Journal: Owls, Foxes, Capybaras, ... and Baby Comes to Church!

Last Monday night, I completed the 18^th and final Irish Chain block for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  I finished the laundry and put it away... cleaned the kitchen... and while I was doing that, I got everything – and I do mean everything – on my computer backed up twice.  I have nearly a terabyte of data that I save to two external hard drives often, especially after taking a whole raft of pictures.  I keep the hard drives in separate places.

When all that was done, I was too tired to put the blocks into rows, so I retired to my recliner, tucked a heating pad behind my back, and did a little computer work before I hit the hay.  

I fell asleep to the sound of a Great Horned owl hooting in the nearby trees.  I love the night sounds of birds... insects... animals...  One night recently, I heard baby raccoons chirring and rumpusing about in the back yard somewhere.  Sometimes we hear coyotes... and, less frequently, red foxes.  Funny to hear the pups and kits trying to howl and/or bark.  They sound like teenage boys whose voices haven’t decided whether they are bass or tenor singers.  😃

I had never heard a fox’s cry until we moved out here to the country. The first time we heard it, late at night, I asked, “Who stepped on the aardvark?!”  (Not that I knew what an aardvark sounded like, either.)  I set about finding out what this strange noise was – sort of a cross between a bobcat screaming, a dog barking, and a peacock getting its tail feathers plucked out.  ‘Fox’ was one of the first animal sounds I looked up.  

And that was exactly what it was:  The Cry of a Fox

Tuesday, I trimmed the Sunbonnet Sue blocks to the same size, and cut lining for them.  I was pleased to discover a piece of good-quality muslin amongst some things that were my late sister-in-law’s; that’s what I used for lining, as it matched the muslin on which the Sues were appliquéd.  I had to trim the blocks to 11”, the size of the smallest one.  A couple were 16” square! 

Next, I cut borders for the Sunbonnet Sue blocks, in order to make them 12 ½” square, the size of the Irish Chain blocks.  The finished blocks would all be 12” square.

There were three Sunbonnet Sue blocks where the original stitchers didn’t finish all of the embroidery.  The faint lines they’d drawn in for the embroidery stitches could still be seen.  I debated:  Should I finish the embroidery, or leave it as it was?

I asked opinions from my online quilting friends – and then decided what to do (and did it) before anybody had time to answer. 

I don’t usually dillydally between two ideas for very long.  Don’t want any Elijah asking me, “How long halt ye between two opinions?”

Some people recommend leaving vintage quilt blocks as they are found, in order to ‘maintain the integrity’, or some such high-kaflutin’ loftiness.  Well, if I were to leave them ‘as is’, that would mean not sewing them together into a quilt at all, right?

I finished the embroidery.  It would’ve driven me bonkers and bugged the stuffin’s outa me to have a quilt with unfinished embroidery.  And no quilter, bonkers or not, should ever be without her stuffin’s, don’t you agree?

I must confess...  there were a few of my ancestors who could embroider a whole lot better than I can.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to finish their blocks.  Just look at this one:

Next, I put all the blocks together into their various rows.

The weather was nice that night – 69°, at midnight.  I turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows.  I’d have done it earlier, had I realized it had cooled off so much outside.  It had been in the 90s earlier that afternoon.

Wednesday, I got all the rows sewn together on the Sunbonnet Sue quilt, the four borders and the binding cut, and one border sewn on, complete with cornerstones.  When we got home from our midweek church service, we had supper, and then I trotted up to my quilting studio, cut the second border the right length, sewed the cornerstones onto it – and discovered I was too sleepy to go any farther. 

I have found a problem in EQ8.  It’s a problem of my own making – and now I know that I need to check patch sizes with the fractions not rounded to the nearest ⅛”... but to the nearest 1/16” ---- and then when I wind up with really odd fractions, I should change the block size a bit, until the fractions can be reduced to ⅛” increments, rather than 1/16” increments.

For this particular Irish Chain block, I had originally planned for it to be 13” square, finished.  EQ8 rotary cutting instructions told me the small squares were to be cut at 1 ¾”.

But... when I started putting the blocks together, things didn’t fit.  The four-patches were all too small.  I cut the rest of the block pieces down enough to make everything fit.  The blocks wound up at 12” square.

I went back to EQ8, and looked to see what I’d done wrong.  I looked again at the measurements... knew I’d cut them right, and I’d been precise.  I measured my seam allowance.  A scant ¼”.

I changed the block size in EQ8 to match what I now have – a 12” block – and checked rotary cutting measurements.

Guess what?  It says the small blocks are to be cut at 1 ¾”, same as for the 13” block!

I removed the ‘round to nearest ⅛” ’ instruction and checked rotary measurements again.

In order to get a 13” block, those small squares should’ve been cut – get this – at 1 and 13/16”.  Then the four-patches would’ve been exactly 3 ⅛”.

See, this is why I don’t make all my patterns available to the general public!  Aauugghh, imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Now, as for me, it’s my own problem...  and I will fix it.  Measuring tape, calculator, and rotary cutter to the rescue.  It was an easy fix, because, as Victoria once said when she was about 4 years old, watching me alter a dress for her, “Don’t make it too little, Mama!  ’Cuz it’s really easy to smaller stuff, but it’s a whole lot harder to bigger them.”

So, for those of you who like to create your own designs in Electric Quilt, I recommend that you check out your cutting measurements without any rounding before you finalize the design.

Somebody hire me an Electric Quilt officer to make sure I practice what I preach.

Thursday, Victoria sent a group of pictures of Carolyn eating cheerios.  I like one with both little fists in the air, as if she’s celebrating that she finally got those little things picked up and crammed into her mouth.  She’s so exuberant. 

Do you ever look at a baby... think she’s getting so grown up... learning and progressing so rapidly...  But look at how hard those little fingers are working to pick up small Cheerios.  Just think of how entirely dependent she still is!  And she’s totally trusting, with no thought in the world but what her parents will completely take care of her.

By that evening, the Sunbonnet Sue flimsy – the quilt top, this is – was done.  It measures 88” x 88”.

You can read about the vintage blocks, made by my ancestors, here:  Vintage Sunbonnet Sue Blocks

Now to quilt it!  But I have a few other things I must do first, including two customer quilts.  Soon, soon.

