The Saga

The saga of the baby sweater is, yes, finally over!  

My sister went and picked up the package yesterday, but forgot to tell me until today.  I'm going to cut her a little slack, though, because she was a bit distracted...

by her first grandbaby, who made his appearance at 4:51 yesterday afternoon, weighing in at 7 lbs even and 19 inches long.   He looks so teeny in proud daddy's arms. 

 It'll be a minute before he grows into that sweater, I think.  My sister might be able to wear it in the mean time.  She's the short one...

In slightly less exciting news, here is an update on my little baby grass.    

The other patch isn't doing as well as this one.  I think I didn't scatter the seed thickly enough in that one.  I've still got half a jug of seed left, so I may put some more out there, but not today.  

I'd thought I might get out and work in the yard a bit this afternoon, but as the workday went on, I got more and more sore from yesterday's exertions.  Instead, I'm taking it easy this afternoon, knitting and catching up on more of my Shark Week shows.  

I haven't cast on anything new.  I'm working on some of my sock yarn hats that I've already got on the needles.  If they're going to be Christmas gifts, I'd better get them finished.  

And finally, this is where I tried to cut my arm off with the mini chainsaw.  

 'Tis but a scratch, but I think next time, I'll wear some of the protective arm sleeves they give us at work.  Oh, and I had leather gloves on, but the chain hit me right below the cuff.  

Still, it could have been so much worse.  

A Grandbaby!

I had a completely different post planned for you today.  I was going to tell you about my dentist appointment, and my clean bill of dental health.  And I was going to tell you about how the hygienist told me a story of how she touched a snake for the first time in her life -- it was a friend's pet snake-- and she said it felt like a nut sack, and how I laughed so hard she had to stop cleaning my teeth.  And how she said, "I don't know why things like that pop into my head, but they do, so I said it." 

Then I was going to tell you how I'd intended to start reading Taliesin, by Stephen R. Lawhead, but changed my mind when I found the first book of the Edge Of Collapse series marked down, so I bought and started it instead. 

This is one Brennan had recommended, but I felt it was a bit too expensive for an e-book.  However, I managed to catch it 60% off and got it cheap.  It's pretty good so far, but I don't know if I can handle a seven book series.  

Then I was going to tell you about how I overheard a coworker in the bathroom talking about how my Stalker keeps trying to look down her shirt.  I was in the stall, and she was talking to someone else.  She kept calling Stalker "Wild Bill" and the other person didn't know who she meant, then she said, "You know, The Warden's best friend!"  That's when the other person got it.  

And I was going to explain that The Big Man Up Front's new blog name will be The Warden, since he seems to be trying to turn the plant into a prison, and I was going to tell you that I got so completely caught up in thinking about that conversation that I forgot to put my gloves and armguards on until I got all the way back to my brazing stand, and had to go back to the bathroom to get them. 

Buuuut, just before I sat down to blog, my sister texted me and said my oldest nephew and his wife are expecting a baby!  It's due August 15, and are going to find out if it's a girl or boy this weekend.  I told her to let me know as soon as possible so I can start knitting.  

If it's a girl, I already have a dress finished, except for sewing on the buttons.  If it's a boy, I'll have to start from scratch.  

Even if it's a girl, I'll probably do a sweater and hat as well, since they do live in Alaska.  

Oh wait, did you think it was MY grandbaby?  No such luck...Cody did tell me he wanted to start some seeds in his new greenhouse, so I'll have some grand-plants, I guess...

And Finley, the grand-cat.  

Worn Out, But In A Good Way

I am absolutely knackered, but for once, it's from something good.  Yep, this was the weekend of my oldest nephew's wedding, and even though it was going to be a long, long, loooong drive, I was determined to go.  So I did. 

Suzette, as always, accompanied me.  

For those of you who may be new to the blog and don't know the story of Suzette, I had a dear, dear friend named Suzie, who left us in 2020.  Suzie had multiple health issues, which meant she couldn't do all the travelling she wanted to do.  She was in end stage kidney failure and had to stay tied to that dialysis clinic -- among other things.  I won't get into all her personal business here, but that's the long and the short of it. 

