Veteran's Day

Here it is, Veteran's Day and we had the day off from school. I often wonder how many students could explain why they have the day off. I got lots of errands done today and put away the few Halloween decorations that I had set out. 

So Grandma and I went to our last Felted Purse class yesterday, where we completed the knitting and were given a pep talk about throwing our projects into a washing machine filled with hot water! Yikes! So I am including before and after photos to show what

happens during the felting process. Grandma's purse is the blue one and mine is the gray. We were making the same style

purse, Grandma wanted hers bigger so she used double strands of yarn as she was

knitting. In the before pictures you can see each knit stitch quite clearly. After several hot water washes, the stitches have all "felted" together so you cannot see individual stitches. I think my purse is rather dull, so I may sew some decorative buttons on it or look for another idea to liven it up. Any suggestions? If so, leave me a comment.

Yesterday we started raking leaves. Jim did most of the yard and I did a bit in the front

and then did some in the backyard today. The locust tree has dropped all those little, tiny,

annoying leaves that end up all over the inside of our house. The big maple tree has just started to lose its leaves, so we still have some serious raking ahead of us.

We stopped over to Grandma and Grandpa's tonight to get the purse picture. Jim was able to use some wireless internet from one of the neighbors to give Grandma another email

lesson. If you haven't sent her an email in awhile, you could give her some practice by sending her a note. In order to use this free internet, Jim and Grandma had to sit on the cool porch with their jackets on! Grandpa thought that was pretty funny. Grandpa is doing well. His cardiologist thinks his shortness of breath comes from his blood pressure medicine which slows his heart rate. So Grandpa is off the BP medicine and already

notices an improvement. He only had to stop and rest 2 times while cutting the grass, instead of 10 times like the last time he cut it. Of course, his BP is creeping up. He goes back to the doctor in a week or so.

Now that the Christmas shopping poll has closed, I don't feel bad about not having my shopping started. I know that I am in good company! Anybody have anything interesting on their Christmas list? 

Tomorrow I go back to my Yoga class which will feel good. I have started running again so I can be ready for the New Year's Eve race in Saratoga. It has been 4 months since I have run and I can feel it. I stopped running because my plantar fasciitis came back and it took a while to get rid of it. I will continue my stretching routine and hope that I don't have a reoccurrence. 

I don't know if I have ever mentioned the road construction that is taking place on Ridge Road. It is a major overhaul of a major road. The construction has moved to just in front of our street and this morning it was a bit confusing as to where one should drive. Every day is an adventure and this morning was no different. Pretty soon we will not be able to turn left onto Ridge. Hopefully the traffic flow will be maximized by the time the heaviest holiday shopping traffic is trying to get to the mall.

Hope all is well.