I finally finished it. Actually, as far as making blankets goes, I made this in record time. I only started on it Saturday, and here it is mid week and I'm done with it. I used left over and scrap yarn because I had never made a pillowgahn before, and was basically just testing the waters to see how difficult it was going to be to make it. Pretty easy in my book, but it's a bit tedious. You make 13 squares, then sew them together. The only thing I don't like about this is the fact that the 13th square is sewn wrong side out (on the right side of the afgahn) in order to fold correctly into the pillow. I think my next go round I will probably make it double sided, so that you won't really be able to tell that there is the wrong side out effect, or possibly use some solid colored fabric. Turned out pretty well considering I used left over yarn! My cheap digital camera doesn't do it justice I don't think. The solid square on the left of the afgahn is actually pink, not the whitish color as it shows in the picture.

I am thinking of making several different sizes of the pillowgahn to try and sell on Ebay, and maybe at a local flea market to make some extra cash. There is a lot of stuff I would like to do on the CRX, and I can always use the extra money! I visited a couple of websites that are selling these pillowgahns for upwards of $75!

On to the Tree situation. Actually, I probably wouldn't have ever known had I not seen a woman pull over, walk over to the tree and start picking something off of it and popping it into her mouth. She didn't (that I saw) touch the trees on my property, but on my neighbors. Although, after she left I went to investegate and noticed that the trees on my property were picked pretty well clean, although I can't say as to weather or not she picked the berries or if it was the birds. I have no idea what kind of berries these are, but when I picked what I thought was a ripe berry, and popped it in my mouth, it wasn't a pleaseant thing. I don't think I could even properly describe the taste. It's obviously something that is acquired, because I don't think I would ever attempt such foolishness again. I have been scouraging the internet this evening trying to get a clue as to what kind of berry tree this is, and
haven't come up with much of a clue. The main thing that is throwing me off is that there are two different types of leaves on this tree. At first glance I thought it was a type of Maple tree, but as I said, the appearence of the other leaves makes it hard for me to really decide what kind of tree this is. Again this photo isn't the greatest, I really need to invest in a better digital camera, but you can see the different shapes in the leaves and where the berries have been picked off.

If anyone out there has a clue as to what kind of berries these are I would greatly appreciate a clue. The funny part in all this what I was a bit irritated to see this woman with no regard to being on someone else's property eating berries off a tree she had no right too, but after tasting it, she can have them. lol.

On to something a bit personal. After I don't know how many years I have finally broken the weight of 170lbs! I suppose to most people this would be no big deal, but I topped out at more than 240lbs, and for someone who has tried for the better part of her life to get her weight under control this is a big deal! The bad part in this deal is that until recently I hadn't been trying to loose the weight, it has been just coming off for no apparent reason, witch of course has caused some alarm to my doctor and NP. I have lost a good portion of it over the last two years, and usually it's ony a few pounds a month. To me this is a good thing, but to the doctor, not so much. I have medical issues, witch I have mentioned before and therefore I have been on several different medications over the years. There is a possibility it's the medications that are causing the weight loss, but of course there is always the chance that it could be something more serious. I'm supposed to be getting a chest x-ray as well as a spinal x-ray for my back problems. (Possible fracture in the t-11, t-12 section).

I have mixed feelings obviously. I'm so happy for once in my life to finally be dropping the pounds, but at the same time I wonder if there is something more serious to it that I should be worrying about. I have been overweight pretty much my whole life, and to suddenly start loosing weight while changing none of the habits I suppose is a bit disturbing. My goal is to loose another 18 pounds witch would take me down to 140, witch is still about 25lbs over my "ideal" wieght. I have to say, I have felt great since the weight loss, have more energy (until recently) and feel a whole heck of a lot better about myself. It's so wonderful to have a neighbor stop as they are driving by and tell you you are getting too skinny! :) Now, if I could only afford to buy some new clothes so I can get rid of these baggy ones, it would be wonderful! Of course I started loosing all this weight after I gave away all my "skinny" clothes. Never fails, eh?