Troldeskov - Completed

It's done. It's beautiful.

When I dyed this fibre back in September, I was going for a jewel-toned green. HAH! My dye pot laughed at me, and shattered my dye. The resulting Corriedale was green, blue, brown, red and yellow. It was, in one word, absolutely beautiful. I didn't wait until the fibre was completely dry to start spinning it. I just started.

I took the fibre with me to Airdrie Centennial's Homecoming Weekend where I was doing a spinning demonstration.

When it was plied, I had 600 yards of the prettiest laceweight. It was luminous, and I knew it had to be a shawl. I started searching for the perfect pattern, but no luck. No pattern really called to me. Alas, what's a girl to do? I started designing my own.

What would I use for inspiration?

In the country of Denmark, there are several forests with distinctive trees, called Troll Forests, Troldeskoven. The trees are old and knotted, their branches twisting whimsically in all directions. One particular Troldeskov, near Jels in southern Jutland, was my absolute favourite. There was one tree that bent right upside down and then reached for the sky again, forming a perfect circle.

For a young child, it was as if the forest was magical. Completely silent and still, one could hear the birds singing, examine all kinds of squishy little creatures, watch the sun filter through the leaves and peer through the spiraling trees for signs of the trolls who lived there.

Several years ago, a hurricane swept through Denmark, felling 80% of her forests. My forest was decimated. On a recent trip, I went to see what was standing of the Troldeskov. I was sad to see that it was dying, slowly being replaced by commercial tree farms.

This shawl is inspired by my memories.



It's perfect.



Troldeskoven's trees are so higglety pigglety, but they have a grace and beauty that are hard to find. The elements in this shawl try to emmulate that unexpected grace. They don't seem to belong to just one shawl, and yet they blend so nicely (and rather pleasantly for the designer, I might add).



It looks lovely with a pretty shawl pin and sits just so on my shoulders. This would be lovely in a heavier weight yarn on just right needles to be a warm fall shawl. The really lovely thing about the way this pattern is designed is that the knitter can make it as big or as small as they want. The elements, while dependent of each other, do not require a certain stitch count to work correctly. So, given plenty of yardage or minimal yardage, you can knit this shawl. As it were, I wanted it for when I return to Denmark next year for my grandfather's 90th birthday, when I will walk in the forests again.



One day, as I was knitting in The Knitting Room and visiting with the store manager and my friend, Annie, she was telling me all about how she's riding in this Ride to Conquer Cancer next year. She needs to raise $2,500 to do it. Well, since I was just going to submit the pattern for free on Ravelry anyway, why not help a friend out, says I? I know that knitters are pretty awesome people, and it's for a good cause.



So, friends, the pattern is written, charted, photographed and tested. I'm bringing it in to Annie later this week. Knit, enjoy and go for a walk in the woods. :)

Happy Thanksgiving Socks!

Last night, I took a break from working on Troll Forest to finish up a pair of socks I'd been working on sporatically for the last month. Meet Eunice (rav link).



They're really sweet little socks, certainly not difficult, but just intruiging enough to keep you interested. They knit up fairly quickly, and I loved the colours of Koigu that I knit them out of. The sock yarn was gifted to me by Jocelyn after I spun her some yarn a while back.



It's hard to see, but the purple actually pools. It swirled down the leg and then went half-and-half with the other colours on the heels, and then spiraled around again on the foot. It's uber pretty. There is a bit more green in one skein than the other, but it's all good. I'm not one of those crazy perfectionist knitters. ;)



Cookie is a genius. Love her. The way the pattern all came together makes me realize that designing is not just about tossing some stitch patterns together and voila like I see time and time again. It's really about flow, balance and, well, designing. It was the perfect reminder for me, just as I'm struggling to transition into the second element of the shawl. Thanks, Cookie!

Design for a Cause

I'm too lazy to ride bikes. WAY too lazy, and too fluffy. I'm working on it. I've never been one to be active, per se, but luckily for all of us, there are people out there who are. Annie is going to be partaking in the 2010 Ride to Conquer Cancer. Don't ask me how many kilometres she's going to be biking. I know it's a lot. It's more than I care to think. It makes my bones ache just thinking about it.

But she does have to raise $2,500 in order to partake, and I wanted to help. Especially wanted to help since I can't exactly bike along with her. Enter a new shawl design.



