Hi. I’m Hannah.
The world outside has changed over the last couple of weeks. The sunshine is bright and warm; I love to sleep in the sunshine, don’t you? There are more squirrels than usual chasing each other through the trees out front, and sometimes they even come right up to the windows. The bunnies are spending lots of time in the yard where the CoalBear and I can see them, and there are birds again. Lots of birds!! All of this change is really exciting, and the CoalBear and I just want to spend all of our time playing. So, is the Mother of Cats spending all of her time entertaining us? Giving us tuna? Letting us outside to play in the sunshine and delivering the kitty cookies right on time?
No. She is not!
The Mother of Cats has been sleeping more than usual (and I’m a cat, so believe me, that is a lot!), reading her books, and knitting. Knitting isn’t too bad if we get to play with the yarn, but nope, nope, nope… once again she is not sharing her toys with us like she should.
The Mother of Cats has been listening to an audiobook during some of her knitting, so I get to listen along with her while she knits and I help with the yarn management.
Imagine a man who dreams of waves of energy zooming through the air from a spark of electricity to a device that can detect the waves; the device is like magic, letting messages travel from one place to another without wires. He dreams of all the changes that the wireless messages can make in the world, and also about how much money he can make from the business that installs and runs the devices that make this possible. His name is Guglielmo Marconi. Pretty cool, right. (Can I have some tuna now… all this typing is making me hungry…) At the same time in history, there is a man who works creating and selling “cures” for illnesses. He is married to a woman who is very bossy and demanding (CoalBear… I’m looking at you…) and one day he snaps, kills her, and tries to escape with his true love to America on a ship. His name is Hawley Harvey Crippen.
Are you tired of the story yet? It gets really exciting now. Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland yard finds the reminds of the murdered wife. The hunt for the escaped murdering husband with his girlfriend becomes a big deal in the newspapers, and the captain of the ship realizes that two of his passengers are the people being hunted by Scotland yard. The captain sends a message back to shore using (what else???) his Marconi wireless device. Chief Inspector Dew boards a fast boat and the chase across the Atlantic Ocean is on, with coordination between ships made possible because of … wireless messages using the Marconi system. Marconi messages keep the press updated, and suspense builds as the public hangs onto every new update and intercepted message reported in the news. Whew! My whiskers were just a tingle listening to all of this! Chief Inspecter Dew overtook the ship with the murderer, and he was apprehended before he could land in Canada. Because of the publicity, Marconi’s business was secured. What a story. What a book!! I absolutely need some tuna right this minute!!!!
So that has pretty much been the last two weeks. Sleeping, knitting, and listening to really interesting books. I like the yarn and the books, but I do hope that the Mother of Cats will stop being so lazy… Mateo and I have needs, right?
This is Hannah, signing off.
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
- The sweater that I’m knitting is the Winter Albina sweater by Caitlin Hunter. I’m really pleased with how it is working up.
- I’ve already started another Eric Larson book: The Demon of Unrest.
- I’m in another scleroderma flare, and I did go see my rheumatologist for help. I am now in possession of an emergency pack of steroids and narcotics. Whew. It’s good to have an emergency pack!
- I’m doing better lately, but the cats are still kind of disgusted with me.
- What was that Chinese cookie fortune that Hannah was playing with?
Friday, February 28th, was Rare Disease Day. I found that I was too lazy unable to write another post for the day, but here are some nice ones that I wrote in previous years.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
I’m sorry to hear you’re in another scleroderma flare. I’m glad you have emergency meds at your disposable along with good books and your crafty needles.
I think that I am the victim of the extreme air pressure changes that have been happening for the last few weeks; hopefully I will pop out of this in another week or two. I’ve restarted my physical therapy and that is also taking a toll, but the long term benefits are worth it. Meanwhile… yarn, books and kitties.
I’m recovering from a hip replacement surgery, so I can relate to to the challenges of PT. I’m wiped out after each session, so I can only imagine what it does to you. I admire your positive outlook.
PT is really something. I am so exhausted and sore the day I do it, but the next day I wake up and realize that I am walking better. My rheumatologist told me that the best thing I can do now to protect my joints is to stay strong. Makes sense. I’m sorry about the hip replacement; I need one too, but my scleroderma tendons make me a high risk for failure, so my surgeon won’t do it. More physical therapy!!
I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad you can find relief in other ways. I agree that PT makes a difference. I’m having my left hip replaced in November.
Your kitties are always a delight. Cats have personality to spare.
Hannah, you become somewhat demanding. But then, you ARE a mog; so I suppose you’re allowed … 🙂
Mateo’s attempts to chew the circulars is wonderful !!!
The sweater is as bloody marvellous as everything you knit, Marilyn – you are really, really good !!!
Not knowing you were about to provide a close shot, I had deciphered the fortune cookie strip earlier, and was rather surprised: nothing like the normal kind of rubbish …
Your books do sound great: I shall refer to Audible and check Larson out – thank-you, me old china plate ! XO
I left a comment on your blog letting you know that I accidently deleted this comment. As… it suddenly turned red and vanished. As you can see, I managed to get your comment back!! I located it in the trash, but it still didn’t reappear. Evidently you then need to visit the pending folder to approve it…
Mateo can be a real pain about the needles because he loves to bat them while I’m trying to knit. Since I’m using two 16″ circulars to knit the sleeve, there are loose needle ends hanging down. As if managing stripes with two colors, decreases, and the balls of yarn while flipping the sweater around wasn’t enough… still, I love that goofy little guy.
I was rather surprised to get a pretty sensible and timely advice from the fortune cookie! My doctor had xrays done of the bad boy wrists that were such a huge problem last fall and that’s what prompted the emergency med supply. The damage is pretty significant, but oddly, right now they aren’t bothering me very much at all. These things are just crazy. I am making a huge effort to take my immunosuppressant drugs right on schedule so I won’t have another breakthrough event like the one in October!
Sadly, I think that we are now living in a time that will be a book in the future…
“Little” he ain’t, that Mateo !! [grin]
Your writing of emergency supplies, Marilyn, and how good it is to have them ? – we’re of one mind on that – although your reasoning is derived from your raft of very real ailments, and mine from my so-rapidly-advancing age. I have medications that were once needed and are no longer; but as long as their shelf-life exists, I’m gonna hang on to ’em ! You Never Know … You and I are constricted by mortality, even though our ages are so far apart.
I feel as though I have known you all my life: there are several bloggers who have the ability to create this impression. I think it has something to do with your absolute honesty – a quality very rarely seen, in these times of vaingloriousness. I appreciate it more than I can say.
Hugs to you, Australia! It is somewhat refreshing to accept mortality while still flourishing within the limits that life has handed you. Having emergency drugs on hand is just smart at this point. Like you, I also hoard drugs for awhile; in the last flare I tore the house apart hunting for some old pain killers to no joy. Now I have some just in case!
What a sweet thing to say. I write for myself, and to stay attached to the world. I’m not interested in building an audience like some type of influencer or presenting myself as something that I’m not. In return I get friendship and support from wonderful people around the world. To the best of my ability, I reciprocate. 🙂
What a shame about the flares. Is there any one thing that you can identify that sets them off? I’m glad you have an understanding medic who provides an emergency “rescue” pack for such an event.
Thank heaven for longer, warmer days, more sunlight, and lots of bunny/squirrel sightings to entertain your beastie besties.
Finally, your slouchy, comfy-looking sweater is lovely. If I had one like it, I’d probably live in it around the house, maybe even make two more, a black one and a navy one but without any stripes for when I’m not in a stripey mood.
Your Larson books sound intriguing. Having lost a great-grandfather and other relatives/family friends in the 1900 storm, we thought we knew a lot about it; however, Larson’s book, Isaac’s Storm, proved even more revealing. About that author, I thought it was interesting to read that Erik Larson released his first novel in audio format only.
Here’s to a flare-free spring and summer, with plenty more warm weather and sunshine for you and the kitties to enjoy!
The onset of flares is like… who knows? I have triggered them by not keeping up on my meds the way I should, but usually they just start without warning. If I overdo things that is always a risk, but usually I just need to take things easy if I am forced to do too much on any given day.
Now that the sweater is in the sleeve stage and I can keep trying it on I am thrilled with it! It is going to be a comfy workhorse that looks nice. I am happy with some of the features that I plan to show off in a post when I am done, but just let me say that I am getting really good at sewn tubular cast off.
