Back at last

This has been my worst year ever for blogging, there are just so many demands on my time that there has been very little sewing, and nothing finished at all.  I've been busy with family and health concerns, not to mention a new business, but the main problem is I just haven't felt like sewing.  It's been a decade since I fell into such a slump, but I've obeyed my instincts and let all my projects just sit and marinate.  The enthusiasm will return.

My months and months of coughs & colds and tests led to a diagnosis of chronic lung disease, worsened by an allergy to my budgies.  I still have trouble believing that my rescue of that little blue bird, and subsequent friends I bought for it, could lead to impaired lung function, but the tests said otherwise.  So the birds have found another home, I miss their cheerful chatter but it wasn't an option to keep them.

I'm quite healthy except for the fact I can't carry anything, and I get quite breathless if I hurry; it won't get any better, and it might get a lot worse, but for now I'm just going to take each day as it comes.

Another thing I had to give up is gardening, can't take the risk of catching something from potting mix or compost; Mereth has offered to do any repotting that needs to be done, so all I have to do is water things, but the majority of my plants have already been disposed of.  I spend so much time travelling now that I won't be able to keep things watered during summer and it all would die anyway.  Our Mum spent months at a time visiting her 4 children in turn, knowing full well that her garden would suffer in her absence; now I understand how she felt.

But I love my visits to Adelaide to spend time with Seonaid and Isla. 

Isla is 18 months old now, that time went so quickly.  I don't see nearly enough of her, but there are so many other things to fit in.

I help Mereth with her twin grand-babies; I try to go in once or twice a week and help with the night feeds. 

They are getting closer to sleeping all through the night, and it will be such a relief when they do.  The sleep deprivation was easier to handle when I was 28, but I'm 30 years older now!

And there's the new business; Mereth and I and a friend opened a shop in February, selling our gorgeous little things that we have collected for the last 30 years.  It's amazing to look around the shop and realise everything there came out of our households.  We have so much Stuff.  But it fits in nicely with my resolve to get rid of 30% of my stuff, and we are making a lot of people happy with our treasures.  I will take some photos tomorrow, ran out of time today.

This morning I sat in my sewing room and made a cutting list of all the projects that need to be moved on.  If I have a few spare moments I can cut these pieces and they'll be ready to sew whenever I get a few more spare moments.
 

I'm making some blue and white squares surrounded by strips, which are very simple.  They are what I can sew if I have 5 minutes to spare.

I started a Checkered Lattice from the Missouri Quilt Company, which I will work on in bigger blocks of time.

I'm STILL making Flying Geese for the border of my Economy block quilt.  Lots of those still to do, but thankfully I have all of them cut now.

I'm also cutting out a Hunter's Star with the Go Cutter, so I'm really giving the blue fabrics a workout. I might not have ANY left after this.

I'm learning how to use my smart phone to make life easier, uploading pictures to Blogger etc.  If I master this new technology I just may be able to blog more in future; there's hope yet that I can use these new-fangled machines properly!