Feeling better and some stitching updates!!

 Now that I am out of my drug induced stupor  which might have allowed me to post things that shouldn't necessarily be out there in the world, I think it's safe for me to re-enter the blogging world!  Then again, the drugs would have given me a perfect excuse to say whatever popped into my head and you all wouldn't have held it against me because I was on some very strong painkillers.  Darn!  Missed a good opportunity once again.

My surgery went well. The nerve block that was supposed to allow me to wake up from surgery with no pain however, did not work!  I never wake up from anesthesia well and I'm told this was no exception.  I woke up in  a lot of pain and they were not prepared for that.  Luckily, Dan had filled the prescription for pain meds already and they were able to get me comfortable fairly quickly.  Surgery was at 1 and we got home about 6:30 that evening.  Later than they anticipated and I think they were happy to see me go.

Recovery has not been too terrible.  Yes there was/is pain but with the meds it is tolerable.  I think the complete and utter boredom is worse than the pain.  One can only do so much from a seated position and crutching it isn't working so well.  My left hip does not like bearing all my considerable weight so I am pretty much stuck in my recliner chair all day long with the exception of  those times when I transfer to the rolling chair and roll around in the kitchen.  Everything I do is a process that has to be thought out because the last thing I need is to fall and break a hip or tear the sutures holding the tendon together.  It really makes you appreciate the little things in life.  Like washing your bum.  Hard to do when seated.  Nuff said.

 I also apparently act out my dreams as I found out the other night.  My dear dear wonderful husband had installed a plastic spider in the ceiling vent of Amy's room and she discovered it before going to bed the other night.  Amy and I both have an irrational fear of spiders.  Just talking about them can bring on a nightmare.  And that night I had one where the floor was covered with the little buggers and I was stomping on them.  With.my.right.foot.  The foot that had surgery.  As I was stomping in my dream I was also stomping with my leg IRL.  Can we say OUCH!!  Even though I wasn't stomping on the actual floor just the action was enough to cause considerable pain.  I cursed the man a blue streak once the pain subsided and if parts of his body should happen to fall off in the next little while...he deserves it.

I go back to the Dr. on Monday and I think they take the splint off and cast the leg at that point.  I'm hoping to get the green light to go back to work at this time also.  Won't be able to do a ton of framing but I'm sure I can do some things.  I miss the shop and all the people.

I'm getting some stitching done but not as much as one might expect.  The first week I couldn't see well enough to focus on the stitching.  Good drugs will do that to you. LOL!!  I'm doing better this week but I gotta say, after 6 hours I'm pretty much tired of it and want to do something else.  Never the less progress is being made.  I stitched up this Blackbird design from their book A Stitcher's Journey and will mount it on a wood pedestal base.

                                         

                                         
And I've stitched on Tuscan Rose too.  Finished all that back stitchy crap for now and am happy to see the end of it.  For now.  There's another band of it further down.  I had to frog some last night so I didn't get as far as I wanted to.  Rotten frog. I don't think he should visit people who are recovering from surgery.  Do you hear that Frog!  I don't need any more stinking visits from you!!!  Go see Doreen or Connie!!   Sorry girls.  I had to send him somewhere.  Forgive me?

                                       

                                       
Before surgery, I finished up these two cuties for a customer.  This was my first time using this particular   finishing technique.  It's not a flat fold, it uses an acrylic stand and I really like how it turns out.  The customer did too and now she wants to finish the series.  

I could go on and on today but most likely you have tuned out by now.  I'll have to post again sooner than normal so I can get it all out.  I have kitchen pictures and more stitching pictures and on and on.  Anyway,

Take care till next time!

Julie

 

And the winner is....

Catherine from Bramblewood Stitches

 Catherine said...

Best wishes with your surgery!

Love your kitchen - the cabinets look great!

Your giveaway goodies are great - I'd love to give the bird a new home! Thanks and congrats on all of your followers!

June 28, 2011 9:28 PM

Congratulations Catherine!  If you could email me your snail mail address I will do my best to get Dan to mail your package in a timely manner!  If I don't hear from Catherine in 5 days I will draw another winner.   

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway and thank you all for the comments on the kitchen and my surgery.  I am doing well, I quit taking the heavy duty drugs 2 days ago and the pain is tolerable so that is a good thing.  I'm bored out of my mind and to be honest, kinda tired of stitching!  So today I have been scooting around in a rolling chair and sorting through paperwork that has piled up and paying bills that really should have been paid before I had surgery!  OOPS!  My bad.  Also fighting with the insurance company regarding a charge from the Dr. that they are not paying on a bill for Amy.  I hate insurance companies.    

