latest update

Very pretty Butterfly!

Love the bear pics too! Think they were running from a Tigger? ;)

I have pics up on webshots. Only one quilt there so far. One ornament. Lots of Amber, some white buffalo that live in the area. You can find them here, if you're so inclined...

That's going to look great, Butterfly. Clever you! . In message , Butterflywings writes

Thanks, I'm getting excited about getting it done...even tho I can only work on it when he's at work. I work on the other 2 when he's home.

Can't say 'same-o same-o' anymore : ) YAY! As you can see, I'm doing a bit of hand work....can't knit--just far too stressful and still can't sew on a button BUT BUT BUT I am crocheting a bit--can't do it every day--but I CAN DO IT....which if you remember, I never ever thought I'd ever be able to do it again. (Yes, you've been gone THAT long from us) going to mayo Dr in Phoenix.....made a world of diff for both of us. Glad we moved here, even if it did mean leaving our roses and retirement home behind. It has been and still is so worth it..

So what's been going on in your world? Still in the same place? Are you quilting some now---pixs didn't show on my compie so I'm guessing here? And just who/m is Amber? Sounds like a cat--but I think you had a dog---lil one that could ride on your lap .......correct me if my memory is having a Senior Moment. and your folks? Are they still nearby--and your Mom--still quilting or did she have to give it some--or not as much?

Butterfly ( SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEE'S BBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

Hi my beautifulest Butterfly and Tigg!

Mayo docs in Rochester doin' it for me too. Hey Tigg, White Buffalo are a very sacred deal for American Indians, did you know that? It's totally exciting!

Love to you both, dear friends, Dreamweaver

Leaving our 'retirement home' is so bittersweet, isn't it? Your roses were such a joy but little by little you can do that again. Our retirement home sits under 6 feet of water and we are so very grateful that we left it before it left us. Oh my yes. Enjoyed your pictures so much. Thank you for letting us make the journey with you. Polly

Boy, I have been gone a long time. Sadly, I have no clue what's going on with you, dear Butterfly. Been wrapped up in my own little world, I guess, which is so very awful of me. I've neglected my online family too long.

I am still in Trenton, living in a small apartment here. Mom and Dad still live about 1/2 mile from me. We usually see each other at least once a week, but lately I've not been getting out as much. Mom and I made something like 8 or 9 quilts last year. She's done a few this year, including finishing a third DWR (she pieced a bit on mine and then I brought it here and haven't touched it since). I'm just not motivated enough to do much of anything but sit here and dub videos to dvd (thinking I'll make room if I can get rid of all the video tapes). Amber is my dog, still a Yorkie, but probably not the one you're thinking of. The tiny one was Zena, whom I lost almost 5 years ago (fell and hit her head, vet did everything she could but she died in my arms. I had her cremated by herself, thinking I'd scatter her ashes on Mom's flowers (she has roses now, my brother buys her a new rose bush every Mother's day...sadly 3 of her bushes drowned this spring so now she has new ones moved to a slightly higher spot in the yard...the tiny yellow ones survived all the rain though, which is good. I think those are Dad's favorites as everytime they bloom he sings "The Yellow Rose of Trenton"). I just can't bring myself to do it so she's in an urn on top of my tv. I hope that doesn't sound too weird.

Mom has realized she can still crochet so she does that some too. She had me bring some yarn over and tried it. Has to hold the needle differently, as well as the yarn, but she can still do it. She amazes me!

Health wise, everything is I guess about the same. Kidneys still in remission, RA seems to be flaring, in my opinion. I go back to the rheumatologist in October and will discuss either a change in medication (they had me on Plaquinil (sp) for a bit and then took me off last time I was there. I think it was helping, but who knows?), or something. Currently, my knees ache most of the time and my right foot is bad enough I've joked about cutting it off. Still, I try not to let it get me down. My hands are okay, for which I'm thankful.

The pictures was actually a link to my webshots page (user Tiggs41, I believe). Nothing really special there. I'll need to get some pictures of quilts up there other than the one that Mom and I made for my oldest niece's high school graduation. My youngest niece graduates in 2009 and her quilt is already done.

I've been working on teaching myself to knit socks but I put things down for so long I wind up having to start over again which doesn't really lend itself to anything getting done. I'm trying to learn to magic loop, which is kind of interesting. Maybe I'll pick that up again in the next week or so...probably not though. ;)

Been dealing with insomnia again, seems to come in cycles. Staying up far too late and then not sleeping when I do lay down. Just can't shut my brain off I guess.

I guess that's it in a nut shell. You can reach me privately at snipped-for-privacy@cebridge.dognet (take out the dog...you get the gist. ;)). I check in there a lot more often. I'm trying to make myself check in here at least daily but can't promise anything.

