Bunny and Crochet

As you know, I have been spending my free time on the joykiller (treadmill). Can I tell you how strange it fields to be jogging to no where. The kindle and phone help with music. I tend to close my eyes and pretend I am away in nature, walking down a beautiful pathway, on my way to by log cabin lined with all sorts of flowers. Then I open my eyes and stare at a dull wall.. sigh. When a friend ordered one of my flower scarfs, I was thrilled to be able to crochet again. I used to sell them online but with little time on my hands, I have not been able to keep Etsy up. I am hoping to post a pattern here since they are super easy. As a matter of fact, it is the old and well known, Irish Flower pattern that I like to teach at the center to crochet newbies. Its a perfect scarf for spring. This scarf will be auctioned off and the bidding has already started for it without me even completing it. Proceeds will go to a non-for-profit community center where I keep an office.

This is what a finished scarf looks like. Easy. 

Something else is in my head today:
Today I got to go on a date and I am so thrilled about this. The hubster and I agreed that we are most agreeable when we have time for one another. We planned for simply, cheap dates at least once a month. We made March's date and almost forgot April. Because he is in terrible pain (cortisone shot on the elbow will hopefully do the trick) he stayed home. I was able to stay home with him and b/c G and A are in school, we got ourselves to an early movie. After the movie we got up to leave and noticed an elderly couple was sitting not too far from us. She  got up very slowly and was slowly making her way down the long aisle and we patiently walked behind her. I saw how she moved stiffly and it just looked painful. He held her hand to keep her from falling. At the end of the aisle, he put his arm around her and she lowered her head to his chest as he gave us permission to by pass them. I smiled and saw her face. I saw shame- embarrassment. My face went red and hot. Can I tell you horrible I felt? "No". I wanted to say "no, we need to learn to respect and be patient with our seniors. You go right on even if it takes a bit longer. Don't stop and wait for me to pass you by, you go right on leading".

We go by in life at all sorts of speeds, we the makers and movers and shakers. We have no time for hello's and goodbye's. We have things to do and people to see. I stopped today and looked into the face of someone who once was like me. A mover. A shaker. Today, she can barely walk. And, while I don't know her story completely, I saw shame and sadness in those eyes. No. I won't pass you by. Nope, I won't move you out of the way. Its ok if it takes you longer. No one will die if I am a few seconds late. I know you once were a mover and a shaker and today have to take the back seat. But not for me. You see, I know that despite the sadness and shame in those eyes, there is wisdom there. Wisdom that only comes from years of experience. So, I won't ask you to move because I am faster. I will walk by your side, chit chat a bit and see if a smile comes up; because one day I know I will be you. And because in slowing down, I will learn to appreciate life around me a bit more.

Gabli

A Little Baby in the House

I've had baby on the brain for a while. I think its just what 30 something mom's think about after their 30th birthday for the 7th time. I think it highly unlikely that another bundle of joy will join our family given my medical history. And, I am very pleased with the two wonderful kiddos that God has given us. They bring us exactly what their names mean: strength and joy!  With these two around, 2 part-time jobs, and every free time on the joy killer (treadmill) and a home to tend to, who has time for another baby? We do! A bunny baby that is.

After nearly 6 months of intense research and worries (bad memories from having to put my dearest Bella to sleep), hands on tests (had to make sure no one was allergic) and using the kids as ambassadors for a shared cause (they made little bunny rabbit pictures and placed them everywhere dad could find), we went for it!

We originally wanted to adopt but were weary when the rabbits we saw all indicated that the adoptive home had to be an experienced rabbit home. This is our first rabbit and hopefully we will be able to adopt one in the future. So, we bought our little bundle of rabbitness from a local pet store. We originally saw her about a month before but she was extremely skittish and not socialized. Most rabbits were sold but she was still left behind. We did our research on her breed and found that she was perfect for us. She is an American Chocolate Polish, three months old and bred specifically for size so that she won't weigh more than 3.8lbs. She has been with us for 5 days, is being litter trained and is no longer as skittish when we go into her play pen with her. I can't tell you how cute it is to see my family surround her with love.  We let her play around the house supervised and she is doing very well at potty training. We want her to be a house rabbit so we hope that she gets the litter box training down well.

