Friday Fluff: A Pain in the Neck

 

When I stay at Daughter's to kitty sit, I sleep on the couch. She has a lovely guest room with its own private bathroom but I'm too spooked to go way upstairs in her big empty house. On Monday morning I woke up with a stiff neck that I haven't been able to shake all week. It's getting better but I can only find relief when I'm upright and on my feet. I've spent the week doing lots of odd jobs around the house but little of anything else. I did get three more sections done on the handspun Pi Shawl before I came home. Four more sections to go but I can't look down to knit right now. 

I hadn't gotten very far on my latest spinning project before I left and I didn't add anything to it this week either. I did get all my winter clothes cleaned and packed away. Pup's too. I hand washed and hung all the woollies out to dry when we had sun and warm weather. It's back to cloudy and cold which is fine by me. 

My first little loaf of the reanimated Betty White turned out to be a good one. Cooking and cleaning I can do. Sitting and knitting or anything else that I have to look down to do, I can't. That includes sleeping and even watching TV so I'm a pretty grumpy mess right now. I just can't get comfortable and my other body parts are now trying to join in the fun. It's always a domino effect when you get old. The misery starts in one place and just keeps on traveling.

Touch and Go

 

When I got home I had to resurrect the refrigerated Bettys and at first it didn't go so well. I was worried. Then after a day of 80 degree heat they came back to life with a vengeance. 

Look at those bubbles. That's a first. Betty was really happy so I put her to work.

We made waffles in the morning.

I finished off the last two pieces of Betty White that I had in the freezer for lunch so I started the process of making more bread. She made an excellent tomato sandwich.

After we turned on the AC I made crackers. I hated to have to turn it on since the Bettys were performing like crazy in the heat but when the thermostat hit 80 it had to happen. The Mister said so. 

April Wednesday WIPs and a Mystery Solved

 

The only knitting that I took with me besides socks was the Hue Shift. I had to rip out the second row so I could line up those intersections better and I did. It's not perfect but I'm happy with the improvement. I get better at this with every square. 

As for the mystery...those of you who have been here a long time probably remember the drama I had with the big kitchen remodel that took 3 years thanks to Covid supply chain issues. In the winter of 2022 I finally got my stove only to discover the oven smoked and filled the house with noxious fumes. We had the service people out at least 4 times with no results and neither Lowes nor Frigidaire would let me exchange or return it even though it was under warranty. 

Well....fast forward four years. You see those blocks of Styrofoam? While I was gone I told The Mister to open the windows and crank the stove up again to check to see if it still smoked. If it did I was going to replace it with my tax return money. In his boredom he took the whole thing apart and what did he find way up underneath? Yep. Those two blocks. We had paid extra to have the stove set up and it seems they neglected to remove all the packing. That was what was burning. You would have thought the service guys would have checked for just this kind of thing especially since I kept harping about it every time they came out.  I turned the stove on this morning and.....no smoke. No fumes. Crazy, right? 

Since it's just the two of us, the little toaster oven I keep inside the big oven is more than enough but it is nice to know if I want to bake something bigger I finally can. 

TNT: Unpacked

 

I said I would get that sentiment finished in March and I came pretty close. I have the name of the author still to do but it should be done in the next day or so. 

It didn't get it finished because I didn't take it with me. I took this instead because it's smaller. I've been meaning to get started on the dreaded border and knew I would get bored enough over the long weekend to want to pick it up. As you can see, I didn't want to pick it up very much. 

I also took my little camel project along but only got a few more rows on it finished. It was a rather gloomy few days so that dark blue that I was working on was hard to see.

I couldn't take my big quilting project but I did take the hexie runner. I think this got the most attention. For some reason I was in the mood for a bit of finger stabbing. 

Today's main event will be to get all the projects that I left back at home put back where they belong. I had to give up my dining/work table to The Mister who was hanging out with Pup on my level while I was gone. He was working on his latest PbN along with a puzzle so there was no room to spare for my things. I'm not sure why he bought this one tbh. When I told him it was Alice in Wonderland themed he said "Alice who?". 

