A forced day at home with Little B, Hank and some new yarn..........

Today I am car less.  It seems a few weeks ago someone backed up into the front of my car and left a huge dent.  A huge dent and no note with information on it I might add.  Sigh, some people are just not very nice.  I did not notice it right away as it is in the front passenger side of my car.  It must have happened over the weekend at some point.  Again, heavy sigh.  Today was the day to get it fixed, but also the day Little Buddy's helper at school needed to leave early.  With no car it was just to hard to figure out how to get him early so we decided to have him stay home.  His regular teacher was also going to be absent.  They sent home his work and I did not have to worry about him, a win win.  What was super exciting is big brother had to drive him to pick me up when I dropped off my car.  A ride in big brother's car is the best.  We are now done with homework and classwork for the whole weekend.  Hooray!

The Hank/leg injury saga continues.  He would not leave it alone and had to be put on tranquilizers Monday and of course use a protective cone to thwart his leg licking abilities.  Let me just say that tranquilizers don't do much with his puppy stamina and well apparently cones can be eaten.  Lets also say a certain husband of mine might not have listened to me when I asked him to put the larger cone on Hank when he went into his crate on Wednesday when my husband went to work.  And lets just say a certain oldest son of mine came home early from work to do paperwork and found Hank with his cone off, and Bear and Hank both chomping on the plastic.  And it might just be that this son did not completely understand how to put the large cone on while attaching it to Hank's collar from the directions he received from me over the phone.  And to make the story even better lets just say the babysitter did not watch what Hank was doing in his crate, where she placed him for a bit and he got that large cone/collar off and Bear and he both had another crunch fest.   You can almost imagine how thrilled I was to find out about the second cone and collar after I got home from yet my third 13 hour day in a row.  It would have been nice to know about the second cone/collar before I made it home because I had to pack up Little B and take him to the pet store at 8:00 at night to get more protective cones and a new collar.  I.  Was.  Not.  Happy!

I found this new type of collar at the pet store.  It blows up and attaches with Velcro in two places around the neck.  It also has a strap that goes under his front legs, across his chest and hooks back into the collar.  It is supposed to restrict his ability to turn his body to reach his legs.  Now this ultra flexible, apparently yoga practicing dog of mine can still reach it if I don't have that strap super, super tight.  Still he is finally starting to heal, finally.  This has been a 12 day ordeal for me.  All because I cut him with the scissors trying to get a big mat off his leg.  You can only imagine the mats that are occurring from all these collars and straps.  I'll deal with those later.  He is sure happy to be off all those tranquilizers, look at that smile even if he looks like he has a whiplash injury!

I think because of all the dog stress, political stress, my work load stress, and of course just life stress I caved in and bought yarn.  I have just been so good this year and really have only bought vacation yarn which we all know does not count when on a yarn diet or yarn restrictions.  It was that darn time at the vet's office when we were waiting to be seen and I had all that time on Pinterest.  Seeing that beautiful Lakeside Pullover made me want to make it right away with the yarn suggested.  Of course I don't have the yarn for it in my stash, and after reading up about Lion Brand Yarn ZZ Twist, yarn that was made with crocheters in mind, I had to buy some.  I looked it up and wouldn't you know they had the right amount of skeins, in my favorite color, right at the Joann's near me.  So I went and bought it.  And while there they had this beautiful Buttercream Luxe Craft Yarn, which I think is now a Joann's yarn brand, on sale so I also bought it.  Well you see I did have to spend so much to use my $10 off coupon.  I am not usually a Joann's yarn shopper but am interested in how these yarns will work up.  Have any of you used them?

Okay, I am out of here.  I have Little Buddy enjoying a movie after all the work he has done and I still have work to do around the house to catch up from my work week.  Happy Weekend!

Scenes of the weekend..............

  

Happy Fall!  It was a breezy Autumn day here yesterday with highs in the upper 80's, back to 90 tomorrow.  I am not complaining, after Hurricane Michael hit northern Florida and wiped out whole areas this week.  It is a huge disaster and frankly could easily have been here so I am thrilled with my hot and humid weather.  My heart goes out to those who have lost so much.

