Sandy's Knitting

random, autumn style

It's been a while since I've written on this site. I've been over on the other blog (you've been over there, haven't you?) but I really miss it here. I love the colors and the sheep. I hate the problems it gives me though. I do have MY PEOPLE working on switching over the other site to the Sandysknitting.com address. I guess that will be good.
So, shall we do some random?
~it is wonderfully chilly today. I put on a turtleneck and pulled out a wool sweater. It's the kind of day that gets warmer outside than in. That means the heating season is not far off
~I bought a couple of my favorite candles today, making me super ready for fall. Yankee Pumpkin Spice votive. It has been my fav for years and nothing has changed there.
~I also bought a butternut squash at the farmer's market. Does anything say autumn like butternut squash??
~the weeds, they are out of control. I vowed that I would pull them this weekend. I hope they are quaking in their roots.
~Overheard at the butcher shop today:
Butcher boy: We will start to bring in roasts and whole chickens now that the weather is cooler
woman: are they your own chickens?
Butcher boy: no, but they are all natural and organic
woman: Oh, good. They will be hormonal free?
heh.
~Speaking of hormones. And we were. Today a little yellow butterfly flew into my car windshield on my errand run, squashing the little guy. The weird thing? I couldn't stop crying. Sobbing for a little yellow butterfly. Cripes all mighty. When my wonderful father in law died last October, I could barely squeak a tear out. What the hell?
~And speaking of Andy's family. My Mother in Law fell last Sunday, breaking her hip. She has had surgery and is now in rehab. All I can feel about it is exhaustion.
And yet that butterfly? Sobbing.
~I am cooking some dried red kidney beans right now, grown locally for a big pot of chili tonight. I cannot wait.
WARNING:
If your name is Faith and you are reading this, please do not read any further. I am warning you. I will go over there and smack you one. I'm serious. Click the x.
~Is she gone?
Good.
I am knitting.

Goes right along with the autumn theme with the wonderful colors. If I were to name that color it would be "AUTUMN BURST". I love it. The pattern is Relm by Jared Flood. The yarn is Magallanes by Arucania. Faith picked out this yarn on July 4th weekend and I am knitting it up as a Christmas gift for her.
RELM HAT ON RAVELRY
~~~~
Mad for Knit Carol is running a half marathon for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I hope you will consider pledging some money to her. She is having a great prize giveaway.
Read about it here
See the prizes here
Donate to Carol's half marathon here (WE can get her to that $1500 goal, can't we? A wee bit at a time?
~~~
Do you have anything random to talk about?

Are you still here?

You are reading me over at the "new" blog, right? Soon (Well, maybe not SOON but SOMEDAY certainly) I will integrate the 2 and use the Sandysknitting domain for the wordpress blog. For now? Come on over. Don't be shy!
See you there!
Sandy's knitting II

Come on over to the new blog. This one is broken and annoying me.

I have been having some big problems on this blog so for now, it's closed. Come on over to My Substitute Sandy's Knitting Blog.
Don't miss a minute of the fun (and catch up on the last few days entries~!)
~~~
You did not think I abandoned you, did you??

19. warm heart and a Christmas song

I don't know how I got lucky enough to get involved with the likes of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your outpouring of compassion regarding Fig. I miss him dearly, the house seems quiet and a bit empty even with all us humans here. No one greeted me quite like Fig. I miss that. All day long I have been having unconscious thoughts about where he is or what he is doing. I even had to eat a whole yogurt by myself with no one on my lap begging me for a smidge or two. (Fig loved his yogurt)
I have to say that the tears have stopped. My uncontrollable crying was for the last 2 days. The decision up to putting him to sleep. That was one of the hardest I ever had to make. That phone call broke my heart into pieces. I am surprised the wonderful receptionist at our vets could understand a word I was saying with all the sobbing going on. It was the right decision though and I am left feeling peaceful today because Fig is not suffering anymore. It's hard to see one you love suffer so much. I wish we could do the same for our humans that are suffering.
I cleaned up his bowls and put them away, same with the litter box and did one final sweep of his messy eating habits around his bowls. That cat loved to throw his hard food around a bit. I washed his blankets and did a final vacuum. My heart was a bit heavy but it had to be done.
Fig's final resting spot is near the Dogwood Tree in the yard. I think he'd like that. We had quite a touching "service" that turned a bit irreverent with me laughing about something so silly. But he looked so cute and he was quite stiff by that time and comments were made about stuffed animals. In fact, I'm sure he would have liked all that laughing too.
The neighbors must be certain that we are certifiable by now!
Tonight I will sit with a glass of wine (Or two) and my knitting while watching It's a Wonderful Life, because it is (wonderful)
~~~
Back to the Christmas carols today, okay? Finding the Joy in the season is most important when things happen to hurt the heart. ("JOY" is your foreshadowing clue for something in tomorrow's post!!)
This one I can't embed but I hope you will click through to see it. It's a good one.
CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, full of meaning.

