Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Are You Curious?

Sometimes people ask me if I repair quilts.  The answer is "it depends." If the damage is confined to just one or a few areas and I feel like I can stabilize the quilt and make it appear much better, I will make repairs.  Here is one I did for a client. You can see that one area was torn to shreds.  A little bit of patching and it looks like new! However, I admit I do not have the time or patience to work with many large areas.

Before

After
...and just in case I left you curious about how things were going following my cataract surgery, here's an update.  I went to see the surgeon for my 2 week checkup yesterday. I had a miserable stretch with the prescription drops burning and stinging my eye.  The surgeon says that happens in about 5 - 8% of cataract patients. If your eye is dry, the surgery makes it drier, and the drops make it drier, and all of that together makes for one sore, stinging eye.  Anyway, I can see well out of that eye and the doctor convinced me to leave the second surgery as scheduled - 2 weeks away.  He says the first eye will have totally recovered by then.

There has been no sewing going on here due to my eye situation. I took out a quilt one day last week trying to work on it and decided all I was fit to do was to snip off the long threads. Maybe I will try again in a few more days. Soon I want to start making an I Spy quilt for my triplet grandsons. They are totally ready to match up colors and words and point to things on the quilt!

My local quilt guild has some smaller groups that meet in homes. One of the evening groups is called The Mavens and they met here last evening.  We had a wonderful time! I hadn't seen any of them lately because I missed the last regular meeting.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Landing on the Moon

Do you realize that July 20, 1969 was when Americans first landed on the moon?  If you are like me, you remember those events being televised - sort of blurry pictures and probably black and white TV, but it certainly was exciting!


If you are interested, I am trying to post something each day on Pinterest about what is special about that day.  Usually I leave the post up from the day before as well so you get "Today" and "Yesterday" in one visit.  Check it out if you want: http://pinterest.com/sandlappershop/

Well, I am still trying to get my eye back to normal following my cataract surgery.  I think a lot of my issues are my body being less than happy with the prescription eye drops.  On Monday I go back for a recheck following my surgery so we will see what the doctor says.

On a final note, the Christmas in July Sale for my shop on Etsy will end on Monday.  Everything is currently marked at 10% off the normal price.  Take a look.

The Mavens (from the quilt guild that I belong to) meet at my house Monday evening, the 23rd. Remember to bring 10 charm squares so we can play a game. Looking forward to seeing all of you!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Happy Bastille Day!

I began studying foreign languages by studying French.  Delving into my ancestry, I have been able to travel to Quebec several times and spent several weeks in France in 1993.  I always enjoy Bastille Day so here's wishing you a Happy Bastille Day! I've started a board on Pinterest lately so if you want to see some pictures of Bastille Day, visit it today.  http://pinterest.com/sandlappershop/


Here's a beautiful picture of the Louvre to give you a taste of France. I just printed out a recipe for Basic Crepes, so now it's off to do some French cooking. Remember that France celebrates in red, white, and blue just like we do. Have a great day!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Etsy's Christmas in July

There are official dates in July when Etsy recognizes the Christmas in July Sale and they are today, July 12, through July 22!  Many shops, including mine, have had items on sale since early in July, but now the really big sale is in effect. I have added some things to my shop so check them out. I plan to do a little shopping later today, too.

Does anyone crochet?  These are beautiful pattern books for crocheting Christmas ornaments.  I have them priced on sale at $4.50 (for both of them) plus shipping.  They are like brand new and were published by Annie's Attic in the 1990's. If you are interested in them, go to my Etsy shop. It's the only way to purchase them right now. You can make lovely gifts and ornaments for your own tree as well.





As for my "after-cataracts-surgery report," I am still progressing. I think I heard from too many people who were totally better in two days and seeing better than they did in years.  I am not in that category, and it is frustrating for someone like me who wants to be better "yesterday!" The prescription eye drops were stinging my eyes a lot yesterday.  I was told I could use them 10 minutes apart, but I have expanded that to 20-40 minutes apart and that seems to have helped. Today I can read what is on the computer screen with only my left eye (the one that had surgery), although not quite as well as I can read with my right eye (the one that hasn't had the surgery yet.)  Some of it may relate to the fact my right eye is my dominant eye and also I had been closing the left eye a lot prior to surgery, so my body may be getting used to using that eye again.

Have a pleasant day and please comment when you get the urge.  I look for comments!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Cataracts Find the Baby Boomers


Yes, I like to write about things, even when I can't see really well. I had cataracts surgery yesterday afternoon and actually took this picture of myself by myself earlier today. I can't say how things will go for you, but I came home with this clear plastic eye patch. I wore it until I went for my "after surgery check-up" today and now I only need to wear it at night.  It's so you won't rub your eye when you are asleep.  I also found out they don't put any stitches in there: old lens out, new lens in, and you wait for it to heal in place.  I couldn't do any bending yesterday and had drops to put in my eye every 3 hours, waiting between types of drops so one doesn't cancel out the other. I also got cautioned not do do any gardening or other things that might get dirt in my eye - I am going to interpret that to mean it would also be a bad idea to do any housecleaning! Apparently that rule goes on for quite awhile.

