So much for more frequent updates...

Once again it has been way too long. Why? Working, working, and more working. Things will be getting better on that front, though. I gave my notice to Glitter World. I had a really, really bad day at the register a few Sundays ago. I had a rude, horrible, nasty, bully of a customer, and I realized that it's just not worth it. If I hadn't been exhausted from working seven days a week for the past 18 months, the customer probably wouldn't have gotten to me the way she did. The next day I turned in my notice. They asked if I would continue teaching knit & crochet, and I said yes, but that's only once a week, and at least I won't be working the register any more. Sure, it will take me longer to get rid of my debt, but it will get done, eventually.

On a brighter note, I have found some really great ideas on Pinterest. Knitting hints, recipes, and fabulous home ideas. Take a look at these cool light fixtures made from teacups...


...and fruit jars!


Wouldn't these fruit jar lights look great over a kitchen sink? Maybe a set of three of them? How does one go about making these lights, though. I know...ask dad! Dad is always up for a project. Sure, he might think it's a stupid idea, and he might question why would anyone would want fruit jars hanging over their sink when the could have a perfectly good fluorescent fixture, or better yet, recessed lighting so you don't see any light source at all. Why draw attention to the fixture, especially when the light it provides is less than adequate for a kitchen? It is worth noting here that dad's idea of "adequate" kitchen lighting is something akin to surgical suite lighting. After all, if you should have to perform an appendectomy, where better than over the kitchen sink?

Anyway, I casually mentioned this idea over dinner last Thanksgiving, and dad made the first prototype that weekend. Notice the use of a pumpkin pie filling can as the light fixture:



After multiple trips to Lowes and an electric supply store on dad's part, and a day trip to find fruit jars on my part, we were ready for the fun to begin. At least, it's the fun part for dad. Ripping and slashing is always the best part of any job, according to him. The cabinet trim came down in one piece (thank goodness) and then it was time for the demolition!


Where there was once just a small hole that fed electrical wires to an ugly fluorescent fixture, now there is a huge, gaping hole. Notice all of the junk on the counter. Insulation, sheet rock, pieces of a 2x4...it was all in dad's way, so now it's all gone!

At least we spread a tarp down first for easy cleanup. Next step, install the board dad made to fit over the sink. He had already pre-wired the new fixtures, of course.


Add the trim again, and some fruit jars, and voila! A concept becomes a reality!


I'll never be able to perform an appendectomy over the sink, but I absolutely LOVE my kitchen lighting! Thanks dad! You're the best!

After the Storm...and the Earthquake.

Hurricane Irene has come and gone, but rest assured that everyone here in BritKnitterville is fine. I hope everyone reading this is safe, too. Irene was downgraded to a Category One hurricane by the time she made landfall in New Jersey. Oddly enough, this is just the third time in the State's history that a hurricane made a direct hit. This was the first time that we boarded up the windows of the Museum where I work.



Irene caused the evacuation of Cape May County (yes a whole county of people!) and most of the shore communities on the coast. Fortunately my little house in Fortescue is on the Delaware Bay side of the state, but I would say that just about everyone left the island for higher ground, even though evacuation was not mandatory. My sister and I drove down there this morning to check on things, and there were lots of trees and wires down (and no power on the island), but fortunately not a lot of property damage. My little house survived with only the loss of one of the window shutters. Whew!

Not only did we have a Hurricane this week, we also had an Earthquake! In New Jersey! Ok, so technically it wasn't centered in New Jersey, but it sure felt like it! I can't imagine what it was like in Virginia. One minute I was sitting at the computer at in the Museum's library, and my chair starts rolling. I look up, and the hanging lights are swinging. We ran out into the museum (a GLASS museum, by the way) and the ginormous chandeliers in the lobby are swinging. Being in a glass museum in an earthquake is not my idea of fun, by the way. An earthquake in New Jersey...very strange.

In other news, I have a fourth dog. Well, HAD a fourth dog. For 24 hours. He wandered into the yard last Sunday and started eating the cats' food in the garage. He had a collar, but no tags and I named him Russell. Why? He's a Jack Russell Terrier, so what better name for this sweet boy?



