Daily Notes- November 12

                                        

House lights on at 8am.  Boots with those Ice Tracker things to keep me from flipping onto my butt on the sidewalk.  It's cold. It's dark.  It's covered in ice.  Maine.  The Way Life Should Be. Ha!!

Riley and I walked.  He pooped.  The Morning Report.  He also peed.  The guy who was dressed like an Elf yesterday- out scraping ice off his car.  Not dressed like an Elf.   Neighbor across the street has been working on clearing space in her garage for her car.   She must be feeling overwhelmed. (since I wrote this a truck has arrived at her house with a ladder)-  well, if nothing else this gives me a purpose for the morning.  Looking out the window.

I mostly sat and did nothing yesterday after being out earlier.  Sigh.  Nothing appealed to me.  Not the internet. Not the tv.  Not the cloth.  Certainly not the bobbin case situation.  I did spend time in the Attic looking for a stripe cloth.  I shoved the big maple dresser in the dining room further to the right. To uncover the entire new radiator.  G was wearing gloves in the house- and a scarf.  Feeling cold.

Picture at the top is the most important thing I own right now- those old boots and the orange ice tracker things.  I had thought they were pink.  Perhaps I do own a pink set of these?  And you can see how dark it is in the house.  They were on the dining room table when I took the picture. South side of the house.

I decided to have a chocolate Tootsie Pop.  After breakfast treat.  From Halloween.

G and I agreed that we should have put up the big porch wreaths while it was still above freezing.  We didn't.  And I do want to buy additional strings of lights for the wreaths so they are visible from Space. In five minutes (it seems) it'll be Christmas.

Daughter returns to the Candy Factory next week and promises not to wipe her nose on her shirt sleeve or Farmer Blow her nose.  All things that are okay when doing landscape work but not good to do while working in the Candy Factory.    I don't think I ever got into the habit of the sleeve nose wipe while working at the greenhouse.  If you don't know what a Farmer Nose Blow is......  you can Google it?

Daily Notes- November 11

                                                

I found two more- The one on the left is more tan than the orange it shows up as here.  The one on the right- at first I was so excited because it looked silvery grey but it's actually a grey green.  Which is good.  A quiet color.

My coffee date went well after we found a place that wasn't crowded.  So many people out and about on Veteran's Day.  We found a table away in a corner.  My back to everyone and my companion getting to people watch.  I showed her all the cloth I have been working on.  She is always taken aback by the hand stitching.  Something she thinks is tedious.  I enjoy it and she does not. But otherwise she enjoys seeing my work in person and sometimes she asks to hold it.  Cloth has a very nice feel in your hands and I like tracing the line of stitches in the seams.  I sewed all with black thread.  To make sure it was visible.  For some reason, I enjoy sewing right now instead of reading.

I went up three times to the Attic to find a fabric to go next on the hot pink and gold.  Nothing.  In all that Attic- Nothing.

I always see it as a gift.  To change course.  Someday the cloth I was looking for will show up-- but not now.  Now I have to walk a new path. But I did find these two and more of all the others.  How many Times did I buy these dots?  That tan on the left will go around as soon as I figure out the "breathing" border fabric.

On the wall behind my companion's head- two delightful watercolors of our Town.  One- the corner where the Art Store is located and one of the busy Maine street with cars.  I would enjoy owning both.  I will have to go back when the coffee shop is less crowded and ask about them.

G is having the last of his Chicken Soup.  He had to make more noodles.  I need to think of something to cook next.  I could make a sheet tray of meatballs.  I have ground beef in the freezer- let it thaw in the fridge overnight.  Sounds like a plan.  When I was on my diet I would eat a bowl of just the meatballs as I couldn't have the pasta.  I started to look forward to bowls of meatballs.  Marinara sauce on them of course.  I would not eat a bare meatball.

Well, I sat here long enough and Riley is asleep.  He had two large Milk Bone biscuits for lunch so his tummy is full and we had a walk just before I sat down here.  He looks so tender when he sleeps- not a care in the World.

Oh something funny- a neighbor two doors down was out at his mailbox at 8 am for our first walk of the day.  Green pants fastened at the ankle with something.  Gold sweatshirt with a belt.  Red hat.  I looked and thought- oh no Joanne- too many Hallmark Movies!!!  An ELF!!!!

Daily Notes- November 10

                                                 

I added borders.  One set (the stripe) on Friday and the second border last night (a bit less neatly).  Well, evening.  I tore the strips hoping they were "close" to even but welcomed the uneven-ness.  I ran out on the bottom edge and had to improvise.  Hasn't been pressed.  Yet.  I do love that part most of all.  The hot iron, spray starch and a good long press.  The Virgo, present and accounted for.

Anon: water in puddles.  Dogs drink out of puddles.  Riley has forever been given meds to counteract the propensity of dogs to drink out of puddles large and small (he used to swim in one or two of those large puddles back in the days when it rained here).  It is well known that the larger water filled areas behind my house (swampy) contain deer pee.

 On evening walks with Riley we watch deer cross the road ahead of us, peeing and pooping as they walk.  I think Readers of this blog who live in other states have deer in their yards as well. Their dogs are likely vaccinated as is Riley.

The newspaper had a few laughs in it.  My oatmeal was a bit more soupy than I like.  My banana was very nice.  My coffee- trying to get used to the new spoons- so sometimes too weak and others days too strong.  Not finding the "just right" spot.  G brought one of my favorite sweaters down from the Attic- some animals had eaten holes in it over the Summer.  Mice or chipmunks.  Made me very sad. And now I know ALL clothing needs to be in heavy plastic storage containers. I will try to do some Boro type mending on the sweater but I think it might be a total loss. Its' been a long, long time since Goodwill had any good natural fiber sweaters in my size.  I had thought about buying the small sweaters and forming a patchwork sweater out of the larger pieces.  But the colors never were compatible.  Or the fiber content.  Daughter gave me a natural fiber large scarf- I could cut and sew it into something I can wear.  That's something I can consider.  Just rectangles sewn together.

