Iron

Jusst playing around with one of the photos from Maker Faire

I Want a Dog

Thanks to Deb for sharing this...

It really brightened my Tuesday Morning :-}

The Time of Giving

It's that time of year again here in Michigan, cool autumn days and chilly nights have arrived.

Things are still economically rough here, and elsewhere in the country.

There are still people in need, and the cold weather means there are people sleeping rough, and cold, and hungry out there.

SOS, our local community service for the homeless has had more people asking for help this year than ever before. I imagine similar situations exist wherever you are.

Because things are tight, I imagine it is more difficult for families to give to the level they are used to. I think we can still help out, but it does require more forethought to be sure we have enough for us, and enough to share.

I called our local shelter, and this year they are accepting hand-knitted items again. I still have some I worked on last year I can donate, and hopefully I can make some more this autumn.

If we start now, we can budget a few extra dollars each grocery trip and add some personal care items and food to our basket, specifically for SOS folks.

If you are hoping to contribute to your local charities this year, why not begin now to budget a bit extra onto your grocery list, to be certain the people in your area will have enough?

Even an extra $5.00 per week will add up by the time Thanksgiving gets here.

When you buy toothpaste or barrettes, a bar of soap, deodorant or other personal care items, throw an extra into your cart. SOS tells us that personal care and hygiene items are greatly needed by those they serve. If you start now, you can make a substantial difference this year, even though times are tough for everyone.

If you have yarn laying around, but no time to knit it, a call to your local yarn shop or knitting/crochet group will likely garner many willing hands to help make warm hats, scarves and mittens.

Keep your ears and eyes open, I am guessing local charities will begin their yearly drives to provide warm winter coats, food and school supplies any time now.

Please join me in doing what you can. Every little bit helps.

One Day Only: Help Save Cats

For today only, if you leave a comment at

THIS BLOG (link is to a blog at Freshfiction.com),

even if it is only "thumbs up" or "great post",

your comment will earn $1 toward Cat Angels, thanks to the generosity of Avon Publishers.

So please, leave a few words of your own to help this fine organization :-}

Thank you!

Diana

Whew!! Finis!!!

At long last my new sample for the Rosie Socks is finished. I have been working on them for more than a month. Here they are, bedraggled, with ends still trailing, unblocked, but a beautiful sight to my eyes.

I love making socks, but I can only do 2-5 rounds per knitting session when using fingering weight yarn, so it takes a while. I like my socks densely knitted, so to get what I want is hard on the finger bones.

I think I'll focus on heavier weight yarns for socks the next little bit, and thus larger needles and easier on the hands. BUT I tried them on last night and they fit me perfectly!!! And the large cuff disguises the arthritic bits on my ankles! So it has all been worth it.

(They are made using Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Golden Glow and Blue Yonder, with a smidgen of Stroll Sapphire Heather)

The first week of October (my birthday week!), I will ask Oscar to take me to the Botanical Gardens for a photo shoot. I wonder if I can get another pattern sample done by then? (I have a shawl and shawlette pattern in the works)

Invisible Illness Week

This is National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week (September13th - 19th).

I had not heard of this site, until my newsletter from Chronic Babe arrived.

I have already found several things of interest, and if you or a loved one is affected by a chronic illness, I encourage you to go browse the articles.

Today, this one hit home.

Back when I first became ill, relatives told me they just ignore illness/pain until it goes away. "Work through it" I was advised, and phrases like 'mind over matter' were tossed my way.

I believed them; after all, I had already been through a lot, and I was able to work through it, to heal, to get on with life.

Perhaps the biggest shift in my paradigm was to acknowledge that ignoring pain does not make the effects go away. That I was a powerful person, but to use my power to ignore the pain and keep doing the every day things which harmed me was not a good idea.

Sure, it is a rush to 'overcome' and 'conquer' and 'rise above'.

But it is also stupid.

Like running full-tilt head-first into an iron door.

Your head will break before any dent is made in the iron.

Life has been better since I groked that iron doors are even more stubborn than I am.

germs suck

I have been sick with various ailments almost constantly since Maker Faire at the end of July. I keep reminding myself it is better to have several small illnesses that I survive, than one big one I don't (if I get pneumonia, this would be a bad, bad thing). This has messed up my posting and pattern writing, but I have managed to finish some books and publish reviews.

Sorry for the mini-hiati (hiatuses?).

A short political statement

I disagree with those who are against building a mosque near ground zero. Muslims died in the World Trade Center, too.

I am against those who grandstand and cheer on those who would burn the Quran. The Quran contains as much and as little wisdom as the King James Bible.

Painting all Muslims with the same brush is like judging Christianity from the examples of the Jonestown Massacre and the incident in Waco, Texas.

I am not Christian. I am not Muslim. I am a human being, as are all of you.

Speaking to those who support such heinous acts as bombing, burning books and judging a person or building by the worst of those who share the faith, please, grow up and look beyond your tiny little cage of a world.

Get to know someone of a different faith than yourself, their loved ones and family, and open your mind and heart to humanity as a whole.

There are evil people out there, no doubt, but they hide behind many flags and religious symbols. Don't be controlled by their actions, but by the generosity of heart that makes us people who contribute to the balance of good in the world.

I received an award!

Angel at Gambit's View sent me an award!

She has a neat blog where she shares music, humor, crafting and lots of other stuff.

Thank you Angel! Now I need to tell you 7 things about myself, and choose 15 bloggers to share the award with. (15!)

First the 7 things:

I want to share 7 things people would perhaps be least likely to guess about me.

1. Since meeting my husband, I have become an avid fan of NASCAR.

2. I have vivid dreams, in color, where I am myself inside, but living a different life; with a different name, different history and different friends and family and no memory of my life as it is when I am awake. Like a parallel universe thing.

