Falling in love again

Oh, I have been so crabby lately! Without intervention, my natural tendencies have me viewing the whole world with a nasty eye.  Negative, distrustful. Seeing all the dark sides of every situation first.  Joy and hopefulness are there, but hiding behind mountains of bad juju...

What to do about this?  Every day I try to remind myself of a good thing before I go back to the dark side... even a small thing... and the good stuff is all around me. My mood has me focusing on the negative, but my world has not changed (that much). All the things that are there when I am happy are still there....for example....

I am falling in love again!  With an inanimate object...a set of knitting needles!

These beauties are made from carbon fiber, incredibly strong. Smoother than silk, so very light, perfect points, and they even have my name engraved on them!  Where did I find these little gems?  I got them from my friend Linda P. (affectionately known as "Box Linda")....
  Linda's husband, Robert, made these needles. And some equally wonderful circulars...Linda and Robert plan to manufacture these needles and sell them at my shop! Available very soon, but not yet. Soon. 

I have fallen in love, I tell you! Even the name of this line of knitting needles makes me swoon.... "Ravens" 

Is it possible to be ever so crabby and "in love" simultaneously?

Not what was expected,

It just goes to show, you never know....

Our first trip north to the cabin was planned for this last Saturday. The weather was predicted to be cold, but that fit into our plans with cleaning the cabin the only thing on the agenda. Spring comes late in the northwoods, and in April there is not even a hint of green anywhere. Outside activities don't start in earnest until June..Still, before we left home on Saturday afternoon, we phoned our neighbor up north to ask about the weather, and he reported  flurries, but the snow was melting away immediately.
  Imagine our surprise when arrived at our destination and found 4-5 inches of fresh new snow everywhere! AND it was cold! 24 degrees at 8 pm.And dark, not surprising, but it explains the poor quality of the photo.

In the morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. On April 17th. Ugh.

 

Pretty, yes, but it remained cold all day and the snow stayed all Sunday. Ice covered the lake...

Later that morning we heard from some local folks that last Sunday they had some exciting weather in the form of tornadoes.  The neighboring community of Armstrong Creek was struck by a F1 tornado, just a week before. Cleanup efforts were continuing as we drove around in the affected area.

To read more about the damage, follow this link.

As the newspaper says, tornadoes are unusual in this area, luckily no one was seriously injured.

Seeing snow covering recent tornado destruction is also kinda strange.

The snow remained on the ground when we headed for home this morning, with 6 more inches predicted for tomorrow night.

I am glad to be home. I hope the weather is better the next time we go north, but you never know.

Single, and staying that way

After almost a two month absence from blog land....I am returning! 
Wait, slow up, we better not rush into this...a subject matter not too exciting, I don't want to explode upon reentry.
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Upon reflection, there really is nothing too exciting happening in my life that would stir things up at all. And I like it that way..

 Today I tidied up my craft room. "Tidied up" is a euphemism for "clearing a path through all the junk".. My craft room is where all the stuff that doesn't have a specific home gets deposited. Or where I dump stuff when I want to "tidy up" the more public areas of our house. Kinda like a room sized version of the "junk drawer" in the kitchen.  The clean-up has been a long time coming..today was the day...
I found lots of things that fit into these categories:

Don't need this.

What is this ?

Why did I keep this?

I've been looking for this!

and my favorite

I forgot I had this!

Among the things that fit in that last category are 4 single hand knit socks.

 

None of these socks has a mate, and the prospects are not good..

I do NOT intend to make the second sock. Why? Because I don't want to.

Bored...

Anyone have an idea what to do with these single socks?

I also found three other socks that were almost finished, those got ripped out and will be made into something someday...or not.

Among the singletons, this pair was lurking...I made these socks at least ten years ago...and just a few seasons ago, they developed a hole, and they were banished to the craft room. Today..I darned them and tonight they are keeping my feet warm against the cold and rain.

So my return to blog land is secure, socks are definitely not an exciting subject. Who knows what I will find next?

Stick it in your ear!

Anyone remember the 1982 movie "The Wrath of Khan"?  This Star Trek movie had a memorable scene where the villain unleashed an "ear worm" to eat the heroe's brain. The worm is placed in the ear and the viewer watches as it burrows it's way in......UGH. It still gives me the shivers to recall that part of the film..

Yes, that is Ricardo Montalban...........Khaaaaaaan!

While at the doctors office today, I had a similar experience.  No worms involved.

The nice doctor injected some steroids directly into my ear drum!  A shot in the ear!  And I am going back tomorrow for another.

It sounds worse than it was, actually, it sounded kinda bubbly and gurgly, to be descriptive.

A few weeks ago, I woke up with diminished hearing in my "good ear".  Today the ENT doc called it Sudden Sensorinal Hearing Loss.  Steroids have restored hearing in some patients, thus the shots in the ear.  The chances are not overwhelmingly good, but it is worth a shot. (Baaad pun) If the shots don't work and the hearing loss is permanent, another hearing aid is in my future.

So if you think I am ignoring you when you speak, it's only because I didn't hear you....No worms involved...

Circle

Spinning my wheels. Round and round, getting nowhere. Some days, weeks are like that.  Frustration sets in.

I try harder, still getting nowhere.

Maybe I need to concentrate on the getting there, instead of the goal...refocus on today...what to do to make today productive....

today is all I have...all anyone has. a simple concept. why do i need constant reminders of this?

Today's effort, I am pleased.

Do you live under a rock?

I don't discuss politics at my business, but this is  my PERSONAL blog. Most of you who know me know that my ideas run to the left, liberal, Democrat....but I try to think before I speak, and not swallow the party line without some serious thought. Unless you have been in a coma, you have heard of the issues facing the Wisconsin Legislature.  And, the backlash of Scott Walkers proposed fix. And some folks response to that fix.

Let me say right up front, I have no easy answers, no quick resolution to suggest. That's my point in writing this blog post.  In my opinion, this is a complicated matter and it requires a complicated resolution...Not something rushed into law, but the situation does need addressing. 

This  past week I have heard LOTS of opinions and ideas at my business, in print, and in the media.   Most of them simply down party lines, swallowing the whole thing, hook , line,  sinker.  And boy, are people passionate and polarized!  For me, IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE.

 The polarization,  either far left or far right is dangerous, in my opinion.  Folks get caught up in the fight itself, and forget what they are fighting about.  People get angry and do rash things when they are backed into a corner. "My Way or the Highway" is rarely the answer. The need to be the winner is strong, and foolish.  We need to talk and make concessions.

That said, I am so grateful to live in a state and country where peaceful protest is allowed and encouraged.  We have the right to state our opinions, and respect the opinions of others. We have the right to disagree.

 Let's agree to disagree and then work together for the common good. 

Don't stop protesting, just remember what we are trying to accomplish.

A solution that is positive for all.

Snow day. Again.

Another blast of winter struck today. Snow and freezing rain. 8 inches in the driveway.

 A good day to stay inside and cuddle up with a blanket,

 or two.

 Or three or four or NINE!..We have been putting afghan squares together for charity. All the blocks were donated and have been crocheted together to make some warm blankies.   Of course, not all nine were put together today. This was a long term project, VERY long term.  Nine completed, one more to go.

Some of the afghans turned out wild and crazy, and quite colorful.

Some a a bit more coordinated.

 Some are really loud.

 All are cozy and warm, just ask Nick.