ER trip and helical knitting - again...

This week I only knit on one item (a hat, of course) and couldn't manage to finish it.  

Actually, my plan was to finish it last night, but about 6 1/2 hours ended up being spent in the ER - from around 6pm - 12:30 am.  I realize (unfortunately, from experience) that that is not all that long of a stay in the ER, so I was thankful it wasn't longer.

All is well, but it turns out Hub had a kidney stone, that may or may not still be in there.  Sitting in the waiting room, within a minute or so of asking for prayer from our small group at church, and getting text responses, the nausea and pain dissipated for him, and he's felt fine since.  I believe in both the power of prayer, and the power of endorphins.  And the human body doing the things it was created to do.  Since no medical person had gotten their hands on him up to that point, our Creator gets credit for all of it.  Fortunately, even though Hub was feeling much better by the time they got him into a room, him telling them he felt better didn't keep the ER doctor from ordering images.  

Interestingly, while the CT scan showed the small offending kidney stone on the side that was hurting, it also showed a large stone in the kidney on the other side.  He was told this large stone had probably been there for years, and this isn't exactly uncommon.  Evidently nothing is done about something like that unless it creates trouble at some point.  I guess time will tell on that.  Meanwhile, he's armed with pain meds should the smaller kidney stone still be in there and cause him pain as it makes its way out.  I did pack my knitting, but the chair I had to sit in was so uncomfortable, and I got so cold, I wasn't in the mood.  It was pretty wonderful when the nurse brought me a heated blanket, though.  

We were so glad we stopped at the hospital that is five minutes from our house, rather than drive 25 minutes north where we historically have gone.  Not having to worry about "being in network" is a great aspect of Traditional Medicare.  The ER got busier the longer we were there, and the time passed slowly, but the staff was great.  Hub's nurse was a very friendly retired E-7 Army Sergeant who had been in some dangerous places in her twenty-year career.  He seemed to make her evening when he thanked her for her service, asked her about her experience, and from there on called her Sergeant Kim.

So, that was last night.  I'll, no doubt, finish my hat later today.  I started this one with a double brim again, and decided I wanted striping of some sort above the brim, and to my delight I rediscovered my love for helical knitting.

Yarns are Lion Brand Basic Stitch in Taupe Heather and 

Premier Everyday yarn in Chinchilla

If you're not familiar with helical knitting, you are missing something that is super simple and super satisfying.  It's more fun with multiple colors, but even with just two colors as I am working with here, helical knitting provides just enough interest in the knitting process, and a pretty narrow stripe pattern without continuous joins or jogs. 

If you're new to helical knitting, there are lots of short videos online showing how to make the color changes, but here is a video that is fairly indepth for anyone wanting to understand how knitting this way works:

You can skip to 6:00 minutes in for a demonstration of how to actually start (and continue) helical knitting.

And that's all for today!  Another week and a half of hat knitting and I'll be happy to put this endeavor to rest.

A fine autumn day...

Just popping in for a super quick moment to make it known that I am here, and am visiting blogs as I feel up to it, but the fatigue I barely mentioned in my last post has hit me profoundly for the last week and a half.  I think it is improving at this point (little-by-little, day-by-day), but I have been knocked down much harder after the fourth chemo infusion than from any of the previous three before.    I think it's made worse because I simply didn't expect this since I regained my energy about half-way through my previous rounds.  Giving into the need to rest for an extra week and a half was not part of my plan.  I had things to do!   Adjusting my expectations was not something I had on the docket at this point.

That said, and discouraging as it has been, I don't really think it's anything to be worried about, but rather is likely a normal, cumulative effect of several chemo rounds.   

But today was a good day.  Middle son has come for a visit, and it was great to spend some time outside on our last warmish day this month, me doing the little bit I felt up to.   Son is taking down a rogue mulberry tree for us.   I don't have a clue why it was ever allowed to keep growing right in the midst of these shrubs - from the size of the base of the trunk, I'd guess for at least 20 years.

Then we enjoyed a fire.  One of many in the upcoming weeks, no doubt.

The strawberry patch needs to be prepped for winter, but I'm going to put that off until after a few freezing nights next week.  The last two years, I've covered the strawberry plants before the first hard freeze, but I've recently seen online that it's good to harden them off first.  Let them experience a few freezing nights.  Since my energy level wasn't capable of tackling the strawberries this past week, and next week promises freezing temperatures for three nights, I've decided I'm okay with giving this "hardening off" idea a try.  