3. When I was in kindergarten, I would pretend not to know how to tie my shoes, so my boyfriend Paul would do it for me.

4. One of my favorite snacks is potato chips dipped in cottage cheese.

5. I was on TV when I lived in Japan, on a children's cable tv show. I played the color orange, and an old lady with green hair.

6. I have a weakness for office and school supplies, particularly notebooks and pens. I have many hundreds of pens, and dozens of note books/blank books. And I don't think I have too many. Oscar brings me a notebook or a pen once in a while as a surprise, and I always get a special glow.I like post it products, too, especially those colorful flag thingies.

7. I get most of my informational and non-fiction reading done in the bathroom. There are always stitch dictionaries, books on the craft of writing, books on paganism, books on archaic words (and a notebook and pen for pattern ideas and sketches) available there.

The 15 bloggers. Wow, that seems like a lot. I will just choose until I get tired LOL.

I am choosing them from the basis of the award, for having a wide variety of posting themes. I am also choosing bloggers who post on a fairly regular basis. In no particular order they are:

A Ervilha Cor de Rosa

Although I do not read Portuguese, the images with which she illustrates her blog are fascinating. I love the interplay of color and texture and there are so many different themes covered.

'Zann's Lizards In The Leaves is about poetry, grief, art, community, weaving, felting, and how those things help heal and build a good life.

Deb Robson's blog, The Independent Stitch covers topics including but not limited to biking, fonts, being a vegetarian on the road, fiber, publishing, wolves, unexpectedly encountered beauty, knitting, spinning and travel.

Lene Andersen's The Seated View is a great place to visit, too. She talks frankly about the challenges she had and has in her life. She shares beautiful and insightful photography. She reviews movies and books, rants and celebrates depending on her feelings on various subjects, and perhaps best of all, teaches me about the positive impact anyone can have on their world.

Ok. That's only 4.

Although there are likely more, those are the blogs that stand out in my mind as the most varied in topics, and who post regularly. And I am tired, having contracted yet another cold this week.

(whine).

Buy One, Get One Sale

My friend designer Leslie Gorden is having a BOGO pattern sale at More With Les!

She makes fun and funky hat designs your kids will love. I can't look at them without cracking a smile :-)

Bop on over and see what you think!

Rambling

Happy September!

Wow. August passed in a blur of fatigue. I only took ONE PHOTOGRAPH the entire month.

That really brought home to me how messed up Fibro can make my life. Most days I mange to pretend I am ok, just a bit achy and tired, but getting sick right after the Maker Faire messed me up. I was housebound for one day shy of four weeks. And when I say housebound, I mean unable even to step outside the door. I don't even know if flowers bloomed in the garden this year. Not healthy mentally, but because Os and I took turns being sick, we muddled through and managed, but weren't able to do all we had hoped.

My big outing after the four weeks was to go grocery shopping with Oscar. I realized I had not gone shopping for months.. perhaps a year. I am no longer able to walk from the car to the store, and rather than have Os load and unload the chair or run a cart out to me, I stayed home. Again, the effect Fibro has had on my life this year was driven home, and how much the arthritis has progressed. Not a cheerful thought, but a necessary evaluation. Rather than the minute I was able to stand last year, I am down to about 30 seconds at a time before my ankle joint feels crushed. Takes a while to scrub a countertop when you do it in 30 second intervals. I have figured out how to cut up vegetables by placing the cutting board over half the kitchen garbage can. It is the perfect height for my stool. Unfortunately, the sink and countertops and stove are high enough I can't reach them from the stool, and the kitchen is small enough and closed below the countertops, so using my electric chair is not a solution. One reason we are making huge efforts to pay down debt is we both want a new home; me so I can do more of the household chores, and Oscar because the house doesn't have enough sun, or room for the things he loves to do.

This morning, Oscar is working overtime. I told him I would make the dish to take when we visit friends Amanda, Tommy and wee Sean this evening. I managed to get the chicken in the oven, but it exhausted me (had to find and wash the two pans I wanted) and destroyed my feet enough that I have to stay off of them the rest of the day if I want to have anything left for the visit. (Amanda and Tommy have steps up into their house. With two canes I can make it fine, but not if my ankles have been misused to the point of cracking). So Oscar will finish the cooking when he gets home, and I will stay planted in my chair with my pain meds and writing assignment.

Jennifer Crusie has answered the interview questions, and I need to craft an intro and conclusion. I have the rough draft done, but experience has shown me barbiturates and writing final drafts do not mix. At least not the kind of final drafts I want to be submitting LOL.

I have also read 5 books that need reviewing. Again, some rough drafts done, but I will finish them tomorrow after I finish the Crusie interview.

My birthday is in October. I usually celebrate the occasion by reflecting on things that have changed during the past year, and by projecting goals for the coming year (my own little new year observance).

This year, the chronic health situation has become worse, but my coping mechanisms and ability to stop before I mess myself up too much are stronger than last year. This has meant I have more time with a clear mind, and energy to write, and design. This in turn means I have been able to contribute money to the household, which has increased my confidence and cleared the way emotionally for more writing.

August showed me that even with the extra care I am taking, a bad bout with a virus will still mess me up (my immune system is compromised because I had my spleen removed when I was a young teen) especially when combined with the Fibro. The secret is in letting myself sleep as much as possible, so that I can have clear days amidst the fog. Even as messed up as August was, I was able to write book reviews, and compose the interview for Jennifer Crusie. I also wrote a few proto patterns that I will polish this month, if all goes moderately well.

So, enough about me and my troubles for awhile. I hope now that things are on a more even keel healthwise, I can get back to blogging most every day. There are lots of interesting things out there to discover and share.