my socks

Well a really really bad picture of my socks - I need a Richard in my life Jo (my Richard doesn't take pictures :D) but I guess you get the idea and you get to see a shadow of my head and house as a bonus.

I haven't worked on anything for the last week - between heat, Harry Potter, and a lousy trip to NYC yesterday 3 hours in and 4 hours out (a trip that normally takes 2 hours -- with no rain and flooding) We literally went less than 10 miles in 2 hours on the way home . . . ugh.

Oh - and they are cutting the dead trees down in front of my house - so we now have no trees in front of my house - but at least they figured out why the trees died -- a gas leak -- so now we have to get the village to call the gas company to find where the leak is since it apparently is in addition to the one they fixed in the winter.

Night Owl 2am post

This list was published by a contributor on the Fybromyalgia Association UK forum boards. It's a compilation of the symptoms of FMS.

I actually stole this from a friends blog (thanks Gill) because I thought it was so good. I have other friends who come here that I know have Fibro and I thought they would be interested...but also I think it is good for people who don't have Fibro to see. In no way is this a woe is me post - I just thought it was illuminating and I do have to admit that even having had Fibro for over 25 years I thought "DANG" when I checked off what was currently going on in my body - and that was without even checking off what I have had issues with in the past. It is also a good reminder to me that not everything I have going on now is menopause or age related - that I have been feeling a lot of them for decades and have just started calling it age related. Which in a weird way makes me feel better ;) I'm not getting old and this is nothing new to me.


PHYSIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS:
__ recurrent flu-like illness
__ recurrent sore throats, red and injected
__ painful lymph nodes under the arms and neck
__ muscle and joint aches with tender and trigger points - up to 18 of them
__ night sweats and fever
__ severe nasal and other allergies
__ irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
__ weight change - usually gain
__ heart palpitations
__ mitral valve prolapse
__ severe PMS
__ yeast infections
__ rashes and itching
__ uncomfortable or frequent urination
__ interstitial bladder cystitis
__ chest pains (non-cardiac)
__ temporomandibular joint dysfunction (in the jaw)
__ hair loss
__ carpal tunnel syndrome
__ cold hands and feet
__ dry eyes and mouth
__ severe and debilitating fatigue
__ widespread pain
__ other chronic illness(es) usually present (like diabetes, hypoglycemia, asthma, lupus, ms, etc.)
__ numbness in the limbs, not painful like pins & needles
__ painful swelling in the hands, legs, feet, neck
__ GERDs (gastro-esophageal reflux disorder)
__ “growing pains” start in childhood and teens, continue into adulthood
__ widespread body pain during/after physical exertion

COGNITIVE FUNCTION PROBLEMS:
__ attention deficit disorder
__ spatial disorientation
__ calculation difficulties
__ memory disturbance
__ communication difficulties (problems speaking, confusing words)

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS:
__ depression
__ anxiety and panic attacks
__ personality changes, usually for the worse
__ emotional lability (mood swings)

OTHER NERVOUS SYSTEM PROBLEMS:
__ sleep disturbances
__ headaches
__ changes in visual acuity
__ numb or tingling feelings
__ burning sensations
__ light headedness
__ feeling 'spaced out'
__ desequilibrium
__ frequent unusual nightmares and disturbing dreams
__ tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
__ difficulty in moving your tongue to speak
__ severe muscle weakness
__ susceptibility to muscle, tendon, ligament injury
__ intolerance to bright lights
__ intolerance to alcohol
__ intolerance to sound
__ extreme sensitivity to medications and their side-effects
__ alteration of taste, smell, and hearing
__ insomnia
__ inability to achieve stage 4 restorative sleep
__ morning stiffness in the muscles and joints
__ restless leg syndrome
__ muscle spasms
__ muscle quakiness and shivering during/after activity or exercise
__ sleep paralysis (related to stage 4 sleep deprivation)


oh and for knitting content I almost have one 4th of July sock done working on toe decreases and have to try to remember the Kitchener (did I spell that right?) stitch and hope to wash and block it and get a pic before hubby runs off with the camera Tuesday night.

Yard work continues

we had the irrigation guy stop by yesterday and today hubster went and got all the required parts for that - also ordered a mark out by electric and gas company so no lines get hit. No pictures still - waiting for a grand reveal - maybe when there is actual grass even.

The neighbor must have liked our hedges though because she had had hers done earlier in the year but today they were back and did them to the same height as ours.

