Life Throws Curves, Sometimes

Finally, the pictures worked! Well, here they are, though the Spring Cottage has lots more added to it. I've been stitching a lot, in hospital waiting rooms. When John takes more pictures, I'll post them.

The graduation went well, and Stanford was feeling better for that, so we thought it must have been a virus after all. Then he was in more pain on Saturday night, and Sunday and finally late Sunday we took him again to the emergency room. They admitted him because they couldn't find the cause of the pain and he needed morphine to control it. Monday late afternoon they did a laproscopy to look around and take out the appendix if it turned out to be that. Then they found that it was a bowel obstruction, a blockage in the small intestine, caused by a tumor, which the doctor said was a kind of lymphoma that will respond well to chemotherapy. He said he got the tumor completly, and there was no sign of anything else. They have sent it to pathology, and when it is analyzed all the way, we'll be talking to an oncologist to see what happens next. So, this post is short, and I'm off to the hospital to be with Stanford. John has been sleeping there at nights while I do home stuff, and I go over during the day. He has missed work all this week, but has a very understanding boss, even though he has only been at the job for five weeks. They said they'll work out everything later, and to take care of the family, that's the important thing right now. More later as I know more.

Misc comments, also Emergency Room Stitching

I finally finished up the socks I was working on, both of them! They are Glad Ragg socks, from the Six Socks Knitalong group. I keep trying to post a picture, but blogger isn't cooperating tonight. I've really enjoyed knitting these, loving the feel of the yarn, though I think the color hides the lace pattern somewhat. They are not perfect mates, since the color patches are not in the same place, but are "fraternal twins". One thing to remember when knitting with more than two double-pointed needles is that you are only knitting with two of them at a time. Having the others hanging there does tend to make it feel like you're knitting with a porcupine at first, but once I figured out how to hold my hands and where to put the points so they weren't constantly getting in my way, it's second-nature.

About my garden: New Hampshire has decided it needs a monsoon season, so I only got in one session of gardening this week. I did put in tomatoes and beans, as well as marigolds around the tomatoes to keep the bugs off. I think that's called companion gardening, where you put two plants together, and the bugs that like the tomatoes don't like the marigolds, so the tomatoes are protected. You can also plant basil with tomatoes with the same effect, I've heard. I know there are books on this subject, and I'm sure, things all over the internet about all kinds of plants you can put together that benefit each other. Also, in case anyone thinks I'm being noble by getting up at 6am to do the gardening, I'm not! My son and I share a newspaper route, which has to be done by 6am. So, on my newspaper days, I'm up by about 5:20 and delivering papers, walking around to do it, then since I'm up I might as well use the time to do some gardening. So, there you have it: the little job I do to earn stash money also provides me with convenient time for the garden (when it isn't pouring!).

Someone asked about the Winter Cottage. It's a Boxer kit from Lizzie Kate. I'm now working on Spring Cottage, and actually made some really good progress last night in the emergency room. My son, Stanford, the one who graduated from High School today, began feeling severe stomach pains yesterday late morning. I kept telling him it must be gas or something, and had him lay down, go to the bathroom, etc. But the pains kept coming and were not getting better, so I finally ended up calling the doctor, who said to go to the emergency room. We arrived about 5 pm, and didn't get home until midnight. Stanford had a CAT scan to make sure it wasn't his appendix (it wasn't) and the poked and prodded, drew blood and took urine. Finally they said it must be a virus, gave him some morphine and a prescription for a narcotic pain reliever and sent us home. With all the waiting, I had good light for reading and stitching, and a comfortable chair, and we were lucky enough to have a corner room, fairly private, and the nurses and doctors were really nice. I had lots of stitching time, only having to interrupt it to get Stanford a warm blanket once, and hold a pan for him to throw up all of the iodine solution he had drunk for the CAT scan (stitching safely out of the way for this part), but with all of this, the emergency room is not really my favorite place to stitch. Oh, Stanford is doing better today, and we made it to the graduation (I was not sure we would!)

