Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Watch Dirty Jobs!

Maybe you'll see one of our island snakes!

Mike Rowe will be on Put-in-Bay to check on the conservation of the Lake Erie Water Snake. This guy is a Kelleys Island snake. Less drunk.

Well, I think I've cured the spam problem

Unfortunately, I think I overdid it this time. If you commented about anything over the past three days, it probably got lost amongst the bestiality and penis ring spam that this poor blog gets hit with about 100 times a day. I set the filters a bit too aggressively--turns out I blocked just about anything that tried to come through since Thanksgiving.

It's as if I put a condom on the blog.

Anyhow, I found my problem, and I think the comments are back in business. Sorry if I came across a tad anti-social. If you commented, and it isn't there, use the email link on the right to let me know...it always finds me.

You know, like the IRS.

And....she's off!!!!

First of all, thanks for all the get well wishes. I feel perfectly normal now (as "normal" as I can ever be, which is a debatable subject). Meds-wise, I'm on an antibiotic only. The stent has pretty much stopped reminding me of its presence, which I appreciate. On December 15, I go back to the hospital for the shock wave lithotripsy. Think Luke Skywalker taking out the Death Star, only inside my body on a slightly smaller scale. Should be a hoot.

After my little popcorn kernel-sized bump in the road last weekend, it took a few days to get back into knitting mode.

Very few.

I mean, after all, it's time for Christmas knitting!!! I wasn't really planning on doing a lot this year until I finished up that Ohio Star tote (which my Mom thinks is the bomb). I was hopeful that in each of the two family gift exchanges I would wind up with the person in that gift exchange who would appreciate a tote in their life. Those two people? My 80-year-old aunt and my youngest cousin (who, for whatever reason, always loves whatever I come up with for her). Well, by pure luck, my hopes were realized.

I got them both.

What??

Why I can't pick lotto numbers that well escapes me. So, I headed off to the LYS yesterday to find colors of Cascade Eco Wool that I could finagle into two tote bags. Here's where I stand on my aunt's tote:

The colors in the photo, strangely enough for my camera, are spot-on. For my cousin, I'm going to change the quilt block around a bit and use a dusty lilac with the green (or the burgundy...I don't know yet). Heck, if all goes well, I'll make one for my Mom. And maybe my sister-in-law.

I can sleep in January.

As hard as I tried, I can't make it through Christmas Knitting Season without a gift for my niece, who would appreciate a pile of poo if it were wrapped in pink and purple. The kid just lives for gifts. So, here's her pile of poo:

Cascade 220, fluff, and some leftover wool/alpaca. Hmmmm.....what will it be????

Stay tuned.

Feliz Turkeydad!

So, how did I watch the Ohio State/Michigan game?

Would you believe from a hospital bed preparing for surgery? And I only missed the third quarter.

Back up to Friday night. Around 8 o'clock, I started feeling some back pain. Thought it could be from sitting too long at the computer, so I got up and took a few Motrin. Didn't work. Pain just kept getting worse, to the point of doubling over.

Now, I'm thinking it's the worst ovarian cyst pain in history (I'm in that point in my cycle...). So, around midnight I take a couple of Aleve, which always helps "that" pain. An hour later I have the shaking chills and start worshipping my porcelain god.

Not good.

But after heaving, I felt a little better. For a half hour. I put on some clothes, grabbed the keys, and drove myself to the hospital (even called the ER on the way to let them know I'm coming...sometimes being a doc does help). Long story short, after lab tests, a CT, and many nice drugs, I was informed that I have a kidney stone about the size of a popcorn kernel just outside of the kidney. I also had an undiagnosed urinary tract infection.

The urologist (who ironically has dealt with my Mom's cystic kidney and my Dad's prostate) told me in the ER that I needed to go to surgery that night to have a stent put in. The bad news: can't get to the OR before 6:00.

OMFG! I miss the fourth quarter???

Hell, I was in so much pain before the morphine that it didn't really matter. The football gods were on my side, though. They were able to take me in at halftime (my Dad kept giving me updates in preop from the TV across the room :) ), and I was back in recovery at the end of the third quarter. I saw the last four minutes in my room.

My first question after the procedure: "What's the score?" Yep, despite pain, multiple rounds of drugs, and a surgical procedure, I still kept my priorities in order.

I'm back home today, me and my stone. The stent stays in until the infection heals, then I go back to get it zapped into tiny pieces. Today, I feel like a truck hit me, but at least that pain is gone. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Oh, and there is a small knitting-related moment in this entire debacle. Right before they knocked me out, the nurse commented me on my socks. I was wearing the Socks That Rock pair I finished recently.

They looked lovely with the hospital gown.

Miss me?

As expected, San Francisco was lovely. The weather cooperated 100% (the only rain was overnight Friday into Saturday), the food was quite tasty, and I did some serious damage to the wine industry. A perfect vacation.

Sucks that I'm back to work Monday. Ugh.