The title of this post could have been signs of my week but all you would have seen me do is drive or work, then frantically try to spend a few minutes with Little Buddy before bedtime.  My caseload is sky high right now, I am thankful for the work but am plum tuckered out.

On my Friday morning off I spent most of it in the vet's office having Hank looked at.  I accidentally cut him last Sunday while trying to get a mass of hair off of him.  He moved, I moved, well you can imagine what happened next.  I cleaned it and put liquid bandage on it but he would not leave it alone.  He relentlessly licked it, causing more hair masses which pulled the cut open again and again.  I went in on standby and thankfully they got me in before I had to head to the school for Little B's parent/teacher conference.  Hank has been shaved, cleaned up, and is now on antibiotics just to be sure he is okay.  Let me just add that another bandage is now on because he tried to chew the last one off.  Heavy sigh inserted here. 

  

I was not thrilled with the parent/teacher conference.  Little Buddy's teacher is wonderful, very dedicated, and very strict about what should be happening in class.  Let me just say this sweet face is being a bit of a pistol in class, interrupting, not getting his work done when he should, or cooperating, but she still loves him.  We have had a talk, or two, or three this weekend about proper behavior and focusing.  Not his strong point due to his brain injury, but still we have to try!

We headed off to the pumpkin patch yesterday.  I swear I could not get this child to look at me and smile (see cooperating above).  These are the best of the bunch of photos I took, you should have seen the rejects!  While it looks like Autumn here with these photos it is still plenty warm to jump in the pool.  

I have crocheted at least three scarves full of rows I had to frog this past week.  I started on this pattern the Goblin-Cleaver last weekend and redid it so many times I can't even tell you.  Seems I can't follow a pattern anymore, or I can't count, or my count is accurate but I am still not getting it.  I tried again on Friday and finally just tossed the pattern in the bin.  Next up was Rowan Berry Shawlette which again has me stumped.  I do think there is an error in row 13, and based on reading what others wrote I may be correct.  Yet I started and frogged, started and frogged all the day long yesterday.  I think I need to get on some medication to help me focus, maybe a miracle knitting/crochet reading patterns drug.  If we developed it it would be a best seller.  Now I am determined to make this scarf work, but when in the vet's office wasting my time on Pinterest I found this The Lakeside Pullover, and now all I want to do is start this project.  So many fun things to make and so little time to make them.

If you are experiencing Autumn, enjoy every beautiful, crisp, moment of it.  If Spring is coming your way, enjoy the sweet smell of the earth growing wonderful new plants and flowers.  If you are stuck in the heat, well be thankful you still have a home, a community, electricity, plumbing, food and water.  After the storm this week those things can be taken away in a blink of an eye.

Have a good week my friends.

Thank you and can you stand another one?

Before I write anything I want to thank you all for your caring and sharing in my last post.  You opened your hearts and talked about your own experiences with sexual misconduct and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I also appreciate each and everyone of you who did not want to share.  I am not sure I would have before this confirmation hearing to be honest.  Let me just say I am sending love to each of you no matter what has happened to you in the past, you are all worthy, you matter, and did not bring any unwarranted attention onto yourself.   I thought I would get a quick post in before the vote on Judge Kavanaugh.  I just might go into hiding after the vote because I fear my trust in our system and our government is going to reach an all time low, if that is even possible anymore.

Here to make you smile is Hank.  He is getting much better in front of the camera and is not looking so panicked when he sees it in front of him.  He makes me laugh so much.  He gets his bone every time you walk in the room and prances around like a horse.  He is very proud of his bones!

And here is Bear.  He is so sweet and adorable.  He looks so innocent but don't let that fool you, he is a master at getting into everything, and I mean everything!  But really his heart is filled with love.

