Thanks

Thanks everyone, for your supportive comments. The keyhole surgery definitely IS much better than getting the big slice. I cringe at the thought of that again.
My mum has just left after staying nearly a week to help out. She is still going strong at 78. She got all my laundry caught up and left a well stocked refrigerator. Thanks Mum.
The little one is in daycare tomorrow so I hope to get some sewing done. I have someone arranged to take her there so no slipping on the treacherous walkways for me. I would like to keep these stitches where they are for a few more days still. Thanks David.
Many friends have dropped off something a meal or baked goods and or called to make sure everything is OK. Thanks everyone.
I do appreciate the help.

When it rains...

...it pours.
I am just back from hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder.
I hadn't a clue I had problems, but from the state of the organ it must have been flaring up for months. The surgery was laproscopic and took four times longer than the surgeon anticipated.
Now I have a drainage reservoir coming out from a tube on my side so I will not be fitting anything on myself for a while.
It is a good thing I have a few dresses booked.

latest

This one nearly killed me, might have saved me. They have just sent me the nicest email with this photo! The fit looks great. Yay!

Thanks

Thanks everyone, for your support. I am sitting beside the same window now with a blast of cold, fresh air on me. Funny thing is that I could smell something I associated with a cow barn and never put it together with gas.
I am desperately trying to get a dress completed. This is the dress that pushed me over the edge with the symptoms. Despite it being for a lovely girl and family, I will be glad to get this one done and gone.

Classical Gas?

This is an unusual post. I named the blog" Merry Patter" quite deliberately. It is a place to put happy thoughts and leave off descriptions of the outside pressures we all must deal with. I have a problem with depression in a mild way and I did not plan to write about that.
My posting has been sporadic for some months. I have been unable to cope in general very well. It took an enourmous effort to fulfill my contractual obligations regarding my work and just cooking supper seemed a daunting task. I have been exhausted, nauseous, befuddled and overwhelmed. I have been concerned about mental illness, brain tumours, Alzheimers disease. Testing didn't show any such thing. Anything at all in fact.
Part of this I blamed on my daily debilitating headaches. They have been very hard to cope with. I get migraines with barometric pressure changes, generally before it rains. Once the weather breaks, the headache does as well. With all the rain we had this summer, I thought that was the cause, but the headaches never broke.
Funny thing is that I didn't have them over Christmas while at my brother's house, but they started again when I returned home. I guess I should get away more.
My husband noticed a bad smell on our veranda on Thursday. I called the gas company who sent someone out immediately. Sure enough, there was a gas leak right outside a window about four feet from my computer caused by a faulty washer. He told me it had been going on since before summer (someone thought they could smell something last summer, but I couldn't smell it and didn't call the gas company). Once he fixed it he discovered another leak.
The window is generally open at least a crack even in bad weather to disperse the fumes from my adhesives. Natural gas is an asphyxiant. I have been depriving my brain of oxygen for months now. It has made it difficult to get my work done and then I would need to stay here longer to work on it, thus perpetuating the problem.
I haven't had a headache in days. It is a good feeling. I hope this means I can become productive again.
Thanks for all the comments. Ruthie- those were some good thoughts you put down about next time I can't focus, although I hope that being unfocussed in general will become a thing of the past from now on!

Whatever the heck I want

Sometimes I think I should just do whatever the heck I want. I never do though because there is always something I should be doing. The problem is that I then don't get anything done. Example- I have a custom order to complete. I want some distance from it, but don't want to get off schedule. I need to get it done.
Is it done? No. Have I worked on it? Not much.
What have I done instead? I have made tea, looked at the computer, spoken to two clients and one supplier, made tea, eaten chocolate, made soup, planned dinner and am about to go fetch yet another cup of tea.
If I had decided I would make myself a coat today I am sure I would have worked on that. In the end I have no coat and no dress and at $44/day for childcare I really should be getting something done.
Now off to get tea. The upside of all of this is that I will be unable to sleep tonight due to all the caffeine and able to catch up on the work I have missed.

Catching up post

Thanks everyone for your comments on my recent projects. I did not get to finish my tree skirt. It seemed pointless since we decided not to have a tree this year. My husband had to work over the holiday on ten hour shifts so the kids and I had a week with my Mum and brother and his family over Christmas. Maisie and I shared a room, occasionally with the Boy as well. Since then, she has been plastered to my side. This is the first break from her I have had and as much as I love her, I really need it!

I tried on the teal jacket yesterday and the fit is not too bad on the altered side. I will mark it, change the pattern, then sew it as is. Having some distance from it makes for a much more objective opinion.

Maisie received some Dora the Explorer slippers for Christmas. Here she is the first night after receiving them.

I made another hat for Maisie for Christmas, utilizing the time being driven to Niagara to embroider.

It uses the same basic pattern I made for the owl hats, but I didn't add the straps.

Maisie here is dressed up in her new fairy costume and turtle neck with some funky tights and her new hat (pre-tassels). There is alot going on here even before you add in the silly faces!