CRISIS AVERTED...AND A FEE NEE!

I am happy to report that we are now fully stocked here at CS2 for all eventualities, thanks to deliveries from the Costco, the Meijer, the Targets, and the amazons. My French Roast is now back in place and healthy provisions have been procured.

But...wow. I don't want to do THAT again!

Moments ago, I completed the final stitch of my latest piece, and I confess that I really did love every single time I got to play with her:

A Grateful Heart

The Scarlett House

28ct Picture This Plus in Fog

all DMC threads

Oh, Dearies...how I love it so! I have visions of an entire wall full of gratitude samplers, but I have a lot of stitching to do to realize that particular goal! In the meantime I'm just going to enjoy whatever pops itself into the House Purse next!

Time for bed, I think. In addition to finishing my stitchy project, I also finished reading Middlemarch and then listened to a bunch of podcasts and lectures, so it's time for a new book too. I'm thinking Dickens...maybe A Tale Of Two Cities? Great Expectations? I actually have an Oprah edition that contains both, so who knows? Maybe it'll be a Dickens November!

I hope your Futzingday was wonderful and that you got to do all the things. What's new with you?

LEVEL ONE EMERGENCY...OF THE DAMN GOOD KIND

 

Dearies, we have a SITUATION. I awoke at the heiney crack of dawn after sleeping about eleven minutes, and discovered the most horrifying scene a portly French Roast addicted Spinster could possibly imagine. 

Oh. Dear.

SPINSTER STITCHER WEATHER BLISS

Dearies, can we talk about the weather for a minute? I don't know if it's just me being me, or if anybody around these here parts will agree with me, but our weather has been positively GLORIOUS. The hours of the day that I am awake (anywhere from 9am to God knows whenever), have been full of perfect blue skies with puffy white clouds and the most beautiful low-humidity fresh cool air imaginable.

Oh, what a beautiful Fall we're having, and it looks like the next ten days will bring more of the same, so I am going to do everything I can to get out and enjoy it. Maybe a trip to campus? Maybe a survey of the garage...that is stacked to the ceiling with the entire contents of Chez Spinster and needs to be PURGED. (Nine years has got to be long enough to get over it, no?)

I'm coloring one page a day in my Still&Slow book and enjoying it very very much. I was otherwise occupied with trying to be a living, breathing, functional human today, so I've just finished today's page late, and now I'm too tired to stitch. 

No matter. That's what tomorrow's for...right?

 

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME...🫤

 

Well, Dearies, another ride in an ambulance yesterday to the ER. ☹️ Violent chills and what I thought was shock turned out to be dehydration and just me being a condominium with two tenants that occasionally do not get along. Louie can be boisterous, unpredictable, and a chaos agent, while BellyBean just wants to do his thing and quietly go about the business of keeping me alive.

I am home and feeling much better. Yes, Betty, I am following all instructions and drinking water and doing all the things, but...It's complicated being me.

No need to fret or worry. Coloring, stitching, and reading continue, and with a little luck I might have a FeeNee to share shortly! Only the bottom border to go on Grateful Heart:

Cheers to a new week ahead, Dearies! What's new in your corner of the world, and where does everybody know YOUR name? Come tell me all about it!

PRE-GAME...SPINSTER STYLE

 

I woke up late with my face in the sun, and a beautiful cool breeze coming through the open window. Were it not for the fact that I was ready for some damn good, I'd still be there dozing under the snoozy blanket, Dearies!

Notre Dame plays BYU tonight, and the ESPN shenangins have already started out there in Provo, so while they do their thing on the TeeVee, I'm looking forward to yet another slow and quiet afternoon of coloring and stitching. 

My hope is that you, too, can have a purely blissful day. What's on your pre-game agenda? Come tell me all about it!

MORE SPINSTER BLISS

My days here at CS2 are slow and quiet, but very routine. I sleep until my tiny little brain tells me it's time to get out of the big girl sleigh bed, and then I start re-hydrating before my big a$$ cup of morning damn good.

If Rich is ushering or substitute teaching (like he was today...high school ceramics 🤭), I spend an hour or so reading my book. I'm about 3/4 of the way through Middlemarch, and enjoying it very much! I read slowly and savor every word. No annotating or notes, but I do feel like slowing down has greatly helped with my overall experience of visiting all of these classics.