This is the first shawl I've ever designed. EVER. It's not done, obviously. This is only stage one, and there's still two more pattern elements to come up with before I cast it off, but I LOVE it. It's knit out of my own handspun, four ounces of corriedale that I dyed with Wilton's food colouring.

The colour is most accurate in the next picture.



I've already named it Troll Forest (or Trolleskov in Danish) because it reminds me of walking through my favourite forest in Denmark. Once it's completely written, which should be around the end of this month, you will be able to purchase the pattern from Annie for a nominal fee to support her in her ride. I'm realy excited about it!

After that, I'll keep the pattern up for sale, but if you are interested in knitting this, please purchase from Annie before June so that you can support her in her cause!

Hrmf.

I don't like drama. I've never liked drama. Why is drama attracted to me? SRSLY. I'm not going to post too much about this because I think it's rather juvenile, to be honest, like some people can't get out of high school mode. Suffice it to say there is drama in my life right now, and I don't like it. Get out, drama.

I've been doing a lot of knitting in the face of said drama, and I have one-and-a-half pairs of socks to show you! WOW! Drama sure sucks, but it does wonders for my FOs. Also debating a work thing. Do I want to work full time outside the house, or continue on my road of self-employment? I make decent money being self-employed, and I love working in my jammies, but a reliable paycheck would be lovely, and interaction with other people keeps me sane. On the down side, I don't like getting up before 8:00, and working outside the home would surely require that.

Debates, debates. Speaking of work, I have a bunch of it to do now. Tune in again soon. I should have taken some pictures of my socks by then. They're comfy and warm and delicious.

Boo drama.

Super Busy Me.

Okay. Okay, I know. I haven't posted in over a month. *Sorry*

Just a quick sum up, and then I have to get back to work:

1. Robbie and Elodie got home absolutely fine.

2. On the same day they got home, my cousin, his wife and two children flew in from Denmark for a visit.

3. Two days later, I was working in Calgary for two weeks, which was really hard (because I normally work from home, and I've been totally pampered of my own accord with naps and mid-day baths and food whenever I want).

4. My band rehearsed two nights a week leading up to a quick gig we had out at Sylvan Lake at a private party. Mucho fun.

5. After that, Elodie and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for four days (it was lovely and warm).

6. We're gearing up for Airdrie's Centennial Celebration, which will happen in Nose Creek Park on September 12. There will be live music (including our band from 4:00 to 5:00), lots of booths, and guess who is going to be doing spinning demonstrations all day! The 13th is a sort of showcase with plenty of places to shop. In fact, I think there may even be a yarn booth (but don't quote me on that one).

7. Overall, super busy, but good. Unfortunately, busy me means neglected house.

Still Here...

Geez, what exactly did I do before I had a husband and a child? Apparently nothing. So far, I've managed to eat rather healthier than usual, sleep in every day and knit. And read. I've finished off Shogun (ugh, didn't like the ending AT ALL) and Atherton (turned out be the first in a series, so I guess I'll have to buy the others), and now I'm going to actually work tonight.

Yesterday was pretty much the crappiest day so far. I had been unable to find Robbie's cell phone for the life of me. I'd looked all through the house, all the places I'd been in the house, but no luck. So I figured, whatever, I'm just going to get back to work on the deck (oh, I'm refinishing the deck. Did I mention that?). I step outside, and ... well, I found the cell phone. It must've fallen out of my pocket the day before when I'd been outside, working on the deck.

Ah, yes, the day before, when I'd scraped and scraped and scraped that damned deck. That was just before the rainstorm hit. The huge rainstorm with the thunder that sounded like my windows were going to shatter. The terrible, horrid rainstorm that left half an inch of water on the ground. Oh, that rainstorm.

Well, at least the phone is clean.

Actually, I very nearly freaked out. See, I haven't owned a cell phone for, oh, four-odd years. This is Robbie's phone. I have, however, kept rather current with the fact that water plus cell phone equals bad. Very, very bad.

The phone was still on from the day before. There was a great deal of what we shall loosely call "humidity" under the screen, but otherwise it seemed okay. I flipped open the keyboard (it's one of those fancy new cell phones with a built-in QWERTY keyboard) and started to check out how bad the damage was.

The shortcut key didn't do much of a shortcut. It actually took me on a roundabout tour through the phone. Not good. Once I did get it to the screen where I could send a text message, I started pressing the buttons. C didn't work. At all. So I sent a text to Robbie.

