It was a lovely week last week; hot and sunny with cooling afternoon thundershowers. Perfect. I rested up the entire week recovering from the exceptionally busy week I had the week before that and got lots done outdoors.
The new kitten, Mateo, continues to grow at an accelerated rate and is eating like a bottomless pit. He is now 3 months, 3 weeks old and is much less clumsy but still unable to jump up onto counters. Whew. No rush there. By the way, do those front paws look kind of big to you?
Hannah has recovered from her visit to the vet and all the vaccinations and is returning to her playful self. There is a little problem here, though… she wants to play with the kitten all the time and me or her toys… not so much. I’ve been giving her more attention during the kitten’s naps and she is slowly rebounding to her previous endearing interactions with me and her toys. This has been a big month for her, after all, and she is coming through it like a trooper.
Garden
The garden continues to flourish in the good weather but I have some concerns for it as there is another heat dome building and this time it will be much closer to Colorado. I took pictures of the flowers this afternoon as I’m not too sure what they will look like in another week…
There is a lot of blooming going on with the roses and for some reason the insects haven’t been munching on them as much as usual. Look at how happy and fresh these blooms look! This is the second blooming of the season and I am feeding the roses again this week in the hopes that I can get a third blooming next month.
The garden is full of volunteer plants that are popping up from things I put in the garden in years past. The big winners are snapdragons… they are everywhere! I put in a picture showing all the new buds that are emerging on the plants (2nd from left) and one with dried seed pods that already dropping seeds on the same plants (3rd from left). I am moving some of the seeds to gardens in the back flower beds as I work clearing out weeds and I’m hoping that there will be a new crop of snapdragons back there next year. I’m also seeing cute little Johnny-Jump-Ups appearing in the gardens like the little purple flower in the last picture. It’s becoming kind of a Darwinian garden in this flower bed over time as the plants that are more successful are taking over my flower bed and other places in the yards.
Knitting
I haven’t said too much about it, but I’ve been battling tendonitis in my right shoulder that was putting a huge crimp in my knitting activities for the last six weeks… the pain radiated down my arm and I lost all feeling in my fingers and some function. The concern, of course, was that my knitting days were coming to an end due to joint and nerve damage from my systemic sclerosis. My rheumatologist started me on a new drug and sent me to physical therapy and I am finally, finally, recovering the use of my arm and can knit more than a half hour at a time again. Whew! People, I am back!! Am I buying any more yarn right now… no. Sadly, no.
I got busy on a new sweater and made some good progress this week. I am making the Rock It Tee using some great speckled yarn from the stash and I am so pleased with how it is working out.
The tee is constructed from the top down and you knit back and forth while shaping the raglan sleeves and the V neck in the front. In the picture on the left you can see that I have just joined the knitting below the V neck to allow me to knit in the round (so much easier on my hand) and the picture on the left shows the raglan sleeve shaping. I am almost at the point where the sleeves will be taken off and placed on holders and then it will be simple knitting in the round to the bottom of the sweater. Yay! My next ball of yarn looks a little darker so I am going to start blending it into the current fabric as soon as I’m below the sleeves.
Books
The Ten Thousand Books of January was great! I had just finished a book about books, doors, keys, and some crazy-ass magic associated with them, so I was a little worried about this one too. Nope. This was a straight forward book within a book that told a great story. I really enjoyed it and loved every minute of the books, doors, keys, words, and crazy-ass magic.
Have a great week everyone.
Read a little, knit a little, and garden like your heart can’t live without it.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Your flowers are so beautiful! I hope they ride out the week ok. So glad Hannah is getting back to her old self and little Matteo is growing so fast 🙂 Also, glad the new medication and PT is getting you back full functionality – knitting is key!
Seriously, the only thing that really got me down the last few weeks was the possibility that I was losing the use of that hand. I don’t quite know how I will cope if I can’t knit anymore. Typing was getting really hard but there is always voice-to-text, but knitting… I’m so grateful that it is coming back!!
Your roses look beautiful, cats look adorable and I’m so glad you’re recovering to the point of knitting again. Better to knit an hour a day than no knitting again, so do take it slow…I know how easy it is with easy stockinette to knit for hours. Hope it’s not too hot this week.
You are right about the stockinette! I am finally below the sleeves on that sweater and I am cruising along… last night I knitted over two hours while I watched a movie without thinking about it and today my arm is sore. More physical therapy.
Hannah and you are both troopers
We are committed to good attitudes. 🙂
Gorgeous yarn! Glad to hear Hannah is bouncing back.
The yarn is Spun Right Round and I have become a big fan of it. I’m going to have to look for more speckled yarns because now I’m a fan!
I’m glad your shoulder is showing improvement with PT. It would be a terrible shame to give up something you love. Your kitties are so cute. As for your garden, isn’t it fun when plants self seed, sometimes a few years later. I’m always amazed when this happens in my own garden. These dreaded heat domes have become a “thing” sad to say. I hope you have a more restful week ahead.
I made myself a great chicken and rice crockpot dish that will last me for days that is loaded with turmeric; it is anti-inflammatory and really helps me with tendonitis. My tendons are just taking a pounding from the scleroderma and if I’m not careful they tip over into complete revolt and then it takes a while to rehab them. I am kind of sad about the next wave of heat as we should be in our monsoon now and over the worst of the heat, but nope! I just ordered some more masks that filter out smoke because I think we are into serious fire season now.
I often forget about the wonderful benefits of turmeric. You are smart to make up a crockpot dish that will last while nourishiing your body with what you need. Thanks for the reminder.
As for the heat, monsoons, fires and the lot, it appears to be our “new normal.” You are smart to order those masks now. Last summer we had air quality in the low 200s.
Ooh I loved that book too!! Her book Once and Future Witches is fantastic too. I’m glad you’re able to knit again. That must have been a little scary!
It was! I couldn’t knit for almost 18 months when I had complications from carpal tunnel surgery and I actually got kind of depressed. So glad it is back.
I didn’t realize that Once and Future Witches was published… I will check it out!!
Oh gosh, 18 months. I can’t imagine. Knitting definitely helps manage my mental health so I’m sure it was terrible.
I was able to spin! Now I have lots of homespun yarn from that time. I agree with you about the knitting and mental health; I rely on it enormously to control anxiety.
Your garden looks amazing! Happy your needles are back clicking along!