G needs to pound in the tall sticks along the edges of the drive and walks-so he knows where to snowblow when it starts snowing.  The soil seems frozen so he may have waited too long.

I have a re-scheduled coffee date tomorrow morning the only day this week when the wintery mix isn't forecast.  I am waiting to see if the pharmacy gets in any high risk flu shots--I haven't had mine yet and it's getting scary.   I was healthy enough not to have my October appointment with the lung doctor- so no shot there this year.  G had his. And the booster dose of the Shingles vaccine is due or past due. I had the first and the second is supposed to be given in exactly 90 days.

Well, I am going to go iron this cloth and then-  don't know.  I walked Riley at 8:30am and now he thinks he needs to go out again.  Three hours- might just be boredom.  He ate yesterday evening (I added peanut butter) but is refusing the same meal this morning.  I think he is just getting bored.   Or its a nervous barking tick he has developed.  It's always something new.

Daily Notes- November 9

                                                    

Riley in the morning.  He's had his walk (8am) and his morning pills plus a hemp oil treat.  I had hoped it would make him want to eat (ha!).  So far, no.  G is reading the paper and eating breakfast to the left of the dog.  My chair is directly behind him.  He likes when all three of us are close together- always has.

All the puddles of rainwater were frozen solid this morning.  Riley was disappointed in not being able to get a drink.  He likes outdoor water much more that indoor water.

I didn't do anything with cloth yesterday.  Finished my book.  Made chicken soup for G and the turmeric broth for myself.  G was very pleased with his soup- mine was tasteless. All those vegetables and no taste at all. Very disappointing.  Next time I might brown the vegetables in some oil and then add the water?  Or not make it again.  Vegan broth is really a waste of time.

I did manage to remove all the outer material from the black walnuts (about 35).  They had blackened and softened and everything came off easier than when they are green.  I wore gloves but my right thumb- used to push on the husk- is rather brown.  Stained.  Due to a hole in the glove.  I have my non-reactive enamel kettle ready to add the walnut husks and water and simmer- I have to add water to cover the "fruit" and simmer on medium low for nearly a day.  Then let sit and cool overnight. Then I will strain thru cheesecloth to make the ink (with added alcohol).  The solids can be used to dye cloth (with added water). I won't be making the quart or so of ink the author of these instructions made.  I just need a small jar.  So there will be plenty of solids and liquid to color cloth. and daughter has given me her little crock pot.  I can use it to do any slow cooker dyeing of cloth.  I read about this method on Graceandmending.  A blog that I don't think is active anymore.

Today I have Washing Machine Pages to write as I have a small load of people clothing and another of dog blankets.  I try to change out Riley's bedding more frequently as he spends much of the day on one or the other of his beds.

I went up into the Magic Attic- the cloth closet-- and found (in the different color way stacks)-  that I had five different colors of the circles (dots) fabric from the last post.  I have a blue, green, orange  and even a black/brown along with the pink you saw a few days ago.  It was fun to find each in the stacks of cloth.  The black/brown was a real treat to find. When I was addicted to buying fabric like some women buy shoes-- If I liked a certain fabric and it came in other colors- I bought them as well.  In this case-- it was a very good thing.

So, today is G's day to go off in the car and I will stay home.  I now understand the need for respite when caring for a loved one (human or animal).  The caregiver just needs a chance to drive or walk away from it and come back refreshed.  I have been making trips to the grocery more often and to the library.  I was supposed to have a coffee date this week- but Riley had that emergency appointment (fever) and I had to cancel.  I am going to email and see if we can reschedule.

Daily Notes- November 8

                                    

Well. this is as far as I have gone with the piece.  I took it all apart and removed all the fabric that was not pink. Sewed it back into a rectangle.  Now I am considering the onion over dyed yellow linen.  It has a silky finish to it now-that linen.  And I wonder if I want to use it here or save it for something in the Future?  This is Me.  I save what I think is wonder filled and use what is not.  If this was something I touched everyday- then yes. But if it's something that is folded into a drawer- then no.  So Purpose.  A thing needs Purpose.

I have made a few fundamental changes in my "SAVING" of things.  My antique print handkerchieves are now found in every one of my pockets.  It's a real Joy to reach into a pocket and find something lovely to blow my nose into.  That was a huge concession on my part.  But I tried it with one.  And after many months of being in my pocket- it was none the worse.  Oh, it had been laundered in that Time.  It was that part that worried me- the stress of laundry on the old fabric. No one makes and sells thin, soft printed hankies any more.  Plastic wrapped packs of folded Kleenex is the way to go now.  Printed with little designs.

Yesterday I decided to keep giving Riley the Amoxicillin.  It seems to be doing something and the two days not giving- something was lost in his well being.  And I trust the advice of one Vet over another.  This new Vet- I don't like him and he seems uninterested in anything besides his ultrasound machine.  My trusted Vet is away all of November.  Riley has developed a nervous type yip. It just comes out of him.  He is even surprised by it. We go day by day but other than the yipping- he is peeing and pooping and sleeping.  And walking in front of me now, not behind as he does when he is feeling weak.  Some pulling.  But he has always wanted to be out front. So--all that is good.

I am nearly finished with my book.  I am still not certain of the outcome.

