Tag : T Tuesday

343 posts

Long overdue life update

Grab a beverage and get a comfortable chair. It’s been a long time since I have posted…soon you will know why.

A bit of back story first that may explain some of the gaps in my posts…

A bit over a year ago I began a journey of trying to figure out what was up with my left eye. It had been getting a but squinty for about a year but I hadn’t given much thought to it. Then the upper lid near my eyebrow began to swell slightly. I saw so many doctors, had scans, x-rays, was given medicines to try…no luck. It just kept getting worse.

The day after my last post I finally saw the right specialist who ordered the right tests. I was scheduled for a surgical biopsy of a mass in my orbit. Two days later…on our 29th wedding anniversary…I got the news that it was Lymphoma.

I was passed along to oncology. More tests happened then I was told that it was a very slow growing type of lymphoma. This was a relief since I knew I had this for at least two years now looking back at photos.

We made the decision not to share the news with the kids just yet. Mini-me was away at college then was heading to Scotland to study aboard for three weeks.

I started daily radiation treatments the day after she left. I had 15 in all.

We had a family meeting and told the kids what was happening after she returned. The next day I had a follow-up with my oncologist. He said he has no reason to believe that the radiation wasn’t successful since the kind I had is extremely well treated with radiation. Obviously there are still tests ahead for me but I am very optimistic.

I am dealing with some side effects of the treatments such as very dry eye and some redness. All in all very minimal compared to the sheet of possible side effects I was given.

Obviously this is the readers digest version of the tale but whew…that was a lot.

So besides medical stuff…its summer here in Minnesota. The time that makes up for the other 8 months of the year. I’ve been getting out and walking most mornings.


With the exception of the ones ruined by the Canadian wildfire smoke. I had to cut that morning real short.

We finally had the decking and rails replaced on our deck. It was long overdue. Its so pretty!! I’ll be staining it this fall after the mill glaze wears off the cedar.

Marvin is enjoying it almost as much as I am.

My gardens are different this year as I didn’t know how I’d be feeling and also didn’t want pots sitting on the new naked wood on the deck. I just have flowers and herbs in the deck box garden.

And 6 potted tomatoes in the shed garden. I put down cardboard so I wouldn’t have to fight the never ending battle with weeds. It’s not the prettiest but it sure is easy.

One evening after a very hot day followed by a wind storm I found this Mourning Cloak butterfly struggling on the deck. He was so beautiful. I’m not sure if he made it or not…I’d like to imagine that he did.

I have been sewing, making journal covers and other puttering around but nothing substantial to share. Mainly been concentrating on my mental and physical health. Honestly throughout this whole ordeal I haven’t felt bad. A little more tired and an irritated eye but I am not going to complain one bit.

I have to wait 3 months for follow-up diagnostics. So until then I am going with my oncologists word of it should be all gone.

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Room refresh

It’s taken me a bit and is far from complete but I have finally starting the transformation of J’s room into a sewing room. The room is very small and we plan to keep the bed in there for now so that leaves less options for layout.

This was my first layout. It was ok but far from ideal.

This is how I currently have it arranged. It’s more functional but looks awkward. I still have issues with the desk space. The only place for a glass is behind the sewing machine. You may be able to see the empty coaster there.

Truth be told, besides the bed, there is still some stuff that J has yet to move. So I am working around that as well.

I have made use of the space though. These are a few journal covers I had rattling around my head. More to come on that as I continue working on them.

Also was making use of scraps I unearthed while rearranging. Years ago I wrote an article for Sew Somerset describing my process for these mini collages. Now the junk journal community calls them clusters. I can get behind the name change but the process is the same.

This bunch took me less than 30 minutes.

I’ve also started work on a paper bag book. I haven’t made one in probably 10 years. I kind of burned out on it. However there is a baby boom around work. I thought I’d try my hand at making a few instead of the typical gift of a cute little outfit that baby fits into for exactly 57 minutes.

As you might be able to guess…we are empty nesting again. We brought Mini-me back to college for Spring semester.

When we walked into her room we were shocked that her cactus had grown with no light for a month. No water wasn’t surprising…but no light?!

I snapped a photo out the window on the most boring part of our drive. There is about an hour of basically this view after you exit the interstate.

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Snow, snow, snow

What a wild ride at the beginning and end of my winter break. We’ve had snow storms that bookended the time off.

Winter break started two hours early with an early release due to weather. Now we are having our second snow day in a row! That just doesn’t happen!! Can’t say I’m sad about two full weeks off.

Leading up to break we did a couple fun things at school such as winter week theme days, treats and even pancake breakfast cooked by our administrators.

We each got a mug to fill with treats. I decided to add a my signature flower as well as my name to my mug.

Our special education team had a week long secret Santa exchange…this was day 1 for me.

I also made a bunch of Gnome ornaments for work friends. I’ll do a separate post on how I made those.

Christmas is a favorite time for Marvin. He loves a good box.

And bows!! Bows are his favorite. We actually save them so he can have some to play with all year long.

Mini-me got him this very special bow. He LOVES it!

The whole family was off work between Christmas and New Years. The company Mr. G works for generally closes that week and J took the week off so he could move. Yep you heard me…he moved out. He is living in a house in the neighboring town with one of his buddies from high school. Of course with the crazy horrible weather yesterday, we went and picked him up from work and brought him here for the night. None of the roads were plowed and his little sedan would have never made it. Thank goodness for four wheel drive.

