Phantom Whispers

Get out the cheese and crackers 'cause I'm gonna whine

Yeah, yeah, I know I haven't posted forever.   I have no excuses other than time slips away from me and before I know a month or two or three has gone by.   And of course, the more time that passes the more I feel I must fill you in on everything. 

And that is overwhelming. 

Partly because there are things you don't really need to know or hear and partly because I don't know where to start.

Well, I'm just going to start and see where it all goes.

First off,   the earthquake, tsunami, fires and nuclear stuff in Japan has just been devastating.   So many people lost.   How do you recover from such massive losses?  And still they are having aftershocks, power outages, shortages of food and water and it is very cold too.   And I see some outpouring of aid and help but for the amount of people missing and dead and for all they are dealing with, it seems like most of us just want to forget it and go on.   I don't care if they are a rich country, that has very little to do with helping people that are facing such massive tragedies.   I just don't think that many of the folks living in the fishing villages were what ou'd call rich.  And even if they were, does that mean that they need less help and compassion?  Okay, I'm done with that rant for now.   On to the next thing.

Back in November on Veteran's Day we had to put Zelda to sleep.  This was such a hard decision but she had reached to point where she wasn't having fun.  This was a cat that would roll on the porch in the sunshine and smile.   You could feel her bliss.  But towards the end she wasn't having much bliss.  The cold affected her more and if you picked her up often times it caused her pain.   That made it an easier choice but it still grieves me.

 

 

Now we are facing another tough time with a pet.   You have to understand that all our pets (one dog and two cats) are in their teens or there about, so we know that it is only a matter of time that weel will face more losses.  It is part of life. 

But about a month ago we noticed Atlas limping.   We thought that maybe he sprained his leg and that it might just go away.  After a day or two it wasn't getting any better. A trip to the vet  sent us home with some pain pills and instructions to call and find out the xray results after the radiologist looked at them.  Not good news.   Not good at all.   Atlas has early malignant cancer in his right shoulder.  

There aren't many options.  We could xray him some more and see if it is in his chest and if not amputate his leg and  hope that it caught all the cancer.   We have opted to treat his pain and make him as comfortable and happy as we can in the time left.  And the vet agrees with us.  Given Atlas's size, age and already achy hips, amputation would be a kindness to him.  It might or might not delay the cancer. 

So he spends a lot more time in the house.   The cats hate him so many days are filled with cat growls and hissing as they assert that it is their house and he better know it.   There is a lot more dog and cat hair on the carpet and it doesn't seem to matter how much you vacuum.  There is always hair.  But it's worth it.  He's a good guy and deserves every bit of kindness we can give him.   After all, if you remember from a previous posting, he is the dog that was in our car when it got stolen and waited until the car was found some18 hours later to relieve himself.   Got to love a dog with a good bladder.

And to add to this all my eyes have been giving me trouble.   I've been to the opthalmalogist and it is just what I thought....floaters.  Gosh darn floaters in my right eye.  My "good" eye.   I've had floater in both eyes for a while but this showed up after I got up from a nap.  And it is right, smack dab in the middle of my eye most of the time.  It's not really something you can focus on a get a precise shape on because it is too close, so it's more like a smear on your eye...all the time.   I have a hard time telling if my glasses are dirty or if its my eyes.  And I want to rub it to get out the "stuff"  but that doesn't do any good because its inside the eye.  So, the doctor said to get used to it.  Easier said than done.   It shows up most when looking at light colored stuff like books or paper or the vista when driving.   And as iis the nature of floaters, it likes to shift around when you least want it to.  Which is so much fun when the floaters in both eyes decide to have a party when I'm driving.   I keep reciting the "just ignore it" mantra but that only goes so far.   Doc said that there was something they could do but it was only for extreme cases.   I didn't ask him but I did look it up when I got home.  He's right.  It's not something I'd like to do.  Basically, they suck out the viscous fluid in your eye, taking the floater with it and refill your eye with a saline solution.  That just doesn't sound so great to me.   So I have to learn to live with the floaters.   But I have to say, it really doesn't make me what to get out the bookbinding stuff and start measuring.  Augh, the thought of trying to be precise with this stuff going on wears me out.  And by the way, the doc won't tell you but it is tiring to deal with eye junk all day long.  I need more light to work, less light in bright conditions to drive and forget driving anyway at dusk.  The weird light at dusk and these floaters are jsut an accident waiting to happen.

