Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Silver Sloth Award

After reading through 3 days of blog posts this morning, I came to the conclusion that I will be named the first recipient of the Silver Sloth Award.

Although I think it's quite cute, it's probably not the most prestigious award for one to receive.  However, if it has been determined that one has earned it, I guess it's only fair for one to accept it.    

Two or three of the owners of blogs I follow posted about their truly amazing progress on at least one, even more than one, stitching project during the past 2 weeks. These projects included some hefty designs! We're talking HAEDs here folks!  Do you want to see what I managed to accomplish during the past 2 weeks?
Pitiful, isn't it.  No wonder I am the first recipient of the Silver Sloth.  It was probably created just for me.  It will probably be nicknamed "the Shirlee" by some late night TV talk show host.  Not only is it obvious how simple, quick, 1-2-3 this design is, but you may notice that I didn't get the design centered correctly!  I don't know what happened with that.  You may also notice that the design is not as L*K intended it to be.  It is not technically finished.  There is supposed to be a kind of decorative border here & there along the edges but I think if I add the border on the bottom, it will bring the design too close to the edge & then how will my poor finisher ever be able to finish it comfortably?  So yes, I think this design is now as finished as I'm going to make it.  Does it look too blah?  I hope not.  Perhaps it can be spiced up during the finishing process if that's the case.  

Two weeks.  Two weeks of stitching & this is what I've got to show for it.  It's true, I have had to endure a multitude of physical therapy visits which after 8+ weeks I'm getting awfully tired of even though Bo is a very nice therapist.  Then there's the blasted home exercise program which Bo has given me to do 6 days per week (I felt pretty good about this at first ... now it's kind of a chore), cardiac issues, & oh joy, something new. Strange boil-like eruptions on various areas of my body.  I was seriously considering changing my name to Job for a while.  Not really boils.  My Bible translation calls them "loathsome sores."  That's about right.  I finally got an appointment with my doctor who insists I have contact dermatitis.  I think she would put her career on the line regarding her certainty that I have either (A) worn a ... GASP! ... cheap watch or bracelet; (B) bought a new brand of bath soap, hand cream, washing liquid, etc; (C) took a stroll through a forest, meadow, or weed infested side of a country road; (D) allowed an animal roaming about outdoors to brush against me; or (E) allowed poor, poor Sophie ... a totally innocent indoor cat from the time I brought her home from the shelter in 1999 ... to go out into the yard & drag in heaven only knows what kind of horror to transfer to my body.  It is a strange sort of rash. Red, itchy, & not distributed with any particular rhyme or reason.  It is concentrated on my right forearm & left thigh for the most part ... large, red, itchy "loathsome sores."  There is a different sort of dispersion on my tummy, chest, & lower back ... sort of resembling a bunch of insect bites.  Anyway, I responded with a resounding "no" to all Dr. Know-It-All's explanations as to how this rash came to be on my body & she looked at me like I was an idiot.  In fact, she went so far as to state I must have worn, brought home, strolled through, rubbed against, or allowed poor Sophie to escape into the yard without realizing it ... not believing my protestations that none of these scenarios took place! Thankfully before I stood up to belt her one, she stated she would write me 2 prescriptions to heal me & stop the itching & suggested a cortisone cream for extra relief. I am thankful for 2 things.  No, make that 3. First of all, I have medications which seem to be working.  Secondly, the rash has not gone anywhere near my face.  This is an ugly, red, itchy mess, my friends.  Not my face ... the rash.  And thirdly, it is not contagious which brings up an interesting point.  How did it get from my right forearm to my left thigh, or vice versa?  If the truth be told, I don't really care anymore.  I'm feeling better & it's slowly going away.  Hooray!  Maybe I can get some real stitching done now   : )

I neglected to mention that the above L*K design came to me as a traveling pattern.  I am not a L*K sort of person but something about this design called to me.  Therefore, I threw my name in the hat for a chance to have it travel from our own Poodle Princess, Vickie ... A Stitcher's Story ... to me, & my name was chosen!  So it is now my turn to offer this design to someone else.  I will do this in a separate posting so as not to cause confusion so bear with me for that posting to be made ... undoubtedly tomorrow.  I sadly do not know from whence this traveling pattern originated ... just that Vickie had it before me.  If anyone can fill me in on the travel order, I'd really appreciate it   : )

I now must open myself to ridicule & embarrassment.  Remember in my last post ... I think it was my last post ... I told you about how excited John & I were to see a baby hummingbird feasting on the flowers in one of our hanging baskets on the front porch? Today there were 3 of them feasting on the rather sad looking remaining butterfly bush blooms at the side of the porch.  I went into the house & grabbed my camera.  I took a dozen or so photos & here are the 3 that best show the baby hummers.


