June continues to misbehave: we had three days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week and several severe thunderstorms with tornados! My arm is still swollen and painful but the numbness is starting to improve; as if in solidarity one of my knees started to complain just today. Sigh. Knock it off, you guys! My new refrigerator came today and I am so happy to have dependable food storage again. Besides, it is just beautiful and shiney! The flowers in the garden are starting to bloom and the roses in particular are looking mighty fine. I have started to knit again every night and I also found some interesting books to read. I bought new glasses and ordered a bunch of fun stuff from Amazon. (Do I need purple and gold washi tape for my journal? Why yes, yes I do. I also got pink and gold replacement bands for my Fitbit and a pair of pink/grey comfy pants.) I went to the yarn store and bought more yarn… that may have not been wise, but I want to believe that I will return to full knitting capacity soon. 🙂 Okay, June isn’t being all bad… it was Hannah’s one year adoption anniversary this week.
Hannah on the 15th (her adoption anniversary date) and little kitten Hannah on the day I brought her home last year. I tried to recreate the picture from her first day home but she wasn’t all that interested and I was lucky to get the shot that I did. To celebrate her anniversary she got crispy pink paper to play in (that is always a big hit with her) and some bows to drag around. Last night I applied to adopt a kitten companion for her from the Cat Care Society and today they called me to approve the request and put us on the list for kitten alerts. Hannah was adopted from this shelter and they consider it a priority to get her a little friend. Yay!
I’ve requested a male, orange tabby kitten. We’ll see what happens. Hannah can’t wait.
Knitting
I’m working steadily on the mitts for my knitworthy niece who is a huge fan of all things Mandalorian. I am now up to the fingers of the second mitt.
I need to do some duplicate stitch detail work and then there are all of the ends to weave in, but the end is definitely in sight now. I’m almost tempted to make a second pair but I have soooo many sweaters and other projects that I need to get done. This pattern is Mando (Natela Astakhova).
Garden
The roses are blooming! The roses are blooming! The roses are blooming!
From left to right, these roses are Hot Cocoa, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Cinco de Mayo, and Home Run. We had lots of rain this spring and I have been watering every day since then; this is the best crop of roses I’ve had in quite a while. I really was responsible this time with the roses as I covered them with frost clothes if there was even a chance of a hard freeze and I fertilized them early in the spring. This week they got more fertilizer and they are all looking good with lots of buds on the plants still waiting to bloom. Yay, garden!!
Books
I have two books going right now; one is text and the other is an audiobook. They both are really holding my interest and curiously they even look similar.
How crazy is it to be reading icy blue books when trapped in an heat wave. I’m only half way through The Doors of Eden and even less with The Cold Millions, but both books are thought provoking and really interesting.
And that’s all I’m going to say about them right now. 🙂
Have a great week everyone.
Read a little, knit a little, and garden like your heart can’t live without it.
Scleroderma Update: My rheumatologist had my hands x-rayed this week and I have severe arthritis in both of them, but especially the one that is now acting up. I was kind of surprised and I’m hoping that they can do something to help with the swelling and numbness. My echocardiogram results also came back and I do have a hole in my heart, but an email came from my pulmonologist yesterday saying that it isn’t big enough to account for the whole panting/blue lips thing and he wants to do some more testing. Fun. We have an appointment next week.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Sorry to hear about the arthritis in your hands. Beautiful Hannah, a year already 😮. I am excited to see how things go when she gets a playmate. Are there character differences in the breeds of cats or just aesthetically do you like ginger cats? Our family had a black and white cat and tortoiseshell growing up and then I had two black and white cats.
I was kind of shocked that it was so bad because I have always thought that my wrist pain was tendons and didn’t understand that the shape of my hands wasn’t normal because they are a matching pair. 🙂 I think that there are some specific character differences with some cat breeds (Maine coons won’t sit on your lap, Siamese cats “talk” a lot, stuff like that) but I have had some amazing ginger cats and thought I would try for another one. I want a mellow cat so I asked if a female would be less aggressive, and the shelter said that they tended to be more aggressive so I put in the request for the male. Really, it is important to get the right kitten for Hannah and the color isn’t the main thing, but they would make a cute matched set.
You are clearly in pain, but your cheerful spirit shines through. Your Hot Cocoa looks very like our Hot Chocolate.
I told the rheumatologist that I have a tendency to not seek help for every problem that crops up; I just keep adapting and carrying on for the most part. She asked me how that was working for me; I think that her point was I was ignoring problems until they were too bad to fix. I told her that for the most part things don’t get fixed and I maintain a good attitude this way. Truthfully, I have been pushing for help for years over big issues that aren’t getting fixed, so why would I run to the doctor for every single thing? Best to be cheerful and feed the roses! I wonder if the roses are related. I’ll have to check it out. I buy from a nursery that gets roses that are approved for our region and specifically the Rocky Mountain front range; it made me realize that there is a lot of genetics and science behind rose breeding.
I’m sure your attitude is the sensible one, and is seeing you through
I think so, but I’m not sure my rheumatologist approved…
I just checked: they are the same rose!
🙂
Happy Gotcha Day, Hannah! Your roses are lovely and those Mandalorian mitts are adorable!
Thank you. There is a whole Mandalorian sweater but I don’t know if I’m up for that!
Sorry to hear about your arthritis 😦 I hope you feel better soon! I love the pictures of Hannah. Those books look great – I’m going to add you on Goodreads after I post this comment. 🙂
These books are great! I’m much further along in The Doors of Eden and it continues to grow on me, but then I’m a biogeek and it seems perfectly reasonable to have multiple worlds that are all “Earth” but experiencing different evolutionary pathways and geologic outcomes. I’ll head right on over to Goodreads to add you back.
Happy Gotcha Day to Hannah! I really hope there is something that can be done to help with your hands and other medical concerns! The Mandalorian mitts are very cool, and your garden is looking great 🙂
Thank you.
I can’t believe it’s been a year already! Happy adoptaversary 😀