This neck/arm/hand thing has been feeling better for the past day or so. The pain is down to a dull ache most of the time - much better than the roaring pain I had been feeling for the past three weeks.
I actually sat and stitched for a bit last night. It was really weird holding a needle with a numb thumb, but I managed a couple of rows of stitches and it felt like a huge accomplishment. Heck, just sitting here and typing this seems huge, too!
Maybe I'll be back to my normal and idiotic post-writing self soon.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Ouch
I'm not stitching much lately. I have this very annoying pinched nerve in my neck. Usually it goes away in a day or two, but this SOB is not cooperating with me. The doc says to "keep moving", but I seem to alternate between moving and being completely immobile. Like a statue. I'm not good at dealing with pain and I'm cranky as all get-out.
But anyway.
I had a wonderful, wonderful visit with my friends Carol and Linda on Friday. We met for some shopping and lunch, and then we were headed to a local library to stitch, but when we asked our waitress for directions she told us to use their empty side room. Perfect! So we sat by a big picture window and stitched the afternoon away.
And there were a couple of surprises! Our Linda had been antique shopping and found us these wonderful scissor frogs! Now my scissors can live in beauty. They were getting tired of the suppository mold. Isn't it pretty?
And Carol, our Over One Queen, stitched these ornaments for Linda and me. Linda and I both agree that Carol is the touchstone when it comes to over one stitching. In my stitching history, I've seen lots of models and finishes, but Carol's over one stitching is absolutely perfect. As you can see....
And here is where it lives on my kitchen Christmas tree!
Well my bloggy friends, this is the limit of my computer time. My neck, shoulder and arm are screaming at me already. I have so many comments that I want to leave on your blogs - everyone's stitching at this time of year is so gorgeous. But I promise to catch up with all of you after this bugger resolves itself. And I'll catch up with you so much that you'll be sick of me!
Till next time!
But anyway.
I had a wonderful, wonderful visit with my friends Carol and Linda on Friday. We met for some shopping and lunch, and then we were headed to a local library to stitch, but when we asked our waitress for directions she told us to use their empty side room. Perfect! So we sat by a big picture window and stitched the afternoon away.
And there were a couple of surprises! Our Linda had been antique shopping and found us these wonderful scissor frogs! Now my scissors can live in beauty. They were getting tired of the suppository mold. Isn't it pretty?
And Carol, our Over One Queen, stitched these ornaments for Linda and me. Linda and I both agree that Carol is the touchstone when it comes to over one stitching. In my stitching history, I've seen lots of models and finishes, but Carol's over one stitching is absolutely perfect. As you can see....
And here is where it lives on my kitchen Christmas tree!
Well my bloggy friends, this is the limit of my computer time. My neck, shoulder and arm are screaming at me already. I have so many comments that I want to leave on your blogs - everyone's stitching at this time of year is so gorgeous. But I promise to catch up with all of you after this bugger resolves itself. And I'll catch up with you so much that you'll be sick of me!
Till next time!
Monday, December 05, 2011
HSE Freebie
This is the 2011 Homespun Elegance freebie, generously shared by Sandra on the Plain and Fancy Merchant blog. I changed the colors a little bit, using light grey for the windows and dark grey for the roof shingles where she used dark browns. I also used my HDF silks in place of the GAST and some of the DMC. And I sure wish you could see the gold sparkly flecks in the fabric!
Thank you everybody, for the nice things you said about my new kitchen. If only I could have you all over for a huge dinner party now!
Thank you everybody, for the nice things you said about my new kitchen. If only I could have you all over for a huge dinner party now!
December SBQ!
From the fabulous CinDC over at Pencil Crossings, here is our December Question of the Month. You can use this as a writing prompt for your own blog post or you can leave a comment. It's totally up to you.
Name your favorite designer(s). Have your tastes changed over time?
Name your favorite designer(s). Have your tastes changed over time?
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Before and After Kitchen
Hear ye, Hear ye! As of today, you will not be subjected to reading my whining about my kitchen remodel anymore! Because we are done. It's over. (Do you hear the trumpets sounding?)
As promised, here are my before and after pictures. I didn't take any pictures of the process because I want to forget that mess. Why keep pictures that make me nervous?
OK, the first photo is taken from my dining area, which is two steps below the kitchen. I took this photo after I I had removed most of the stuff from the cabinets and countertops, so you won't really see how cluttered my counters were. At this point, the microwave, the breadbox and most everything else had been moved. And that's why there are fire extinguishers and a step stool on the floor.
Notice the 1960's style cabinets. (I think these are also in Betty Draper's Mad Men kitchen). The lack of decent light. The really bad drywall ceiling. The handmade scalloped border on the bulkhead. The vinyl tile floor - surplus from a Burger King kitchen somewhere. The portable dishwasher. Part of the laminate of the countertop missing. So that was it. The extent of my cabinet and counter space.
And here is after.The dishwasher is built in and replaced by a rolling center island. We replaced the drywall ceiling with tongue and groove pine, added recessed lighting in the ceiling and under cabinet lighting. We replaced the Burger King vinyl with ceramic, bought when we added the family room nine years ago. And lucky us...there was just enough.
My refrigerator area. I needed the space on top to fit cereal boxes and miscellaneous crap I used that wouldn't fit in my limited cabinets. Like the salad spinner and plastic pitchers. You can glimpse some of my counter top clutter in this picture.
After - with the fridge inside its own cabinet and a cabinet above. For those pesky cereal boxes.
This is a photo of the doorway that leads to our family room. I had a bakers rack by the door and it housed my cookbooks, some decorative stuff and the bottom shelf usually held my step stool and a bunch of other clutter. Like potatoes. Onions. Pepsi. And you can see how very lovely that ancient portable dishwasher was, with its fossilized Strawberry Shortcake stickers that were impossible to remove.
So here is the after photo. Replaced the bakers rack with a glass front cabinet and a really useful base cabinet. We moved the sink into the corner to add a built in dishwasher. YES!
Ah, the clutter. The lack of cabinetry!
It's amazing how much more space we had when we put the microwave over the stove instead of on the counter. And the appliance garage really clears those counters even more. Garbage was moved inside a sliding cabinet near the sink.
Here's the other side of the cabinet that replaced the bakers rack. It faces the kitchen dining area and houses my cookbooks and my WINE. So I can sit in that chair and just reach over and grab a bottle anytime I want. Hey...there are empty spaces there. Gotta remedy that.
And finally, here's a photo with the rolling island moved out of the center. When I'm cooking, I like having that little island handy near the stove. It houses my cutting boards, plastic wrap, foil, tupperware and eventually it'll hold my knives. But knew I'd want to roll it out of the way when we have company. People always stood around my dishwasher when I'd have parties and it created a big traffic jam in the kitchen.
So that's it. I still have a couple tiny cosmetic things to fix in the kitchen dining area. Like re-covering the cold air returns, painting its ceiling and changing the wallpaper. But otherwise my kitchen is finished.
Thanks for putting up with my whining over these past two months! I honestly could have made a career of it. But it's all over now. Thank heavens! Maybe I'll even have some stitching to share one of these days...
As promised, here are my before and after pictures. I didn't take any pictures of the process because I want to forget that mess. Why keep pictures that make me nervous?
OK, the first photo is taken from my dining area, which is two steps below the kitchen. I took this photo after I I had removed most of the stuff from the cabinets and countertops, so you won't really see how cluttered my counters were. At this point, the microwave, the breadbox and most everything else had been moved. And that's why there are fire extinguishers and a step stool on the floor.
Notice the 1960's style cabinets. (I think these are also in Betty Draper's Mad Men kitchen). The lack of decent light. The really bad drywall ceiling. The handmade scalloped border on the bulkhead. The vinyl tile floor - surplus from a Burger King kitchen somewhere. The portable dishwasher. Part of the laminate of the countertop missing. So that was it. The extent of my cabinet and counter space.
And here is after.The dishwasher is built in and replaced by a rolling center island. We replaced the drywall ceiling with tongue and groove pine, added recessed lighting in the ceiling and under cabinet lighting. We replaced the Burger King vinyl with ceramic, bought when we added the family room nine years ago. And lucky us...there was just enough.
My refrigerator area. I needed the space on top to fit cereal boxes and miscellaneous crap I used that wouldn't fit in my limited cabinets. Like the salad spinner and plastic pitchers. You can glimpse some of my counter top clutter in this picture.
After - with the fridge inside its own cabinet and a cabinet above. For those pesky cereal boxes.
This is a photo of the doorway that leads to our family room. I had a bakers rack by the door and it housed my cookbooks, some decorative stuff and the bottom shelf usually held my step stool and a bunch of other clutter. Like potatoes. Onions. Pepsi. And you can see how very lovely that ancient portable dishwasher was, with its fossilized Strawberry Shortcake stickers that were impossible to remove.
So here is the after photo. Replaced the bakers rack with a glass front cabinet and a really useful base cabinet. We moved the sink into the corner to add a built in dishwasher. YES!
Ah, the clutter. The lack of cabinetry!
It's amazing how much more space we had when we put the microwave over the stove instead of on the counter. And the appliance garage really clears those counters even more. Garbage was moved inside a sliding cabinet near the sink.
Here's the other side of the cabinet that replaced the bakers rack. It faces the kitchen dining area and houses my cookbooks and my WINE. So I can sit in that chair and just reach over and grab a bottle anytime I want. Hey...there are empty spaces there. Gotta remedy that.
And finally, here's a photo with the rolling island moved out of the center. When I'm cooking, I like having that little island handy near the stove. It houses my cutting boards, plastic wrap, foil, tupperware and eventually it'll hold my knives. But knew I'd want to roll it out of the way when we have company. People always stood around my dishwasher when I'd have parties and it created a big traffic jam in the kitchen.
So that's it. I still have a couple tiny cosmetic things to fix in the kitchen dining area. Like re-covering the cold air returns, painting its ceiling and changing the wallpaper. But otherwise my kitchen is finished.
Thanks for putting up with my whining over these past two months! I honestly could have made a career of it. But it's all over now. Thank heavens! Maybe I'll even have some stitching to share one of these days...
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Hey...that's not funny
You may know how I love blogs that make light of things. Well, that make fun of things. Ok, I'll 'fess up and say I love blogs that are a bit snarky. So you know I love the blog Catalog Living. But yesterday I felt like the target of a snark.
Tell me the first thing you see when you go here.
I'll wait.
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*
*
*
*
*
Did you not say to yourself: Wow, cool scissors.
Ouch.
As if we scissor collectors are a strange bunch. Well, I never....
Tell me the first thing you see when you go here.
I'll wait.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Did you not say to yourself: Wow, cool scissors.
Ouch.
As if we scissor collectors are a strange bunch. Well, I never....
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