Fiber and Pulp

Benched

Thursday was a crazy busy day. Stephie came from Cincinnati and took me to the orthopedics clinic in Gallipolis in the early afternoon. They showed me the X-rays of my foot - I actually have two broken bones, one in my lower ankle, the other in my right side arch. Sigh! They decided to leave me in the removable boot for support and warned me not to drive, to keep my foot up as much as possible (to reduce any swelling) and to come back in three weeks for more X-rays (I assume to see whether and how much I have healed). I expect I will be booted for at least four to eight weeks. Sigh!

We also went grocery shopping and to the laundromat so the household is pretty well set for a couple weeks of trips. My brothers have to go to the doctor at least twice this month but my Aunt Janice says she would be glad to take them (which is a long drive for her; they live almost all the way to Athens so she has to drive here, pick them up, drive them past her home to the doctor's office in Athens, then drive them back here and go home - essentially covering the same road four times for one errand).

I was so tired on Friday, after all that running about the day before, I pretty much just put my foot up and read all day. I _did_ manage to finish sewing the Piece of Candy block (picture above).

While Steph as here on Thursday, she walked over to the old barn here on the farm and took pics of the two young pigs the farmer has installed in pens there ... I think he intends them to be Xmas dinner. :) Here is one of the pictures she took for me, artistically rendered with an ap:

My niece Amy's father Dean tells me these are Hampshires - known to be fast growing and productive. See the fringed ears? Apparently those notches tell which litter and what order in the litter each was born. Most likely these are recently neutered males, called barrows (I think:).

Today has been cold and rainy (in the 50's and very gray). I have been lounging on the small sofa in Mom's living room, reading blogs on my iPhone and going back to reading the works of a new-to-me author, Laurie King. She has a series of novels based on Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell (her inventive character), which I have been truly enjoying. I have read quite a lot of Holmesian fiction over the years (though I am not a member of the Baker Street Irregular fan club) and these are by far the best of the lot. Riveting. If you like detective fiction with a bit of early-20th-century flavor and a strong female character, read one and see what you think. :)

My daughter called this afternoon to see if I would like her to come get me to go visit her in WI for a while ... I might take her up on that offer if my three weeks of no-driving drags on after my next orthopedics appointment. :P

My friend Barbara also called - was wonderful to talk to someone from home! I have missed my friends while I've been here. 

:) Linda

Stumbling Block

Last night I began piecing another (the most recent) Splendid Sampler block, Piece of Candy. I _think_ the striped fabric above is supposed to look like a wrapped piece of hard candy with twisted ends. It is a simple variation of nine patch block and was easy for me to cut out. I managed to sew the half square triangle units together before I got too sleepy to sew safely. :)

Yesterday we had  a string of thunderstorms roam through this region from the north - twice while I was out in the afternoon there was an actual radio alert message (instead of the much more common 'tests') saying there were high winds, hail and heavy rains in areas of southwestern West Virginia and southeastern Ohio. Mostly we watched the storms fly past in the distance but the sky was overcast most of the day.

I finally got off my duff and went out exercising in the afternoon. The local Days Inn has a small pool and for a minor amount of money I bought a monthly pass to use the pool anytime it is open (9 a.m. - 11 p.m., daily). My cardiologist urged me to go walking in the water for exercise when I saw her last month as the water resistance gives a better exercise result and the buoyancy prevents damage to my joints. This pool was quite pleasant - warm enough to keep my muscles from seizing up but cool enough to keep me from overheating. I managed to walk (the deepest part of the pool is about 4 1/2 feet) and paddle for a bit more than an hour. I did actually feel pretty good afterwards (although I had forgotten how heavy one feels when first leaving the water:). I have high hopes to go there several times a week. (Fingers crossed)

I woke up abruptly in the wee hours of the morning today, gasping from a vivid nightmare. One of the less pleasant by-products of my inherited tendency toward depression is an abundance of nightmares and bad dreams. I suffered from them constantly as a child and did not realize the connection until I began to medicate my depression in my late 20's - my nightmares suddenly disappeared. Now they are infrequent (thank you to the universe for that grace!) as long as I take my meds. This one had me wide awake and shaking for several hours so that I did not get up until later than usual due to the insomnia. :P

I took a shower after breakfast this morning and as I stepped out of the tub enclosure, my right foot sent a violent stab of pain up my leg. I think I might have mentioned before that I had turned my foot the day of our auction earlier this month and it has been a bit sore ever since. I thought it was getting better but my mis-step was a considerable set back. I was in so much pain, I knew I had to go seek medical attention.

