Morphine? Anyone?

Thank you for your prayers & good wishes regarding my recovery.  It has been a rough 18 hours or so.  Once the anesthetic started wearing off last night, the pain hit with a vengeance.  The prescription pain medication barely made a dent in it. The right side of my face is quite swollen despite the postop instructions to ice it.  If this had been a regular root canal or even treatment for a slightly infected one, I would not be going through this.  However, since the infection in this root canal was so massive, the endodontist had to literally cut my gum where the root canal had been done Lord knows how many years ago to get out the infection with lots of cutting & scraping, etc. He even had to do a bone graft because of how much damage the infection had done. The procedure lasted 2 hours.  I have 8 or 9 stitches ... I lost count while he was making them ... & an appointment to have them taken out on Friday.  I called & left a message for him earlier this morning but thus far no callback. Looks like I will have to call again after lunch  : (

Despite the pain & swelling, I am hungry as a horse!  Sadly I can't have anything except soft foods & liquids for the next few days.  I am longing for chips & salsa or a good burger   : )

Last night I made an attempt on a new start ... the Festive Redbird I posted about yesterday ... but I didn't get more than a few stitches put in before I just couldn't concentrate on it anymore.

I keep forgetting to mention this but thanks to one of my followers ... Angie at Olde Homestead Gatherings ... the mystery of the Stacy Nash stocking pattern, which I posted about last Friday, has been solved!  The chart appears in Stacy's booklet titled A Simply Early Christmas.  I was able to hunt down a copy & never ordered anything so fast in my life   : )   I'm really looking forward to receiving it as it has a pretty neat pattern for a bell ornament as well!

I will now bring this post to a close as the oven timer tells me it's time to ice my face again.  I wish they made an ice pack that you could strap to your face somehow, leaving your hands free for stitching or whatever. 

I'm Not Really a Heart Person

My thanks to everyone who sent me their prayers & good wishes for my surgery!  The endodontist decided to perform surgery on the worst of the two root canal infections but he believes he can take care of the other infection without surgical involvement. I hope so.  He didn't want to work on both sides today for which I am glad.  We just got home a little while ago.  Although he pumped a lot of anesthetic into me beforehand & I felt literally no pain as he was cutting & drilling & filing & pushing & scraping & stitching away, when the anesthetic started to wear off then the pain came with it. It's not real bad but bad enough that I'll be definitely taking a prescription pain reliever tonight.  He referred to the infection as "massive" & more pronounced than he originally thought but  not as damaging as it could have been.  I go back on Friday to have the stitches removed.  I'm supposed to eat soft foods until then.  Naturally right now I'm craving anything that will make a crunching noise when I eat it ... lol!        

I thought I would share my 3rd & 4th finish of the year with you.  First off, HE's All Is Calm.

I know I've mentioned it before but I really, really had fun stitching this ... even with the backstitching & the 3 colonial knots that the designer slipped in there.  All in all, I found it quite relaxing as well.  I made just a couple small changes.  The snowman is supposed to have a mouth.  I did stitch it but didn't keep it because I felt it made him look too cartoonish.  We will just say he's being very pensive as he gazes out over the fields on this cold winter's night.  The other change I made was the sheep's eyes.  The designer wants them made with 2 short backstitches using 2 strands of DMC 3045 which is somewhat yellow.  I tried it but the result looked like a movie poster for Zombie Sheep. I decided to use DMC 3371 instead which is a black brown.  If you look very, very closely you can see them.  They are more visible in person but not by much.  It just looks like she's closing her eyes, feeling safe standing by her snowman shepherd.  Yep ... great stitch   : )   The only thing that is missing at this time is the little star charm that will be attached to the top of the snowman's staff when it comes time to finish the design into an ornament.

My next project I chose not only because there was something about it that called to me but also because I felt it was time for a quick stitch.  Another HE design.  This one is from their Merry Noel Collection  & is called "Joyous Heart."  I'm not really a heart person but something about the design really called to me.  It will make a nice bit of difference displayed with the usual square or rectangle ornament shapes.  I used 32 count amber linen rather than the suggested 28 count along with the suggested CC, Sampler, Weeks, & DMC floss.    

I did leave off the stitched border.  I think it would look nice if you were going to frame the design or even if you were going to finish it into a rectangular shaped ornament, but it just seemed out of place to me on the heart shaped finish.  That's just my thoughts though.