I have made necessary changes to my diet to limit my exposure to Fats & Cholesterol.  I usually eat mostly plants, beans and grains.  But now I have fat free milk and coffee creamer.  I can't find a good tasting low fat yogurt so I still eat Noosa.  But not as many.  And I have oatmeal for breakfast now that's it's getting cold.  The puddles on the street where I walk Riley are now frozen. Snow later today.

I am now having to wear a reflective vest on the walks after 4pm.  One of my neighbors nearly ran us down last night (6 pm).  Car just kept coming directly at us and we were not even on the road.  Lives next door.  So at 10 pm I wore the vest.  We need to put one on Riley as well.  Vest, Halter, Leash.  He is annoyed with each new item.  I am Coat, Hat, Vest, Shoes, Gloves, Poop Bags, Hankie. I will need add Boots soon.

That's it for today.  Finish my book, walk the dog 3 more times today.  Make G a pot of chicken soup.
I have a little carton of instant red miso soup to try out.  I like red miso.  And there are brown rice ramen noodles in the carton as well.  I made broth once (failed to write it down on a recipe card) and it was a very slow simmered bone broth of chicken and ginger and turmeric.  I ate it will rice noodles. Very soothing.  But I would have liked it better minus the chicken.  Anyone know of a healing broth with ginger and turmeric root that does not need animal protein?

Daily Notes- November 7

                                       

What I'm reading.  Frannie is born a slave on a plantation in Jamaica in the 1800's.  After the plantation and all it's crops burned to the ground, Frannie and her Master sailed to England where she is given as a gift to a man from whom her master wants a favor.  Frannie was taught to read as a child.  Her favorite book -Moll Flanders.  Frannie is accused of a double murder.  Her story - her life is written as a journal of sorts while she awaits trial.  "lush, gritty, wry, gothic, and compulsive". Another first book by an author who certainly knows how to write.  I love reading "first" books.

Reading "Where the Crawdad's Sing" and then "Confessions of Frannie Langton" would be an excellent use of the Winter of 2019.

I am never sure what I have already written here.  As, during the day, when things happen I am writing (in my head) what I would say about the incident on the blog and I write emails to people who comment.   There was nothing to see on Riley's ultra sound.  No cancer.  But his liver is oddly shadowed, enlarged with tiny specks of white.  The Vet has no idea: we could be looking at the Cosmos.  He can stick a long needle in to do a biopsy.  But didn't seem that eager to do that.  Riley is a large dog he says.... and large dogs have a lifespan that Riley has met and might, possibly, have exceeded.  Vet sees no reason for the tranquilizers or the twice daily amoxicillin which has had no effect.  He still got a fever (infection) while taking it.  So........ as to the low sodium turkey that is Riley's main food source- the Vet shrugged.  Said it really didn't matter.  A healthy diet is the least of our concerns I guess.

That was what the end of life doctor said about my dad.  A healthy diet was the least of our concerns.
Let him eat ice-cream and potato chips.  And even a hot dog which delighted my dad so much.

I wrote, here on this blog, about the Dark Times.  In Germany, a very depressed country, this is how they describe Winter.  It's Dark.  At 4 pm.  That's what I was saying.  It's dark.  I'm not depressed about it.  It's just the signal that Winter is here.  My daughter read those words and now she wants me to get a "seasonal mood light" to look at each day to reset my mental and emotional health.  OMG.

I am NOT depressed.  I am overwhelmed by the care giving of the dog.  The emotional caregiving.
Yes, I am sad.  I love the dog.  I would be sad. It's natural.

I stopped in at the grocery to buy a few things and......as happens (Fate).... I was stopped by several people I knew.  One to tell me the hibiscus plant I brought back from leafless near death is doing beautifully- years later. As I was leaving her, I said "I helped because I knew how much it meant to you that the plant lived". You see, I didn't just work.  I tried to help.  I made an effort to go beyond what was expected. It wasn't just a plant.  It was a husband who had died too soon.  It brought joy to me to see her so happy--now.

And they had FINALLY stocked the freezer with my favorite Ben and Jerry's flavor.

Daily Notes- November 6

                                                 

This is very large- double bed sized wide but not as long.  I had seen a small image of this man in a travel magazine.  I think it was a carving on a wall or some other thing. Not Egyptian.  But I liked it.  I drew it without a light projector and then cut it out of whole cloth and appliquéd it to the green background. Perhaps if it had been more of a bronze color?  It just doesn't present strongly.  I have considered cutting it up into segments.  The arm with the three men.  The monkey by himself.  But the major problem of color and contrast would still exit.  Any ideas?  I am not against removing the figure from the background or appliquéing other fabric over the dark green.  It's fully quilted with binding.  Make an interesting lap robe.

The arm under the monkey goes further to the left and holds a ring.  The original image had no feet.

I loved the idea of the monkey. And the three men standing on the arm.  Wish I had done a better job with fabric choices.

Riley walked last night as far as the Twins house and had some water out of their deep puddle.  We went out at 10 pm and it was very dark and quiet.  Riley sniffed the air and located the places the deer had walked.  He peed.  He was steady on his feet and the leash was slack the entire time.  Three days ago he was dragging me around.  Pulling with great strength.  He still has no appetite but did take his evening pills and the morning ones plus the chewable Baytril.  We go for an ultrasound at 3pm.

I took apart that patchwork from yesterday's post.  Took about 20 minutes.  For some reason I was sewing with that clear nylon thread.  I used to use that when quilting.  Matched everything and didn't show.  Bobbin was white cotton.  Didn't want to change the thread I guess.  Connie likes the purple.  Going to send it off to her.  There's more in the Attic.  I never did like purple.

I have three library books to read.  Hard to concentrate on little words on a page.  I keep looking at Riley to make sure he's breathing.  That's a rough way to be living right now.  Can't concentrate on much else. But....truly, it would be the gentlest way for him to go. To just take a nap here at home watching me type and wake up in Heaven. He's awake and giving me that "what's the matter with you?" look.  I told him I was just being ..... me.  And he went back to his nap.