A while back, she'd lamented that she missed going to fiber festivals and such, so at the last Fiber Fun In The 'Sip -- in 2019, before the pandemic -- I'd fixed her up a little gift bag with fun stuff I'd bought there.  It had yarn, and stitch markers, kudzu soap, and this little alpaca, plus a few more things.  After Suzie passed away, the alpaca was the only thing I asked to have back.  I named her Suzette, and now she goes with me on all the trips Suzie was unable to take.  

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've no doubt seen all the photos we take together, but here are a few for your enjoyment.  At the Arkansas welcome center, and at the Tennessee welcome center. 

I'll talk more about the wedding itself later, but for now, let me just say it was so good to see my sister and her family again.  It's been far too long, especially my nephew Nate, whom I haven't seen since he was 12.  He wasn't able to come to my mother's memorial in '21, because he couldn't get off work.  Anyway, he told me he was so excited when my sister told him I was coming, and all my nephews seemed happy to see me.  I sure wish they lived closer.  I wish all my family were closer. 

But that's another post for another day. 

Right now, let's talk about the trip up there.  That was exciting.  See, when I was plotting my trip on Maps, I thought I'd chosen the route that goes through Little Rock, but apparently, I didn't. Apparently, I chose the route that goes straight up through the middle of Arkansas...through the middle of nowhere.   

You know, Arkansas' nickname is The Natural State, and they aren't kidding.  It's full of hills and valleys and beautiful scenery, but it's an absolute bear to drive through.  Two lanes, the whole way, up and down, back and forth, and ... it was like driving on a roller coaster, and I'm not kidding about that.   I halfway expected to see a loop-de-loop in the road.   Beautiful scenery notwithstanding, I did not enjoy that drive at all. 

I was so glad when I finally got to Missouri, and I could tell the moment I got there, because the roads were suddenly four lane, straight, and flat.  I pulled into the Mammoth Springs welcome center just to give my little car a break -- not to mention my nerves.  I'd have loved to stay longer, but I felt pressed for time as it was, so after a bit of a walkabout, it was back into the car and onto the road once more. 

The driving was much easier in Missouri, but I have to tell you about this one section of the road.  It was two lanes, out in the country, nothing but farms and fields and forests as far as the eye could see, when suddenly way out in the middle of nowhere, there was a roundabout.  

Yes, you read that right.  A roundabout!  In the middle of nowhere Missouri.  

Don't ask.  I have no idea. 

That drive felt like it took forever, but I finally made it to the hotel, and vowed that on the way back More Interstate, Less Arkansas.

On the way back, that's exactly what I did.  I cut up to I-70 to St. Louis, then got onto I-55, which is a straight shot all the way back to Grenada.  It was 80 miles longer, but with good roads and higher speed limits, it took the exact same amount of time to get home as it did to get to Warrensburg, MO.  

And I spend every minute of it being thankful for President Dwight David Eisenhower, who gave us that interstate highway system so many of us take for granted these days. 

Me, I'll never do that again. 

Never. 

Ever.  

Especially when driving through Arkansas. 

Catching Up

 Yeah...

I'd meant to blog Friday, but I got out and mowed instead.  Once I was done with that, I didn't feel like blogging, so I meant to blog Saturday, but time just got away from me and I didn't.  Before I catch you up on what all has been going on with me in my dull, little life, I have some exciting news.

My sister messaged me Saturday and told me my oldest nephew is getting married in August, and the best part is the wedding is in Missouri!  What's so exciting about that, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  It's not in Alaska!  I'm going to be able to go!  My sister said that neither of my brothers will be able to come, which is a bummer.  

Cody and Brennan are thinking about coming, too, but they're looking at flying, provided plane tickets aren't too expensive.  I'm going to drive, me.  It's only 7 1/2 hours, which is less than from here to Texas, and I won't have to rent a car once I get there, either.  I've already booked a hotel, so now the only issue is getting my supervisor to approve  my vacation day.  I may just skip that headache and call in for the day.  

See, this supervisor doesn't like to approve our vacation days.  Oh, he doesn't deny them.  He just lets them sit until the day is filled up -- because all the other supervisors approve their people's vacation days -- then tells us he can't give us the day because there are already too many people going to be off. 

That is a blatant violation of company policy, which is that vacation time is first come/first served.  I -- along with several other employees -- have explained to him numerous times why he needs to approve our days right away, and how it's not fair to me if I put in a day six months in advance but don't get it because he didn't approve it in time.  I've even talked to my production manager about it, but nothing has changed. 

