Grandma's Progress

This was yesterday afternoon. It was a sunny day and the temp was in the low 70s so L asked Mom if she wanted to take a walk and she said yes! She used her light walker to go down the steps with no problem and commented that this is how she used to do it. Then she switched to the Hugo and off she went. Down to Cienega Road and back. They talked about the flowers along the way and she didn't seem to even notice how far she walked.

Quilters Meet

Bearded iris that SW gave me last fall.

We five met at SW's house tonight. First time we've all been together since the January Sew-Day. SW is spring cleaning and we all went home with bags of magazines - cooking, gardening, health. We'll be happy for months by the time we finish trading back and forth.

Making Progress

Mom managed to walk down the stairs this morning; coming back up was difficult. The physical therapist needed to help lift Mom's good leg more than last week. The bad leg, on which she stands when she is lifting the other one, seemed to be somewhat weaker today.

These are the stairs - pretty impressive, huh?

Sunday in the City

I've been here since Wednesday. Mom's recovery is coming along nicely. Last Thursday she walked down the front stairs, with a great deal of difficulty. To come back up, she did 2 or 3 steps, then sat down on a pillow for a few minutes, then did 2-3 more. She was very shaky by the time she finished, but I think she was pleased with herself. Since then she has been practising in the house using an exercise step.
The physical therapist comes again tomorrow morning but I'm not sure we will do the outside steps since it will just be the two of us and Mom. We are still aiming to take Mom back to our house on Thursday. Hope it happens!
KAS and her Mom spent yesterday afternoon with us. KAS helped me wind another skein of the shawl yarn and then we played Spider Solitaire. I hadn't tried it but my hairdresser told me about it and she's right, it's loads of fun. I won more than I lost in level 1, so today I moved up to level 2. I had a lot of trouble until I read the hints. That and the flashing helped a lot and I finally won a game. I'll have to see if you can turn the flashing thing off - it feels too much like cheating for me. When I win something, I want to know that it was only me doing it!
Thursday I had to rip out 12 rows in the Shawl. The row where I had the problems was the one I had planned to put a lifeline in. Friday I re-knitted the 12 rows but haven't touched it since. So I'm still on Clue 4, about a third of the way through.
Yesterday and today I worked on the lilac Feather and Fan shawl which is going to my sister. I only have about 30 rows left to do. Then I have to weave in the ends. No blocking because it's acrylic.

Lovely Spring Monday

This is the bed in front of my sewing room window. I planted spring bulbs a couple of years ago and, although this bed doesn't get rain unless it's a really big storm, the daffodils and iris manage to keep blooming each year. The bed is quite overgrown with the snapdragons I planted in 2006 and I keep promising to cut them back and pull weeds, but somehow it never gets done.

I pulled some of the carrots I planted in a raised bed last fall. I think they may be a little past their prime, but still edible.

I haven't worked on SSS since I completed Clue 3 while I was in the city. I did print out the remaining clues and plan to print Clue 10 when it is released tomorrow. I am driving back to the city on Wednesday and will probably stay until the following Wednesday. I doubt if I can knit 7 clues in 7 days, but you never know and I would hate to be caught with not enough instructions printed!

I haven't gotten much accomplished since I've been home - I find it difficult to settle to anything in depth. I will be so glad when Mom is able to come down here and we can get back to a somewhat normal life.

Back Home Again

for a few days....

KAS and her Daddy came down for dinner and the evening while her Mom and sister were visiting Great-Grandma in the city. We had a good game of Scrabble. P won by quite a bit and KAS and I were pretty close. I guess that makes me as smart as a 4th grader.

This is Spring Shawl Surprice at the end of Clue 3. I can definitely see mistakes when it's stretched like this, but from a galloping horse? Definitely not. So I am not ripping. Anytime I wear it, it will almost certainly be somewhat scrunched up, so no one will ever know and I'm not telling (except here).

I have been trying to figure out why the mistakes get made so that I can avoid it in the future. I am being very careful about counting stitches and I do think it's helping. When this is finished I'm going to start on working the patterns in Victorian Lace Today. Lace knitting is addictive!