I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

So, it's out with the Tide,

and I'm going Natural. 

See? I should have followed my original instinct for Josephine.

It just goes to show you, your first choice is usually the one. Except of course, in my case, when it comes to husbands...

You know, I do happen to have the most wonderful (second) husband. Not only is he handsome and patient, kind and forgiving, he also makes breakfast....almost every day!

 

(he would not, however, let me show his morning face!)

I came home from work today to find that he has an entire itinerary for a "date" tomorrow...which includes, of course, our bicycles, Niagara Falls and pink fireworks. How perfect is that? 

OH! By the way, today is our anniversary!

AND, it's Maggie's birthday.  

Fancy that...two neat things in one day.

Excitement abounds! I am cabling and I can't stop! After a frustrating and challenging two day start (during which I had to re-knit ribbing the length of my height) and getting the first row of the pattern established, I am in cable-heaven. Who knew this could be so much fun???

I started by carefully color coding my little chart,

and then putting my beautiful Secret Pal 5 stitch markers in place...

and here I am...progress on my capelet! I almost forgot that I was so stinking tied in a knot over it this weekend!

However, I must say, I have neglected my poor Debbie Bliss wrap cardigan...even though it is divine yarn, it's just not as much fun to knit as the capelet.

I do have a question, however. This sweater has an attached shawl collar, which means I knit ribbing around the neck edge and down the front, then I knit a ribbed collar which is shaped with regular old decreases, which then gets stitched to the neck ribbing. Couldn't short rows achieve a similar, yet more tidy  effect with much less work? And if so, how would I accomplish this?

The joys of gardening....

of apple season in New York.....

            

and of knitting and blogging...

Thank you Elizabeth! This is by far the most generous gift of friendship, time, creativity and community that I have ever been given. I will treasure it always.  HMMM...now what will I make for dinner?

Trying to decide on a color for Josephine. I so admire Lisa, who could immediately claim "Leaf" or "Bud."  I have wavered for days...."Cream?" (no, Lisa said, it's too big of a sweater to wear that much cream.) So, maybe "Mist." (well, actually, I'm a little prone to depression, and that's alot of gray.)  Perhaps I really do want the Cream. ( it's a big hand-wash sweater. I'm always dragging my sleeves through a plate of spaghetti or something...I'd never get to wear it because it would always be blocking) "Pool?" (too blue) So, I settled on "Tide." Tide...that's a nice name, and a nice navy color without being too navy. Maybe it was the all that tide and pool color talk that started it all......

And then I came home today. I was drinking along on the ride home...a big 32 oz. thing of water...and the urges began. About five miles from home, not one, but two cars pull out in front of me on one of the only curvy roads in the area.  Two miles from home...I loose the slowpokes and as I approached the intersection, an ELECTRIC car has the right of way! A little, 15 mph golf cart sort of thing! I was about dying by this point, ready to find the closest treed glen. But the little electric car waved me on.

As I drove into the village,   Road work ahead...there has been road work in our village for two years.

what's this?      And me with a full bladder!

  Oops! 

Nearly home!

 

It started to RAIN!

   

Just about there! Over the canal  ( water, lots of water), one last    Then home at last, ALMOST wetting my pants on the way in.

  After all of this, it got me thinking about incontinence, and that perhaps I needed support. I found the Depends website, and I discovered this...  An actual journal entry from an actual incontinent person. (The red entries are my own commentary)

September, Entry Two

Aisles of water were everywhere. It spewed under the washer, the dryer, the hot water heater and the shelving rack where my "working outdoor" shoes were stored. Even the freezer, in the far corner, was sitting in water. Thinking that my eyes were not seeing right, I blinked a couple of times to clear my vision. When that did not work, I grabbed my eyeglasses, cleaning them on my shirttail.(which was wet?) Truth cannot be denied: The washing machine had sprung a leak. (or was that me?)

Of course, "Murphy's Law" was working fine. Dirty laundry waited everywhere as Problem No. 2 loomed large in my mind: Should I use the dryer while it sat in water? After dragging the all-purpose wet/dry vacuum to the area, I attempted to eliminate as much water as possible from the washer/dryer area. (and from my bladder)Following that, I loaded the dryer with towels from the washer and started the machine. It worked!