My last Memento Mori Shawl was finished last weekend.  I made myself sit down and rest most of the weekend which allotted a lot of time to get this done.  Little Buddy and I did things at home, the pool, play doh, reading, a movie, snuggles, you know how it goes.  It was wonderful and even more so because the families teams, UCF, Ohio State and the Packers all won.  The biggest boys and Dad had a great time in beautiful Wisconsin with the gorgeous weather and the Packer win of course.  

The shawl was completed with Malabrigo Rastita, I believe I said Rasta before and that is a thicker yarn.  I used less yarn with this shawl somehow but it came out about the same size as the red one.  This is for Little Buddy's babysitter for Christmas.  She loves skulls, and spooky things so I thought it would be perfect for her.  Two presents completed, Yay!  I used about 500 yards of yarn for this shawl and a size H hook.  For the last few days I have had nothing on my needles or hook, it feels very weird to me.  I hope to rectify that tonight.

Happy weekend my friends.  

This week, a new skull shawl and a boy's and women's weekend...............

After this week in the news I though we could all use a little but of Little Buddy love.  With the seasons changing and an ever tiny bit of coolness creeping into the morning air, I also see changes in this little one.  He is getting older, much as I hate that.  He lights up my life, yet as a typical boy makes me a bit crazy.   The older boys and Dad have headed off to Wisconsin for the Packers game on Sunday.  So it is a boy's and women's weekend at our house according to Little Buddy.  He is very much into the plural right now.  Not sure who the other women are in the house but apparently there are some.  He wanted a sleep over in the big bed, not the seven year old's bed so that is exactly what he got.  It was fun to see his sweet face snuggled up next to me this morning when I woke up.

Onto the news, this week has been something hasn't it?  Dr. Christine Blasey  Ford is my hero.  She spoke out in a hostile environment when she felt she had to, not because she wanted to.  She was strong and eloquent, contained yet emoted her fear, anxiety, and her story.  She has nothing to gain, nothing at all, which makes her more credible to me.  The thing is I have never been molested or raped in the way I feel it has been defined.  A reader recently sent me an email and she thought I had been.  If I have alluded to this on this blog I am sorry, I am sorry if I have implied in some way that I am part of that group of women who have been so horrible wronged and violated.  I have had a man expose himself to me while walking to middle school while I was alone.  I have been held against my will by an older man in the ward where I was doing my psych rotation as he slathered his disgusting mouth all over mine.  I have been felt up and down by men while holding up food and drinks on a tray while I was a waitress in college, of course with your hands full you can't defend yourself.  I had one man feel right up my skirt on an elevator but when I turned around in that crowded space no one made eye contact with me.  I had a terrible experience with a young man I had dated that visited me when I lived in Virginia and berated me for hours in a drunken stupor and then tried to force himself on me, I got away, drove him to the airport the next day morning even if he did not have a flight then called my sister and cried and cried.  What I am trying to say here is that I am not special, this was the norm and it appears that it still is.  We all have experienced something in our lives because we are women.  And that Senate panel once again tried to make Dr Ford's story, the story of all women, something that is not important enough to even investigate until Senator Jeff Flake finally spoke up.  Judge Kavanagh and Dr Ford both deserve to be heard, and their stories investigated.  I have to say thank you to Dr Ford for speaking up, she will never see this blog or know me in any way, yet she moved me with her poise and determination.  Okay, enough lectures here. 

Memento Mori Shawl number two is finished.  This is the one made specifically for Little Buddy's speech pathologist, due to her love of all things pirate.   It is big, really big but light weight.  Made with Malabrigo Rasta.  I used up almost the entire two skeins of yarn for this project so I am guessing it used 600 yards of yarn.  Oh, and I used a size H hook so the stitches are small but the drape is still lovely.

I will leave you with this photo of the boys looking at me this morning.  They celebrated their 11 month birthday on Wednesday, and my Father would have been 96 yesterday.  Rest in peace Dad, you are missed.  

Okay, I am out of here, I have a lot of boy's and women's things to do.

