JUST BREATHING

Moving at slow-motion but at least I am seeing better each day.  Lena, sunshine, warm temperatures and listening to the birds

 was very good therapy yesterday.

I made four more dishcloths--they look distorted here but they are all 6=8' square.

We have one pool screen panel out (still on the waiting list for repairs!) so all kinds of insects are finding their way into the lanai but they can't seem to find their way out! 

 This beetle was about 1/2" long--very pretty! 

(Rainbow Scarab beetle; Phanaeus vindex)

There were four butterflies just like this one (quite dead) but 2 were still alive and Bill managed to net and release them!

  Heroes come in all sizes!

(Giant Swallowtail or King Swallowtail; Papilio Thoas)

 

SOCKS ON SUNDAY

I thought it was time to finish this sock before the end of the month!  It's going to be close since the month is short

 but we do get an extra day this year, at least!  

Bill finished building the raised platform for my lounge corner.

And we (I watch, he works!) put the furniture back in place.  

You can see on the left side, there is a gap for the water to run UNDER the deck so the rug will not be sitting in the water after rain or pool splashes!  I enjoyed a nap there for an hour 

and when I headed back to the house, I tripped on the low step! 

 It will be a bit of a learning curve in this brain! 

 Bill offered to put up some accident tape to give me a warning 

for next time.  Thanks but no thanks; it won't go with the decor! 

 

SLIPPERS!

Another idea for slippers;  single crochet a square, seam up the heel, divide the other end in thirds and gather 2/3 and fold the other 1/3 up at an angle and stitch in place.  The pom-poms are not only decorative but also help close up the top of the slippers!   I wear a size 8 shoe and through trial and error, I figured out I needed only 32 stitches for length and 32 rows to wrap around my foot to give you a starting place. 

 I used a #4 Worsted weight yarn and an H hook.  

Bill managed to do the cement!!!! 

 It poured again until mid-day but he caught a few hours of dry-ish weather and got it done!  In a few days, it will be dry enough for me to paint it.  Once I get the two coats on and dried, we can put down the patio rug (which matches the other side with the sectional) and arrange the table on this side of the lanai!

  Now all we need is some sunshine to enjoy it all again!  

 

A FABRIC FINISH!

Look at this!  A real finished object in the studio! I put the binding on yesterday and even washed/dried it, too!

It has beautiful texture from the Baptist Fan pantograph pattern I which I used to quilt it. 

And then I managed to sew the borders onto this top. 

 I do not have a backing for it so it is stalled for a bit.

Bill did work on this area-he dug out the soil and stones but I didn't sit and watch him because it rained every half hour but I waved every once in a while! lol

The rain collected and dripped through the pool screen all day.  At least we didn't get battered with the high winds that the coast received a few hours south of us.  

And Nyki has been so helpful as I crochet the gingerbread ornaments!  I feel the same way about a skein of yarn! 

CEMENTED

              

The garden area was dug out to perfection and the cement to fill it in was ready!

This area had some plumbing details to work around but Bill did it nicely.  He even cleaned the whole area up when he was finished!  (That is usually my job but bending over exacerbates my already miseerable headache!)

I did sit on the new couch near him and crocheted some new sea creatures!  I used some cotton thread just to vary the size and texture!  (I will be doing the head of the turtle over again--I'm not liking the size of it in relation to the rest of his body!)

Off to my neurologist today to see if he can offer some help

 in dealing with the 'never-ending-headache'!

SO CLOSE

After moving the table and chair set out of this corner, we decided it needed a good power-washing before situating the rug and furniture!  Another delay was hard but I am glad we did it!  First thing today, we will lay the rug and arrange the sectional!!!!

This is the doorway right to my room so it will be just a few steps to the new 'room' and I can't wait!

The rest of the pieces are built and it is just waiting for me, too!

I managed to build another octopus and one is halfway done!  I will be taking some yarn in the car to crochet a sea turtle on the way to a wedding this afternoon.  It is going to be a challenge physically but it's not like I can go to it another day!  I'm bringing my pillow just in case I need to lay down on the way home!

 

LANAI RENOVATIONS

I added to the furniture....I worked tor twice as long as the day before,  I still have some more units to add to the sectional but I am excited to see it grow!  

I made several little octopi-once you know the method for making these little creatures, there is a lot of room to vary the sizes, etc.  It's a nice way to use up all of the little yarn balls, too! lol

 

STORMS AND SUN

I have thoroughly enjoyed the top-down yoke sweater--it really moves along in the beginning!  I enjoyed the colorwork--accent in offwhite linen this time.

