"The Royal Crescent and daffodils from Royal Victoria Park, Bath."  I don’t have daffodils yet.  You know what?  I won’t ever have daffodils unless I plant some!  I know, I know…  We had a pretty crappy weekend, so I didn’t get to tour my yard to see if anything is happening.  Judging from last April’s blog photos, I might see some sedum and tulips getting a start, as well as my favorite bleeding heart!  The sun is starting to come out, so perhaps I can take a look tonight.  Thank goodness for Katie and her camera!  Three weeks from today, she’ll be back in the States — I can’t wait to see all of her pictures.  The continental tour begins this Friday — first stop: Paris!  I doubt we’ll be in touch very much until she gets home.

I scored at the antique show!  Three plastic and/or Bakelite belt buckles, perfect for the closure of a scarf or shawl — I love those things and they were only $2.00 each!  A couple of pansy postcards, and the one that Mabel gave to her mother.  ; )  I love the Aero Knitting Pin & Tension Gauge and the proprietess at that booth made sure I knew that it was a U.K. gauge.  The painted pansy is on one end of a very long "Flemish art" box (decorated with wood burning) — it’s almost three feet long and divided into three sections inside; the top, front and sides are all burned and painted, the inside of the lid is done in an overall burn pattern.  I think I can make out "Joe" burned on the bottom of one section — so maybe it was for his sweetheart.  It’s missing the clasps on the front, which I didn’t even notice until I had to ask the price and it was pointed out, so it was cheap-cheap-cheap.

I finished the second Trellis sleeve over the weekend and cast on for the back.  I briefly considered knitting the fronts and back as one piece to the arm decreases, but in the end, I’m doing it in pieces, as written.  I’m just past said arm decreases on the back, so moving right along!  I have pretty much memorized the pattern and am doing all but one of the manipulated stitch moves without a cable needle.  Such freedom!

I visited Michael a few times over the weekend, talked a few times, too.  He’s doing great!  My SIL wheeled him out, walking us to our car, on Saturday — it was SO good to see him outside.  He sounds stronger and more with it everyday; Thursday is still the tentative discharge date.  Woo.

Okay, so my daughter takes breathtaking photographs in England, Wales, Ireland… at home… pretty much wherever she is with her camera.  She left a comment on my last post about the pastoral view with sheepies from the lodge and totally burst my bubble:

You’d THINK they were sheepies! But we did some super camera zoom research and realized they were some sort of feathered llama/dinosaur/giant swan things. Turns out they’re just swans, but they’re not as distant as they seem. 😉

*sigh*  They’re just swans.  Swans are nice and all, but they’re not sheepies.

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Mom visited with Michael for a little while this morning and called me afterwards to tell me that he was resting so peacefully and quietly, just sleeping the whole time; she massaged lotion into his hands and feet — they’re so dry.  I missed my SIL and her sister today, but their notes said the same thing.  I know that just that small thing was a relief to all of them.  He was more restless this afternoon and evening.

I’m learning that you need to ask the right questions; information is not always usually volunteered.  He has pneumonia and pseudomonas, which are getting neither worse nor better, though the respiratory therapist said that there’s been more activity this afternoon.  He is breathing mostly on his own, but is not quite ready to quit the ventilator and still needs that extra bit or he’d have a collapsed lung.  At this point, the ventilator is the only thing keeping him in ICU.  The continuous morphine drip will be stopped tonight in an effort to get him to wake up more (and they’ll continue to give it to him as needed, of course).  He opened his eyes just ever so slightly tonight (just slits, really) and we’ve seen tears at the corners of his eyes the past few days, and grimaces that sometimes accompany the squirms.  That’s hard.  There’s going to be such pain — the ribs, vertebra, now a shoulder blade, too.  Does he see us?  Can he focus?  Can he hear us and understand us and remember when we tell him what’s happened?  I have to believe, even if we all still seem far away and fuzzy, that he does feel the love — lots ‘n lots of love — all of our love — and that’s got to help.

I’m excited about this:  It was suggested that it’s not too far-fetched to think that he could be celebrating his 44th birthday, St. Patrick’s Day and my 1-year quit anniversary next weekend on the floor.  There won’t be any green beer or corned beef and cabbage for him, but oh that would be like a pot of gold — a little beginner baby pot, because we are going to be needing many, many more along the way — more rainbows, more pots of gold.

Thank you, again, all, for your continued good thoughts and prayers and well wishes.  They mean so much.  You just don’t know…  I just wanted (needed) to give an update, especially since it’s hopeful.

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The other really good news today is that my youngest, having not had school today, cleaned the entire kitchen — including the floor — without even being asked, without even a suggestion.  You can knock me over with that swan feather now…

In light of all the front door views and back yard views around the blogs over the past few weeks (which I’ve both participated in and enjoyed immensely), I laughed when I saw that Katie had posted, surely through some kind of osmosis, a picture with the caption, "The view from our lodge, Ireland."  Not difficult to see why she’d even think to take a picture — it’s so peaceful!  Do you see the specks on the grass across the water?  It’s surely more sheepies!

This one makes me smile, too.  "Aran Islands in the distance through the snow from the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland."  I’m not sure whether I’m seeing islands or what, but I love it.  ; )  She called last night with a question about yarn — she is on the hunt for something special and memorable for both of us!

I’ve finished the pink stealth knitting and have started another blue blanket square for Christine’s "Comforting Jef" project (which may, with any luck, also extend to "Comforting Mike"!).  There’s a good week and a few days of knitting left before I’ll have to get these in the mail so she has them by the deadline on the 24th.  I knit a whole square listening to podcasts the other day, but I was so tired last night I had to hit the hay early.  I’m using some navy blue Debbie Bliss Merino Aran that I actually used to knit a sweater once, but it was too small so I frogged the entire thing.  It’s great yarn.  Each square has a simple cable design because, well, I like that cable action!

Still prayin’.   ; )

One of many breathtaking pictures that Katie took from (or of) the Cliffs of Moher last weekend.  She had a great time in Ireland with four mates and a rented car; they stayed in an adorable little lodge and traipsed around the countryside.

Oh, okay, here’s one more (as always, click for big).  Y’all know what I’m thinking when I see ones like these, don’t you?  "Oh, Sandy would LOVE this!"

Katie knows what her mum likes, too — and what she likes to share with her friends!  She calls this one, "Sheepies in Blarney, Ireland."  I love that; my girl calls them "sheepies."

And you know what else they have in Blarney?  Mwah!

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I’m relieved that my SIL’s sister has arrived and will be here all week.  It’s a good week for her to be here.  My brother will have a tracheotomy tomorrow, so that he need not be intibated anymore and also allowing them to reduce the sedation medication.  They’re hoping to do surgery tomorrow to fix the C7.  It’s still all about patience and prayers.

One of Mom’s favorites was when "John and Joe" would play Garbage Man.  They’d even take time off from their hard work and go fishing.  Annie would sit on the basement steps with a "fishing pole," the line dangling over the side — Michael would, too, if he was able to talk one of us girls into helping out.  We would tie a stuffed animal to the end of the line and give it a good tug, or if we couldn’t be talked into it, Mike would do it just for Ann.  "Wow!  You got a big one, Joe!!"