B12

It is such a small vitamin, but it sure creates large problems. For a month and a half it has been reeking havoc on my body, my left leg. Only I thought it was just work, or the shoes I was wearing. It has been years since I have felt this kind of pain. It's not the bones. It's in the muscles. I haven't been able to stand, walk, sit, nor lay down. It has just been there. I get up in the morning and it is gone. Then within an half hour or so, it's back. God, it is annoying.

I should have analyzed this pain. I could have come to a solution sooner. But I just lived with it while it got worse and worse. Then before Christmas it dawned on me that maybe it had to do with this B12 deficiency that I have had for 25 years. So I did a push. For three weeks I took a shot each Sunday. I wore different shoes. I carried as little weight on my shoulders as possible. I have been totally pain free now for 5 days. Total freedom. I can walk like a normal person. I am back to working on my posture. I have run out of the stuff and I have no refills of course. So the pharmacy had to get ahold of my doctor to get more. Then the doctor's office had to call me to find out what I was taking, like they didn't know what B12 was. So rediculous. I have to send an email off to my doctor to let her know what has been happening. Maybe she can up my dosage. If my B12 level is low, then what I am taking is a waste because obviously it is not enough.

Doctors. But it really is my fault. I have to take the initiative to address this with her. She is not going to break down my door. I have to break down hers. So~~~~

Tomorrow, I will do this. Vitamins. Pain in the arse.

Lost

Isn't it just loathsome when you can't find something? And I just used it within the recent past. So I know I have it. I even remember saying to myself that I should put it with my craft tools. But did I listen? All of yesterday I searched for this bead reamer. I looked through everything. Everything. And what did I do when I got up today? I continued the search. But I had to leave for work. I'm home now and still looking for it. I am now re-checking everything. I just can't let it go. Spring cleaning is also taking place. Things that no longer serve a purpose. Scraps of fabric I have saved from what - three years ago~~~~ Bits of this and bits of that. I go to the bathroom and I am looking in the cupboard. What are the chances? Where could this little thing possibly be? I just checked the freezer.

You know what is going to happen? I am going to get a new one. Yes. It happens to us all. And the original will appear. How often does this happen to us. Now I have to clear my mind and just let it go. I am becomming obsessed.

The bread is on the rise. I began a loaf yesterday. I broke it down for its second rise when I got home tonight. It is now in its third rise. It will be going in the oven in an hour and a half. Denise tells me the recipe calls for too much salt. I agree. I have never put two teaspoons of salt in a batch even when there were two loaves. And this is just one loaf. So, I have only put in one teaspoon. And I feel the dough is too wet, so I added a little more flour. It is looking good. We'll see. It is a quarter to 11. This bread should be coming out of the oven around 12:15 in the morning. I will cut off a small piece to see how it tastes. Hopefully it will be better.

Life.

Film Quilt

So, once again, I am given a bolt of fabric that we have an abundance of in the warehouse. Can I do something with this. It's film! It's not like I can create a pair of pajamas or a dress, or a pillow. It's film. It's an accent fabric, not a focus fabric. I have to transform this into a focal point. And it can be terribly flat if not positioned properly.



So I was traveling from Home Decorating back to my sewing room when I decided to stop and quickly check out the quilt patterns in the craft department. This one just about jumped into my hands. I thought I could do a take-off on this.



What do you think? It won't appeal to just everyone. But what does? But it is a looker for what I had to work with. And I did manage to make the film fabric the focal fabric.

I think it is a winner. And my quilting skills are improving.

After Christmas Snow

I saw this snow coming when it began with just a few flakes. I have wonderful windows that expose me to a wonderful range of the universe. It began slowly, then denser and denser and then it fell hard. We got a good inch. An inch!!!!~~~~~~~

The city closed down. Yes, I think the city bought a second plow. Where do I live? Portland Oregon, population around 350,000 people. Should we have more than 2 plows? Why?

So many accidents as drivers think there is no reason to slow down when they are turning corners, changing lanes, or going down hills. It's just snow!!!!

And people still wear sandals and shorts! What???

I miss New England. I miss pot roast. Baked beans. Sitting with friends around the dinner table. Bundling up under blankets on the sofa during a snow storm watching movies. Boots.

Shorts and sandals~~~~

Needlepoint

I thought I might share a needlepoint I did a few years ago. I love this piece. Jody posted this really wonderful piece that she did that her sister transformed into a stool and I drooled. Is there no end to what our fingers can do with a bit of thread! I haven't worked with needlepoint in a few years. I used to design my own. I even have some silk gazar to create some silk thread needlepoint. And now I am thinking, if I start now, I could have my ornaments done using the gazar for the year 2012. This year I am going to make shoes for Christmas. But if I start now, I could needlepoint for next year. More to come on this I think.....

Fabric Depot Quilters

These are some of the most important women who guide me along in my quilting endeavors for the displays I create at the store. They are multi-leveled in their quilting abilities. Each one of them has their own vision when it comes to color choices and design. But their techniques are shared as they have been working together for years. Great friends. They are harmonious. Cheerful. Funny. Just great to be around whether they are quilting together in the classroom on Friday or Saturday nights or working in the store during the week. I love them all. I try really hard to be in my sewing room when they are quilting so I can listen in to their conversations and sometimes, if I have hand work to do, I will sit with them and do this work. Just to be around them is a form of meditation for me. They make me peaceful and happy. I would love to belong to such a group of women. I have never had the opportunity to join a group of women.

Once, many years ago, I tried. But on the first night, the women found out I did not have any children and I was "banished" from the group. I will never forget that evening. How humilitating. And this was in the mid eighties!

I may not earn a lot of money at Fabric Depot, but the benenfits of just walking into the store every day are tremendous. The people are simply grand. Simply grand!

Denise

This is my sister. She is an artist. This is a self portrait in acrylics I believe that she did while living in Alaska studying art. I made her the white artist cloak she is wearing in this. Denise is a beautiful woman and her talent in life is boundless. I have never known anyone like her. She can build a shower in a bathroom that has only a claw foot tub, while making delicate fanned buns in the oven. She can draw a horse so you can see every hair on its body and repair, herself, the sails on her boat. She speaks Parisian french and makes fun of my inability to roll my R's properly and is incredibly well-read. I love he to death.

And yet, she brings me a glue gun that doesn't seem to work, and really, I have looked at it, and I think the problem is, it has the wrong glue stick in it and when I go to work tomorrow I will get the right ones, and there won't be a problem. I am laughing. She is so frustrated about this little glue gun, and I really don't think there is a problem at all.

My sister is so precious. Oh, that we should all have such a gem as my sister Denise.