster 24 hours starting yesterday morning, which kicked off when I fainted dramatically upstairs, on my way down to see to HP's morning care.

Blessedly I had not reached the head of the stairs when it happened. Ublessedly, I hit the side of the washing machine with my head, on the way down, which will show up in the form of a great shiner and swollen nose for a few days. Blessedly, I have been carrying my cellphone in that little purse I showed you, the crocheted thing, around my neck at all times, so I could call HS while still lying on the floor, to come as soon as he could. Unblessedly, I could not call 911 since I could not leave HP with morning care undone, alone, in bed, and had to wait till HS got here, which he did as fast as he could. Blessedly, meanwhile I called my own doctor, whose nurse got back to me twice to get the story and insist I get in to the ER for evaluation.

So Plainsboro's Finest Rescue Squad ambulance with two angels in human form, took me into the Princeton Medical Center, yes I know the name's different now, I can't keep up with this incessant changing of names every ten years, ER where I was evaluated for: stroke, heart attack, lung cancer (don't know how that got in, but it did), concussion, and signs of life.

Many many tests, 24 hour heart monitoring in the hospital's fancy telemetry wing, which HP was in this time last year, echocardiograms, CAT scans, Xrays, EKGs much blood drawing and vital sign taking, visits from ER doctor, own doctor and cardio.

conclusion: after all the fear and boredom -- nothing to read, no ability to sleep because of all the tests, hence the note taking and drawing on nasty little pad with nasty little pen from Patient's Welcoming Folder, and fear of the outcomes -- they all concluded I had just fainted. Possibly from the pain of a cramp in my leg when I woke up, which was possibly caused by my statin meds, though I doubt this, since I've been having cramps for years and years before statins were in my life.



Machine at left is the brilliant heart monitor, weighs about a pound, sends wireless pix of the heart's shenanigans continually to a screen at the desk outside.



Seen right ahead, by patient in bed, exciting view of patient belongings bag all crumpled up, next to some machine whose function is unknown to me.



Artist's shaky gnarly old hand holding nasty pen.

Meanwhile, wonderful neighbors literally ran to help, one getting into the ambulance with me before I left to ask what I wanted him to do! I referred him to HS who was at the house by now, and a couple of other neighbors showed up, too. HS did wonderful work, taking care of every bit of HP's nursing care, with neighbors sitting with HP to let him do things like go home for overnight stuff, and then come in today to get me from the hospital, once they booted me out.

So it all comes down to: I now know what it is like to faint, never did it before, now know warning signs, now know that every part of my body that was checked is just fiiiiiine. Heart ticking just fine, no stroke signs, not even concussion.

Home now, quite tired, having been interrupted all night with more and more tests, but happy that the outcome seems to be okay.

It was a terrific dry run for HS of taking over in an emergency, and he used all the notes I'd created for him a few weeks ago to keep track.

When he left today to go off to work, he amused me hugely by turning and saying Mom, remember Dad has medication at three p.m., don't sleep through it....he really has taken this on!

So we both feel better about my trip planned for May, a huge three days at the shore, Cape May to be exact, now, since he's already done nearly everything, including transfer into the chair, much trickier than chair to bed. The catheter stayed on, so he wisely left it there, and still has to learn how to apply a new one, but that's fine for now.

Heck, he even fed and watered the bird and cats and cleaned litterboxes. He said he didn't know what to do for the plants so he didn't do anything, wise move. did dishes and laundry, too.

So, to my surprise,things are okay here. HP is very happy I'm back, but I think it's good for him, too,to see that I'm not the only person who can take good care of him.

I did these few little drawings in my hospital room, desperate attempt to pass the time, and wrote notes and thoughts, including this blog entry, fearing it might be my last, dramatic thought. Heck I even did a Sudoku printed on the side of the milk carton.

So here's wishing all of us an uneventful weekend!

Signs of Spring

Spring is definitely on the cusp. The crocuses suddenly appeared, with the obligatory dandelion shoving its way in there, too, reminding us to eat dark green leafy things in spring. I managed to snap the flowers before the robins got to work ripping them apart. They love the pollen in them and take them apart in their eagerness.

And the other sign of spring every ten years, is the appearance in our (dried out now) mailbox of the Census form. Which is pretty much a comic turn on its own, if you read it without a straight face.

I mean, folks, first thing they tell you to do is count the people in the house, and get this, "including babies, who live and sleep here most of the time." These people have no kids in the house, I guess. What do you do about that little hellion who refuses to sleep, but screams eighteen hours a day instead? not count them? give them a special weighted factor given that they take up the bandwidth of several people? offer them to one of these "institutions and other places" the Census darkly goes on to talk about?

Then you start counting, having established all that, and you name the first person you count Person One. I'm planning to be Person One around here, heck it's about time I took up my proper designation, and I'm filling out the form, so I rate.

There seems to be no provision for counting pets, though. Now wouldn't you think they'd like to know that, in view of the numbers of vets that might be trained to attend them? groomers who could expect employment? petfood manufacturers who would like to know the estimated size of their audience? pastors who run church services where pets are blessed? legislators needed to protect us from angry cats and goldfish who might bite? future petcare providers needing to know their clientele?

I have in fact been bitten by a fish, a little known feat, dating from my home petcare days, when I was feeding a pondful of koi, who got to know me and would stick their heads out of the water on my approach with the goods. One of them was even eager to grab the food before I let go, and got my fingers in quite a powerful grip before I could shake him off.

