Progress??

Things are moving foreward. I think my leg is getting better. The times when it feels ok are lasting a little longer so I have hope that this is moving in the right direction. I am not a big fan of this not being able to move and do as I used to be able to. Never thought I would be happy just to be dealing with the osteoarthritis only. That seems very weird to me but I would be very happy to just go back to dealing with that.

I have made some headway this weekend. I got groceries, I used the "order it on the internet and pick it up at the store" method but it worked wonderfully well. I will definitely do it again. Plus I did not have to try and walk around the store or stand in a checkout line. Wonderful. My neighbour mowed my lawn for me, so nice of him, no payment required even. I have nearly finished the laundry which is good because nearly every item of clothing was needing to be washed.

Today I made a big pot of soup, roasted a pork tenderloin and made a pot of porridge. Now I have stuff for lunches next week. I hate making lunches and I struggle with knowing what to make and having stuff in the house to use for lunch. This week I will have avoided that problem. Hallelujah!!!

I worked on the puppets, I tried, again, to get the kitchen cleaned up. I don't know what it is with this room and me but we have a battle royal going on every week. Well I do know what it is, I can't stand as long as I need to to get the job done. Can you tell this situation is getting me frustrated??

I had to let The Nurse know today that I will not be able to attend Cirque de Soel with them in June. I was so looking foreward to going but the more I think about it the more I can't see it happening. I could not walk a long way from the parking lot, I could not stand and wait in line for a long time. I can't stand long enough to pay for something if there are three people ahead of me.  If there are stairs to walk up without handrails I am hooped. So rather than end up in a situation that I can't deal with, I decided to pass. Doesn't mean I am not miffed about it. I really really really wanted to go.

So my mood today is as gray and dull as the weather today. Feeling just a little sorry for myself today. I will get over it but right now its a pity party, table for one!! Things are getting better its just going too slow for me.


Toodles,
Linda

Things is Gettin' Better

So I think that things are getting better in as much as things have not got worse for the moment.The car is all fixed and paid for. Savings and credit cards have taken a beating but at least things are paid for.

It was wonderful to not wake up to the alarm clock this morning. Three day weekends are fabulous. I slept in late and when I did manage to get downstairs I promptly got a ticking off by a certain someone who really really wanted his breakfast!!

Got the three of us fed and watered then the two furry ones went to find comfy places to sleep the day away and I watched a bit of tv before I got going on the housework.\

My week last week went from only having one night with something on, to having a full, busy week.
One very good plus this week is I was quilting again!! that brace did its job and I can once again hold a needle and do my happy thing.

Was helping the Banker finish a quilt for her sister-in-law. The sister-in-law's mom passed away before she could finish it and The Banker volunteered to do it so it could still be given as a wedding gift to the grandson as intended. I was more than happy to help and over the moon to find out I could quilt again. SO HAPPY. Now I am looking to the list of quilts that I have planned to make with mouth watering anticipation!

The Banker, bless her heart, is a bit of an energizer bunny. Once she gets going she has a hard time to stop. She very kindly dug up my flower bed for me. I had asked that she only do a portion of it because the other part was my hosta bed which had matured very nicely. I even sent her a text with pictures of where to start and where to stop. Once she got going......

She did the whole thing. Hosta la Vista baby. I was stunned but its worked out for the best. I had intended to add more hostas so now I can re arrange them. The Banker came back and we dug some of the old hostas out of the green bin and replanted them. They are showing signs of life so its not all lost. She did a lovely job of it but my poor hosta bed!! It will be fine in time, She felt so bad. I was a tad upset myself at first but now I am looking at it as a fresh start.

I have been trying to get some housework done around here but it just seems I am spinning my wheels. I work and work and don't seem to make much headway. I did get a few things done, but not at all what I had hoped to.no yard work at all but I managed to make a double batch of laundry soap.

I got going on a mosaic star for one of my work mates. I turned this:

Into this over the last two days:

It has to dry completely and get its back painted then its good to go to its new home. I hope to deliver it tomorrow. I rather like it. If I had more red tiles I would be tempted to make one for myself for the shed. I like the red, grey, white combo.

I also had a Pinterest moment in my kitchen on Saturday. here is the before:

During the Great Shed Purge of 2017 I found an old rake with a broken handle. Gave it a good clean and now we have the after:

I am tickled with the result. It looks good in the kitchen. Now if I could get that damn room clean again.

I finally got the oars given away. I was hoping to use them myself. I have always wanted a cabin but I am thinking that dream is just going to remain a dream.  I passed them onto a friend who actually has a cabin  and can use them as a decor item. One more thing out of the house.

