Just like Christmas

I got a box! I got a box!! I got a box of goodies in the mail yesterday but I was so busy I forgot it out in the car till late last night. It was so exciting! You'll have to forgive my crappy photographic skills - I never get the light right. The yarns are much pinker & brighter than they look here!! I got sock yarns & even a set of square needles still in a sock!! LOL It looks like the knitter was so annoyed at one point that she wrapped it all up, needles & all & tossed it in the box! I remember that feeling when I was learning to do the Queen Kahuna heel from the Crazy Heels & Toes book. At one point I kicked the book across the room in one direction & the knitting in the opposite one. Since the cat was still around, I did have to pick up the knitting but that book laid there for weeks . . . I did eventually finish that sock after a couple of frantic phone calls to my friend Gail who didn't laugh too loudly. And I did learn how to do that gusset heel all by myself. The light bulb came on during the 3rd pair of socks! All of a sudden it all made sense. Honest to gawd, it was just like ZAP & the light came on. I can do it in my sleep now. Best heel I ever used. I was horrified when I realized I couldn't SEE to pick up the stitches around the heel flap without being outside at noon. I just had to find another way. Gail suggested the Queen's heel. I can whack off a heel in no time now. And the gusset heel is so nice & deep - I can adjust it to be shallower or deeper by adding or subtracting gusset increases - my socks never creep into my shoes or boots any more.

I love the box of goodies - there's some yarns in there that I've never seen before - yeah, I live in the wilds of the Vancouver 'burbs on the Wet Coast but MY yarn shops don't carry those fancy yarns. And I couldn't afford to buy them if they did. So, I'm saving the colors I love the best - good thing there's lots of shades of pink & purple - and adding the others to my sock donations for Christmas to Loving Spoonful. Thank you Linda.

Over at Last . . . I think


I'm down to the final periodic morning coughs & snuffle sessions. I don't think I've ever been this sick with a crappy rhino virus in my life! I dodged the pneumonia, thank gawd, but I'm still feeling the exhaustion & dehydration. I think I drank a gallon of milk in three days this week so far & I don't really LIKE milk. I ran out of socks again so here's a few hanging up on washday.

I've been making a lot of soup - Hamburger soup is a perennial fav as well as Italian soup. Both start with onion soup mix & browned onions & garlic. Hamburger soup contains browned burger, barley, carrots or sometimes chopped cabbage & all the leftover veggies in the fridge while Italian soup contains diced tomatoes with Italian spices, sometimes little white beans or soup pasta & chopped green veggies like spinach, zucchini, chard or beet greens. Instead of greasy Italian pork sausage, I've been adding chopped Tofurky Italian sausage made from tofu. It has all of the spicy bite with none of the grease!! It seems the blowing, sneezing & coughing takes a lot of moisture from a body!

And have I been knitting?? Some. I knit up a couple of soft touques, one from merino & silk & one from mohair & handspun. One cold evening, one of my clients showed up with the shaved head so popular with the twenty & thirty somethings & I stuffed one on his head! I think he's the second to be warmly covered this spring. And I stuffed the other one into his pocket for his new son, Joshua. I'm almost to the toe on the Boss Sock & still plugging along on my Poncho Pullover. Haven't felt much like knitting lately - this crappy weather has my hands slightly swollen & my knuckles aching. I suspect the virus & tax season have contributed as well! I'm using my hands a lot & they really hurt some days. I've ordered a DVD 'Yoga for the Rest of Us' from PBS(Public TV) Peggy Cappy produces a program of gentle yoga with a section for arthritic hands. She's been on Public Television advocating for Yoga - especially for seniors - to increase mobility. The reports from the Seniors involved in her program are very encouraging. So, I thought it might really help my overworked & arthritic hands so I can knit more!! hehehehe, what can I say???

Just a little Rant


I want to know how a 15% increase in a Teacher's salary over 3 years is supposed to reduce crowded classrooms, add extra Teaching Aides & find more resources for kids at school??

My Opinion is that Schools, like Churches are undervalued & underused. Especially Elementary Schools. We paid to install all those bathrooms, kitchens, gyms & classrooms that only get used from 8:30 to 3:30 Monday to Friday for about 8.5 months by kids. The rest of the time, they're empty. Let's get our money's worth!!! I would rather pay extra NOW & make sure the next generations are healthy & ambitious than waste money building more jails.

With the shortage of good daycare - especially for babies - why aren't schools being used for Daycare???? With all the Portables available, Daycare space could be expanded & contracted to meet the needs of the community. Daycare MODULES could easily adapt to any age group with the addition of a bathroom/laundry module.

I've heard that the school lunch/breakfast programs are often the only meals some kids get on a regular basis. Let's feed all school kids. And the Before & After School program kids too. These kids are our next generation of tax payers. Let's show them how it's done.

With the captive student population attending school - Medical, Optometry, Dentistry & Psychiatry should be part of each school FREE to each student. Everyone would get the services they need at school! Parents wouldn't have to lose a day of work & the student a day of school. What a wasted opportunity an empty school is.