The therapy of the hook

This weekend has been a wild ride!  But is seems like things may be finally on the upswing.   Hallelujah!

Here is the updates on all the hoopla.  First Momma's flu seems to be subsiding.  And her facial swelling is almost gone.  It appears it wasn't a reaction to the pills as I suspected.  She has an oral infection but it looks like I have that under control right now.  Tonight she is a little brighter and no sign of fever tonight. 

And Mary is doing OK too.  She underwent surgery last night.  They replaced the ball In her hip and during surgery discovered her femur was fractured also so they had to insert a rod.  I called the hospital this morning and I actually got to talk to her for a few minutes.  It was so wonderful to hear her voice but with all the pent up stress, when I hung up the phone I just sat and sobbed.  I guess I needed a release.  Her daughter called later in the day and she was up and walking the halls with a physical therapist.  Amazing!  She should be transferred to a rehab facility in a week.  

Thanks for the comments and emails on my last 2 posts.  Blog pals are so kind and supportive.  

Now it's time for a little therapy for me.  And for me, sitting with the hook and a pile of wool strips is therapeutic.

I've drawn a simple but funky sheep to pass the rest of the weekend.  This should hook up quickly and the other new pattern I ordered should be here early next week.  And my kind of therapy also includes a healthy dose of junk food.  

A bag of sour cream and onion rings should do the trick!  

Don't forget the pending google reader demise.  I've joined Bloglovin so you can follow me there.  The button is on my sidebar.  Joining up is easy and transferring all your favorite blogs can be done in one click.  Simple!

Calamity escalation

Much like Charlie Sheen's career, today has escalated to a downward spiral. After I posted earlier, things went mad! I gave Mom some Imodium and then a little while later a cold tablet. She got drowsy so I let her nap on the sofa.

All was calm and I was glad she was resting. Then the phone rang.....looks like the annual trip from the Vermont family is off. This afternoon, while doing last minute errands Mary fell and was being taken to the hospital. Broken hip. I spent much of the afternoon on the phone or text messaging for updates. Looks like surgery can't happen for a few days. Not good. I'll know more tomorrow. I hate being so far away and not being able to help.

Then Mom woke up from her nap and one side of her face was all swollen. I can only guess but I assume it was a reaction to the cold medication I gave her. Argh! So I've given her Benadryl and its some better. I pray that in the morning her face is back to normal.

Happy Friday?? Not so much


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Confusion and Calamity

Ahh, Friday! The first day of my 4 day weekend full of summer fun. Wait......it's not exactly shaping up like a fiesta so far :(. I woke up and poor Momma has the flu. (The messy kind). She is now settled a bit on the sofa and I think I will try a little toast for her lunch. Fingers crossed she can keep that down. It's hard because she can't really verbalize what's wrong or how she feels. So I kind of have to wait to see what happens before I know what to give her. The good thing is that I was home today and not at work. I'm not sure poor Auntie could have coped alone this morning. It took the 2 of us to get her cleaned up.

The other news is this is the weekend my family arrives from Vermont for the month of July. I'm excited but always stressed until they pull in my driveway. At 82 and 83, it's a long drive for them and plus there is the crazy long weekend traffic on the highways. But for the past 3 evenings I have had some pretty funny phone calls from them. Last night I answer the phone and "Nanny" is yelling..."you won't believe what he did"....(this is often how these calls start Haha) Honestly, it could be anything but apparently he broke his glasses and they have to wait and get them fixed so they will be a day late leaving. He was suggesting that he could go to the Dollar Store and get reading glasses and then get his glasses fixed here. Ahhhh, he's half blind and considering driving 13 hours with dollar store reading glasses!!! I don't think so. What a man! Lol

So we have convinced him to wait, get them fixed and leave Saturday instead.

In other "scratch your head" news - today I got a new bank card in the mail. It says it can't be used until its activated. But then it also says it becomes activated the first time you use it. Huh? Am I missing something here? Lol

Happy Friday All



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Chats on the Porch

Today Patrice at Everyday Ruralty  is hosting her 99th Chats on the Porch linky.    It would be a great day to actually be chatting on her porch.  It is one of those humid, sticky days here.  The office air conditioning is nice but it's still at work!  A nice afternoon on a porch swing, sipping something cool would be nice.  But I do have a nice 4 day weekend to look forward to so I better stop complaining and get on with the Chat. 

