Deja vu all over again

Ken's home from the hospital after his second surgery in less than 4 months. Truth be told, if he hadn't had the first surgery for an aneurysm in the celiac artery, he wouldn't have been concerned about the pains in his abdomen on Feb. 23rd. He wouldn't have contacted his surgeon, and he wouldn't have had the CAT scan and blood work that necessitated surgery for a blockage the very next day. The blockage was due to scar tissue from the first surgery but, along with removing that, his surgeon removed a carcinoid tumor , his appendix, and some amount of intestine. Testing revealed the tumor to be malignant. It had spread to 3 lymph nodes out of the 17 the surgeon removed. Prognosis is good and this type of cancer does not respond to chemo, so he will need CAT scans and blood work every few months to rule out any further tumors.

Wow.

I came home from my hospital vigil with more back pain and the old sciatic nerve kicking up, but luckily am able to get in for a therapeutic massage to deal with it later today. And relief.

Springtime :)

I love the colors in this yarn. Reminds me of violets, grape hyacinths, maybe even a crocus or two. Purchased 2 balls of it intending to make mittens, even came with a very nice pattern. Somehow, I never cast on for those mittens and now spring is in the air. Et voila! The Storm Cloud Shawlette popped up on Ravelry this morning.

It was fate.

There's no place like home :)

I have a closet in my bedroom that I call my sewing closet because it contains all things pertaining to sewing, which I do very little of these days. Knitting is more fun.

Well, spring cleaning got to me yesterday and I took a stab at the closet, especially the tippy top shelf that I have used as a treasure chest since 1986 for anything memorable/special pertaining to my children.

A little history here: My daughter Jennifer's Aunt Flo gifted her with a very large Raggedy Ann doll the day Jen was born. It came with a special tradition of photographing Jennifer with Raggedy Ann each year on her birthday. I really wanted to continue the tradition (wouldn't it be a hoot to have Jen in her wedding dress with R.A.?) but the practice waned around 7th grade.

Back to the cleaning extravaganza: I uncovered such memories and treasures. Eventually, duty called, dinner had to be cooked and all was forgotten, mid-cleaning. I left everything on a table in my bedroom for another day, along with some pillows, one a very large"husband pillow with arms".

Here's what I saw when I crawled into bed and glanced across the room last night. The wicked witch of the west perhaps????

Going cold tortoise

How could you not love a face like this? Better yet: two faces like this.

It's so very cold and windy outside, but our tortoises enjoyed a comfortable ride to their vet visit in their mulch-lined plastic boxes, accompanied by hot water filled bottles to cozy up their journey.

I went along on the adventure to lend a hand carrying the guys into the vet's office. In truth, I really was curious to see what a tortoise checkup entailed. It was pretty quick, actually looked like just a cursory glance. One can only wonder what the vet was looking for. Anyway, the guys passed with flying colors and entertained the staff and other pet owners. Now they're back home again, awaiting travel instructions. One day soon, they'll take a one hour journey south to the Plumpton Park Zoo in Cecil County, MD , their new home. I'm hoping we'll pass a yarn store along the way, but I digress.