Hugs, Tigg

Yep, knew that about the white buffalo. Funnily enough, we went out driving looking for regular brown buffalo, which we didn't find. Came across the white ones (and one that I'm calling a buffacow (it's in the pics, looks like a cow only with some of the extra hair that buffalo have...probably a beefalo but I always thought those looked more like buffalo), totally by accident when my best friend came to visit. We wanted her son to see buffalo (we also have some regular brown ones north of town but they are not known for being near the road when you want to see them). We did a bit of Home, Home on the Range as we also saw deer and elk that day.

We were totally enthralled with the white buffalo. Dad pulled the van over and Trina, Zayne and I got out. At first they were laying down but when we got out of the van, they got up and started to move away from the fence, then decided we might be interesting to look at as well so moved a bit closer. Trina took pictures and then emailed them to me when she got home (I'd gone off and forgotten my phone so couldn't take any myself.). Was totally cool to see, and not only one white buffalo but something like five of them all in one place (might have been 6).

Hugs, Tigg

Very nice!

Karen, Queen of Squishies

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since we started with Mayo, Miz Polly's poor gators have had to rely on other 'types' of feeding.....bookkeepers, school administrators, etc.

Butterfly (Poor things are gettin rather skinny)

Hi my beautifulest Butterfly and Tigg!

Mayo docs in Rochester doin' it for me too. Hey Tigg, White Buffalo are a very sacred deal for American Indians, did you know that? It's totally exciting!

Love to you both, dear friends, Dreamweaver

Thanks for puttin it into proper perspective.

I have more to write on the 'journey' but I just had to do the other first....now that it's set-up, I won't have to be so 'outta here'.

Butterfly (almost done with the Wedding lap-afghan, too)

Thanks : ) I'm crocheting the Joshua afghan, as my hands are still too persnickety to continue knitting right now....I'm hoping once they are 'use to' the crocheting I will be able to restart the knitting bit. The 'blue' cables were my attempt at knitting a coupla months ago, and that's when I discovered my hands just aren't ready....so I tried the crocheting and that's the "blue with Joshua' pix. It's working easier and I don't have hand cramps after like the knitting.

Now I'm wondering......do you 'call' both crocheting and knitting: knitting ? I've heard of diff places having diff names for it....just curious. I've called my 'tote' "grab my knitting bag, please" more than my Crochet or yarn bag and I've yet to use it for knitting LOL

Butterfly (I'm hoping the crocheting will 'strengthen' the fingers some....still lacking in that dept)

Thanks, I'm hoping to have the Wedding one done by next weekend

Butterfly (And then more pix)

Thanks for the updates. I KNEW you had Xena ,couldn't remember the name tho: ( , but not aware of Amber. GOOD to hear you do have a pooch. we haven't gotten a new one since Lucy gave up. It isn't the right time for us, yet. and yes, she's helping one of our roses to stay strong and .it's the ONLY ONE that survived our move from B'splat to here.

Hope the Dr can get you on a 'good balance of meds' as that makes a HUGE diff. When was the last time you had a complete physical? I ran into a 'salt depletion' cause of one med I had been on. Straightening that out sure helped. It's amazing what they can find out with a blood test.

Butterfly (Good to have you back)

dunno. My ex called everything ""knitting", whether is was quilting or crocheting - I do not knit at all!

G> Thanks : ) I'm crocheting the Joshua afghan, =A0as my hands are still too

Sorry, I sort of knew it was crochet because you sent me the star pattern, but my brain rebelled -I'm just more of a knitter at heart. People who don't do either might call everything "knitting".

But give me credit for effort, I've been work (clipped)

Thanks for clearing the waters. One never knows what diff dialects, etc, are used in diff areas of the world.

Butterfly (maybe *I* want to be knitting instead of crocheting.thus my calling my tote a 'knitting bag' ?????????? LOL)

Good grief!

You don't hesitate at complicated, do you Butterfly?!?

That is going to be one beautiful afghan.

Now to really 'burst your bubble'. the first time I did this I was a virtual NOVICE at crocheting. Taught myself whilst moving cross-country. Got a How-To-Crochet Mittens book... took me ALL the way across Nebraska to do ONE MITTEN. I can't remember how many times I redid and redid and redid it until it looked like a mitten. Thankfully. you did the thumb separately. MR. Joe said he woulda chucked it the 2nd time I tore it out and started over.

Ended up making 2 sets--one for DS and one for DD :) They wore them until they outgrew them : ) amazingly neither ever lost one of them : )

THEN I proceeded to this afghan. Single crochet right? how hard could that be? ??????? Got up to the words and was very very fortunate to have an unexpected visit from an "aunt==much older cousin" that was a prolific crocheter . She showed me how to switch yarns, follow the pattern, AND how to make a crochet circle--so I could make 'tree doilies'--(thread cotton snowflakes for the Christmas Tree). The next time I saw her--coupla years later she showed me how to add beads.soo I crocheted a beaded Barbie Doll Wedding Dress....lost count of the beads

Butterfly (Must get the doll out of storage and put her up on display once again. Might even add a pix to the Web-site. Our gal is finally feeling well enuf to work on the site once again....thus my temporarily using Smug Mug site instead)