Month: December 2021

A Blast From the Past

Well, I’ve been working on the same four shawls for months now, and I’m kinda bored with them. So, I went rootling through my cache of UFO’s (UnFinished Objects) and fetched out a couple of things. One of them was the below left, which dated from the trip to Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; and points in between, that mom and I took in May of 2016. It was a tour thing, and one of the ladies on the tour had this big, square, woven, linen scarf with a tassel on each end that she wore around her neck. I liked it and cogitated a knitting pattern to that effect made with acrylic yarn. I fotched that out of the UFO pile and was working on it, but the longer I worked on it and the more I looked at it, the unhappier I got with it to the point where I frogged that sucker back to the slipknot.

Originally, I had used a garter tab — cast on 4 stitches , stockinette for 4 rows to form a square, then pick up stitches all the way around the square — to start it, and that’s the part I didn’t like. I rethought it and started with eight stitches, two apiece on four Double Pointed Needles (DPNs), and joined it to knit in the round, and started right in with kfb’s (knit front and back) to get 8 stitches, then k1, p1, for the even rows, and (kfb, k to 1 stitch before marker, kfb) x 4 for the odd numbered rows. (If I could come up with 7 DPNs the same size, — they come in sets of 5 — I could do a hexagonal piece the same way . . . . Hmmmm. . .)

I was using size US 9 (5.5 mm) Takumi Clover bamboo needles at the time (it takes a set of DPNs, and several lengths of circular needles — 16-inch, 24-inch, 36-inch, etc. as the piece gets bigger and bigger). But, the Takumi bamboos aren’t pointed enough, and the wood “drags” to the point that I can’t get up any speed on them, so after I frogged it, I was going to restart it using the ChiaoGoo Red Lace stainless steel needles, which is my current needle of choice. However, I didn’t have any 16-inch needles available in a US 9 (5.5 mm) so I had to drop back to a size US 8 (5.0 mm) because all the lengths I needed were available.

When I put my knitting down to go to lunch, I looked down and saw I had a long white hair on the front of my shirt (I realized it was one of mine that had gotten attracted to the yarn at some point in the past). As I was pulling it off, it kept coming and coming and coming — I measured it, and it was 25 inches long! Sigh. Oh, well. I currently have a moratorium on haircuts for the foreseeable future — it’s probably all going to fall out during chemo anyway. However, for now, I’m just letting it grow.

For the moment, life is pretty much back to normal: A bowl of knitting on my desk, a bowl of knitting by my chair . . . .

Oh, and I wore my traditional shirt with writing on it for Xmas. Yep.

Hello, Goodbye

I got rather philosophical earlier thinking about life in general, hellos and goodbyes, and how when you come into the world as a child and things are new and different, and there is so much to discover. Your life is filled with “hellos”. You’re encountering all the people in your world, your family, friends, the people at school. You do say some “Goodbyes” but it is “Hello” that predominates in your life. Then as you age there is that indefinable point where you began to say more “Goodbyes” than you do “Hellos.” You begin to outlive friends and family, and possessions fall away, until you say that last, final “goodbye” to this world.

Of course, part of what prompted this philosophical musing is the demographics of the place I’m currently living in. (I lost my next door neighbor last week.) But part of it was learning that one of mom’s long-time friends suffered a fall while visiting relatives over Christmas. She hit her head, and never regained consciousness. It happened so quickly — a split second is all it takes. I learned today they’ve put her on hospice. It’s only a matter of time.

I’ve always had a tendency to live in the moment, and it’s things like this that only reinforce my belief. It makes me want to spend as much time as I can deriving every morsel of enjoyment from life that I can. It’s also made me think about that nebulous thing called “Quality of Life” that people talk about. My needs are all being met; my wants are few.

