2021 is Shaping Up to Be a Doozy, Too!

So, January started off with me getting my cast removed and a 'resting' splint put on.  I was allowed to remove it for twice daily exercise sessions and bathing and hair-washing. 

Then, on February 11th, the surgeon told me that I can take the splint off all day, except for sleeping and lifting heavy things.   The swelling is expected to go down over the next 6 months or so.  And I can begin physical therapy on the arm right away.  I have exercises to do at home and will begin the rehab next week.

I'm as weak as a baby with that wrist,  I went to the rehab place on Thursday after seeing the surgeon and they measured all kinds of things on my arm.  I can squeeze the requisite 60 pounds with my left hand but the right hand can only manage to squeeze 7 pounds...lots of room to improve there!

Over the next few days, we are expecting 2 different snow storms - both together are expected to dump our entire year's worth of snow - 18 inches!  That's all fine, but I am such a scaredy-cat with snowy roads, this news just didn't sit well with me.  Fortunately, or unfortunately - depending on one's point of view - my car is in the shop and probably won't be repaired for another 3 - 5 weeks...plenty of time for the snow to melt, don't you think? This photo taken outside the front door just an hour or so ago...it is snowy, windy, and only 3 degrees outside.  

I ran away from home in mid-January.  Only for 3 days, but it was a wonderful respite.  I met my best friend in Las Vegas - we hadn't seen each other in 12 years.  With the Plague still rampant, we didn't go to any shows, or do much shopping, or eat out a lot.  We spent almost the entire 3 days in our hotel, just talking and sharing and laughing.  We DID get up to the Bellagio Hotel in time for the fountains and music program - outside.

And we went to a quilt shop one afternoon and then to the Venetian to see the inside canals and gondolas.  We stopped for a milkshake at the Black Hat - they are huge and we didn't need to eat dinner that night at all!

Mr. Wonderful's second youngest sister is in the hospital with some health challenges.  Being as the Plague is still an issue around here, no one can get in to see her...then on Tuesday, their oldest sister suddenly passed away!  Her memorial is this next Friday  - we are hoping the weather allows us to get out to go to the memorial. I'm almost afraid to ask "What next?" cause I don't want the Universe to take that as a challenge...it's almost like 2021 talking to 2020 "You think that was bad?  Here, hold my beer!" 

I will leave you with blessings and prayers for a warm and safe week. One filled with wonder and time to be with those you love. If you can't be with them, maybe you get to talk to them on the phone, or Zoom with them.  Let folks know how much they mean to you.  Find joy in the everyday things.  

Thanks for stopping by!

 

End of 2020- Our Annis Horribulus!

Well, today is the last day of 2020 here in the United States. It has been  Our own Annis Horribulus!  From worldwide Pandemics and the resulting isolation from the community to an accident involving a dog leash, a slight hill, and a less than graceful lady resulting in surgery for a broken  wrist, it's been quite a circus!

I will hopefully get my cast off this coming Tuesday.  It has been quite an eye-opening and humbling experience.  I had no idea how much I rely on my right hand for everyday living.  And I am eternally humbled by my darling husband and precious mother for their help for even the most simple things like combing my hair and cutting my food. Let's not talk about bathing and washing my hair (You are my hero, John!) This last 5 weeks in a cast have taught me to appreciate the little things!  

We had snow then other day - not much, not enough to interfere with driving on  the roads. But enough to make the view from the front pretty.

Sorry this is short...typing with a broken wrist is quite time-consuming and  bit painful....Wanted you all to know that we are wishing you a Most Happy New Year....May this next year be blessed beyond measure!

The Good News is - It's Not Covid!

 So John has been coming home from work the last week or so with a runny nose and coughs most all night long.  Naturally, I caught it from him.  Mine came on really fast and included a horrible ear ache and sore throat.  It started last Thursday night and by Saturday morning - at 5:00 a.m. (those of you who know me know that 5:00 a.m. is NOT in my normal day) I got up, got dressed and told John I needed to go to Urgent Care cause I thought I had an ear infection.  Since it's the weekend, there are no doctors available and I did not want to go thru the rest of the weekend in that kind of pain. And, on Monday morning I have a mammogram scheduled, followed by a day-long class of machine embroidery.  I honestly did not want to miss those.  So we drove the 40 miles into town to go to the nearest Urgent Care.  After some discussion and ear looking-at, and throat swabbing, and temperature-taking, the Nurse Practitioner decided to test for Covid-19.  Many of my symptoms were indicative of the Plague and she wanted to rule that out.  Let me tell you, that is NOT a pleasant test - imagine a tiny little bottle brush shoved down your nasal passage as far as it will go and then being pulled out while scraping your nose from the inside.  NOT pleasant at all.  Fortunately, she was quick and the only residual effect I had was a much more runny nose for a few minutes. They called last night and said the test came out negative.  It appears I ONLY have an ear infection - for which I am taking antibiotics and pro-biotics for the next 10 days.  And today, upon waking, I've decided I will probably survive.  I slept better last night, and most of the pain is minimal.  

