Almost got it all done

    It was THIS close..... Then I ended up sitting on the side of route 9 after pulling out of the Stop n Shop plaza. It seems my brake problem had decided to come back. The right front brake is seizing or something. Hubs told me before that when it happens, I should pull over and let it cool off, then it should let go and after a while I can drive some more.


    That's what happened the day it took me three hours to get home from Fishkill. I had to stop three times to let the brake cool off. Thank the Goddess that yesterday I was close to home, and only had to stop the one time. I only had to wait a half an hour before trying to drive the rest of the way home. I made it!!


    While I was sitting there waiting, I got a call from my son James. He told me that he had gotten a call from a friend that I was on the side of the road, so he called to see if I needed help. That was so sweet. I told him I was just waiting for my brake to cool off. It really didn't occur to me to call anyone for help, I knew what to do. I mean, my kids are all grown up and busy with their own stuff. And my Hubs will fix it the next day (today). So in the morning, Hubs took me to James and Jessica's house so I can watch the kids, and then he came pick me up afterwards. While I was gone, he fixed the brakes.


   On a positive note, I got some knitting done in the time I was sitting there waiting for the brake to cool off. See? That's why I always have either my nook, or my knitting with me. Sometimes both. You never know. It's almost gotten to be a superstition with me. If I go out without at least one of those things, something bad will happen....


    In fact, I thought the brake had a problem because I had taken the extra skein of yarn out of my bag. When I started knitting, I thought I was almost out of yarn. But I was wrong, there was plenty left.


    So yesterday I got almost all my errands done. I just wasn't able to get to the pharmacy. But I have plenty of that medication and don't need it yet. I can pick it up another day.

Running errands today

    That's my job for today. I have a few things I have to do, and I better get them done since I will be watching the grandkids the rest of the week.  I feel very privileged to watch them, to be trusted with their care. But they do exhaust me. It's weird, it's like they suck the energy right out of me! But they are so awesome, it's worth it.


     So let's see, what do I have to do? I need to get some gas for the Jeep, then I need to head to Adam's, since we are out of chocolate truffle decaf coffee, and nearly out of regular chocolate truffle. Can't have that, can we? I also need meats for dinner, and more little cans of ginger ale. I have found that the meats at Adam's are superior, and not as expensive as other supermarkets.


    After that, I have a scrip to pick up at the pharmacy. And hopefully I will hear from my friend Bonny. She texted me last night, but I had misplaced my phone, and didn't find it until this morning. I sent her a text explaining what happened, but I haven't heard back from her yet.


    I am still knitting away on the super secret project. I'm pretty sure that I have enough yarn now to finish. I just have to find the time.

Knitting and reading

    That's me, knitting and reading. I am working on the super secret project, getting close to 25% along.  And when I'm not doing that, I'm reading. I read through all the books I got for my nook, and I don't want to buy any more at this time, so I'm rereading the whole Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, from the beginning. All twenty two books. I started book 1 yesterday.


    Tomorrow I get to hang with my granddaughter for a while, while her mom takes her little brother to the dentist. I'm looking forward to that. Can't wait to see what she'll want to do.


    When my son and his girlfriend went on their cruise, they brought mama back a bottle of Vaanilla Rum from St. Maarten. I broke into it last evening, and it's really good! I just poured a shot over ice and filled the glass up with Seagrams Ginger Ale. My usual treatment for alcohol, usually vanilla vodka.


    I've been buying those little cans of my soda, because they are just the right size for my drinks. I was highly disappointed to discover that they are part of that whole "controlled serving size" thing that is so popular these days. But I'll buy them anyway, because they are the perfect size for my drinks without wasting the rest of the bigger can.


    So that's what's keeping me busy, knitting and reading, and a little drink or two in the evening...

Knitting report and other news

    I have begun another super secret knitting project. I won't say what it is, but I will say it's from Elizabeth Zimmermann. The yarn I bought is working out well. I thought I wouldn't have nearly enough, but it looks like I'll only need a couple more skeins. Not too bad at all.


     I hope to go to Michaels tomorrow and get it. But not until after the birthday party Hubs and I will be attending. That'll be fun! You gotta love it when birthday parties are held in bars.


