The Winter Garden

A few weeks ago, my Mom mentioned that I could have a garden in their backyard if I wanted. Strangely enough I had been thinking about how cool it would be to have a winter garden full of Swiss Chard, Kale, Spinach (e-coli free!), turnips and carrots.

Today I tackled the Winter Garden area (nicely located below my Mom's herb garden). It was covered in ivy and bark which needed to be removed.



After two grueling hours of raking, ivy pulling and digging, it was much closer to being clear.



I called in some guns (my Dad) for the hard to remove items.



And now the area is cleared and ready for the next step of building the stone walls and adding good healthy dirt.



But right now though my finger nails HURT and I think I might be hungry so I'm off!

Purly Girls

The Purly Girls meet every week to knit at the Blue Star Cafe. We have our own little room and pitchers of Jessica's Ice Tea. Each week the group seems to have a different dynamic and I love that!

This week at the Blue Star Cafe, we had a special treat. They were renovating the bathrooms and creating a nicer environment for us.

It struck us as funny when they placed the toliets in the same room we were knitting it which lead me to snapping photos of my knitting on the toliets. I'm easily amused.

Return of the Sock Wars





Yep, I've run out of yarn. Yes, it was BEFORE the heel. Yes, I know that I'm using discontinued yarn BUT you don't know the power of the Internets and the determination of Supergirl!

I've located more yarn in Eugene, Oregon and as we speak it is winging its way here. Hopefully I am not assassinated before my yarn arrives. Fairmaiden! I will finish these socks! I'll make it my mission!



OK now I have to go wait next to the mailbox for the yarn, then feverish knitting will commence!

Gone From My Sight
by Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she let my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

This is the poem my Mother thought of when her father passed and now I've taken a liking to it myself. Death is a lot like saying Goodbye but you have to remember that when you say goodbye as they leave, they are warmly greeted when they arrive at their destination.

Sock Wars - Part Three



There is a bit of a yarn crisis over here in Supergirl's world. I was happily knitting along when I noticed a lack of yarn. No problem, I thought, I'll just buy another skein.



That is when I found out that this yarn -- Rowan Yorkshire DK Tweed -- is discontinued. Now my only hope is that someone else has some of this yarn or that I'll be able to find a sorta match. Any one have any yarn to help a girl out?

Now in order to make this fun, let's all bet on when I'll run out of yarn for the sock. Vote Early! Vote Often!

Please vote in the Comments since I can't figure out how to get the Blog Poll to work!

When will Rebecca Run out of Yarn for her Sock of Doom?

A. Before the Heel
B. At the Heel
C. After the Heel
D. Halfway Down the Foot
E. Silly! She won't run out of yarn! She has plenty left!

Sock Wars Part Two



The wars continue and I have finished one sock. I fear that my yarn will run out but will knit, knit, knit until I have confirmation. I have been entertaining myself by yelling, "Rib of DOOM!" and scaring the animals. Heee!



PS Thank you to EVERYONE for your kind thoughts and comments on my Grandfather. We miss him but know that he is in a more comfortable place. Hopefully he has found the ultimate "truth". He searched for it his entire life and he deserves to have found it.

Sock Wars



Let the Sock Wars begin!

Returned to the Creator

At 6 a.m. on September 21, 2006, my Grandfather, Richard Orrin Dimick, Jr. returned to the Creator. He was born on December 21, 1925 in Toledo, Oregon and served his country during World War II in the US Air Force. After leaving the Air Force, he attended various colleges before settling in Hollywood, California where he met and eventually married my Grandmother, Joan.

They had two girls, one of them my Mother before moving to Salt Lake City, UT in 1965. Grandpa had a deep interest in philosophy and spent many years of study and research in pursuit of the "truth." He loved and respected all people, believing that every individual is important in their own right and that under the proper circumstances could become a saint. He lived his life with honesty.

Before my Grandmother's death four years ago, my Grandfather and Grandmother traveled to many lands far and near. They went to China, India, England, Russia and South America. They kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland and watched the penguins in Chile. They sent me many postcards from places all over the world.

After my Grandfather moved here a few years ago, I was able to spend more time with him. We would often go to lunch and since he was quite possibly the slowest eater I've ever met, I'd often end up knitting while he finished his omelet.

The last few months provided more adventure and I'm glad that he was so well taken care of by Gabriel and Elena. Their generosity and love helped make his last few months as wonderful as possible.

His passing was peaceful while in Hospice care. My Mother said she dreamed about him walking over the hillside hand in hand with my Grandmother. I can only hope that my Grandmother was there to greet him on the other side and lead him back to the Creator (his word for God).

Reflections on Dying

My Grandfather is dying. He's not expected to last the week.

It's a slow death and it's hard to watch. He was once a vibrant, entergetic man who stretched my mind to its limit with his cunning ways. Now he's just an old man lying in a hospital bed with his family gathered around.

Each breath could be his last, each gasp the end.

He is a good man. All the nurses like him. They say that even at his worst, he's been quite polite.

While I'm prepared for his death, I wasn't prepared for the pain of watching him die.

I've never seen anyone die. I've seen plenty of bodies after working in a funeral home but their spirits were already gone. I've never seen a spirit fight to break free from its physical bonds. It's a journey that one can only take alone though a hand holding yours does help make the trip more pleasant.

