Valerean

The afghan I made out of yarn scraps was meant to last another month, but my hands seized up with a bad arthritis flare so I kept working on it until it was large enough to use on cold nights. Very happy with how it turned out -- certainly colorful. I'm still hand quilting the pink only quilt, which has been fun but also a bit of a bear to manage. Crochet is good for me, too. It helps me work out a lot of frustration and aggression, like what I imagine punching a heavy bag is for a boxer. I just don't have wear the clunky gloves. :) Seriously, being able do something that I love (crochet) as physical therapy in order to keep doing I desperately don't want to give up doing (quilting) has also helped me deal with the depression over the limitations and fading abilities of old age, too. Going to the quilt show this year also helped my spirits tremendously. No matter what condition I'm in, being around quilts and the people who make them makes me happy. N...

My inner child has been crying a lot this month, but things are finally starting to calm down. Tomorrow is my guy's birthday, which is always fun for me. There is only a little over two weeks left before December 26th arrives, for which I have to think up a goofy name. Happiest Day of the Year tops the list. Then in just under three weeks New Year's will arrive, and I can start on my first calendar quilted tote. I'm really excited about this annual project. While I've been coping with the bad luck and downs of the holidays my work on the granny stitch rectangle throw has really helped me get my hands, my head and my heart in good places. I'm out of the splint now and my sprained finger is much better, thanks to the physical therapy aspect. I know the throw probably looks ugly to everyone else but I love the un-Christmasy colors, and I'm proud of myself for finally figuring out this pattern. Above all I'm glad that I didn't give up on m...

A few days before Thanksgiving I saw a little white bit of fluff on the garage doormat, but when I reached down to pick it up it fluttered and moved. That's when I realized it was a Virginia Tiger Moth, just like the one I rescued in March of 2024 . This little one was a bit more beat up, and couldn't seem to fly away, so I collected her on a piece of paper and put her in a little habitat with some Japanese maple leaves. There she can spend her final days resting and out of danger . If she happens to lay eggs, I'll look after them, too. I know it's a bit weird to rescue a dying moth. But these tragic insects remind me to be grateful for my life, and to do what I can for the helpless.

I've been watching History's Greatest Mysteries on Tubi , mainly because I love Lawrence Fishburne's voice, which falls into the very limited range of sounds I can still hear at present (I also think he's an amazing actor.) Because most of the mysteries presented have yet to be solved, I've been thinking about what the possible solutions could be. Writers by trade have to be problem solvers, and we often think in directions other people don't. So here are: Ten Solutions to Unsolved Mysteries (If I were writing books about them) Atlantis: A continent inhabited by a highly advanced civilization and destroyed by a mysterious natural or man-made disaster that made it sink under the ocean. Solution: Atlantis is entirely invented. Plato based his fiction on some real historic events and then highly embellished them, which added all those tantalizing but ultimately meaningless clues. Bigfoot: People have been chasing after this large, mythic creature sai...

Last month our nephew came to visit (hopefully he'll be moving in shortly) and we took him to the Winter Garden saturday farmer's market to walk around and see all the goodies. That included this one-ton pumpkin on display. On our way home we stopped at Goodwill, where I found some fun things. Here's how I actually spend money (versus dreaming about spending.) First was this brand new in the package Soho Loft 3 drawer closet organizer for $7.99. They retail for twice that, and it had never been taken out of the package. I'm going to use this to store crochet patterns. Next were two books; I've read the Linda Howard and own a copy but it's falling apart, so it's a replacement. It's OOP and costs $9.99 for a Kindle version. I've never read the Nathaniel Philbrick book and while I didn't much enjoy his last one about Custer, I would like to know more about the Mayflower versus the crap I learned in school, and he's the man for...

Last night we learned that despite promises made by others to us that we will definitely not be having any guests for Christmas. The extra hours I've put in for the last couple of months at the day job to "buy" a week off during Christmas to spend my vacation with our guests in the end were for nothing. The turkey for my second Thanksgiving dinner, also planned for this month, will stay in the freezer until February or possibly March. I wasn't really surprised. No one with as much bad luck during the holidays as I have can be startled by more of the same. I thought about it while I was crocheting last night, and there is still a lot to be thankful for this Christmas: it'll just be me and my guy, which is cozy. We always enjoy spending time together. I have a splinted finger, so less work is less stress on my hands. I can take off a week any time I want this month, and since I worked hard for it, I will. I'll have plenty of time to work on my ...