Stitching and Living

Clogged Drain

I normally don't write about my personal life, but this is an exception.

One day last weekend I woke up with an overwhelming urge clean up the yarn storage area of the basement. This sounded like a bit of a task, but I was up for it. I picked a tote full of acrylic and started looking through it. My plan was to have three groups of yarn: one to keep; one to give to a friend and one that would go to a local charity. Many yarn bins, and several hours later I was finished. The bags destined were loaded into my vehicle for delivery to the charity at a later date. The bags for my friend are arranged neatly in the basement. There are now seven empty yarn bins stacked in the basement. The computer upstairs is much neater because some of my cotton yarn stash has been placed in the basement.

At some time in the day, the dishwasher was run. Much to my dismay, the drain was clogged. Oh bother!! DH emptied the trap beneath the sink and did not find a problem. Due to the hour, he promised to use the snake on it Monday evening. That was fine. He kept his word the next day, but had no success. Tuesday he did more of the same....By Wednesday, the drain remained clogged and the pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen was growing. My frustration was increasing. One of the things I do not like at all is a messy kitchen that is not being cleaned. Taking the situation in my own hands, I called and arranged for a plumber to come out that evening. Making a long story very short, we were stood up by this company. They did send a person out at 1am on Thursday morning after DH called and complained to them. This person could not promise not to ruin our pipes to to the material out of which they are made and the size of the pipe. OH well!!

By the time I woke up Thursday morning, I was not happy. I decided to try using a mixture of baking soda and water followed by vinegar in the drain. Three applications of this still did not clean out the drain. My kitchen was dirty. We were running out of dishes. I was bouncing!!

DH and I made the decision that we would rent a drill with a snake on it from our local hardware store on Friday. He spent a lot of time working on the drain that evening with no success. By now we were getting desperate. It was time to consult the experts at the hardware store. After hearing part of our tale of woe, they suggested a drain cleaner for us to use. We brought it home and DH promptly used it after taking the necessary safety  precautions. Within an hour the drain was working much better. He did one more application of this chemical. By 11pm, the drain was back to normal. He ran the dishwasher without the drain clogging. It is now several hours and two more loads of the dishwasher later. The kitchen table is much cleaner than it has been in a week and  there are clean glasses and silverware. The kitchen is still not completely clean, but it is getting there.

I am much more relaxed.

What a difference a well flowing kitchen drain and clean dishes make.

Vacation-Yes!

Following the proper procedure set forth by my employer, I requested vacation time two weeks in advance. My request was for two whole weeks, including weekends, one of which is my regularly scheduled one to work.  The  new schedule came out today and it shows I am on vacation after Friday of this week!!

I am so excited! We have been planning this time off for the past month and a half.There is lots of family time planned for fun and household projects. A lot of my free time will be spent completing some UFO's; starting some new projects  and working on both of my active blogs.  There is so much to do and only two weeks to do it. 

Everyday Activities

I have been wanting to write for a while, but have not been able to think of anything to say. That is strange for me, since I normally have lots to say. There has been a lot going on in the past several weeks, but most of it is a part of everyday living. 

The weekend after my cousin died, which was Mother's Day weekend, we had a bit of a minor crisis. The water pipe leading to the refrigerator broke after the refrigerator was moved. it happened late Saturday night/early Sunday morning  resulting  in a minor flood in the kitchen and into the basement. Luckily for us were able to find an all night plumber who came and stopped the leak. The remaining  plumbing repairs were completed after the weekend.  We filed a claim with our homeowner's insurance and are going to have the final repairs made in the next few weeks. While we are waiting for the last  detailsto be worked out,  we are cleaning out the basement to make for some of the items that will be shifted around while the work is  being done. It is a major task but is progressing quite nicely.

Since then, I have been busy finishing up a couple of projects which have been needing to be completed. One of them is the comfortghan for my friend who lost her son last year.  It is almost done.There are less than ten squares remaining to be made before it can be assembled. Once it is finished, I will post pictures and share the pattern for the square. 