20. Rest in peace, my little friend

Figaro Hurley
"Fig"

1992-2008

"Heartbreak is life educating us." ~George Bernard Shaw

~~~ Slideshow of Fig

21. wishing for snow

Andy is man enough to know that if David Cassidy comes knocking at the door, I will have to go with him. How could I resist to go off into the sunset with my childhood love? I mean, KEITH PARTRIDGE! I could not be blamed. Could I?
I thought not.
~~~

22. finding the joy

Still finding the joy in this season. My yearly reading of A Christmas Carol is enhanced by finding a beautiful version illustrated by PJ Lynch. and the knitting. Always with the knitting. I am hoping to get the left side done today and start a sleeve tomorrow. There will have to be a break at some point so that I can get a couple of gifts done. But for now, I knit, read, listen to carols and worry about a furry one.

(you tube will be undergoing some maintence later tonight so if you don't see this video come back in a while to see it. It is one of my favorites. But then again, I say that about all the songs)
Go ahead and share your joyful thing with me. I can use it.

23. No video post today, just a little bellyachin'

Thank you for your praise on the video post. It was fun and done off the top of my head. Thinking on my feet and all. In all fairness I should tell you that I am not actually STANDING in my kitchen as I stated. I am sitting in my kitchen. Full Blog Disclosure and all.
So, today. Yeah. Glad it's almost over. It was a day from blah, start to finish. (Fine, it has not finished yet)
Everything I touched today turned to bad. The opposite of the King Midas touch. If I touched it, bad things happened to it. Blech.
That is my complaint of the day.
What is YOUR problem? (I liked it when we played that a couple weeks back)
SURELY, you have something to get off your chest?
~~~
Wait. Complain bitterly AFTER watching today's Christmas song.

~~
Okay, now you can let it rip!

24. This is a video post. I have made a (Crappy quality) video of myself making a fool of myself. Be kind.

Pay no attention to the bad hair and bad lighting. This was just a bit of an experiment. Be kind.

and your Christmas song du jour.

There you have it. A complete video post. (almost anyway!)
DO you like the written word better? Can't blame ya!

25. dreaming

I had the pleasure of going to the Twist Collaborative Trunk Show today at my wonderful LYS, Yarns in the Farms! Spending time with Carol, Kris, Julia, Thea, Jill and Carolyn among a room full of knitters. (what day could be better?) I got a bit teary eyed when Kris and Carol immediately about Fig. That little cat has his own following, I tell ya!
The afternoon was just what the doctor ordered for what is ailing me (exhaustion, worry, blah)
It was also the perfect snow day! It snowed from beginning to end but was the kind of snow that only stuck to the trees and cars and grass but not the roads. The perfect Christmas snow! (keep all of these points in mind when you see the pictures up next!) (This would be foreshadowing!!)
~~~
Visuals:

Snow on the trees! So pretty!

Wreath on the door!

Sleepyhead Fig. How does he breathe like that? (I have to admit that every time I see him like that I check for breathing...)
Get your Christmas Cheer HERE:

I am dreaming of a White Christmas. And NObody does it like Bing!

25. The best way to spread Christmas cheer..

We had a fun day today buying our front door wreath and evergreen roping for the front porch.I also weeded out a bit of stuff in the house (well overdo).
A short Saturday entry for you with a Fig picture and a bit of Christmas cheer for you. And me.
Cheer is best spread.

"The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear."

~Buddy the Elf

Here's one to sing loudly to. I love this song!

That young man can sing!
~~
Fig says Thank you! And please send chicken!

~~~
Do you have your wreath up is you do wreaths?

26. Did I ever tell you how much I loved John Denver?

Fig had his appointment today and it was as dismal as I expected. His kidneys are on their way out. His levels are all so high that the machine could not read them. One just has to look at Fig to know that something was not working right. But the vet and I had a long talk about quality of life and how we would know the "right" time for Fig. He got a subQ treatment and was NOT happy. He was a feisty little Fig today, I tell ya. He usually sits there and takes it all. Not today. He was meowing at them and standing up on his hind legs and swatting at them. He was one pissed off kitty.
All of that news I expected. The news that upset me (and the Vet) the most was the fact that he now weighs 5.9 pounds. In May he weighed 10.9 pounds. At his heftiest, he clocked in at almost 14. Poor buddy.
When we got home, I gave him his Christmas present, a new scratching post. (the cardboard kind with the catnip. He loves those and gets one very year) I realized that if he did not make it to Christmas, it would kill me to know that he did not get his new post.
That made him a happy cat. A happy, scrawny cat.
It's the weak back legs that concern me the most. Muscle loss, and the toxins in his body are causing him to have some trouble getting around. I'll gladly carry him around for a while.
~~~
With all of that gloom, surely you could use some cheer, right?

