Nitzy

 Taking some time off.   My Nitzy was torn apart and suffered terribly after two massive dogs attacked him on the deck.  We got them off of him and brought him inside.  Held him while he screamed until he passed.  The vet didn't get here in time.

The police know who owns them, never saw them before.

 

Missy lost her mate Bud, and now her son.

********

The land of forgotten tips

 Why don't I know these tips after decades of stitching?  Have I forgotten, or been clueless?  Jeny's lower case letters are stitched over one on this 40 count linen, and since I have such difficulty removing over one on lower counts, assumed it would be near impossible.  Surprise!  Not when they are removed from the back of the fabric!  Several times without issue, and I stitched the letter shapes to my preference.  I followed Brenda's tip to use tent stitch on 40 when stitching over one.  Maybe that's why it was easy to remove from the back!

The other tip I did know but it fell out of my brain, is Thread Heaven.  I've always noticed how neat and slick the thread looks when first stitched, followed by a matte and fuzzy appearance after being handled during the continuing work.  Several swipes through Thread Heaven calms the fuzzies, clarifies the thread's color, helps the thread lay neatly throughout.

Would this prevent the light to dark fuzz transfer in areas like the solid block?  Another tip that fell out of my head is that the single stitch recedes if in place first.  In other words, the lighter thread  will get lost as it is pulled down when the surrounding stitches are worked.  I yanked the leg's stitches up since they were quite puny looking.  The two top critters will be stitched after the dark block is complete, opposite of what I did on the bottom, all with threads swiped with the Heaven.  I have beeswax but since Heaven is colorless, will continue with it.  Anxious to see if that results in a noticeable difference.

Phoebe is back.  She makes such a horrible mess, difficult area to scrub and also because the wood stain, not paint, changes with cleaners and elbow grease.  We have seen two Indigo Buntings so far and they nest low off the ground in bushes.  Hopefully we will find the nest and create protection with a chicken wire circle or offensive smell.

Too many raccoons and cats roaming and I try to protect nest and bunnies whenever possible.

Take a look at the new size of PF garlic bread.  Will be making our own now.

Eye doctor tomorrow, dilation does not leave me for many hours so no stitching for sure.

Had the phone ring early morning with the caller ID of Carole's facility.  Yep.  These palps won't be leaving for hours!  Ordinarily starting on their own, a scare can send them into orbit.  Thankfully, it was only an appointment question.

Enjoy your day!

*******************

Happy Easter

 Wishing everyone a blessed day.

Posting to IG also, still need to learn that site.  The difference in colors from laptop to tablet is huge.

*************

Today

 started out dark, rainy, nasty.  Ended clear blue and sunny.  You never know what to expect, and for my area it rarely changes dramatically in one day.

So I saw my nurse practitioner and yes, I do have a blockage leading to the lower chamber.  She started explaining a heart cath and since I drank too much grapefruit juice yesterday resulting in the trots, told her to move it along.  I declined the cath since my symptoms are mild, and instead asked about HeartFlow.  She seemed surprised but I explained that I research everything to know my options.  It's a CT scan and CAD program (or something) that shows the heart vessels, blood flow and percentage/area of the block.   Only one close to me, but the doctor in charge of the testing/reading recently passed away suddenly.  She will check for another location and also fight with medicare, not covered.   Safer and cheaper than a cath, but you know  ...  government.  A stent is only used if blockage is seventy percentage or higher, so my situation would probably be an invasive test, more of an exploration, resulting without treatment.  The scan will give an indication of how close to that number I am and whether invading my arteries is warranted. 

Went to the Italian store this morning, got the ravioli.  Mark has a batch of sauce simmering with sweet sausage instead of the pork ribs he usually uses.   And I am relaxing, hoping my medical crap will have answers, and that a medication can help slow these palps.  She believes they are from the year of stress and just unable to leave.

So here's Jeny progress.  Stitching grass takes almost as long as growing it.

Mom and son have been nasty to each other for a while but today, they are both snoozing peacefully.

Met with the prosthetic pros and Carole will be getting one leg's device in a few weeks.

Hope your day ended brighter than it began!

***********************

A warm sunny day

 Went for a brief ride, got the dollar snack size Jamoca shake at Arby's, did nothing else.  A little stitching got me to the grassy bottom of the left.  Warm again tomorrow, I hope to sit outside for a while. Thursday a trip to the Italian store for huge wonderful ravioli in case I don't feel like making a dinner from scratch this weekend.  I don't know the weekend schedule, always a problem and there are only four of us. Making calls also for costs of Carole's forty minute transport on Saturday, and if manageable that would be easier.  Chris and Matt can visit her on Easter Sunday and I will stay home.  We'll see, depends on the cost and if she will agree.

Doesn't this dmc 500 look perfect with these colors?  But still glad I lightened to 503 in the alphabet section.

Have a happy hump day.

**********************

Waiting....

 Thank you for the emails asking how my appointment went.  It didn't.  They cancelled because of a problem in the office and scheduled me for another the end of May.  I was very nice to the staff when I asked them to have my NP call since a PA told me I should have a cath ASAP.  Was she aware of that?  No.  So the message on the phone when we returned from Carole's visit, was a new appt this Thursday because I need seen ASAP.  WTH?

Offices should realize that no bad news, predictions, or assumptions should ever be given to a patient by a non-provider.  Physician assistants are valuable, but have put me through hell with their diagnoses.  From hysterectomy because of cancer (oops), terminal lung condition for weeks (oops), covid pulse ox of 83 (oops), and now diagnosing a blockage or heart condition, telling me to get to the ER when palps are bad, and having to wait a full week for my provider to explain it.  Before any other visits, tests, calls, I will make it clear that no one other than my doctor or NP is to spew their crap to me.  Period.  With the stress of the past year added to my illness, I do not need this anxiety.  For echo results, mammogram, biopsies, CT scans, MRI, we must see the provider in person for results.  So why are PAs allowed before the doctor even reviews the findings?

I decided to finish the left side of Jeny before tackling the critters in the block.  Got the large top flowers stitched, stems and vase, a few buds to follow.

It's long past 1 a.m. but I keep taking naps (rare for me) and that screws up bedtime.  But my palps are strong and nasty as usual, I need to stay awake for a while longer.  And try not to be upset that I am left hanging about what one person said was critical, and another making me wait for an appointment to explain it.

*****************************