A Not So Good Week (but not Terrible, Horrible like Alexander's)

 Today is our 53rd anniversary.   We are going to celebrate with an outdoor dinner at Ruth's Chris with Jeff and Susan.  We could not get a table for six and we had to take the only time they had left which was 5 pm.  But it doesn't look like it will rain even though it will be very hot.  And I look forward to my petite fillet and cheesy potatoes.  And eating in a restaurant for the first time in months.

Last week was not a good one but maybe worth remembering anyway.   I had a mammogram scheduled on Monday morning.   I forgot my reading glasses so it was very hard to fill out the intake form but I managed with a little help from an aide.   I was told the xray would be read that very day and my doctor would call on Tuesday  and if I didn't hear from them on Wednesday to check with them.   I have never been very apprehensive about mammograms.  In fact, in the past, when the result came in the mail, I had almost forgotten I had one done!  But this time, because of Jim's cancer diagnosis and maybe my biopsy last fall, I was so apprehensive.   Of course, there was no call on Tuesday.   But Wednesday, while at Ocean Grove with Laura's family, the office aide called and said it was OK.  I told her how thankful I was and mentioned Jim's cancer.  She asked how he was and I could tell her we were thankful about his follow up results too.  I was so relieved.

The other medical issue was my possible poison ivy--on my upper right arm.  There were little blisters and redness and terrible itchiness--but how could one get poison ivy on an upper arm?   Maybe when I crawled under a fallen tree on the towpath?  And maybe it wasn't poison ivy at all.  But it was almost a constant discomfort and concern.  I didn't call the doctor because I really did not want to start oral steroids so I waited it out and little by little it improved--even if it did spread to more of my arm. 

I had been concerned about our second trip to Ocean Grove when we planned to help out with Laura's family.  I thought we would be in charge but thankfully they were able to do their webinar and conference call from the cottage so we could help out but were not totally responsible!   It was a joy to take Henry for a walk along the boardwalk as he finally succumbed to a little nap.   He smiles so readily and laughs heartily at Grandma's funny noises.  And as always, we had a great meal on the large porch--and then home to our own beds instead of spending the night.  We did have some hugs before we left but how sad it is to be wearing masks and avoiding close contact with those we love. 

I need to be less anxious about everything but that is not in my nature and it is not in the situation we find ourselves in with being more isolated and always concerned about Covid19. 

  So I will end on a couple of positive notes.  Jeff brought James back to RPI on Sunday and stopped at Dan and Alex's place en route.  I am eager to hear about their visit.  It makes me very happy when our children make an effort to get together with their siblings.   I hope those relationships continue long after Jim and I are gone.   

Sunday am we worshipped with both "our" churches--Nassau Presbyterian and Church of the Saviour in South Bend.  The service at Nassau was a children's chancel drama and maybe unexpectedly to us, it was a joy.  How the leaders managed to put it together via Zoom was amazing.  I wrote a thank you to Ingrid and she was so pleased to receive our thanks and said she would pass it on to the cast.   And then we did the live stream from CotS in which I can sing along with the praise team--and we can see our old friends.  

Later in the day I read a wonderful piece by Esau McCaulley, a Wheaton professor of New Testament,  in the NYT which led me to his blog and inspired me with his piece about Maundy Thursday and the stripping of the church which left the cross and that was all.   I believed in my heart and soul reading his piece.  As he did--it brought him back to fellowship in a church even if not the one of his youth.   I should write him as well--I have learned that even those who publish in the NYT can appreciate a thank you. 

Teaching Ruth to Knit

 Ruth and I had read Primrose Day together.  Merrie, the little British child who goes to the USA during the London Blitz, knits her father a scarf for a Christms present.  Ruth said she would like to learn to knit.  I said I would try to teach her.  She warned me absolutely NOT to buy a child's kit but to get the real thing.

My daughter-in-law Susan reminded me that years ago I had tried to teach Katie, my other grand-daughter now 22 years old, to knit and that they still had the knitting needles.  Katie cheerfully said she would be happy to have someone else make use of them.  She did not need them!  

So I got the large purple needles from her and ordered some thick and soft yarn from Amazon.  With some hesitancy, I wondered if I would remember how to cast on stitches.   I practiced and with some trial and error, I cast on 20 stitches--enough to make a doll's blanket.

Yesterday we drove to Ocean Grove where Ruth and her family were staying.  As it was a rainy Sunday, it was a great time to sit down and give knitting a try. Ruth and I put on our masks Covid19 style and went to work.