Meal one is the same as it's been for a long while now: cottage cheese, blueberries, peaches, and pineapple with lots of water and a little Gatorade to wash it all down. De-hydration has been a huge problem with Louie, so I'm learning what things keep BellyBean safe and happy and plump without throwing everything out of whack.

Most of the mid-day hours are spent with coloring, and lately I've been enjoying monochrome coloring by way of Stll&Slow books. I usually complete one page a day before maximum relation state is achieved, and the effect it has on my handwriting (massive improvement) is wonderful!

Rich heads out to the balcony for some sports radio/cigar time and to call his mom for the daily check-in, and I usually head back to the big girl sleigh bed for a nice nap with my face in the sun that streams through the window.

Dinner has been simple things lately, and after the kitchen is clean and I've had a cool dark shower (*) it's stitchy time! And I ply needle and thread through whatever sports game is showing in the TeeVee, then one episode of Sopranos, one West Wing, and then it's time for bed.

If you've made it thus far without falling into a bored stupor at the sheer dullness of all things Spinster at the moment, I do apologize, but this seems to be exactly what the doctor ordered for getting me out of this darn flare up. I have to say, this one has completely humbled me, and dealing with it at this age and with Louie is very different than bulling my way through a flare up in my twenties at MachOne with my hair on fire.

But the thread that runs through this entire narrative is gratitude that I'm here to be living this boring yet beautiful life. Maybe slow and quiet isn't so bad after all, Dearies! I hope that your day is full of bliss today. What's keeping you slow and steady? Come tell me all about it!

 

AFTERNOON SPINSTER BLISS

A cold brew, my vat of ice water, and a gorgeous blueberry scone that my JB surprised me with in yesterday's grocery run!

I. Love. Scones.

Happy Tuesday, Dearies!

TIME TO MOVE THE Q-SNAPS

 Grateful Heart

The Scarlett House

FRIDAY SPINSTER BLISS

It's currently 57 degrees outside and cloudy, and I'm happily ensconced in the big grey chair for the duration, Dearies. Rich has just left for campus, where he will be until the late hours, so I am left without adult supervision.

Gird your loins!

I've got stitching, coloring, reading...both novel and news...and the Snoopy robe firmly in place, as well as my damn good, a vat of water, and the thoughts of scrambled eggs a little bit later.

(And there may or may not be an English muffin involved.)

It's Spinster Bliss Day here in Hoosierville! What day is it where you are?

SPINSTER...WE HAVE A PLAN

Dearies, today, on what would have been my mom's 93rd birthday, I think we might actually have a bit of a plan. It's not exactly what an impatient portly Spinster would wish for, but it's safe and will be slow and steady. So while I might not be able to be here full speed just yet...I'm happy to report that I have a nice wide lane in which to park my fanny, and I'm staying here. Prednisone is still on board for now and I will taper as symptoms calm down. Will start on biologic/Remicade as soon as possible. Ongoing surveillance of BellyBean and Louie as day to day vitals indicate. Any fever, pain, or other issues and I'm back at the Four Seasons (*) asap.

In the meantime, I am trying to function daily as best as I can, but fighting terrible terrible fatigue, brain fog, blurry vision, moon face, etc that keep me quiet and mindful of rest.

Done.

So here are the things that are keeping Yours Truly from coming out of her skin:

READING: 

COLORING:

STITCHING: 

My Jersey Boy has been substitute teaching and ushering his heiney off, so I feel happy that he is getting out into the beautiful sunshine and doing things he loves. His mom is happily settled into Villa Raffaella in NJ and is thriving there, so it is an enormous weight off of his (and my) mind and heart.

So all good and happy things, Dearies. Not yet 100%, but hopeful that we're going in a good direction

The love and support and cards and letters and notes and prayers and gifts overwhelm me in the most profound way possible....as they always have. I thank you for them. Truly. My night-time prayers of gratitude grow longer and longer, and your names are in them each and every time I offer them.

What's new with you? Are you having the most beautiful cool sunny days with big white puffy clouds in pretty blue skies like we are? I am finding my way out onto the balcony more and more with my basket (**), and sometimes I just sit and rock and watch the world go by.