"Will you please ring me as soon as possible? It's important."

Notice that there are no Cs in that message.

Anyway, long story kind of shorter, I frantically checked out the intertubes for ways to save a cell phone that had gotten wet. Most of them said that if you don't get to it within the first 20 minutes, tops, you may as well forget it. I would not forget it!!

One site suggested removing the battery and sim card (sin card? Shin card? The thing with all your contact information) and sticking the phone in a bag of rice overnight to absorb any and all excess moisture. I did just that and went to bed.

This morning, I tottered out of bed at 10:00, and I slowly wandered downstairs with the heavy pit of dread in my stomach. This was a $300 phone, and I was positive I'd totally fracked it up. Completely screwed. Afterall, the screen had started going all wonky the previous night as I tried to see how the drying process was...it had inverted the colours (like, the purples turned yellow, reds turned green, that kind of thing), and then it went black and white, and then it finally just looked damn near illegible without color or real tone.

I held my breath...and I switched on the phone. Well, whaddya know. The damn thing works. Completely. C works, shortcut button works, screen looks normal, everything. I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic until I see how well the thing charges. Provided it charges okay, I think I can do a little dance in my livingroom nekkid with the animals jumping with fits of joy beside me.

Speaking of animals, I think the little one is doing a pee dance. Time to brave the giant cat spider that's made his/her home directly above the back door and let them out. This adult thing is HARD.

Single Life

Well, Robbie and Elodie had and interesting trip yesterday. We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to get them ready and were at the airport by 4:30. We checked them in and then went to hang out at Tim Hortons (breakfast of champions) while we waited for the 5:30 boarding time. Robbie's dad showed up and checked in, and we took Elodie to the bathroom, and then off to the security gate to say goodbye!

I can't lie and say that I didn't shed some tears - there were definitely tears shed. I left and went home for a little nap before I had to go into work at the office. That's when things went a little wonky.

At 7:15, the cell buzzed. It was Robbie texting to say that they still hadn't taken off (plane was supposed to leave at 6:05) and were sitting on the tarmac. There was a mechanical issue and then a radio issue and then a "oh, we forgot to put gas in the plane" issue. By 8:00, they were just getting ready to take off, and the plane finally got in the air at 8:30. They landed in Toronto at 1:57 CST, a full 27 minutes after their connecting flight had left.

Elodie was so tired and upset by this time that she pooped in her pants, even though she's been completely potty trained for a year and a half. This leads me to believe she was under a considerable amount of stress. Thankfully, Robbie brought a change of clothes.

They got booked in for a different flight, this time no longer direct to Deer Lake, but now stopping in Montreal. Oh, and arriving a full seven hours later than expected. Air Canada graciously (*cough*) provided them with a $12 voucher each for a meal while they waited for their trouble.

Finally, they were in the air. A 45 minute flight to Montreal and then an hour and a half to Deer Lake. They arrived at midnight Newfoundland time (8:30 here), grumpy, exhausted, hungry, but there. As a bonus, the airline didn't lose their luggage.

While their sage was taking place, I was tentatively enjoying my first single days since being a teenager. I lived on my own back when I was 18, but having lived with Robbie for the last five years, I was am slightly out of practice on this whole single thing.

I called my younger brother, and we went out for dinner. A thoroughly disgusting experience. I was eating my Wor Wonton Soup, and I'm thinking, what are these things floating in my soup? I look closer. About 30 bugs were floating lifelessly on top of the broth. Ew. Upon closer inspection, the bugs were being leached into the soup from an ill-washed peice of broccoli, thoroughly infested with the things. I mean, the broccoli was BLACK under the green top.

The restaurant didn't seem to appalled, and they offered to make me something new, or, you know, they could not charge me for my food, but they wouldn't make me something new. No problem, dude, I'm not hungry anymore. I also fully intend to call the health inspector about that one. You'd think hundreds of bugs imbedded in a piece of broccoli would call attention to themselves, but I digress.

We went back to Carsten's house for a beer to drown the little buggy parts in, and then I went home, read some of my book (Shogun), ate some chips, talked to Robbie (Elodie refused), and finally fell, exhausted, into my bed.

I woke up at 10:30 this morning.

