Moving right along….

 My Magical Tee Top

I'm almost finished with the yoke.  I have been bad about counting, so have had to frog back several rows, and several times on a couple.  It is my nighttime cross to bare. It seems my brain is too tired.  I always have called it my Sundowners.

Isn't this lace gorgeous!!

A broader view. Excuse the background. I finished about four rows after the lace. It's going slow for me, but it is going!! I love it so much!

IBS

Imagine my surprise when I found out I can have dark chocolate and sugar! So pleased with that revelation.  

I already know what really bugs my insides for the most part, so will have to pay attention to what I am eating rather than just putting up with it. My last bout was a doozy and don't want to go through that again!

Beautiful T-Top!!!

 TESTING  TESTING  TESTING!

This is a small beginning of a luscious top designed by Michele DuNaier on Ravelry. Her designs are quite exquisite, and this one is no exception!

I'm further along that this shows, and this doesn't really show how beautiful it is. From this point on it is lacy for about three or four inches.

The yarn I am using Cascade Heritage Silk (fingering weight). Boy is it soft and silky, so is named correctly!

The test is scheduled to end on 6/30/22, so I had better get with it!

ModifyHealth FODMAP dinners

I was found to have IBS. Something I figure I had years ago, but there was never anything except meds that didn't exactly work.  Now they have a diet because they have found that IBS is mainly caused by the inability of the body to break down certain sugars/carbs. Like onions and garlic….which I already knew were triggers for me. Dairy, too…also a trigger for me.

The current rave is to eat according the the FODMAP diet designed in Australia where they figured it all out. So……

I checked out on-line diet delivery services. I had been using NutriSystem which seemed to aggravate my condition.  My darling niece found a few for me and I subscribed. The meals looked pretty good…on the internet. In person, not so much.

Above is what I purchased. Below is what I received. Vacuumed packed. When cooked up it doesn't look like the photo above. Eggs were dry, but had a lot of water in the container. The sweet potatoes were far and few between all the orange sweet peppers. All that orange is NOT sweet potatoes

YUCK!

This was the third meal and all had huge amounts of peppers or cabbage. Those two things upset my stomach and give me gas. Wow….I can buy meals that are low FODMAP and not pay $10 to $12 per meal! Regular Kentucky Fried without the crust is one! And tastier, too.

Cancelled it this morning. My stomach is still upset.

Others may find that this is just the ticket for them, and peppers and cabbage don't upset them like they do me. You can't "try" the meal plan out. You have to pay full price for the week…but they do have two different plans, and one is less expensive than the other.

The other thing that I found not to my likening is they don't change the meal plans up each week. Just add one or two meals, if any.

There are other meal plans on the internet, but I plan on just buying gluten free, lactose free, which means that the rest will follow. I already avoid onions and garlic, and check for the odd carbs so should be fine.

Dogs & Cats - Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails!

My Pups

The Guilty Girls

I’ve been reading up on how to keep my dogs from snacking on their droppings. Sort of a nasty subject to talk about. I’ve tried many many things and so far there are one or two promising choose that they’re taking for right now. However one of the most dangerous one I have seen today that seems to be flooding across the Internet from one dog post blog to another is giving the dogs MSG. It supposedly makes it taste bad, but how a human would know that I have no idea unless he also has the same problem. In which case he needs more than MSG.

I have found that people who want to sell products, or get paid for advertising on their blogs, will copy anything and print it.  This is a dangerous habit on these people who have no real original thought. 

MSG is known to cause seizures in dogs. Look it up, and if you have a friend or know someone thinking of using it let them know the info on the internet is a farce!!

Please watch what link you click on. Look for those that are good companies, especially if it is health related. Don’t click on a blog unless it is from a known hospital or Veternary practice. Or one of the government agencies. Your pets life may depend on what you see & try out on them…or believe. 

My Cat Tommy Socks

This is Tommy's room.  It's been cleaned up a bit, and changed around. I like to keep him on his toes, and active. At 13 he really needs to stay alert and happy….changing things does that and gives him more to investigate!

He and I have been fighting the good fight trying to get his diabetes under control. Some days are good, some not so good. Seems to run in cycles. 

Today I found he is sensitive about his stomach area. I remember he was before, too. I had tried to get the vet to X-ray him, but they put me off. I am going to call Tuesday (Monday being a holiday) and make an appointment and make them (if that is possible) X-ray his stomach area. I don't want to put him through insulin injections and diet food if he is miserable and nothing can be done for him.

Slow to move - scarf finished

MOJO  GONE

I seem to have lost my spunk.  Finished decorating the Patriotic Tree, and made a scarf. It was going to be for myself, but I may give it away at Christmas. A little too much yellow and orange for me. 

I seem to have lost interest in crocheting and tree decorating for now.

DNA

My younger brother and I had our DNA tested a few years ago. They keep updating it to reflect your country of origin!  

Scotland!  We are 47% Scottish, so that finally gives me something to hang my hat on. I've always wanted to have some sort place to call "home" as a family we have never celebrated anything that would reflect a different country. My brother gifted me a Scottish flag, so it hangs under the American flag out front (right now the Texas winds killed the American flag, so nothing is hanging).

I bought him a subscription to a Scottish magazine for his birthday! I wish we lived closer together so that we could do a little more Scottish type things! I had to look that up…I guess in Scotland the preferred usage is Scottish. Scots is the language spoken in English (does THAT make sense??).

Housing

I had great hopes of some day moving back to the PNW…or Idaho, which some people think is in the PNW but is, in reality, a Mountain State. Why, I don't know.

I would even love to be able to move to San Diego. Can't find a two bedroom home in good shape under $600,000.  Wish I kept the house I had owned there. It is getting too expensive to buy a home anywhere desirable there, not to mention the high taxes, electricity, and water. It's bad enough here in Texas (we are, at least, not paying income tax). Moving would cost an arm and a leg.

Real estate fees are outrageous. Especially when you consider the homes are selling like hotcakes and they are making money hand over fist. Put the home in the MLS and the next day it is sold. Nothing to do but sit back and collect $$$.

Then there is the move. It cost $18,000 to move here from Washington state. With gas prices going up, wages going up, etc., it would be more like $28,000. So selling a home & moving would cost approximately $60,000 or more. Homes in Texas have grown in value, but not by THAT much. I would definitely lose money, plus the homes in the other areas are way more expensive.  Those who move here don't think about that….if you don't like it here you may not be able to get out!

All in all it is a decent place to live. The people are nice. The weather has been turbulent this year. Not fun. Home prices have risen, but still not as high as other places. Considering how large the state is there are very few large airports…it's a drive for sure. Health care is fine. I am not thrilled with veterinary care, though. The mentality is more like caring for farm animals than domestic pets.

So the saga goes. Looks like I will have to spend my savings on this place to make it more comfy for me since I'm pretty well going to be living here until…………..