Here are this weeks questions

1. Do you enjoy grocery shopping?

I don't mind it as long as it is not Saturday afternoon.  Then it just gets on my nerves - too many people just meandering around, leaving their carts all willy nilly along the aisles and blocking traffic.  Uggh.  (Can you tell I have soooo much patience?)

 

2.  Are you following any particular news stories?

 

I have been watching the terrible flooding in western Canada this past week.  We have friends in that area who had a mandatory evacuation by the army!  Luckily they are safe but still are not allowed back in their town to assess the damage.

 

3.  How do you feel about all of the technology we have today? Is it too much, just right, or not enough?

 

Well, you know I am a but of a tech junky so I do like it.  It is nice to be able to do things like Skype with family who are far away.

 

4.   On a scale of 1-10(1 being the least) how much do you worry?

 

Well I used to be at least a 9.5 on the worry scale but I am trying to get better.  I would say I am down to a 7 which for me is a huge improvement :)

 

5.  Without any of your responsibilities or concern with how you would accomplish this, what would your three dream jobs be?

 

Now this is a tough one, because honestly I am very lucky and enjoy my job most days.  (Despite yesterdays post.....LOL)    But in the spirit of the question it might be fun to be a wine taster, beach inspector or a professional martini critic.  

Monday

I don't even have the motivation to think of some clever post title.  It's Monday.  It feels like Monday.  Actually it feels like a very stressful, blahhh, ........M.O.N.D.A.Y.

 

 

 

Nuff Said??

 

 

Red Gold?

This mornings trip to the Farmers Market was fruitful :). I happened upon a table with the most beautiful ripe strawberries.  The first local berries I've seen.  The cold, wet spring plus some kind of virus attacking several large producers has made them hard to find.

While waiting to pay, the lady next to me struck up a conversation.  We were wondering how much the berries were and discussing how it really didn't matter because it was such a short season and we should treat ourselves to things we like.  We both noted the lack of berries in the grocery stores as they should be plentiful now and how happy we were to find these. 

She was next to pay.  The man said she owed $5.50 .......... Yes, $5.50 a PINT.......  

We looked at each other and burst out laughing.  "Good thing we don't care how much they cost" she says.    That price is about double what we usually pay.

So I'm going to enjoy every one of these little red delights, because they are about as valuable as gold this year!  

Meet Diggory

I'd like you to meet the varmint who has taken up residence on my property.  I've named him Diggory because he is a destructive little pest.   These photos are ones I took a year or so ago when he first appeared.  At the time I assumed he was just passing by and stopped for a photo shoot.  Little did I know he was on a real estate quest and was moving in. 

In hindsight I realize it was a bit foolhardy to stomp on the deck without looking to see what was down there when I heard the rustling beneath me.  I hadn't even considered it might have been a skunk.  (Shudder). That would have been ugly.   And stinky. 

I've been preparing my arsenal.  Attention Diggory, I'm on a mission.  You're hide is mine.  Consider this your first warning!

Tomorrow is the Sackville Farmers Market.  I can almost taste the German baking.   Mmmmm

P.S.  I thought I had a happy update.  BlogPress reverted back to the previous editor version.  I was so excited to write this post, quick and easy and as I hit publish it crashed.   Arrgh.  So I'm learning to love this Blogger app.  ( no ) 

Master Gardener

I get so jealous when I see the photos of your beautiful flower gardens and all the creative landscaping that many of you post.  I have always maintained that I must have a black thumb because I sure don't have a green thumb.   I can't grow anything!

But the other day when I was sitting on the back deck, I saw something.  Something I grew.....

(Prepare to be wowed....)

Yes these weeds are growing right up through the deck!  Lol. But it just goes to prove that I can grow "something". 

Yes, I did trim them so they are gone now.