The asparagus is ready to be cut down now that it's turned yellow, and the seedpods are a cheery red color.  We've got some leaves that have been hanging out, composting for over a year now, so hopefully they've pretty much turned to leaf mold and it's all ready to cover the asparagus patch with.  I'm already looking forward to next April when the first shoots of asparagus should appear. 

With my waning mojo, my handcrafts have largely taken a back seat, again, but a few days ago when I had some extra energy, I decided to look through my yarn hoard stash, and I was motivated to start a simple blanket.  It does me good to keep my hands busy, and while I've had to rip back more times than I care to admit (to correct careless mistakes), the stitch pattern is easy enough that my tired brain can handle it.  

Do you see the honeycomb pattern?   The pattern is called Sweet As Can Bee.  The link goes to Ravelry, and will only open to the pattern for Ravelry members.  

And that's all I've got for the moment.  Thank you for stopping by!

Forty-two years ago today...

 

Sisters and middle niece on the left

Pillowcases embroidered by Greg's maternal grandmother.

Today (more or less):

What a week!

It's been quite a WEEK! 

First off, spring was on full display.  Weather was in the 50's & 60's and I was in my weather-heaven.

Tuesday oldest son turned 32 and Wednesday we celebrated with him and his youngest brother (they share an apartment) with take-out Bronzini Pizza and garlic knots.  Yummy stuff!  And a few rounds of the game, Medium.  How do I have no photos of any of this?

After driving a couple thousand miles over three days, artist sister also arrived in the area on Wednesday.  

Sister is in front, I'm in back.

On Thursday my brother's house went from:

to:

We arrived in town a few minutes prior to the scheduled closing and walked around the property one last time.  Before we left, the listing agent stopped by and changed the sign to read SOLD.  That was handy!

At the closing we met the buyer of my brother's house.  He's a young man (mid-thirties) with a vision for updating older houses in lower income neighborhoods.  It was interesting to hear his plans for the little bungalow my brother had lived in for over 30 years. 

Afterwards, sister and hubs & I had lunch and then sister and I drove around our hometown (and sometimes walked) for a while looking for houses that were familiar (of friends and family from our childhood).  Driving through a neighborhood that once housed our Jr. High School, we were delighted to see an old soda fountain/diner from our youth still intact.  Well, not the soda fountain, but the building.  While it looked just like it did in the 60's and 70's,  It had most recently been used as an election headquarters (for either Greg Pence, or Trump and Mike Pence).  We had to stop for pictures when we spotted a cardboard Trump in the window:

We laughed so hard, I imagine the neighbors thought we were nuts.  

But it sure was fun just being silly.

Later in the evening, we came back to our house where we looked through some of our brother's things.  Some items my sister would take back with her, some items were in the category of memorabilia and personal notes created by, or relating to our brother.  It was good to have company sifting through the later things.

~~~~~

Friday I realized I had forgotten to hand over the keys to my brother's house at the closing, so that meant another trip to Columbus to hand deliver them to the buyer.  My sister joined me and we became determined to find a building where our aunt used to have a Bible bookstore in the 60's.  We think we found it.  Her shop may have possibly been in the same space (or in the next store down from) where there is now a sweet little yarn shop:

We approached the store just as the owner was getting ready to lock up, but when we explained what we were looking for, she invited us in to see if it looked familiar.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the inside, but then again, I didn't want to presume to hang around too long.  This will be a fun place to revisit soon, though.

 ~~~~~

Saturday, we met a niece and her sweet family to pass along some items of my brother's.  We had lunch at Zaharako's, an over-100-year-old ice cream shop/soda fountain in downtown Columbus.  It was old when I was a kid in the 60's.  Now it's something of a relic.

Flowers on table are from oldest sister (sent by way of her daughter, the niece we were meeting that day.)