Now to try and squeeze some crochet time into all of this. There are some bunny rabbit patterns and ripple blanket that need attention.
Hope things by you all are hopping nicely!
Gabli

Happy Easter

Yay! I saw snowdrops this morning! We've had some flurries but I mean I saw color in my front yard! Yes! Bright yellow sticking up from under the frozen dirt and snow. This makes me happy ;) Usually my daffodils are grown and they open up right on Easter morning. I don't expect that to happen this year and my back yard is looking rather dreary. The snowdrops are a welcomed site. Inside, we are all ready for Easter and hoping that the bounty of color drives those gray skies away.

 Thank you for the snow: It was  tons of fun but now we need sun!

On another note, I have neglected my crochet for the treadmill. Its bitter sweet really. I don't crochet as much because I am on the treadmill reading about crochet on the Kindle. I miss crochet but atleast I know that I am torturing myself for a very good reason: me! I am, however, coming up with an ingenious plan to incorporate crochet into treadmill time without killing myself. It involves hanging a teapot since this will make sure my yarn stays put above me and not underfoot.  Now to convince the hubster.

Wishing you a blessed Easter and remembering that because of His sacrifice I have new life and second chances with time to complain about treadmills. 

Gabli

A Simple Birthday

It was my birthday on Feb. 28th. I am 30 for the 7th year in a row! I am seriously thankful for the One who knows the beginning from the end and carries me in between with care. Thank you God for one more year of life. Two years ago I pictured myself blind and in a wheelchair. Today I believe in God's miracles more than ever because I am healthy and happy.

I don't expect much on my birthdays. I am just glad to be alive and not paralyzed or blind. I was the middle child of many many children. At times I was forgotten. Don't get me wrong, my mother and father rock! I love them dearly and they were devoted to us. But because there were so many of us I got used to hearing my mother respond to my appearance with an "Oh my, I forgot you existed". There were a few forgotten birthdays but it was ok with me.  I was the quiet one- always with my nose in a book. If I had a book, I was happy. When you don't make a ton of noise, people tend to forget you are there and reading books is very quiet isn't it? So it is that I learned not to make a fuss about  my birthday but cannot help but make a fuss about those I love. Even after marriage and motherhood, I lay low about it. I have but one rule: I DO NOT work on my birthday. I stay home and do what I want. Nap, read, crochet and of course clean because I am  hopeless in this aspect. But this year, I did work. And it was a very pleasant surprise after the initial heart attack. 

I opened the door to my office and saw something shiny come at me. My heart skipped several beats until I realized that it was a well placed helium balloon and not a deranged person with a knife coming at me. I could read the newspaper heading now "Mental Health Professional Dies on Her 30th for the Seventh Time Birthday Due to a Work Prank".

It took me a couple of minutes before I dared enter my office. On the corner table were happy daisies and other bulb plants, a couple of my favorite mags, a new book to read, a cute flower platter, a wonderful chocolate cupcake cake, Indian bracelets and a bottle of red wine. Chocolate, flowers, wine, books and jewelry! All I needed was yarn and hook and I happen to carry one almost everywhere.  I wanted then and there to just sit by the cozy window, drink wine and read those magazines but I think patients may view it as inappropriate and I am not much of a drinker either (let me point out again that I am not an alcoholic nor are my coworkers. lol).  My coworkers know me all too well and I am very grateful for the work family that God has given me. Somehow the word got out that I was working on my birthday and the calls kept pouring in from patients, colleagues, family and friends. I barely got any work done. I left work with a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. At first I thought it was the tons of chocolate but instead its the feeling you get when someone tells you that you have been instrumental in helping them find their way. I think I shall work on my birthdays from now on ;-). To know that you have helped someone during their darkest days is the best payment I could ever receive. 

