The weather is a'changin'

Last Thursday was our first day to watch Delaney.  It was kind of a shake-down cruise, just one day to work out the bugs and for Julia to get used to being back at work..

She's eight weeks old today and we're officially on duty.  Sammie is absolutely thrilled to have a baby in the house.  She has always adored children.  I think it's a Lab thing.  Delaney will be with us tomorrow.  Julia is working two days a week, at least for now.

I've continued spinning each morning for about a half hour.  Michelle asked me if I noticed a therapeutic effect.  I can't definitively say yes, but I think my foot is doing pretty good just eight weeks postop.

Another benefit is I'm going through my significant stash of roving and skeins require less storage space.

My plan is to weave another lap robe like this one,once I'm able to weave again.  I have various leftover skeins of colored wool so it won't be exactly like this.  The interesting thing about this throw is that it's from one sheep.  When Ollie was a yearling he had bright brown fleece which aged to a gray tan over the years.

I'm saving coffee grounds from the Keurig pods.  They're nearly dry when I scoop them out, much tidier than the grounds from my French press.  I know they're great in compost and good for garden soil amendment but I just learned that they change the ph of the soil and turn the hydrangea flowers blue.  I worked in the first batch yesterday along with some granular fertilizer.  

We've had quite a few of the migrating deer in our yard recently.  Some of the these will migrate on up into the Cascades but two for sure were born in our yard and stay with us.  Our yard is completely fenced so I'm free to enjoy them without trying to protect plants.

A Tight Timeline

I got the pin out of my foot last Tuesday morning and immediately I began a battle with swelling. It was originally scheduled to be removed tomorrow, which is six weeks post surgery, but they took it out early so I didn't have to wear the boot on our car trip. 

I remembered how successful I was with recovery after knee surgery by spinning for a little while each day.  It's been a long time since I've used my wheel, and in fact, it's been in a closet for almost a year.  But it's like riding a bicycle; you don't forget how.

Joe Winter's pottery works is just a half mile from our old house and only four miles off of the highway.  We decided to stop to buy Christina a graduation present and pay Joe a visit.

He just had his spring open-kiln show and had a lot of inventory, plenty to pick from.

So we got a mug for her office and a splurge for us, this spectacular pitcher.  It's beginning to appear that we collect pottery.

We had originally planned to stay with my daughter's family but after consideration we decided to take a motel room in case I needed to ice my foot in the middle of the night or sleep with my foot elevated on pillows, both of which happened. But we stopped by to say hi before checking and to give Chrissie her present.

We did a quick check-in at the motel and got a bite to eat before returning to the north valleys because it just so happened that granddaughter Alexia's spring concert was that evening. This is the first time we've been able to hear her play in a performance, and what a performance it was!  We were exhausted and turned in early, plus by then my foot was really swollen.

The next day was the star performance and the reason for our quick trip - Christina's commencement ceremony!  She had earned her master's degree in Higher Education Administration as a working mom and wife.  There should be an award for that accomplishment too.

And there's my happy girl, beaming like the sun.  We finished the day with a late dinner at our favorite Reno restaurant, Golden Flower, along with some of Chrissie's special longtime friends.

Christina had been sick and her husband was still sick in bed so the party Saturday was cancelled.  Instead, Ian took Alexia out to Red Rock to visit friends and Crissie and I sat side by side at the table, her with her laptop and me with my iPad and elevated foot. She's done genealogy for over 20 years and taught me how to use Ancestry.com.  We had a blast. Since returning home I've spent at least eight hours on the program - with my foot elevated :-)

We left Sunday morning and I drove about a third of the way, choosing my favorite part from Alturas to the Summer Lake rest stop.  The high desert in May, especially a wet month like this one, has it's own rugged beauty.  

We got home about 3:30 and I puttered around, getting my things put away.  I know that doesn't make much sense but I don't feel like I'm home until my things are where they belong.  That's when I can settle down and put up my feet.  Someone was waiting for me do that very thing.

We realized why this pitcher caught our eye.  We had originally chosen a different one, but this was the winner, and I think we were subconsciously attracted because of our chair. 

This is Delaney's first Mother's Day, or maybe I should say Julia's first Mother's Day.  Tomorrow is our first day to watch the baby because Julia has to go back to work.  We offered to watch Delaney two days a week so she's just going to work those days for now, Thursdays and Fridays.  And so we enter a new chapter in our lives.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Delaney turned one month old last week so we drove up to Redmond to pay our first visit.

It was the first time I got to hold her and I swear I had an angel in my arms.

Other than that, not much has been going on other than knitting and reading.  My body isn't adapting well to the pin and my foot swells if I don't keep it up.  So I do.  It beats taking pain meds.

This is another Heidi Kirrmaier pattern.  Her patterns are detailed but so are her instructions which makes her so satisfying to knit.

I frogged a moth-eaten sweater that I knit when we still lived in Red Rock.  The damage wasn't consistent throughout so I'm knitting another of Heidi's sweaters.  This one is called Climb Every Mountain.  It's kind of a sweater poncho combo.  If I have enough yarn I'll make it with long sleeves but the pattern calls for elbow length.

One of the ladies in my book club brought me these three bags of yarn last meeting.  She says she is going to bring me more, that her stash is out of control.  So I who have no stash now have one.  I've looked through quickly and see some things I believe I can put to use.  The rest I'll take to our guild's Weftover Sale next month.

Two days later I got a call from a friend who is moving to Texas who wondered if I'd like some of her stash because she's trying to cull rather than move.  These will also go to the Weftover Sale and the proceeds go to a scholarship fund.

Frankenfoot is healing nicely.  I wear a toeless sock to keep the surgical boot from chafing on my incisions, so what you see on the top of my foot is the impression from the sock.  The pin comes out next Tuesday, a week early.  We leave that Thursday for Reno to see DD Chris receive her master's degree.  Commencement will be on the quad, the same place I was awarded my degree almost thirty years ago.  And the frosting on the cake - Thursday evening is Alexia's band spring concert and she has a flute solo.  I got to mention two granddaughters in one post!