After a call to my insurance company (to find out where in this area I could go for help), I carefully drove myself to the Holzer Medical Center (the same place my brother Jeff had been going for the Wound Clinic) to a visit at the ER. Ten X-rays and a couple of hours later, it became clear that I have a broken tibia (I learn something new every time I get an injury - I had no idea that the long bone of one's leg, the tibia, reaches into the foot area). They fitted me up with a walking splint and I have an appointment to go to the orthopedist tomorrow.

Now I am truly useless here - I can barely hobble with the aid of my cane (which I did in fact bring with me, at my husband's urging, though I was so sure I did not and would not need it any more). Sigh!

My niece is coming from Cincinnati tomorrow to drive me about 45 minutes east to Gallipolis where the orthopedics office is - it was pretty tricky driving myself home from the ER today and I truly don't think it would be safe for me to drive myself tomorrow. 

I have no idea what will happen. I am expecting them to want to put a cast on my foot ... which I am sure I won't be able to drive with. I don't know how long it will take to heal or how we will manage now. So much for being useful! I am hoping for the best, but I expect to be unable to drive for a while at least - can't go home, can't do what I came here to do ... useless. :( Probably won't even be able to go exercise in that pleasant pool.

 

Linda

Slow Stitching Saturday

I woke up earlier than usual today (any morning person would laugh to hear me call 9:30 in the morning 'early', I know:) ... and to sunshine which was a surprise. Our weather forecast had been calling for rain all day. I think it went a bit north of us - the sky was overcast most of the day and it was chillier than it has been (in the high 50's), but no rain.

I tried sitting out on the porch to read for a while - just to breath the fresh air and hear the birds sing - but it was too cold for me. My joints were aching all morning so I decided to give myself a day 'off' and just sew today.

Since I finished my April quilt along blocks, I decided to go back to making Splendid Sampler designs. I am skipping about in my making ... today I decided to tackle block number 2 ("Wings"). I so enjoyed petting and picking through my (growing) pile of fat quarters to choose fabrics for this block! Nothing like bright, happy colors to cheer me up. :)

The block finishes at 6" square and is made of 1" units. Lots of choices to be made. :) The little butterfly blocks were so cute! (imagine a young female voice saying, 'KAWAII!') You can see one of my little bits in the photo above. Putting the thing to together took quite a bit longer than one might think, given the small size of the finished block ... but I enjoyed every minute of the sewing.

I hope you can see the five 'butterfly' units as well as the green foliage and bright flower squares? I like how it turned out and that is good enough...could use a good press but that can wait until I get home.

I chose a simple block for the next one - "Nature's Walk." All my embroidery threads and tools are in Maryland so I chose a 'quotations' fabric for the center instead of the embroidery design. I think I will do all the embroidered blocks in the sampler collection as a project of their own. Here is how it came out:

 

Those corner squares look a bit orange in this photo ... they are actually a gentle yellow. Shrug. I am happy to have made two blocks today, anyway.

Tomorrow I am planning to go see my aunts and uncles in Albany, OH. I found some fabrics of Mom's I want to give my quilt making aunt ... and I want to see how spring is coming along out their way.

 

:) Linda

Sewing Today

OH, Heavens Above - two posts in one day! Don't faint now. :) I did indeed take my brother into town for that haircut (he said he felt ten pounds lighter:) .... and I spent the rest of the afternoon sewing my last Patchwork City block for April - Coffee House. The photo above shows how I lay my pieces out before sewing to see if I like the mix.

Do you do this? Maybe you have a more orderly way to do it? I can pretty much tell from a glance whether I like what I've dreamed up or not.

After I sewed it all together, this is how it came out:

I do like this block and happily put it to rest with my others. Nine made so far. I checked but the choices for May aren't on the list, yet (humph, it _is_ still April I guess:) ... so I guess I'll go back to reading my book of short stories by Neil Gaiman for a while.

:) Linda

Ohio Sunshine

This is my now-familiar view from the rest stop at Sideling Hill in western MD, taken last Sunday as I drove back to Ohio. If I take this shot often enough, I can make a photo-montage of the seasons. :) My trip was easy as the sun shone with lovely light and the traffic was light.

