Wednesday 22 November 2017

Back again - almost a record!!

Well, here we are again! Hope you're all keeping well?

Mike and I took our trip down to Basingstoke as planned. We stayed in a hotel the night before he was due to go in and I had booked in for the extra 3 nights myself. I dropped him off at the requested time and found my way to a local Hobbycraft (well it seemed a shame not to!) I then got a phone call to say that as he'd had all the tests done the week before here, they didn't really want him to take up a bed that night - so I had to go back and collect him and take him back the next morning! It ended up being a four hour procedure - he had to lay very still for that whole time! They inject a kind of superglue into the vein on one side of the liver, which then forces the other side to regenerate itself. Then they cut away the cancerous half intact so that the infected cells and/or blood does not have a chance to enter the system. Basingstoke hospital seems to be a centre of excellence for dealing with this type of cancer, so our fingers are firmly crossed that the operation (scheduled for Dec 15th) will go well. Please keep us both in your thoughts and prayers for then.

Well, having reported on that - what have I been up to stitchywise?

A friend from the USA - Deb - sent me some fancy trim, which I used to finish off my Santa ornament. It came from a UK magazine at least a year ago - can't remember which one! It's stitched on vinyl aida - which I hated!
 
Recently we had several cross stitch kits available in Aldi supermarkets. Many people wanted them but they had run out in several stores! I was lucky enough to get some and I finished the unicorn for a part of my granddaughter's Christmas present. The original had a pink unicorn - and although I'm a believer - I don't believe they are pink! So I altered it and added the words. I finished it in a small hoop and made a plaited ribbon to hang it with from some narrow ribbons which I had stored away. 
 Here's the original - 
And here's my version -  - much better I think!!

I also finished the Mrs Claus project - again not quite as Brookes' Books Publishing had it, but I'm quite happy with this one.
 
We also went down to our van at Caister at then end of last week to make it ready for winter. We can go back to it in March, so we're hoping that by then Mike will be much fitter and maybe 2018 will be a better year for us both. It hardly seems like an entire year has gone by since Mike was taken in to hospital for an unknown cause. In some ways I feel a stronger person, knowing that I had the strength to cope with whatever was thrown my way. In other ways I am depressed because of so much that happened. It also made me take stock of what matters in life. Love, family and friends are what got me through it all - so if you were a small part of that - THANK YOU

Until next time
Sandie

2 comments:

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I am glad that your husband's health issues seem to be improving. I do hope that 2018 is a better year for you both.
Love the stitching, especially the unicorn. Of course they are white - not everything has to be pink all the time!

Meari said...

Your Santa is so cute! I like your other finishes also.