Posts (page 2)

It's been nearly two weeks since I burned 4 fingers on my left hand.  It happened late one night when I should have been sleeping.  My husband and I were up late (as usual these days) and he went to bed before me.  I had a few things to do before settling in for the night, one of which was to make my poor sick hubby a cup of tea for him to sip in bed.  I put water in the teapot and sat down at my laptop to read email.  It's so easy for me to lose track of time when I'm on the computer and I got myself lost.  All of a sudden I remembered -the teapot!  I jumped up and ran to the kitchen and realized that because the spout wasn't closed the darn thing didn't whistle to get my attention.  I grabbed a kitchen towel and simultaneously turned off the gas and picked up the teapot.  It was empty.  I took the top off and it was bone dry.  Not thinking, I went right to the sink to refill it and as soon as the water hit that hot pot a burst of steam shot out at me.  I dropped it in the sink as fast as I could but unfortunately not soon enough.  I stood there at the sink running cold water on my hand for 25 minutes, then I went and told my hubby what happened.  I tried to get ready for bed but had to keep running to the sink for more cold water; it burned like hell!  The same thing happened after I went to bed -I had to keep getting up.  I decided to try ice packs but that didn't work either.  So I got out of bed, filled a pot with ice cubes and water and set it next to my easy chair in the living room.  I spent the rest of the night trying to sleep while dipping my hand in and out of the ice water.  I've never experienced a burn such as this.  It made me think of the immense pain that real burn victims must endure.

The next afternoon I went to the doctor with ice pack in hand but because my fingers were pink from the ice and he couldn't see anything he said I must have internal burns and he referred me to a neurologist.  Jerk.  I didn't go.  By the time 24 hours had passed the burning finally was subsiding and burn marks started to appear. 

A few days later I broke a blister that I didn't even know I had.  As I was putting clean sheets on my bed the blister broke and the skin peeled off.  Ouch! 

I took this picture of my hand last night.  This is 12 days after the incident:

 

(for detail click on photo to enlarge)

Obvious is where the blister was, on my middle finger, but the skin on my other fingers is all hard and shriveled up.  I hope it doesn't stay like this forever. 

Never underestimate the power of steam.

After all this happened my internet buddy, Chris told me about something I'd never heard of -Electric Tea Kettles!  I was clueless so I went online and checked them out.  I went out and bought one and it is really cool.  It boils water incredibly fast, so much faster than water boils on the stove, and it's real boiling water, not like when you nuke it in the microwave.  After it comes to a full rolling boil it automatically turns itself off so you never have to worry about it boiling away (like a real teapot).  The handle is always cool to the touch and although the body of (at least the one I bought) does get hot, it's not hot enough to burn you, unless of course you kept your hand there and never let go. Oh, and the base plugs in but the actual kettle is cordless & that's a definite plus.  Brands and models vary but most are about the same.  Chris says that just about every household in England has one.  Thanks Chris!

 

 

I found a tutorial to make this cute little shoulder bag on tiny happy's blog.  For a few days it haunted me.  I didn't really have time for sewing but I couldn't get this bag off my mind.  Finally last night before bed I went downstairs, created a paper pattern from her measurements and then went through my fabric stash and cut it all out.  Today while dinner was in the oven I started sewing and got most of it done and then after dinner I finished it up.  It was very easy to do once the paper pattern was created.  There was only one part that was a little tricky but I managed to get it worked out.  I think it's very cute and I can't wait to make more.

 

 

Florence, here's a close-up of the button I chose while we were on the phone.  I got it from mommy's button jar.  It came in handy and works rather well I think!

 

 

This was so much fun to make I already picked out and ironed fabric for my next one so I'm ready to go!

God sure knows what he's doing...I guess that's why he's in charge.  To keep my mind off my worries yesterday I had an appointment to groom a dog (ya think He planned that?)  Her name is Coco and when we first met her my husband found it very odd that a dog by the name of Coco would be pure white.  Of course he just had to ask her owner "Shouldn't she be brown?"  I don't think the lady got it.  Poor Coco was diagnosed with cancer and had recently been treated with chemotherapy.  She lost her hair and as it grew back it didn't grow in even so she was all choppy looking.  I forgot to take a "before" picture but here's what she looked like yesterday afternoon after I groomed her:

 

This photo may not show my work very well but I thought it was just the cutest picture of her.

 

Here are some other "before and after" photos of my grooms. 

By the way, I am self-taught and only groom dogs every now and then.

 

Before the groom poor Roscoe walked around hunched over because his fur was matted under his arms.  After I groomed him he was prancing around and acting like a puppy.  I was really proud of this one!

 

 And then there was Barkey.  He is a Westie and although most Westies have that cute little "skirt" hanging along the belly like a Cocker Spaniel, Barkey's owner likes that all shaved off so here's a look at his before and after shots:

 

 

Okay, one more dog story for today and I'm outta here, I swear!