Daily Notes- November 5th

                                               

I was up in the Magic Attic looking for a scrap of a print fabric and came across this.  It's may be 15 by 24 inches.  I love the gray print border.  This is all I have.  I have it in a blue color way but like the gray with these reds.  I would have liked making it larger. And I do not like the purple.  But now I think I might take the border off. Take apart the patchwork center.  It's no longer relevant to me.  I would do it differently in 2019.

I would do many things differently if given the chance for a "do-over".

That could be my Life Statement.  I feel like I am caught in a life I never actually wanted.

I was interested in all the ways people cook their old fashioned oats.  I haven't perfected the oats to water ratio yet to get the dense but not gummy oats texture that I enjoyed when Riley was still a puppy and me sitting in the desk chair (with wheels) was enough to get him to sleep.  The wheels made noise which he could hear and he would wake up.  I ate my oatmeal in the chair, read books in the chair and posted early blog entries from the chair.  Anything to keep an active puppy sleeping. Now I could set off a bomb and not wake Riley up if he wanted to sleep.

We went to the Vet today- unexpectedly at 8:30 am.  Riley has another fever.  Needed fluids and more antibiotics.  I am thinking he should never have stopped taking them.  I should have expressed my thoughts to the Vet office.  Tomorrow an ultrasound to see what his liver is doing.  He is refusing food.  But with the two massive injections of antibiotics-- he will feel better by tomorrow and might eat then.  He was doing so well- like his jolly old self.  Now........he's very weak.  They think it might be Lyme.  No vaccine for that.

On the bright side- my credit card is collecting lots of points.

Two episodes of Antiques Roadshow last night.  I enjoyed both.  I was sewing little bits of cloth to other little bits of cloth and have managed to make about 6 typing paper sized items so far.  None of them go with any of the others.  They are just hand sewn groups of components.  They aren't going to turn into wishing stars or cats or anything (like Jude's on Spirit Cloth).  I guess they are all backgrounds for something that might happen on their surfaces- someday. Or in 2029 I might decide to unsew them all and make something else?  Like the one up top.  The parts are more interesting than the whole.

Daily Notes- November 4

                                      

Tis the Season for Pies.  And the best part of pie is the crust.  This one looks very nice and buttery. I make my edges the same way with thumb and two fingers.

My problems with the Daily Notes boils down to not being able to access my picture file.  I just get text which makes no sense to me.  Something has been lost in translation.  So .......Now I just place a picture on the desktop and then move it to the post.  Then center it.  Having no picture just takes the fun out of it for me.  That's why I was so bummed out over the problem I was having.

Riley has been wanting early morning walks (7 am) and close to midnight walks and several in between during the day.  So I am getting my steps in.  This morning we heard two gun shots- Hunting Season- so I will need to be wearing orange and Riley will need an orange vest so we don't get shot. My Neighborhood is verboten for hunting but the hunters come anyway as the woods and Commons are full of deer.  We had two females and their 3 babies in the backyard on Saturday.  Eating acorns.
The entire month of November.  Gunshot.  I hate it.  More so because the hunters are often drunk.

I have been foraging in the cloth closet and need to go into the Attic.  There is something niggling in the back of my mind- a cloth I think the piece I am sewing needs.  I have a small scrap of it but need to visualize how it might look as a larger piece.  For the search.

Daughter came by before 8am to drop off some tender perennials to over winter in the Attic bathroom as it's unheated but doesn't freeze.  She is finding things as they do end of season cleanup.  These perennials were going into the compost bag so she saved them out.  They are working ocean front today and it will be cold and windy even with the sun shining. They are still doing Fall Cleanup. Riley and I got a bit frosty on the morning walk.  I need to add a hat to my outfit.

G is going off to do a flower delivery for the greenhouse.  Hope he doesn't get lost.  I am going up to the attic.  To look for something with blue and white and some pink.  Riley is going back to looking out the back window in hopes of more deer coming to visit. The grass was frosted white this morning.   The Dark Days Are Here.  Dark by 4 pm.  And I think I need a second sweater this morning.

Daily Notes- November 3rd

                                      

I love the shape, color and seeds of the Pomegranate.  One year, I drew 5 or six variations of this fruit and each was a different medium.  Pencil, pen, brush, crayon etc.  I think I will make one of cloth this time and then eat the seeds.  And then dye cloth with the skin and some iron for a deep black- or so it's written in my book of dye secrets.

I went out to the grocery to get my prescription (inhaler) and found I was in the "donut hole" and instead of $40 it was $119.  Next time that will triple.  It's okay, as I can afford it, but I always think of those who can't.  Thoughts like that make my heart heavy.

Riley is feeling very much like himself and instead of a slow walk by my side- I am being dragged about from one side of the street to the other.  He found one leg of a robin sized bird in the grass and pine straw.  He feels a compulsion to revisit it.  His wild genes.  Not mine.  One visit to the bird leg was enough for me.

The Twins were out and we saw them twice so far today.  Raking leaves with their father.  Riley likes seeing them (from a distance) but they still make him uncomfortable as they move very fast when up close.  He's never had much experience with small children.

I spent time this morning with the orchids.  They have the fuzzy white insect on their leaves so I had to wash everything, spray and then water and fertilize them.  It's my fault- with all that is going on with the dog- I neglected them.  That neglect also hastened the flowers on the Christmas Cactus. Usually I get it right and stop watering in late October for Christmas flowers.   Not this year.  I didn't water at all in late September into October.

