Back in the Saddle Again

As you can see I am feeling well enough to get back into the quilt studio. I haven't taken a Paracetamol since sometime yesterday evening and then it was only half a tablet. I had a great night's sleep and woke rested with a bit more energy than yesterday. Unfortunately my right eye is now even more swollen than yesterday and has turned a purply yellow as has my lower right jaw. My guess is the eye will be purple by tomorrow. Not having had a working freezer for many months now, I have been going out and collecting snow to make ice packs with to hold over these swollen spots. (Ever resourceful, that's me.)

Bright and early this morning one of the roofer helpers started work and has been making steady progress ever since. The other helper has today off but George, their boss, has been by a few times to check on progress. I can stand in the studio and look toward the utility room extension and see actual roof, tiles and all!

The temperature did go up today and the sun has been shining pretty steadily all day so that the snow is melting quite rapidly. (Here comes the mud again.) Gairns Hauling has a contract with our local council and has been collecting and hauling away the snow on the roads for two days now. Comrie is much more navigable than it was for a while there.

Yesterday afternoon Helen Rae came by and brought me 8 bright yellow sweetheart roses, a card, and the obligatory convalescent grapes. It is a joke in the UK that when visitors go to see people who are in hospital or convalescing at home, they take along bunches of grapes and then eat them during their visit. So when Helen handed me the grapes, she said "I'm so sorry I have to rush off and don't have time to eat the grapes for you."

I mentioned in yesterday's blog that we did two loads of laundry. Unfortunately, we couldn't get our dryer to work so I phoned Robbie Innes who said "Have Don bring your wash over here and I'll pop it in my dryer for you." It turns out that they have the same dryer we do, so Peter and Don did some troubleshooting while Don was there and Don came home with information on how to solve our dryer problem, which we have now done. Meanwhile, this morning, Peter played "laundryman" and delivered our dried--and folded--laundry to us. They even "hickled" the socks. At least, I think "hickled" was the word Peter used to describe putting the socks together, rolling them up, then turning the cuff inside out to hold the pair together.

Late this morning, Jackie and Eric dropped by for a coffee, to see how I was, and to deliver some of the liqueurs and preserves they won't be moving to New Zealand with them. We had a lovely visit which will have to make up for the fact that we just couldn't put together an evening out for dinner this week. We do, however, have plans for dinner in Crieff next week. They have now moved from the house in Comrie they were renting and are now "camping out" in a friend's house in Crieff while the friend is away in Italy. Each day they return to the Comrie rental house to do more sorting, tossing out, and cleaning. (How well we remember those times from just before we left our home in the States, while we were waiting for our shipment to be picked up, readying the house to be turned over to the new owners, and spending our nights at the home of friends who lived a block away. I think Jackie and Eric appreciated having a pair of sympathetic ears from folks who really know what they're going through.)

Don made us a delicious breakfast of French toast and sausage so we ate very lightly at lunchtime, just an apple and some cheese. Tonight we're invited to Haig and Trish Hamilton's for dinner. Our local friends have been so kind and solicitous, willing to help in any way. In addition to the visits I've mentioned, we've had numerous phone calls enquiring as to how I'm getting on and whether we need anything. It is so comforting to have such good friends, especially at a time such as this.

In the afternoon, I went into the studio to try an experiment based on an article by Julie Caprara in the latest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. She presents several layering experiments to be tried involving various artistic media. The one I tried today was called "Layering and Heat" and involved layering tissue paper and sheer fabrics as well as some decorative threads and fabric sheets, all held together with a couple of layers of WonderUnder, the heat bonding agent. I am very pleased with the way this one is turning out. I will do some quilting on it tomorrow. The bright floral background is two pieces of tissue paper which the first bundle of Shara's batik fat quarters came in from eQuilter. The most recent bundle of batiks came in a tissue paper with pink roses on, so that will be kept in reserve for another piece.

It felt good to be back in the studio but I got word this afternoon that the joiners will be back to work soon and have their eye on that space as their next staging ground. I guess it really is time to pack up the studio. Fortunately I have packed up a fair amount in there already and we have been collecting boxes. All I have to do is stop playing and pack up my toys! I feel like the whiny child who says when Mother calls her to come in: "Just one more quilt. Please, Mummy, pleeeeeeease."