All that matters in the end is how we love...

So much to say...

I spent most of last week rehearsing and singing with The Harmony Project, a 135-voice community choir that also is very active in community service and fundraising.  Check out their link...really, check it out...I'll wait for you to get back.  See?  Cool, eh?  Oh, and if you want to read more, here's an article and video from our local paper that just so happened to go national.   Woo-hoo!

We performed two sold-out shows at The Lincoln Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday night, and we raised the roof and shook the rafters both nights.  Our guest artist, Beth Nielsen Chapman, had us all in tears with her beautiful songs.  The title of this post is a lyric from her song "How We Love", which has become the new theme song of my life.  What an honor to share a stage with this wonderful woman!  One of my amazing choirmates, Jeffrey Benedict, has captured the heart and soul of the concerts in photos on his Facebook page - again, check them out, you'll be glad you did!  I, unfortunately, did not take pictures.  I brought my camera, but I just couldn't take in the experience if I was thinking of what to photograph (and I knew Jeff would do a much better job anyway). 

But...not only did we sing our hearts out, we poured our hearts out to our community.  We performed over 4,000 hours of community service at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank and for Columbus Parks & Recreation.  We raised enough money to purchase thousands of meals, a piano and risers for the Lincoln Theatre and bought and planted 100 trees in a city park.  And we did it in ten weeks.  Yes, that's right...ten. 

So...I did not knit this week.  Ok...I worked on Evenstar a little yesterday afternoon.  Almost through with Clue #5 and planning on taking Evenstar on a field trip this week to a bead shop.  I'll try to remember my camera.

In the midst of all the singing, I was also doing research on the problems my Wilbur is having.  You may now begin calling me "Sherlock", as I believe I have found the answer, and his vet agrees.  Wilbur has myasthenia gravis.  He appears to be going into remission (the worst of his symptoms were about six months ago), but he still has some problems.  When he got the steroid shot the other week for his allergies, the MG symptoms went away for about a week - that was the big clue.  So...as much as the vet and I didn't want to do it, he is now taking a low dose of prednisone...he may be on it the rest of his life.  We don't know yet.  We do know that he tolerates this medication with absolutely no side effects, so we may actually be making up for a lack of cortisol in his system.  He is doing well.  Happy.  Playful.  Goofy. 

Then there is this...my Pioneer Woman moment.  Yesterday afternoon, Romeo went out to prepare the vegetable garden.  He had one of those spiky manual rotary tiller things and was breaking up soil and weeds with it.  I was knitting in the cool comfort of the living room (delicate woodland flower that I am).  Suddenly, the back door bursts open and he comes in, hyperventilating, "OHMYGOD"ing, nearly in tears.  When I could get him to form coherent sentences, I learn that he had "uncovered" a nest of bunnies.  Hysterical Romeo, "I've killed them!  I've maimed them!  They were screaming!" 

Ok...here I am...the woman who is so squeamish that she refuses to go to a movie where anyone bleeds or throws up...and it is very obvious I'm gonna have to tackle a very nasty task.  People don't refer to me as "The Warrior Princess" for nothing.  I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and head out to the back yard.  I find a newborn bunny on top of the grass, pick it up and examine it carefully.  Not a scratch.  I see more bunnies in the nest and pick up all six of them, turn them over...not a scratch.  Lucky baby bunnies!  Romeo can't even set foot outside, he's so distraught.  I pile them all back in the nest, grab a little fencing to make sure Wilbur doesn't bother them and wrap it around the nest and come back inside.  Bunnies fine.  All is well.  Relax, Romeo. 

This morning, I went out and checked on them.  I think Mama Bunny has been there.  They were warm, active, not dehydrated (yes, I did little skin checks on a couple of them).  Same thing when I checked them at 2pm only this time, I brought the camera.  Behold the backyard bunnitude!!

We do realize that our vegetables stand a snowball's chance in hell because of these little critters...but as long as Mama is around and caring for them, we're not going to move them or take them to the wildlife center.  We're kinda funny that way.

Next week, hopefully more knitting!  I hope all my US readers are having a fabulous holiday weekend, and everyone else is having a fabulous regular weekend. 

Yours in song and bunny fur,
Sherlock, The Warrior Princess

A bit more Luna eye candy...

I learned one really important thing with this project - I need a bigger bed!!!  I am now panicking trying to figure out where I'm going to block Evenstar when it's finished.  I know it will take up the bed and over the sides...yikes...

Thank you for all your great comments on Luna Moth.  I try to reply to all comments but am a bit confused as to how I reply to the ones that come as "noreply".  If you comment and don't get a reply back from me, it's because it came through this way and I can't figure out how to reply (and am betting there isn't a way since it says "noreply"...doh...). 

I really only sweated how much yarn I had left for a short while.  This yarn is very unusual - four strands of cotton thread plied together, and the color changes take place by tying in increasing numbers of the new color.  When I got to the violet shade, I counted how many rows I was able to knit with just one thread of violet, then did some quick calculations figuring there would be a pretty close amount with each addition of violet thread.  As it turned out, I ended up with more yarn than I thought I would.

