At My Own Speed Today!

Well first an update on my Pop - no change - he as of this morning is finally getting some sleep - we won't know until he wakes up how he's doing - they are trying to keep him on a slow drip of sleeping meds - After not sleeping all those days - I'm sure he needs it to heal. So hopefully we will have great news tomorrow. All his scans and bloodwork tests and all that they did the past few days have come back negative/normal so that's a good sign!


Well today I didn't even go out of the house - Wait a minute - I lied - I did - walked to the mailbox this afternoon! This morning I decided to start hooking - so made my tea and started - Of course there were times I had help...with picking wool...



Supervising what goes where...
And at times no hooking at all - he totally stretched out over the entire frame! Of course he didn't get pushed off or yelled at - he got hugs and belly rubs and kisses - and i was rewarded with his purring and rubbing.

Decided to do Mt. Saint Laundry today - it was getting out of hand! Also decided to make up a few things - My husband loves Mac and Cheese - not my favorite at all - but his Dad was English and this was a staple for dinner in his family growing up - 3 times a week! (blachhhhhhhkkkkk) Of course it can't be a box! But years ago I found out that making it in the crock pot tastes exactly like making it from scratch - and it's great you don't have to make a white sauce base or anything! What you do is boil your noodles (today i used mini penne) no need to boil them fully - but a little more than half done - throw it in the crock pot - add cheese (today I used a mixture of cheeses I had left in the fridge and freezer that I shredded up - hot pepper, cheddar, monteray, etc.), add a can of condensed milk, and some regular milk, salt and pepper to taste and put on high for like 3 hours - stir now and then and you have "baked mac and cheese". Another thing i did was saute onions in butter and threw that in - usually I add hot sauce too but since i used hot pepper cheese i didn't today. So what i do with the leftovers is put it in little containers and freeze it - that way my husband can grab one in the morning to take for lunch.

Also decided to make up some ham salad for lunches for my husband too - something else very easy to do - throw some chunks ham in a food processor, then throw in a couple hard boiled eggs, some sweet pickles and mix with mayo - another easy thing to make!

So why stop now - why not spend the afternoon in the kitchen since I already was making a mess - I decided to make Whoopie Pies - my friend Donna gave me the recipe a while ago (Taking a moment to say Hi to Donna right now as I know she reads this - she's a great cook and baker and is always passing on great recipes - the best was when she made them and brought them work to eat! LOL! ) Well anyway - the Whoopie pies came out great - if you google "Cooks Country Whoopie Pies" you'll get the recipe - the filling is made with marshmallow fluff and it's not overy sickening sweet. One of these days I'm going to try to make pumpkin Whoopie Pies - these were chocolate.

So after spending the afternoon in the kitchen - I sat down for more hooking . Felt good to finally get to pulling some loops! It's been a while. Just nice to do "normal" type things for a change - even though I could have done without having to do the laundry!

Hope everyone has a good day!
joanne

Not a Good Week

First I want to wish my sister in law Cheryl a very HAPPY FORTY NINTH BIRTHDAY TODAY - Hahaha - now we aren't the same age anymore! (she loves to rub it in that we are the same age for a few weeks!)

This week hasn't been the best. I'm still struggling with this cold - just can't seem to shake the coughing.

Normally I don't talk to much about health problems in my family but figured the blog was a good way to let everyone know how my Dad is doing - Wednesday morning I was awakened early with a call from my Mom, my Dad wasn't feeling very good - he's been sick with the "flu" for almost two weeks and had some other symptoms. Well he's had many many things medically to deal with in his life - so he really has no resistance - Last year we nearly lost him but got a new set of doctors and hospital and he was diagnosed correctly and has been in pretty good health for nearly a year. Back 1999 he had a "whipple" procedure due to pancreatic cancer - a whipple surgery consists of taking almost all of your organs out it seems - well not all but let me tell you - it's serious and a long recovery - one thing nice from when he was in the Cancer Center for that - they got everything out and he avoided chemo and radiation. Well back to the present - Spent a long nite in the emergency room Wednesday - I took my Dad and Mom down - got my Mom home near midnite and my Dad was admitted to the ICU. The round of tests discovered one problem was pneumonia in both lungs and low sodium and his electrolytes being off kilter - Low sodium can cause stroking and all sorts of problems- they were just starting to get everything under control and last evening moved him to Telemetry. Another early call from my frantic mother this morning and she wanted to go right down - my Dad apparently was calling her all thru the night extremely disoriented and not sleeping - So i got up and got dressed and drove to my Mom's to find out she already left - she apparently didn't want to wait - so i went down there - My brother and I arrived at the same time - My Dad was back in ICU and he's not doing well - he's extremely disoriented. He did recognize me but he didn't recognize my Mom or my brother and that's how it went all morning and afternoon - He's completely out of it and the drugs they are giving him to sleep aren't working - They are running all sorts of tests and trying to keep him "quiet" - he really needs to get some sleep but apparently he hasn't slept since he's been in there which I think this sleep deprivation is causing more problems! Oh my.

