Festival Review and Grandpa Update

Let's do the Grandpa update first. He moved out of ICU on Friday morning because he was making good progress. Later that day he regressed a bit, but today was a good day. He is on track to have an angiogram on Monday which will give the doctors a better understanding of the condition of his heart muscle. I took this photo when we went for a visit tonight.

And now a report from my trip to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. I drove to Jenny Lake on Friday afternoon and arrived as the last rays of daylight were fading. The lake was calm, reflecting the last colors of fall.
After a restless night of sleep in a cold camp, with 2 trips to the outhouse in the middle of the night, I got up just before 6, packed up and was heading towards Corinth by 6:40. Here was the skyline just before I left camp.
Two hours of driving east and south brought me to Rhinebeck and I spent the next 5 hours walking around, looking at the wide variety of things that were for sale, all related to sheep, wool and fiber. Here are a couple of photos from the festival.

Here is a photo of me knitting on what may become the world's largest sock. The women running this activity were not sure exactly how many stitches were on all these needles, but suffice it to say, lots!

I have a couple more photos that I wanted to include from the festival but Blogger is not cooperating with uploading them, so I will include them in a future post.

I was originally planning on going back to Jenny Lake tonight and then driving home on Sunday, but I was ready to leave the festival around 2 PM so I thought I would come straight home. If I went back to camp, I would have spent 4 or 5 hours just getting the camp warmed up, so I drove home, with one stop at a Thruway rest area, for a 15 minute rest. I got home about 6:40 PM and met Jim, Maw and Jeannie at the hospital.

Terry was in town for a couple of nights in the middle of this past week. It was good to see her and have her here as decisions were being made about Grandpa's treatment. She drove home on Friday, through some snow in Pennsylvania.

Corey ran at the University of Virginia on Friday and had a decent race. He and one of his teammates were flying separately from the rest of the team and ended up having to spend Thursday night in a hotel in NYC when their flights were changed. They got to Virginia with time to spare before the race started.

Tucker is having a housewarming BBQ party at his new house tonight. Maybe he will send a photo of the festivities.

Hope all is well.

Grandpa Update

Grandpa's conditioned has stabilized, even though he is in a very fragile condition. He has now been put on a liquid diet, which is a step forward. He is still in the ICU, but that may change since he is not really using any of the high-priced equipment in his room.

Jeannie is coming into town tonight and Terry will come into town tomorrow.

Here is a photo of Grandpa's cat. They miss each other terribly. I printed out this picture and delivered it to Grandpa at the hospital and he was pleased.

Stay tuned for future updates.

Hope all is well.

Good Times, Not So Good Times

Let's start with the not so good times. Grandpa went into the hospital in the early morning hours today and has been diagnosed as having had a heart attack and he has pneumonia. Grandma called us at 6:40 AM (and phone calls at that hour are rarely good news) to tell us that Grandpa was in the Intensive Care Unit at Unity Hospital. We went right over and found Grandma resting in Grandpa's room. Grandpa has been medicated so he sleeps all the time and has lots of tubes going into his body. He will be kept in this medicated state for a day or so, while he is being treated for the pneumonia and more tests are being run. We will go back and visit later this afternoon. Stay tuned for updates.

Our good times started on Friday night when some of my colleagues and their spouses came over for a night of Rock Band fun. And fun is what we had! We did lots of Beatles songs and then moved on to the regular Rock Band songs that feature lot of different bands. We rocked out for 3.5 hours and had lots of laughs. Here is one of many photos and movies that were taken that night.

Saturday I got up early to make a grape pie to take to Corey. This is the first pie from this year's grapes. Did I tell you that my 43 pounds of grapes made 26 pie fillings?! Jim and I left for Syracuse at 9:45 and arrived at Corey's apartment about 11:30 AM. We had to wait a few minutes until he got home from practice. After he took a quick shower we walked to the Dome for the SU vs. West Virginia football game.
Unfortunately the SU team didn't bring their "A" game and West Virginia had a fairly easy time beating the Orange. We left at halftime and drove a short ways south to the Lafayette Apple Festival. It was a beautiful day to do this activity and we enjoyed walking around the festival. There had been quite a bit of rain in this area in the past few days and we had to tip-toe around the mud, but that was OK. There were lots of craft vendors and we walked around to see many of the vendors but that was definitely not Jim's or Corey's thing! We did buy Corey some fudge, apple cider and apples before heading back to SU. The fall foliage was lovely along our drive there and back. Here are some photos from the festival.

After some wild ping-pong games at Corey's apartment (not the usual game that college kids play with ping-pong balls!), we picked up 2 of Corey's friends and went to dinner at a pasta restuarant in the Armory Square area of Syracuse.

Our meals were delicious, well worth the hour-plus wait we had to endure! We got back to Rochester about 10:15 PM.

This morning I picked some empire apples at Green Acres.

These 2 pecks of perfect apples will last me for a month or so. You know what they say about an apple a day!