To make a long story short, I will never take another dog in to the local SPCA to be scanned for a microchip. I will wait until my Vet's office opens and let them scan the dog. The local SPCA took Russell from me to scan him (no chip, by the way), and wouldn't let me take him back home! I told them I would give them all of my information in case the owner turned up, but they said they couldn't legally release him to me since I wasn't the owner. I never heard of that before. I took Cooper there three years ago to be scanned and they released him to me. Not Russell. They said I could come back in 7 days and fill out an application for adoption. Let me tell you, I was a mess. I was crying, which got another woman crying, and then two more women came to see what we were crying about and they started crying. Still, I had to leave without Russell... I posted his picture on Craig's List and Missing Pet.com, and hung posters in local stores. In the end it was the posters that reunited Russell with his owner. No more SPCA for me!

I'm sharing this picture just because it's so cute:



That's my dad, with his hair all messy and dirty knees. Doesn't he look great? Especially considering that he has had a rough year with two cancer surgeries. (Still cancer free!!!) He is working on a ramp for the shed at Fortescue. He is happiest when he has a project, and the Fortescue house is an endless source of projects for him. Endless, until the money runs out, which it does on a regular basis. I just made my second mortgage payment, and oddly enough it still doesn't feel like it's MY house. I still have that "trespassing" feeling when I walk in. This helps, though:



It is a picture of my first Brittany, Scarlett. My sister had an artist friend of hers do it for me shortly before I lost my sweet Scarlett. Now, every time I walk in the front door, this is what I see:




Yep, that's my house alright. Scarlett watches over it for me while I am away.

Lots of News, All of it Good!

Almost a month since I've posted... I'm a very, very bad blogger. It's been a month of ups and downs, and generally nerve wracking episodes pretty much daily. Today, however, was an "up" day. Way, way up. Dad went back to his surgeon for a follow-up visit today. He had his thyroid removed on June 8th, and after a pretty rough recovery, he is doing better now. The best, most important news from his doctor visit today is that the biopsy report was clear! No cancer at all! What a relief. Dad is still pretty sore from the surgery, and has limited neck movement, but after another week or two he will be back to his old self.

We traditionally make him his favorite meal - hamburgers with all the fixin's for Father's Day, but not this year. Here's a picture from a couple of years ago:


Can you see how big that burger is? He piles everything on his burgers. Cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, green pepper, onion, pickles... so much stuff I don't know how he eats it all. Maybe by this weekend he will feel up to the traditional Father's Day burger fest.

More good news: Mom is doing really well after her surgery last week. She had a botox injection into a muscle at the base of her esophagus, and she is eating much better now. It may have to be repeated every 6 months or so, but that's a small price to pay for being able to eat without the discomfort she has been experiencing for years now.

More good news: I've got mail!



Yes, it's all junk mail, but it's mine. Ok, none of it has my actual name on it, unless I want to change my name to "Occupant" or "Current Resident" or "Box Holder", that is.

So what's the big deal about getting mail? This mail was in my very own Post Office Box. Mine! At Fortescue!

Why would anyone get mail at Fortescue unless they lived there? They wouldn't! I will be closing on my house on Wednesday! Yes, that was another good piece of news today. After a nail-biting four days in which the bank and the homeowners/flood insurance company were going back and forth about the wording on the insurance policy (of all things to hold up a settlement...one sentence in an insurance policy!), they finally came to a compromise, and in a mere 36 hours, I will be a homeowner! Me!

Does that mean I'm a grown up now? I hope not.

Pass the Marshmallows...

A few weeks ago, I was feeling like I was going nowhere with my get-out-of-debt plan, so I decided to figure out how much I had paid off since my last bonfire. I removed the chains from the Chain of Shame, it made a tidy little pile.



Time to break out the matches...

...and celebrate...

