Sunday, December 02, 2012

Updates, Updates, and More Updates! (Long & Several Pics)


First of all, I have had little to no motivation to do anything, much less stitch.  For the past 9 months or so I've been feeling very lethargic and somewhat depressed, for lack of a better word.  I thought it was due to the stress of having the husband recovering from heart bypass surgery and subsequently a heart defibrillator implant followed by his roller coaster ride with various heart medications and blood pressure medications. Come to find out that stress associated with all that really had no impact on me. 

In the past few months, I've especially been having some short-term memory problems such as knowing what word I want to use, then immediately forgetting it.  For the past several months, in addition to being lethargic and having some low-grade depression, I've also been having problems concentrating and focusing.  Long story short, my thyroid is more out of whack than normal and I have a cyst on my thryoid.  (I've been hypothyroid for 31 years and have been taking medication for it.)  I finally have a referral to an endocrinologist and will work to get in to see him sooner rather than later.  Now that I know what's going on, I can also start looking into some more natural ways to heal my thyroid, like through nutrition and natural supplements.  Hopefully, I'll start feeling better and become more productive, too.

With all that being said, I have been doing SOME stitching...not much, but SOME.  Some is better than none, right??


This is my latest progress scan of Prairie Schooler's Sunflower Sampler.  I am two thirds of the way finished with it!  It's been a long process to get this far, but I'm working on it.  I think I'm going to go back to a rotation rather than just stitching on one piece at a time.  Maybe I can get more accomplished...if I can remember what I'm doing!  LOL

In the midst of all this, my husband has decided to resume working on his DIY home improvement WIPs.  (He hates when I call them this, but that's what they are!)  One of the main motivators to get these done is that we're refinancing our home and we have to have a home inspection done.  These things have needed to be done for a couple of years, so it's great that he's finally getting them done.

First off, the bathroom project is back on track!  I think with today's work of applying more plaster and texturing the walls and ceiling in a couple of spots, he'll soon be ready to paint!!   Woot!

This is the ceiling where the previous plaster was coming down exposing the termite damage.  Can't see any of that now!  The husband also fixed the crack in the ceiling near the light fixture wiring, just in the top right of the pic.

This is the wall that had the diagonal gash across it from where they put the cord for that hideous retro light fixture.  Also, we put a plug box in where the light fixture used to be and closed up that spot.


Here you can see the texture on the wall.  The husband was doing some touch up work.

Daisy checking out the husband's work (and waiting for Tumbles to get her from the other side of the door).  

The Door Project is also underway.  I didn't know this was going on the project list, but it's also almost completed.  My husband's son and his friend who are both quite handy are here helping to get the door installed. 

Several years ago, my husband busted half of our sliding glass door trying to install a cat door into our enclosed sunroom.  For a quick fix, he put a large piece of cardboard in the door frame with the intentions of fixing it soon.  "Soon" turned into several years.  A few weeks ago, the husband found a very nice, insulated, set of French doors on sale for cheap at Home Depot.  He purchased them and now they guys are installing them.  I tried finding a pic of my cardboard door, but was unable to, so you'll just have to imagine it!

Future French doors for the big opening into the enclosed sun room.  The door is leaning against the opening.  (Please ignore all the junk on the counter!)

Old door from the sunroom to the backyard.  You can see where Tumbles had started chewing the bottom of the window and you can see the rotting wood to the right of the door near the floor.  That wood has been taken out and will be replaced.  Also, this door seldom locked and only shut well with force.

New back door almost totally installed.  It's complete except for the threshold being screwed down.  (That's the silver plate at the very bottom of the door.)  Redoing the outside of the sunroom is also a project for the future.  The scratch marks you see are from the previous owner's dogs!  


Both of these doors the husband purchased at a deep discount at Home Depot.  They were for special orders that customers either refused upon delivery or were never picked up.  Yay for us!  They're both high quality doors, insulated, and steel.  They also have insulated windows which should help keep the heat down.  We'll paint the French Doors, but I'm not sure what color.  We might wait and do it when we paint the den.  Maybe at my next posting I'll have finished pics of the WIPs to show off!

Thank you for sticking with me!  I'm off to pull fabric & fibers for a new little Christmas project!