Never ending

Hi everyone.  Just had to let you know that my poor sister lost her Buster last night.  The phone rang at 10pm and she was crying so hard I could barely understand her and thought she was having another heart emergency.  Mark had to take his gun and end his unexpected suffering.  He's not had any problems, was eating, drinking, and at 18 still jumping on the counter, was fine earlier in the day and she assumed he was asleep in his bed.  The vet had not yet stopped to drop off the sedatives and neither thought he would be passing so soon.  Unimaginable after losing Tippy a few days ago.   He was limp yet crying continuously so he got there as soon as he could and even though he hates having to do this, it was necessary.  After watching Tippy she could not let another experience the same.  She is an absolute mess and she has an appointment today with her PCP (that she changed from last week when Tippy passed) and can't stop crying.  Headache, nausea, but I am forcing her to go.  We'll see who wins.  She now has no cats in the house with her, first time in 45 years.  I feel terrible and there is really nothing I can say or do to ease her grief as all pet owners know. 

 

I'll be back with the winner tomorrow night.  Your prayers and good wishes for her have been wonderful and I want to keep you updated on her circumstances.

 

Thank you so much.

 

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Winner

Hi all.  I'm lucky I made the 9pm drawing.  Nothing has been going right in leveling the cabinets and in my haste and anger, I rose quickly and almost knocked myself out on the upper cabinet's corner.  What a headache!  Between the knees, the *%&# rash, my locked painful jaw, my neck, varicose veins, and my fat ass, I am feeling my age recently. 

  The winner drawn by the scientific folded paper method is TerryA.  Please contact me TerryA, I can't reply to your entry.

 

Now you can leave your entry in the comments again for this group, drawing to be held Wednesday night at 9pm EST.

 

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What I bought

Greetings.  We are in the process of tearing out the kitchen cabinets, raising them, and installing in a little different layout.  It's been almost 8 months and I have given up on a qualified craftsman showing up.  Not happy. So I sit here working on the computer while listening to my husband cuss, and lending a hand when he needs me.  We will have to finish the other rooms ourselves too.

 

I wanted to show what I found at Antiques in the Woods.  The show is no where near Simple Goods caliber and many booths are country crafts, glassware, or overpriced flea market items.  But it's nice to visit and browse the little cabins amidst the tall canopy of oaks while eating an apple dumpling.

 

The first item I found was this small butter churn.  I don't know if it's very old and don't care.  It's sweet, super dirty, and smelly inside.  So I scrubbed it inside and out which made it 20 shades lighter, sprayed the wood with my linen sprays, and put my leftover candle wax inside.  That usually permeates the dry wood after a while but the cleaning alone took care of the smell. 

 

The second item was this mallet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted a longneck gourd but didn't realize it was this long until I got home.

 

 

Then I found this very long wood thing (in the middle) and I am clueless regarding its purpose.  I looked like a shepherd as our friend said, using this to help me walk on the gravel with my bum knees.  Between this, the mallet, and the club looking gourd, several men stopped my husband and told him to be careful.

 

 

My final item, found on a final run through a nice cabin, is this tall wooden cylinder turned from one piece with threaded lid.

It won't stay here but I need to put it where it won't be in the way, because I will surely lose it in the shuffle.  I think it's my favorite item.  We stopped at my sister's on the way home and she liked the large metal sunflower stake that we got for her. 

Back tonight with the winner and second Santa listing.

 

Enjoy your day!

 

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Offer #1 which is really #2

but I'm confused enough.  I just mailed the charts to Kim and couldn't remember what they were, so I read my blog to find out.  Yep.  A dozen rolly Santas.  But we'll call this offer #1 anyway.   I am listing each batch separately to make it easier. 

 For me, anyway.

 

My sister is doing about the same, got a call from cardiology to increase meds and get to the electrophysiologist.  How many times does she have to say that they can't see her any sooner than 2 weeks?   I was really worried Thursday.  She told me to cancel her doc appt. with her primary care doctor because she would not leave Tippy and she cried all day, couldn't eat.  He was purring peacefully on her painful chest for 5 hours and Carole thought she had time before calling the vet and saying goodbye.  But the unmerciful process started after the vets were closed and it was horrible as the stages progressed.   He passed at midnight.  Carole will ask our mobile vet for a sedative now to keep and give to Buster when his time comes, keeping him comfortable until a vet can intervene.  Big bold beautiful Tippy lived a loved 20 years. 

 I spent many hours there yesterday scrubbing and cleaning, LOTS more to do.  Today Mark and I went to Antiques in the Woods in Columbiana Ohio.  Bought a few small things that I will show when my tired ass feels like looking for the camera.

 

So here's the offer - 7 cards and one leaflet - winner will be drawn Monday night at 9pm EST.

 

Comments on this post only if you want to be entered.

 

The great Santa giveaway

Well not really.  Just ordinary charts I have no use for.  Why not sell them on Ebay?  Too much trouble, too little benefit, and stitchers are a sharing group. 

