Monthly Archives: April 2013

Lovely readers, I had written this post before I learned about the tragedy in Boston yesterday. Obviously, my virus pales in comparison to the suffering that is undoubtedly just beginning for the families that are affected by yesterday’s bombings. My heart is just too broken to come up with any words that would be remotely meaningful at such a time. If I come up with anything, I will let you know. 

Greetings from Day 8 of the Virus that Won’t Give Up!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have had full-blown cases of the flu that weren’t half as bad as this whatever-it-is has been. High fevers, a non-stop  cough, congestion, aches and pains. This virus is pulling out all the stops.

I don’t know if this is just a particularly virulent virus or if the immune suppressing drugs I take are making it more difficult for me to fight it off, but either way, it has been a miserable week and there is no end in sight. As I type my temperature is 102 degrees.

Instead of suffering for naught, I thought I would share with you the things that have made this hellish time a bit more bearable for me.

I am going to have to give full props to my ex-husband’s family for this one. When you are blowing your nose every five minutes it is going to get red and painful very quickly. A little diaper rash cream around the area will sooth and start to heal right away, and will make it possible for you to keep blowing your nose! [INSERT YOUR OWN JOKE ABOUT BUTTS AND FACES HERE.] Steve always bought Balmex Diaper Rash Cream so that’s what I buy.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Puffs Plus Lotion with Vicks are the greatest invention of the 21st Century. I am so afraid that they are going to take these of the market that I may or may not be hoarding them.

Some of you may remember that I have a bit of a thing about lip balm. I have tried them all, but I always come back to good old Rosebud Salve. This stuff has been around for eons and the packaging hasn’t changed since the 1950s.

Burt’s Bees Honey and Pomegranate Cough Drops. The best cough drops in the land.

I would imagine being sick for more than a week would be less awful  if one had access to cable television or reliable internet. Since I have neither, I’ve done a lot of reading in between naps. When I’m sick I tend to read old favorites, books that are comforting and not too challenging. The Harry Potter books are the best sick bed reading of all time ever. Back issue of the New Yorker are also good too, so long as you skip the agitating political stuff.  You are meant to be resting after all.

I Capture the Castle

I think it is tragic that American kids grow up without reading Tintin books. These graphic novels are fun and smart and you will return to them again and again. Cigars of the Pharaoh is the first of what are generally referred to as the “good” Tintin books, but you can start anywhere.

What are you must-haves when you are sick?

P.S. If you have emailed me and haven’t gotten a response, please understand that we are in a triage situation here. I am only doing the things I absolutely have to do right now. Since there is no end in sight to this virus, I probably won’t be answering emails till next week. Sorry about that.

Dragan wrote a post about the digital knit nights that she started amongst the Juniper Moon Farm Ravelry group. I don’t get to them nearly as frequently as I’d like to, but when I do, they’re always lots of fun! – Lauria

I will be honest with you, I started thinking about starting a digital knit night for entirely selfish reasons: I wanted to be able to knit in my pajamas while also being able to get to know more of the Juniper Moon Farm Ravelry group members near and far. What could I do? Create an online knitting group! As we come up on the one year anniversary (May 1!) I wanted to let you what we’ve been up to and invite you to join in.

We meet weekly, with a few themed nights like the Queen’s Jubilee, Ravellenics Opening Ceremony night, Presidential Debates/Elections and my birthday knit night. We’ve also found that sometimes our usual meetups turn into impromptu cooking shows, house tours or book discussions. Some weeks we’re very chatty and have something to say on everything. Other nights the conversation is punctuated with stitch counting breaks, with all heads bowed down in concentration.

We have a great group of usuals and semi-usuals, which is just how I thought it’d be. It’s a very casual drop-in kind of program (I mean, honestly, I’m encouraging pjs and wine, how structured could it be?). But one thing I’ve wanted to do, but haven’t had a chance to really develop further would be a rolling knit night so that more people can join in at more convenient times for their time zones and lives.

Lorna and several JMF Ravelry members. Screencap by Sheeri

We use Google+ hangouts to meet up, and as long as one person is still in the hangout, the party continues! If we had members across time zones sign in a staggered way, we could keep the hangout rolling across the continent and include more people!

But we need more people to join us! We start at 7:30pm (Eastern Time) on Tuesdays.

1) Create a Google+ profile and add me to a circle

If you find yourself having trouble with Google+, check out the Google+ videos or help pages.

2) You’ll also need a microphone and headphones. You may want a webcam, many of us have them, however, you can still see us and join in the fun without one! Check your computer before you buy anything to join in. Most laptops and some desktops/monitors have a webcam and microphone built in.

Several suggestions from our initial set up are:

• This article about cheap webcams
• Kinobo B6 USB Webcam for Laptop
• Logitech Webcam C200
• Logitech HD Webcam C310
• Plantronics 72517-50 MX500i 3-in-1 VoIP Headset

That’s it! When the hangout starts you’ll get an invitation via email (or gchat if you’re in gmail/Google+). Click the join button and you’ll be there! The first time you join us you may need to add the Google+ hangout plugin, but that’s easy and fast.

If you’re interested in keeping the hangout going in other timezones, contact me on Ravelry (I’m draganfly) or in Google+ once you’ve connected with me there.