New Years Eve we went for brunch at Hell’s Kitchen and enjoyed some great live music.

And a massive Bloody Mary! I couldn’t eat more than a couple bites of my meal after that. Lucky for me, I had a good leftover lunch the next day! 

I’ve been doing a bit a creating as well such as this card from scraps laying around my desk. There are a few journal pages as well but that will be a different post.

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Fall in review

Since I haven’t posted pretty much all fall, I thought it would be a great idea to do a little fall in review post.

I did a tiny bit of art journaling at the beginning of October.

Then my focus changed. Instead I found myself at the sewing machine.

I finished my cozy scrappy quilt. It’s so snuggly…Mini-me has claimed it every time she comes home. I see another one in my future.

I earned this fun little piece of inspiration last month. These Fitbit badges are like a gold star…silly I know, but it makes me happy.

Another thing that was once again amazing was the Veterans day program at my school. We haven’t had the full program since the pandemic.

Local veterans and members of the community are invited to join us.

It was amazing to have close to 800 middle school kids quiet and respectful for an entire hour on the bleachers. They really stepped up and showed us how well behaved they know how to be.

Our display case was beautifully decorated with pictures and memorabilia of veterans that are part of our staff members families.

Including my dad…WWII veteran.

Marvin’s birthday is also on Veterans day. He turned 8 this year… he’s terribly embarrassed about it.

At Thanksgiving break, Mini-me brought home some succulents that were gifted to her. The plant in the yellow pot was so top-heavy that it wouldn’t even stand up anymore. I transplanted it and gave it a friendly owl to keep it company. I kept telling her how happy that plant made me…then it hit me…it looks like something out of Dr Suess. How could it not make me happy?!?

T stands for Tuesday

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Feeling the art journal love again

It’s taken a while but I’m getting the urge to create at least in my art journal.

In fact, this was the second page I created on Sunday afternoon.

While searching through my stash I found some watercolor color experiments. The colors spoke to me in that fall sort of feel.

The lined page to the left was a shiny paper from junk mail. I didn’t want to cover the lines but at the same time didn’t like the shine. I used some glimmer mists to knock it back.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. I was very emotional which is not my usual state of being. I’m a very stoic person…I’m Norwegian raised in the mid-west. It takes a lot to crack my shell.

I did what I like to call a mind dump on my page. I like to write very messy and somewhat layer the words. This makes it difficult to read. This is purposeful. I need to get it out but I don’t want to go back and relive it later when I’m paging through my journal.

I saved this label from a beer my neighbor shared. (using as my drink reference as well…it’s a twofer) The beer was really interesting. You could taste a hint of orange and copious amounts of honey. I’m not sure I loved it but I did love the label.

It’s not my favorite page in the journal but it served its purpose.

Today is a work day of course with some grocery shopping on the way home.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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Gardening is out, sewing is in

It’s that time of year again when the outdoor projects begin to come to an end. The good news is that I have plenty of other interests to keep me busy indoors.

I’ve been canning when the weather permits. I hate water bath canning on a humid day. And before anyone asks…I do reuse my canning lids. I inspect them thoroughly and get rid of any that I have even the slightest question about…actually I do save them for dry goods storage so they don’t hit the recycle bin immediately. Anyway…I remove the rings from my canned goods after they cool…that way if there ever is an issue I could see the lid pop from spoilage.  I’m not an expert and I’m not telling you that you should do it my way…I just knew if I didn’t explain myself I would get questions and lectures.

My harvests are dwindling which is fine. We still get our CSA box for a few more weeks.

My teeny tiny carrots make me smile. I’ve never had much luck growing carrots.

But this year I think I will get a lot more teeny tiny carrots since I didn’t thin them out. The tall palm frond looking plants in the garden are ginger. I had some ginger root sprouting in the cupboard so I decided to experiment. I think I’ll leave one to overwinter but dig up the rest for use this fall. I’m not expecting success with overwintering but you don’t know until you try.

Speaking of trying…I’m trying something new with my shed garden. I once again amended the soil with some of our compost…then have been placing the spent plants back on the soil. They have been partially covered with soil from a container that broke. I am looking to do more of a no dig system in this garden. Time will tell.

As it happens ever end of summer, my urge to sew comes in hot. I’m not sure what it is but it isn’t a want…its a need. So weird.

Last winter I made 40 or so of these crazy scrappy blocks. I decided that 30 of them with white sashing would make a lovely throw blanket.

It’s coming along quite nicely. I just have the sashing around the entire outside edge to do.

Yesterday I worked on creating a scrappy binding. I love adding that to my scrappy quilts. When I commit to scrappiness…its a full commit.

Today I had the first of my half day work meeting days leading up to the start of school in a week. It was great to see everyone…old friends and new colleagues alike.

T stands for Tuesday

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Plant problem

Today I realized that I have a problem…I am a collector of plants. I never realized it until today. I’ve always had a few house plants but never to the extent that I have now.

I counted 24 as I walked through the house snapping photos. I’m kind of in shock now that I’ve actually counted them.

And now that I look to my left here on the deck I see a fern and my rosemary that overwinter indoors as well.

Yep it is a problem…but a lovely one at that.

Marvin is enjoying some supervised outdoor time with me as I blog this evening. Earlier today he was trying his best to catch a grasshopper. No luck.

I haven’t gotten much crafting done. We’ve had a plumbing issue that has interrupted my craft space and I was too lazy to haul my stuff out and craft elsewhere.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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