He's always giving the same excuses;

I don't look that far ahead (well, you should)
I don't have access to a computer (which is a bald faced lie)
I was looking at the wrong calendar.

He even told one of my friends that he wasn't going to approve her day for a doctor appointment, because he thought she needed to use her FMLA instead.  But she wants to use her vacation so she'll get paid, so why should she have to use FMLA?  It should be her choice. 

This has gotten to the point that I honestly believe he is doing it on purpose, just so we won't be able to use our vacation time.  I have it on good authority that he has, or will very soon be, reported to the company's ethics hotline.  Of course, I couldn't tell you who reported him -- or soon will -- for fear that employee will be retaliated against -- which is also an ethics violation but happens all the time.  No matter how, the problem is going to be solved, one way or another. 

In brighter news, look what I have coming up in my front flower bed! 

It's one of my lantanas.  I thought that hard freeze had killed them all, but it looks like four of them survived.  Woo hoo!  

According to the Seek app, this is supposed to be fireweed, but I don't know for sure.  

I mowed most of them down, but left a couple just to see what they would do.  I know my sister makes fireweed jelly, and it's delicious, so if this is indeed fireweed, I may have use for those jelly jars after all.  I also mowed down my plantain patch, because the deer had eaten most of them anyway, and the clover patches, because they'd become overrun with weeds.  I'm not worried, they'll grow back. 

In less bright news, Cody and Brennan have been without electricity since Friday morning when those storms knocked it out.  I told them they were welcome to come up here any time they needed to, but they're sticking it out. We're all hoping it gets restored soon, because it's hot down here in the summer.  I'm glad when mine was out for 4 days that time, at least it was in the wintertime and I had plenty of firewood.  Plus, I could go to work, but Cody works from home, so he doesn't have anywhere to escape to.  They've just been driving around, window shopping for the most part. 

Speaking of weather, I got a letter from my Australian pen pal, and the Rolling Fork tornado made the news all the way over there.  I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.  It's kind of cool, but at the same time, but at the same time, not so cool that a weather event was so bad it made news halfway around the world. 

Well, it's been a month today since I cut my internet off, and I'm still alive.  I've switched to streaming exclusively from my phone, so Friday, I bought a little phone stand to put on my side table. 

There isn't anything on the screen right now, because I have it connected via HDMI cable to my TV, but a lot of times, I just don't feel like fooling with all that mess.  This way, I can prop it up and watch right there.  Oh, I've found the new Star Trek series Strange New Worlds on Prime for a limited time, so I've been binge watching it all weekend.  So far, it's pretty good. 

While I was doing all that TV watching, I finished a hat, 

and a headband. 

I've cast on another headband and hat, but this afternoon, I spent some time sewing the buttons on the headbands I've already completed, only I didn't take another photo.  I mean, they look just the same, except with buttons. 

I guess that's about all I have for today.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got strange new worlds to explore and knitting to ...um, knit while I do so. 

And We're Back

We're back to not doing things, I mean.  

Pretty much all I did today -- again-- was watch TV and knit.  I finished a hat, 

and cast on another.  

I also cast on another headband, but so far, it's just the cast on row, so no picture yet.  

The only thing of consequence I did was to move a few more of my daffodils into the back corner of my yard. 

While I was out there, I noticed my mint is starting to come up. 

By the way, if you ever decide to grow mint, be forewarned, the stuff spreads like wildfire and is nearly impossible to kill, so make dadgum sure you really want mint in your yard.  My neighbor gave me this when I first moved in, telling me it would keep mosquitoes away from my back door.  It doesn't, but hey, I've got mint tea whenever I want it.  

I also found something that looks like it might be wild blackberry, sprouted from seeds dropped there in bird poop most likely. 

I think I might try to cultivate these and see what comes from them.   I'm not a huge fan of blackberries, but they do make a good cobbler.  

Not much else is going on, but I did want to show you something.  In that drawer in my computer desk, I found some old USB drives and memory cards.  A couple of them were empty, but others had old photos and some documents on them.  One of those documents was a file sent to my by my brother years ago, in which a cousin had been tracing my maternal great-grandmother's ancestry.  It was all very interesting, but here are a couple of gems I want to share with you. 

