Seeing

It’s been too long but I see the light! Winter is a favorite time of year…usually. This year was long, dark and exceedingly wet. I’ve plodded along trying to summon up the energy to do things. My friend and fellow blogger at incahootswithmuddyboots.com came by to cheer me with signs of spring from her yard.

First signs of spring from my friend

The struggle with my vision has really slowed things down. I finally wised up and went back to the optometrist. My glasses that are eight months old were not working and I was scared. “Well no wonder” he says. “You’ve lost a whole diopter of vision since this last prescription.” Now I have no idea what a diopter really is even after my son explained it to me. “What caused it” I asked? He seemed to think it was because of excessive dry eye. That eye doesn’t blink as well as the other and leaks tears since the onset of Bells Palsy 7 years ago. Why am I losing so much vision now?

I bought 5 of these for my sewing group as a Christmas gift. This is mine finally finished.

The back is pink, not my favorite color but it’s cheerful.

It’s possible the C-pap machine that blows wind in my face all night might be drying out the eye if I’m not keeping it well closed in my sleep. I didn’t think that could be the answer so I made another appointment with an ophthalmologist and she verified that the eye was indeed quite healthy and quite dry.

So onto finding solutions. I put in a gel at night for better lubrication and have an eye mask to cover the eyes. My son’s ex-wife saw something online that she thought would help and I checked it out. This morning on my trip to town for lunch with friends, I stopped at the sleep study center and asked if they had it or could they get it for me. In 15 minutes, they saved me the more than $100 and handed one over after a fitting. I practically danced out of the office. No more wind in my face all night. Granted, it’s not terribly attractive but I’m hoping it fills the bill.

The wind is at the top of the head with this one.

So the second pair of glasses that were made a few weeks ago works quite well for distances but I can’t read the computer with them. Back to the old pair when I’m on the laptop. The optometrist will try to come up with another prescription that works better for both. It’s frustrating but there’s still so much I want to do, read and write. Vision seems essential to those desires.

I’ve been working on this forever it seems. Now comes the quilt around it.

In the meantime, the clutter has continued to be cleared. All of the industrial shelving from my son’s storage unit were sold and are gone from the yard. I am continuing to pare down but have found it’s a good idea to go through the boxes carefully before donation. I found a whole bundle of embroidery patterns that I bought almost 10 years ago for over $60. Everything else in the box went, the patterns are now being lined up to work.

I feed a sheet of water soluble adhesive into the printer and then stick it to the fabric, The ink washes away when I’m done.

Started this one this week

There are 15 designs to finish and put into a quilt possibly.

I’ve managed to get a few other things done.

My 2 squares for the donation quilt.

The darker one is mine. Made 2

Each of us puts in 2 squares and this is the result. It will keep someone warm

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So how are you seeing this time of year? Signs of spring or signs of autumn becoming more clear? Are you starting to perk up or wind down?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

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Clear Sight

I’ve had limited vision since I was 4 years old when a bad case of measles along with a picture window framing the snow outside left me struggling to see what everyone else took for granted. There is a gift in that. There is no sunrise, sunset, bloom or cloud that fails to leave me breathless for a moment.

 

Clear view through clean windows

Seeing things clearly is on the top of my list. I’ve had new glasses made, had the cataract removed, and recently, had my windows professionally cleaned. It was an extravagance that felt necessary. I love to be looking out my windows. I can see the sunrise from the chair I write in, the sunset and the moon on its journey from my bedroom, the coming and goings of the neighborhood from front windows and my lush fern covered hill from my kitchen window.

It looks very different through a dirty window

To tell the truth though, I’m used to seeing things a little fuzzy so it’s normally no big deal until I took photos of things at my windows. Not a pretty sight before the cleaning. My attempts at it left them not much better. I wanted to show off a couple of wonderful things so in came the cleaning man with his miracle cleaner. Now I can show you the lovely danglers that the very talented Pauline King  at the Contented Crafter made for me.

 

Too beautiful for words

This is the larger purple dangler that hangs in my sewing room to inspire me. So much prettier with clean windows.

Each one is personalized for the individual she makes it for. I have Angels, butterflies, books, and things related to sewing on mine. One hangs in my sewing room window as it gets the first light of the day and when the sun hits, the crystal sends rainbows all through the room and down the halls.

Dancing rainbows everywhere.

Rainbows on the walls

The other hangs in my bedroom so I see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night reminding me that there are wonderful, creative and caring people in the world.

 

Blues and greens are the colors in my bedroom.

I also wanted to show you the shelves and lace curtains I made for some of my windows. I wanted lace to have a tiny bit of privacy but still allow in the light. I can see out better than anyone can see in through them.

My inner hoarder was brought to light when I made the curtains. Living room and my bedroom are panels that I had from the house we owned in the early 90’s. I saved them and found they worked quite nicely with some cutting and hemming.

Recycled curtains saved me time and money.

The curtains in the den, dining room and kitchen were made from one of 2 bolts of lace I had left over from making curtains for the last house I lived in. I bought the lace at Walmart so inexpensively that I just couldn’t give it away knowing I might make use of it someday. Well, it’s someday. I still have another bolt left and now I can increase the fullness of the curtains or make valances. Nothing goes to waste here but I do hoard a bit. I looked in stores for lace curtains and they are a thing of the past, as am I.