This added to the list of Animals Who Have Bitten Liz, a proud band. A rabbit, a ferret, numerous parrots, several parakeets, one cockatiel, several cats who added in clawmarks, too, several dogs, one Maltese three pound nutjob who nearly crippled my hands before I could get her off. And a rabbit -- did you know rabbits make a v shaped bite?

But they were balanced by the lovely Rottweiler who wanted a kiss and a hug before she would go in her crate, and one year tried to save me from Santa Claus, and the huge black Great Dane, mother of many show winners, named Sweetheart, who required a little chat and a kiss likewise, and kitties whose main ambition was to attach themselves permanently to me with plans to come home, including the one who hid in the sleeve of my jacket, much to my surprise when I put it on to leave.

And the unforgettable German Shepherd, Molly, who would play tricks on me and laugh, shepherd style when I fell for them...and the Bernese Mountain Dog, 120 lbs, who when a hot air balloon passed over the back yard where we were out taking the air, wrestled me to the ground and threw himself like an FBI handler over my body to protect me, nearly suffocating me in the process..dear Shenandoah, much missed.

But I digress. Back to the Census. The form allows for up to eight people. So, what about families like that one in Arkansas with 19 children (whose names all start with J, how confusing). I mean do they have to add in extra postage to take up all the extra thirteen pages they'll have to glue onto the form?

I really have to fill in the form promptly, though, or we'll be visited by the local Census in-person counting people, who have some very impressive title, like enumeratorologist or something. Our nearest counters happen to be our respite care person and his mother! who will give me a terrible hard time and point and laugh if I don't get this done.

Or maybe refer me to a college, nursing home, jail, prison or detention facility, as the Census seems to threaten...



Back to springtime and Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone who plans to celebrate it tomorrow. Erin go bragh!

My turn

Finally, after making scarves for umpteen friends, two with the lovely green cashmere I was so wild about, I made a scarf for the Great Me. This will go with a nice white cardi I acquired via Freecycle....

See here: two stages, one a couple of days ago, just started, with the new tapestry juuuuust getting under way, the tapestry alternating as my hands can hold up



and here, as of yesterday, finished.



This is a one line lace pattern, which if you fancy getting into lace knitting, is just about one of the simplest, though it looks interesting when finished. It's so fast that if you want a nice piece of work to settle into, this is not it! before you know it, it's leapt off the needles and around your neck. But if you are a slower knitter and like to take your time, this might work for you.

The pattern is: cast on 24 stitches, knit two rows, then forever after: knit four, yo, k 2 tog, k 2. That's it, the whole thing. Just do that until you run out of yarn or interest, whichever comes first. Then do one row of knit, then cast off. Done! Use a big needle, bigger than you normally would for the yarn you choose, so that the lacy effect works.

This always seems to happen: I get a nice pattern, or some nice yarn, and plan to make something for me, then I end up making presents for other people and finally get around to me. When I got that nice simple slipper pattern, I made at least four pairs for other people before I got my own pair.

On other more stormy fronts, we survived the big nor'easter, with massive winds and rain for a couple of days, flooding all around. But we were among the few who did not lose power, a big deal, since HP's mattress is power operated to keep it inflated, and his bed works with the ole electric.

The only problem, aside from my inability to battle the wind and rain to get the garbage out of the house for two days, another big deal, a lot of it being invalid waste, better out of the house fast, was that the supermarket computers were very very slow, and it took minutes for each card transaction to work, but they did work eventually, and all was well.

We did have serious winds, with trees down all over the place, bringing down power wires, and no, we can't bury them, since the water table is less than 24 inches from the surface over much of this region. We live in fact on the largest freshwater aquifer in the Western hemisphere, a huge reason to preserve the New Jersey Pine Barrens, which grow over it. Did you know that even now there are unmapped areas of the Pine Barrens? hard to believe in such an industrialized busy state with more cars per highway mile than any other in the union, but 'tis so.

And the other effect felt chez Adams was that the few little ants that always show up in March in my kitchen were joined by thousands of brothers and sisters, all clamoring to get in out of the rain, let us in, we're DROWNING out here. I didn't notice a big influx on the kitchen floor, other than the opportunists crunching up the cat food, until I opened the dishwasher this morning and found a revival meeting of ants in progress...and the cats refuse to hunt them down. They prefer to hunt drinking straws and pens, which is why I never have a pen to hand at the phone. They're all under the fridge or the sofa. Pens, not cats.

I nearly forgot the other effect: the wind and rain ripped open the back of the mailbox cluster, you know, the kind on the street where there are 16 boxes with keys on the sidewalk side for the people, and two great big doors onto the street side for the mailman to open and stuff all the junk mail in.

So I retrieved two sodden little heaps from the box yesterday, from the day before, dried them out and found one was actually okay, well packed and the contents, a friend's journal, were intact, phew. But I have no idea if any other mail just blew away in the wind....

Then today, the box was still locked, but rain had still poured in again, and all the mail from yesterday was like papier mache, including my copy of FiberArts, sigh, AND my tax refund check. I trust that HP's refund check did not arrive when the boxes were wide open....but I will wait a day or two before panicking over that.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln....

Hats ahoy!

I have finished making a family of knitted gifts,



had a terrific time making them, and hope the recipients like them! it's a watch cap for the guy, a neckwarmer for the mom, and a watchette cap for the little boy (and there's a little item inside that one as a surprise which will fall out when he opens it, and might just fit into his current enterprise, which seems to consist of digging and playing in the dirt and making roads, right outside his front door!). Hats are 100 per cent wool, neckwarmer is 100 per cent cashmere, and were all fun to make.