A couple of years ago !I listened to the first one or two pod casts  by David Reidy of Sticks and Strings. Life happened, and I lost track of it. In the past couple of months I have rediscovered it. Originally, I was going to listen to it while walking. That did not work out so well. Instead, I now listen to it and knit. It is much more enjoyable. I downloaded all the past episodes and am up to number 46. That only leaves 23 more to listen to until I am caught up.  I enjoy his style and variety of topics. I know that there are other good fiber related pod casts available. It just happens that his is the only one I am listening to at the moment.

One thing is happening on the knitting front this week that is exciting. One of the Yahoo groups to which I belong  The Cloth Of The Week, is celebrating its' First Year Anniversary starting July first. The owners, one of whom is  Maile Mauch have some fun activities  planned for the group. You can also learn more about the group  on Ravelry if you arebelong there. This past year has sped by quickly with lots of learning taking place on my part. There is so much more to learn about and do with knitting.

Have a great week!

I Am Sad

At 8:03pm Tuesday evening some sad news came into my life. My cousin Michael Wayne Grommet passed away this evening. Life for  my family will never be the same. My life will never be the same. I will never be the same.  He is the first one of our generation whom we have known to die. The exception is a cousin who died at birth more than 55 years ago. He was my only male cousin older than me. There were three of us cousins born within five years of each other. Now we are two alive and one dead. My heart is hurting...for me...for his wife...for his brother and sister..for my aunt...for the rest of my family.

This was a sudden death...We were not prepared. I was not ready for him to leave. None of us were. Most of us did not get to say good bye while he was alive. There used to be three people who could call me by a  nickname bestowed upon me by his father. His father was one and he and his brother were the other two...Now there is one...his younger brother...I was not prepared for this. I know, most of us never are.

I will get over this pain and sense of loss..For now it hurts and I am crying. Crying is good...I know this..The tears will end and life will resume its daily routine. But for now, I am sad.

I take solace in knowing that my Heavenly Father knows what is best. I know there is life after death. I know in my heart of hearts that all will be well. For now I am sad and hurt.

Praying will help..Walking will help..Knitting will help..Time will ease the pain...Life will still never be the same.

Mikey, I love you lots. Please rest in peace.

Wired and Tired

I am sitting here tonight a bit wired and tired at the same time. 
I am wired for a few reasons:

• Work was just busy enough to keep me busy and needing some time to unwind
• I have a four day weekend starting Friday, which is now today. This is the most time off I have  had at one time since returning to the work force a little less than a year and a half ago.
• An order  from Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Company arrived today. New fibers and patterns tend to excite me.
• There is a lot to do in the next few days and I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed by it. There are  lots of fun things to do in addition to the usual household chores.

I am tired  because today has been long and busy. There has been lots of activity both at home and at work.

Thanks for listening. :)

Knitting/Crocheting and Blogging Slump

The past month has seen me in the worst blogging and knitting slump in ages. I am also way behind in email. There has just been a lot of activity in my life, most of which is not exciting. It took a couple of weeks  for my household to fully recover from the flu that hit us in February. Somewhere along the way I have had a flare up of arthritis in a knee which was injured as a teenager. It tends to happens a couple of times a year and never fails to wipe me out. This time was no exception. As of yesterday, the knee was feeling much better.

For the first time in ages, a computer time slump and a knitting/crocheting slump have hit at the same time. I am finally starting to snap out of both of them in the past few days. Yeah!! I will be spending time this weekend doing an assortment of knitting/crochet  and computer related activities. I have some ideas, but will have to see how much gets done.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Easter!

Rough Week Over

It's been a rough week in my house to say the least.

I, who very rarely get sick, developed pneumonia.  Our teenager got the flu and  my husband  had a very bad cold.  For a few days  There was an unusual  amount of sleeping going on, day and night. My favorite words seemed to be "When did you last have a drink?" and "What is your temperature?"

Thankfully the worst seems to be over. My husband returned to work today. A call to my employer informed me that I am not due back until tomorrow. I am able to knit and do a few household chores without wanting to lie back down. My favorite teenager decided to play a computer game today. We are on the mend. Praise be to God!

Knitting needles were pulled out today with the result that a couple of dishcloths on the needles got completed. I made a pile of recently knitted ones, only to discover there are a lot more waiting to be photographed than imagined. That project will have to wait until another day.