This was the first man in that line to come to America, and apparently, he came as either an indentured servant or a full on slave. 

Yes, they had slaves in Europe, and yes, they were white slaves.  Usually they were either criminals sentenced to transportation, or debtors sold because they couldn't pay what they owed, or they were Irish. Peter Wells was made a freeman in 1679, because he either served his sentence or worked off his debt.  I wish I knew more about him, but I had to cut off my subscription to Ancestry.com when the economy started tanking. I know there are free sites out there, but I don't trust them -- especially after one claimed I was a descendent of Jesus Christ.  Yeah...

The second part I found really interesting was this one.  The fourth Peter Wells.  Apparently, that was a family named passed down through several generations.  What is interesting about this one is that he served in the Revolutionary War.  

I've got ancestors who served in every war the U.S. fought in, from the Revolution through the Korean Conflict, except for the Spanish American War.  There may actually be someone in my family who served in that one as well, I just haven't found him yet. As for the wars after Korea, I've got family members who served in those, but they weren't ancestors.  I'm not completely sure about Vietnam, but I seem to remember a distant cousin who fought in that one -- and by distant, I mean 2nd or 3rd cousin.  I'll have to look into that more. 

But not tonight. 

Tonight, I'm going to bed.

Goodnight. 

Winter Weather

It’s a good thing I’m almost through with my sock yarn blanket.

Why do I say that?  Because it looks like winter is trying to make an early appearance. Check out the lows Wednesday!  

 

Of course, I don't expect it to actually get quite that cold, but I think I’ll have to bring in my outside plants tomorrow afternoon, just to be on the safe side.  Heck, I might even start me a little fire in my wood stove. I probably won't turn on the central heat just yet, though.  Or maybe I will.  It all depends on how cold it gets in the house.  

By the way, I don't know why that picture posted upside down, but I do know I'm not going to re-do it, so you'll just have to turn your device upside down, or stand on your head.  Whatever floats your boat. 

As far as the blanket goes, I have two more squares to go to finish the row I'm on, then I'm going to knit one more row, and it'll be done.  Well, as far as knitting goes, that is.  I'll still have to weave the last few ends in, and decide if I want to do some sort of border.  I'm thinking an applied I-cord, probably in a solid color medium brown, just to neaten up the edges a bit.  I'd originally planned on using black, but I think that might be a bit too harsh.  Brown will tidy things up without dominating the other colors within the blanket. 

On a completely unrelated note, I started watching the new Quantum Leap.  It took me a long time to watch the first episode, because I'd loved the original show so much, and didn't think I'd like the re-boot.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  It wasn't just a re-hash of the first show, but picked up sometime after the first one left off.  The characters often refer to Dr. Sam Beckett and Al, and events that had happened in the old show.  Ziggy is still there, too, just in an upgraded version.  All in all, I'm really liking it so far. 

Now, lest you think I've done nothing but sit around and knit all weekend, let me show you the progress I'm making on getting my cannas dug up. 

When I started, the patch was all the way to that gate.  I've still got quite a ways to go, but dang I've already dug up so many bulbs!

Once I get them all dug up, I'm going to put several layers of weed barrier cloth down in that spot, with a few layers of cardboard over that.  That should keep any bulbs I've missed from growing back.  I hope. 

I've also finally started moving that old fire pit behind the fence. 

Again, I'm only doing a little bit at a time, because those cement chunks are heavy!  I'd thought about re-purposing them into a new flower bed, but I don't know.  Right now, I'm just stacking them here beside the fence until I decide what to do with it all. 

I'm telling ya, the people who lived here before apparently just tossed all their garbage over the back fence.  I've already cleaned up tons and tons (not literally) of junk, and am still finding stuff back there.  Like this...whatever it is. 

And what appears to be an old scrub brush half buried in the dirt.  

Every time I think I get all the junk up, I find more.  

And last but not least, y'all all help me wish my big brother Russell a happy 60th birthday!

Together Again

Early this morning, my Aunt Bonnie, my dad's last surviving sibling, went home to be with the Lord.  She was 97 years old.  

At long last, they are all together again.

 

Walter Lee Gunstream, Jr. 