The neckwarmer has a slot that one end slips through and it stays in place. I tested it out and think this might be a wonderful gift item for other people, too.

I saw it on the great Mason Dixon blog, go google it (two women, one in Manhattan, one in Tennessee, hence the title, both screamingly funny writers and skit makers via video as well as expert knitters and writers of knitting books, which are worth the price of admission even if you don't knit, they're that well written).

Anyway, panting a little from that lengthy sentence, this is what comes of studying Latin and Greek at an early age, there. And it seems that Martha Stewart had put it in her mag, evidently letting readers imagine it as an original design by her talent team, but not so fast, a lot of knitters pointed out that it was created years ago and named the actual designer, and if I can find her name, I will credit her! as Martha should have back then.

As to the designer of the hats, that was me. K2P2 rib throughout, with decreases after 9 inches or so to fit the crown. I had HS test the smaller one to make sure it was a bit too snug for a man with short hair, which would make it okay for a small kid. They do have bigger heads than you think, but not as big as a man's. Then I increased the size of the man's and tested it on me, and it works, so that's the extent of the test panel's efforts.

Then came the hard part. Finding wrapping paper and wrapping it and finding a nice presentation bag to hang it on their doorknob to surprise them when they come home.



I swear, all my talent is in other directions than that of wrapping and presenting stuff. Honestly, I can make all kinds of things just by thinking a while then Just Doing It. Wrapping gifts? I'd be fired in a nanosecond from one of those gift wrap counters in the retail stores I never go into. Just can't get the paper, after the lengthy search for it, it to do what I want, then I forget to put names on and have to go back, then I forget to put in a card of explanation, the recipients not being mind readers, and have to go back.

Then I need a cup of tea to recover from the Wrapping Toils. Speaking of which, I have been directed by friends who think I need tranquillizing, can't think why they ttttttthink tttttthis, anyway, to Holy Basil, an Indian herb. I found it in tea form, Tulsi Tea, certified organic and all that, Tulsi being the real name of Holy Basil.

Had the first cup yesterday, these come in teabags, much to my surprise, I was expecting little wooden boxes of loose leaves or something, and I don't know how tranquillizing it is exactly, since I nodded off within a couple of minutes of the first few sips....it has that wonderful smell that I associate with Indian textiles and homes, warm and sort of deep, and before you even drink it, you feel calmer. Highly recommend it.

So while HP has his afternoon Lapsang Souchong, or Eau de Asphalt, as Rhonda put it, not a fan, I sip my Tulsi. He's in China, I'm in India. Works for us!

The Nautilus and other adventures

It strikes me that Once is Not Enough, at least in the realm of round robin journals, so I'm sending off a sister journal, starting at a different person, but following the same sequence of people we already set up. This way you have a second bite! First recipient is Irene, known in comments on this blog as Dogonart, and we'll go from there. Then we'll have two, count them, two, journals circulating.

This one's different, as you'll see from the pix, also handmade, but with loose leaves tied in a cover, so you can mix and match, please try not to mislay any pages (!) and generally have a good time playing.



Again the inner pages are Arches Hot Press, lovely paper to write, draw, print, glue, stamp on, whatever strikes you.

And this time the invitation is a bit different too: it asks you to examine a good thing, any good thing, and I suggest a list of categories, but you're not stuck with my ideas, and use that thing to work your page, drawing or painting, writing, whatever you like to do. Or you can cut and weave into your page, if you like that. Or sew into it. or knit a bookmark...

The back cover has a woven and stamped paper piece I made and mounted, of the nautilus.



This is a wildly interesting form of sea life which, as it outgrows each segment of its shell, seals it after her and moves on into a bigger section, never looks back, no regrets, just ready for the new adventure.

The woven paper is about the fabric of our lives, which I guess is pretty obvious, but it was nonetheless fun to make. I had a whole solo exhibit a couple of years ago on the subject of the nautilus, because I was ready to start being a Mature Person, cough, cough.

So look forward to this, and please let me know as you receive and send on your journal, the original Day in the Life and this one, Nautilus.

Enjoy!

One Bluebird, Spring Everywhere!

To mangle an old Zen quotation, one bluebird, spring everywhere! seen yesterday at the Preserve.

Sean G. the naturalist who was around yesterday told me a couple of them winter over, even. But this is my first sighting of the year, wonderful sight in the sunlight; this one's a male with the brilliant blue back which you can sort of see.

Yesterday was the first day of gardening at home, too, pulling out old dead foliage and finding the Autumn Joy sedum already has its little green rosettes coming bravely through. I love sedum, which goes and goes, something to show you in all four seasons, just gets on with its life without human intervention at all, my kind of plant. And I started this year's garden journal in one of my libe sale books, the green one with the waterproof cover. Bought a few packets of seeds, too, just in celebration, basil and two kinds of chives.

And, in the spirit of Field and Fen, I used the afternoon that HS was in attendance on HP, to nip over to the Preserve on the first really mild day of the year, temps in the high 40s., to do a bit of nature observation.

First sight was Sean G at the Preserve building, holding a mourning dove in his hands and talking gently to her, the bird's tail whipping up and down, all distressed and breathless. Turns out she'd hit the big window at the building, despite all the decals they have there, because a hawk came zooming around and panicked all the birds at the feeders.

We have sharpshins and Cooper's hawks, both of which prey on other birds and are very active right now. The redwings which also divebomb other birds, earlier in the year, are busy mating now, very much in evidence doing courtship dance circles in the sky, but leaving the other birds alone.

