I cannot believe how the time has flown since I last posted!   Here is an update on me.... I have now spent over 150 days in the hospital in the last 5 years--almost all of it for pneumonia. I am on 4 liters of oxygen 24/7. I have a large hiatal hernia in which my stomach contents hide.  This hernia is inoperable.  They would have to split my diaphragm to get it out.  One of my doctor's commented "having that surgery "would be a fatal mistake. So, I go to bed semi-healthy and wake up very sick....reflux followed by aspiration (my hiatal hernia has decided to feed my lu ..read more

It is now 2022.   I have some very weird feelings about that.       A) I have been isolated due to my low immune system since August or September of 2019—that means first off that my “social life” consists of the only places I go (medical labs, doctor’s offices and hospitals *yes, I am trying NOT to catch covid in any form.)         B)  I am feeling rather sharp and intelligent IF I can tell you what day of the week it is—please don’t ask the date!  C)  When I have to write a date, I must catch and force myself to start the ..read more

Wow!  I had a dr. look at me today and tell me I haven't looked this good in several years! I am now on 4 liters of oxygen 24/7.  Enlarged lymph nodes in my lung and a hiatel henia are pressing on my airway. COPD + CHF = the worst of the bad news.  The great news is I have had some GI bleeders cauterized (6 unit of blood since November of  '20), both knees have been replaced (the right in November '20 and the left in April of '21 and I've had a port inserted (blood draws are difficult, IV starts are almost impossible) and I am getting infusions of gamaglobulin to help my ai ..read more

I was poking around Ruth Perry's site today and discovered where she has demonstrated something that I thought was impossible!!  She shows how to do a) a single color 6 ring motif thrown off of a chain and then b)  using two colors, a 6 ring motif thrown off of a chain!!  Here is the link to her awesome tutorial https://rozellalinden.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Six-Ring-Motif-Thrown-Off-from-a-Chain-1.pdf Ruth is one of the many people I have to thank for so freely sharing of their talent.  I don't know where my tatting would be without Jane Eborall, Georgia Seitz, Kerry ..read more

  INK PENS make great NEEDLE HOLDERS! Tutorial For a printable pdf copy of this tutorial- click here   Two posts within one month!!   I tend to go through needles at an insane pace.  Apparently the chemicals in my hands eat away at the finish on needles…next thing I know I have a needle that won’t glide through the fabric.   When machine sewing, I will be sewing merrily along when snap, “another one bites the dust."  We are not discussing the needles I’ve lost in my recliner or on the living room carpet.  Someone almost always finds them eventually wit ..read more

Oh wow!  I just looked at  my blog and I haven't had a new post since September of last year....I am so sorry!  And this isn't really a tatting post now.  It is more of a "I'm still alive, don't give up on me!"   In the last three years I have spent more than 60 days in the hospital--most of it for pneumonia.  I have been on oxygen 24/7 for the last two years. Last August, I asked my primary dr. for a referral to an orthopedist because my right knee has been giving me fits for several years.  That night, I tore the cartilage in my left knee.  Both k ..read more

I promised a year ago that I would post my Twisted Heart Ornament taught at Tatting Corner in 2018 by Shawna Wachs and Tamie Alliss…It is still on my “To Do” list.  My “To Do” list has for years and years consisted of add 5 things today, subtract 3, add two things tomorrow, subtract seven, etc.  Once in a great while I would have everything marked off!  These days….I add, a lot more than I subtract, and about once a month take a good long look at it and mark off things I am just not physically capable of doing.  This week I received a fantastic treasure filled goodie bag from Tatting Corner ..read more