Lady Liberty

My days are very full just now, often more full than I would like them to be. With one son graduating from High School this Saturday, and all of the end-of-the-year things that involves, and two other kids finishing up their school projects, a field trip to chaperone this week, one son who just bought his first car and the help he needed in getting it inspected and being driven to work while the car was in the shop, periodontal surgery tomorrow (I scheduled that, and a mammogram next week to get them done before school lets out for the summer) and all the recitals and concerts that happen, it's a wonder I've found the time to breathe, let alone stitch or read or blog. But the stitching and reading and blogging (which I'm finding I really enjoy, both the reading and the writing) are my sanity and help me through the busy times. On Saturday, though, we spent the day on a family outing (which we haven't done for ages) to some place I have never been before, and it was wonderful.

Julia's 4th grade class sponsored a trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Now I've lived in New England for 21 years, and have only driven past New York City, never into it. So this was quite an opportunity. We met at the elementary school at 6 am and got on one of the two coach busses that were hired. We rode in comfort for about five hours, sleeping, reading, watching DVD's, and I stitched a little (on the more smooth parts of the ride) and knitted a lot. Here is what I knitted: Isn't the yarn turning out great? It's a sock version of the American flag. It is so much fun to knit away and see what the yarn becomes. Now, Patti, before you think that I always knit socks this fast, keep in mind that we were on the bus for five hours going down, and five hours coming back. And knitting is much easier on a bus than stitching is, though I tried them both. I have actually amazed myself with how fast this sock is knitting up, and maybe I will actually have the pair done by the 4th of July!

It was so exciting to go through New York City, first seeing all the skyscrapers (did you know some of them have gardens growing on the roof?), some of them rising into the clouds. We drove down Broadway and saw lots of theatres, where Wicked was playing, and Phantom of the Opera, too, Carnegie Hall, and all sorts of others. I was so much wanting to get out and walk all around and be a true tourist, gazing at the skyscrapers and staring in awe at all of the sights I only read about.

Finally we arrived at the ferry to take us to the Statue of Liberty. The only sad part of the trip (for me) is that when they do the security screening to get onto the ferry, they run your stuff through an x-ray machine, like at airports. I had purposely taken a pair of child's Fiskar's in my knitting bag, which I was allowed to take on my last airplane flight with no problem. They took those away from me. And the really sad part is that they also took my little folding scissors that have been on my keyring for years and years. I had completely forgotten to take them off and leave them on the bus. And by the time I discovered I couldn't have them, the bus was gone to wherever it would park for the day, the rest of the tour group had gone ahead, also my children, and even though they gave me the option of refunding my money and letting me have my things back, I didn't really have that choice since we were with the group. So, sadly, I let them go. The folding scissors have been mine since I was about 10 years old, when I got them in my stocking at Christmas. I have to admit I cried a little, and was really ticked, too (just how can terrorists use folding scissors and children's Fiskar scissors for evil purposes? Or even if they can, I can think of even more evil ways to use ball-point pens and my own thumbs!) I will be replacing the scissors as soon as I can corner my husband to do what he does with temporary credit card numbers on the internet, maybe tomorrow night, and ALWAYS remember to take them off my keyring when going through security checkpoints from now on!

The Statue of Liberty is amazing . . . imagine arriving into the harbor after ten days on board a crowded ship, seeing this for the first time, your first look at your new country. (I'll post pictures soon.) The day was misty, sometimes pouring rain, which lent a softness and wistfulness to the New York skyline and to the Statue of Liberty herself. Then from there we went by ferry to Ellis Island, to see where 12,000,000 people have entered the USA. It was a very moving and touching experience, to see where they waited their turns for quick medical exams (including having their eyelids upturned by a buttonhook to check for signs of a very contagious eye disease), and had other tests to make sure they could contribute to the society, before being allowed into America. There was a museum of belongings some of the people had brought, and displays showing which countries the people had come from at various times. There were walls with many, many names of the people who had come there listed on them.

After Ellis Island, we had a chance to walk around New York City for a short time before meeting up with the bus again. We walked several city blocks, passing a large bull (for the bull market in the financial district), seeing Trinity Church (the one featured in the movie National Treasure), and finally arriving at the site of the World Trade Center. What a sobering sight.

One day I would like to go back to New York City and spend more time there. I would love to explore the streets and shops, eat in the restaurants, and visit museums.