...and then go deeper into debt:



Yep, the Fortescue house is now officially under contract! Woo Hoo! All I need now is the mortgage commitment, which should come through by June 10th. That will keep everything on track to have the survey, inspections, certifications, blah, blah, blah, done by the settlement date of June 30th!

It looks like June will be a big month around here, with Dad's thyroid surgery on the 8th, and mom's esophagus surgery on the 14th. Fortunately, dad is already stocking up on supplies in anticipation of spending time in Fortescue in the next couple of months.

What supplies?



BUG SPRAY!

Too Many Red Flags

Man, it's been a while. Yes, I've been busy, but that's not the only reason I've been away from the blog. I've tried a couple of times to write, but it has never come out right, so I hit DELETE instead of PUBLISH.

First things first...

Good news: Dad is doing well after his surgery in March.

Not-so-good news: He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple of weeks ago. We are told that it is completely unrelated to the prostate cancer. He has to have surgery to remove the thyroid, and then a couple of weeks after that he will have to be re-admitted to the hospital to take some very weird meds. Apparently, within 3-5 days of taking these meds, he will glow in the dark. (Not really...at least I hope not.) Next week we will find out more details on the surgery and post-surgical treatment.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. Mom is doing well. She is scheduled for Botox next month.That's right, Botox! I can't stop laughing whenever I think of it. She's not getting it for wrinkles (if she had any, that is). She was recently diagnosed with esophageal achalasia, so they are going to relax the muscle at the bottom of her esophagus with Botox. I keep telling her that once you start with the plastic surgery, it's just a slippery slope. Pretty soon she will be getting a butt lift and a boob job!

The dogs, assorted cats and chickens are all doing great.

OK, I think I'll end this post right here.

Thanks for reading.

Goodbye.

See ya.

Go on now.

You're still here?

You're asking about the little house at Fortescue from my last post?

The house I have been drooling over for two years now?

This cute little house with tons of character?


Why yes, I did indeed put in an offer on this house!

I know the house is small; the bedrooms are barely big enough for a twin bed, let alone a full or queen; the bedrooms and bathroom are up a narrow, winding flight of steps; the outbuildings are practically falling down and are one high tide away from being washed into the marsh. I know all that, and I love the house anyway. The deeper I got into the house, though, the more red flags started popping up.



The house has been vacant for over three years? That just proves that it needs someone to love it. Termite damage? OK. I can live with that. Leaky pipes? No problem. That's what plumbers are for. An owner who is reluctant to sell? That's a little harder to deal with, but that's what real estate agents are for.

And then came the big red flag. Do you see that outbuilding behind the house? Inside the building, there is an old, unused shallow well. You open the door, and there is a hole in the ground, about 2 feet in diameter, full of water. No lid or anything to keep you from falling into it. No big deal. Make a lid for the well, secure it so no one can fall into it, and viola! Well problem solved. At least we thought it was a well. Turns out, it's the septic. Full of water. No lid, because apparently it fills up so often that it has to be pumped out once a month. Estimate to get a new, properly draining septic system? $15,000-$25,000.

Big red flag. Huge. Big enough to cover the whole state of New Jersey. Granted, New Jersey is one of the smaller states, but still...



This house is just not an option for me, and will henceforth will be referred to as "The Money Pit".

But... behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I could go on and on with pithy sayings, but you catch my drift.

I now present.. (drumroll, please)... the Silver Lining:



Longtime readers might recognize this as the house we rented last summer when an old friend came to New Jersey for a visit. This house is also in Fortescue, and while it doesn't have the charm of my house the Money Pit, there is something to be said for three bedrooms, a bath and a half, and actually being able to flush the toilets.

So, am I just teasing, or did I actually take the plunge?

Hand me a towel, because I am soaking wet!

I was afraid to post about this earlier, afraid I would jinx it, but I made an offer, it was accepted (after some back and forth), the contracts have been signed, the attorney review period is over, and an independent house inspector only found two things wrong: it needs GFI outlets in the kitchen, and the front porch is missing lag bolts. Easy stuff.

