DECISIONS, DECISIONS

I flipped two of the colors. All of the lighter blue outlining was supposed to be done in the medium blue in the lower right corner. 

Do I keep going and just adjust accordingly? Or do I order another piece of paper (which will be insignificant to my pin money account) and start over?

Thoughts, Dearies?

Sorry....forgot to show you the full piece:

 

I'M SENSING A TREND HERE...

I finished the snowflake and immediately picked up another Mill Hill biggie. (Sorry, but I forgot to take a photo of it).

Can I do ANYTHING in moderation?!?!

JUST COULDN'T HELP MYSELF...EDITED

I actually posted the photos on my way to bed last night, so I figured I'd pop in to say hello on a sunny Thursday.

Hello.

The Mill Hill snowflake is a bit different than the last few I've enjoyed. This one is all beads...no cross stitch, and the paper is silver foil, as opposed to brown.  I actually picked this up in the d-chair yesterday, and much to my shock and awe, was able to complete quite a bit if it.

(I discovered that the secret is to prop the Tacky Bob onto my shirtfront and go from there. Let's see if I can demonstrate):

This is a Tacky Bob. It's a small plastic case (reminiscent of a CD case...remember those?) that is used for beading.

This is the Tacky Bob opened. Each side is covered with sticky tape (hence, the name). 

(Oh my goodness...please excuse my big fat hand! It is still really swollen from last week and I have not done my nails yet!)

To use, I bend it open and stick one of the sides to my shirt to secure it and then my beads are right there under my chins to grab and attach.

You can purchase these at needlework shops, and I would imagine it's a good idea to have a few of them for multiple projects. I confess that getting the beads off of the surface when I'm done with a particular color is a bit of a pain, but I found an old metal flat bookmark that does the trick quite nicely.

(But if anybody has a trick for cleaning the tacky surface, I would be much obliged. As you can see in the second photo, attaching the thing to a shirt is great for stitching, but...lint!)

My JB is actually out for a few hours doing his thing, so I am happily snuggled into the Happy Chair with my damn good, the TeeVee in the OFF position (!), and a week's worth of newspapers to plow through. I really don't know why I do that...save them up every now and then...but it gives me an excuse to stay put.

Laundry today and not much else. We're having salmon for dinner, so I will eventually wander into the kitchen and see what's what. We were supposed to have it last night, but opted for Carrabba's instead. (I had spaghetti and meatballs and a salad and bread and it was delicious and I wore my napkin around my neck like a two year old and it was wonderful.)

(109kg on the scale today, so all is well!)

(It only took me three years, but I finally switched my home scale to kg so when I weigh myself each day I can easily track progress compared to the d-chair scale. No more calculating/converting in my head, and it makes treatment day decisions about how much fluid to pull much easier!)

(Transplant goal weight is 112kg btw.)

So, Dearies. That's the report for the day. I hope your corner of the world is peaceful and calm and giving you everything you need at the moment! Mine sure is!

P.S. Betty, before you ask me what's in the WalMart boxes and how I can afford to buy anything...it's coffee and toilet paper. Both on sale and both cheaper than the Targets, thankyouverymuch.

P.P.S. For the rest of you Dearies...yup....that's exactly the kind of thing Betty writes to me about.

WOO HOO! FINALLY FINISHED!

 Mill Hill

Frosty Morning

DMC floss on perforated paper

Note: I substituted JABCO birds for the one provided

Frame is also from Mill Hill and is taupe

OBSESSED...

 

MONDAY.....EDITED

I'm happy to report that Buzzy and I are in the d-chair doing our thing, and he behaved quite nicely during cannulation (needle insertion) and I did too. (In other words, he didn't scream too much and I didn't pass out.)

Also...I somehow managed to lose a little weight during my Time Out. I don't ever want to do that again...only receive one treatment in a week....because it's dangerous and I felt like a bus hit me, but apparently I was careful and ate and drank well.

I read that blueberries counteract cortisol, so I have been trying to eat them every day. (Cortisol is the stress hormone that turns into belly fat, so by the time this is over I am sure to resemble Violet Beauregard trying to get rid of my frontal area.)

(The cookies, by the way, are purely medicinal.)