The weather this week in Ohio has been sunny and mild (high 70's, low 80's) - rather more like early summer than spring. I've been enjoying the sunshine as I can never get enough of that wonderful light. My brother Kevin and I have been sorting through boxes of old 'stuff' and disposing of them into a large dumpster. I hope to get this stage of moving done by the time our 14 days of rental expires. These things are a bit pricey to keep around!

You can see the old barn part of our farm behind the empty dumpster. We had completely filled the last dumpster, after the clean-out and auction. This is our second go-round with mass trash evacuation. :) I keep finding unexpected items in my sorting - can't just assume a box with papers in the top has nothing in it of interest. Inside one box of 'papers' I found one of my favorite childhood toys:

I've never been a very coordinated person and I remember clearly how long it took me to learn balance and movement with these skates. :) Of course, compared to the speed and agility of today's skates, these are clunky. Thank God it was so or I'd have even more broken bone healing scars. LOL!

 

The tree just on the right edge of the barn photo is one of two massive maples planted in front of our house (I took this picture standing on our front porch). There are at least three really large limbs down just outside the photo to the right ... one of them was pressing against the power lines to the house so Kevin and I moved it away from the power pole onto the ground. The branch (the smallest of the fallen three) was HEAVY - sure glad I don't have to cut up and move the things!

I've run errands into town three of the five days this week, including a major grocery shopping trip and several visits to the lawyer, post office, library (to donate books), and pharmacy (to get refills for meds for my brothers). I am slowly, slowly beginning to learn my way around Jackson - managed to find the water company office with only a little help from Kevin. :) I've actually done quite a lot of useful things this week but, sitting here to type, I can't think what they were. It all runs together into a blur of busy-ness. :P

One pleasure of the season here is the blooming trees - right now, the Redbud and Dogwood trees are blooming. These are understory trees and the colors floating among the dark trunks stand out with stark beauty. I am enjoying the unfolding of the seasonal blooms this year, as I do every year, but with more poignance. Life is fleeting - enjoy it while it blooms!

It is supposed to rain today so I cut out a new block last night before going to bed - Coffee House from Patchwork City. I look forward to sewing it together today ... and maybe go look up to see what the three choices for May are to be (this will be the last April block I need to make:). 

There are a variety of items on my to-do list for today, including taking my brother Kevin to town to get a much-needed haircut. :) Wish me luck!

:) Linda

Sunshine!

My first quilt guild, Faithful Circle Quilters in Columbia, MD is having their bi-annual quilt show this week. The weather could not be more wonderful for a show - sunny, low 70's - just glorious! You can see the entry to the show above - so happy and welcoming, imho. :)

There were beautiful flowers blooming all around the church - I was taken by this vignette near the front entry:

I did rent a car on Wednesday morning to drive up to Timmonium to get my quilt Gravity to put in the show. Renting a car is something I do probably once a year or so ... very odd. I usually go to Enterprise as they have a nearby office and will come pick me up (rather than me having to find a ride to get there:). The McGaw Court office which is near where I live is run by very service-oriented people. This time around the 'economy' car I got was a Nissan Verso (I _think_ that was the model name). I had never driven one before and I was favorably impressed.

The car had seating higher up than my little Dart and good visibility all around (better than the Dart's). It handled well and had a tight turning radius. Too bad my husband won't buy a Japanese car (even the ones that are made in the US) - he thinks the way the Japanese government supports their car companies gives them an untoward advantage in the marketplace (though how he feels about that position since the US government bailed out our car makers I haven't asked:).

At any rate, I managed to get my quilt and took it and my friend Patty's quilts to the committee on Wednesday to be hung in the show. I was pleased to have finished something to be in the show - for many years I've had nothing to share. :) 

 

One thing I have to deal with whenever I come home is sorting through the stack of mail I've received. This time there were several 'fun' items including this set of two tote bags from The Green Bag Lady (I won an online drawing):

Don't know if you can see the blue bag beneath the pink bunny one? Fun!

Another unexpected item in my queue was a new book I apparently bought online. I have the idea to make a barn quilt of some kind and this book leads you by the hand to work on your own design:

I have actually read the text all the way through this book - fun and inspiring. I am looking forward to making my own version. :)

 

Thursday I managed to go back to see the show hanging - after I went to Catonsville to get my hair cut and my feet pedicured. The salon I've been patronizing for years has been bought by a new owner with a new vision for the place. The name has changed from The Perfect Touch to The Beauty Bar and the decor has changed to a rather high-end glamour and glitz layout that is still under construction.