Once again HE snuck in some colonial knots which I didn't notice when I ordered the chart.  12 of them!  It took several tries but I finally got them all stitched.  This ornament also has a little pineapple charm which will be added before making it into an ornament.

You will note that I stitched the above ornament to the side, rather than in the center, of a bigger piece of linen than necessary.  This piece of linen was cut this size in my stash & I thought I could maybe add another heart design to the other side if I planned things right which I think I did.  Yep, another heart design caught my eye.  This is not going to be a trend, believe me, but when something calls to you, you answer   : )   This design will be another from HE's Merry Noel Collection ... Festive Redbird.  I think you can see why I couldn't pass it by   : )   I don't want to stitch the date but I'll figure out something to put down there.  If you have any ideas, feel free to share   : )

That's it for now ... time to ice my face again  : )

Need Help With XS Fabric Choices

Before I say anything else, I would like to thank everyone who has left comments on my blog these past 2 weeks or so.  Sadly, with the very, very, very bad thing falling into my lap (please do continue to pray about this, by the way ... it's still overshadowing my every waking moment), the holidays, & my getting sick, I have not been able to respond to them   : (   I deeply apologize for this.  I know that some of you have asked me questions in your comments & I will eventually answer these.  Please just give me a bit more time.  Thank you   : )

Now for the fabric choice question.  This year I would really like to stitch Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow.  I will be using the recommended silk threads thanks to Santa Bear's generosity   : )   I know some of you have stitched this chart on something other than the recommended 40 count examplar linen.  I don't mind stitching on this linen.  I'm assuming I stitch over 2?  However, if someone knows of a nicer linen for this project, please let me know.

I would also like to stitch a few Prairie Schooler ornaments this year.  I have yet to stitch any even though I started buying charts during the Christmas of 2011 when Marly so brazenly posted photos of her multitudes   : )   I remember someone posting once upon a time that using the recommended 18 count Davos made the ornaments too big.  I don't want them to be too big.  Can anyone recommend a nice fabric to use for these ornaments that won't make it look like I'm hanging sofa pillows on my tree?

I've been stitching but I have no photos to share with you yet.  Maybe today   : )

Yesterday I noticed a female cardinal perched outside the back door for the longest time on top of a tree post.  She seemed to be looking for something in the yard or maybe surveying it for some reason. She was there for so long that I grabbed my camera.  She flew away soon after I took the photo.  Last year we had about a dozen pair of cardinals coming to partake of our bird seeds & cakes.  This year I'm counting 6 pair.

Now that I'm relatively healthy again I have been sorting through long overdue insurance forms to file, letters to answer, & of course looking forward (not) to my gum surgery tomorrow.  It's supposed to be a relatively simple procedure, but when the terms "incision" & "prescription pain medication" are bandied about, it always makes me a bit concerned.  

Someone suggested I save the gifts still under the tree for after my surgery since it might result in me needing a little pick-me-up.  I thought that was a good idea so the tree is still up & the gifts remain underneath it. After opening them I will have to take down the tree.  Then I will have to start getting the house ready to list with a realtor. Remember when we were growing up how many times we uttered the phrase "There's nothing to do!"  Those words are coming back to haunt me now   : ) 

Incidentally, I'm not extending Christmas on my blog ... I just can't figure out how to get a new template uploaded & make color/font changes.  Whatever happened to the design button that you'd click on to do these things? Between this & my inability to leave comments on some blogs, Blogger is trying my patience   : (  

Well, I guess that's it for this post.  Last night I slept a total of 1 hour & 45 minutes.  This has been the norm for the past few days ... ever since I started feeling better.  I know I slept a lot when I was sick but I don't think I could've banked all that rest   : (   Hopefully I will start sleeping normally again sooner rather than later.  I got out of bed this morning & tried sleeping on the couch, then on the recliner.  Then I decided to do a bit of stitching (yes, I was that awake).  Then I tried sleeping in the recliner again, then back to the couch, & finally I just gave up, made a pot of tea & got ready for the day.  

Happy beginning of a new week to everyone!  

Do You Have This Chart?

If so, may I borrow it?  I saw it somewhere in my online travels with a notation that it's a Stacy Nash design.  I was unable to find it anywhere so wrote to Stacy who said it may have been a design she did for a stitching club & therefore she is out of the picture.  I would love to stitch this.  