The Kitchen is coming along nicely.  No pictures today but maybe the next post.  I'm running out of energy now so will keep this short and go take a quick nap.  

Take care till next time!

Julie

For the Birds Giveaway

Today is the day!  I have procrastinated long enough and as you know...The early bird gets the worm!  I am finally posting my giveaway and let me tell you folks, it's for the birds!!  Something to crow about!  This goose is cooked! He flew the coop!  And if I continue this you'll be madder than a wet hen so without further ado, let's feather your nest with a little giveaway that's for the birds!!!!  Sorry, I couldn't resist!

To celebrate and thank the awesome 200+ followers I have and you are all awesome putting up with my long stretches of silence,  let's take a birds eye view of what you will be receiving if you are the lucky duck that wins this little prize.  I hope you will think it's something to crow about!



First up is a Shabby Chic Scissor Beak Bird made by Yours Truly.  Your bird will arrive Naked as a Jay Bird!



Meaning it WILL NOT have scissors or valdani balls or old wooden spools when it takes roost at your house.  You get to have the pleasure of choosing your own accessories,

but here is a picture of the bird all tricked out to give you an idea of what it will look like.



Next we have a wonderful Bluebird chart by Blackbird designs.  Too cute!



To go with the Bluebird design, I am including a lovely piece of White Swan 30 count linen and one skein each of Crescent Colours Blackbird and Gentle Arts Blue Jay Overdyed Floss because as the wise old owl would say, what's sauce for the goose might not always be sauce for the gander. That owl is wise because a little bird told him some people might prefer a Blackbird instead of a Bluebird.  Right?

And finally I'm sure your eagle eyes have spotted the swan song of this giveaway, that lovely piece of bird print fabric in the background.  Use it for gilding your cage or your pincushion, or whatever makes you proud as a peacock!

So here it is all ready to go to it's new home.  All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to be a follower/become a follower and leave a comment on this post only saying you would like to be entered.  Leave me some way to reach you if you should win.  No email address or blog means you don't win.  For a second chance to win, please mention the give away on your own blog and let me know you have done so.  The giveaway is open to everyone!   I hope you like it!!


Finally, a quick glimpse of what the kitchen is looking like.  Progress is slow but steady.  The color of the cabinets is actually closer to the the top ones than the bottom cabinets.  The flash made the bottom look whiter.


I can't get blogger to cooperate with centering the pictures today so please forgive me.  I am out of time as I need to be at the hospital for surgery in a half hour and want to post this before I go.  I will draw the winner of the giveaway on Tuesday, July 5th.  Gotta fly!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Stitching and Kitchen progress!

Well dang, where did the time go?  I just realized how long it has been since I last blogged and I’m shocked!  I knew it had been a while but certainly not this long!  Once again it seems I must apologize for being a bad blogger!  I.am.sorry.

Let’s start with some stitching progress pics.  We had second Saturday stitching this past weekend and I was able to snap some not very good pictures of the Double Dutch stitch along.  My camera battery was about to die so please forgive me for the crappy photos.  

Mary Ann's progress.  She hasn't had much stitching time so not a ton of progress.

 

Mary's progress.  She's has been working on other things lately.   Progress has been made though!

I cheated a bit and didn't take this picture until after I have had a chance to stitch a bit more.  The others were taken last Saturday.

I am having a hard time fitting stitching into my life at the moment.  Between work,   regular house stuff and this kitchen re-do, stitching is falling way to the bottom of the to do pile.  Not for long though.  I found out last week that I am having surgery on the 28^th and will be non-weight bearing for 6 weeks.  Should leave me with plenty of stitching time!    

The kitchen is coming along slowly.  Dan and I have spent a considerable amount of time looking at counter top options, back splash options, sink options, faucet options, hardware options and paint options.  We found an incredible deal on granite counter tops but after looking at everything else that still needs to be done and paid for, we have decided to go the laminate counter option and have Dan do the install.  In a couple of years we can always replace them with granite or whatever might trip our trigger at the time.  I have put back splash options on the back burner for now along with hardware options but need to seriously decide on a sink and the faucet.  Dan finished up the pantry drawers last night so I can now start to wipe all the dust and debris off of the foodstuff and start putting it away.  That will be a huge relief!

I think I will pull him off the pantry and have him finish off the cabinet to the right of the dishwasher so I can put the silverware and such away.  The appliances arrived last Friday.  I'm sending the refrigerator back though.  It arrived with 4 dents/scratches in the side and although they are not bad and I could have lived with them given the right amount off, they would only cut the price by $100.00 and I figured for that I want a dent free fridge! Of course they were out of  stock on it so I am waiting for a new one to arrive, hopefully Saturday.  The delay on the fridge is also causing a delay in the microwave.  When we bought the fridge, we received a gift card for $150.00 but can’t use it until we have accepted delivery of all the appliances.   I plan to use the gift card towards the new microwave so until the fridge arrives, no new microwave.  Appliances sans the microwave.  Oh!  and the floor was installed last week also.  Love love love it!!! Btw, ignore the white thing under the dishwasher, Dan hadn't installed the kick plate yet.  My dishwasher is uber quiet.  It's  Awesome!