I am tired.  It happens when the Time Changes.  When Winter begins.  We change the clocks tonight. but it won't be long before it's deep dark at 4 pm.  The Dark Days.  Endless dark.  And then the cold here and the snow and ice.

I bought a small container of old fashioned oats.  I am going to try them for breakfast.  I ate them for years and years and then just stopped enjoying them.  But they are good for lowering cholesterol so I will give them another chance.  In the microwave.  I just need to get the proportion of oats to water just right.  I know I could do overnight oats- very popular right now- but I don't like fruit or yogurt with my oats.  Just oats and a small amount of milk.

Daily Notes- November 2nd

                                                  

What I hand stitched last night while watching some "educational" thing on Stonehenge.  Now they have DNA evidence the stones were set up by aliens from another solar system (really?).  And they powered up the stones and went back "home".   The tone of all the stone theories seemed to have influenced my cloth choices.  Stones, Sun, Darkness.  I plant based dyed the yellow linen with dark brown onion skins.  Love the color. And the rusty tones left by direct contact with the onion skins.

The Hallmark movies were of no interest and there was nothing else to watch.

This early morning's walk with Riley was cold (as was last call last night).  I may have to wear something warmer under my orange raincoat.  I have been wearing just a very light quilted vest under.  Yesterday a neighbor from across the big road was walking with her two big fluffy white retrievers.  Girls.  And they pulled her right across the street to "meet" Riley.  She had another white puppy when Riley was a puppy.  Sashia developed a tumor on her heart and died before reaching 4 years.  So this neighbor was surprised we still had Riley.  I said he was 12.5 now.  On the walk back down the street he had to intensively sniff every spot the girls had visited.  Men.

A found a bag of avocado pits in with the morning newspaper.  My Library/walking buddy must have stopped by.  When avocados are a "very good" price she eats one a day- saves the pits for me.  I tucked hers into the freezer with the ones I save.

I now have two more loads of laundry to monitor today (writing two to three pages of Washing Machine Pages).  And I never did get to dragging out the vacuum and doing the floors. G often volunteers but his sciatica is still bothering him and even taking the dog out with the invisible fence collar is more than he can do.

Well, it's Saturday.  Last Saturday.....well, I am reminded of how weak Riley was last Saturday- refusing to eat or take his medicines.  He's come a long way in just a week.  Back to pulling on the leash and dragging me into the brush with him.  And I am a very heavy weight to be dragged.  He's eating about a pound of low sodium turkey over 7 days- wrapped around the various pill pockets of meds 4 times a day.  And he's enjoying Milk Bones.  They have nutrients.  Low fat and low calories.  The Vet office suggested canned chicken with the juices in his dry food.  I can't see him even sniffing that.  The Milk Bones add bulk to the digestive tract if you know what I mean.

Well, the Washing Machine Pages won't write themselves.  Later.

Daily Notes- November 1

                                                

Good Morning.  This is the Halloween Quilt I made many years ago for the town library.  It hung on the wall behind the circulation desk for the month of October for many happy years (I loved that job) and has been in the closet up in the Magic Attic for years and years now.  I had a bit of a problem inserting the picture here.  My computer is experiencing some difficulties.  So...there is a good chance my Daily Notes will stop quite abruptly.  There is no one to fix any problems now.  I will try a reboot.

I keep getting strange and never seen before messages.  As much as my son and husband believe they have severed ties between this computer (the main one) and my husband's new iPad- I fear they are still entangled in some ways.  It is with great sadness that I type this- knowing it may go nowhere.

My Life- as I knew it--seems to be slowly falling apart.  Not that I don't still have friends and good days.  It's that I find myself thinking I am in Solitary Confinement.

The Twins and their parents enjoyed seeing the Halloween Quilt. And the boys were very good conversationalists with me, G and with Riley who seems to have made an instant attachment to them.  They must smell wonderful to the Dog.  They were our only Tricker Treaters.  The rain and wind took a break so no one got wet.  The lawn was littered with fallen branches this morning.  So some heavy wind came thru overnight.

Hallmark delivered a new and sweet Christmas Movie last night that I enjoyed- a down in the dumps  Vermont Town experiences a revival when a down on her luck Venture Capitalist comes to stay for a month in the Town's charming bookstore.  She spends zero money but manages to change the Town anyway.  I like fantasy.

Well, the holiday is over and I need to do laundry and write my Washing Machine Pages while I keep watch that no water overflows onto the new floors for the third time.  I also have bills to pay.  I also should vacuum the floors of the entire house- dog hair is drifting into all the corners.  So- a busy day of sorts.  I still need to tackle the bobbin case.  And the sewing room floor is littered with scraps of cloth and cotton and linen clothing.  My new yardages.  Pretty soft colors of well worn clothing to add to my "components".  Dee the second of your "packing" material scraps is in the salsa jar with a tin can.  The sun is shining on it right now.  When it's dry and warm I will unwrap to see what I have.

If I can't post- I will write to each of you a email.  If I don't have an email address for you- send to jsuley@comcast.net.

Daily Notes- Happy Halloween

One of the identical  twin boys on my street is the writer and the other the adventurer.  The writer sends us letters.  And other adult families on the street also get letters.  I've lived here over 28 years and this is the most fun we have had on this street in all that Time.  Mrs. Joanne.  Mr. Gary.

Tonight they will visit and show off this year's Halloween costumes.  It's raining here in Maine- again.  It's actually rained everyday this week in various degrees.  No sunshine today.  And the twins will likely be our only trick or treaters.

Riley has had his morning walk on leash down the street (one of 4 to 5 walks a day).  He's had his pills which include a hemp treat, amoxicillin and a tranquilizer.  G was given some sort of controlled narcotic for his sciatic nerve pain and both are asleep behind my chair.  G is snoring.  The dog is not.  I wish G would stop snoring.  It's annoying.  The dog makes an occasion snuffle which I like.