October 23, 1926 - July 14, 1995

Martha Fae Gunstream Armstrong

August 16, 1921 - January 18, 2014

Bonnie Jean Gunstream Tompkins

January 20, 1925 - September 21, 2022

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Psalm 116:15

The Rumor Mill And Other Stuff.

It all started Wednesday, when we got back from lunch break.  That's when one of the brazers said, "Nobody has to wear masks any more.  The e-mail came out today."  

"Cool", I thought.  "No more masks!  Only a year after everyone else got to stop wearing them, but at least we finally got there."  

I was sure they would post the updated policy before the day was out, so I checked the bulliten boards on the way out the door at the end of my shift.  The notice wasn't up yet, but surely they'd get it up soon. 

Thursday morning, I checked again, but still no notice.  "Huh, maybe we'll have a meeting and they'll tell us then."  Again, no.  Not a word from either Group Leader Shark or Supervisor.  Friday -- the day the new policy was to actually take effect -- came and went, and still no word, no meeting, no notice posted, nothing.

This morning, I got to work and still not seeing anything posted, I messaged one of my friends and asked her to print out the e-mail and bring it to me, which she was glad to do.  I immediately posted it on the bulletin board in sub-brazing so that everyone in the department should be able to see it. 

The whole point of this post is to illustrate how terrible my company is at communicating with their employees.  We end up getting most of our information from the rumor mill, which of course, isn't always accurate.  The secondary point is that it would have taken literally 2 minutes to print out the change in policy and post it on the various bulletin boards around the plant, but they didn't. 

It took one single employee taking it upon herself do to what management should be doing -- which is the dissemination of information regarding policy changes -- but isn't.  

In other news, someone from my hometown spent several days photographing and uploading old yearbooks from the various school systems.  I've found several of my kinfolks in them. If you're not kin to me, this might be boring to you, so I won't be offended at all if you quit reading now.  For the rest of you, here we go:

In this first photo, my dad's first cousin Lewis Gunstream. 

This is interesting.  My dad is in this picture, and someone wrote his name on his photo.  That tells me whoever owned this yearbook knew my dad when he was...however old he was here. 

Here we have my dad's second sister, my Aunt Bonnie. 

You get a twofer here.  This is my dad, Walter L, and I think this must have been his senior year.  Right next to him is a cousin, Orys.  And another little tidbit, Betty Jo Grubbs would later marry a man whose last name was Hartley, and she was my 5th grade teacher.  

This is just a younger photo of Betty Jo Grubbs Hartley.  

This is a photo of my first cousin Judy Armstrong Brimm in seventh grade.  

And here we have my second cousin David Toronjo, before he became a doctor.  His mother Aunt Juanita, was my dad's first cousin.  No, she wasn't actually my aunt, but that's just what we do in the South.  All adult relatives are Aunt or Uncle, no matter how they're actually kin. 

This is Beverly when she was in 10th grade. 

Ah, here she is!  Aunt Juanita Sarver Toronjo!  Dad's first cousin. 

That's about all I have for today.  It rained most of the day yesterday and all night, so the yard is too soggy to mow.  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

Random Thoughts Of A Wednesday Evening

 1.  I don't know what those folks are doing up in there on third shift.  This morning, I walked into the bathroom and in the trash can, I saw this:

and in the toilet...

What on earth is that?  

2.  Society is doomed, I tell you.  Doomed.

3.  The Dallas Cowboys have traded Amari Cooper and signed Michael Gallup to a $62 million contract.  This is why they don't win Super Bowls!  They have a history of spending big money on mediocre players.  The name Miles Austin ring a bell?  

4.  My cousin Chris sent me this photo.  

Someone he knows was cleaning out his grandmother's and found it.  I'm pretty sure this is my Pappaw's brother, Uncle Charlie.  Beverly would know right away.  She's the one who had all these old family photos.  It would be interesting to know how this person's grandma knew Uncle Charlie, as well.  

4.  I came home to dog poop on the floor.  Lovely.  I don't get mad at Jesse when he has an accident.  That's a long time to ask him to hold it.  I just clean it up and go on, but it's part of the reason why I probably won't get another dog.  It's just not fair to him.  

