Rough night.  Rough day.  Ugh.

I didn’t get a single photo of the critters out the window today.  In fact, it’s almost 9pm, and I still haven’t had my first cup of tea!

I did get a photo last night to share with you.  Nasty Crime Boy came to the window upstairs for attention again. :-D

He didn’t really let my daughter pet him.  He kept batting at her hand while still wanting her to reach out to him.  Too funny!

I ended up awake until about 5am, unable to sleep.  My chronic cough is tickling again, and I spent much of the night listening to my trachea squeaking.  Inhale.  Exhale. squeeeeeeeeaaaaakkkk.  Inhale.  Exhale. squeeeeeeeeaaaaaakkkkkkk.  Inhale.  Exhale.  squeeeeeeaaaaakkkkk.  All night.

Then I woke up to this, over my head.

It was another really bad pain day for my husband, too.  He’s have a very rough time right now. :-(  I did make it into town to pick up prescription refills for him.  Then I tried to stop at the department store to see if I could find him some new undies.  There is one basic store in town, with clothing, shoes and accessories.  There are a couple other stores that have clothing, but that’s not their main thing, and one of them caters more to the touristy, trendy stuff.

I just about choked when I found the men’s underwear.  A single pair of briefs in his size cost $15.

We’re talking your basic gitch, here.  Not some name brand, fancy-shmancy stuff.  The next size up cost $17.

For one.  Just one.

We walked around the store some more and saw things like an ordinary t-shirt – something I’d expect to find at Walmart or the like – for $50.  Even the higher quality T’s in Walmart cost less than $10.

I realize that it costs more to run a business in smaller towns, where it takes more resources just to GET inventory, but this is ridiculous, even for here.  My daughter and I wondered how anyone could afford to shop there, and how they stayed in business.  Then we realized that some people might not have any other choice.  Which is a rather depressing thought.

We tried going to a discount, kinda-like-a-dollar-store-but-not, store, thanks to my daughter remembering that they had clothes, too, and while they had better prices (we could get 3 pairs for $15), they didn’t have the size I needed.

So that’s going to have to wait until the end of the month, when we can finally get to the city to shop.

After we got home, I had to lie down for a much needed nap.  Which is really going to mess me up for tonight, but I just couldn’t stay awake.  Still ended up lying there, listening to my squeaky breathing, but I was tired enough to fall asleep.

So our daughters took care of things around the house, and my younger daughter even had a chance to block a project she recently finished.

Beautiful, but frustrating.  She has made several lacy projects from this one crochet pattern book, and they’ve all turned out about 1/3 of what the finished size should be.  My daughter does stitch more tightly than I do, but she also checks her gauge, and so on.  Her stitching is meticulous and the stitches are always perfectly formed.  It doesn’t seem to make a difference.  Instead of a full sized shawl big enough to tie in front, she has a baby shawl that, before blocking, looked too small to even be a cowl or kerchief.  It would have been the right size for her sister’s 18″ Josephina doll.

Blocking is making a big difference, but it’s still a fraction of the size it’s supposed to be.  This particular piece is made in three sections; the 2 side triangles, then the middle strip, which is then used to join the side triangles together.  That middle strip is actually about the size it should be, so it’s not just a matter of her stitch tension.

She plans to try again, using a larger hook and thicker yarn.

For now, it’s getting late, but I’m going to have at least one cup of tea before bed, dangit! :-D

The Re-Farmer