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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Things are somewhat ....

....getting back to normal here at Casa Jackson.  While we are all still missing our Boo Boy, the other 2 of the "Terrible Trio" are having a hard time being the "Dynamic Duo"  Those three litter mates were ALWAYS together, and as hard as it has been for me, I know they have been grieving for the last 4 weeks.




Hershey


Nestle

Where one went, the other 2 were sure to follow.  Always out together making sure no bird, squirrel or cat ventured in their yard.  Most of the time while inside they were lined up on the sofa, Bruno on one end, Nestle on the other with their baby sister, Hershey in the middle.  

They say dogs have no concept of time so one day or one month is perceived the same, but this last week neither one has wanted to eat and keep staring at the door, I suppose expecting him to bounce in bragging to them that he got to go bye-bye in the car.  

I certainly hope they bounce back to their happy selves soon.  

On a more pleasant note, I have been stitching up a storm.  I got into a "beading bug" the last couple of weeks and finished up my Glendon Place "Witches Wheel" and it is STUNNING after adding the beads.  


A little back ground about this piece (and the reason for my LONG stitching hiatus) 


Some of you know about my major back issues.  They started in 1996 suddenly while getting ready for work when I was pulling on my "control top' panty hose.  I bet you never knew that a simple act of struggling into those Leggs could create such a life altering situation.  In September, 1996 I began the horror of the first of five surgeries to deal with my degenerative disc disease  I had three decompressions from 96 - 2002 and a 4th surgery was performed to install rods & screws to try and stabilize my lumber from L-2 all the way down to my sacrum....IE: "butt bone".  Well within 6 months the screws starting backing out and this "cage" was shifting back & forth each time I moved, which as you can imagine was excruciating.  It took several appointments with my orthopedic surgeon with me in tears to convince him that something that shouldn't have happened did.  I won't even try to explain the x-ray procedure they went through to confirm what I had been telling them for weeks was happening.  Prior to surgery, I told my doctor I wanted the metal they took out of my back and was I ever SHOCKED.  They looked like screws that would be used to hold a car engine together!




You thought I was kidding didn't you ?? 



Surgery #5 was finally done in November, 2003 and bone graft was used to fuse the disc together and due to nerve damage caused by not only the original condition, but the shifting of metal for several months caused a pretty bad addiction to narcotics (among other drugs).  I was taking about 15 different drugs from pain pills, to antidepressants, to nausea meds (to keep the others down) and also to laxatives to keep the ole pipes flowing.  Those of you that have had to take pain medication for extended periods of time know that the longer you take them, the more resistant you become, so every few months the milligram dosage has to be increased and after a while no matter what the strength, NOTHING seems to work.  Not only was I having all this pain problem, in December, 2009  I was diagnosed with Sleep-Apnea and got to have the joys of wearing a wonderful C-Pap machine to sleep.    

WELL, on February 2, 2010, my husband, Jere came home from work and I literally didn't know who he was .... I was flipping out on drugs, the damn C-Pap and the ever persistent pain.  After calling a female friend to come over hoping to get me under control, he called my pain management doctor and then 911 to send me to the hospital.  I was detoxed over a period of 5 days and came home on Super Bowl Sunday.  I swore then to NEVER take narcotics again !!!  I never realized how much life was passing me by in the stupor I had been in for so long.  

After lots of therapy (both physical & mental) I finally was able to become human again and now I push through the pain with nothing stronger than a couple of Aleve.  That is not to say I am free of pain ... sometimes I just have to take my Aleve and go to bed or veg out in my recliner. BUT I am determined to not let myself become controlled by a bunch of pills again. Oh, and the Sleep-Apnea ?? It was being caused by all the drugs, so if you know anyone that needs a C-Pap machine,  I have one that was used for all of 3 months !

NOW .... on to the original purpose of this long explanation of a period of my life I want to both forget AND remember (so it never happens again). 

Over this long 7 years I had lost interest ,among other things, stitching.  In May of that year, I got back to stitching with a vengeance and finally discovered the joy of stitching on linen & evenweaves.  I began a wish list of patterns and fabrics I wanted on several web sites and put together a Word Document that became pretty long.  On November 1, 2010 I emailed the list to Jere with a hint that this was my list for Santa.  Of course, Jere is a wonderful, very smart husband when it comes to keeping me connected (computer, smart phone etc) but like many men has NO CLUE when it comes to arts & crafts, so I made this a very DETAILED list, with web sites, exact patterns and exact fabric color, size and count. And he did VERY WELL !!! 

Among other wonderful things (both stitch related and not) I got not only Glendon Place Witches Wheel with the beautiful Picture This Plus "Solar" fabric, but Glenda's Sleepy Hollow along with the PTP Haunted fabric (this will be a 2015 project).  

As the GP Witches Wheel was my first big project on linen, I started and stopped several times over the next 4 years.  In September of this year I picked it up and with my Irish determination finished it.

 




Completed 10.29.2014




Close up of one of the witches.


Now to see about mortgaging the house to get it framed like I want - triple matting using lime green, orange & purple to match the beads and a dynamic frame. 

After completing this gorgeous piece, I picked up another Halloween piece I stitched last year during October and put it away before adding the beads, planning to get it back out October 1st and add the beads.  Well, that didn't go as planned, so after finishing my evil witches I got it out and finished it in 3 days.  And boy is she a beauty !!! 



Halloween Fairy by Nora Corbett
September, 2008 issue of
Cross-Stitch & Needlework Magazine


Gonna have to increase that mortgage for another framing job.


The only other thing of note to mention is I am recovering from some oral surgery done yesterday.  

I have had a permanent bridge on the bottom left for about 20 years and the back "anchor" tooth began to hurt about 2 weeks ago.  After visiting my dentist, I was sent for a root canal.. About half way into the procedure, the endodontist suddenly stopped and gave me the wonderful news that my body was "re-absorbing: the tooth.  Nothing could be done but to have it removed, therefore losing TWO teeth (the anchor and the "false" tooth between)  Surgery went great and other that being a little sore and on a "soft" diet for a few days I am doing fine.  Now to see how much I will miss those two teeth next time I want to chow down on a juicy steak.

I know it has been a few weeks since my last update and this has been a lot of ramblings about poor me, but I am so very blessed.  I have a wonderful husband, 2 smart, great looking sons each with beautiful, EXCEPTIONAL wives, 4 grandchildren and another one on the way in May, 2015.  

WHAT MORE COULD A WOMAN WANT ???

Till next time,

Cindi

11.13.2014 


 








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