I must confess to feeling a bit of panic over this renovation.  Did I mention Abby is graduating from Radiology Tech School on July 9 and on July 10 we are having her party at our house.  And let’s not forget that I will be off my feet during this time.   I’m a little anxious about being able to pull the whole thing off.   Dan is only one man and although he is an incredible one man he is still only one single male specimen trying to do all this work by himself.  My mother-in-law said…Julie if it’s not perfect it’s not a big deal and I am trying very hard to think that way but it’s not working so well.  I find myself biting my tongue so I don’t harp on Dan to hurry it up a bit.  I am a horrible person!    Please keep us in your thoughts and wish us luck on getting the house put back together, if not completely finished. 

I have a bit of progress on Tuscan rose to show you also.  Still not enjoying the process of the double running back stitch but love the results!  

Think that’s about it for now.  I am almost done gathering the items I want for the give away.  I have one other thing I am looking for and then I will post it.  In the meantime…

Take care!

Julie

Have you Seen my Tape Measure?

If I have heard it once I think I must have heard it a million times in the last 2 weeks.  Boss,(that's what he calls me.  Says he's seen that job and doesn't want it.) have you seen my tape measure?  Yes dear, it's hanging from  your jeans.  Yes dear, it's right there on the counter, Yes dear, it's in the bathroom.  Yes dear, your holding it in your left hand.  If he's not careful, the Boss is going to staple the tape measure to some portion of his anatomy.  Oh wait, he's already stuffed it in his pants, asked me if I've seen it and when I turned around he had it extended out his fly 12 inches.  He dreams big when he dreams!  Anyway, that sight was enough to burn my eyeballs so I guess stapling it in place is out of the question. He'd be playing with it all day!

So obviously the kitchen reno is still a work in progress.  At the rate we are going it will be a work in progress in the year 2525!  The focus right now is on the pantry  but since the floor is to be laid this coming Wednesday, the focus is going to need to change to moving the electrical, and getting the plumbing ready to go for the new dishwasher.  I'm not quite sure how this is all going to be done by Wednesday but it has to be or no floor and that just isn't gonna fly!  So here's what the old pantry looked like.  Not very functional at all.  The opening was small and it was hard to find things way in the back.

This is the start of what will be the new pantry. 

after tearing out the walls

New back wall

looking better

with some stain

2 drawers ready

 

 Pull out drawers = functional.  You can ignore that nice orange color of the wood.  We will be painting all the cabinets but wanted to start with mostly the same finish on everything just in case it would make a difference in the final product.  Probably it wouldn't but I would hate to find out differently after we had painted.

 I was supposed to share our progress on the stitch a long but forgot to take a picture of Mary's.  I've emailed her and asked her to email a picture of her progress but in the meantime, I'll just share my progress on TR.  The section I'm working on is all done (or supposed to be done) with a double running back stitch.  Not sure that's what I'm doing and I can't say I am in love with the process but I am enjoying the results.  

Today was mostly spent cleaning the basement so Adam has a clean place to rest his head when he gets here.  The act of cleaning led me to putting some stitching stuff away which led me to seeing just how many different things I actually have started that I haven't finished.  YIKES!!  And to think I used to be a one project at a time person with no UFO's!!!  I will never clean again.  Cross my heart.  Done.  I do not need to know that kinda information.  No siree bob! From now on the basement will remain a filthy pig sty and I am just fine with that!

Dan is back from Menards, Amy is home from babysitting so I guess I should do something about feeding them.  Keep an eye open for a giveaway.  I've reached 200 followers and I think that deserves a celebration!  Just need to pull everything together for it. 

Have a great rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Tuscan Rose update

Happy Thursday!  The sun is shining this morning and life is good.  On second thought, as I'm sitting here looking out the kitchen windows and the sliding glass door...maybe the sun is not such a good thing.  Apparently I really need to wash windows!  Yuck!

Not much to report here.  The kitchen is moving along.  Tore out the pantry and Dan is busy trying to rebuild it for more functionality.  Not much to see yet so no pictures.  The kitchen is a mess so not much cooking is going on.  I'm not complaining but certain members of the family who shall remain nameless are. 

