Right Back At It..........

I've been home for a week now. As of yesterday, everything is put away; suitcases are emptied; 3 boxes arrived from NY on Tuesday. Loaded with extras from said suitcases that I didn't want to carry with me, as well as lots and lots of treasures from my parents' house. Mostly items that I made for her and my dad over the years or that we gave them as gifts. Yes, I am reclaiming them.

Finally got all the Christmas decorations down and put away and cleaned the house thoroughly.

Ah, order. I'm an order freak. I like everything in order. I can't function in mess and chaos.

There's also been a lot of cooking going on. Need to fatten up BH as he seems to have lost some weight while I was gone. He really can't afford to lose weight. Normal weight is 155#. He's down to 145#!!

I started spinning yesterday. Pulled out the 7 oz. of black alpaca; spinning singles with black/white glass beads, size E. It'll be plied with black Shetland; I'm thinking maybe a 3-ply. I have about 3# of said Shetland.

I am not a fan of alpaca. For some reason I'm having a difficult time drafting to keep it thin. Twist keeps entering the drafting zone. Aaarrggghh. Could I really be that out of touch, not spinning for over 3 weeks? Nah. I will persevere. It will all come back to me. It'll turn out just fine.

I still have the dreaded shawl on the needles. Almost finished. I'm trying to decide if I should knit another inch or so, or keep what's left of the yarn to do some kind of edging. Picot, I'm thinking. Have to get back to the knitting.

I also started a pair of socks while sitting in the back seat of my brother's car, driving to NY. Started the heel gusset and discovered a mistake in the heel flap. I really don't want to rip it back. And I'm really not too crazy about this yarn for socks. I think the color would be better suited to a hat and scarf or maybe fingerless mitts. So that will be on the agenda, hopefully to be started soon.

A pot of ham and bean soup will be started shortly; supper tonight. Tomorrow I'm thinking turkey pot pie. I love making pot pie. I love eating pot pie. Homemade pot pie.

Well, time is slipping away. Better get started if I'm going to accomplish anything today.

You all have a great day!

(clicking heels...) There's No Place Like Home........

3 weeks and I'm finally home. Had to go back to NY for mom's funeral. Stayed with #1 son and family; spent most of the time cleaning out ma's house and organizing all possessions for distribution later in the year, and tossing out all that is useless - garbage.

I did manage to connect with my 2 dear friends; spent a day with each. And spent some time with my brother who is hoping to buy our family home, as well as my other siblings.

The flight home was uneventful, although the butterflies never left my stomach the whole trip. #2 son picked me up at the airport and we went back to his house. #3 son came over and we all had dinner together (at 11:00pm) and talked up a storm! Drove halfway on Saturday to meet BH to take me home. He was sooo happy to see me. The poor man, batching it for 3 weeks!

I know what you're thinking, but no........ the house was clean, the laundry was done. He even changed the bed linens and washed them! Only thing to do was grocery shopping, which we did Sunday.

Funny how our house looks so small! Everything looks miniature compared to the families homes in NY. My small, compact home! Nothing is better!

So I started yesterday undecorating the house -- from Christmas. Yep, Christmas. Didn't have enough time to do this before I left. We got up at 3:30 am due to the fact that is was -25 degrees, the wood stove had stopped blowing the heated air and found that the water pipes were frozen. But 15 minutes later with the aid of the hair dryer and we had running water. So BH got into his recliner and fell asleep. I couldn't. So ---- went through the mountains of mail, sorted out the bills, put some traveling paraphenalia away, made out the grocery list and started undecorating.

Couldn't go over to the old house and get the storage containers -- too cold. So that is on the agenda for today. I can finish the undoing and put things away.

Then tomorrow and Wednesday I will deep clean throughout. It's amazing how much dirty dust accumulates in 3 weeks. Yuck. Yes, BH kept the house cleaned up, but dusting is not on the list of to-do's. Besides, you know how women see things that never occur to men.

And then ---- I so have to get back to spinning and knitting. My fingers are itching to get at it, my mind is buzzing with all that can be done. I can't wait. But first things first. I need an absolutely clean and dust-free home before I can settle down and get to the real important things!

Truly the End of 2010.......

My mom passed away yesterday afternoon, New Year's Eve day. The last day of the year. May the coming year fill our hearts with love, memories and peace.

She is with my dad now, which is where she has wanted to be all these months. Selfishly, we wanted her to stay with us! But she got her way, finally, as mom always did.

Well, give Pop a big kiss and hug for all of us. We love you both and miss you so much. Thank you for our big family and all your love and guidance through the years. It will certainly put our hearts at peace for all our years to come.

Remember, you two wanted this ever since you've been separated. So----no arguing with each other up there!!!