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You use a doppler device. White Pup pup was a great model. Too bad Radar wanted nothing to do with the process. Fireman and I failed last night. Friend, Sharon RN and I failed again this morning. The great staff at our vet's office, got his BP when I took him in today for an X-ray. His systolic was 200. Quite high. The X-ray showed kidney stones. Poor poor Radar. Now wonder he is pulling his fur out again. He's on a opiate now. We have a new plan. If he requires surgery we will likely end his suffering. If he can pass the stones on his own, he should feel much better until more form....everyone in our house in on the same page. Thank goodness. My father was in good spirits this morning when I visited. 5 days to surgery. Prayers appreciated so very much. I took my mom to Hackney's. It is a local favorite in Glenview. Guy F went there for a diners drive ins dives, show. It was nice to have mom one on one. My mom watches Hallmark channel. We watched...

I splurged a little bit. I don't generally wear a watch. I can almost always intuitively know what the time is......I'm very good at this. When I saw this cute nurse scrub colored watch in my Avon catalog I decided it was time....to get that watch. It has a nice big face and second hand for counting baby breaths and heartbeats without my having to squint across the room at work. Karen my knitting teacher/life coach and friend sells Avon now. I am falling in love with that little catalogue all over again. Dr. Oz had a dermatologist on his show who actually recommends Avon's Anew wrinkle peel as an inexpensive and effective alternative to high end cosmetic peels. I think I need to try that too. I love a sample of eye make up remover that Karen threw in with my first order. It is so creamy. I am using their lip stick and foundation too. The Easter bunny is bringing some Avon goodies to the family....Avon is so darn affordable. If you want to support Karen: G...

The great ladies at 3 Bags Full in Northbrook give me a call when they've got hats for our babies in the Special Care Unit. They are going to have a charity knit night soon, so watch for their email newsletter. I really should whip up a few hats with my leftover yarns. What is your favorite baby hat pattern? I love Amanda Keeys Baby Beanies Book. She started knitting to embellish her photography! You never know what twists will turn to get some needles into your hands. I think most of you know that I came back to knitting after 9/11 because I couldn't sleep. Thanks for the prayers and wishes for my family. My father is in pain but has an IV for pain meds. His path is a bit uncertain right now weighing surgery vs. halo. I know he is in great hands at the hospital. Do you know anyone who needed a halo for neck stability? I knitted him a prayer shawl a few years ago. He never used it. They just displayed it. I think I will find it and bring it to him at the hospi...

Thanks to you all who are praying for my father. He is stable. Looking at surgery after literally breaking his neck. In great hands at our hospital. Mom doing okay too. Any and all prayers appreciated!~ I grabbed my garter shawl knitting and scooped up my mom and off we went to wait for him to arrive in ICU from a satellite hospital. Al was able to greet her grandpa in the ER when he arrived as she was working. Funny she has had premonitions about this very type of thing with my father. She is so good and has a way with him that no one else does. She gives it to him straight and he actually takes it from her. Once we were all at the museum together for the BODYWORKS exhibit. A young girl, goth walked by with ear piercings and the like. My father started to comment negatively and Al told, him : Papa, Get over it. He did. He still laughs and says only she could have told him that and gotten away with it. Funny, I got away with nothing...and still don't with him...

My father fell and his spine is unstable. Emergency surgery today. I have my knitting..and all of your thoughts and prayers.. I know it..i can feel your support! love kathy b

I love PicMonkey. I edited this morning's image of Radar and the shawl progress.......I realize by doing this you cannot see either object well, but I like the colors! No true progress to show here, but I am loving knitting this garter shawl..... Al and I had an interesting chat the other day. Here are some of her opinions after working in the ER for a bit. Remember these are educated opinions, not meant to diagnose! *I can't diagnose your rash over the phone... (Really? I guess this means you can't fix my dropped stitch or lace mistake over the phone either....geez) *Fracture folks, means broken. If I tell you its broken, don't ask me if it is fractured too. *To really dose your child correctly medicines need to be adjusted to weight. And while we are on it, Tylenol is acetaminophen. Cold Medicines often contain Tylenol so watch that you don't over do it by giving both. *Your stitches are not going to dissolve...unless you went to the OR to ha...

