Taking a break with Green

I had my every-four-weeks Eye Doctor appointment this AM [wet macular degeneration], and he said I had to have the injection of Lucentis into my right eyeball again.  I had been able to skip it for the two previous visits, so I was sorta expecting this, but somehow, when he said, "It's leaking," [bleeding in the back of the eyeball]  I was once again struck with how hard it would/will be to get along with really impaired eyesight.  I kept trying to relax, but every time I thought of it my shoulders were all bunched up and tight again.

Bummer.

Between the dilation and the injection, I have to shut or cover my eyes for about four to five hours and try to sleep.  Practice in impaired eyesight.

As things got less fuzzy this afternoon I decided to try sewing more green scraps together -- no fine points to match or need for exact seams!  I put together some already started pieces and made a length of 72" or so to add to the strips I have been assembling for a donation quilt.  Green is good.  Growing things, etc. 

Maybe after dinner I can go back to the Roll, Roll Cotton Boll blocks.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Charlie driving and sitting with me in the waiting rooms

My quilts for snuggling/resting

Able to enlarge print on computer screen

Bonnie's workshops

Monday's workshop was on Cathedral Stars. Here are the twelve blocks I finished during the class time. I made one change to Bonnie's design, changing the corner four-patches in the Jacob's Ladder block for additional red HSTs. Oops! one of those red triangles is pointing in the wrong direction!

Tuesday we worked on Star Struck blocks. What a nice, simple unit to make with a spectacular result! I finished 16 that day.

Sara

Gratitudes:

I did need an injection in my eyeball this time around, but in 24 hours I was fine.

Charlie's good care while I can't open that eye.

NCAAM basketball continues to be exciting

Bad Eye!

This is the eye that went to the doctor yesterday and didn't pass the examination.

According to Dr. Gindzin there was a little bleed again, so "you are going to get a little poke."

The injection to the underside of my eyeball wasn't as bad as the first OR second time. And Charlie was there to do the driving, stopping to buy a Subway sandwich for supper. But I did go right to bed and sleep for two hours, and I didn't go to the sewing machine last evening at all.

I guess the "good" result is that I finished another fingerless mitten while sitting in the waiting room for two hours.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Reunion Group Xmas presents

Holiday lunch with the Lectionary Gang

Handwork that I can SEE even when eyes dilated

Starting Step 5 of Carolina Xmas

Piles of units are lying on my cutting mat awaiting their first opportunity to bond together into a larger block. I finished these piles just last night.

I even had the black ones squared up, but then my eyes began to fail me, and I needed to put some more time in to the C.J. Box mystery I am reading. So I quit.

Now I am following Bonnie's instructions

on how to join these together. There are to

be 52 of these blocks at the end, so 104 of the half-blocks. I have made a "lot" of these.

And I have also put together 12 of the blocks. She says they are called "Fox and Geese".

Well, isn't that nice!

However, I have many, many more to make.

And I'm not going to show you the alternate block until I get done with this one and go on to work on that one.

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But other news from today: My every-four-weeks trip to the eye doctor.

"Everything is perfect," he said.

Therefore no injection again this month.

That makes two in a row that we have skipped.

Hurray! Someone has been saved the $2000 cost of the injection material [Medicare and Blue Cross] and I have saved an afternoon for sewing because I didn't have to keep my eyes shut for 5 hours to recover from the insult to my eyeball.

Sara

Gratitudes:

A warm house [wind and snow outdoors]

Electricity [may go out in this storm]

Kathie being my driver [Charlie in Haiti]

Eyes improved, and computer

[This view of my eyes is caused by my untrained use of the "red-eye" elimination button on my new computer. Now I can't reverse those raccoon eyes!]

My every-four-week-checkup with the eye specialist was this afternoon. Good news! My sight stayed improved and so I had NO injection for this appointment. Now I am to be "hyper-vigilant" about any changes to my vision for the next four weeks. Meanwhile...couldn't focus my eyes for six hours because of the dilation drops.

Also I have not been doing any quilting because of the arrival of said new computer.

I am "transitioning" to an iMac, desktop from a regular PC, so I'm finding that I don't know how to do some of the things I used to know how to do. For instance, at this moment the printer won't print because it is "offline". I don't know how to make it be "online".

Otherwise I am trying to memorize the Macedonian words to one of the songs our Grand Rapids Women's Chorus has scheduled for our Winter concert next month. Hmm...some things do NOT get easier with age.

AND....This is my 300th blog post. So I am drawing a name from my "Followers" to received the little quilt pictured in the last post. The winner is "gayleb". Please send me your snail mail address so I can get it out to you!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Breakfast with friends

eye improvement

Charlie able to be my driver