The decals on the Preserve building windows look transparent to humans, but Sean told me they show brilliant blue to birds, as a warning about glass. But when panic sets in all bets are off, and this little guy hit the window and fell. He put her in a sheltered area to recover, and later I stopped back and found she'd gone, so evidently she managed okay.

He showed me bird prints all across the big windows, where birds had hit the glass, and the dust from their wings had imprinted the glass, some places where he showed me an eyeball had hit, ow, and beak outlines. These prints are pretty much not noticeable unless a naturalist points them out in the sunshine, but show up right away once he explains which shapes mean what. Evidently quite a few collisions lately.

I saw a sharpie yesterday, actively hunting. They're wonderful athletes, with long tails they use like a rudder so that they zoom at top speed steering through trees and branches unerringly, terrifying for the small birds scrambling to escape. They're not much bigger than their prey, but a lot more hellbent.

And out on the lake a bunch of common mergansers which I was not able to pic, since they dive at the crucial moment and reappear yards away, out of focus...



But the ice melting from the lake (this lake is hundreds of feet deep, was a quarry), was like a natural watercolor not to be resisted.




And the vernal pond close to the lake.



And the last strip of snow seen across the field, drawing a line under the woods.

Probably not the last of the snow, since we specialize in heartbreaking spring storms with zero temps and massive snowfall just when you thought it was safe, but I'll take the mild weather now, gladly.

And throw in the star formation of clouds from yesterday, too, for cloud collectors.

Sign of spring -- library book sale

I use two different libraries, different purposes, different collections. One is a hugely ambitious and wonderful library where my art has flourished and I've had the chance to take a big hand on what goes on in the art world of the town, yay, including helping shepherd a dedicated art galley, not a shared room, not a hallway, into the new library building which we hope will be finished at some time. Tapestry will hang there as soon as it can be accommodated! and many terrific programs happen there, from astronomy to art to robotics to math challenges to Anything That Floats, you name it.

They have booksales all the time, see what I mean about ambitious, and now and then I donate to them, and they fund Sunday opening hours if I remember correctly, with the proceeds, a huge accomplishment in view of the libes that just can't run to Sunday hours any more.

Then there's the other one, where I borrow books and DVDs and music from and hang out, and they, much less ambitious, but nonetheless nice, have an annual booksale, right now, in March, which I treasure.

Mainly I don't buy printed books, got enough of them for current purposes, but I do find lovely blank books, the kind that people got for Christmas, made one entry in then decided it wasn't for them, and send them to the sale.




I usually find some great ones for garden journals and other kinds of uses, often beautiful handmade ones. Some I use as visitor books for art exhibits. This year no handmade, but several spiral bound nice quality, one with perfectly blank unlined and beautiful pages, perfect for ink drawing, AND a book of postcards of Amish quilts, great stuff, which will definitely get into the mail from Boud to lucky recipients.

So I took a pic of my latest haul for your viewing pleasure, and note that the reason for the blotchy effect is that the sun came out and you got shadows of houseplants on them.

And then there's the latest knitting on the needles, using harvested yarn, lovely dark green wool with flecks of blue and other colors, very warm. The sleeves of this sweater became legwarmers for HP.




This is the first of three watchcaps which I plan to give to a local family as a little thank you for services rendered. This is the man's cap, then I'll make the woman's cap in the pale green cashmere you've seen, and their little boy will probably get some bright color yet to be chosen from my stash. Same design, see the unity, but different colors and yarns to suit the recipient. Great fun. I think they'll like them. And there's still enough winter to go to get some use out of them right away. We do specialize in the April freeze and snowstorm around here before winter finally surrenders.

HP has a wonderful new physio, sent by his home visiting doctor, who diagnosed the endless trouble, despite all my care, of the pressure ulcers on his lower back, on his mattress -- nearly a year old, not enough support, letting too much weight rest in one area, despite the alternating pressure mattress cover and the tilting and wedging I do endlessly. He examined the bed, the chair, everything, did some upper body work with HP and left him with exercises to do on his own, since I do the leg ones for him each morning. Excellent session, I'd say.

So HP's doctor has written the Rx for a special air chamber mattress, same principle as the alternating airflow thing we have, also powered by a pump, and since she has Rxed it, Medicare will spring for it, saving us several thousand dollars of out of pocket costs.

Every time something like this happens, I bless LBJ who forced the Medicare system into existence, basically. It has a lot of faults, mainly that you have to be in trouble before it will kick in, so that prevention is not funded at all, a shortsighted thing in my rarely humble opinion, but gosh when you get it, it's wonderful. So much of what a chronic situation needs, supplies, etc., are not covered by any insurance at all, so when a big item is covered, it's great stuff.

No pix of the mattress! hasn't arrived yet. Coming today. But it won't be a scintillating sight, just take my word that we're quite excited about it!

March, in like a lamb

White rabbits from yesterday. It's March, and the weather is amazingly milder. Big coat already back in closet, sleeveless puffy vest now the approved outerwear for this coat-hater.



And the snows receded far enough on the patio to reveal brave little snowdrops battling through the ice and blooming like mad, all four of them. Look closely, they're there.



This time last year I was taking them into an intensive care hospital room for HP to enjoy, and it's so great that I can just show him them outside the living room window.

The cashmere scarf is finished, and all the profanity is forgotten and has floated away into the ether, while I admire the finished product.



So soft, such a nice drape.