Fortunately the staff is still the same (or expanding) and my regular cutter is staying. She is an artist with hair and I'd follow her wherever she went, if I had to. :) The woman who does my pedis and waxing is wonderful, too. It's an extravagance for me to spend so much money on myself but it makes me feel so much better about myself, I have decided that the ends justify the expense. :)

 

The quilt show was, as it is every year, really wonderful. There are some very talented quilt makers in FCQ and the show is always well worth seeing. There were a number of vendors, too, many of whom I chatted with but no where did I spend any money. Shrug. I even managed to sit in on one demo - about Suzy's Wonderful Binding method, which was a new-to-me technique for producing a welted binding all done by machine. :)

It was late in the afternoon when I got to the show so I could wander and look at quilts without tripping over too many members of the general public. So many gorgeous quilts, I gave up the idea of taking photos early on. Very inspiring. The show is still open tomorrow (Saturday, 4/16) if you haven't gone - well worth the time!

Today I spent my time going to see my primary care doctor (who advised me to see the orthopedist again about my pinched nerve in the neck since the situation is not improving ... and to pay attention to my cholesterol intake as the numbers are slowing inching upwards).

Also I went and did Early Voting in the primary election. I did get a chuckle out of that. For Howard County, where I live, the early voting polling place was at the Florence Bain Center - I know it as the _Senior_ Center but the sign on the building said Florence Bain 50+ Center. Big Grin. I guess there needed to be a precise definition of 'senior'? Don't know when the name changed but it made me grin for some reason. I was surprised to see how many people were there to vote early. I've never done that before and it would not have occurred to me to do so except for my travel and dual-home situation right now. The primary is scheduled in Maryland for this coming Tuesday but I have to be in Ohio.

Skip and I went out to dinner this afternoon - I had a wonderful Fall Harvest salad with grilled chicken. Very tasty! :) It was cozy and pleasant to get to spend some one-on-one time with him. I miss him when I'm in Ohio.

Tomorrow I think I will try to do some house work ... and maybe go to the spring gardening sale at our local community college. I have to go back to Ohio on Sunday.

:) Linda

Home A Week

When last I wrote, I was being assisted by two of my nieces to prepare for our auction at the farm. We (well, they) worked hard that week, dumping trash, taking recycling away, cleaning up the front and back porch and sorting paperwork.

There are some very large trees near the farmhouse and Stephanie got the urge to go vertical one afternoon. Here she is, climbing an elderly maple tree with agility (and a complete disregard for her safety:):

See her way up there in the middle?

Notice the dust mask she is wearing? We breathed a lot of it for those several days. :P

By Thursday, we were finished with the preparations and I took them both back to Cincinnati. The photo at the top of this post shows Stephanie's neighbor's front yard. I turned around from getting out of the car and caught sight of the yard ornaments and burst out laughing. Zombie gnomes! LOL! I had to take a photo to document the silliness. :)

The auction Friday was fascinating. About a hundred people came which was many more than I expected! The company we hired (Rick Williams Auctions) was very professional - I don't know yet exactly how much the bottom line cost will be but it is well worth the money! The weather was nice, despite the forecast which called for snow, and the bidding was brisk. Things sold for more than I thought they would - don't know if that is because I was being pessimisstic or if people were spending freely. :) As far as I know, everything sold.

Saturday I got up a bit later than I wanted and loaded my car up to return to Maryland. The weather was uncertain and went through every variation of snow flurries, hail, sleet, rain and sunshine that you can imagine during my trip. I was never in any worry over the road conditions (although the very fierce wind in the mountains did make me a bit nervous) and I got home by evening. I only stopped twice (usually I stop four or five times, briefly) so made good time in spite of the elements. :P

I had wanted to go to the Baltimore modern guild meeting on Sunday afternoon but I was so tired after the trip that I stayed home and horizontal. Both of our cars need servicing so I am wheel-less this week. I will have to rent a car tomorrow so I can run the errands that _must_ be done.

Monday evening I managed to get my grit together and go to the weekly meeting of my 'traditional' guild, Faithful Circle Quilters. This week is our every-two-years quilt show which is always a great event. It was really good to see everyone who came to the meeting (some of them had not been in even longer than me:) ... and to talk to buddies. I miss my friends when I am away in Ohio, maybe more than anything else (except my husband and son). 

