Today is the first day in over a month that I have actually breathed a sigh of relief. My mom had cataract surgery in one eye to remove a "very mature" cataract. Even though this surgery is very common she was terrified to have the procedure done and so went years without removing it. When I mean years, I mean many, like a decade. When the doctor removed it he said it was a biggie so for the past several months we have been going to doctor's visits and she has been dreading having the surgery and along with that I have been feeling the stress that has left me with many sleepless nights. There have been many arguements between us as she had dug in her heels several times and refused to go ahead with the scheduled surgery.
When we left the doctor's office on Thursday I bombarded her with a series of questions like, "What color is this and this and this....." I pointed to my blouse and to the stop sign on the corner and to the green jacket I was wearing and time and time again she had the correct color. Whereas before I would get the same answer. Everything was either beige, brown or dark grey. She could not see color for ten years or so. Not just color she could barely see anything. I cried like a baby in the middle of the street because I was so happy and relieved that the surgery was finally over. I have had several years of pent up stress and frustration over this situation and praise God that everything has gone right.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Project Progress
Tatting is still my main focus for the moment. I have not wandered off to "create" other things. So far I have finished 1/10th of my project. Not even near the middle. I have done the top half of my edging. After this I have three more insertions to make and I will attach all of them together and crochet or sew them to the edge of my scarf.
I showed a co-worker of mine what I was doing and the amount of work which I still had to do on it and the only thing he could tell me was that he hoped I did not forget it on the bus because then all my hard work would be enjoyed by someone else. I don't even want to think of that scenario, let alone live it.
My mother says that it will be too ornate but I figure I want to go all the way on this one. I am glad that I picked this color though. It reminds me of the color of sand which is always wet as the water keeps running over it.
My progress is very slow but steady and I am trying not to get bored very quickly like I always seem to do. Its not hard to catch my attention but very hard to keep it! For the moment this is the only picture I have of my progress.
The only negative thing is that the tendonitis on my left elbow is acting up but the pain is manageable for now. I am hoping that it does not get too bad before I could finish the whole thing. Will keep everyone posted!
I showed a co-worker of mine what I was doing and the amount of work which I still had to do on it and the only thing he could tell me was that he hoped I did not forget it on the bus because then all my hard work would be enjoyed by someone else. I don't even want to think of that scenario, let alone live it.
My mother says that it will be too ornate but I figure I want to go all the way on this one. I am glad that I picked this color though. It reminds me of the color of sand which is always wet as the water keeps running over it.
My progress is very slow but steady and I am trying not to get bored very quickly like I always seem to do. Its not hard to catch my attention but very hard to keep it! For the moment this is the only picture I have of my progress.
The only negative thing is that the tendonitis on my left elbow is acting up but the pain is manageable for now. I am hoping that it does not get too bad before I could finish the whole thing. Will keep everyone posted!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
NOAH'S ARK
Well, I have already mentioned that we have kitties living in the back yard under the balcony (in the shed) where we keep our rakes and extra "stuff". I neglected to mention though that there are birds nesting again in the front of the house under my sister-in-law's balcony. They managed to construct a nest in a small crevice under the balcony where a wooden board was slightly loose. They knitted together twigs and fibers and created a little home and had their babies. Every morning the babies chirp incessantly waiting for their parents to feed them. I can even hear them when I wake up in the morning and the window is closed. Let's just say they can be heard clearly every morning and afternoon. I still do not understand how they managed to squeeze into such a small space. I am guessing at the dimensions but they may be somewhere like 3 inches long and 2 inches deep. There is definately more than two birds in that crawl space. Too tight for my taste.