She's posing here (I have a recipient in mind for this one, but since I think she or her SO reads in here, I shan't give it away, since it will be a surprise), along with the crocheted purse I made for my cellphone, to hang it around my neck at all times, just in case. In our situation, better always have a means of notifying people if something isn't in order around here.



It's a simple single crochet stitch, with the strap just a single chain, which is started at the bottom of each side, so that it can't come adrift. Since a lot of my clothes don't have pockets, this is a Good Thing to have. And I plan to resist the urge to stuff hankies and keys and wallet gear etc., in there...

On the subject of security precautions, I set up a system with HS where I call him daily early morning, leave a message on his voicemail, if he doesn't hear by about 10 a.m. he calls me, if he gets no answer on my cell he comes over (three minutes by car) to check. Which all sounds fine.

Except that last Monday, the first day of our system, I eventually found a message on the landline, HS patiently saying, Mom, I left a message on your cell. I think you forgot to call me. And you forgot to switch on the cell, so if you don't get back to me in a few minutes from now, I'll come over.

Meanwhile back at the ranch I had remembered I should have called, used the landline to leave a message, and finally, finally remembered to check my cell, found it was off, switched on and listened to his message.....we've done a bit better since then. Any eye rolling was kept strictly away from me, this is the most tactful son on the planet.

New beginnings, the Great American Tapestry...

Yeah, right. Anyway, pausing only to create a door snake, about which I'll tell you in a minute, I have started warping up a new bigger tapestry, and have picked out the yarns and strings and ribbons and other stuff that will go into it. At least that's the plan as of this writing. Things tend to change once an artwork is under way. Tentative title, since it's all about reds and pinks, hot colors, is Blaze. Many meanings in that word. I'm still receiving wonderful suggestions for titles for the first group, by the way.

Since we were on the cusp of another snowstorm, I had HP's respite person come anyway, yesterday as scheduled, even though I wasn't going out -- he lives in walking distance, no trouble to get home -- and I spent the time in the studio, wonderful time, no concern about HP two floors down being lonely or needing something, so I was able to just work, and it was such a great idea I must repeat it! in just a couple of hours I did a whole lot of thinking and work on the upcoming tapestry.

You'll notice the wonderful skein of red variegated yarn, thanks to a gift from Heather, which will be an important element in this work. This is from Shepherd Susie's flock, you remember the Lambcam last spring? we probably saw the sheep this came from! and SS's outfit did all the work of shearing, cleaning, carding, spinning and plying and dyeing and skeining, which will cause this tapestry to move a lot faster than the last group, where the artist did all the above.

So it's like Calvin and Hobbes seeing a virgin snowcovered hillside! appropriately enough since we are snowed in AGAIN. Anyway, all is potential at this point. Once I get the rest of the warp yarn, once I get out to the hardware store where I get my art supplies, once they plow us out and dig our paths.

The family that runs our local Ace Hardware is used to my weird searches and really gets into it when I explain that I'm looking for wire or foam or rope or something for art purposes. Makes a change from customers coming in to say this little screw thing fell out of the widget that holds that other thing onto the door and now it won't open.

Meanwhile, back at the front door, see my new door snake?



she does look a bit lumpy, as if she'd swallowed a few mice in quick succession, but she works fine. It's a freecycled scarf, stitched into three channels, outer ones stuffed with batting, inner one empty, so as to slide under the door. This way the door pushes the snake with it so you're not forever tripping on it or putting it back in place. I had seen this concept in a catalog, but they wanted actual money for theirs, and I thought this wasn't too hard to make for myself. Took all of half an hour. I used crochet thread and a tapestry needle to do the stitching, just a simple running stitch. This was the craft portion of the day!

The cashmere lace scarf continues unabated, too. Crafty stuff that only needs following instructions or simple figuring out are fine for keeping HP company. The creative need is pretty low in these cases, and can stand interruptions.

And then there's food, another interesting thing, which I can do with interruptions, too. I fit it into a lot of HP's morning care, and have got pretty adept at changing gears while doing his toothcare and shaving and upper body washing, and other stuff that happens after breakfast, in his chair. Our setup here is very good, since from the kitchen, I can see through the passthrough what he needs help with next, whip into there to help with it, and return to cooking right away. This means he does as much for himself as he can manage, but things still move along well for him.

Today lunch is seafood pasta, lovely seafood mixture from the Asian store with a lot of mussels along with other little sea animals, over linguine, big shake of Parmesan, seafood sauteed in olive oil on a bed of leeks, garlic, onions, with turmeric, black pepper, shake of salt, some flour to thicken the sauce the liquid from the fish creates, and my new favorite spice mix, Chana Masala, which I now add to everything except sliced bread and it might be good there, too.

It adds a bit of heat, and a lot of lovely depth to flavors. Thanks to Mary-Carol for introducing me to this great addition to my repertoire. She is a fabulous cook, currently compiling a cookbook even, so any recommendation from her is taken very seriously around here.

Except the time I called her to ask what the heck is pancetta? I had heard of it on the radio, but nobody explained it, and she said, oh you know, it's like lardon!!!! Well, I ask you, is this an expert or what. I had to admit I didn't know what lardon was, either, so she sort of spelled it out a bit more, heh. It's like a chunk of fat stuff you use on the pan to grease and flavor it. I think.

This is the same MC who plays piano and was the other half of the Floot Piano duo last year before life sort of overtook both of us. AND she paints. Loaded with talent. AND she can write. Lucky me to know her, really.

The joy of freecycle!

As a fervent recycler from decades back, and thrift shopper and maker and inventor, anything is more interesting than just buying at retail -- Woody Allen's family sin -- I have taken to our local Freecycle with great vigor.