I learned from my cousin Helen Jean, who was named after one of the young women who made one of the Sunbonnet Sue blocks in this quilt, that the first Helen Jean was wheelchair-bound – ‘but always very cheerful’, according to my cousin’s mother, my Aunt Pauline. Here’s the block she sewed:  Helen Jean Harmon’s block

Several people have asked who this Sunbonnet Sue quilt is for.  It’s for me!  I’m keeping it.  I probably would’ve never made a Sunbonnet Sue quilt myself, but because all these blocks were made by my grandmothers and great-grandmother and aunts and great-aunts and friends and teachers of my mother, it’s special. 

I’ll give it to Hannah one of these days after her kiddos grow up.  I imagine they have a tendency to trip near important things, whilst a-carryin’ grape juice in one hand. 

(“Hi, Hannah!”  <...waving...>)

Remember the time Teddy spilt his milk all over a new little outfit – just cut out – that I was making a friend’s new baby, way back when?  And he was the coordinated kid!  😮😬😲😆

That night, I put a hanging sleeve on Todd and Dorcas’s Baskets of Lilies quilt.  It’s not required for the County Fair, but is necessary for the State Fair.  It took a while, since I had to sew it on by hand, both the top and the bottom of the sleeve, and the quilt is 115” wide.

Friday, I sewed a hanging sleeve on Jeremy’s elk panel quilt, also in preparation for the State Fair.  Now everything is ready to go, August 16^th.  Our State Fair runs from August 24^th to September 3^rd.

As I type, there’s a wee little striped chipmunk dashing about on our front drive, looking for seeds and whatnot – and a tiny wren, dive-bombing him and scolding like anything.  So funny to watch.

I had an embarrassing dilemma:  a few weeks ago, one of my friends asked me if I’d like some fabric with horses, cowboys, etc., printed on it.  I said yes; some of my grandsons would be pleased if I made them something from that. 

Last Sunday, the person left a bag full of all this fabric (there’s a lot) (and it’s nice stuff) at our vehicle.  The problem?  I had acquired Halfzeimer’s since I spoke with whoever this generous person was, and I couldn’t remember who had offered it to me!  (I only have Halfzeimer’s, as opposed to ALLzheimer’s.  I only forget half of everything I need to remember, not ALL of it.)

I have an excuse, though!!! – LOTS of people have recently discussed quilting with me.  So how am I to know who said what??!  (That’s a good excuse, right?) 

I wrote to all of my friends who might have any inkling about the fabric.  Meanwhile, since it had a strong scent to it, I hung it out on the line. 

Letting it blow in the summer breeze in the sunshine did wonders.  By the time I took it in a few hours later, it smelt of sunshine on a summer day, with the faintest hint of dryer sheets.  I like faint hints.  😉

An hour and fifteen minutes after I sent off the inquiry, the mystery was solved:  the fabric had come from Amy’s sister Suzanne.  Reckon this means I should use it to make Teddy and Amy’s kiddos quilts?  😃  (I was planning to, anyway.  Someday.)

Saturday, I abandoned the sewing and got on with the housecleaning, as our oldest son Keith is coming for a visit on Thursday, and will stay overnight.  He lives in Salt Lake City.  I’ve neglected the housecleaning, since the thumb/wrist problem came about.

Larry was outside mowing.  Suddenly there was a most horrendous growling, grating din.  I dashed out to see what in the world he’d run over now.

Seems he thought he’d get rid of some weeds and small tree shoots growing next to the hostas – by driving his tractor right down the front sidewalk between the hostas and the Autumn Joy sedum.  Fortunately, he ran over some plastic edging before he got very far, which alerted me to the event in time to stop it with only one Autumn Joy sedum getting smooshed by the big back wheel of the tractor.  I would’ve been unhappy, had that whole row of flowers gotten slaughtered!  The tractor doesn’t fit on that sidewalk.  No, it DOESN’T.  No, it DOESN’T.

Larry went off a mite sheepishly to wreak havoc elsewhere.  This time, I didn’t mind.  He pulled out a mulberry tree that was growing uninvited by the basement patio doors, threatening damage to the retaining wall.  This was no easy task.  We’d cut that thing down time and again, with the result being nice, big, healthy roots that quickly shot up new shoots.

Once the ground was clear, Larry put down some rubber stuff and laid bricks on it, starting a patio.  I hope we can finish it... put some mosquito screens around... an outdoor grill... and have a pretty place to enjoy the back yard (which means the terraced flower garden needs to be weeded).  He needs more bricks.  And time.  A little more time would be good.

Having saved the lives of the Autumn Joy sedum and the hostas, I went back to the housecleaning.  I got myself a brand-new Swiffer duster with an extendable, heavy-duty handle, and a box of duster refills in lavender-vanilla scent.  Housecleaning is always more fun, with new toys! 

Did you know you can wash those dusters?  They’re supposedly use-and-discard – but they are in fact washable.  They can be washed several times, and even dried in the dryer on low heat, and still retain their trap-and-lock-the-dust quality.

The Swiffer sped up the dusting considerably.  In short work, I had living room, music room, and the library/bedroom upstairs all dusted.  Things might not be as shiny as they would’ve been, had I used a microfiber cloth and dusting spray... but that might be because there were too many layers of dust for the Swiffer to cope with on its first assignment.  😏

Yesterday, Andrew and Hester and Baby Keira all came to church together, for the first time!  Keira is 3 ½ months old now, and doing well.  They still must be careful of germs, of course, and keep her away from anyone who is sick.

Hester just sent a video of a plump little Keira lying in her little basket and looking at her black and white silhouette book, which holds her attention for long spans at a time.  She waves arms, kicks legs, then holds very still and stares at the pictures before going back to waving and kicking.  Her little fingers move quite as if she really would like to reach out and grab that nifty book.  It’s one of those that opens out accordion-style, and is then all in one long zigzag.  Hester curves it around the baby’s head, so that as she turns, she can see all the pictures, except the ones directly at the tiptop of her head.

I think my wrist and thumb are beginning to improve, finally.  I keep my brace on most of the time to avoid turning or twisting my hand the wrong way.  Washing the dishes is the worst, because I have to remove the brace... and I invariably turn my hand in order to grasp a dish, and ..... aaaaiiiiyiiiiiiyiiiiiieeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Larry finished washing a few dishes for me yesterday, after I turned my hand wrong and howled about it.  (I don’t suffer in silence much, though I can, if I must.)

