Somewhere Between Green and Blue....

Aqua, turquoise, blue-green, green-blue, cyan, cerulean, azure, celadon, turquoise, teal, and probably hundreds of slight variations in those color combinations make up the color range between green and blue. Aqua is the RSC color for August, so I made a few nine-patch blocks for my quilt similar to this quilt Jolene made.  My preference leans toward teal, but I have plenty of lighter, brighter fabrics in the blue-green range.

There are one or two squares in this group that I might think of as absolutely green, but aqua is one of those flexible colors.  Put it next to blue and it might look very green.  Put it next to green and it leans toward blue.  Ah, well, since no one polices the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, we can all decide which fabrics look aqua (or pink or blue or red, etc.) to us.

I love Jolene's quilt but I'm not sure whether the blocks I'm making will pull off the look.  I haven't laid them out in any arrangement yet.  I think it's too soon to know, specially since I don't have the fabrics for the  background blocks (white, or off white) chosen yet.  

I also made a few more pink and purple blocks.  I don't know how many of each I will need....

Does it count for good when you really want to do something positive and can't quite muster the energy to do it?  It feels like life is passing me by as I wait to get past the effects of the drug that I hoped would alleviate this headache.  I sometimes wonder if I will ever be able to fall asleep quickly again, or if I will ever recover from having too little sleep.  What do you think, or what have your heard, or what has your experience been:  Can we catch up on sleep?

I did not know that Hens and Chicks plants grew flowers!  (Unless maybe this is not a Hens and Chicks plant.)  I was in an office building the other day and when walking past one of the doors I saw this plant with a long "string" coming out of it.  At first I thought someone had raped a pink charging cord over the plant.

Upon closer inspection I realized it was a stem with flowers.  Aren't they the dearest little flowers?!

 

If I get back to the building in the next week or two, I'll check on this plant and see what the next development in its growth is.  Or maybe I'll stop in at the office and ask about the plant.

Linking this post to Angela's RSC post at https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2025/08/scraphappy-saturday-aquamarine-vibes.html.

That's it for me this week.  I hope you have a good weekend and upcoming week.

--Nancy.

RSC - Orange Is the Clown of the Color World

As I was arranging orange squares in preparation for sewing them together for this week's RSC blocks, the thought came to me that orange must be the clown of the color world, joking around, teasing, having fun.  And I thought, orange can't possibly take itself seriously.  Can it?

I like orange in very small doses and prefer the ones that lean toward red, or coral.  I found a few fun fabrics with orange (and chose not to use the yellow-ish oranges).

I don't think I'll need many orange blocks for the quilt I'm planning, which you can see here.  Maybe another one or two....

I'm linking this post to ScrapHappy Saturday Orange at SoScrappy.  Thanks for hosting, Angela.  Visit the link to see the blocks that other participants are making with orange.

Health Note.
It's been a really slow week.  The nurse practitioner doubled the dose of medication I'm taking to try to get rid of this headache.  I guess that was always the plan---to start low and increase.  It hasn't done anything for the headache but it makes me so extremely tired.  I can hardly make myself move.  You'd think 12 hours of sleep in a night would do it but I still have to push myself to get up in the morning and do things, and four hours later I'm ready for a nap after having done the bare minimum (shower, dress, brush my teeth, breakfast, etc.).  Several reliable websites agreed that the tiredness should go away as I adapt to the medication.  I'm grateful I don't have a full-time job away from home because if I did, I'd surely get fired.

Even with being tired, I've partially sewn another simple summer dress, stitched a few feet of binding on Everyday Patchwork, quilted Parsonsfield, did a load of laundry, and nearly no house cleaning.  Cleaning requires consolidated energy for longer than five or ten minutes; the other activities I can sit and do.  One of these days I hope things will get back to the old normal, or at least to a new normal that doesn't include a headache and extreme tiredness.  Isn't life interesting?!

I hope you have a good weekend.

--Nancy.

Marking was the Right Thing This Time

I lost momentum on Everyday Patchwork about a year ago and the hand quilting stalled. 

