My Little Piece of Schnibbles...

and...

Cheers!

Rough Week

Wow, it's been a rough week! 

A little history:  my aunt has hypertension that has been largely uncontrolled despite medication.  Efforts at lowering her blood pressure have been unsuccessful.  Now she's having trouble breathing so her doctor tells her (last Friday) she needs to see her cardiologist immediately.  So, the cardio doctor (Monday) says she has Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and changes her medication and doubles the diuretic. 

Last Friday morning, I get a flat.  My spare is a "donut" and my commute is 90 miles round trip so the donut isn't going to cut it.  But, they don't have the tire (under warranty) in stock.  No problem, I have the Eurovan.  (Remember, I Love my Eurovan).  But the battery is dead.  Sweet Hubby jumps it, and no problems.

Tuesday, the battery is dead again.  (Really?  Oh Come On!)  So I get a jump from my son, and off I go.  I try to start the van on my break - not happening - so I get another jump and go to Sears to get a new battery.  (I will not even go into the difficulty Sears gave me about my dead battery that was still under warranty - suffice to say I was able to leave Sears with my new battery on the passenger floor)  Get another jump, and go home where Sweet Hubby installs my battery.  Oh, did I forget to mention that the inspection is expired?

Wednesday (really Thursday at 12:30 am) Mom calls, "Aunt can't breathe, meet us in the Emergency Room".
Lots of fluid in the lungs and legs - They admit her.  Get home around 5:30 am, wake up at 7:30 and get my youngest ready for school.  Put her on the bus, go pick up mom, drop the Eurovan off for inspection, drive mom to the hospital, go back home, make some calls for work and try to lie down at 12:30.  Up again at 2:00 to shower, pick up my youngest and go to the hospital.  Somehow, I also manage to pick up the van and we all go out to eat after we leave the hospital.

Friday, Aunt is soooo much better.  No swelling in legs, still some fluid, but her blood pressure is way down.  Not perfect, but getting there.  And maybe, they will discharge her tomorrow, so she can be home for Easter.  Today, she was laughing when we were teasing her and complaining about the food!  So we will see.

As for my car situation?  Well, the Eurovan is a keeper.  But I'm thinking about selling the cabby for something newer - something that might tolerate the high mileage of my commute a little better.  We'll see.

I hope everyone has a Blessed and Peaceful Easter!

Cheers!

My Space

I'd thought I'd post a bit about my space.  It is not very attractive.  And at times, it's not very bright.  But it's my space and I love it!  My space is located in my unfinished basement.  Unfinished in that the walls are cinder block, the floor is cement and access to the basement is through the garage (which is attached to the house).

Sweet Hubby picked up some slat board (for free) and hung it on the walls so there is plenty of space for my stuff.  Sweet Hubby also made two "work benches" for my space.  I store everything in bins.  (Sweet Hubby has a workshop down there too and everything gets very dusty from the lathe.) My stash is stored in bins on shelves.  Scrapbooking and other assorted supplies are stored in larger bins under the work tables.  Fabric and scrapbooking stuff is easy to locate - the bins are clear.  Other stuff, not so simple - the bins are big and and not see-through.  So when I'm looking for something, I have to pull out one of these monster bins and start digging.  I really need to label the bins with the contents but that could take forever.  I think the next time I go searching, I'll make a list and label the bin.

There's also a small (child size) table and chairs down there for my youngest to do "craft projects" while I sew.

It can get pretty messy - especially if I'm working on a project - but I manage to clean it up before I start the next project.  Sometimes, Sweet Hubby takes over my space (when he's working on my cabby or a house project) and then I'm stuck because I don't know what to do with his stuff.

My goal is to organize the entire basement!  And if you saw the basement, you would see that this is not an easy goal to accomplish!  And, when (if) I reach that goal, I might just be brave enough to post some pics!

Cheers!

UFOs

So I counted my unfinished objects and I went from five to...Nine!  Oh my!  How did that happen? I am actively working on completing at least five of the nine.  The five I am working on are all in various stages of being quilted.  Four are Christmas wall hangings (that I started before Christmas with the intent to give as gifts) so I actually have until December to complete them as they will be gifts for this Christmas.  Number Five is a quilt I am working on for Sweet Hubby - and since Sweet Hubby reads this blog - no pictures until he receives it!

Cheers!

What I've been working on....

so I made a little case for it.

 I have a nook tablet..

The side pocket holds the charging cable.

This little case was made to hold my GPS and all the assorted charging cables that float around my car and/or bag.

This is a little bulky so I think I'm going to make another along the style of the nook holder.


I made this pillow cover for a bed size pillow for my couch.  I needed something for the center cushion and this seemed to fit the bill. 
I picked up the trim at 90% off at Joann's Fabric and the brown was left over from the curtains.



 
I'm also working on a quilt for Sweet Hubby but I can't show you that until I give it to him...

Cheers!