So that's been my week. Haven't gotten much else done except read a few books - it helps to escape reality. Oh I did pull a few loops on a new rug I started but that's as far as I got - a few loops.

Hoping today is as bad as it will get and praying my Dad will get the rest he needs for a full recovery. Wishing everyone a good week! Now I'm off to do something I hardly ever do - and that is - take a nap!

joanne

Round and Round the "Roundabouts"

Happy Friday!

Well this week my birthday surprises continued! My friend Betty sent me a candle cuff (Candle Muff, Candle Collar) she made - she did a wonderful job - it's so nice and prim -and there is a black kitty on their to boot! The candle she sent was yummy too Honey Vanilla - mmm smells good - I love the candle container too - it looks like an agate milk can - I have a small collection of tin milk cans so this fits right in! Check out her blog, http://primitivebettys.blogspot.com/, Betty is one talented lady and has a better picture of the candle cuff - She also has lots of gorgeous freebie patterns on her site!

Today I got up early (at least for me lately with this darn cold) and set out to Flemington, New Jersey to go to a Guild Meeting. I belong to the Hunterdon Rug Guild so decided to go show my support today. Sharon, a friend of mine and also a member of the guild was coming too so it made the day fun! Here's a pic of Miss Sharon and her big smile - this is a woman that is forever bringing smiles to everyone with her humor and positive energy!


Sharon surprised me a with a present she just made last nite! A beautiful wool heart - I love it. She did a great job - the wool is "weaved" and the back of the heart looks like the front.

Here's a close-up -
After I took the picture - Riley had his head on it like a pillow but moved when i tried to take a picture! It's now safely displayed - Thanks so much Sharon!

The reason for the title - Round the Roundabouts is that part of Jersey has so many "circles" - I followed Sharon to the restaurant where we had lunch and I think we went thru three of those darn circles - Sometimes they make you feel you are taking your life in your hands going round and round them! To be sure I was going home the right way I put on my Garmin and it kept saying "in .2 miles take Roundabout and take 3rd exit" over and over! LOL! Too funny

Now I'm at home and trying to decide what to hook next - just can't seem to get started on a project. I know once I start I'll go to town - it's the getting started that has me stalled! I narrowed it down to two patterns I bought in Vermont and have them layed out on the floor in front me - just trying to decide!

I read several more books this week and then took a bag of books to the paperback trader - Told myself I would not buy anymore as I have a lot lined up to read, but somehow two more came home with me. It's kinda like wool with me - I can't resist a book - love savoring a book but when i start reading one I can't stop and that's all I do - then I'm sad to see it end! Same with my rugs! Hmmm is this an addiction? Books, Wool? I will have to think about this one - guess it could be worse!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love and chocolate!

Hugs everyone - Joanne

I'M SO SICK.......

OF WINTER

HAHAHA - Love this pic (thanks for sending it Sharon!)

Truthfully - I'm so over this winter already - one day it feels like zero degrees then the next it's warm and then the next afternoon I'm out shoveling snow. No wonder I came down with this horrible cold - Up until last year it was probably over 5 years since I had a cold -- this past week I've been down and out with a fever (another thing I don't think I've had in well over 10 or more years), chills, sweats, and this never-ending coughing! I'm not one for naps and laying around and I tell you - it's rough on the body - my back was hurting from sleeping so much - not that I had much of a choice but I just hate that weakened icky feeling I get when I "slug" too much! Either way I'm still not 100% but I do feel a lot better than I did a few days ago!

There were some pluses however with being sick - My trusty sidekick absolutely did not leave my side except to go get his breakfast and dinner and litter breaks - honestly - he was glued to me - even would follow me to the bathroom. I hate being around anyone when I'm sick but there is something comforting about having a warm furry body just "being" with you! Know what I mean!

So today I decided to give him the day off since I was planning on going out for part of the day - however he still insisted on staying close - like that's a hardship for me! Here he is while I was watching TV in the hooking room - he's laying in my box of worms keeping his eyes on me.

And here he is with one eye ready to keep an eye on me!

And again - I said - Hey Rye - give me a kiss - and he's puckering up here! LOL!

Another good thing - i was able to read three books without feeling any guilt about not hooking, not doing laundry, not cleaning, not doing things I should be doing. I so love to read but it's so hard to find the time sometimes with all the other things I want to be doing or think I should be doing.

Well Wednesday was my birthday - the first day I was feeling awful - went out to lunch with my parents and came home and took a nap. In my mailbox however was a wonderful package from my friend Paula- She is such a sweetheart - with all she has on her plate right now (New grand baby and sick daughter) she thought to send me a gift - A huge piece of linen all ready for a design to be drawn on it and a little plate. Thanks so much Paula - warm hugs to you!

Hoping you all have a wonderful week!
joanne