Now that I'm using colored pencils to mark several fans, I can just sit and quilt without the interruption of having to mark as I go.  Yes!  I'm no longer stalled on this quilt.

I love using these homemade templates, imperfect as they are.

I'm almost halfway finished.  I started quilted rows from across the bottom, upward toward the center.  I'm thinking of turning the quilt around and marking from the top to the center, then finish by quilting the fans in arcs from the sides to the center.  If anyone notices, it will be something interesting for them to wonder about.

My vertigo has been gone for a week!  Hooray!  I'm so very grateful.  I hope it doesn't return.  Having vertigo after a knee replacement prevented good improvement on my balance and gait.  Physical therapy will help so I will finish the few weeks of appointments. 

I continue to have the months-long headache.  The doctor thought it might be one of my prescriptions so she asked me to stop it for two weeks and see.  It's been 10 days and the headache persists.  It may be that my eyes need a new prescription for glasses (appointment scheduled).  Since nothing else has helped, I hope that's it.  Also, sadly, my body chose stress-induced sciatica for the next challenge.   Ouch!  It's not as painful as the last time I had it but still painful.  If I can manage the stress the sciatica will go, and it has been slowly decreasing.  One of these days I should be back to or better than the old normal.

I'm linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Kathy.

--Nancy.

Trying for Normal and Baptist Fan Templates for Everyday Patchwork

One of the quilts I've been thinking about while I've been trying to get past vertigo is this Everyday Patchwork.  I was hand quilting it and had finished about a fourth to a third of it, then lost interest.  I wondered why.  I normally enjoy hand quilting but this quilt stalled—maybe for a year—so I've been hoping to get going on it again.  Maybe not right away, though, because hand stitching and vertigo aren't exactly friends.

I had been marking each arc with pins before quilting and wondered if that was the problem.  I decided to make templates so I could mark several fans at a time, or even a whole row. 

I know I can buy ready-made plastic templates but I wanted one with the arcs 1 1/4" apart.  I finally settled on using cardboard (maybe from a cereal or cracker box), using a protractor to make partial circles, each a 1 1/4" larger than the previous. 

You can see the results here.  They aren't evenly spaced!  The outer and inner circles are just the right size but the middle one is a little small.  I decided to either shift its template toward the larger arc or quilt on the outside of the line to even the distance between all three arcs.  I used Prismacolor pencils to draw the lines on the fabric.  It has washed out on other quilts so I think it will be fine.  In fact, it may be too fine because part of several lines disappeared before I finished tracing several arcs.  I also have some washable Crayola markers to try if the Prismacolors don't work.

Trying to do what I normally do while living with vertigo is no small challenge.  I feel like my body is being held hostage, limiting me in so many ways.  And the constant headache doesn't help, either.  I went for an MRI yesterday and to a physical therapist today.  After some tests, the PT confirmed that it's not positional vertigo and is likely vestibular neuritis just as the ENT doctor thought, though the PT also said that it could be caused by something else but wouldn't know until we see whether the exercises he prescribed help or not. 

He suggested that if some particular actions (lying down, looking up) make me dizzy or feel like I'm spinning, I should repeat the movements at least several times, waiting for the dizziness/spinning to stop before repeating.  The idea is that this will retrain my brain.  Crazy!

This beautiful frozen kale greeted me on my way into physical therapy today.  Flowers in the snow!

We had a beautiful snow, though it happened at night so I didn't get to see it falling.  It was only about 4" but because it's so cold, it's lingering.  I love it!

I hope you have a good weekend.
--Nancy.

Vertigo, Searching for Christmas Cheer, and Other Miscellanea

It's hard to believe it's been such a long time since I last posted  What a time I've had.  Vertigo set in  in early November, a little over two weeks after my second knee replacement surgery.  It's been a bit of a rough go getting around.  I should be done with the walker but am not.  I need it for balance.  I went to an ENT doctor who diagnosed the problem as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and prescribed the Epley Maneuver twice a day two times each.  It hasn't seemed to help yet.  Friday will be a week since I started.