But as I was sitting there admiring my plant growing skills, I heard a rustling underneath me.   I peeked over the side of the deck and saw this

Can you see that big bushy tail sticking out from under the deck?  I stomped my feet that that stupid groundhog (or whatever he is) scampered away.  This is the critter who made Swiss cheese out of my lawn the past 2 years.  I think a hunting plan is in order soon.  He's big, he's ugly, and he's destructive.   

I'm still practicing with the iPad apps.  The post is done with the blogger app.  BlogPress is still annoying me. 

Frustrate me why don't ya

Well, technology has been kicking me in the butt this week.   Yesterday, in the middle of a busy schedule my keyboard crapped out.  Actually it worked intermittently but basically was on life support. Ordered a new one for next day delivery.  Good thing it came today because the keyboard was dead this morning.  

And now my favorite blog apps have upgraded to new versions and they suck.  I do 95% of my posts from my iPad.  I have been using blog press and it worked like a charm.  Easy to use and functional.  AND NOW......pain in the arse!

Re-sizing and placing photos where I want them seems impossible.  In my last post I thought I had all the photos centered but magically there are all on the left.  Grrrr.  

Does anyone else write posts with their iPad?  And do you have a preferred app to do it?

In the meantime I will flip through the Rug hooking magazine and attempt to lower my blood pressure ;)

(Really just added this pic to see where it appears.  I'm betting its not centered......) 

Market Fun

Saturday was a fun day at the market. Two markets in fact. I got up early and heading out for the 10 minute drive to Sackville for their outdoor Farmers Market.   The early spring vegetables are out and the food vendors are to-die-for. Lots of yummy ethnic foods, from Chinese, Polish, Indian and German delights.

I always stop at the German baking table ;)

And until my farm co-op program starts, here is a few veggies. And it didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous sunny day. There's not much better than strolling through a farmers market on a sunny Saturday morning.

And after I got home I headed to our Downtown to take in the first ever Amherst Artisans Market. I could hardly believe my eyes. There were people everywhere !! And that is not something you typically see in our downtown in the summer. I loved it. It looked alive and vibrant. Local artists, musicians and food vendors were all over the place. Some in the Park, some inside various stores and many more on the sidewalks.

I didn't get to see every vendor but the ones I visited had some beautiful products. The thing about a small town is you can hardly move 10 feet without seeing someone you know and stopping to chat. That's the best part of small town life. And where else can you walk into a shop and the owner says "the kettle is boiled if you want a cup of tea" and you sit and have a cup while you visit and shop?
 

Simply lovely day
 

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Songbirds and disappearing sheep

The week ended on a busy note ~ good but busy. Last night one of my friends was having her musical debut, singing at Open Mic night at the downtown Pub. She has been practicing for weeks. So I gathered together a bunch of friends and we went down to support her. She did great! There was a good crowd there and she had two tables full of friendly faces to hopefully take the edge off the nerves. But if she was as nervous as she said, she didn't show it.

Yesterday I also stopped at the rug hooking studio to look for options to solve the disappearing sheep issue. We hummed and hawed over lots of different choices and finally settled on some wool. I am loving the background pale plaid I am using.


I've decided to wait to replace the sheeps wool until the end. But as you can see, in its current state the sheep has disappeared.


I should have this done before the end of the weekend with the "new and improved" sheep. I didn't hook much today. I had the day off and poked around town running errands. And luckily on one of my jaunts I noticed the Fish Man's Truck parked. He had fresh flounder so guess what I fried up for supper........ I have enough left for lunch tomorrow. Fish tacos perhaps.


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If at first you don't succeed....

Seems like the ending to that quote ~ "...try, try again" might be the theme of this new hooked pillow. So far I've re-hooked almost as much as I've hooked. I keep forgetting that wool looks different once it is cut and hooked. Sigh....

Two different pieces of fabric look like a good contrast until they are cut and hooked and then they blend together too closely. I've hooked a little sheep which I was quite happy with and I've had the background fabric selected from the beginning. Now that I have started to outline the sheep with the background wool, I think my sheep will disappear. Arrgh. I even pulled out the top row of the sheep and added a 3rd color in the hopes of defining the sheep.