For now, the sun is shining, it is 34 degrees F. outside with a bit of a North wind. February is more than half over and there is the promise of Spring in the air.

Have a great weekend and may God Bless!!

Home Safely

Days like yesterday will never cease to amaze me. I went to work early today at my employer's request. Out of habit and an internal need to be prepare, I packed some extra clothing; my medication ;an extra skein of cotton yarn and the current wash cloth being made with a 'no brainer' pattern. Since the weatherman was predicting a major winter storm coming our way, I wanted to be prepared to spend the night at work if necessary.

The snow had begun to fall by the time I left the house. That was all right.  It continued to snow off and on for my entire shift. We received updates on road and weather conditions from employees as they arrived. It was going to be fun night to drive home. Oh Yuck!! It goes with the territory, but I don't have to like it. In typical fashion, the nurses, of which I am one, were the last ones to leave. We got our cars cleaned off and headed out for home.  A trip which normally takes about half an hour to make, took closer to an hour. I got off the highway as soon as possible and chose an alternate way home. It is easier that way in snowy or icy weather. The trip home was slow but steady  going. My vehicle and I made it safely home after what seemed like forever. That was such a good feeling. Nothing equals the feeling of arriving safely home after a perilous journey.

Outdoors looks beautiful now that I am safe and warm inside of my own home surrounded my family. Hopefully I will be up early enough to capture some pictures of the snow in the morning before it gets warm outside.

Snow on the Way

Weather in St. Louis is known for changing quickly. This week has been no exception to that. We had 70 degree temperatures on Tuesday afternoon that plummeted to 15 degrees by 9pm that evening. Today it is predicted that we will receive snow. The amounts we are to have vary depending on the area in which you live. At this point the average snowfall will be 8-10 inches across the region.  Today could prove to interesting.We will see what happens by tomorrow morning.

Have a great day!

Week Of The Car and Knitting

Whew!! I am so glad today is Friday. This past week has been quite an adventure. :)

It all began last Friday when I decided to take advantage of January White Sales to get some much needed bath towels to replace the worn out ones in my house. Coming home from the store, which is about a fifteen minute drive from home, my car made a loud clunk like sound under the hood. I managed to drive it about five minutes to a safe location before calling for a tow. My wonderful husband was able to use his lunch hour to pick me up. We later learned that there were some serious, but repairable problems with this vehicle. It stayed in the shop the entire weekend, mostly waiting for a part to be delivered. I drove back and forth to work without problems on Monday.

Tuesday was a different story. We met some friends at a local library to visit and go to lunch. When we left for the restaurant, the  power steering was not working. Thanks to the help of a Good , our friends and my husband, we returned the car to the shop. The problem turned out to be a faulty power steering pump which was replaced without a fee to us.

I drove it to work yesterday only to discover steam coming out of the hood when I pulled into the parking lot. There was no time to worry at the moment. I was safe and had other things to do. A brief call to my husband assured me that he would meet me after work to follow me home. The trip home was delightful. My teenager and I enjoyed the time to talk while my husband followed us. The car ran fine until I pulled into the driveway. Once again there was steam coming from under the hood. A trip to the mechanic this morning has revealed a small leak in the cooling system which has been repaired for a very small fee. Hopefully this has taken care of the problem. The vehicle still has some repairs that need attention. We know what they are and  thankfully they can wait  a while to be handled.

Now for the knitting part of this post.  A couple of weeks ago, I posted some knitting goals for the weekend.  The only one which got met was this one:

• Print out  and begin knitting patterns from some of my favorite websites. The one I am most anxious to print patterns from is K1, P1, Keeping You In Stitches Studio.

It turned out to be a larger project than I realized at first. There were more than forty patterns that got printed out and placed in a notebook for future use.

There are eight cloths still waiting to be photographed and posted here and on Flickr. Maybe there will  be time to do  do it on the weekend.

At the moment I am working on three designs by Sue Schaeffer. They are each beautiful in their own way. With any luck, two of the three will be completed this weekend.  There is so much to do and so little time to do all of  it.

Have a great day!!