Friday, July 25, 2014

Around the studio...

2 posts in one day, I know!
 
But I am taking advantage of the fact that Isabel is still pretty out of it today after all of the meds she was given yesterday for the surgery, so she is sleeping a lot.
 
Meanwhile I just wanted to share some of the things I have been working on.
 
 
First of all, I snapped a pic of my plants-they look so cute in the window today.
 I love plants, and I get no end of pleasure from them. I truly enjoy tending them and talking to them as I water,prune and repot them, etc.! LOL! I know, I'm a little crazy, but they are so cheerful and friendly!
I am especially infatuated with my cacti at the moment!
lol!
Moving on:
Here is my design board. I have been working on a lot of stitcheries this summer. As I finish each block I like to pin them up to help me keep focused, and frankly, to enjoy looking at them!
The two blocks on the left hand side are from the quilt pattern by Crabapple Hill called "Berry Picking Party". This is a gorgeous quilt, and the blocks actually stitch up pretty fast.
The little angel on the right side is from an original design I am working on for a Christmas pattern release.
And the bottom right is my progress on the free stitch-along from Jenny of Elefantz, The Lord's Prayer.I shared my beginning progress here. I am really enjoying this one.
 
And last but not least, here is a shot of my work table. You can see the fabrics I will be using for my Christmas stitchery design-it will be a quilted wall hanging.
What are you working on?
 
Blessings,
Annie


Ice on...Ice off

 
 
You may remember in the spring of 2013, my youngest daughter Isabel tore her ACL playing basketball during the final game of her 8th grade season. She had surgery to repair it, and it was 6 months of recovery and physical therapy.
 
In the fall she came back full guns and played a successful soccer season. All seemed well. In the winter she played freshman basketball for her high school, and her entire season was bumpy and full of miner-ACL related injuries. She had some trouble with her right leg being stronger than her left, which resulted in her back going out of alignment. Eventually toward the end of the season all looked well and she was playing almost back to her former level.
 
Then at the LAST PRACTICE OF THE SEASON she injured the OTHER leg! She did not hear a "pop" this time (yes that is the ACL snapping! ew!) so we hoped beyond hope it was just a bad sprain.
 
It didn't seem as bad this time.
She was off crutches in 2 weeks.
We did an MRI, and the ACL seemed to be intact. There was no conclusive evidence of a tear-just a very bad bone bruise.
 
The doctor ordered more PT and we hoped that with strengthening it would be fine.
 
But, alas,
after 3 months of physical therapy, it was just not right. Lots of pain still and some unstable moments.
She tried to play kickball with her friends one day and her knee completely gave out. 
 
So the doctor recommended exploratory surgery.
 It was the only way to be able to know conclusively what was really going on in there. He would do a scope, and if there was damage he would fix it.
 
 Yesterday Isabel had that surgery.
There was absolutely NO ACL! It was gone. I'm not sure how long she has been walking around without an ACL, but I have a hunch it tore completely in June when she played kickball that time.
 
OOOOO!!! It just makes me cringe.
When I think of all she has done since then-hiking in the mountains in Colorado, bike riding, all that vacation WALKING!
 Oh goodness! 
 
So here we are again! 6 more months of rehab. This poor kid!
 
So I am back on nurse duty! Ice on...ice off!
LOL!
 
Blessings,
~Annie