    Today our son Jesse stopped by on his way through and dropped off the bottle of rum he got for me when they were on their cruise. It's Vaanilla flavored, made in St. Maartin. MMMMMM. Can't wait to break into that!  I'll try and check back with you all on how it is.....

A day with the grandkids

    I spent the day today watching my grandbabies. It was awesome. I give my son and his awesome wife tons of credit. They are doing an extremely good job with these two. They listen to you when you talk to them and do what you ask of them, including putting away their toys! It's been quite an eye opening experience.


    I have one more day with them, then their regular babysitter will be all recovered. I sure hope they call me to sit with the kids when they decide to have a date night! It would be my pleasure!


    Now I am completely exhausted, since they are very active. And Mason needs to be reminded that G-ma is not a jungle gym. But he is so sweet and eventually he gets it. Chloe couldn't wait until Mason went down for his nap, so she and I could crochet together. I tried to teach her, but I'm a lousy teacher, and I think she might be a little young yet. But she did try. We will wait until she gets a little more manual dexterity under her belt. And Goddess love her, she was willing!

And at long last...

    Today I had my Hubs take photos of the arm warmers, which came off the needles last week. I finally crocheted the seams a few days ago. And without further ado, here they are!!

    In other news, I am thrilled to report that I am getting to spend time with my grandchildren this week! I sat with them this morning for about three hours, and tomorrow and Friday, it will be all day. Well, until about 2:30 or so, when their dad gets home from work. This opportunity makes me very happy.

Adventure in futility?

    A while ago, Hubs borrowed a metal detector from a friend. Today between thunderstorms he went down to the backyard by the creek and tried it out. I heard lots of beeping, but no cries of "Eureka!".


    When it looked like another storm was getting ready to let loose, I went down and got him to come back up. He proudly showed me what he had found...

    Truly valuable treasures, every last one. The rabies dog tag was from 2005, we figure it's from our former neighbors deceased Chihuahua, Chynna.


    I can't wait to see what else he can find! He wants to try closer to the creek bed next time. I hope he eventually finds something worthwhile.

Knitting report

     This morning, I finished knitting my arm warmers. I was binding them off as Kim arrived home from work. So YAY!! Although they still need to be either sewn or crocheted up, and I still need to take a photo.


    I am so very tired, I really need to go to bed. I was up at 5:30 this morning, and will be again tomorrow. The rest of the week I also need to get up early, just not as early.
I also had trouble sleeping last night. I believe I was still awake at 1 am. And I didn't get a nap today.


    So I'm gonna say goodnight, and go to bed. There could be some exciting news in our future, but I can't say anything yet.

   

I stand corrected

    I had a nice visit with my expectant daughter yesterday, she came over to swim. We spent a good part of the day together. It was good to see her! Of course, we talked a lot. And it seems I was premature in stating that the baby is a boy. The doctors are saying that "so far, it looks like a boy." So they aren't truly sure yet. What you can be sure of is that when we are positive, I will shout it from the rooftops!

   
    The pool water has cooled off a little bit, it was 84 yesterday, and is still 84 again today. Believe it or not it still felt refreshing when the air temp was over 90!

   
    As far as the knitting goes, I'm still working on the arm warmers. They are coming along slowly but surely. It's just been too darn hot to think about knitting. I have been reading, however! I'm so thankful for my nook! I also have a kindle fire HD, I use that for playing games, although I do have several book in it as well.

record broken again!

   With this current heat wave, we broke the pool temp record again!! The water in our 44,000+ gallon, only in the sun 6 hrs/day max, in ground swimming pool is now 86 degrees. In a way it sucks, it's almost too warm to swim in.


    In other news, we held out as long as we could, but today we put in the air conditioners. There's one each in our bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen window. I think we picked a good day for it, as the news on the radio said it could hit 100 degrees today. It didn't take that long to install them, either. Maybe 15 minutes.


    Of course, the one in the kitchen is refusing to work. That one is the oldest, we got it from my mom when she moved out of her house 8 years ago. And who knows how long she had it before we got it?