So, provided that no bugs find their way into my dinner for the rest of the two weeks, I think this single life thing should be thoroughly relaxing. I do have plans to strip the deck of its horrific green paint and sand it and then waterproof it. Also maybe change the lattice. Perhaps remove the wall paper from the bathrooms and repaint them. But we'll see. For the next couple of days, I'm not doing ANYTHING.

T Minus Three

As of Friday evening, my holidays will officially begin. There is an airplane involved, although I won't be on it. Moms, if you're reading this blog, sit down. NOW.


My husband and daughter are flying out to Newfoundland on Friday morning and leaving me at home. By myself. For two weeks.

I know!!!

So let me reiterate. I am taking my holidays, albiet working from home some, and trying to create some semblance of order in preparation of my cousin and his wife's visit with their two kids in the beginning of August, but still not doing anything strenuous. I will go to bed when I want. I will wake up when I want. I will eat what I want.

I will be free to go out with friends without worrying who will watch the kiddo. Hell, I can dance nekkid all around my house and not worry! Good Goddess, I'm so excited! I have every intention to knit and sleep and eat for two weeks and maybe fit in a few great books. I'm thinking a nice February Lady Sweater?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'll miss my family - at least, near the end I'm sure I'll miss my family. I'm sorry to not be heading to Twillingate with the beautiful scenery, great food, amazing icebergs, but I'm SO excited to just have some time for myself. I've never done anything on my own for more than a day since Elodie was born, and if it weren't for the animals (damn it), it'd be like living on my own again.

I already have plans to eat sushi, drink wine, sing karaoke, hang out with buddies. I CAN'T WAIT!


ps. If you could all offer up a little positive thought for me, that I handle the eight hours of waiting I'm going to have to endure while my baby flies thousands of feet up in the air to her destination on Friday? I'm sort of an anxious flier (okay, that's an understatement), and I seem to be suffering from some minor transferrence.

Bored

I'm sitting at work, done my work already for the day (yes, at 10:00 a.m.), but still needing to man the desk until 4:15. So I thought I'd write a little post to complain about the weather.

Seriously? WTF, mate? Have you looked outside? It's dull, dreary and grey. When is summer going to get here? We only get precious few months in this country to celebrate warm weather, and every day that we have like this, it scratches yet another day of sun off the calendar. It looks like November in Denmark outside. Blah.

So this is "climate change." Apparently our weather is turning coastal. Perhaps preparing for Vancouver to fall into the ocean? I don't know how long this is going to last, but it better hurry up and change! My vegetable garden is not growing like it should. The only thing really growing is the potatoes.

In other news, Elodie has started full time at the local day care. SHE LOVES IT. Why didn't we think of this sooner? After all the stress and worry about finding adequate childcare (because believe me, the last place was NOT adequate at all), we find it, and it's great, and I love it. She loves it. Everybody's happy. She eats great when she comes home at night because she's spent the entire day playing her little legs off. She's going to sleep well because she's totally exhausted from a day of hard play. And she's DOING stuff. No longer is she being babysat by the TV in the basement while I desperately try to get some work done, despite her constant interruptions. No longer do I feel guilty for ignoring her while I try to manage my business and house.

Life is good.

She and Robbie are heading off to Newfoundland for two weeks starting next Friday. Whatever shall I do? Knit? Sleep? Bathe? All three? Sounds good!

Four Years.

At almost exactly this moment, four years ago, my mother-in-law passed away from lung cancer. I can't believe it's been four years already. And yet, I can't believe it's only been four years.

Vera was diagnosed on May 5, 2005 and passed away July 6, 2005. I’d only known her for a few short months, but like so many who had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her, she was immensely special to me. She remains special to me. She is the reason I took up the needles again.

Before, knitting had been a passing hobby. It was something I’d learned to do when I was in the early teens, taught the knit stitch and a very rudimentary cast-on by a friend. Acrylic yarn and big, plastic needles were the only things I knew how to knit with, and I wasn’t really a fan. It was relaxing, but also completely infuriating at the same time.

So instead, I crocheted. It was okay, but I coveted knit fabric. The drape, the prettiness. I wanted to do that! Instead, my fabric was inelastic, inflexible.

After meeting my now-husband, Robbie, I began to expand as a person. I came out of my shell a lot, accepted the person I am, and I became an adult. I met his parents, and I LOVED them. His mother was everything I wanted in an extended family. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and handy. She could lay a hardwood floor during the day and knit a sweater at night.