Thank you all for your comments about my Shirlee & Ruthie post.  I have just been reveling in those memories since the day I received that Bent Creek chart   : )   I'm glad that my story brought back memories for some of you as well!

Remember the HE 2011 ornament I was stitching earlier this week, Jingle Jingle, with the yellow spot?  There was another spot on the fabric which was away from the design so I tried a bit of spot remover on it.  It did not totally take out the yellow but it faded it enough to where I really could not see it unless I put it underneath a daylight light. Therefore I spritzed a bit of the spot remover on the yellow spot along my stitching line.  Naturally not only the spot but the fabric faded in this area so now it looks like this ...

I'm not sure why my fabric looks gray here. It's a rather rich color of tan, but can you see the faded area  there to the left of the J?  It sticks out like a sore thumb in person   : (   I figure I will spritz a bit more around the outside of the design to fade more areas & it will look like it was meant to look that way   : )   Either that or I will have myself a pretty snazzy dishcloth!

I started another HE ornament on Wednesday.  This is their 2007 ornament titled All Is Calm.  I'm using all the recommended threads this time as well as the recommended fabric.  Another really fun stitch!  I foresee lots of HE ornaments on my tree next year   : )

Health wise I'm feeling almost back to normal again although yesterday I decided to do the dishes & move everything off the counters to clean them.  That little bit of activity really knocked me out ... lol!  Then for dinner I decided to make muffin pizzas.  Not a big undertaking.  The problem was that for the past week & a half I've been eating stuff like soup & toast & once in a while splurging on a cheese sandwich.  I use hot sausage on my muffin pizzas & really load them up with it.  Not a good thing to put into your tummy after a bland diet ... lol!  

The gifts I showed you back a post or two ... the ones still under the tree ... have been added to   : )   Yesterday I received a package from my friend Paula in Portugal. She had mailed me something way before Christmas & it took this long to get here! Anyway, Sophie is fascinated by a couple of the gifts & enjoys sniffing around them & even lying next to them.  She looked so cute yesterday that I had to take her picture   : )

Regarding my stocking gifts from my friend in North Dakota, I am afraid that I may have given the wrong impression about them & that I may have appeared to be bragging or something.  The farthest thing from my mind, believe me!  The gifts Mary & I exchange are very inexpensive things like pencils or candies ... maybe some DMC or little notions of some sort  I almost opened these gifts yesterday but just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I'm not ready to let go of Christmas yet ... lol!  However, I think I will probably open them sometime this weekend.  I should be well enough to put away Christmas next week.  Of course next week I have my dental surgery so who knows!

I have been unable to comment on some blogs for several days now ... not all blogs, just some ... & I've discovered why this is.  If you have a comment box that shows up at the bottom of your post, rather than a person clicking to leave a comment & being taken to a different page or getting a comment popup box, then I can't comment : ( Hopefully Blogger will fix this soon.

I wish you all a happy day!  For me the sun is shining & our temps are supposed to be in the 60s.  BLAH!!!    

Shirlee and Ruthie

Recently I was lucky enough to be the winner of a giveaway offered by Ranae over at Stitch by Stitch.  She had stitched Bent Creek's Photobooth Snowmen & offered the chart to one of her followers.  I was very excited to win it because I love snowman & this design just makes me smile when I look at it   : )   However, when I received it I realized that I will be needing to stitch 2 of these designs ... one for me & one for my best friend from high school, Ruthie.  Ruthie & I have a history with snowmen & whenever we give gifts to each other they are snowman related, but there's a bit more of a history here than that   : )

When we were seniors, Ruthie & I occasionally met at school in the mornings before classes began & decided to skip. Most often we skipped a couple classes, but there was a time or two when we left the school grounds & skipped the entire day. One of these days in particular stands out in my memory.  It was in the wintertime.  Both Ruthie & I loved snow.  We walked nearly 3 miles through the woods, enjoying the silence of the early morning & the snow falling down, to Fox Chapel Plaza where we caught a bus to downtown Pittsburgh & spent the day strolling through the stores & getting ourselves a cup of hot chocolate at a place called The Colonnade.  We timed things so that we were back at the Fox Chapel Plaza when the school bus for that area arrived at the nearby stop.  We then each called our mothers & told them we were at the plaza because we had mistakenly caught the wrong school bus.  We separated at that point because Ruthie lived in a totally different town than I did & our being together when our mothers came to pick us up would've raised suspicion ... lol!  Oh what a tangled web we wove   : )

