Tilt-a-whirl

Yes I will...

Ms Alison asked me a question a few days ago and I honestly did not have the answer to it because this thing was very much in the Way Back Machine portion of my brain, thanks to the crap that is at the FRONT of my brain...P A I N. So, after Steph Tweeted about it, I decided to go to the fancy shmancy ooh la la website and check again on whether or not I really WAS going to have an answer to that question. The answer is Yes, we ARE coming to the Sock Summit. Are YOU??? I think that it is going to be the biggest gathering of amazingly talented teachers and artisans and well, I am getting excited already and we have until AUGUST.

What could be better?

I don't know what could be better than to have the little family together (Erik & Vicki, wish you were here!) for a little early Spring activity. We have been holding on to the seed starter kits to do them with Mama on a beautiful bright day. At first, the little man did not want to get his hands dirty but as time went on, he got into the swing of things, putting tomato, peppers, cukes and all sorts of seeds into the little swollen peat pots.

Are you sensing the love or Orange around here? The little guy can't get enough of it and he fits right in with his Grammy, who loves to toss in a little orange every now and again for seasoning.

He is asleep now and I should do it, too. Last night was about serial napping instead of sleep. The post shingles pain is relentless and flares up now and again. My mind was going a million miles an hour with all of the stuff that I need to do...wait, THIS MAY BE WHY I HURT. Dammit.

Mom was quite responsive yesterday, when we went to visit right after her breakfast. She reached out to The Schnickle and listened to him telling about his trip to Disneywand with the other side of the family and how he liked seeing Pwuto. I was quite amazed and happy but know that it was a blip on the radar screen. It is so sweet to see the little guy wanting to tell his great grandmother about his adventures and to see him be so nice to the folks sitting in the hallways. I think that he has a very kind soul.

I promised pictures of Silver Lake and took a Group Grope Picture for your viewing pleasure.
Left to right, BFL Sport, Lace, Baby alpaca Lace and Queenstown. It is a lovely silver blue. Kind of like the air today...brrrrrrrrrr.

A weird day

Why my Black Lab, Tank, thinks that it is uber cool to put his nose under my elbow at 5 am, is beyond me. All that I know is that it really works to wake me up in a RUDE manner. He starts whistling through his nose and then I am done for. Sugar Pie climbs on my chest and puts one fingernail up under my chin and the dog blows air on my elbow. Of course, at this point, I am done for and have to get up to pee. They WIN! It is only 5 AM! I stumble back to the Princess and the Pea Bed, for which I should get one of HER wedding dresses and try to recapture dreamland for a little while longer. NO DEAL. The radio comes on in a gentle manner and I start listening to Mark & Brian. No Fair! Quit telling funny stories, you guys...dammit, I am awake.

I staggered into the shower, shrugged into my winter uniform and headed across the driveway to get after the mailing before Arlene roared up the driveway. I also had to check on Manuelita, the Blue Belly Lizard that somehow became our little friend after finding her out of hibernation a little too early. She was lifting her head and waiting for me to take her out for her daily Move The Lizard around in the sun rituals that had consumed some of our days. Here she is in a little bit blurry shot.

This funny little creature let me pick her up and move her from place to place, chasing the sun, to warm her. Today, she was doing so much better and was out by the office door. Because it was such a beautiful day, I decided to let the dogs out to romp in the driveway and quickly made a bee-line over to move the lizard off of the pavement and into the garden, to avoid being squished by a dog paw and to blend in to the surroundings.

I came back in here to work and began hearing Rod yelling at Sasha. Drop it, give it, put it down and stuff like that. I thought that she may have gotten hold of something icky. Icky allright...she got Manuelita and ATE HER. What the hell? I mean, seriously...I can't tell you how grateful I am that I did not witness this and I can't tell you how sad I was for that little creature and how horrified that Sasha did that. You would think that with my scent all over that creature, she wouldn't do it but there you go. She chews on my socks and now my little lizard friend. All together now...EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! :o(

I got a call from the nursing home that mom's left hand, the one that was paralyzed by the stroke, was swelling badly. Sometimes the head nurse can be like Chicken Little but this time it sounded really yucky. The doctor says to elevate the arm above the heart and that's that. Keep her drugs coming, people. I'll go tomorrow. It has been really hard to see her like this, in a manner that is un-seeing and seemingly unhearing but perhaps I will bring the whole fam-damily with me to talk to her. Another of her students, Bonnie, found me and I will take her best wishes in to mom. I hope that somehow, somehow she can hear me and get the message, even if a lot of her is already through the looking glass. I don't know what this swelling to the point of seeing water under her skin MEANS but at this point, they just need to make her comfortable and with her drowsiness, I imagine that this is just what is happening.