The surprise continued at home. The husbter is an amazing man and darn cute too. For my birthday, I asked him to bring the treadmill back into the family room since the mess room makes me sneeze and wheeze (despite all of the cleaning there is something about a mess room that is just … messy).  I was psyched about having dinner with him sans kids over the weekend and getting back on the treadmill. I did not expect anything else. I am a simple one really when it comes to gifts.  Well lets just say that the hubster  gave me another heart attack. I opened a little gift and it was a Kindle charger. I was starting a cold and was clearly running a fever and thought that perhaps this was a mistake or a hallucination. Then I felt it in my hands… my NEW Kindle Fire! Oh yeah!  For a while I have been wanting a tablet but I lack the time and energy to weigh the pros and cons of the many different ones out there. I kept using the excuse that they are way too expensive, difficult to program, that I heart my Macbook pro and the feel of book pages in my fingers. I didn't need a tablet. Well less than a week later and I wonder how I lived my life without it! I can look up a recipe, clip it on my Evernote app and not have to haul my laptop to the kitchen. It slips right into my bag easily so that I can read War and Peace in a very thin version. It links my Mac calendar with my Google and Kindle calendar. I just finished Water for Elephants in 4 days because the text type lets me read in bed without the light or me hiding under covers like many of us do. My neighbor Jaimie came over and helped me a ton with a mini tour of what Kindle can do. I even use if for little G to practice his penmanship and sight words. That dear sweet man somehow got it delivered without my knowledge and had spent the week programming my favorite apps from my Mac onto the Kindle and charging it. How he did it without my finding it, is beyond me! I spent the weekend playing with the Kindle and finishing up a Bill Bryson book. It was weird to have a Kindle next to a "real book" and I felt as if I was being unfaithful to the world of real life books.  I still heart books and will continue to take my little ones to the library to take books out even if I can do it from my kindle. There is something about the feel of books that says warmth and adventure at the same time. My parents owned a bookstore and my love affair with books was born when I was 5 and received my first library card on my birthday. Plus, I have to go back to the library to see if I can find those little crochet ladies again and wiggle my way into their conversation. LOL. 

I am in search of another great book. If you know of one, please let me know. One can never read too many books! 

What a great birthday! Thank you God for these material blessings that make life a little bit more fun and a bit more easier. Thank you for a man that has stood with me when I could not stand. Thank you for a work family that appreciates the talent you have given me. Thank you for giving me the right words at the right time for those that I see in need. Thank you for making this my 30th birthday for the 7th time wonderful. I promise I won't get spoiled and will continue to be an instrument of you honor.
Gabli

Time Flies When you Need "Me Time"

I find myself praying for moments of me time. You know those wonderful little fleeting minutes of time where you can do whatever you want to do. I dream of them and what I would do.

I would get a cup of tea or hot chocolate, a book if not my hook and yarn, my warm blanket, sit in my favorite spot by the window, soak in what sun rays we've had lately and read or crochet until I fall into a light nap.  

Or, I would sneak into the family room, light some candles and with the volume and lights low, crochet as I catch up on t.v. The dishes would be done, the laundry put away, the house swept and dusted, every room immaculate, every work detail completed and a pie in the oven for dessert would make the whole house smell yummy. Everyone else would be napping. 

But alas, when I do get those fleeting moments of time, I spend them doing laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc. so that I finally can sit and relax only to find out that it is way past my bed time….sigh. The hubster says to just sit and do it, but I find it hard to relax knowing that there is a pile of laundry waiting to be put away. Housework and responsibilities always win my battle over minutes of me time. I admire, no I envy, him for being able to relax wherever and in whatever state the house is in.

And so, I find myself crocheting as I sit and wait for my daughter to finish her hour of gymnastics. This is what I consider my crochet time right now.  I am glad that my little A likes gymnastics since it gives me a chance to sit and crochet. I hope I didn't  push her into it just so that I could have me time.  I pray she asks for another  round of it when this period is over. 

The other day on a library run my heart skipped a beat as a saw a trail of yarn on the floor. It led me to a quiet little table full of granny squares and WP's. Hooks caught the bright sunlight and danced around the yarn in a pair of old and experienced beautiful hands. A CROCHET group in MY LIBRARY! Whoa!  Three older ladies discussed mercerized yarn enthusiastically as if arguing over politics and crocheted away in between. I got closer, my eyes wide and excited. I stopped at the table and saw beautiful thin yarn shimmering with specks of gold. I  said hello as I held on tightly to the Curvy Girl Crochet Book I was going to check out and swallowed embarrassingly and rather loudly. The three ladies stopped what they were doing, looked at me and asked if they were too loud in a broken English.  I smiled and said no but that I admired their work. They looked at each other lost. They didn't understand me very well but I showed them the book I was about to check out and they understood that I was a fellow "hooker" (yarn hooker that is). They just stared and smiled politely. On the table were what looked like newspapers but with pictures of crochet items and what must have been patterns in their native tongue. But, I didn't want to intrude on their "me time" and the awkward silence coupled with my drooling over the patterns made it clear that they were waiting for me to go away. Obviously these ladies knew a thing or a two or a thousand about crochet and I was a mere newbie passing by. I walked away glancing back to see their hands move swiftly; their heads moving excitedly but never really looking at the project in hand- they worked as if by memory. They picked up their discussion with as much enthusiasm as before. I wanted to tell them that crochet knows no language, that I could use some tips, that I loved crochet too, that I was helping others learn it as a means of therapy. I wanted to ask about the patterns in the newspapers. Where did they come from? Where did they get the shimmery yarn that is rolled differently. So many questions…. But alas,  I was not to be part of their group. I walked away with a bitter sweet feeling. Others were crocheting at my local library but for right now I would not be a part of that group. I would be the lone library crocheter. But for sure I will stalk them again next week if I find some "me time". Now if I could just remember at what time they were there and if it was by the 600's or the 900's.