I missed 11 flowers last night because of T-Storms!!!!! 

 (Cereus blooms only once, at night--11pm-12am is best) 

t thought about dashing out to see them anyway but chickened out--it was really bad out!  I can only hope for some of the other plants to bloom later this summer with a nice balmy night and not one with lightening and thunder storms!

Everytime there is sunshine--

there are these two dolphins in my pool!!!!

WELDING FOR QUILTING

David got the new welder out this morning and got it

all set up...

...then he tested it on some scrap metal and adjusted it until it was running how he wanted it to.

                                         

Here he is mid-job today, showing the work-in-progress

and the welder.

By the end of today, the newly-sized frame was back in the studio and ready for us girls to add the finishing touches soon. I started out the day with more energy but faded rather fast in the afternoon, and my warden nurse wanted me to rest more instead of doing more.

         The guys celebrated a job well done by taking a nighttime swim!

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Here's David hard at work cutting down my quilting frame. Today he begins welding with the welding machine he and his grandfather bought last night; they couldn't get the old one working right.

Abigail is making good use of the pool, and when she's in the lounger, you can see that Nyki has a buddy!

And if Lena's not in my lap, she's in the recliner in my room to be close by!

I am doing pretty good; my daughter is typing this for me because I have only one hand again and typing is a misery. I'm trying to catch up on your blogs and I am going as fast as I can; until then, you will understand why I am absent from the comments!

Start the Week with a Bang

While I watered my flowers first thing, I noticed my Tropical Milkweed was completely bare;  I soon discovered why!  I brought one of my other milkweed plants over and coaxed him to board the one with all of its leaves!  I hope I will be seeing a chrysalis soon enough!

Inside, I tackled the quilting on the 2nd QOV and hours later completed the job!

I did bring out some practice fabric (the green) so that I can check the fit and if tweaking is needed, I can work it out before I cut out the silky flowery fabric at the top of the photo.

My goal was to cut all of the pieces of baseboard for the hall to my bedroom.  They are not nailed in place, only fitted but the major part of the work is done.  (my hall and the garage where the saw is are on opposite sides of the house!)

And by 6;00 I was ready for a swim and then a relax with an Audible book to knit by! 

A Kinda Birthday!

Matthew came and finished the pool area-it did need two coats.  That wonderful sunshine takes its toll.

Nyki made sure she left her mark on his work!

Look who Matthew brought with him this time----they couldn't believe they had to wait for their swim!  

The day was very, vary warm so it was a long, hard wait for them but they were troopers!                                       

After the okay from Dad with instructions to keep splashing to a minimum, in they got!

As for the birthday reference, it was one year ago today that I collapsed from a reaction to the Copaxone shot I was given to slow down the MS lesions.  The shot caused my body to go into toxic shock;  I took an ambulance ride I do not remember, I have only a few memories of being in the ER and then pneumonia quickly set in which landed me in the ICU.  Covid was just raising its miseries and so I was allowed no visits.  I am very grateful for the regained strength today because for months I doubted being able to get out of bed and walk alone ever again! 

Life is precious and family and friends are our riches!  

Celebrate life with me today! 

 God is good--L'Chaim!

 

Among the Cracks of the Day

The first day of Spring was more like winter again for us today!  These sunflowers shivered throughout the day!

A lot of this went on through the day, too!  

The weather threatened rain several times and even a few sprinkles dampened the project!

While I wasn't being a gopher, I finished the last of the 80 units for the Mystery QOV!

They are now bagged up and will wait for clue 4 this week.

While Matthew was working on the pool area, Bill was working on painting the ceiling in the family room.  This room will be a bit upside down for a few more days because we will be painting the walls, too!  

I dashed into the sewing room 

and recovered the patio footstool cushion

 and then made a pillow to match.

I have a lot of this print out of outdoor fabric so I will make a whole bunch of pillows for the chaise lounges 

and deck chairs in the lanai.

By evening when we had to give up on painting the pool decking because of rain, I was glad to be done with the clean-up and hit the couch, cat on lap and sock knitting in my hands! 

 I ran out of yarn (size 12 socks to blame!) for the second sock--so, here is another reason to knit toe-up--I unraveled the first sock at the top and used the yarn to knit up on the second until they were both the same height!   

I now have a finished and matching,

 pair of man-socks for middle son!  

Too bad I didn't have them done before he headed home!