Catching Up!

 What a month March was! Hopefully, April will be a little more low key. I saw my dr. about my arm. He referred me over to an ortho dr but that appointment is not going to be for a while.. He said I could stitch as long as I have support under the arm and don't do too much at one time.

 

It turned out that all of those bursitis flares (that were worse each time) on top of the osteoporosis (caused by one of my meds) did the deed. Damage on top of damage!

 

I have been seeing a surgeon at a hospital closer to me about their kidney transplant program. He wants me to build up my strength some more before we continue the discussion but he said the answer may still be NO because of all of my other health issues.

 

The Grumpy Ol Gazer got his first and second Covid vaccine. I feel good knowing that he is taken care of. I have to wait a while longer because of my infusions and my immune system has to build up some more.

 

What do you do when you can't stitch as much as you would like? I went through stash and made some orders for new charts that I'm sure I really didn't need plus a new thread storage system.

 

I have ANOTHER new start.  After this last month, I felt I deserved one! Hannah Jenkinson by Stacy Nash. I have loved this one and wanted to start on it for a good while but something kept holding me back. I finally realized it was the threads. I love the called for colors but I just wanted something different. I decided to just go through my thread stash and pull the colors that spoke to me! I have done this before and have always been pleased with the outcome! No real order to the colors either. I just use what I want as I want.  I am using 18 count Aida in Toffee from My Vintage Needlearts. No picture yet but coming soon!

 

I am still working on Ann Pegg and several others. My new storage system is helping me keep up with them much better instead of losing them in all the clutter!

 

I only pre-ordered one design from the Needlework Expo. Rose Cottage Sampler by Stacy Nash but I have seen several others I may buy once they are released.

 

My threads for Amy Fisher by HATS arrived along with some extras that I never seem to have enough of. Also The Pink Sparrow sampler by Brenda Gervais and threads came!

 

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

It's Back!

 The bursitis, that is!  At least, I think it is bursitis. It is different this time. I am so tired of these flares! And it really hinders my stitching!  I can't raise my left arm even an inch. It feels stuck in place but still very painful. I took the first dr. appt. I could get which is next week. I will find out then. It has been a slow stitching week because of this but I have everything all ready to start up again when my arm starts to work again!  We both had a handful of appointments again and a sprinkling of more for next week.

 

I ordered a chart I have been waiting on for a good while! Amy Fisher by Hands Across The Sea. Isn't she just the sweetest!

 

Several more Happy Mail days. My storage containers arrived and another thread order made it's way to my mailbox. Now I am trying to get everything organized.

 

There really hasn't been any excting news lately other than rain and doctors!

 

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart

December Rolls On

 I have been having a blast looking up ideas for my 2021 creative journal! It may just be the best one yet! I am looking forward to working on both of them. Writing and creativity has always been a big part of my life. I grew up surrounded by people who were talented in both areas.

 

The bursitis in my shoulders is so much better after the shots but my lower arms are still tight and hard to move. I have been wearing an ace bandage to help out some and switching from a heating pad to ice packs. If it does not get better within several weeks, he told me to come back. But I have been sleeping like a baby thanks to those numbing bandages he gave me for that giant bruise on my back (from that nasty fall).

 

I tried a new recipe the other night. The Grumpy Ol Gazer is on a heart healthy diet now that calls for one day a week with NO meat.  I absolutely loved it and he was surprised at how much he liked it since he did not get too excited about the ingredients. I took two similar recipes and used the ingredients that I liked from both.I call it Greek Pasta.

 

(I seldom measure. I just add until it looks like the right amount)

1. start your angel hair pasta

2. saute onions, green peppers and mushrooms

3. Put #2 in a pot

4. add sundried tomatoes, artichokes (cut up),  black olives, black beans (rinsed and drained) and anything else that makes your mouth water.

5. Drain pasta and toss with olive oil. Serve with toppings and sprinkle feta cheese on top. Serve with garlic bread

 

Because of my arms and the fall, I am taking a break from stitching (and housework) for a while but I am getting everything ready for the first of the year! I have two charts that are up for grabs for the first 2021 stitch!

 

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Here we go again!

 AGAIN????  I. Hate. Bursitis. I had another flare in my right shoulder and when it began to get better, the left shoulder flared. If that's not enough, the right shoulder flared again! No stitching for a while. It is just too painful to use my arms in certain ways. At least this one is not quite as bad as the 2 month round I had back in August but any bursitis flare is not welcome in this house!

It has been such a hectic and stressful month so far, I decided to just order Thanksgiving dinner for us from Cracker Barrel. No dirty dishes to clean up! Plus they have really good food! We love to have brunch there and have had many of their dinners and have never been disappointed!

 

This whole catastrophe with him sent me on a buying spree for my own therapy! After I ordered the items mentioned in my last post, I ordered a sticker book for my Book of Days 2021.

 

I also ordered some magnetic ties for those big pieces to keep the excess fabric controlled.

 

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Welcome September! Long Post

The first part of September is usually a busy time for us. We celebrated our 44th anniversary! I remember when I was in first grade we had a class on promises. Promises we made to other people, to God and even to ourselves. I was very moved by this lesson and  I made some promises to myself about my life. Over the years I have honored these promises and tried to live my life based on them. I have even added a few over the years. So far, I have not broken one promise. Pretty good for a first grader, huh? One of them was about marriage. We had a nice day and went out for a special dinner.