Note to self:
Remember, its all about slowing down
There is no guilt in me time
If me time is to help you out

It helps you rejuvenate
It helps you to relax
So please take some me time
And don't you hesitate 

Cozy apples, spring and chocolate!

Cozy apples : My sweet apple cozy was in my possession for a whole day before it was given a new home in my sister's lunch bag. Because I eat an apple a day- seriously I do- I needed another. I made another with a yarn I disliked. It turned out more like an apple bag thingy. This one was swiped before I even finished it, by my  little girl. Sigh…. At least I am saving apples  from bruises. I have to do another one for myself soon and actually find a pattern to do it properly. 

Spring: Speaking of patterns. Jaime over at More Than I'd Hope For sent me an awesome link for an awesome and super easy and super fast Spring scarf. You can find it at by number 19. I got a bit stuck when it says to repeat rows 2 and 3 as before since repeating it would mean skipping 4 and you don't really skip 4 again just the first time. You'll know what I mean if you decide to make it. The diagram is perfect and very easy to follow. Thanks Jaime and Birgit for this. I love it and don't mind the addiction of making more!

Chocolate: My husband and I celebrate two anniversaries. I was a college student when I was engaged to married and diagnosed with some ovarian problems. I didn't have insurance at the time but needed to get rid of a growing tumor/cyst thing.  We were to be married in September but it was January and  my tumor/cyst thingy wouldn't stop growing. We ended up speeding things up and getting married at the local courthouse. I got insurance, got surgery and kept planning our wedding. We continued to live apart as if still engaged to be married (he in the burbs and I in the city) and really didn't feel married at all until we were married properly in a church. I think it was sweet, patient and simply awesome of him to respect my wishes of staying apart until our church wedding. He is a real gentleman and a handsome one if I may say so. So we have our civil anniversary in January and our "real" anniversary in September. While we don't make a fuss about it, chocolate must be eaten on our January anniversary. I found an awesome chocolate cake at Chow. I added a couple of tablespoons of OJ and teaspoons of orange rind. It was delicious and super easy. You will find it under Nyleve's entry "Stupidly Easy Chocolate Cake". Oh so good. The red thing in the middle is supposed to resemble a rose made from those fruit roll up things kids like (ok, ok, I bought them for myself and not the kids). 

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away

Apple in the morning, Doctor's warning

                              Roast apple at night, 

starves the doctor outright

Eat an apple going to bed, 

knock the doctor on the head

Three each day, seven days a week,  

ruddy apple, ruddy cheek!

I don't know about you but this apple thing doesn't seem to be working. 

Gabli

More at gablisees.tumblr.com

Crochet Granny Square Blanket n More

When the ladies at work decided to make blankets for babies whose mother's are involved in our programs, I was overjoyed. I don't need a reason to crochet but if you give me one then I can explain to my husband all of the yarn around the house. Naturally, I had to make something simple and fast and I fell in love all over again with the granny square.


I also got to finish this little gift for my sister in law. I love the purple plum color on this. At first I attached it with a pin and then decided to sew it on and add a black button to the center. Ever make a gift you don't want to give away? This one was it for me but now I am way too much into my ripple blanket to give in to making one for myself.

I also finished all of my other projects on time (ouch wrists) and I love the look on Uncle P's face when he wears it. I like it so much that I used some cheap black yarn to make myself one too. They actually keep your nose very very warm.

I am hoping to finish this baby soon so that I can continue work on hubster's wave blanket. Hopefully I will be done by next Christmas;)

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you find time to play with yarn and hooks!

Gabli