Now I have laundry soap again I have a lot of laundry to catch up on. I still want to get the kitchen done and then tackle the living room. My sciatica is still giving me grief, The pain killers are slow acting and they are living up to their reputation. Standing and walking are not something I can do for long periods of time. I have to sit to wash a sink full of dishes. Its so frustrating but not much I can do to change it. I can not stand long enough to get around the grocery store so I may have to hire one of my friends to do a grocery run for me one of these days. The corner store only carries so much.

This too shall pass and I will be able to hobble about as I did before. Right now I am going to sneak in a quick nap, then finish kitchen, keep the laundry going and get the living room done before the day is done.

Toodles,
Linda

One Step Foreward and Several Backward..........Such is My Life

Some days I just feel like the universe is not overly fond of me. I realize that things go well and things go whackadoodle in everyone's life. Worse things and better things. But once in a while things go whackadoodle in my life and I think.......REALLY........what is this suppose to teach me. When one rides as close to the ragged edge as I do, some lessons are not very clear. At least not to me, so I then think, give up trying to teach me, I am JUST NOT GETTING IT!!! GIVE UP.

My fridge is on its last legs and I need to get the tires changed out on my car. The winter ones need to come off and the summer ones need to be put on. Was counting on my income tax refund to help out with this. Did not happen, whole lot of mistakes made on my part and I ended up paying and then asking for a reassessment. This year, because I dipped into my investments, I ended up in a higher tax bracket and looks like I would need to pay again.This does not fix the fact that the fridge and tires need to be dealt with. (We are not talking about the shingles, the windows and the carpet in my room those are a problem for another day)

So out comes the credit card that I have been working at paying off, was so proud of making progress on it, and I made an appointment to get the tires switched out. Now I have two sets of tires and this will not be an expense I need to deal with for awhile. Right now its not one I needed but its done and over. My credit card is not a great as it once was but to quote my Mom "At least I could pay for it"
Even better while I was at the garage they mentioned some work that REALLY NEEDS to be done, the cost of which caused me to faint. Not literally but in my head I passed out, threw up and burst into tears, all at one time. Lets just say I hope the fridge has a lot more miles on it yet.

I should have known, my cars have always done this at income tax time. Apparently no one told this car that Canada Revenue is not handing out refunds to me much this year.

I did get a notice from the nice tax people that I am getting some money back, I don't have to pay anymore, THANK HEAVEN. I am trying hard to be very grateful that this mess is cleaned up and its going to be help with the new car repairs but the refund is not even half of what I need, therein lies the struggle with being grateful. ARRGH ..............cars, they are a blessing and a curse.

So today I went to a walk-in because my good leg is making me nuts and I want the pain to stop. Let me say I do not like to go to the Doctor, I have a long history of dealing with them and being treated like I am wasting their time. I finally caved in today and went because I just want these nonsense to stop. Well. the one Doctor that I have completely no use for was the dude on duty this morning. SERIOUSLY??? This is the Doctor that I saw at the start of my cellulitis extravaganza. He did not even want to give me three days off because it was only a slight infection. What was I fussing about. He grabbed my leg and squeezed it and I regret now that I did not kick him. He gave me amoxicillin which works as good as skittles.  My slight infection ended up with me being in hospital for 44 days and off work totally for 7 months. Oh yeah, I was going to deal with him again with my leg pain. NOT, I got back in my car and went to work. So what was the lesson in that?? Did nothing to make me feel better about going to the Doctor, not even a little bit.

So have we had enough of this little pity party? I have. Lets look at some positive things. I got the crib sheet made for Teddy Bear's granddaughter this weekend

Making this I found out that my sewing machine will zigzag again!! It must have just needed a rest. I am not going to try and figure out I am just thrilled its working again.

The Banker is going to dig my flower bed for me, as I can't right now. I am going to plant hostas all across the flower bed. They grow nicely and seem to thrive in the bed. I want the yard to look the nicest with the minimal amount of work required.  

I am going to go and pout for a bit.

Toodles,
Linda

Not much to say for myself

So we finally had a lovely weekend, perfect for getting out and getting the yard in shape and I was not up to the task. My good leg had developed a burning pain, which feels like sciatica and so standing for any length of time is less than pleasant. Can't shift my weight onto my bad leg so it presents a bit of a pickle. I am less than impressed but it is what it is.

I did manage to get a wee bit done before I had to give up and go back to sitting. When I say a wee bit. I meant a very wee bit.

The remnants of last years peonies, The bows, the nasty old winter wind blew off the veranda and just general detritus. I found my clippers, my broom  and did my best.

Snipped, clipped and then all the garbage bagged up it is a start.Thankfully my neighbours have children and some of them like to earn some money. Their daughter came over and volunteered to clean up my back yard for me. Her brother had originally wanted the job but I suspect that was more his parents idea than his, according to sister he decided he didn't want to do the yard but if I wanted to hire her, she would have a go, She did a fantastic job. Dad gave her a hand and together they got it looking far better than I ever would have. I need to put all the do-dads back in the proper places but its so nice and clean now. Money well spent!!

