Wilson River Gal

  Hot off the needles: a pair of wool socks for me. Knit in Laura Linneman's "Footpath Sock" pattern - at least for the stitch pattern anyway, I did my "own thing" for the cuffs, heels, and toes - the yarns featured were some Malabrigo fingering (the dark purple-blue) and some handspun 3-ply that I happened to have a big cake of. The cast on is a stretchy Italian cast-on. The heel is a Balbriggan heel, and the toes are the standard wedge toes. Malabrigo yarns often bleed when they're washed for the first time, so when I was finished with the knitting and finish work, I soaked the socks in lukewarm water with a bit of Retayne in it, to head off any dye running. Worked a treat! No color in the water. Rinse, "squoze", and dried the socks on sock blockers. Done! What's new on the needles? The Cozy Quilt Socks using one strand of blue and one strand of cream. Shocker: this time I'm actually following the pattern! Pictures when I have something w...

Hi.  I used to blog on a WordPress site, but eventually it stagnated and got quiet because I couldn't think of anything more to say.  I don't want to discard those previous posts - dating back to March, 2015 - so I am incorporating them here under the label "Back Catalog". You might find them easier to read in chronological order: filter to "Back Catalog" then scroll to the bottom of the list and read them in bottom-up order.  Thanks. 

Today's a recovery day for me, so I'm off from work. Not exactly sitting around watching Hulu in my bathrobe  - at least not today, anyway. Early summer in the forest, all the berries are ripening all at once and demand to be picked and preserved for the long wet winter. Saturday morning I went out and picked raspberries and blueberries, which went right into the freezer. Last evening, after supper, B and I moseyed around the upper end of our road and up Lester Creek Road a bit and picked thimbleberries, early huckleberries, some blackberries and some amazing salmonberries - including a bunch of purple ones (they're so sweet!). We picked just enough for a batch of "bumbleberry jam" - which is a mix of wild berries. This morning, after B went to work, I went out and picked an additional 3 pounds of wild blackberries (brambleberries, for those that know about these things). It's great having berries growing adjacent to our compost pile! I barely left th...

  Treatment #5 is history. Yay, team! Dr. Dan sent me in for another CT scan today to check something going on in my left cheek. Could be related to a minor-league sinus infection on the right side, but we don't know. We'll see what's up when we get the results of the CT (aka Cat) scan. Meanwhile, we're still in the market for one or two good barn cats. The moles, voles, and other assorted varmints are practically eating us out of house and home outside, although the chipmunks and squirrels haven't shown up yet for some reason. Perhaps the weasels have eaten them all. :) So - if you hear of anyone local with a surplus of barn kitties - send 'em my way! And no, weasels don't eat barn cats. Cat scan item #3: the new color work cap is coming along slowly, given the only time I work on it is when I'm home by myself and can concentrate. The second part of that equation is the problem, of course. I've got a raging case of oatmeal brain going o...

I like to spend time futzing around in the garden. Weeding, planting things, helping things grow. All kinds of things: veggies, flowers, herbs, trees, whatever. It's not so much that I like to eat (but I do!) but that I like to grow things. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when gaze out over our nicely-kept garden. This season is pretty weird for me. As much as I want to have a beautiful garden with lots of vegs, flowers & herbs tucked here and there, it just isn't happening. And that makes me sad. I just don't have the energy for it, although I have plenty of will. But will's just not enough to get the job done. I went out for an hour this morning, pulled a half-wheelbarrow full of weeds from the main garden and weeded the new asparagus shoots. I deadheaded the roses. I planted a flat of seedlings that needed to be in the ground nearly a month ago. I watered the asparagus and newly-planted area by hand, after running the soaker hose in the raspbe...

  I have a hard time doing nothing. Doing nothing is probably the hardest part of these days off after each treatment. I don't feel well enough (actually, strong or energetic enough) to go out and "do" things - but feeling too well to do "nothing". Moreover, I feel like I should be doing things, and feel a little guilty because I'm not out there clearing the garden, tending the fruit trees (spraying a little biological control on the peach leaf rollers) and planting the vegetable starts that seem to have taken up a life of their own on the front patio. But, ya know, it's only 9:25 on Monday morning. Things could get better today. I very purposefully took the five days after each treatment off so that I could recover, rest, and charge up my batteries a bit before jumping back into work until the next treatment. Sometimes I feel like I've taken too much time, but then I go do something (even folding laundry!) and I'm reminded right away of why I...

Time flies. It's been two weeks since I've posted anything. Not a surprise: my typical week is jammed with work and commuting (9-hour work days, 1.5 hours in commuting time), which doesn't leave much room for anything else. When B and I get home from work, my time is devoted to making lunches for the next day, then making dinner. Lately, while B does the post-dinner dishes, I'm already getting ready for bed. I've been trying to get more sleep - 'cause I feel my whole system caving in any time I push too hard.I'm walking a tightrope of push hard enough vs. not pushing too hard. Last Wednesday was a treatment day for me. I feel cared for, and know I'm getting good care at the center. They're friendly and warm and I feel welcome. I am able to relax and go with the flow of the meds - sleep for a while with the Benadryl, then gradually wake up to the R-CHOP routine that is marking my third weeks these days. The next five days are spent resting and sl...

