Life, interrupted.

The Autumn wall hanging is finished, and Cat Approved. 

"Man plans. God laughs."  Isn't that how it goes?

We still have boxes of flooring planks all over the house--I insisted we get them way early last spring because it was exactly what we wanted at a price the hubs could countenance, so why not?  But it looks like we'll work around them a while longer. 

Late last summer (yes, 2017), I started having some weird issue with my hip joint.  FINALLY this June, I went to find out what is is.  Just about the time the other hip joined the party.  Turns out to be a combination of two things, one causing the other: femoroacetabular impingement (a bony growth at the hip-end of the femur) which, working in and out of the hip socket, causes a labral tear (a gasket that keeps the femur ball in the socket).  Fast forward to now, and I'm schedule for an arthroscopic surgery on each hip to fix things.  One side will be done on Sept. 11, the other on Oct. 24th.  Each is followed by two weeks of crutches and no driving, then another month or so of physical therapy.  

Hubby will be stuck doing all my work (feeding pets, scooping poop, cleaning the house, preparing meals, etc.) in addition to his for the first couple weeks of each.  I'll do my best to get as much done up ahead as I can--lots of pre-cooked frozen dinners in our future! 

But the fun has just begun.  Phil is due for another back ablation, a two-part procedure in which a doc pokes holes along his spine on one side (and then the other, on a different day) and 'zaps' the back nerves to alleviate pain of a spine looks like a stretched-out slinky.  It works great!  He had it done last year and it lasts a good long time.  But they scheduled the two parts too far apart--first of November and last of November.  In between those, he has two weeks out of town for work.  I'll still have a day or so of crutches when he has to leave, unless we can work it out otherwise.

And last but not least, he has a shoulder replacement surgery in December!  I'm not sure about the healing on that one, but he won't be doing pushups for a while, right?

So for the next four months, one of us will be gimpy and dependent on the other.  I'm glad we have each other!  So...not much getting done on the house, for sure.  But come this spring, I'll be hiking again, and he won't be in pain all the time.  It will be worth it, once we're on the other side. 

In the meantime, here's the Autumn wall hanging again, but without Willie Mae and Tater Tot.



Hope your week is swimming along as you'd want it to!

"Ideas...

sleeted down from the multi-verse, pelting his brain in a constant barrage." 

Something Terry Pratchett used to describe a character, but sometimes I feel like that.  It's not a complaint, unless I'm in a spot where I don't have the latitude to just go make stuff to see if it'll work. 

At such times, having ideas sleeting at you is not nearly as fun.

This weekend the idea that hit me was Fidget Pillows.  I know they exist, along with lap quilts--one search on Pinterest was enough to learn that.  But you know how ideas can occur spontaneously anywhere & when, so the pillow thing was one for me.

My In-Laws came up from Phoenix (hubby's brother & wife) for the day Sunday.  She has her chair by my end of the couch, and I'd put my recently finished crazy quilt pillow in her chair, knowing she likes to have something in her lap.  One side has little charms and tactile bits of embroidery, lace, buttons, etc.  The other is smooth flannel.  During our visit, she sat with the "scratchy" side down on her lap, with her arms resting on the flannel.  But at one point, her conversation ventured into an upsetting personal subject.  I noticed the pillow right side up, the little cat charm and buttons proving an outlet for restless hands.

Today is Tuesday, which (every other week) is a day I clean for a nice lady around the corner.  I clean for another one tomorrow, much larger job.  But maybe this weekend I can come up with a Fidget Pillow Pattern and see if it works. 

I hope your week is fabulous!

They're here!

Well, not here, here, but in my Etsy shop.  Three patterns, I've been monkeying around with two of them for half a year almost.  :)

This one above is a punch needle pattern I drew, with the finished work being just a little over 4.5" x 6", in Valdani Perle Cotton.  I like punch needle because it's satisfying to see the pattern finally begin to pack in and look like something besides a hairy mess--which is all it looks like 'til half done at least!  But once finished, it's inviting to the touch and the colors seem deeper than in wool applique, especially if I've used variegated threads. 

But I do love the wool applique!  The quilt is soft with the mix of textures, and lots of stitching detail, and I love hand quilting!  These below are Spring and Summer of my wall quilt series--I'm working on Autumn in the evenings now.  But these are ready and in the shop.  I am enjoying having them on my wall just as much as I'd always suspected I would. 

 

Hope your week is going well! 
Jan