On this particular day we splurged on a strip of photos from a photobooth.  I was really on the ball back then & had the smarts to write the date on the back ... December 8, 1970.  42 years ago!  Good grief! Little did we know back then what a precious gift the memory of that day would be for both of us in the future.  In the first 2 photos Ruthie is holding a note.  It's totally unreadable in the photos but it says "Come and get us Eugene!"  Eugene Bolt was the name of the assistant principal at school. He was the staff member who patrolled the halls looking for kids breaking the rules.  We gave him more than a few gray hairs, I'm sure   : )

You can see why I need to stitch 2 of these designs   : )

Thank you again Ranae ... not only for the chart but for the flood of memories it has brought back to me.  I am going to pass along Ranae's kindness & when I am finished stitching the chart I will offer it as a giveaway as well   : )

Alive and Stitching

First off I want to thank everyone who has sent me prayers & good wishes.  Surely I have never been so sick in my life.  I feared that pneumonia was settling in (I've had it twice in the past) so last Friday I got an appointment with the doctor.  No pneumonia, thank God, but no flu either!  Turns out a virus is going around with the flu & I caught the virus.  I was told nothing could be done but get lots of rest & wait it out.  Today I am feeling a bit stronger & for the past 2 nights I have been able to go to bed without plastering my chest with Vicks VapoRub. Although death is still gripping at my ankles, I have the feeling that by the weekend I should be right as rain.  I hope so!

Now that I'm not constantly thinking "take me now, Jesus," I am thinking of rather unpleasant things like taking down the Christmas decorations, opening the last of my gifts (yes, there are still gifts under the tree) ...

... wait a minute!  Gifts aren't unpleasant. Scratch that last part   : )   Starting again, these unpleasant tasks include taking down the Christmas decorations (that string of lights at the end of the stairs was not part of the decorations, by the way ... I just tossed it up there the day after Christmas & that's where it's been ever since), filling out insurance forms, filing complaints against my dentist regarding the bad bridge episode, attending or rescheduling various appointments, & of course dealing with the very, very, very bad thing.  Please continue to pray about the very, very, very bad thing. I'm afraid it's going to be in my life for quite some time   : ( 

Regarding the gifts still under the tree, most of the ones you see are from my friend Mary in North Dakota.  She & I exchange Christmas stockings every year & we both were late in mailing our packages this year.  Her package to me arrived the day before Christmas & I set it aside to open at a later time.  After John & I opened each others gifts, I put my packages from Mary under the tree & they looked so nice under there that I just left them.  Mary had informed me that she had ordered a couple things for me that were not in the package & she would be mailing them later so I thought I'd wait until those arrived & open everything at once.  Then I got sick & didn't feel like opening my eyes let alone opening packages.  The gifts Mary ordered arrived yesterday & I placed them under the tree.  I learned that yesterday was Russian Christmas (I was never quite sure when it was) so I thought opening them yesterday would've been a great idea! However, the virus thought otherwise & I slept most of the day.  There are also a few packages under the tree from a blogging friend who wants to remain anonymous.  

To tell you the truth, I really, really don't want to open the gifts because that means Christmas will be over.  Although it was not the best of Christmases what with the very, very, very bad thing coming into my life ... & my decorations were quite minimal ... it was still a lovely & blessed time.  I hate to let that go but I know I must & I will do that maybe later this week, ever keeping my eyes on & looking forward to next Christmas   : )

I did manage to do some stitching while at death's door.  I really don't have any stitching goals this year.  I know what I want to do but I'm not going to give myself any sort of list or schedule.  I'm just going to go with the flow   : )   I do want to fill the year with stitching a lot of Christmas things & I have one finish to share with you & a WIP which is causing me a bit of grief.  First I will share the finish ... a design by Tralala Collection called Duo Noel.  I chose to do the sheep design stitched on Wichelt 32 ct antique tan linen & DMC floss.

My WIP is HE's 2011 Sampler Ornament Jingle Jingle.  I am loving stitching this!  I actually have quite a few HE ornament charts in my stash which I'm looking forward to stitching this year.  I have decided that HE's ornament designs beat LHN's ornament designs by a mile   : )   Anyway, I am using the DMC equivalents & stitching the design on the recommended 30 ct mink linen.  However, I was quite disappointed with my linen because it has a few yellow spots on it ... as though someone was using a bottle of yellow food dye near it & a few drops of the food dye landed on the linen   : (   I was very careful to make sure that any yellow spots would be covered up by my stitches. Unfortunately I was not careful enough & as you will see in the second photo, one of the spots that I thought would be covered up by the stitching is actually going to be showing a bit to the left of that line of white stitches. I apologize for the blurry photos.  I took them 3 times & this is the best of the lot.  

