Nearly Normal

Good early morning, my friends. I have to write fast this morning. It's the first day of a hectic week. Someday I'll learn not to schedule every appointment under the sun for the first few days home after a trip. I haven't learned it yet though. This morning starts with a trip to the hospital for an x-ray of my shoulder, and then a visit with the "shoulder guy." I'm not expecting anything to come of this. The visit is just a routine follow-up. My shoulder and thumb are feeling pretty good, although I still can't raise my arm over my head completely. The pain is minimal these days, and I've stopped thinking about it all the time. 

But let's talk about something else, okay? We finished unpacking the camper yesterday, and I had some time to get back to my sewing room. Bliss. First though, I did some slow-stitching. You might remember I took a pre-printed "kitty alphabet" panel along on our trip, but only just got a start on it yesterday.

It'll be worked mostly in the colors you see here, although I'll change up the colors on the cats' eyes. It should be a fun project. Goodness knows, I have a lot of cat fabrics to use when I'm ready to finish it off.

Also, I've been itching to get at the October "Posies" block. It came out October 1st, and it's been sitting in my Dropbox waiting to be printed and stitched. I finished up the applique yesterday, and traced the design. I'm hoping I'll have time to finish it off today.

And then...happy, happy, joy, joy...it was time to do some real sewing. Although there wasn't much actual sewing yesterday, there will be soon. I'd left everything I needed, fabrics selected, to make the Huevos Rancheros block for the New Mexico Kitchen quilt. This is the picture from the pattern cover. Sorry for the blur, but the image on the pattern cover is blurred too.

Smitty was my sewing cat yesterday. Sorry for his blur too. I'd say the cat was the problem, but it was actually something about the photographer who can't hold the camera steady. He appreciates that soft focus though. He's getting up in years, you know, and every little bit helps.

First, I needed to make the background. This is one of those annoying blocks that will need fringe added to the tablecloth when it's finished. I really dislike that part of this particular quilt, but it is a nice touch.

Next, I added the lettering...

And then I started adding the details. I was only about half finished with the plate when it was time to stop for the day.

There will be a little hand-stitching to do on this one, in addition to all the machine top-stitching. I expect it will take me a day or two more to finish it. This is the 7th of 12 blocks for this quilt.

As for the week ahead, I wisely gave myself tomorrow off, but then I have appointments on Wednesday and Thursday. At some point, I'll need to buy some groceries. There are appointments next Monday too. After that, I think I'm finished for the time being. 

Oh yes, and let's not forget...the roofers are supposed to start today. That's a laugh. It isn't really a laugh, but more of a sneer. We've heard from no one, although we did receive an email two weeks ago assuring us the job would start on time and someone would be contacting us. When no one called, we decided to call them last Friday to say WTF? We were told the installer would be calling us. Then, we received another call to see if the installer had called us. (No.) Oh, well, definitely the installer will be calling us. We did not receive a call. So, we'll see. Mike and I talked about it last night. If the work has not started in earnest by next Monday, we will be canceling the contract and moving on. Enough is enough.

So on that happy note, I'm going to squeeze in some slow-stitching before I need to get in the shower and get moving. Roof or no roof, I expect we'll still have internet by tomorrow morning, and you can learn the exciting conclusion of the roof debacle.