Phase 2

It is now fully 2 weeks since my operation and things are going well.  Yesterday was my return visit to the hospital to have the stitches removed and new casts put on.  Apart from having to wait a ridiculous amount to time to be seen (1hr 10 minutes after my appointment time) it was a good appointment.  I got to see my 'new' feet for the first time and they looked odd.  Not like my feet, admittedly they were/are swollen, but it was a bit like looking at someone else's feet.  Not a pair of feet I recognised.  It was also the first time I got to see exactly where the stitches were.  I've reached the grand age of 41 with the only medical attention, requiring attendance to hospital, being pregnancy related.  So to have had a couple of bones broken and stitches, it is a novel experience.  It was also the first time I've had stitches removed.  It didn't hurt.  I could feel a little tugging sensation, I decided not to watch, but no pain.

I did watch when the nurse put on my new casts.  It was all very fascinating, even seeing the stitches for the first.  A bit Frankenstein-ish to be honest, but fascinating all the same.  So my feet now look like this

 Definitely much better wrapped up than the last effort.  Lighter weight cast and nicely wrapped in crepe bandages.  Quite cosy in fact!

So that's me for the next 4 weeks, Phase 2 - still doing the same - rest, elevate and occasionally walking in my gorjuss shoes.

It's been 2 weeks since my op but it's almost 3 weeks since I finished up work and the first weekend, before my op, was slightly manic.  Over 4 days we had a little person turning 3, a birthday day out, a small family birthday gathering, a Beavers Scout outing, lots of housework, a get-together with friends, trip to hairdressers and final prep for going into hospital.  Oh and I finished a quilt top!

But things have been much calmer over the last 2 weeks.  I've read 3 books (well nearly, I've only 50 pages left on 3rd one), watched 3.5 series of The Good Wife, numerous episodes of Paw Patrol (kiddie programme), done quite a few 'extreme' dot to dots, done this little guy

Which reminded me I still haven't finished this guy, which I started ..... erm ... about .... well let's just say it was over 10 years ago.  So he deserves to be finished.  No excuses now do I?

I'm also being entertained by these two

And the littlest one, who loved the first week at nursery, but cried her eyes out every morning of week 2 and almost had a wobble today has been bringing me home her artwork everyday to cheer me up and to ask if my feet are feeling better! 

Things I Don't Need ......

Normal shoes, socks, leggings/trousers with a small foot hole, car keys.  Well I will need them again, but not for a few weeks.  The only thing I'm really missing at the moment are my socks!  Having large plastercasts on my feet isn't making them cold but I do miss the cosiness of a pair of socks.

For the next 6 weeks my life involves these lovely, lovely shoes.  While in all seriousness, they are essential at the moment as they allow me to walk without putting any pressure on the front of my foot, but they REALLY are the fugliest shoes (if you can even call them shoes!) I've ever seen.  Good on a practical level.  But they ain't winning any prizes in fashion stakes!

And this little bundle of goodies are also now part of my daily life..

a (borrowed) wheelchair, yet to be used other than to ferry the kids around the livingroom, a shaped foam cushion, a bed cradle and a laptop table.

The cushion is amazing, I've to keep my feet elevated and this helps with not only raising my feet but supports my knees and legs.  I've tried just raising my feet and it eventually puts pressure on the back of your knees and your lower back so the support cushion is ideal for avoiding pain elsewhere.

I'd read about other people who have had the same operation as me and a few people had mentioned a bed cradle was a useful thing to have.  Essentially it is a small frame which help lift bedclothes/covers off a limb (leg/arm) after an operation.  I wasn't sure if I'd need it and to be honest, even though I've used it for a couple of nights I didn't think it was making a difference.  Until someone threw an item on clothing onto the bed yesterday and it landed on my feet!!!  It was only a small t-shirt belonging to a 3 year old but the unexpected weight on my feet was a surprise and a bit of shock to the system.  So the cradle thingie is useful it seems.

Rightio the family are back from their adventures so I'm off to find out what they've been up to.