I've shed a lot of good stuff that we simply don't use any more and rather than eventually leave HS with a ton of good but useless stuff after we both shuffle off this mortal coil, it seems better all around to share the goods while I can.



Crow on lookout duty for incoming Freecyclers.

And it brings great new ideas and people and options into your life, too. Such as a large box of bed linens, much better quality than the ones I have, and anyway I had too many, plus a box of clothing, small and medium size, which to my amazement almost all fitted. To wit: two designers blazers, which HS tells me look good, numerous tops of various colors I don't usually go for but now like, and three cardigans, and running pants, and pjs and there were a few items that didn't fit, so I freecycled them on in my turn.

Then I overhauled our bedlinens and replaced with the new stuff, and freecycled on a lot I never used plus a few of the incoming items that didn't work for me. Except that I also kept a nice toile bedcover, and a designer top sheet, and an interesting animal print sheer which now hangs over the laundry area to replace the doors I took off years ago, too dangerous for HP when he was falling a lot.

And a scarf, the tubular sort which is colors I don't like to wear, but will make a great door snake, draft excluder thing when I stuff it with batting and stitch it up the middle, to make that shape where half of it is one side of the door, half the other, opens and closes with the door instead of tripping people all the time.

So the outgoing stuff took up its departure position on the bench outside the door, and was swooped on by a number of applicants, there was a waiting list.



This is all good. There is however the flake element in freecycling, which I ran into this time around.

Usually I take people in the order they get to me, since I figure if they're that needy, they should get in line first! so I did this, for a nice lady who said she had a large family, could she take the whole lot, and I agreed that would work fine.

I asked her to tell me a day and time she would swing by, giving her the address, since the weather's bad and I didn't want the stuff out in the elements any longer than necessary. So she writes back asking me when she should come. And where I live. Figuring that the email had gone astray I repeated all the stuff but asked for a time, etc., since the mom of a large family can't fit into my schedule very well.

So she writes and says oh this will be great, when shall I come. Whereupon I said, okay, it's outside NOW, why not come over asap before it rains. So she writes and says, oh, actually I didn't mention that I'm across the river in Pennsylvania, about an hour away, and I can't get there before March 15 when I have another appointment in that area, is that okay?

So I politely said, no, not okay, going to the next person on the list.. which I did and the whole transaction was completed in about two hours start to finish! I love people who know what they want and go ahead. And especially when they email back after they've got home with their haul to say they're happy!

I just have this amused sense that stuff is traveling in small circles all the time, not getting into the landfill till all else is exhausted.

Receiving Freecycling is a little excursion/adventure, too, since you go to new places (safe addresses around here, and people put stuff out in a designated spot to pick up), find streets you never knew existed, and make armslength acquaintance with new and interesting people.

Pix for Painters Part the Second

Just for your continuing viewing delight, or use as screensaver or raw material for painting, printmaking, carving, knitting, weaving etc., here are a few nice pix from today's walks.



Winter sun over the sunflower field in Cranbury, growing snow and ice right now.




Cropped picture of the field, sun sliding down the sky.




Plainsboro Pond seen through the gazebo




Winter sun reflected in the pond.

Another time I'll tell you about my incredible haul via Freecycle today!

Scenes for painters coming up, aka This One's for You, Maureen!

Artist friend Maureen recently asked if I would mind her using some of my landscape pix, printed out from this blog, as raw material for paintings, and I said that would be fine, and thank you so much for asking first. Can't tell you how many people have swiped my work as a screensaver or to copy from, and been quite miffed when I pointed out that they need to ask first, since it's my property! that's not always fully understood.

I usually explain that if they admired my car, that doesn't give them the right to drive off in it! I might lend it to them if they ask, heck, I might even give it to them, but it's still my property.

Artist Maureen of course fully knows about copyright, and all of that, and I was happy to agree.

So it occurred to me while I was out walking today, wonderful late winter day, cold but not bitter, bright blue sky with little clouds scudding across, windy but the birds still out and getting active and starting their spring songs because of the lengthening daylight, anyway, it occurred to me that I could post pix in here specifically for people who might like to swipe and paint from them, or carve sumpin, or knit from them, or whatever.














So feel free to do so, and let us all know if you made something wonderful based on any of them!

Completed tapestry and friends

I can now declare the tapestry to be completed. It's all finished, backed onto a kind of ecru canvas that doesn't draw attention to itself, slotted with a dowel at the top and hung in place in the living room awaiting an exhibit opportunity, as soon as the new gallery opens, which will be at some point, not exactly known yet, since it's part of a new library under construction and almost finished.

As usual it's hard for me to apply words to my work in the form of a title, but if anyone has any cool ideas, please feel free to offer them. When I show this work, I plan to acknowledge Carol Q. who turned me onto spinning with a spindle, Paula L. who gave me the fleece, and friends on Ravelry who taught me how to use KoolAid to dye the resulting yarns I spun, dyed, and wove into these three related pieces. And if anyone comes up with an irresistible title, I will duly credit you with that, too.

The big monotype next to the tapestry is one I made years and years ago, and which has earned a good bit of recognition, nice to say.



What amuses me is that I still, as you see, like that long narrow configuration. I also love short wide paintings, too. Just do not at ALL like squares or circles.

Squares are too, um, static for me, despite Albers' Homage to the Square, and circles are too suffocating, no exit sort of deals. I know people make wonderful mandalas and rondels and there's a long honorable tradition of the circle, perfect form and all that, it's just that I would have to hold my breath the whole time and I can't face working in the circle.

