I think I mentioned a few months ago that a good friend's husband died of a brain aneurysm. We are still trying to get her to come out to our monthly friend group lunches again. Hopefully she makes it this coming Wednesday.
Now another one. Last week another friend's partner had a heart attack and after four days in the hospital trying various interventions (stents, ECMO machine, etc.) they just couldn't keep him stable and he died. The heart attack was completely unexpected, as he had not been having any symptoms until a little bit of heartburn the day before. In fact, they had just gone on a weekend hiking trip with another couple and they told me he was keeping up just fine and not showing any discomfort. I don't get that...I had another friend who was an age group winning triathlete and then boom he had to have a triple bypass (he did just fine though).
My friend had a reception at her house yesterday for bike club friends. She and her partner were both super active in the bike club that I used to belong to. I hadn't seen most of these people for over fifteen years. Good god they all got old!! (Oops so did I, haha). It was nice to see everyone but a little overwhelming too - crowded and noisy - so introvert smarty left after about 45 minutes.
In the dining room, my friend had index cards and asked people to tell a story about her partner. Mine was -
It was an after-work bike ride and as we gathered in the parking lot, the clouds looked kind of threatening but we decided to head out anyway. About ten miles into the ride, J. looked at the clouds and said "we should turn back. NOW." We hastily rode back to the parking lot and literally a minute after we pulled in, the skies opened up and there was a torrential downpour. Thanks for the weather magic J.!
(J. was a meteorologist. That was why everyone listened to him when he said turn back NOW.)
All of which is to say - maybe this is a stereotype but we all know men who don't take care of themselves very well. Pester your husband/partner/brother to get those diagnostics. This year I am proud to report that I pestered HWD into getting a shingles vaccination and a colonoscopy. They removed three pre-cancerous polyps during his colonoscopy so I figure I might have saved his life, haha. I do feel a bit bad that he lost two precious days off to fasting and the colonoscopy itself, but it was worth it.
Knitting pictures!
I finally finished this...thingie...that I've been working on for about six months. The pattern called it a "wrap" and showed a model wearing it like a serape but it's way too huge for that. So I guess it will be a throw on the couch for napping.
I also finished this cute hat with sheep, but it turned out huge. I need to find someone with a large head or bushy hair to gift it to.
New project - called Floating Squares wrap. Knitted in two colors of mohair. My one previous mohair project was a nightmare so I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea. I started it once last year and ended up ripping it out in frustration (which was quite a task since mohair sticks to itself). It's going better this time around, knock on wood.
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There's never a good time to die. When it's your time, it's your time. I crochet and totally encourage you to buy more yarn lol. Good job keep up the good work.
Hee hee you haven’t seen my stash! I’m quite sure I will buy more, though.
Sorry to hear about your friends, several of mine have cancer most had no symptoms so maybe they will be lucky.
Your latest creations look very professional, I especially like the sheep hat.
Thank you! Best wishes to your friends and fuck cancer!
I love the sheep!! And the serape will be so snuggly for the couch.
I had a frank discussion with Cowboy the other day about his health. He does nothing to improve it. He gets winded walking from the house to the truck. We too have friends that have been the picture of health then keeled over. It's unsettling. I don't want to be a widow just yet.
Hugs!!
For real. I hope he listens to you. Hugs back to you!
May he rest
Thank you.
@smartasswoman you are welcome. He won't have anymore pain.
I'm the young, energetic, tech savvy one in my camera club, so I got to be Treasurer. (The previous one just never could figure out how to download a monthly statement. 🤣 ) So when one of our members died (ironically on a photo trip!) it fell to me to address the "in lieu of flowers the family requests donations to (their church)". THAT part was no challenge, but writing the accompanying message was not something I'd ever done before. I outsourced the job to AI, which gave me four ideas. I took what I liked from those and crafted a short on-point message.
A close friend (who is much younger than her siblings) has had the job of writing obituaries a few times now. She’s quite good at it. I suppose in a way it’s cathartic to document the details of your loved one’s life.
But yeah…for someone less close, AI would be helpful.