Tomorrow I have to take my quilt and Patty's to the church to be hung in the show. Um, I have to go get my quilt first as it has been hanging in an exhibit and is being very kindly returned by another quilting friend. :) Then I have to rush back home to receive the HVAC repair people who are coming in the late afternoon. :P

Later this week I have to go vote (early), get my hair cut, go to a doctor's appointment and maybe, possibly do a bit of house clearing (gone way past simple cleaning Chez Schiffer!)...I plan to drive back to Ohio on Sunday. The weather is supposed to be lovely all week (high 60's, low 70's and sunny; very spring like:). Many kinds of beautiful flowers are out now and the place is lovely!

:) Linda

Sneezing Out Loud

No, I don't have a cold ... it is allergy season with the onset of the spring blooming trees here in the near MidWest. The lovely pear tree in the photo above is growing across the street from my niece Stephanie's house in Erlanger, KY (near the Cincinnati airport). I drove there yesterday to pick up Stephie and her younger sister, Kimmie, who came back to the farm with me to help with sorting and disposal. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Stephie's house from the farm (and then that much back again:) and I get to cross the Ohio river twice! :) Extra bridge treats.

The girls (well, young women - they are both over 20:) are helping to clean out my Mom's room which involves years and years worth of financial records interspersed with family photos and nursing books of all kinds (Mom was an RN). And tons and tons of dust. Gag, cough, sneeze! :P

Today we had bundles of trash and recycling to dispose of so we loaded up my car and set out to the distant site - the first one we went to (found on the internet) was closed. Sigh! So we had to drive about 20 minutes farther on to Waverly, OH where we could sell our 'tin' and aluminum cans. Since we were close (about 10 miles away), we played hooky and drove on into Chilicothe to visit the quilt shop on S. Paint St., Creations Sew Clever. So much fun!

This is Kimmie and I in front of the shop ... I stupidly forgot to take a photo with Stephie (she's behind the camera in this pic), too. :) I found two lovely striped batiks there and a packet of fabrics from their recent challenge using a panel print of Van Gogh's Irises. Here is my favorite of the entries:

I think I will try to make something nice in a lap sized quilt, maybe a medallion style, with this fabric. Such pretty colors. :)

I've managed to get two more of my Patchwork City 'science' blocks sewn. Here are Intersection and Stripey Socks.

Despite the crummy photo, my blocks are square and flat. :) I am really enjoying this project! I have one more to sew and I'll be up-to-date for April.

I have to spend the rest of this week cleaning and working toward the auction on Friday. I will be taking the girls back to KY on Thursday as Kimmie has to take the bus home to Kansas on Friday morning at the crack of dawn.

:) Linda

 

Time Passes

My mother was a very dedicated gardener and loved growing flowers. This is her weeping cherry tree which is just bursting into flower. It is too big to transplant - I wonder if I can grow a cherry from a cutting? There are a dozen kinds of daffodils flowering in the side yard here at the farm right now, too. The 'vegetable' garden is full of flowers of all kinds - day lilies, asiatic lilies, gloxinia, gladiolus, iris, peony, and many others that I don't even know about, yet. I hope Frank's wife likes flowers! (The farmer who bought the farm and whose flowers they are, now:)

The weather has been mild, in the 60's and low 70's, and mostly sunny for the past couple of days. Yesterday I spent several hours sitting on the front porch just because it was too beautiful to go inside. Our neighbor came over to mow the 'yard' (about five acres) in preparation for the auction I think - nothing like the smell of new-mown grass to set off spring fever! :)

I finished piecing the third of the Minnesota Log Cabin blocks for Nancy for this month's bee:

I'm pleased with this one, too. Tomorrow my brother Kevin and I have to go into Jackson so I'll take Nancy's bundle along and mail her blocks home to her (rather than carry them home with me the week after). I can't believe I'm managing to keep up with my block obligations - just shows what having few distractions can do for my ability to focus on the job at hand. LOL!

Early next week I am going to drive to northern KY to pick up my two younger nieces (the youngest is coming from Kansas). They are coming to visit the farm and to help me complete preparations for the auction. I am hoping to spend some time tomorrow afternoon getting ready for their visit (clean off the living room sofas, put clean sheets on the beds, etc.). Can't believe how domestic I am being. :P

:) Linda