Despite my very best efforts, I'm still not done with the Mill Hill Frosty Morning kit. I don't know why I thought it was only going to take me a day or two like the smaller ornaments do.

Silly, silly Spinster.

I will continue to plug along and hope to have it completed this week, and then it's back to the cardinals and a start on Plum Street's Hello Winter.

Thank you for not pointing out that I haven't done ANY work in the cube room studio. I thought about it this weekend but my Time Out did not allow for anything outside the warm and cozy confines of the big girl sleigh bed.

Happy Monday to one and all! It's a new week for us to get into all kinds of mischief! What will yours be? Come tell me all about it!

(Added)...I promise you that the nail polish matching the stitching is entirely coincidental, Dearies! I paint my nails a different color each month, and January just happens to be grey/blue.

IN WHICH THE CHICKEN SISTERS ARE FINALLY USEFUL

I emerged from the big girl sleigh bed to discover that The Chicken Sisters had removed the Christmas decorations, made a lovely brisket, and re-decorated CS2 in a lovely winter theme. Lovely lights where the three little trees used to be, and snowflake string lights out on the balcony.

I am content, Dearies. 

Today, I will slurp my damn good and try to finish my Mill Hill project:

Happy, happy Sunday! Come tell me all about your corner of the world!

IN WHICH WE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A PROBLEM...

Bed coffee used to be an occasional indulgence. Now, I'm afraid, it has become a daily necessity.

I can think here. 

I can read to my heart's content here.

I can solve the world's problems here.

Plus, I can sip my damn good and look out the window and let my tiny little brain go completely quiet and just wonder about the tall skinny trees that line the street (they're Italian cypress...I looked them up), or think about dinner, or count my blessings.

My JB understands my need for quiet/me time, thank goodness, so he happily watches his Saturday shows until I get my wits about me and stumble out to the living room and he hollers "HI, CON!" with love and enthusiasm.

I used to feel guilty about bed coffee. Now I understand it's as important to me as going to the d-chair three times a week. It pulls toxins out, too, and restores a tiny bit of mental equilibrium.

I won't allow myself to stitch here, because that would be a sure way to never...ever...leave this bed, and that's just not fair or healthy for anybody. I stitch in my Happy Chair and listen to the sports on the TeeVee and engage in silly banalities with my Magoo and appreciate the change of scenery.

But for now...this is all I need.

What's your bed coffee equivalent?

THANK YOU for the book recommends, Dearies! Believe it or not, we must all think alike, because I have read many of the ones you suggested and enjoyed them very much. The others will be on order for curbside pickup at the library very soon!

WOULD IT BE SO WRONG TO JUST STAY HERE UNTIL SPRING?

The arm is much worse today than yesterday, so no needles or treatment for me until Monday. So that means I will behave carefully and watch fluid and food, ice and elevate, and rest and breathe for the foreseeable future. My pajamas and I are both freshly laundered and my hairs smells of some new leave-in conditioner concoction that was a free gift with a shampoo purchase a billion years ago. It smells like clean cotton. Remember when that was a thing?

My JB Magoo is pacing and chattering like a circus monkey about politics and the covid virus, which means he is worrying about me but doesn't want to say. I find it endearing and am very grateful to have him fretting over me, which makes me feel awful that I am such a freakin mess all the time.

No plans for the weekend, except to change the bed, launder the towels, take down the Christmas decorations (yes...I play on THAT team), try to sort WiPs, clean up the dining room/snack table, do a mani/pedi, and fuss about in Erin. If the weather cooperates, I'd like to try a walk or two, and if it doesn't, maybe I could find some kind of fat girl yoga video on the TeeVee. I'd also like to clean out and re-organize the fridge, freezer, and pantry, plan a menu for next week and find a few Ina recipes to make, finish the book I'm reading, start another, cure cancer, get a new kidney, and for once and for all solve world peace.

(That last bit was to see if you're still paying attention.)

Seriously...no plans but to rest and get this arm back together. I won't have the option to miss Monday, so getting the pain and swelling down is my only priority.

I hope that your weekend is peaceful and lovely, Dearies. Before I bid you adieu, I have a question for all of you readers out there. What is your favorite book about books, bookstores, or reading? I have been watching 84 Charing Cross Road on a loop, and just finished Helene Hanff's Q's Legacy, and am detecting a theme for the new year. Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore got me started, and now I'm reading Confessions of a Curious Bookseller, but after that I'm afraid it will be back to The Starless Sea.

