One Out Of Two Done

We are doing some remodeling here in the old homestead and one thing is finished. Well close enough, we actually will replace all the handles and knobs but I haven't found any I like just yet. My tiny galley kitchen has always bugged me. Time for some changes.

Before...



Now... Jeremy and helper hard at work.



Steve is inspecting...




Yup, get that faucet right...



Finished, isn't it pretty...



Phase two will happen by the end of next week and I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, there is no new knitting to show this time. I have a shawl that I have been working on for two years that I'm determined to finish. It has 18 charts and I'm in the home stretch. Only two more charts to go. That would be Nefertiti...



After my little laser a couple of weeks ago I'm still having trouble with one eye. Interestingly enough the eye that was the worst one, the one that had the retinal damage is perfect. The other one, not so much. It goes fuzzy almost like a curtain going down and then clears up again. It's annoying. I see the eye guy on Tuesday and hopefully he can deal with it.

We've also managed to sell our over sized dining room table and are currently eating from a card table. We bought a new round table way back end of December but it hasn't arrived. Yesterday we bought new leather dining chairs which are really comfortable. No more matchy poo sets for us. I dont like the look. That's it for now until the rest of the kitchen is done...

Two Out Of Three

The three things that have not worked out so well for me in the past where the gallbladder surgery, the cataract surgery and the foot operation. Very slowly things are beginning to change for me. Just before Christmas I had a procedure known as ERCP where a camera goes down the throat to the pancreas looking for whatever is causing grief. In my case it was a gallstone stuck in the bile duct. It was removed and I'm really happy to report I haven't had a single pain in the gut since that day.

The second problem was the cataract surgery. I had many arguments with the Ophthalmologist prior to the surgery regarding lenses and he overruled my wishes. He kept telling me I'd be very happy with the outcome. Very slowly over the last six months or so I noticed my vision getting cloudy and blurry. I was really lucky to find a new Optometrist who referred me to a new eye surgeon. This morning I had a laser procedure known as posterior capsulotomy. I must admit to being nervous since my biggest fear is being blind. I am happy to say that it worked and my vision is brilliant, truly. Blacks are black, colors are bright and I can see things very clearly. I will still need reading glasses but even with those I notice a huge difference in clarity. The whole procedure from start to finish took about an hour and a half this morning. We even made it to the IKEA store for the one buck breakfast.

The third thing, well that has to wait a while. That would be my foot and the surgeon I saw in October who is rated the best in Ontario has a huge wait list and I think I have about a year to go before he operates my foot. I'm willing to wait.

Meanwhile I have been doing some knitting...


The pattern was for mittens ... From The Yarn Harlot.


I decided I wanted to try gloves...



They are just a little big but since it's the first gloves I've ever knit I'm happy. Now I think I'll make the mittens, that pattern is addictive...

Oh yes, almost forgot to mention, I'm getting a kitchen makeover. Some new cabinets have been ordered for an area that had a wall table and new granite counter is also on order. Next week things will start to happen. I've also sold my huge dining room table and chairs that were always too big big for this house and we've bought a smaller round table. Now we are still looking for chairs and I'm partial to leather parson style chairs. I'd like beige but my husband wants black. We will have to work this out, stay tuned...

Where Does Time Go?

It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready for Christmas and now it's the end of January. I have many things on my mind these days but nothing I can share without breaking confidences and I'm not prepared to do that. The only thing I can say is that it feels like I am surrounded by people with cancer and near the end of life. It sucks and it drains my energy thinking about it. I try not to but you know what, that is hard to do.

Meanwhile I knit, I tweet, I read other blogs and every once in a while I go on Facebook just to see what's new.

This is the Ishbel Shawl that I have made before, twice before in fact...I really love this pattern. I've made it in different yarn weights and I've made both sizes. It goes in my "gift" box for just in case. Or maybe I'm getting a head start on Christmas presents, who knows...

Before being blocked...



Looks different doesn't it...



The colors are beautiful...



This is a cabled pullover pattern from Vogue 2007. If the yarn looks familiar it is. It has been around in two incarnations neither of which worked. The first time I made a cardi with it and it was too small. I re knit it and it was too large, sigh...the yarn was put in my stash for about a year and now it has a new life.



