Monday Miscellany

 

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers yesterday.  I do not have a detached retina, but there is something going on with the vitreous (the gel-like substance inside the eyeball) and the ER doctor wants me to follow up with an ophthalmologist, as it’s possible that this could produce a tear in the retina.  While she didn’t think it was enough of an emergency to go to St. Louis (none of the hospitals nearby have an ophthalmologist on call on the weekends), she insisted that I follow up today. 

 

In the meantime, I had orders to avoid straining that eye … no reading or quilting.  Seriously?  If I can’t read or quilt, what IS there to do?  I mean, I don’t watch a game or a movie without a needle and thread in my hands.   I decided to go cut fabric for a new EPP project … I’m done with the basting of hexagons for my Martha Washington’s Flower Garden, so I’m going to need something to work on in the car on our trip to Hilton Head in 3 weeks.  And it occurred to me that I should be able to do some basting without straining my eyes … it doesn’t require the close work like quilting.  My new EPP project is a 4” bow tie.  Here are a few of the pieces I was able to baste while watching the Cardinals sweep the Reds.

I’ll be basting them on our road trip this week, too … we’ll be heading to Paducah on Wednesday for the AQS Quilt Show.  I’m going to be on the lookout for a neutral for the background for this quilt (among other things – ha!) while we’re in Paducah. 

 

 

I ordered the floss for the embroidery for the Crabapple Hill project I bought a few weeks ago.  The pattern calls for at least 5 skeins, so I decided to err on the side of caution and ordered 7 skeins.  The floss arrived Wednesday … and when I opened the package, I counted only 4 skeins.    Even if I chose to throw caution to the wind, that’s not enough for my project.  And there was no note why they shortchanged me … the only upside was that I was only charged for the 4 skeins shipped.  But where were the remaining 3 skeins?  I had to send an email asking them for an explanation – and to ship me the remaining 3 skeins.  I got an email, advising me that the floss were on sale and that when they sold them all, they were gone so they sent me what they had.  Seriously?  Their website showed a price markdown, but there was no mention of quantities being limited.  And why no quick phone call or email to advise that they weren’t going to be able to fill the order?  I’ve gotten phone calls from other online shops when they had to hold up an order or make any changes to my order.  I responded that it would have been nice to have received a heads up that they wouldn’t be able to fill my order, but I haven’t heard back nor do I expect to by this point.  The sad thing is that I’ve read other bloggers complain about their poor experiences with this online shop, so my experience wasn’t an isolated incident.  I love their fabrics, but because of this experience, I’ll be purchasing my fabrics from other online shops. 

 

 

Our dogwood was in full bloom over the weekend.  Planting it outside our kitchen window was a smart move, as I an hardly pull myself away from the window when it’s in full bloom … helps make working at the sink a little more enjoyable – at least in the spring. 

 

 

As I was typing this post, I decided to call the ophthalmologist's office on the off chance that they might be open early for cataract surgery patients … I was able to head straight up and get right in.  It turns out that everything checked out ok.  It’s exactly what we thought yesterday … all part of the aging process (along with the cataracts on both eyes - ugh!).  The flashes and floaters should both go away with time.  If not or if things get worse, I am to go back … otherwise I don’t need to see him again for a year.  Whew!  Now I’ve just got to wait for the vision in my left (affected) eye to return to normal (he put in extra dilating meds in when he dilated my eye) and then I plan to spend the rest of my day quilting!  In the meantime, I think I’m seeing well enough to do a little more basting perhaps. 

 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy! Have a great day!
Kathy