Drive By Prayer Request

When will I get back to blog land? I hope someday soon.

I'd like to ask for prayers and good thoughts for my Mom today. She's been having some serious health issues again and my being so far away hasn't been easy. Thankfully I have family that is taking very good care of her right now but the future has some unanswered questions in it and I hope this is the open door to make some positive decisions for my Mom's overall health and well being.

Many Thanks! ♥

California Dreamin

Fresh Cherries from my cousins tree. They picked cherries for DAYS from this tiny tree!

Watching my nephew play baseball. League champs!! What great summer fun!

Monterey CA. Aquarium and Deck. My daughter the mermaid. She LOVES the ocean. (which was very cold BTW).

Guess where?

I didn't get drenched but the kids and The Big Guy did! I sat on a rock at a gorgeous spot amid tons of tourists and found....solitude and profound peace.  Got a mega dose of the beauty and spirituality of this magnificent place. I hadn't been here in 20 years. So glad we went.

Can you see why? Miss You California. ♥

Testing Testing

Trying to test some fidgeting I'm doing on my blog.
If you could please see if you can post comments I'd greatly appreciate it!
If you have trouble please let me know!

Frequent Yarn Miles (?) I Wish!

I went through TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ and CA but only bought yarn in TWO of those states! Wish I could've made stops in each place, I love "trip" yarns, they bring back memories each time I come across them in the stash or knit them up. There are some I have from years ago that I still can't part with. But, when you have a trip that long and a schedule to stick to, that yarn shop better be "RIGHT OFF THE INTERSTATE"!

From Nashville TN:

Some Noro Aya, ShiBui sock yarn, and Koigu Kpppm.  This store (Haus Of Yarn) was amazing! What a shock of color when you first walk in! They have a wall in the back of Koigu and other sock yarns that almost made me hyperventilate! I wanted to HUG it all!!! Thank goodness this store is somewhat close to me, I'll be back there one day I hope. It's worth the drive.

I tried out a couple of spinning wheels while there - a Schadt Matchless and a Ladybug. The Matchless was smooth as silk, the ladybug - not so much. But shop models can be a bit loose here and there I've heard. Ladybugs get decent reviews, I'd like to test one more to make sure.  I was hoping I could stop by a store or two in Memphis but the timing didn't work out for that going west OR east. Maybe one day.

CA Stash:

From Classy Knits in Bakersfield on the way home: Muench Touch Me (can't resist the PINK...er...and I may already have some of this colorway). Berroco Sox with the shiny bits in it and some Sidar Tinkerbell (so soft!).  Just impulse buys. This shop was "okay", not enough sock yarn for my preference but generally a decent variety.  They did have a whole wall in the back with sale items, yarns, magazines and patterns. Had I had more time I would've loved to have browsed through those.

Generally these trip "stops" are like "Nascar pit-stops" for us, I literally run in and run out as fast as my fibro hurting legs will allow me. The family "says" they don't mind, but I feel bad making them wait too long. As often as I've made them do this over the years, I think they're really good sports. (And making a fast get away helps the wallet too.)

A skein of sock yarn from Janna's Needle Art in CA:

Anzula Handpainted Sock Yarn, it doesn't have a colorway listed but it's the color I've been stuck on all year. Couldn't pass it up. That's all I found there...but it's a nice shop.

From "Swatches" in CA: Two skeins of Malabrigo in Ravelry Red and Rayon Vert and a skein of Ty-Dy Socks. This shop is small but very friendly and welcoming. Can't go wrong with Malabrigo either.

I found these items in CA too, a pretty (knitting?) bag from Ross. Some tiny size straights and DPN's I found in a couple of thrift/antique stores. I found the pattern books and the cute little sheep salt/pepper shakers there too. I just love treasure hunting. That was a fun thing to do amid the other stuff we had going on while there.

All in all I think I did better than I have in the past. I practiced a lot of restraint and considering my closet space, that was a good thing.  Too many things to knit, not enough time....

Happy Knitting! More pics coming soon...

99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall....

No, we didn't sing it all the way to CA and back, but we thought about it! Ours was a 4 day, 3 night trip there and back, so it made for some long days in the van. But, I enjoyed seeing the scenery changes as we crossed each state! We know that from the interstate you don't see everything that is gorgeous about each place, but still, summertime is a great time to do this type of trip.

The greenery of TN and AR.

The Giant Cross in TX.

This cracked me up, but I'd be the first one in there if I had to be! I can't remember if this was in TX or NM.  These things get to be a blur when you're on the road!

AZ, gorgeous colors and views.

Still in AZ.

Boy is that a change of scenery for us!

Tehachapi - CA.

And at the end of the Rainbow: HOME.

It was so nice to be back in CA. I miss my family, my roots, my friends. I guess my name should've been  "Dorothy" because to me "there's no place like home". ♥

More pics of the trip in the next post.
Happy Knitting!

Happy 4th of July

Be safe and have a great day! 

I'm Baaaaaack

This is probably going to be one of a few posts to blog about my trip/vacation. It all began the day after the kids got out of school (May 22nd). We drove (honest, we're not nuts - there were tons of others on the road too) to CA and got there on May 26th. My Mom's surgery was scheduled for May 28th. So, not a lot of time to rest or gather myself before that.  I'm not a hospital person AT ALL so it's always a nerve wracking experience for me. You put my Mom or a loved one in the mix and I'm a basketcase!

They had said the surgery would be an easy one, (but about six hours). So, we dropped her off at 9:30 am and didn't get to see her until 11 pm when they FINALLY got her into a room. That was one very long and scary day. I was so anxious I don't think my xanax did a thing. A lot of waiting time in the evening was them trying to wake her up from the anesthesia, someone REALLY overdid it this surgery for sure. She was loopy for days afterwards!

The reason for the surgery: My Mom's cancer had returned on the right side of her neck (merkell cell) so they had to remove the node they saw on the PET scan. While doing the surgery they checked out the left side because there was a spot there they had questioned. I'm still stunned that this round just seems to involve the surgery so far. No radiation at all because they want the area to stay pliable and flexible, radiation makes it tough and fibrous.  With Merkell Cell there's no blood test to show it's back, they have to physically examine my Mom every few months to look and feel for anything unusual.  She's still healing so we don't know if they'll recommend chemo down the road again.

This one was tougher for her, she was in a lot more pain, and with her other pain issues (fibro, arthritis, sciatic) she was in a bad way for quite a bit afterwards and is STILL healing of course. Day by day things are getting a bit better though.  I want to thank all my RL friends and my special online friends for all your prayers for my Mom. She's very grateful as well.  I wish I had gotten to have more fun with her this visit, she loves having our "Girls Only"days where we go shopping and out to eat, but this trip that didn't happen unfortunately. But we got to see her, and give her lots of love, so that was worth the drive there and home.

I love this pic of her and my girls. She was so happy to see her Granddaughters and was so surprised to see how big they were this trip. They love their Grandma to pieces too. ♥

More in the coming up days......