ARRRGH!

I think I have bitten off a bit more than I can chew.  I have several craft projects on the go (I hear ya, Chris!) with the plan to give them for Christmas presents.  I guess I never said WHICH Christmas!

I am making a quilt as a gift for a dear friend for which I purchased fabric and pattern from the Australian Quilt Convention on Friday (which had some amazing quilts on display).  Cut it out and started mapping out the quilt and I hate the combinations.  Too busy.  So I guess I'll have to go and buy some plainer fabrics to break things up a bit.

After much faffing around from the supplier of the kit I have started a cross stitch for another friend.  She sews but doesn't hand sew so I'm hoping she will like this.  If I ever get it finished!

I'm knitting a throw for the Mermaid who loves the one I made for us.  This should be finished by her birthday in August.  Hopefully!

Then there is the crochet throw I'm doing for us and the candlewicking quilt I'm making for the guest room.  Not to mention the Japanese table runner I have earmarked for ANOTHER friend but haven't started and the various quilts I'm planning for Two and Three and their partners.

Tomorrow is our 38th wedding anniversary.  We both forgot last year as it was just after Dad had died.  First time ever!  We won't be spending money on gifts but plan to go for a drive to scout out potential wedding options for Two and Mads.  Lunch out and a pleasant drive.  Bliss.

After I came home from the AQC on Friday I had a migraine.  I don't get them that often but have been getting more of late. I took the tablet the doctor prescribed which stopped the worst of it in its tracks.  Felt a bit blah on Saturday and then on Sunday I had TWO back to back.  Not very nice at all. Still feeling a bit fuzzy and every so often I feel as if I'm getting another one.  Himself wants me to see the doctor but I don't thinks there's much he can do.  I think it's stress related exacerbated by a dicky neck.

We got a phone call from One on Saturday night.  He managed to chop the fingernail off his left middle finger and it was "pissing blood, Mum", I told him an ambulance probably wasn't really necessary but a hospital visit was.  Ebs drove him and they patched him up then sent him to the bigger public hospital on Sunday.  They were there at 7.30am as instructed and he finally got to theatre 12 hours later!  A skin graft and plastic surgery and he will never have a proper nail on that finger again.  He says his next purchase will be a butcher's chain mail glove!  And I think he was really annoyed at missing out on the delicious dinner he had prepared.

Brother in law is doing well.  The surgeon is happy with him and he is booked for his liver surgery mid may.  Mother in law is begrudgingly accepting my help.  Himself is slowly getting gentler with his dealings with them.

Getting old has whiskers on it.

Goodnight!

And so life goes on...

I know it's been a while.

The thing is nothing really happens around here.  We sort of lurch from day to day.

The whole Lite n Easy thing went by the wayside.  Himself decided it was too expensive/he could do as well on his own and, well, that was that.  The frustrating thing is that had we stuck with it I would be so close to where I wanted to be.  Noone to blame but me, I know.

A friend bought me a copy of Pete Evans' Going Paleo as a thank you for helping her out when she had a hip replacement.  I have always leaned towards this way of eating (although I do think Pete is a bit too out there for me ... too much hippy stuff!) and Ebs' step father was actually told to eat this way by his oncologist!  I am having a read of the book and will see if I can convince Himself to at least give this a go.  Which will mean he has to stop buying bread and popcorn!  At least until I've weaned myself off these foods.  I know he would do anything for me and wants me to be happy but I wish he would actually hear what I am saying to him sometimes instead of assuming he knows what I'm trying to tell him.

On that front, we are now dealing with his ageing parents and the inevitable consequences.  Like me, he hasn't had a particularly good relationship with his parents and is now having to deal with the ramifications of this.  I have noticed a significant deterioration in my father in law but Himself just sees the cantankerous old bugger he's always been.  I am trying to explain that he needs to be a bit more gentle and patient with both his parents.  My brother in law has been diagnosed with bowel cancer and has had surgery which means he cannot drive my mother in law to the shops. I have taken on that role (Himself would kill her within 5 minutes) which is challenging.  My father in law is crippled with arthritis.  He can barely walk and has had numerous falls but insists he can still drive! Needless to say there have been many discussions on that issue.  My inlaws don't seem to understand that "just driving locally" is still unsafe when your ability to react to anything on the road is next to nothing.

We had a bit of a win with Dad's taxation dramas.  We only had to pay the ATO $102,000!!  It's a year next week since he died.  Hopefully we will get all this stuff sorted within in the next 6 months. Mind you, we are dealing with a Hong Kong bank and hell might freeze over before we get the funds from them.

On a brighter note I am really enjoying learning new crafty things.  I have given crocheting a go (never learned to as a child), still doing some candlewicking and quilting and have a few different projects underway.  I am making a few things as gifts for friends.  The materials aren't that expensive but they are time consuming and I'm sure the recipients will love what I'm making for them.

And with that I shall go and work on a blanket I'm knitting ....