Cocoa feels horrid, and so I called the vet. Who said she would come out today. Which means I had to confine Cocoa so she won't wander off in the meantime. Which meant I had to go get one of the dog crates from the storage building. Somehow this crate got dismantled--they come flat, but you just lift one part, and the whole thing unfolds, and you hook the ends, and voilá: it's a crate. Not this morning. Somehow, since the last time we used the crate, it had come apart. As in: many pieces. It's not a flimsy thing. Not lightweight.
So there I am, out on the front sidewalk (having carried the folded-up crate through the carport so it wouldn't startle Cocoa by coming through the front door) in my flannel pj's in the cold, trying to assemble the crate without hurting my fingers--everything I do is about Not Hurting My Fingers. The right ring finger is going through The Change, and typing often hurts, so I'm very, very careful about what I do with them. Putting together a steel cage early in the morning in the cold does not come under the heading Taking Care of My Fingers, alas.
But I got it together, more or less. Something's wonky, but I didn't have time to come in and look at Clarice's crate and figure out what I was doing wrong. I think it's OK--she doesn't really feel up to trying to escape, anyway. I got her in it with food and water and a litter box and a blanket, and while she's Not Happy, Not At All, she's safe and secure. And I'm getting on with my Monday by finishing up the laundry that didn't get done yesterday, never mind that I have A Rule that I don't do housework stuff during the workday. Never mind that--I can't work with piles of dirty clothes in the office, and I'm not going to put them in the bin and then have to re-sort them later. So: laundry. Laundry all over the office, in fact. Sigh.
I did some work over at CreateMixedMedia.com, and now the morning is gone and I haven't eaten breakfast or done those exercises (for the neck and shoulders--all part of the same thing with the fingers: arthritis is a pain, indeed, and doing what you can to make the best of it is tedious, and you wonder if it does any good. But what spurs me on is remembering what happened with my dad and arthritis and trying to do whatever I can not to go there, at least not for a while) or, well, much of anything else.
But! I do have some projects that are waiting for me, things I'm excited about (about which) and that I want to show you in more detail when I get a chance to work on them. I have all these ideas for videos and tutorials, but finding the time to do them? Man--I keep thinking I'll get to a place where I have Extra Time, and it just keeps not happening.
Anyway, here's what I'm working on:
The sleeve lining was wonky, so I had to stitch that. Here you can see, in the lower left corner, the stitching that was on the coat, and then you can see how I'm duplicating (sort of) that with hand stitching. I finished that, and I covered buttons and sewed them on last night. Now I need to do some random stitching on the front where it's wonky--things are on clearance for a reason, and fixing them is usually a challenge. Fortunately, I love a challenge. Just not a HUGE one.
Then there's this--I showed you this brown linen skirt when I bought it a while back. I have some pink wool felt--from a pink blazer, I think, that I bought and fulled in the washer. I'm cutting out more circles and then will stitch them in place with green floss:
Whoa: sorry about the color.
I obviously had the little camera
on the wrong light setting when I took these.
The rug should be fuchsia, more pink than this. The belt is dark brown.
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9 comments:
I love the dark purple/violet belt! too bad it's just a bad color setting.
Good luck with kitty Cocoa, that can kill her, I hope you're not too late.
Whoa! That's not exactly what I need to hear.
Your neighbor is why Shelters are exploding esp. with cats & kittens. Feel free to strangle him.
Looking forward to see what you are going to do with the belt. Jacket looks very fabulous. Color!! After this winter, I need COLOR!
Nancy
from FB
That just reminded me of my neighbor's dog case.
I don't know what to do about it. We moved into this house in August, and ever since their dog jumps our fence, a 7 feet tall fence. He is big. He jumps to our back yard and uses it as a public restroom. That's not even the part that annoys me the most, or neither is that he runs out of our property by pushing the driveway's gate and leaving it open for other dogs to walk in. We've talked to our neighbors at least 5 times about it, and they keep saying they're going to tie the dog when he's left alone in their yard. Obviously this isn't working, the dog is jumping an average of once a week. We talked to them again and they said if we're scared of the dog or if it's too annoying we should call Animal Control, because there's nothing they can do about it, the dog jumps every other fence, not only ours. So, the dog is not worth the time to figure a better plan. That is so lame. I can't even believe they have a dog and they make the dog responsible for what he does. I could have called Animal Control before, just cause I'm scared he's going to jump it in the night when it's dark and bite me or anyone else on the street; but if I haven't done it is because it's not the dog's fault, it's the owner's. How do you call those people who know they're doing something wrong but they would much rather grant you the decision of how you put up with them? Something like passive aggressive. Any ideas? Any advice? I don't know what to do. AH, I'm sorry I turned this comment into a complaint, but really, an opinion would do it.
I love how you pick all the colors you wear, I've noticed you don't do the colors I do, and I don't do those you do. :)
Animal Control should actually be called "Owner Control," because, at least here, it's about forcing the owner to be responsible for the animals in their care. I'd call and tell them what you've said here. Maybe you want to explain that to your neighbors, as well: it's not the animals' responsibility to take care of this; it's theirs. Their failure to do so (to keep their animal in an enclosure from which it cannot escape--that's the way the law usually reads) violates city law. Good luck!
Will you show us more with the trench coat when you can? (this is like my stock comment to you. I feel like a nag again.)
That is really interesting, what you said about khaki. I like khaki, I like to wear it with purple. I wouldn't mind trying to dye it blue as well. Which blue do you use?
Unfortunately I can't wear orange or yellow. I go for the cools.
A few more hints with the belt please. All you have told us is a belt.
oops, I think I am a bit grumpy. Sorry. I am worrying about getting my portfolio together. I get anxious with stuff like that.
Now, what I meant to say is that it is so cool that you are posting what you are working on. I find it so interesting and inspiring. And I would love to see even more photos, but I understand that you are busy busy (and I am grateful for what I get).
And the other thing, I would like to play 'what are you making' but I need another hint.
There, that is much better.
Zom, you are so funny--I love it. But, see, I didn't want to give lots of clues; I wanted to hear what y'all THINK--like, if you had this belt and were going to do something cool with it. I guess I'm just wondering if it's obvious, what I think this belt would be great for. And I can't really give any more because I'm stuck at the next stage: I need to have some sort of tie-stuff, like thread or string or floss or leather cord, but everything I try is either 1) too thin and threadlike or 2) cool and thick enough but, amazingly enough, not sturdy (I can break it with my hands by pulling on it). So I don't know what to do--I need to sit down and play with it to see what's going to work. It HAS to be sturdy, but I don't want to use, like, monofilament. That would be beyond tacky.
There. How's that?
Okay, I get it. What can you do to the belt! I was somehow imagining you were going to join it to something else. Like this cool refashion I saw where the woman had cut two belts and used it as a fastener to close her sweater. It looked so cool.
Well I don't have any original hits, but in terms of what you could use (as those hints were so good I think I kinda know what you are gonna do now) have you ever heard of nymo? It is the thread they use to sew leather and it comes in different widths and a zillion colours. It might still be a little on the thin side, but it is pretty strong.
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