We are lucking out on the cost (even though it is still going to run pretty high) because almost everyone we have used (including the company that has the parts for the irrigation) are members of the Fire Department and everyone is giving us breaks...... as annoyed as I can get at the time required for the FD it is a family that helps out when they can. Which shouldn't surprise me because hubster helps everyone out when he is able to also.

Talked to a friend who is a carpenter on how much it would cost to build the shed - if it is anywhere near the cost to have one delivered - I will order one already made and delivered. The company that does them does a good job but they are pretty expensive. So I will figure in time to get it done also.

Can you tell I want this done with lawnmowers in the shed so it will never end up the way it was again.

On the knitting front - my 4th of July socks are coming along slowly because I am also doing a bag as a knit along with one of my knitting circles - but the cotton ribbon in that is beating up my hands. Plus I had to rip it out as we decided that it should be done in smaller needles to make it stretch less when done.

more dog than cat

You Are: 80% Dog, 20% Cat

You and dogs definitely have a lot in common. You're both goofy, happy, and content with the small things in life. However, you're definitely not as needy as the average dog. You need your down time occasionally.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

thanks to Martha of Marfa's Mewsings
well I know the goofy part is right hehehe

Waiting on a bit of hedge clippings to be moved and some storage things to be moved before taking pictures of my finished yard - but believe me it is WONDERFUL!! I can only imagine how great it will be with irrigation and grass :D

This isn't the landscaper

mentioned before. After I talked to the wife and he never called back - We went with a 3rd landscaper - a young man who happens to be in the Fire Department with hubster. (I was determined to get this done NOW!!!) He used to work for someone else and is just starting his own company. They got here yesterday at 7:30 am and left at 6 pm.

btw - the other landscaper (the one I called and spoke to his wife) is working next door to us again - and was all day yesterday. I did call the wife yesterday am and let her know that we had hired someone else - but I guess he figured it out before he went home and heard from her too. . .

The owner of the company had to go to Pennsylvania today to pick up a new piece of equipment but the helper is here today doing the hedge and another company is picking up the debris from yesterday and the dumpster is leaving today too.

Excuse any errors in this -- I just got up a half hour ago and don't have any caffeine in me yet. I don't function well without caffeine....

my modeling tree is no more

Sarah Blanch Shawl 5/06
Originally uploaded by rho1640

It was too large and was a danger to the house if there was a hurricane - but I have to admit I cried as I said bye bye tree -- this tree was our first Christmas tree in this house .....

I have been taking pictures of the progress each day - when the debris is all taken away along with a dumpster of stuff we managed to get rid of too I will post the pictures -- I HAVE A BIG YARD (well .25 acre but it sure looks bigger than it did before)

meme meme meme meme

why do I want to sing that??


tagged by Sachi

The rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.


1) I started going gray in High School - everyone would ask me where I got my hair frosted - So I guess technically I was pretty close to salt and pepper then

2) I walk into walls A. LOT. and bounce of most of the walls - I honestly don't drink - hubby says I need to pay better attention to what I am doing and he is probably right - I usually am talking or looking somewhere else or walking faster than my brain can process that the wall is coming at me.

3) I also have lots of bruises that I have no knowledge of getting - maybe partly attributed to #2 -- also the to fact that it takes 3 days for a bruise to show on me. By then I have forgotten what I did. So I am constantly telling hubster "Remember that I dropped a box, (ran into a wall, stubbed my toe, whatever) and when that bruise on my toe, (shoulder, hip, leg) shows up be sure to remind me of what happened"

4) before I broke my shoulder I was a hell of an archer - I could out shoot pretty much anyone around - and I did a Robin Hood shot where I put one arrow completely into another - in fact when we were shooting constantly there was a group of us who would shoot for the feathers of other people arrows so we only had to replace feathers rather than arrows.

acck - I am really boring - I am having problems going further.....

5) I like to laugh - I have a loud laugh - - I think I have embarrassed people with my laugh....

6) We were bird sitting for a friend - and I sneezed - I sneezed LOUDLY (do we see a pattern here) I scared the bird so much he fell off his perch - the bird is still mad at me because I compounded the sin by laughing (loudly) at what happened. But honestly have you ever seen a bird fall off it's perch-- it is pretty funny. Especially the look on its face when it hits the floor.

7) I qualify to join both the Founding Families and DAR - because of my ancestors arriving here shortly after the Mayflower and because I also had some very brave ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War and did some pretty impressive things at that time -- and while I greatly admire my ancestors and only hope I could live up to their example - there is no way I would join either group -- waaay too stuffy for me.