Her yarns of choice were acrylics, fun furs, and everything I now refuse to knit with, but she was one of those rare knitters that could turn the flat-out ugliest yarns on the planet into beautiful, functional pieces. Regular handicraft cotton became delicate shawls. Pink fun fur became adorable baby sweaters. Scratchy acrylic transformed into soft, durable sweaters.

When Vera passed, our lives fell into two categories. Pre-death and post. For weeks after she passed, each time the phone rang, we would think, is this Vera? And now, four years later, I still wonder how our lives would be different, how they would be better, if she were still here. She would dote on our daughter, her first grandchild who never had the pleasure of meeting her. There would still be dinners at her house, she’d still be married to Robbie’s step-dad. Together, they’d have six grandkids now, up from zero four years ago.

There’d still be phone calls and jokes and great clothes as Christmas gifts. Her knitting basket and needles and yarn would not be sitting in my house, but in hers. Our family would not be missing something. I would not cry every time I hear Amazing Grace, and I would not have strange urges to wander the halls of Unit 47 of the hospital I work in.

I would not miss.

I miss her.

Praise be to Buffalo

Ron (BuffaloGuy - Rav link) is the owner of Buffalo Gold. He and his wife, Theresa, have made their way from Texas to the Calgary Stampede this year. On Ravelry, they asked us in the Alberta Knitters Group if they should bring yarn. "YES!" we practically shouted, "YES! Bring yarn!"

I asked them if they'd bring fibre, and not only did they bring fibre, but they said they'd make a gift of 1 oz of buffalo down for any Ravelers who come to the booth.

This is what I adore about the fibre world. People who I don't know are giving $40 worth of fibre away to people that they don't know all because we DO know that we're knitters. We're fibre people. How awesome is that?

Anyway.

Today, I went to the Calgary Stampede.



Haleluia.

Veil of Isis

So beautiful!

Knit with Colourmart 100% Cashmere. YUM. This is a gift for my cousin's fiancee, Ashley. Modelled by the ever-lovely Terra.









The beads (which are rather hard to see) are only on the border. I used far more than called for, and they're a really nice smoky purple/green/blue hue. I am SO happy with this knit. I hope Ashley likes it!

Knit in just under two months.

Must-Knit list

Yoinked from Annie. These are my must-knit patterns from my queue on Ravelry.


Linea. I LOVE this shirt. If only, if only I was still a skinny mini. Unfortunately, I gave up on my size fours, but I'm still holding out hope for the sixes. ;)


Kiehkuralapaset - Swirly Mittens. I queued a lot of mittens over the winter, but these still stand out for me. They're absolutely lovely, and I think if they were knit in Noro, they'd be stunning.


Versatility. This picture makes it a little hard to see, but it's a really interesting design. It's essentially a long stole, but with one side of buttons and the other side of button holes, not to mention a pretty ribbon, it can be worn lots of different ways.


B16-10 Jacket from Drops Design.


The always-stunning Burridge Lake Aran Afghan. Nuff said.

Currently, Veil of Isis is coming along nicely. Only one more repeat before I'm at the edging. No pictures yet. I want to get it all done, blocked and beautiful before I show you all. I nixed the idea of silk. After working with it, I wasn't getting the effect I desired. So I ordered in some really beautiful misty grey cashmere from ColourMart for $32, and it's perfect.

Mom's sweater has returned to me for alterations. Only about half a foot more length, she says. *sigh*

Happy Birthday to you.

Guess whose birthday it is tomorrow?

That's right! Elodie is turning three! I don't know how time has possibly flown this quickly. Elodie entered the world in a daze of lights and noise, and she's entirely consumed our world ever since. It seems that just yesterday, we looked met our gummy little walnut of a baby, and now she's grown up into a real, live person! Parenthood was the last thing on our minds at that time, and now it's all we think about.

Is she eating right, is she learning her manners, will she function well in school, is she getting enough Vitamin D? How are we going to instill responsibility in her, and how will do we possibly let her go to school one day, and will the kids be mean? What do we do when she gets hurt or cries, how do we make everything perfect and safe?

It seems like I've never been questioned so much in my life (why, why, why?), and there are days when I think back to the days of sleeping in, staying out late, spending all my money, and I miss it. But then I think, well, sleep is for suckers, staying out late is for conformists, and I didn't have all that money to begin with. Life is much better now.