    The one in the living room is really cool, it's a huge one that sits on the floor, and vents out the window. It's pretty powerful too. It's good to finally be cool.


   


   

In which records are set, then broken

    This has been one hell of a summer. We set a record for pool temp last week, when the water reached 83 degrees. You need to understand that our pool has NEVER gotten that warm. In fact it's famous for being cold all summer.


    For most of the years we've lived here, our pool was only in full sun for maybe 5 or 6 hours a day, from around 10 am to 4 pm, maximum. We have a wooded lot on one side, and the trees block the afternoon sun. We petitioned the owner of the property to cut down some of the trees, and they agreed. We got a little more sun, a little later in the day.


    Last year, we got more time when the trees blocking the morning sun had to come down. Super Storm Sandy undermined the trees roots, and they  started leaning pretty badly. Taking those two trees down seems to have really helped our pool sun time.


    Until this year, the warmest our pool ever got was 82 degrees. it usually hovered around 76 or 78. It only got warmer if it was really hot out and didn't cool off at night. Well, since taking the trees extended our morning sun, we hit the previously mentioned 83 last week. Then rained some and the temp cooled off to 78. but we were soon back up to 82, then 83. And then yesterday, we hit a new high of 84!!


    Unfortunately, I preferred the pool cooler. I swim to cool off, not to feel like I'm in a bathtub. Anyway, it was a proud moment. If you'll excuse me, it's time to put my suit on and go down to the pool. I'll be taking my nook, as well as my knitting and crocheting projects. I like to mix it up.

a bunch of stuff, some of it random

    1. I did the long hot drive down to Fishkill this morning, and hung out with my mom. We were going to do lunch, but she didn't feel up to it. So we hung out and talked and ate ice cream cones. In air conditioning.


    2. On the way home I stopped to visit friends, who showed off their adorable new kitteh. He's a Munchkin, a breed I'd never heard of before. Absolutely adorable. I want one. They are smaller than regular cats, and have little wiener dog legs. How cute is that? I really, really, really want one now. They plan to breed theirs, and maybe we can get one of the kittens. These cats are the cutest thing I have ever seen.


    3. After that visit, I proceeded to drive home, stopping at predetermined points to run errands. I was headed north after the first of these when my brakes started acting funny. It was like the right front brake wouldn't let go completely. After a short think, I stopped at a shopping plaza and called the Hubs. He had warned me it could happen. He couldn't leave work, but advised me to let it sit for a while and cool off. Maybe it would let go enough for me to drive some more. I did that, although how much can it cool off when it's nearly 100 degrees outside and there's nowhere shady to park?


    3.5. I finally got home, three hours after I left mom's. I had to stop three times all together. Not too bad. The last time was pretty close to home, so I didn't have to stay too long at the cigar store.


    4. As soon as I got home, I put on my bathing suit, and headed to the pool. I was dying to get cool. I finally got there! It took a while, but I'm cooled off now.


    Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Before I went to mom's I stopped Michaels for YARN. They didn't have the yarns I wanted either. I was unhappy. And of course there's no one around to ask about it. So I bought substitute yarns. And while I was at mom's I cast on both arm warmers on the same circular needle, and knit a few rows.


   While I was down at the pool, I was thinking about a former LYS we had in Poughkeepise, it was called Yarns Needles and Hooks. Now to me, that "S" on the end of the word YARN is unnecessary. I believe that like the word Deer, Yarn is plural as well as singular. Think about it, and let me know if you agree.

    P.S. I am happy to be knitting again, even if it's not with Jiffy. I got me some Loops and Threads Charisma, a nice bulky weight acrylic yarn. It's knitting up nicely.  I'll get some photos posted soon.

Day at the pool

    It is going to be another hot one today. I think it would be a good thing to spend it by the pool. I'll slather myself with my Dark Tanning Oil, especially my head and ears. I won't be nuts about sitting in the sun, I will alternate time in the sun and in the shade.


    I have been wondering for a long time why my hair hasn't grown back yet. Originally when I saw the Dermatologist, he took a biopsy and the results were that this is the Alopecia that is temporary. It's been more than four years, and I'm ready for my hair to come back.