I hope his journey is as nice as it can be. He deserves all the comfort we can give him. I just hope he knows how much he is loved even with all the eye rolling he caused us. It just made it all the more interesting.

Dogs and Knitting

Zubin often helps me with my knitting in the only way a dog can. He puts his head over my knitting and looks up at me with a look that asks, “Why are you holding YARN when you could be petting ME?”



My response is to cover him in my knitting.



His response is to ignore me and look for squirrels.



Once we both tire of this game, Zubin usually heads over to his special place in the kitchen where he sits and waits for treats that will never come because he ALREADY HAD HIS ONE TREAT TODAY!



Last night, after ignoring him (since he already had his treat), I dug through my knitting bag and brought out another WIP.

I’ve started back work on my Jelly Bean Pillow. I’m about half way through the Polka Dots.

Brusha Brusha Brusha



Last week, I visited the dentist for my bi-annual check-up. After a TWO HOUR cleaning (in which I accidentally bit the technician), I learned that I had a cavity which needed to be taken care of right away. So like a responsible person, I made the appointment for the cavity to be filled.

Yesterday, I went to have my cavity filled. The poor tech was there but knew not to stick her fingers in my mouth and then tell me to "bite down" as I will "bite down" and it will hurt ones fingers. The cavity filling began and amazingly enough it wasn't too bad. I giggled to myself as my Dentist told me stories about his days in Dental School but due to the drilling which shook my head and made it impossible to hear.

The conversation was a bit like this:

Dentist: So she was about 65 or so...
DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, BRAIN SHAKING! DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Me: Mhhamammmamaghghahahammmmmm
Dentist: and then she had this...
DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, BRAIN SHAKING! DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Me: Mhhamammmamaghghahahammmmmm
Dentist: It was inter...
DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, BRAIN SHAKING! DRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Me: Mhhamammmamaghghahahammmmmm

and so it went. I wonder if the Dentist knew that I only heard about a word or two of what he said.

And unfortunately I do have to go back to have him finish the cavity filling which just sucks!

Thanks for all the good thoughts for my Grandpa. He is still in the hospital and I've been visiting him every day and holding his hand. I think it brings him some comfort.

Sneaky Knitting



After cruising some of the blogs this weekend, I stumbled up on Janine's entry about tree sweaters which linked to Erika's pattern for such a thing. And then the wheels in my mind began turning and before I knew it, I was out in the Dog BFF's backyard measuring a tree.

Then I chuckled to myself and so began the sneaky knitting. I wonder how long it will be before Zubin's owners notice the addition to their yard.


Can you see it yet?


Let me get a little closer


Just a bit Closer!

When I wasn't busy graffiting my friend's yard, I finished up another baby sweater for Gabby out of the remainder of her blanket yarn. Scarily, there is still more of it left!



And I also knit a lot on my Irish Hiking Scarf while (here comes the bad news) visiting my Grandfather in the hospital this weekend. He broke his hip on Friday and had surgery on Saturday to place pins in the joint.



He's doing OK but we are all quite worried about him since it doesn't look so good right now so let's keep him in our prayers!

PS Ryan re-lives the blog entry which made me laugh outloud at work, dance around in laughter and write her a long email about how funny she was. She really is that funny.

Running my heart out



This is week two of my new training program for the Seattle Half Marathon. I'm in pain but I am seeing improvement with each and every run.

Since I fell a few weeks before the Danskin Triathlon, my right leg has been stiff and achey. I'm seeing a massage therapist next week in hopes of improving the stiff-ness.

Luckily my training partner, Dog BFF Zubin has been there along the way to help me train. He makes me run when I don't want to, keeps me going by running sideways, and encourages me by continuing on when he would much rather chase the squirrelies.

I am continuing on even though the last two weeks have been hard and a bit stiff because I know it will get better because it must get better.

So here is to continuing the running and good training!

Labor Daying

Oh I love the Four-Day Weekend! It's like a mini-break in the middle of stressful times.

The best part of the Four-Day Weekend is that I have nothing to show for my efforts because I didn't really do anything.

Friday was spent cleaning my bedroom, visiting the storage unit and tormenting Zubin by making him play outside which he does very poorly.



Instead he just stands at the door watching me and wanting me to go outside with him.



I imagine him yelling, "Minion! Come out here and entertain me!" if only he could speak.

That night I did take him for a car ride so I could get my car washed. I think he enjoyed it. He paced a lot!



For Julia in particular

On Saturday I took my Mum for a pedicure (which didn't turn out and the place is so getting a letter!) and a wonderful lunch at the Queen Mary Tea Room (which was delicious and I was so stuffed!). I already want to go back to the Queen Mary. It was that good! Then I worked the Leahy concert which was interesting to say the least!

Sunday was my LSD Run day. Zubin and I ran from his house, around Greenlake and back where we quenched our thirst with lots of water. OK actually Zubin drank ALL of my water on the run and then additional water that I got for him which left me very thirsty since I didn't get any water but hey the dog needed it. Zubin was a super trooper on the run and continued to run around the house when we got home. I think I run too slow for him! After resting up, I headed out to work another concert and arrived home quite tired. I am happy though, it was the last concert of the season! Whoo-hoo!

Monday was spent grocery shopping, visiting my parents and knitting which leads me to this question. Doesn't this sleeve look HUGE?



Anyone else knit the Hourglass Sweater and were your sleeves huge?

Let me know!