Day One and 18 rows completed. Doing the math means approximately ten days of 15 rows per day to crochet this project. Finding the first picture early in July just after we were told there is another grand baby on the way, I knew this one was next. Study of the pattern told me that counting was going to be crucial. So here goes for some in sequence and some simply the pattern design, I am counting away.

The book keeping me company is Bryan Jaques “The Long Patrol.” The first listen took me through my dragonfly shawl. This is the second go around. I hope to stop it more often.

Thursday I also learned that taking breaks from crochet is also neck saving. Really, the stiffness sure settles in after one row of concentration. So I am back to cleaning house. The recent rain brought some cooler weather, so now I can wash rugs and dry them without feeling guilty for over taxing the electrical grid in my zest for a clean house.

It’s Day Two on the pattern and page one of the written instructions has been read and completed. That’s 25 rows Hot Off The Hook. Another interesting discovery was the classical music piece “The Dance of the Hours.” I thought that was rather funny after talking to my sister about making the time pass by. She’s retired by physical handicap of blindness and much of the day is watching the hands on the clock spin round. Thus the “dance of the hours!”

Day two ended at row 30. The counting on such an intricate pattern is more sporatic now, so it will take me more time to complete one row.

Day four Row 39 and counting… It’s the weekend though so my hook was only pulling yarn in between all other activites. We had a church outreach hour at the fair, and I played piano for that and the service today. Of course it was all by memory. Though I did brush up on trying to read “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” after I forgot some of the order on those ridiculous turns of melody. Also, someone was trying to lead from her seat in the audience and that did no good as I could not hear the singer. Oh, well. That’s over.

The guys started on replacing the rotten framing pieces of the greenhouse. So Saturday, I did a little clean up and got out the brush and linseed oil for the wood. Any thing that was not oiled, rotted. Bugger that’s a lot of structure to replace. It has been ten years since the build and five years from the north facing attempt. We will do a better job of drip shield and letting the building breathe.

Day Five begins at row 37. We are starting to see the moon! And momma bear just informed the gender reveal party is being planned. We chatted through the whole month of August and that just made me tired. I am so excited for them. It is fun to dream, plan, and look to the future.

We tried to go to the local state park for a walk last night. Had to carry our poor little Shih Tzu as the temperatures stayed over eighty for the evening. He just does not do well in the heat. So we had to carry him and add some weight to our exercise plan. We went to the summit and sat on a picnic bench for a long visit just taking in the nice weather. After we came back home, we had to sit outside some more as it arrived at “weather that you cannot feel.” What an enjoyable evening.

Back to the list for Monday. Do dishes, replace the rugs, oil the wood panels for the greenhouse, and crochet between every chore completed.

Row 52 is the beginning of day… umm…six, It’s a little confusing because yesterday was my grand kids day. Once a week I go hang out at their house all day. I get to be the “adult” when mommy goes on her errands. The two and a half year old has speech therapy and yesterday I think it was a dentist visit. We had some sunshine rain in the middle of the afternoon and the older three had to end their backyard camping trip to come inside and dry out their belongings. What adventures children can imagine to have. They hiked around the yard with backpacks on, camped at the mountain summit on the back deck and really stayed quite occupied with thier imaginations. Until we start counting the door opening and shutting for the amount of times each kid enters and exits without the other on their heals. So instead of opening the door once, it’s three times the bustling noise! Oh, dear!

Needless to say, I have quite the allergy sinus headache ache today. It is wrapping around my left eye which feels much like a stye is coming on. But I don’t want to spend the day whining about it. Kona had his August haircut day. And now the temperature have dipped into the fall cooling off at night. So we have a cuddly puppy once again.

Found another book to read today. “Dogs, boys, and other things that make me cry” is a novel memoir about a dog photographer. I guess someone has to take the pictures for all those puppy calendars that I like. Not too impressed about the boy stories but the relationship wisdom the lady learned was definitely the school of hard knocks.

The blanket pattern is now at row 65. These baby sizes are faster than I thought. So I guess that makes me more than one third done. Perhaps it will be completed in just two weeks of crochet time. Then I can make another one I suppose.

Please don’t judge me, but I finally took a swig of Tylenol with codiene cough syrup last night to stop the coughing. Sometimes it feels like the allergies actually are turning into bronchitis when the cough won’t stop. The muscles get so tight, I simply cannot relax. So for the first time in over a week, I slept well. Day six on the counting begins!

One week, day seven and little moon bear has a nose and one eye! Yesterday I made it to row 76 and my allergies reached a new level of misery. My asthma demanded medicine by six p.m. nearly three hours earlier than the day before. I was so exhausted I fell asleep at Wee Willy Winky time, eight o’clock. My eyes just would not stay open any longer.

This morning I dragged my limbs out of the covers thirteen hours after the shut eye. The nebulizer is calling my name, but I wanted to finish my book on the dog foster lady. She got married and lives happily ever after. At least it ended well!

Now I’m recalculating, just like the old GPS navigation and at ten rows per day of crochet, it will probably take me another two weeks. The weekends aren’t very productive when there is another body in the house and he is so distracting! It’s Friday and we begin at row 77. Next book search is first, I can’t sit and listen to my own thoughts for very long, ya’ know!

It’s Monday. “Today as I thought about you..“. I began to smile. They are to find out the baby gender day. Oh, how every day for the rest of their lives will be marked by something baby. I was trying to clean some things in my desk and came across the the little sassy two year old’s picture. She was wearing the little teddy bear jumper that either my mom or Aunt Audery sewed for her. That was such a rough day. In the middle of my ITP migraine month and just after we moved to Iowa. I had to wake the girls up to get ready for a photo session with some lady that two large dalmation guard dogs. This little girl was not a happy child that day.

We were gone yesterday and Kona had a bad reaction to one person. Not sure if he was sleeping and wake up to the conversation forgetting where he was or what. He also did not like that his male person left us for a while to “shop.” It was almost like a seizure, he was so scared at the moment. I just held him and turned him away from the supposing “attacker.” He has really never done that before. I also think maybe he saw some spiritual being lurking in the background. It was that kind of moment.

Here we are Monday, and at row 88! Actually row 92 is complete and another page of the pattern. Finally was able to visit with my little sister and found out all of her happenings. She is in the little kid phase of life and pregnant so life is quite chaotic. I do feel for her. We are in the “they all think we are a money tree” moment in life. From the dishwasher, to the pickup to the propane fill, life is begging for money from us just as soon as the hfeet hit the floor. Uff dah!

I spent the week in book listening and arriving at row 121 by Friday evening. Of course, I had a food reaction Monday evening and missed my weekly visit to grand kiddos. So I worked on a basket for a day or so and then we had the baby gender party. So in reality I only worked on the little moon bear for three days this week. Thursday is the picture on the right at about row 100. Then today was begun around 108 and ending at 121. The rows go so mush slower when I am distracted in my counting.

Because I cannot share this blog until after mommy sees it, I worked on a couple of other blog interims. I cannot spend all my time counting, so today we did some laundry and some puppy cuddling. Little black Kona woke up with a minor tummy upset and has been real cuddly today.

Then there is the troublesome thought that momma dearest is going for a puppy theme room instead of teddy bears. Bother. Not sure what the situation will be for my changing persona. Bother, that’s all I can say. The little moon bear is still pretty adorable, is it not?

The shower is this week! Yay I finally get to share this post! It’s been holding for two months.