We Have Been Travelling

Dad's all rugged up 

The boys and I drove to Adelaide today. We left at 5:30am and arrived atDads just before 4pm local time. It's been such a long day & it's good to be out of the car. 

I'm not sure how often I will be able to post because I am using my phone & it's a tad awkward typing on it & see what I am writing.

I Love Shopping For Bargains

Just some of my bargains that I picked up yesterday. I didn't photograph all of them, after all who wants to see photos of shampoo/conditioner and toothpaste?

If I had know the gloves were so cheap I would have picked up a hot pink pair as well. 

Mark picked up some camping items too - a stool, a toaster and plastic container to use as a kitchen sink.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• heaters - winter has hit win a vengeance! There has been loads of snow falling at the ski resorts and the rest of the state has had lots and lots of rain. There was enough rain that the Yarra River in Melbourne broke it's banks. 
• that Angus is on camp. Not that the weather has been the best for a school camp. Who plans a camp in winter any way?
• peace and quiet. They boys are at home together to fight and it's been bliss ☺
• my crochet. I finished that baby blanket I was working on and I have now started a new zoo blanket for one of my nieces who is pregnant
• my car. Mark's car is in at the wreckers/mechanics getting an engine put in (o_0) I feel bad that his car isn't on the road but I am grateful that we have my one to get around in
• bargain shopping. There's a shop in the next town over from us closing down and I managed to pick up some cheap goodies 

What are you thankful for this week?

I Love Yarn

Admit it you sang this didn't you? I know I did 

Finished Item - Crochet - Pink Baby Blanket

I finished the baby blanket last night. I really like how it turned out.
The variegated yarn looks great with the pale pink.
I am a little surprised that my arm didn't hurt too much considering the amount of crocheting I had done yesterday.

All 9 squares are complete

All crocheted together

Now on to my next project. One of my nieces is expecting a baby in a few months and she has asked if I could make her a zoo blanket. Of course I said YES. I don't see my nieces as much as I would like to so making a blanket is the least I can do. I just need to find the right colours to use for the background squares ☺

C.K. Gave Me A Present

Darn it C.K. I don't know what is more annoying. You catching a mouse and bringing it indoors to play with it or the fact that you have lost it inside somewhere??

WIP - Crochet - Pink Baby Blanket

One of our former Home Teachers from Church has had an addition to their family this month. They've just had a little girl. I thought that I would make a little pink blanket for the new baby, who is just adorable!!

I chose this variegated yarn from Carnival that I bought from the Wangaratta Woollen Mill's online shop.

They have loads of bargain priced clearance yarn. I must check out their site again soon. 

I also chose the pink yarn below to go with it. It's also from Carnival in 8 ply. 

I've completed 6 and a half squares at the moment. I had better get a wriggle on if I want it completed by next weekend. I want to give it to the happy little family before the boys are on school holidays next week.

We Went To Lakes

It was foggy in Trafalgar when we drove through just before 7 am.

Mark & I dropped Angus off at work in Morwell yesterday morning and we continued on to Lakes Entrance. Lakes is where Mark's brother and sister-in-law live. What an amazing place to live. It is so pretty there.

It was such a beautiful day to be out and about. I almost forgot that it's meant to be winter with the lovely sunny sky and the mild temperatures. In fact it got pretty hot in the car on the ride home.

The in-laws took us to a cafe along the esplanade for lunch. I had some pretty amazing calamari with a salad. Mark had fish and chips with salad. The SIL had lamb souvlaki and Mark's brother had something from the breakfast menu. We waited such a long time for our food to be cooked but my goodness the food was amazing. The wait was worth it.

Silly me though I forgot to take lots of photos while we were out, oh well. Maybe next time.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• getting my crochet mojo back. I was taking a bit of a break mainly because I wasn't very happy with the blanket I had been making. I must admit that it did turn out a lot nicer than I expected although it's not as nice as the zoo blankets I have made.
• reading - I have managed to read quite a few good books lately. 
• talking with my sisters
• Lyn from the Diabetes Support Group. She was able to chat with Brodie and help cheer him up a little. One of the other ladies from the group said something that I felt wasn't appropriate and it made Brodie feel very unwelcome. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Finished Item - Crocheted Blanket

Ta Da! It's all complete. I think it actually looks better now that it is finished. I just have to sew in a couple of ends and it's all done. Now I need to work out what to make next ...