And the winner is...........

And the winner of the skull shawl is.............. my dear, dear friend, Teresa Kasner.  I wish I could have made a shawl for each and every one of you who participated.   I thank you all for joining in the fun with me.  Teresa, your parcel will be shipped this week.  I can't wait for you to get this shawl, hopefully you will have loads of fun wearing it this October.

Yesterday these two got a bath.  I could not help myself and had to take a photo of them from inside the house.  They look so different when they are wet, and frankly were not happy to be left outside to dry.  They are sooooooooo fluffy today, and they smell delicious.  

Okay I am out of here.  I have to get caught up on a few things before I dive into my crazy work week.  The good news is I am done with cleaning and paperwork.  The bad news is Sunday is quickly ending and I am not ready for Monday yet.  Hope you all have a great week.

A Halloween Shawl giveaway.......

Hello my friends.  If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know I love Halloween.  It is my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it, especially that it is my oldest son's birthday.  

I made this Halloween themed shawl up as a prototype for one I would like to make Little Buddy's speech pathologist for Christmas.  I know you think I have my holidays mixed up but I don't.  She is a huge Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and she also participates in a big celebration in Tampa every year called Gasparilla.   It is during this event where there is a mock invasion by pirates in Tampa Bay, and there are parades and lots and lots of drinking.  Different groups have their own pirate themed organization that does lots of charity work for the community.  She is really big into all of this.  Frankly, I try to stay away from Tampa during these times because there are a lot of drunk people everywhere.  Now I think I am showing my age because I went a few times when I was younger and thought it was loads of fun.  Okay, back to the shawl.  I have been looking for a skull pattern for a year and although there are many of them out there when I found this one I knew it was perfect.  I worked this up last week and steam blocked it today.  The one I am making Ms. Renee is going to be red, so she can wear it to chilly Tampa Bay Buc games and it will also work with here Pirate costume.  

This is the Memento Mori Shawl by Jarta Jasmine Designs.  It is really simple and if you like a chart like I do you are in luck as there are two included as well as written directions.  This was made with Juniper Moon Farms Moonshine, just a bit over 2 skeins so I am guessing 420 yards.  I used a size J hook to help with the drape.  This yarn is 40% wool, 40% alpaca and 20% silk.  

I am going to give this shawl away to someone who loves Halloween as much as I do and thinks it will be fun to wear.  All you have to do is leave your desire to be entered in the comments.  You don't have to follow this blog, just make sure you are not anonymous when you comment because then I can't get back to you.  You can also email me.  You can find my email in the About Me section in the upper left hand corner of the blog.  I will be drawing a name next weekend on Sunday, so I have time to get this off to you in the post and you can enjoy it all October.  I have not done a giveaway in so long, I am so excited.  You have until Saturday the 22th to enter.  Good luck!

I just had to share this photo of the boys in the car this morning.  We went off to the vets to get shots, weighed and a general check up.  They drooled all over as they get very nervous in the car.  And I have to say they were exceptionally well behaved in the vets office.  She remarked that they were so calm! Ha, I had a good laugh at that one.  As they say it is better for your kids to be behaved when you are out than at home.  As soon as we got home they each grabbed a pillow and tried to eat it.  Well behaved, what a laugh!  Still they are awfully cute.  Have a great weekend.

Just for fun.......

It feels like all I have been doing this weekend is paperwork so I took a few seconds this morning to try and get a few photos of my three little ones to show you.  Aren't the furry boys getting big?   They had their face hair trimmed by me last night, even their beards which was a first for me.  I am still tweaking them to make sure it is all straight.

You can compare the photos to this one taken in March, look the same pj's!  Little did I know then what I was getting myself into!

While taking breaks from writing reports Little Buddy and I spent a lot of time playing with play doh.  He has a hard time with squeezing and flattening it out but still loves to play with it.  Although I am not sure who this guy is, he looks like a mustached impostor.  

Here is hoping you all had a great week and that next week finds you happy and healthy.