I look like I’ve had an encounter with an octopus!
Both Dear Husband and I visited our dermatologist on Tuesday. She got us both with the liquid nitrogen. She’s treating a spot on his nose, and four spots on the left side of my face. Unfortunately, I have these red, blistery circles that are very prominent. I look like an octopus has wrapped a tentacle across my face and “kissed” me!
I know it’s good to keep track of skin problems, but I sure do hate liquid nitrogen!
I chat with a group of ladies on Facebook who are predominately knitters and crocheters, but they welcome ladies who quilt and make period clothing and a variety of other specialties. The woman who moderates this group encourages everyone to post pictures the first of each month of what they are in the process of creating. I’ve worked on three quilt tops and squares for charity afghans, and I have some pictures to share.
This first top is a collection of blocks made from my stash. I have a LOT of fabric that is a quarter of a yard or less, and it’s organized by color (mostly), so I can go to the shelves and take down a handful of fabric to make a block. This particular block, and quilt were designed for “Sunday Morning Quilts.” I love the book, and used this pattern for a quilt for Scraps on a Mission last Fall. I liked it so much that I’m making one for us.
I haven’t decided what to use as the backing and binding, but most likely they will be dark. I’ll quilt this one on my sewing machine, and we’ll use it in the great room.
This next quilt is a color block design that went together in just a couple of hours, It will be quilted using parallel lines about 2″ apart. The center strip will be quilted vertically, and the rest will be quilted horizontally. This quilt will be given to a women’s shelter that Scraps on a Mission is supporting. I’ll quilt this one at home, too. It’s close to twin size. I’m trying to decide if I want to add a strip at the bottom, or both the top and bottom, to give it a little more length. (The light spots in the yellow are from the quilt behind this one on my design board.)
There’s one more quilt top that is done and ready to be sent to my favorite long arm quilter, but I need to get a picture tomorrow, so I’ll add another post then.
This last picture is the six inch crocheted squares that I’ve started for a charity project. I like to have something to work on while I sit with Dear Husband at night, and these fill the bill.
The Maple Leaf Quilt that I was working on in December is ready for a day when I can just sit and sew. I know one of those days is bound to show up, sooner or later. I’ll post pictures of that quilt when it’s further along.
And we had such a good day, Tuesday. Dear Husband and I had appointments with the dermatologist in the morning. He drove so that I could take care of three phone calls that needed to be made. We have the loveliest dermatologist, and I really enjoy visiting with her, but she got both of us with the liquid nitrogen this time, four spots on my face and one on his nose. It’s good to be proactive about this stuff, so I’m really not complaining.
We treated ourselves to lunch at Pappadeaux, a Cajun favorite. We know they serve OMG sized meals, so we were unusually prudent about our choices and still took home enough food that I didn’t have to cook. Turning out of the parking lot, I mentioned that had we gone left, I could have visited a quilt shop we’ve finally tracked down. DH is the most remarkable man. He turned around and visited the shop with me! I picked up some brights for baby quilts and browsed through their amazing selection of batiks. It’s a place I want to visit again.
When we got home, I was chained to the chair in the office, where I sorted several days worth of mail, and organized what needed immediate attention and what could be thrown away. I filed for a bit, all the while keeping an eye out the window. Around 2:30 it had started raining. The skies were quite dark to the south, so I thought we might miss the worst of it. Hah!
It looked as though the sun had set at 3:00 and the rain came down in earnest. It continued to come down harder and harder all afternoon. In fact, it’s rained quite hard for about twelve hours now, and is expected to continue into the morning. The thought I shared with Dear Husband was that we were incredibly lucky that it had been in the 60s, otherwise we would be under twelve feet of snow!
Speaking of snow…. the temperature is expected to continue to drop, and by late morning we will have a mix of rain and snow, followed by snow in early afternoon. I doubt that much of the early snow will accumulate because of the sodden ground, but as the day passes we will probably have ice to deal with.
It’s the middle of the night, a time when I am not usually at the computer. I had a dream of the house floating off the foundation and sliding down the front lawn. Somehow, that blended with the scene from “The Wizard of Oz,” and the house was at a crazy tilt at the road with legs in black and white striped stockings sticking out from one corner. I guess I’d rather be awake than continue that dream, so perhaps I’ll get a little more filing done.
Have a good night, all!
Wow, this has been an busy month! Dear Husband has continued with his physical therapy, and he’s had visits with several doctors (repeatedly) as they keep track of the progress of his knee. He had an x-ray the other day to determine if the bones in his knee are still in the appropriate places.
