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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Busy, busy, busy, busy...no stitching :-(

It's audit time!!! Work is insane as we gear up for our surveillance audit. Next week, we will entertain 2 auditors who will come *seeking compliance* for our quality management and environmental systems. Good times...stressful...insanely busy times and it'll be 12 hour days all next week.
Suffice it to say, I haven't picked up a needle in the last week or so. I felt a slump coming on and yep, I was right. Slumpy. It'll pass. It always does, so I'll just wait it through. I find that after a slumpy time, I get really focused and I accomplish a lot. I am almost done with Their Song, only a large crow and a pine tree to go. I enjoyed stitching this piece and I'll be sad to be done with it.

I had a scare with my woobie, Joey.


On Sunday, he came in from the pen a tad gimpy. We didn't think anything of it, the pen is boggy and rough. By Monday, Mr. Horse was leaning against his stall wall and hadn't, umm-mm, pee'd all night. When we tried to ask him take a step, he clearly didn't want to and he looked as though he couldn't support his weight on his back legs. When he did take a step (and it was only 1) he swayed back and forth like he was going to fall over. Ok, now we are getting a little concerned, or I should say, I was getting concerned. The DH was maddenly unconcerned. So I put a call into the vet and asked if she could come for a visit. She clearly was unhappy because I basically asked her to re-arrange her schedule to come to the house in the late afternoon on Tuesday, but she agreed. Later that evening, we went back outside to check on him and he was standing in the same spot, no wet spot, but he obviously was not in distress and he was eating and drinking a little bit.
Tuesday morning, he wasn't any better. No wet spot. He was still eating, not drinking though. He wasn't depressed. But I was scared cause I immediately thought KIDNEY FAILURE or KIDNEY STONE. The boy is getting up in years, he's 21 and these health issues can come up quickly. Since the DH was still maddeningly unconcerned, I waited until he went to work and I called the vet to see if she could come earlier. She agreed to come at 11:30.
I booked home and the vet arrived. She looked at Joey and asked me to see if he would walk a few steps for her. Clearly he was not thrilled. She took his heartrate, elevated but not alarmingly so. When he took his first step, he almost went to his knees. So the vet started to examine him. When she got down to examining his legs, his right foreleg was somewhat swollen and there was heat in his hoof. Eureka! She immediately said that she felt he had an abscess in his hoof. I noticed the swollen fetlock but chocked it up to him standing in one spot and he just stocked up with fluid.
The vet found a hairline crack in his hoof and she began to pare away his hoof looking for the abscess. And she hit paydirt. Once she relieved the pressure and cleaned out the pus, my boy was very happy.
Because he is such a big baby, he would not put his weight on his front feet and stretch out to pee cause he had an "ow-wie" in his hoof. That's why he didn't have any wet spots in his stall. He wouldn't go because his hoof hurt him.
We returned him to his stall, where he pee'd himself a river, drank an entire bucket of water and returned to his happy self.
And me? I am a horse nurse now..but also relieved that it was a relatively minor issue.


Sunday, March 09, 2008

I'm Still Here!!!

I am trying in vain to upload pictures to this post. It's making me crazy. I have some stitching pictures and adorable animal photos (that I know everyone wants to see...ha ha!). Blogger seems to be letting me upload one at a time...groan. Whew, that was painful but here are the photos!

This is the neighbor's barn. I took this photo while standing in the sunroom a little while ago. It's cold and snowy here today.

Didn't Mother Nature get the memo? It's supposed to be warmer than 18 degrees!!! I really wish that Spring would get here. We are tired of the cold and white stuff. Yesterday, it thunderstormed. Today it's snowing and right now, it's windy and sunny. Wait another 5 minutes and the weather will change again...

Now on to some stitching...see, I told you I was working on stuff just not the stuff I told you I was working on. I took a break from Sarah and Time and Seasons and the Stitcher's Wallet (although I did put a few more stitches into the border on the third panel on Friday). I had a few smaller pieces going from late last year and I thought that I would stitch on them to see if I could actually finish something this year! I needed a quick fix and a diversion from big projects.

This is a Mary Garry design from an old Just Cross Stitch magazine (April 1999).

Mary Garry Designs
Just Cross Stitch Magazine (April 1999)
32ct Lambswool Linen
GAST and DMC thread

I (and half the stitching world) am now obssessed with her patterns. I started this pincushion before Christmas and it, like everything else, eventually works it's way to the bottom of the pile. Since Sarah is on vacation and the other projects are quiet, I thought I could finish her today. I think I want to try to make this into a mattress style pincushion.

The funny thing about this pattern is that it's the first thing I have ever stitched from a JCS magazine and the second piece I've ever stitched from any cross stitch magazine. I have a bizzillion cross stitch magazines and many copies of JCS, most are dog-earred from use and marking future patterns but mainly, once I get through reading them, I file them away and forget about them. Do you do that?

Next is Bluebird's Needle's and Pins from the Blackbird Design's, With Needle and Thread booklet.

Bluebird's Needle's and Pins
Blackbird Designs -With Needle and Thread
32ct Golden Harvest Linen - Silkweaver
Olde Willow Threads, GAST, WDW thread
I really like the vintage feel about this little pincushion. I will finish it like the one in the book. I found a nice little button to go on it and I have some ric-rack too. I love ric-rack. It reminds me of the 50's and a little dress trimmed in navy ric-rack that I had when I was a little girl. And yes, I did find crushed walnut shell bird litter at the local PetSmart. Unfortunately, it only comes in 6 pound bags so I have a lot of filler to use up.
And, I have stitched the alphabet design from this book for an exchange so this book has and will see more use.
Last is Blackbird Designs, Where My Heart Blooms. I really fell in love with this pattern but not so much with the linen I am stitching it on. It's R&R linen, Korty's Special Blend, and it's very, very stiff. I am finding that as I continue to work on it, the linen is softening up from the heat of my hands. I've been working on this piece off and on for the last couple of weeks. It's moving quickly.

Where My Heart Blooms

Blackbird Designs - Loose Feather's #29

30ct R&R Linen - Korty's Special Blend

WDW Thread

Notice the scissor fob? I wanted to include it in this picture because it was a lovely, thoughtful gift from my sweet friend, Sue of Liv 'N Laf. She sent it to me a few months ago and every time I took pictures, I forgot to include it in the photographs. Well today, I remembered. It's constructed of lovely sky/sea blue stones that remind me of beach glass. I really love it and the little scissors she sent with it. Don't you just love it too?

Now Chrissy the Wonderdog has the right idea. I think I may join her by taking a nap after I post this entry.



Have a great Sunday!

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Tag, I'm IT!

The lovely and talented Patti (Hi GF!!!!, love you, miss you too!) tagged me and asked for 7 random or weird facts about me...7 facts, only 7?!!! Gosh, I have more than 7 but that's all I am going to tell you. So there.

These are the rules:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the Rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

These are just the fact, ma'm!

1. My brother calls me Joanie Baloney
2. I hate wet hair and especially wet hair on my neck
3. My biggest fear is being stuck in an elevator with a clown that looks like Bozo and a praying mantis
4. I do not like confined spaces.
5. I love Diet Coke with Lime
6. I knew I wanted to be an artist at the age of 4
7. I can't watch the movie, Homeward Bound or You've Got Mail without crying at the end and the same goes for Extreme Home Makeover. Pass the tissues, please.

Stitching news tomorrow...