We have this neighbor across the street (you know, the kind of neighbor that everyone loves to hate) who has 4 Beagles.  He used to have 5 but one died.  He claims they are hunting dogs but he has not used any of them for hunting in as long as I've known him (10 years).  These dogs are kept outside in 3 different cages and live in the most horrific conditions without an ounce of love and attention from anyone.  They bark incessantly day and night, sometimes of hunger, sometimes, I imagine, for attention.  This man has burned all his bridges having gone through two generations of neighborhood kids to take care of his dogs whenever he goes away but because his backyard is so absolutely disgusting (no photos, I promise!) he loses everyone who tries to help.  Our own son was taking care of his dogs but every time he took care of them for a few days he would break out in a rash.  We then realized that this was a health hazard and even though Kevin was getting paid to do it we told the man that he could no longer help out.  He also had started paying him less and less and my husband had to have words with him about it.  We found out that he has been in the hospital and the dogs hadn't been fed in a week!  Not only that but their water was a block of ice so they couldn't even get a drink.  Finally he has someone coming by to feed them but it's just a really bad situation.  Over the years many of our neighbors have tried to report this man to the authorities but nothing has ever been done about it...until now.  Yesterday the ASPCA van pulled up and took 2 of the dogs.  We are all hoping and praying that they will come back soon and take the other 2.  I took these pictures from my front window.  Yes, there is a God.

 

Two down, two to go!

 

Yesterday was a bit of a tough day for me (hence the Catholic joke).  I was feeling very emotional because my daughter's ship is going underway today and they'll be gone for over a month and we will have very little contact.  They are going to two countries that are known for drug smuggling and exporting illegal aliens to our country so they're not exactly the safest places to be.  Up until now her experience with the Coast Guard has been uneventful.  They've basically been doing a lot of learning, drills and lots and lots of cleaning, scrubbing & painting.  She has yet to experience drug interdiction, rescuing people in small boats that are stuck out in the water & all those other good things that the Coast Guard is responsible for.  So this deployment will be her first true experience of serving her country and this mama is pretty nervous!

I received word from her that her ship is having engine trouble (or something like that) and that as of this afternoon they still hadn't left.  Thank God the problem presented itself before they were out in the middle of the ocean.  I wonder...Who does the Coast Guard call when one of their ships break down?  Yeah, yeah, I guess they send a sister ship.  Funny to think about though.

Here's a picture of my girl in her uniform...doesn't she look awesome? 

And that good-looking guy is her "little" brother. :)

 

 

And here she is with some of her superiors.

(Boot Camp was over so they were allowed to smile!)

 

If anyone reading this is inclined to pray please pray for my daughter that she remains safe while underway and after doing a job well done her ship returns to their home port for some down time.  Thanks and God bless you too!

 

Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company. One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, "Father, my dog is dead. Could ya' be saying' a mass for the poor creature?"

Father Patrick replied, "I'm afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature."

Muldoon said, "I'll go right away Father. Do ya think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?"

Father Patrick exclaimed, "Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic?"

 

It took me nearly a year to get it done but I finally made myself a cover for my mixer.  I keep my mixer on the kitchen countertop even though I don't use it all that often.  The thing is if I decided to bake a cake or something I always had to wash everything -the bowls and the 3 sets of beaters (or at least the set I needed to use).  It's these kinds of things that make my life easier:

 

 

And what's even better is that it matches the cover I made a few years ago for my toaster-oven:

 

 

AND because my serving spoons and ladles never seem to fit in the little drawer space I have I made a little cover for my spoon jug:

 

 

Now everything matches and I don't have to wash everything down all the time. 

 

One of the things my daughter asked for this past Christmas was a few bath towels.  She is in the Coast Guard and said she was still using the scratchy towels that were issued to her when she was in Basic Training.  I bought her 3 bath towels, one striped and two solid colored.  I wanted to embroider something on the solid towels but with all the holiday madness I never got around to it.  Last Friday I finally made some time to get them done.  Since she's still a real girly-girl I thought she would like this pink teddy bear design:

 

 

She is living and working on a ship and often has to stand watch so I thought this design was not only cute but appropriate:

 

 

I mailed them to her but as of yet I don't think she has received them.  I wish I was there to see her face when she opens the box.  

 

I am a 47 year old Catholic woman married to a great guy who enriches my faith on a daily basis by the power of example.  We have a 17 year old son who is graduating High School this year and getting ready to go to college, and a 19 year old daughter who is in the United States Coast Guard.  We have 3 dogs and we run a dog sitting service from our home.  I enjoy sewing, quilting, watching movies at home, surfing the internet, spending time with family and friends, and practicing my faith.

Here's a photo of my husband and I that was taken recently.  Isn't he handsome?

 

 

Here's a photo of me and my family at Christmas.  Okay, maybe not the best shot but who has time to be picky?

 

 

Since so many people are blogging these days I decided it was time for me to join the club.  Because I enjoy sewing and machine embroidery so much I thought this would be a good venue to document my creations.  Naturally, being a wife and mother, my blog entries probably won't be just about sewing, they will be a combination of my family life, my church life and my sewing.

Until next time...