Post Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was yesterday.  We had a quiet day since we were traveling across town to have dinner with my husband's family.  My daughter and her family were having Thanksgiving with her in-laws, but we had arranged to bring pie by on our way home to spend a little time with them.  I made cranberries for the dinner and an apple and a pumpkin pie to have at my daughter's.  It was a nice evening.  Then my husband decided we should go to one of the stores having sales Thanksgiving evening.  He had something he wanted to get at a nice discount, like 80% off, so off we went.  We found the item and then waited 45 minutes in a long check-out line snaking through the store to pay for it.  That was the extent of our Black Friday-type shopping.  I am babysitting today.  So much more fun than fighting crowds.

I have several co-workers that have had babies in the past few months.  Work was too busy to let me make them something at the time, so I am getting caught up now.  I decided their babies are about ready for bibs, so I've been having fun making patchwork bibs for them.  Of course, Zachary can always use a few more also.  :)

My knitting project has been a sweater for Malachi.  Since the last one I knit him was way too big, I am measuring everything this time around so it will fit.  Then I'll make a matching one for Zachary.  I've learned you knit the biggest one first, as the younger child is the most apt to grow the most.  Sometimes it takes Grandmas a while to figure it all out.

I'm also working on cutting out three new pairs of pajamas for Malachi.  The ones I sewed him last year are getting rather small and worn, so I have three pieces of nice thick flannel to make him some new ones.  He is so appreciative, it is nice to make things for him.

Well, I had better get back to my babysitting.

~Jane

Missing in Action

My last blog entry was the end of August.  There has been so much going on here and yet, I've not taken the time to document most of it.  I spent most of the beginning of September trying to catch up on things since I was going to have my knee replaced the end of the month.  I made a number of freezer meals and bought easy groceries ahead, like chicken patties and chili and such.  I knew my husband was going to have to be doing all the cooking for awhile and I wanted to make it easy for him.  I also spent a lot of time doing leg raises and riding my recumbent bike to try and build my muscles up before the surgery.

So on September 24th, I went in for a total knee replacement.  To be truthful, I had totally unrealistic expectations of what this was going to entail.  I had done my prep work.  I expected for it to be a lot easier, but I hurt a lot more than I expected.  My leg was swollen for longer than I expected and I wasn't prepared for how much the surgery took out of me.  But in retrospect, the first two weeks were horrible, the next two not that bad, and I was back to work the end of the fifth week.  At six weeks, my surgeon and the physical therapist pronounced me released, as I could totally straighten out my knee, I could bend it 125 degrees (necessary to get up out of a chair), and I could walk evenly on it without a walker or cane.  It is still numb and sore, aches a lot, and will probably take several more months to totally heal, but it is coming along. 

After cleaning the bathroom today and steam mopping the dining room and kitchen, I went out to the greenhouse for the first time in a couple months.  I pulled some overgrown radishes and undergrown carrots for the chickens and then proceeded to dump out all the pots of soil and dead plants.  Most were the tomatoes I had had growing that had finally died off.  So the greenhouse is cleaned up and swept out ready for starting transplants in the spring.  There still is celery, leeks, beets and broccoli growing in the beds to continue to harvest.

I started knitting a new sweater for Malachi last evening and after working on it for several hours, I realized I had the wrong number of stitches for the gauge I was getting and had to pull it all out and start over again.  I cast on tonight and made good progress.  It is a pullover V-neck sweater knit from the top down.  I am hoping I can get it to fit better than the green one I made him earlier this year.  He won't be able to wear the green one for another year!  :)

~Jane