The good news is that my little buddy came home for the weekend and when he burst through the office doors, he showed me his hands covered with blue paint. I showed him my hands with the multi-colors from failed gloves and kissed him one time on his third eye. We belong to one another, don't we? Always bonded, even when we are apart. I sure do love me some Schnickle.

Alright, I will show you my yummy new color, perhaps tomorrow. It is Silver Lake. Bee-you-tee-ful. I have also begun to dye the new sport weight BFL yarn, which I adore. See? Some good news after a REALLY WEIRD DAY.

Some Days Can Really Bend Your Head

Rod was over here in the office, helping me to get stuff off of the computer for (gag) tax time and I was kind of loopy on my first day of THREE of my Neurontin per swallow, hence the time simply feeding fabulous fiber into the maw of the Supercard. Loopy Doopy and kind of STONED but slowly able to amass this. I almost finished but had to hot foot it over to the house to watch the season finale (more, please) of Big Love.

They said that it was coming and we got a litte bit over Saturday night but when Rod was sitting at the computer in the morning after breakfast, he could not concentrate because this began to happen.

Yeah, REALLY pretty but in unison and especially loudly from old Shingles McGee came "I Hope That We Do Not Have To SHOVEL"! This is Spring, mind you. It kept going...

and going with BIG fat ploppy snowflakes.

It came down and covered everything with white and about an hour into it, I took myself and my owies and took a nap, with Sugarpie (my little old kitty found on the website) snuggled up on my chest. When I awoke, about 2 hours later (told you that this med increase made me STONED) it was ALL GONE! The trees had shed all of their finery and the ground had shed the water by making our creek roar again.

I staggered back across the driveway and fired up the carder...dizzy non-blonde and her machine. Hummmmm. What just happened???

This morning, all of the open Jonquils were bent by the 30 degree air and now that the sun has come out, I am hoping that they come back to a standing position so that I do not have to cut them.

Alright, it is time to quit fooling around and go over and put on my shop apron and Have At It.
The birds are singing in the trees again. It IS Spring, after all...Spring in the Foothills of the Sierra...you never know WHAT you are going to get.

Happy Vernal Equinox to You!

Do you sense a shift in attitude? A new beginning, just like Spring? Yes, it is called Better Living Through Chemistry and my new friend, Mr Gavapentin/Neurontin. I swear, I am seeing the sun, feeling the kiss of it on my skin and I know that Spring is here, even though we have a stinky forecast for this weekend, for snow up around 2500 feet. I, for one, am just over the moon for the past couple of days and all of my Jonquils are standing tall and proud, wherever Auger Rod could make a hole, last Autumn.

I know that I have been a crummy blogger but honestly, the thing with Shingles is that it hurts like hell and makes a person lose focus. So, those of you that are of a certain age and don't want to go through this agony, be really really smart and find out about getting the Anti-Shingles Shot, will ya? If not, do what I did and if you get a stabbingohmygod pain in your side, go directly to the doctor/ER and get on the anti-viral. It will knock this thing down as much as possible. Listen to your Pretend Mother.

Now then, after lunch, I decided to walk down to our "little" creek, the one that roars like The Colorado in the winter and then whispers itself down underground in the summer. It has been so goopy in the yard that it took until now to dry out some of this clay. I was checking out so many branches from one of our Mountain Maples that had just not been able to handle the heavy snow and was ready to pick up one of them when I saw this guy. We did a lot of work around him and left him alone. I went back later and captured him, surprised to find him still there. He is a sweet little Tree Frog, the size of a half dollar, at the most. He can adapt his color to his surroundings and here he is in Dead Branch Beige. One of these little guys can make such a racket. I adore them.

