Preparation

Much of what I've been doing for the past month has been in preparation for the six to twelve weeks I won't be able to sew.  Tomorrow morning I'm having surgery on my left hand.  Oh no!  No sewing!  Ack!  (No cleaning house either, but that doesn't bother me.  At all.)  ;-)

Of course I have sewing projects galore that need finishing.  So I made a mental list and have been working my way through some of them.  The first thing was to finish the tote bags I showed in my last post.  There is one more to be made for me, but it ended up getting put aside.  I've had this sun hat for The Viking cut out and being pushed about my sewing tables for about a year.  Done!

The hat was a must-wear for a few days.  I believe this is a superhero face and pose, though it could also be a "bad guy."  It's hard for me to keep up!

He arrived with his Batman sneakers in hand one morning.  "Nini!  My shoes are broken.  You have to fix them.  They need to be knitted."  So I sewed the velcro back on.  So funny!!

 I also decided it was high time to get the sandbox off the porch and take the area back for the grownups.  We covered the floor with some outdoor carpet and spent a couple of days putting new furniture together.  Much better!  It keeps some of the mosquitoes off the porch.  I finally broke down and bought some yard insect spray and judicious spraying of the screens and around the door has made it possible to actually sit on the porch unmolested.  And less mosquitoes come through the doorway with the dogs as well.  The mosquito war will never be won, but this has been a step in the right direction.  Yay!

I've also been prepping The Viking for "when Nini has a big bandage on her hand and can't do things."  We've been having practice sessions in the car with the seat belt buckles.  Success!  He also has some new shorts with no snaps and zippers.  "Pants with nothing on them" he calls them.

My brother and his family came for a visit and I can't believe I didn't take a single photo!  So instead, I took a photo of the bottle of honey he brought us from his own bee hives.  Yum!

What will keep The Viking and I busy when I can't leave the house?  Hmmmm.  Ah!  Lego is always good for some imaginative play.  I invested in a set of "classic" Lego and he has been having a blast with it.  "This car can go 45 Nini!  45 to the sun!!"  The creature on the right is a bee.  

 And this is a greenhouse.  I love the fan hanging from above.  :-)

He's also been hard at it with glue and scissors.  I bought a big pack of colored construction paper.  That ought to keep him busy too.

I desperately wanted to make a new purse before the surgery date.  This is a new pattern by Erin Gilbey called the Sunrise Saddle Bag.  It came out great!  Perfect for the one handed person.  :-)

Also on my agenda was finally finishing the cover for The Tramp's desk chair.  The seat and back are taken from a used sheepskin car seat cover.  It's a bit weird, but he likes it so that makes it perfect.  If you look at the photo up above of the boy cutting paper, you can see the chair behind him in it's bad condition.  The bonded surface of the leather had peeled and bits of it were showing up all over the house!

 Another list item was a couple of curtains for the porch.  The outdoor fabric was on sale last week so there was no excuse.  Now we can have dinner outside without the sun in our eyes.  Hooray!  I actually went back to the store this week for enough fabric for one more curtain and some tiebacks, but that is going to have to wait.  Other small sewing items like mending have been finished too.  Busy, busy.

And just about the most important item before a big life event is getting a new pedicure.  Right?  No picture of my toes, but this was the sky as I left the salon.  Ominous.  Another item struck off my list.

I was pleased to get this 4th of July photo of Stardust, Batman and Five with what looks suspiciously like fireworks.  The boys will be coming for a visit soon.  :-D

We went to the fireworks in a local town with ED and The Viking.  There was a chance of rain, but instead we were treated to spectacular skys.

We were treated to music from the Bull City Syndicate, and after them the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

And fireworks of course. :-)

Today we took The Viking on a farm tour.  The Ninja Cow Farm is local and since I've been exploring local places to buy meat this seemed like a great opportunity.  The story of the ninja cow is funny and amazing and if you'd like to read it this is the link.  Dan Moore is a farmer with a way with words.  :-)  He was also a great tour guide.  We visited the pigs, saw the loads and loads of leftover produce from the State Farmers Market that is hauled in to feed the cows and pigs, and fed some bananas to the two dairy cows.  Seven million pounds of produce a year.  Wow.

So now I go to bed with all the usual instructions of what not to eat or drink after what time, and what to wear and not wear tomorrow, where to go and when to arrive.  I won't be typing much, but I'm sure I can post a few pictures in the coming weeks.  See you on the other side!