Last Wednesday, I visited the Tallest Barber in Garibaldi. Tami's cut my hair a few times in the past five or six years - I've donated twice to Locks of Love - but this chair time was for a different reason than in the past. Dr. D told me that my hair follicles will soon quit growing hair for a while, and that when the follicle quits growing hair, it lets go of the hair that is attached. Tami said that it doesn't happen all at once - and for some it doesn't happen much at all - but I decided that I wanted to be out ahead of this thing rather than go through the anguish of losing long hair. I've worn my hair long for about ten years - and have had hip length hair twice during that time. Long hair had become kind of a marker of identity for me. I guess you could say that I had an emotional attachment to my long braid, even though it made me look older than I am and I was often irritated that it took so much effort to wash, comb, and take care of. My hair iss...

  By now, Mom, I know you've heard about the invader they found in my lymph nodes. I didn't want to tell you, envisioning the fear and hot panic in your brown eyes, just like I saw it when you spoke of my lost brother Michael. I didn't want to do that to you. But, Mom, I have to tell you, so you'll know that I'll be alright. There is hope now, and medicines that work - cancer is not just loss and pain and death. I'm getting good care. Family and friends surround me with love and good wishes; their strong energy bouys me on days like today. I know you're scared for me, Mom. I am, too. I'm scared of losing my hair. I'm scared of being sick and so tired that it would be nearly effortless to just quit breathing. I'm scared of being alone - like  you were. (We are all alone in death, aren't we?) It's been years since we've talked, and I know I was often unkind to you. Your illnesses scared me and made me want to run and hide  - not becaus...

  What am I doing today? Laying around watching Tony Bourdain on Hulu. Knitting (yet another pair of socks - I keep wearing them out on my tile floors). Dozing. Listening to the rain pounding on the great room skylight. I'm glad I'm in a nice warm house out here in the woods - no traffic, few neighbors (and those are mostly friends and family), very little to worry about. I am truly well-blessed. Even though I don't feel like eating, I need to cook. Cooking is such a huge part of my life - throughout the day, even on busy workdays, I think, "What am I fixing for dinner? What do we have for work lunches? Do we need to stop at the store or produce stand for anything?" My husband, dearest B, has an appreciative palette and is a decent cook in his own right. I'm a somewhat adventurous home cook that becomes infatuated obsessed with various flavor combinations. These days, I seem to be on a Moroccan / Indian / Egyptian flavor theme, so a lot of our dinners se...

Here's an April Fool's trick that beats all: spending the day in a chemo treatment center and being the newbie there. YMMV, but I found it to be a pleasant experience. I'm getting my treatment through Compass Oncology, and am finding their staff and facilities absolutely top notch. I felt very cared for every step of the way. That being said, here it is, the Day After, and I feel like, well, pond sludge. No energy. Don't feel like eating (but I have eaten a little). Managing to keep a more or less constant inflow of water and green tea. Being mindful of not ingesting sugar - sugar feeds lymphoma, and I'll be damned if I'll feed these little aberrant cells any more than I have to. Nausea? Nada - good drugs have taken care of that. Pain - minimal. Again: good drugs. Mostly I just need to rest, but really am not sleeping during the day today, just resting. We're all feeling very relieved that the first thing yesterday morning Dr. D let us know that my ...

 The weirdness continues. . . . Yesterday B and I spent the day in the IRU at St. Vincent's. I was scheduled for a 9 a.m. check-in for an 11 a.m. procedure. We arrived on time, were escorted to the designated area (Room 6 in Pollock IRU), where I was shown the gown and socks that would be my attire for the rest of the day. Waiting around in any medical facility is just, well, boring. Daytime television only makes it worse. I decided that I'd take a nap. B brought a book and his tablet, so he was reasonably well entertained. The 11 o'clock procedure turned into a 1 p.m. procedure, which was then delayed to 2:30 by an emergency that came in and took precedence over my "routine procedure". Around 2 p.m., after sleeping as much as I could, I was wide awake and bored. B entertained both of us with Youtube videos of street performers. (That was cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIa8Ga6EIPE and others) Finally, my turn came. Two big, muscle-y guys ca...

"Why don't you start a blog? It will give you a place to tell about what you're going through- so you can send the link to people instead of having to say everything over and over again." That was how I got started here. B, my dear husband and best friend, suggested it to me. I am suddenly thrust into a world that I know so little about, that is so emotionally charged for me, that I need a place to collect my thoughts. Catalog memories. Ruminate. This is that place. I don't promise eloquent writing, high literature, or even logical, clear thinking. I  do  promise honesty and being candid about what I'm dealing with, how I feel about it, and probably a zillion little observations along the way. ===  Originally published 3/31/2015

My brother was a serious Motocross competitor and loved to ride his dirt bike in the hills of the area then known as the Tillamook Burn (now known as the Tillamook State Forest). His life was cut short by melanoma skin cancer at age 20. After he passed, my parents organized an annual motocross event in the Tillamook Burn to raise funds for cancer research. We are coming up on the 60th anniversary of Mike's death next April, so I wanted to create a piece of cross stitchery to commemorate the his life and passion. My sweet husband happened to find an original Mike Stewart Enduro patch from one of the early races and surprised me with it. After some thought, I went looking for a cross stitch chart featuring a motocross rider in the woods, and found one that - while very complex with 27 colors - is just what I had in mind. My plan is to lay out the image on 14-count Aida fabric, sketch in the boundaries, then arrange the patch and two original photographs in the composition, marking th...