Month: May 2017

Mandela Madness Part 8 and life

/ lyncrain / 7 Comments

Round 56 I became so frustrated with the long double crochets that I tossed the mandala in a basket and left it for a few days. I finished the round with a few more curse words and went on to Round 57 which tidied up Round 56. It is now 45 inches around.

Beware, Tami, if you’re stitches are tight it will curl some. Helen Shrimpton did note that it will be wavy.  Mine is on one side but not so much on the other once I got my groove. And the good news is there are no special stitches in Round 9. Just lots of front or back post stitches.
And our work will be wobbly again in this section…
She said, “don’t worry, it’s all part of the grand design 🙂”

DSC_0004DSC_0005

I introduced lavender, purple and baby blue this round. Although in the camera lighting the purple looks like black. I was ready for new colors. My lilacs are blooming so I decided to give them a place in this journey, the sky was a lovely shade of blue without a cloud in it on the day I began that round. The deep purple represents the lovely flags on the irises. I love the spring time blooms.

I’ve been working on my short story Death and I. My short story is fascinating thus far because I have it from the woman’s point of view and from Thanatos point of view. The story has evolved into two stories, not one. I worked on it for 15 minutes today, Theresa. This writing to be more productive challenge will be an eye opener for me, it’s been quite a while sine I’ve sat 90 minutes straight without interruption. I know I need too. There are too many things distractions and my writing is suffering dearly. I don’t think I managed to get 5 hours out of the whole week. 😦   But, excuses are like assholes, we all have them.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway

“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
—Philip Roth

So, this morning I finished the baby hat I needed to get done for a friend of mine to go with the baby afghan I did back in March. I totally spaced the hat out. I saw her on Friday at the Cancer Recognition Luncheon and she asked if it was done. The afghan yes, the hat…oops. Needless to say, I whipped that hat up. I had put the blanket in the closet on the shelf because we had company in April visiting and out of sight out of mind.

Thank goodness, I’m not using baby pink in my Mandala, I am so over that color. I’ve done 3 baby blankets for new Mommas and of course, they were all girls. I’m not a fan of pink but that is the color they wanted. Need to keep the customers happy. 🙂

Friday, was a fun day I attended a luncheon with 38 other Cancer survivors, we were being honored by the local Teacher’s Union. Mastori’s, a local restaurant, catered the lunch and the food was excellent.

It was awesome to connect with other cancer survivors and to hear their stories. We’re beating the cancer odds more and more each year. Early detection is crucial, don’t ever neglect your self-exams.  You know your body better than anyone, talk to your doctor if anything feels wrong to you. It can be the difference between life and death.

I wore a dress, totally out of character for me. The funny part of the dress thing was I rubbed my leg and realized oh shit, totally forgot to shave my legs. Thank goodness, it had only been a few days since I had. 😦

I’m a jeans girl and shaving my legs isn’t a priority. to me.

18222637_10210485469507809_1402085660909291084_n

No worries, my health is fine. I’m a three-time cancer survivor and it’s been 10 years since my last round of cancer. 🙂

I’m simply sporting my summer do, I don’t like sticky hair when I’m working outside so I cut it right off.  I discovered after chemo how easy it is to shower and go and it’s become a summer routine. Though this year, I did decide to go really short. What can I say, hair today, hair tomorrow… it grows back very quickly so by July I’ll be back to needing gel and a straightener because of the unwanted curls.

Honoring a young man from my home state of Maine

/ lyncrain / 4 Comments

I want to extend my condolences to the family of Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, he was killed during the raid on May 5 about 40 miles west of Mogadishu, the Pentagon said in a release. Milliken was a native of Falmouth, Maine and assigned to a Navy unit based in Virginia Beach. Milliken served in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning four Bronze Star medals.

Please add his family to your prayers.

 

Easy Crochet Coasters

/ lyncrain / 1 Comment

I know exactly what Tami means about shuffling through those balls of yarn and thinking what to do with them. These would make great gifts for family and friends. The directions are so easy, too!

Tami's avatarTanglewood Knots

As I was tidying up my yarn area – okay not entirely true – let’s try that sentence again. As I was shuffling around half skeins of yarn to get to the project I wanted to work on, I saw that I had leftover yarn from making Aimee’s birthday throw pillows. And thought to myself “You know what would look great with those pillows – some coasters to match!”

View original post 436 more words

Round 7 Mandala Madness complete and Tai Chi

/ lyncrain / 6 Comments

Phew,  Round 7 was a difficult section for me. I had to take out row 49 because somehow I forgot the half-double crochets in between the double crochets. Once I got that right, came the decision on whether to remain with the same color or change. I decided blue but then realized that the last time the pattern called for bobbles I had used blue. Dang, so I made another color change again. Candy apple red or so the yarn claims.  I’ve used 2 shades of green, 2 shades of red,  2 shades of blue, 2 shades of yellow,  1 pink, orange, black and white thus far. I still have 2 shades of purple, 2 shades of brown and one more shade of blue to add into my mandala.

I have just completed Round 52 and it is now 48 inches across. Our table is 60 inches around, I’m excited to see it reach the edge of the table. I can’t say I’m fond of the white at this point but it is part of my journey.

This past weekend we attended International Tai Chi Day with our dear friend and instructor Marcus Carbos at the Norcom Center in Philadelphia.

Tai chi does not mean oriental wisdom or something exotic. It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind and body together as one process. ~Chungliang Al Huang

Of all the exercises I’ve tried thus far, I think that T’ai Chi is the best. Our instructor swears it can ward off disease, banish worry and tension, bring improved physical health and prolong life. It is a good hobby to begin at any point in life because it is suitable for everyone – the weak, the sick, the aged, children, the disabled and blind. It is also an economical exercise. As long as one has three square feet of space, one can take a trip to paradise and stay there to enjoy life for thirty minutes without spending a single cent. So far, I’ve lost weight and improved my balance. ❤
“Tai chi is the one exercise that can universally help solve our growing health crisis. It has stood the test of thousands of years. We have a generation of baby boomers with increasing health problems; old people who are sick, in pain, fearful, and cranky; a middle class that is increasingly incapable of affording most of the drugs that are prescribed for their ailments; children that are flaccid, diabetic and asthmatic. People of all ages are addicted to drugs, alcohol, sugar, cigarettes, and caffeine. Stress follows almost everyone like a shadow. “~Bruce Frantzis

Life comes with way too much stress like you I am looking for ways to reduce its impact without giving up my precious coffee.

Thursday night, Vic and I will be in Philly hearing Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain Live. Holbrook’s been doing the show since it debuted in 1954 at the then-Lock Haven State Teachers College in north-central Pennsylvania. In 1966, he took the show to Broadway, where it won him a Tony; the TV version the next year won him his first of five Emmys.

For more than 62 years straight, more than 2,200 performances, Holbrook, now 92, has taken Twain on the road. Twain himself lived to be 74. Holbrook changes the show “all the time, suiting it to the moment, the time, the place, what just happened. Holbrook estimates he has worked up more than 15 hours of Twain material, an astonishing feat of memory. “When I come to Philadelphia,” he says, “I want to avoid stuff that I did before, and to make sure that I include material that seems to be talking about what’s happening today.”

I can’t help but wonder what Twain would think of our country today.