8) hmmmmm --- I have a fear of heights -- I am fine in airplanes, helicopters, or on ski lifts -- but I absolutely can't stand skyscrapers, bridges, edges of cliffs. I have pictures proving I was up in the Eiffel Tower but I have no memory of it at all - I totally blocked it. . . . and I thought I could do the Washington Monument because it had little teeny tiny windows - but I was so scared -- I couldn't look out the windows -- and poor hubby had bruises where I gripped his shoulders so hard walking down the stairs to the lower level to get to the elevator to go down. And he doesn't bruise easily. .


now I don't think I have 8 people who read this and I can't tag Sachi again so anyone who reads it please do it on their blog and let me know so I can go read your answers.

My Daemon is

Did I do a bad thing?

Remember I mentioned the landscaper who gave us a quote on doing our yard -- well.... I hadn't heard from him and called his cell phone number from his business card with no response -- so tonight after knitting circle I called the other number on his card which was his home and one of his children answered and I asked for their dad - but the mom came on the line -- I explained who I was and said that all I needed was a date that he could start the job and I would have money in hand for them. Since I heard a baby in the background and at least the one child it sounded like the wife was happy to hear about the money in hand.

We have lots of friends in carpentry, plumbing etc so we know how hard it is to get people to pay for services rendered and I figured maybe saying the money is in hand would move the job along... so am I evil to do it this way. He did have the home number on the card - I actually thought that I was calling his office and would get a machine but when I got the wife I just went for it.

Now just so you know that I am not hiring a landscaper for some minor job -- this is my back yard from our roof -- you NEED machinery to tackle that job!!!

Actual Knitting Content

My socks done in April


And next are the socks I am working on now - this is the yarn from the frogged 2 socks on 2 circulars that I hated and frogged when they were done - they were in a time out in my bag but I needed yarn that I didn't have to wind into a ball so they got taken out earlier than planned - so far they are behaving themselves though.

Just realized how blurry the second picture is - sorry but you get the idea I guess. It is at the TV remote cozy stage at this point.


Ok, I am sitting here laughing my head off -- do you know that one of the options from spell check for the word frogged is frigged -- LOL

OH, I am tired if that is striking me so funny ;)

I took pictures of my socks today

now I have to remember where the heck I put the cords to put it on the computer - I KNOW I put it somewhere I would never forget and it was a perfect place.... hmmmmm wonder where it could have been?

Gill - thanks for letting me steal your Fibro Fighter button - I also put a Fibro link in my links list that takes you to a site with information on Fibro written by a doctor who has it. OK here is a laugh - spell check wants to make Fibro = Fibre LOL

I went to the chiropractor today - trying to loosen up some spots that are flaring big time - my neck in particular is giving me fits this time (more than it has for a long time) And I am in the cycle of being so tired and in enough pain I can't sleep which just keeps the cycle going. Of course if I could get some pain medication I could take a pill and get some sleep because it would bring the levels down a bit. One of my biggest bones to pick with the government - Pain management in this country sucks - Because of a few crooks - the people who need the medication cannot get it. Instead of prosecuting the bad guys the innocent person suffers. OK off my soap box now.....

On the knitting front - the socks I am working on now are from the yarn that went into the bin for a time out - I decided I was just doing a simple sock 2 inches of rib then all knit after that - so I can work on my heels and toes to be happier with them when my sock club yarn and patterns come. I hope the patterns are easy - since I haven't done any lace or cables or anything hard yet at all -- but unlike Jo there is no time limit with my club - I can take a whole month to do them if I want - as long as I am done before I get the next one I will be thrilled.

So pics to follow tomorrow (I think I remembered where the cords are - the office closet) . . . .please remember though my socks are simple and I haven't quite loved my heel and toe results yet. . .

It's 2am so I am off to take some Advil and melatonin and see if I can get to bed in an hour or so.... for a couple of hours at least.

I still live

and have even been knitting - almost done with a pair of socks. But I am in a pretty big flare from travel and am not doing much. I will try to get some pics up of the sock before I start the pair I am going to felt for slippers.

Of course, despite my flare - today hubby asked me to help him in the yard a bit so I did. Hopefully I won't feel worse and really really hopefully the sun allergy won't kick in - I slathered myself with the super duper sun screen (that I have to order more of) and wore a hat etc. but I am still red - just hold off on the burn and itch please. I really don't want to do steroid shots ... every year I do the guessing game of how much sun I can actually take before it kicks in.

