When I do not get to spend time sewing or hand appliqueing I always feel like I did not accomplish a lot.  But you know that is a stupid statement.  We all accomplish a lot during each day in retirement.  It is just that sometimes we cannot do what we want to do when we want to do it. I hope this is not another lesson for me from God in patience!  LOL

Anyway, I am so thankful that I did get the iMAC set up and running when I did even if I did push too much and it bit me in the bottom on Thursday.  Friday we went to BAMC for Clay’s hand.  They took out the stitches and then put him in a full cast.  Friday evening Clay realized that there were some issues with the cast and Saturday we went back to BAMC (this time to the ER) for them to trim off some very very rough edges.  It only took 20 minutes for that to happen – OH but YES – it took a 5 and one half hours wait time!  Needless to say the only thing I accomplished was to vacuum and mop the floors before we decided to take care of the cast problems yesterday rather than Tuesday.  That would have made Clay have some bad issues with being able to move his thumb and 2 fingers that are not restricted!  Whew!  Glad that is over with – needless supper was at 8:30PM!

There is one good thing – we do not go back until 7 Feb to BAMC for pre-op checkup and then on the 13th Clay will have the reconstructive surgery.  There are 2 other appts at the end of January, but nothing big so we are both looking forward to settling in and relaxing before it starts over again!

Today has been a gift from God!  Peace and quiet, worked on the iMAC with Apple support who was the best Technical guy I had found in the last 4 months!  Great help!  I now have both email accounts loaded on all Apple products!  There was one thing we did that caused me some time I had not accounted for – duplicate emails from the 2nd account, but they are all gone now

We have been watching the games and enjoying relaxing!  Clay is doing fine – no pain – he is really a great one to care for!  He just handles things!  Maybe I need to take lessons from by guy!  (Never happen to this Hyper Type A!)

Have a wonderful week and enjoy stitching – I am hoping to have something about quilting to blog about this next week!

Hugs

Nanette

Life is getting better these days Clay is doing great and  I am slowly getting things done that were put on hold.  One of the most important things I had to do was to set up my new iMAC before Windows would no long be supported.  Somehow I thought I had until the 20th of January to make the transition, but alas when I turned on my PC it was yesterday that Windows 7 support stopped!  Whew!  Talk about cutting it close!

So this morning I rushed to shut off the Internet on the Dell laptop and the 2 desktops before we had any problems with uninvited guests – like hackers or unwanted viruses on our network!

I started Monday with setting up the iMAC, backing up all documents for the last time, transferring them to the iMAC, switching 2 laptops, and now aI will be getting rid of the 2 each 10 year old desktops.

You ask about my quilting projects?  Well, they have been on hold until tomorrow or Saturday!  I had allowed 4 days this week Tomorrow will be downloading EQ8 and getting familiar with some of the software and settings.  I now am totally Apple and am 95% finished with the transition.  Here is my new work station!

There was one problem with the transition, I have 3 external hard drives that I use to continually back up my documents and pictures that are on the PC.  One of them was accidentally hit and fell on the floor – goodbye Seagate External Drive!  Thank God I had already transferred files to the iMAC, because later when we moved the PC that had all the files went belly up also (at least I think it did) !  I had another one that evidently had died also so I was left with the one that I backed up my MacBookPro laptop.  In the end, it all worked out great, if I lost any data or documents they were things I can do without!

Tomorrow will be short trip to HEB and playing with Ms MAC and Friday we will be going to BAMC for a checkup and probably a full cast will be put on his hand after they remove stitches and the temporary splint.

I am ‘planning’ on selecting fabrics for OMIGOSH if all goes well.  I am still leaning toward Reproductions.  But as we quilters know – we have the option to change our minds.

Have a great week and week-end!  Enjoy the Holiday on Monday if you are still working

Nanette

Welcome to the old folks at home day!  Football games have been Number 1 here yesterday and today!  I love football (yes weird for a quilter) and will enjoy the remaining games.  I am already looking forward to the Olympics in June and then football in August.  This year I will be more in tune with the teams and players!  I think the Dallas Cowgirls are off my list if they do not learn how to play consistently!

Clay is doing great!  He has such a good attitude – and mine has improved 150%!  I do believe that the last half of this year will be our time!

I have been able to complete a couple of blocks for Mary Brown. I decided to do 16 blocks first – the 4 corners each have 4 blocks that are connected together with the vines for the flowers.  I have the left top section completed.

I have finished 3 blocks of the right corner now.  Today I will be working on the 2 Sunflower blocks and one more pineapple block for the bottom 2 corners!  If you look closely you might see where the pencil marking is for the vines that will be placed on the bird and leaf blocks!

I do not know what happened, but for some reason it took me almost an hour to get this picture (above) inserted in the post!   Somehow the picture was corrupted.

I wish all have a great week and lots of quilting in your week!  I am getting back to normal and it feels great!

Hugs and thanks to all who were praying and rooting for Clay to do well!

