Getting back to things I love - a little gardening, sketchbooks and sewing.

Again it’s been over 2 weeks since I posted. I’ve been laid up and in pain for most of it. I didn’t crack a sketchbook or do any sewing. Watching TV and doing nothing and occasionally knitting was it. You feel as if you’re never going to get back to the things you like to do.

But, I’m getting there. My family doctor was incorrect when she thought the pain might be from residual pain after passing kidney stones. The pain was worsening until I ended up back in emergency over 2 weeks ago. This time they did an emergency CT scan at 3AM and determined that the stones were still there which they were pretty sure of based on the pain and the fact that I was sick to my stomach. So, on Saturday, I had emergency surgery to remove the stones and  they inserted a stent. I was given morphine and for the week. I seem to one of this e rare people that don’t take the stent well. I counted the days to removal. I had that done last Friday and again ended in emergency same night. This time I was given the shot agin for pain and antispasmodics for the bladder. I suffered for a couple days still. It’s getting better though.

I finally felt like doing a wee bit of sewing after lunch today. Do you remember these blocks? I sewed them in a bit of a frenzy when I was having all the hives. I decided today to start putting the rows together. There are 5 and I put together 1 today feeling like I’d had a major accomplishment!

The lighting could be better. It’s actually a little brighter than the picture. A major mistake that I made was that I forgot the step of trimming each section of the flying geese before putting the block together. It really just means that the blocks are bit bigger and that the points aren’t perfect. I’ve decided to not be so fussy, sewing and matching points the best I can. It’s a sign of the foggy brained quarantine times.

This is a sweater knit with Pima cotton that I finished in the last couple weeks. It just barely fits my 4 1/2  month old grandson, Gussie. I found the pattern quite difficult at first when I was unable to concentrate and was slow getting it done.

After lunch I also opened my sketchbooks for the first time in ages and prepped a few pages with my personal screen designs. I used a mix of a acrylic modelling paste with a gold paint.

It has a bit of texture. I’m anxious to see how it will work with watercolours.

Certain veggies have done really well this summer - beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, and zucchini squash. My kale got badly eaten. The runner beans have taken over the deck.

I paknred potatoes for the first time in 2 very large pots and in one small section of my sunflower garden. I find it very exciting to unearth those!

I took a few pictures of flowers so that I’d have them for painting reference.

This is a fairy that I made in a workshop at the Fiber Arts festival in Amherst a couple years ago.

This little space against the shed was so pretty a couple weeks ago with the poppies and speedwell. That is done now and it’s sparse. A couple of cosmos will bloom along with some zinnia and that’s all. It’s in a partly shady spot so took a while to get going. At least I got it cleaned up. I’m not a serious gardener; I do like some veggies and a few flowers for painting. By the time things start to grow in late spring I’ve forgotten my ideas form the year before. This year I want to take pictures and actually print them so I can see where I want to make the changes next year.

I haven’t done any fiber art for months and really haven’t felt like it. The ideas are started to come back though and I may be ready to start something soon.