I am back to being extremely anxious and having a hard time with it.  Is it my gut's premonition, being overly sensitive, menomania, afraid of the answers, or not having answers?  My husband will be off work next week and I hope to settle down because he will try to reason with me and well... he's a man.  Need I say more?  I hear my sister crying on the phone about not being able to do anything, and how she desperately wants to hold 20 year old Tippy as she did every day but can't.  Her chest is very painful and she is not allowed to use her left arm or lift more than 10# for another 4 weeks.  Tippy is a very big boy and she came home from the hospital to find him failing.  He was taken care of by family but started slipping away when she did.  He won't last much longer and is comfortable, her son came over to lay him on her lap yesterday and he purred so loudly it was heartbreaking.  He was always at her side or on her and I think he will let go now.  When I pick her up for the doc today, I will be so emotional that I will upset her even more.  Her son will come over to stay with her when we get back and let her hold Tippy.  I just can't stop crying and can't stay.  Why can't I have a good cry and end it?  No.  It just continues.  I had a mammogram yesterday and she thought I was crying because she was hurting me.  It's embarrassing!!  I will be a blubbering fool in the doc office with her.  OK.  Enough.  On to the next batches.

I already drew a name for the set of 12 and it is KimM.  I will email her as soon as I get the mascara out of my burning eyes.  If you like stitching Santa, there will be a few more giveaways.  Since I'm not of sound mind right now I will list over the weekend.

This will be offer #1

Offer #2

Offer #3

 I have PS cards 1989-2001 I will probably list as a set on EBay but haven't decided. 

 As I'm posting this I'm thinking I should mix the cards instead of all one designer.  What do you think?  Mix them up or keep by designer?

If all goes well I will start the offer Sunday and do a post with details for entries then.  Right now I need a few aspirins and another tube of waterproof mascara.

Enjoy the weekend ~ stay safe.

 

Thanks for listening to me whine.

 

 

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Summer is over

and I wonder where it went.  One of the worst in memory for a number of reasons, but the weather was as if spring stretched into July and then early fall took it from there.  Our yard is full of dropped leaves already.  It's nice this morning and I can sit outside in the quiet without a sweater and I think that's exactly what I will do.

This afternoon I will take Carole to the hospital for her monitor hookup.  She seems to be feeling a little better, still unable to do much, and her chest is getting worse.  I am insisting on a CT for the sternum to make sure it is not cracked or the force created additional injuries.  Not likely, but after the other procedures touted as "simple" turned life threatening, why chance it?  CPR once is painful, but 10 times may have done more damage. Her 20 year old cat Tippy is failing fast, and 18 year old Buster was attacked by the flies looking for a host.  This isn't helping her right now and she is very upset.

I am on steroids because I look like I have chicken pox.  NEVER had something itch so terribly in my life and thank goodness it is confined to ankles and legs.  Not my usual poison ivy.  Then I stretched to grab something and tipped my wheeled chair over, falling onto my side and hitting the right knee.  Earlier in the day, I had chairs upside down on the table to sweep the floor and when I removed it to set upright on the floor, the top rail swung and hit the left knee. They weren't healed yet so I added a few more weeks to that process.  No big deal.

Not much work being done on Eliza.  I like this Copper Penny linen color, but the other piece I saw was very different, more green, and I am afraid to order it online. But I need some help from you experienced finishers.

 

 

 I wanted to stitch a few of these to sell, and I have taken it apart several times because I am not happy with the heart's curve.  This mess is because of all those attempts and I am still looking for a trick to help.  When the curve goes this deep, I don't stitch it all.  I sew down each curve to the point and leave a tiny area unstitched.  Other times I sew one or two stitches straight across.  But I think maybe the stuffing is too dense and this is more of the problem. 

One is sawdust, the other is shells. Sawdust holds the shape better when tightly packed and I'm satisfied with the one on the right.   Satisfied, but not happy.  The Love heart on the right has been the problem, same linen and shape on both. For a simple pincushion or strawberry, the shells are perfect. But even though this was fully filled, they shifted and distorted the heart so I packed more. And more. It's not moving now!

 

 

   But the strain on that area is too much.  The linen is not broken even though it appears to be, those are my hand stitches that stretched and stretched.  I will open it once again and have to sew that (what is that center called?) down further to catch that mess and maybe use fiberfill.  The sawdust worked well on the other design and the Love heart originally had it, but I found dust as fine as flour on the table beneath it despite the fusible interfacing and assumed I did not sift it first.  Thinking back, I didn't.  One batch still has the microfine dust in it which falls out when I pounce it in a mesh strainer.  Since it was opened, I wanted to try the shells so I know which would work better if I decide to make a few more. So what is the best method when sewing and stuffing these hearts with deep curves?  Any suggestions for me? 

 

 

Another sign of fall - the fawns are no longer spotted.  And they are getting as picky as the cats.  Now, they only want sliced white bread.  They won't eat buns or dinner rolls, Texas toast, potato or egg bread.  When we buy the box for them, it's a combination of whatever is ready to pulled from the shelves so I have to take what I get.

 

 

 

 

I don't know if this edgy feeling and the jump when the phone rings will fade soon, but it certainly doesn't affect Budman.

 

Enjoy the week.  Thanks for visiting.

 

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