On the way back, we watched the movie, Hitch, which I had never seen before, and which takes place in New York City, and showed many of the sights we had seen. What a fun day!

Summertime, when the living is easy.

Thank you all so much for your kind comments and welcoming me so warmly to blogland! I'm learning more about posting each day, and between my husband, John, who takes the pictures, and my daughter, Heather, who helps me with the html stuff (John could do this as well, since he is a super geek, but Heather has a good eye for layout, as well as experience in editing, and has also inherited a little of her Dad's geek tendencies), this blog is truly a group effort.

I used to wonder what anyone could write about one subject, even stitching or knitting, day after day. How could there be new things to say all the time, especially if you only stitch for a few minutes so basically have not too much to show in the way of progress? But stitching (and knitting and reading, and all of those good things) are such a rich part of my life, I can't imagine days going by without at least thinking about them, even if there isn't the time for the hours of doing them that I would like.

My mother used to tease me that when I got married my wedding dress would need a pocket in it for the current book I was reading, because I couldn't be away from my books. Now I've added stitching and knitting to that, and usually carry my purse, along with my project bag to wherever I go, and at least have the bag in the car. My purse always has a tiny "emergency" cross-stitch kit in it, and if I'm going some place where a bag would be awkward, I will often throw a sock I'm knitting in my purse as well.

This evening we had two concerts to attend: the elementary school concert in which Julia, age 10, was singing with the chorus, also the jazz band concert in which Stanford, age 17 played with the jazz band and jazz lab band. Cloning has not yet been perfected, so I went with two of the kids to Julia's concert, and John went with the other to Stanford's. We arrived at the elementary school along with lots of other doting parents. As usual, there were about 250 people in the gym, and only about 200 chairs, so a fair number of us had to stand or sit on the floor. The gym was literally about 95 degrees (it has been about 90 and humid all day here), and they had four enormous fans, about 4' in diameter each, set up. The lights went out twice, because they were overheating, and they are huge industrial lights that take about 7 minutes to be lit again. So the kids who were supposed to play musical instruments couldn't see their music, so they scrambled up onto the risers (there was still light coming in from the open doors to see to do that), and did a few choral numbers, which were memorized. I felt bad for the parents who were trying to take movies, of shadows in the dark, singing! However, in the 10 minutes or so before the concert started while I was waiting, I got the second sock of the pair I'm making done to the last 8 stitches on the toe, and ready to be grafted together! By that time, the heat was unbearable, and knitting wool socks, even thin sock yarn on skinny needles, irritated me and stuck to my hands, so I was glad to put it away. Pictures later.

Earlier today I spent lunchtime knitting at my LYS, Ewe'll Love It. Beverly has knit-lunch every Thursday, and I go when I can. It is so relaxing and inspiring. Today I also bought a pattern for a shawl, and some patriotic sock yarn that had just come in. I wasn't going to buy it at first, and listed it in a little notebook I had in my purse. When I went to write down the color number, it was "1776", the year the USA gained its independence. How cool is that!

Even earlier today, first thing in the morning, actually . . . actually about 6:15 this morning, I finally worked a little on the garden. I like gardening, once I get started, even though bugs don't thrill me, and dirt and sweat hinder my stitching. I want the yard and garden to look decent, so I figured I would just have to commit to about 20 minutes a day of work, and if I do it first thing in the morning, there aren't too many bugs, and I could shower right after, and it's not too hot just yet, plus I can work in the shade. So today I planted parsley, which also involved cleaning out the first box garden of dead leaves and weeds. I read that the sage should not be allowed to flower, and should be replaced every two or three years, so next time I'll take care of that, also plant the tomato plants, cucumber, and beans that I bought. Here is the garden as it looks now. The cute little house behind is our shed. I suggested when we got it that if John wired it for light, I could make it into a perfect little play house for me to escape to and stitch, but he said no, we needed a place for the lawnmower and bikes and such. Details, details!

Last night I went to visit my friend, Patty, and we sat out on her deck and stitched for as long as the light lasted. It was just delightful! I made more progress on DT's Spring while we listened to the birds and talked. I would love to make a welcoming outdoor retreat like that. I'm hoping to get a screen house this year so I can enjoy looking at the garden, and stitching, without the bugs enjoying me.