The creek is running slower and slower but then a nice bit of rain will refresh the flow. There is some debris from the crazy storms that we had this winter but a pretty shot of the now CALM Weaver Creek. I want to bottle the sound for the Summer!

So, it has been a good day here and I am mighty grateful for it. I had a great time talking to some really creative women on a conference call this morning and it helped me to remember the days when I just spent my time creating fanciful drawings, embroidery pieces and one of a kind knitted garments. What fun I had back then and I am thankful for the energy generated by this fabulous group. I told my pal Vicki that I was just doodling up a storm, as I listened to ideas swirling around and you know how doodles are...one line or dot leads to another. Funny, that.

I want to tell you that I am just so excited to head to Atlanta for Stitches South. I want to shout to the rooftops that if you build it, we will come and so they are and we will. Rod was pretty horrified to find out that Amtrak has decided to do away with their package capabilities at the Atlanta Station and was trying to tell me that he would be WILLING to drive to freaking Alabama to pick things up for the show. Well, I would love a nice drive but not for THAT reason and especially not after the show is over. No way, no how. A voice came into my ear, whispering...UPS. You see, the problem with UPS or any delivery service getting to the show floor is what the PIRATES/aka Decorators/Teamsters were going to hold us up for. We get two "trips" or skips delivered to our booth for "free", if WE drive it in but if UPS delivers to the floor, it would cost us about $1000 (!) to have the Pirates do the same deed. HELL NO. The whisper told me to ask UPS if they could simply deliver the boxes to their warehouse/shipping center and keep them for us to pick up with the rented van, as we had been doing with Amtrak. Bingo! So, we can tell the Pirates thank you, as they deliver our goods to our booth for FREE. Where there is a will, there is a way, people. It costs us SO much to bring our work across country and I am not going to let some funky RULE cost me an extra grand. I work too hard for that money, so THERE!

Let's see, oh, I have a pretty picture for you. Some merino/tencel in a color I call Tropical Breeze. Delicious and so subtle. I know that some of you are waiting for me to catch up with the batts and as I begin to feel better, I am getting there. Rod has begun helping me a lot more in the dye room, doing the washing and drying for me. Wow...just that has made a great difference, allowing me to get through orders more quickly. I guess that he finally feels that he is not a Retiree but a Small Business Owner. It has been a long transition for someone who worked the corporate gig for 37 years. I guess that I had to be shut down by this Nerve Crud to show him that I am not REALLY Wonderwoman...ya think?

Tropical Breeze Merino/Tencel Batts.

So, my mother is being cared for by some Angels on Earth. Her nurse, April, is the sunniest being. She seems to just live for these little aged people and cares for each of them with such grace and happiness. I don't know how she does it but honestly, mom is SO lucky to have her. Her condition is topsy turvy with this and that infection and we figure that something will finally take her. She was pretty Sideways the last time that I saw her but because she tested positive for a UTI, I can imagine that she was Nutty because of it.

Aww, I hear a little ribbit coming from outside. There must be a House Colored little frog calling to the Branch colored frog. Welcome Spring.

Thank you for your patience and caring. I can't tell you how it has helped me to Calm Down. Ah, ten minutes to Wine O' Clock. I AM feeling better...MWAH!

 

What's That You Say?

First of all, I would like to declare that I hate Shingles. Yesterday was a turning point with this condition and it took me dropping to my knees with the pain to get seen by a man who is now My Doctor. I thought that this thing was running it's course and I was feeling mighty lucky to not have had those big blisters that I saw on that famous medical website. Well, that is because the virus was caught on day one, thanks to the 10 on the Richter Scale pain that drove me to the emergency room, the day before Stitches. Well, yesterday was a revisitation of that 10 and I was all out of the pain meds that had gotten me through the show. Thank goodness that Lauren remembered a few Vicodin that were in her medicine cabinet. Crikey, I felt like a frickin' JUNKIE. The pill dulled the searing pain and so when Kaiser called with news that a doctor could see me in 35 minutes, down the hill in Folsom...I grabbed my purse and we jogged to the car for the I Feel Every Bump ride.