Homeward Bound

 

I'm packing up this morning and heading home this afternoon. My little staycation has been fun but yesterday I was bored out of my mind. Even with all these projects I brought, I couldn't find the energy or the interest to care. I napped and binge watched Scarpetta on Prime. I've never read the Patricia Cornwell books and after spending many hours with her main characters yesterday, I have more questions than answers. 

Daughter and family are on their way home from Connecticut with quite the haul in awards. This is her little one showing off the prizes. He was as tickled to win them as the skaters. Her team came in 3rd overall out of 23 national high school teams. One maneuver team got first, another got second and the entire team got the competition's spirit award. 

Her skaters surprised her by having a temporary tattoo made of a funny photo of her that they all wore to compete in. 

Now I've got my long drive home to look forward to but before I leave, I'm making sure this little Miss is where I can see her. No more kitty hide and seek for me. 

Working Out

 

When I first got to Daughter's house I thought they either had moved and didn't tell anyone or that they had been robbed. The usual explosion of toddler life was gone. The place seemed eerily bare. Then I realized that the robot cleaner had been at work making the place spic and span for the kitty sitter (me) who has kitty allergies.

Daughter's house is big and in its uncluttered state it was perfect for........

...knit walking. I've been trying to keep myself active by doing 30 minutes twice a day.

Once after breakfast and once after dinner. 

At home I always knit walk around the house to the 40's Junction on Sirius Radio. I don't have that here but YouTube has some good swing stations also. I love WWII era music. I love hearing Bing et al singing about kicking Nazi butt. 

Then there's the stairs. If I want a really good workout I climb these a couple of times a day mostly to take care of kitty business which is up in the laundry room.

Speaking of kitties, this one had quite the adventure. I spent my first 24 hours frantically searching for her after she didn't show up for dinner. I was heartsick thinking I was going to have to tell Daughter that one of her kitties might have gotten out while they were packing to leave. They are all indoor only cats. On Friday morning I did another search and found the little lady locked in SIL's golf simulator room. I had checked there once before but she was probably too scared to let me know she was in there. She was spooked and hungry and drank a lot of water but seemed healthy enough. I told Daughter of the misadventure and she thinks the poor thing must have been in there since Wednesday because that was the last time anyone went in that room. They were so busy getting ready to leave they never noticed her absence. Miss Kitty's paid me back for her rescue by keeping me up all night. She and her sister run up and down those stairs from sundown to sunset and they are not light on their feet. It's hard enough to sleep in a strange place without the sound of a herd of elephants going up and down the stairs all night.

In Someone Else's Kitchen With Betty

 

I left my Big Bettys at home but I ended up bringing a little hybrid Betty with me. I know, it's a sickness at this point but it would feel too weird not to have one with me. I took 10 grams of Brown Betty and 10 grams of Betty White and mixed them together. She's been very happy here as you can see. 

I don't tend to cook meals when I'm on my own. I go completely feral and just snack all day. I had a terrible craving for sweets last night so melted some dark chocolate chips on top of some plain discard crackers. I ate them all and felt bad about it but they were awfully good. 

I've already put my Ikea purchases to work. I'm collecting the discard in my new jar in case I run out of crackers and need to make more while I'm here.

I've also put my new scoops to use. I'm glad I brought Little Betty along. It's a long day when you're all alone without something to do.

Pit Stop

 

It takes about 2 hours to get to Daughter's house and halfway there is....... an Ikea. When we have Pup with us, The Mister and I stop at the park down the street from here but since I was alone, it was time to shop.

My house is nothing but Ikea stuff but it never looks like this...sigh. 