The tulips are coming up, the leaves are starting to show on the trees. My flowering bush at the front, the third one planted since I killed the dogwood, has little green buds on it and I am so excited!! It survived the winter and is showing signs of life. What more can I hope for.

Until my leg smartens up and lets me stand for more that 5 minutes at a time I am continuing on with the puppet production. I am going to get going on quilts again and I have some things that need to be painted. I also continue to poke away at the sewing room. I have been going through the extra boxes that end up in there on the floor, stuffed with things that just need to be put away. once those are done I can start on the storage bins.

Had my first coffee on the veranda this year, oh how I enjoy that. Too bad the veranda is still wearing all its dust and dirt from the winter. Never the less it was wonderful. All these things will be done, one step at a time.

Toodles,
Linda

Saturday Stuff

Wow two posts in one week, how can you tell I am on days off?  Days off which are fast coming to an end and I am in deepest mourning but lets not dwell on that. It just makes me sad and cranky. I am saving those emotions for Monday morning.

Let's focus on the fact that the Great Shed Purge of 2017 is complete!! Finished!! Done like Dinner!!. So happy!!! Not to mention that all the purgings have gone to the dump, Thanks to The Banker and her Sweet Baboo's truck.

A before picture or two:

And now for some Afters!!

There is still the odd bit of stuff in there, like the wine bottles for the garden border and some donation stuff that will go once I make another trip to the local charity shop but on the whole its done, done, done.

I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the before most of the stuff got yanked out. It was packed with you name it. The Banker came and helped with this and now it looks like this:

This is the other side, it was packed to the roof as well. So nice to have all that junk gone, gone, gone. Now I have room to store stuff if I need to. That loom does not work, it needs fixing and I cannot make myself throw it out. For now it will stay there until I decide what to do with it. I have two working table top looms so you would think pitching it out would be a no brainer. Apparently not for me at this moment.

Look what I got!! This is my little patio before:

And now here it is with the new addition!!

The Banker again, She had three of these metal Adirondack chairs but no longer used them. The Sailor took two and I got this one. The Sailor picked them all up and delivered mine on her way home. Perfect for my little patio. I have a place to sit when I barbecue, or just want to hang in the back yard and I can stop looking for a chair for that spot. 

I was going to tackle some yard work to day but woke up to this lovely sight!!

Seriously?? I was less than impressed. Its April for goodness sake, long past time for these sort of shenanigans.  The Banker and I did the dump run as planned. She had half a load of her own stuff to go. We grabbed lunch and then I came home and finished this little job for Teddy Bear.

She has these really good folding chairs but they have gotten so mucky from her grandkids. She uses them a lot and asked me if I could do something with them. Of course I could!! I gave them a freshening for her. Me and my little staple gun.

Before:

After:

I first tried to do them with all the solid black vinyl but I could not get the backs to be flat. The vinyl wanted to buckle and I could not pull it enough to make it look nice.

I decided material would look nicer and be easier to manage. Not to mention that the backs do not get the rough use that the seats do. I am much happier with the final result. Teddy Bear is pleased too and really that is the most important,  they are her chairs.

Tomorrow I am going to get back to work on a quilt for my bed. The Banker, Teddy Bear, KitKat and I are going to tackle my bedroom in June. I want to have the new quilt made for then so when the room is done and freshly painted, the bed will be all decked out in its new spread. I have started it and made one of the center blocks. I need three more of them. I should have had it made ages ago, so its a very slow start. A start none the less!! I think I have an idea for the floor. so I do not have to leave it undone until Lucy is no longer with me. Now if I can get the smell out of the current floor but I have a plan for that too. Money will be the only fly in the ointment for the bedroom plan!! As always.


Toodles,
Linda

Midway of the Stayca.

I am half way through days off and I think I can say things are getting done. Maybe not as much as should be but I am on vacation, I do get to goof off a tad.

I have finally finished the Maritime trip scrapbook and my 2016 scrapbook. Thanks to a road trip with The Banker yesterday, we hit up a really good scrapbooking store and I finally got my albums finished. We had the best day but then we always do. We went to a lovely little coffee shop for lunch and did some shopping, I got some scrapbooking supplies and so did she. I could have loaded up on quilting material but I refrained, I have lots of material in this house already. Cake and coffee later in the afternoon and then we called it a day.

I have been going through boxes and bags in the craft room. I am notorious for stashing things in a temporary home and then they sit there forever!! One bag I went through has been kicking around since before I had the trouble with my leg. Not a proud moment for moi. Each one done is an inch of ground gained in the fight to get this room organised.