5.  Will this nuclear war involve running?  Because if it involves running, I'm pretty much just going to have to fry. 

6.  The government is talking about making Daylight Saving Time permanent.  I hate that idea.  Most of the people I've talked to hate the idea as well.  Yes, we'd all love to stop changing the clocks, but if you're going to make anything permanent, it should be Standard time.  Frankly, I like it getting darker earlier in the evening, and I'm sure parents would feel much better if their kids aren't standing out in the dark waiting for the bus in the mornings.

7.  I canceled my FrendlyTV.  I know it's not much, but all those nickles and dimes add up.  What with prices the way they are and getting worse, I have to trim where I can.  I'm canceling all the stuff I don't use regularly, and even some of the stuff I do, like the Not The Bee website.  I even canceled my Ancestry.com membership.  I can't see paying $198 per year in these times for something I rarely go on.  I'll still be able to see my tree, but I won't be able to research anything, or add to it.  Maybe when things pick up again, I'll reactivate it.  In the meantime, I'll just look at my brother's tree. 

8.  It's almost bed time, and I have to practice my piano yet, so I guess that's it for today. 

9.  Except for one more thing.  Remember the headers I talked about yesterday?  The ones that had been brazed wrong?  Yep.  Sure enough, there I was at work, just a working away, when the assembly line group leader came walking up to brazing with a box of...you guessed it, headers that had been brazed wrong.  Beats me why they didn't just let us fix them as soon as I'd spotted the error, but hey, that's my place of employment for you. 

10.  Now, I really am going to go practice my piano.  Laters. 

The Last Gift For Real This Time

 The last Christmas gift for real arrived today, and this is it:

When I was a kid, my mother always asked for new house shoes -- for Christmas, her birthday, Mother's Day, etc.  I hated buying her house shoes, because I thought it was a boring present, but it's what she asked for, so I did.  

I totally get it now.  

These are some I ordered with the money my older brother and his family sent me.  I'd waited until after opening all my gifts, just to make sure I didn't get any, which is why they are late.  My sister sent me some new slipper socks, which I do like, but I needed something a bit heavier for those days that are a bit colder.  These also have hard soles, which I need as well, because I tend to wear them out into the yard.  

They arrived just in time, too, because we're supposed to go from a high of 75' on Saturday, to a low of 28' on Sunday. 

In the meantime, I'm still playing with my needle felting.  This is my next project:

Yes, I know Texas is backwards.  There is a reason for that.  And the reason is this:  you need to felt both sides of the project.  I just happened to be working on the wrong side when I took the photo.  The plan is, when I get the Texas felted the way I want, I'm going to felt a little pink heart where my home town is.  

Speaking of, Cody, Brennan, and I will be traveling to Texas for Beverly's funeral.  We're going to take my car, even though it is smaller and will be more cramped, because his needs an oil change and he doesn't want to get one.  I don't know why.  It's not that big a deal.  He'd suggested we rent a car, but then found out how much it was going to cost (Hint:  a whole lot more than an oil change), so we decided to take mine.  He's still going to be doing the driving, though.  But he says they're probably not going to leave Memphis until 9:00 AM, so it'll be late when we get to Texas.  

On the bright side, the vet said they can go ahead and do Jesse's teeth cleaning while he's there being boarded, so two birds one stone, kind of thing.  

In other news, I was planning on starting my piano lessons again today.  Well, doing the videos from Mr. Let's Play Piano Methods, I mean.  I'm already practicing the songs a bit, but I decided to just wait until we get back to get into watching the instructional videos.  Also, in an attempt to avoid the disaster that was my Christmas concert, I've already picked out some songs for next year.  I'm going to practice them all year in hopes that by next Christmas, they'll be all ready to record. 

And finally, That Awesome Hunk Of Pure Awesomeness Who Used To Be My Imaginary Boyfriend Until He Married Someone Who Is Not Me Bill Whittle and his wife have both come down with the COVID.  They have it pretty bad, from what he says on his website.  He's running a 104' fever, suffering from a fatigue that is almost supernatural in intensity," and is laying in bed like a carrot.  His words, not mine.  If you've a mind, offer up a prayer for a speedy recovery for both of them.  

Our Christmas

I'm sitting here, not quite sure how to begin this post.  I was going to tell you all about our Christmas, but I'm having a hard time, because I just don't have it in me.  

There was kind of a damper over our Christmas, because my cousin Beverly -- of whom I've written much about on this blog -- she went home to be with our Lord the morning of Christmas Eve, after a year of battling cancer.  