With the postal system at it's lowest level of efficiency in a very many years, I have decided that I need to mail the Far-Away Christmas Parcels early...much earlier than I normally do.  So today is gift-wrapping and packaging-up so the boxes can go out tomorrow.  John is cleaning the turkey and making the cranberry relish today...I will tear the bread for the dressing and might make one of the three pies I'd committed to.  Of course, I might as well make all 3 and be done with that chore.  I'm so glad we got that extra regrigerator for the garage last year - I can store all the Thanksgiving dinner items in there without taking away the space for our normal operations here inside the house.  And it will make the day go without so much stress if I can get things done in advance.  

Our annual Knotwell Girls Cookie Day is this coming Friday.  I love that day.  We only make Sugar Cookies with sprinkles on them.  We use the recipe that was handed down from one the the girls' grandmothers.  It's a basic sugar cookie recipe and they make them really thin and cook them longer than I prefer (their mother always cooked them longer and make them almost burned on the bottom so that's the way they like them - Me?  Not so much) John like them the way his sisters do, too.  So I always save some of the dough and make them the way I want them - slightly thicker and palely done - like real sugar cookies!  They NEVER frost them, only sprinkles put on before they go into the over.  That's the way they've always done it and that's the way they will continue to do it...fine with me, we get tons of sugar cookies from just one day of cooking.  Each girl brings a batch of dough which makes about 5 dozen cookies.  And there will be 6 of us this year....that's a lot of cookies!

Shiloh turned one year old this past Thursday.  We took him to the vet for his one year check-up and they are quite pleased with his growth and development.  He went to the groomer on Wednesday.  And on Tursday, I got a text from the lady who we bought him from wishing him a Happy Birthday...wasn't that a nice thing to do! 

Ive finished two stockings since last I posted.  Neither of these are going to anyone special.  They are meant to be part of a hanging swag for the fireplace - so far I only have 5 done and want about 15 more...will work on thse as I have time.  I surely do like making these.  Without bragging, I probably have over 50 kits just waiting to be made.  All of them different, all of them depicting something that resonates with me in some way.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  More later!

Happy Halloween

 I'm not even going to mention that it's been over 6 weeks since I've last posted to the blog...We can all count and it just embarasses me to think about it.

Today is Halloween.  This day used to be frought with making sure our son had his costume and was going to be going out to trick-or-treat safely, making sure we had enough candy for the hordes, and making sure we had enough candy left over to reward us for all of the things I just mentioned.  For the last 17 years, we've not had to do any of that.  We live so far out in the country that the trick-or-treaters just don't appear.  Of course, that also means I have no legitimate excuse for buying excess candy - or candy at all!  Usually, I buy one bag of candy - making sure it's a favorite of mine - just in case someone gets lost down the gravel road and shows up.  It has never happened yet, but you never know.  

We used to have all the single sailors working with John come to our house for Halloween movies and pizza.  Their 'ticket' to the party was a bag of Halloween candy.  Most of them just loved to hand out the candy at our front door and see all the costumes - since they mostly lived in barracks, they didn't get trick-or-treaters.  I recall our last year before John retired, we had 15 sailors come for pizza and movies...each brought at least one bag of candy.  We lived in military housing that year so there were a LOT of children - A LOT!  I had bought about 5 bags of candy and with the 15 sailors bringing at least one bag, we figured we had enough. NOT.  I ended up sending a couple of the crew out to find a store to get more candy.  It was always my habit to keep a tick list of how many Trick-or-Treaters we had each year and I stopped marking the paper that year after kid #851....you read that right.....over 800 children came to our house that year.   Those sailors had so much fun handing out candy and I only needed to put pizza into the over to feed my helpers!  I don't think anyone even stopped to watch the movie that year....they were all watching out the door and on the front porch/patio to see all the kids.  And not one child - not ONE child - was rude or snotty or hateful....not one.  They ranged in age from tiny (carried in mom or dad's arms) to tall teens.  They were all polite and said thank you and were delightful to treat on Halloween. I sincerely doubt that is the case these days.  

I read this morning that Sir Sean Connery passed away overnight.  That just makes me sad.  I mean, James Bond!  I read a condolence on Facebook that said, "One ping, Vasily, Just one ping!"  That was a classic line from The Hunt for Red October.  I love that movie!  He was 90 years old.  A true Hollywood Movie Star.  Blessings to his family.  

