Another novella (or why I seem incapable of writing a short post!)

First things first...

Lynne is running a wonderful series of posts called Christmas Gifts for Quilters which is full of lovely gift ideas for your loved ones to buy you - just leave your computer showing her posts (or set one as your homepage!) and people will soon get the message!  In true fairy tale style there are small, medium and large present suggestions so if no one takes the hint you could always treat yourself!  This first post also has a wonderful giveaway from Sew Fresh Fabrics, a FQ bundle (14 FQs!) of Metro Living circles, so if you fancy reading a great post and having a chance to win the bundle then click on the button!  (You have until 12th October to enter.)
 

Rebecca  is celebrating hitting 55 followers with a giveaway of a beautiful pouch and some lovely fabric from her stash - well worth a visit, you have until 12th October.  She's also determined to sabotage her progress on the Tumbling Blocks quilt she has been making her husband for a decade.  She's now decided that her original plan of 400 TBs wasn't complicated enough (!) so has decided to redesign it...which means her Christmas 2011 deadline is starting to look unlikely so please feel free to visit and give her a nudge!


This morning Archie and I went to see the vet, again!  Now, before we go any further I'd like to thank you once again for all your well wishes and ear scratching for Archie, we've really appreciated it!  Also, I think that before I tell you what Archie did in the reception area I should stress that he's a very well behaved and obedient dog but I think he was slightly scared this morning...I booked him in at the reception desk and was having a quick chat with the receptionist when Archie decided to, um, well, ahem, 'do his business' on the door mat (cue one very embarrassed owner and one sheepish dog).  Oh, the shame!!  Fortunately the place was empty and I had a bag in my pocket and the receptionist was lovely but still...

The vet is pleased with Archie's progress (thank heavens!) and he's now allowed to walk up and downstairs - hear that, Archie, he said walk, not sprint!  He's also allowed to go for two 15 minute walks a day, on the lead, for a few weeks - yeah!!  This will come as a shock as he's usually off the lead for the entire walk but I suspect he'll take what he can get and be glad of it!  The vet said to continue with the painkillers for another few weeks - he didn't say we have to go back but I think I might take him in three or four weeks, just to check that everything's fine and that he can go back to normal length, off-the-lead walks.  The vet said he's still not to jump up if I can stop him (although he acknowledged it's almost impossible) and no jumping in and out of the car as he's concerned that he might slip a disc...caution and patience are the key words for his recovery!

I tried to get a photo to show how happy he was to be back from the vet with the promise of a longer walk...

Let's try that again, shall we?!

Much better!  The cutest dog in the world  (or at least the cutest dog in this house!)

And no, I've never looked under the windowsill in the conservatory but I wish I had before I took this photo - it's plaster, not mud!!


I've managed to sew the hexies that I'd starting prepping a couple of weeks ago (see this post) but other than that I haven't done much sewing apart from the giraffe postcards I shared last time.  As some of you will know I've had an exceptionally busy (for me) few months (life always seems to happen all at once or in very quick succession, never nicely spaced out!) and I've been feeling increasingly exhausted.  Yesterday I ended up back in bed by 1:30pm and slept for three hours - I couldn't even make it to the end of the programme I was watching.  I don't talk much about the M.E. but yesterday was a bad day.  In the evening I (hand) stitched one DP quarter to another and that was enough.  I settled for just watching telly for a bit (very rare as I'm not good at only watching telly - I lose concentration and end up missing it!) after which I went upstairs to brush my teeth and ended up sleeping for an hour before I made it to the bathroom...I just laid down for a moment, fatal!  I feel a little better today, not quite as exhausted and I know I need to rest but I'm determined to get this post published first (if it's gobbledegook please let me know!).  It's not a day for cutting fabric or doing anything that requires concentrating for prolonged periods of time which is why it's taken me four hours to get to this point as I keep getting distracted and wandering off, hope there's something suitably mindless on telly this evening!  I know it's going to take more than 13 hours sleep in one day to make me feel better (no kidding, I think I could sleep the clock round at the moment) but it's nice not be falling asleep in my cup of tea!  When I got up yesterday I decided to be sensible and have a computer free day - it was the best thing I could have done.  I missed you all but it was good for me, even if I did have 38 emails this morning and 114 new items in Google Reader!  I think I need to make sure I do this every couple of weeks, especially as the Brit Quilt Swap Pillow Fight is coming up, I don't want to be too tired to enjoy it.  Sign ups close on 10th October so if you haven't signed up yet then please hurry!  This will be my first Flickr swap and I'm really looking forward to it!  Hope my mosaic, etc. are up to snuff and I get accepted.  So, I think I need to remember that I have a chronic condition that requires careful management or I'll end up running myself into the ground, although it may be too late, I'm certainly in up to my waist!  Sorry if this has been more information than you wanted or a little whingy - it wasn't intended to be that way but I'm too tired to go back and inject humour *wink*

Right, time for some more hexies, that'll cheer us all up!

Pattern for hexy on the left found here - thanks, Sheila!

Pattern for top hexy found here - thanks, Lynne!

Isn't it odd how sometimes I'm not convinced by a hexy and then I see it on here and realise it's fine (top hexy, middle photo is a case in point) and other times I'm really pleased with them but they look a little 'blah' on screen (bottom hexy, middle photo) - I guess that, like people, some hexies are more photogenic than others!!

Hope everyone is having a good sewing day (it's definitely windy enough to stay inside - I keep seeing wheelie bins sailing down the street!) - it's time for a cup of tea and a rest before I take Archie out for his teatime walk, he's already convinced it's time and is sitting at the back door!