This was my first attempt to wind with my new Nostepinne. I made one error. I let the yarn slip into the little nook near the handle..and now the yarn ball is stuck. Ahhh learning curves. I love the way the Nostepinne feels in my hands however. I'll get it. My deaf cat Radar, in kidney failure, is pulling his hair out. It is pitiful to watch. We've tried Benadryl, Feliway calming spray and finally xanax this morning. The xanax worked . It was very distressing to watch him pull his hair out over and over again. I don't know how this is all going to shake out...Keep him in your thoughts, and prayers if you wish. The little foster momma kitty ended up delivering 3 stillborn at my house. She had to have surgery to get the other 5 kittens out and they were too small to survive. She lost all 8. She suffered I felt, quite a bit. I have the hardest time with people not spaying and neutering their pets. She is still not feeling well and we are hoping she turns the rig...

I had an appointment in the city, right in the heart of downtown Chicago, today. It was hot and humid and gorgeous. People were in cut off jean shorts, high heeled yellow pumps, bike shorts and pedal pushers. We appreciate unexpected fantastic weather and an early spring in this town. I did some car knitting as Fireman took me downtown. I ripped out my Happy Feet sock. I Just want to keep Shawl knitting right now. So its String Theory's Life Is Good Shawl Pattern. It has a large buttonhole knitted into the piece that really appeals to me. I do not like knotting shawls to secure them. So I'm Happy Feet yarn knitting for Happy Shoulders. As we drove home on the expressway I thought it must be odd for folks to visit our city, drive the interstate and see the "l" train coming up in the middle of the highway. My advice to anyone driving through the city is to get off the interstate and enjoy Lakeshore Drive's beauty. No trucks allowed. Almost nev...

Major Jennifer you have won the beautiful Nostepinne from Craftiness.etsy.com. David Lindquist makes beautiful yarn winders. I LOVED your answer to simplifying a complex world.....you have such a good outlook when little inconveniences like losing the electric power, occur. Although I already have cast on in Happy Feet, my next pair of socks, I think I need some yellow right now. This new yarn is begging me to change my monogoknit ways and cast one today. Now for the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner information: We love to grill chicken breasts after they have marinated in ITalian Salad dressing for a bit. Then we add grilled onions to the breasts while on the grill, after adding our favorite bbq sauce (I'm a KC Masterpiece fan, my men in the house like DAVE's Bbq in ZESTY) . Then we top it with a slice of Colby cheese, and let it melt. Put these cheeseburgers in disguise onto a Hawaiian or pretzel bun and enjoy. Oh are they good! The Claim Company in Chicago ma...

I been asking St. Francis for quite a bit lately with Radar and all. I thought I'd let him model my finished Cotton Twirl Ruffled Shawl. Good thing it is for me, cause something went wrong somewheres along the way. Must have Al or Karen or both dissect it later. There's no way I'll rework it. It is fine around my shoulders. I Needed to use up a bunch of Vanna's Yarn that I had stockpiled away for over a year. Its acrylic and that means its washable and it won't make me itch..... Before I cast on for another one for a gift, I need to figure out what went wrong.. This lovely little globe was part of the great St. Pat's swap from Grace. It holds your ball of yarn and keeps it from running all over the room while you knit. I love this thing. Back to my socks now. Back to eating right too, my gallbladder was acting up all weekend again. If I do eat the correct way it does not rebel. I've read that increasing your Vitamin C intake and eating br...

My dear friend Linda is knitting again. She took a break for awhile. Life got busy for her. She amazes me. Look at the FO and in progress afghans she knits. They look Irish to me. Happy St. Patricks Day. My little foster cat is so unhappy; still no kittens. I was so hoping she'd have them last night. Hmmmmm, I don't want her to try the usual labor inducing tricks... (Sex is out of the question! ) One of the things being a foster has taught me, is to trust Mother Nature. Im so hyper technology oriented after decades in the NICU, I have to remind myself that Mother Nature knows more than I do. Its back to the workend for me! Do you think I can get fireman to get up and check kitty momma tonight? (He's already delivered babies....but his SLEEP needs trump all!)