I stitched a sliver of an old Goodwill lavender linen blouse to the right side of yesterday's cloth.  And I pulled the tin can out of the black walnut jar (just to see).  I had tied fabric around the rusty can with string and soaked it for four days.  Without heat.  So I wasn't expecting much as I think the black walnut needs heat to transfer pigment.  I used a strip of white cloth that was sent along with the walnuts.  I got a light grey brown with interesting ghost like lines from the string and the rusty tomato paste can.  Just one hull from one walnut.  A test run.  I'll be making a larger batch as the hulls blacken and cook that to a boil.  And I'll make some of the liquid into ink.  I might heat up the salsa jar with the cloth, walnut husk and tin can-- put it in the small enamel steamer pot I got at Goodwill.  Non reactive. Try for a darker dye.

I watched a few movies on Lifetime yesterday between dog walks.  Christmas ones.  One about some shoes a little boy wanted to buy for his dying mother.  Another about a kiss in an elevator.  Then we watched- well tried to- but everyone wanted to go to bed early-- images of the planet Earth from above-- from cameras in the sky.  Really beautiful.  I recorded it- we'll watch today.  If G ever decides to wake up.

Daily Notes-- October 30

What I worked on yesterday when not walking the dog (4 walks a day).  The lower right lavender is from the new Goodwill shirt I cut up.  That took awhile (opening seams).  In person the cloth works better than it does here in the image.  Here the pink/purple is fighting with the lavender.  And it needs a good press with the iron.  But I wanted to have something new here this dismal, wet morning.

I know I should not complain of rain.  Rain is an important provider of minerals for the Earth.  And I know Grace in California wants the rains to come again.  Soon.  But it is more the darkness that I do not like.  The Dark Times.  Winter.

Riley is getting stronger by the day.  His earlier "compliance" is gone.  He is trying to drag me off the street into the brambles in search of stinky things to eat.  He drags most forcefully near the house with a small dog.  Who poops in the yard.  Disgusting.  He is ingesting enough water to pee generously another worry of mine.  So that is good sign and it wasn't true on Sunday or Monday.  Riley is a willful dog.  He has strong ideas about "how things should be" and....we are butting heads over his dog food yet again.  The cause is the turkey I wrap his pills in- to get him to open his mouth.

I used my "new" spoon for my cereal this morning and it was a delight.  Much better than the one I had been using.  And when I was putting my washed dishes back into the dish cupboard I realized I had already switched to Petite Fleur many weeks ago.  Duh!

So- I will iron my pieced cloth- sort of made of components but not the sort of components Jude is making for class.  Just pieces I have in a container here next to my chair.  I spent more time sorting and looking and trial and error than I do sewing.  I have a favorite Christmas Movie from Lifetime to watch- I recorded it.  This one is an actual Hallmark movie.

G used my computer yesterday and things are messed up here- so I will try and press publish and be done for the day.  I argued with him enough yesterday to last the rest of the month.

Daily Notes- October 29

They have been waiting since 1981 (when they were purchased on a trip to Europe with the 9 and 11 year old children when we thought G would be in Europe for two weeks each month and then home with us for two weeks for years and years.  So we splurged and took the family for a European vacation.  A year later our entire household was on a cargo ship heading for Germany and our new home for the next 6 years.

I think this French Bistro tableware got used a bit.  Not much.  The only things showing any wear from washing are the knives.  The upper compartments hold small forks and tiny spoons.  I gave one to G for his yogurt this morning (he liked it).  The stuff we had been using was transferred to another cupboard and what was in that drawer is now banded, sorted and ready for Goodwill.

There are other pieces I would like.  I used to see them in the Sur la Table (I am spelling this wrong) catalog for years and years.  Now there aren't any catalogs. But it's enough that they will be out and about for meals for the next years.  And I am changing out the china- for the Petite Fleur.  Might as well go full out French.

Riley and I have fallen into a comfortable routine of 4 walks each day.  Out the garage, down the drive, down the street on one side and up the other side, back into the garage.  The I give him food my hand  with pills if it's time for them.  And I found the bottle of pills for his fever bacteria.  In my purse.  He's had two.  I found them when I was paying at TJ Maxx.  Sunday.  He was supposed to get his first dose Saturday evening.  He was a bit shaky the first few times we went out but now he's got "an agenda" of things to sniff so he's walking with more purpose.  He goes right to sleep after.

I took apart a grayish lavender linen shirt from Goodwill.  I needed a thin linen in a grayish tone for one of the random pieces I am sewing together into raggedy rectangles or squares.  They are squares until the are rectangles and then squares again. And then I take them apart.

It's been dark and wet here since Sunday.  Wet. Wet. Wet.  I wish I could send some to California.
I bought an assorted bag of more Halloween candy- but if it continues to rain--I doubt many kids will come to ring the doorbell.  The assorted candy is stuff G and I like to eat.  It's all good.

I baked an apple cake yesterday from a recipe card that describes the cake as an old family favorite. From my family. My childhood. The twins down the street had brought us a gift of apples.  Delicious honey crisps. And when they stopped Riley and I yesterday to show off their six year old soccer skills- they asked about the apples. Did I like them???  And I mentioned the apple cake.  So I think today I will give a few pieces to them.  They were sort of stunned when I said "apple cake" and I have no idea what they pictured in their minds.  An apple shaped cake?

A box from Grace and one sent back to her.  Apples from the twins and apple cake back to them. They also mentioned the grape jelly I sent home with them to be very good.  Lovely manners. Riley is fascinated by them. Each evening he smells all the spots where the twins stood while we chatted that one time.  Each and every spot.  As he sniffs I can see what they were doing and saying in each of the places.  Fascinating.