    Lately though, I've had a revelation. There is one thing I haven't done yet. I haven't had the courage to go out in public without my head covered, whether with a scarf or a hat. It occurs to me that perhaps if I have the courage to breach that final taboo, the Goddess will be convinced that I have learned the lesson I needed to learn, and will allow my hair to grow back.


    At one point, I tried to make a deal with the Goddess, that if she let my hair grow back, I would never cut it again. That one didn't work, clearly.


     Getting back to the point: if I can get my head tanned enough at least enough to match the rest of me, I might consider a public appearance sans hat. Right now, my head skin is white, with a capital W. There is a woman here in town who is also bald. I've seen her a few times in public always without her head covered. I've often wished I was that brave. Hang on, it could be on the way...

The highs and the lows

    All weekend, I was really looking forward to going to Kingston with Hubs. We were going to hit Walmart, Sam's Club, Gander Mt., and Michaels. I wanted to hit that Michaels in particular because the last time I was there, They had the yarn I want to use to make a baby thing for the new grandbaby. I didn't buy it then because we didn't know the sex of the baby yet and I wanted to wait until we knew for sure.


    So now we know it's a boy, and I'm ready to start knitting. We go to Walmart first, Hubs needs new jeans. Then at long last I get to go to Michaels, while he's in Gander Mt. I search the whole fracking store. Not only do they not have the yarn they had for the baby stuff, they don't even have any JIFFY that I want for my arm warmers. I walk over to Gander Mt, practically in tears. I tell Hubs I'll be waiting in the truck. He is outta there in less than a minute. (that was the low...)


    We finally get to Sam's Club. We got the most awesome Rib Eye steaks from there last time, they were the best steaks I've ever made at home. We were there for more of those, as well as a few other things. As we wandered through the store, I spy with my little eye the most awesomely colorful display. I go over to it, and it's a display of brightly colored coffee makers and toasters. They come in red, blue, bright pink, yellow, orange, purple and more!


    Hubs actually let me get a coffee maker! I am so happy that I now have a purple coffee maker. I took a couple of photos of it, on my counter, which is not cleaned off, so don't pay attention to anything but the awesome coffee maker...

    Isn't that cool? Behind it is my red rice cooker that my son Jesse got me for Christmas a few years ago. He really likes sticky rice. I don't think I've used it since he moved out last year.


    I can't wait to get the coffee maker all clean and use it. I have to read the manual yet....


    As for the yarn, I will be making a trip to my local Michaels to look for the yarn I wanted. Maybe even tomorrow. If I can find some gas money....

Knitting News

    I have good news, and bad news. The good news is that the 1st arm warmer is off the needles. I am not going to sew it up because of the bad news, which is that it's too small for my arm.


    As I knitted along, I checked it, and it went around then. I tried to bind off as loosely as possible, but with Homespun I have a problem because of the multitude fibers that get all tangled up. Anyway it's now too small. I think I might buy some of the original recommended yarn, Jiffy, and try again. This time I will do more increases towards the end of it.


    Look for more updates in the future. And I hope I can find a longer needle than 16", so I can do them both at the same time! That's also the best way to do sweater sleeves too, by the way! That way you are sure they are the same length.

A Dream

    This morning after Hubs left for work, I fell back asleep and had the weirdest dream. Now, I'm known for my detailed dreams. At least, it amazes my Hubs when I tell them to him.


    I was in my "grandmother's" house. I use the quotes, because it wasn't really. It was actually a house I've never seen before. Anyway, she had passed away, and I was there to clean it out, and apparently I was going to live there. I wasn't alone, either. A younger woman was with me, and a child. They were "family", but not anyone I recognized.


    The house was on a small road off the main road in whatever town it was. I had parked my truck in the middle of the road, the road was so narrow there wasn't anywhere else to park, and there were only a couple of houses on the road. Next thing I know, the girl comes in and tells me my truck is being towed. I run around trying to find my flip flops so I can go out and talk to these guys, and stop them from taking my truck.


    But I can't find my flip flops anywhere. I run outside in my bare feet. They have my truck loaded on a flatbed. I look up the road to the main street, and see it's blocked off. It's like they are closing the entrance to the road, and making you come from the other direction. For some reason they leave my truck, and go.