Now I'm just waiting for the mortgage to come through, but have been assured that it will go through without a problem. Famous last words, right? I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I'm starting to think that I might actually be a homeowner very soon.

How's that for a silver lining?

Good News. Not Great, but Good.

I've been delaying posting because I was soooo hoping to have great news regarding dad's cancer. All I have is good news, but good is better than terrible, or even mediocre news. Below is the email that Mom sent out to their church's prayer chain. I just cut and pasted it for the blog because Mom said it so much better than I could.

Good Evening Everyone,

Today was the first post-op visit following Don’s surgery for prostate cancer. He was relieved of his “buddy bag” as he called it and is now allowed to drive. That is the immediate good news. Many biopsies were taken at surgery. They confirmed that his is an aggressive cancer and indeed all biopsies came back clear/negative but one. When the pathologist was bisecting the prostate he found that one capsule of the cancer had penetrated though the lining of the prostate therefore his Stage 2 cancer was upgraded to Stage 3. He will be followed with every 3 month PSA tests and if the numbers start to climb he will then be evaluated for probably radiation therapy. Whatever happens whenever is all in God’s hands and we would appreciate your continuing to pray for him. Thanks so much for your faithfulness.

In Him Because He loves us all,

Joan

Pot Pie, Anyone???

Thanks again, everyone, for keeping dad in your thoughts and prayers. He came home from the hospital Thursday night, and is already driving mom crazy, ummm, up and around. You can't keep a good man down! The next milestone is Monday the 28th when we go back to Fox Chase for the full biopsy report and removal of the catheter. Ouch.

In other medical news, the babes all had their annual checkup at the evil Vee-Eee-Tee, (a.k.a. the WonderVet) yesterday. As I was getting my little car ready for the onslaught of three big brits, look who decided to help.


Yes, that is one of the neighbor's chickens. In my car. A chicken in my car.


I opened all of the doors and ran from side to side, trying to shoo that bird out of my car. At one point I might have been heard to threaten her with the stew-pot if she left any chicken poo in my car. Eventually, I did get her out of my car without having to act on that threat, and was able to get the babes into the car. By myself. I took all three hooligans, by myself, in my little Prius. What was I thinking? I have no idea. Here are a couple of shots of the babes in the back seat of my car





They were a little squished, but not for long. Emma jumped right into the front seat and planted herself in front of the air vents. She loves the feel of the air conditioning blowing right in her face, so I turned it on full blast. Big mistake. It felt like a meat locker in my car, but every time I turned the fan down, Emma would whine. :sigh:

Luckily, I had an early appointment and it wasn't too crowded in the waiting room. As soon as I got the babes into the office, they took off in three directions with me in the center holding the leashes. I felt like the hub of a wagon wheel. After much tangling and untangling of leashes, I managed to get them signed in and seated.

Then the vet's three-legged cat wandered out from behind the counter. Now, my babes hate cats, but a three legged cat? They figured that was easy prey. There was much whining and woo-wooing on the dogs' part while the cat calmly sat just out of reach, yawning, while I was pulling on the leashes with all of my strength, saying "we love kitties...kitties are our friends."

At that point the vet techs saved my arms from being pulled out of their sockets by calling us back into the exam room. God Bless the Vet Techs!!! I tried to get a photo of the babes, but this was the best I could do. Notice the leashes wrapped around my legs...



It was all worth it, though, as the WonderVet pronounced all three babes to be beautiful, healthy, happy and frightfully undisciplined. Who could ask for anything more? :-)

Dad Update

I can't thank everyone enough for your support yesterday. I felt the support as I was waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, and knitting some more. It was a long day, as you can tell from this picture of mom and my sister Donna.



Dad's surgery went well. There were some complications, and it took about an hour longer than expected, but that just made us extra thankful that we chose Dr. Viterbo at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I don't want this to sound like a commercial for Fox Chase, but everyone there was wonderful. Not only did dad get the best of care, but they treated all of us who were waiting, waiting, waiting with kindness and patience. No question was a stupid question, and if you were wandering around in a stupor with a blank look on your face, someone always stopped and said "You look lost...can I help you?" (Don't ask me how many times I was lost and wandering around with an (allegedly) blank look on my face.)

