But I am knitting!

Boy it’s been a long time since I’ve really knitted and on top of that, I finished a project! Who knew?

As I look at this delicate scarf, I reflect on how this finished product came about. First off I know I picked up my knitting needles because I was going to have a right heart catherization (rhc) to check the pulmonary pressures due to my pulmonary hypertension. I need to keep my self occupied in the waiting room and post op prep room, I wanted the comfort of my knitting needles to get my mind off the unknown future. And it worked, results were excellent and improved from the previous spring rhc and a lot of tension in my shoulder and mind were relieved.
Secondly I look at this bright yellow color and think of my mother, who has since passed away two years ago. Can you guess her favorite color? Yep a nice bright yellow like her smile and laughter that I miss so much. Her birthday was in the middle of this project and the emotions were flowing through my needles to make this beautiful knit wear.
Lastly I knew I wanted this scarf to go to someone very special but I had no peticular person in mind then I remembered that my ph support group is having a PHun Walk on September 30th. So I have decided to put this scarf and other items donated by many people up for raffle at the walk.

PS Just finshed the orange cowl today, bonus is that gizmo is a fashion model for it

Gardening is the other addictive hobby!

Late last year, the hubby and myself decided to put in an orchard on the property we bought near the house. It has about an acre of flat land and its very sunny, perfect for fruiting trees and a veggie garden. So over the winter we bought, planted and babied 35 fruit trees and shrubs. A variety of peaches, plums, cherries, concord grapes, persimmons, figs, apples, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are all in this orchard. We did not get any fruit from the trees this year because we wanted them to get established and grow. But we have been getting tons of raspberries and blueberries which we all loved!

Panoramic view of Orchard

So growing your own vegetables has its ups and downs! Ups is you get the fruits of your labor if the downs don't get to it first. I.e. Green hornworm caterpillars

Green Hornworm Caterpillar

devoured most of my tomato plants at the orchard and killed my jalapeño plants! Now I am not one to automatically go to chemicals to control insects but I was tempted since the were and always are destructive. I took off each visible caterpillar, which were well fed and about the size of my pointer finger, squeamishly by hand and tossed them over the deer fence. I got most of them but the damage was already done. But its amazing how resilient plants can be. They have mostly bounced back from the damage and leafed out new growth and sent out new fruit!
Today was an up day since I was able to take home and eat my bounty. The three dogs love it too! 

Tomato harvest from today

We have learned a lot from this year's garden, where we planted the squash and cucumbers was too shady so they this not take off like we wanted so no veggies from those plants, tomatoes need to have marigolds planted around them to prevent the moths from laying their eggs that eventually become monster green hornworm caterpillars. Also that weeding is a problem when you are not constantly there to up keep the garden in the great TN summer heat. But we will learn, come up with a game plan for next year and work on everything over the fall and winter to have an excellent garden for 2018!
Hope you enjoyed my garden pics and let me know if you have had any ups and downs in your gardens!

Blogging may make a comeback

Could I make a comeback to blogging about my crazy life? I enjoyed getting my thoughts out onto somewhere and now enjoy looking back on what has happened through knitting, life, dogs, etc. So much has happened since my last post back in 2012 when I was doing this more often, Pulmonary Hypertension is still around with different medicine treatment, became a furry red panda, made tons of new friends through the furry fandom, cooking tons more recipes, enjoying the children at church through Sunday school and tons more. I may need to reflect on the last several years to catch you up but I guess I can try to recall the old road long forgotten. Facebook has taken over the blogging because it is easier to post a small event than write an essay. Follow me on there at https://www.facebook.com/geal.abella.goldbeck or twitter @kaala_redpanda.
Here's to hoping I get back into blogging! Have a great week everyone!

Should I blog again even though my knitting is not very active?

It has been a while since I have blogged here, ok can't lie it's been years. Too many years!
Should I pick it back up to get down some thoughts and ideas about my life? Maybe, do I have the time and would I be committed enough to make an effort to do this again? What are your thoughts, friends and family? 
Lots have happen over the years and maybe I can make a go of getting those down in a blog to share with everyone. Let's see where I can go with this. 
Glad to be back...... For now.....

... I was baking!

I had so much fun these past few weeks! My last day at M&M was last Wednesday but I get to stay home the rest of the summer.

I had the opportunity to 'cater' for an open garden tour for a friend and I get to have fun in the kitchen. She asked me to make her the Lemon Balm Cookies at first then it branched out to some Cheese Straws (she gave me the recipe so I do not have a link). Then I decided to add Chocolate Macarons because all open garden tours need some chocolate! I spent about 2.5 days just baking and baking and loved it. Although I was tired after it was done but had so much fun being in my kitchen with doggies at my feet ready to lick up any fallen desserts.