Love you, Dearies! Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

(*) Four Seasons is Beacon Granger Hospital

(**) My basket is a felt diaper tote that Rich calls my House Purse. It holds my book, book light, journal, stitchy project, coloring book, pens, water bottle, etc...and I tote it from room to room like it's my job.

COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU...

 

FIVE YEARS. THANK YOU, ANGEL.

 

DAMNIT GUMBY

I'm sorry, Dearies, but I will be amiss for a bit longer it seems. Another round of Prednisone started today, so I find that I must be where other people are not. Carry on, please. Our regular programming will resume shortly.

With love,

coni

ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN!

They've started the Prednisone, Dearies, so I am going quiet for a bit to spare myself (and you) all of the drama that is me while on high dose steroids.

But before I go...a fabulous shower and hairwash, a freshly made clean bed, and a little tailgate party just for me here at the Four Seasons Hospital;

 See you on the other side! Cheers! ❤️

WELCOME TO THE FOUR SEASONS...SPINSTER STITCHER STYLE

 In the hospital with what we think is a Crohn's flare gone awry. I came to the Boogie ER on Wednesday night (a small standalone facility a minute away from CS2) and after 15 hours there they admitted me to their five-bed inpatient hospital right here in the same building.

(No, Betty, this isn't me neing a princess and spending a billion dollars to have room service. This is the same hospital that did my Louie surgery...just not the main one downtown that didn't have one single bed.)

(So bite me. I'm sick.)

I was feeling pretty poorly Wednesday morning and then got hit with the worst chills you can imagine, and then spiked a fever super fast. One car ride later and I'm hooked up to iv antibiotics, drinking enough ice water to float a barge, and under quarantine until they get all of the cultures back.

Ick.

But the BellyBean is clocking in with numbers indicating he's OK, and Louie is taking a clear liquid gut rest like a little champ and has only farted once in front of a nurse.

Alas, no stitching...but once my head clears a bit and I am feeling less like death I'll get back to it, I promise!

JB is doing his thing, and I have made him promise me to stay calm and do his thing. He feels bad that he's not here in a gown, mask, gloves, and whatever else crazy getup you need...but I'm just happy he's not im the visitor chair looking like he's going to pass out.

Of all the people in the world a super-phonic white coat symdrome sufferer gets stuck with...and it's me.

Talk amongst yourselves, Dearies. I'll be here with my iv pole doing my thing for a bit!! 

Cheers!

LABOR DAY 2026

 

PRE-GAMING. GO IRISH! ☘️

 

HAPPY WEEKEND, DEARIES!

 

 

SATURDAY

I've had some fairly good stitching sessions lately, and find myself getting closer and closer to another WiP finish. I confess that I was not at all excited about this when I fished it out of the basket. Not sure why...whether it was the fabric or the colors or....? But now that I have made it this far and have stepped back for an overview, I am actually pretty tickled with it:

I slept in a bit and got myself situated with my morning damn good, apple juice, water, and John Steinbeck, and before I knew it....I was reading the last words of the last page. Wow. This knocked me out, and I just want to sit with it rolling around in my tiny little brain a bit before I get on with the day:
 

I've been reading so much good stuff recently, that it makes me feel better about not getting my "school" subjects back together yet. If I keep going at this rate, I might just call it "the semester of Classics" and be done with it!

I'm supposed to be doing all of the chores today, but I might play hooky and just stay in the chair luxuriating in nothingness a bit longer. Doesn't that sound like a lot more fun than dusting and chasing the vacuum cleaner around?

Happy Saturday, Dearies! I hope your day is full of all of the things that make your heart sing! What are you up to today? Come tell me all about it!

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME STUPID-HAPPY ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON IN HOOSIERVILLE

64oz insulated container that keeps ice water cold all day. (I drink about four of these daily!)

A re-chargeable tabletop fan for when I get overheated or just need to feel air on my face.

(Peeking from the back of the fan) Sage and Citrus Yankee Candle that I light when stitching.

My latest stitchy project in its little bag with everything I need at my fingertips.

A riveting Classic that has me looking forward to my reading time.

(Not pictured) A pasta salad that will be fantastic this weekend with grilled chicken.