I love this saying....a friend with a son who has Down's Syndrome sent me a video that contained this saying. Priceless. I guess that is why our kitchen looks like this: Seems our Radar is in kidney failure. Early failure. Good chance we can arrest it. He is so good about his sub q fluids every morning. Takes all of about 3 minutes to treat him. Looks much more difficult that it is. Radar is a quiet deaf cat and very cooperative. He's on a low protein diet now and he's even excited to eat it. Here's hoping he will feel better soon and his thirst and labs will normalize. NORMAL is just a cycle on a washing machine...because we picked up a foster momma kitty this week too. It is kitten season. She's miserable, stoic and hasn't eaten the last 24 hours...maybe laboring later? She's isolated up in Al's old room, the kitten nursery. What's not normal about my passions? Knitting, Cats and Blogging??

Sometimes simpler is better. This lovely Scandinavian style Nostepinne can be yours. I bought one for myself too, from Craftiness' Etsy Shop. Sometimes a handwritten letter beats an email. Sometimes the radio is just fine to "WATCH" a ballgame with Sometimes Stick shift driving just beats automatic transmission for fun Sometimes peanut butter and jelly beats Lean Cuisine Sometimes Water beats all Sometimes instinct beats technology Sometimes a walk beats a race Sometimes winding your own yarn beats waiting at the shop So leave me a comment on this post only, by March 19th, the last day of Winter here. Tell me when simpler is better for you..... and you just might win this lovely handmade Nostepinne

THe Yarnmarket Shawl is really fun to knit. Lots of short row shaping involved. Feels like cheating when I don't have to finish an entire row....I am beginning, now, to see it take shape. So here's the little Hungarian story as promised days ago: My father's grandparents and his father and brother all came through Ellis Island. They came over in steerage. They were Poor immigrants hoping for the new life in America. My father's Uncle Joe played the Push Me Pull Me or the accordion as they say. Uncle Joe had hydrocephalus, or as they called it water on the brain. Apparently Uncle Joe played so well, that word spread to the upper levels of the ship. Joe was asked to play for the elite on the ship. Night after night he played as they danced and dined. The story goes that he was well fed for his accordion playing. When they got to Ellis Island, his large head was all too prominent and he was refused entry as his family's greatest fears appeared rea...

Seamus is watching over my NEW resale shop find. I LOVE pyrex/corning ware. I think this little dish that will hold 2 SIDES is the cat's meow. I love it. I think my mom had one in silver. I paid full price, four fifty, for it. I didn't want it to be gone if I waited until the shop goes on 50% off days. Who would? I also bought myself a NEW (really new) Speaker for my iPod shuffle. Seems every baby in the NICU has their own and I thought I needed one too. Good timing, as our cable/internet/phones were out all day yesterday. I needed some music. IT was all of nine ninety nine at Best Buy and it matches...... Carole's Ten on Tuesday is all about music by the way. And its free......

I got 11 extra hours of sleep Sunday night. I was off this workend! It was glorious, it was heavenly.... it was restorative..... This is the Yarnmarket Twirl Ruffled Shawl Ruffle. Radar needed to investigate...and get in the image. I am almost finished with the ruffle part. Crazy right? I'm knitting something new! The short rows are kind of fun. THe yarn is stash and isn't great but I bought a boatload of it. The Way I See it I can knit it up and if I love it, I'll buy new yarn for a gift shawl and reknit another... The way I see it not one Illinois Team got into the NCAA. The Way I See it, No heartbreak ahead! Which way are you seeing things this morning?

Next up the Irish answers.....FIRST this is Seamus my monster from Grace. He's the new blog mascot of Irisheyes..... He helped me knit the thumbless toddler mittens. He's always in a good mood. Favorite Irish Movies: The Committmentsl.....contemporary story about a great little band in Ireland The Secret of the Roan Inish.....magical, wonderful, to anyone who has lost a brother Favorite Irish Books: The Book of Kells The Thornnbrids Favorite Actor: Pierce Brosnan Favorite Songs: The Irish Washerwoman I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen Your turn~!

