Snow, Boots, Pain and Another.

One of the family cats (not mine, but sort of belongs to us all), Brady, died a couple days ago. He was very old, something like 19 and not doing well at all. It wasnt a surprise, but its still sad. He was a lovely boy. So how many is that? In the last 6 months or so 4 of my cats have died, 2 of the family cats passed away, one family cat ran away, one of my hens died, my robin was killed, my bun died and my Mike is gone. What the hell?

But Im trying very hard to not think about that too much. I will go crazy if I do. So Im doing alot of crap now to distract myself. Like well, not much really, but its enough to keep my mind from lingering on the hurt, too much.

We got a foot of snow recently. It was so beautiful when I woke up, it lured me outside. I hadnt been out in a while so it was especially nice! I got some good pictures and it was wickedly nice to see the animals. Douk enjoyed it alot, too. He loves snow :)While getting ready to go outside, I hauled out my boots and tried to put them on. My belly is huuuge now (50 inches around and, uh, I'm only 64 inches tall *weeps*) so its pretty hard to reach my feet. I struggled for a minute or two to get the boot in position so I could get my foot in it. But, alas, it was in vain! My foot was too swollen to fit! (You see, my feet, hands and face have started swelling. Its just the most beautiful stuff you ever saw.) So I thought about what I was going to wear on my big feet. The snow was deep so sneaks were out. I spotted Shane's rubber boots and thought, maybe theyll fit! I struggled with them fer a min and was able to get them on, though the calf was almost too tight. But they were ok in the foot part. Yay!

So out I went. Gads, you should have seen me! In knee high, black rubber boots, my Egyptian man dress (which goes almost to my feet) and my big orange coat. I was very stylish! But I didnt care, I was outside! And the snow was gorgeous. But very hard to walk in. Especially since my hip/belly pain make it terrifically hard to lift my feet up more than a couple inches. The sheep were calling to me and once Loki got wind of someone coming out she started to holler, too. So I pushed on thru the snow. It was fun :) Even the chickens seemed sort of happy to see me. Or at least see someone. I threw Loki and the sheep some hay, took some pics and came back inside.

I sat in a kitchen chair and looked at my feet. I wondered how in the heck I was going got get these rubber things off. There was no way I could lift my foot up and pull them off with my hands. I thought about going upstairs and waking Shane to help me, but I really didnt want to bother him. I tried using the toe of one foot on the heel of the other to try and get one off, but since they were a little small around the calf they suctioned to my leg. Ack! How the hell was I going to get them off?? The suctioning made them stick more so I would need to push harder with my toe which made my belly hurt. But I didnt see any other way but to just grit my teeth and shove. So I did that. Owowowowow! Stupid boots! I shall not be wearing them again...

I felt great despite the boot struggle. It was really nice to be outside. I havent been going out really at all, unless I have to, since it hurts so much to move. But the *felt great* didnt last long. I soon started to get sore, but not terribly so. It didnt get bad until the next day. Oh my dear, I could barely move! My hips were giant balls of pain. I could barely lift my legs to get out of bed, never mind walk. And my belly/groin muscles were screaming at me. It was like I had run in an Iron Man competition, not taken a slow mosey out to the barn and back. So I rested.

And rested and rested and its been a couple weeks and Im still really sore. Its like my muscles are giving up. Theyve stretched and stretched and now theyre throwing in the towel. My lower abdomen is a big bruise. The muscles there are soooo sore! Plus Ive got some pretty stretch marks that are sore, too. And the muscles that run from the inside of my thighs to my groin feel like, well, when I try to use them for anything, it feels like theyre tearing. Its so nice! Never in my life did I realize how much one uses ones stomach and groin muscles. You use them for everything! Sitting up, lifting a leg, rolling over in bed, moving a leg even an inch uses them, sneezing, coughing, standing, walking, the list is endless. Sometimes I cant move my legs, like when I try to sit up and get out of bed. So I have to use my arms to lift my legs over the edge of the bed. Oh the joy!

Ive also got this great pain right under my ribs, on the right side. Its been there for months but now its soo much worse. If I move the *right* way it feels like someones sticking me with a hot poker. Its a terrible burning, tearing feeling. It aches all the time, but I only get that horrible bad feeling when I move certain ways. Like turning over in bed.

Speaking of bed, Im not sleeping! Well, I am a little, but not enough. I can only get like 30 minutes at a time, sometimes less, until I get a pain somewhere and it wakes me up. And changing position to relieve the pain is near impossible. It takes me a good 5 minutes to roll over sometimes! Ive truly felt like I was trapped in bed, like there was no way I was going to be able to sit up or anything with out Shanes help. But ive gotten good at just sucking it up and moving through the searing hot pain. Im not sure if thats good or not, but being trapped in bed is so bad I dont care!

But anyway, I should go do something else. If I sit here too long my feet swell incredible amounts. Till they look just like Cabbage Patch Kid feet. And thats just wrong. Plus it feels yucky. Not painful, really, just really yucky. And no one wants feet that look like this -
Normally I have fairly thin looking feet, with little bones on the top and ankles and everything. I swear! Yeck.... some things about being pregnant truly truly SUCK....

