Petunia rambles on and on….

These writing prompts are available every Monday from the Simple Woman’s Daybook where we’re invited to join in celebrating the beauty of everyday moments around us.  To participate, go to the website, follow the simple rules, and enjoy all that you have.  Learn to see all that’s there.

FOR TODAY

November 25, 2008

Outside my window…  I see trees that have lost their leaves, signaling the turning of another page in this year.  Summer’s glorious warmth is gone.  The graceful tapering of Autumn is past, with it’s showy colors.  We are into the still, stark chill that is Winter.  The calendar may disagree, but the trees know.  And the geese have left, in large “V’s” across the sky.  They know, too.

I am thinking…  of all the chores that should be done before the Thanksgiving holiday.  All the chores that my mother would have already accomplished!  Oh, the dinner will be done and it’ll be fine, but I’d love to be able to have things much more tidied and in order.   I’ll do all that Wednesday night, right after I cook supper, stuff the turkey, bake some pies, clean up the kitchen.  Oh, my, do I need this study in simple things, simple pleasures.

I am thankful for…  my 3 children, grown up now, who will all be home for dinner together on Thanksgiving.  They have their own lives, and these gatherings may not always be so well attended.  I’ll treasure them while I can.

From the kitchen…  there will be sausage stuffing being prepared.  I love it; the kids love it; that’s all we’ve ever known.  Husband doesn’t love it – he finally admits to this and says my stuffing is too rich!!   There’ll be bread stuffing this year, also.  Oh, I’ll jazz it up a bit, so that it doesn’t taste like old wet bread, but it’ll have no sausage in it.  Because we each like different things, do things in a different way, and everybody’s thoughts and feelings should be respected.

I am wearing…  jeans, a tank top and a fleece shirt worn as a sweater.  I went out yesterday dressed for “business,” nice pair of slacks and a blouse, and I almost froze to death in my office.  Not today, though!

I am creating…  knitting masterpieces, at least in my own mind.  I’m making the 2nd pair of mittens, for the 2nd of the pair of sons my daughter delivered one day.  The red mittens are done; 2nd grandtwin requested his be blue.  When he isn’t watching, I’m working on the February Lady Sweater for me.  A simple, comfortable, relaxing knit.

I am going…  to take care of something really important to me, in the near future, and I’m glad I finally made this decision.

I am reading…   Sweater Design in Plain English, by Maggie Righetti.  I’ve read her Knitting in Plain English, liked the style and what she had to say.  I like the concept of less dependence on written-out, line-by-line patterns.  I like the idea of using my own brain now and again instead of relying on someone else’s.  I remembered my mother saying that my grandmother knitted beautiful items, and in other conversations, she remarked that neither of my grandparents could read or write even in their native language.  Obviously, my grandmother was able to create by using remembered techniques, common sense and imagination.  Have we lost all that?

I am hoping…   to reduce clutter.   The clutter of things, the mental clutter of stress and worry.  The baggage I carry.  Mine and others.  Carrying it drags me down and doesn’t uplift anyone.

I am hearing…  little voices in my head, reminding me of things that need to be done.   The radio playing a Journey song.  The radio is on all the time, but I mentally tune all most of it out, except the Journey songs.   I hear every one!  Every time.  For over 30 years now.

Around the house…   my favorite spot is my “knitting corner.”   The lighting is good, the chair reclines and is comfortable.  I can glance up at the TV, should I wish to, but I often don’t!  Husband is usually nearby.  I can see pictures of the children.

One of my favorite things…   real mashed potatoes, slathered in homemade turkey gravy.  Soon!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week:   Work, clean, hug the kids, cook, work.

Here is picture thought I am sharing…  

It’s soothing, tranquil.  The Delaware River, looking north into the Water Gap, I-80 bridge.  Picture taken September, 2008.

Another trip to the dentist today, actually a prosthodontist.  (Wow, I spelled that correctly without looking it up)   One who specializes in implant, esthetic and reconstructive dentistry.

This is all slightly less fun than having a baby, and not as quickly achieved, considering that I had the last one in 8 minutes.  This is appointment after appointment, running, running.  I must say, though, that I’ve picked a good doctor, and I like how he does things.  He’s taking his time to get it right.  He is beyond thorough.  He makes me feel comfortable, at ease – for me this is a FIRST!!!!    

