What's going on?

This week I had my first routine colonoscopy (sorry, is that too much information?) Everyone "of a certain age" should have one. The procedure itself was completely painless -- I received an IV sedative and slept through the whole thing. I have a clean bill of health.

The prep, on the other hand, was a pain! Drinking that stuff was awful, even though it came with "flavor packets." UGH! But all in all it was worth it to know that area of my body is healthy. Don't avoid your annual tests, folks -- they can save your life!

On to more cheerful topics: With my new-found crochet skills, I now know what 10 people on my Christmas list are receiving. (Um, if you're on my list, stop reading!) Yes, I'm going to make scarves and ear warmers in each recipient's favorite color. The pattern will be the same I made for Teddy, and it's in the current issue of Crochet Today Special Issue, page 14. The magazine doesn't include instructions for ear warmers, but I figured out how to make them myself, based on the scarf pattern. I'm going to use less expensive yarn for these scarves -- I can't afford to make each of them with the beautiful Sublime merino wool with which I made Teddy's (and with which I will make his girlfriend's).

I made Teddy a batch of boring chocolate chip cookies for his Fat Cat cookie jar, and I'm baking shortbread today to keep in the house. (Teddy's lukewarm on shortbread, so why waste it on him?)

I still need to make my November and December signature ("siggie") blocks for my Dear Jane birthday swap folks -- I'll talk about my Dear Jane quilt journey on an upcoming podcast.

I've designed the Fiber Arts project for the next podcast, but am still documenting and writing the two tutorials to accompany it. They will be on ruching and back-basting applique. The block was inspired by an informal Block of the Month group I belong to, and I'll share more about that in the podcast.

So that's all that's new with me today! It's a crisp autumn day here in Michigan, and almost all of our trees are bare. There's a hint of winter in the air, and I think I'll have a bowl of soup for lunch!

'thann