Fair Entry Day Has Arrived!

All of the entries are in.  The first picture is our area; 9 tables of elementary through 11 years old.  

They are organized by categories (we have 37) and ready for judging first thing tomorrow morning.  

Once the judges finish, our job is to attach ribbons with the exhibitor’s names and display so everyone can see them.

We are up 40 exhibits this year!  Last year we had 178, this year, 218!!  Wow!

We are tired. Judging starts early tomorrow morning.  We must be there at 8am.

Tomorrow I will have pictures of these same tables after our work is done.

Goodnight world.   🌎 

.

Christmas is coming!

Here is another of my projects for the Rogers County Fair.  It is a sweatshirt with jewels for berries.  I am really enjoying my Baby Lock Unity sewing/embroidery machine!  Cheyenne, our daughter-in-love, is helping me figure it all out.  

It is so nice having them near!  I asked her yesterday if she could pick me up at the nail shop after I got a pedicure today on her way to the fair.  Steve dropped me off and just a few minutes later she came in, sat next to me and we got pedis - totally a pleasant surprise.  

 

Fair entries tomorrow.  Gonna be a busy day.  Hope I can do it, I crashed hard today after helping Steve finish his BBQ sauce canning.  Have I said how much I love this man?  He is getting the raw end of the deal though.  I hope I can pull out of this, it has been a rough year.  He is a trooper helping me.  I feel like an anchor pulling us in though.

Oklahoma!

Here is a wall hanging that I just finished making:

The instant I saw this, I knew I had to make it.  I still absolutely love it. :-)  It makes me smile.

This is the back - and isn't it perfect?

I am entering this in the Rogers County Fair Tuesday under and OHCE Wall Hanging.  I think it might be a winner...  (It took first place!)

No new medical update other than this has been a down, exhausting, achy day - for no reason.  4 days until the hematologist.  

Land That I Love!

I spent Thursday with my daughter-in-love, Cheyenne.  (Have I said how much I absolutely LOVE them living here?!?)  She is helping me get the final things done for the fair.  We worked on an decorated t-shirt/no paint.  I am still learning about my sewing/embroidery Baby Lock Unity; laying out whatever I am trying to embroidery on, how to place the design and center it.  Cheyenne helped with all of that, then I showed her how to (wo)man the machine.  She sat and monitored that embroidery process and this is what we came up with:

We did good!  We did struggle on the color of the center of the flower, but I wanted the shirt to be red, white and blue.  Cheyenne liked the gold center.  I asked everyone nearby and our votes were half and half.  I put yellow, but it through me off.  I have changed to blue.  So far I like it, but then I realized I could have done crystal.  There I go second and third guessing myself!  😂

Health update:  Stitches out, dark blood, status quo until hematologist next Thursday.  Feeling better though and I was able to sleep on my side last night!  That is the first time in a very long time.  ❤️

I have my own CIGNA case manager.  She had been my person for several years, but she has moved on now.  A new one called today and after getting updated, she said, “I have a lot of reading to do!  You have educated me on some things I have never dealt with!”

Welcome to my world. 🌎 

Recycled Item From Denim

I signed up to make 8 things for OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education), an 'adult 4-H' group which I belong to.  These are entries for the county fair.  One of the entries I signed up for is to make an item from recycled denim. I grabbed a pair of Steve's jeans and started cutting them apart.  I had no idea what I was going for, but I ended up with potholders!  There is enough padding in them that you can put your hand IN the pocket and it won't burn to pick up anything hot.  

We will see how I do in the fair placings.  At this point, I am happy they are ready.  Doing anything has not been easy this year, but I do love sewing and more than that, I love the fair and the ladies in OHCE.  They keep me entertained.  

******
Medical update:  I went in to an orthopedic surgeon for my hip pain today.  Thank God I found out that my hip pain is from a bone spur - and pretty big one at that!  My hip is in otherwise good shape.  HALLELUJAH!  That is a huge weight off of my shoulders!  I got a steroid shot (OUCH!) and darn did that hurt, but I have to do exercises and he thinks it will help.  I can go back for more steroid shots if needed, but I hope the exercises and this shot does the trick.

Tomorrow, I go back to the GI surgeon, 3 weeks after my surgery, to get my stitches out.  I am still bleeding, but it is dark, old blood from the incision.  Who knows?  I give up trying to figure things out.

I did get a message from my primary care Dr (an immunologist) and he requested me to be front center at 4pm tomorrow.  I am going to wait to see what the GI surgeon says before I decide to keep the 4pm surgeon.  I am just tired.  Of medical.  Of Drs.  Of hurting.

***********

Finally, years ago, before Steve and I went to Singapore, Steve and I made a will.  It needs

to be updated, and the more medical problems I have, the more I KNOW I need to update it.  I almost died this year!  

There are things I want in it, but more importantly, I want my funeral, etc, planned out.  I don't want anyone having to do this after I pass away in the heat of the moment.  I want them to call and it is done.  So that part I will be working on.

I know this medical stuff will do me in.  People have said, "Good thing you don't have diabetes..."  "At least you don't have cancer..."  "You are young, you will be fine - at least you are not as old as me..."  Drink this or take that, it cured me/my brother/my sister/my grandma, etc."  

I am glad I don't have diabetes, or cancer - that is true.  But what I have there is no cure for and no hope for a cure.  It is inevitable, it will eventually kill me because I cannot fight any infections without intervention and if the intervention doesn't work, my body surely won't.  Most people's bodies help the antibiotic, or chemo, or insulin fight the disease.  My body is incapable of helping at all.  Zilch.  So while I am glad I don't have this or that, I sadly think, "but what I do have there is no hope for and no help for".  

The likely hood of me growing old is... well, according to NIH, they don't know WHY I am still alive, so maybe I will surprise everyone and live a long, ripe ol' life, right?  What I am trying to say is, everyone has their own burdens.  Don't diminish them because you may not know (or understand) the entire story, and maybe what you are seeing is "the mask"; the survival mask that we wear to put one foot in front of the other.

My motto is "Keep on Swimmin'!"  I am more bobbling now, but I am definitely not yet belly up.  The fight is real.  Please continue to pray for me.

What Do I Do With Scrap Fabric?

I made Pot Holders!  Didn't they come out adorable?

Medical Update:  I went to the GI Dr today and he is very concerned that I have a bleeding problem.  I am still bleeding from my incision two weeks out.  He is leaving the stitches another week and sending me to a hematologist in the meantime.  I did have a test that came back abnormal, which is why he is sending me in to a blood Dr.

I tire much easier than I should even though I know I have been through a lot this year.  I get frustrated with the lack of energy, but, I am trying.  I rest, I sew, I rest, I rest, I sew, I rest and then I go to bed.  It is time to be on the 'up end' of this all.

In the meantime, I have had 'water' in my ear at least 4 months.  I went to the ENT who said he didn't find anything, but in his report he said he could not access my left maxillary sinus.  What gives?  I get so done with Drs.

And then there is my hip which has bothered me for many, many years.  I finally decided to go into a Dr to see if they could give me a steroid shot to make it bearable.  Years ago I went in and the orthopedist said that is what they could do to help me then.  I was thinking back to when that was... Jeremy (36) was about 2 years old then.  Maybe I will take the shot now... lol...

Anyway, I sew between the health crisis' and rest... and I that is how I waste my time,  Cutting large fabric into small pieces and sewing them back to big pieces, then taking the scraps and making pot holders... or whatever whims I get.  These came out cute.

Something Fun for Once

I have a lot of scrap fabric.  A lot.  So, I was bored one day and I grabbed some and started sewing.  I sewed two pieces together until they were both about baby blanket sized.  I am sure something came up and they got tossed in the NTF bin... meaning Need To Finish.  

A few days ago, I was looking at projects I needed to do for the fair.  In OHCE, we all take a few things from the list and commit to making them.  I took "Random Craft from Scrap Fabric" as one of them.

Of course, I waited until the last month to work on any of my 8 projects, and then I had surprise surgery - after my Dec/Jan surprise bleed and surgery.  Needless to say, this year has not been my year.  So I guess I didn't wait until the last minute, but it is crunch time.  I pulled out those random fabrics sewn together and figured I would whip something up with them.  Well, here is one potholder that I came up with out of those scraps... pretty cool huh?

I will show you the set when I finish it tomorrow.  I do love sewing, and it occupies my time and thoughts.  It keeps my mind off of my medical problems - which seem to be more and more lately.

Medical Update:  NIH e-mailed me and said that they don't even want me to try to fly until next spring.  They advised me to take this time to heal - I have had two serious major abdominal surgeries this year, one major bleed and one significant bleed.  They advised rest.  Thankfully.

Tomorrow morning is my surgery followup visit with my GI Dr.  We will see if he removes the stitches they added last weekend.  I will be 12 days out from surgery, 1 week out from the bleed where they added those stitches.  Holding my breath... 

Today I met with a sewing group from the Methodist Church in Inola.  Finally, I may brave that step again.  Praying for a church home. 

That is it for today.  Going to rest.  I seem to need a lot of that lately... lol... 

Thankful - Word of the Day

4.5 weeks after my 1st infusion; with port in place I go in again.  Today I am a little nervous - my port is not completely healed, still a bit tender, I have an awful sinus infection and the first infusion gave me an awful headache.  Not looking forward to a migraine on top of a sinus headache.

My infusion specialist told me to take 2 Benadryl 😳 And 2 Tylenol to pre--medicate.  I should be a zombie soon.  I also have some numbing cream to put on the port site, but she said that it would be tender for months, about the time it heals, they puncture it again... and the chest area is tender... so... I will hold my breath, suck it up and deal with it!  And be thankful I can even get help with my IgG levels.

^^^ THAT was supposed to be posted Monday - not sure what happened, but it is over!  I did fine.  No migraine, no major side effects on Monday - just sleepy.  Was told to continue Benadry (2) for 24 hours after the end of my infusion.  Tuesday was rough, Wednesday I felt like a dump truck ran me over;  severe pain, confusion, awful flu like aches... just a rough day all together.  I asked my immune deficiency group about it and they said, "Normal.  May last a week."  Great.  I literally could not move for the entire day except to move from the recliner to the bed.  And there I stayed.

Thursday I woke and felt shaken, but better.   I don't even know how to describe it except to say, shaken. Stunned.  Shocked. Recovering.  All day, I took it easy and went to the sewing room and did what I felt like doing and rested the rest of the time.  Easy day.

Today, I woke much better, went gung-ho to a stenciling class and half way through crashed.

I struggled through it, left, met a friend, ate lunch, took extra strength Excedrin and felt well enough to go to a quilt show... for the first 45 minutes.  Struggled again.  Enjoyed every moment except not knowing what to expect physically and my body randomly rebelling.  Thankfully they had a place to pause and rest as needed and I got through the entire show.  But... *sigh*  

A description of what I feel like; the Energizer Bunny... going, going, going.  Then WHACK!  A fly swatter slaps me down.  I am stunned... shocked... but eventually I shake it off, recover and I am an Energizer Bunny again... then I get low on batteries... waddle, run, waddle, run, waddle, collapse, waddle, run...

Will I ever figure this out?  I sure hope so.  Overall the infusions seem to work, it is getting past the first few days that kicks my last.  I do have to learn to be patient, but patience is not my strong point... and resting definitely isn't.


The Stencil class?  Awesome!  Here is a stencil I made:

I am so thankful for people who donate their time to teach me more crafty stuffs.  Our instructors today were meticulous, organized and very informative.  I had a blast and I love my Thankful sign... and it was so stinking easy!  Someone just had to teach me how to do it.

I am thankful for a place to vent as well.  At least my friends and family don't have to hear it as much.  My hubby does though - but I think he sees it, too.  And sometimes I think we are both scared.  Neither one of us knows what to expect.

I love that man!  He takes such good, considerate care of me.  He is a sweetheart.  I am very thankful for him.  

And I am thankful for the 10,000 people who have given blood so I can get my IgG plasma infusion every single month.  10,000 people for every single infusion.  😳

Have you given blood today?  

And with that, I am thankful for every single day I am given. 

Sew-Therapy Fun

Well, as I said, I have been busy sewing.  Since the infusion I had 3 weeks ago, I can't tell you the difference I feel.  Some of my old self is coming back!  Specifically, my old crafty self!  Maybe since I am not fighting tooth and nail to live, I can play now!  Several things I have noticed since my IgIV infusion;  more energy!  Now that doesn't mean I don't tire out easily - I do.  But I don't struggle all day long to catch a second wind - now I can go, stop, go, rest and go then sleep.  Go wasn't much of an option before the infusion!  Secondly, this may sound odd, but I have always had extremely dry skin.  Now I was with an oily face.  EWE!  What is up with that?  I have no earthly idea, but I would guess, since my body isn't fighting everything it can act 'normally' now.  My brain fog is still gone, and I am still seeing in Technicolor... (remember those days?).  And lastly, I have actually smelled something 3 times!  WHOOT!  I will hope for more smells.  You can't imagine what life is like with no smells...

Whatever has caused the changes, I am all for it.  Maybe IgG is exactly what will make me ok again.

Ok, so here it is for my port people, one week out exactly.  The bruising is starting to fade, the steri-strips are falling off and I am fine.  Only minorly achy, but nothing major.  No Tylenol for several days now and only because I overdid things then.  Easy peasy.  

Don't worry - my boob is way out of that picture, but for some reason it doesn't feel like it.  Maybe it is because I am baring my chest... lol... 

Still don't like the port, but overall, it isn't so bad.  So that is my medical journal/update.  

And I went to a thrift store and bought this man's shirt.  I loved the colors - you know me and blues with yellows = LOVE.

I brought the shirt home and started playing with it: I cut the top off and added some fabric scraps from my living room pillows:

I cut the pocket off and moved it after decorating it.  The embroidery on the upper left was already o the pocket.  I left it, added yellow behind the original pocket and added zigzag as well:

This is the back of the finished apron.  

Fun stuffs!

Sew-Therapy

I am healing nicely from the port.  To keep my mind off of it I have to stay busy.  Ok, let's be honest, I have to stay busy all the time.  For some reason, I feel if I rest a moment I am wasting precious time.  So I am always busy; sewing, crocheting, cleaning, laundry, quilting, gardening... whatever.  I have been this way all my life, like the energizer bunny... going, going, going until I drop.  Snooze, wake and go again.

So today I am working on fair projects!  I am having a nice time doing so.  One project is a wall hanging:  

Not finished yet, but close.  The triangles on the left will be a fish with bones.  I didn't have any white embroidery floss so I cannot do that today.  All I have to do after that is bind it and add something to hang it from on the back!

I am working on a few other projects; not going to tell you yet, but I will give you a few hints:  

There are moments when I find the old me and I love it.  Since the infusion, I seem to have a few more of those moments.  I hope I am not dreaming this up.

And I have since found out that the 'rash' around my port surgery is actually a Tegaderm allergy.  Don't really know what that means, but like I said before, it is just itchy not painful.

So today was a rough day in other ways, but I just kept really, really busy.  I cannot elaborate on why, and I always feel guilty continuously asking form prayers, but we need them.  God knows right where to place those blessings.  Please keep us in prayer in the coming week.

Off to force myself to rest, but first, I will indulge in the yummy, "no sugar added" ice cream.  It really IS delicious.  

Good Morning!

It is a RACE day - got sooo much to do and so little energy/time to do it!


But yesterday was AWESOME!  Raelee and I are working on fair projects.  This is what she got done yesterday:

What are the quilt blocks going to be you say?  Just you wait and see - it is worth the wait though!  

She should be done early next week - only 'cause granny is lolly gagging.  She is doing a wonderful job on all her projects though!


Did I say we had a new cat to match our not-so-old dog?

Steve said he does NOT want a cat... yeah, right.  Look who has the cat on his lap!  Lol...

Her name is Cuddles.  Raelee named her.  Cuddles is just happy to have a place called home.  She likes not dodging cars and getting tossed out of the town library!  We do love her already.  She entertains us.  Princess Cost a Lot (our old cat) is not amused though.  

Not.  At.  All.  

Silly cats.

Say some prayers for my aunt and uncle in Hawaii - and all the people on the islands.  They are going to be hit by 2 hurricanes.  Ugh.  I will be saying lots of prayers for them.  Hawaii is a wonderful place to visit - but how to you evacuate when hurricanes come in?  Exactly.  You don't.  Hang on and hang in there Aunt Jacque and Uncle Van!  Sending more prayers your way.


Off to run my errands!  Have a terrific day.  :-)  

And pray, please?

A New Recycled World

While  at the garden show, I came across an area that was promoting recycling.  What a neat display they had.  We went on the weekend, so the kids were there helping out.  It was fun to see how excited they were about everything.  They were quick to show me what they had made, made sure I took pictures of the back sides and wanted to see the pics.  Here are a few pictures...

I found this colorful tree and took a picture of it.  I loved it and thought it would be a cute addition to a garden near a kids playground.  If you look closely, you will see it was made with an old umbrella wire:

Looking closer, I found it was made with some really cool recycled pieces:

Now how cool is that?

Here is a closer look:

And now you can see what they are made of:

Now tell me these is not the coolest things ever!  Girl Scouts take note!  Wouldn't this be a fun thing to add to a Sr Citizen center?

A few more great recycled items:

This one was aluminum (cans) punched out with a hole punch and a chime made of it:

The ideas didn't stop with cans and bottles either:

The children in the schools were challenged to make flower arrangements using recycled objects - some had some great ideas - and the kids were so YOUNG!  Like from 7 years old to 12 years old!

An old jewelry box:

Our grandsons would not love sharing their Legos for this one:

A bent bicycle wheel is even put to good use:

I found a job Todd could do if the offshore one peters out - using his recycled bus:

This one should make pR happy - recycling sugar cane leaves:

And finally, one of my favorites:  

Wouldn't this one make a great pottery shed or playhouse for kids?  Do you see that it is actually a 20' container?  I LOVED this one!

Living in Singapore, we have seen recycled juice wrappers, potato sacks and rice sacks.  My beach bag is  made from some kind of sack, though I hope it wasn't a fish sack:

( no you cannot have it Shari and Stephenie!  ;-)

They reuse buckets for chairs and supplies:

And even for dustpans:

And bottles for God knows what:

So let's recycle folks!  It is great to see people using their noggin's to make recycled objects useful.   I have seen a ton of fun recycled items since we have lived in Singapore - really putting things to work over and over.  People have some great imaginations.  I love the ideas they come up with - makes me try to think outside the box.  

Don't we all need to?