It worked, it fits...



Now I'm searching for something new to knit. I still have unfinished projects hanging around but they are no fun right now. I need something new and challenging to help me not think about all the other stuff. Have a great day...ciao

Merry Christmas

I will return in the new year and I promise to post a little more often. There has been much controversy about saying Merry Christmas. It's okay here in the land of political correctness to say Happy Kwanza, Happy Eid, Happy Diwali etc.... but god forbid you say Merry Christmas. I've made a point of saying it to everyone I meet and I counter Happy Holiday with Merry Christmas.

So to all my friends I want to wish you a very very Merry Christmas and I leave you with the following clip, it made me smile, I hope it does the same for you.

Aarrgghhh Deadlines!

Today was the last day to get parcels in the mail for Christmas delivery at regular prices. After that the only option is Xpress post which costs double. I'm happy to report that for the first time in four years I have managed that deadline. The parcel went out an hour ago.

I woke up this morning, a woman with a mission and I was like a whirling dervish. The list was long with numerous stops and then home to pack. Fortunately for me the cookies had already been baked and I did mange to hide them from Steve. Otherwise there would have none left. I'm not sure where all my new found energy comes from but I suspect not having any more pain has something to do with it. I'm now almost a week post surgery and I feel amazing. I still have my usual collection of body aches that come with RA but that awful grinding pain I had in my gut is gone and gone for good.

We will be alone this Christmas with our kids in Calgary and California. Nobody can come visit this year. I am so not anxious to fly anywhere into the U.S. After hearing of another elderly woman being strip searched on a flight from New York to Florida it is the last thing on my to do list. I would definitely be singled out because I beep going through the security and I absolutely refuse a full body scan. Maybe we will just head to Cuba or somewhere warm.

That's it for today, I'm off to do some decorating while I'm still feeling great...

It's All Good

It was a stone, no visible sign of cancer but a biopsy will be done nonetheless.

I'm in pain right now from all the gas they pump into you but that too shall pass. They almost kept me because my blood pressure went down to 40.

Having a gallbladder removed with keyhole surgery is the fastest way to do it and has the shortest recovery. Unfortunately the can't see or get the stones in the bile duct. I don't know what the odds are but with my luck, well we all know how that is.

I am happy, I dodged a bullet but I was one terrified person. Now I'm going back to sleep.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When Things Work Too Well

I get nervous... especially with the health care system here in Canada. Everyone here expects to wait at least three months minimum to see any kind of specialist and some waits are much longer such as the one for the foot surgeon. That wait was three years.

My gallbladder was removed just before Christmas in 2007 and ever since I have had occasional ongoing pain just as if the gallbladder where still there. I probably had three or so attacks a year and they lasted about ten excruciating minutes. Now in fairness to my GP, he did an ultra sound that showed a slightly enlarged bile duct and told me that if I had another attack I'd need a CT scan.  Life got in the way, and I pretty much ignored the pains blaming it on diet, stress etc. Then came the big one. This last attack that happened back in July scared the bejeesus out of me because it lasted nine hours. Steve of course wanted to call an ambulance a number of times and I refused. I could no longer avoid the inevitable. I saw the surgeon just before we left for Greece and she ordered the MRI for when I came home.

 That MRI was two weeks ago and surgeon that removed my gallbladder informed me that she had arranged an appointment with a gastroenterologist just about immediately, I was floored. Seems my bile duct is 5 times larger than normal. The cause, that is the question mark but it needs to be dealt with.


I saw the gastro doc and she will do an  ERCP next Wednesday and that boys and girls is fast. This test involves sending a flexible camera through my mouth into the small bowel. They will then send a catheter through the bile duct and or the pancreatic duct. Then they throw a little dye down there and x-ray the whole mess. So what are they looking for? A errant gall stone would be the absolute best outcome. Next best would be something call sphincter of odi which is a little teeny weeny muscle that doesn't open and close properly allowing the bile to flow freely.  If it's the muscle then they will cut it (sphincterotomy) The really bad one would be a tumor. All three have been discussed.


I have signed the release acknowledging the possible complication of pancreatitis. The test is next Wednesday...keep your fingers crossed, I'm due for a break.