Lemon Balm Cookies before Icing

No Icing Lemon Balm Cookies

Spicy Cheese Straws

Non Spicy Cheese Straws with Black Sesame Seeds

Everyone at the garden tour loved the items and the Macarons were the first to go but if there were any left overs I know the girls at work will be happy to munch on them. My friend's garden was so beautiful and delightful that I wish I could get mine to look like hers but she has had this garden going to 20 odd years and is so established that I would not be able to get mine to look like that from the start but it gave me some ideas and motivation to get a plan together for the hubby =0P

But wait I had fun two weekends ago with another friend at the Middle TN Fiber Festival in Dickson, TN. It was great to meet all the vendors and pet the angora rabbits! I bought some things that were tons of fun. I got 3  bumps of fiber in Faux Cashmere and 1 bump of fiber in Faux Angora Bunny. They are so soft and surprisingly made out of some kind of nylon. Interesting! I so look forward to spinning and knitting that up this summer. And also got a gift for my MIL that I hope to either send to her or give to her in the future. I think she will like it.

Also the veggie garden is going very well in those containers. The Edamames have some young pods on them, the squash are getting huge with some fruit on them also and I look forward to getting more blossoms to stuff, and the tomatoes are getting ginormous with some fruit starting to form. I did add a San Marzano tomato plant to the mix so I look forward to making my own spaghetti sauce.

Edamame pods

They have grown quite a bit since the last pics

My First Yellow Crook-neck Squash

They are taller than me now!

I am going to have fun tending to these plants this summer and I think this will keep me busy enough that I do not stay inside all day long. I love to see nature grow from day to day and I get the reap the rewards for my patience in the end.

Oh and back to knitting is on my TO DO list this summer and I hope to get some done for gifts and sorts so I really look forward to getting back into the swing of things. Spinning has been going well too but I need to get back into a rhythm with it also.

I hope all have a great week and talk to you next time!

... I am a working woman.

The last month or so I have been working part-time at a local garden center, Moore and Moore Garden Center (M&M). This is my third spring there and have been loving this spring since it was so mild and everyone is ready to spruce up their gardens and flower beds. The most exciting part about spring other than the great weather is all the growing of herbs and veggies going on. Since TN had such a mild winter a lot of my herbs from last year are still growing and taking over my growing area.

 My most prolific grower was the oregano that I got from a M&M co-worker last year and early spring I decided to divide the plant so I can get some room for other herbs this spring and was able to divide the one plant to three good size bunches. The other two went to my neighbor that loves to make her own tomato sauce so I thought that would be a great pairing. The biggest one is my Lemon Balm that I got from M&M last spring.

 I was determined to use up this big bush of an herb for something. So onto the internet for several hours on researching what to do with this Lemon Balm (thank goodness for google and youtube). Several stems are hanging upside down in my kitchen drying so I can use it some chicken recipes and future use, then some more leaves ended up in a great cookie, Lemon Balm Cookies. This is more of a shortbread than a real cookie but it was delicious otherwise. Plus on top of that I added a lemon icing too that just added a bit of sour with sweet to the crumbly cookie. Everyone at M&M loved them and they were a smash or gobbled up (which ever way you want to look at it). I will definitely be making more this summer for everyone at the garden center once my herb grows back! I am making more for one of the manager's open garden tour in early June and can't wait to see her garden.

My garden is going well also. I have several herbs in pots in my back landing that I have easy access to from the kitchen. I am growing the Thai Chili Pepper again since it was so prolific in giving me very hot peppers that I processed in a blender to make a chili sauce for my awesome Slow Cooker Carnitas.

Then I have expanded my garden to bigger pots with some veggies which is the first for me. Background Info: We live in the woods and there are many creatures that like to stalk my yummy plants and how do I grow veggies for myself and not for the critters? Put in pots and hope for the best!

I have branched out to Edamame (which a ground hog has already taken 4 of the 5 plants),

 tomatoes (Mr Stripey and Old German),

and zucchini and squash (for the blossoms to make fried stuffed squash blossoms and for the veggie also). 

I hope to get a great variety of veggies this summer if the doggies can keep the critters away!

Since I have been working, there has been less time for knitting. But I will always find a way to get those needles out and I had to for April. At the end of April there was a big baby shower for three women at my church that are all due this summer. It was so much fun to knit such small knits. I will post pictures as soon as the babies are modeling my knitwear. Also I have done other projects and I will post those soon also.

I am showing off all my knitted items!

I have do tons of knitting since the last time I have shown off my knitting.
The last knitting I showed you in progress was the The Knit Girllls SAL/KAL. This yarn was handspun fiber from Cloudlover. I have worn this scarf several times and love the lightness of the yarn but the warmth is great for not too cold days.

Well let's see what I have done since then...

1. Go Big Orange socks for a friend at the garden center



2. Ginger Sher Khan for a friend's little girl's Christmas present

3. LSU socks just in time to see LSU lose the big game =0(

4. Corbin Football Hat styled but Gizmo and new Baby Corbin

5. R2D2 DanK for a Halo friend of hubby

6. Flurries Cowl is the first cowl for the Great Cowl KAL by Feministy. This KAL is 5 cowl designs in 50 days. I need to finish one cowl and submit to designer to get the next design for free and so on for 50 days. It has been fun and you can see where I am at to this point. I am liking is kind of KAL since I have do some deadline knitting without any real deadlines and I am stocking up on the presents =0) BONUS!

