Universe, you may now bring on Autumn.

 I am officially over summer - I have had my Tomato Cheddar Pie.

And, thanks to friends and neighbors, I can stow green beans in my freezer.

All the stuffies have winged off to new homes (thank you all for the interest and kind comments).  It has been extra fun because I have 'met' new people!

We had a surprise thunderstorm that pelted almost three-quarters of an inch of rain on us.  There have been quite violent storms to the north, west and south of us, so I am not quite as cranky about missing the rain.  Besides, giving up on one's garden does tend to relieve stress.  Unless you have placed it within almost constant view.

Slimmie is over summer, too.  I did some redecorating - which, in my case, means that I exchanged furniture that had been given to me for other furniture that had been given to me.  I went from a chair and a half, to a chair.  After some consternation, Slimmie managed to find a way to wedge himself beside me.  He is thriving on his new diet (I'd thrive on it, too, at that price) and has regained his voluminous glossiness.  I do love him to bits.  Thanks (or not) to his new diet, he has become the herald of breakfast time.  At precisely 6:15A, he begins to circle the living room, yowling.  And he continues to yowl until I go into the kitchen and fix breakfast for the kids.  He has me well trained.

As summer draws to a close, and in an effort to reduce air battles, I have put out an additional hummingbird feeder.  I know they are gearing up for their long trek to their winter home, so I am happy to help.  It's going to be rather quiet without them.  However, I now have a flock of 50 sparrows, so that should fill in the silence.  There certainly was a bumper crop of baby birds this year.  I am taking that as a hopeful sign for this beautiful planet.

My visit to the orthopedic doc found that I had bursitis AND arthritis in my hip.  Isn't that special?  He gave me a shot of cortisone for the bursitis and a lot of useful information.  My choices are - shots to the hip and physical therapy until it doesn't make sense, or hip replacement surgery.  I have three months to mull it over.  As loathe as I am to have any kind of surgery, I am dog-tired of the pain and limitations this damn hip has placed on me.  Growing old is not for sissies.

The SOYSOX Project and Misfit Stuffies

After my father passed away last year, my sisters did a purge of some of the 35+ years of stuff that has accumulated at my parents' home.  It will be an ongoing process for some time.  Bestowed upon me, since I am apparently short on yarn (snort), were the bits and bobs left over from all the yarn my mother had used in knitting socks for my father over the years.  It is a sobering amount.  Since it is not in my DNA to turn down any amount of yarn, I trundled it home and noodled about what to make with it - one of those cool memory blankets?  A cat cozy or ten?  Sausage dog booties?

Instead, I decided to do Stream Of Yarn socks.  Or SOYSOX.  I am working my way through the pile, in no particular order (although my strong tidy genes - all two of them - seem to gravitate toward color coordination), making shorty socks for my sisters, my mother and me.  So far, I have knit up two and a half pair.

I like to knit shorty socks because they hold my focus long enough to be completed!  I tend to fall into the one sock down, OMG one to go category when knitting regular socks.

My limited focus and apparent need for instant gratification, has led me to an obsessive knitting-up of small stuffed toys, or stuffies, as I call them.

 

I've experimented with cotton yarn, wool yarn, ear placement, face embroidery, clothing options, you name it, with varying degrees of success.  I still need a lot of work on my mattress stitch.  All my stuffies are slightly wonky.  But, I'm hooked and I am determined to reach some level of proficiency.  I may still be at it when I'm in the nursing home.

Would anyone be interested in these misfit stuffies?  From the top - cotton bunny with removable dungarees; woolen bear with knit-on dress, no knickers; woolen rabbit with two removable outfits; woolen bear with knit-on dress, matching knit-on knickers.  They are about 7" tall, made with all new, washable materials.  If you are interested in any of them, please send me an email (swomersley at gmail dot com).  We'll do it on a first come, first served basis.  I am sure there will be more...  I'm having too much fun to stop.

***Edited to say that they would just cost the price of postage - I will check on the price of the smallest prepaid mailing box and will add it to this post. xo

***PS The cotton bunny and the woolen bunny are spoken for!

Got a match?

If it wasn't for the tomatoes... I would torch my garden.  It does make me feel the tiniest bit better knowing that everyone around me is having a very 'off' year, too.  After a little spurt of productivity, all eighty of my summer squash plants pooped out.  After an exciting start with abundant vines, glorious yellow blossoms and baby squash, my Kuri plants died.  My cucumber plants withered.  Even with electronet fencing, there is a little, skinny rabbit that hops in and out of the garden, eating off the tops of the Swiss chard, chewing up the sunflowers, mowing the beans.  But, all is not lost!  I have a splendiferous, glorious, bumper crop of WEEDS!  (Drip, drip, drip goes the sarcasm.)  Between the drought and my wonky hip(s), I have not been able to keep up with them.  As if that is ever a possibility - even in good times.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to weed the kale and onion beds (don't even get me started on the onion 'crop') or just turn my back on it all, reap what I can and then smother the beds over the winter.  It's very disheartening.  

Last week, I had to cover for my counterpart in the city, which meant that I had to trek into the office every day so that I could cover her attorney's phone - for that one call a day.  In some ways, it was nice to get away from the house, but in most ways, I am so glad I do not have to commute.  There is also construction going on in the office below me, which seems to require super-heavy-duty dental equipment (whining drills), a jack hammer, lots of metal ladders and whoknowswhat.  You can't hear yourself think.

We've had a brief hiatus from the hotashell weather - over as of yesterday and back into heat advisories - so I marooned myself on the Island of Misfit Stuffies and made more progress on my secret SOYSOX project, details to be revealed at a later date.  I will recount my adventures on the IOMS in my next post.

There were some highlights over the past week(s) - my friend, Marianne, opened her general store, Hoosick Provisions, to rave reviews.  It is a lovely space filled with wonderful things and they have been busy as all get-out since they opened their door. 

There was also a little pre-birthday celebration with three of the four 'girls' at my favorite restaurant.  It was such a nice experience - from the ambiance, the service, the gracious accommodation of the oldest of the girls and her wheelchair.  Then there were the cocktails!

I had a Waterlily and I could have floated down the stream very easily, had I not limited myself to one.  It was a lovely shade of violet.  I am going to take my sister back for a later birthday celebration - I hear the call of the waterlilies...

The dogs and I went on a little jaunt to a local farm stand, noted for its sweet corn.  While I was slipping the dewy ears into my bag, I saw a pickup go by with a friend at the wheel - I waved frantically, but she vaguely looked at me and smiled -  one of those, "hello, friendly stranger" kinds of looks.  When I got home, I realized that she wouldn't have recognized me - dog rescue hat pulled down to my ears, sunglasses, mask, barn clothes.  She did email me later saying she had recognized Lovey, sticking out of the back window!  I guess these days we are recognizable by our dogs.

Back to 'normal' this week, with an appointment with my doctor today to start the hip repair ball rolling.  As long as there is not another COVID flare up in NY or VT, I should be okay.  I have decided that my new normal will be whatever the day brings.  I hope your days bring you only good things.  xo