Friday, November 26, 2010

I am shocked that so much time has slipped away from me without a blog post. Not that there is that much new to post about. My knee is healing slowly but still has some frightening symptoms. The swelling at the back of the knee is hard and resists bending. On the front, if I bend and push back, as in pushing a chair away from a table to stand up, that knee joint feels like it is coming unstuck and then pops back into place. Scarey and painful. My surgeon said that was just the plastic cartilage slipping into place but it just feels wrong and frightening. I have been sleeping a lot, too much I'm sure, but when my activities are so restricted, there is only so much reading and watching TV one can do.

On the fibre front, I have been spinning brown alpaca and I've almost gotten to the bottom of the bag of unwashed alpaca. I came in one day to find the Imp asleep in the bag of alpaca which was not appreciated. Very soft to be sure. I've plied the pale grey Shetland, and need to wind it off. I had promised it to BFLB to knit a lace shawl but it looks like I'll have to teach myself to knit lace. I am knitting myself a pair of socks out of Tofutsies yarn which has a soy and cotton component and is quite soft. Blues and purples. I have also started on the last piece of the vest, knitting from the armhole to the shoulder of the left front. This has taken far too long, but I got out of the habit of knitting and need to give myself a kick by finishing something.

I am now "officially" retired, having started receiving pension payouts. I finally hired someone to do a partial cleanup of the front and back yards. He is also mowing my lawn while I am laid up. I managed to get the bare minimum of plants in the ground: tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkin, and beans. The peas planted in Sept. are now yielding pods and there's lots of rhubarb. If I could stand in the kitchen long enough I might make a rhubarb pie.

Reading takes up a lot of time. I read Zero History by William Gibson on my Kindle and really liked it except it didn't seem to be "about" anything. I'm now reading Polity Agent by Neil Asher on the Kindle. My BBBB of Oracle Bones was finished and I recovered Good Wives from under the bed and finished that. The research done in court proceedings, wills, letters and other documents to describe women's live in the northern part of New England 1650-1750 was very pertinent since I have a number of ancestors in that window and I have yet to do research on their lives. Current BBBB is The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester about the OED. I am now reading High King of Montival by S.M. Sterling so I can send it to X2 for his reading.

My genealogy is back to a Johannes Quackenbush who lived in Albany NY around the last quarter of the 17th century. I know from my history reading that the Dutch had trading posts there to trade with the Iroquois for furs so the influx of Dutch names shouldn't be surprising.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Nothing's been posted because there's precious little to report on being confined to zero activity. My knee did get better but cranked up again once I put weight on it. The dr now suspects a stress fracture and I had a bone scan on Friday to look for it. I am afraid that the recommended treatment is more bed rest. The fact that it does get better seems to indicate that rest does help. I am determined to get a minimal garden in: beans, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkin. I weeded enough of one raised bed to uncover the strawberries and make room for beans, and started on the second for tomatoes and zukes. I've got a garden person in to clean up a lot of the mess that was beyond me, like removing dead trees. I'll have him mow the lawn until I'm back on my feet, though I can certainly afford for him to continue. I can't stand up long enough to cook so I've been living on frozen dinners and grilled cheese sandwiches, having my groceries delivered. Very boring.

Otherwise I read, watch TV, play mahjong, card alpaca, spin alpaca, etc. I've finished J's red & white socks and started a pair for me out of Tofutsies, the soy/wool mix, in blues and greens. I need more summer weight socks and there's plenty to knit in the stash, so I plug away. I finished the Sean Williams & Shane Dix Echoes of Earth, but was suitably unimpressed to read the rest if the trilogy. I am now reading William Gibson's Zero History on my Kindle and am loving it. Simultaneously I'm reading The Dragon Scroll by I. J. Parker, which is a murder mystery set in 11th century Japan. Have almost finished my BBBB Oracle Bones, about modern China.

As expect BFLB only lived to see Nov 1, which was her & St. H's wedding anniversary. I did get to talk to her once but she had little voice power. H told me she was smiling and mouthing words back but her lungs were too far gone to speak. She passed relatively peacefully leaving us all bereft. I will try calling St H to keep in touch. I was so glad the hospice let her have the cats with her. Duke probably thought all the fuss was over him.