Covid testing and crafting

Over the weekend I seem to have come down with a cold .... which is of no surprise to me as it seems to have been making the rounds (from what I read on Facebook, which we all know is the gospel, lol).  Now, here is the kicker .... I had been off work for 3 days (in which time the cold made its appearance), yesterday I phoned my manager and explained to them that I had a cold and asked what my next step should be as I was scheduled to work the next day.  Turns out, I can't return to work until I have had a covid test and it comes back negative.  I scheduled a time to get my test done (today) and it looks like I will be quarantined for 10 days .... less if the test comes back negative and my symptoms go away.

On the home front, though, I have managed to weave 9 dishcloths on my rigid heddle loom and I've gotten 1 winter sock done for Sunshine .... she's 2 1/2 and I have yet to make her a thick pair of winter socks.  For the winter socks, I always use Berroco Vintage but my local yarn store was sold out when I went to buy some so I ended up getting Estelle Worsted instead, it's 50% acrylic 40% wool and 10% nylon and I hope that this yarn will be as warm as the Berroco has been.

On another crafting note, my nephew and his wife are expecting their first child in December so I'm working on getting my floor loom warped to make a baby blanket for them .... it's very slow going as I run out of energy pretty quickly right now (because of this cold).  But, it will hopefully be warped very soon and then I can start weaving on it.  I've chosen a self striping purple that has very long colour changes, which are also gradient changes rather than sudden ones.  I'll try and post some pictures of it once I get going on it.

Well, I better sign off now .... my dog is wanting to come in from outside.  Hope you all have a blessed day.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch

 

The pond was froze over & so was the branch.

 

The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.

 

The kids were all home on vacation from school,

 

And happier young folks you never did see-

 

Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.

 

Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,

 

There came a surprise that gave them a shock!

 

The power went off, the TV went dead!

 

When Grandpa came in from out in the shed

 

With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.

 

"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.

 

"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.

 

Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

 

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom.  "With their light,

 

And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."

 

The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.

 

Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,

 

Uncased his old fiddle & started to play

 

That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.

 

Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew

 

Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too.

 

They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"

 

Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.

 

They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,

 

And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.

 

They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,

 

The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.

 

Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;

 

And when the kids wakened, the power was on..

 

"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"

 

Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.

 

Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,

 

He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

 

-anonymous

December in review

Well, this has been an eventful month for us .... it started out with Charlotte running her baby toe into a folded up lawn chair (she was racing the dog through the house and rammed her foot into the chair - I told her it was a good thing she didn't hit the piano (which the chair was leaning against) because the piano wouldn't have moved), anyway, the Dr. wasn't sure if she had fractured or dislocated her toe .... she was on crutches for a week when we found out that she had just severely bruised her toe.  Thankfully she's doing just fine now & hardly has any pain in her toe.

Last week all of us were sooooooooo sick - Josh ended up taking a week off of work because of it .... I missed 1 shift at the drug store and spent 2 days in bed (literally) because of it.  We all still have a cough from this cold & both Charlotte and I ended up on antibiotics because of it - hoping that we'll be pretty much done with this sickness by the time Christmas gets here.

Both of my jobs are going really well, and, even though it's taken me a bit to get used to working two jobs & still homeschool the kids - it's been a really fun challenge .... I think they even appreciate having me home on my days off, now, lol.

Right now, Don & the kids are enjoying the annual hay ride that some of our really good friends host (this is their third year doing it) - they start at the Church and drive through town singing carols, afterwards, they head into the Church basement and enjoy amazing fellowship while drinking hot beverages & eating homemade treats that some of the congregation members bring.  I didn't end up going tonight, I didn't really feel that getting chilled would be the best thing for me right now ..... we made sure that Don and the kids were thoroughly bundled up before they headed out, though.

Well, off to go & work on knitting some more mittens - have a great evening, everyone.  ˚Ü˚

Depressing news

Yesterday, I had the kids take a large blue recycle bag and fill it up with yarn - several ladies (along with myself) have been asked to knit slippers for the Ronald McDonald House.  I told them that I would be happy to help out & asked if they needed any yarn for this project - Marg told me that if I could spare some, that would be great - the sad thing is ..... with taking out that one large blue recycle bag, full of yarn - it didn't even make a dent on my stash (guess that's what happens when you're gifted a half-ton truck full of yarn ::sighs::).

Tonight, I received some depressing news (at least what I would class as depressing) ..... our school board has only been "officially" in this school year a couple of weeks, and already, we're being told "you're getting a new facilitator" ::sighs::  Now, normally, this wouldn't be a disturbing thing - friends of ours have had the same facilitator since they started with our school board (and they're excited about the change) .... us, on the other hand - we've been with this school board for 5 years (well, this is our fifth year with them) and we're on our 4th facilitator.