I’ve had people say to me that they went here or there to another state and paid less.  Perhaps that true.  One clinic that was recommended to me based on price was in PA in an area that I’d be afraid to drive through.  Uh, would I need to have my husband or brother go with me, so that I could walk from car to office?   (and chase up there 15 times?)  I had to make a decision, and location was a factor.  I was back at work today less than 15 minutes after I left the doctor’s office.  That’s an issue for me – how much time I miss from work.  I knew there would be many appointments, for fittings now, and adjustments later.  Travel time’s a factor.  So is gas, although much less so than when I first came up with this Great Plan.  Still, many factors had to be thought about and tossed around in my mind, and the doctor’s skill and manner make me glad I chose the way I did.

The consult appointment with the surgeon (who is right down the road a block or two from the prosthodontist) has been postponed 2 weeks, so now it is set for the week before Christmas.  Any hopes I had, back in August or September that this would be all over and done with by the holidays are shot in the arse.  It does, however, give me more time to come up with the money – going into this, I didn’t have a clue it would all cost so much, or that our insurance would pay so little.  Another issue is the schedule at work.  We have several that are taking vacation time at or around the holidays and coverage is tight.  Obviously if there was an emergency, well, it would have to be dealt with, but this isn’t an emergency yet.  Perhaps it’s just as well that it all goes over into January, when more people are available in the office.  I’ll feel easier about taking the time I need.

Knitting Stuff

Oh, damn, I started another knitting project.  I definately have KADD, as Sheri of The Loopy Ewe calls it.  (That’s Knitting Attention Deficit Disorder)  “Start-itis” is another term.  But everyone is talking about the February Lady Sweater, and it’s so awfully cold in my office.  I don’t want pullovers; I love them, really I do.  But, uh, pullovers need to be pulled over.  And then,  I’m warm, and they need to be pulled back in the other direction, exposing flab or whatever to any unsuspecting poor SOB that happens to be around.  By the time I get over the embarrassment of showing off my weight gain, well, I’m chilly again.  Rinse and repeat.  A cardigan sweater is a much better idea.

The beginning has been mindless garter stitch. I had to think a few times doing the raglan increases, and had to do a wee bit of division to place the YO increases.  All in all, it’s been a Happy Knit so far, one that I can cruise along with, maybe but not usually watching television or listening to the iPod.  I’ve divided the sleeves off, and done the first 4 rows of the lace, one repeat.    The WS rows are an 8-st garter border on either side and purl the rest.  So it’s just two rows that I have to think about for a bit, until my head and my fingers get it memorized!  Not difficult at all.  And I’ve placed many markers to keep me on track.

Another thing I saw that perked my interest on Sheri’s blogpost was a recipe using chicken.  Two reasons.  I use a lot of chicken living here on Delmarva, also the home of the chicken industry.  AND, by Friday, I’ll have lots of leftover turkey in the house, easily substituted into any recipe calling for chicken.   But I don’t want that soup, although it does sound good.  What I want, and this came to me in a flash, is home-made Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie.  And that thought is going to keep swirling in my brain until I make eat some!

Those of us who are of a certain age stopped yesterday, at some point in our day, when the recollection hit, and thought.  And remembered.  And wiped at our cheek a bit and went on.

And we thought of exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard.   And all of us remembered our first reaction.  “Aw, you’re kidding!”   “Hey, knock it off, that’s nothing to kid about!”  “You’re full of shit.”  Our first reaction was disbelief.  Nationwide, I think, young and old.  It couldn’t be true.   “Naw, you’re crazy!”

But history proved us all wrong.  It could happen.  It did happen.  Our president, young, active, with a beautiful wife and small children, a man strong and capable, had been shot.  He was gone.  We were stunned into silence, all quiet across the land, because tears sliding down a nationful of cheeks doesn’t make much sound.  And the innocence died with him, the feeling of safety, as a person and as a nation.

Yes, we all remember, us older ones.  I was in the 9th grade, first year of high school.  First class after lunch was a study hall, but I was too bored and restless which always got me in trouble, and instead reported every day to the school library and helped out there.  It was a brand-new school, just opened for that school year two months before. It had all the “modern technology” of the day, included a speaker system throughout the school.  Wow!  The school’s morning news was read out to us each day on it.  We usually ignored it all.

In the library that afternoon, I heard an odd crackling sound, and then slow, solemn-sounding music.  What the hell are they doing?  Somebody in the office playing with the buttons?  Do they realize that it’s going through the whole building?  (Boy, somebody’s gonna be in trouble over this one!!)  If they’re gonna play music to us, sure wish they’d play something better than this.  We didn’t know what was going on.  We certainly never imagined, in our wildest nightmares, what we were soon to be told.

And then the music on the intercom went to a radio feed.  And then we knew.

1917 – 1963