Finally I am sewing again.  Counted out 36 confetti blocks and made the beginning of a neonatal quilt.  Now to find a border and backing for 36" square fun.

Yesterday I finished adding hanging sleeves to three quilts and turned them in for the October Quilt Show of our guild.

We are getting some lovely fall color in the garden grasses, and a few trees are turning as well.


Sara

Gratitudes:

Finished PT for the knee
Charlie keeps on making dinner
Getting my quilting mojo back

Few accomplishments

I am practicing walking around the driveway circle with my borrowed walker.  The crabappples are in bloom, about a month early.

The plais Double Four-Patch is now bound and finished.

Sara

Gratitudes:

DH Charlie continues to cook, clean-up our meals, and drive me to all my appointments

Tenor Baby

One of the gals in out yenor section is expecing a baby in May,  anad I was able to get the binding on this one in time efor a shower this Sunday/

And here's the back:

Lots more bright colors for a girl whose Mom is called Tango.


Sara

Gratitudes:

Managed to attend most of a bass sectional
Charlie keeps taking good care of me
Sewing helps my mental health

One binding done

 Put the red binding on this one in the last two days, so that was some good time spent at the sewing machine/  Sent it off with two others to the Guild collection tonight for the local neonatal department.

And here is the cray back.

Sara

Gratitudes

Told them to go a little easier on the exercises today and they did

Actually quilting

Got my necessary cutting gear moved to the kitchen counter and trimmed off th edges of three quilts.  So I am actually at work again sewing.

First Aqua physical therapy today, and it went "swimmingyt" until I exited teh pool and gravity took full effect.  WOW was I sxhausted!



Sara

Gratitudes:

DH drives me everywhere


Great, late birthday dinner by Lynne
Ear;y daffodils are brightening the scene

Getting Back slowly

While in the rehab facility I used a machine that passively moved my leg from straight to bent.  This did not really count as exercize but it was to keep some motion before everything froze.  I could certainly feel when it was pushing my limits.

But I am going to return to the subject of Quilting.  Nothing was accomplished by me during the last three weeks  However, my Secret Sister sent me not only seven cards for my seventieth birthday, but she also sent me a scrap of fabric for each decade,  There's quite a variety of prints beginning with a fun Birthday print.

Also my long arm quilter Catherine kept working, and I now have received back five quilts that need to be trimmed and then bound.

I hope I will be able to slowly make progress with these, at least to have a few to turn in to the Guild collection on Tuesday.


Sara

Gratitudes:

nurses with gentle hands
dear husband's continuing care
my own bed at last

Old leg, new look

First view, bandaged knee and ankle/calf pump, to prevent blood clots,

Changing bandage reveals. . . . . .no staples!  Only Steri-strips.  Nurse is shocked, I was oblivious.



Tuesday I moved from hospital to rehab facility.  Physical therapy is exhausting.  Having some bitchy moments.

Sara

Gratitude:

Lots of helpful staff
Charlie taking care of so much
Beautiful flower from P & L

Old knee, last time

 Well, here it is, after the wipe down at home with the surgical prep cloths.

Doesn't look too bad from the outside, does it?

We're off from home at 9:00 AM for a scheduled 11:30 surgery.  I hope I am alert and aware enough to take another photo sometime this afternoon or evening, just bandages I assume.  I figure I might as well document this.  If I am tempted to have the other knee corrected, I'll be better able to remember what was involved.

Good news from our St. Louis family:  Sara Rachel had her first real "solution" treatment for ITP (loss of platelets), and it went well!
She came home right after the infusion was done, and we saw her on iChat, mugging for the camera.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Good medical treatment right here in our home town
Kathie can loan me a walker
Charlie is my comfortable "home care provider"

Design Wall Monday on Tuesday

[OK, I didn't remember about posting the design wall until I was already toasty in bed last night, and I didn't want to get up, go to the computer and get cold again.]

These triangles were finished and put together on the retreat, and the inner border added to control all those bias edges. When I unpacked at home it went straight to the design wall, where it has been now for three weeks while we were away.  I have some green tractor/truck fabric which came from Joey for the border/backing.  Better get right on it!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Warm bed!!
Sunny day today before storm coming in
Pre-op class today about knee replacement

Under consideration

l

The second house of four that we looked at with our daughter and her husband in St. Louis.

We shopped for and prepared dinner every week night.  We packed all the pictures from the walls of the old house.

An offer was made on this house.

We packed up the whole china cabinet of plates, glasses and linens.

 Negotiations are going on about who should pay for electrical and plumbing updates  the inspector recommends for this 57 year old house.  They hope to close by March 20.

We packed all the stuff on and under DD's home desk.

We escaped to Michigan at that point, leaving them to face the on-going decisions on their own!

We found our yard covered with about 2 inches of snow, which immediately got the dog rolling.  And we found it felt good to fall into our own bed after two weeks at a motel.

This week I am preparing for left knee replacement on Friday.  Besides the various medical appointments I hope to put together some knitting and hand quilting that I can work on during the recovery.  Everyone says, "Do the exercises assigned", so I know that will have to be a first priority for the following six weeks.

[How's my character going to stand up to that painful discipline, I wonder.
Well, it IS Lent after all.
Not that I've ever done particularly well at Lent.]

At some point I hope to be back at the sewing machine since my right foot ought to be working OK.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Safe travel with French Silk pie at lunch
Jazz on the car radio
First Sunday of Lent back in our "home" parish