Daily Notes- October 28

From the sketchbook. PBS had a special on Rothko.  He certainly made really awful stuff most of his Life and then he hit gold and then died before he had a chance to enjoy fame and fortune.  I just wish we had had the opportunity on this program to just see the later works.  I had no idea they were so large. I might need to see them in person one day before I die.

Riley and I have gotten into a rhythm of walking.  We go up and down the street.  Not as slowly as I thought but never even the slightest pull of the leash.  We are naturally traveling at the same speed. No walks off leash in the woods.  He's had pills for one full day and this morning.  He still won't eat.  I wrap the pills in a pill pocket and a strip of thin sliced turkey.  He opens his mouth.  Before this he refused to open his mouth.  He also enjoys eating the treats he would get on the Walk In The Woods. I give him five.  He looks away like he is not interested and so I pick up the sketchbook and draw and then look and they are gone.  I get up and go to get 5 more.  He'll eat those and perhaps a few more. If he's done- he leaves one.  My signal to not get anymore.  I must have mentioned how intelligent he is?

He drinks water.  Usually out of puddles.  It's been raining a lot.  You know how much if you watched the Patriots game yesterday.  Lots of fresh water in the puddles for him to enjoy.

G and I both were born in Cleveland and that team is dismal.  Even with Beckham.  Who has said he would like to play for the Patriots.  He looked forlorn.  After the Giants and now the Browns-- it's looking bad for the guy. Life and the way things work out---some times it seems like all you get is the short end of the stick.

I went out early to the postoffice- Grace your box (yes, the box you sent me) is traveling back to you filled with good things (I hope).  Should arrive Wednesday.  I also learned how to get the "funk" out of fresh caught bass at the the post office.  And that they take passport pictures.  I also mailed a belated birthday card to someone special.  In a small town the Post Office is the place to hang out. And the line is always long and very slow.

Daughter and I went to Goodwill.  Not as delightful as I had imagined it would be.

Daily Notes- October 26

iFlowers.  Drawn and colored during last Monday's Patriots game with the Jets.  I got bored as did anyone watching.  So I started drawing and made a few flowers and added eyeballs and went from there.  I did have to get up and go searching for my colored pencils.  G has a large drawer full of so many sets of different colored pencils.  But I have only the one set of Prismacolors.  Which I love.And after seeing them on Grace's blog, I have a set of pencils like hers.  I have forgotten their name and don't want to go look for it right now.

Riley is still refusing to eat.  He has done this time and again over his 12.6 years with us.  He will eventually eat- or he will be enchanted by some stinky thing we offer him (or finds in the grass) and resume eating. I took him out last night for a pee walk.  We went out to the street and walked a few feet along the road.  He peed and then he turned himself back toward home.  Slow walking but walking.  He did eat quite a bit of food the two days before the fever.  I am more disturbed by his not drinking water.  He did drink out of a bowl filled with rainwater by the garage at some point.

He will either get hungry and eat or he won't and......... He slept almost all day yesterday.

I took a long hot shower this morning and put on fresh clothing.  I had been in dog care mode too long and needed some "self care" and more so, I need to be having regular meals at lunch and dinner. I had neither yesterday.  I have the dog to worry over and the husband who is suffering from some sort of back issue and keeps saying "I can't walk" but he walks over to tell me this.  I feel like screaming.

I have a black walnut cut open and soaking in hot water (in an old clean salsa jar) with a cloth wrapped around a rusty tin can.  I even added string.  Wrapping it in and around the can holding the cloth tight to the can's surface.  I'll see how things progress.  I have to look things up in my notebooks and the internet.  Now that I have walnuts I can go forward with my plan to make walnut ink.  I am wondering if the hulls- removed from the central nut--can be frozen.  They would certainly turn to a mush when thawed but that isn't a bad thing. Has anyone tried this?  I remember there is something about a reaction (a good thing) between a certain kind of pot and the walnuts.

My horoscope suggests I return to old pleasures.  Things that made me very happy in the past.  Perhaps Goodwill tomorrow?  For an old crock pot to cook my walnuts in.

G asked if I had left him a round white pill last night?  (He had taken it).  One of the dog's tranquilizers. I had NOT.          You just can't make this stuff up.  He said he slept really well.

Daily Notes- October 25th

EDIT:  Riley went to the Vet and he has a fever which is why he is sleeping so much and refusing food. It's what humans do when they have a fever.  He's been given fluids, antibiotics and now just needs to let those things do there jobs.  We are SO VERY RELIEVED.

Working on this small page.  It began with Jude Hill's 5 by 7 pages.  Two Winters ago.  The squares are one inch.  Jude made quite a few in all shades of white.  Sewn into a book of pages.  At the Time, she thought it would be a good travel item- she could stitch or appliqué onto the blank pages as one would in a paper journal.

The first day I made all those X stitches.  Like crossing off days on a calendar page.  Then last night I started adding things from the box of bits on the chair next to me.  The brown and red was a tied prayer cloth like the one Grace sent to me.  The square in the upper left was a print that I embroidered.  Followed the lines in the print with dark blue- made a Moon.  Later still, I made circles around a few spots in the fabric.  The base cloth is something out of a dye bath.  Very "tender cloth"- it has practically no weight to it.

I mentioned yesterday the cloth was marked with X's for regrets.  I have changed my mind.   The X's are now, remembering what has gone before.  Not forgetting. Making wishes for the Future.  The circles are seeds for Growing.  The X's at the top- Stars.

