Back to Reality

I could not blog yesterday, I was deep into feeling sorry for myself, cause I am so mature and all that. My staycation is over and its back to work, back to reality. Don't get me wrong I am grateful for my job but if I could afford it I would be at home. No question, no hesitation, I would be home.

I have 7 puppets to finish up and I am ready for the craft sale. I would be done but I ran out of stuffing and I realized I am short 4 porcupine backs which mean I need to get yarn. So I am one trip to the craft sale away from completion.

I spent most of Sunday working on the second donation quilt top.Its chugging along nicely. I put on Netflix and sew to my hearts content. I would have stayed there all day but KitKat texted and I got distracted.

I took coffee and cookies up to KitKat. She finally bought her fish tank and was working on her yard. We decided that a coffee break was in order but neither of us wanted to get presentable so I did the drive through thing and we had a nice couple of hours, chatting and drinking coffee. It took my mind off of today.

Its so crazy but I still have a hard time sleeping on Sunday night. Its that going to school the next day feeling. Work today was not bad, all in all. I managed to get through a zillion emails, and voice mails. Tomorrow I will be back in the swing of it all. The first day back after being away is hard because you are so out of the loop. Takes a day to get back into it all. I was so tired when I got home, I was on the couch with Desi stretched out on my side in no time flat. I watched Y & R with my eyes closed.

I am so proud of myself, I have made my lunch the night before for the second day in a row!! This is major for me. I am so bad, I am always running around in the morning, trying to figure out what to have for lunch and it makes me frustrated. I am also very prone to putting things off. The fact that making lunch the night before is so simple and so practical and so easy. Me being me,  when dealing with  so many easy things, I make them into a mountain. So while many of you would roll your eyes and say what is the big deal,  for at least the last two nights, lunch has been made. Its in the fridge and ready to go tomorrow morning. This is big for me. This morning was so smooth and I was not frantic, not even once.At my age you would think I would learn.

I keep trying.

Toodles,

Linda

Friday Blues

It feels so weird to feel blue on a Friday. Friday is usually the best day but as my vacation is drawing to a close and that makes me feel blue.

I have accomplished some things on the list and others go undone.I have done something productive each day which is the best I was hoping for. I hope to get a few more things crossed off the list before Monday. I live in hope.

Fall has truly arrived. Mother Nature has carpeted my back yard with leaves, literally. I swear each year my little yard is a catch-all for every leaf in the neighbourhood. I am extremely happy that someone liberated my leaf rake from my yard. I need to replace it. It needs to be done soon, before I get buried in them. Yes the wine bottle boarder is not finished. Its on the list but it did not get attended to. My leg and my natural tenancy to do as little as possible have a lot to answer for.

I have started sewing the neck inserts into the puppets. I have the inventory done and the neck inserts are the last piece of the puzzle. I started yesterday and I have over forty done so far. I have 90 inserts sewn up and ready to install. These are some of the done ones, I have added more to the pile since I took this.

I finished my kitchy scrap afghan yesterday. Its going to live in my room. Its made from yarn scraps that people have given me. SO while its not the most lovley, its warm, bright and saved all that yarn from going to the landfill. Win win I say.

I have three days left then I need to get back to the real world. Sigh. Today I have gone to the bank and picked up my groceries. Me and my sad legs love, love, love Superstore Click and Collect. Which I may have mentioned before. I need to make a trip to the drug store today at some point, and empty the dishwasher and deal with the recycling that is piling up around here. The litter boxes need to be attended to as well. Right now I am going to work on some more puppet inserts.

Have a lovely day
Toodles
Linda

The Good. the Bad and the Oh Crap

One week gone of my staycation and things (the productive thing each day) is ticking along nicely. Even on the crap days, and there have been one or two, I have managed to get something productive done. All the floor mats are soaking in the washing machine at the moment. All of the things are at long last into my bedroom and much more has been done. I can't think of them all now because its like being asked what you want for Christmas, your mind goes blank.

I am thrilled to have this picture of Rhett and Scarlett  hung up in my room. Its a print of a painting done by the Hostess' mom. The Hostess gave it to me some time ago and at last it has pride of place in my room. It has been hung up before but now it has a proper place and its where I wanted it to go.