Being physically off balance or feeling like I might fall when I'm standing or walking, or in other various positions, has certainly colored my Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.  Hence, my need to look for Christmas Cheer.  I don't usually have any problem in that area but it's hard to get beyond one's self when feeling so crummy.  But, onward.  (Yes, I know this is a small thing and plenty of people are dealing with much larger and more complicated challenges.  This just happens to be mine right now.)

I am sometimes able to get out to the grocery store and other short jaunts later in the day (mornings are the worst) if I hang onto the walker or sit in a riding cart.  Christmas shopping has been a challenge.

I've done no quilting, or even sewing, other than to repair tiny holes in two pieces of clothing.

Does anyone else remember Dick Van Dyke of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Mary Poppins" fame?  I discovered this endearing video the other day.  Van Dyke is now 99 and he hasn't lost one bit of his sense of humor.



It's time for TubaChristmas.  Some cities had theirs earlier in December but others are in coming weeks.  If you're interested in seeing if there's one local to you, check the interactive map here.  It's one of the highlights of our Christmas season and I highly recommend going at least once.  It's a fairly long walk from the parking lot to the theater where ours is held and I don't know if I'll be able to make it this year.  If you go, please enjoy it for me!

This past Friday my computer ground to a near-halt.  On Saturday and Sunday it was still barely moving.  On Monday, I had the idea to clean the inside of the case.  I was appalled at how dusty it was.  After removing the dust it was a little less slow, but on Tuesday, it was back to it's Friday night speed.  I'm not tech savvy and the idea of having to buy a new computer right now and have my programs and data transferred was completely daunting.  I don't usually worry but I actually worried about the situation, trying to figure out what to do and make a plan.  Today the computer seems to be back to normal.  But who knows for how long.  I'll need to do some research and buy a new computer soon. 

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you're having a merry time!  No matter whether you celebrate or not, I hope you're having merry days.

--Nancy.

P.S.  I'm sorry not to be getting to your blogs to read and comment.  I hope I can do that soon.  I miss it!

A Crow, a Surgery, the Ocean, and a Little Plaid Basket (but not in that order)

To those of you who left comments on my last post, thank you!  I responded on the post and not to your email boxes.  There seem to be some glitches in either my computer, with my software, with my mouse, or maybe with gmail.  I lost all of your comment emails (and about two months' worth of other emails).  I hope you can forgive me for not responding directly to you.  

Knee replacement surgery was on October 22.  I think I'm doing better earlier this time than last, though walking with a walker is still slow and there's still pain.  It's hard to keep one leg elevated and do things like write blog posts at a computer, use a sewing machine, sometimes even stitch by hand.  Swelling is inevitable after a knee replacement, even with TED hose, hence the elevation requirement.

But, early in October, my daughter and I went to Dewey Beach, Delaware, for a few days.  One day each to drive down and back, but three glorious days at the ocean.  We had an ocean view from our hotel which sits just behind the dunes making it a short walk to the beach.  My daughter kept commenting on what a wonderful vacation it was, and it really was wonderful, but still challenging for me with a barely healed knee and being short on both strength and stamina.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

In my opinion you can never had too many photos of the ocean but one post can have too many of my ocean photos.  Here are a few.  We had days of both clouds and sun.  I never tire of watching the ocean.

A trip to Dewey Beach wouldn't be complete without a walk through a nearby nature preserve (whose name I can't remember).  No part of it borders the ocean but a section borders the bay. 

And then there were the seagulls at Rehoboth Beach.  We saw them practically dive-bombing people who had purchased french fries. No fries for us!

Back to knee surgery, but not about knee surgery.  If you think you might need ice packs (for scrapes or migraines or a sore back) this is a great, simple recipe.  In a gallon-size plastic zipper bag (best to use the brand-name ones) pour 3 cups water and 1 cup rubbing alcohol.  Zip and put into another zip bag, zip, then into the freezer.

It's hard to photograph the contents of these ice packs but when frozen they are like crunchy ice.  Put a towel or other cloth around them before putting on skin. I highly recommend them.