I haven't been inside an Ikea since they started delivering to my area so I was surprised to see how much it's changed. It was filled with pretend shops like this bridal salon. It was very authentic right down to the smallest detail. Along with several racks of gowns, there was jewelry, shoes and even sparkly purses all beautifully displayed on Ikea's finest wardrobes and shelving units. Being a former Mother of the Bride, I was impressed.

I didn't come out with anything very interesting. Some jars and flour scoops. I wasn't even tempted by the food section. I usually come out with cookies but I couldn't trust myself with them since I'll be all alone and bored for the next four days. I'm just getting my glucose under control. I don't want to ruin it now especially since I was notified by my insurance company yesterday that I qualify for their diabetes program complete with an on call counselor, free scale and daily weigh in. No thanks. I'll keep my weight to myself, thank you very much. I can handle this. I've done it many times before. 

 

And Away I Go....

 

Daughter's ice skating team has a competition this weekend in Connecticut and her whole family is going so I'm doing the kitty sitting until Monday starting today. All week long I've been filling the freezer with soups to take with me. 

Yesterday was a marathon of cooking making food to fill up The Mister and Pup while I'm gone. 

I made a lot of crackers to take with me and will be packing a bag of frozen sourdough bagels, waffles and bread. I knew I was saving all that for something.

I had to make a hard a decision about the Bettys. I decided to leave them home. I've never put the original in the fridge for a time out but I really didn't want to drag all that stuff with me. I'm going to give them a good feeding and then tuck them in for a long nap. I did have success bringing Betty White back to life from some sleeping discard so I have hopes that this will work out. 

Right in the middle of getting all the things on my list accomplished, I realized I'd been forgetting about Easter. The Big Grands are in China for their spring break. The Middle Grands will be up in Michigan celebrating so Daughter decided she wanted to come here for Sunday dinner. Yikes. I haven't done Easter in years. I had to go on a hunt to find what little I have of it left. It looks like I'll be doing some shopping when I get back home. 

I did take the time to knock out a few cards yesterday afternoon to send off when I get back on Monday. Easter really snuck up on me this year. 

Wednesday WIPs: Off to the Frog Pond

 

Farewell Glennis, I hardly knew ye. I hated everything about this. The yarn. The colors. The mosaic knitting. When I discovered I had misread the directions and would have to rip back to the garter stitch border I was done. Life is too short to spend on something I hated working on and would never wear. 

What I have been fixated on is the Hue Shift Afghan. I love working on it but it's been a regular visitor to the frog pond also. I can't get those blocks lined up right to save my life. 

And....I was asked about the origins of my stitching project yesterday, so here it is. This was one of my first purchases ever from 123 Stitch. That's a site I have to stay away from. It's too easy to lose a whole day planning things there that you'll never live long enough to finish.

TNT: Music Among the Trees

 

I think it's hilarious that after a morning of dragging heavy hoses and wheelbarrows full of mulch around the yard (which I should mention is not flat but very hilly), I come in to catch my breath by working on....a project about trees and gardens. Argh. I said I was going to get the sentiment done in March and I'm close even though I can barely manage a couple of words a day.

If there is a new Dateline podcast I work on the Patchwork quilt. I should be calling it the murder quilt because I did the hand piecing while bingeing Stephen King and now I'm doing the quilting to Dateline. I did finish another whole block last week so I'm not sure what that says about me. 

Dear Jane is getting assembled. It was a pretty easy block-so far. Now I have to figure out how to applique the little squares in the corners. As usual, Jane never makes anything simple. 

All Work and No Play

 

All the digging and mucking about in the mud has finally taken its toll. The Mister and I spent the morning sniping at each other so after the daily tree chores were done I retreated to my sewing room for a quiet putter. I didn't sew but I did punch since I was feeling rather stabby. 

It was rather funny that what I spent the morning punching was dirt. I can't escape it.

While The Mister took his tree angst out on some wood with an ax, I played with Betty in the kitchen. Brown Betty made some blueberry waffles and since Betty White passed the float test, I baked another loaf-this time remembering the salt. So much better.