Later that day, I went out to the freezer for a couple of items. While trying to dodge the few remaining puddles of water,(which I had left throughout the day) I accidentally stepped in one and down I went. Needless to say, the pain was incredible. I was sure I had broken a bone or two. When I finally realized that no bones were broken, I carefully hung onto a nearby chair and raised myself from the concrete floor. Other than the pain from falling onto a concrete floor, the only other problem was a very familiar one – incontinence. Thankfully, I had adequate incontinence protection in place and was saved the misery of that possible embarrassment. ( I wish I had thought of that before I drove 25 miles home and drank 32 0z of water)

Looking back, I wonder what people do who fail to use sufficient absorbent incontinence products on a regular basis. The fall had triggered fear. Fear had triggered the incontinence episode. Perhaps there's a lesson here for me (and maybe others, too): Always wear the incontinence products. You never know what may happen.

Until next time,

Patricia

* This journal is written by an incontinent person, not by a professional writer. It is written in her own words to retain her personality. We hope you enjoy it.

And this blog was written by an actual ALMOST incontinent person.

This is it! The event of the Autumn Season, happening right here in our little home town!

Anyone is welcome....come on, you Syracuse Girls! and Bonnie from Buffalo..spread the word!

Thank you , Miss Lisa, for putting this together...it is going to be so much fun. So, come on, you Syracuse girls...and you, too, Bonnie from Buffalo! Let's get together!

My goodness, with so much of life in the way, we certainly need a two hour break for knitting and visiting...lately I'm wondering where the days go.

I have certainly been knitting, but it's rather blah to show you the progress on my black Debbie Bliss Cardigan from VK. I'm going through my stash, dreaming up some other projects, like cables....I'd love to do this wrap in red.   Then I checked out the new Knitty, and fell in love with Blackberry and Josephine.  (Josephine reminds me of my youth)...and Heaven help me, I've thought about a scarf...

  named....Blackberry.  Blackberry!

Last week, we cleaned out our coat closet, and there are far too many winter accessories for one girl to wear....the next scarf I knit will have to be used to strangle me!   

And the only reason I am making these mittens

is because tomorrow I am teaching the Lockport girls how to make them.

Today is National Punch Day...How will you celebrate?

 

   

Look who came to visit! Of course, I had to self-talk the whole time they were here...."the last cat that came to visit has been living here for 17 years....they can get fleas....so what if they are cute, they will rip the curtains to shreds....we are trying to be empty-nesters...." It was a close call.

  The kittens were terrified of Moses,

      and Moses was terrified of the kittens.   

                                             

It took some collective bargaining and mediation for them to be within the same room. We have an excellent arbitrator.

   

But cute as they are, no more kitties for us. Thanks for the visit , Kate!

We have two friends we'll call Steve and Babe. Actually, we really do call them Steve and Babe. They have a kayak, and let us borrow it for the week. On a beautiful sunny day this week, JR and I took to the water. It was spectacular, as we forged the streams of our Founding Fathers, navigating places only accessible by water. It was gorgeous and peaceful. And, we didn't have our camera with us. I did not want you to miss a moment of our afternoon, however.

I had never been in a kayak before. It's hard work.

This is Glenwood Lake, a small man made lake in our village, created by a dam in Oak Orchard Creek after it plunges over a waterfall.

 

   

 

We saw fish jumping, turtles sunning, and a beautiful Great Blue Heron as he fished for minnows. We  got so close to him and to the falls, that we were being misted by the water as it plunged  over the falls.

We investigated coves, and paddled along, and we found a rope swing out over a cliff!

It has been years since we jumped off a rope swing. I challenged JR to do it, and well, we both took a few jumps!  What fun was that! 

                  

After an hour and a half of paddling, JR let me take a break.   

      

It was the best time. I had always wanted to go up a creek without a paddle.

But really, I was able to do something I've wanted to do my whole life...sit at the base of those Medina Falls. And as a bonus, I jumped from a rope swing at the age of 46 ! 

How cool is that?

      

First there was Chris (AKA Skittermagoo),  then Shobhana, and then, my SP5....

Lena!!!!  It has been a wonderful pal experience again, and I've got to say, I'll do it again.

  And, just like a mind reader, Lena somehow knew I

am trying to cut back on my caffeine...

  (for my charm bracelet perhaps?) The funniest thing is, Lena was also Lisa's pal! So we are, indeed, pals twice removed!