But, I'm back.  I'll try to be a bit perkier next time but I won't promise.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be good to yourself and hug your loved ones.

Until next time,

doris

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas filled with peace, joy and love.
(This picture was from 2007. No snow this year)

A Comparison

Here are the two bunnies next to each other. The larger one is about 6" high so you can see that when you use sock yarn in place of the worsted and a #1 instead of a size H (I think that was the size. I don't have the pattern right here or I'd check) that your little one will come out about half the size of the original. And note the difference in the ears. I shortened them on little bunny. I like the ears both ways.

So, I told you how I wanted to do a little bunny right? I used sock yarn and a #1 hook and here it is.
You think with the size it would work up quicker than the larger one, right? Nope, same number of stitches. It took just about the same amount of time to make, Except I did make its ears shorter than the larger one. This one is just about 3" high.

It was a sunny day today! Nice change from gray. But the gray is due back tomorrow and winds tonight , I think. The rain should be coming soon too. Ah, winter in the great northwest, LOL.

A new character joined the household today. She didn't even have time to get dressed or some hair on. She just wanted to say hi. Meet Willow.

Crocheted Bracelets

 
I have been working on beauties like this for a little while now. I love making them and I love the way they feel.   I've been working with several kinds of yarns to find the ones I like best but I am trying to stay with "natural" fiber.   Natural is such a worthless word to use when it comes to food that I hesitate to use it here.   Truly, when it is on a package of food it means nothing really.   But when I use it in the context of fibers I mean cotton, silk, linen and hemp.  I want fibers that breathe but don't add too much warmth.  

 
The first time I made these I was getting ready for a show in Phoenix.  Believe me, I always take warmth into consideration there.   It is such a different climate for me that look at me wrong and I start sweating (Oh, forgive me, I forgot.  Women glow, they don't sweat...yeah, right.   Sad to say I sweat.   And I get hot flashes too.   What a treat.   Back to the bracelets).   So that was a real factor in the decision of fibers.

 
These are worked in a free form fashion meaning that I don't have a set plan when I start out and I let each bracelet talk to me and let it inform me as to the shape it wants and any embellishments, if any, it needs to be completed.   I work in white or off white natural (there's that word again) colors and sometimes I will coffee or tea dye them to knock back the starkness of the white a bit.   I love building up the differing textures and I don't want too much color to detract from it.

 
I like to add small rusty keys and washers, bits of lace and fabric and the gleam of pearls to them.  And of course the vintage button closures are mainly mother-of-pearl, fitting in nicely with the "natural" feel and flow.  And I love how they can be worn in different ways, depending on the look of feel you want.  And some of them are adjustable in the length just by where you decide to button them.

So within the next few days, I should have these on my etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5038616 .   They are sweet and comfortable and make me think of gentler times.

Wow, these quick posts are kind of fun. I don't feel the same pressure to be profound (oh, yeah, like that happens much - please forgive my little side trip ramblings).
Anyhow, I wanted to show you a full size picture of the bunny. I find him quite charming and I hope Ylaiza will too. I think a sweet little bow will be his topping and then he should get wrapped up to await Christmas.
But I do really like him. Not that I need a toy bunny, but if it weren't for Ylaiza I'd probably keep him sitting around here for a while just to enjoy the smile it brings to me.
If you'd like to make your own bunny look up the Lion Brand website. He is the Best Bunny pattern #60480A.
I'm trying another one in sock yarn and a #1 hook to make it much smaller. I'll let you know how it goes :-)

When the weather starts cooling and the skies turn grey I find myself turning to yarns and knitting and crochet. With knitting I seem to make only little things, wrist warmers, doll clothes and sweaters for my constant source of sunshine, Ylaiza, my granddaughter. I don't seem to suffer the same constraints when I crochet. I feel a lot more in control when I crochet, changing things as need to match my vison.
Here is close up of little bunny rabbit I've made for Ylaiza (sssh, she hasn't seen it yet).

This is a test

This is a test.

This is only a test.

In case of a real blog entry you would be reading something with some interest, humor or content.

I hope to get a true entry done soon.

Remember, this is only a test of this blog system.  :-)