I don't think it's going to work. But I am committed to the background wool so I'm going to keep hooking and maybe I need to re-hook the sheep body later.

We are getting more rain. Days and days of it. I suspected that once I requested Friday off work, the weather forecast would change :( Yes, it's supposed to rain Friday too. But if I force myself to be delusionally optimistic I could consider a rainy day off a good excuse to hook. Lol

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Slipped from our grasp

Victory was stripped from the Vixens at today's BBQ Cook Off. These are the ribs that brought us down. But the truth is the food was amazing so we were all winners. The gourmet stuffed burgers just could not compete with these "fall off the bone" ribs. The sun broke out just before everyone arrived at lunch time so it was a perfect day despite having to concede victory. The truth is, unless we ban ribs from the menu, I doubt we will ever beat this team ;)

On some hooking news, I have planned my next project. A fresh new piece of linen and a sharpie at the kitchen table


(You didn't think I would show you the whole thing this early, did ya?). Now I'm sorting through my stash and color planning a bit. It's so much fun when you are starting a new project and exploring through piles of uncut wool :)

So far the week ahead looks fairly quiet. I do have to work one night but I'm toying with the idea of taking Fridays off as much as possible this summer. Checking the long range forecast so maybe it will be a short week.

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The Grudge Match

It's time once again for our annual employee BBQ. And it has turned into a bit of a competition. Well......more like a hotly contested grudge match to be exact. Last year, in an attempt to boost morale and encourage participation, 2 employees stepped forward to challenge each other to a Cook-Off.

It didn't take long for sides to be chosen and the competition to begin. One team got a little overly ambitious with menu selection and ended up not having enough time to fully cook things before the staff flooded in on their lunch break. Needless to say, it was a landslide victory for the other team.

Now this year - for the re-match ~ things are getting really serious. There are team uniforms, some covert spying, attempts to poach team members and last but not least - some good old fashioned Smack Talk.

It's Vinnie's Vixens vs The Twin City Roasters. This is the email that Vinnie's Vixens received on Friday from The Roasters.

Subject: Vixens you better bring your A game Monday

"Monday is Cook Off rematch. You better bring you’re A game ladies.
Cus come Monday The Twin City Roasters are turning on the Heat. And the Special of the Day is Vixen!"




What’cha going to do when we come for you!

The Response:

"Who's the goon,boyfriend. Don't worry Vixens we will have security plus I think I will offer a picture with the Vixens for every favourable comment ( translation for your vote get a picture with you favourite Vixen)"

The Vixens got together this afternoon to do some of the prep work.


Our spies tell us The Roaster's were busy all day too. Tomorrow will be quite the day! The Vixens cannot lose The Golden Spatula 2 years in a row! Can't wait for lunch time ;)

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Hope

This is the sign that lit up Robb's Ball Field Complex last night at our 10th Annual Relay for Life event. Hundreds of participants gathered to celebrate and fight against cancer despite the bad weather. Even the rain from Andrea couldn't damper the spirits. Several hundred survivors proudly walked the victory lap in a sea of yellow shirts.

Our little town always turns out in full force for this event. There have been no totals announced yet but you can be sure it will be an impressive number.

But it seems that in today's society there are always some idiots who want to insert evil and cruelty into what should have been a positive, uplifting night of fundraising, fellowship and support. Another Relay event was happening last night in Halifax, just 2 hours away from here. In less than an hour after it got underway Police received a bomb threat indicating something similar to the Boston Marathon bombings would take place. They had no choice but to take this seriously and the site was immediately evacuated and the event cancelled.

I am just stunned that someone would do that. Volunteers work for months organizing these events. Teams fundraise for months. And Survivors deserve to take that victory lap. Yet, in a cruel hoax it was all taken away from those in Halifax. Hopefully the police will be able to identify the caller and I hope they receive the maximum penalty.


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Separation Anxiety

It happens every time. I should expect it by now. Although I'm always (I repeat, always) ecstatic when I sell a rug, I do get a little bit of separation anxiety when I part with it.