Riley and I just went on a short walk down the street to the Twins house and then back- no tension on the leash.  And he drank some water.  We are taking him to the Vet's office after their lunch break at 2. They want to do a chest X-ray. And they may do a fluids IV.  We could have gone before 12, but I didn't know how long it would have taken to get him in the car.  He is still refusing to eat or take pills. And refusing the Hemp treat which he has never refused.

I have another small colored pencil drawing for tomorrow's post.  And I may read a book or go look at more posts at "gracedandmending" blog.  Grace on Windthread mentioned this blog and I went and read thru quite a few posts.  The Fiber artist on this blog collects fabric on the streets and paths as she walks her dog in a changing urban environment.  Homeless people, aging in place people, creative people.  And her fabric works reflect all of that.  And the author sparked much joy and laughter in this Reader when she felt she needed a rusting tin can-- and found an iron cog of some sort and wrapped it in cloth and tied it and cooked it in her 4 cup crock pot and made the loveliest patterns. and she was so charmed by these printed cloths.  Simple Joy.

Daily Notes- October 24th

He's not eating and is refusing his pill pockets with his pills.  Yesterday he ate three times and pulled out all his toys and was throwing them around and chasing them.  Today- this morning- shaky on his legs and quiet.  But G is not feeling well.  His back hurts so perhaps the dog is empathizing.

Sunshine today.  After the big rain yesterday (overnight) that partially filled the low spots in the woods with water.  Perhaps now the deer will come and eat the abundant acorns?

I finished the Kinsella book.  It wasn't very good.  Her name was Fixie because she fixed things but in the plot she didn't fix anything.  She was an observer of all that was going wrong.  But did nothing.

I have two new books.  I returned two and chose two from the new book shelves and I offered to shelve a handful of books for the volunteer.  I used to do that as work.  Wondering now if I should volunteer and do shelving.  Not that it would be social experience.  It would be solitary.  I think I need something where I can speak and listen.

I need to drag out the central vac with that horrible hose.  Which kinks.  And usually causes me to swear.  My fall back position. Swearing. But the edges and corners are getting dust  bunnies.

Yesterday, while watching a Lifetime Christmas Movie about two florists (very little plot) I stitched X's on a cloth I had hand sewn and then dunked into the grape juice to stain and color everything more uniformly.  The X's were like marking on a calendar.  I thought the piece could be How Many Times Have I....  And someone who owned the cloth could fill in.  Failed to appreciate a person.  Spoken before considering my words.  Etc.  A cloth of regrets.

The next Christmas Movie on Lifetime had a bride waiting at the church for her groom and the friends had to stop at the grocery store to get flowers for a bouquet and buy a cake.  They rang the groom on his phone and the ringtone sounded from a closet at the church and the bridesmaid and groom came out of the closet and the groom was zipping his pants.  See.....a raunchy Hallmark.

The movie before the Florist Duel was about dead people at Christmas--again. Most times I tune in- it's dead people.  At Christmas.  So the Florist one was a lovely change of pace.

There were paintings at the library.  The last one by the exit was $395 and was a very detailed, lovely watercolor of a cabbage with the light shining behind the leaves.  Framed and matted and just the nicest thing I've seen in a long time.  I got very close and looked at the botanical details of the mottled leaves.  The painter is very very good.

Daily Notes- October 23

It's raining.  I have all the lights on as Riley is discomforted by the dark (during the day).  He's had his mood altering chewy.  I am sitting here by the computer making typing noises.  I have just raised the temp on the furnace.  G has left the building to get his haircut.  I am encouraging Riley to stop pacing and drooling.  (he is sitting and staring into space)

In Good News we purchased a roll of chicken and vegetables from Freshpet and I chopped about a 2 inch segment into Riley's prescription dry food.  He gave the bowl a look and then turned away.  Then when I was no longer obviously "looking" he scarfed the entire meal down and licked the bowl. Same with Supper later and this morning's Breakfast.  I am going to write Freshpet a lovely thank you letter.  Riley's hip bones are sticking out.  He's getting so thin.

Mostly, today, this morning, Riley is thinking- no walk today and that is making him very sad. And no Law and Order today on WE.  Criminal Minds all day--- which Riley and I both find way too scary.  We tried watching a Christmas movie on Lifetime yesterday.  It's like a slightly gamey version of Hallmark with the same sets and actors.  Kids talking to dead parents.  Imperfect mothers. Skanky sisters.  No baked cookies.  No ice skating. No curling iron curly hairdos. No hot chocolate.  None of Hallmark's standard features.  The one I watched- not even a tree. But there was hockey.  Hallmark loves hockey but I think it's because most are filmed in Canada.  Christmas hockey.  Dee will need to add that to her Hallmark Bingo.  I loved that she had a square for "mechanical failure".  Dee- I laugh out loud when it happens--thinking of you!

Daughter came by last night- dirty from a day of Fall Cleanup in the landscape world.  She brought me Purple Smoke Bush leaves for my eco printing. She was disappointed they weren't as deeply pigmented as last year's.  I said- no killing frost yet.  And she said- "that's why we're still working". I tucked all the leaves into a plastic storage bag- quart sized and will let them "ferment" until needed.

This Spring I used some (from last October) that had composted themselves in the baggie.  Lovely prints.  Today I will wash out the grape leaf bundled cloth.  I let it dry for two days to "set" whatever happened. My feeling is that the grape leaf water (boiled twice and cooled to cold each time) does act as a mordant.  I might need to double up on the leaves to water ratio next time.  And I'll see what the color is after the wash.  Right now I like the dirty grunge of it.

I have a cloth and backing to stitch on today.  And I am reading a British romance- Kinsela.  Early days but it's taking me a while to get the lingo.  Make a good Hallmark movie- already had a mechanical failure, baking cakes, cute meet and a curling iron and not even 50 pages in.  Cheerio!!