And Sew It Goes

I've finished the quilting on this little one, "Sister Bear"; I have the binding all ready to apply, and wouldn't you know it, it's a batik and there's enough left over to make more masks! Yay! 

This is the batch from last week, thirteen adult sized and one child's mask; they've already been distributed to their new families and I have nine all ready to go this week! I thought that my batiks were dwindling away.  Nope, think again! One family member that received masks was so kind as to repay me with a generous cut of beautiful blue batik from her own stash! This kindness reminds me of a line from my favorite-of-all-time Christmas movie: "Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas". 

There's a scene in the movie when Emmet and his mother, Alice Otter, are rowing on the river and he teases her "you trade socks that you've knitted for pumpkins so that you can bake them into pies which you sell for money to buy more wool to knit more socks..." and so on! Yes, I'm trading masks for fabric to make more masks, and SEW it goes!

In other news, phase three of the dental implant saga happened yesterday with the placement of the abutment. I feel a little like I was kicked in the jaw by a mule today; basically just sore but there's no pain at the site. I'm sure glad to have gotten to this point, and have all the rest behind me. In three weeks the plan is to move ahead with the crown made and that's the final step. It's been a long haul since that blasted tooth cracked down to the root last October. 😬

Today, July 1, is both National Postage Stamp day and National Letter Carrier day. Do you remember this stamp? I sure do, it was one of my favorites. A 13-cent stamp is almost impossible to believe today, but not in 1987. 😉

Hannes and I would like to wish you a happy July and a wonderful summer ahead. This picture is a couple of years old, here he's resting his head on "Red Hot Summer", a Stack and Whack quilt. 

Life is Good!

Removing Stitches and Other Events

We're really good at it-- removing stitches. We're well acquainted with frogging and we all have armed ourselves with the proper tools. We've been doing it for years. We have different terms for this action, too: rather than "ripping out" we may refer to this as un-sewing, reverse-stitching or removing stitches. I'm skilled at this craft! In fact, I'm so adept at stitch removal that when I parked myself in the dental chair this morning, to have my stitches removed from the dental procedure (extraction, bone graft and membrane placement) performed 4.5 weeks ago, the dental assistant couldn't find any remaining sutures to be found! There was a stray "knot", attached to nothing, and I was deemed free and clear to go. Another month of healing, a reassessment, and we'll see where we go from there. Yep, I'm that good! Years of practice pays off.

Lynnleigh was front and center yesterday afternoon, showing off her violin skills with her fellow "Little Mozarts" at her school auditorium. One of the pieces they performed was "Grandma Rides A Motorcycle". Ah, NO!, not this "Grandma"; I might be good at a lot of things-- like telepathically removing stitches, but riding a motorcycle isn't, nor ever will be, my super power! 

How cute is she?

Life is Good!

Up next: Adding Stitches

 

Spreadsheet Required

We had the youngest two grandchildren for a few days last week, it was wonderful and BUSY! They're in the third and first grades now and they both have lots of fun activities besides school. Our son had emailed me calendar items to add to my daily schedule as reminders but I find that I need a spreadsheet. It's the way I visualize and plan. It might be antiquated but that works for me, and so, I created one. It worked like a champ! I knew at a glance who needed to be where and when. If it had just been the kiddos and their schedules it would have been one thing; but, during this time, I had a bit of oral surgery and construction began, full bore, on our porch project. Things were hopping at Chez Goodneedle!

The oral surgery was done under sedation, a first for me. I had cracked a molar clear through to the root and a plan was devised, over several steps, to prepare for a dental implant. The tooth was extracted and a bone graft was set in place all while I snoozed. I don't remember a thing about leaving the dentist's office that day or anything (I suppose that's good!) until I woke up sitting in the car in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot (Mr. Goodneedle was bringing lunch home for the work crew that day). I've had a follow-up visit since; all is well. I'll have the remaining stitches removed in a few weeks' time. 

Here's where we stand today with the progress on our porch project, we're roofed in; Mr. Goodneedle is busy with wiring and doing the things that he can do as we move forward. We will, eventually, have ceiling fans and a tongue-and-groove ceiling, (as well as screens) this space will be much loved and well-used come spring and warmer temperatures.  

Our dress-loving six-year-old granddaughter maneuvering around the rink at ice hockey practice!

So, back to the grandchildren-sitting and my spreadsheet: except for Lynnleigh's art lesson the day of my afore-mentioned surgery (there simply wasn't time to squeeze it in!) neither Gregory or Lynnleigh missed a beat: they were at school, their respective music lessons, Daisy and Cub scouts and ice hockey practice. Homework was completed, meals were on the table at the correct hour and baths and bedtimes were accomplished on time and successfully. This New England girl absolutely loved watching them skate! Truth be told: I am a HUGE hockey fan!! Their gear bags are, literally, as big as they are and the only mishap last Sunday afternoon was losing a glove somewhere in the melee associated with leaving the ice at the end of practice and getting all their gear off and in the proper duffle bags while they chased around to find the candy-bearing coach who hands out treats. I'd still consider our time as temporary surrogate parents a huge win! As Mr. Goodneedle stated: "keeping children is a young persons' sport!" Clearly, we're not too old yet! It's been quiet around here since they returned home. And now it's Thanksgiving week-- bring it on, I can't wait to have them back here again!

Life is Good!

Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving!

Up next: There IS A Simpler Way!