Nanette

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away;  Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching  Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Connie, Bella, Gretchen, Daisey , Kathie.

Greetings from South Texas where at our house we are thinking of buying a table with a large umbrella and 2 chase lounge chairs and enjoy having our own sandy beach!  YUP – no rain here!

Yesterday we had an appointment at BAMC for a check up on Clay’s hand.  Talk about relief for me and Clay!  The Doctor (military) has done a miracle with his hand.  How he ever put things back together is amazing.  Clay heals well so all looks great!  He is scheduled for his Reconstruction surgery on 13 February.  Next week he will have stitches removed from his finger and then he will have a cast on his hand until the surgery.

Prognosis is fairly good that the little finger will be OK, with a ‘wait and see’ on mobility, etc.  But knowing Clay – it will all work out in the end!  He is such a trooper!

As most know, we had concurrent Cataract surgeries in September and October.  Clay did great – ME, well we know how that damn black cat always follows me around, I have Ptosis (pronounced Totis).  It happens sometimes with this type of surgery and can be hereditary – THANK YOU SMITH-HARRISON LINE!

Ptosis can be caused by Cataract surgery (whoopee) or genetic (another whoopee), so I really have a problem now, and have been referred to a Plastic Surgeon for corrective surgery.  I also have issues with the bottom eyelashes growing inward which aggregate my right eye and have to go back to the Eye Doctor whenever that happens (which is about once a month).  Apparently the surgeon will zap the folicals with a laser  and permanently cease that issue!  I was just so damn happy yesterday afternoon when I realized that I now have another ‘minor’ surgery ahead which will resolve this issue!  Doesn’t this just sound like fun and games?

Especially since 2020 was to be such a quiet, peaceful and ‘a lot of quilting’ getting accomplished!  I guess that looking like I am 60 is better than having drooping eyelids!  LOL.

If it had not have been for how great Clay’s hand is looking and the positive outlook, I think that the trauma I have experienced (NOT TAKING AWAY FROM THE PAIN THAT CLAY HAS SUFFERED) on New Years Eve that I might have just come home and sat in a chair forever!  (Not really).  Anyway, this is on the horizon, in the meantime I am determined to put issues behind me and go forward as backwards is not the place to stay!

This week-end will be football week-end!  Yea!  I am thinking that starting Monday I will start setting up my new iMAC.  I will need some time to get it set up and will have 4 days to do so as Friday we go back to BAMC.  I am not ready to start working on OMIGOSH until Clay gets his hand in a cast that will give him more freedom.

All in all, WE ARE SO BLESSED.  We have each other and it is such a very special gift that God gave us!  Who else has grown up with someone from age 9, never dated, but at the age of 51 Clay called me in DC and I married him in 2 months and that was almost 24 years ago!

Others that I know are going through much more severe illnesses and I constantly pray that they are healed.

I am hoping to have some hand work ready for HQAL tomorrow!  If I can maintain only positive thoughts, things will improve even more.

Have a wonderful Saturday and count your blessings!

Hugs, Nanette

First I must tell all Happy New Year and may your 2020 bring joy, happiness, blessings from God, and a lot of quilting.

If you are one of my contacts that usually receive a Christmas or New Years greeting and have missed the Happy New Year card, I have a little story to tell.

In my last Post, excitement was in the air for the coming New Year!  That was before I received another phone from Apple.  About 6 that evening I started to set up the new phone (a replacement).  I will condense this part – They sent the wrong phone (an AT&T carrier phone versus my Verizon carrier). That call ended at 11:00PM. Then up at 5:30 AM.  I spoke to Apple again from 7 to 10:30 AM and things were looking up but we were exhausted.

NEXT phase – Tuesday afternoon adventure.  Clay had ordered another American Arms 22 mag gun for Christmas.  The Firearms Dealer in LV called and advised that the gun had arrived and we could come pick it up.  We did and arrived home about 4:30.  We headed to the Studio as I had left the new phone updating to IOS13 – of which it is reminding me of why I do not like a black cat to cross my path!!!!!!!!  Remember, we were both exhausted from lack of sleep as I tell the story.

Clay was in one of his rooms and I went to my room and stopped to fix me a pot of coffee before I sat down to finish the updating of the phone and my Apple Watch.  I THINK I was heading back to the other room to get my coffee when I heard the gun go off and smelled the black powder.  I ran into where Clay was and he kept telling me he was sorry that he had accidentally shot himself in the hand.  It was like the twilight zone.  HORRIBLE

I immediately called for an ambulance.  Clay is a retired SAFD Lieutenant so he knew to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.  CLAY IS NOT ONE TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN – HE IS THE OVER CAUTIOUS TYPE BUT HE WAS TOO TIRED TO BE DOING WHAT HE WAS DOING!   When this happened I did things that were evidently programmed in my mind, but all I could do was cry, shake and try to get him to the ambulance.  Of course we had just locked the gate and my worry was that they could not get in without bolt cutters.  Clay was probably in shock, and was determined to walk to the Gate (about 800 feet) to the road to meet the Ambulance!

