THE “PATTERN BLANKET”

I’ve made progress on the afghan, or “pattern blanket,” that grandson Silas requested. He and his mom called to face time with me the other day, and I showed the afghan to him. I explained that I have to keep putting on rows until it’s long enough to cover him. It should be long enough to cover his toes, he said, and I assured him that it would be.

I told him that I want it to be long enough so that he can still use it when he’s older and taller. He would like to use it when he’s a man, Silas said. His mom advised him that he won’t be a man for quite some time and by then he might want a new afghan.

“I’d like a travel blanket,” said Silas, and I began to wonder if he’s  ordering yet another afghan. His mom and I assured him that this blanket will work at home and in the car, too.

“I need a new bed,” said Silas, and I agreed that he should probably have a bigger bed before long and left it at that. 

And then he asked to see the blanket again, so I spread it out on the back of a chair and let my phone show it to him.

What with the Olympics and the Super Bowl, our household is focused on sports at this time. Mike is into all this competition, but for me, it's a chance to finish the pattern blanket. On Super Bowl Sunday, I made dips and set out chips and veggies. The spinach dip was supposed to be baked, but Mike ate about a fourth of it before it saw the oven. I also filled a graham cracker crust with a no-bake cream cheese filling and made a sauce of frozen sweet cherries.

After the Super Bowl, an explosion of fireworks occurred in our neighborhood. “What’s with the fireworks,” I wondered aloud, and Mike explained that this was in celebration of the Seahawks’ win. KW

STILL WORKING ON THAT TREE

 

“We should have taken ‘before and after’ pictures,” said son Murray as we left the farm on Tuesday (Feb. 3). Taking pictures of our work to delimb the big tree in the north field is problematic. It’s so big that it’s difficult to show our progress (or lack thereof), and it’s also difficult to manage the camera when I need to keep up with the work.

Mike and I worked at the farm on Saturday (Jan. 31), and son Murray helped us on Tuesday. Progress seemed slow until Mike started removing limbs from the lower part of the tree, which actually lies uphill. It’s hard work when you’re senior citizens, and Murray also fits that description, but Mike wants to do it.

Farmer Kyle came in on Tuesday, and he and Mike discussed the best way to cut the tree so that it can be hauled out of the field and into the yard near the barn. Kyle said he would do it as soon as the ground freezes, and I wondered if he was kidding. We’re having such a mild winter. It was in the 50s as we worked – in the 50s at altitude in central Idaho in early February!!! Murray took off layers of clothing – jacket, sweat jacket, sweatshirt – until he was down to his shirtsleeves.

People have speculated that we would have winter in January and February. Well, January is gone with neither snow nor rain, and I find it hard to believe that these springlike days will turn to winter. I saw crocus in bloom today and daffodils making an appearance. Yesterday it was 60 degrees in the Valley. However, I see that around Valentine’s Day, the forecast is for highs at altitude to be in the 30s with lows in the 20s, so maybe it will happen. If it does, what will it do to the fruit trees? We’re running low on elderberry jelly. KW

STILL ANOTHER WORKDAY

At the farm on Tuesday (Jan. 27), Mike and I delimbed the downed 100-year-old pine tree lying in the north field. We made a burn pile and another pile of limbs to cut for firewood.

It was not as cold as previous work days. The afternoon high was 45. The sun was out, which helps a lot. The frost was gone from the trees, leaving a world that was warmer but bleaker. The ground was somewhere between frozen and mud.

Without running water, it’s difficult to manage food prep and other activities of daily living. The dishwasher is full of dirty dishes. I plan to use disposables for the duration.

Mike lit a fire in the fireplace, which gradually warmed the house. I really love being at the farm. It’s just that it’s cold, the house is disorganized, and I’m not a manual laborer. My mind wanders while I work.

And where does my mind wander to? Well, I have happy places. I still think of making that sock doll. The other day I bought a package of three men’s work socks in off-white at Goodwill for $5.97, the best option I have found to date. Even so, these socks don’t work for the instructions I want to use. At least for the price I can afford to experiment. Whatever I do, it probably won't be as cute as the dolls in the drawing. Just the way it is.

Of course, my priority project is Silas’ “pattern blanket.” I try to work on it several hours a day. I would love to finish it soon so that he can have it before he forgets he asked me to make it.

Otherwise, I have had my frustrations in adjusting to Windows 11. I’ll spare you the details. KW

AND YET ANOTHER FARM WORKDAY

Tuesday, Jan. 20 – Mike insisted on another trip to the farm, so son Murray went with us. This was our third trip to the farm within a week. It was another dreary sunless day that didn’t budge from 27 degrees. Really, it’s too cold to work outside, but Mike will do it.

I mostly stayed in the house. Mike lit a fire in the fireplace, and the house became tolerably warm. After correcting a winterization oversight, Mike and Murray spent several hours working on the downed trees. We started back to town at 3:00.

We found two mice in traps again, so I reset the traps and set several more, one in my upstairs sewing room where last year the mice stole batting from a kit I left on the bed. Honestly, I don’t know their egress to these rooms, but nothing is sacred – NOTHING! Incidentally, daughter Hallie tells me that she has been trapping rats in the backyard of her Seattle home – five in two weeks. I have read that Boise is also fighting a rat infestation.

As I waited in the house, I looked through our cabinet of music inherited from my dad, whose career was devoted to teaching piano. I continue to store a variety of books, magazines, and sheet music, and I came up with a book of trombone “swing” exercises published in 1935, which I gave to Murray. So much is available online these days that we hardly need the books.