Any suggestions?

OH...DEAR

Well, this goes into the category of raining and pouring, I suppose.

No stitching to report, Dearies. I was just knocked out cold for the duration yesterday, and came home with a very sore arm (probably due to an infiltration), and a good old case of the grumps.

(Infiltrations occur when the needles poke through the access wall and the surrounding tissue becomes extremely sore and swollen.)

So today I am a bit bleary eyed in the Happy Chair due to lack of sleep, and my only goal for the day is to survive it without becoming a blob of tears and pity.

I've got a big stack of newspapers and an ice pack ready to cart into the big girl sleigh bed, so all will be well, my Dears. All will be well.

Come tell me all about life in your corner of the world. Hopefully, it's simply delightful.

Added later...

I put myself into time out, finally. And before you berate me for the PopTart...they are a very rare and emergency treat for days like this and are under lock and key otherwise.

Today...we needed the big guns.

The blue thing is a polar fleece scarf that was a Christmas present from Fresenius (my d-chair company). They gave them to us last year, and everybody but me bitched about them because they wanted more, I guess.  I was actually thrilled to receive anything at all, since I figure them keeping me alive is gift enough.

But what do I know?

Anywhoose...it's holding the ice packs on Buzzy.

I just told Aunt Chrissy (via text) that I now understand how Stewey must have felt when he would put himself into time out in his little fort under the bed. When he had had enough of me, or if he was just having one of those days, he would disappear, and I would find him happily snoozing away or playing with his toys in his very own happy place.

I might just stay here all day.

UGH...

 It's all I've got today...just a progress pic from yesterday's stitching.

DR SPINSTER, PAGING DR SPINSTER...

When this is all over and done with, I think I'm going to go to medical school or nursing school or any other school where I can become properly trained to know all of the stuff I currently guess at.

Dialysis patients take something called a binder. This is a simple pill that you take with meals to help eliminate phosphorous from the body, since the machine can't do that adequately. In my case, I was taking a binder last year that disagreed with me...thus the episodes of unwell that caused me to be sick and miss treatment.

Guess what?

I think the new binder is doing the exact same thing, and especially now that we increased the dosage to TWO pills with meals.

Phooey.

I'll meet with the dietician tomorrow to discuss our next options, but for now, at least...I feel slightly better knowing what sent me to bed the last few days.

(At least that's my guess. For all I know, it was a bug or maybe food poisoning. Who knows?)

Enough of that.

I'm sitting upright today, which is a vast improvement. There are no to-do lists or crazy plans in my future...just lots of fluid and maybe a few scrambled eggs and dry toast. I think today was supposed to be a laundry and cube room studio sorting day, but that will just have to wait.

I tucked the cardinal canvas away for a few days to play with the Mill Hill. The larger kits do take much longer to finish (as a very astute friend pointed out in the comments in this here blog), so I am just enjoying the process and it'll get done when it gets done.

The sun is trying to peek through the dense grey clouds today, so I'm hoping for a bit of napping with my face in a splash of sunlight. Oh, how I loved that afternoon snoozy nap at Chez Spinster with my face in the sun! I'm so very thankful that my bedroom here captures the same light!

That's my report for today, Dearies. I hope you will come tell me all about the comings and goings in your part of the world!

MONDAY

Home with some kind of nasty bug, and heading right back to bed, but wanted to share a pic of yesterday's stitching...the far right cardinal needs some feet and then he is fee nee!

SUNDAY

The bird buttons arrived from Just Another Button Co. I like them more than the button supplied :

Birds on the brain, I think. I played a bit and think I like the result. The bodies will be in a simple tent stitch to give the eye a quiet place to rest:

We snacked yesterday instead of eating a meal, so today will be a cooking day. Veal scallopini and mashed potatoes today, and I'll do the brisket in the crock pot tomorrow.

I'm nothing if not adaptable.

Blessings and happiness to you today, Dearies! 

SATURDAY

My Friday night stitching progress.

I finished the tree on Mill Hill's Frosty Morning:

And played with the three cardinals canvas:

I have to confess, the canvas gave me a great deal of frustration, but now that I look at it in the light of day, I guess it's really not so bad. There was a point where I felt like I was completely off the reservation, and I just couldn't visualize what the stitch guide was trying to tell me to do, but for now I'm leaving well enough alone.

Today will be nothing but stitching and reading and resting and cooking for my Jersey Boy. A new recipe always makes me sit up in the buggy a bit and sharpen my skills!

Happy Saturday, Dearies!

AND THEN...IT BECAME FRIDAY AGAIN

Well, Dearies...here we are again at the d-center doing our thing. Buzzy was a real pill and a screaming meemee, so three different techs had to try poking me today. As for me, I just closed my eyes, controlled my breathing, and sang the Sesame Street theme song in my head as loud as I could.

(Seriously...that is the method I've come up with for not screaming, crying, and passing out from the trauma of it all.)

(When this is all over, Dr Melfi and I are going to have to talk about getting that out of my brain so that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning I don't spontaneously burst into song.)

I've been thinking a lot about life post d-chair lately, and I have promised myself that there will be at least three things for sure: good healthy habits that will honor the gift of the kidney, something to do with books, and lots and lots of stitchy travel to classes, retreats, and seminars.Maybe I could combine two and assemble a book and then travel to shops to sell it?

Dreams for another day, I think.

(But hopefully a day soon!)

I stitched a fair bit last evening after a rather productive day. I did all of the laundry, cleaned up the dining room table that has become both my desk as well as snack storage, and made a good dinner for my Jersey Boy. He requested pork cutlet Parmesan, so that is what he had, along with a side of leftover tortellini. (I had a ham sandwich on whole grain bread.)

This weekend, if all goes according to plan, I will be cooking veal scallopini and a brisket, but that will depend on the availability of both at the Martin's. I have been ordering groceries on Thursday evenings for Friday deliveries rather than having JB do the shopping, and this has worked out well. And...since I am really sticking to my goal of not shopping/cooking/eating for the entire United States Armed Forces, I've been able to shop every other week instead of every other day.

(What can I say? We have food issues at CS2. Clearly. We do.)

(But we are aware, and we are fixing them).

I'll leave you with last night's progress on Frosty Morning:

I think I will play with the cardinal canvas this weekend. I seem to enjoy it when I have an entire day to fall into it. 

Before I do that, though, I have promised myself that there will be a good amount of sorting in the cube room studio tomorrow morning. I have broken my stash down into categories, and tomorrow I'm starting with WiPs that I want to play with this year, and to jettison those that I don't. I want to get them into project bags according to season so that when it comes times to switch out, all I have to do is grab and go.

Next weekend, I'm hoping to sort through my finished stitching and determine what I want to keep, what I want to frame/finish, and what I want to get rid of. That last bit has me a bit stumped, since I can't imagine anybody wanting a piece of stitching that isn't framed/finished. Hmm....will have to give that one a good think.

Happy, happy Friday to one and all! I hope that your neighborhood is quiet, safe, happy, and healthy today and that you are doing whatever makes your heart sing and your skirt twirl. Come tell me all about it!

THURSDAY

 Frosty Morning

Mill Hill Buttons and Beads kit

ONLY HEROES AND LUNATICS ARE UP AT THIS HOUR, AND I 'M DEFINITELY NOT A HERO

Good morning, Dearies! They had an early chair time today and asked if I would like to take it, and the prospect of finishing before noon and having the rest of the day to stitch got my heiney up and at 'em. 

Unfortunately, my machine just isn't cooperating, so I've been sitting here for quite some time waiting for it to behave and calm down so I can get hooked up to it.

Phooey.

(Do you think all of these problems are a sign that it's time for my d-chair days to come to an end?)

Despite being a little woozy and out of sorts I did accomplish a bit of stitching last night:

The chart calls for two cardinals to be stitched and one button, but I'm going off-script and am going to attach three buttons instead. I think a couple of males and a female will look nice, and I can pretend that the males...Emilio and Charlie...are both vying for the attention of the lovely Lady Constance.

(Now she's naming bird buttons.)

Oey.

So Happy Futzingday to one and all! Looks like the machine is finally ready for me, so off we go!