Next to my chair in the den

Back door window

Living room curtains

Kitchen window

Dining room next to china cabinet

Side view of bolt

One bolt left

Clear Vision isn’t only a matter of the eyesight, it’s also a matter of the heart and mind. Trying to get clear focus on your heart’s desire or your direction is a job from the inside out. Not so easy to hire help for this but it can be done. My tools for that are meditation and writing. A good friend, family member or coach willing to speak the truth you need to hear also helps.

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. ~ Helen Keller
How clear has your vision been lately? What tools do you use to get clear?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

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In Search of a Verdict

It’s been a whole month for goodness sake! I have not had the great news I wanted to pass on so I said nothing. I’m still waiting .

The eye surgery was technically quite straight forward and easy. Though I didn’t feel anything once the eyelid had been numbed, the surgeon scrubbed the eyelid…hard. After the second week, the sutures came out. Easy. I drove myself home so my daughter didn’t need to take another day off work. More antibiotic was required as soon as I got home and for that entire 2 weeks, no driving allowed. The antibiotic would leak into my eye and while it caused no discomfort, it did blur my vision.

Before the surgery. Where we started from.

The thing now is there are still spots of blur and I’m not sure why. So when I took my sister to the same eye clinic to get her cataracts checked out, the nice young man at the desk overheard our conversation and insisted I let the charge nurse know about it.  She called when time permitted and another appointment has been set. I’m trying not to be concerned. Maybe more healing time will be necessary given my age. There was almost no discomfort. I cut the pain pills they gave me in half and only took two so I could sleep through without rubbing my eyes in my sleep. I tend to rub way too much.  So the verdict is still out on this endeavor.

Right after before bruising sets in

Looks worse than it was.

They look more equally baggy but no longer in my field of vision

I watched more television in those first two weeks than I have in the entire year. I found some BBC mysteries on my son’s Netflix and did a marathon listen while trying to enlarge blog print so I could try to catch up. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. The background noise was pleasant and when vision permitted, I did a bit of hand embroidery and worked on a few projects that have due dates. A few squares for the October meeting of our quilt group and a first birthday gift for a friend’s son. The work outside had come to a grinding halt. Tech Support is back home after the month away for free lance work and now we will get busy again.

 

Added to a dozen more for a raffle quilt this Christmas

Our fall colors for Safe House quilt. Each of us make 2 squares.

I also got the final verdict on my car last Tuesday. My engine went to death row. Parts broke off and sent metal into the engine. It’s final days are over and a new one will have to be put in its place. That sentence was so harsh, my poor son had to take me to lunch so I wouldn’t sob loudly in public. By the time I’d finished, I was ready to face music and pay the piper. I really thought my heart would stop after getting this news. I know it missed several beats.

We have autumn nights and summer days along with an invasion of thousands of stink bugs that are flying everywhere and come out when it gets a little bit warm. Makes it hard to do anything outside, especially paint. They seem to be worse on this street though everyone has some degree of infestation. It feels like a Hitchcock movie around here right now and only safe to go out after dark.

Any question as to why nothing is getting done outdoors? So this doesn’t stick in your mind, here’s the quilt I made for my friends little boy.

Misty Lane

Embroidered label

Dan Drive

Light amount of quilting along the roads and some details. Softness is primary to this cheater quilt.

Robbie Road. Can you see it?

Is there anything you are waiting for a  final verdict on? Something you know for sure or is life still filled with so much mystery?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of a Gift

Today is my birthday. I don’t make a big deal out of it. It’s one more and I’m grateful for each of them. I make it hard on my family because there is nothing I need or really want. I have an abundance of everything.

But this year I’ve given myself a gift. I hope it works out the way I planned it. You know how it is with plans.

Thanks again to the lovely sender of this gift. It’s given again with the photo

 

Today I’m hoping for the gift of greater vision. Literally. Well, maybe figuratively as well. I opted to ask for an eyelid lift. Only one eyelid. Genetically, I have heavy hooded lids anyway. Thanks Dad.

The eye that is still paralyzed from the Bells is the one I see with. The other eye works, sort of, but not well enough to read on its own. It would help me find my way out of a burning building so I take care of it too. It’s not paralyzed. The insurance approved this surgery because the lid was seriously in my field of vision.

I got this done in the office with a local. I’m back home again where I won’t be doing much looking for a while. I’ll have to sit quietly and let it heal. Not sure I know how to do that. This is not about vanity. It’s merely a practical need. At the end of the day, I can’t get the eye to stay open far enough to see the computer or sew. I can watch some TV but mostly, I listen to it in the background.

Before the surgery. I won’t gross you out with the recent after.

 

It did burn a bit when the doc put in the anesthesia and will be quite uncomfortable for a few days. Anyone who volunteers to do this for vanities sake is a stronger person than I. I’m not allowed to paint or work hard for the next 2 weeks. Darn. I’ll have time to read blogs. I hope. If you don’t hear from me, I’m busy healing and can’t read very much. So my wish for this year is more vision any way you slice it. I kept hoping it would heal on its own but that’s not happening fast enough. I’ve waited almost 6 years. This is it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Image from truly graphics.com

 

Have you ever given yourself a special birthday gift?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself