Life Upside Down Life

I am sorry I did not post last night. I had DH back to the doctor and his prostate cancer is back and stronger than before. They took him in and did a chemo treatment on him that took two hours.

Next he goes on Thurs. for a CT Scan to see what is going on inside his tummy that is causing him almost unbearable pain & that is with pain meds. It is very hard to see someone you love suffer and not be able to fix it.

I think we both were in shock as we both had our hopes up high.

I did a lot of work outdoors this morning  and it was afternoon when I had enough sense to head inside. I caught DH in tears a couple of times . Drats.

I did work on my machine embroidery project -trying to save it -but in the end it messed up bigtime on the outline-so I might just trash it -or -see if my sister-in-law would still want it to work around the house in?

I started on a little girls shorts outfit. I have it cut out and the front embroidered.
We have had rain the last four days-they are calling for some sun tomorrow.
Hugs

Happy Mother's Day to all - regardless of age. It was an idea lovely day for me. I got to see both boys & their families.

This is PawPaw giving our very youngest grandson a ride on the tractor-his very first & it seems he was rather smitten with it. LOL

 His poor little Mom had ALL of her teeth removed this past Tuesday and she is still in so much misery. I hate to see any of the kids in pain. You know - I cannot figure out WHY in the world IF you have something done that requires pain meds-the pharmacy will NOT fill it for you IF you have a different pain med already. They did that for our youngest son when they cut his wisdom teeth out here lately  & they refused to file one for Meagan with this tooth surgery because she already had a prescription for something for her back.They tried to explain that the two different pain meds were for two different things -but they refused to give them to her and she is really suffering . I think it STINKS!I wish I could "wish" the pain that Meagan is in -ON- the people at the pharmacy! I think that would only be fair.(Shame on me-an old meanie) But you know yourself that One pain medicine does not cover ALL types of pain-If it did then they would not have invented any others.

My youngest granddaughter brought me this lovely dahlia & I made sure to plant it as soon as they went out the door, as it is calling for a lot of rain -I am hoping that will give it a good start.

  This lovely rose came from our next youngest granddaughter & her sweet hubbie and their 1 1/2 year old little boy. Her hubbie and our oldest son helped DH set the posts from where the flood took out our fence last week. I am glad that they did not attach the wire because they are calling for serious rain tonight into tomorrow. I would not have wanted for them to put all that work into a fence and then have it all tore up so quickly. This way the posts are set and we can do the wire later , as I have the animals fooled because I took the plastic that had washed down the creek and laid it on top of the wire and they think it is a full fence. LOL  Plus, the sheep and the donkey are getting old and they do not have as much wander lust as if they were young. LOL

So many happy stitches to each and all!
love- linda

Sewing Guild - yep, today was our Sewing Guild Meeting with lots of interesting information.  We had a visiting speaker -Ray Cumbee. I hope I am spelling her name right ,but she had her own pattern for a jacket that she had designed . It had square sleeves and she used that pattern and made jackets for Spring, Summer , Fall & Winter with just the use of different fabrics and it was amazing how different they all came out. She even made one from Alpaca that was felted and she knitted sleeves for it.

One thing I liked about some of her projects was Big Buttons on the front and if the main fabric was not stable enough to support the weight of a big button -she was use a band of upholstery fabrics. Then one lady in the Guild showed off her jacket she had made and it LOOKED like 3 buttons clustered together in a group and there were 3 groups of them . They were beautiful buttons and she pulled a neat trick. She sewed the two smaller buttons on the outside fabric and then made one button hole that she pulled the main button through -so - it might look like three buttons -but there was only 1 hole. I thought that was neato. Saved you from making 9 button holes and narrowed it down to 3 .

Then there was Sew and Tell with lots of neat projects and lots of funny stories.I did meet one lady who loved cats & that opened up a new line of conversation. She had the cutest little purse with Laurel Birch designs all over it.

I picked up 5 Sew News magazines at 20 cents each -that was my big catch for the night. I am good and tired as DH and I tore up half of the sewing room today looking for something and I am in the process of putting it back together.Tomorrow is critter day and then our youngest son and his family are planning to come for a visit tomorrow afternoon. So, I better bid you adue!
Love to each!
Linda

One of my favorite quotes has been: A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever & that is how I feel about all the beauty that surrounds each of us.Sometimes we get So hung up in just the Busyness of everyday life that some of the beauty slips by us unseen. And then you come up with : One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure - so IF that beauty slips by one of us and the next one of us captures the moment and lets that beauty inspire -what a treasure it becomes.

Today was such a wild day -so I needed to snitch a little beauty along the way for strength to persevere. I did get up early and get all of the chores accomplished and we grabbed breakfast and we took the trash down to the road as we left for DH's doctor visit. I also grabbed my embroidery machine to see IF we would make it to the city.I even "Hog-tied" her to the back of my seat with a belt so that she would not get jostled around on the trip.

 His doctor visit went well but his crazy body???? As soon as we arrived at the office and into the little room -all of his painful things - Stopped! Entirely! No pain -not even when she poked and prodded . I did tell her about it but that is not like seeing it for real. She said something is going on with his stomach , so she scheduled him for a CT scan on Monday. We were running a little late-as we had to wait for them to make the appointment with the hospital.

But as soon as we were out we hopped in the car and headed to Roanoke to where ALPINE Sewing is located . This was why I wanted a Janome -because I have seen their work and they are honest and kind and KNOWLEDGEABLE!!!!!!!!!! Instead of having to leave the machine this time -the main lady that I always see had it fixed in approximately an hour and we were back on our way-With my baby in tact. This time it was the bobbin case !!!! New case - works like a charm-now IF I can just get that booger lined back up and save the project??????  HOPE, HOPE< HOPE!

Time was slipping away because I had hoped we could come back through the mountains of Floyd where  The School House Fabrics is located. We also wanted to go that way because they were blasting on the Interstate and we did not want to get hung up in that backed up-re-routed traffic that holds you back for an hour.We do not have much Patience for being stuck in traffic so we took the country route and I did get to stop at the School House and I did find the perfect gray knit that I was looking for ! Yea- that was a fast trip in & out in about 20 minutes.

So, off once again and headed back to the Same town we had left the doctors from because I was hoping to pick up my meds , but was worried about the time because of my counseling session. We stopped at the clinic and they said I could not pick up my meds UNTIL Friday. I was disappointed and thought it would have been even worse IF we had made a special trip and wasted gas?????  But we were in the area -so that was not so bad and we do have to be back in town on Friday Anyway -so Hopefully I Might get my meds ??? After counseling we headed home - so we had driven all day long in ONE Big Round Circle and we were both pooped. DH has even gone to bed  - so you KNOW he is beat.  I am beginning to wonder IF anybody really knows before they reach "the Mature years" - how really challenging they can be?  You just do not have the energy that you had before. I know this is because IF we did not have bodies that we wear out -then we might just want to stay here forever . But -still - it is challenging. LOL

I am just thrilled to be home and all the chores are finished and bed is looking GOOD. Partly because the night BEFORE I know that we have an early morning appointment that I Just Can Not go to sleep???? I do not have any idea WHY-but it is a big ole pain in my "betoosia"! LOL
I do know IF I am still alive &kicking in the morning that I hope to prewash my knits to get them ready to "make some magic"! Yea! But first I will attempt to save my almost ruined project???? I will try for the last time to remove that monster thread nest and AIM for the right position. Hope,Hope, Hope! Time will definitely tell!

So, Love to all and to all a Good Night ----OR ---A Good Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trouble ? Sometimes I just wonder how in the world I manage to get myself into so much trouble.
I thought I was making a good start because I got to the sewing room about lunch time and picked out the design I preferred and started working on it. The right stabilizer - the right topper and I pulled it nice and tight.
I was about half way into it -with my mind racing ahead to what I could do next to accomplish my goals-when that loud racket that the embroidery  machine has been making   stopped -and there was dead silence?

I think I was stunned -and then the project in the hoop started jumping and lurching up and down and back and forward & I hit the stop button. I peeked up under the project and I could see a big nest of thread , so I pulled out the kitchen knife I Used to use on the Brother machine -then pushed it up under to the tangle and gently sliced it loose.

Disappointment -disappointment. I carefully cleaned off the design by cutting one thread at a time and then restarted it -hoping - only to meet disappointment once again. I did try it one more time and the same thing,even through I took everything apart and cleaned down in the race . I did not want to turn it off and quit because then I would lose my place - so I took a break and worked on the computer for a while.  I did some much needed maintenance on the computers and am now eyeballing it one more time as it sits here beside me. I HATE to lose my place because that was to be my sister-in-laws shirt and I do not have any more fabric that I could cut out another front for it-dag gone it.

I think I will try one more time and then if that is a failure I will load her up in the car , as DH has an early morning doctor visit and then we could take it Back to the machine doctor in the city after that. We both just felt too bad to try to make that trip this afternoon. So, maybe tomorrow?

It was a damp , dark , cloudy day-drizzled off and on  & normally the embroidery takes my mind off of the weather?