    The young lady and I get back to packing up the things in the house, making great headway. Now, things are blending in from my mother-in-law's passing. The "grandmother" left me tons of jewelry, and I was telling the younger woman about some diamond rings and earrings that I got all excited about, but weren't real.


    We were nearly done inside the house, and even commented about having the stained floors refinished. There was a knock at the door, and people started coming from all over. They tell me that I'm the new "Mee-maw", or head of the family. They came to pay their respects, and these were people I'd never seen before.


    The little girl was poking around and found a hidden closet, which we pried open. It hadn't been opened in so long, it was hard to work the knob. Inside we found a bunch of fancy baby outfits, like from Christenings. Some were old and some were newer. It's like after the Christenings, these outfits were given to the Mee-maw to save.


    I'm sure there were more details, but most are gone now. Like the little girl was blonde, and somehow all the stuff we got rid of was just gone. The house was pretty empty, except for some of the furniture we were keeping.


    It was a really cool house, I wish it was real. It was strange dreaming about a house I've never personally been in. I usually dream about things happening in my mom's old house. I have even dreamed that Hubs and I lived in her house.


   If anyone cares to analyze this dream, have at it. I'd love to hear what you think!

Maiden, Mother, Crone and Other Thoughts

    All women go through these three phases of our lives. Maiden means youth, inexperience, naivete. The joys of discovering the world, falling in love, and eventually becoming an adult.


    Motherhood is perhaps the most challenging of the phases. It certainly lasts the longest, at least it did for me. Being a mom is the best and hardest job we can ever do. To teach your children what they need to know about the world, without sheltering them from it too much. They have to experience some things for themselves. We can't keep them protected, but we make sure we are close enough to pick them up when they fall, kiss their boo boos and tell them it's all gonna be OK. And even then, they need the space to grow into themselves. It's all about balance.


    I knew when my youngest moved out just over a year ago that my time as an active mother was at an end. We raised him well, with good values, and he has one hell of a work ethic. We let him loose on the world, and he seems to be thriving.


    But I was in denial about becoming a Crone. It suddenly dawned on me yesterday as I was at the Police station that the young officer I was speaking to probably viewed me as  < gasp >  a senior citizen..... after all, I'm nearly 60 now. And about to be a grandmother for the third time.


    That was a hard realization. I mean, I always had a hard time being taken seriously or even heard, but now I think it's going to get worse.  I just don't see myself as "old" or even "older".


    On another front, however, I have great news! It has been officially confirmed that my new grandbaby will be a boy!! No need to trim anything in pink that's already finished. I can't wait to go shopping for masculine colored yarn!!


   I'm making slow progress on the hand/arm warmers. It was so humid yesterday it felt like I was breathing water when I went outside. The air was very heavy. No wonder I got so tired. It sucks getting exhausted just from the effort to breathe.

   


   

I'm Knitting Again!

    Yesterday, my friend Kim and her Cherub came over so Cherub could swim in my pool. Kim was complaining she had nothing planned to make. I brought down my two giant crochet pattern notebooks for her to look at.


    I didn't bother with the small knitting pattern notebook, as she's way more advanced than I am, and wouldn't be challenged by any pattern I had saved. Besides, she's really into Granny Squares right now, and I am not fond of them. AT ALL.


    So she looked through my pattern books, and found one she was interested in. This inspired me to look again through my knitting notebook, and see if there was something in there I would want to make.


    Lo and behold, I found something!  It's a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn's web site, called Greenwich Gauntlets. The pattern calls for Jiffy yarn, and I couldn't find any in my stash. Which totally surprised me, as my stash used to almost exclusively Jiffy, since it was my very favorite yarn for a long time.


   The pattern called for a bulky weight yarn, so I substituted Homespun for the Jiffy. It works. I made a small swatch, and the needle size called for was too big, so I went down to a size 9 needle. I'm gonna make the longest gauntlets in the pattern, since I want my arms warm too.


    The best thing about this project is it's done flat. I am not co-ordinated enough to manage double pointed needles. I have tried more than once and failed miserably, so I'm perfectly happy to knit this flat.