I wet the linen & ironed it before stitching to remove any creases so I fear that yellow spot may be permanently there   : (   However, if you have any idea how I might remove it, please let me know.

I do have a bit of a bone to pick about the DMC equivalents in Jingle Jingle.  I know the designers always say that if you use the DMC equivalents the finished design will not look exactly like the design model, but honestly ... my salmon colored Santa & houses & bell are nowhere near the color of these things on the model!  Surely HE had better equivalent choices   : (   I will need to check colors more closely in future projects & possibly break down & use the designer floss.

I wish to welcome my new followers!  I'm so glad you came to visit my blog & decided to stick around   : )   A big hug to all my regular followers as well.  I hope everyone's new year is starting out better than mine has, but then again, it could've been worse. When you think about it, no matter what happens, there's always something worse that could've happened.  Something to always keep in mind   : )

At Death's Door

Okay ... I'm probably not literally at death's door but I sure do feel like I am.  Lord knows I have plenty of health issues in my life but I hardly ever get colds or the flu.  In the past when these maladies have stricken me, I usually felt fine within a day.  It has been years since the last time I was sick ... so many years I can't even remember the last time!  In retrospect I probably shouldn't have gone to my endocrinologist appointment yesterday but, in my defense, I thought I was getting better. Foolish me.  Last night I begged John to return all my Christmas gifts & bring me home a gun.  I don't think there's a part of my body that doesn't hurt.  My nose is constantly running. My throat feels raw & 3 times its size.  I'm coughing & feverish.  I have chills.  I hate this!!!  In retrospect again I probably should have had the smarts to remember that the symptoms of illness are always better during the day & worse at night, & I should have asked John to stop at one of the many drug stores we passed on the way to & from my appointment so we could pick up some Thera Flu or Nyquil or something.  Instead I curled in my recliner, covered up with 2 blankets, & waited for Jesus to come get me.  I'm still here.

I did manage to do some stitching last night & I finished LHN's It's Snow Cold.

It's a nice little design but I really did not enjoy stitching with the DMC ecru floss.  It seems to be rather wimpy.  I'll have to see what the closest substitute to it might be for the next project I start that requires its use.

I now need to find a new start.  I never plan definite projects to stitch because when they come next in line I may not feel like stitching them.  I haven't yet come up with a plan, a set of stitching goals, for 2013.  I do know I am going to Etsy a LOT of charts & kits that I bought last year & now look at & wonder why.  That might be something easy to do today ... go through all my charts & decide which ones I'm never going to stitch.  While doing that I'll undoubtedly find a new start   : )

I wanted to share this next photo with you. It's a picture of a puzzle that I found in my stocking.  In addition to a few things from my Christmas list, Santa Bear always finds some unique items with which to surprise me.  He knows how much I love snowmen & he thought this little puzzle would be something that would help Christmas last longer.  Gift opening would be delayed until the puzzle was completed.  Too long a time to put the puzzle together was not foreseen.  It is very small, maybe 7" x 9", & only has 160 pieces. The joke was on us though.  Many of the pieces look remarkably alike & so closely fit together that you are sure you've got them in the right spot ... but this is not so.  I think it took us 2 hours to get this silly thing finished, but we enjoyed it & it did indeed extend Christmas a bit   : )   I apologize for the reflection of the light on the photo.  I just could not get a photo taken without it.  I took the photo before writing this post so as you can see the puzzle is still together.  I hate to break it apart but I guess I must. Can you picture the puzzle photo used for a HAED design?  AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Before writing this post I caught up on my blog reading list but encountered a problem with some blogs.  I'm sure the problem lies with my account somehow ... the same way I am unable to delete blogs from my reading list.  When I tried to comment on several blogs this morning, I received no indication that my comments were registered in any way.  No "blog comments are moderated" notation, no comment showing up on the blog, etc.  I hope that turns around soon.

Happy first day of 2013 to all of you!  Only 357 days left till next Christmas!  Woo-hoo!!!