…or maybe it should be “one night at a time” since my biggest struggle seems to be sleeping with this clunky sling on. The pain level has not been bad at all– I have a wonderful ice machine with a shoulder thing to wrap around myself, which has really been soothing. More puzzles have been completed, some attempted sewing, a new machine embroidery design!, laps around the meadow, trying to layoff junk food, but more doom scrolling than I had promised myself!

Let’s start with new purchases– there is nothing like retail therapy. I watch a “Flosstube” hosted by Lindsey Stitches and that’s going to have to stop because it’s getting rather expensive. Stephanie is fun to watch, though– great sense of humor. She was working on these cute and small Mill Hill projects which I thought would be perfect for me now, since they are on perforated plastic which makes it very easy to get through the holes. To get free shipping– haha– I had to buy six kits! I’d like to blame the logic of spending $75 to save $5.99 on oxycodone, but must admit this is behavior we’ve seen in the past.

Look at this cutie–Sardines! These tiny kits have everything you need to completely finish them including a magnet and beads to make them sparkly.

I also got this larger Halloween piece. I have a niece who loves Halloween, so every Halloween project I think I am making for her, but so far, she has received nothing. 🤣

I wanted to start on Sardines, but the coloring was a little subtle, so I decided on this fun Christmas ornament.

Is this terrible stitching or what!! So much for easy stitching. It took me two nights to get this far, and I think I should just cut it all out and start over. Worse yet, my arm started to hurt, so I decided this is not going to be a great activity after all. All my left hand has to do is hold it, but that arm is too far down in my lap.

So that’s is for cross stitch. I am really regretting not finishing up Charlie’s Christmas stocking since now that is in question if I can finish it in time for this year’s celebrations.

Then, a new BOM I signed up for started to arrive. I took a chance on this with a company I never heard of called LOVE-SEW– doesn’t the name even sound off a bit. I went into it knowing they had really bad customer service reviews. It was supposed to ship in July, so the game went on for three months whether it was legit or not. But I really liked the pattern and I have a friend who assured me the quality of the fabric was fine– it’s their own designs.

So what do you know! Now that I can’t possibly work on it, Months 1 and 2 have arrived. The instructions are great– strip piecing is used, and they don’t overly rely on half square triangles where they are not needed like many other patterns I’ve seen.

They produced the fabrics themselves which also attracted me– some of those Moda collections are very same looking if you know what I mean. So I’m happy this turned out to be real…

The Sew Sampler box subscription for August ended up getting abducted by the Houthis in the Straight of Hormuz or whatever, but September’s box has been released early. I watched an unboxing and it looks fabulous. So I can’t wait to not work on that and I may also buy the finishing kit to stuff next to it on a shelf.

What else, what else? The DD got me this fabulous table runner kit for my birthday– I’m looking forward to thinking of how I could have made one for each of my daughter’s Halloweens.

And this pattern which can sit next to my other Outdoors Elizabeth Hartman kit… perfect for the quilter with two grandsons if she only had two arms, right?

Okay, but I digitized! I just put my toe in the water with a cute cross stitch sampler for autumn that I know will sell well. The computer is fine for an hour or two a day, and the DD hooped up the fabric for me. Threading is a bit of a problem– come to find out you need two hands for threading even with an automatic threader.

I’m hoping to get that listed in the next couple of days.

Goats arrive tomorrow! If that sounds crazy, I had nothing to do with it– my role is to sit and watch them. Mr. SFO built a gorgeous stall for them– I can just picture a HORSE in it someday, can’t you? With my puny shoulders, however, it’s going to have to wait until a granddaughter has a dream…

Also, tomorrow is my follow-up appointment after surgery. I’m a bit afraid to hear how bad it was, but on the plus side, it honestly hurts less than it has for the past six months. The appointment is at 8 am and is an hour away– I feel like I should just get dressed for it before bed tonight so I’m ready on time. xox

Here is an accidental picture I took of myself while doom scrolling–
I think it says it all! 😅

Just trying my best to think optimistic thoughts
and get through the next few weeks as best as I can.

xox
Carol