27. I had Christmas down in Africaaaaa

~Still knitting: making some good progress on the Town and Country. I have not strayed. Honestly, who knew I could be so faithful to one knitting project?
~still worrying: About Fig. He has a vet appointment Friday afternoon. He had such a great day yesterday and today he seems a bit weaker. But he's not throwing up as much today. Too bad because the carpet in the living room was making it's way to being a polka dotted 2 tone. I could be onto a new fashion trend.
~Ick
~Note to self: Rent a steam cleaner
~OR: Finally get rid of that carpet which has been my plan for way too long.
~Here's today's Christmas cheer. I do hope you'll watch this because it is great. I have heard this song on the radio a couple of times in the last few days and enjoy their talent so much.
(Do you love it, Gayle?)
~Oops, sorry, private joke.
~Gayle sent me the link yesterday to share. And I had already planned to show it here today. I told her to act "surprised"
~There: Don't you hate it when there are private jokes and you don't know what it is? Now you do.
Now, HERE is the cheer.

29. The 22 Days of Christmas Cheer, day one (boy do I love blog titles that have numbers in them, huh? What's with all the countdowns? )

Well, I humbly thank you for your wonderful show of support. I will be giving the pictures as gifts. I appreciate your kind words and advice.
I have to admit to more than a couple of tears streaming down my face while I read all the comments.
It's been quite the ride lately.
Life.
What are you going to do?
Deal and go forward, that's what.
~~~
A word or three about Fig. I will be calling the vet tomorrow to get a subQ treatment which will hopefully make him feel better. He is eating still, though not as much as his chubbed out days. It's a problem keeping it down though. I most often find it somewhere on the floor. Daily gifts. It's the feebleness that really tugs at my heart. But! He does seem happy most of the time. He purrs and sits with me (as a matter of fact, he sat ON me for about an hour last night, which he never ever does. He is NOT a lapcat. I imagine that my lap was warm. And soft. (too soft, but hey, this is about Fig not my legs) He's still cute as anything though, bony and all.
~~
So. All of that said and done, I thought that I'd start trying to spread a bit of Christmas cheer. I know *I* could use some and perhaps you do too. I got the idea to post my favorite Christmas songs for the 12 days of Christmas. You can watch or pass. That's okay, I won't be offended if you are a scrooge! (haha) Srsly.
I have enough songs to fill from now to Christmas so this is NOT the 12 days of Christmas. It is the 22 Days of Christmas Cheer.
Get cheerful.
No bahumbugging. (Okay, a little is okay)
Here's a song I heard today. Seems appropriate, me being from Massachusetts and all.

Ho Ho Ho and Falala, it's a Massachusetts Christmas wherever you are!

29. When a blogger has a dilemma, it goes in the blog

This is the photo I had told you about from Real Memories. I cannot rave enough about them. It was easy, they shipped fast, the quality is excellent, the packing was superior and there was even a signed thank you note in the box. I ordered 3 of these intending to give one to Andy, one to his sister and one to my Mother in Law (even though they all say DAD on them. She called him Dad all the time, so I think it's appropriate)
As I have said, I love the picture. I love the framing. I would love to give it to the ones I love to remember my father in law.
But? Bethany thinks it is inappropriate to give a Christmas gift of this kind. She thinks it will bum everyone out, ruin the day, put a cloud on the fun.
I disagree. I think the cloud will already be there as we all struggle in our own way to have the first set of holidays without Bob.
Now I just don't know what to do.
So, I pose you the question. Would you give it as Christmas gifts? Or not.
Take the poll. Leave a comment and tell me what the hell to do. Boss me around a little. You are finally getting your chance! :D
Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux
~~~
And I'm also very worried that one certain furry Fig will not be around here for this Christmas. He seems to be deteriorating quickly. I have a spotted living room rug from all the throwing up as proof. The heaving I can handle. It's the unsteadiness, the bones now sticking out of his body he is that thin, the tough time getting up the stairs, falling down the last 2 stairs on his way down and many more things that break my heart into pieces.
I suppose I will see how he does the rest of the week and bring him in to the vet. Perhaps a good subcutaneous treatment will make him feel better for now.
Poor Fig.