I've been working on a baby blanket project. My goal is 17 blankets for my nieces and nephews future grandchildren. I want each baby to be wrapped in family love even if I'm not still alive! 20 more rows and blanket #7 will be finished!
I like the sheep hat. Someone could wear it droopy-ish, instead of snug to the scalp.
Blankets are no small feat. This is my third one and maybe my last! I hope all of your recipients appreciate the work and love put into those blankets.
@superbjversion2
That is the sweetest, most loving, and heartwarming thought I have read on this site... for a long while.
Thanks for the tearful smile.💕
@smartasswoman Baby blankets are much, much smaller than a full sized one. My fave pattern is only 34x40.
@staci_19702 We're talking first child of each of my grandniblings gets a blanket. My oldest grandniece is still in high school and the youngest is in kindergarten. Since I plan on living to 2039 (at least) I've got time!
@Paulxx001 Thank you. It seemed only fair to make sure everyone gets one...and you're welcome
@staci_19702 Not everyone has a "Super" auntie
I'm sorry about all of the untimely deaths. I hope you get your friend to come to the monthly lunch.
I always enjoy your knitting pictures. The sheep hat is very cute.
I just had my annual physical. I don't do colonoscopies anymore; I provide a sample and start from there. I no longer want the invasive stuff, although I can understand how the polyp removal during the procedure could be a convenient thing. I liked my doctor's scale though. I was hoping to hit 50lbs off before the appt, and I was sure I didn't get there. Turns out his scale said I was down 54. Not sure what happened there, but I'll take it! We need to recheck again in 3 months. I was taking a supplement that I thought was okay, but I may be one of those few people that is actually negatively affected by taking extra. We think it caused an autoimmune reaction. We'll know in 3 months after a recheck. I've stopped the supplement and done more research on it. The rest of my numbers were all good. Even the ones affected by the supplement weren't that bad, but Drs tend to really over-emphasize on occasion.
Congrats on your weight loss and good numbers, that’s fantastic!
I figure I have one more colonoscopy in about eight years, and then I’ll be done. All three that I’ve had have been clean slate, no polyps. But I have a couple relatives that have had colorectal cancer so it seems wise to screen.
I try to look after myself. My biggest problem is getting an appointment to see a doctor. There's a big shortage of doctors in the NHS - Brexit didn't help matters.
I like your latest knitting wares.
Oh, sorry about appointment problems! It is actually pretty similar here even without an NHS. I had a dental checkup this morning and the tech noted "you're overdue for x-rays". It wasn't worth arguing about, but I knew I was overdue because the soonest they could get me in for six month checkup was at least nine months out from last appointment.
Nice knits.
Sad news.
True... we never know when our number will be called.
I saw some friends over the weekend, and we all took a second to acknowledge new wrinkles. 😶
BTW: the new site does not allow line breaks in comments.
... and since i posted that thought 14 hours ago, it has been fixed...
Paul
you are so Right about line breaks
in new frustrating concept site,
I have entered my Complain about it also
One of the exchanges I had was that it just reinforces getting the most we can out of life. I think it is good to acknowledge the wrinkles...they're pretty much inevitable unless one is very genetically gifted.
So the shift-enter trick doesn't work on the new site? WTF indeed.
@Proffer4u2
I am beginning to highlight the defects, glitches, and F-ups over there, for the second and third time. Perhaps... cluster-bombing is the answer to get their attention on the most obvious things.
also might add....
when sending EMAILS also !!
@Proffer4u2 @smartasswoman
Perhaps we can catch their attention with volume.😶
@Paulxx001
With this particular change...
of not being able to create "line breaks",
The ability to do that exists now.
So what possible motivation would AFF or a programmer have
not to continue with something so logically appropriate?
It does not make any sense
whatsoever~!~
@smartasswoman
@Paulxx001
There is strength in #'s...
yet we Battle a King's Domination~!~
@Paulxx001 I was able to do the Shift-enter on an email and it worked.
@Paulxx001 But
Ctrl + Enter has to happen here.
Then it seems that even hitting the Enter key makes a new line. Who knew? Yeah, this is simpler. 🙄