The tv is very happy with its new home. All the knick knacks are back on the book shelves and things are once again back to normal. I still have the stationary bike to put back in there but all the normal bedroom stuff is once again in its place. Only been since June, apparently I did not want to rush into anything.

I sewed on the quilt top and got it all finished. One down and one to go. I am pleased that it made up so quickly. I put Netfix on and sew away to my heart's content. Its a joy to be quilt making again.

The colours are richer in real life but you get the idea. I started on the second quilt top today. I am using the same material but making a different pattern. Once again unfussy, simple and it's working up quick as well. I am using the same material because I like the combination and its already out of the boxes.

The Banker and I had our day out. I could not do much standing as my leg was giving me major grief but I still managed to get some quilt material and some scrapbooking supplies. We had a lovely lunch, came back to town, she got me some hostas and we ended the day with supper at her place. A very nice day indeed.

The bad and the Oh Crap portion of my week started with a quick appointment with my Doctor. Seeing as he never did call me with the scan results, I went to him. I will give the readers digest version. Three bulging disks in my lower back, two of which are pressing on my spinal cord which is causing the pain. Two also have osteoarthritis in them. He is going to refer me to a surgeon, just to keep on top of things but has already warned me they will not operate due to my weight. I knew that but its no fun to hear it either way. So there is no quick fix. The pain I have had since May is going to linger. This fixable its just not going to be fixed as quickly as I would like it to be. I have more pain medication, which is not covered by my insurance, and is not cheap, dammit. SO I will remain very limited on what I can and cannot do. I am giving myself some time to throw a bit of a tantrum and have a sulk then I will get on with fixing the things I can. Diet, exercise, those fun things I am so good at. Blah!!

The osteoarthritis is going to have to be lived with. I already live with it in my knee but its the pinching pain I want gone. I have to be able to look after myself and get around. End of story so this needs to be fixed, one way or the other.

I have one more week off so I hope to get some more things done around the house. Tuesday, the Banker and I will spend another day doing something. So far we have planned breakfast. I had thought my back would be much better by now and we could do some shopping at the antique second hand stores we both love but those plans have to be scuttled. We will find something else to do.
I have wonderful, supportive, tolerant and giving friends. I am hoping to get out to visit my favourite Bug family too but I am not sure when its going to happen.

Yesterday Teddy Bear brought over coffee and we had a good natter on the veranda. We ended up going out for supper. Today KitKat came and picked me up and we went out for a coffee.

I love pumpkin spice latte season. I also was tickled beyond belief with the little baby biscotti that came with it.

There is still lots left on the "to do" list but things are getting there. My yard is full of leaves but someone liberated my rake from my yard so that will have to wait for a bit. If I can't do one thing I can find a zillion other things to do in its place.

Good, Bad or Oh Crap, I am most happy to be home and doing things on my schedule. Dreams of retirement are dancing in my head.

Toodles
Linda

Productive Stuff

I have started to decorate for Fall. I love Autumn, its my most favorite season. Its cool weather but no snow, the sun light is different. Its warm sweaters, cozy quilts and hot soup. Its fluffy socks and vibrant colours. Spice, pumpkin and apples. I love it.

I have not fully dragged out my autumn decorations for a very long time but I think its gonna happen this year. I have started already. I got these on the weekend from Michaels. Celebrating the end of a crappy week and the beginning of my staycation.

Not the best picture. My house is dark at the best of times and its been cloudy the last couple of days. Plus as much as I LOVE pictures,  I have yet to learn how to take really good ones.

I have lots more and will share as I drag it all out this year. I want my house to look festive when I host book club at the end of the month.

Today I continued on the productive schedule. I picked up groceries this morning. Love Click and Collect while my pinched nerve keeps me on a tight leash. I worked on the puppets. I have decided not to make all the chicken puppets I originally intended to so now I have one more cow puppet to make and I have my inventory complete. 

I FINALLY hung the pictures in my bedroom. Well at least 99% of them.  I ran out of steam before I got them finished. However I am thrilled with my progress. Once again, dark house, poor lighting but you will get the idea

These ones over the vanity are off center and will drive me nuts in time. I will move them once I find my measuring tape. I have three more pictures to hang and some knick knacks to put on the dresser and its done. Oh yes and move the tv back in.

