Snuggle Time

Oscar and I have often thought about moving to a dryer, warmer climate to help reduce the pain of arthritis.
But I would miss the cool weather, I think, so I'd want to be at a higher elevation.
I would NOT miss the damp. I hate high humidity.
I like heat just fine, as I found out one July in San Antonio, Texas. Without humidity, the heat felt great.
But now it is fall. And I have good reason to snuggle under my lap quilt, and knit with wool, the larger the object the warmer.
I am still working on the burly zig, and pair of stranded socks for Oscar (30 rnds to go) but I might take today and play with some new yarn Lynn sent me.
There is a Bloom-style shawl in my book of Norwegian knitting. They have the short rows done from both directions. I want to try it, in stockinette

below: some gratuitous color

Whew! and Yule and Goddess Quilt Blocks

I can't believe its been most of a week since I've posted. I had some lingering effects from the adventure at Ikea. I just don't have the energy I used to. Ah well, I can work on building it back up again.
The less I walk, the better. It's like healing a broken bone all the time when I walk more than a few steps, I guess it's no wonder I get tired. I am also fighting a chest cold.
I am proud of what I did today, though. I drove the van and used the chair to go get some blood tests done (my yearly tests for diabetes and thyroid levels).
Its a long uphill (well, slight incline) climb from the parking lot to the door of the hospital, and I was flagging by the time I reached the overhang of the entrance. There was a volunteer there, who helped me get the rest of the way and through the door bless her :-}
A month ago I couldn't have made it up the incline at all, so I am getting stronger. I have small 5-pound weights I use, its good to know they are making a difference.
We'll be celebrating Yule day after tomorrow. We've purchased the groceries for the meal I'm going to cook. I tried to find yellow beets and Yukon gold potatoes and failed, but the rest worked out pretty well :-}
I will be making duck breasts with pomegranate orange sauce, some "Lights" Chard (the kind with the yellow and orange stems) with bacon and onion seasoning, roasted red beets, some yellow and orange peppers, glazed carrots, some garlic roasted red potatoes and we'll have lemon bars for dessert.
Yule is a celebration of light returning, which is an important concept for those of us with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder). We know we have 1/2 the winter to go, but the light will be growing in duration and strength each day from this week forward.
I also like it because we exchange gifts 4 whole days earlier than the Christians :-}
The images below are of some Goddesses I created and or adapted for quilt blocks last year. I don't seem to have taken pictures of the sun quilt blocks I designed, which is what I was looking for :-} Ah well, these will do well enough! I won't be quilting until we move, or remodel the house extensively, so its nice to have these images of past work.