Yarnivorous

G'day all! Thanks for the good wishes. Blood tests and CT scan came back clear. Hooray! Next blood test is three months away, then another blood test and CT scan in six months, etc. Now I can focus on other things. To our cousins across the Tasman, we are thinking of you, particularly those in and around Christchurch. Christchurch is devastated, many are dead, many more are homeless. We love to pick on Kiwis (just like big brothers and sisters pick on smaller siblings) but we will stand with you when the chips are down. I am thinking of making up a quick quilt or two with some of the stash I have (then I am allowed to buy more fabric! Hoooray!) to send across to NZ. Never fear, it will take me a good month to get one done. I have some good ideas for some pretty quick things, like this quilt Melody is making. I have some strips of fabric all ready cut and could get a top together easily enough and a back, it is just getting the quilting done that is hard! But such a quilt...

G'day all! You might think that I am not knitting much at the moment. Well I am knitting but I am knitting the body of this cardigan and really, progress looks slow (though I did knit a good 6cm of it on Friday whilst awaiting my CT scan). It is boring to show progress pics when the only progress seems to be endless swathes of stocking stitch. I must say I am mighty impressed so far with the yarn I am using. It can be a little splitty but the yardage is amazing and for $2 a ball (down from $7), I am quite quite happy. It has only taken three balls to do the yoke and the upper body down to the waist. I've just added the fourth ball. I bought 10 or 12 balls and am now thinking I might be able to make a little top too! I've been busy with work, knitting, quilting, gardening, house renos, the 365project (a picture a day) and DH, and in the last couple of days tests for my six monthly checkup. Yep, we only count from when the operation was, even though I was diagnosed wit...

For me, raw beetroot is a strong purgative. Yikes! I've had very small amounts of raw beetroot before and thought it was rather nice. So I made a nice raw beetroot and carrot salad as part of tea. It was very enjoyable. Two hours later, well the troubles started! The most interesting side effect was how wobbly my legs went. That is an issue in itself as one has to move relatively quickly when "the moment" comes along. It is now 1:30am and I'm hoping I can go to bed soon. Am very tired, rather dehydrated but cannot do more than sip water. PS. If anyone knows where I put any of our battery chargers, please let me know. We used to have three, I got rid of one cos the batteries didn't seem to charge well in it, and I've seen both of the other two in the last 10 days but can't find them at all now.... The phone takes adequate pics but the camera does much better as one might expect from a one trick pony.

G'day all! I'm back. Things are settling down some. It's been a fun couple of weeks but we think we are getting back to a new normal. And it is a good place to be. I've been flat chat, what with working, doing quiltalongs and stuff with DH. Yes he is still DH - he thinks he went a bit mental a month ago and did some things he now rather regrets. We are currently in Melbourne. It is a year and a week since the day my chemo started. I am rather pleased to be a year on from it. So far so good, but in another week I have a CT scan and then in two Tuesdays' time I go to the clinic to get my results and see how I am going. I've already done the blood screening - - I am getting all sorts of cancer markers read. It isn't quite the standard thing but I'm also part of a study and my cancer is a high risk one so I guess I get extra care! At least I don't need to have a mammo - the CT scan will probably show more and will show up any mets. I think if ...

G'day all! What an interesting summer we are having here in Oz. I hope the subject line has told you we are not talking craft today... Three quarters of Queensland was/is flooded. Cyclone Anthony had a go at Perth (the only major city on the western coast of Oz). Cyclone Yasi (category 5, not quite as big as Katrina but jeez she worked on it) hit the parts of Queensland that weren't really affected by the earlier floods. Now Cyclone Anthony, who has devolved to just being a low pressure system has dumped well over three inches of rain on us this evening after wandering across the southern part of Australia. He's the colourful blur near the bottom of the continent. (copyright 2011 Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology) (We live down the bottom part of the Oz mainland, where the blue/green spots are. You might just be able to see a patch in the middle of the blue/green spots. That is aroundabout where Melbourne is.) Yasi has also been downgraded and will fade a...

G'day all! I had my car serviced today and got the nasty petrol smell checked out. One of the fuel lines had perished. And the fuel filter clamps were tied down too tight and were strangling the fuel filter. Hmmm... So I drove off and filled up the car cos it is cheap petrol Friday (at some point soon the fuel prices will jack up about 10c a litre). Car felt a less nippy than usual but I thought that was just me being odd. We drove up to the PiLs' place and had a lovely BBQ there and hung out with Nathan and his brother playing Sky pieces. Then we managed to get 100m down the road and most of the way through a right hand turn (remember we drive on the left side of the road, not the right, so it is the equivalent of a left hand drive car's left turn) when I realised we had no power. No fuel. Nada. I couldn't even roll to a stop in the most out of the way position as there was a car waiting to pull onto the road there plus we were going uphill... So we had 10 minute...

G'day all! Remember that old Confucian "blessing" - "may you live in interesting times?" Well I am living them. LOL Gotta laugh, cos otherwise you'd do something stupid. Thanks for all your good wishes. I reckon we are working things out. Distance has certainly not helped. We'll be back in Melbourne tomorrow, earlier in the day than planned. I am sure the cats will be happy to see us, though they've been in good hands. I thought I'd give you a montage of some of the sights I've seen in the last week. Next time I am up here with some free time, I'll be hopping on the ferry - had a lovely, if too short, trip yesterday. I'll be happy to be home, though if Sydney is to be my home for a while well there are compensations to that too! anon!