The other thing I wanted to post is a pain scale my doctor included in a booklet they gave me before the first surgery. That pain scale always confused me--a scale compared to what?--and this chart clarified it for me.   Now the doctor or nurse or physical therapist and I are all on the same page when I say my pain is at a level 6 or 2 or 9, etc.

My only stitching has been on this little plaid basket.  I wasn't sure about the fabric but have decided I like it.  I'm looking forward to choosing flowers to go inside.

Regular readers may remember that I'm not a fan of Halloween but I couldn't resist taking a photo of the dapper Edgar Allan Crow in front of the public library at Rehoboth Beach.  The librarians outdid themselves.

My daughter and I stood outside the library trying to get a good look at all aspects of Edgar and take photographs.  At one point I stumbled backward over the edge of the sidewalk and, arms flailing, could feel myself on the way to the ground.  My daughter reached out her hand to steady me just in time.  It must have been a sight to behold.  When we walked into the library, the librarian behind the counter asked what we thought of their crow and told us what fun they'd had creating him.  It was then I realized that he'd probably been watching through the large picture window and had a full view of my near-fall.  What must he have thought, I've wondered.  Drunk?  Old woman?  Dizzy with admiration for Edgar?  I chuckle about it every time I think of it.

I hope you good readers are doing well.  Thanks for visiting.

--Nancy.

Post-Surgery Thank You and a Few Stitches

Thank you, dear readers, for your good wishes, words of encouragement, thoughtful comments, and prayers in response to my last post.  I appreciate all of them.     

It's been four weeks, almost five, since surgery, and a few stitches on this basket are all I have to show for that time.  I haven't felt very motivated and the doctor tells me no sewing on my knee-pedal Singer.  (But I did finish one book and am almost finished with another.)  (And I have a new knee!)

Knee replacement surgery is not for the faint of heart!  The surgery itself isn't the challenge (the doctor takes care of that), it's all the work that comes after the surgery.  Just when you want to go home and let your knee rest and recuperate, along come the physical therapists who give you a dozen painful exercises to do ten times each, three times a day.  My poor arthritic knees were in bad shape (and one still is) which, I think, means that the exercises are more painful or just, perhaps, harder to do.  Extend the leg so the knee is at 0 degrees; and bend the leg, heel to bottom, to a minimum of 120 degrees.  Ouch!  And then there are the strengthening exercises, which I started last week. 

I went into surgery thinking I'd done my research, knew what was coming, and was at least moderately prepared.  I won't make that mistake again....  Several websites tell me that a knee replacement surgery is one of the hardest and most painful.  Even hip replacements were not as painful as this.  I guess it takes about a year to full heal.

So, on June 3, Judy of Small Quilts and Doll Quilts had surgery.  I think she must be the poster child for quickest healing after a knee replacement surgery:  she proclaimed herself all well and healed on June 24! 

The hospital gave me a box of tissues.  I liked the box better than the tissues.

This is a view from my walker. I move with the stars around me. Haha.

I'm using the walker less and less, but I'm not up to speed yet.  I will try to visit your blogs and leave comments as I'm able.  And thank you again for your comments on my last post.

--Nancy.

This, That, and the Other

Aren't these guys the cutest?   They are about half an inch high and were sitting on a shelf at a local store.

Toys a child left behind?  Part of a display or advertisement, though there wasn't anything around that seemed to be associated with little ducks.  I wanted to bring them home but there was no price tag.  I have a collection of little things and these would fit right in.

June has flown by.  For me it might as well be over since a total knee replacement surgery is scheduled for this coming Tuesday.  Preparation for surgery (making food, getting the house ready for a walker, making sure I have all the equipment I'll need, etc.) has taken a lot of time.  Hence, little progress on the quilting front.  Sadly Bramble Blooms I and II are both on hold indefinitely, at least as far as physical progress goes.  I haven't written them off or decided not to participate, though.  I plan to come back to them when I'm more mobile and my mind isn't focused on other things.  Maybe a spark of creativity during this surgery and recovery process will push me toward some decisions?  Or not.

What I have been sewing are several simple, lightweight cotton, summer dresses, similar to these.  I can cut and sew a pattern well enough but adjusting and fitting a pattern are the problem, and patterns nearly always need adjusting.  I'm not a standard size.  I'm on pins and needles cutting and sewing until I know the garment will fit.  The first of the two dresses fits and is comfortable; I hope the second one will be, too.  

You may remember this post from almost exactly a year ago about my rose-print fabrics and the challenge I set for myself to use them in a quilt.
The fabrics sat around for nearly a year.  I finally decided to cut squares and make a one-patch.  My reasoning was that I have enough fabric to make several quilts, so why not start with a one-patch.  The squares are 4½", placed in no particular order.  I'm imagining a calm, quiet quilt.

Maybe the criteria of roses isn't enough to unify a quilt?  I may edit out some of the darker prints or place them carefully.  I may also add some applique to the finished top, or add some pieced blocks, either 4" or 8" finished.  I have 200 of the needed 300 squares cut.  I've never made a one-patch quilt before and am wondering how one chooses a layout.  Do you know?

I finished this quilt I call Center Light in 2013 and have slept under it every winter night for 11 years as well as some spring and autumn nights.

I felt a spot near the top of the quilt getting thin and recently noticed this casualty of use.

I'll repair it, of course, but how?  It's a  utility quilt and part of me says to just make a patch that covers the hole, the binding, and the back, and stitch it down.  The perfectionist in me says to unstitch the binding, unquilt the section that needs repair, add new batting and fabric, then requilt and sew on new binding.  There's another colored block that is torn, also.  Huh!  I never expected it to be an heirloom quilt but I did think it would last longer than 11 years!  Except for this spot and the binding along almost all of this edge, the rest of the quilt is in good shape.  How would you repair it?

This is happening along the country roads not far from us. I believe it's winter wheat.  It was sprouting green in March so I guessed it was planted last fall.

We saw many fields, some that were acres and acres larger than this one.  It brought to mind the phrase "Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain" from the song "America."

The weather has been hot and humid, from the high 80s to the high 90s, with "feels like" temperatures in the low 100s some days.  Heat warnings or advisories and air quality alerts have been in effect all week and are still in effect now.  I went to the store yesterday and when I stepped onto the pavement I wanted to move the heat away as if it were a curtain brushing against me, it was so dense and heavy.  I'm grateful for air conditioning.  Even inside it feels oppressive but at least it's cool enough to breathe.  I feel sorry for people and animals who have to be outside.  Whatever did my farming ancestors do?!

About that knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.  (Well, first, did you know that the knee is the biggest joint in the body and one of the most complex?  That was news to me.)  I'm good with the surgery itself but I'm not looking forward to the days and weeks after.  The more I learn, the more grueling it sounds.  Infection and blood clots are the biggest post-surgery concerns for the doctor and nurses but they're also concerned about exercise, since that's what will give me my mobility.  My biggest concerns are whether I'll actually be able to do all that they expect and require, and whether I can prevent constipation.  (TMI?  Sorry.)  The expectations post-surgery are to

• use ice on top and behind my knee to keep the swelling down, because swelling can cause blood clots
• wear TED stockings:  very tight compression stockings which can be really hard to get on and are uncomfortable to wear (so I'm told)
  
• keep my knee elevated above the level of my heart
  
• use a CPM (or continual passive motion) machine for 6 hours/day to keep my knee moving which, I guess, is part of the exercise, and possibly also for swelling
• exercise hourly; the exercises take about 20 minutes; also walk for about 15 minutes every hour
  
• eat high protein and lots of fiber
• take medications, watch diet, prevent constipation (if that's possible with narcotic pain killers)
  

Just when you feel your worst after a major surgery and most want to rest, the doctors want you to keep moving.  I'll get through this and, hopefully, will be more mobile.  

That's it from me for at least a week, maybe more.  I hope you stay cool and comfortable or, if you're from the southern hemisphere, I hope you stay warm and toasty.

--Nancy.

Links to Enjoy #26

Here are just a few links I thought were interesting, amazing, or just fun.  I hope you enjoy at least one of them.

These paper mushrooms made by Ann Wood (of WoodLucker) are amazing.  But don't confuse that Ann Wood with Ann Wood Homemade who uses fabric to make amazing mushrooms.

Here's a free way to improve grainy photos.  I haven't tried it but when I begin scanning old family history photos again, I'll see if it can improve some of them.  If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think of the results.

Petrichor is a word I read occasionally, forget what it means, then have to look up each time I see it. 

Petrichor is the fragrance many people smell when rain falls on dry earth.  I love the smell of rain!  I wanted to post a video but none of them are accompanied by scents!  I'm posting about petrichor because Lisa Waud created an installation in a historic Detroit warehouse which she named "petrichor."  She covered the ground floor of a warehouse with sod.  I imagine it would have been a delight to visit.  I understand that not everyone can smell petrichor and some people can smell it even before the rain starts.  I'm one of the latter and love the fragrance.  What about you?  Do you smell petrichor?

Will personalized cancer vaccines become a permanent cure for those who receive them?  Trials are in progress. If successful, this is totally exciting to me!

--Nancy.

Coral & Grey Quiltlet and Vacation

Over the past week or so some have come from Wendy's blog, The Constant Quilter, to see if I've posted a little quilt for September.  I'm late (very late), but here it is.  I finished it on the last day of September, the day we drove home from the ocean, but didn't get it washed, dried, and photographed till this week.

I love those crinkles and I think this close-up photo gives the best view of the colors.  If you haven't been to Wendy's blog yet, I recommend you visit.  She's been ill for several months but she still hosts the miniature link-up and makes a tiny quilt, herself.  

This quilt finishes at about 11¾" x 14¾".   The batting is a piece of thin cloth from who knows where.  I didn't want the quilt to be too thick or stiff because there's already a double layer of fabric in the top itself if I include the seam allowances on the back.

Vacation, Such as It Was.
Sometimes vacations don't go quite as planned or imagined, and this was one that definitely did not.  I told my daughter I thought we should be able to have a do-over.

When we arrived at Dewey Beach, Delaware, on Monday evening, the ocean looked like this.   Beautiful!

On Tuesday, we awoke to clear skies and gentle waves.  Our hotel room faced the ocean so even when we weren't on the beach we could see it.  It was wonderful to have the constant view.

This is the third time we've gone to the hotel where we stayed and we've liked it well enough to return, but maybe not again.  After spending the morning and part of the afternoon on the beach, we left to visit a few shops.  We came back, returned to the beach till sunset, then went back up to the room to collect our things to go back out for dinner.  I came down the steps at the hotel and walked across their low deck toward the room with ice.  I stepped off that little deck not seeing that it was a step down, and tumbled.  Probably a tumble of slapstick quality, if truth be told.  I was able to get up with help, but unable to stand because of the pain.  I sat for a few minutes, my daughter brought her walking sticks, and we continued to the car.  But the pain!  (Some of you are probably shaking your heads....  But I couldn't have made it back up the stairs just then.)

On Wednesday, we took the Lewes/Cape May Ferry to Cape May, New Jersey, only because we'd already reserved spaces for ourselves and the car.  The weather was cooler and breezier than Monday or Tuesday and I was glad to have taken my sweater.  And the walking sticks.  The ocean sparkled.

We didn't have specific plans for Cape May so visited the first attraction we found, the Audubon Nature Center.  They were very welcoming and helpful and gave us directions for other places to visit, including Cape May State Park.  We didn't have binoculars but enjoyed what we saw, including an abundance of Monarch butterflies.

I was especially taken by the shadow of this flower/seed pod on the leaf.  I always think nature is amazing but things like this dazzle me.  I have no idea what plant this is.  Anyone know?

On the return trip from Cape May we were heading west, directly toward Delaware and the sun.  It was the first time I had ever seen an ocean sunset.  Wow!

Thursday brought strong winds—14-20 miles/hour—and boisterous waves.  From our hotel room we could tell it was windy.  See how the grasses are bending?  This is a still shot but they were waving in the wind. 

On the beach it was almost too cold to stay out long.  The sand pelted our legs and the waves rolled in quick succession, one upon the other before the previous had reached the shore.

It was sunny and then it was cloudy.  The ocean fascinates and amazes me.

We planned to go out for dinner around 6:00 or so but went to the beach.  After a while I told my daughter I was going inside.  She stayed out longer.  But not long after I got to the room I started to feel unwell.  My side hurt.  And then it hurt worse.  It reminded me of the pain I had when I had a kidney infection over a year ago.  I sat on the bed, then laid down.  And then I was so hot and in even more pain.  When my daughter returned to the room she insisted we go to the ER.  When we arrived the waiting room was packed and the person at the check-in counter said the wait could be several hours.  But what could I do?  Where else could I go if I had a kidney infection?  After the generosity of a few blankets I eventually fell asleep in the waiting room.  A while later someone came and took me back to a room.  After more warm blankets, an IV, a variety of monitors, pain medication, and a CT scan, I learned that I had a kidney stone.  They released me between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. with directions to pick up prescriptions the next morning and visit my primary care doctor at home.

After four hours of sleep we left to drive home on Friday morning.  And I awoke on Saturday morning missing the sound of the ocean waves.

What a vacation!  (For those of you who said you wished you were also going to the beach, I'm glad you weren't with me!)

Yesterday I learned that there are/were two kidney stones.  Tomorrow I hope to learn whether I fractured a bone when I fell.

What a vacation!

I hope you had a good week!

--Nancy.

Covid, Doing Little, 2021 Books

I'm recovering from Covid and at the point where I really want to do something but have nearly no energy, either physical or mental.  It's a strange situation because I'm not one to sit and do nothing.  Sometimes life gets so busy I think, wouldn't it be nice to be able to just sit for an hour.  I'm not so thrilled now that I can do that. 

I finally picked up Cheddarback and began a little slow quilting.  And I've been reading.  And napping.  And just started taking walks again, such slow walks, around our neighborhood.  By all I've read, mine has been a mild case of Omicron.  (It felt like a sinus infection to begin with.)  I've been able to weather through it at home.  It didn't sink keep into my lungs though I do have a cough and I didn't lose my senses of taste or smell.  I haven't have much of an appetite.  I'm ready to feel good again.

We just took our Christmas tree down today but other pre-Christmas things are still cluttered around.  The nisse along with her patterns and papers sit in her box with unfinished neck scarf, Dear Prudence lays under the cutting mat awaiting a choice of binding and a trim, the Christmas wreath is still on the door, and a bag of Christmas gifts sits near the couch in the family room.   

I've missed all the end of year wrap-up posts (too late for that now) and all the planning for 2022 posts (I don't have the mental energy yet), but I thought I could share a list of (most) of the books I read last year.  I came up with a new system to rate them:  loved them, liked them, ho-hum, strongly disliked them.  I tried to include notes about language and intimacy and whether light fantasy.  I may have missed some language notes, though.  If you have questions I'll respond to comments or you can check goodreads for reviews.

I Loved These Books

• This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing: A Memoir.  Jacqueline Winspear
• South of the Buttonwood Tree.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• Hamnet:  A Novel of the Plague.  Maggie O’Farrell  (positively lyrical though the ending could have been stronger, one intimate scene)
  
• The Lake House.  Kate Morton
• Midnight at the Blackbird Café.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• The Kitchen Front.  Jennifer Ryan
• The Downstairs Girl.  Stacey Lee
• The Lost Spells.  Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris (breathtakingly beautiful)
• Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting.  Lisa Genova
• The Paris Library.  Janet Skeslien Charles
• The Lights of Sugarberry Cove.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• Every Secret Thing.  Susanna Kearsley
• The Dictionary of Lost Words.  Pip Williams
• The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive.  Lucy Adlington (non-fiction, amazing ways the women worked together to save each other!)
• The Rose Code.  Kate Quinn
• The Keeper of Happy Endings.  Barbara Davis
  

I Enjoyed These Books, Worth Reading

• WinterFrost, Michelle Houts (children's chapter book with a nisse)
• The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding.  Jennifer Robson
• At Home on Ladybug Farm.  Donna Ball
• Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family.  Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Grieve
• Growing Up.  Russell Baker
• The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin (children's)
• News of the World.  Paulette Jiles
• The Second Sister.  Marie Bostwick
• On the Wings of Morning.  Marie Bostwick
• The Last Garden in England.  Julia Kelly
• The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America.  Elizabeth Letts (non-fiction)
• Seven Perfect Things.  Catherine Ryan Hyde
• The Shadowy Horses.  Susanna Kearsley (some language)
• A Desperate Fortune.  Susanna Kearsley
• The Paris Apartment.  Kelly Bowen (some language in difficult circumstances)
• The Nature of Fragile Things.  Susan Meissner
• Pumpkin, The Raccoon Who Thought She Was a Dog.  Laura Young
• I'll Be Seeing You: a memoir.  Elizabeth Berg
• Hannah Coulter.  Wendell Berry
• The Keeper of Lost Things.  Ruth Hogan (some language)
• The Last Thing He Told Me.  Laura Dave
• The Last of the Moon Girls.  Barbara Davis (light fantasy)
• Never Fall for Your Fiancée.  Virginia Heath (a fun farce; some intimacy)

Good Enough, Not Fabulous

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.  V. E. Schwab
• The Uncommon Reader:  A Novella.  Alan Bennett
  
• A Piece of the World.  Christina Baker Kline
• The Promise Girls.  Marie Bostwick
• The Lost and Found Bookshop.  Susan Wiggs (placed here because of the ending)
• The Last Year of the War.  Susan Meissner
  

Books I Disliked and Wish I Hadn't Wasted My Time Reading

• The Lincoln Highway.  Alex Towles

I hope you're having a good new year!
--Nancy.

Great News!

It's bursitis! I know most people who have bursitis probably don't think that's a wonderful thing but what's great may depend on the alternative.

You see, I had two hip replacements nearly 11 years ago and things have been great -- until last week when I started to have hip pain.  And then it got worse.  Then I learned I needed a root canal because I had an infection in one of my teeth which wasn't diagnosed for nearly a week.  (Going to the dentist is my least favorite thing to do but this time I was grateful someone cancelled his/her appointment because I was able to get in earlier.)  Anyone who's had a joint replacement knows that an untreated infection, especially in the mouth, can lead to problems for a prosthetic joint.  It seems the bacteria head straight to that artificial joint.  If that happens, the joint is removed and an IV antibiotic pumped in.  After about 6 weeks a new prosthetic joint can be put in.  That's at least 12 weeks of very limited mobility.

My personal physician took blood tests to determine the possibility of infection and they came back normal.  I was so relieved.  But there was still the pain telling me that whatever the problem was hadn't been resolved.  My doctor said she wanted me to see a hip surgeon soon -- "soon" being a repetitive theme in the conversation.  I was able to get an appointment the day after I called.

You know how not knowing is worse than knowing, even if what you learn is worse than what you hoped for?  Maybe that's because when you don't know it's easy to imagine the worst.  That's the situation I was in.  Maybe a bone was broken.  Maybe the joint replacement was worn; or loose; or broken.  I'm not a worrier but it's hard not to wonder about possibilities.

I could have hugged the doctor when he said it was bursitis.  I'm sure he has probably never seen a joyful response to that diagnosis (unless it was from another joint replacement patient in a similar situation to mine).

Bursitis is an inflammation of a bursa, a pouch that cushions the soft tissue over a bone.  There are bursae in all the major joints of the body.  It's pretty painful, it's hard to walk, hard to find a comfortable position in bed, hard to stand....  The doctor was willing to give me a steroid but I chose the other option:  try NSAIDs to relieve the pain and stop doing whatever caused the problem.  I don't know what I was doing that caused the problem because I've only been doing the things I regularly do.  But I've been taking it a little easy.  It is beginning to feel better already.

What a wonderful blessing!

If you want to know more there's a great article at OrthoInfo:  Hip Bursitis.

I hope you're healthy!

--Nancy.
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