Organisation

My main aim at the moment is to be more organised.  In many areas of my life - kids, housework, crafting, eating, work, you name it I reckon it needs to be better organised. 

So to begin this month is my first time at being a Bee Mama!  I mentioned a bit in my last post so I've given out instructions on the blocks I would like other lovely, generous ladies in our Sibling Together Bee to make and they then make their version of my blocks and send them to me.  I've already started to receive some and they are gorgeous.  Can't wait to receive them all and get the quilt all made up. 

Another thing which needed to be organised is some cushions for the kids rooms.  When they are lying in bed getting their bedtime stories, me and hubby end up sitting on the floor next and after a couple of minutes it tends to get really uncomfortable.  We aren't getting any younger so the cushions are mainly for us to sit/lean on, but also to look good in their rooms.

The big mega cushion top is for the Dude's room

 and this smaller one, which involved some pretty cool paper piecing is for Little Miss's room.  Next is some hand quilting I think for both them.  Another first for me! (so getting organised in the way of extending my skills)

The other thing we have been up to this week or so is trying to remove an ugly decking/planter which took up a large corner of our back garden, inherited from the previous owners.  When we first moved, we had ideas of planting potatoes and stuff (there was nothing in it, just a load of soil) but then over the winter and trying to negotiate past the tiny space between the decking and the grass (which was sodden all winter and still is!) we decided it had to go. 

So the mountain of wood has been removed (how many screw/nails are needed to hold decking together?) and now we are gradually removing the mountain of soil.  Which is a slow process.  We thought we'd hit jackpot and there was going to a slabbed area underneath all of this but no, optimistic hopes dashed when we started actually lifting the wood and just more bloody soil.  So the jury is still out on the final use for this corner but lots of options being thrown about.  I'm just pleased to have some more useable space. 

So slowly things are becoming more organised in some areas, not all but hey I can't manage everything at once!

Round Up

2 months since I last blogged!  I really am dreadful at blogging/remembering/doing stuff in general! (and I use exclaimation marks way too often)

It's not like life hasn't been busy over since January, it has, which is probably more to do with the lack of blogging.  I do have a tendency to get to a point of feeling overloaded and then procrastination sets in which in turns means nothing gets done.

So what has happened (bit further back than start of January but my blog so my rules), there were some Christmas parties

   

We then had a visit from Santa

I bought some of Katy Jones' Priory Square (with a particular reason in mind but it's not right, however I hopefully have another use for it for the same project so it's all good)

Then it was all back to work/school so the normal mundane essentials of everyday took over and lots of this happened

The husband had to go and this cut out - benign tumour, it's harmless but still a 'thing' to get my head round (for a while it looked as yuk as that sounds, but it all good now)

I have even done some sewing believe it or not..... another bee block, which I based on a design I found in Katy Jones' book, 25 Patchwork Quilt block, which it a really good book.

And we've also been doing a fair bit of exploring our new neighbourhood, we have this path literally on our doorstep which takes you to some farmland which feels miles away from traffic but isn't at all!

So life has been trundling along quite nicely lately, not massively productive sewing wise but lots of other stuff (i.e. 2 small people) keeping me occupied.

Wise Old Man?

This little guy is one half of my world and he is the best.  Obviously I'm immensely biased based on the fact he's my son.  He's a very responsible little dude for being 5, he loves being a big brother and loves his little sister more than I could ever have hoped for. 

There are days when he drives me round the bend and then there are times when he makes my heart melt.  Like the other night.  We were walking to the local park to watch the Round Table Annual Bonfire and Firework Display when he noticed one of the street lights wasn't working.  I joked around making a comment about someone forgetting to put 50p in the meter (showing my age).  At 5 years old this meant nothing to him!  So I explained that my Granny used to have a meter that you had to put in a 50p coin and turn it round to make the electricity work.  He then asked if my Granny was dead, (we've talked about this before), so I reminded him that she died a long, long time ago.  To which he replied,

'yeah, but she's watching over everyone, that includes you too Mummy'

It was such an innocent but incredibly mature thing for him to come out.  I did have to wipe away a few tears very quickly before he thought he'd upset me. 