I emptied the dishwasher and folded the last of the laundry. I washed the cat towels and have yet to chuck them into the dryer. I hung things up in the closet!! That has not happened in ages. Garbage and some recycle went out to the dumpsters today. So far I am keeping up with my plan of getting productive stuff done.

Busy asked me to send her some pictures of the finished bedroom and I said I would but not that day. I was showing off my new bedroom lamps. I did not have the heart to tell her I had not finished it yet. She would have have it slapped back into shape in no time at all. At least I am getting there.

Onward and upward!!
Linda

Short and Sweet or Maybe Just Short

So its the long weekend and even better I am on a two week staycation. Too poor to go anywhere so I am staying home and pottering about the house. I am determined to do something constructive everyday. Even if its a boring as laundry or just taking out the trash, something will be done each day. I am so tired of not being on top of things and I am double sure, everyone who knows me is sick of hearing me talk about it.

So Saturday I went to Michael's, convinced my pinched nerve that yes indeed we would walk around the store and get what we needed without having to sit down in the middle of an aisle. We did it!!! I finally got the supplies to finish off the puppet stock for the craft sale and I picked up a couple of autumn decorations because they were on sale and can you ever have too many pumpkins?? I cleaned the kitchen in the afternoon and made two and a half puppets. I also had coffee on the veranda with Teddy Bear, she stopped over to borrow my folding table for her daughter' garage sale. Very productive day

Today I did the laundry. Tons of laundry, I have not washed clothes for more than two weeks, Things were getting desperate. I do have plenty of clothes, I am very fortunate that way so I could have gone a couple more days but enough was enough. I still have towels and cat blankets to do but my clothes are all nice and clean. I worked on the puppets again and on the donation quilt for my office.

I got all these put together last weekend:

Then this weekend I started to do this with them

Its looking very nice and I have the main portion of the top half sewn. Its going together very quickly and very easily. I have tons of the floral sashing material and I am so happy I am finally finding a use for it. I have another donation quilt to make and I may just use this pattern as it works up so quickly and I have lots of material in my stash. Or I may have to find another easy pattern. Endless possibilities

Had another veranda coffee chat with Teddy Bear because she brought my folding table back to me. Its so nice sitting out there on these perfect autumn days.

So two days done of my staycation and productive things were done. I am hoping to plan a couple of  days out with the Banker while I am off but I am limited with this stupid pinched nerve. I am sure I can come up with something.

Toodles,
Linda

Bit of This, Bit of That, Bit of the Other

Its been awhile, no excuses, just life getting in the way of me doing stuff. That and the fact that I have not had a whole lot happening that is blog worthy. Since next to no one actually reads this blog I don't know why I worry.

Ok the big big news is that for the first time in probably 43 or 44 years I bought myself new bedroom lamps. I bought this one ever so long ago at an auction., I fell in love with it and I still love it. But the one that matches it has not worked for years and this one needs to be rewired so I gave it a good long think and decided to get something new

I bought these. They match nicely with the head board and are a new fresh look. I don't know what to do with the old ones. I hate to throw them out, I may try to sell them and see if someone is interested in some vintage lamps. I can't be the only one out there that is.

Bad lighting in the photo, the shade is white or whitish. I really like them and it was time to get something new. I will miss the others. Thanks to my tire rebate and a gift card, the most of the cost of these was covered.

Puppet production is stalled at the moment until payday and I can get to Michael's for some more yarn. I found some granny squares I had crocheted some time ago and decided to sew them together, just for something to do. I don't have enough made to make a usable afghan but I will get some more yarn at some point and finish it. I will put it in my room for those days a nap is in order. Its old fashioned and kitchy but it will do and its making use of what is on hand. Plus it gave me something t do, used up some old yarn, waste not, want not.

Lets see what else??? I have had the CT scan to see if they can figure out what is wrong with my good leg. I have not heard the results yet, my Doctor is notorious for being slow at getting at stuff. I feel I am going have to phone him not wait for him to phone me. The Brat. I just want them to have seen something clear and defined, that can be fixed with no surgery. I am so over this not being able to walk.