I was recently discussing with a friend her roommate’s aversion to mice.  “Tell her to never move to South America,” I said, “unless she goes to Chile – because she might run into the capybara, the world’s largest rodent!  (They are not found in Chile.)  And cats won’t keep them away, either – just look at this picture!”

But at least we don’t have to cope with the prehistoric Josephoartigasia monesi, which weighed about 2,200 pounds:

Now I’m going to have nightmares.

It seems numbers of people keep capybaras as pets, and think they’re just ducky.  Gargantuey.  Somethingy.  But before you try it, you might want to read this article: 

Capybaras aka Giant Hamsters as Pets – Not for Everyone

After reading that, I think... I’ll stick to cats and dogs, thankee kindly.  Or equip the pet capybara with a set of rubber teeth covers.

!

Do you think I could get a copyright on such a thing as that, and GRQ?!  (Get Rich Quick)

Last night, my nice husband vacuumed the entire basement for me, rafters and all!  When he gets started at a job, he does it up good.  I gotta remember him in my will, for that.

Tonight he got a wall of interlocking knotty pine slats partially put up in the downstairs bathroom.  He installed them horizontally, and it looks so pretty.  That bathroom has been about two-thirds done since we first moved in.  There is a nice shower in the tub – but I can’t use it, because the tub is too high for me to get in and out of.  It’s raised on account of the water pipe location, or some such thing.  (What do I know?  I’m not a plumber.)  Anyway, Larry plans to build a safe step of some sort, to solve the problem.  Showers feel good on sore necks and backs.

‘Safe’ was the key word in the previous paragraph.  I doubt if one can take a decent shower with a parachute strapped on.

It’s thundering outside.  This makes Teensy run in and out of the pet door.  Am I safer indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Outdoors?  Indoors? 

And Tiger, aka FatCat, lays on my feet.  Don’t move, and we’ll be fine.

Cats can be such...  cats.

Time for supper!  I’m fixing chicken tortilla soup – and since the neighbor man brought us a big bag full of zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, and apples, I’ve sliced a tomato as a side dish, and cut up a summer squash and tossed it into the pot.  Mmmm, yummy.  I just tasted it... and it’s just right.  We’ll have applesauce, too... with chocolate chunk/peanut butter chip cookies and maple nut ice cream for dessert.

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,

Journal: Sunbonnet Sues and Sheepish Dogs

I like to listen to the news as I get meseff all fixed up purty in the morning.  Several days last week, an excerpt from some remarks by somebody important was played – I think she’s maybe a senator, I never quite catch that part.  Anyway, it drives me plumb berserk, because she says, in her grating, screechy voice, “It’s really, really impor-unt that we do our due diligence, blah blah blah and etc. blah blah.”  ‘Impor-unt.’  ‘Do our due diligence.’  🤪  Turn it off!

I think my wrist/thumb is getting better.  About the time I think that, I bend it wrong and make my hair stand up on end.  I’ve got some super-duty hairspray on now, so maybe that problem is fixed.  😆

I carefully curl my hair these days, trying to keep my thumb tucked in, and not making any sudden moves or twisting my hand the ‘wrong’ way.  Can’t curl it at all with the splint on.

As Bobby’s great-grandmother used to say, “What a time we have, just trying to live!”

Last Tuesday, I entered online all the things I plan to take to the State Fair.  The items need to be delivered to the Exhibit Halls August 16^th.  The Fair runs from August 24^th to September 3^rd.

Ohhh, pretty – there’s a female cardinal at the feeders.  Their subtle buff-and-rose coloring really is lovely.

Wednesday, I put the borders and cornerstones on the rooster quilt, cut the backing... and then loaded it on my frame.  By the time for church, I’d finished the quilting, removed it from the frame, trimmed it, and cut and sewn the binding together.  When we got back home, I put the binding on, and then it was done.  More photos here.

Quilting Treasures, the manufacturer of the fabric panel, Rooster Royale, should pay me royalties, because so many people on various quilting groups asked where they could get it, and I gave them a link!  😊

Thursday, after mailing the little quilt to my friends, I headed to my quilting studio to start pulling out fabric for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  The Sunbonnet Sue blocks were made by my maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, several aunts and great-aunts, some of their teachers, neighbors, and high school friends.  They all embroidered their names on the bottom edge of Sunbonnet Sue’s skirts.  One of my aunts also embroidered the year:  1936.  See the blocks and the names of the stitchers here.  This will be a quilt I can enter in the ‘Vintage’ category at our County Fair next year. 

This is one of my favorite parts of quilting – choosing fabrics.  I had already purchased a piece for the background that blends well with the fabrics onto which the Sues were appliquéd.

I discovered, whilst a-tryin’ to get some fabric bins down from high shelves, that the African ladies aren’t so silly, using their heads to carry stuff!  I caaaaarefully slid a heavy bin over to the edge of the shelf... walked under it... slid it a liiiiiittttle bit farther... until it was resting on my head.  Then I walked over to the bed in that room, scrunched down as low as I could, and let the bin slide off my head and land on the bed.  I’m sooo clever.  heh

Since the Sunbonnet Sue blocks were stained here and there, I washed them in my washing machine on Handwash with Resolve and Woolite.  Half an hour later, I had all 18 blocks lopped over my quilting frame, and soon they were dry.  They’re clean now, but there are still a few stains on them.  I shall ignore them.  😉

The blocks range in size from 16” down to 10 ½”.  The blocks need to be 12 ½” unfinished to fit in the pattern as I designed it in EQ8.  So... I’ll cut them down (removing a few more stains in the process)... then add borders to make them all the same size.  It’s been 3 ½ years since my sister gave me these blocks!  Time to get this quilt put together.

I got the larger colored squares and the strips all cut that day.  There were 18 large squares and 48 strips.  Each of the strips would make 65 small squares; I would cut them after sewing colored strips to background strips.

I folded the colored fabric, put it back into bins, and put the bins away, with some difficulty.  Heavy things come down easier than they go up, ever notice that? 

Before heading to the feathers, I checked my email and read some responses to the pictures of the quilt I had posted.  I found this request:  “Would you please cut me a pattern of Sunbonnet Sue, and send it me, please.  I’ve been looking everywhere and I can’t find it..  I will pay for it..”