Anyone reading this please send good thoughts out to the universe that the landscaping guy we called calls back today so we can get our yard cleaned. I have weeds taller than me in my back yard (with lots of stickers on them so machinery is better to get it out) It has only taken 3 years to get hubby to give up on his friend doing it and calling someone else - --- so I really want this guy to follow up with a date and get it done quickly. What we did out there today was all prep work for this guy to come and do his thing.

Before and after

To get a real idea of what it looked like this morning add about another foot to the length and about another foot to the width and you get an idea of the before

my normal way of wearing it - up in a bun.


And now the new me --

OH - ignore the letter L coming out of my head - and ignore the bad quality of the pictures since it is really hard to take a picture in the mirror in the bathroom using a towel over the shower curtain as a backdrop -- they really do look like mug shots don't they?


Tomorrow we see if I can get it to look like this - it will be easy for the summer and it will dry in minutes instead of the days it took with it long.

Knitting content coming soon I promise! I actually picked up the needles and knit yesterday for a bit and am going to Knitting Circle tomorrow.

Went to doctor yesterday

and told him I felt like a fraud being there - when he asked why I told him I wasn't feeling THAT sick - but wanted to shut the hubster up from bugging me to go to see him. I guess my Dr's idea and my idea of what THAT sick is are different. I ended up with 3 shots, a double round of zithromax and a double round of the cough syrup with codeine. So basically since I started the meds yesterday I have slept. In fact I slept the latest I think I ever slept in my life - went to bed around 2am last night and woke up at 11:30am this morning YIKES -- then this afternoon I slept in the chair a bit and then went in to lie down at 7 woke up at 9 and took my syrup again about an hour ago and am ready to go to bed in about a half hour from now.

I did knit about 6 rows on my vest front - and since it seems I can't type under the influence I don't know how good my knitting under the influence will be. ;)

I did find a shawl or scarf I want to try - it is called Dipsy Doodle and here is a link if I can remember how to do it Dipsy Doodle scarf
I think that I would like to do a cable on the other side of it where there isn't one - so it is balanced out better.... I also would like to do it wider so it would be a shawl - I think this is more scarf size. But maybe first doing the it the actual size it is written would be a good idea since I have never done either cables or lace - ya think?

But first to get my vest done while I can still wear it this year. There isn't that much to do I am 1/3 up on the final front piece then the little pieces that go up the sides and around the arms are all I have to do - I just need to work on it when I am feeling less woozy from the cough syrup...and maybe less upset stomach wise from the pills.

And remember any mistakes in this post or weirder than usual phrasing of things or missed spelling errors are all due to the meds.

No knitting content

coughing too much to even pick up the needles - blah. Going to the doctor tomorrow - will probably be given wonderful cough med. with codeine so then at least I will sleep and a couple of shots in the butt (I really hate needles!!). Someday I will make it a whole year without bronchitis!

Welcome

to my new address.

As you can see everything is the same other than the new name and address ...

Thanks Rhonna for all of your help!!

change of blog title

to rho's knitting goes... I wanted to change the whole thing but couldn't figure out how to do it without deleting the blog and starting a new one - sooo .... even though the address is still the old address the name is new.

Not so many knitting woes and my knitting is like the energizer bunny that just goes and goes and goes....

even when I don't blog about it is really is still going.. honest Jo... ;)

Well,

it was requested that I have some knitting content - thanks Jo for working the guilt angle ;D


But, it is such a dark, dank, dreary day today that I will only describe it - pictures tomorrow if it is brighter.


I finished the back of my vest and am at the decreases on the left front of the vest and it seems to be going along pretty well. And I love the color -- what color is that???

Why BLUE of course. Aren't you surprised?

Getting wrinkles out of clothes

I am trying throwing them in the dryer with a damp t-shirt. Think it will work. Apparently I left our dinosaur of an iron somewhere along the East Coast while traveling. Just shows how often I worry about wrinkle free clothes doesn't it LOL

wish me luck - I guess I will be shopping later in the week for a new iron -- any tips or recommendations -- this one was about 35 years old - I doubt new ones will last that long though hehehe

ouch - from the other day...

forgot to take pictures while this was all colorful but here is part of it winding down - - There is much more just yellow and green bruising on the front of my leg but it was just yucky..

Jeez my legs are dry - I really need to moisturize them ...