I also took a pic to show you the new work and her friends -- bits of glassware I like on the shelves, and a fibre piece hanging from the ceiling which I made a couple of years ago when I was first fooling with string and freeform knitting.



Oddly enough, exactly as I can never explain or remember all the processes of painting or mixed media work I've done, I can't remember exactly what stitches I used in this piece.

There's knotting and netting and trinity stitch and massive increase/decrease things to make the folds, but I would have a hard time explaining it further! the armature is a bird's perch. Relic of my lovely cockatiel, so this is partly a tribute to her. She would have loved to take part, yanking on the strings, and generally creating a lot of new knots and frayed bits.

The string is regular mason's twine, from the hardware store, my favorite art shop.

So do give me the benefit of your creative title ideas, blogista friends! all ideas happily received and examined.

Still points, various

Time for a little reading matter.

What with various stresses going on in life, I figured it was time to revive my meditation practice, using a really helpful little book which comes with its own CD. I was a bit delayed by my inability to lay hands on the helpful little book and CD which had been put away when we did the Great Book Move for the Beautiful Floor, and found I was starting to get all mad and huffy over it. After I cracked up laughing at the notion of losing my temper because I couldn't get my meditation started, all the mad went away.

The reason the CD is useful is that it gives you, aside from comments, a couple of periods of silence (yes, I see the irony of buying a silent CD) where a gong strikes to start your meditation and another one ends it.

This helps me a whole lot, since I can stop looking over at the clock anxiously, and just do it. Also, this man has a great method of counting, so that you count one exhale, two inhale, three exhale, etc., up to ten. But if stray thoughts come jostling in, which they always do, you simply let them drift off and start over at one exhale, two inhale. It's good.

I notice that when you do this, all the surrounding animals also calm down, must be the vibes.

So that's for nonreading nonknitting nonmaking tapestry (backing is now ON and drying up in the studio) times. Distractible? me? oh look, a bird, no not me...

Poetry also keeps breaking in, and I want to mention Ted Kooser, Lights on a Ground of Darkness, a wonderfully evocative title. And the lead poem, about his mother, has this passage which is the most totally musical, carry the reader along in good hands, passage I've read in ages:

Mid April already, and the wild plums
bloom at the roadside, a lacy white
against the exuberant, jubilant green
of new grass and the dusty, fading black
of burned-out ditches.

What an opener! I stopped in the middle of a stanza, because this is the bit I wanted to say, oh, look, listen, read it, it's a great ride. The way it tapers off to the end. It's a memory of his mother near his own birthday, the gift she gave him of birth, and her own recent death, and well you just might want to read this whole collection.

Then Alison Lurie, not a novel this time, but a series of essays about classic children's stories, very interesting insights. Dr Seuss does not escape her laser beam -- she really explained to me why I hate Oh The Places You'll Go. I hadn't grasped that it's really a yuppie, acquisitive, bigger is better, famous is even better, rich is best of all, sort of ode. I just knew I hated it. She mourns the early Seuss who didn't think much of following the rules and getting rich, was more subversive.

And she is worth following for her accounts of Grimm, Anderson and various other children's myth and fairy tale and morality tale writers.

And my latest detective story discovery, by a wonderful writer, now a TV series, too, I notice locally, her Sergeant Murdoch, a Victorian policeman in Toronto. Apparently very authentic settings and historical accounts, but mainly rattlin good mystery stories. Maureen Jennings wrote them. And I'm very glad she did. All the elements to like: Victorian historical settings, great story, good mystery, appealing hero, strong women. All you need is a cup of tea and you're set.

Happy Valentine's Day to us all!

Since Valentine's Day is about friendship and love of all kinds, happy VDay to us all, dear blogistas, and remember that the paired thing is only a sidebar issue. We don't live in Noah's Ark....

Handsome Partner and Handsome son came through handsomely for this blogwriter, with one giving shopping requests and the other fulfilling them, then joining forces to write the card and envelope.



Major effort for HP to write at all, and I treasure his writing an entire wish inside the card, which I show not to brag, but to admire and be glad about. Thinking back to last year at this time and the total crisis we were all in, it's wonderful to be able to just celebrate like this.



The cats were very interested in the new box and card and the strange smell coming from the box when I opened it, and Duncan appointed himself Chief Inspector, just in case it was something good like tuna or ham, then shook his head to Marigold and they both strolled casually away, like, oh we knew it was something rotten like chocolate, all the time...

This is a multiple festival time, what with Chinese New Year, the year of the Tiger, and Mardi Gras, and Valentine's Day and in the US Presidents' Day, which I think is written that way since it celebrates plural Presidents. All happening right now. Gosh, the mandatory shopping alone gives you pause...

Anyway, enjoy the day, especially if you get to just not do much. People involved in the Knitting Olympics or the Ravelympics are no doubt already clicking away, but me, nah, knitting not being a competitive event, heh. Profanity in the course of knitting, now I could medal in that, easy.

I notice they've added another newly invented verb, having established medalling as a verb. The new one I notice is to podium!!! meaning get at least some medal or other. Well, he may yet podium on that one, I quote.

Big Snows make Good Neighbors

View out onto the patio before the storm was completely over with.




View out front -- those white elephantine shapes have cars under them..

Or rather big snows give generous people the opportunity to plunge in and help. This blogpost is a paean of praise to our good neighbors, who the day after record breaking snow, close to two feet fell, helped get my car out without being asked.