Reading that last paragraph makes it sound like we're a difficult family .... we're not - we've just had some bad luck with the facilitators that work for this school board:  our first one went on maternity leave half way through the year; our second one finished up the first year, then went on maternity leave half way through the second year; our third facilitator (who was actually our first facilitator) finished up the second year and almost all of our third year; our third year was mostly our first facilitator, but she went on maternity leave so we were given back to our second facilitator, & she didn't have time to take on a whole bunch of new families, so, we were given to our third facilitator (this was all within a two week period) & she assured us that she would not be going on maternity leave as she was past the child bearing age, lol; our fourth year was with our third facilitator; and two weeks into our fifth school year (two weeks for the school board, we've been back at it since August 13th) & we are being given to our fourth facilitator.  ::sighs::

Maybe I'm just tired of being passed around to different facilitators, but, it would be soooooooooooooo nice, if we could have a facilitator that stuck with their families ..... I'll definitely be praying that this one can, hopefully, be with us until Charlotte finishes school - only 4 more years to go.

Lots of goings on around here

It dawned on me, the other day, that I hadn't updated my blog for a really long time - been busy working on Christmas presents/knitting orders/and playing on Facebook.

Lots of things have been happening in our lives, since I last posted ...... and while I can't quite remember all of them, I'll give you a few highlights, lol

• I had recently gone to the eye doctor and discovered that my eyes have not changed in 3 years - that was very exciting news to me ...... to bad my frames could not have stayed in as good of shape, lol, yep, I needed to get new frames (which are definitely taking getting used to).
• we purchased a "new to us" vehicle and Don is now driving our car back and forth to work, which means that our 3/4 ton truck is parked - this isn't a bad thing, especially since it was costing sooooooo much to fill it (it's a diesel).
• Joshua finished crocheting his afghan that he started a few years ago as a school art project (I'll post a picture at the end of this entry) - it is now on his bed, keeping him snuggly warm on these cold (and soon to get colder) nights.
• there has been a cold running rampant through our household and everyone in our family has caught it - not a really huge deal for most, but it has played havoc with my breathing and my voice .... having the farmers (in our area) burning everything they can because it has snowed hasn't helped either.
• this week, I'm getting a taste of what it is like to work full-time ...... one of my coworkers had a death in their family (her mother-in-law passed away) and I'm filling in for her - it's really making me appreciate my usual 2 days a week shift.
• school is carrying on, as usual, for us .... we have had a bit of a hiccup in this years educational journey, but it's getting worked out.  ˚Ü˚
• Charlotte has been continuing with her piano lessons and has been improving by leaps & bounds ..... tonight, at Choir practice, her instructor (who is also one of the Choir leaders in our Church) handed her some music with Christmas songs to practice (because she feels Charlotte is ready for this step).  ˚Ü˚
• next week, our homeschool support group is going to a ceramics place and the kids will be painting up some items (most of them are doing this for Christmas presents) - it will be wonderful to get together with this group again, they are soooooo very supportive and fun to be around.  ˚Ü˚
• tonight, I experimented for supper ..... I diced and fried up some chicken, added some diced potatoes, threw in some frozen corn and peas, mixed in a couple cans of mushroom soup and then poured a pizza crust (which is actually a batter) over top, and, put it in the oven to bake.  It turned out really well, much better than I figured it would, lol ..... Charlotte has requested that we tweak the crust part when I make this again, though.  I think, on the whole, it was a success .... everyone seemed to like it.  ˚Ü˚
• in June, we journeyed to another province and visited my oldest brother, his wife and their oldest son - we took my Mom out with us and had a wonderful time ...... the scenery is absolutely breathtaking where he lives - definitely want to go back for another visit.  ˚Ü˚

Okay, I think that's it .... at least, that's all I can think of, for now - I'll try and post a better entry, the next time I update.  ˚Ü˚

Here is the picture of Josh with his completed afghan ..... he's getting close to 6' tall and when he holds it up, it covers his entire body (including his head):

a book I've been reading

Last week I started reading a book called The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo.  It's been an amazing story to read and, it's a true story.  ˚Ü˚

 

Here's what it says on the back of the book:

Rebecca never felt safe as a child.

In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved with his family to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor.  There he found a small community eager to welcome him ... with one exception.  Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church and determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way.

The first time the Nichols family received a harassing phone call, they dismissed it.  The same went for the anonymous letter that threatened they'd leave "crawling or walking ... dead or alive."  But what they couldn't ignore was the strategy of terror their tormentor unleashed, more devastating and violent than they could have ever imagined.  Refusing to be driven away, Rebecca's father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family's kitchen ... and Rebecca's life was shattered.

If anyone had reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca.  Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story.  It is the amazing, true saga of relentless persecution, one family's faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her the power of forgiveness.

This is an amazing book - while it is a fairly quick read, it is a hard book to put down.

Just a reminder

Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight before you go to bed.  ˚Ü˚