We've talked a little bit about heaven, not that I'm particularly religious, but mainly as a way to explain where my mum is, as she died 19 years ago, so he knows about his 'special granny' and that she watches over all of us but it's nothing we talk about that often.  That statement just took my breathe away at a time of year where I feel the absence of family members a bit more than normal.

Love my little dude :)

Seasonal Activities

I'll start this by making a statement that we don't normally 'do' seasonal stuff.  I mean, we do the standard traditional christmas 'stuff' and in the last few years we have started doing more easter stuff but the other seasonal 'holidays' to americanise things for a second, we don't really do.  For various reasons, but mainly because I've never really seen the point!

But this year is a bit different, for a start the Dude is at school now so that meant his very FIRST school disco.  Excited?  You betcha!  And what did I forget to do?  Take a photo of him, but he was dressed as Spiderman.

(actually this was him at a birthday party a few weeks ago - the guy is kneeling down, the Dude isn't quite that tall yet!)

I also take Little Miss to a local toddler's group once a week so when they said there was a Halloween party I thought I'd dress her up too

 Not the best photo to be honest but she hardly stays still for a second and the camera on my phone isn't the quickest!  But she was a little cute pumpkin and looked adorable :)

Then when we got home she ended up pulling this face!  She is going to be trouble this one!!

Then to finish off getting into the spirit I popped up a couple of decorations and even managed to carve out these 2 pumpkins.  With only a little help from a couple of stencils (I'm good at times but not that good!)

 

 Then I rounded off last week by completing my Siblings Together2 Bee blocks for Sue this month.  I really enjoyed these and I can't wait to see Sue's giant Granny Square quilt.  It will look fab.

Now to get organised for Christmas (did I just say that?) quickly slap me now!!!

A playdate?

Could I call it that?  Probably not, seeing as I'm a grown up and all, but it was just as much fun as kids have at a playdate.  What am I talking about?

An opportunity for me to get out, away from the normal routine of kids, housework, work and spend some time with other like-minded people and play with paper, pens, ribbon, glitter, glue, you name it.  That's right I got myself along to a craft club :)

My friend from work, Ann, runs a craft club in a nearby town once a month and has been asking me if I wanted to come along.  Now she has been asking me for about, oh ...... 2 years roughly, and while I've always thought 'yeah, that sounds like a good idea' I've never actually taken her up on the offer.  Why not?  Well generally because it means organising stuff, like husband and children, craft supplies, which kind of takes the fun out of it a little.  Oh yeah and there the vast amount of guilt I feel whenever I actually set out do something which feels slightly self-indulgent - you know like being away from those that I am responsible for an entire day to basically play with paper, or sit at my sewing machine when I can think of a million bits of housework that I should be doing instead.

But....now that I'm in my 40th year I sort of made myself some new year resolutions, well more of a birthday promise to myself.  That being this year, in the run up to my 40th, if I want to do something 'for me' then I should.  I'm one of the worst procrastinators/over-thinkers I know, I can think about things until I've talked myself out of it, or put it off till whatever it was is too late to do!

Anyhoo, back to the point, when Ann asked me a couple of weeks ago if I wanted to come along to her craft club and said yes.  So I spent a couple of nights planning and ordering photographs of the kiddiewinks, a Friday night hunting through my packed away papercraft supplies (it was all packed away to turn the spare room into Megan's room, so hasn't been looked at in over a year!) and toddled off on a Saturday morning to Dunfermline to meet a roomful of people, I only know Ann, and make STUFF!

This was us being all productive (& slightly messy!)

It was great, I totally over estimated just how productive I'd be, but over the course of 6 hours I did 2 and a bit scrapbook pages, blethered a fair bit and basically had a lovely time.  It's been so long since I did any scrapbooking that I'd completely forgotten just how much fun it can be to play with paper, ribbon and photographs.  Without feeling guilty :)

My efforts (although I did finish Megan's at home, ran out of time)

Roll on next month!!!!