Sleepy Day

It was another day of mostly sleeping yesterday. This time around, I had trouble getting to sleep last night. For one thing, I tried sleeping in the bed for the first time in more than three weeks. Smitty was so happy to have his snuggle buddy back...so happy...no really...so, so...way too happy...to have his snuggle buddy back. It made sleeping difficult with him purring in my ears, tickling me with his whiskers, and generally head-butting any part of my body he could come into contact with. After about four hours of that, I retired to the couch in the living room, where there's sort of a backstop I can lean against. It allowed me to sleep on my left side, which was something of a luxury after sleeping in a recliner for the past three weeks. We're making progress. Today, I'll force myself to stay awake, and maybe I'll sleep better tonight. Cat willing, of course.

When I wasn't sleeping, I put all the Christmas quilts away, and now Christmas is banished from the house for another year...save for the poinsettia and the wreath at the front door. The wreath always stays nice well into February, and that's usually about the time we decide to take it down. On the table is this runner I call "Icy Blues." This was a free pattern from All People Quilt.

And I put out the winter table topper on the breakfast bar. I call this quilt "Whose Woods are These?" My friend Marei made a different version of this quilt using reds and greens for a Christmas topper. I got the idea to use some blue scraps to turn it into a snowy, icy version. The free tutorial for this quilt can be found right here.

In yesterday's mail, I received this sweet surprise from my friend Gail. He's a "Warmie" donkey. He can go into the microwave to be warmed up, and then used like a cozy and soft hot water bottle.

So I wasted no time warming him up, and letting him lie in my lap, under a flannel quilt, while I did my slow-stitching. I doubt even a cat in the lap would have been any cozier. Thank you, Gail.

And this gave me a chance to try out a lighting solution I've been working on. 

So, usually when I do my slow stitching, I use a head lamp. And that's just fine first thing in the morning when I still have a bed head. But I don't like it when I've actually showered and made myself (and my hair) look somewhat presentable. Then, I don't really want that head lamp head. (What passes for beauty comes in limited quantities here at the Three Cats Ranch, and so you don't want to miss a single moment of it.) Okay, so enter this lamp. You might remember it was a "bonus" with purchase when we purchased a Slimline 3 lamp at the Road To California quilt show. Oh, and let's just pause here and give a moment of silence to quilt shows, in general. Remember when we were so free and innocent that we gathered together in large crowds, mask free, and roamed around giving one another cooties? Yeah...wild times.

Okay, so anyway...the lamp. I keep my slow stitching projects in those plastic shoeboxes. Yesterday, I figured out I can stuff the lid from the shoebox between the cushions on the couch, clip the lamp to it, and then put the light right where I want it, effectively saving my hairstyle. This may seem trivial, but when your days are filled with nothing but sleeping, it feels like a big effing deal.

To my right, Sadie curled up under cover of the quilt.

And then I did just a little bit of stitching. I should finish this section today, and then I should be close to finishing the whole block.

This being Sunday, I'll be linking up to:

With that one close to being finished, I wandered into the sewing room yesterday to peruse my shorter embroidery projects. With my arm still not particularly helpful, I'm going to stick with short projects for the next several weeks, and I found two that will be good ones to start with. I'll say more about that later. What I really want to tell you is that I tried cutting some scraps with my ruler and rotary cutter, and hey! I'm pretty close to doing it! If I can cut, then I can probably sew! I can reach my arm all the way across the ruler, but I don't have enough strength yet to press hard on the cutter itself. I believe if I start with a fresh new blade in the cutter, I might be able to do it. And believe me...that would make me a pretty happy camper...even if we aren't camping. So I'll give it another try again today. Fingers crossed.

Okay, so the only other thing I want to do today is to write a "Best of 2020" post. Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs has hosted this party for the past several years, and I've always participated. A few minutes ago, I spent some time scrolling through my year's posts to see which ones had garnered the most comments. Sadly, the whole year was such a disaster, beginning with my father's death in January, widespread pandemic-mania a few months on, vacations cut short or canceled altogether, being evacuated from our home because of a wild fire...while on vacation, no less, and finishing up the month of December with a broken shoulder and thumb. Oh yeah...lots of fun. Okay, so I figured out another way to do the post, but I'll have to give my shoulder a rest before I write it. I'll try to make it not too scary, and you can look for it tomorrow.

Until then, enjoy these waning days of the worst year ever. I'm hoping to get some cutting and sewing done...but don't hold me to it, okay?