Dad got his triple bypass heart surgery done toward the end of August, and is doing pretty well. He is still in bed most of the time, but he has been able to walk a little more each week. He gets tired easily. We were surprised to find out that two of the blockages in his heart were almost 100% blocked, and the other was almost 70% blocked. The surgeon said that was “the good one”. It is amazing he was still going to work eight hours a day, walking around. We are all so glad we found out about this and that the surgery went well. Unfortunately, he has to go back in for a biopsy on his lung. I’m sorry he has more to go through. Hopefully that will turn out okay too.
It is rare to catch my parents on camera, since they both hide from me when I try to photograph them, but here they are, on one of Dad’s walks in the yard. I’m sure there were neighbors’ cats just out of the picture frame. They like to accompany them.
Just to add to the excitement of the surgery, I got so worn out that I managed to drop a metal cable TV box on my head, from about four feet above. I don’t do well without sleep, and we had to be at the hospital mighty early, not that I was sleeping much anyway. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to drive back and forth to the hospital. I set off a chain of headaches and numbness and pins and needles that has finally calmed down.
Mom has been getting up with Dad in the morning. I am grateful for that. I was doing it at first, but that, combined with Dad being mixed up about time, was leaving me wiped out. He was getting up when I was going to bed. One time he aimed a flashlight in my face at 3:33am, because he thought I might be outside. The nurse said that is a very common side effect of being in the hospital. I know my parents went through that with me, when I came home from the hospital, when I had encephalitis in my twenties. Back then, they took turns sleeping on the floor next to me, because I would wake up calling out or I would go try to climb the ladder to the attic in the middle of the night. I also remember the long recovery being a big downer. So, even though Dad is doing well, I know it is hard and it takes a lot of patience.
I am doing my best to get my work underway. I feel I need to apologize all the time, for not being able to keep up, but I know that is ridiculous. I am doing one thing at a time, or, more accurately for me, twenty of one thing at a time. That is the closest I do to one thing at a time. I have a list of toys people have asked for, and I am cutting out those colors. I sew them by the stack. In my mind, that is practical. That way, I will be better prepared the next time someone wants one of those colors.
This gray Hug Me Bunny is one of the toys that made it all the way to finished. I am making an apple green bunny for the same person. Someone else asked for a gray slug. That is why I have a stack of gray and apple green above. I didn’t realized I had so much apple green fleece. I have been tripping over the bag of it for months, but had no idea there was twice as much as I have in that photo. I hope everyone likes apple green.
I had to take my real-life bunny, Oliver, to the vet yesterday. I kept meaning to take him for a nail trim, but had no time. The night before, one of his nails was bent out to the side. It must have gotten caught on something. I felt like such a bad mommy. They were booked up until Tuesday, but one of the techs fit us in. Oliver did not enjoy his nail trim one bit, but I hope he feels better now.
He seems to have forgiven me. He is camping out next to the air conditioning vent in the floor of my workroom. That is one of his favorite spots. Forehead pets make him feel better too.
Scooter, one of the cats from next door, has decided that he is running away from home. He wants to know if I can provide refreshments. Scooter shows up at the back door every day he can, every time he hears dishes in the kitchen. He shows up for breakfast. He shows up for dinner. He waits by the back door in the dark.
When I try to feed Santana, he jumps in front of him and sticks his head in the bowl. Santana has decided Scooter is crazy and he is not going to mess with him. Sometimes, Scooter’s brother, Trouble, is out on the back deck too, but he usually heads to the front porch, to see if he can get past Santana for some dry food. Scooter prefers wet food and has figured out that you ask for that at the back door.
When he gets tired, sometimes he takes a nap outside the back door, just in case a can of food happens to come rolling by.
I emailed my neighbor to suggest getting Scooter tested for hyperthyroidism. We have had cats with it, and I have been told it seems to be common in our area. The desperation for food, combined with his weight loss makes it a possibility. He also howls occasionally, for no apparent reason, which can be another sign.
The cats inside the house are used to cats showing up at the door. They watch each other as they go about their daily activities. Juno makes sure she puts on a good show, demolishing whatever she can find in the living room and kitchen. This is the cardboard insert for her Star Chaser toy, the circular track with a light-up ball. Good thing we ordered extra inserts.
I had better go amass another stack of fleece rectangles, or take a nap, or combine both a stack of fleece and a nap.
Happy spring and happy Easter! To celebrate, I have a whole colony, or fluffle, of stuffed bunny rabbits over in my toy shop! I have Hug Me Bunnies and Wonder Bunnies in lots of colors. You can hop on over to my toy shop to adopt one or two. Please don’t give real bunnies as gifts for Easter! Rabbits are a big commitment and a lot of work. They are definitely not “starter pets”. They need lots of love and attention, like Oliver Bunny does. Hug Me Bunnies, however, are very easy to take care of, and they are cuddly.
I brought some Hug Me Bunnies to Rabbit Day this year, and two of them were adopted by Louise and Arthur, two real bunnies.
They come in all colors, even apple green.
I started an Instagram page, if anyone would like to follow me there. I’m on Pinterest too. I am in the process of trying to figure out how to start a mailing list/club as well. I will post the details as soon as I figure it out!
If anyone would like to make an Easter or a spring basket, like mine at the top of this post, here are some instructions. I got some floral foam. I got “wet foam”, but that isn’t necessary because I used pretend flowers. It’s called wet foam, because it is used for fresh flower arrangements, to keep them hydrated, but I didn’t wet it! The block just happened to work for the size of my basket. I set my basket on top of it, and carved away the excess with a knife. It was very easy to cut. Then I put the block into a plastic bag so the bits wouldn’t get everywhere, and I sealed the bag.
I cut my flowers away from their central stem. They are wired, and so you will need a tool that cuts wire, like a pair of side-cutting pliers or wire cutters. I tried to cut them at an angle, to make it easier to insert them into the foam.
I put my bag of floral foam into my basket, and poked my flowers right into the foam through the bag. If you need to pull them out to reposition them, just poke a new hole.
I left some space in front of the flowers for my bunnies. The bow is made from wired ribbon that was made into big even-sized loops and then pinched together in the center with a big pipe cleaner. The ribbon could be wrapped around a big tube or jar to get the loops even, with the tails hanging free. The loops are pulled into shape and arranged as desired. I added a bunny ribbon around the rim of the basket. I set two Hug Me Bunnies in the basket, and I was all ready for Easter.