Elodie runs now, which is such an amazing change. I know that it doesn't seem like a big deal, since she's been running for since she was 16 months old, but I mean, she outstrips me. She's FAST. It's amazing that our helpless baby has such motor control that she can draw a face -- albiet a wonky, gibbled face, but I digress. She can comb her hair, is learning to tie knots, and can button her own clothes. She picks out her outfits, has distinct color preferences (pink generally will out), and I think if she could surround herself with a million cats, she would.

She understood what Christmas was this year. She learned about Santa and that he was going to bring her gifts. She got excited about the tree, the lights, the food, the family. She still begs to wear her Christmas dress. She loved decorating, wrapping presents, singing Jingle Bells, her stocking, the snow globes -- everything.

Of course Robbie and I were pooped after Christmas, but she just asked if we could do it again.

She also has become a pet owner. This is Star, her new pet mouse. She loves her, and she feeds her and helps clean the cage and gives her fresh water. She likes holding her, and she's so very gentle (most of the time). Although she's interested as to why Mommy and Daddy refuse to let her show the kitty her new mouse, she at least accepts that the kitty and Star would not play well together.

Of course, there are the procession pictures:

Newborn:

First:

Second:

Third:

I can't express in something as simple as words how grateful I am that she is my daughter, that I am her mother, and that we are learning and growing together each day. Thank you, Elodie, for being such a brilliant, beautiful daughter. I love you.

Long Time Gone

I've been gone. For a long time. Hence, the title of my thread.

Many, many developments. So. Where to begin? Christmas came and went to great success. I sent home socks with my grandfather and mother, mitts to my dad, a scarf to my grandma. They are enjoying their new homes. I also found out that my grandmother used her Stolen Moments Wrap from last year to tie her bumper back onto her car when it fell off one day. I believe me initial reaction was "You used an angora/merino scarf to retie on your bumper? Are you INSANE?!", but grandma insists that the scarf was gently washed afterward and suffers no ill effects.

After much humming and hawing, I applied for a job outside the home. While I didn't get the full-time position originally sought, I was offered a casual position, and I've worked 160 hours in the last month and a half doing it. The steady income in nice, and I'm also able to continue doing my own job. Further to this, it's freed up considerable knitting/spinning/crafting time in the evenings. Much obliged.

Elodie went back into a dayhome. I can't say I'm thrilled. She sobs each morning when she finds out she can't stay home with Mommy. I love the kid to bits (obviously), and this new dayhome is not as good as the last one. It breaks my heart to leave her there each morning.

As far as knitting, once again, no pictures. I just haven't had any daylight time to take those pictures, and so I'll have to do that now that the days are getting brighter and longer. The sun is a much-welcomed sight.

Currently, I've got four things on the needles:
1) Pair of socks
2) Sweater for mom's birthday (April 25th! I still have two sleeves to do. Can I make it? I'm seriously questioning my sanity on this one).
3) Veil of Isis for my cousin's fiancee. They're getting married in March, and this is my surprise gift to her. It's going to be cashmere!!!
4) Robbie's Urban Aran Cardigan. I cast this on in November, and it's just taking a while. Only the sleeves left now (and seeming, of course).

I've started all my seeds for this summer's garden. We've got pumpkins, broccoli, cauliflower, zucinni, peas, beans, carrots, beets, corn and potatoes. I can't wait for my fresh garden produce. I'm also considering doing some strawberries, but I've always killed them off in the past.

Elodie turns three on the 30th, and I can't believe how quickly she's growing. She has officially got her own pet now. Robbie and I bought her a little wee mouse last Saturday, and she's SO in love with it. She's named it Star (I'm so glad she stopped naming things by their actual name - mouse, cat, dog, puppy, etc). Each night before she goes to bed, she holds it, makes sure it has water, food and timothy hay, and then she wishes it good night and goes to bed. Also turns out a mouse is super easy to take care of.

My Bedstefar has a little run into the hospital last month. He was up and about, getting his lawn all ready for spring, and he ended up having a minor stroke. He's okay, but it still reminds me that each moment I've had the priveledge of spending with him is precious. I'm still really afraid that this past November will be the last time I'll have seen him alive.

Well, I'm back. I promise I'm back. I will be back. Next time, hopefully, with pictures!!!