7. A Very Good Cowl Indeed is second cowl for the Greal Cowl KAL

8. Weeble Wobble is the third cowl in the series

9. Perpetually Persistent Cowl is number four, one more to go...

10. Thistle Terpsichore for my MIL which she just loved and I almost wanted to keep!

Well that is all that I have done since October 28, 2011 to March 1, 2012. I say that I was plenty busy for 5 months or so! Hope you enjoyed and next time I will update my handspun yarnie goodies.

Have a great week, y'all

but I am knitting too much!

I have not been on detailing my not knitting free time because I have been knitting like a fiend since the new year with fun things for me and friends and family. I will update you on all those soon since I just finished one for my MIL that is so pretty! Can't wait till she sees what I made for her.
Hope the new year has been going well so far for everyone and I can't believe it is already pass mid February with such a mild winter in TN.
See you soon and look forward to talking about my new knitting experiences.

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas!!!

I hope all are having a great christmas break. I am loving mine since I get to knit, spin, open doggie's christmas presents, cook, bake, and shop. Not in that order though but that would be fun.

First off will be the exciting christmas presents for the doggies from Grandmaw and Grandpaw Goldbeck. Last weekend we came home from lunch with two big boxes sitting on the front porch and I was wondering what they were but I knew who they were for and from, since hubbie got a random call from his mom saying that she made a questionable purchase for the dogs, we have been wondering what it would be. So we got the packages inside and the excited dogs were waiting for me to open them and since I did not get special orders to not open them before christmas I tore the big boxes open. And to much of my (and doggie's) surprise, they were big fluffy, enormous dog beds. Now note the plural, we have two dogs and there are now two bean bag size dog beds in my living room. Gadget totally jumped in on these new fluffy things knowing that they are for him but Gizmo no so much. She was a little hesitant but since I plopped my but in them she automatically knew she wanted to claim it. Now fast forward to a week later, I think they think these new beds are not so good for them. I have recently denied access to the couch for doggies. They are not taking this without a fight or an occassional jump up to snuggle next to me. But once they get the point that they are not getting up they give up and enjoy the warmth and coziness of the bed that they disappear in like a doughnut. Here are some pics of the first encounters of the beds:

Here are some new pics with some sulking:

The baking is of Reese Peanut Butter Cookie tub from a friend's son's fundraiser for his school and they are delish! I ate 3 pretty much right out of the oven and then tempted the hubbie to each 4. YUM! I also look forward to cooking for Christmas dinner since we are doing Mexican Night with our friends. The Menu consists of Slow Cooker Carnitas with some mods, refried beans, the fixins for soft shell tacos, and build your own dessert with pound cake, ice cream and fruit. Cannot wait for dinner!

So the shopping was for the neice and nephew in Chicago that got an owl ornament and nightlight from the local garden center, for a friend's son who wanted a denim jacket (which hubbie thought was an 80's trend but I think this boy has an old soul so it works for him), random knick knacks from Williams-Sonoma (because you cannot go in there and not buy anything), and a trip to the LYS with my friend to see Glenna from Ewe and Company. I did good in not buying yarn but got an awesome mag from Interweave Press, Jane Austen Knits 2011. This special mag is great because it talks about what knitters think that Jane Austen would of knit for herself or others and shows the style of knitwear would of look like from her time period. I am still looking through the mag but all the patterns look great and I look forward to knitting up some from the mag.

Also Glenna from Ewe and Company was kind enough to take my handspun yarns that I have been doing and try to sell them at her shop. Although I love the process of spinning them, I just have too much yarn already that the added stash of handspun was overwhelming. So I made a decision to try to sell them but I did not want an etsy shop because of the fees and work to list them and I am not sure if they would sell anyway. So I gambled with bringing them to Glenna but she took them with open hands and such enthusiasm that I was so humbled and joyous that she would try to sell my mediocre handspun yarns. Now I do not know if they will sell at all but I hope it will be well received. Here are the new handspuns from the wheel:

Gale's Art Cherry Blossom is my first attempt to get a thicker gauge yarn and I think I was successful and it came out so pretty too. Sorry for the poor quality pic.


Chrysalis Fibers Sky and Earth (this is already gifted to a friend, who already benefits from my handspuns)


Just Finished is the Just Before Dawn from Highland Handmades, will get pictures up soon!

So the only part of knitting getting done, since I am still enamored by the wheel (who is not named yet), is the The Knit Girllls SAL/KAL Favorite Scarf Ever. It is knit from the Cloudlover fiber for the SAL which is turning out great with the pattern.


Well that was a long post and hope you enjoyed it. I loved writing it so I can get my thoughts out of my head. =0P Thanks to all for a great half year of reading my random thoughts and following my knitting endeavors. Have a safe and happy new year and look forward to what the Pulmonary Hypertension research brings for the coming years.