Still Kicking

I am still here, if moving slowly. Not long after my last post I suffered a herniated disc in my back. I am still recovering, but things are getting better. I just need to get stronger right now. Due to pain meds and muscle relaxers, I was not knitting for a while. I just couldn't concentrate. Now that I am off all the meds things are better and I have been knitting a little. I have been reading more. Most of what I read is light and easy to forget, but it is entertaining while I'm reading it. Hopefully, I will be up and around more as the days go by and knitting more, too.

This and That

Oh my, it's July. Sorry, I could not resist. It's been a long time since I wrote. That's because my life is just not that interesting on a day to day basis. So, what's happened since I last wrote? On June 20 my daughter, her husband and a good friend were in an automobile accident. An idiot ran a red light and side swiped my daughter's car and pushed the car into a light pole. My daughter's car was totalled, but my daughter and all her passengers were OK. They all had some bruising and soreness, but that's all. It could have been so much worse.

On June 26, we went for our annual beach fix to Gulf Shores, Alabama. We go there every year for a week or two. This year we were able to stay two weeks. My niece and her family came, as did my brother and his girl friend. It was nice to spend time with family. We love to see the fireworks on the beach for Fourth of July. We were able to stop off in Slidell for a little while to see my mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew, too.

On the knitting front, I finished two pairs of socks recently.

These are Trekking Hand Art yarn knit on US 2 (2.75mm) needles.

These are Berroco Sox, colorway 1477, knit on US 2 (2.75mm) needles. I love the stripes in this pair.

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Take care.

June

I can't believe it is June already. Not a lot going on here. I have been doing a lot of reading lately and a little knitting. I will try to post some knitting here soon.

Look what I got in the mail today. It's a crocheted tiger key chain from Caroline B. She had a contest on her blog a little while ago, and I won. Caroline does amazing things both with fiber and paint. You should check out her blog at Uniqart.

Spring in Texas

It's spring in Texas, and what does that mean? Bluebonnets! Wally and I went out looking for wildflowers on Sunday afternoon. Texas has lots of wildflowers that grow on the sides of the highways. In March, the bluebonnets bloom, and I love them.

We found a huge field just outside of Brenham. This field was at least 4 or 5 acres, and it was absolutely covered in bluebonnets. It was also accessible to people, that is, not private property. Lots of other people had the same idea we did. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and moderate temperatures. Here is a little bit of what we saw. Here's another close up shot. This one also has what are called Evening Primrose here. I don't know if that's the proper name for these pink flowers or not. They are everywhere this time of year, too.

A nice family was kind enough to take a photo of Wally and I standing in the bluebonnets. You can see how big the field is in back of us. Multiply that space by 4 or 5 and that's how huge the area was. And...it was all bluebonnets. You can also see lots of other people enjoying the flowers.

Later, we stopped at a Dairy Queen, another Texas classic. Wally had a chocolate shake, I had a caramel shake and we shared some onion rings. It was a lovely afternoon.

Oscar

So...it has been almost a month since we "fostered" Wildfire. Needless to say, he did not go back, and we signed the adoptin papers two weeks ago. We have decided to call him Oscar. He is a great dog, very loving and wanting to be loved. If we let him, he wants to be a lap dog as you can see from the photo below. Sarah is the only one who lets him do this, and he knows it, so he milks it for all it's worth. What a face! When everyone else is at work, Oscar is my shadow. Wherever I am, Oscar is there, too. We have beds in strategic places about the house, but if Oscar can't find a bed, he just plops down anyway, even on the tile floor. When I'm working on the computer, this is what I usually see.

The photo is a little dark as I took it without using the flash. That's my constant companion at rest. Oscar will stay there as long as I'm there, too.

He does have one funny habit. He likes to steal things out of the trash. Not food, because he can't get to the food trash, but things like used tissues or dryer sheets or used swiffer sheets. We have to close the doors to the bathrooms so we don't find surprises in the middle of the living room floor. Oh yea, he also likes balls of yarn.

S3's

So, I have had a serious case of Second Sock Syndrome ever since this past summer. I have three pairs of socks on the needles, and none of them finished. Well, I have finally finished one pair. This yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy. I had never knit with this yarn before, but I really like it. It has a good tight twist and feels great after it is blocked. I knit these socks on US 1 (2.25mm) in my plain basic pattern. The colorway is called Petal Shower.