 

 

    There is also a really cool sweater in my knitting pattern notebook, which I would really like if someone wanted to knit it for me for my birthday, or Festivus.... I read the pattern and there are some things in there that I don't understand or I would have tried to knit it by now.


   The colorway of this yarn is called Tudor. I had some purple also, and a few other colors, but this one called to me. It wanted to be gauntlets. As you all know, you can't argue with the yarn.


   

Swimming with frogs

     In all the years we've lived in this house and dealt with the pool, we have had uncountable numbers of frogs in the pool. We've had snakes in there, and a few dead baby rabbits, moles and mice. One year we even rescued a small possum who was still alive. We did what we could, he wouldn't really let us handle him, but we left him in the sun to dry and hopefully wander off safe and sound.


   But it's frogs we usually deal with most. I love swimming with the frogs. We amuse ourselves by trying to rescue them, because they will get tired and drown eventually. Until this year, I would have said that the frogs always try to get away from us when we try to rescue them. I speak for both of us when I say we'd rather rescue a live frog than find a dead one floating in the skimmer basket.


    This year seems to be different. I have rescued only two frog so far, but one of them I rescued three times! And what astounds me is that he actually swam right up to me, and didn't try to get away. He let me rescue him, and put him gently on the pool surround facing the lawn.


    The second one I rescued was today, and he also let me take him out of the water. He didn't swim right to me, but he didn't swim frantically away either. The first frog was pretty big, and I knew it was the same one three times. I recognized him. I even asked him why he jumped in our pool again. The one today was smaller.


    It makes me think the big one was the Frog King, and when I saved him not once, but three times, he told the other frogs not to fear me, that I wouldn't hurt them. Or is just my imagination? ? ?

Taking a break

    I feel the need for a (hopefully) short break. For amusement, feel free to go back and re-read some old posts. Thank you for your understanding.

The Circle of Life, The Circle of Knitting

    We have a birds nest outside the gates to the pool. It's up on the back of our bedroom, under the little balcony. It was made at the top of the thermometer we have up there. There have been a few nests up there over the years.


    This time I see the parents, who are little brown birds, swoop in and out of the nest, feeding the babies. It's amusing that when Hubs and I are down there sitting at the table and chairs on the patio which is under our bedroom, the parents are very reluctant to feed their babies. They swoop from one side of the pool to the other, resting on the fence. Eventually they swoop to the nest and feed the kids.


    I have seen two little heads peeking out of the nest. What amazes me is that they make no sounds. You would expect baby birds to chirp constantly to mom and dad to hurry up and feed us! But these babies are silent.


    I snuck out there earlier and took a few photos. In the first one you can see the
thermometer.

    Then I got a little closer... I don't know if there are three babies in there or two. If those are the babies, they are getting big enough to leave soon. I worry about that, being so close to the pool. I hope they don't crash land in the pool while learning to fly and drown.....

 

 

 I haven't been knitting, it's been too fracking hot. And we don't have any air conditioners installed yet. Waiting for Hubs on that one. Although we did knit at the parade, as we usually sit under a nice shady tree and we were much, much cooler than those poor people who had to march in the hot sun.  

Huzzah!

    I think I'm saved! Yesterday whilst digging through a stash pile, I found a WIP that I haven't seen in a good, long time. "Perfect!" I thought. "Now I have something to knit at the parade tomorrow!"


    It's a shawl, made with Lion Brand's now-discontinued Moonlight Mohair. I even have someone to give it to when it's done. One of the other karate moms wanted it, way back when I working on it at the karate school. It's a long rectangle wrap type shawl. And it's almost finished, as I was on the last skein of yarn that I had.
   

 

    This yarn is so pretty, with sparkles. But it's a bit too scratchy for my taste. I can't wait to see how it looks and feels after I wash it.

 

 

    P.S. My fellow Stitch n Bitchers Jan and Kim as well as myself, always knit as we watch the local parades every year. This will be the last parade for Jan, however, as she is moving this weekend to Portland, Oregon. I envy her so much! I spent time there with Hubs a few years ago, and it was awesome. I would love to go back. Now we know someone who lives there, and it gives Kim and me an excuse to go.

