Back again

Hello, fellow bloggers! I'm back and I'm ready to talk.

I am sorry to say that my old laptop bit the dust. The hard drive was BAD and it was going to cost $200+ to fix it. I decided a new laptop would be a better investment and ordered a new one from Dell for $250. This one is smaller and lighter and so far, I'm very happy with it. I spent yesterday afternoon getting use to it and downloading programs that I had on my other one. It will be a learning experience......again. I might be getting too old for all this.

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, I'm getting out more and I'm (gasp) shopping. Yep, I'm going into stores and looking around. Have no fear though, my avoidance of shopping is still firmly in place. I'm just having to find sheets and blankets for my smaller bed. I was sleeping in a king bed and it was just too big. Due to differing opinions of mattress firmness (me medium, him firm), my using a C-Pap and the fact that he's all over the bed and SNORES, the Hubs and I sleep in different rooms now. I wanted a smaller bed to have more space and I really, really, really wanted an adjustable bed. I bought a full size (or double) and I've had a really hard time finding sheets and blankets for it. There are tons of queen and king size and a good assortment of twin, but full seems to be an unwanted size these days. As my daughter said, most people do have a queen or king bed and twins are still in use for children. That's the way I roll bucking the system.  Ha!  Anyway, I bought some microfiber sheets and I love them. They are so soft and cuddly. With the head of the bed raised to a comfortable level, I sleep so well. I'm a happy sleeper, finally. AND it has a night light under the bed so when I get up at night, I can turn it on and make my way to the bathroom without any problems.

I've also been able to catch up on some chores that have been neglected lately. I'm slowly working my way through a list of jobs and there is quite a bit of satisfaction in marking those things off. Of course, I'm constantly adding things so it's a never ending list. And I'm walking to the mailbox everyday for the mail without having to stop and without being out of breath. This pacemaker is starting to be worth it.

I'm also cross stitching a lot. I'm currently working on Sam's birth sampler and I've told myself I need to work only on it until it's finished. I'm pretty happy with the design I've chosen and all the different pieces are coming together quite nicely.

I've done some work on some of the SALs. I really do enjoy Carolyn Manning's designs and she has so many different SALs. I just got the latest one, "The Scrap Happy Crazy Quilt" and I'm really looking forward to doing it. The design offers 4 different options for each section and it runs from November 2017 to December 2018. There are 44 sections with 176 choices. Here is a photo of the cover sheet. Please excuse the shadows.

I'm really looking forward to starting this. I'm planning on doing all 4 options (mixing them up) in 4 separate pieces and then having them framed together. It will be a bit of an undertaking but I think it will be a beautiful effect.

I'm also working occasionally on the "Granny is no Square" SAL. I have finished putting in all the basic outlines and I'm currently working on adding the major border and the individual squares' borders.

I'm enjoying, well, maybe that's the wrong word, I'm anxiously watching the Cubs-Dodgers series. My beloved Cubbies won the 2016 World Series last year and they are in the League Championships again this year, playing the same team as last year. Currently they are down 3 games to 1 and they have to win the next 3 to move on to the World Series against the New York Yankees. Fingers crossed they make it again.

The weather is full on Fall. With highs only in the upper sixties (at the moment, it's 63 at 12:45 PM) and nights dipping down into the 30s, it's been chilly for me. We've had frost warnings the last couple of nights. The high today is suppose to be 71. We'll see. The trees in our yard aren't really turning; they are just dropping their leaves. I've seen some turning but not much. I'm not sure this will be a good year for leaf viewing in our area.

My sister, niece and I are going to the local theatre production of "The Rocky Horror Show" on Saturday night. I've never seen the movie and I'm excited to watch the play. Our local group puts on some really amazing productions. Last year they did "Spamalot" and it was wonderful. We're also going to see "The Wizard of Oz" in November. This is one of my favorite movies and in truth, my sister hates it. But we are all looking forward to the play.

So that's all for me at the moment. I'm planning on cross stitching today and resting from yesterday. I've learned to go at that pace with RA. I'm in a really good place at the moment with only some occasional pain, mostly in my right hand and wrist and in my toes. I've already made the beds and picked up a little bit, so an afternoon in my stitchy chair will be a good thing.

As always, thank you for reading my blog. Happiness and love is sent your way.

Hugs
Sharon