The election is this coming Tuesday.  Regardless of the outcome, I hope people can accept it and get on with making this country stronger and respectable again.  We have become a laughing stock throughout the world and that's just humiliating.  And if the folks in Washington don't start working together for the good of the people, it's going to get worse.  And that's all I'm going to say about the political arena in the good ol' USA.

It's almost time for this little guy to make his annual appearance.  Given the current situation around the world, this made me smile.

As some of you might recall, our oldest granddaughter got married in early September.  She called me and asked me to make a Christmas stocking for her new husband like I'd done for all of the grands.  Of course, I said I'd do it.  Not a lot one won't do for a grandchild, is there?  I found a wonderful one that fit Trent perfectly.  He is an outdoorsman through and through.  So Outdoor Santa was very fitting.

After I finished his, I started another for my stash of stockings to decorate for the holidays.  Here it is.  It only had 38 pieces and took me 4 days to complete.  

Hoping to have less days between this posting and the next.  Fingers crossed!  

Thanks for stopping by.

Mid-September Wanderings

 Here we are, the middle of September.  Still mostly staying home, wearing a mask when we DO leave home.  Dreaming of traveling to visit family and friends far away.  And always, always, having the spectre of the Plague following our every move.  Hopefully, once this year has run it's 366 day course, we can find some semblance of calm and whatever normal is going to be.  

They say we will have a vaccine to treat the virus at the earliest in November...maybe by the end of the year....or February 2021. I have never been what one would call an Anti-Vaxxer...but I also do not voluntarily get in line for an injection of any kind.  Mainly cause I'm so afraid of shots!  Yes, I'm a coward....a weenie.... a baby where shots are concerned.  I've never gotten a flu shot, and only got the shot for hepatitis several years ago because I was exposed....but I don't do shots!  So I won't be getting the Corona injection when they say it's available.  They aren't doing enough testing, in my opinion, and I am uncomfortable having my family and friends just blindly go out and get in line for it when it IS available.  But the only person I have control over is myself...and I'm not getting in that line!  

We have 20 new baby chickens as of Thursday.  We had ordered them back in June during the height of the pandemic.  Usually, you can just go out to the hatchery and pick up chicks...but during the pandemic, folks were buying chickens to raise for eggs and meat because...well, think toilet paper and you will understand why they were hoarding chickens and hamburger.  Anyway, our order came up right on time and Mom and I drove out to the hatchery to pick up John's new peepers.  

It's hard to get perspective from this picture but all 20 of them fit into a small bakery box to transport home.  There are 15 assorted females and 5 Black Australops...the black ones, once they get fully feathered, look as though they are covered in oil - their feathers are shiny and pitch black.  So beautiful.  We don't know if any of those are roosters...will have to wait till they get older to tell.  We are looking for egg-layers anyway so if they are all female, that's fine with us. 

The Presidential election is coming up again and there is so much hate and discontent in this country.  I am so disturbed by the vitriol and just plain nastiness that the American people seem to ascribe to these days.  The current trend is just so Un-American, to my way of thinking.  A friend from High School (we're coming up to our 50 Year Reunion next year!) posted this and it really struck home with me....I will post for anyone who needs it...

I am going to print this out and frame it...a very good reminder for me, and anyone else.  You're welcome!

Rather than leave this as is, and have folks maybe come away on a sad or somber note, here is something to make you smile.

And I have, unfortunately, made sure furniture is in place in exactly this manner several times...Oh, my aching pinky toe!  

On that note, I will leave you till next time.  Thanks for stopping by!

End of August 2020

 This may be the end of August,  it's not the end of whatever 2020 has in store for us...I suspect we are still going to have to endure stuff at least till the end of the year, or further.  I know, it's a downer, but that's what I think.  

Right?  

We are in a bit of a drought here in the southwest portion of Missouri.  No measurable rain almost all month.  We normally don't purchase our hay for the winter until closer to October but this year, it's likely to go up in cost the longer we get into the autumn.  So we ordered the amount of hay we will need to get Belle and Rosie thru the winter and it's being delivered on Friday afternoon.  That's one more thing I can mark off my list of things to get done before winter sets in.  I think the only thing left if to order enough propane to get us thru till April...I will get that done before mid-September when the price will go up dramatically.  

The hurricane down south of us in the Gulf of Mexico might, just might, affect us a tiny bit....with some wind and much welcome rain.  We won't get the damaging surges or wind but the maps are showing Hurricane Laura has enough push to get all the way up here.  The water will be very much useful.  Mom and I were talking at lunch about the folks who are being 'brave' and not evacuating, even though the authorities are strongly urging them to do so.  The storm surge is expected to be upwards of 20 feet in some areas...thats 2 stories tall.  I don't think it's brave to stay...I think it's stupid and foolish. And I will bet good money those people will be the ones moaning and crying because they lost everything and were in danger and no one could get to them right away and "Oh, we were so scared!" Stupid, stupid, stupid!  