I wonder where she looked?  There are many free Sunbonnet Sue patterns on the web, and many books and patterns for purchasing. Here are a few links, for any of you who might also like them:

http://www.freeapplique.com/sunbonnetsue.html

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/sunbonnet-sue-overalls-sam-quilt-pattern-2821818

http://www.frommarti.com/products_free_patterns.shtml#sue

http://www.quilterscache.com/S/SunbonnetSueBlock.html

http://www.aqsblog.com/free-sunbonnet-sue-pattern

https://www.all-about-quilts.com/sunbonnet-sue.html

https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2008/05/sunbonnet-sue.html

There are many, many more, in many different styles.  All you have to do is type “Sunbonnet Sue pattern” into Google, and you’ll find... hmmmm... let me look... 2,740,000 results.

The reversed Sue was made by my great-grandmother.  I’d love to know if she did it on purpose.  We’ll never know... but I can say that my ancestors were not known for doing things ‘by accident’.  😉

Friday, Maria posted this picture and wrote, “Zucchini egg muffins, so delicious and healthy and easy to make!”

That day, I sewed colored strips to background strips, cut them into double squares, and then made four-patches.  There are six four-patches in each of these stacks.

And then Maria made another post:  Sadie, looking as sheepish as only a Boxer can look, with the caption, “This little dog just got up on the counter and ate all the rest of the zucchini egg muffins I made this morning. 😟”

I happened to look out the window shortly after 8:30 p.m., and discovered that the setting sun was illuminating the tall lavender phlox -- so I grabbed my camera and dashed downstairs and out the front door.  By the time I took the last shot, the sun had already sunk enough that the lower flower clusters were in shadow.

I put together one entire block for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt, and called it quits for the day.

That evening, Loren and Norma were parked with their camper at a pretty spot near Sherman Reservoir.  Then they discovered that bad weather, including hail and a tornado, were heading their direction, and they decided they’d better get out of there. 

They left, planning on taking a turn on a certain route that they thought would take them away from the storm.

They missed the turn.

They drove through hail, but it was soft, and neither truck nor camper were damaged.  It rained so hard they had trouble seeing.  They pulled into a farmer’s drive that had big trees over the lane, shielding them a bit.  The rain slackened after a while, and the farmer came to see if they needed anything.  They related their story, and he told them that it was a good thing they’d missed the turn, as that would have put them directly in the path of the tornado!

They went on to Ansley, 23 miles to the west, filled with fuel, and asked the owner of the station if they could park behind the store and sleep for the night.  She said yes, of course they could – and since she was ready to close up, she gave them all the rest of the coffee in the pot to fill their thermoses.

They came home Saturday – and Larry wound up following them part of the way home, as he was driving the boom truck back to Columbus after a job out that way.

Norma wants to go to Yellowstone National Park... Loren thinks maybe Norma wouldn’t be able to travel that far.  She thinks they could just take it easy... but he doesn’t want to leave his yard that long.  Reckon they’ll find a compromise for this dilemma?  😃

When Larry came home from work, he brought in the mail – including my new Gingher embroidery scissors.  Very nice scissors; Gingher is one of the best.

I sewed all day, finishing twelve more Irish Chain blocks for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  That made a total of thirteen.  There are five more to go.  It takes about 20 minutes for each block.

I laid the blocks on the twin bed in the little library upstairs to take pictures of them, and, as you can see, the Americana Eagle quilt that’s under them is doing competition.  😏  These blocks would make a fine quilt all by themselves, wouldn’t they?

If you’re wondering about my choice of background fabric for these blocks, I chose a mottled cream color that was as close as I could get to the color of the background of the Sunbonnet Sue blocks, some of which are stained.  The mottled cream background will hopefully make it all blend together, and cause those stains to be less noticeable.

I’ve made it up to Daniel 7 in listening to the King James Version Bible on BibleGateway.com.  I’ve read the Bible all the way through a few times, but at a much slower pace than I am able to listen to it.  I’ve discovered that there are many things one notices when one hears it like this, straight through, chapter after chapter, that escape one when reading at a slower pace.  Maybe because, as one is listening to Jeremy, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, one well remembers what one heard from I and II Samuel, the Kings, and the Chronicles, since, after all, one just listened to them a few days ago... whereas, when one is reading, because of time constraints, it takes many days to get from the Kings to the prophets.

I keep the page with the text up at BibleGateway, too, so that if I miss a word, or wonder what was said, I can quickly look at it.  For instance, I thought I knew what ‘brigandine’ meant, but I looked it up, just to be sure.  It meant what I thought it did:  a coat of mail.  Betcha I won’t wonder about it again!

Yesterday my nephew, our pastor, Robert, was asked to preach at Victory Baptist in Kansas City.  So Bobby and his brother Stephen preached at our church, one in the morning, one in the evening.

Oops, I just wrote to a friend and mentioned our online quilting group, typing the initials ‘CQ’, which stands for ‘Cyber Quilters’.  BUT! – I have my computer set up to do all these auto-correct type-outs... for instance, all I have to type is ‘cn’, space away from it (or put a comma or a period), and my computer, when using any Microsoft Suite program, throws in ‘Columbus, NE 68601’.  YNP turns into Yellowstone National Park.

Well, I had ‘CQ’ set up to turn into ‘Crazy Quilt’, but I’d forgotten that.  So it did what I have it set to do, and I was typing away, looking who-knows-where (certainly not at the sentence I was typing), and didn’t even notice it did that.  haha  Left my friend scratching her head.  😅

One time years ago, in 1999, to be exact, I knew Teddy was going to use my computer to type up a report for school.  So I quickly put the word ‘the’ into auto-correct, and fixed it so the Word program would throw in “I’m a dimwitted dodo bird” or something equally flattering every time he typed the word ‘the’.

He retaliated.

I walked into the living room later to use my computer – and there was nothing left of my desk chair but the bottom quadripod and rollers.  The seat/back part was gone entirely.

I found it – under the grand piano.  😆 

I ordered this mug for Loren, and it just arrived today:

It’s way too flowery, of course (Hippy Flower Power! – there’s even a peace symbol where the front camper emblem would normally be), but I gotta give it to him, nonetheless.  😉  His birthday is August 9.

The last load of clothes is in the dryer.  Now I need to wash some dishes, pay some bills, and order some groceries.  Don’t let me forget to order more Tide!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,

Photos: Tall Lavender Phlox

I happened to look out the window shortly after 8:30 p.m., and discovered that the setting sun was illuminating the tall lavender phlox -- so I grabbed my camera and dashed downstairs and out the front door.  By the time I took the last shot, the sun had already sunk enough that the lower flower clusters were in shadow.