Saturday evening, my sister and I met with a wonderful couple who knew our brother through the local amateur radio club.  Words cannot do justice to what a gift it was to hear the couple recount memories and thoughts regarding our brother and share the experiences they had had with him over the years.

~~~~~

Sunday was my 62nd birthday.  It was the first time in months we'd attended church just as congregants.  We've been back a few times (even the week before) to serve on sound and computer duty, but it was our first experience since COVID that we sat with other attendees and just soaked in the worship service unencumbered by duties.  I didn't even wear a mask.  Yes, there is life after COVID vaccines!

Monday I took a walk through one of my favorite places: the local cemetery:

Tuesday (yesterday), my sister, and hubs & I spent hours looking at slides from our childhood.  It was bittersweet, but good.  We spent some time culling out pictures we didn't want, and made plans to digitize the keepers.

And this (Wednesday) morning, we woke up to this:

I know the snow won't stay for more than today, but it's very sad to imagine that under the snow, all the beautiful blooming trees probably turned brown overnight.  I'm so glad it was a beautiful drive for my sister as she made her way here last week, and that we took advantage of lovely days to do some walking and taking in the beauty and scent of blooming trees.  

Wednesday (today) my sister began her trek back home.  I pray it will not be hard for her.  Mixed in the good and fun of our time spent together were also hard things.  It's strange how sometimes the hard moments felt like a burden shared, and sometimes it felt like a burden doubled. I'm curious, but I didn't want to ask her if she feels the same. I'm glad we had this time together. I don't want to tinge it with such a negative thought. It's time for us both to do some processing alone again, I suspect.  And it's good (and necessary) for life to get back to some normalcy, but it was hard to see her go.    

While there are still months ahead of probate, I think with the selling of my brother's house, the estate business will all become something that will more easily flow with our days, than our days being directed by things needing attending to. 

I hope to finally start getting back to my "Making Space" challenge I started last year.  And after the snow melts I look forward to enjoying the rest of a beautiful spring here.  

I do hope it's beautiful where you are!  Thank you for stopping by and and letting me share my past week with you.  

This pic is just for a giggle.  

Chick-fil-A really has got good service figured out - even in the rain.

"KC9TXR signing off"

Paul [redacted]
[redacted]

Our brother Paul was preceded in death by his parents Paul and Deane [redacted]. Paul shared his father’s name, but he went by ‘Eddie’ while attending State Street School, Central, and Columbus East High School. 

After high school, Paul served in the military achieving the rank of Sergeant in the United States Air Force, then continued his service in the Indiana National Guard with the Air Traffic Control, while finishing his degree in Electronics Technology.  Each organization recognized his commitment with honors. 

More recently, Paul completed Vet to Vet Peer Facilitation Training, pursued a ham radio license, belonged to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and volunteered in his community through R.A.C.E.S. (KC9TXR signing off).  Paul often mountain-biked on rugged trails through the hills of Brown County. He was an avid reader, enjoying history and fitness books in his spare time.

Paul’s stalwartness proved uncompromising during the 2020 lockdown. Wanting to remain independent he kept his medical condition a secret from most of his family and friends. His neighbors knew and ministered to him in simple acts of service - mowing his lawn, washing his clothes, and speaking to him about Jesus. Paul told his family about his illness only a few days before his passing. Paul is survived by three sisters - [redacted], who are scattered across the country. Unable to be with their brother they deeply appreciate answers to prayer through a local community of angels that showed up in unexpected ways during a world-wide pandemic and by the grace of God to love their brother Paul.

"'And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. '" 
                                                                                                               -Matthew 10:42

Life upended...

About mid-December, I thought I'd take a week or so off from blogging, thinking I'd be back soon, and then the weekend before Christmas my world upended.  

On Thursday the 17th, I received a call telling me my brother was being taken to a Hospice facility.  We have not had contact in a long time and I had no idea he was even sick before that dreadful moment. He informed me he was diagnosed with colon cancer in June, he went through treatment, but "it didn't go well".

A master of understatement, he was single, never married, lived alone, and he had listed me as his emergency contact.

A phone call that compelled me to want to be with him, also came with the knowledge that being with him would be impossible once he was admitted into the hospice facility - due to COVID restrictions.  And it was impossible for me to get there before that door literally closed to me.

