Post op Knee Week 2

I've had 3 phone calls in the past 3 days from friends, concerned because I haven't updated my blog. I'm OK folks, just didn't want to bore anybody! The picture above is the answer to Rian's question on the last post. That's what's outside my kitchen window.
Mostly these past 2 weeks I've been laying around, overdosing on H&G TV. I'm voting for Jennifer on Design Star, but Matt is great too, so it's anybody's guess which will win. When I've seen everything that's on, I've switched to the travel channel, & now I want to go to China.
I've read 2 books in this 3 book series by Steve Berry. They are very interesting books, & if you liked the Da vinci Code, you'll like these.

Today I left the house by myself for the first time in 2 weeks. I drove downtown for my first day of Physical Therapy. It was good to catch up with Ginny again. She helped me when I had my shoulder fixed, & I just love the girl. She's so kind & so sweet, & a great PT. The weird truck in the photo above was in front of me for several blocks, & I just found it amusing. The tires were gigantic!

This evening I went into my studio for the first time since surgery & started packing the goodie bags for my students in the "Over The Top Embellishment Class" that I'll be teaching in Grand Haven Michigan next month.

& lastly, my DS Brandon sent me this picture of my cutie-patootie DGD Carys at the beach watching her Daddy play volleyball.

New Kitchen Cabinet Delevered

Lately I've been acting a lot like my cat. I read somewhere that cats sleep an average of 20 hours per day. We went to my Dr appointment on Tuesday, & had dinner at Pizza Plaza, our favorite Italian restaurant in Anchorage. When we got home, I laid down & slept for hours. Then went to bed that night & slept some more.

I'm not taking much pain medicine. About 1/2 a pill 4 times a day now. The knee is aching still, but doing good.

Yesterday morning Lowes delivered the kitchen cabinet. Warren got up early & moved the one we had over under the window, & stacked stuff on the table.

I spent the entire day, working for 5 minutes in the kitchen, then laying down with my leg elevated for 55.
By the end of the day, things were at least organized, though still nothing is finished or installed. The cabinets under the window in the photo above will eventually get granite counter tops.

Some day My range hood will get built in & connected up, & my antique gas stove will be placed there in front of the stone wall.

Below is the cabinet that Lowes gave us for all our troubles. The upper cabinets will be hung about 18inches higher, & there will be bead board, & pegs under them. Warren is still changing the hardware. But this is how things look in our little country cabin kitchen right now.

Oh!to Dance with a Dolphin! Won !

I had sent Oh!to Dance with a Dolphin! to the Rockhome Gardens Quilt Show, & had checked the webpage for winners, & my quilt wasn't mentioned, so imagine my surprise & delight when I opened the box & found

a Blue Ribbon, & a check for $350.00! I was Shocked! Wooo -hooo!

It won in the Pictorial category.

Life After Knee Replacement

Can I tell you how thankful I am for all of my friends & family. Mindy & John & the girls stopped by today to give us a corn casserole. We love it. It's real comfort food.
My friend Mary Lee made mac & cheese (which was very good BTW, I had some for dinner tonight), & chicken noodle soup which I'll have tomorrow night.

My DH bought fruit for me, per my request. This as well as my prunes are a necessity when taking Percocet!

This is the bunch of flowers from my dad & siblings in Michigan, with 2 poppies added from my friend Alyc's garden.

My view out my hospital window was of Merrill Field the busiest small airport in the world. My friend Barb Quaid's son Matt works in the tower over there.

These pretty lilies were in my flowers from Dad too, but I had them put them in the big family waiting room on my floor, as they ten to kick up my asthma when enclosed in a small room with me. They are beautiful though.

Mindy & the gang gave me this gorgeous bunch of yellow roses.
&Ilene & Stu sent the teddy bear & balloons.

Flowers were spectacular, but hospital food was pretty bad. Even once they got it straight that I'm not a beef or pork eater, food was pretty sad. The good news is that I didn't have to worry about gaining any weight while there.

I ate one of the cookies that Mary Lee brought me each time I took a pain pill. They were perfect. Most trays went back barely touched.

For now I am just laying low, & keeping the leg high on pillows. "To the Moon, Alice", is my Dr's favorite saying. I get up regularly to do the things one has to do. I've left the crutches behind today. I find walking without them is just fine. I'm doing a few little exercises that the physical therapist showed me.

Broccoli seemed very happy at first to see me, then he bit my finger & snubbed me for a few hours. We're back on speaking terms now. He just had to remind me who is the boss. I only used 2 Percocet all day today. I prefer Advil.

As soon as I can stay upright without fear of swelling, I'll be back in the studio working. I'm looking forward to it. Setting at the computer is even a little difficult. It's taken me 2 separate sessions just to do this post!

Thank you all for your kind words & well wishes. I believe in the power of prayers, & I know it helped having you all pulling for me. Next time I post I'll be more interesting! THANKS AGAIN! xoxoxox

Hi again, this is Mindy posting.

As you can see, Deb is up and walking great. After jacking up the crutch a notch she's upright, smiling and walking laps around the nurse's station.

Adorable bear Ilene!

I'm sure the next posting tomorrow will be Deb's.

Hello All, this is Mindy. Thought I'd give you an update on Deb.

Here she is all smiles about 3 hours after surgery.

Amazing what nerve blocks and narcotics can do...well that and a cherry tootsie pop and bottled water. (The hospital has terribly rusty water...she knew what to pack!)

I'll keep you posted until she gets home to post...or I might just bring the laptop over there in the next day or so so she can give you her own updates. She's doing great.