Journal: County Fair

Here’s Tiger (or his identical twin):

Many have asked what I did to my wrist/arm/thumb.  I think – though I’m not sure – that I injured it whilst enthusiastically cranking a quilt forward on my frame.  It kept getting a little worse... and then suddenly it was lots worse.  It helped if I wrapped it and kept the thumb from moving too much.

I always seem to work under deadlines, real or imagined.  Stuff to do!  Gotta git it done!  NOW!  I laughed at my brother when he was cutting the dead trees down around our place, and I was worrying about him, because he’d keep going until he was exhausted. 

I said, “Well, maybe if you wouldn’t go at it like you were fighting snakes!” and he replied, all surprised-like, “I thought there was a deadline!”  hee hee  We must’ve had the same parents.

Tuesday afternoon, Norma called to say they had their camper all packed, and were heading to South Dakota to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead at De Smet.  They would stay at Gavins Point Dam south of Yankton the first night or two.

I worked on the chicken apron (no, not an apron for a chicken, but an apron with chickens printed on the fabric) most of the day, and thought maybe, maybe, I could get it done the following day.

I’ve actually seen patterns for aprons for chickens – they cover the backs of chickens that are getting pecked and bullied, and prevent sores, or allow sores to heal.

They otta electrify those aprons, so that when a bully chicken (sounds contradictory) pecks another, he gets zapped!  Nothing lethal, just something that makes him reconsider his evil ways.

I want everybody and everything to behave!

That evening, Larry brought home some yogurt smoothies to pour over our frozen berries for dessert.  Yummy.  Now, that’s my kind of a dessert.

Wednesday afternoon, I got a message from Amy, who had taken her children to the fair to enter their Lego, flowers, mulberries, pictures, drawings, etc.:  “So.....would it be spoiling it if we told you what you won at the fair?”

I hastily responded, “No, no, of course not!  Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, pleeeeze do!  Doors to the Exhibit Hall officially open today at 5:00 p.m., close at 10:00 p.m., so I won’t be going, or I’d be late for church and smell like chickens.”

She wrote back, “My kids walked around the corner while we were entering stuff and came back LOUDLY proclaiming that you and Victoria got Grand Champion ribbons, and Hannah got something too.”

She began sending pictures of a few things.  The Americana Eagle quilt and the silk ribbon embroidery picture I made for Lura Kay, along with Victoria’s crocheted bonnet, were the items that won Grand Champion.

Amy sent a picture to Victoria, too.  Victoria, on her way home from her doctor’s appointment in Norfolk, called to exclaim over her Grand Champion ribbon.

She was laughing and all excited, because she’d made that bonnet last Saturday, then, hearing me mention that I would be taking things to the fair the next morning, decided on a whim to enter it, and thus promptly removed it from Baby Carolyn’s head and handed it to me.

When the texts, phone calls, and excitement over ribbons at the fair died down, I got back to working on my friend’s apron.  I was alllllmost done with it by the time we needed to go to church that night.  If we could’ve delayed the service by 15 minutes, I’d’ve had it done!  (Or maybe if I’d’ve quit emoting over County Fair ribbons 15 minutes sooner, I’d’ve had it done.)

We returned home from church, had a late supper, and then I trotted upstairs to my sewing room to finish the apron.

There’s a layer of thin batting under each block.  The only quilting I did was to outline the block frames and the chickens.

This is a birthday gift for a friend who, with her husband, raises chickens.

Once upon a time when Victoria was about ten, she was rummaging around in a bin and found several of my aprons.  She pulled them all out, tied them all on so that they went all the way around her, and decided she now needed to bake something.

Up the stairs she came, well-aproned.

She pulled out flour, sugar, butter, eggs, etc., and set about making dinner rolls.

I walked into the kitchen just in time to see her carefully insert her buttery, floured hands between and under the multiple aprons, and wipe her hands on her skirt.

“What are you doing?!” I asked, making her jump.

She grinned a bit sheepishly.  “Well, I didn’t want to get your pretty aprons all dirty!”

That night, I finally got these pictures posted:

From Denison, Iowa, to Redfield and Mitchell, South Dakota – Page 1

Second page, including the Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota, at night:

From Denison, Iowa, to Redfield and Mitchell, South Dakota – Page 2

And Fireworks Photos.

Thursday, I had an appointment to see the doctor about my wrist.  First, I needed to drop the Jeep off at the dealership and pick up a borrowed vehicle to drive to David City (where my doctor is).  The grease monkey who thought he fixed the car last week by merely cleaning the starter wires, ... didn’t.  It’s doubtless a transmission computer problem, needing the computer reformatted, just like Larry told him in the first place.  If people would learn to listen to Larry’s polite suggestions about what’s wrong with vehicles and mechanical things, life would be a whole lot easier for everybody.

But they are letting us borrow a vehicle free of charge, so I guess their chagrin is worth something.  😉 

The vehicle they gave me is a Chrysler Pacifica.  This is a nice van – but it’s programmed to turn off at stoplights, which makes me extremely irate, because I want to be first away from the light, and how can I do that, when the silly motor has to start before I can go?!  AARGGHH.

The gear shift is nothing more than a large dial – like a volume dial – on the dash.  That was nice, since my right wrist is kind of hurting a little bit, too.

Early that evening, a lady from the fair called to congratulate Victoria and me, and to ask both of us to be there at 7:00 p.m. Friday night to have our pictures taken for the local newspaper.  This, I do not care for, especially since blepharospasm makes my eyes look funny, especially if people don’t hurry up and take the picture (and they never do).

I duly reported the matter to Victoria, then asked her, “Do you think Leah (in the Bible) liked having her picture taken?  (The Bible says Leah was ‘tender-eyed’ – and that was no compliment.)  That’s me, ‘Leah’.”

“I’m not sure,” answered Victoria.  “Maybe cameras were less intimidating back then?”

“Probably more like Brownies,” I speculated, referring to those vintage cameras by Kodak.

At the doctor’s office, as the nurse took my blood pressure, which was as low as always, I began removing the elastic wrap from my wrist. 

“I’ll take this off,” I told her, “if you’ll tell the doctor to promise not to poke or wiggle my thumb or wrist!”

