Saturday

It’s a lovely sunny Saturday, warmer than it has been, but still chilly.  The clocks go forward tomorrow, and spring will inch closer… That’s all great, except that I woke up with a sore throat yesterday which persists.  No fever, cough or congestion, it’s just the irritation in my throat and a chill that refuses to go away so I can’t get warm.  I’ve been wrapped up in a blanket and a sweater, even though the weather is improving, because I feel miserable.  Jerry has been napping on my lap all day when he’s not stalking and shaking the remains of his latest toy.  He and the remnant are both on my toes while I get a chance to update this.  Don is currently stuffing his face with breakfast sausages (left over from this morning) in sandwiches and a butter-pecan cake with some ice cream.  I had a small jolt of energy a couple of days ago and baked; there’s now crumbs on the dish… At least he enjoyed it!  I’m not quite able to manage a full sized adult meal yet, but at least I’m hungry again, and I can taste the food.  Both of those are success stories in my book.  I’m not entirely sure what I’ll cook for this week yet, but I’ll think of something easy and tasty.  I mean, I have a large recipe collection to help with the planning!

With the sore throat, my energy has tanked so I’ve been falling asleep on myself a lot since yesterday.  While I was awake, though, I was searching online for a particular crochet pattern.  I was inspired by a photo and decided that I wanted to add that to the design I’m currently making, so I went in search of it.  It’s amazing, online you can probably find videos of everything except this crochet pattern.  After some extensive digging, I found a Russian site with it, and several diagrams for it.  I thought I’d got it, but the clearest diagram doesn’t indicate the start point, and has some logistical nightmares for the centrepiece — there’s a loop that apparently hangs in midair, plus some stitches that don’t connect and an impossible sequence.  Add to that some arrows that seem to circle into each other… what I’m saying is that I can’t decipher the core of the pattern; if I could figure it out, I could finish the design, because the rest of it is fairly straightforward.  I spent a few hours last night searching photos and videos to try to find what I wanted, and some more time today trying to emulate the pattern.  I got so hooked on that pattern that I was on the verge of ordering a whole book on the off chance that it might have the pattern I wanted!   So far I have several failed attempts and snarled patterns as I try to work out how to do the centre.  It will not defeat me, though, and I’ll figure out how to do what I want because that pattern is just ideal.  Of course, I could just make my life simpler and find something less awesome… Somewhere late yesterday it occurred to me that I was having fever dreams and obsessing, and when I closed the iPad, I fell asleep almost instantly!  I won’t do that tonight, but I’m going to try once more to see if I can figure out that Gordian knot!

I rather enjoy finding new local businesses and trying them out.  I’m always surprised when I go searching to find that there are more and more than I expected.  One of my girlfriends asked if I ever shopped using Etsy, and I said that I had.  She’d found an item that looked lovely, but was hesitant about whether it would meet her expectations.  About 30 seconds of searching, and we learned that it’s not far from us, so we’re planning a visit to check it out.  Meanwhile, though, I liked finding that there are several places that make items for sale.  There seems to be a big surge in body care and beauty products — soaps, face washes, moisturizers and hair products — that are being “artisan” produced, whether or not they’re any good is not for me to say.  I’m in a comfy rut when it comes to my cosmetics, and I don’t often stray from my preferred items, but I will try different soaps, especially those that have limited added scents (Don has COPD and asthma, which are both triggered by strong scent.). I found several places that do awesome beadwork and painted scarves, which are lovely.  Then there are some artworks, like ceramics and carvings that would make cute gifts.  I’m not running out to buy them, but browsing is a fun way to spend some time, even if it means a couple of days of bed rest afterwards.

So this evening’s plans are to try once more to see if I can figure out that pattern before I turn into a dog bed… or at least to find a pattern that works for me!  Good night.