Anyhow, the highlight of the vacation was my all day visit to wine country. Our group did five wineries in total, and I managed to find a bottle I liked at all of them. Our group consisted of me, a young couple from Florida, and two couples from the UK. The UK people were odd. They would go to the tasting room, bypass every offering except a Syrah, then wander off. None of them bought a bottle of wine. Now, why would someone shell out $59 for a tour (and a few extra bucks here and there for the tastings) and not buy at least one bottle to enjoy later?

I don't get it. Then again, I like to buy stuff.

I also topped off my six-pack styrofoam wine container with a bottle I bought from a wine shop in the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, and United Airlines managed to keep every bottle in one piece!!

What's that in front? Here's a close-up:

Yes, I did get to ArtFibers. What a cool place! There were yarns there of all shapes and sizes, and the colors available were totally yummy. I placed an order for a mohair/silk blend that should be here in a month or two, but I had to bring something home. As you can see, the Kyoto is a silk/mohair/wool blend that's really sweet. I'm thinking it's going to be mittens. I started knitting from a pattern on the net, but the size of the cuff is too big, so I'll have to try another pattern. I know, I've mentioned in the past that I hate knitting with silk. This stuff doesn't have that "feel" I can't stand. Not yet anyhow.

Anyhow, ArtFibers is a must-see whenever you're in the Union Square area in SF. You can easily lose yourself fondling all that stuff. Thankfully for me, I had to think of my luggage allowance, or else I would have been wandering off with a lot more stuff.

Oh, and just to show off my photo brilliance, here's some arty looks at the Golden Gate:

And with a 180 degree turn, here's the Pacific:

Oh, yeah, it's 38 degrees and cloudy here at home. Ugh.

And I would like to take this opportunity to start a war against stinkiness. On both long legs of my journey west, my nose was ambushed by odors that no one should ever endure for more than a second or two, let alone hours. On the way out (the 4 1/2 hour stretch between Chicago and SF), I was sitting behind an old hippie chick who hadn't bathed since the Truman Administration. No matter how I adjusted that little air dealie above the seat, the stench kept waving back and hitting me like a baseball bat. It was mutant BO, to quote that old Seinfeld episode. Nothing short of a car wash would have removed it from her.

Then, on the way back, I'm blessed to be sitting next to Captain Halitosis. This guy's breath was Bad; every little sigh, even out of his nose, created a cloud of stink over our entire row. No matter how far I squeezed my body into the window, the cloud found me.

And I had no Altoids to offer him. Although, I think the minty freshness would have been overwhelmed.

So, what does one need to do to offer all airline passengers a mint and a shower prior to boarding? Freedom of Stench isn't protected under the Constitution, is it?

Another day, another Browns loss

Sadly, my beloved Brownies suck up the joint this year. They have their moments of looking good, then they throw the ball to the other team. You think I'd be used to it by now. However, a Sunday afternoon in front of the TV always lends itself to mindless knitting....yep, more socks. The Socks That Rock pair was finished yesterday during the Ohio State game:

No, they don't match. Big deal. I'll be wearing pants. So, with one pair down, I got started on another:

I decided to get a double pointed pair under way for the flight on Wednesday. Yeah, I know I can bring the circular on board, but I feel more confident that I won't have an overzealous TSA employee confiscate these toothpicks as a "potential weapon." The yarn is KnitPicks sock yarn, and it's really nice stuff. The striping is nice, and the wool is soft. I haven't used this stuff before; I'm curious to see how it washes.

Yeah, I could have done a swatch. I didn't. I'm a thrill seeker.

The cabled sweater front is moving along. I won't post a photo--it looks a lot like the back.

I did finish up the Ohio Star felted bag:

As you can see, the yarns didn't felt the same. The Cascade EcoWool felted beautifully--it's very smooth and sturdy. The other wools did felt (the photo makes it look like they really show those stitches clearly...they don't), but not to the thickness of the Cascade. If I ever do the pattern again, I'll Cascade the whole thing. As to the pattern, it works pretty slickly. The modular knitting is easy to do for anyone, and the result is very pretty. I like the braided handles a lot.

As you can see, Grady is also getting into knitting:

Unfortunately, he's far more interested in chewing on the cord on the Addi Turbo. The stitches don't glide nearly as well after he has gnawed on that pricey chew toy. I'm going to need a new size 6 thanks to his incisors.

For those of you interested, it appears the new comment filter is doing its job without a problem. All of the good comments are getting through, and all of the links to kinky web sites are being trashed. I do apologize to those spammers out there who are trying to link a knitting blog to virgin bondage photos, but them's the breaks.

San Francisco is only a couple of days away--I can't wait!!! Not only do I plan on depleting the Bay Area of Dungeness crab, but I have found the location of ArtFibers, which may be the coolest knitting place I've seen in a long time. I may need to fill up an empty spot in Ikealand...

That, and it could be a good place to find Christmas goodies for my Mom. I don't think the crab will make it home in the suitcase.