What a week

It started Monday and continued, she is home but no better, and her son has had three close calls with his sugar.  Totally incoherent once (they become very combative), another time even worse and already clenching, third time not as bad.   She calls us first because Mark can usually fight with him and get the glucose into him, sometimes not.  After the tablets, 2 mugs of orange juice, 1 mug of milk, peanut butter/jelly sandwich, he was only 48 a half hour later.  The EMT's took him to the hospital and we picked him up at 2am. He will not survive when Carole is gone because this happens when he sleeps and without someone there to make sure he wakes, he will slip away.  Hopefully Friday will be a quiet day for us and things will settle down.  I know Carole will eventually show improvement but this flu is the worst I have seen.  BTW, Emily apologized to Chris.

 

I finished the Tweets,

 

added a button on the back to wrap a ribbon, or not.

 

 

 

I think she will like them.  I do.  But until I settle down and stop eating all this damn chocolate, I do not feel like stitching. 

 

Hope your week was a good one.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Skittish finish

Greetings stitching buds.  Hope all is well with you and yours. 

 

We had a long day yesterday starting early with Mark's xray and MRI and going right into Carole.  She is home after breathing treatments and xrays along with more meds and steroids, will get results today.

 

So I finished the tweeters and now it's time for sewing.  If you notice a slight difference in blue bird, I removed his wing and stitched it again with GAST for a little more interest.  Since the wing appears to be angled, I stitched diagonally thinking the variation would follow that line and look like feathers, didn't happen.  But it does look better.

 

 

I am just as reckless completing a finish as stitching it.  But because this is sewn so close to the design, I'm nervous!  After fusing the interfacing which helps a great deal if sewing needs to be repositioned, and having a template, this should be a piece of cake.  Damn.  Cake.  Anyway, I held it to the light for centering and it looks good, I outlined with the Frixion, and I will slowly run the machine a tiny bit outside that line, just in case. 

 

I really enjoyed this very quick and easy stitch, can't wait to do a set for myself.  I do like them on the Belfast Flax, but will do a floss toss on the yellow and putty first.

 

Have a great day.  Thanks for the prayers for my sister.

 

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Bird two

Just a few more stitches and I can sew the hearts.  Not planning to fill the bottom area with the satin stitches, I don't think it's necessary.

Made a sweet potato casserole for Carole.  Recipe here with a note - you don't need that much brown sugar or butter since the Ritz sleeves are smaller than they used to be.  As much as she loves this, she just doesn't feel like eating. The cough and head are no better. She is just so sick and Mark is accompanying me while taking her to the doc this afternoon. She is weak, low BP, and lightheaded, better for him to support her since my shoulder is useless.  Boy we've become a sorry lot.  We have appts every day this week.  What happened to the once yearly visit?  I hope there is something he can do for her without a hospital admission.

 

We have warmer temps in store with rain rain rain and then it will rain. The deer have ruined the lawn and their feeding area is almost impossible to walk on.  We'll try to find a few boards to lay on the ground for us to walk on.  Meanwhile, the Nit is on the prowl.  Sun is out, it's warming, let me out of this house!

 

Between trying to pick a house color, making decisions on the interior, Carole's illness, I have gained 8 pounds.  It's amazing how that happens so quickly.  My fault entirely.

 

Have a good week.

 

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Bird one

Changed the pink to blue, used Belfast Flax.  I tried the other linen colors but didn't have the patience to change all thread colors to those that would be appropriate.  I am meeting with an old friend that I lost touch with when I became Mom's caregiver.  She co-owned the only needlework shop we had here decades ago.  These birds along with a velvet berry would be a nice gift and I decided to use the lighter linen and follow the chart colors (except for the bird). 

 

 

Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

 

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These will be so tweet!

Hi everyone.  Received my gift of BBD and started pulling fabric for the Tweet hearts.  I would love to do a few in different colors, change a bird to a blackbird and another to a cardinal.  Instead of the 32 count which is too bulky with two threads and too skimpy with one, I chose 30.  During this task, a closer look revealed two 13 x 17 pieces that are clearly marked 32 count, and are in fact, 28.  Not happy and it's too late to return.  From now on I will check very closely because this has happened before, but seriously doubt any future orders will be placed since I have plenty of linen and colors.  These are my choices for a Tweety quartet.

 

 

But you know that I may will can probably undoubtedly change my mind, don't you?

This is my first inside look of a BBD book and they do a wonderful job of photos and instructions.  Very nice. 

 

For those interested in the Day Clock, it is here, available in several frame colors.  And I received a note from Martha about cold brew coffee, she helped a lot!  I was following several major online food sites for instructions, no one told me that there are filters you can purchase to make it easier.  So thank you very much Martha!  Here's a few options, also Amazon.

A long filter to use in a 2 quart mason jar here.

A very fine mesh bag to hold the grounds here.

And a different method, also to use with a mason jar here.

Cold brew is less acidic, concentrated, sweeter.  You can add boiling water to the brew for a hot cup, or ice for cold.  Another tip I received from Lenore is to make ice cubes from coffee to prevent diluting the drink.  Mine is sweetened with cream added.  I have the flavored syrups (Torani) in vanilla and hazelnut but prefer plain.

The amount of water to coffee varies depending on individual tastes, but having a pitcher of concentrate for an anytime treat is very appealing.  Must be kept in the fridge and I prefer glass so until I find a nice container, the mason jar will work.

The snow and ice yesterday is probably the reason we saw a young doe with a broken front leg today.  She was fine two days ago. 
 

Have a great end to your week folks.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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About that coffee

it is strong!  I added a little water with ice, or just lots of ice and no water, lots of cream and my sweetener.  The flavor is very good and I can adjust the strength.  I will do this often and save a lot this summer and not have to make a trip to get a very good iced coffee.  Only one issue.  I used the standard drip grind and there was quite a bit of sludge that needed lots of coffee filters to strain.  It's recommended to use a medium grind which I will try next.  We are lucky to have a local coffee roaster and can buy fresh roasted to be ground as you wish.  And Giant Eagle still has a grinder for whole bean bags.  I buy DD bags, I wonder if they would grind it for me in the store?  Would it be easier to just make a double strength pot in an electric maker?  Maybe.  Cold brewed is supposed to be strong without the bitter taste but I'll try both.  My first attempt a few years ago was a mess because I wasn't thinking.  I doubled the scoops with the same amount of water and the basket overflowed.  Just use half the water amount for the recommended scoops.

 

I saw this on Pinterest but it didn't lead to any information.  Isn't this scissor case sweet?

 

I found out from my new xrays at the doc today that my clavicle on the bad shoulder side is a half inch from the sternum where it should be attached.  The muscle and ligaments are holding it there according to the doc.  Could be from the accident when the seat belt dug in or related to the impingement.   Too bad one doctor isn't thorough enough and you have to get bits and pieces from several.

 

Stopped at Sherwin Williams since our car was fishtailing in that direction anyway.  The roads were horrendous this morning.  Found two dark colors that may work for the house, would still like the windows painted to match instead of the windows' high gloss finish, the dark sample.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May be taking Carole to the doctor tomorrow.  She had a really bad night and the cough is worse.

 

And....

my aunt has trouble with knowing what day it is.  She looks at her calendar which is marked with doc visits and such, but it doesn't help if the day is wrong.  So I found this clock for seniors, perfect.  It clearly shows the day and the date so she can use it to check the correct day on her calendar.  It's called a Day Clock.  If you've never seen it and think it could help a senior in the family, a great gift idea.

 

That's it folks.

 

Hope your week is going well.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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