I’ll be moving within a month (I hope), and I’ll also very likely be starting chemotherapy again in February. I hope to goodness this round of chemo is easier than the last one. Last time, I had a heart attack pretty much the first crack out of the box and was hospitalized four times for side effects of chemotherapy including a bout of pneumonia. I’d just as soon not go through all that again. I have a cancer of the immune system — lymphoma is tumors of the lymph glands — and it could convert to leukemia — cancer of the white blood cells — at any time. The middle of a pandemic is no time to be fooling with your immune system, and the specter of COVID will be looking over my shoulder the whole time. Still, I did it before; I can do it again. Bald is beautiful.

At least mom is in a place where she is safe and well looked after, where she has medical supervision and I won’t have to worry about her. That is one comfort going into this. I still have no word on when I can move. I just hope it’s before February. I’d like to be in and settled before I start chemo again.

I have bluetooth earbuds for this computer, and one of life’s current pleasures is to be able to listen to music on YouTube, even when I’m not sitting at the computer. Think I’ll find some Chopin or Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and sit and knit for a bit.

Books Read in 2021

80.    *The Ruin of a Rake, Sebastian, Cat

79.    *Bad Actors, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve

78.    * Bookwyrm, Noon, K. L.

77.    *Frost and Raine, Noon  K. L.   

76.    *Port in a Storm, Noon, K. L.

75.    *Shadow of Night, Harkness, Deborah (reread)

74.    *Corruption, Fielding Kim

73.    *The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish, Chambers, Joanna

72.    *A Discovery of Witches, Harkness, Deborah (reread)

71.    *The Other Side of Here, Lindsey, E. M.

70.    *Silver in the Wood, Tesh, Emily

69.    Night in the Lonesome October, Zelazny, Roger (xre-read)

68.    *Bad Actors, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve

67.    *Ambush or Adore, Carriger, Gail

66.    *The First Snow of Winter, Chambers, Joanna

65.    *Seven of Infinities, de Bodard, Aliette (novella)

64.    *To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Chambers, Becky

63.    *The House that Fought, Schwartz, Jenny

62.    The Galaxy and the Ground Within, Chambers, Becky

61.    What the Devil Knows: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S.

60.    Who Speaks for the Damned:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (re-read)

59.    *Natural Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

58.    *Fountain of Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

57.    *Rising Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

56.    *Untouchable Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

55.    *Claimed Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

54.    *Natural Beauty, Lyhne, Meraki P.

53.    *The Wizard’s Butler, Lowell, Nathan

52.    *Bob’s Saucer Repair, Boyd Jerry

51.    *The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Vo, Nghi

50.    *Exhalation, Chiang, Ted

49.    Who Slays the Wicked:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

48.    Why Kill the Innocent:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

47.    Where the Dead Lie:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

46.    When Falcons Fall: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

45.    Who Buries the Dead: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

44.    Why Kings Confess: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

43.    What Darkness Brings:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

42.    When Maidens Mourn: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

41.    *Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy

40.    *In Other Lands, Brennan, Sarah Rees

39.    Where Shadows Dance: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

38.    What Remains of Heaven: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

37.    Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

36.    Unicorn Vet, Chant, Zoe

35.    Why Mermaids Sing:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

34.    When Gods Die: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

33.    What Angels Fear: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery 1, Harris, C. S. (xre-read)

32.    A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 4, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

31.    A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 3, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

30.    A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 2, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

29.    A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 1, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

28.    Fortune’s Favors, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (novella) (re-read)

27.    Shout of Honor, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (novella) (re-read)

26.    Trader’s Leap, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

25     *Vixen Ecology, Carriger, G. L. (Novelette)

24.    *In Other Lands, Brennan, Sara Rees

23.    Accepting the Lance, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

22.    *Neogenesis, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

21.    The Gathering Edge, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

20.    Alliance of Equals, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

19.    Dragon in Exile, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

18.    Necessity’s Child, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

17.    Dragon Ship, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

16.    Ghost Ship, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

15.    Saltation, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

14.    Fledgling, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

13.    Mouse and Dragon, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

12.    I Dare, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

11.    Local Custom, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

10.    Plan B, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

9.      Carpe Diem, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

8.      Agent of Change, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

7.      Conflict of Honors, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

6.      Crystal Dragon, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve (re-read)

5.      *Goblin Fruit, Lake, Celia

4.      *Masquerade in Lodi, Bujold, Lois McMaster (Novella)

3.      *Time Variance of Snow, Yu, E. Lilly

2.      *When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, Vo, Nghi (Novelette)

1.      Crystal Soldier, Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve  (re-read)

*ebook

A Brown Christmas?