Day after we'd been socked in, the doorbell rang while I was giving HP breakfast, a neighbor asking for my car keys and saying they were about to dig my car out! I looked out and there were Bill B., Fumiko B and three year old Ken B., all dressed, armed with snow shovels, and ready to get to work. They not only shoveled out the car all around and behind it, a huge labor, if you look at the pix I posted which were taken BEFORE all the snow finished falling, but then warmed it up, backed out and turned it facing outward. As Bill explained, in case you need to get out in a hurry, you can.

I had barely recovered from this generosity when I got a call from another neighbor who reported she'd sent her son (this is the young man who sits with HP twice a week to let me get out for a while) down the street with a shovel to dig me out and he'd reported, hey, it was done already, Mom! then when I got out to take out garbage which I had dug out from the snow on my porch, yet another neighbor said he'd got togged up to come out and dig my car, then found it was done. Do I live in a good place or what?

All these friends know our situation and are simply not waiting to be asked for help. They'd give it gladly if I asked, but I didn't need to. The last big snowstorm we had, another couple of neighbors stopped me from trying to dig, and said, no, stop, go in the house, we'll do it. And one of them stopped by later to get my car keys and move my car out of the way of the plow so they could clear out all the parking spaces.

HS couldn't help, since he was totally snowed in and digging out of his own home miles away during all this activity. He made sure we were okay, though.

See, this is why we don't live in a retirement community! neighbors half your age and willing and kind are irreplaceable. Not to mention interesting, since there's a huge range of ages, occupations, races, nationalities just in this little block. Musicians, IT guys, accountants, graduate students, ferret rescuers, from the US, Japan, China, India, heck even NEW YORK!!!

Anyway, we're blessed and I just thought I'd like to say so.

And on the subject of people who come through, I offer you the first of the pictures of the miniature needleworks you adopted.



This is courtesy of Hali D, who also sent a lovely image of the rest of that wall o' stuff, but for some reason I couldn't get it to come in here! nemmind, she did a wonderful job of getting the Tudor Rose pieces framed and I love it.

How's the Round Robin Journal coming? is it on its way to Ontario yet?

Tangrams and taxes

Today seems to be Numbers Day.

Now that I've assembled all the federal tax info for HP and for me, two separate productions, not being a married pair, I decided to do a rough draft of the taxes, knowing we both have something coming back, and managed to get both done, whipping back and forward between last year's copies and this year's forms and the massive volume of instructions and ending up finding yes, indeed, we will get some $$ back.

In earlier years, HP used to make a huge production out of Doing His Taxes, involving days of calculations and sharpened pencils and lined yellow pads, and muttering and trying out this way and that to see what would work best, and generally driving me bananas over what is a comparatively simple matter. Particularly in view of the small numbers of $ involved.

Then last year at this time, HP was in the rehab, and HS and I made an executive decision to do his taxes, HS would recheck, just in case, since I was in crisis and gosh I might make mistakes, can't think why, and we did get it done, and presented to HP, took him through it and got his signature. Total time elapsed: less than two hours.

Today my own took about half an hour, his took about the same. This beats the heck out of paying a preparer to make the same mistakes I would make anyway. In fact I don't mind taxes at all, even in the years when mine have been very complex, with depreciation and interest and dividends and 1099s and all that.

Not that I've ever had any money to speak of, in fact what I've earned barely rates a whisper, despite how hard I worked and, immodestly, how much good I really did do. The complications don't decrease with the actual dollar value, sigh.

Doing important work for people in need and for animals and making art and creating art workshops for adults and for homeless children, and a lot of other stuff I've done isn't rewarded with a lot of $, but the psychic rewards are great. Except it's hard to present psychic money at the supermarket.

Anyway, I did this on me tod (UK slang, Tod Sloan, on my own, you know, rhyming stuff) for years and a tax accountant friend said he was worried that I was doing this and maybe missing out on valuable advantages and could have have a free of charge look over it, and let me know if he thought he should help, or refer me.

So I thought what the heck, okay, here, take a look. He came back after a couple of days and said, well, you certainly seem to know what you're doing. I couldn't find anything I would have changed. So that was nice,and I was very nice to him considering I could have jeered and said, ah ye of little faith, and mean stuff like that. But taxes, if you don't panic, and have all the stuff organized are not that awful. It's the organization of the paper and numbers ahead of time that kills you.

On a sadder note, I also celebrated Numbers Day by filling in the first of what will be a few Financial Disclosure forms for a local nursing home that may become HP's home, at least to get him on the waiting list. He's on board with this, knows it's inevitable probably, and is only concerned that I keep my hands on it all to make sure it goes well. Which is both a vote of confidence and a huge burden, when you think of it!

But numbers and shapes have happy sides, too, and I discovered Tangrams this week, too. I'd heard of them, but didn't know much about them. They're a set of shapes that fit together to make a double square, but then the parts can be rearranged, using all the seven pieces, to make all kinds of funky images, great fun, endlessly silly.



Originally a Chinese furniture designer made use of the concept to build tables that could be arranged according to need, and I found nice pix of this in modern form.



And you can prove Pythagoras' famous theorem using tangram pieces.



And, best of all I plan to make a set of my own using cardstock or something, just to play with, and best of allest, I realized that that lovely handmade box with the footcare stuff I showed you a while back is a perfect square, so will be a good home for my homemade tangram when I get it cut out.

So that's us! now for tea and snoozing while the blizzard roars on out there, all the places that were plowed this morning are all filled in again. But this snow is so good for the garden. At least that's what I keep saying.