Time flies when you’re having fun, right? I thought for sure it was at least eight weeks from rotator cuff surgery!

After getting complimented on my shoulder dexterity last week, it was time for the emotional rollercoaster to dip and dive. I have one arm motion that is incredibly stiff. If you hold your arm as if it’s in a sling, then swing it out from the elbow as if it’s a door— well, no can do. I pointed out my other arm wasn’t that great, either! 😊 But I’m getting conflicting feedback about being a therapy slacker on the one hand and being told not to do too much on the other. No one told me to try this at home before it became a TEST. I am now on a big daily dose of Aleve (I hate taking pills) and am being threatened with two PT appts and one doctor’s visit a week. After initially being opposed, come to find out my insurance deductible is met and there’s no copay anymore. And wait- there’s more— the location is between Hobby Lobby and my favorite Five Below store. So, bring on the torture! Thanks for listening.

We didn’t discuss whether I should be sewing! When this is over, I’m going to give my care team a trunk show of quilts I made when I was supposed to be wearing my sling. I blew through all fifteen Harvest Stars this week. After not starching the entire project, I finally had to for the final two seams of each block. It was interesting that at this point they didn’t seem to shrink up— the grain of the fabric is probably going in all different directions at this point.

I couldn’t resist planning my final layout. I use the grayscale feature on my iPhone to see if the darks and lights are spaced nicely. It’s still not perfect, but I haven’t found anything I can move yet that makes the overall arrangement better. I’m ready to finish this so I’m going with it. Please do not comment if a patch is sewn the wrong way or if two blacks are together!

I’ve been watching a lot of Flosstube on my time off— this is a YouTube cult where cross stitchers show off all their WIPs. It would boggle the mind how many pieces some of these ladies have going— 50? 100?– and most are really large scale projects. Granted many of these flosstubers are younger than me and thus have more years. They all use some sort of software where they can tell you they have 957 stitches done and are .0165% finished. It’s kind of inspiring, in a way— why not throw caution to the wind and make one block of every kit I have?

In that spirit, I started Candy Cane Lane— my one-handed piece work still needs help. The patch above the gingerbread man is some kind of trapezoid and it’s almost 1/4” too high. Is it just me or are fabrics getting more and more fray-ish? My cute Doodlebug fabrics are way too large scale for 6” blocks. There are 12 of these blocks— the rest of the quilt has large houses, candy canes, and trees though, so I’m pressing on. I will probably remake this using the smallest scale prints they have in the collection— or maybe drum up some solids. The block I made is the one in the lower left hand house. Maybe it’s fine?

I also want to start my American Main Street, get back on Night Flight, Whitecaps, Brio, and oh so many others– why not? It’s all about keeping myself happy right now and it would sure make for a more interesting blog post, you will agree! Let’s see what happens this week. I’m not too happy with my results right now, that’s the only problem.

My little lion cross stitch had good progress this week—instead of staring into space when I wake up in the morning, I’ve begun working on it again. Once I took those two black stitches for the eyes, it really came to life. I think I bought this partly because of nostalgia– I had a little wooden circus set as a kid, loved Kimba the White Lion and the movie Born Free. I’m going to finish the lion as a freestanding piece, stitch a couple more in this monthly series, and then maybe my grandkids will have a little circus set to play with in a couple of years. The set stays at Grandma’s, however.

I’ll add a little about goats and chickens since it seems like I’m short on content this week– it’s all the appointments! Anyway, I’ve learned a lot in the past month.

Goats don’t believe in the five second rule— once something hits the floor, they will never, ever even sniff it again. And as lawnmowers, they are a total fail. I was led to believe they would go through and selectively remove the meadow weeds, not the flowers, in half a day. Maybe it’s just these two, but they are choosy! We are not making progress.

They do love white pine needles. It turns out white pine is the one thing we have very little of on these forty acres. I’ve been trying to hand feed them, which is never a good idea with animals, but I picture little Harlow being able to give them one of their goat cookies. That’s not happening— I’ve almost lost a finger AND gotten knocked over. I bought a brush for them, but it’s extremely hard to brush a furry coat while someone is trying to eat your coat. Nonetheless, when I see them run across the field with their ears flopping up and down, there’s no buyer’s remorse.

The chickens are all great— we sometimes forget we bought them for the eggs, not the entertainment. I need to get a video where I go outside and nothing is in sight— then, they all twenty one of them come pouring out from under their favorite bush looking for treats! That happens every time I leave the house.

One night last week, we went out at dusk to tuck them in— they free range all day but then return to the coop and we count them at night. I knew something was wrong right away as half of them were still outside and they were freaking out. Little Bobbie flew straight out of the coop and crashed into the wire fence, then bounced and rolled on the ground. (They don’t see well at night– she was okay.)

I said to Mr. SFO— “I think something’s in there— be careful.” And sure enough we opened the door and there was a RACCOON nesting peacefully alongside Ginger. Oh, if I could only describe the look on her face— it was like, “I just be minding my own business here.”

Raccoons are joy killers— they will take the heads off your entire flock and never taste one of them. So, now I was freaking out— I didn’t bounce off anything at least. I quickly surveyed the brave souls that were high up on the roosting bars– everyone seemed fine. Especially my rooster, who was roosting even higher up and wasn’t lifting a finger to do his job of protecting the flock. I’d also like to describe the look on his face, but he refused to make eye contact with me.

Mr. SFO picked up a baseball bat and after much friendly encouragement the raccoon thought it best to move out the chicken door. Then Mr. SFO and I followed him out through the bigger door into the run area, where the rest of the chickens were hiding. Once we were out there, he walked back in the chicken door. We went back in the coop and pushed him out again– it was hard not to laugh after going in and out several times! He must have been a baby just trying to make friends or find a hotel for the night. We finally got him to run off. Lucky for us— everyone was fine!

All this reminded me I have this cute raccoon quilt from a few years ago I’d love to start for Charlie— it’ll have a memory to go with it! If only I could find it…

So that’s the story from Sugar Meadow Farm. My arm is coming along slowly whether I am doing my therapy or not. I keep having the queerest feeling that spring is coming– it’s happened a few times and it’s like when you get mixed up on what day it is. I’ve tried to analyze it– is it because I feel like I was robbed of my summer this year? The fact is, winter is creeping up– but I’m trying to stay positive and keep this thought in my heart– spring is coming.

xox
Carol