We dashed into the building and were just 2 minutes late. Gee...my blood pressure was elevated. I wonder why? I actually think that those awful automatic blood pressure cuffs CAUSE the problem because they hurt SO much! Next, the nurse gets me into the room and asks me if I would like to go ahead and have the tetanus/whooping cough vaccine today, you know, since I was already experiencing agonizing pain...it might take my mind off of my torso. (!) I said...well, ok.

The doctor came in and I just thought that he was the cutest thing. Delicate and kind and smart. He looked at the band of the rash that was firing up a bit and said that it was time for Neurontin, to calm the nerves that were causing me to want to shoot myself. Okee dokee...there is a god. Oh, and he said...since I am already experiencing so much pain, why would I want to add more to my life with the shot. Did I tell you that he is so smart? Mmmm-hmmm. I kept thinking that he was a Chinese Doogie Howzer but then he probably just looks 12. :o)

So, I now have medicine and a plan and the knowledge that I can beat this thing.

On the mom front...it boggles the mind. She lost 40 % of her brain to this massive stroke. She was sent home to Placerville Pines to die, essentially. Remember, I gave her permission to fly the coop when she was ready? Well, she never did like anyone telling her what to do. If it wasn't HER idea, forget it. My step father always said to me, when he would stop by for a cup of coffee..."Your Mother, she always says NO. I suggest something and she fires out the NO faster than a breath". Yeah, I know. Well, can you feel what is coming? She can now move her left arm, not because she has done anything to make it happen but Just Because. She is using some of her strength to give snappy answers to people and well, she is just not of a mind to leave. When her Angel On Earth aide asked if I was her daughter, mom said, yes, of course. When she asked her what my name is, Mom said..."Ask her, she'll tell you". Sassy. SASSY.

It is one of those things that has just kind of slowly blown my mind but then my mother is a very very stubborn woman and if she is not ready to go, well, alrighty then. Now I am back to looking after my OWN health. She is well taken care of and is thriving under the loving kindness lavished on her by Tami. What more could I ask for? Hmmm...to be done with the Shingles and get ready for Stitches South. Watch...she will fire up the drama in April and even though I will not tell her that we are going, she will know. She will know.

Thursday

So yesterday, I dragged myself to the Convalescent Hospital, expecting to see the old girl staring into space. Not so, my friend. She had eaten a big lunch and knew us. We had received two lovely cards from former students (thanks Mary for the instigation) and they made mom so happy. I told her...SEE? People do remember you and thank you for all that you did for them as their beloved voice teacher/counselor. She got a little twinkle in her eye which was so wonderful. I told her a couple of things about home and off she drifted to sleep. I guess that mom is still not ready and can only be grateful that the part of her brain that was so damaged was not connected to her speech, as teensy as it is, or her recognition of folks. How does she DO that? Maybe her right brain was there making her unhappy with all of its figuring and control...now the left brain is taking over and that is my dominant side, so we can finally connect. It is all good. Just like the saga of Prophane Industries, the Saga of Louise Corsale goes on.

Now then, yesterday was the worst and final phase of Shingles. I had so much stress that I took a Valium at about 6:30 and told my family that I was outtathere. I went to bed and stayed there until about 5 am. I told myself that I had had enough of this pain and illness and that I was going to get better, dammit. I am getting better and the liver colored blotches are going down to pink. I got a lot of dyeing done today and thank you to those of you who have been patient enough to wait. Some folks think that Lisa Souza is a brand name with lots of elves running around doing the work...not so, my friend. If this Lisa goes down, so goes the business cuz it is Just Me here behind the curtain.

Thank you to Kathleen Day for helping me find the right foods...no to oatmeal and brown rice (!) and yes to eggs and dairy. I had the lysine in my pantry, which I have been taking, as prescribed. I did not take any narcotic today, so there.

I am coming back to myself and couldn't have done it without your thoughts and prayers.  Tom, your card made me cry...the comfort blanket...how perfect.