I've got to go now. I'm getting ready to pick up mom, go to breakfast, and then drive to Fox Chase. Anyone familiar with Philly driving knows this is no small task. This country girl will be crossing a bridge, driving on I-95, and braving the road construction and crazy drivers on Cottman Ave. Ugh.

Catching Up

I can tell this is going to be a jumbled post, just because my brain is only functioning on half power. Last week mom had Mohs surgery for squamous cell cancer on her head, and tomorrow dad has his surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center. (If anyone has a spare moment tomorrow, I would sure appreciate some prayers/thoughts/good vibes sent in the direction of BritKnitterville.) I took off from both jobs for the rest of this week so I can be available to take mom back and forth to the hospital. It's just as well I am not working, because of my aforementioned brain function deficit.

Today at work I was mounting labels, so I carefully marked the cutting lines, sandwiched the layers, and as I was putting it into the heat press I then noticed a misspelling in the label. Arrgh! I went back to the computer, made the correction, printed out a new sheet, carefully marked the cutting lines...again, sandwiched the layers...again, and then put the labels into the press. I went back 10 minutes later, and that stupid press still wasn't hot. It's an ancient beast, and it does take a long time to heat up, but this was ridiculous. Then I saw the problem. I didn't plug it in. Stupid. I've been doing stuff like that for weeks now. Hopefully after dad comes home from the hospital and is on the road to recovery my brain will recover, too.

Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for your suggestions for the wedding afghan. I have just about given up hope of combining a Celtic and dog theme, so am pretty sure I will be going with either this one or this one. (My apologies to those of you not on Ravelry-- you probably can't see those links.) I'm just waiting for both patterns to arrive and then I will decide. Or not. Maybe something else will strike my fancy in the meantime.

Just because no post is complete without photos, here are a couple of shots of the sea glass I found at Fortescue over the weekend.






Pretty, huh?

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.....

First of all, thank you, everyone, for all of your support. Dad read the comments, and they are really appreciated!

The residents of Britknitterville woke up to more snow this morning. Ugh. Enough already!!! Yeah, it's pretty, but I refuse to take any more picture of the nasty white stuff. The good part about it is that work is closed until noon today. Yay! So, in between laundry and paperwork and scratching bellies, I am finally getting in another blog post.

Do you remember my little house at Fortescue? Well, not really MY house, but I consider it mine.



Hopefully some day, but more on that another time... Anyway, the little town of Fortescue has been in the news lately. This article on the feral cat colonies at Fortescue was in yesterday's paper. How can some of those people be so unfeeling? These cats are not hurting anyone. In fact, they are keeping down the rodent population on the island. Sheesh!

Here are some photos of the cats. We go down and feed them at least once a week. Aren't they beautiful?



The blue tubs are cat shelters. They are a tub within a tub, stuffed with insulation in between, and the "porthole" allows access for the cats while keeping the inner tub (stuffed with straw and blankets) nice and cozy.


Here is a recent photo of dad working on one of the tubs for the cats! Who knew he was a cat lover?


Tara says those cat shelters may be cozy, but she'll stick with her big doggy bed.

I'm back with a PSA...

Confession time: It's been a while since I have blogged, and I (shamefully) haven't read anyone else's blog in months. It really feels weird to be here, but for now I am back, checking in, letting everyone know that I am still alive. The hooligan Brittanys are in fine form, too. No health problems, just the usual orneriness that is inherent in the breed, but that just tells me that they are perfectly fine, healthy and still very puppy-like, even at their ages.

Just for fun, here is a little video I took of the babes this morning. They each had a special ketchup heart on top of their breakfast for Valentine's Day, and they loved it!



So, why have I been away for a couple of months? I have lots of excuses, all of them quite lame...

