Purling Oaks

Saturday morning goodies

Today's a lovely day in Wisconsin (current temp of 50 degrees F) with blue skies and high temperatures forecast to be in the low 70s.  Thank goodness.  We're having a houseful of family over today as my traveling nephew, Micah, is visiting with his grandmother and they're traveling down here to meet with family in this part of the state and points south. Next week, he starts his senior year at UC-San Diego after spending the past year in Spain (and just about everywhere else.) 

The frozen vanilla yogurt was made last night, the sandwich fixings are in the frig, and everyone else is bringing a dish, so we're all set.  Wilson is going to set up the lawn games.  The cats are, um, not aware of the gathering yet.  :D

I'll be catching up with everything else, including emails, blog reading, laundry, sleeping, and, oh yeah, knitting/crafting/spinning, sometime this weekend.

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My new necklace and earrings from opal!  I sent a little "do you think you could do something like this" email and she created this lovely set that was exactly what I wanted.  Getting a package from opal is really a treat (especially on a Friday) because the packaging is so nice and, besides some chocolate treats that may or may not have been here, there were these uber-cute stitch markers.  Thank you, opal!  Now, to plan to get these packages on a regular basis.....oh, Wiillllssssonnnn!.........  :D 

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I haven't been down to my garden yet, but here is the bounty from last weekend.   

Happy Saturday!

Sunday surprise

Surprises arrived in the backyard this morning before my morning coffee.  Twin fawns and their mom. 

I've never seen twins before and I'm sure fawn-sighting is rare for me.  Wilson sees them more often.

We had a nice time yesterday afternoon/evening.  The food at the Roxie was great.   It was great to see Dr. E, if only for a few hours.

l-r, Mom, Wilson, me, and Dr. E. 

I just realized that Stacey has named all of us, with the exception of Mom.  o.O

I'm off with Wilson today to look at a buying a bicycle for me (he bought his a few weeks ago) and to eat a nice anniversary luncheon at a new-to-me Japanese restaurant.  Our ninth wedding anniversary was this past week but we were were on separate coasts, East Coast and Lake Michigan Coast.  So, lunch for us.  Thanks for a great nine years, my heart, and I'm looking forward to many more decades together.

Happy Saturday photos

This photo makes me happy.  Blue and White Dot, geranium, my spinning wheel, a comfy chair, and a little Saturday sunshine.  Of course, there are things the photo doesn't show, which are fine, such as:

• Both cats (and their sisters) want to go outside but can't because Wilson and I are going up to the Farm in a few hours and we can't have the kitties running a muck while we're gone.
• The sunshine was only visible for about 60 seconds so far this morning.  The high temperature yesterday was 61 degrees F.  This is July?
• That's the same bobbin I started Tour de Fleece with--it is loaded up a bit more but the time allocated to spinning hasn't been too extensive. 

Speaking of Tour de Fleece/Team Crankypants.........You know the Groucho Marx scene where the phrase "Doctor, it hurts when I do this!" and Groucho says, "Then don't do that!"?  Well, I have to put my spindle on the sideline because I'm aggravating my shoulder and ribs somehow.   I'm taking action to heal up but no spindling for a while.  The wheel is still in action so I'm still cheering for Team Crankypants.  Good thing this was a no-stress event.  :D  I am happy that I've been spinning more, and that's what counts.

Our trip up to the Farm is because Dr. E is there visiting our mom.  He's only here for a short time so we're heading up this afternoon to say hello and meet with other family at the Roxie in Oshkosh for dinner.  He's back from vacationing in Europe with his two sons and will be able to tell us more about running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain ( o.O ) as well as the other fun stuff the three of them did.

The garden is coming along despite my absence. 

Happy Saturday!

Oops, still packing...

We had a nice time with a 4 year old going on 16 yesterday.     Just kidding, but I am sure I wasn't that together/smart/quick with a phrase at 4.  Of course, we don't share the same immediate gene pool.  :D  However, the blue frosting is evidence he is just 4.  Happy Birthday, Jack.

I'm almost finished packing and thinking of last minute things to throw into the bags or car. 

Regarding the geranium tree.....I think what I call a tree is just a really tall geranium.  My grandparents had it in a sturdy, large pot (terra cotta, I think) with a pole/stick in the pot to provide some support to the plant.  Geraniums will grow tall, if given a chance.  I remember seeing my first geranium hedge at my BIL's in California.  Crazy.  My grandparents' plant bloomed regularly.

Have a Happy Sunday.  And, Mom, we should be by soon.......  :D

Feline service announcement

Here's some interesting reading for cat owners that came via the mailed newsletter from Fried's Cat Shelter in Charlie, Jr's (feline written) column.

"....It seems there are bacteria living in the latex backing of some new carpeting.  They produce a weak acid that smells like cat urine.  Sometimes it is strong enough that even humans can smell it, and cats' noses are 20 times more sensitive than human noses.  The disinfectant used by the rug manufacturers apparently does not kill these pesky little guys.

One of our humans told me about her experience with two kittens she was fostering a male and a femail.  Both of them were using the litter box from the time she brought them home, at about 4 days, without any problems.  When they were about 12 weeks old, she brought home a new bathroom rug.  The female sniffed at it and then urinated on it.  Our human cleaned that part of the rug with Rug Doctor Odor Eliminator.  The kitten left the treated spot alone and urinated in another spot.  After the rest of the rug was treated, she never urinated on it again.  Yes, that rug had latex backing.

