Saturday, December 20, 2014

moving from one kind of challenge to another

it seems strange not to have a house project to do

this week we focused on some other things -- like wrapping all of the Christmas presents and stashing them somewhere that people walking through the house can't see them!

before all the heavy house projects, the DH was working on restoring the antique dining room chairs

he had gotten all of the wood work done, and then the project stalled because the house took over

this week we worked on the next step -- originally (as in over 100 years ago!) these chairs had a caned seat, but over the years they had had several renovations, so the fact that there was cane at the bottom of all that was a surprise to us!

because of those changes, we decided not to try to re-cane them, but to recover the seat with a plain black leather pad

but first some prep work must be done -- this week we've put the support strapping on all six of them

next step is some padding -- maybe this week!

I've gotten to do some work on art again!

this piece had come to a complete stop, but this week I've gotten back to work on this, and the fringing is coming right along

and the hand work on the 13th and final piece in the shed door series is done!

amazing

for the past six months or so I have just felt "off" -- first with one thing, then another, but overwhelming feeling like I just had no energy

early this week I had an appointment with my doctor where we talked about all of the issues at length

she did blood work, an EKG, referred me for a stress test and a sleep study (those latter two will be done in the next few weeks)

the blood work, however, resulted in a diagnosis of type II diabetes and a prescription for a medication to help with that issue

so begins a whole new challenge -- never a dull moment!!


Friday, December 12, 2014

and now the waiting begins

the sign went up yesterday morning

we are officially for sale

the kitchen redo looks really good -- now I just have to keep it looking this tidy


the basement has been rearranged -- the "office" section at one end -- complete with the old computer which serves as a jukebox so I can have music while I work down there

my sewing machines are set up at the other end of the room

and the ironing board is all set up too

this morning it felt really odd to get up and not have some big in the house project to do

yesterday afternoon I cut out some things that are Christmas sewing and last night I actually finished a Christmas knitting object

it feels good to get back to doing creative things --- hope I can get the Christmas stuff all done quickly so I can get back to some of the art projects --- but also hoping we'll be able to seriously look for a new house soon

today we'll be doing some Christmas shopping too

something that feels normal!

Friday, December 05, 2014

I'm still here

we took a much needed break and went to our daughter's house for Thanksgiving week

the plan was for me to rest and not do anything that would make the pain issues I'd been having any worse

while I was there I did a few projects with my daughter -- she's planning a birthday party for Mr Cute that will include 4 year olds decorating cookies, so I was the "pinning and pressing" assistant while she constructed aprons for each of the little boys that will be there

last year I made Mr Cute a pair of bright orange mittens

he recently told his mama that he needed another pair of mittens so he could have a pair to wear while the first pair was drying

I was happy to do that for him -- and he was pretty happy with these brightly colored stripped ones!


I made this Christmas wall hanging for my daughter a few years ago

when I first made it there were only two snowmen, a bird and one dog

a couple of years after that I added a second dog, and four years ago I added the third snowman

earlier this year they sadly said goodbye to that very first dog, so while I was there I made another small adjustment to the piece -- embroidering a little gold "halo" over that dog's head


since we came home we have been working hard -- the painting is all done, the kitchen and family room are nearly finished

tomorrow I will be in the basement doing organizing and rearranging in my studio area -- something that will almost feel like I'm getting do do something more creative than painting a ceiling or scrubbing a floor --- I'm actually looking forward to it

we hope to have the For Sale sign up next week