I showed the photos to John & said "I don't think these are baby hummingbirds.  They have big antennae on their heads & are kind of furry like a bee."  He answered "But look how their wings beat like hummingbird wings & how long their mouth is!"  I then replied "A hummingbird's mouth doesn't curl up like you can see in that last photo!"  We did an online search & I guess we were kind of in the ballpark with our baby hummingbird guess.  Kind of.  In our defense, we didn't see that one I wrote about in my last post at close-up range.  These little creatures are actually hummingbird moths!  Who would've known!  Well, my friend in North Dakota would've known.  She studied entomology.  I have no idea how we became such good friends but I'm sure there are things about me that she has turned a blind eye to just like I turned a blind eye to her love of bugs. I'll have to send her these photos.  She will probably get all excited & tell me everything there is to know about hummingbird moths. Hmmm ... maybe I'll keep the photos just between us bloggers.  Mary doesn't read blogs   : )

Remember ... if you are going to want to try for a chance to have the L*K traveling pattern travel to your home next, watch for my next post to sign up   : )

17 comments:

marly said...

Glad to see your sense of humor is still going strong. I've had so many rashes and doctors have never been able to say what caused them. They assume it's "something you came into contact with". Well maybe it is. But they did a punch biopsy every time to confirm that they don't know what it is or the cause. Sounds like your doc had the same classes. I'm glad it's clearing up for you.

Linda K's Stitching Corner said...

At least you got some stitching done...don't feel bad if you can't accomplish what you should. I don't and if I rush in getting a project done than it takes the enjoyment out of it.

I love your Flowery Photos that you took....

Happy Stitching! :)

Marilyn said...

Sometimes we all have a stitching slump.
Hope your rash gets better.
Great pics of the moths, aren't they cool? They look like a cross between a Hummingbird and a Bee.
Marilyn

Chris said...

I was going to suggest that the "baby" might have been a hummingbird moth but I didn't want to spoil your baby sighting. But hummingbird moths are extremely cool too.
I am glad that the rash is improving. You make me laugh, I would have been really snarky with the dermatologist with that list of questions.
Poodle princess... dear Vickie..made me smile.
I have you beat on the sloth thing when it comes to stitching :)
Hugs!!!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I love that you take the time to find the perfect picture of your Sloth Award!!

The rash sounds awful. I think you are allergic to something. No idea what! Life? Doctors? Moths?

Maybe a button or pin would balance up the L*D design if you're not stitching the border.

Sarah in Stitches said...

The blasted contact dermatitis! I hate it. I've had this bizarre rash on my right pinkie finger for months. When I finally went to a doctor, she told me it was definitely contact dermatitis and that it would keep coming back until I figured out what was causing it. Nothing! What on earth would I be doing with my right pinkie finger that doesn't involve my other fingers? Doctors drive us all crazy sometimes :S

Peggy Lee said...

I can find the center of a piece of linen over and over again and carefully start stitching only to find that I am way off. How does that happen? Yours isn't too bad though. I like that simple design.

Hummingbird moths. Yep. They've fooled the best of us. Kind of weird little things though, aren't they? I am deathly afraid of moths. They creep me out something fierce.
Ok so maybe I'm the weird one.

:o)

Rhona said...

I could be a contender for the sloth award too! And as for not finding the middle of the cloth...I'm an expert at that too!!! Love the hummingbird moths - they are so cute

bettyj said...

They are everywhere this summer. Here on my butterfly bushes too. They are weird little moths. My butterfly bus is also full of butterflies! Have a great day and ope the itchies stop

cucki said...

i love the hummingbird moths..they so cute..
congrats for the award :)
hugs x

Linda said...

Sorry about your bumps and rash Shirlee. I broke out with blisters last year on my hands, arms and fingers. We (me and the doctors) finally decided that it was from stress.

Linda

Melanie said...

I've never heard of a hummingbird moth so I learned something new too. :)

Vickie said...

I wondered a bit about the moth/hummer baby too. But so what? It fun to learn right?!
I love being "Poodle Princess", yes I do!
The LK pattern is originally from Sally. =)

Catherine said...

Too funny about the baby hummers ~ those moths are deceiving!
You can just send that sloth award over here when you are done....hanging head in shame,,,,,,

Simply Victoria said...

Can I get first runner up for the sloth award? :)

Maggee said...

One minute I am laughing my butt off, the next I am shuddering at the thought of big old moths! You are an entertaining blog writer my friend!! Hugs!

Anonymous said...

glad the rush is slowly but surely leaving you to much more productive things than scratching.
doctors. we really need to find a cure for our incompetent doctors. but then, we'd need a doctor to prescribe it. oh dear.
hummingbird moths! see, you taught me something today.
hugs and happy xxx,
chiara