Time to go sew up the underarm seams on my Rhinebeck sweater and then sew on 6 buttons!

Keep Grandpa in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers from his medical issues.

Hope all is well.

Grapes!

This was grape pie weekend for me and this year I decided to pick my own grapes. Last year when driving home from somewhere south of here, I saw a sign for Pick your Own Grapes near Naples. So this year I did a little research and found the place that I saw advertised, Jerome's Pick Your Own, 2 miles south of Naples.

I set out on Saturday morning, enjoying the 1.5 hour drive. Here some photos from my time at the farm.


I couldn't stop picking and filled all the baskets that Jim had put in the car for me, even though I only asked for 3 baskets. Here is what I picked. Guess how many pounds?
43 pounds!!! That is a lot grapes considering that each grape needs to be hand squeezed to separate the skin from the pulp. Grandma came over on Sunday afternoon and helped convert 2.5 pecks into 14 pie fillings. Add that 14 to the 3 I did on Saturday afternoon and we were up to 17 pies by Sunday night.

I came home from school today and made 6 more pies worth and now have less than a peck to process.

A few other things happened this weekend. Jim was finally able to order roof racks for his year-old Vibe. He spent some time on Saturday fitting the racks to his car. He knew that if he came into the house, I would want him to squeeze grapes!

There is racing news to report. Corey traveled with the SU XC team to a big meet in Wisconsin. Corey ran well and the team had a great day. The SU team has not been ranked nationally this season, but they won this meet beating 8 teams that were ranked! They are all now waiting for the new rankings to come out to see where the SU team will be placed.

Jim ran in Syracuse on Sunday morning in the National Masters 5K Road Race Championships and ran better than he thought he would considering he missed running a couple of days last week because of work commitments. His team of old guys took 3rd place. Well Done!

Last night Jim and I went to the Villages to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. The food was great~turkey and gravy!

Here is a photo of Grandpa's new wheels. Watch out if you are walking in front of him when he is cruising the hallways!

I had my MRI on my knee at 7 AM on Sunday. I won't get the results until Oct. 22. The good news is that my knee felt much better today. I am a bit more optimistic than I was last Friday or Saturday.

Time to go knit. I am very close to finishing my Rhinebeck sweater.

Hope all is well.

Wounded Knee

This is where I ended up on Thursday afternoon.
 On Wednesday night, I turned around in the church parking lot and felt a sharp pain in my knee and a "catch" in my knee that would not let me straighten out  my leg for a minute. The pain continued throughout the night (not much sleep) so in the morning I called for a sub. 

I was lucky enough to get a morning appointment with my general practitioner and he referred me to the orthopedic doctor that I saw 5 years ago when I tore the meniscus in my left knee. Again, I had a bit of luck and was able to see the Physicians Assistant in that office in the afternoon. The X-rays that were done at  that office did not show anything, but both the PA and my doctor think I may have torn the meniscus in my right knee :( They came to this diagnosis because of where the pain was in my knee when they manipulated my leg. 

So I am having an MRI on Sunday morning (7 AM!!) and will have a follow up appointment with my orthopedic guy later this month. My general doctor gave me a prescription for heavy duty Motrin and that made it possible for me to go to work today. 

I will keep you posted on my status.

On a happier note, we went to a high school cross-country meet on Tuesday afternoon. Odyssey was running at Basil Morella Park so we thought we would go cheer the Odyssey runners on. The Odyssey boys have had a good deal of success in the past couple of weeks and we wanted to show our support. Here are 2 photos from our time at the meet. 

Tonight is the last episode of the National Park series on PBS. We have learned so much about the history of our parks and have loved the pictures. One TV reviewer wrote that the last 20 minutes of tonight's final episode are the most stunning pictures he has ever seen on TV. I can hardly wait!

This weekend is Grape Weekend. I am hoping to go to a farm down by Naples and pick my own grapes. I have never done that, and it sounds interesting. Watch for photos. Hopefully my knee won't interfere with those plans. I'll start squeezing grapes on Sunday. 

Corey earned a spot on the SU XC team that travelled to Wisconsin yesterday and he will race tomorrow. Ironically, Jim races on Sunday in Syracuse! Stay tuned for the running report.

I finished both sleeves on my sweater and have started to pick-up stitches around the front edges for the button band and the shawl collar. I am still optimistic that I can complete this sweater for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival on Oct. 17th. 

Hope all is well.

Back Home

I'm back from Women's Weekend and I cannot tell you very much because most of what happens on Women's Weekend, stays on Women's Weekend. There are a couple of things I will tell you about and those will follow here, but know that I had a wonderful time with 5 very dear friends. This was our 16th consecutive Women's Weekend and we are already looking forward to number 17. 

