It's been a long week

Grampa is still in the hospital, and goes between dire and amazingly well, with a blink of an eye. He still believes that going home is an option, and demands his shoes on a regular basis.

Dida came home from Toronto.. a little worse for wear, but glad that she'd been there to help out and spend this time with Grampa. They went to singing/physio together and I think it was special for both of them.

The night Dida came home, Ike seriously sprained his upper ankle playing basketball. He's in a cast.

In the meantime, the kids here have had the plague. Banana had a cold, BGA had the flu (in technicolour, I might add), and then got the cold. Mug got the cold. Jim and I have been fighting it, and have so far succeeded in avoiding the worst of it. In the middle of this, BGA is in a hockey tournament. Another game on Saturday, and maybe even Sunday.

Me? I've been knitting like a crazy woman. After uncountable hours of research, I found a (yet) obscure pattern to knit for Stampede. I ordered cashmere lace weight from England, but changed my mind after I'd swatched with it. I ended up having to purchase an entire pound of Zephyr, and DAMN... more needles! (thanks to the kindness of J.Smoothie, I have a collection of Addis that defies description - I take them out at night just to admire them)

After a 600 stitch provisional cast on, I was on the road to my next blue ribbon attempt! After uncountable hours, I have over an inch of progress (woooo hooooo?). I've only had to tink a dozen stitches or so, and things are going better than can be expected. It's not the kind of lace that I do well with.. but the project is so enticing that I'll give it my best shot and see if I end up with something good.

Things at TKR are going well... Re-organization is almost complete, and the shop looks beautiful! We've got 3 different classes running at the moment, and the vibe at the shop is really nice.

Mexico is looming! Only 10 more days until we're on the plane and off into the sunset. I'm really looking forward to meeting our recipient family, and getting back into the swing of things. I miss carpentry, so it's a win/win situation for me in every possible way. For those who contributed, or who bought fiber from me during the time I was fundraising, I want to you to imagine that through you, in two short weeks a family will be sleeping on real beds, with food in their pantry, and a sturdy roof over their heads. It's an amazing, life changing event.

So, there you have it... last week, condensed.