I was lucky enough to spoil fellow New Yorker, Leann. Now that she knows how to find me, I am counting on a visit or a meet-up one of these days! I loved having Leann to gift, because she devoted a whole photo journal to all of her secret pal gifts! This is a woman whose love language is gifts, and certainly shows her appreciation for them. That is what is so cool about doing this thing. I just wish everyone played nice, that's all.

Another peaceful weekend...we spent Saturday at  our church, listening to an awesome conference led by Tim LaHaye , author of the "Left Behind" series. Since it was such a lovely day, we skipped out a bit early and went to the Buffalo Launch Club to catch the tail end of the classic boat show. There were indeed some dreamy boats...and we didn't have our camera. JR actually took pictures with his cell phone so that he could see how his recent purchase would look after refurbishing.

  a 1963 Century Resorter inboard. And I am excited, because I already have the appropriate accessories for the boat!  A wonderful metal cooler and picnic basket from the era! I think that will be darling when it's done, and we are sure to just have the coolest time, Gidg'!

So, some sunning, and hammocking, a little reading and knitting...

And that was my weekend.

I've been thinking about what I did this past weekend since Tuesday, and finally get to write about it...

We declared a "no-driving" weekend. In our effort to conserve, and play a part in the economics of supply and demand, JR and I stayed home. Other than one trip to a birthday party (because if we didn't go, I shudder to think of what would have happened).......the only wheels we used were on the bicycles.

Actually, it was kind of nice. We watched a Netflix movie or two. We got the barn

cleaned out. We sat on the porch and I knit.

I made a big breakfast...twice. We cleaned the house, and did odds and ends, here and there. I made a cowboy tote bag.

  I picked a fresh bouquet.

We sat on the deck and relaxed... and talked.

For the first time this summer, we had a camp fire (because it's been too hot for a campfire)

and listened to the animal sounds. There are raccoons living nearby, entertaining us with a few of their more than 50 different sounds they make. Screeching and howling were the two we heard over the weekend.

There is something about staying home. Not feeling like we had to go here and go there. When we wanted something from the hardware store or the farm stand, or wanted to visit with Kate and check out her latest decorating, we got on the bikes.

We declared a couple of no TV days, also...since we could have spent hours watching any number of reports any hour of the day about the hurricane. Not that we're not concerned about this tragedy. But being away from the TV,  we counted our blessings, and we prayed.  We also wondered if somehow, in the bigness of who God is, He may have been telling us each something different about this hurricane and the effects of it on each of our lives. For us, we wondered if it took the rising gas prices to bring us home and keep us home...to just be with each other and not have to shop or go to a movie or a take a long drive....we even gave up Buffalo Bills tickets...

It's funny how it never got boring. It was kind of nice to notice the animal sounds at night and to get a sore rear end from so much biking. To give the little girl next door a dollar for a cup of lemonade, which she labeled "Lemon-Aid" for the Red Cross..You know, I would have never known she was there if we hadn't taken the bikes that way to get some corn from Pudgie's Vegetable Stand. It was good to be thankful and prayerful, and less distracted. It was good to reflect on our purpose.

Today, we heard about how a small company here in our home town is bringing 20 people from the South to work, and they need homes until they can get their own places and then call their families to come. We are calling our local Red Cross chapter tomorrow morning to let them know we have room....that our doors are open.  And if we can accommodate someone, I hope that the comfort of our home, the animal sounds at night, and the prayers that we say will be a comfort for our guest.

 

All right! I've tried to stay pretty low key the past few days, but now I have to speak up.  Someone did a Yahoo search for "biggest+butts+ever" and checked out MY blog!

Now, I know things have been difficult these past days, but really... the nerve.

Things have been difficult, and things have been strange all week, in fact. A few nights ago, I just had a feeling I had to sleep on my husband's side of the bed. I don't know why, it just felt like the thing to do. So, I got adjusted, started to drift off, and then had to use the bathroom. When I came back, there was a real gender switch, role reversal being played out right in my bedroom....

  We woke up in the morning to a fresh catch by Pooh-Cat...in our bedroom, which JR thought was dead. Until he went to grab it with a paper towel, and the mouse ran across the room! I've never heard my husband scream like that!

Things got more weird as the week went on and we actually... for several days in a row... watched this climbing rose climb right through our family room window! I had considered letting it go to see if it would blossom next spring, but when it touched the ceiling yesterday morning, it had to go.

  And stranger yet....

    But, this tops them all....

   

That thing is scary.