How many steps are there to knit one stitch?  You can break it down to at least four steps.  Through-over-through-off.  How many hands do you need?  You need more than two which is why I brace a needle against my stomach.  Ruth used her two hands while I held the left needle in my hand.   

Ruth actually caught on quite quickly.  I was watching carefully lest any step got missed.   Occasionally she would be chatting and looking at me and I had to direct her eye to the needles again.  I had to resist taking over because it was so much easier for me to do it rather than to show her how to do it.   I wanted to teach her to do it entirely independently.   I kept thinking of my mantra when I was tutoring children with reading problems--"I'm trying to work myself out of a job."  

We kept counting to 20 so we knew we had not dropped a stitch.  We could see the rows grow and the colors change with the multi-colored yarn.

I warned Ruth to keep the yarn and needles away from a little brother.   In Primrose Day, a pet dog got into the project and unraveled Merrie's Daddy's scarf.  

We will be going back to Ocean Grove in a few days so I will see if Ruth has made any progress on her own.  If not, we will sit together and do a few more rows.  If we give up on the doll's blanket, she thought a potholder would be less ambitious.  Now if Grandma can just remember how to cast off stitches.  A friend gave me a tip this morning and another friend suggested a you-tube video.  I think that when I get those needles in my hands again, I will remember when my motor memory takes over.   

How nice to have a grand-daughter that wants to do a project with her grandma!

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Ruth called me this afternoon on her watch.  She said she did some knitting on her own today and did drop one stitch so there was a small hole.  She said she was upset but her mom helped her get over it.  Now she wants to make something else--like a sweater or mittens.  Hmm.  I don't think I am ready for that!  

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August 19  I successfully cast off but somehow the 20 stitches turned into 35 stitches!   However, it looked like a very nice doll's blanket.   I cast on 9 stitches and knitted a few rows to get Ruth started on a doll's scarf.  

Blogging When There is Nothing to Blog About (except a Hurricane!)

How has life changed in the last few months?  Not a lot.   Covid19 is very much with us with well over 150,000 dead in the USA and about 1000 dying daily.  We wear masks whenever we are inside buildings--we go to church online--we shop for groceries once a week--we don't shop for anything else.  Although I do have a mental shopping list of another pair of shorts for me and knitting needles and yarn for Ruth.  So I may shop online but a fraudulent charge from Amazon a week ago has me a bit hesitant about using my credit card.  My new one came in the mail yesterday.

One positive change is our TV watching habits.  Jim and I have had three shows that we have watched together using Amazon Prime or Passport Thirteen (PBS).   Lark Rise to Candleford is our favorite.  We have gotten to feel so familiar with the characters--they are a part of our lives.  We laugh and cry with them.  I have read that the show expires in mid-August from PBS and am not sure what that means but we better watch what we can while we can.   We also liked Shakespeare and Hathaway on PBS but have seen all the back episodes now.  The Vicar of Dibley--Jim likes it better than I do.  He laughs and I groan!   And now, at last, some live sports are back--golf, NBA basketball in the Orlando bubble, and some baseball teams.

A change in my attitude has been less of a concern about feeling useful.  Maybe it's because I have accepted doing less but also because I have found a bit more to do.  We have had three summer sleepovers with Laura's kids.  I read a chapter of Jim's manuscript every few days and make comments.  I have tried to send emails out to folks I know are struggling with health issues--or just to say I miss someone.  Peggy and I walk maybe not every week, but at least every other week.  We have had coffee with the Moorheads probably every other week.  

I wish I could have people over here--or meet them at restaurants for dinner.   We have been hesitant to do that--thinking that it is not yet safe.

I have read far too many murder mysteries and not been the better for it. It's filling my head with too much of the ugly side of life even if it is good escapist literature!  I just finished the first three of Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series which I bought for $3.99 for my Kindle app.  I read one each day and was totally absorbed in what would happen next.  But they were sordid and sad and ugly tales full of Victorian hypocrisy and secrets.  So no more of those for a while!  

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Susan just called and we will have another grandchild sleepover.  James needs internet access today and early tomorrow morning and they have no power thanks to Hurricane Isaias.   We did not lose power.   So we can be of use to them! Our power blinks a bit but it has not been a loss--in spite of high winds yesterday.

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Another update.  James had supper with us and that was very pleasant--to focus on conversation with him alone--another time to be with a grandchild as "an only child."   But power came back on at his house, so Jeff picked him up and he went back home.  

So this was our first hurricane in New Jersey.   On my walk yesterday down the towpath, I probably saw six trees down with several of them crossing the path.  Roads were blocked all over town.  Jim had to find another route to the golf course when College Road West was blocked.  We were fortunate not to have lost power.