Today I went and had coffee in the morning (for the third week in a row) with The Banker. Its a nice little habit we have started. I do enjoy our morning chats. KitKat joined us today because Sweet Baboo was over detaching the two decks from her trailer. Apparently you should not attach a deck to a trailer because trailers shift and move and become unlevel. I did not know that. So we chatted up a storm while he worked and then we broke up the party around noon.

I came home, had some lunch and then found myself parked in front of the tv with little to no ambition. This is not good. SO in an effort to appease both the lazy and the ambitious side of my self I finally dragged four boxes of quilt scraps out of the craft room . While I binge watched Expedition Unknown, I sorted through the boxes and reduced that portion of my stash down to three boxes. I have some to throw out, some to pass on and I sorted out the material for the donation quilt for the office. I also put the little bits, that no quilter worth their salt would throw out, into one box. I see a string quilt in my future. The next phase will be to colour sort the stash but not today. Lets not get crazy people.

Desi kept me company but he was less than enthused with the process.

I used the last box to fill these two up to the top but at least they are not so stuffed that the lids won't stay on them, like they were when I started. Not a job that anyone will see the results of but I am so pleased its been started. I have a few more boxes to go through that I hope to get down to one box. Now I have gone this far, at some point, I will think about the colour sort.

I have been working on my new quilt. I have the center section completed: I am pleased with it. It shows up bluer in real life but this gives you an idea;

I have added boarders around this center piece and that is as far as I have gotten.

This bit will be the center diamond and I will use white triangles to square it out. White triangles that I will quilt the beejeebus out of when the time comes. I am stuck as to what my next bit will be. I have no real pattern, just making it up as I go along. I need to leave it for now and get the two donation quilts done. I can come back to it once they are finished and maybe by then I will know what I want to do on the sashing. Stars? 9-patches? different patterns?? I have some time to think about it.

I did some mending on The Nurses quilt but it needs a  whole new backing. I will do that for her and re-quilt it for her. Another project that  will have to wait until I am done the donation quilts.

I put my school desk on two Facebook sites in the hopes it will sell. I hate to give it up but there just is no room for it in this house. It needs to go and I would like to get something for it. I was going to refinish it but I thought I would give it a try selling it as is.

Tomorrow will be laundry, starting the office donation quilt and then whatever the fates have in store for me.

Toodles,
Linda

In My Happy Place

This weekend I finally decided that I was going to work on a quilt. I have not worked on a quilt
for some time, It was time to get back at it. I was going to spend sometime in my happy place. Quilting makes me very happy indeed.

So today I got my things together and prepared to work on the new quilt for my bed. The walls have been painted, the trim has been painted, the night tables are painted and its finally time to have a bed spread that fits the bed AND matches the curtains. So here I go, gonna spend a wonderful afternoon sewing.

Can you feel something coming?? Something is not going to go right?? Well if you did you would be right. My sewing machine which quit zig zagging, then started again, then quit AGAIN, decided that now its over doing a straight stitch. Oh for goodness sake, how many more things are going to fall apart, that require money to fix, repair or replace. I was not happy but FOR ONCE, I did not let this overwhelm me. I have a back up plan. I dug this out!!

My lovely little featherweight, which was a gift from a friend, and which I have been meaning to try out for a long time. She sews like a dream and she and I have been happily sewing up a storm this afternoon. I feel like a true quilter sewing with this lovely little lady. So fun. It tiny like a child's machine but stitches along like nobodies business.

I will have to take my other machine in and see if they can fix it. I am thinking they might just tell me its worn out. Time will tell but for now I can get along with my quilt top. Which made me a very happy bunny this afternoon. I have three quilts to make before the end of the year and its high time that I got at it.

That does not mean that all went smoothly. I managed to make a boo boo. The center of the quilt is going to be four squares made up of different sized stars.

I have two of the squares done and have two more to do. I was taking pictures to show Birthday Twin what I was up to when I saw my error. Sigh. Once you see it you can't unsee it

That nice darker blue star patch, now looks like this, as it was meant to look

I did that twice and had to fix both of them. So annoying but as I said once I saw it, I could not unsee it and it would have bothered me forever. Better to fix it now instead of when its all done and living on the bed.

So the house is a mess. Things on the to do list were completely ignored but I spent a wonderful afternoon, doing what I love to do best. And there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Toodles,
Linda