She laughed and told me she’d certainly tell him.

Upon examining the wrist and thumb and listening to my description, the doctor diagnosed me with de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, or tendonitis of the thumb.

Sounds impressive, eh?  It’s also called ‘Mommy Thumb’.  I like the more... high-ka-flutin’ name for my malady.  😁 

When I told this to Hannah and sent her the link, she wrote back, “So, which game is your favorite?”  ha!  She knows perfectly well I hate electronic games, and never waste my time with them – though, way back in 1998 when we first got a computer, there was a Tetris game on it, and Hannah and I had a first-rate competition for a few days, maybe even weeks, having fun with that game.  Then when I realized how much time it was wasting, I said, “Never again,” and when I say ‘never’, I mean never.

So now I have a splint on my thumb and halfway up my arm.  The doctor offered cortisone shots, but I chose the splint, a bag of frozen peas, and Aleve if needed.  He said to use the splint for ‘several weeks’.  I suppose that means, ‘more than two’.

Also, the doctor wrote me an excuse, mentioning severe rheumatoid arthritis and Benign Essential Blepharospasm, so I don’t have to be on jury duty.  Thank goodness.  I didn’t feel up to that at all.  😝  Did I tell you I had received a jury summons?

Yep, I got a letter in the mail requesting that I show up at the courthouse.

It went like this:

GREETINGS.  (Do they have to shout?  Rude.)

The politeness deteriorated even more, after that:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO PERSONALLY BE AND APPEAR (can’t I appear without ‘being’?) BEFORE THE COUNTY COURT IN AND FOR SAID COUNTY, AT THE COURT HOUSE IN COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA, IN SAID COUNTY, ON Tuesday, July 31, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. TO SERVE AS PETIT JUROR (at least they acknowledge my smallness) AND NOT DEPART THENCE WITHOUT LEAVE OF THE COURT.

Bossy ol’ thing, the Jury Commissioner Ex Officio, ain’t she?

**YOU WILL BE PASSING THROUGH A METAL DETECTOR, SECURITY DEVICE ON THE DATES YOU APPEAR FOR JURY SERVICE.  TO EXPEDITE YOUR ENTRY, PLEASE LEAVE ALL METAL OBJECTS AND ALL CELLULAR PHONES AT HOME OR IN YOUR VEHICLE.

(Well, bother!  I wanted to play Tetris whilst I wuz a-sittin’ thar!)

Anyway, I’m not one to shirk my duty, but this seemed like a trial by fire just thinking about it.  So I was really, really appreciative when the doctor willingly and cheerfully wrote me an excuse, and agreed with my reasons.

Look what he wrote:  “I have recommended that Sarah not do jury duty because of chronic medical conditions that would make this very difficult for her.”

Made me so happy and relieved reading that, I almost got well on the spot.  😆

“So does this mean you need to take breaks from quilting more frequently?” asked Hannah.

I’m pretty sure I hurt it (and my other wrist, too, though not as badly) cranking a quilt forward on the frame.  I was going at it quite vigorously, of course.  I’ve hurt my wrists time and again through the years, starting when I was in grade school.

I have three more customer quilts, and then I’m not going to do anymore for a while.  My eyes are bothering... my back and neck and hips hurt...  and I have my own things I want to work on.  The flowerbeds are a colossal mess.

Oh—that was one of the things that can cause this tendonitis:  pulling weeds.  So, ha!  I have an excuse!

Isn’t this a beautiful evening sky?  One of these days, I want to make a quilt, incorporating those colors.  More pictures here.

That night, I got everything all prepared for embroidering tea towels, but I was too, too tired to start.  So I edited pictures, instead.

The towels are a belated wedding gift.  Emily Post, in her book Etiquette, says it’s within the realm of good manners to give wedding gifts up to a year after the date of the wedding.  I told this to the new bride (new wife of my great-nephew – the young widow, mother of three little boys, whose first husband was killed in a construction accident three years ago)... and she laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it,” – sounding a lot like her brother Jeremy, our son-in-law.

Here’s the Platte River, which I crossed on my way to David City.  It’s running quite full, on account of recent rains.

When the towels are done, I have a rooster cat quilt to make.  ((giggle))  It’s a quilt for a cat, made of a panel of blocks printed with roosters and chickens.  This is for the people who once asked me to make a miniature of my Mariner’s Compass quilt for their cat – “and I can give you $5!” said the lady cheerfully.  (I didn’t do it.)  Well, when the man saw my eagle quilt, he immediately asked for a rooster quilt – for the cat. 

I think he expected an intricately appliquéd thing, like the eagle. 

I pointed out pre-printed panels of roosters and/or chickens... and gave a detailed price list that totaled $51.  Thought that would put them off their feed, since they’re on the government dole, and never seem to have more than two pennies to rub together.  

I was wrong.  They said, “Sure, go for it!” – and sent me $20 to get started.

They just sent me $20 more – and announced how happy they are that the cat rooster quilt (or is it a rooster cat quilt?) is now ‘totally paid for’!  They’re paying me $40.  Not $51.

You know people who make you swing back and forth from feeling pity to aggravation to sympathy to disgust to compassion to ire?  These are those.

Ah, well.  People like that keep our emotions from stagnating, running along in a rut, and so on!  haha!

Anyway, I thought the rooster panel that I ordered would be exactly the right size for a cat quilt – and the person who sold it, on Etsy, had only one rooster pictured in her ad.  I thought there was one big rooster on that panel.  So I was a bit amazed when I opened up the package to discovered more than a yard of fabric, with nine rooster/chicken printed blocks.

I immediately thought of my friend who took care of my mother before she passed away... now she and her husband raise chickens... and she was having her 65^th birthday!  So that’s how my friend wound up with a chicken apron.

You know, I could just send those people the rooster quilt with the edges unturned and unbound, with a note saying that I couldn’t finish it, because they shorted me $11.  Ha!

But I won’t.  They have enough to cope with in life without me being unkind.  Among other things, they have some physical troubles (made worse by unnecessary operations and surgeries galore – though not all of them were unnecessary, by any means).  They don’t have enough money to go on vacations, so they use ambulances as tour buses and regard the ER as a spa resort.  heh

Friday, Norma sent a picture of Loren and wrote, “On our way to De Smet today.  Lots of hail and rain last night.  Love, Mom”

Fortunately, the hail wasn’t too bad, and they had no damage to either truck or camper.