Hope not, but today on Xmas eve, it’s blowing like 60. Really. Wind speeds are 20-35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph, and we’re under a wind advisory and a small child alert*. As you might suspect, we have some very moving scenery today, heading NNW at a pretty good clip. I had a pretty stiff headwind coming back. I thought I was going to have to beat to windward to get back in the building.

These pictures don’t really capture how just plain brown the sky is near the horizon.

The above were taken when I braved the elements to get another Phred at Market Street, which is the same chain of super markets that I got the original from. The original Phred was a Norfolk Island Pine. This Phred is an Italian Stone Pine, which is drought tolerant and wants 6-8 hours of full sun a day — which he isn’t going to get, alas. My new windows face the northwest. This new Phred will either adjust or he won’t. I had the last Phred for 27 years, which sets the bar pretty high.

The gnome with the white braids is wishful thinking on my part. One day my hair will be long enough to braid again and I’ll knit myself a gnome hat to celebrate. Goals. I haz ’em. Here is my contribution to the decorations in the common area. I’ve never really been big on seasonal decorating — even when I had someplace to store them.

The revised forecast for mañana is a high of 78 F/25.5 C, which is even ridiculouser than a high of 73 F/22.7 C, but then today’s high was 81 F/27.2 C. No surprise that today’s quaff is peach juice on ice. (serious nums!) I need to find my baggie of mom’s name labels and my laundry pen and get to sewing.

  • Small Child Alert — if your child weighs less than 35 lbs, belay them to something heavy like a car before you let them go outside, otherwise they’ll probably get blown halfway to Crosbyton and you’ll have to go hunt them.

Twas the Night Before the Night Before . . .

Which would make it Christmas Eve eve. OK.

@shoreacres, of the eye-worthy sites Lagniappe and The Task at Hand (linked here for your reading and viewing pleasure), has called to my attention that the burrowing owl (!) has been named the American Birding Association’s “Bird of the Year” for 2022. Athene cunicularia, as it is known by the scientific set, is a bird of the wide open spaces and has its digs here in the flatlands, among other places. Formerly classed in the genus Speotyto, DNA evidence has caused it to be reclassified in the genus Athene which gets its name from the Greek goddess Athena because Athene noctua was frequently found about the Acropolis and was associated with the goddess. I have adopted Athene cunicularia — an owl that lives in a burrow in the ground — as my spirit animal, since I’m born on the cusp of Taurus (an earth sign) and Gemini (an air sign) , and live on the flatlands at the edge of the Great Plains, which is prime burrowing owl habitat.

I’m currently sitting at my new computer desk, 63 inches of steel and pressboard magnificence, which is long enough to accommodate my tower as well as my printer. The wherewithall to acquire same was my Xmas present from mom. She asked for and has got, but not yet received, three new tops that are less “sporty” (i.e., not sweatshirts). She’ll get them when I go over to Carillon House to bring her over for Xmas dinner at Pointe Plaza. I have to sew name tags on and write her room number in them so (touch wood!) she’ll get them back from the laundry. The predicted high for Xmas day is 73 F/22.7 C, which is ridiculous, but since I have to wheel mom outside to get her to Pointe Plaza, works out OK.

Yesterday, KC, a long-time knitting friend, came by for lunch and we sat and knitted for a while. It was very calm and sane and lovely. Also much-needed.

Latticia; Short, Sweet and Nubby; Waves in a Wine-Dark Sea, and Smuggler’s Moon shawls,
current works in progress.