The trees, laden with frost, still stood in winter beauty, but I didn’t venture out to take pictures due to the cold. KW

ANOTHER WORKDAY AT THE FARM

 

We have been using the dining room evenings this cold weather. It is so much warmer, but I’m going back to the living room as soon as possible. – Ina Dobson, 1936

Mike and I went to the farm on Saturday (Jan. 17) to work in the wood. We tackled the downed pines at the pond, delimbing, cutting firewood, and carrying limbs to the burn pile, also located near the pond. It didn’t involve a lot of heavy work, but we were on unstable ground and our backs aren’t what they used to be. We were careful.

Mike was in his element and cheerful as he worked. The work is meaningful and accomplishment is always satisfying.

However, it was COLD! It was 27 degrees and foggy when we arrived, and the sun never did totally burn through. The day remained cold, but we were there to work, and we weren’t going to let the cold keep us from our mission.

Having winterized the house, we were without running water, but I heated soup in the microwave so that we had a hot lunch. We ran the wall furnace to take the chill off the dining room. As my grandparents knew, closing off the living room makes the dining room warmer.

We worked late into the afternoon. It was 4:30 and growing dark as we left the farm, and we decided to travel via Hwy 95 instead of the Gilbert Grade. As darkness fell, the fog grew denser. Visibility was poor until we finally drove out of the fog when we reached the valley.

And then we were back at the town house, safe and sound. I was glad of a warm shower, a hot meal, and a warm bed.

Oh! I nearly forgot the rodent report. We found two mice in traps, which we rebaited and reset. KW

A DIFFICULT START TO A NEW YEAR

 

Change! The older we are, the more difficult seems the adjustment. Despite the fact that people we know and love pass from our lives with increasing frequency, other unhappy circumstances exist that are beyond our control. I could do with a visit to JoAnn’s. A quick walk-through always gave my spirits a lift, and nothing takes its place. And it was so easy to visit JoAnn’s because it was right there in the little shopping center where I bought my groceries and got my hair done. The hair salon closed, too, and now the center includes an Auto Zone. “Nuf sed,” as Ina would say.

On Wednesday (Jan. 14), a lovely springlike mid-January day, we went to the farm and winterized the house. It remains to be seen if we really needed to winterize this year, but Mike doesn’t want to worry about it, and this is a valid reason to do it. The sun shone brightly in the southern sky. The afternoon high temp was 47.

Typically, we winterize the house in November ahead of a cold snap, but knowing that a mild winter was predicted this year, we left winterization until late in the hopes that we could have our Christmas celebration there. It didn’t work out due to the windstorm of Dec. 17 which blew down pine trees and left us without electricity for a full week. And with some preparation, we could probably manage all right without electricity. It might even be an educational retro experience, but without electricity, we have no water, and that’s a deal breaker. 

Ordinarily, we would not even try to visit the farm in January due to snow and cold. This year, there is no snow. The distant mountains show only a patch of snow here and there. It’s a bit scary since it means we’re in a drought.

Winterizing was all we did at the farm. Mike suggested delimbing the tree in the north field and/or cleaning the eavestroughs, but in the end, we decided to return to town. After all, he is still recuperating from a mild stroke and the flu, and as it was, it was after 3:00 when we arrived back at the town house. I had work to do in putting away pantry items and other things that I brought back, and Mike washed the Jeep. KW

A BOXFUL OF COLORS

 

Oh! I had so many plans for the week after Christmas and so many plans for January. It was going to be such fun to finish a wallhanging, an apron, a doll outfit, or even to make a doll. The possibilities seemed unlimited and I looked forward to it.

Unfortunately, I came down with the flu. On my worst day – New Year’s Day – Mike experienced vertigo. I couldn’t do a thing for him, so we called son Murray who looked after his needs. He had a mild stroke due to a clot and spent two nights in the hospital for observation while I convalesced at home. Once Mike came home, we realized he also had the flu, so we’re now taking care of each other – and Bess. (I’m thinking that Bess can do without all those walks she gets, at least for the duration.)

Anyway, enough about that. I took advantage of quiet hours to crochet on Silas’ pattern blanket, and it grew to 12.5 inches, but decisions regarding the repetition of colors became bothersome for me.

“Well, we can use a randomizer,” said Hallie. There’s a randomizer? Who knew? So, Hallie submitted a proposition regarding my project to Chatgpt, and it came back with an immediate color plan.

“You could ask it yourself,” said Hallie. “Just go to Chatgpt.com and submit your proposition.” And the more I thought about it, the more I liked that idea.

So, instead of asking the wizard (AI) to build on my work in progress, I submitted a proposition based on my general plan and the colors on hand. The wizard responded immediately, telling me what a lovely project it was and supplying a list of appropriate color changes. It even shared its rationale regarding how certain colors enhance one another.

“I can do more for you,” it said. For instance, it could tell me the yardage I would need for each color. It could tell me which color to substitute if I ran out of one. I took it up on its offer to supply a printable chart. Then it wished me well, affirming that my project was wonderful and would turn out beautifully and inviting me to return if I needed anything more, such as a suggestion for the border.

It just boggles my mind. What next?

So, yes, I have restarted the pattern blanket. In fact, a little error at the start was bothering me, so I corrected that and then began with the color chart.

What else can I ask it? KW