I got a couple of tea towels embroidered that day, and finished them the next.

Friday evening when Larry got home from work, we went to the fairgrounds.  We might’ve gotten some funnel cake, had there not been such a long line at the stand.  Larry took note of the corndogs at one of the food trucks – they were huge.  But we didn’t buy anything; we had chicken casserole and still-warm apple pie waiting for us at home, after all!

We looked at all the entries in the Exhibit Hall... went to see the horses, cows, goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and ducks in the barns... and greeted a few friends, including Kurt and Victoria and little Carolyn, who looked quite pleased to bump into Grandpa and Grandma in this big, strange, noisy place.

Later that night, while my machine was embroidering, I was doing a bit of research.  And I read, on a certain thread site, the following:

“Be sure you clean out your bobbin race and apply a drop of oil once a week.”

Once a week?!  For cryin’ out loud, are they in cahoots with sewing machine companies, trying to make people destroy their machines and buy new ones?!  I brush out my bobbin area every single time I change bobbins, and apply a drop of oil alllmost as often.  If you listen, you can hear that the machine likes that! – its tone is just a little bit smoother.  I want my machines to last.  And they do, they have.

Since the kids have moved out, I’ve spread out all over the house.  I try to keep everything well-organized... but so many times, if I’m here, the stuff I need will be there.  (pointing)  

I kept my machine embroidering away all day Saturday.  By bedtime, the tea towels were done.  It seems I invariably pick the designs that take the longest to stitch out.  Some of them took nearly an hour and a half in stitching time alone, and had over 30 thread changes!  But they sure were cute.  Someday, I want to make a quilt with embroidered blocks.  I have some new embroidery cards for just that purpose.

The nice thing about embroidery machines is that one can edit one’s photos whilst the machine is a-workin’ away.  See them here:  Jaunt to David City and Platte County Fair.

Sunday, July 15^th, was our 39^th wedding anniversary.  Kurt and Victoria invited us for dinner – grilled hamburgers.  Mmmmm, they were good.

This morning I picked up all my things, ribbons, and money awards (a jingling $19) at the fairgrounds.  This isn’t exactly the way to Get Rich Quick.  😆  It took quite a few trips in and out of the Hall to collect all the stuff.

I got the things of Hannah’s that I’d entered, since they were gifts she’s given us, but left the money for her to pick up.  Hannah has been having trouble with asthma for a week, and the polyps in her nasal passages seem to be returning, too.  I worry so much about her.

In the Exhibit Hall, I saw all sorts of Lego buildings and vehicles and concoctions put together by the Jackson kiddos.  Almost every entry had garnered them a blue ribbon in their age division.  

Here’s one of the goats we saw Friday night.  He looked like a friendly little thing – until my camera’s flash went off in his face.  At that point, he arched his neck, tilted his nose down, and looked for all the world like a big ol’ mean mountain goat ready to butt another one who had wandered into his territory.  I laughed, and he tipped his nose back up and looked at me sweetly.

Home again, I put everything away.  I’ll have to gather them up again when I take them to the State Fair.  I need to fill out entries; I’ll do it online.

I heard an email come in from PayPal.  “Ka-CHING!!!” says my computer.

Oh, that’s nice, I think to myself.  Someone bought another pattern.

I click on the PayPal folder and find ... not a receipt, but an invoice.

For $19. 

Huh?  I just picked up $19 at the fairgrounds.  Do they want it back, or what??

I clicked on ‘See Details’ – and discovered that the Gingher embroidery scissors someone had advertised on SewItsForSale that I’d inquired about were still available, and in fact, the guy had already sent the invoice!

I paid it... and now have new embroidery scissors on the way.

This, because I was using my little embroidery scissors Saturday night (I use them for embroidery and for clipping threads on my quilting frame), looked to see what was poking my thumb – and discovered that the handle was broken right in two.

Sooo... for all the effort of taking things to the fair, I have new Gingher embroidery scissors.  They’re $40.99 at JoAnn’s.  But... oh, brother... I just discovered they’re $17.73 at Wal-Mart.  On sale for $26.95 at Sewing Machines Plus (reg. $34.95), and $23.72 on Amazon.

Hmmph.  Snort.

Ah, well.  Ah done broke even, ’tween Fair and scissors!

Hester sent a picture of Baby Keira, plus one of her at three weeks, when she weighed only 3 pounds, for comparison.  She’s three months old today!  💓  As of Friday, she was 8 pounds, 4 ounces.  Our tiny baby (2 lbs. 8 oz. at birth) is doing very well!  We are thankful.

“Wow,” I replied to Hester, “Keira’s dolly shrunk!”

Loren and Norma, after returning home over the weekend, are heading out to Calamus Reservoir today.  “Finishing our vacation,” wrote Norma.

We are so glad they are enjoying life and each other.

On one of the online quilting groups, we were discussing fabric stashes.  As I’ve sometimes mentioned, I have quite a small stash in comparison to some.  Somebody recently asked me about that.  My reply:

Yeah... I really don’t want a big stash, don’t want stuff sitting around that I might never have time to use.  For years, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to have a big stash, even if I had’ve wanted it, since we were poor as Job’s turkey.  (Why would Job’s turkey have been poor?  Job was rich, after all, except for that time when he lost everything at the hand of Satan.  God gave him back double what he’d originally had, though.) 

I like being thrifty, and prefer to buy only what I need, when I need it, and save the excess (which is how I got the stash in the first place:  it’s all left over from something else; there are few big pieces of anything).  (Mind you, that mindset certainly doesn’t prevent me from staring at and drooling over pictures of others’ stashes, showcased on shelves and organized so that it looks like an artist’s palette.)

When I start a new project for which I haven’t enough fabric or supplies, I find it enjoyable to go buy everything for that project (thankfully, I can do that, these days) (within reason), bring everything home, and launch in, using brand-spankin’-new stuff.

Years ago, I made a quilt out of fabrics someone gave me.  They must’ve come over on the Mayflower.  The fabrics, not the person.  ((...pondering...))  Actually, come to think of it, that person might very well have come over on the Mayflower, too. 

Anyway, that stuff was flimsy, flimsy.  But... it was all I had, and I certainly wasn’t going to use the grocery money or the children’s shoe fund to buy fabric. 