KC showed me this pattern, which I promptly bought, and now I’ve been thinking which of the new yarn I just got would do it the most justice. It’s a simple garter stitch semicircular shawl with the three-stitch upper border set off by yarn-overs, and a knitted on edging. It’s very similar to this one that I’ve already done, but it was done in worsted-weight acrylic yarn. I want this new one to be done in “proper” yarn — like Malabrigo sock. However, I need to go on a “finish it” tear and finish some WIPs. I think next week I’m going to block some acrylic shawls I’ve been needing to block for quite a while. I need to free up some drawer space in my stash bin. I also need to WIP it and finish some of my languishing projects.

At the moment, I’m listening to a Mozart playlist on YouTube, as I type, and am quaffing Stash Tea’s “Breakfast in Paris” blend hot with a blop of vanilla almond milk in it. (How civilized!) Knitting to Mozart is just so calming and restful. Soma FM‘s Drone Zone channel for the tricky knitting and Mozart for the meditative bits. The soundtracks of my life.

For those new to this blog, I do bits of creative writing, which I publish here: There’s a new post up, featuring a certain mustachioed person and a certain dog as supporting characters. It’s in a somewhat lighter vein than previous posts.

All Quiet on the Southern Front

The only thing left to do at this point is to hang mom’s pictures in her room. In order to get this done, a work order has to be submitted to the Carillon House maintenance crew, to which I have no access. The person I talked to said they would ask the nurse on the floor to put in a maintenance request to do so. We’ll see what happens. If I did it, I would have to put a step stool and tools in my little cart and haul them over, and I couldn’t hang the big one because it needs the kind of anchors which you have to drill into the wall, put in a plastic sleeve, and then put the anchor bolts in. When maintenance comes over to hang them, mom wants me to tell them where to put them. I suggested that perhaps that was something she might want to do, since it’s her room and her pictures, but apparently not. Her only opinion on the subject is that the clock that was in the room when she moved in was not centered over the TV. She picked up on that after about 30 seconds of being in the room.

She’s gone back to sitting in her chair with her eyes closed, and the door to her room closed. They have been bringing her meals in to her because apparently, she doesn’t want to get up and go to the lunch room, which is less than twenty feet away, even in a wheelchair. To be fair, she is most comfortable when she’s horizontal (i.e., reclined in her lift chair) and least comfortable when she’s vertical (i.e., sitting in the wheelchair or standing upright), and this is entirely related to her severe degenerative scoliosis. When she’s vertical, that puts downward pressure on her spine, causes the slipped disk to bulge, and that puts pressure on the nerve. Her hyperkyphosis also restricts her lungs’ ability to expand in her chest, which is worse when she’s sitting upright and the weight of her upper body further restricts lung expansion, so she can’t take very deep breaths. This contributes significantly to her poor exercise tolerance. Just sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed over from our apartment in Pointe Plaza to her room in Carillon House was exhausting, so I think it’s a fair assessment to say she cannot sustain the amount of physical activity required for her to live in assisted living, let alone “independently” with my help. We tried it. It didn’t work. Carillon House is where she needs to be. She’s 97. I’ve seen the x-rays. What’s surprising about the situation is that she made it as long as she did living on her own. Anyway, she’s where she needs to be, with skilled help available 24/7.

I’m still facing a move myself, which I’m told won’t be able to happen before the first of the year. There have been people moving in to Carillon, mostly to Windsong, all along since we came over here in September, and more are scheduled to move in. I have to wait my turn. It’s just as well, though. I’ll get a chance to slow down, take it easy and catch up on my sleep.

Yesterday evening I got out my Waves on the Wine Dark Seas shawl and knitted on it for the first time in two months, while catching up on the YouTube channels I follow. (It’s twice as big now as it was in the picture.) It was wonderful. The body of the shawl is seed stitch (*k1, p1, repeat from * to end of row), which you have to pay attention to.