The writing of Thunderstruck was a little more choppy than the book that came after it, The Devil in the White City, so I was hesitant about Jacob’s Storm. Now that I know what it is about I’m thinking that I need to listen to it, too. Eric Larson is reading parts of the book I’m reading now about the start of the Civil War and he does have a nice, easy voice.
If you read “Isaac’s Storm” and are interested to do so, google pictures of the scope of the city’s devastation. The city’s Rosenberg Library has archived tons of photos
A funny story about the land owned by the great grandfather that was lost in “Isaac’s” 1900 storm stars one lazy hireling in the island’s assessor’s office. About twenty years ago, he called my uncle and stated that we owed back taxes, interest, and penalties on the late g-grandfather’s land dating to 1900. My uncle asked, “Have you walked the property?” The man in the assessor’s office said, “Yes, indeed.” My uncle then stated that that was an impossibility because, as a result of the 1900 storm, the property now resided at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, at least six feet underwater. After that revelation, nobody in the family ever heard from the assessor’s office again.
As for “Thunderstruck” being choppy, I don’t know but am guessing that since some of Larson’s other books did well, maybe Crown Publishers rushed the editing part so it could be put in bookstores as soon as possible. I don’t blame you for being wary.
I have audible credits so I will be checking out Isaac’s storm. It is amazing how prescient these books are when viewed in modern light. I am stunned and appalled by the cuts to NOAA… I have seen people say that the weather forecast is always wrong, so who needs them, and they will just get the weather online. What could go wrong?
What a great family story! Lazy, bad assessor to try to collect taxes on a property that is underwater. What a tragedy that the land was lost and so many lives lost. I think that I had better head right on over to Audible to get the book.
I, too, was gobsmacked to learn that the hurricane hunter planes will no longer be flying to assess hurricanes in real time and help those in the path of the storms to make better decisions about whether or not to evacuate days in advance or to weather the storm in situ. The idea of NOAA being stripped of its forecasters is diabolical. The storm advisories are necessary reading in hurricane country. Let’s hope that as June approaches, NOAA funding will be restored.
It is awful that you are having another flare just as the weather is improving. May you be able to enjoy it soon.
Hannah, take care of the mother of cats! I’m sure you will all be enjoying the sunshine soon!
❤
Love the pink and grey stripes. Sounds like a great book. Nice to weave history and intrigue together. Does warm weather help? That’s why we winter in Florida because my husband’s bladder pain is much worse in cold weather.
Obviously the twitching tips of those circular needles would be irresistible to any self-respecting feline.
Birds? Your birds are back!? Nary a peep here, although we do occasionally get a noisy flyby of local geese.
One of the weather services I usually consult mentions when the predicted weather change might cause migraines. I think it’s usually pressure changes. Might such changes trigger your flares? But no doubt you considered that long ago.
Anyway, even if this is a false spring, I’m glad it’s happening. We could all use a lifting of our spirits.
Those look like ChiaoGoo needles—not an ideal cat toy, but at least they should hold up to a little nibbling. (Unlike wooden needles!)
Hopefully the weather / air pressure (or whatever is causing you trouble) will settle down so that you can get back to playing with the kitties! Though at least they have lots of things to watch out the window in the meantime.
ChiaoGoo needles… lace points, too. I have to be careful and mostly chase Mateo away because I don’t want to accidently poke him in the eye. Too horrifying to contemplate!! He does keep sneaking in…
There is a huge storm descending on the state today, and the air pressure is falling through the floor. Of course my knees are very unhappy. Luckily for me, there are some nice new (pink) knee sleeves on their way and should arrive in a couple of hours. Yay! Last night I rescued lots of toys/balls from under furniture and Mateo has enough stuff to keep him busy for a few hours. I gave the cats catnip, too. That should buy me a peaceful day as they go crazy and chase each other. 🙂
Oooh, that’s scary! I love the ChiaoGoo lace tips, but I don’t have any worries about poking anyone (other than myself) when I knit.
I hope you are feeling better and that Hannah has recovered from the excitement of the story you two listened to together 🙂 Your new sweater is just lovely, and you made some great progress on it. Thunderstruck is a good one! I hope you enjoy The Demon of Unrest too, and the cats get to go out and enjoy the sunshine 🙂
I am doing much better; the week was much better… the cats are so happy to have me up and about more. I’m on the second sleeve of the sweater and it is looking good!