Spent yesterday waiting on news of the birth of a dear friends first Grandchild.  Marsha is so excited to be a GiGi as she wants to be called.  I'm happy to report Clara was born in the wee hours of the morning and mother, child and gigi are all doing well. 

Stitching is coming along.  This week I'm working on the Double Dutch stitch-a-long and will show pictures in my next post.  We have Last Saturday Stitch this weekend and will snap a pic of everyone's progress at that time. Last week I worked on Tuscan Rose.  Not a ton of progress but she's coming along nicely.  I have the itch to start something new but am fighting it off tooth and nail!

Need to leave for work early this morning as I have to go to the post office and get a package in the mail.  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a wonderful Holiday weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!  I appreciate so much the wonderful comments!

Take care till next time! 
 

Renovating with Dan

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I must say, as much as I love my job, I am happy that I have the next 2 days off.  Between a lack of sleep due to thunderstorms and a doggy that is terrified of them, and all the things that need doing around the house I could use a big kick of ambition and a couple days of sleep.  One of which is not going to happen.  It's hard to get anything done if you are sleeping and the project Dan and I started last weekend really needs to get finished before Abby graduates in July and we have a house full of  people!  What project is that you ask?  Or maybe you don't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway...we are doing a partial renovation of the kitchen.  With the appliances starting to go bad or parts on them breaking, it is time to start replacing them.  Since the flooring runs under the dishwasher, I saw no sense in replacing the dishwasher without replacing the floor which was damaged.  Did you know that laminate flooring and water do not mix?  A concept that some do not entirely grasp in this house.  I saw no sense in replacing the floor when I wanted to remove part of the cabinets and counter and move the location of the dishwasher.  I have a one butt kitchen.  By removing the "L"  part of my counters, my kitchen becomes at least a 2 butt kitchen.  But this would leave a hole in the flooring as they do not lay flooring under the cabinets.   So it only makes sense to remove the "L", change the floor, replace and move the dishwasher which is unfortunately going to involve new counter tops at some point.  Since I am replacing the dishwasher with black instead of white, the other appliances will also need to be changed sooner rather than later.  Since I am loosing 4 of the 7 drawers I have in my kitchen by chopping off the "L" I need to buy a new cabinet to replace them and so forth and so on...this is commonly referred to in these parts as The Snowball Effect.  I would love to replace all the cupboards.  I am so over orangey oak...you have no idea.  But, I cannot afford to do that.  So for right now, it will be a partial renovation and who knows, I may end up loving my orange cabinets!  NOT!

My kitchen before:

as you walk into kitchen from front of house

to the left

sharp left

from the dining room

see how tight?

another example of how tight it is

Me, on tiptoe trying to reach 2nd shelf

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Furniture Mart and chose new flooring for the kitchen.  This was not an easy decision. I knew I didn't want ceramic tile or stone, too hard on the legs, knees, hips and ankles.  I knew I didn't want hardwood.  Water + hardwood = warping.  I have already been there done that with the laminate, don't need to beat me over the head with a stick to teach me a lesson.  I knew I didn't want cork, sheet vinyl or linoleum.  Which I have to admit doesn't leave much to choose from.  And then I discovered a product called Armstrong Alterna Luxury Vinyl Tile.  Has the look of stone, but more give to it which means it is easier on the body.  You can soak it in a bathtub for a week and it won't be damaged, it can be installed over an existing vinyl floor (we have one of those lurking under our laminate) it can be installed with grout to make it look more like real stone and it comes in a ton of colors.  We chose  Mesa Stone in Chocolate.  

Got the bid back last night and are set up for installation on June 8th! Only 3 more weeks of hand washing the dishes!!!

We (and by we I really mean Dan) started the demolition by disconnecting the dishwasher and removing the "L".  I gave assistance by overseeing and telling Dan to shut the breaker off after he shocked himself.  Which he did but since he shut down the wrong breaker, he shocked himself a second time.  Hence the nickname Zap.

After a full day of demolition and clean up we now look something like this:

to the left

from dining room

Big difference already!  We've purchased a new dishwasher and the drawer base cupboard.  Dan will have to rework the drawer fronts to make them match the exiting ones.  He's gonna need a new tool for that and it's gonna cost me extra.  That's his mantra whenever I want him to do something.  I owe the man so much by now that it's not even funny!   
 
Up next is the pantry redo.  Oh, I guess I didn't mention the pantry redo before.  I have one.  It needs work. But I'll cover that in the next installment of...Kitchen Renovation starring Zapper Dan!   We should have our own show on HGTV!! :)


And now my fine stitchy friends I must bid you adieu as I need to go to Hobby Lobby to get some fabby and trim for some flat folds I am doing for customers.  Ya'll have a great weekend and...

Take Care till next time!

Julie