Normalcy Returns

Things are finally getting back to "normal" around here. The laundry is caught up, the house was thoroughly vacuumed, and the bedding changed on all of our beds. No guilt getting back to my hobbies!

No pictures of Kyoto this time but I am 100% finished through Clue 6. There are only 8. I viewed the video tutorial for Clue 7 and it looks pretty complicated. This will take some major time. When I get the six wedges completed, I'll have to audition to see what setting I want to go with. There are 18 different ways to sew this one together! From the video however, I've already nixed twelve so that helps narrow down the choices.

Before leaving on vacation, I picked out some yarn that I had purchased during the Summer's Last Blast Yarn Crawl this year. On the drives to and from, I knitted my heart out on a scarf. I plan on gifting it to my neighbor for Christmas and as a thank-you for taking such good care of Miss Polly this vacation and the last one. I blocked it the other day and, now that it's dry, I only need to take care of the loose ends.

I hope she likes it! (The colors are a bit brighter in real life.)

Before going on vacation, I had finished off a pair of mitts. The yarn for these was WONDERFUL to work with -- so soft! This yarn was also purchased on this year's yarn crawl and the pattern was a freebie from Knitorious. (If you're a knitter and in the St. Louis area, this is a shop worth visiting!) Anyway, the mitts were blocked and also need the ends tended to for the final finish. These are also a Christmas gift for someone special.

This morning I prepared this wall hanging for quilting. It is a Kathy Schmitz pattern that I sewed up a long time ago. I listed it on my UFO list at my local quilt shop. It has to be finished by December 10 to qualify. Will probably take care of it this weekend. I need to buy some matching thread and I'm not going anywhere today. Maybe tomorrow ...

That's the end of the crafting portion of this post. If you don't want to read on, feel free to exit now!

Monday I went to the orthopedic doctor. Remember when I fell on my hip due to the ice last February? Well, I decided I'd waited long enough for it to heal. My PCM earlier had taken an Xray and declared nothing broken yet I was still limping and it was only hurting more. Turns out I've been living with traumatic bursitis. I was definitely NOT looking for hip replacement as so many of my friends have been having lately. Just wanted a shot and to get better. So ... I got the steroid shot and it felt better immediately. Turns out, it was only the lidocaine working. When it wore off I was in worse pain than before I went to see the doctor! Yesterday marked 48 hours and it was certainly better, practically 100% right. It was the last day before expecting rain and Mom had loads of leaves in her yard. Hubby & I raked and then I raked, and raked, and raked some more. I didn't even stop for the blister on my thumb!

Front Yard Raking in Progress

Back Yard Raking Ready for Hubby Part 1

Back Yard Raking Ready for Hubby Part 2

Suck It Up, Hubby!

We finished the job after a little bit over three hours. Rushed off to buy a jug of milk and make it home for Jeopardy. We are true fans!

Sorry to end on such a sour note but I have to say one more thing. I started raking between my mother's house and the neighbor's but had to stop. Apparently they use the side yard as an ash tray. So many brown-colored cigarette butts buried in the leaves! Can I get a big, fat YUCK here! See them in the leaves? Too bad you can't smell what I smelled while uncovering them. 

Several times while sucking up the leaves we stopped to pick the butts out and toss them back over their fence. Didn't want to stink up our blower/sucker! So nasty!

And on that note, I'm off to get properly dressed since of course I walked Gracie. Have a fabulous day!

Linking up here with my friends around the world that share their love of quilting, in particular scrappy quilts. Thank you, Angela, for another Scrappy Saturday!