I made the quilt, handling the fabric gently.  I chose a decent poly batting that I thought would last longer than cotton, hoping it would help hold everything together.

I put a note into the gift box with the finished quilt:  “Wash on Delicate, or handwash, in cold water.  Do not dry in the dryer; lay flat to dry.”

And I figured, There.  Now if it falls apart, the recipient will just think, ‘Oh my goodness, I was too rough with it.’  ((snerk))  It’s the thought that counts, right?

Funny thing is, that quilt lasted for years and years.  😅  The recipient loved it.  (It was pretty.)

I’ve been looking forward to purchasing the fabrics for the cream and white quilt for a long time.  I find it enjoyable to walk into a quilt store, knowing what I plan to make... and then hunt around for all the fabrics to fit my plans.  But then a fellow quilter reminded me of Marshall Dry Goods.  I looked... found oodles and gobs (definition:  heaps and mounds) of creams and whites in all sorts of pretty TOT prints... the price was smashing... and I hauled off and bought a yard of almost every single tone-on-tone print.  I was plumb out of TOTs, after all.  That’s why the background of the eagle quilt has all those different ivory/cream/ off-white/tan squares!  😏

That was fun, but not quite as fun as going to a quilt shop.  Saved time, though.  AND I didn’t have to carry a heavy pile of fabric from store to car, and from car to house.

I quilt a lot like I used to make children’s clothes:  I pull out all possible coordinating fabrics, and then I set about figuring out exactly what I can do with those fabrics.  This, I find enjoyable.  I love matching, coordinating, contrasting, deciding on pattern and design.  I like cutting it (though this is probably my least favorite part of the entire process).  And then I can start.  I’ve always found those first few stitches on a brand-new project a delight.  I’m just beginning... I have big hopes and ideas, a vision in my head... and I haven’t made any blunders yet.

Oops, hand me the seam ripper, please, I forgot about putting ‘right sides together’.

So, with the first seam sewn and ripped back out, I’m ready to start!  Or restart, as it were.

Or at least to put the exact same seam in that I just took out, right side to wrong side, the exact same way I did it the first time.  Hand me that seam ripper again, wouldja?

The Jeep is still at the dealership, hopefully getting fixed.  Meanwhile, I’m still driving the almost-new Chrysler Pacifica with magnetic signs on the sides that read, “Courtesy Van”.  It’s a lovely van, but I like my Jeep!

Our 2008 Jeep Commander only has 78,000 miles on it, and it’s an excellent vehicle.  I’m really looking forward to getting it paid off soon, and having that much more money each month.  I understand the saying about being ‘nickeled and dimed to death’ ... but... sometimes one can afford the nickel and dimes all right, but not the cost of the item that would supposedly be ‘maintenance-free’!  As I told Larry, “We’re not rich enough to save any money.”  ha!

Okay, I’ve just gone through my ribbons and all the comments the judges wrote on the tags.  I got ten blue first-place ribbons, and two Grand Champion rosettes/ribbons, one purple, one pink.  One of the Grand Champion items (the silk ribbon embroidery picture) was awarded State Fair Choice, which means it will be in its own separate category at the State Fair.

Now I need to fill out all the entries for things at the State Fair.  All who enter things in the Open Class section can have admission tickets (up to 5 for a household) for $5 each.  Regular price is $10. 

I don’t even remember when the State Fair dates are!  Gotta do some research.  😊

Look at the dollar awards I collected:

Placemat                                    $1.50

Mug rugs                                   $1.50

Eagle pillow                              $1.50

Tea towels                                 $1.50

Ribbon embroidery picture       $1.50

Rug                                            $1.50

Doll quilt                                   $2.50

Lilies quilt                                 $2.50

Throw quilt                                $2.50

Eagle quilt                                 $2.50 

I realize it’s just a gesture, and is actually geared for the kids who enter... but it’s funny, that the huge, heavy rug that I put hours and hours of hard work into got a mere $1.50, while that silly little doll quilt that needed to be washed, and was just a sew-around-the-edge, turn-it, and outline-a-few-things hurry-up job from years back, got $2.50.  In comparison to all those other things, it barely deserved a penny.  But, like the judge wrote on the tag, it was cute.  It was printed cute; I didn’t make it cute.  😃

Last year our Exhibit Hall was conspicuously empty – there weren’t very many entries in Open Class section at all.  I believe that was because entries were due the last week of June, earlier than they’d ever been before, as the fair started the first week of July.  People missed the deadline because they didn’t expect it so early, and the fair wasn’t properly advertised on radio, in newspapers, or on billboards around town.  The people who take care of the fair competitions and do the judging asked several of us to please, please coax our friends into entering more things next year.

It was quite a bit better this year than last, but there just isn’t as much participation as there used to be in years gone by, as there aren’t as many people who sew, quilt, do craftwork of any kind, raise gardens, or do canning, baking, and cooking.

I like it better when more people enter things, as the prizes are then more deserved.  You’re going to win, you know, if you’re the only one who entered in any given category.  You can simultaneously get first and last place.  Ha! 

Plus, I enjoy seeing all the nifty and creative things people make and enter.  It’s so often someone else’s wonderful idea that gives me a little spark for something of my own creation.  I’m a better copycat than I am an artist, that’s the truth of the matter.  Some people can come up with something amazing and spectacular right out of their very own brain.  Me, not so much.  I generally have to start with someone else’s glowing ember.  😄

Our neighbor man brought us a bag of summer squash fresh-picked from his garden.  So I have some now baking in the oven with butter and brown sugar, and Larry is bringing home a bag of lettuce salad, and I’ll slice the rest of the squash into it.  We like lettuce salad, and the more fresh vegetables in it, the better.

My thumb and wrist don’t hurt at all most of the time, unless I turn my hand wrong.  The brace keeps it feeling fine, usually.  I take it off each morning when I take a bath and wash and curl my hair, and I try to be careful.  But I invariably wind up moving it wrong, and then there’s a sharp enough pain that I want to yell about it.  😲  Each time that happens, it sets the healing process back a bit.  😒

This morning, it didn’t happen as often as it has been, so either I’m getting better at not moving it wrong, or it’s actually improving.  I’ve decided... it’s improving.  😊

Time to make a cat rooster quilt!  Or a rooster cat quilt.  One or the other.

Thought for the day: 

Nitpickers often wind up with headlice themselves.

,,,>^..^<,,,         Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,