A BIT OF THE TUESDAY UGHS...

Well, that didn't go exactly as planned.

I made it through treatment yesterday...but barely. My stupid blood pressure dropped and I made it home and into the big girl sleigh bed, where I stayed for fifteen hours.

(But you know me...now I'm going to tell you the bright side because I'm Polly Sunshine Rainbows and Unicorns and am always looking for the glittery silver lining.) (*)

 (She says somewhat cheekily.)

My weight was 109kg on the scale this morning.

Before you all come running with cheeseburgers and good advice, I promise you that the two are not related. I am eating well, watching my portions, and drinking the appropriate amount of water. The blood pressure thing will get resolved by finding the sweet spot of meds and amount of fluid to pull with the machine, I promise.

If it doesn't, I'm going to start hollering and make a general pest of myself until it does.

(But sweetly, and with a lot of pleases and thank yous, because my mother raised me well.)

(At least that's the way it plays out in my head anyway.)

OK. Time for my second cup of damn good and then a nice long day of doing nothing. I made a little more progress on my Mill Hill kit, but not much:

Here's to a Terrific Tuesday for one and all! Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

(*) You do realize that I do that on purpose, right? Always follow bad news with good? It's because I'm terrified, sad, miserable, and tired of being terrified, sad, miserable, and tired and nobody likes THAT girl. My obsessive need to be liked forces me to use the phrase "but the good news is" at least a dozen and a half times a day.

(Well, that, and the fact that deep down I really AM convinced that everything will eventually be all about rainbows, unicorns, and glitter.)

MONDAY AGAIN!

 

Well, here we are again on a cold and cloudy Monday in Hoosierville,Dearies.I had such a hard time hauling myself out of the big girl sleigh bed, but haul I did and here we are.

A small start was made on the Frosty Morning Mill Hill kit, and my plan is to try to make a little more progress here in the d-chair today if my arm needles will allow. They are a bit wonky today and hurting quite a bit, so I'll have to be careful. I am going to give it a good try and pray that I don't end up on the naughty list.

(That's the difference between me and some of my podmates. I just want to come in and melt into the wallpapaer and not bother anybody. Some patients, though, seem to think they are at the Ritz Carlton and that the staff is here to cater to their every non-medical whim. Me? I'd rather have them concentrating on just keeping me alive rather than charging my phone or sorting my tote bag.)

Blood pressure continues to be a problem on treatment days. I start out well enough, but about an hour in, start to drop very quickly. When this happens, I usually call out, take a couple of pills to raise it up a bit, and quickly lie back in the chair and count dots on the ceiling. I play a game with myself to see if I can accurately guess what the numbers will be....90/40, 100/60, etc. Usually I'm pretty close. 

So that's my happy world at the moment. A little stitching, a little dialysis, and a whole lot of Starbucks when I get home. I am allowing myself to make cold brew on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Fridays stop for a professional version if my weight is below goal. I got into the habit of stopping EVERY time after treatment, and that just doesn't make any sense at all....pennies-wise.

Happy Monday! What's new in your corner of the world?

SUNDAY

Hi, Dearies!

The hours went fast today! After putzing and futzing and flitting around, I finally made it into the shower and fresh pj's for a little Sunday evening stitchy time. I started the Mill Hill kit in the photo above last night, but used the wrong color floss and had to frog it all out.

Phooey.

Nothing too exciting to report other than a nice quiet day, which is perfectly fine with me. I only had one free weekend day due to the screwy holiday schedule, but tomorrow will get us all back on track and in the d-chair Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I did play with my day planner a bit, and am loving the fresh clean pages full of possibility! I have been using my book more and more as a journal as well as a way to track meals and appointments, and thanks to erasable pens I'm not afraid of screwing it up! (I use an Erin Condren coiled Life Planner in the vertical format, by the way and in case you're interested.)

Monday will be here before we know it, so I'm going to put this here iPad thingie away and get stitching! I hope your weekend has been swell and that the week ahead will be full of fun for you! Come tell me all about it!

HELLO AGAIN, DEAR FRIENDS!

My original thought was to come back to this here blog tomorrow....January 3. But that didn'tmake any sense at all, when you take into account the way my crazy brain works.