 

Hoisted!

    OK, I'm still reading Lasher by Anne Rice. At least I'm more than half done now. BUT in the meantime, the newest Iron Druid book is downloaded to my nook. And driving me even more insane, the newest Anita Blake book is also!! They are both there, taunting me to hurry and finish.


    I just want this book to be done already!! Since I've made the commitment to read it, I'm going to finish it, but I'm finding myself skipping paragraphs, even skimming and sometimes skipping whole pages in an effort to be done with it quicker.


    And I still can't find that stupid ribbon yarn. Dag nabbit. Just so you know, the title refers to "hoisted by own petard".

Arthritis, another non crafting story

    A long time ago, perhaps as long as 15 years, I tore my rotator cuff. In my sleep. That's right, I went to bed just fine, and woke up the next morning in pain. I managed to ignore it for about 6 months before I nearly lost all use of my arm, and the pain could no longer be ignored.


    I had surgery to fix it. Fast forward about 6 or so years. Surprise! I developed Arthritis in my shoulder joint. They tell me it's common after joint surgery. They didn't tell me that little fact before I had the surgery, however.


    I learned that I must move the joint to avoid the stiffness and pain. For a long time it worked. Then abruptly it stopped working. If I sit for long periods, like when I'm knitting or crocheting, it really starts to hurt. The pain has even been disturbing my sleep. I'm a side sleeper. I start out on my right side, then move to my left side. I stay there until the pain wakes me up and I have to go back to the other side.


    Lately it's been so bad, I can't even sleep on my left side. I end up laying on my back, leaning to the left a little. However, I now have some help. A few days ago, my Hubs found one of the hand weights I had purchased for P.T. after my shoulder surgery. I cleaned it up, and I've been using it to exercise my left arm. It has really been helping. I am keeping it in the bathroom, and about every other time I go in there, I use the weight to exercise my arm, and move the joint.


    I hope to build the strength back up in that arm. I would be happy if it just quit hurting so much all the time. It is better already, however.


   

The Tale of the Yucky Pool

    We have lived in this house for almost 23 years. This coming week marks our 23rd anniversary. Anyway, I mentioned in an earlier post that we moved into this house because of the pool. Every year, Hubs and I learned more about the pool and how to care for it.


    This year was different. Trust Karma to throw you a curve ball when you think you know and have seen it all. As usual, the water was such a dark green that it appeared black. We've seen this before.


    I should mention here that we usually don't get the pool open before July 4th. This year, we had it open the first week of June. Anyway, back to the algae. This year, we had a carpet of yucky, slimy dark green algae on the bottom of the whole pool. As we ran the filter, It was floating up to the surface looking like jellyfish. And the green wouldn't go away.


    For two weeks we battled the green slime. Hubs bought gallons of a liquid shock. and a couple gallons of a liquid algaecide. Nothing worked. All it did was create a gross foam in the skimmer basket. I was afraid to reach in there, I thought something would grab me back. Poor Hubs, we went through perhaps three 25lb bags of earth. He vacuumed. He took the filter apart and cleaned out the green slime. Over and over again.


    Eventually, he decided to go and get our usual shock, Power Powder from Leslies Pool Supplies. That evening, he sprinkled the pool with all six bags that he had bought. A few hours later, we went down and turned the filter off for the night.


    The next morning, I looked out the bedroom window, and LO the pool was no longer green! It was still a bit cloudy, but there was no more green. I went down and completely back washed the old earth out of the filter, then recoated it through the skimmer. Ever since then, it's been fine. YAY!! I actually swam in it a couple of days ago, and yesterday too.


    I still have to be careful, my sunburn has turned brown on my torso, but the new skin on my head is still sensitive. I am swimming once the sun is off the pool, in the late afternoon. And I promise, I will never again forget my Dark Tanning Oil.


    It was so cool. Saturday, my daughter Sara was here, her dad was fixing her car. She sat down by the pool with me, and peeled the dead skin off my head. It really felt weird. Some of it came off in big pieces, but some did not. I am well on the way to being healed now.