Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Projects

In this case, it's even a miniature project.  Before you ask, no, the craft room is still a natural disaster.  I've been blissfully ignoring it in favor of taking a few things upstairs to the dining room table.  The weather has been too nice to spend all day in the storage room, storing fabric to de-stash.  That has to happen before the craft room becomes livable again.

Anyways, back to the minis!

Remember when I showed you my lamps?  Well I was given a really good reason to finish one recently, bumping it ahead of the Panda Nursery in my queue.  The Peoria Area Stitchers' Guild General Meeting always consists of a fun program in addition to sweets, show and tell, and the business portion.  Three of us have been asked to do the program on miniatures and miniature stitching.  My part of the program will focus on "Miniatures Aren't Just Dollhouses," and will feature a bag room, a converted trophy case, and one of my lamps.

I could only finish one for two reasons.  One, the second lamp's metal bits have fallen apart.  Remember the toy animals made of plastic that only stood up when you pushed a button and they fell over again?  Yeah, well the lamp's metal bits looks like one without it's button pushed.  The most important reason for not getting both done is I'm still looking for bits to fill the second one.  I had everything to fill the first.

So here's the finished lamp.

The bottom picture doesn't do the inside true justice, as there are layers upon layers of "stuff" stacked everywhere.  For some reason my camera didn't like trying to get photos of this scene.  For example, that big teddy bear is sitting on two old maps and there are books and records under his chair.  And behind the old Christmas tree is a croquet set an old cigar box filled with Confederate money.  Just some of the oddities and odds 'n ends found in this particular attic. There's plenty of room to stash other little things as I acquire them as well.   If I can ever get better interior photos, I will post them.
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Also for those of you keeping up with news about my dad, he's being released from the hospital to a nursing/rehab facility for two weeks or so.  Then he will be doing outpatient rehab. 

Out of the Woods

Dad has been stepped down from ICU, but he's still on the same in floor of the hospital. The doctor came and removed the drains from his incisions, and everything is looking good. His voice is still really hoarse from the tube in his throat, but he feels good enough to try and crack jokes.

He's having a good deal of pain, but actually the surgeons are happy about that as it means his nerve endings are finally getting feeling in them again. Just like the "pins and needles" feeling when you've sat too long except it's everywhere from the neck down.

He's been up and walking yesterday and today. 40 feet yesterday and a little further today. And he's able to swallow "real food" as opposed to liquids only like yesterday.

FH and I have come home, as there isn't much else for us to do down there at this point.  Mom will call me if she needs me again and FH has work tomorrow.  Thank you to everyone for your positive thoughts, prayers, and healing vibes.  I'm going to go collapse onto the couch and put my feet up.

Waiting

I'm sitting in a hospital waiting room, waiting to hear if my dad is going to survive surgery.  He's been in for three hours already, with at least another 2.5 expected.

If people have a moment and feel like saying a prayer, sending healing energies, thinking good thoughts, whatever, I know my family would appreciate it.

Still Here

The furniture moving/crafting integration has turned into full blown Spring Cleaning.  I decided that if I'm moving everything hither and yon I might as well get the cobwebs and dust dealt with.  It's slowing me down just a bit, but I think it's worth it.

I've been playing/working in the furnace room getting shelves put up, boxes sorted through, and things on the shelves.  The craft area is now also my office, so everything for correspondence now gets shuffled into the mix.  I've still got containers of fabric and yarn upstairs that need to come down once I have places for them.  Hence the shelving. 

The cleaning isn't even the time consuming bit.  There are about 5 or 6 more "boxes of stuff" to go through in the the furnace room.  The more that gets out, the more room we have to put things away.  One of the problems in the craft area are the bags and boxes of "my mom/granny/great aunt/neighbor passed away and she did that stuff you do, so here" that I get from time to time.  I have 2 or 3 of those left to sort through.  I really hate those for the simple fact of I feel like a ghoul.  Who am I to sort through someone's scraps and treasures and decide what I will deign to keep?  I wised up and stopped accepting things like that, but I still have to go through what's here.  And my "filing system" (put papers to keep in a crate next to the computer desk) can finally be dealt with since I can actually get to the filing cabinet now.  That will be an afternoon's work by itself. 

I'll be headed south in a few weeks too.  My father needs to have surgery.  It's one of those "darned if you do and damned if we don't" situations.  The surgery is risky thanks to his age and other health issues, but if he doesn't have it he's at greater risk.  So he's decided to go through with it.  The family is preparing for the worst in the background while hoping for the best on the surface.  At least my house will be clean and wonderful when I get back.

Oh, the cats are fed up with the weather here and I can't say I blame them.  It was raining this morning, then the sun came out for a while.  Then it started hailing, followed by snow.  I think I can handle locusts, but if we get frogs I figure they'll be frozen and I really don't want to explain that to the insurance adjustor when we call about a new roof.

Anyways, I'm going to get back to it.  Or else it will never get done.