He was taken to the Trauma Center at Brook Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio.  BAMC is the premiere trauma center in the USA as far as we are concerned.  He had the most wonderful Orthopedic Team to take care of him.  By 10:00 PM they had decided that he would be admitted and that surgery would be on New Years Day.  The surgery was successful (Surgery Number 1) in cleaning out the wound and accessing damage. He had shattered the 5th dorsal in the left hand (the bone between the small finger and the wrist).  There will be another surgery in 6 weeks for reconstruction and bone drafting.   We are so blessed to be so close to BAMC (about 40 miles) and to have all those angels taking care of my Clay.  I never left his side, and they allowed me to spend the night with him (we went 24 hours without eating and sleeping).  Because the surgery went so well (they did a block on his entire arm) we arrived home by 5PM on New Years Day.

We experienced the dedication, talent, and caring of some very young military doctors and nurses that serve our country – PLEASE REMEMBER TO THANK A PERSON SERVING IN THE MILITARY THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ONE!  THEY ARE SPECIAL PEOPLE ALONG VETERANS THAT YOU KNOW – THEY ARE PROTECTING YOU!

We had a follow up appointment yesterday and the Doctor was so pleased with how well the surgery went.  It appears that he was able to close the wound up and Clay will have the 2nd surgery in 6 weeks.  Then the massive therapy will start.

Yes, it could have been worse, God was watching over Clay.  For me I am slowly getting over the trauma of witnessing all of this but at times, tears come.  We are fine, Clay is a trooper, more worried about me, just like I am more worried about him.  This is what has made us a great team for 24 years (even if the Irish guy and the Cajun lady can butt heads every now and then).  LOL.   It was an accident and it is not for him to carry guilt around forever.  I am fine, he is going to be back to normal sooner than later, and our year will continue to have blessings!

So now you know why I have been silent for the last 4 days!  I am not in a hurry to worry about any of my 2020 goals, and if I happen to miss commenting on some of the posts of others, please forgive!  I will slowly go over them.  I am glad that I have a lot of hand work ready to be completed.  I will stay close to Clay.  I am just not ready to go back to the Studio as of yet.

Hugs to all

Nanette

Not a lot of slow stitching going on today!  BUT, I did get the last 4 blocks traced for Sweet Stitches!l. YEA

The blocks are for September, October, November and December – when finished I will be able to put the quilt together!  It was a BOM from Kathy Schmitz in the 2015 timeframe.

My goal was to have this accomplished before today then prepare Section 7 of Stonefields yesterday, but that did not happen.  I am ready to have Stonefields prepared by tomorrow.  My overall goal was to have Sweet Stitches and Stonefields prepared for applique and Mary Brown blocks (4) and Jacobean remaining blocks finished by New Years Eve.  I can finish with Stonefields but doubt if I will get the hand work finished that I wanted to by New Years Eve because I am still having problems with my phone and they are sending another one tomorrow – that will take time to re-populate the new one.

Another reason for the delay is due to the fact that on Friday I spent time doing my research as to which computer system I would up upgrade to before 20 January when Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7!  I have heard too many negatives on Windows 10 and my existing Desktop will not be able to handle the upgrade.

This situation would not have happened if Windows 7 were still being supported.  I knew I had to make the decision to either upgrade to a new Desktop PC with Windows 10 OR purchase an iMac.  I was hoping to hang on to 7 but it is just too risky with the idiot Hackers out there in cyber space!

After reviewing PC Desktops, I decided against going with another PC.   My biggest concern was my EQ7 software.  When I contacted Electric Quilt support team I found out that I could upgrade to EQ8 with a 25% savings if I ordered it Friday! Great Deal BUT the 25% was only good for Friday and I would have to make a decision as to which system I wanted.   Bottom line, I ordered the EQ8 download for iMac and then spent time researching the iMac configuration that I wanted.  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, but wanted to think on it overnight because of the cost!

Saturday morning I was blessed to talk with 2 technical support individuals about the iMac configurations and ordered a 27” iMac with a lot of bells and whistles!  I am looking forward to loading my EQ8 and then load myj document files that currently reside on my PC!  I will move the current PC that has a lot of software that I sill use into the Computer Room in the house and can use it off-line.

The only issue I am left with is a Dell 17” laptop and an Asus Desktop PC both running Windows 7 that have hardly been used.  I put them in the local paper for sale, as they would make great computers for school kids.  Of course, they would not want to get on-line with them.  Maybe someone would want them.

We will now be a 100% Apple Family – I never thought I would give up on Microsoft, but it is time!  This was my Christmas present for 2019.  It is a splurge, but as the younger generation says, “I deserve it”.  (Well Maybe)

Have a great stitching Sunday and a Happy New Year – I want to have the phone changed over Monday evening and the new iMac won’t bee here until the 10th of January, which is fine with me – more sewing time before I have to set it up!

Hugs

Nanette

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away;  Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching  Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday