We (or rather I) decided to start with a gardener this year as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep on top of it with hospital appointments etc. So we now have a lady gardener who comes for a couple of hours once a fortnight. She came last week and made a start on the front, so next week I hope she'll get that finished. Then I might be able to see what needs to be replaced as the frost killed it!
Health wise? Well, I'm doing okay on the medications I was given, except for my night sweats and aching joints. Reminds me how I felt going through the menopause! Thought I'd finished with all that but apparently not! The extra MRI they took of my spine revealed nothing more than a degenerated spot. So my cancelled operation was really cancelled over nothing, but if the meds I am taking helps to shrink the cancer, then I'm happy to continue taking them. My next appointment will be in the beginning of June, so we shall see what the specialists suggest then.
Mike had quite a few issues over the Easter period with keeping food down, so we asked for another gastroscopy. Because of the Easter holidays that didn't happen until this week. Also this week he had an assessment for the chemotherapy cycle. We have been told it will be over 6 months, with sessions of about 2 hours every 2 weeks. And we've also been told that it's not quite as bad as some regimes, so hopefully he shouldn't suffer from it too much. He was due to start that yesterday, but because his bloods showed an issue with his kidneys, it was cancelled, with repeat bloods being taken next week to check on it again. Hopefully if they show an increase in kidney function, then the chemo will start a few days later.
Cross stitch wise? Well I decided to make a cushion for my granddaughter. She managed to fracture her arm just before Easter - not a bad break, but enough to mean it had to be put into a cast. BUT being a 7 year old, she managed to crack the cast 3 times and on the third occasion, they redid the x-rays, decided that it was in the correct position so she could just wear a tubigrip bandage. So to cheer her up I stitched a unicorn for her.
I found some unicorn fabric, so that's the next job - to finally finish it off for her. My HAED Storykeep was rather unloved for a few weeks, so it's not much further on that last time, although I have picked it back up again. Here's where I am now.
Sorry about the quality of the photo there, but it's under artificial light now! He's finally finished his face, and the claws, so all the rest is stocking (red) and background (brown)! So it might be slow going now!!
I also made a picture from Scrabble letters to take down to our van, to personalise it. It took ages to work out the placing of the letters! I don't think I have a future as a crossword designer!
It took ages to find small things to add to it. The mermaids were cut from a sheet of scrapbook paper, the mini shells and starfish were also scrapbook embellishments - so not real ones. The "plant life" is actually a plastic floristry product, and I found a few mini bottles with cork lids, so added one of those. I must admit it's not perfect, so I'm quite pleased with it overall.
Well I'd better get on and sort out some dinner for tonight.
Until next time - everybody please take care
Sandie XX
