Bargains and blooms
Monday a week ago I awoke to this gorgeous bloom on my Three Oranges hybrid epiphyllum. It was about eight inches across and truly a work of God! It's growing from that 'branch' (improper terminology) at center top, and to the left you can see another bud that will bloom soon. There are well over a dozen buds on this plant that appear healthy enough to bloom and they'll probably bloom over the next few weeks. In addition, at least a half dozen other plants in my collection have buds on them. One, Orient Express, has over a dozen healthy buds on it that should bloom! I dare say it's going to be a bloomin' good season.Speaking of good . . . the bargains were good this past Friday at our local thrift stores. Those of you who read my blog regularly know I'm talking about yarn bargains. Here's the tally for that one day, at three thrift stores;
26 skeins of a fingering weight labeled Dressy by Spinnerin, 1 oz/125 yards ea. of 100% wool in light brown, 6 skeins of worsted weight Nature Spun (no company name but made in USA) 100% virgin wool, 3.5 oz/245 yds ea, in rose, 1 large skein of lace weight yarn with a label in Chinese that I was able to weigh out at 265 grams. I just did a burn test on it and I'm confident it's a natural fiber but it feels softer than most wools to me. To double check I put a piece of it in bleach too, so if it disolves it's definitely a natural fiber. I can't guess at the length, but it's a lot. A completed baby blanket (preemie size) made from Red Heart baby print, plus 3 skeins of matching yarn. 1 skein Paton's Baby Coordinates, plus several balls of frou-frou type yarns. My total spent, just $21.50!
Amid the excitement of my epi blooming, and the yarn spree we've had some not so great news. My husband has been diagnosed with stage one Parkinson's disease. Stage 1 means it's currently affecting only one half of his body, his left side. We weren't terribly surprised at the diagnosis, as I had already done some research and knew his tremor, and some of his other symptoms were indicative of Parkinson's. There were a lot of things that could have been worse. But now that we've had a few days for it to sink in, it feels like someone has ripped the reins of control out of our hands. This isn't a death sentence by any means, but it does have the ability to change our lives completely, without warning. Still we have so much to be thankful for. It's just difficult to look at our blessings at this time instead of at the control we feel we've lost. We know God is in control, now we need to exercise our faith, and let go of this and thank Him for each day that dear hubby can live a normal life. Say a prayer for us next time you're talking to Him, will you?
posted by Shelly @ 6:41 PM
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