Furry Friday, video version, 3/31/23.

Cat v. dog cone.

Posted in Furry Friday | 5 Comments

Good news Tuesday, 3/23/23

For all you Ted Lasso fans.

Posted in Good news Tuesdays. | 2 Comments

Fiber Monday, 3/27/23.

If you want it, build knit it.

Posted in Fiber Monday | 1 Comment

Furry Friday, 3/24/23.

Posted in Furry Friday | 3 Comments

How about some juicy rants?

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Unraveled Wednesday, 3/22/23.

Joining Kat and her merry band of Unravelers. Go see what the others are up to.

Knitting.

Tragically, this scarf looks pretty similar to how it did last time you saw it. I finished this ball of yarn and added the second, so it is bigger/longer, but not as much as it really should be. I can only sit in my recliner for an hour or two, and somehow I haven’t been inspired to knit as much as usual.

Reading.

Since I haven’t blogged an Unraveled Wednesday since early February, and I have been reading constantly since then, I am just going to list the books I have read and only comment on those that were particularly good.

Meet Me at the Museum / Ann Youngson. A sweet story by the author of The Narrowboat Summer. 3★

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead / Olga Tocarczuk. Amazon freebie, but better than most. Very (very!) strange. Author won Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker International Prize. 3.5★

Agatha of Little Neon / Clare Luchette. Another sweet story, this time about four nuns whose parish goes broke. 3★

Kismet / Amina Ahktar

The Secret Witness / Arthur Methos

If You Tell / Greg Olsen

City Dark / Roger Canaff

Rich Blood / Robert Bailey

Say Her Name / Dreda Say Mitchell

Lies We Bury / Elle Marr

Signal Fires / Dani Shapiro. This was highly recommended by a couple of Unraveled Wednesday bloggers. I found it ordinary. 3★

The Diamond Eye / Kate Quinn. I read this last year and reread it this year for my book group, which meets tonight. Excellent story about a female Ukrainian sniper in WWII. Based on the real story of Lyudmila Pavlichlenko. 4★

Sparring Partners / John Grisham. Not a full novel, just three novellas. The stories were okay, but I felt short-changed. 3★

David Copperfield / Charles Dickens. I am still reading this and still enjoying it — about halfway through. It’s kind of like a soap opera you can tune into periodically for a few episodes and never miss the plot.

Listening.

Local Woman Missing / Mary Kubica. Inasmuch as I pretty much only listen to audiobooks in the car, I haven’t progressed in this one since before the knee surgery. But I am planning on driving myself to PT, knitting group, and reading group this week, so I may catch up a bit. I am in the middle of this one and cannot possibly describe it. 3★ so far.

sd

sd

Watching.

as

After you guys recommended this show, I binge-watched it during my convalescence. What a great show! I was so excited for season 3 to drop; imagine my disappointment when only episode 1 was available. Grrr!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Fiber Monday, 3/20/23.

Posted in Fiber Monday | 2 Comments

Furry Friday, 3/17/23.

Yes, Furry Friday has returned after its hiatus in recoveryland. Hallelujah!
It’s about time. My hard drive is bursting with animal pix.

@useless_farm

even a couple old rollerskates idc

♬ original sound – Useless Farm
Posted in Furry Friday | 4 Comments

Progress, 3/10/23.

Today, for the first time in four weeks, I got dressed in real clothes (if you count sweatpants as real clothes and no bra as acceptable). I count it because I am wearing real shoes for the first time.

Also, for the first time in four weeks, I made coffee. Apparently, I have forgotten all the steps because I neglected to put water in the espresso maker. A mistake easily remedied, and I am now in the process of becoming caffeinated.

Not progress.

I have had tinnitus, particularly in my right ear, for several years. It began the day after book club met at my house, meaning I didn’t have to drive home afterward, meaning I could have an extra glass or two of wine. Who knew that could induce tinnitus?

Anyway, a few days before the knee surgery I was in bed preparing to go to sleep and asked Smokey to turn on the humidifier, which we also use for white noise. He said in some confusion that it was already on. I had been lying on my left side so only my right ear was exposed. I lifted my head and poof! I could hear the humidifier. Weird. I did some experimenting over the next few days and indeed, it seemed like I might have lost certain pitches in sound in one or the other ear.

Now I have a new intermittent tinnitus in my left ear, best described as though the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is rehearsing a few doors down the block. I can hear the pitch changing, even the key changes sometimes, but never the melody. (That would be especially weird.) It definitely sounds ecclesiastical, though.

On my to-do list for today is to make a appointment with an audiologist. Maybe my right ear can broadcast the MTChoir to the world.

Posted in K knees | 6 Comments

It‘s what has been happening.

Recovery continues well. I have put away the walker, to be used only when I have to traverse lumpy, uneven ice. I find myself walking with arms outstretched for balance. Maybe it helps; I haven‘t fallen yet. Residual pain is always there, but usually so minor I can ignore it. Except after doing PT or the prescribed exercises. Then pain is front and center and requires ice packs. Did you know ice packs are miraculous? I learned that after last year‘s knee replacement. Live and learn.

We missed my first two PT appointments. We were snowed in the first time and spaced out the second. Smokey‘s calendar is a little scary, he has so many doctor appointments — rheumatology, stress test, cardiology, nephrology, and probably others I don‘t remember. Add to that twice a week PT sessions, and there is almost never a weekday without at least one commitment. I think we finally have the PT thing in our brains — either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday.

I recently gotten a new iPad using Frequent Flier miles after noticing that I had nearly 200,000 points. Not that I fly that much, but my Visa bill adds points every month, and I have a lot of things automatically charged to my Visa. Anyway, the old iPad still works about 90+% of the time, but I knew it was time for a replacement. Loving the new one! Plus, I got three months free of Apple TV. Thanks to y‘all‘s suggestions I am well into season two of Ted Lasso. What a fun show! White Lotus next.

Having the iPad gives this semi-invalid a wide variety of amusements — games, eBooks, Netflix, AppleTV, not to mention YouTube videos. I am still reading David Copperfield, interspersed with other library books and Kindle freebies. It must have been terrible to recover back in the day with few painkillers and no amusements beyond reading.

Sadly, I have done very little knitting during this time. I have never found it comfortable to knit in bed, and my time in the recliner has been limited. I may very well have an FO to display next Unraveled Wednesday, plus the yarn for a new project.

All is not sweetness and light here, though. On Tuesday we were hanging around the house when we heard a loud THUNK! “Something just slid off the roof,” we said. Sure enough, a huge ice dam slid off the roof, took off the railing on the small deck, and smashed it into my (two-month-old) car.

The dastardly railing.
My poor car.

It’s going to need a new windshield, hood, and fender, at least. Today we had it towed to a Hyundai dealer in St Paul for repairs. No idea how long that will take. Younger Son has had my Rogue since New Years, but he is bringing it back on Saturday so that I will have a car. I had already decided that next week I am going to resume my normal schedule — knitting group, poetry class, and book group — and drive myself. My most excellent chauffeur will be retired. Looking forward to it!

Posted in K knees, Motorcars, Winter | 7 Comments