Lucky told me the other day that I was neglecting the blog. I needed to show everyone how grown up he is. He almost touches the bottom of a chair! He’s such an elegant little cat, but why does he insist on posing under things?
I just about dropped off the face of the earth as far as blogging is concerned, didn’t I? I’ve been so busy I just haven’t had the time to blog any. This summer has been full of this and that, and I just can’t seem to get my ducks in a row.
One Headlight’s Too Bright
The biggest news for me this summer is that I finally had cataract surgery on one of my eyes. It didn’t heal quite as fast as it should have, and I went around feeling like I had contacts in for several weeks. I think it has finally healed now. At least, I can’t see the incision in the mirror any more, and I’m no longer thinking I need to take a contact out. When I went back to the doctor, he suggested we wait a while to do the other. It seems to be doing pretty well, other than that it’s dimming. Since I had the one eye done, it’s like I have a hundred watt bulb on in my left side and a forty watt in my right. The colors on the left are so bright and pretty. Maybe after the new year we’ll do the other one. Since it’s the eye I rely on to read, I don’t want to chance doing something to destroy the vision in it.
The doctor didn’t promise me that he could make my left eye much better because that’s where I have that blind spot in the center of my vision. But we didn’t have much to lose by trying. The nice part is that I’m seeing a lot better out of that eye now, and I can even read a little better out of it. When I went in for surgery, I could hardly make out the big “E” on the eye chart. So I feel like I’ve made a little progress.
Knitting and Racing
I have to say something about the Tour de France this year. I got so fed up with it. I couldn’t believe the Danes took Rasmussen out when he was leading the Tour. It’s not that I support him not following the team rules, but why let him start the Tour and then jerk him out?
I had debated about whether I even wanted to try to watch it this year. Finally, I watched a couple of days, and I got sucked in only to be disappointed time after time with the drug stuff. I finally went ahead and watched the rest of the Tour, but my heart wasn’t in it. As a result, I didn’t get much knitting done.
Mystery Stole #3
I debated which shawl or stole to make while the Tour was on. I finally decided I’d give the Mystery Stole #3 that Melanie was leading a try; it was Swan Lake in case you haven’t heard. I’m still knitting on it–without the beads. I’m not really a bead person. I haven’t worked very hard at it primarily because I ran out of yarn and had to order more. I’m practically numb from doing feathers! I took some time off to knit some dishcloths, and I managed to send them off to someone the other day without taking photos of them. I said I couldn’t get my ducks in a row, didn’t I?
What I’m Reading
This summer I finished the new Harry Potter book. When it came in, my husband offered it to me first, but I was in the middle of a book and doing genealogy; it was going to be a while before I could get to it. So he read it first. I couldn’t even begin to remember what happened in book 6; I re-read that, and then I knew where I was when I began Deathly Hallows. When I finished it, we discussed it and discussed it. We have fun doing that. About the only novels he’s read in the past few years are the HP books, so we try to enjoy the books when they come in.
I have read several other books too, including The Nine Tailors. My husband read that one too. It was a lot of fun, and I have another of Sayers’ books waiting on me. I also have the new Diana Gabaldon book waiting for me to get to it. I’m holding it out as a treat for myself.
Genealogy
I’ve been working very hard this summer on my genealogy. I think I’ve made tremendous strides too. I got my husband’s lines pretty well worked out. Of course, I still have mountains of information to put in my program, but it’s coming along.
I’ve done a great deal on my own family too. One of my biggest coups this summer was that I found three Civil War letters written to Celia, the sister of my g-g-grandfather. She’s one of those almost invisible ancestors who is always just out of reach. She never married; she was the maiden aunt who lived with one family member and then another. These letters are very affectionate, but never overtly romantic either. I guess it’s a good thing. He married another woman less than two months after he wrote her the last letter! So now, it seems, her story is sadder than I thought. I think the two of them had romantic feelings for one another, but something happened. He went on to become a District Judge and had four children. She moved away with her brother’s family and never married. However, she kept the letters! They must have meant something to her. The big mystery now is what happened between them?
I’ve done genealogy so much, these people are all real to me. I feel like I know them, and I wish others of my family were a little interested in them. They might be surprised to find out all the things our families have done.
Enough for now. Hope you have had a wonderful summer.
You must have sensed the worry in the ether that I was feeling about you!
I was seriously considering checking up on you to make sure everything’s ok! I missed your TdeF thoughts this year, and thought about you while it was on, though I confess I didn’t pay too much attention to the coverage.
Glad the eye is doing better!