Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Thank you for all the suggestions to solve my ink issue. At it turns out there are worse things than a bit of ink on the project.

A couple of people suggested de-greasers so that’s what I tried this morning. Dawn dish soap is often recommended to use if colours in a quilt run. I rubbed Dawn into all of the different patches of cross stitch and then threw it back into the wash. What I hadn’t expected was the amount of soap bubbles this would create.

When I opened the door on the washer the soap bubbles started pouring out. My solution was to quickly close the door and wash it all again but this time I used a pre-wash and a heavy wash in an attempt to get all that soap out. The result of that was about the same amount of soap bubbles; I pulled out three buckets of bubbles which, by this time, were all over the laundry room floor. There were still a lot of bubbles left so I pulled out the project, threw it into my largest laundry basket and ran it under the tap for ages to get as much soap out as possible. Then I ran the washer without anything in it and that seemed to get rid of the excess soap.

Lastly, I ran the project through another time and when it was done the soap bubbles were gone from the machine. I haven’t checked to see what the ink-results might be but once it comes out of the dryer I’m calling it done!

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

It was a full day on the Island yesterday but I think we are all set to get this show on the road. I had the injection for the bone scan and then we had a couple of hours in which I was to drink lots of water. We had a late breakfast/early lunch at White Spot and, while there, we spent a lot of time on the phone, checking messages, answering calls and returning messages. I am officially enrolled in a drug program for my third phase of chemo, I have a lab and pre-chemo session on Thursday and I’ll begin my chemo treatments on Friday morning. I’ve waited so long I’m just glad to get it started although I may feel differently after a session. Worry about how it will “be” isn’t easy to handle but keeping busy has kept me relatively sane.

My last order from amazon arrived today so I’m all set to get my Christmas parcels in the mail. I’m using the Express envelopes so that they can simply be dropped in the mailbox and we won’t have to visit the post office to get them on their way. One of the envelopes was large enough that I’m going to try and get a couple of birthday gifts into it as well.

And that is where I’m not quite all set. One of the gifts needed to be laundered and, sadly, it hasn’t come clean. I washed it in warm water on a delicate cycle, I washed it in cold water on a Perma-Press cycle with a spray of Shout and let it soak in the machine, I gave it a pre-wash cycle (which I’ve never used before) and the final wash was on a regular/heavy cycle and still I’m not happy. Since the card to go along with that particular gift isn’t done yet I’m going to try it a few more times. It will be what it will be in the end but there is still some wriggle room and I’m taking advantage of it.

My second problem this afternoon was that I had an embroidered card that I specifically set aside for someone for Christmas and I can’t find it anywhere. I’m hopeful that when the Christmas packages are done and I’m ready for cards it will magically appear under one of my piles.

Pat put the tree up this afternoon while I walked on the treadmill. I have a regularly-scheduled doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning and I’ll get it (the tree) decorated in the afternoon.

Sunday, December 4, 2022

I’m still managing the Timberlane Facebook page; imagine my surprise at seeing this quilt finished. The blocks are from my Block-a-Day calendar and they were pieced at some point during the first phase of Covid. Pat deserves some credit for helping me place the various blocks into a top. I took it to one of the Guild’s Community Quilt days to get it sandwiched but that was the last I saw of it. Someone else took it home and did the quilting on it.

I’ve finished my Diamond Dots picture. It was a lot of fun to do and I have another one stashed away in my stitching table; it came from our time at Krazy Binz in Saskatoon. It was the perfect craft to be working on while I recovered from surgery and I expect the other one will be what I work on between chemo treatments.

I looked out the window just now and noticed crowds of people heading down the hill. I had forgotten it was Santa Claus Parade day here. Although we won’t be attending the Parade or the Tree Lighting, we did put up a few decorations today.

December 3, 2022

I spent the longest time in a stylist’s chair this morning. My hair was on the longer side but my stylist is a student and she was being very careful. Rikki is Pat’s guitar student and her Mum owns the salon and does Pat’s nails. They are only doing cuts for friends and family – I snuck in because of Pat.

I was surprisingly emotional when the scissors made the first few cuts. I don’t think of myself as committed to my hair, in fact some days I didn’t even bother brushing it. In the back of my mind though was the next cut I’ll be getting – it will be a #2 buzz cut from the information I’ve read online. I have no idea how long before my hair starts to fall out but, when it does, it will be less messy to lose short strands than long.

So, after almost two hours of cutting this is how I’ve ended up. I can assure you there will be no photos after the next one!