I was able to have one short phone conversation with him an hour or so later, after he'd gotten settled, but he was quickly overcome by sleep from the medications he was on.  The next day, Friday, I drove to the facility in hopes that I could visit with him - though they would only allow a "patio visit" where I would be on the outside of the window to his room.  I was there, but he had no idea.  He would not wake up.  

He never woke up.

I do not believe the Hospice nurses thought death was that imminent, but he died the next day, Saturday the 19th. 

I hope to post his obituary here soon.  A sister is writing it; she has a beautiful way with words.  For now I just want to let my blogging friends know why I am not here.  Why I have not been visiting blogs in the last couple of weeks.  That I am deeply saddened by grief.  I'm better than I was just 2 days ago when I was still utterly crushed and devastated with grief and regret.  The grief, of course, ebbs and flows.

Someday soon I'm sure I'll come back to regular blogging - maybe after New Year's, and maybe I'll even have the desire for sharing about the happy or even mundane things of life again.   I miss the camaraderie of my blogging friends.  The catching up with one another.  Lives touching other lives around the world. I am so thankful for each of you. 

For now, your prayers and kind words are greatly appreciated.    And, if you like, leave a note telling me who you told "I love you" today.  

I just told a good friend who texted today to check on me.  💗

Loss and life...

I've been absent from blogging for a bit so this is a catch up on what has been going on in my corner of the world for the last couple of weeks.  

Two weeks ago my mother-in-law passed from this life after suffering a stroke.

Some may recall we celebrated Marcene's 89th birthday back in early March.

And then a week later she suffered a heart attack.  She had some health issues (who wouldn't at 89?), but no one suspected that her heart was problematic. 

Then, just as she was getting back to some kind of normal after her heart attack,  the whole country (well, actually most of the world) went on lock-down and life hasn't been the same for many of us since.  Marcene was kept safe from COVID over these last three months, but the effects of the social distancing were painful for her.  It's a hard reality - experienced by many people the world over.   Even so...  we were all glad she was in her own home during these first three months of COVID-19 and could manage with the help of her grown children and wonderful neighbors.

But living alone after my father-in-law died two years prior, life had become a struggle for Marcene (both physically and emotionally) and while she is missed dearly, no one would want her to be struggling with her physical ailments and heartache still.   

Last Monday was her funeral.  A beautiful day in all respects.  In this time of COVID the family decided to have a small private funeral (about 20 persons) and it was perhaps more sweet for it.  Afterwards we enjoyed a casual catered meal at my brother-in-law's.

Marcene lived what appears on the surface to be a fairly quiet life of service and hospitality.  But I've come to realize in recent years, I don't know the half of what all made up Marcene's personhood.  For example, only in her later years did I come to realize what a social creature she was.  And how much she seemed to love a gathering.  While we always wished (and begged) her to sit down and enjoy the "party", all of that only seemed to make her more determined to busily tend to it.  Knowing more now, I wonder now how much anxiety may have played a role in that.  We just never know the whole story, do we?  People are all multi-faceted, complicated creatures.

Marcene graduated from high school in 1949, and then nursing school.  At 21 she married her sweetheart, Bernie (who was almost 28) and soon they were blessed with children.  

Picture of my husband as an infant with Marcene (age 23) and Bernie (age 30).

Marcene with her first-born (my hubs) in South Dakota

In 1957 the family relocated from Rapid City, South Dakota to Indianapolis, Indiana where Bernie (an Electrical Engineer) took a job with Western Electric.  Soon they became a family of five: 

Come on, somebody say Cheese!

Marcene always found ways to serve in her community and church.  She was a Maker before being a Maker was a thing.  She sewed many things - clothing and household items among them.  And before macular degeneration made sewing too difficult in her later years, she made many quilts (with her quilting guild, and personally - as gifts).  And she made lovely banners that decorated her church.  

At her funeral, and in e-mails and cards we're still receiving, everyone seems to comment on a blanket or quilt they were given that Marcene had made.  One day someone stopped by her house when SIL and I were working in the garage.  And in expressing her condolences, this woman mentioned that her now grown police officer son enjoyed the blanket Marcene gave him as a child.  Marcene's blankets and quilts are legendary!

Marcene and Bernie were collectors of invalid feeders and Horatio Alger books.  They enjoyed going to conventions where they mingled with other collectors.  When Bernie retired, he took a temporary job in Singapore and they lived there for nearly a year - forming friendships that continued to the very end of Marcene's life.  She was still attending luncheons with these folks before COVID.  The pair enjoyed square dancing in their younger years and going to watch live theater as they grew older.  Bernie and Marcene were quiet about their faith, but they were strong Christians, often letting us know they were praying for us (and others).  They both lived long, full, and purpose-filled lives.

