On hands, and cold fronts, and quieter times

I've been slacking in the blogging department lately. I did something to my wrist and my hand did not like it at all. The other night I woke and couldn't open my hand and it was extremely painful. That was last Thursday or Friday and today is the first day it has been almost back to normal. Not having the use of a hand is a real drag and a half, but so much better than not having a hand at all. Always have to look at the brighter side. Anyway, that is why there has been limited posts of late. Typing was just a shade out of my range for a few days, but copy/paste was sort of not that painful.

Today was the last of the beautiful warm days for a while. There is a cold front blowing in as I type this. I used this warm day to finish our Christmas shopping and to not have to get out in the blowing cold wind and possible freezing rain this week. I wanted to get a few new clothes for me for the get togethers we will be attending. Today I could finally dress myself again after the dismal days of not being able to use my hand.

My knitting group is having a little get together tomorrow night and it will be frosty cold for it. It will be good to see them again. Last Monday we had the neighborhood association meeting so I missed seeing the socks one lady swore she was going to finish and wear to the next meeting. Hopefully she will wear them to our party. If I got a pair made I'd bother people to look at them all the time. I don't think socks are going to be on my list for a while, though. The party protocol is for each member to go into their yarn stash and bring something as a gift. My yarn stash is not as deep as theirs, but I do have the hand dyed yarn I bought at the trunk show this past fall and I think that would make one of them a lovely gift. Speaking of yarn, my youngest daughter was here yesterday and looked at the scarf I made from ribbon yarn. The yarn on the bottom right is the one I used. It is pretty and she did want it; however, I made that scarf for myself. I was going to give it to her, but I made her a couple of really nice scarves for Christmas. I hope she likes them and if she finds the ribbon yarn on sale like I did, I'll make her one like mine. I was going by Hobby Lobby for some beads for the fringe today after leaving the mall, but they are closed on Sundays. Actually, I like that...it is a reminder of a kinder, gentler time when all stores closed on Sundays. And stores really closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas and if you didn't get everything you needed you were out of luck or over at your neighbor's house asking to borrow, because the grocery stores and convience stores were closed up tighter than a drum. Those were the days of lazy Sundays, because hardly anything other than restaurants was open. They were called "blue laws" and have long since gone by the wayside in my fast paced city. Truly it has been about 30 years since department stores have been allowed to open on Sundays. Car dealerships still cannot open on Sundays for some reason. I think it was a good thing to have time set aside for families. Every Sunday we visited family and every Sunday night we watched the Wonderful World of Disney after watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. We all loved that show and Marlin Perkins would send Jim into the swamp or jungle after one gnarly creature or another and nearly get him killed each and every week. The link above has some nostalgia, if you remember the program. I think Jim has it now.

The other morning when the pain in my hand woke me at 1:30am and I couldn't get back to sleep I got up to watch tv. "Becoming Jane" was on and even though I'd seen it before I really enjoyed seeing it again that morning. James McAvoy has captured my heart recently and Anne Hathaway is such a beautiful woman. Maggie Smith is wonderful, as usual. Julie Walters has some really great lines in the movie. She was so good in "Billy Elliot", which I have seen again recently, as well. And thank you, Kate, over at Shambles Manor in Scotland for setting me straight as to which part of the UK he came from.

I haven't decided what to bring as my food offering to the party tomorrow night, but think Costco or Sam's will be involved in my decision about bringing something to go with sandwiches. I'm pretty sure a bag of chips, although great with a sammy, is not what these ladies have in mind when bringing a side dish. We need dessert for sure, you know. My sister was pretty sure they have pecan tassies at Sam's. I hope so. Shopping sort of messed up my hand today again. Not bad, but it would have been better if I'd stayed home with my hands in my lap. However, Judy at "Living On the Other Side of the Hill" has some fab recipies in her Southern Kitchen blog. If you ever feel a little down, just pop over to Judy's for some fun and great attitude. She is a great gal, and has some snappy music, too. I stopped by Quilly's to ask about the waves on the North Shore this afternoon, but when I looked it up they were only 4-5 feet. There was a surfing documentary on. I've never surfed or wished to do so, but love the documentaries about the places, the waves and the surfers. Today it was "Riding Giants", but the first one to get me was "Endless Summer". When "Step Into Liquid" came along it was great, too. Just watch this 'tis pretty freakin' awesome.