What's the view?

I just realized how many pictures I've posted of me in this spot on the couch with Morris.  What I also realized is that you haven't a clue what I am always looking at.  On a good day we start out chatting on the couch with Morris and our coffee and end the day the same way.  We are always in the same spots on the couch.   Although I gave up coffee in the hospital and am now drinking hot ginger lemon herbal tea.

What I haven't shown you is that the couch is right by the window and we are watching two of the feeders while we chat. This week we had a special visit from a Varied Thrush...an infrequent happening and we were delighted to be there to see it.  At this time of year our bird population is mostly juncos, house finches, goldfinches, quail, mourning doves, Eurasian doves, chickadees, red-winged blackbirds and the occasional hawk, magpie, and woodpecker. In the evening we watch the deer come and tidy up under the feeders. Soon the juncos will be moving north and the bluebirds, nuthatches, song sparrows, robins, and all the other summer birds will be arrive.

 

In late November I shared that I had bought seven amaryllis bulbs at a closeout sale.  I knew they were too late for Christmas but as it worked out the first one bloomed the week I got  home from rehab and the last one opened yesterday...  Next fall I will watch for the closeout sales on these bulbs so I will have them into February again.

 

 

Another revelation!!!

I can't believe my luck that I happened upon the ad for the Idaho button show in June and connected with Simone Kincaid... I finished another one of the back issue bulletins she sent and it was just fascinating.  When I first started painting buttons they were all about 100 years old and I felt sort of guilty painting on them ...as if painting on them somehow diminished their value....  Not that it stopped me but it almost seemed like a crime to do it to a beautiful old button..
  So it was with some anxiety I approached the button society and not sure how they felt about painting on old buttons.  Now I know they not only embrace what I do, they actually have a category for it.... studio buttons.  Buttons created or embellished by studio artists which include handmade buttons of ceramic, polymer, porcelain, metal, wood, leather, glass, enamel, cross stitch, fabric, raffia and even pine needles.  It also includes buttons embellished with paint, carving, laser cutting, transfers, etc.

Many of the techniques lend themselves to producing a particular design in multiply numbers.  Once a mold is made or carved it is just a matter of reusing it...  I was particularly drawn to the ones that weren't conducive to mass production. And of course I especially loved the ones that were hand painted like the one lower right below and that is where I have found my "spot" so to speak...

I have been wandering from place to place in the house and there is so much that needs to be done that I haven't focused on anything but last night I finally picked up a brush and started finishing some woodpeckers buttons I started in December.

 Mother Nature has tried to dump an entire winter in the month of February.  First we were buried in snow and now we're going to have some subzero temperatures.  This old farm needs lots of care during this time..  All the older outbuilding like the chicken house, gazebo, etc. and even the barn and house need the snow scraped off to keep them from collapsing from the weight.  A vigilant watch is needed to keep pipes from freezing....no fleeing to a warmer climate for us and I'm no help with snow removal this year.

A button snob for sure!!!

When I joined the Idaho Historical Button Society last fall I somehow missed getting on the mailing list for their bulletins so Simone kindly sent me five back issues which are packed with fascinating information.  I read two issues last night and confirmed that I know next to nothing about any buttons unless they are mother of pearl.....and then mostly if they are paintable or not.....

 

Over the years I occasionally buy a mixed lot of buttons such as this ebay purchase in 2012 but I am mostly again looking for extra large paintable buttons.  Did find quite a few in this batch but somehow could not get motivated to paint on "plastic."  What a MOP snob I am...  Now and forever I will look at buttons differently...  Some of these I used in CQ workshops and they are scattered in bags here and there in the house and in the barn.  They definitely deserve another look.  I am hoping to get back to painting this week and even though I still tire easily I am eager to do something productive.

 

I am handling pampering rather well though.  Here DIL has my hair in curlers and I am soaking my hands in preparation for a manicure.. But no matter what is going on Morris is right in the middle of everything.  Up until today someone has taken me every day to the mall to walk and I manage a mile now and getting stronger and breathing easier every day.  But today we are expecting a big winter storm and I would rather be home and warm and safe because I know how quickly our road can drift shut.  It is one thing to walk in a warm mall and an entirely another thing to struggle up a country lane that has drifted over...

 

I am worried about big dog that showed up yesterday near our neighbor's farm.  He has never had a dog and shouldn't.  This dog is St. Bernard size and has obviously recently had a litter of pups.  She's covered in burrs from weeds in the forest and very wary.  DH is trying to find out if we need to call someone to help her. Over the years we have had so many issues with this neighbor over how he abuses animals that I shutter to think that here we go again... I am concerned she has had a litter and hidden them somewhere.

Home and Fat Feet!!!

Home and on the couch with Morris finally...and does it ever feel good.  I went into surgery at six am on a Monday and didn't regain consciousness until midday on Thurs. and then slid  in and out for the next couple days.  By then DH was convinced I was brain damaged and was frantic.  Four weeks have passed and all is getting better day by day.

Some things like the incision that I expected to be very painful was not and others like the tube in my side to drain fluid from my lungs was extremely painful and I hadn't expected that at all... 

The top of the incision peeks above most of my tops and looks like a tattoo of two dragonflies fighting.  Now I am focused on healing and getting stronger.  When I started walking in the mall I would walk 12 steps, stop, take 3 breaths and repeat until I reached 1/2 mile....counting every step and gasping for every breath.  Today I could walk steady for 1 mile with only a few stops to catch my breath... Just call me "Full Speed Ahead (sorta) Krueger".

Up until the day I left rehab my feet were so swollen I couldn't get a pair of shoes on.  In my youth I had taken an inventory of my physical assets and at the top of the list was "a well turned-out ankle" which has been a very desirable asset since the 1700s when shoe fashions included a slight heel. So I was dismayed by two fat feet depleting my inventory of physical assets.  But after gallons of hot lemon water that too is passing...

DH has been a fabulous  caregiver and now my precious daughter-in-law (THE ONE) has arrived as a back up and between the two of them  I hope to be strong enough to be dividing peonies in March.

I want to thank profusely everyone who sent cards, emails, and messages.  DH read every single one of them to me two or three times and they really lifted my spirits.  I love you all.