Yesterday, I worked on Evenstar quite a bit - got six or so rows done on Clue #5, so I'm happy.  We went out to dinner with a good friend last night (Hi, Mark!).  The highlight (or lowlight) of the evening was when Mark ordered an Anchor Steam beer and the (seriously distracted and spacey!) waitress brought him a pot of English Tea.  Huh????

Today...off to Harmony Project rehearsal.  I am seriously pumped!!! Another rehearsal tomorrow night, then the concerts on Wednesday and Thursday.  I doubt I'll have much knitting or blogging time this week.  But I'll be singing my heart out for several very good causes and loving every second of it.

Happy Sunday everyone, and I'll catch up as soon as I can!!

La Luna!

So...it's still raining in Ohio...but yesterday was a beautiful day which pumped my spirits considerably.  Your kind comments pumped them even more (Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!) and, as a result, I was inspired to complete the Luna Moth Shawl!

It isn't blocked yet, and I just draped it over my printer in a desperate attempt to find some light...but it is finished.  I hope to block it later this afternoon and will get better pics then.

I stayed up way past my bedtime last night to get this puppy off the needles...and I was hyperventilating for the last 20 or so rows.  Why?  Um...because this is how much yarn I have left:

We are talking maybe one...one and a half rows worth of yarn at the most.  When I was done, I popped a handful of Valium and chased it with a shot of Jim Beam.  No...really...I didn't...not the Valium anyway.  Ok...not the Jim Beam, either.  I let the dog out, gave him is bedtime cookie, brushed my teeth, washed my face and celebrated by falling asleep.  This is what happens when we get old. 

The update on the doggy front is optimistic.  His feet are better, and we only had to use the evil e-collar for about 24 hours.  However, the antibiotic has kicked up his tummy problems, so we're off to the vet to pick up some Reglan soon.  Most interesting, though, is the change in his demeanor and some odd symptoms he'd been having since being on the Prednisone.  I don't want to go into a long, boring laundry list, but the short story is that I'm suspicious that all these issues he's been having are a result of one of two things:  a very mild case of vestibular disease or a mild case of focal myasthenia gravis.  Will obviously be talking to the vet more about this.  As much as I don't want him taking it, he is a much happier, less confused, and more energetic dog - in short, the Wilbur we've always known and loved - when he's on Prednisone. 

The weekend awaits.  I hope to get some weeding done (HA!) and make a big dent in the Evenstar Shawl which is my next goal now that Luna Moth is done.

Happy weekend!!!

Discouraged...

So...perhaps this blogging business wasn't such a great idea.  Or perhaps I'm blogging on the wrong topic.  Lately, I haven't had a lot of time to spend on things like this...

because of this...

Yes, that's an extra-humongo (probably meant for a Great Dane) e-collar...but Wilbur needs it.  Seems at his advanced age, he's able to pretzel himself around and chew his back feet to pieces even in the prescribed e-collar for his size.  I never should have let him watch me do yoga, I guess.  You know how border collies are...

My last week has been marked by little sleep, a constant chanting of "Wilbur, leave the footies", trips to vet, expenditures of $$$$, doggie booties,  attempts to get him to swallow antibiotic pills the size of New Jersey, and e-collars.  I've had no time for blogging and have been sleep-deprived enough that anything I typed would have made little sense (though perhaps would have been entertaining to my readers and may have kept my Feedburner stats from completely tanking).  Maybe I should have started a geriatric dog care blog instead.  That seems to be where all my energy is focused these days.

I've had several great ideas for posts, but no time or energy to prepare them, including a lovely one for Sunday, which was the 12th anniversary of my marriage to Romeo.  We spent the day taking Wilbur for a short walk, then hurried out for a quick romantic dinner and hurried back home to see how much of his feet he had chewed off.  Allergy season is life-consuming.  Later today, I'm going to get in touch with a holistic vet recommended by a friend (Thanks, Jenny!) and possibly try acupuncture.  Voodoo is next, I'm tellin' ya...

I included the last picture I took of the Luna Moth Shawl for a reason - I've been focusing what little time I've had for knitting on completing this shawl and am almost finished!  Yowza!!!!  I am firmly into indigo and will be transitioning into the final violet within about ten rows.  Yes - it's exciting!  And you're going to love the finished result, though I am a little concerned about blocking a cotton shawl.  Suggestions, anyone???

To those of you who have hung in there with me, thank you.  It's seriously amazing to me that someone would enjoy reading about this crazy life of mine.  Next week, the craziness continues in a really GOOD way, when I sing with The Harmony Project (if you watch the video "Faces of HP 2010", you'll see me at about the 1:07 mark...I wish I could have been a bit more enthusiastic...).  Anyway, that's just a heads up that I will again have little time to knit or post.  There is also much I need to do to update my blog layout, and that will occur sometime after next week as well.

Yours in yarn and dog barf...

Knittus Interruptus

Yes, knitting has taken a back seat this past week.  I've worked a little on the Evenstar Shawl, but that's about it.  I've hit one of those knitting walls - too many projects on the needles and not getting the satisfaction of finishing any of them.  Plus, there was this little item...