~~~~~

Most days over the last two weeks one or both of us (hubs and I) have been working with his siblings at their mother's house, beginning the huge task of clearing out a lifetime of accumulations.  It's going to take some time - probably months. 

Hub and I have worked hard over the last week knowing we'll be less available for a while after he has knee surgery.  Yep!  That's coming up soon and will be here and over with before we know it!  

Tired from all the recent activity and labor, I'm (sort of) looking forward to being at home again for a few weeks, making home cooked meals again, and maybe getting back to some crafting.  My craft room has been so quiet the last few weeks, I'm finding myself needing a push to get back in there and work on something.  My crafting mojo has entirely flown the coop.

Some might enjoy knowing this: A lilac colored blanket I made for Marcene three or four years ago when she had to go into a nursing home for rehab after back surgery is now in my possession again.  The blanket later comforted my father-in-law while he had a short stay in a nursing home, just before he died two years ago. The blanket then went back to Marcene's house where she enjoyed it some more, and it has now come back to rest here in my home.  I've been snuggling under it when I've come home tired after a long day of working at Marcene's.  

I've grown very contemplative over many things in these two weeks -  among the things I've been thinking about anew is the many ways we bless others with the work of our hands.  

Often in ways we'll never fully realize in this life...

The picture above doesn't fit in anywhere, but I love it.  I'm thinking it's from the mid-1980's.  I love everything about it.  Bernie looking sharp, but casual.  His relaxed personality coming through.  Marcene casual, but perfectly coiffed and sporting a beautiful leather purse and carrying a blazer.  It seems she always wore a blazer or had one with her.   I also love the old building in the background, and what appears to be a rusty car on the other side of the fence (or maybe it's a rusty pole on the fence).  I love the colors.

Or maybe I just love the picture because 

I can imagine Bernie and Marcy together again in heaven.  

No more pain or loneliness 

or worries of this world are theirs. 

~~~~~

Has it only been a week?

Somehow, this past week has felt more like a month...

Post has been edited to remove some information that I've since thought better about posting to WWW.  Carry on...

Hubs has been gone for the last 3 days and is driving home through slushy slush as I type. 

I thought I'd get so much done while he was gone, but at the moment I can't account for a lot.

There was lunch one day with a friend and her mother.  Her mother (who is just a few years younger than my MIL) is like an older version of my friend.  Double the fun!

I worked a couple of days this past week with Ruth.  In some ways she appears to be holding steady - and is as sweet as ever.  On the other hand, she's losing interest and stamina for some of the things we've done in the past.  I know this is the progression her condition, and I'm thankful it has been slow and I have enjoyed so many good days with her.  Still do enjoy our time together.  Just differently.

With hubs gone I thought I'd get to some more "minimizing".  But I really didn't have the focus for it.  Wishing I'd plowed ahead through something anyway.  

But I didn't.  

No sense regretting what is behind, I guess.

I did finish Part 4 of Sacred Space.  This section was mostly black with the addition of  yellow.  It doesn't look like much right now, but it's important to photograph each finished part if I want to look back on the evolution of it - which is fun to do.

At 49 inches across already, I'm sure I won't be making this full sized.  After one more part in the round, I'll have a better idea of when I'll be calling it quits.

~~~~~ 

And then I thought this might be of interest... 

Early in the week I got word that someone who was at last weekend's rummage sale/fundraiser wanted to know if I had more dishcloths I'd like to sell.  I heard a groan slip out as I felt an unwelcome and unasked for angst over knowing I can't, with a straight face, ask a price that does justice to the time they take to knit. 

But thinking of them as a contribution to a fundraiser, I was able to quickly put the groaning away.  

I called the woman and told her there were 4 "jelly rolls" of 2 cloths each left over from the fundraiser.  Not having any idea what anyone paid for them at the sale, I told her she could have any (or all) of those for $6.00/roll ($3.00/cloth) figuring that would allow me to donate possibly $24 more dollars to the fundraiser.  

She told me she expected to pay more than that.  Then I got an idea...  since I'd already given her a price, I asked how many she'd like at $3.00/cloth, that is if she didn't mind receiving them loose and in random colors.  She thought for a moment and asked how many I had.  I guessed I had 10-15 left at that point.  She told me between the rolls and loose cloths, she'd buy 20!  "Sixty dollars?" - I wanted to make sure she knew how much she was agreeing to pay.

Yep.  She knew.  And seemed thrilled about it.

