I Think I'm Back

This was a terrible spring for me. My mom died April 11, and just when I thought I was starting to be able to deal with that, my father-in-law died less than 5 weeks later. And, on the same day he died, we got word that a young man who is a friend of my sons was killed in Iraq. All three were just unexpected. My mom went to sleep one night, and never work up again. My FIL had just gotten back from six months in Florida. Most of my kids never got to see him when he returned - he didn't feel well, wound up in the hospital two days later, and died a week after that. It looks like he had a silent heart attack in Florida. I don't know how he managed to drive back up here from there. I think he knew something was wrong, and managed to hang on long enough to get back here. Unfortunately, by the time he got up here, the damage was done. His body couldn't recover.

Needless to say, I haven't really done much of anything for the last two months. I feel so overwhelmed by all this death. My kids lost two grandparents and a friend in five weeks. It's been hard on them, too, especially their grandfather dying. They were close to him, and enjoyed his company. I enjoyed his company, too, but my mil and I don't get along (she can't stand me), so I didn't see much of him.

I did a little quilting during this time. I'll post pictures later. Along with not knitting, or blogging, or much of anything else, I haven't been taking too many pictures, either. I started working on Audrey again. I think this is a frustrating pattern, and I wonder what Kim Hargreaves was thinking. I fiddled with it a little, changed the length of the sleeves, and the decreases on the front. I do a lot of frogging with this pattern, and, while I like the look of the sweater, I do know that this will be a pattern I will only knit once. I'm about a third of the way up the front. I just have to finish the front, knit the back, and make the lace. Doesn't sound like much, does it?

I've spent a lot of time during the last several weeks staring out of the window, which has been sort of therapeutic for me. I kept my birdfeeders going this year, instead of taking them down in April, like I usually do. What a difference! I got to watch a set of Downey woodpecker parents with their babies; enjoyed several visits from a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, and best of all, have really enjoyed the antics of several chipmunks. We never had them before, but about two years ago, we noticed we had one or two. I changed birdseed this year - I'm using a mix that contains various nuts and berries, along with fruit pieces. I think that's the reason why I have such a mix of wildlife - the grosbeaks and rest of the birds really like it. Apparently, the chipmunks do, too, because we now have several of these cute little rodents. I love watching them stuff their cheeks with whatever falls out of the feeder. We've located several of their dens, and one of them has babies, because I saw them on the path the other day, rolling and tumbling all over each other.

Saturday sky for tonight, on Route 18 in Colt's Neck. A little blurry.