Sigh...ouchie index finger joint.  Very ouchie.  Ouchie enough that I began  having visions of Grandma Young's hands after years of suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.  I've really been softpedaling the knitting this week, and am happy to say, the joint is almost NOT ouchie now.  Yay...

So...what have I been doing?  Well, for most of the past week, I've been waltzing with bookcases.  Reorganizing my room, making it more functional to the things I do.  I've given up on the room ever being able to contain ALL my interests, but I've been able to focus on the "big" needs:  office, knitting area, reading area, music area.  We live in a small house, and I'm blessed that we have a big finished attic to use as a bedroom so that we can use the two smaller downstairs bedrooms for our personal rooms.  After much huffing, puffing, and shoving of furniture, this is my room. I have no before pictures...it was just everything pushed up against walls and lots of piles of stuff in the middle - kind of like a bizarre layered salad.

The Office/Music area (gonna put Elfa shelves on that wall behind the keyboard)

The Music area (need to reframe and hang that cool poster).

The Reading/Knitting nook

While I was doing all this, I rediscovered some of my favorite things...

Picture of Dad (about six years old)

The top to my parents' wedding cake

Dad's old aviator sunglasses

An old wine glass filled with miscellaneous rocks, shells and other treasures

And this...

You want a close-up of that scroll?  It's pretty wild!

BOO!!!!

There's a story behind this fiddle...it belonged to the man 2nd from the left in this picture:

That's my great-grandfather, John Wesley Stoner.  My grandma is standing next to him.  Yup, I have my great grandfather's fiddle (got his Bible, too).  The fiddle...it's playable (thanks to two wonderful friends, Jan and Linda), but the neck is pretty crooked, so when you play the G string, you are kind of skating on the thin edge of infinity.  Still...it's a joy.

There will be more knitting to report on next time, I promise.  But, here is one beautiful, amazing piece of fiber-related wonder that landed in my mailbox yesterday thanks to Denise from Lost City Knits:

This yarn is Heaven on a Skein...  She also threw in an amazing cake of soap from her lavender business, Clear Creek Lavender.  I will never use this soap.  It is going to sit on my desk so I can periodically pick it up and inhale the wondrous fragrance of lavender.  It has even inspired me to plant some lavender in my own little weedpatch of a yard.  One should never be without the fragrance of lavender.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Mother's Day post.  I had no idea how much that post would wreck me emotionally, setting off a whole new wave of "WAAAAAHHHHH!!!  I miss my Mom!!!", over ten years after her passing.  Ours was a complicated and extremely difficult relationship until the last ten or so years of her life, when it was everything I think we both ever wanted it to be.  I wanted to focus on that - on the fact that, even in the hardest times of our relationship, if we were together, there would be laughter.  We would find a way.  I know I will never again laugh so hard that I fall through a big rack of coats in the middle of Wal-Mart.  But, in spite of everything that came before, that's how I'll always remember times with my mother...

What's really important...

 Happy Mother's Day, Mom (and ALL y'all Moms).  You never were able to teach me to sew...

But you taught me how to laugh...and somehow I think that was a lot more important.

Love you...miss you,

Your Rugged Little Individualist

Sometimes the wheels just fall off...

and that's what happened to me this week.  Boom.  Whomp.  Wapawapawapa...wheels off.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week was an awesome idea, unfortunately it occurred at one of my busiest weeks...and also during a week when a lot of unexpected stuff came up.  Car?  Wheels fell off...well, not really, but they were about to  (to the tune of $1600 to fix).  Wilbur?  Well...see for yourself...

Yup, that would be the left rear wheel in the protective bootie.  Even though we've been able to control his allergies pretty well with the Tavist, during this time of year his stress reaction is to chew his feet.  So, during Sunday morning's thunderstorm, some time between 4:30am (when he was fine) and 8:00am, he pretty much decimated one pad and the side of his foot.  Couldn't walk.  We thought he'd had a stroke.  Scary.  Once I put him through range of motion tests and figured out the problem, he got booted up till it heals.  He's tolerant...but less than thrilled...

Let's see, what else?  Went to a Knitting Meetup on the east side of town Thursday night and had a nice time.  Then got up at the crack of dawn Friday to go help plant trees as part of a community service project (more about that in another post).  Came home and napped most of Friday afternoon...Romeo brought in dinner from Qdoba...I got food poisoning.  Saturday, I had the great privilege of shopping at Yarnmarket and Bargain Yarns and increasing my stash substantially.  Sigh...haven't had time to take pics yet.

Oh, I finished the Butterfly Garden Socks...will take pics after they've been washed/blocked.  I'm not pleased with them right now - they look kinda loose and floppy on my bony little ankles.

And...I'm busy trying to figure out and learn a vocal part I'll be auditioning for in a couple hours.  I've been doing this all afternoon (my apologies to any neighbors who might read my blog and be really, really sick of the music coming from my open windows over...and over...and over...). 

This week may be fairly normal, so more later!

"Make her take this thing off my foot, ok????"