Silly Old Cat

Our Trippy cat is a bit senile these days. He does some really unusual things of late such as sleeping on the roof of Mark's shed in the middle of winter. I suppose we could forgive his eccentricities considering he is around 12 years old now.

Trip on the shed - photo by Brodie

Just Venting

Far out I am so sick of the boys having a go at each other EVERY day. I feel like smashing their heads together. They either stop it or they can BOTH move out! I have had enough!

You would think that an almost 21 year old and an almost 18 year old would be mature enough to stop this annoying and childish bickering. I would be able to cope better if it was once a week or so but it isn't. It's ALL the time. The boys wonder why I lose my cool with them and yell at them to be in separate ends of our home. I swear if they behave like this when we are in Adelaide visit family only one of them will be coming home with me. I shall be leaving the other one there.

WIP - Crochet Blanket - Flower Applique

I am really loving how this flower looks on the background square. Too bad I am not completely happy with all of the other flowers I have made and sewn onto the blanket. Maybe I should unpick them and make some other flowers that I actually like. We'll see.

Inspirational Flowers with FREEBIE Patterns

I've been hunting for more crochet flower patterns.
Here's just a few that I have found.

Aren't they pretty?!?

Cabbage Roses from Yarnspirations

Zinnia dishcloth from Yarnspirations

Petal Pillow from Yarnspirations

Pansy Bouquet from Yarnspirations

Daffodil Bouquet from Yarnspirations

WIP - Crochet Blanket - Flower Applique

I got the pattern for this flower from Yarnspirations. It's actually a dishcloth pattern but I think it looks far too pretty to be used as a dishcloth. All that needs to be done is for the flower to be stitched onto the background squares. Then all I need to do is sew/crochet the squares together.

I'm still not happy with the way the blanket looks. I was thinking of taking it to Adelaide (to my Dad's place) and leaving it there. I am sure someone will use it there. Then I can make myself another one that actually looks nice.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• Brodie was able to change my flat tyre yesterday morning. Thanks Brodz I really appreciate it.
• being able to use Mark's car (my old one) to take Angus to TAFE because my car had a flat. Thanks Hon!
• I was only charged $30 for the flat to be repaired and for the other front wheel to be balanced. I honestly believed it would have cost more.
• Seeing the surgeon and knowing what my next step will be for this silly wrist of mine
• my heater - it's been getting a work out at night. I think winter has finally arrived! 
• getting my crochet mo-jo back. I stopped crocheting for a while because I'm not terribly happy with the blanket I am making. I picked up my crochet hook on Tuesday night and whipped up a flower. It looks very pretty.

What are you thankful for this week?

Carpal Tunnel Surgery

I just got back from seeing the surgeon at the hospital. He's checked out the results from my nerve conduction test and agreed with the neurologist who performed the test. I will definitely be having surgery on my left wrist.

He explained what is involved in the surgery, which I knew because lets face it Google can answer pretty much anything, and got me to sign a form for his records. I was also given another form to fill out, for the hospital this time.

I asked how long the waiting list is and I was told that it's about three months at this stage. It is also done as day surgery which is good. At least I now know that I can visit my Dad and my sisters without the worry of the hospital trying to contact me while I am away. It also means I should get as much crocheting & knitting done while I can before I need to take a break for a while. Plus I'm not in a hurry to get this done. I've had it this long a few more months wont hurt.

Back hooking #blog

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Guilty As Charged

snagged from Facebook

Sadly I am guilty of this sometimes.

Update on Dad

I spend quite a lot of time on the phone these past few days with my sisters in Adelaide. While there was a lot of bad news there was lots of good news too which is a relief.

Dad was discharged from hospital last night. Thankfully, he has the flu and not pneumonia. I am glad that the diagnosis of pneumonia was wrong. I get chills when I hear that word. Mum died from it and with her having Diabetes and emphysema didn't help.

Vicki and Julie were able to speak with a social worker and an occupational therapist (OT) at the hospital. From what they discussed they are all for Dad staying home on his own for at least the next six months. Just as long as he has as much assistance as he can possibly have. However that will all change if Dad has another fall. If that occurs then he will be placed in to a nursing home straight away.

