Day Off

The kids had a day off of school yesterday, and will again Monday. They found some good ways to fill their time.



E made a hat out of punching balloons.


M rode her skateboard.

And built a domino shrine.


A took a nap.


Q tried on some pajama pants.


And I squeezed in a little knitting. (Horcrux socks from the Six Sox Knitalong. Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn: Misty Moors. It matches the Harry Potter book covers!)

Rainbow

It was stormy last week, but one evening we were blessed with a gorgeous rainbow. The whole thing! You looked out our front windows and this is what you saw.

We're having another open house Sunday, so things will be busy again this week. Cross your fingers for us!

Framing done!

My mom ordered me a couple of frames for my cross stitch for my birthday a few weeks ago. They came last week, and I finally opened the box over the weekend and did some framing.


Above is the Quaker Mystery Sampler. It was a freebie released in installments online. Many people stitched this all in one color, but I already have a couple monochromatic medallion style samplers in my stitching basket, so I wanted some color! I just took my bag of miscellaneous silks and decided on a couple neutrals to use in several places to ground it. Then I went a little crazy with the color on random motifs. When I got to another motif, I just looked at my piles of silks and grabbed what caught my fancy. The fabric is just a natural colored linen. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

This one is Swirly Sampler by Bent Creek. I used the recommended Weeks Dye Works colors and didn't change anything. I've seen it converted to more vibrant colors often, but I just love the original earth tones. Gorgeous! I loved this when I was stitching it and when it was done, but now that it's framed, I am absolutely totally enamoured with it! The fabric is lambswool jobelan.

So, that's two more pieces out of the completed stack and ready to go on a wall, once I move to some new walls, that is. :)

I promised you pink socks.

So, pink socks you shall have. I was wearing them in my shoes before I took the pics, so there's a couple smooshed spots. They were Mary Janes. :p


The first picture has more accurate color. The bonus is that you can see the floors the hubby and I installed. Both the back room and the front room are now complete!

And because he's too cute, here are some pictures of my new nephew wearing his knitted pants. Completely adorable!


M holding T2. (His older brother is the first T.)


E holding T2.



And me holding T2. The picture is dark, but our shirts match! His very talented mom (my sister-in-law) tie-dyed his onesie. It matches the little baby kimono I knitted him. He wore it that day, but it was warm in the house with all of us there for Easter. He's grown since then. They get big so fast.

Thanks!

For all your support, everyone! I should be seeing grandma this evening, so we'll see how she is. From all reports, she's doing fine!

The camera has gone AWOL again, so I have no pink socks pictures. Silly hubby.

Boring, busy blogger.

Sorry for the boring blog lately. :p Life has just been too busy.

We're laying the floors in our living room this week. There is only about 5 pieces of furniture in there now, but they're all heavy and/or bulky. There's the couch, an oak bookcase, a giant antique steamer trunk, the huge entertainment armoire, and the antique upright piano. That piano is so big and heavy that I can hardly move it myself, even though it's on wheels. We'll just see how this goes. :p

The kids and I (and my sister-in-law and two nephews) were dyeing eggs at my parents' house on Saturday afternoon. My grandma was there with us, having been brought over from the care home by my mom. She's been living in the (fantastic) care home since last August or September. She had a stroke the middle of last August (her second), so once she left the rehabilitation hospital, she couldn't go back to her 3000 square foot Victorian home. She had been reluctant to move before the stroke, but she was very relieved that she didn't have to care for all of that anymore once we moved her.

Well, on Saturday, she started complaining that her hand didn't feel right. (Well, that's what we got. She doesn't really speak since the stroke. But, she was gesturing toward her hand, which looked like a claw. Odd.) Mom (who is an RN) thought she was having a cramp, which sometimes happens. She took her over to the sink to run some warm water and massage it. Then grandma started moaning and her right side of her face started twitching. Mom hurried her into the dining room to set her in a chair, but grandma collapsed before they got there. Mom is strong, and grandma is small, so mom managed to lower her to the floor and yell, "Call 911!" I was holding my 1 month old nephew, so my sister-in-law grabbed the phone and dialed while I passed her the baby and she passed me the phone. She didn't know the pertinent info (address, etc.) that 911 would need. Meanwhile, grandma is having a seizure on the floor and mom is making sure she doesn't hurt herself further. 911 sent an ambulance very quickly and grandma had come back by then. At one point, she truly looked dead. Mom was monitoring her pulse and breathing and they both stopped for a very short time, but she came back to consciousness on her own before they got there. In the short time it took to get her up on the stretcher, she had already started getting mad about having to go to the hospital.

Today, grandma is back at the care home. It was determined that it was just a seizure, not another stroke, not a clot, not a heart attack. Her medications have been adjusted. And she's using words that she hasn't used since before her stroke in August. In fact, shortly after she got to the hospital she said, clear as day, "What am I doing here?" The brain is an amazing thing.

It was a frightening experience, and I had a bit of a flashback to just after Easter 9 years ago when my grandpa collapsed right next to me in that same house. He had just tapped me on the arm, and I turned to him thinking he was going to tell me a joke. He fell down, rode off in an ambulance, and never came back. I know her time will come, but I think it's an Easter miracle that grandma came back to us this time.

Later this week, pink socks, completed yesterday.

Purple-brained

From Allyson's blog. Apparently, we are purple brain buddies. That doesn't really surprise me.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

I had a blue birthday.

No, I didn't feel blue. It was awesome! (And I don't use that word lightly.)

I went and saw some Blue Men. It was amazing, fantastic, stupendous! Words cannot describe it. Just so fun, and funny, and thoughtful, and cool.

I started knitting some blue socks.

I wore my red and blue plaid jammies all day (until we were getting ready to go to Blue Man Group.)

Having my birthday on April Fool's Day has never made me blue. I have made some people turn green (like when I was turning 15 but convinced all my friends I was turning 16 and could drive before them) or pink (with embarrassment over any number of other April Fool's jokes.)

Being 30 isn't so bad. Beats 13 any day! Even when you're blue. :)