(Ive also started having very strong Braxton Hicks contractions. They're not true labor, but they can hurt! My belly goes all rigid, like a giant bowling ball and there incredible pressure everywhere mixed in with some back pain. Oh I cant wait till its real labor! Come on Mad, I'm ready to meet you!!)

Music, Masks and Snow

Ive been steadily working away at Puppi's crocheted sweater. It seems like its never ending! Ive got like 12 more inches to go...*cries* Will definitely post pics when I'm done!!!

I'm also working on a heat pad for myself. Found this pattern on the net for one and thought about making that, but decided to just make up my own. So I rummaged through my yarns to find one I liked. Its hard to use the yarns I like. It was all I could do to not use one of the yarns I don't really care for. But I finally convinced myself that this will be something I will use at least once a month (you ladies know what for) and I want it to be something I like looking at!! So I chose the red sari silk and wool yarn I bought last year. I also decided to crochet it since I'm starting to like crocheting more than I used to. Its coming along nicely!



I also decided to make one out of a piece I knitted a while back. Its some yarn that was like my second ever spun on my wheel. Its very very uneven and lumpy and I love it. Its not much and I was thinking it would make a nice neck warmer. But I never got around to finishing it. I looked at it and realized it would be just the right size for a heat pad if I folded it in half. So I looked for some nice contrasting yarn to sew up the sides. I chose the very first yarn Ive ever spun. It a pretty teal color and I spun it on a drop spindle. The one and only time Ive spun on one, lol. I crocheted all around the edges of the knitted piece and then sewed up the sides. I had first put split peas in it. It worked well for heat but spelled icky. So I got some rice and filled up some pantyhose feet and popped em inside and sewed up the end. Its soft and pretty and works great!


These past few weeks have been terribly cold. I think I got a bit of frostbite on my face! My nose is all peeling like I have a sunburn. I wrap a scarf around my face while I'm out, but it slips and gets wet and everything so I got to thinking...I need a ski mask! So I searched all over the net and couldn't find anything I liked. BUT I did find these horribly freaky ones. They are absolutely nightmarish to look at but the basic pattern is great. I searched more on the net for the actual patterns for them, but couldn't find em anywhere. Sooo I went on eBay and found the magazine they're in, bought em and am now waiting patiently for them to arrive. I don't think I will be knitting in the creepiness that the patterns call for, but who knows.. Maybe Ill knit something even worse!! HEEEHEE!!!

Last week on Carson Daley there was this guitar player, Andy McKee. I don't normally watch Carson (hes a moron and completely bugs the crap outa me. hes also a terrible interviewer, imho) but Carson said he found this guy on youtube (gotta love youtube!) so I decided to stick around. OMG I'm SOOOO glad I did! This guy is incredible. He played this song called Drifting (which you can see HERE ). Its become my new favoritestest bestest mostest greatest song ever!!! The song is so beautiful. Even my BF said that it was hard to believe that it was all done with a guitar, its too sweet sounding to be a guitar. We agreed that it sounds like something from a video game. Maybe a small country town or an area just outside of town (those of you who play any of the FF games or the like types will know what I mean!). I liked it so much I even bought his cd! I cant wait to get it.

We got a nice Valentines Day snow storm. Though we weren't able to be home the whole day to enjoy it. My cat Seamose has a urinary tract infection. He had to be at the vets at 9:45 am. We left the house at 9 and it took a full 40 minutes to get there! Normally its only like 15. Yeck! It was snowing so hard that while waiting in the nice warm office, looking out at the snow, we couldn't even see the other side of the street! Good news though, Seamose will be ok. I almost lost one of my cats, Levi, like 8 years ago to a blocked urinary tract. He had to have emergency surgery. So I was especially nervous about my S'mo! But he will be ok. Hes on meds and has to eat canned food until he is better (oh he lurves canned food!!).

The snow is really pretty. But yesterday when we got home Shane and I went right out to check on the animals. Wind was blowin like crazy and the snow was piling up. Poor Loki was shivering all over. So I asked Shane to help me put up a tarp wall. OMG, it was sooo friggin cold. I think I got a little frost bite on my face! Shane is awesome. He moved fence panels around and did all the climbing to tie up the tarp to the rafters. Sometimes I think hes too good to be true. At first Loki thought the tarp was freaking scary! She even ran through a hole in the fence, out in to the yard to get away from it! But once I got her in her stall again, she decided it was nice in there, heehee. In the night it was blown down but I left it for the day. The sun was shining in and the breeze wasn't coming in too bad. But this evening, I climbed up and tied it all up again. The tarp was flapping all over and even flappin on to Loki, but she was completely unconcerned. Shes such a good lady!

The sheep are doing well. Hiding in their house, though! And not venturing out too far. The snow is past their bellies. Poor things! I think we might move them back in to the barn until this cold snap is over. My chickens are all hanging in there. Though I wish I could bring them inside!! Harry is going to lose some of his comb. I had them shut in their house but theres teeny cracks everywhere and with this wind, its still cold in there. Ive moved them in to the sheeps old stall in the barn. Its a bit large for them, but its MUCH less windy. Im also getting them a heat bulb today.