Smooth Recovery

This is the big snow we had at the beginning of the new year, know for some reason as the BombCyclone.  It was almost a foot high but the unusual thing about this snow was the week long low temperatures we had afterward that kept the snow around.  Usually,  when we get snow, it melts fairly quickly, but the low temps meant we lost five days of school in a row.

 

Thank you for your kind wishes; my recovery has been really easy.  I had some extra time due to the snow, which certainly helped, and then the fact that I haven't had to work a full week yet has also been good for my healing.  Last week we had a two hour delay on Thursday and a full day on Friday, then a three day weekend. I went to work yesterday, and we are actually off today as we are expected to get about three inches of snow during the day.  It seems crazy to be out for expected snow, but our area just does not have the budget for snow removal and therefore, it gets dangerous if you have kids and buses going home in the middle of snow and icy covered roads.  It's a truly tough call to make, because if the storm is late coming through, everyone will say the district overreacted, but we didn't make this call a few years back and it was definitely a white knuckle situation that no one wants to repeat.  

I had a lovely relaxing weekend with old friends watching football this past weekend and knitting up a storm. I'm working on the Apple Cider Donut Cardigan from the Rhinebeck Sweaters book, using the Green Mountain Spinnery Weekend Wool yarn I thought I was going to use for the Mary Rebecca pattern, before I read the pattern more carefully and realized I needed DK for that one.  Rookie mistake, especially since I had knit it up to the armholes already last year.  The only reason I had ripped it out was that I needed to change the size.  So that was kind of lucky, right?  This is the pattern photo from Ravelry; my color is raspberry.

This photo was taken about a week ago, so I'm a bit further along now.

 

 I made this hat out of a skein of Weekend Wool in pumpkin using TinCanKnit's Antler pattern for my cousin's husband.

My friend, Melissa, came over with lunch on one of my recovery days, and finished this adorable snowman hat for her soon-to-be-born first grandbaby.  

 

I finally hung up the orange and cinannamon garland that I made;  I got the idea from the Reading My Tea Leaves blog, and drying the orange slices in the oven made my house smell so good.  Even just having them piled in a bowl smelled great.

 

I got this package in the mail from Meredith, my daughter; she and her husband went to Iceland for Christmas and she picked up these two skeins of Lopi for me while she was there.

This photo was taken before Christmas while I was in Charlottesville with a friend for his birthday to see a UVA basketball game.  We met some friends for champagne at the Boars Head Inn afterward, before driving back home.  

 

And because I can't leave Gracie out, here she is, sitting on my lap while I knit.  I'm so glad she is still comfortable siting on my lap.

 

This is an Instagram picture my neighbor, Eva, took of Gracie, while I was out of town this past weekend.  She is so good about spending time with her, which makes me feel less guilty about leaving her.

 

 

 

Hoping you all have a wonderful week, whatever you are doing.  Peace and joy to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surgery, Snow, and Gracie

My surgery went really well, and my recovery time was surprisingly enjoyable.  I was spoiled by my friends, my parents, and my daughter, Melissa, as well as my neighbor, Eva, and because of all their wonderful support, I was able to follow my doctor's orders to keep my foot elevated for the first two weeks.  When I went to my two-week follow up appointment, he was pleasantly surprised by how little swelling there was.    

I would have returned to work on Tuesday, except we were hit by the BombCyclone of snowstorms (I have no idea where that name came from) and school was out for five straight days, largely due to the extreme low temperatures that kept the streets and school parking lots covered far longer than normal.  This was good news for me, as it means that instead of being charged five days of sick leave, I only used two!  We go back tomorrow and will have two weeks left of this semester, before exams and beginning second semester, so it will be slightly anticlimactic, I suspect.  But at least I won't have much grading waiting for me.  I really got lucky.

 

I don't have too much time for a long post, but I wanted to catch up just a bit.  Most of my photos are of Gracie keeping me company on the couch;  today is the five year anniversary of her adoption from the pet rescue, and it turns out that if I sit long enough , she does like to sit on my lap after all.  It only took us five years to discover this.  

 Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and hopefully I will be back in this space soon.

 

 

 

 

I have been knitting and I do have some snow pictures, but I'll show those next time.  Thanks for all your good wishes!