So aside from those little critters, I found out that I had even more visitors coming my way. Let's see, their Head of State is a Queen and they set up colonies immediately when invading a territory. Unfortunately, they are not of the British variety. Neither Wills nor Kate, but I did get colonized pretty fast. My kitchen that is. Instantly saw those little suckers when I dropped something on the floor and stooped to pick it up. I started to realise that I was outnumbered. I did a stupid thing right off the bat, I vacuumed them because they were everywhere, now they are probably colonizing in my vaccuum. Not too smart!!!! I tried stepping on them hoping they would not send signals back home that they had found a new country and to send more troops but that didn't work either. .....They kept coming, one on the water cooler, 5 on my kitchen table. I wiped, I cleaned, I disinfected but to no avail. I purchased ant traps from Canadian Tire and set them up along the corners and in front of the patio doors. I stepped back and hoped that they would check in to eat the tainted peanut butter in the traps. The scent of food brought them out for sure, in high numbers, but they just scurried along the traps, stopping to smell the trap and then go on their merry way. I was livid and pulling my hair out by this point because they kept coming in and I would check outside but could not see a point of entry. I drove my brother crazy, so we took a little trip to Reno Depot and I perused through the aisle where they keep the insecticides. I finally settled on a small little bottle of "Raid: Liquid Ant Killer", main ingredient: 7.7 % borax....... Enough said. I went home and squirted the liquid along the baseboards, in the corners and in front of the patio doors. In two minutes I had used up the entire bottle. They came in droves, I tell you. They drank and drank and drank, I actually thought that some of them looked slightly hammered because they would wander off and bump into the wall. I don't think that they could get enough of this stuff!!!!! It was like nectar. In the evening I was literally inondated. I got grossed out, so I closed the light and ate in a different room of the house.
In the morning, I checked and there were only two or three wandering on my kitchen floor. When I came back from work yesterday evening there was only one walking across my floor. My brother joked that he was wondering where all his friends went. I thought that was funny. This morning I saw nothing. No activity, I am hoping they are out of my house. For anyone out there who has ants and is trying to get rid of them, ant traps DO NOT WORK.........Get the liquid stuff, it works like a charm (for the time being). I am just hoping that I have seen the last of them.
So aside from those little critters, I found out that I had even more visitors coming my way. Let's see, their Head of State is a Queen and they set up colonies immediately when invading a territory. Unfortunately, they are not of the British variety. Neither Wills nor Kate, but I did get colonized pretty fast. My kitchen that is. Instantly saw those little suckers when I dropped something on the floor and stooped to pick it up. I started to realise that I was outnumbered. I did a stupid thing right off the bat, I vacuumed them because they were everywhere, now they are probably colonizing in my vaccuum. Not too smart!!!! I tried stepping on them hoping they would not send signals back home that they had found a new country and to send more troops but that didn't work either. .....They kept coming, one on the water cooler, 5 on my kitchen table. I wiped, I cleaned, I disinfected but to no avail. I purchased ant traps from Canadian Tire and set them up along the corners and in front of the patio doors. I stepped back and hoped that they would check in to eat the tainted peanut butter in the traps. The scent of food brought them out for sure, in high numbers, but they just scurried along the traps, stopping to smell the trap and then go on their merry way. I was livid and pulling my hair out by this point because they kept coming in and I would check outside but could not see a point of entry. I drove my brother crazy, so we took a little trip to Reno Depot and I perused through the aisle where they keep the insecticides. I finally settled on a small little bottle of "Raid: Liquid Ant Killer", main ingredient: 7.7 % borax....... Enough said. I went home and squirted the liquid along the baseboards, in the corners and in front of the patio doors. In two minutes I had used up the entire bottle. They came in droves, I tell you. They drank and drank and drank, I actually thought that some of them looked slightly hammered because they would wander off and bump into the wall. I don't think that they could get enough of this stuff!!!!! It was like nectar. In the evening I was literally inondated. I got grossed out, so I closed the light and ate in a different room of the house.
In the morning, I checked and there were only two or three wandering on my kitchen floor. When I came back from work yesterday evening there was only one walking across my floor. My brother joked that he was wondering where all his friends went. I thought that was funny. This morning I saw nothing. No activity, I am hoping they are out of my house. For anyone out there who has ants and is trying to get rid of them, ant traps DO NOT WORK.........Get the liquid stuff, it works like a charm (for the time being). I am just hoping that I have seen the last of them.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
CHATTING AND TATTING
Tonight was one of those breezy spring evenings when you want to get together with family and friends, sip ice coffee on the balcony and just gossip about the week's events. My sister-in-law came downstairs with her knitting and my sister picked up her crochet and I had my tatting so we all sat together with the window open, a warm soft breeze entering the room,and we just gossiped about everything under the sun. So much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!When you're with good company the stitches go by so much faster and it does not seem so monotonous.