I've been collecting meme's for a long time...sometimes one really resonates with me - like this one.

Or this one - I must be a really creative person....My studio is rife with ideas!

We are getting a bit of rain right now.  Not a lot, but it's wet!  Honestly, it may not even stay wet on the walkways for long, but we take whatever we can get!  

I am scheduled to take a 2 days virtual embroidery class on Friday and Saturday....I did one several weeks ago and honestly, I wasn't impressed with the experience.  Am trying it once more to see if it was me or maybe it was the whole idea of the workshop with 80 people doing it all at the same time - trying to 'talk' on the chat board and ask questions and waiting for the teacher to address whatever was asked...the class is designed for the least experienced person attending and that might be the reason I had such a negative experience...I am not a novice with this type of embroidery and felt I was being 'held back'.  I ended up just working ahead and listening to the teacher jabber on ...that was a 4 hour class....I hope I can maintain for 16 hours this time.  Cross your fingers for me.....

Thanks for stopping by....be safe and well. 

Oh, Good Grief!

I just looked at the date of my last update on this blog....Where has the darned time gone?  I've been home...I haven't been sick.....I'm not traveling....and yet it's been almost 6 weeks since I last posted.  What a slug I am.  

So, let's get caught up with life at Pieceful Harbor, shall we?  

There has been a lot of sewing (machine embroidery) happening here the last few weeks.  What used to be known as the Row by Row Experiene and is now called Quilters Trek started again in late June.  Not as many shops participating this year.  There is only one shop in Scotland to account for any overseas shops.  I purchased their row, sight unseen, so we will see what it looks like when it finally arrives.  In the US and Canada, not as many shops are part of the event this year.  Only one shop near me and it's a tiny shop in a town east of us...none of the big shops in Springfield.  The theme this year is simple Blue.  I'm seeing a lot of shops returning to more traditional blocks instead of elaborate applique blocks.  Lots of pineapple blocks, and log cabin blocks, and pinwheel ones as well.  It certainly makes my budget happy since I'm not buying so many kits.  

There are, however, 9 shops in Illinois who collaborated to make a quilt with their blocks.  It is called Winter's Window and each shop designed a portion of the quilt.  It will finish out at about 54" by 54" and is blue, gray, white, and black.  It's lovely and I've gotten all the kits.  Heavily appliqued.  I have one more section to stitch down and then I can put them all together.  I want a blorder on mine so I've gotten some beautiful royal blue batik to make a 3 inch border all around and it can go to my quilter.  Will show a picture once it's done.  You are gonna love it!

I've done a couple of virtual quilt classes - I don't know if it's because I love being with people for those classes or if they are designed to address folks with fewer skills and less experience than me but I just didn't have a good time doing them.  I felt as though I was always waiting for the next thing instead of motoring along as I usually do.  Not a fan of virtual quilt/embroidery classes!  

The groomer has opened up for business again and Shiloh has already been a couple of times.  He always looks so happy once he's been to see Miss Rachelle!

Isn't he a cutie!

Saturday nites are Movie Night around here...we've done this for the last 4 years since Mom came to live with us.  Evidently, Shiloh really likes the Mission Impossible movies - or else maybe it's Tom Cruise!  Whichever it is, he sure does pay attention!

Summertime in the Ozarks is usually hot and very humid and this summer is no different.  With all the humidity, when it rains, we usually get what the weather-readers like to call Severe Weather (weatherspeak for Tornadoes).  Last night I looked out the window of the studio just before the sun set and saw this!

I walked outside the front door and saw this wall cloud - really dark and full of water - forming to the east of us.  The wind was raging like crazy and we figured we might get some of the moisture since it went all the way to the west of us as well.  Sadly, no moisture last night but this morning it rained for quite a while.  That bodes well for the second cutting of hay before the winter sets in.  We need about 20 round bales of hay to feed the cows over the winter and if hay isn't plentiful, it is so expensive.  We don't have enough acreage to grow our own hay so we must buy it and have it delivered.  Thankfully, it appears we will get it at a reasonable rate this year!

Our oldest granddaughter is getting married in 3 weeks.  Emily and her Trent will be married in Salt Lake City and live in Pocatello, Idaho where Trent has a job with the U. S. Forest Service.  Because of the current plague situation, it is not advisable for us to travel nor to bring germs back to infect mom.  So we will remain here and hope someone takes a video of the service so we can see it vicariously and at a later time.  

Am working on making aprons for the 4 young girls who will be helping at Emily's reception.  Little half aprons they can take home with them to commemorate the wedding.  Got the fabric yesterday from my daughter-in-law and need to get crackin' on them so I can mail them out in time for the wedding!  

Thanks for stopping by.