It also has 7-stitch knitted on borders on each edge, each border different, and the s1 wyif, k1 edging that I flat out stole from the Paris Toujours pattern by Isabell Kaemer.It’s made from sock yarn (alas, the colorway has been discontinued) on a US6 (4.0 mm), so it’s going to take a while.

I was a bad girl and ordered some yarn (everything was on sale!). I got 3 skeins of Malabrigo sock (440 g/ 402 m, 100 g) in Tiziano red (100% Superwash Merino), and 7 skeins of Valley Yarns ‘s Southampton yarn, 75% kid mohair/28% mulberry silk, (230 yds, 25 grams) in “ruby” which will be held double– to make what, though, my little knitty brain has not yet divined. I got 5 skeins of Cloudborn Superwash Merino fingering (384 yds/351 m, 3.5 oz/100 g) in the colorway “Ocean.” I got 7 skeins of Cloudborn Merino Superwash sock twist (467 yds/427 m, 3.5 oz/100 g) in the colorway “Caribbean (which will be something epic!), and 3 sets of Cloudborn Merino Superwash sock twist minis (557 yds/530 m, 125 g, 4.35 oz per set) in the colorway “blue warbler.” Merry Christmas to me . . . !

Yes, I know the reds don’t quite match, but holding them both together will work. Trust me. The bright red will add pop to the more matte red, and the matte red will add depth to the bright red. The sock sets will make a fabulous fade . . . fade what, however, has yet to be determined. Since my neurodivergent brain works differently than neurotypical people’s do, I find it easier (and more fun) to write my own patterns rather than follow other people’s. Stay tuned.

I mentioned that the movers broke the gooseneck on my LED floor lamp when they bent the top of it over nearly double. When you position it horizontally so it shines over your book/work, the “stem” very slowly wilts and the light ends up shining on the wall behind you. Maddening. Taping it only slows the wilt. Got a new one that stays put and has a height adjustable pole.

These lamps always remind me of the “ray” thingie on the Martian “saucers” in the 1953 movie “War of the Worlds,” with Gene Barry as the “I told you so” scientist and Ann Robinson in her first leading role as the obligatory pulchritudinous female costar who screams and/or gets hysterical. The scenery was well chewed in that one.

Alone Again

We got Mom, her two plastic grocery bags full of medications (current and refills), and her lift chair over to Carillon House Monday. Once we got her settled, I brought a cart load over. I got her charge cords for her phone and tablet situated, got her lamp situated, and I brought over her personal effects (toiletries, etc.) two changes of clothes and her gown in the first cart load. In the second cart load, I brought over the bedside commode (which has arms) that goes over the toilet so it’s easier for her to get up and down, as well as her shower chair and her thick, “side sleeper” pillow that she needs because she is so kyphotic she can’t lie flat. I then left for Wal-Mart to buy the grocery stuff I can’t get at Market Street (like this cereal I like) as well as ten of those clothes hangers where you can hang pants and a top on the same hanger. I also stopped in at Market Street for a few groceries (I was out of my kind of bread and almond milk).

Last night was the first night I’ve spent alone in the apartment in two months. I’d like to say I slept in, but I had too much to do. I woke up out of a strange dream about my mom. I was holding her in my lap and she was about the size of a three-year-old. I knew she was weak and not doing well. We were waiting for the ambulance to come. It was one of those dreams that take you aback. It didn’t pack quite the same punch as the “you need to see about this” dreams I’ve had, but it got my attention. One of the “strong” impressions I carried out of the dream was the feel of her in my arms. What a way to start my day!

I got the address changed on her newspaper delivery, so she’ll get her paper there now. I got her room number written in laundry pen in all her clothes and got the “matching sets” of pants and tops hung on the double-decker hangers. That was my load today. Her new standing beauty saloon appointment is on Tuesdays at 3 pm. Since the lady that does hair, does hair at both Carillon House and our neck of the woods, just on different days, we worked out an arrangement where I can pay her by the month when she’s here. One less thing for Mom to stress over. I took her clothes over and got them all hung up, as well as about six boxes of tissues — enough to last her at least a week! LOL!