I have conquered Mount Laundry. The last load of towels needs to be folded and hauled upstairs but its all done. Yahoo. The Christmas decorations are put away and the spring/summer decorations are back on the veranda. The Great Shed Purge of 2017 has begun. Here we go with the befores:

What a massive mess. Things scattered hither and thither but really it was not a lot of work to get it to look like this. Here is the after:

I only got at half of the place. I had filled up all three dumpsters so there was no point in carrying on. The other half I am going to work on later today. Those wine bottles will, eventually finish the boarder around the flower garden. Plus there is a table top barbecue that I am going to donate. I have never used it. One small cooler is junk and the pressure cooker needs to go as well now that I am looking at the pictures. It's the former owners and I have never used it. Frankly, they scare me, so out it goes. My neighbours were happy to get the lawn chairs that I never use.  There is lots of wood in the rafters that needs to be gone, It feels so good to be getting at this. Fortunately today is garbage day so I will have empty dumpsters to fill once again. I may need to call in help to get the rafter stuff down but we will see. I have no intention of falling off anything in the shed.

My neighbour has offered his son up to clean up my yard for me and I have said ok. That offer came maybe two weeks ago and nothing is happening so far. I may have to get doing it myself. Lots needs to be done and time is getting away on me. I am gong to get the newspaper under the boards by the shed this year no matter what!! I am told that will stop the weeds. A thick layer of newspaper is suppose to do the trick. We will see how it goes. I think the yard work will happen on the weekend.

Today is more work on the shed, cleaning the bathrooms and making up the spare bedroom again. The shed is being done in portions, me doing what I can until my legs decide they have had enough   and then I move onto other things. Tomorrow I am going to do some shopping. I have a mosaic star to make so I need some board. I have two chairs to recover for Teddy Bear so I need vinyl. I have a metal cupboard I want to paint so I need some metal paint. Plus I like to snoop the second hand stores for fun. I don't need anything but its fun to look. Friday I will recover the chairs, make the star and work on a quilt top and the puppets of course!!

Had a total panic yesterday, My TV stopped working properly in the living room. I can do without many things but my TV is not one of them. I LOVE my TV. If I am home its on for company. SO I was not happy when it started to act up suddenly. Fortunately all it took was unplugging everything and then plugging it all back in to get the picture back along with the sound. Crisis averted.

I need to get the summer tires put on the car which means I need to buy the summer tires. Sigh. Four new tires but it has to be done. I will phone the garage today and see if I can get it in next week. I need it for running around this week.

 Well I have calls to make, the View to finish then I need to get at the shed.

Toodles.
Linda

Easter Time

Ham is baking nicely in the oven, spuds are peeled and are in a nice milk bath with some onions and have just joined the ham. Easter supper is under construction. Just for me, I have some nice tossed salad and for dessert there will be ice cream. I even splurged and bought a chuck of real on the bone ham. So yummy. I love ham and scalloped potatoes. Its the meal one should have at Easter in my mind anyway. I'm cooking I may as well cook what I want.

I am currently on days off. I have the whole entire next week off and I have many many many things to do. What will actually get done is hard to say but I have a list for just in case I get spurred into action. I was going to paint my bedroom but if I put that off for a bit, The Banker, Teddy Bear and Kit Kat will help, so that got shelved for the moment. Second on the list is cleaning out the shed. I can do that a bit at a time so I am thinking tomorrow I will jump on that band wagon.

I FINALLY got the last of the Christmas decorations hauled to the basement. Its only Easter time, what was the rush? In taking them down, I got the puppet boxes up and now those little critters are contained. They are not in several little bags all over the living room

Production is coming along quite nicely. I am very pleased with the pace of it all. I have two more dinosaurs to make and I will have all I need of them. I can move onto porcupines.

I want to start a quilt and I want to work on my craft room. I have enough to keep me busy over the next week, that is for sure. I also need to get the tires changed out on the car. I can hear my poor credit card whimpering as I type this.

I went to the doctor for my regular three month tune up. He agreed with me that my wrist does not need to be operated on at this time. I will put it to the test with a quilt soon but for now its vastly better than it was. Very little numbness in the fingers at all. Everything else was fine. He looked at my throat and then told that my throat would feel sore and that the soreness would effect the sound of my voice. Can we all say Captain Obvious??? He gave me a prescription for amoxicillin which I never filled. May as well take skittles as that stuff. I am over it almost anyway. I have my voice back and my throat is no longer sore as of today so I am happy about that.

I have done a very little scrapbooking today. worked on the mountain of laundry I had piled up. Towels, sheets, blankets, my clothes. I am down to just two loads left to do. I have made puppets and watched tv. Its been quiet but that's how it goes.

Tomorrow I may start the shed and then on Tuesday The Banker and I are doing one of our fun shopping days. The upstairs bathroom is going to get a good cleaning and the red spare room is getting put back together.

For now I have a lovely supper to consume and some tv to watch. Happy Easter one and all.

Toodles,
Linda