(For example...diets and exercise routines can only start on a Monday. New years require new starts on the first, etc.)

So here we are, together again, Dearies. I am in the d-chair on a Saturday again due to the holiday, and the view is truly breathtaking.

(The cleaning of the car, the scraping of the ice, and the driving in the mush, though? Not so much.)

But I am really enjoying those trees today and am grateful that I get to pass the time taking them all in today. I miss that view from the Happy Chair at Chez Spinster....those woods were always so gorgeous on days like this. 

My break from the iPad resulted in absolutely no organizing whatsoever, I'm sorry to say. Each day I would tell myself that I should organize or sort or tidy something, but I ended up snuggling deeper into the Happy Chair with another cup of damn good and I stitched my little heart out!

December was rather prolific for Yours Truly, and I stitched and finished and finished and stitched more than I have in years:

I have to say, the most pleasant surprise was how much I enjoyed stitching the Mill Hill kits! They were so fast and satisfying, and once I figured out the perfect set up for myself (a Bitzy Biggie and little quilt clips to hold the chart in front of my face), I just couldn't stop stitching them!

There are quite a few of these kits in my stash that I picked up over the years, but I could never quite get the hang of them. Now, though, Methinks these will be part of my stitchy baskets going forward.

Speaking of...I've assembled a basket for January/Winter that I'm really happy about:

It has a little bit of everything, and should keep me busy for quite a while. The needlepoint canvases are Cardinals in the Snow and a Holiday Cup...there are a few more Mill Hill kits in there, Plum Street's Hello Winter, and Lavender and Lace's Angel of Healing. I'll add or subtract as my mood allows...I want to fish out a few WiPs from the cube room studio, and maybe add some things for Valentine's Day...but for now it's good to go.

The Cardinal canvas gave me major fits yesterday.

I started the branch and thought I was following the stitch guide, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make it look right. So I fretted and cursed and cursed and fretted, and put it into time out for a hour or so and came back to it.

But before I did, I went to Needleandthread.com and watched a video that showed how to do the stitch. Turns out, I was wrapping the vertical ladder threads the wrong way!

It's still not perfect, but for now I am leaving it alone. I think that it will start to look better to me once the other elements start to fill in.

Tonight I am going to pick up another Mill Hill kit for a little change of pace and because I will probably be wiped out from treatment and need something easy peasy.

On the kidney front, all is well. My weight has remained several pounds below goal, and will hopefully continue to go down. I'm eating "normally" but being super super careful about portions and treats. I've also been drinking iced lemon water like I used to, and I think this is helping me tremendously!

My appointment in Indianapolis was moved from January 5 to February 5 due to covid issues. This was just a weigh-in and check-in with the team, so not critical. I remain #3 on the list, which means the call is still imminent. It's not an orderly progression...in other words, when a kidney becomes available, there are several different things that need to be a perfect match: size, antibodies, shape, age, health, etc. They basically start at the top and find the person with the best match, and that might mean going down the list quite a bit before finding the best recipient.

(When I got the call in October, I was actually #5 on the list, but the kidney that came in wasn't good for numbers 1-4.)

Well, Dearies, I think I've babbled on long enough. I feel a bit like my sister (Aunt Chrissy) who used to wake my mom up in the middle of the night because she wasn't finished talking to her and remembered all of the things she wanted to tell her!

Happy New Year once again! My Jersey Boy and I are off to a good start and I managed to get my first kissy kiss at midnight. Fifty four years old, and it was my very first New Year's kiss (she says, blushing furiously). We are looking forward to another happy and healthy year together, and if all goes well will be on the road to more adventures!

So that's it...your Spinster is safe and happy and grateful and well and hoping that you are the same and that you'll come tell me all about it!

NEW YEAR...NEW START

 Cardinals in the Snow

Amanda Lawford

Painted needlepoint on 13ct mono canvas

Stitch guide by Randi Paul-Heskins

Happy New Year 2021, Dearies! I am still on my little break, but wanted to start my year off with you! We've had our coffee and breakfast, I am showered and dressed, and now the fun begins! Nothing but stitching and football (and maybe a little ham) today! My Irish are on at 4pm and are a huge underdog against Alabama, but I always have hope for underdogs.

Cheers!