I bagged them and took them to the church where the rummage sale had been held so she could pick them up (and pay for them) at her convenience.  I found out yesterday she paid $70.00 for the cloths.   I realize she received something for that money, and the price per cloth was a deal, but I was tickled about it all the same. I never knit dishcloths with the aim to sell them.  It's about the pleasure of making them, and then using or gifting them.  To be able to recognize that I had something already made that could be turned into easy money for a good cause is kind of wonderful. 

And now I can make more without feeling ridiculous that I'm just adding to the pile of cloths I already have.  I know many of us knit and crochet for charity purposes.  I do too, but I also consider myself something of a selfish knitter/crocheter - in that I make what I want, when I want.  And truly groan at the thought of someone asking me if they can pay me to make them something.  I've done it a few times in the past, but I've learned that it takes much of the joy out of handcrafting for me.

But when selfish knitting meets a good cause?!?   I'm thinking that might just be serendipity at its finest.  😀

A full, happy week...

Is was a good week, last.  In addition to cleaning up from a big house project and bringing hubby's study more or less together (there will be pictures someday), I was able to reclaim my "yarn room".   I put "yarn room" in quotation marks because ultimately I really don't want to have a room devoted to yarn, but for the time being that's mainly the purpose it's serving.  

Eventually, I hope I can turn it into a room that reflects my interests and will contain the stuff involved in pursuing those interests (which is far more than just yarn).  I could call it my study, I suppose, but at the moment it's still undeniably...  a yarn room.  But now with plenty of room for sorting and figuring things out.  😊

~~~~~

A week or so ago a friend asked me if I would teach her young daughter the rudiments of embroidery (this toward her earning an American Heritage Girls badge).   Having plenty of supplies, I went looking for some free designs online for embroidery samplers.  For a very first project I settled on this sweet little beginner Heart Sampler.

Last weekend, after picking out our colors for our respective samplers we all set to work:

My young friend was a very quick study and it was a fun couple of hours of stitching together.  Hopefully, we'll get together soon to finish off what we started, or if she completes her first sampler on her own, maybe we could begin another!  What a pleasure it was to see a little one so engrossed in a new hobby.  She's a natural.  😊

~~~~~

And then this weekend saw the long-awaited arrival of old friends from Michigan.  On Friday night, we enjoyed catching up, and on Saturday the men went their way and the ladies theirs.  We gals ended up in Indianapolis at the Mass Avenue Knit Shop.   

Over the years since I've become a yarn hoarder collector, I've driven by this shop a number of times - early on I drove right past it because I couldn't find it, and later - after I had a general idea of where it was - it just never seemed to be on my agenda when I was in the area.  So I'd never before stopped and shopped there.  This time it was our mission to find it and check it out.  

While it's a totally unassuming place on the outside (I regret I didn't get a picture), inside it seemed HUGE to me!   I was slightly overwhelmed by the size of the space and the number of people who were there (they were having a weekend retreat), but the owner, Susan I believe is her name, greeted us warmly and explained the layout of the yarns and where to find whatever we might be looking for.  

After wandering around for a while, looking at and squishing yarn, I found what I think might be perfect yarn for making a Doris Shawl (I was gifted the pattern a couple of years ago). 

An employee, Susie, wound my yarn into cakes on this beautiful vertical yarn swift that, I believe she said, is made by a local wood worker.  With her permission I'm posting these pictures:

 

 

What a lovely finished, heirloom-quality swift.  

And my pretty caked yarn:

~~~~~

Then late Saturday afternoon we girls met all the menfolk for a birthday/retirement celebration dinner at The Bosphorus in southern Indy. 

For the first half hour or so we practically had the place to ourselves, but during normal meal hours, this is a bustling place that serves delicious Turkish food.  Anytime, it seems, the atmosphere is casual and friendly.  

While middle son (on the right) insisted on being a goob as I tried to shoot a picture, and while I'm hoping someone has a good picture of the birthday boy (the fuzzy one on the left), this is the best I can do at the moment for a picture of my three sons.  I'm a blessed mom with these three.

~~~~~

And late this morning, we said goodbye to our friends as they headed back to Michigan.  The let down was greatly felt as we waved goodbye from our front porch and they drove off in the rain.  😔 

I'm now in my quiet, getting-ever-more-orderly house.  Hubby headed north a little bit ago to his mom's to see if he can be of some help organizing paperwork this evening and tomorrow.  

Maybe I'll manage to make some more progress on my "yarn room"! 👍