In addition to health issues, DH has decided to join me in morning exercise. My class loves him, although I don’t know why. He’s very quiet at class. I suppose I’ve talked about him so much that they feel as though they know him.
I’ve finished the top of one quilt, and may get a second one sewn together this afternoon. The backing of that first quilt has been pieced. I want to contact my long-arm quilter to see if she will take on this project.
Yesterday, My-Sister-The-Nurse, DH and I visited a food service supply house called “Schweppes,” to buy utensils and pots for the kitchen. Then we went to “Ki’s” for lunch. DH ordered saganaki, which we all shared. We all had baked onion soup and salad,but we each chose a different salad: Chopped salad for sis, Greek salad for DH, and Cobb salad for me. We all brought salad home and had it for dinner! Of course, the best part of the day was the time I had with my sister!
DH has resumed driving at long last, so he took himself off to his last physical therapy session. I’m going to clear off the counter in the kitchen, have some lunch and then go to the studio for a bit. I’d like to get that next quilt ready to be quilted.
This weekend most of the Christmas decorations will go downstairs. I still have wreaths and swags outside, but I’ll wait until this coming week to take them down. We had our first measurable snow this morning, all of one inch. The snow will melt this weekend, and then I’ll take the greens down.
Tax season is coming up, so I’ll need to go through our data and receipts. Ugh!
I’ve started crocheting squares for charity once more. It’s pleasant to sit with DH in the evening, wrapped in a quilt, crocheting.
A week from today my quilting bee will come for Souper Supper. I make soup, and they all bring a side to share. I love having dinner with these ladies. You can bet the conversation will be great and the meal tasty.
And that’s about all I have to share.. I hope that your days are full, and that you are doing what you enjoy.
They had to take my computers away to get me to sit down and write my thank you notes. I’m SO embarrassed. (Actually, one computer is being fed information from the other, and it just gave me the downtime to start my notes, but my husband would say the opening line is more fun! lol)
I’ve been keeping a running list of people to whom I need to send a thank you note, or a personal note. That list has been growing, because I’ve added to it, but not written the notes. What’s worse is that I have scraps of paper all over the place with partial lists of notes to be written. My mother would not be pleased to know that I FINALLY wrote a thank you note fully one year after a gift had been given.
One of my sisters says that it’s never too late to say thank you. I hope she’s right, but that still doesn’t excuse my tardiness.
I hope that everyone who gets a hand written note from me knows how heartfelt that note is, and that I’ve thought about them, daily, until I finally got the note written.
I fully expect pithy comments from Cop Car and Frankie, and I bet they have different opinions. Mea culpa…..maxima mea culpa. I’ll try to do better this year.
Green is on my mind these days. I was standing at the sink, looking out over the herb garden, and realized that there are little tiny leaves growing around the crowns of the oregano plants. I’m sure these were growing prior to Christmas, when it was so warm. We’ve had a cold spate for the past two weeks or so, with temperatures much closer to normal. I think it’s likely that we’ll loose these tiny leaves, and see another flush of them rise in March or April. It’s been cold, but they are talking about the possibilities of temps in or near the FIFTIES this coming week. Weather is very different these days.
I’ve been working on the blocks for a scrap quilt to use in the family room, something that we can curl up in and not have to worry about wear and tear. I’m using the pattern called “The Missing U” from “Sunday Morning Quilts.” Each block is 15 x 15. In each block there is a scrap of white material. Each block is made from a color family, so there might be 15 fabrics which are all purple or lavender in one block. I showed the blocks to my quilting bee on Friday, and right away they were down on the floor laying out the blocks. Of the sixteen blocks, two are lime and one is a sage green. I said I was thinking about swapping one of the lime for a second purple block, and I was also thinking about removing the sage green block. “Nope!” They told me to leave it just as it is. I have to choose a backing, and get a batting. I’m looking forward to quilting this quilt! Pictures later.
We need more greens in our diet! I need to schedule stir fries, and sub gums, and vegetable soups. We just don’t get enough greens. Any suggestions? I’m going to ask everyone to give me veggie ideas!
And last….I’m green with envy that my youngest sister was wise enough to go south for a week right after Christmas. The pictures she posted on Facebook made me long for places where grass is still green, and you can walk around outside without layers and layers of clothing. We’ll have to see how Dear Husband’s knee is coming. Perhaps we can get away for a few days in February.