I awoke with hope at 4:30 and turned on the computer. I could have cried. America, you could have been a great nation. You looked like a shining beacon after the World War.
Alas! You are not great, and in retrospect, you never were. You are wealthy and powerful, but you are not great. Yes, half of you are pretty wonderful human beings, and you have done your best, but it hasn't been nearly enough.
The dream is gone.
While the broadleaf trees have almost all dropped their leaves, we still have the coniferous tamaracks to go. There are a few in the nearby park. I take a few shots every year although when I look back they are all very similar.
There are two in this first photo; the nearer one has dropped many needles but the farther one on the other side of the pond remains full.
This tree sits at the far end of the pond, but it is still green so far this year, so we look back to previous years. The colour temperature of the day affects how the tree looks. I like the orangey tint of the first photo.
My sleep is so erratic that the time change doesn't really affect me — at least not this one when the clocks go back. I got to sleep ~11pm new time and woke up ~5:30. That's not bad for me.
Also, after going for almost a year of avoiding the bed in favour of the chair due to that rotator cuff nonsense, I now spend at least part of the night in bed and probably more time there than in the chair. That is progress. The shoulder is far from being all better, but I am happy that it is somewhat improved.
Anyway, it's a little after 10 as I write this. I have showered, shopped, picked up breakfast from McDonalds (more than $200 for groceries and breakfast), lollygagged on social media, and here I am, blogging about nothing.
McDonalds impresses me in some ways. The parking lot was full as was both parts of the order line, but I was driving home within 10 minutes.
I once met a woman who had done a study of the efficiency of fast food restaurants. It was part of a course that she had taken, and she found that McD's excelled. And whatever you think of the rest of the menu, they do eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast just fine. The coffee is pretty good too. Canadian McDs by the way, use real eggs; I don't know about down south.
We have emptied our little garage enough to park the car, but I didn't use it last night. That was a mistake, for we had what my dad called a hard frost — our first of the season — and I had to scrape the windows. We had it one day later in 2021 but we did have snow on this day in that same year. I know because I have put it on G-Calendar. I will now make an effort to use the garage every night until April and probably near the end of April.
And the circle it goes round and round. (We had this album back in the beginning of the 70s.)
Danica sent this Halloween pic to us this week. She was handing out treats to some neighbourhood munchkins.
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| I inserted masks on the anonymous kidlets |
It wasn't too very long ago that the costume was on Danica.
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| Elephant, 2010 |
Jonathan in the same year.
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| Walrus, 2010 |
It happened so quickly.
What a day!
Two days after her colonoscopy, Sue was experiencing some alarming pain and discomfort. She called our family doctor who had a cancellation, and was in there being poked and prodded by 10:30.
The verdict: "You could have a perforated colon, so go straight to ER for an X-ray. Do not eat or drink anything."
We were there by 11 o'clock. It didn't take long to get the X-ray, but then we waited for more 8 hours to be seen by the doctor.
I have told you that our hospital is a little town hospital that is almost more like a clinic than a hospital. The ER is a one-doctor situation. The waiting room was full. The overflow waiting room was full. We were moved to a third waiting room, which also began to fill up.
And so we sat ... and waited ... and waited ... and sat.
For more than 8 hours!
Did I mention that our little hospital has no cafeteria? Shauna offered to bring us something after work. You might recall that Sue was told not to eat or drink. While I was under no such restrictions, it didn't seem right, so I told Shauna not to bother. Sue overrode and told Sha to bring something for me regardless. In that case, I opted for coffee. I kept track of Sha through Find Friends and just about perfectly timed meeting her at the front door.
That was six hours into the wait. Little did we know that we would be there for another three hours.
Sue finally saw the doctor after more than another 2 hours, 8 hours after we had arrived. He apologized for the wait before poking, prodding. Before going off to read the X-ray, he brought us ginger ale with ice.
The X-ray revealed no tear, so he ordered bloodwork, and we waited some more, but the results, fortunately, revealed no cause for concern.
