My brother's life partner of 25 years was disagnosed with leukemia June   2011.  She was at the five year mark after treatment for cervical cancer when she became ill a second time. The leukemia (AML) was created by her earlier treatments.  Chances of recovery were slim and treatment too brutal to consider so she opted to take her remaining time on her own terms.

Her daughter and grandchildren took her to see the ocean.  She'd never been there before.  She hadn't been on the back of a Harley for a couple of decades.  Her grandson took her on a sunset ride down the beach.  She got a Christmas tree with multicolored lights that made her smile.

After Christmas she spoke only once and then slipped away. She left her body behind and began her next new adventure Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

What a great sister.

At her request we held what she termed would be a party, call it what you will, a wake, a send off, a memorial, it was really a good party.  An amazing number folks showed up.  Bonnie was a much loved person.  We held hands and circled while one after another her friends and relatives stepped forward and offered their testimony to beauty of Bonnie's existence.

Her light will be missed but she is with us always and her legacy shines out in the smiles and the eyes of the many kids she touched.  Some of them now in young adulthood each and every one of them loved her to pieces and will never forget her.  Her granddaughter told us that she had given her an enchanted childhood in which anything was possible. 

Just back from a walk with the pup.  She is still growing, 7 mos. old and 45 lbs.  Yep, gonna be a big dog that's for sure.  And since the Universe doesn't make mistakes and the pup was after all a gift from the Universe she's going to be just the right size.

I love standing up on the hill where we have bonfires and looking down at the farm.  What a beautiful place!  Beautiful memories, friendships, heartaches nearly 40 years of living right here on this hilltop.  I love it :)

windy today though warm for November, glad I got out and about.  Having a puppy keeps me active. 

My mantra for today is, I AM Strong, Confident and Healthy.

Life is good here on the farm.  Just peeked in the greenhouse on my way back and I see several tomatoes that need picking and the spinach will be ready again.  Chard and kale are putting on true leaves.  Love the greenhouse!  Having ripe tomatoes that we have grown this late in the season is awesome.  Didn't get a pic.. battery down in camera.  *note to self*.. recharge battery.

The greenhouse tomato is an accident.  She was part of a batch of starts my hubs got going and ended up in a flower box.  In July she was getting too big for that locale and the plastic had blown off the greenhouse so stuck her out there in the raised bed and voila she is still growing and blooming.  This is only our second year w/greenhouse so everything is still experimental and a lot of fun too.

It feels good to be writing again, its been a long time since I have been moved to set things down.  Which reminds me that I have an article to edit for the newspaper as I am still co-authoring the knitting column for our local rag.

Anah is staying with me till Sunday so lots of interesting fun times ahead for the weekend.


Love to ALL and namaste`

zenbaker... Wishing you the best ever birthday! 

Loads of garlic in the ground.. just running out of what we harvested this year and planted over twice as much so hoping it will last till spring after next harvest.

Life is taken up with facilitating my sister-in-law's transition.  I spend a lot of time cooking so that no one else has to.  Today she and my bro are being moved into a house that a friend of theirs is loaning them until they can back into their own house again.

My whole family is tired.

So am I.

Came here to read for the first time in far too long and feel sad that I cannot seem to create a space to blog these days...*sigh*

I moved to this farm in the fall of 1978 and with me came these Mt. Hood daffodil bulbs.  Every year when they bloom I am exhilarated to discover that I have lived to see another Spring and I am grateful.  This years blooms are exceptionally gorgeous I think.

And so I was reading the journal's of my LJ friends and realizing just how long it had been since I had posted here and feeling very nostalgic and a wee bit sad that I have neglected this journal so badly.  Thing is I've got a blog, but its a private one, and dedicated totally to appreciation and I post there nearly every day, but doing that seems to take up any energy I have for blogging and so I hardly ever get here to say anything.  So, I'm sad about it.

But, I'm glad I came here to read and catch up on what is happening with the folks I know here.  I do love reading about your amazing lives.

As for me, spring is slowly arriving and I've started working outside.  Things are "up" in the garden, the first stuff, the greens and lettuce and carrots i.e.  I'm still picking lots of spinach from the greenhouse though it is starting to go to seed.  I'm still knitting and writing for the newspaper about said knitting.

Went to Mexico in mid-March, came home quite ill and took a couple of weeks to get better. Thinking I will vacation in the good old USA the next time round.

So, nothing much has changed, and that's good because I do love my life.

Do I know you?

 

When Size Matters… 

 

If your knitting project is something flat, long, or square as are dish cloths, scarves, and afghans, or even a triangular shawl, you can choose your pattern, buy the yarn and needles called for in that pattern and get underway.  Nothing has to “fit.”

 

Perhaps you have seen the cartoons showing the sweater a granny lovingly knits for that little boy and it looks as if it is shrink-wrapped to his body.  Or the college co-ed who made the sweater for her guy and the wrists of the sleeves hang below his knees.  These knitters set themselves up for disappointment in two ways.  They failed to measure the person for whom the garment was intended and they skipped checking their gauge.

 

Pay attention to the gauge shown on your pattern.  We know.  You found this great pattern and bought the yarn and needles suggested and you are eager to get started.  STOP!  Take time to knit a small swatch (piece).  This step may be boring, but is necessary.  You will get an indication of how your personal knitting tension compares to what is given in your pattern.

 

How do you create this gauge swatch?  Cast on about 20 stitches and knit one row, purl one row (aka stockinette stitch) for a couple of inches, enough to get you rolling in your usual style.  Put the swatch out on a flat surface, lay a ruler on it and place straight pins in the vertical rows of stitches at the inch marks.  Then count the stitches across the inch.  Don’t fudge, no matter how bad you want it to work out in your favor.  If the pattern calls for 7 stitches to the inch and you have 6 ½, don’t say, “Close enough.”  Across 40 stitches this small discrepancy will make quite a difference.  Not enough stitches to the inch?  Try a smaller needle.  If, on the other hand, you had 8 stitches, then try a larger needle.  Re-knit your swatch and count again.

 

So, when size matters, check your gauge.  It is the ‘fitting’ thing to do.

 

“Tuesday Morning Hooks, Yarns, and Thinkers” 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. at the Moberly Public Library.  You all come.  No charges.

I have established a regular meditation practic.  After trying for over 40 years I am there.  Began with doing the "Abraham" meditations and from there have moved on to Buddhist mindfulness as taught by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in his book, "The Joy of Living." http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Living-Unlocking-Science-Happiness/dp/0307347311



It would seem that at last the time is right.  I am enjoying the feeling of being centered that meditation creates.

namaste`