On Saturday morning I got up to discover that the lake had a blanket of fog on it. I quickly got dressed in my warm clothes because it was 39º! I took my rowboat out in to the fog and it was a surreal experience. As I rowed away from the shore I was silently enveloped into the fog layer. The fog was on the move and views of the shore or ridge line came in and out of sight. As I rowed up the far shore, there seemed to be a fog machine churning out the fog from Turtle Cove. When I was rowing more in the middle of the lake (I think that is where I was), I was rowing on faith as I could not see beyond the bow of the boat and the fog quickly closed in around the stern of the boat. As the sun came up, the scene became even more beautiful as the sun worked hard to burn off the fog. Here are some photos from my morning on the lake. I have about 100 more!







The other thing I want to share involves a whole lot of luck. On Saturday night I turned on the TV to see if the Syracuse football game was on and sure enough it was. We watched for a while and then changed to the Purdue game so Sherri could look for Terry who was at the game. At halftime of the Purdue game I changed the channel so I could see the SU score. One minute after turning to the SU game, during a time out in the game, the SU Cross-Country coach was interviewed about that team's season. During the interview some video was shown of the SU's most recent meet and there was Corey running across the TV screen. And it was not some distant shot, it was a full screen of him running!!! That was super exciting!! Corey was at the game so did not see himself, but one of this friends that was watching the game at home, texted him to say that he saw Corey! It was all very cool, and just such a coincidence that I turned back to the SU game at just the right time!

Tucker moved into his mini mansion this weekend and sent us these photos. The first is obviously the outside of his place. The next photo is the kitchen and the last photo was taken while standing in the kitchen, looking into the living room. There are some new appliances and some fresh paint. He is very happy to have his own house! Want his new address? E-mail me or leave a comment.

Did you watch the first episode of the National Park series on PBS last night? It continues every night this week and each show is 2 hours, with no commercial interruptions! The photography is incredible and the story line is interesting and educational. So, go to the bathroom, grab a beverage and settle in for a great show. This is going to be great knitting time!

Cool, wet weather has moved in and is in the forecast for awhile. Oh, well.

Hope all is well.

Women's Weekend

I leave for Women's Weekend tomorrow (Thursday) as soon as I can get home from school and get to Sherri's house. If you listen closely, you may hear our laughter all the back to Rochester!

See you on the other side.

Hope all is well.

Dynamite Weekend in Dayton

We just got back from Dayton, Ohio, where we attended the wedding of Sue and Jim A.'s son, Andrew. And we had a wonderful weekend.

We left here on Friday morning and had an easy 7-plus hour drive. I say easy because Jim drove most of it while I knit. I did drive the first 1.5 hours, because Jim had to be on a conference call for work for part of that time.

We arrived at the Dayton Marriott around 3:30 PM and quickly headed across the street to the paved multi-use trail that parelleled the Great Miami River. Jim ran and I power-walked for 45 minutes. One of the sites we went by was this beautiful carrillion tower. 

We ate dinner at a recommended restaurant in the Oregon District and had a nice meal. Back at the hotel we met up with Rochester friends Diane and Mike who had just arrived. We made a quick stop at Sue and Jim's hotel room, where they were hosting a small party. Here we got to meet the bride, Susan, as well as see many familiar members of Sue and Jim's family. 

On Saturday the wonderful weather continued. I had heard about "A Wool Gathering" that was taking place about 20 miles away from Dayton. I told Jim that I would like to go to that unless he came up with another idea of what to do on Saturday , and since he didn't, we drove to the little town of Yellow Springs for this event. This fiber festival was held on the property of a large dairy farm that offers lots of family activities. In addition to the fiber festival there were wagon rides, a corn maze, a restaurant/ice-cream store, and a mini-golf course! Yes, a mini-golf course named Udders and Putters!!! The fiber festival was most enjoyable and just the right size.
Jim was patient as I walked around all the booths, twice! There were the usual animals on display:




On our way out of the fiber festival, Jim discovered that he had a winning ticket for a free ice cream cone~which made the whole thing worthwhile! 

We decided to play a round of mini-golf, which was fun, especially for me since I beat Jim~ a very rare occasion! 

We returned to the hotel, after stopping for lunch at a small restaurant that advertised that they were voted the best BBQ in Dayton in 2008. It was indeed very good!

Andrew and Susan's wedding was held in the chapel on the campus of the University of Dayton and it was a lovely ceremony. The reception was held in the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton. The is a performing arts center and the atrium/lobby area is rented out for events like receptions when there is not a performance schedules. It was a beautiful glassed in area, perfect for such an occasion.
 

We were thrilled to be able to share such a special day with Sue and Jim and their family.

Saturday Corey raced at Colgate and he had a really good race! We are so happy for him! 

Today we had an uneventful drive back to Rochester. Jim did most of the driving so I could knit and the weather was once again most cooperative.

About my knitting: I decided I really wanted to try to make something new to wear to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival on October 17th. I chose a fairly simple sweater pattern and made very good progress  during the travel time to and from Dayton. I am still optimistic that I can complete it in time. I'll post a in-progress photo shortly.

Tomorrow (Monday) is GrandDad's birthday, Happy Birthday, Dad! I'm glad you are back in town so we see you  more often! Have a great day!

Hope all is well.