Dear friends, next time you and your cat move into a new apartment which the landlord just had recarpeted, and your cat pees on the rug, don't blame the cat:  the carpet probably has latex backing.  Just get a bottle of Rug Doctor Odor Eliminator and treet the whole carpet (it can be used in steam cleaners or full strength on a single spont), and you don't have to get rid of your feline friend."

I would have linked to the newsletter on their website but it isn't up there yet.   I hope this information saves cats and their people some heartbreak.

Mother's Day, Monday recap

DH and I took my mom fishing for Mother's Day.  I know, many of you may be thinking.....fishing?!?  However, Mom likes to fish!  We went to Weyauwega, a short drive from her home.     The day started out chilly, gray and overcast but improved to be chilly and sunny.  (We'll take what we can get here in Wisconsin.)   Mom caught the first and the most fish.  I made the picnic lunch, including homemade brownies.  I also caught the biggest fish but had to throw the undersized large-mouth bass back.  DH says, "and I did the driving."  He also did the pole set-up and other necessary things including baiting my hook the first time.  We only took home four bluegills but it was a very nice outing.  Most importantly, Mom enjoyed it and so did we.

A hard topic

This is not a post about attending the Madison Knitters Guild event this weekend, how I'm looking forward to hearing Stephanie Pearl-McPhee give a talk, and that I'm going to be spending quality time with the vendors.   Nor is this a post about the wildlife in my back yard or how I wish Spring was here.

This is a post where I talk about a topic that is hard for me.  This post is about me asking for your help.  

Today I'm driving up to my mother's, picking her up, dropping the dog at the kennel, and driving back home.  Tomorrow we'll be attending the funeral for her brother, Theodore Stephenson, who lost his battle with lung cancer early Monday morning.  His obituary is here -- scroll down the page.  This is going to be a hard funeral for a couple of reasons.   We're all going to miss Uncle Theodore--he certainly was no wishy-washy kind of guy.  He recruited me as to assist him with tribal council affairs, a topic he was quite passionate about, and has really always been an influence in my life.  I'm happy he's out of pain but sad he's gone. 

This past week was also the second anniversary of my father's death and a few days before that would have been his 84th birthday.  My mother is still grieving heavily for him and she is depressed.  I'm afraid of the impact of my Uncle's death and this funeral.  I'm hopeful that perhaps tomorrow's ceremony will be helpful but........maybe it won't.   My mother is a bit like Scarlett O'Hara and will push the hard emotional stuff to the bottom of the list to think about tomorrow.  She's also a stubborn, independent woman and a good person. 

I do realize a lot of this is out of my control.  However, I am her daughter and I love her.  I just don't want to lose her to this grief.   There's another complicating factor or two I won't go into here but I think grief is the underlying cause.  Here's my request--I know I'm not alone in wondering how to deal with and work through grief.  Have you been in a similar situation?  How did you handle it?  How do you get to a place where you can live without daily pain?  Have you read any books that you think would be helpful to me or Mom?  If you would prefer to email your suggestion rather than leave a comment, my email is simonoaks at mac dot com.

Thank you for reading.  Just writing this post has been useful, helping me shed tears that have been held back.  Apples don't fall too far from the tree.

Last year's photos

For lack of real content, I looked back through my photos from one year ago today and found that I was interested in my coffee cup -- perhaps I was thinking I needed more?  I was also knitting the Spring Enticement Shawl (ravelry link) (and untangling some yarn, it looks like).  I'm pleased to be able to say that I've been wearing the shawl this week to keep my back warm while I've been typing away in my home office, getting a draft of a project completed.  The draft is complete as of this evening and tomorrow will be spent organizing my supporting materials and hopefully making some final edits.  The mohair may be mixed with rayon and other fibers but it is nice and comforting.

Dr. E is hanging out with our mom and clearing snow with the tractor.  Mom's healing and improving daily, which is quite super.  My brother is a supportive guy but also subscribes to the "let them do it themselves" school, which is what Mom needs right now.  I'm sure I was getting a bit too, um, fussbudgety concerned about her progress and it is good I'm taking time to wind myself down.  (Thanks, Brother!)  It is nice to be able to catch up a bit with work projects, too.  Work's been great about giving me time with family but I hate to have things piling up.  Give a little, take a little.

What were you doing a year ago today?

Back home

Good news---Mom came home from the hospital on Saturday.  (I'm having a bit of deja vu typing that phrase.)  Overall, pretty decent outcome considering the other possibilities:  Broken kneecap, bruises on her arm and hip.  She's mobile.  Probably too mobile, I'm having trouble getting her to rest her leg.  /sigh  But I'm happy she is getting cranky and feisty because that means she's feeling better.  At least I think I'm happy about that..........  She went to a half-day of quilting class today to meet with her peeps.  It was good for her but tiring.  Now starts the home visits from the OT, PT, and RN

Dr. E. (my brother) is visiting for the week, which is very good.  I'm hanging in there but a nice long vacation sounds great.  Just being able to get back to work would be fine, too.  I just wasn't too prepared for what the month has produced.  (Okay, I'll stop whining.)

I haven't picked up my knitting but I have been cooking and cleaning and nagging.  I should be back with my knitting soon. 

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes.  I'm sure they're working.  

Boring scarf, less boring other news

Noro-striped scarf, hospital view. Yes, hospital...unfortunately. Mom fell Thursday, banging up her knee and nose. Causes for the fall as yet unknown but she's contributing blood to the effort. I am getting more knitting done this time though. So is Mom, but her knitting is warming her lap as sleeps right now. :D I would snap her photo right now but won't .... hospital garb being less than fashionable. Plus I probably would be low on the cookie list when she gets back home. Looks like at least one more night here, so who knows what the scarf will look like tomorrow!