I'm Back!

I'm back and feeling better at last.
First, a stitchy update then all the details about my health.

Way back last year I received a travelling pattern - Summer Splendor by LHN.
We were in the middle of renovation hell so I pulled threads and chose fabric and put it in a safe place.  Then I couldn't find it again until I had unpacked all my sewing room boxes after the new carpet was laid.
I picked it up on January 1st and started, but the weather turned horrible and we had a heatwave.  Next I was running around like a headless chook trying to get everything organized for our Canadian holiday.  Fine, I thought, we get back at the end of January, the kids go back to school and I will get it knocked over within a week.
2 months later, here is my progress photo.  I picked it up last weekend and hope to finish this weekend.

Sorry for the poor quality photo - I took this on my phone and it was a rainy day.
When it is finished I will do a separate post and see who would like to have a chance to do this next.


To say I haven't been well is probably an understatement.  I woke up in the early hours of the morning we left Whistler (January 26 - Australia Day) with a terribly sore throat, headache and runny nose.  Great, I've caught a cold, so dosed myself up with painkillers and antihistamines.  I had a bit of trouble clearing my ears on both flights but managed to get a fair bit of sleep.  Got home Tuesday morning and had a busy few days with the start of school for both kids.  Took myself to the Dr that Friday as it felt like I was getting bronchitis - sore throat, painful chest and coughing.  By the weekend the cough was much worse and I was getting up in the middle of the night needing to sit upright for several hours, coughing and choking for breath then feeling like I was going to be sick, then crawling back to bed exhausted at 4am for another few hours sleeep.  After about 4 weeks of that I improved enough to realize this wasn't an ordinary cough and took myself back to the dr.  He agreed that it sounded like whooping cough and ran some blood tests but they came back negative.  The cough lasted another few weeks and was set off by talking, laughing, changes in temperature and standing up.  Even when the cough stopped I was tired all the time.  If I went out to get a few groceries I would feel like I had been hit by a truck and would need to rest for an hour or so after.
I am feeling much better now, the cough has gone and the fatigue and fuzzy head haven't been a problem for over a week.  DH was the only other one who got it and he was about 2 weeks behind me so he is still getting better.  Whatever it was, it was a nasty bug and left me with no energy to do anything but the essentials - food, laundry, kids to and from school.

DD has had a rough time lately as well.  About 3 weeks ago I came home after dropping DH at the airport and found DD buddy taping her little toe and calmly saying she thought it was broken.  Bike + bare feet + speed + cutting corners in the garden = clipping the garden edging.  I was feeling rather ordinary so waited a day then took her to the hospital ER the next afternoon.  Yes, it was broken, they showed her how to tape it up, gave her some crutches and told her to use them for a week or two. I was fine with that as she has a fair bit of walking to do at high school.   No netball for 4 weeks.  Only problem is that now I have to drive her to and from school everyday as the bus drop off is at the bottom of a steep hill and the school is at the top.
Just over a week later I got a call from her school.  It was a wet morning and her crutch had slipped, she had twisted her good ankle and the swelling wasn't going down.  Result - one sprained ankle.  No netball for at least 4 weeks.  She had to stay home for a few days until she could walk well enough to get around!  The toe still hurts a bit but the sprained ankle is pain free when she walks.  She is going to try a slow jog this weekend.  She has missed the first 3 games of the netball winter season but there is a 3 week break over the Easter holidays so she will be right to play after that.

Well done if you have managed to read all that.  I'm excited to be stitching again.
Have to go and feed my family before they complain too much.