 

I recently got a phone call about the kidney transplant program!  There are 3-5 steps to be fully accepted. I have passed step 1. I answered the phone! LOL. Talk about being surprised and overwhelmed at the same time. I attended my first class. Very strict rules. I don't know how long I would have to wait for the organ ( or if I will ever get one) but for now I am not worried about it. I am just really honored to be considered. I will probably find out around the end of this month if I have been accepted.

 

Several days later, the Grumpy Ol Gazer will have a birthday (it falls on Labor Day this year). I used to always make him two German Chocolate cakes for his special day. One for home and one to take to work. I stopped making his cakes for several years (because of health reason and life in general)  but I redeemed myself by making one for him this year and it turned out good! He will still get two GC cakes though. He finally quit smoking while he was in the hospital several months ago. I promised him I would make a GC cake for him on his quit anniversary each year if he stuck with it!

 

It has always seemed as though once Labor Day makes it's appearance on the calendar, the rest of the year just flies by! That is fine with me this year!

 

I did not get much stitching done this week because of everything I mentioned above! We have several more appointments this month but nothing back to back. I did go through my stash again. I had fewer WIPs than I thought. That is always a nice surprise!  I decided to work on another WIP as well. I had to dig it out of the WIP pile then I wanted to order some threads. What piece am I talking about? And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor. I have been working on this piece for OVER ten years! Time to finish it up!

 

While going through my WIP drawer, I found so many suprises! Fabrics, threads, patterns and other stitching supplies, all unopened! It was better than a Happy Mail day because I was not expecting it! 

 

I also picked up my framing! I had taken it all in on June 16th which was the last day of the sale. Her sale was such a big success this year with everyone staying home due to the Covid virus and stitching more. I will share a few this post and some more next time!

 

It has been hard for me to do much the past few weeks (stitching, cooking, taking out trash) because of my shoulder. I don't know if it is just a persistent case of bursitis or a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder. I am rooting for bursitis so I can just get an injection instead of out patient surgery. I could not get an appointment with him until the 15th of this month!

 

Until next time may you have simple days, an uncluttered heart and stay well.

Good Bye August! I Won't Miss You!

This says it all!

 

Shame on me. Shame on me. Shame on me. But I really just don't care!!

 

I have always tried to keep my stitching manageable (whether it be one piece at a time or maybe two) so that I don't get overwhelmed. This has been a horrible year so far with all the bad news happening and August was an extremely bad month for me personally and last week was a plain and simple nightmare! Because of this I gave myself permission to go outside of the box!

 

While playing in my stash, I saw so many designs I wanted to start on but I would tell myself NOT to have too many at once. POOH! I started designs that probably would not have been started for another year or longer. I will stitch on them as I feel like. This is my hobby and it is supposed to help me relax -- not stress me out. If I start to feel stressed, I can always put one or two in the WIP pile (which I intend to give regular attention to). I will introduce them as I start them!

 

I finally started on the Jane Tindall 1864 SAL. I have a good size list of others to start too! I am hoping to start a few more in September.

 

I am still working on Bee Skep but I am not stressing out over it! I will give it one or two days a week. I should be able to finish it off by the end of the year! LOL

 

Some Happy Mail arrived which always makes my day a little better. Quaker Bees by From the Heart and My Heart Can Rest by BBD along with threads and some threads for other designs so I complete kitting them up. A couple of blouses I had ordered showed up as well.

 

My new stitching rule is No Promises, No Timelines, No Stress.

 

We re-ordered the refrigerator (same one) but this time we made sure that the warehouse will deliver it to the store and the store delivery will bring it out. The manager told us to do this. Even she was really mad at the people at that warehouse! They did NOT want to do any work AND they did not want to give us a refund! Boy, the store manager really lit into that warehouse supervisor! Because of the appliance shortage, we will not get it until sometime in October which is fine with me as long as I don't have to deal with that warehouse again! We started to just update the old fridge with new shelves and drawers but then we realized it was getting on up in years and would probably die soon after spending that money on it! It will look like this.

 

Well, there were only several days left to August but I should have known that was enough for some more bad coming our way! The counter tops arrived and every single one had been cut to the WRONG size so back they went! I had another bursitis flare that made me miserable for more than several days! Hurry up September but only if you plan to behave yourself! LOL

 

Until next time, may you have simple days, an uncluttered heart and stay well.

Beating the Heat

I finally got the X-ray results of my shoulder. No inflammation. No bone loss. No damage. She said it probably bursitis or the rotator cuff. The last bursitis flare I had lasted a month.

I am still making progress on Catharine Dickenson but it is slow progress so no picture this time. It seems like each time I get a good start on stitching, the hand cramps begin and I have to put it down for a while.  I love the colors called for in this sampler. The only thing that would make it perfect for me is if it had a short verse but I still love it! I am hoping to get a good bit done on her next week -- or even finish!

My infusion round begins next week so I will be working on Creation Sampler again. It should finish up quickly.

I have been scratching my head wondering whether I should buy some new charts I ran across online. They are all older charts but for some reason they did not catch my eye until now. I have a nice hefty stash right now that will take me years to finish but.......

Florida family is coming up to NC later this summer! It will be nice to get together, see everyone and share some fond memories. I like to find something silly to make our pictures more fun. Last time I bought some clown noses from Walgreens Red Nose day to take for pictures. I am thinking about some Red Wax Lips this time!

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.