Another Big Six Oh!

 The Mister was complaining the other day that we have nothing in common anymore. It wasn't a serious concern, just a little man-whine at a partner who has been missing in action for days. Whenever I start to question our relationship, I just pull out one of the many boxes of photos we have in the hall closet. We actually have plenty in common and there's the proof.

 

 He's turning 60 today so all this reflection is natural. It's not a nice feeling to realize you have more behind you than you have before you. It's especially tough when you are knee deep in elder care. At the moment he's got a 94 year old mom to contend with and well, you all know about our ongoing trials with Daddio.

 As for The Mister and me, we've had thirty years of building things....

 ...acting like idiots....

 ...patching each other up.....

 ....and exploring the world together.
I'd like to say "best wishes" to the old fool and "here's to thirty more"-but who knows or even cares if we have thirty more. I'm ok with just taking the days one at a time.

 As long as we are still adding photos to the boxes-and we certainly are-we're all good.

That Explains It

 I was oohing and aahing over everyone's spring photos this week and feeling pretty bad about my own. They were fuzzy and out of focus. I went out and reshot everything in different light hoping for better results with no luck. I was thinking that either my eyesight or my camera was to blame.

It was neither. It was the way I was converting the photos so they would load onto Blogger faster. The top one was left alone. The bottom one was converted. Whew. I really thought I might need a trip to the eye doctor.

Baaaa....

With all the holiday hustle and bustle and then all the Daddio drama, I forgot to show off a Christmas gift from Little Sister.

It's just the cutest little lambie that needs to be holding something special. I can't believe it is already almost Easter and she's not filled with junk. I must be slipping.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

 I should have never opened up the fleece shed yesterday. It gave me the fever bad. I don't have it in me to do any serious washing and dyeing but I did have two bags of locks leftover from last Easter.

They were from the last of  my precious Cormo fleece.

 I had started spinning it last spring and this is as far as I got. I've got no plan for it other than to make yarn.

 I sat in the sun thinking very deep and serious thoughts and pulled a handful of the pretty locks through the handcard.

 And then I pulled them into pretty bite sized nests.

The spindle was so full I had to wind off. It was like meditating in a rainbow.

For Real

 It may still be cold as a witch's you-know-what here in the morning but spring is here.

  Both the big and little daffies are in bloom.

 I'm worried about the camellias. The blooms are little and sad and the buds have visible frost damage (as do I, for that matter).

 Little pops of color are showing up everywhere.

The surest sign of all is the hostas. You can watch them grow.

 All this springing about has me thinking fondly of the fleece shed.

I've got some nice things out there to be played with but as crazy as it is around here-that's not going to be happening any time soon.

Good Friends

A skating/knitting buddy sent a surprise my way.

She doesn't read my blog so she hasn't a clue that I am the most miserable person on the planet right now. She swears we are soul sisters and I am starting to think she is right.

She couldn't have picked a better time to send me a yarny hug. Guess who had another trip to the ER yesterday.

Respite

If you don't know what respite means you probably haven't had to deal with an elderly parent who is in poor health. It's the kind of care they need in order to give their caretakers a break. It's expensive so here at Chez Daddio we have to do it the old fashioned way by taking turns shouldering the burden. For myself, I find mindless tasks restorative whenever it's my turn for a break so I didn't freak when my yarn cake turned into yarn barf while attached to my delicate lace sock. Instead I enjoyed the task of slowly rewinding it into a neat ball.

Of course I had some help from Jose. He makes a great mango margarita.

Thanks for all the inspirational and informative comments on yesterday's post. I am sorry to hear that our miserable experience is not all that unusual when it comes to the treatment of the elderly by our health care system. We are knocking on every door we can to see if we can get some help for the old guy. So far no one's answering but we aren't giving up just yet.