The little Irishman guarding the Irish Soda Bread was given to me by Grace a ways back. Grace spoils me. Grace was also my secret St. Pat's swapper this year. So here are the thumbless toddler mitts I am knitting with the yarn she sent. Inside the yarn ball you can see there are goodies..... what do you See????? Unlike some players, ahem, I am not unraveling the entire ball of yarn to get at the goodies.....yet. I am knitting my way through the yarn. So far. I have some questions for you: Would you like a post about: *My Irish family history ? this leads to a story about my Hungarian Immigrant relatives... *Irish Music I like *Irish Movies I like *Irish Books I like *none of the above...... instead, a Hungarian family story!

her cat There once was a knitter who swatched her cat sat right by her and watched she knit the wrong page though she had the right gauge so she opened some wine and got sauced. (original ditty by Kathy B. Inspired by Susan B's post yesterday on swatching)

My girlfriends had the Corned Beef and Cabbage at our knitogether yesterday. I'm not a fan. I can eat it, but I don't crave it. Do you? My mom always made hers in the crock pot. I like green icing on cake, however, and on cupcakes and tea breads and coffee cakes. Grace was my secret St. Pat's swapper!! I'm sitting at the end of the rainbow, let me tell you. Just look at the size of that ball of yarn with goodies hidden inside it. I put the little Happy Feet ball next to it for comparison. I'm casting on for Irish socks today with it. I'll let you know what the leprechaun hid inside the yarn ball as I knit on..... Finally, as a big knitting venture, I've cast on for the YarnMarket Cotton Twirl Ruffled Shawl. So far so good. I need to use a row counter but I stayed on track during all of American Idol last night. This means I have 3 brand new WIPS. I love new WIPs. Have you started your St. Pat's celebrating yet?

I so enjoyed peeking in everyone else's purses I thought I'd play along. Here are 10 Things you find in my purse, or my Ameribag . I Love my Ameribag. I have never had duplicates of a purse, but now I have 3 Ameribags. I ADORE Them. THe sling over my shoulder and are roomy and pocket plenty.... *My wallet *My green note pad. I take a lot of notes because I'm in the school of life..ha ha ..ha and i Forget details quickly. *Lipstick in the cute little fabric case that was a nifty gifty this Christmas *FLoss. I cannot go anywhere without my floss. I simply hyperventilate if I run out of floss. I am addicted to flossing. There are worse habits...c'mon *Bepreve from my always running eyes.....I have allergies and my eyes run tears all the time if I don't use my trusty Bepreve. *My Whiskas Cat treat cell phone cover and cell phone. ITs a dinosaur phone, and it is almost never ever on, trust me. If it is on, I usually don't hear it ringing. I just n...

Yup they are finished. Koigu and Claudia Handpaint combo in basic sock top down style. I nearly frogged them early on, early as in past the first heel. Thanks to all of you cooler heads that advised me to keep going. Today I get to cast on for something new. OH new cast on day, I love you! Jane at work gave me this wooden thing, this weekend. Is it a hat blocker? She found it at a resale shop and thought a knitter needed it. She thought it was a yarn palette. I'm not sure. So dear wise friends, what is it?

It was a dark and stormy night.....seriously, I hope all of you and your loved ones survived without a scratch last night. Here in the Chicago area, the snow was a non event. It was pretty as we drove to our family party last night. The trees were laced with it and it made the world so pretty. I am a sucker for snow beauty. I brought a leftover yarns baby beret to give to one toddler niece and the big girl niece stole it. How could I say no? She's overjoyed with it. All good things going on here at Irisheyes. It is the workend. I may finish the Koigu socks soon and then I can cast on anew again. Besides the socks, this week I tried and failed at another little lace pattern, but I will persevere.... and here's a little something I learned this week: You can steep your tea bag in vodka over night....and it is supposed to be delicious or you can steep your tea bag in rum.... Have you heard of this? Have you ever......

This are my Round Toe instructions. I'm a paper and pen person. It works. Whatever works right? I'm a list maker....I think that is why I sleep well. I write things down and then they are off my mind. On my list today: *Try to finish the Koigu socks OR try again, to start a shawl. *9 year old great niece's birthday bash. I Love these family parties. I usually have to miss these events due to my Saturday Sunday work schedule. It is a Friday part-tay. I love to see the little ones as they grow. The kids just give off ENERGY and a lightness of being that adults seem to lose....of course, I don't have to chase them or try to get them to sleep, so that is part of the joy. *Mail my St. Patricks swap package off.... *Clip Radar's nails. He is 9 months old today and we have so far avoided declawing. He is my first cat not to be declawed. Overall it is going very well. Fireman did buy a squirt gun, however, to deter Beatles from a spot on the couch...