So nine and a half hours after arriving at the ER, and more than ten hours after leaving home to see our family doctor, we were home.
All of the time that we waited, we thought about how our little ER rushed her by ambulance to the big Ottawa ER for emergency surgery. Thankfully, the worst outcome did not eventuate this time. While we are still not sure what has caused the distress, at least the big concerns have been ruled out.
On my part, I did not get around to reading your blogs or replying to your comments. Sorry about that, but life intervened.
Sue does read my blog, and so she did reply to a comment from yesterdays afghan post. I'll leave it here for all to see before proceeding on to my Halloween silliness.
... it's the videos that help me do these stitches, as I consider myself a basic single or double crochet kinda girl. I have trouble reading a pattern,, but can follow the clear steps in a video by Mikey at Red Heart crochet crowd, or Bonnie at Bonnie Bay Crochet. Look at the videos and give them a try. You will be surprised at how clear they are, and easy to follow. The Poinsettia one was really difficult as it involved cross-stitching on top of the crochet and I had trouble finding the squares. Other than that, it was a fun one to follow along with Mikey at Red Heart Crochet Crowd. I made 5 Peppermint throws, and had to have Mikey's help with each one, but he made it easy. Give one of them a try. You can do it!
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As October hums along, I tend to think that I still have weeks to get ready for Halloween and to get out and make some new photos. Whilst sitting at my computer yesterday, I realized that I hadn't done anything, which is probably the thing that I do best.
So I did set myself down and fooled around with a couple of old photos. The first is necessarily dark to set the mood. You will probably be able to see it better if you click on it.
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| Do I look ominous? Creepy? Just dumb? |
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| You've seen this spider not too long ago, but I thought I could work it into a Halloween theme. |
After fiddling with the above, I was still thinking of taking a little photo excursion to some of the more decorated homes last night. However, ennui overtook me, so instead of going out, I sat at my desk and made this composite using two photos that I already had on hand. I applied a texture over top to try to make it look a little bit creepier.
The creepy day is already here, but the night isn't here yet, so it is still appropriate to wish you a good Halloween.
Do you know what Sue is doing in this photo?
The hint is in her lap.
Yes, winter is on the way, and Sue is crocheting another afghan or throw as is her usual winter habit. Note: spellcheck does not like afghan, but that is what we have called them here in the Great White North.
Sue wasn't sure if she would be physically able to crochet this year because she has developed a pain in her right hand. However, she has adjusted how she holds the needle, and it's working for her. In fact, it is working so well that she is already about halfway through her supposed winter project — before the end of October, if you please. Somehow, I suspect there will be another afghan or two crocheted this season.
Now, let's go back to the photo and try to figure out what is going on.
Sue tends to choose some pretty complex patterns that require sophisticated stitching. She watches a video that explains the stitches and process, and she makes notes accordingly, learning as she goes. For example: the stitch at the top of this photo is a popcorn stitch. It took a little time, patience and work to master it, but of course she did.
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| This newest throw pattern is called Winter White |
Below, are a few other throws that Sue has crafted over the years. The cream afghan at the top is is the first one of the two that she crocheted last winter. The pattern is called Celtic Cable, and of course, involved a cable stitch, which Sue does not want to try ever again as it required much unravelling and remaking before she mastered it. If you are interested in obtaining the directions click here for the instructional video, but be advised that it is 90+ minutes long.
The Peppermint throw is bottom left in the above photo. It is gorgeous and brighter than it looks in the photo. Although Sue had made other afghans before this, this one was the first really complicated pattern that she followed via video. She crafted four of these before she moved on to the green throw, which is called Christmas Poinsettia link. It was a very difficult task for it also involved cross-stitching mixed in with the crocheting.
Currently on our bed, below, is the second afghan that she made last year, one that she made without following a pattern. She had lots of wool left over from the Celtic Cable throw, so this was how she used it.
As you can see, our household fur-thing likes it well enough.
As awkward as the new grip is for Sue, or was at the beginning, it is great that she found a new way to hold the needle so that she can do what she loves to do in the long cold season.