• the dreaded holidays
• working two jobs
• getting classes started at Glitter World
• making samples for the classes (4 knitting lessons and 4 crochet lessons, 2 samples per lesson for a grand total of 16 projects)
• knitting a kajillion samples for my Craft Yarn Council teacher certification
• stuff that I haven't been able to think about, let alone write about without my head exploding, which would make quite a mess with all those pieces of brain matter splattering the walls

Yep, it all boils down to that last one, so now for the real reason I've been MIA.

My Dad.

Dad has cancer.

I couldn't say that for weeks. Couldn't think it. Could barely get out of bed when the results came back from his biopsy. It is prostate cancer, which is one of the best kinds of cancer to get, if there is any such thing, but dad has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

This past week we went to Fox Chase Cancer Center, and we all feel as though he will be getting the best of care there. (Nothing but the best for my sweet dad!) I won't go into details here, but the doctors at Fox Chase exuded confidence, and dad's surgery is scheduled for March 15.

Now for my PSA: Ladies, made sure your guys get their PSA checked. Right now I know more than I ever thought I would about, ummm, boy-parts... and, again, I won't go into detail here, but please make sure your husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends... heck, even the pizza delivery guy... make sure they all get tested regularly.

OK, enough for now. I was going to get started reading some of your blogs tonight, but my head is feeling like it is getting ready to explode, so some knitting therapy is in order. I WAS going to sit in my knitting chair, but look who has beat me to it...


Mr. Cooper McLooper. He's a silly boy, but I love him!

Note to self: Ask WonderVet about getting Cooper's PSA checked.

Happy Father's Day

Today is a very special day - Father's Day! I consider myself the luckiest daughter in the world, because I have the world's best father! He has always been there for me...always. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from over the years.

Here he is when I was just a year old. Doesn't he look like a baby himself? Way too young to carry the responsibility of a family on his shoulders.
He gave the best piggy back rides...
..and still does!
He has always been an animal lover---or loves to torture animals, I'm not sure which. Here is he making Sammy "smile for the camera"!

Here he is giving Cleo (the first dog I remember) a bath in the sink.
...and again giving Abby a bath in the sink. Yes, he is a clean freak. If there was an animal in the house, it had to be clean!

Here I am sharing some important tidbit of information with him when I was 6 years old. He was my go-to-guy then...
...and has been throughout the years.
Finally, here is a picture from last night. He is enjoying his favorite meal, which we make for him every Father's Day...hamburgers. He's not hard to please...he would rather have a burger than just about anything in the world.

Happy Father's Day, dad! I love you more than words can say!

Dogs on Thursday

Happy Dogs on Thursday from all the Brits in Britknitterville! This morning I was able to get a rare photo of all three dogs together:
They're not exactly together, but at least they are close enough to get in the same shot. Emma, of course, is in her little nest that she makes in the sofa cushions. Here is a shot from the front on the sofa:
She smooshes the cushion down into a comfy little hollow, and she will stay there all day! What a life!

I've been off this week and a lot has been going on, mostly involving taking care of the sick! Mom is doing better, but still gets very tired after any kind of activity. She went to church on Sunday and it wiped her out for two days. We've been making meals and taking them over, and mom always greets us with a chorus of "Meals on Wheels!" The only problem is that mom and dad are not vegetarians and they think a meal isn't a meal without MEAT! Blech!

Dad also celebrated his 74th (!!!!!) birthday this week, and I took pictures of him building the perfect burger, but they were taken with my cell phone and were impossibly blurry. You'll just have to trust me that it was a work of art. A (not-so-heart-healthy) half-pound burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, bacon, onion, green pepper, and anything else he could possibly fit into a bun. Yuck. I made my yummy broccoli spaghetti casserole, and to my surprise both mom and dad tried it, and liked it, even though there wasn't a scrap of meat in it. I just might turn them into vegetarians yet! Then again, maybe not.

Anyway, to make up for the lack of a birthday picture of dad, here is a recent shot of mom and dad from their trip to Vermont a few months ago.
And here is one of my favorite pictures...that's me with my head on dad's shoulder. Can't you just feel the love?
I'm incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful dad!