For now my sisters have organised to take turns looking after him in his home. The aged care people will be reassessing the help that Dad needs at home. My sisters have organised to cook his meals between them ie: make extra when they cook and freeze some meals to take over to him. The Anglicare people wont need to come over and cook meals for him now. They will still be needed to help him out with cleaning and changing his bed. 

One thing Julie told me is that considering Dads age and the fact that he has dementia he is still in pretty good health. Julie mentioned that Dad only eats sweet things most of the time such as fruit cake and biscuits. The OT said not to worry about it too much since most dementia patients don't always remember that they have eaten any way and to let him enjoy eating what he wants especially since he doesn't have diabetes or other major health issues to worry about.

So for now Dad will be home. The girls are happy to help him as much as they can. The boys and I will be visiting Dad next month. We've arranged the dates and I have told my sisters when we will be there. I think it will be nice to give them a break from looking after Dad for a week. I am sure Vicki will need the break by then. Mark will need to be a bachelor for a week. I am sure he wont mind. 

My Dad is in Hospital

Dad when he was almost 82. He is now 86

Early yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from my sister Julie to let me know that Dad has had a fall and Vicki found him on just before lunch lying on the floor in his bedroom. Vicki had phoned for an ambulance and was waiting for them to arrive.

I phoned Vicki to see how she was. She gets very stressed, very easily and I knew that she would need to hear some calm reassuring words. She was waiting for the ambulance and was worried that they hadn't arrived yet. Vicki had phoned for the 20 minutes earlier. I let Vicki go so that she could wait for the ambos and check on Dad. His Anglicare worker who comes over to cook Dads lunch was there talking to him while Vicki was on the phone with me.

I phoned my niece, Kylie, (Vicki's daughter) and she had just arrived at Dads place a few minutes earlier. She told me that the ambos thought Poppa (my Dad) was okay and that they didn't want to take him to the hospital because he would only be sitting there for hours waiting.

I phoned Vicki again about 20 minutes later to check on everything. She said she was going to give Dad something to eat and would be taking him to his GP just to be on the safe side. I also spoke with Dad who didn't make all that much sense. I guess it rattled him a bit and he just kept changing the subject and spoke about other things. It was almost like he was behaving like it hadn't happened. He didn't seem able to answer simple questions about himself. He just said that he had the sniffles and asked about Mark & the boys.

Late last night Julie sent me a text saying the GP send Dad and Vicki to the hospital because he didn't like Dad's irregular heartbeat. Dad had been admitted to hospital. He was dehydrated but that was all she knew at the moment.

I phoned Vicki this morning mainly to check on how she was. She told me that Dad had x-rays yesterday and he has pneumonia in his right lung. They put him on antibiotics. The doctor who assessed Dad has said that he doesn't want Dad to live on his own. Vicki is really distressed over this at the moment. She thinks that she wont cope if Dad had to come and live with her. I asked her if she had spoken with a social worker yet. I told her that when she does she is to tell them exactly how she feels. I made Vicki promise to look after herself. There is no use in her getting sick on top of all of this.

Vicki was waiting for Julie to arrive so that they could go to the hospital together. She said she'd send me a text to let me know when to phone her to find out what's going on because she didn't have much credit left on her mobile.

After I had spoken with Vicki I phoned the hospital to have a chat with Dad. The poor dear. He has no idea what is going on. He thought that Vicki and Julie were picking him up today to take him to lunch in Gawler and that he needed to meet them out the front of the hospital. I explained that they would be there later and that they would come to him. Dad thinks that he will be released from hospital today and he will be going home. I doubt very much that he will be discharged today at all.

Now I just wait by the phone to hear some news.

Tomorrow Is Never Promised

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• taking Brodie to his neurologist appointment and being able to tell the doctor that Brodie has been seizure free since we last saw him
• mild weather - even though it's officially winter the weather has been that mild that I have hardly needed to turn the heater on and I am still wearing t-shirts and cardigans
• I am one week closer to seeing the surgeon about my carpal tunnel. I see him next Wednesday
• Mark's safe return from his very short camping trip last week

What are you thankful for this week?

Happy Birthday Sis

Happy Birthday to my sister Julie!

We don't see each other very much nor do we talk to each other on the phone as much as we should but I often think of her. 

Playing with Paper Camera #blog

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Cute Kitty Video

How cute is this kitty?! It's so adorable.
I just love how patient this kitty is as they try to get their owners attention. Cats are just not know for their patience.