Did you know they have some new lenses they can use for cataract surgery that are supposed to allow you to have both distance and close up vision?  I didn't know that, so it really baffled me when they gave me a choice of what kind of vision I wanted to have.  I thought it over for several days and finally asked for my vision to stay about the same as it is/was - near sighted. I try not to think whether that was a wise choice or not.  It's what I am used to and if I didn't like something different, how would I know?  I remember when I used to wear contacts to correct my nearsightedness and I got to that stage where your eyes can no longer adjust to close up objects.  I hated not being able to read a book, magazine, or my watch!  I didn't want to go back to that problem.

Now about the day of surgery.  They schedule you so you have to get there really early and wait for about two hours while seated in some really uncomfortable chairs. They were really uncomfortable.  I came home thinking I needed an immediate visit to my chiropractor. Then you finally get called into the back area where they take your temperature and your blood pressure and read your oxygen level.  It totally surprised me that my blood pressure reading was the lowest I have ever gotten - a good bit below 120/80.  If I'd had a pen and piece of paper, I would have written it down to save it with records of other memorable events in my life! They also put drops in your eye and get it extremely dilated.  So much so that it is still dilated more than 24 hours later.

I had no idea I was going to get any anesthesia so that was a surprise... and also a worry because I was scheduled to arrive at 12:45 p.m. and it was now 2 hours after that I had been told not to eat or drink anything after midnight.  People normally can't get a needle in my vein and that's after they tell me to drink as much water as I can tolerate.  But this nurse must have been Wonder Women because she manage to get a vein on the first try. Then I got paper booties for my feet and my hair tucked in a paper bonnet and a blanket to cover up with. My husband got to come to the back section with me for awhile and he was glad to get out of the uncomfortable chairs that they have up front.  Again, we played the waiting game, wondering if there were two people ahead of me and if there were two operations going on at once or only one.  The doctor came in.  I had only seen him once before and he never introduces himself, so you always hope it's actually the surgeon and not some imposter, epecially because this time he had on surgical garb making it close to impossible to tell if he was the same person. He asked if I would like him to say a prayer before I went back for surgery and I said yes, so he did. At the time I thought that was nice, but it could make you worried if you thought about it a lot. The anesthesiologist also came to talk with me.  He said whatever I was given would relax me and make me forget what went on.  Well, part two didn't work so you get to hear about it! (...and yes, you do stay awake for the surgery.  Right before surgery began, I was totally covered in surgical drapes except for the eye they were working on, so I didn't see much other than lights once the surgery started.

Finally, it was my turn and after all the waiting, you are sort of glad it's your turn.  The anesthesiologist and operating room nurse were joking about her bad "driving" of the table as they pushed me back to the operating room. I reached through my bed both times to help to push the door open - No doors are to be shut on me! I got instructions right before surgery that included if I could feel anything to say "Ouch" and they would numb my eye more or if I had to sneeze or cough to say "Wait." I was told that I would see bright light and then some colors as the old lens was removed. They discussed whether to call the time of surgery 3:05 or 3:04 p.m., the actual time on the clock. The oxygen prongs were put there for my nose.  Then came the most uncomfortable part which was having my eye taped open for the surgery - only to be exceeded by having the tape peeled off at the end  "Ouch!" but the operation was over so too late for numbing drops and they wouldn't have put them on the skin around my eye anyway.

Then you get your aftercare instructions, and a packet of crackers, and something to drink.  I had a glass of water and two cans of apple juice.  It's the upper 90s these days, not a good time to go without drinking. My husband got sent to bring the car close to the door and the lady who went over the instructions with us walked me out while holding on to my arm.  I knew if I fell, very likely she would come down with me, but I stayed on my feet so it wasn't an issue. They will tell you to bring sunglasses to wear on the ride home, but if you have those glasses inserts, bring those too. I doubled up making the bright light seem more tolerable.

So, in about a month I go back to have surgery on the other eye.  It's nice to know what to expect the second time around.  My husband and I plan to bring extra pillows to sit on in those uncomfortable waiting room chairs and by now I think I may be able to recognize my surgeon!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Check it Out: Write Here, Write Now

I have a new interview posted at my other blog, "Write Here, Write Now."  Check it out!

I hope that everyone has a safe and Happy 4th of July.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Columbia - Famously Hot

I think "Columbia - Famously Hot" is or was one of the tourism logos for Columbia, SC.  It lives up to its name.  It was 109 on Friday, breaking the previous record by 2 degrees!  The heat continues...

Anyway, here are some fun things.  First of all Etsy is having a Christmas in July Sale.  Different shops are handling this different ways.  I would love for you to take a look at my shop. You will find that the sales are not just limited to Christmas goods. It's a great time to stay out the heat and do some Christmas shopping  indoors with air-conditioning!



Quilt Mavens met during the week and that was lots of fun.

Also, keep watching my other blog "Write Here, Write Now."  I will have another Author-Poet interview appearing soon.