I need a drink ….

I am just back from vacation. In some ways I feel like it was a month long, and in others I feel like I need a vacation. Soon.

On July 4^th, my mother had a loss of consciousness and fell. She hit her head hard, was in the hospital for a few days and seemed to be getting better, but never did well. Then she started to have more problems with balance and memory. Long discussions with her about needing to see the doctor were unsuccessful, and after all, she is an adult. I couldn’t make her go. Suddenly she fell 3 times in one week and couldn’t finish a sentence without loosing her words.

A visit to the local ER (after much pleading with Mom on the phone about the need to be seen) lead to a transfer to another hospital, one that had a neurosurgeon available. On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Mom had surgery to remove the blood in her skull and relieve the pressure on her brain that would have killed her in a matter of a couple of weeks. She was trying hard to stay “OK” until after we all had our vacations. We (her 4 children) were all supposed to be out in Montauk at approximately the same time, and she didn’t want to ruin our fun. Typical of Mom but very frustrating.

She had a lot of pressure in her skull that was putting a lot of pressure on the brain and pushing it into places that it didn’t belong, causing it to not work well. : (( A couple of holes in the skull later and some meds to decrease swelling fixed most of the critical problems. A week later she was out of the hospital and at home, though with supervision. Her balance was tenuous and her judgment lacked …. Something. She’s tired of being sick and tired of being limited but still needs to follow some restrictions for about another month or so. My brother (who lives with her) has stepped up to the plate and is taking care of her, but hasn’t worked out a way to get her to agree to things without making her feel bad. I’d bring her down here to stay with us for a couple of weeks but I know that she wants to be in her house, with her things. I just don’t know what to do.

Vacation itself (staying in the hotel on the water in Montauk) was good. The weather was reasonably good (a day or two were too windy for boating) and we caught fish, ate well, did our best to relax. My brother drove Mom out there one day (it’s about a 2 hour drive for them) and Bob and I spent the afternoon with Mom while he had a break. We were both disappointed to not catch a striped bass, but did bring home fish for future eating. (I love to eat bluefish, though many don’t care for it). I love spending time at the lighthouse.

Some days were dark and stormy off and on, but most of the time the sun was shining.

We stopped at Mom’s on the way home and spent another 2 days with her. Now we are home, I am back at work and wanting to be in NY with my mother. I wish I could telecommute.

ETA It's been a week now and things are better. MOm is till doing some things I wish she wouldn't do (against doctor's orders) but with only 2 weeks to go on the limitations, I am hoping she can stick with the program.

Knitting happened despite everything else. I have completed 3 pattern repeats on the Vampire Boyfriend socks that will be a trade for the DPNs. I am enjoying the pattern immensely. My sweater is almost halfway there. I have right and left fronts almost complete. The bad news is that I will have to try to get another skein of wool. I should have had a little extra and don’t know if I just knitted it a little longer than called for in each section or what, but I will be a bit short unless I can get more yarn. Hopefully Jimmy Beans will come through for me. I like the look of the sweater. It will be that cross between my beloved sweatshirts and dressing up a little nicer. I knitted a square on the afghan for eldest son but mostly knitted on the socks, the sweater and did lots of fishing and steering of the boat. We hung out near the lighthouse a few times, and I was able to get in some knitting at the end of the day, but it was chilly and I was tired, so I didn’t accomplish as much as I had hoped. Plus there was just a touch of distractedness due to stress …..

ETA I ripped the front pieces of the sweater and am re-knitting. I decided that was less stress than cutting and piecing things together and using another yarn for the bottom edge. I am at the arms already.

The other good things is that I am back to spinning. I wasn't feeling much like spinning when I got home, but we went boating yesterday and i grabbed my drop spindle. I really enjoyed spinning up more of the silk fiber and today did some spindle spinning of the black Wensleydale to be plied with the Perfect storm color way.

It’s fall for sure. I have pulled all of the annuals from the railing boxes and hanging baskets. They are finished for the season, and this is early for that. I am still picking a few tomatoes, but the rest of the garden is also done for the year. I hope next year’s garden is better. It was dark when I drove into work this morning at 6 AM and it will be dark again at 7 PM. Bummer. I am not quite ready for the nights to be so long already.

I hope to blog more regularly again now that summer has ended and things are(I hope) calming down n the family front. I will be posting more photos of Montauk and some photos of my WIPs to share.