This last rug was designed by Deanne Fitzpatrick just for me. I had a spot in my office where it was destined to hang. I intended to list it for sale but I figured it would live in my office long enough to enjoy it or get tired of it before it sold.
But alas it appears this rug was not meant for me. The large blank wall will remain empty for now.

And now I'm faced with the next inevitable dilemma ........ what next?? I can't decide what the next project will be. I'm in a hooking mood with a package of new sharpies but an empty mind. Sigh.....

However I did manage to distract myself enough tonight at a surprise 40th birthday party for a friends husband. Lots of laughs and good food. And it was Open Mike night at the Pub so we had some nice background music too.

The week is winding down but the weather is winding up. Tomorrow night is our towns Relay for Life event and it looks like a post tropical storm will be passing through. If the forecast is correct, the tents might be floating away by morning. It's such a shame because so many people put in so much effort for this. Fingers crossed that the rain holds off.

Finally, thank you all for the lovely comments on my rug. I appreciate every one of you who read and/ or comment here. You always lift my spirits :)

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Another one bites the dust

In yesterday's post I may have mentioned I had big, happy news. You know how sometimes you make a blog post about some big, upcoming news and the minute you hit the publish button you realize that you may have totally over sold the thing. Well, this is just like that. Lol

But here it is. I finally finished hooking "Girl in a Summer Garden".



I'm so happy to have it completed. All that is left to do is the boring binding part. BUT the very best, most exciting part is that it is..............already SOLD.

Yay!! I see big bundles of new wool in my future :)

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Chats on the Porch

It seems like a long while since I have joined up with the Chats on the Farmhouse Porch, hosted by the lovely Patrice.

Sometimes it seems like I either don't have time to post on Chat day or else I have some other burning issue to blab about, that in my mind just can't wait.  Haha (kidding)

But I'm here now, so lets get to this weeks questions before I get distracted again.

QUESTIONS

1. When it comes to vegetables, which do you use more often- canned frozen, or fresh?

I would have to say mostly fresh.  Sometimes I wonder if the grocery store and I share some kind of magnetic force field because I find myself there 2 or 3 times a week picking up something.

2.   Do you sew?
Hmmm, I do own a sewing machine.  And I can operate it at the "most basic level" but I would be lying if I didn't say it was a exercise in frustration and I often can be heard muttering not nice words when seated at the machine ;)

3.  Do you have a common fear, such as the fear of heights, spiders, snakes, small spaces, flying, etc?
Gee, where do I begin??  Well, spiders and snakes are a given.  But let's not forget Clowns.  I'm already dreading summer festival season when those creepy, face-painted psychos will be running around.  (Shudder)   Honestly, I think I would rather be alone with a spider than a clown!!!

4.  Is there anything you recommend for cutting the grocery bill?
No, sorry.  Wish I did have a plan for that.  See answer #1 and my unhealthy attraction to the grocery store

5.  Tell me about something that made you happy over the past week.
My first thought was those types of events have been few and far between this week.  Except for one great thing today.  BUT I'm saving that for tomorrow's post.  (So don't forget to come back)

Thanks to Patrice for hosting our Chats

A lot of little random

Another crazy week here at The Funny Farm. Work was busy with some big meetings that made it a kind of stressful week. I was getting the boardroom set up on Wednesday and was opening one of the big folding tables. I wanted to make sure it was snapped in secure (ironically so it wouldn't collapse) and leaned on it to make sure. Well, I'm sure by now you've figured out that it did indeed collapse - right on my leg. Now I'm sporting a big green and purple bruise, so no short skirts this week. And believe it or not, the work week went downhill from there.

Luckily my friends came to the rescue. The next night Deanne, Katherine and I went to a neighboring town for supper. It was the first really nice evening so we were able to eat on the outdoor patio.



After a little pasta, pizza and girl talk we strolled up the street, poked into a few stores and then settled at The Bridge Street Cafe for a mochachino. A very nice relaxing evening and exactly what I needed.



And I'm pleased to report that there are very few empty spaces left on the rug. I may not get it finished tonight but I'm very close.



I had hoped to finish it today but the sun was shining (finally) so I lounged around on the deck with a book for most of the afternoon. Sunny weekends have been rare so I didn't want to waste it.

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