And now that Spring has fooled us into thinking it would be warm (said with annoyed inflection), we are having another round with cold winds and rain. So my Snowball Tree is looking right at home in this cold weather. I'm glad I snapped this picture last weekend when it was sunny! Such a lovely tree when it blooms, even though it desperately needs pruning.
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| check out the bird's nest! |
Today I paid a visit to a friend who's having several rounds of chemo and some radiation. She patiently explained to me what exactly is going on with her body and the treatments, as I have very little firsthand knowledge of cancer and how it's treated these days. Both my grandfathers died of something akin to lung cancer and my grandmother died of ovarian cancer, while I had a cousin die at a very young age of a rare form of cancer. All these happened at least 25 years ago or more and research has come a long, long way since then. Treatment is so much more effective and doctors are able to diagnose cancer at a much earlier rate than ever before. So my friend has a much brighter future than anyone I ever knew as a young person.
Thank God for doctors and researchers!
While we visited, my friend allowed me to peruse her stash of carded wool, and I came away with some very nice goodies for my spinning wheel. One was this box of carded camel down.
It's as soft as it looks and I am so anxious to spend some time with it; maybe later tonight or Monday night. And here's a whole pound of carded mohair - very shiny and sturdy.
I have to take a moment this week to pay a special tribute to another lovely lady, my mother in law. She passed from this earth April 19, 1997 quite suddenly and her loss is still felt.
She was another classy person who was dealt her fair share of grief for one lifetime, yet she maintained a strong faith in Jesus and saw to it that we all knew how much she loved her family. I was very intimidated when I met her, and I'm sure she had now idea how nervous I was. I was very aware that I would be taking away one of her boys and she had run a tight ship, so I had a lot to live up to. Over the years she taught me lots of things about cooking and keeping house and raising kids. Her advice was always wise and straight up, but only when we asked her for it. She was careful not to interfere. She did a great job of raising her boys, and I will always be grateful for her example. And if that weren't enough, she could knit as well! Holy cow, what a lady!!