Mindy (signed on as Deb)

Getting Ready for Surgery

I was reading Rian's post, on how the company she bought her golf bag from is replacing it at no cost to her when it broke, & it made me think of Lowes. Odd segway, I know, but this is why. My DH & I fell in love with a particular kitchen cupboard set at our local Lowes. We asked them if we could just buy the floor model, & they said no, we would have to order it. Well Warren decided last October to buy it for me for Christmas. He ordered all the 28 or so individual pieces that made up the display, & things got mixed up. 2 right hand doors were sent, no top, or bottom for the upper cupboard. The counter top first came 10 feet long instead of 5. It's now July & we were just told, sorry they quit doing this particular model, & we can't get the color any more. So this is what is setting in my kitchen. Not the way it's supposed to look yet.

This is the floor model. The only thing wrong with this, is the glass doors are upside down. Well this week when they told us they could no longer get the parts we needed, they decided to give us this cabinet. That's right, for what we paid for 2 pieces of board, they will give us this whole thing. We are very happy. We will still be able to reconfigure the cabinets we have, & use them, & now we have the whole thing! Thanks Lowes!
I'm trying to get myself all ready for my surgery on Tuesday. I've loaded my friend Margaret's quilt on to Lily. I hope to do it as soon as I can after surgery. We'll see how soon that is...
Mindy, & John stopped by today with Hope so I could try the top of her dress on her, & then I also made the pattern for the Vest, the same way I had done on the dress with tape. I cut it out of the fabric that I made quilting 3 layers together, & here it is, ready for the next fitting tomorrow. I'll see her at lunch since that's when my pre-op appointment is with the Dr..

My friend Jackie gave me this nice basket, it's a perfect project basket.

When I was quilting this group quilt, I found some problems. Namely holes where the seams didn't quite get sewn together.

I decided since it's a lot of florals on most of it, & it's a group quilt, made sort of "Quilting Bee" style, a few bees might solve the problem areas. I thread painted several bees, & put them where ever a hole needed hiding.

The wings are just a chiffon that I burned out with my Zapper.

Tomorrow after I get back home from the Dr. appointment I'll make a Tuna Noodle casserole for my DH to eat while I stay in the hospital, & I better make bread too. I don't know if I'll get to post anything else before surgery, but hopefully I'll be able to post again by Sunday. Chamai for now!

Girl Power!

I went to my Calendar Girls meeting today at Margaret Gingerich's house today. She has a really beautiful home.
We started out with a tour of her new studio space. It was very compact, but well thought out.

I was particularly interested in her drying rack here, for hand painted & dyed fabrics. She has pull out screens. A very neat idea.

The day of course included lots of chatter & a little hand work, & then of course there was food.

Mary Gerkin showed us her Tree quilt, I think it was "June",

& Rena Brinker brought her "May". Next month were supposed to have them all together for photos, & we hope to make real calendars out of them.

I stopped on Goldenview on my way home to snap a picture of these dark purple Lupin. They seemed darker than usual to me. I've noticed a patch down on Dearmon that are really dark too. The picture , I think actually washed them out a bit.

This bright orange beauty was just below them.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted & ready for a nap, but plugged along, & vacuumed up the dust bunnies & extra cats that Broccoli has shed lately, then made an early dinner, because Warren had to go back to work tonight. Poor dear.

I did catch a little cat nap after dinner, then after Warren left I got ambitious again, & decided I would just take a peek under the kitchen sink, & see if I could figure out where it might be blocked. Ali Honey's comment from the earlier post this week, keep haunting the back of my mind. She said,"I empathise with you over the water problems. Folk who live in the country or have their own supply, have to be handy and on top of the maintenance all the time!"

I decided I am after all an Alaskan. I feel much like a pioneer, who moved here many years ago with nothing but my family & some hopes & dreams. I've learned how to build houses, & quilt, & maybe I should try a little basic plumbing. How hard can it be?
I laid down under the sink. Managed to reach my arms far enough to unscrew the hose that I KNEW had to be the problem, & look what I found!

This is why we had no water pressure.

Tah-dahhh!!!! Look what I did!

Wednesday at Pat's

We had a lovely evening at our Wednesday at Pat's tonight. Suzanne, Jeannie & Polly are here at the table.
Pat's house is so artful, even the refrigerator magnets are artfully arranged.

Allison came wearing a necklace that she made for herself from fishing tackle. It was very clever & quite cute.

Jeannie (whose first name is actually Lucy), showed this quilt she made for herself. She is left handed BTW.

This quilt she made for her studio. It was rich with textures, colors & fun embellishments. There are a row of thimbles hanging like bells along the bottom.

Great Details.

Suzanne has been making Journal quilts. Taxes must have been for April.

This was Wind.

Earl Grey is her favorite guy.

& this simple piece was beautiful. She used her hand dyed fabric, & free-motioned icy trees on it.

Allison had another Native of the Future show in which she made futuristic costumes for the fashion show. This was quite cute, though once we got Pat into it, we weren't sure we were going to get her out. It was pretty funny, & she said it was quite warm.

Polly bought this scarf from a fiber artist in Washington. It's made from silk roving's & a few other decorative fibers drizzled on top the stitched over wash-away stabilizer.

Allison tried it on for me.

Here is one of many purses that Polly made. She sells them downtown Anchorage at Artique. They are black Pendleton wool, & vintage Kimono fabrics & buttons.

Julie owns my favorite local book store, Titlewave. She made this piece from silks bought on a trip to Asia (I forget which country she said, sorry) with a friend. Now here friend is getting married & she made this quilt for her.

This cute little quilt was part of a group project that Julie did too.

This beautiful bush was along Pat's driveway. The white roses were fruity in their fragrance. It was amazing.

Wednesdays at Pat's are always a good time.