Right now I am tatting a lace edging for a scarf/shawl which I have just sewed. It's not a complicated lace pattern but the process is taking too long and it is getting tedious. I tend to get bored after repeating the same stitches over and over and feel the urge to stop but I shouldn't because then I run the risk of not picking it up again and my attention gets directed to other things like scrapbooking, cardmaking or stamp carving. I have a type of attention deficit disorder and can not stay with one project for too long before jumping on to the next. That is something I have to work hard on not doing, so I will try to progress as far as I can with this project before I feel like jumping on to something else.
Good night!!
Right now I am tatting a lace edging for a scarf/shawl which I have just sewed. It's not a complicated lace pattern but the process is taking too long and it is getting tedious. I tend to get bored after repeating the same stitches over and over and feel the urge to stop but I shouldn't because then I run the risk of not picking it up again and my attention gets directed to other things like scrapbooking, cardmaking or stamp carving. I have a type of attention deficit disorder and can not stay with one project for too long before jumping on to the next. That is something I have to work hard on not doing, so I will try to progress as far as I can with this project before I feel like jumping on to something else.
Good night!!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Easter surprises
I feel kind of guilty that I haven't kept up my blog. I'll be honest that I have also been neglectful in following my most beloved blogs. So being up late, unable to sleep, I thought of just slowly easing back into it and at the same time getting the chance to wish everyone a Happy Easter.
Around two weeks ago my brother was going to uncover the barbecue, since we had Easter celebrations coming up, thinking that we would be roasting the lamb over the open barbecue and enjoy our Greek feast outside. As soon as he undid the plastic fabric cover a large feral cat suddenly jumped out. My brother was bewildered and upset that there was a large cat taking refuge in the spit and to add to the trouble she started to hiss at him. He looked into the barbecue, cringing that he would find a huge mess and was surprised to find three little babies all curled up in a furry bundle. Mama had decided to give birth in the open spit. Weren't we surprised!!!! We left her alone for about a week and a half and would put out a can of tuna now and again. But then the heavy wind we had one day blew the fabric cover off the spit and we could not get close enough to put the cover back on so unfortunately mama and babies were exposed to the elements as well as the humans (that would be us). Last week my sister in law called me at work and said that the mama and the two babies had left the "nest" but that the last baby was still there. I freaked out, hoping she would not leave the last one behind. It has been known to happen for one reason or another, that one of the three could be abandoned. I was in panic mode, until I got home, because I knew that if she had left one behind I would have to care for it and unfortunately would have to call a shelter to come take it. That made me very sad and distraught. I made it home and was put at ease to find out that she did inevitably take all three and found them a new home. It didn't take long to find out that they didn't go very far after all. They have taken refuge under my balcony. We have a closed in balcony where we keep the rakes and gardening supplies and the door has not been closing properly, it has been left ajar many times. So far the new family is doing fine and if we clean out the spit in time we just might get to use it yet. An extremely thorough cleaning, that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Around two weeks ago my brother was going to uncover the barbecue, since we had Easter celebrations coming up, thinking that we would be roasting the lamb over the open barbecue and enjoy our Greek feast outside. As soon as he undid the plastic fabric cover a large feral cat suddenly jumped out. My brother was bewildered and upset that there was a large cat taking refuge in the spit and to add to the trouble she started to hiss at him. He looked into the barbecue, cringing that he would find a huge mess and was surprised to find three little babies all curled up in a furry bundle. Mama had decided to give birth in the open spit. Weren't we surprised!!!! We left her alone for about a week and a half and would put out a can of tuna now and again. But then the heavy wind we had one day blew the fabric cover off the spit and we could not get close enough to put the cover back on so unfortunately mama and babies were exposed to the elements as well as the humans (that would be us). Last week my sister in law called me at work and said that the mama and the two babies had left the "nest" but that the last baby was still there. I freaked out, hoping she would not leave the last one behind. It has been known to happen for one reason or another, that one of the three could be abandoned. I was in panic mode, until I got home, because I knew that if she had left one behind I would have to care for it and unfortunately would have to call a shelter to come take it. That made me very sad and distraught. I made it home and was put at ease to find out that she did inevitably take all three and found them a new home. It didn't take long to find out that they didn't go very far after all. They have taken refuge under my balcony. We have a closed in balcony where we keep the rakes and gardening supplies and the door has not been closing properly, it has been left ajar many times. So far the new family is doing fine and if we clean out the spit in time we just might get to use it yet. An extremely thorough cleaning, that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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