Sunday

Hello everybody, I have so far survived Stitches. On Tuesday, coming was almost not going to be an option because I spent the day at the ER with some weird side and back pain that dropped me to my knees when I awoke that morning. I was losing my mind, I was sure of it. An hour or two of pain off the chart found me moaning in the car for the hour ride to Roseville's Kaiser ER, because there were no short appointments. Did I say that I lost my mind? Yeah. I got into the waiting room Pod and paced for about 90 minutes until I could be seen because there was no sitting for me.

The nurse was getting ready to hook me up with an ekg because she said that women present differently for heart attacks, at which point Rod's eyebrows went up as he was watching the signs of stress spike on the monitors. Uh huh. WTF? The doctor finally came in, listened to my symptoms and got out his X-ray vision, which allowed him to see these TEENSY little bumps forming at my bra line. Uh huh...Shingles. DUH...the most stress that I have been through in my life and my body was turning on me. Figgers. I am so lucky that Rod got me there in time because I was able to start the anti-viral, steroids and pain meds right away. I hurt but I knew what it was and could do my best imitation of Steve Carrell yelling Kelly Clarkson! as his chest hair was being ripped off...same deal. Now the bright red band of heavy rash has surfaced but the early meds have kept the pain from dropping me. The Norco keeps things distant, pain and itching-wise and so if I am distracted, the day will be fairly normal

I did not think that I was going to be able to come here...no way. Rod said that he would pack me and he did...every last morsel. I sat and tagged the last fiber and he put all of the yarn in the bins and into the van. He got us here and the drugs have gotten me through with few problems. The people here have kept me distracted and happy and buoyed. So much caring. I got a card from a lovely lady, who dropped off prayers in a hand written note, which is still there so I can't tell you her name this instant. So wonderful and kind.

My pal, ex helper and designer extraordinaire, Brenda Patipa has been with us when she can be and it has been so great to be with her again. She used to really fire me up with all of her ideas and so the energy has been so great, as it is when any of the designers I know are around. the creative juices slosh around. It has been so much fun to go out to dinner with her and some peers, swapping war stories from shows and travel. I needed this so much.

It was so good to see Alison Hyde and her beautiful daughter. Alison is recovering from more tough health stuff but is one of the great givers and getters of love, coming back from a terrible time recently. Talk about inspiration.

The show has been so wonderful. The people attending are happy and excited and feel the bond that fiber and the love of fiber is bringing to their lives in these crazy times. We are all in this together and when I take a dollar, the dollar goes into immediate circulation. I will take pictures of my treasures, when I get home but I scored the most beautiful needles from Michael Ernst in their new color called Blue Moon. I also got two new pins from Robin of Sacred Laughter, one of which was a gift and I chose her Wolf, which I was so excited to see. I told her about the Lone Wolf that Rod, Erik and Vicki and I had the privilege of watching up at Jenkinson Lake in November and this pin is so magically beautiful...a totem for a totem.

The batts flew out of the booth and I was so excited for spinners to get their hands on them because I was the only one to drool on them. I promise to fire up the carder on a regular basis because well, they are ALL gone. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Mom is still hanging in there. Lauren has gone to see her every day and she rallied enough to recognize her, talking a bit about Teddy, her cat. It blew my mind but this whole thing has blown my mind. I am grateful to her for waiting for me to be done with Stitches and perhaps she still wants to hang around in this poor body awhile longer. That is ok with me, she has the funds and what ever she wants is cool. I did my duty and so she does not have to worry about that part...permission to depart was given.

Thanks again to my oldest friend, Janice, for coming to Stitches for hugs and connections. We have known each other since Kindergarten when she was so little and only spoke Chinese. The connection is still there and remarkable. Good stuff, ya know?

So, now I wait until it is time to get dressed, pack up and leave our comfy room. I want to get to the vendor meeting to hear all about the plans for Stitches South. It is very exciting and will be a lot to get ready for but we are coming down to Georgia in April.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. You have helped me so much. We all have to go through this and if I can help anyone by talking about these crazy things, it is all worth it.

The alarm just went off and now I can go make noise and take a shower.