Tomorrow she has what will hopefully be her last visit to the wound care doctor. Thursday, I meet with the Carillon House lady to sign all the paperwork. Hopefully I’ll have gotten the white laundry marker pen by then and can mark her socks and this one black night gown.

I’ve been drinking Peach Tea flavor Crystal Light in my 32 oz stainless steel water bottle but with about half a cup of actual peach juice in it — tasty. Since I’ve made about five trips back and forth to Carillon House now, I’ve been knocking back quite a lot of it. I’ve still got at least one more load to take over — pictures to be hung, odds and ends, and the three poinsettias she’s gotten from her friends. They’ll Christmas up the place something fierce.

By the by — if you’re looking for a quick, relatively inexpensive way to make multiple gifts, here’s a craft idea: A pincushion jar. You need some cotton fabric, some kind of fine sand or finely ground buckwheat hulls or finely ground walnut shells, some lace edging, satin ribbon, needle and thread, small canning jars with rims and lids, and a glue gun. You cut a circle of cloth that is two inches larger in diameter than your jar lid. Sew a gathering stitch around the outer edge of the fabric and gather the edges of the circle into a bag. Fill the bag a little over 1/2 full with sand. Pull the gather tight and wrap thread around the gather to hold it closed. On the top of the jar lid, lay down a circle of hot glue around the edge of the jar lid and then squiggle the hot glue generously in the center. Put the gathered edge of the fabric in the center of the jar lid and press down on it until the fabric is glued to the jar lid. This is your pincushion. Glue the outer edge of the pincushion to the inside of the jar rim. Glue lace around the jar rim, tie satin ribbon around it. Screw the rim onto the jar. Using sand in the pincushion keeps the tips of the pins rust-free and sharp. I store buttons in my jar, but you could put anything in it — packets of needles, measuring tape, sewing notions, whatever.

Almost There

Tomorrow, Mom goes to Carillon House (Monday). The maintenance people will move her lift chair over at some point, but everything else will have to be schlepped over one cart-load at a time by yrs trly. I spent the past three days sewing (on all four sides) 54 name labels on two pairs of cloth shoes with rubber soles as well as 50 pieces of clothing. (She needs to have enough changes of clothes that if it takes the laundry 4-5 days to get her clothes back to her, she won’t run out of clean clothes to wear.) I’m still waiting on a white laundry marker, which will arrive Thursday. Guess what I’ll be doing then — writing her room number on all her black socks!

We still don’t know the room number of the room she’ll be moving to, or what time Monday we’ll have to herd the turtles over there. I’ll probably end up writing her room number on all her clothes with laundry markers, too. (They have an on-site laundry but staffing it has been a problem for them as well as for everywhere else these days.) If you get back most of the laundry you send, you’re ahead of the game. Evidently, no matter where you live, the resident Lares and Penates must be propitiated with socks.

Hopefully this move will take no more than two days. I might can do it in three trips. There are a goodly number of clothes to be carted over, all her toiletries and personal effects to be carted over and put where she can find them, pictures to be taken down here and hung there. There is a USB extension cord (for her phone charger and tablet charger cords) to be positioned and taped down so she can’t knock it off on the floor, and a table lamp to position so she can get to the cord switch. She has acquired 3 poinsettias that will have to be carted over. Her Christmas decorations will have to go over and be put somewhere. At some point, maintenance will come get her lift chair and bedside lamp and other equipment, and I’ll have to follow it over. Don’t know when that will happen. They’ll have to hang her big 50th wedding anniversary thing, but I think I can hang the rest of them (I may have to haul a step ladder over in the cart).

She is glad to be moving. She liked being at Carillon House, and I was very satisfied with the level of care she got there. She understands and accepts the situation, that it is best for both of us. There was always some doubt that she would be able to sustain the level of mental and physical activity she needs to be living in an assisted living situation, and it’s clear she can’t. It’s not like it’s totally unexpected. She’s 97. We both have our health issues, and this is the best resolution for the situation.