We knew her cancer was terminal, but as I told Cody, knowing it's coming doesn't make it any easier.  

My mind these last few days has been filled with memories of happier days, when we were all together.  I can't imagine going home and her not being there.   

Even with the pall her passing cast, we still had a nice Christmas.  Cody and Brennan came down Christmas Eve to open their gifts here, watch movies, and eat Christmas Eve snacks.  They asked me to come up to Memphis for Christmas Day, but when Cody said they would actually be at one of Brennan's cousin's house, I felt like a whole house full of strangers would be just a bit too much for me.  So, I stayed home, and enjoyed a quiet Christmas.

The cat and I watched the Queen's address, 

and it really resonated when she spoke of a "familiar laugh missing", because she'd lost her husband this year, too. 

So, if it's all right with you, I'll tell you all about our gifts some other time.  But for now, we will remember that, even though we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope, because we know that those we've lost here on Earth are celebrating Jesus' birth with him.  

And we will rejoice, because long ago, in a stable in Bethlehem,  hope was born. 

And this hope anchors our souls, firm and secure. 

Hebrews 16 : 9

Finished Object

Yes, the hat is finished!  

 It turned out pretty good, even if I do say so myself.  I haven't cast on the matching scarf yet.  I'll do that here in a little bit.  I'll probably have to do some experimenting to see how I can make it wider, but we'll get there eventually. 

And yet, in the back of my mind, there is a little voice whispering, "You need to finish all the projects you already have on the needles.  Or at least some of them...OK, just one.  Just finish one project before casting on another one..." 

"Hush!"  I tell my little voice, as I pick up my needles and yarn.  "Just hush..."

In other news, I really need to come up with some different segues, but for now, you'll just have to deal with the same old same old...so, carrying on...

In other news, I got a box from my sister today, which contained the rest of our Christmas presents.  She'd told me that nothing was wrapped, so I hadn't planned on opening it until Christmas day, but she also included a pattern my grandma had been working on, and my sister said if anyone in the family could figure it out, it would be me.  I tried to resist, but I wanted to see what Grandma had been doing, so I opened the box early.  

Here is the pattern my sister included, 

if you can see it.  I haven't really looked too hard at it, as crochet isn't my thing.  But Grandma had started what appears to be a sampler, as if she were trying to see how the pattern was working up. 

It's only about 12" wide, not counting the fringe, but I imagine if you add a few more repeats, you can make it as wide as you wanted. 

My grandma died when I was 14, and I don't have a lot that was hers, so this is a real treasure to me. 

I spent the rest of the day watching Christmas shows, trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  It's been hard, because it's been so warm and sticky these last couple of days.  The good news is, a cold front passed through today, and it's cooled off significantly.  I'm so glad, because it's been plumb miserable here.  It's supposed to get down into the low 30s tonight, and it's not supposed to get out of the 40s or low 50s tomorrow, so I lugged up a bunch of firewood.  That little wood heater sure makes things cozy in the house. 

More good news, even though the plumber didn't come back, whatever they did to my sink seemed to help some.  It isn't fixed, but it is draining now, albeit super slowly.   At least when Cody and Brennan come down, they'll be able to wash their hands without overflowing my sink -- until I can get it fixed completely.  If I can ever find a plumber who will show up and do the job, that is.  

More good news, you will have a Christmas concert this year, even if it is only one song.  I recorded the first one last night on my phone, just to see if I could do it.  I mean, I don't have a phone stand or anything, so the big thing was figuring out how to prop it so that it would be stable, and I could still reach the record button.  So, it was meant to be a dry run, but since I made it through the song with no mistakes, I decided to upload it anyway.  

That's the funny thing.  I can play these songs over and over again, with no problem, but the minute I turn the camera on, it's like I've never seen them before.  My biggest problem is I tend to play too fast.  When I slow down, I do fine.  Anyway, you will get at least A song this year.  Which is more than you got last year, because I just wasn't into it last year. 

Meanwhile, I was poking around on YouTube and found this....well, just watch it for yourself: 

Then I found this one:

They look like they're having so much fun -- which is what I aspire to.  I have no desire to perform.  I just want to play for fun.  

That being said, I think I will go have fun playing some now.  

Laters.