I had called the cell phone company because our service has steadily gone down hill & they wanted me to try out something called an extender and it came today. So, far - it has not worked either-it is sitting in there blinking it's lights saying it cannot connect and since that is suppose to be a hundred dollars I need to pack that booger back up and send it on its way too.

DH has felt bad today to , and he has slept most of the day .
Now it is getting late and I need to go tackle my evening chores and tell my critters all of my problems and "let them fix them for me"! LOL
Have a great day to all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cowboy & flowers for my day. This is Cowboy -my DH's cat & he is a big talker-worse than any child following you -yack-yack-yack! You ask him and he will give you an answer and sometimes it is much better than a "human" answer. LOL

The weather here was beautiful ,very warm and sometimes sunny and sometimes cloudy. Just enough for you to appreciate both. After I got all of my chores finished I made it to the sewing room. But, I was in danger of having "Sewers Block"??? I had finished all of my projects and could not decide which direction I wanted to head in now???? Well, I did not have the right fabric for what I wanted to tackle so I started plowing through my now dwindling stash to see what I could come up with???

I ended up finding a mauve colored double knit and the same color single knit  and I spent the after noon cutting out a pair of slacks from the double knit -and moved on to cutting out a tee shirt from the single knit. They will be for my Sister-in-law for Christmas. I have also already picked out the embroidery design to put on the tee shirt-Yea!

I had some scraps leftover and it was just enough to cut out a size 4 tee shirt and a size 4 shorts to make another outfit. They are not selling -but they will make excellent Christmas gifts for the grands and the greats. Plus - they are excellent practice for me.

I know it did not seem like a lot -but by the time you spend hours searching for embroidery designs and also checking out the knit fabrics online -time really does run off and leave you.

DH went to the building supply store and picked up bags of premix concrete that he will use to set new posts where the creek took our fence out the other day. He tried to find somebody to help him -but everybody is busy.
While he was out he bought the older son and his family the fixings for a cook out .He called me to see if he needed to come get me -but I was having too much fun having a couple hours to myself.

Just as dusk was coming I did take my walk & gather the eggs  and lock the chickens all up. Darn it - I just realized that I lost the pictures I had taken of the little hens . Drats- I will have to try again.

I hope you have had as lovely a day as I have!
Love to all!

Black slacks - yep , that is all I wanted to learn today -was how to make a pair of black slacks out of a Very Stretchy black piece of fabric. YEA - Right - I wanted a comforting day doing something I love that is useful-BUT- what did I get ? Another day with Drama in it and this time I cannot blame the Embroidery Machine. Nope - this time he is in the clear!Now, I DID get my blacks slacks-but also a few lessons on the side that I did not call for?

That little white thing in the back with the green handle is a lint roller-but I did not need it for lint - I needed it for Miss Rosie's white hairs. Yep- I made the mistake of turning my back and Miss Rosie "Showered" on it. The thicker hairs I could pick off -but those small ones were EVERYWHERE . They were even entwined into the fabric making it look like it was Sewn into it. So, I kept the lint roller busy for the duration of the project.

AAAAHHHH - the magic Pink bottle ??? It is filled with vinegar and I keep it in the bathroom and also one in the kitchen and they are in use constantly. This particular time I had read that using vinegar to spray on folds to "Set" a seam and make a more permanent fold. So, I decided to test it out and see how it behaves.

And of course I had to have some Unplanned drama. I was sewing down one of my last seams and I stopped and cut my thread and was easing the seam at the end of the legs  when all of a sudden the SEWING machine took off running like a wild colt!????? Then it quit as quickly as it had started. I had to finish one last seam and I was concentrating very hard because this stretchy fabric was giving me some challenges. I had just got every thing all lined up nice and neat and started down the final stretch of my foot hem when Mr. Sewing machine tried to run over my fingers-on its own . I squealed and jumped back out of the way???? This time I studied this evil machine & it's pranks and wondered what was going on?

I pulled the pants off of the machine and was easing those stitches out when the silly thing just took off one more time-I hollered for DH & he did not hear me - it kept on and I hollered for DH again- still he did not hear me over his tv -still the machine kept on so I hollered one more time -this time he heard me and came to see what I wanted. Just as he hit the door - IT STOPPED!  I knew it - now he would think I was some crazy lady when I told him it was sewing on its own. He looked at me quirky and as he turned his view to the machine - it took off all on its own -one more time! That time I was tickled because he would see for his own eyes. After it had its say -it quit and silence was in the room. So, what have you guys been up to?

But at least I completed my project and I did not get run over by a sewing machine -so I am happy.