Meet Lovey

Lovey is Max's little tiger buddy.  He got him from his auntie after he was born but wasn't really attached to any particular toy until the last few years.

Lovey sleeps in Max's bed and accompanied us to hospital after Max's most recent mishap.

Well I needed to find my long lost quilt mojo, distract Max from anymore daring stunts til current injury healed and at the same time repay Lovey for all his kindness.

In the quest for my Mojo I started sifting through the UFO tub containing Max's Monster Trucks Tote bag...from LAST January.

Working on the bag was all too hard with a bored 6YO and I discovered I simply wasn't keen on the pieced sections I had previously cut out to replace the dainty stitchery on the front of the bag.

I needed to use it up in a way to make best use of the pre-cut fat quarters.

I tried to be discreet when asking max whether Lovey liked cars.  Max said Lovey likes computer games better but he likes cars too.

I was inspired by Crafty Pug's quilt for her little boy's favourite toy and the chopped up FQs would be just enough to make a Lovey Sized quilt top!

 

Max then chose another FQ for the back.  Due to the direction of the print, I needed to add a bit of extra fabric to get the size right.

Lovey's quilt measure 16" x 20"...and I can't believe I have a FINISH!!!!

January Block Swaps Sent and Received

Well this is a bit late!  BUT I did need to wait til the last of my blocks were received then I lost internet access for a while.

First my group 1 swaps. This is my last month with group 1!

So...my first partner was Jolanda from Portugal.  Jolanda requested a block with squares and rectangles in pink, yellow and white so I made her the Antique Tile block:

And this is the lovely pink Baby Bunting from Jolanda:

 

My Second January partner was Debbie from Canada.  Debbie wanted any block in pink and brown.  I have really been loving Old Maid's Puzzle lately so I made it up with some delicious reproduction prints.

 

And I got another lovely Baby Bunting in blue from Debbie

 

My next swap is really exciting!  It's the very first swap from Group 2!

My partner was Lynette who requested Solomon's Star in Blues on white

 

And Lynette made me a Baby Bunting from the most beautiful peach fabric!

 

A huge thank you to all my swap partners!  I loved swapping with you!

Never a dull moment

But I'd really love a dull moment!

Last night DH took Max and his scooter out for a walk.  Less than half an hour later he called me to pick them up.

I'm so glad Max was wearing a helmet.  It took the brunt of his fall.

He had some nasty grazes on his hands, arms, one knee and face.  He knocked out an already loose baby tooth and cut the inside of his mouth quite deeply.

A trip to emergency ruled out any broken bones or more serious head injury.  Thankfully they agreed not to stitch the lip which is very fat and sore looking.

He was so brave!  I was struggling to hold it together and it took even more self control not to bash up DH.

Max was so brave!  He only cried a little at first.  I'm so proud of him and spoiling him rotten today.  He's doing arts and crafts then we go shopping for soft desserts and toys and all kinds of things to make me him feel better.

Lumps and bumps and stuff

I saw the GP for my follow up in regard to my parotid issue.  He's put me on another 10 days of antibiotics.   My parotid had improved out of sight but still a small painful lump remains.

He has ordered blood tests to rule out some auto-immune disorders but I really thing it's a waste of time.  The fertility specialist ordered much more comprehensive auto-immune and genetic tests only a year ago and they all came back clear so I can't see things changing in such a short space of time.

I also changed the date of my surgery.  It fits in much better with our schedule but the downside it's 2 weeks later than before (now on 19th April).  The other good thing is that the anaesthetist that the ENT originally chose for me is working on this date and while I don't know how much he works with regional anaesthesia, I've been told by many people he's REALLY nice and willing to be flexible.

Now that things have settled into a routine I hope to start sewing again.

When It Rains...it Pours!

And I'm not talking about the weather!

A week ago...(it feels like a month ago!!) as I drove away from the ENT's rooms I noticed a sore, swollen lymph node on the left side of my neck.  I would have mentioned it at the appointment if I'd noticed it earlier but these things rarely appear at convenient moments.

I adopt my favourite form of treatment (ignore it and it'll go away) and 2 days later I have a very sore cricket ball sized bulge on the side of my neck.

I find a doctor who can see me and I'm convinced it's to do with whatever is breeding in my left sinus.

Doctor diagnoses parotitis/silaidenitis and tells me to have an unltrasound to confirm and start taking antibiotics.

I loathe antibiotics so I defer til after the scan the next morning.

As usual I'm plagued with yet another rare (or at the very least unusual ailment).  In my case it's been most likely caused by a dry mouth since none of the other risk factors apply.

A week later only a small bulge remains but I'm still cranky about it.

I feel like I haven't sewn in months but really it was just a few weeks ago.

Other than that DS is back at school (wahhhh!) but his teacher is lovely and very enthusiastic and its rubbing off on him which I'm thrilled about!

Here are the promised pics:

Just before getting in the car...

I did have some lovely classroom photos that my little monkey deleted from the camera while I was talking to his teacher after school.  He replaced them with about 10 self portraits.  Here's one:

I took a couple of replacement shots after school

 

Last one is below.  I also added a photo from the same time last year.  Just to clarify - he is in grade 1 this year and at his school (K-12), Preps wear sports uniform (kinder/preschool wear a modified version) and from grade 1, full junior school uniform applies.  He looks so grown up!  I'm disappointed they only wear ties in winter.  They suit him!  Click on each pic for a bigger version.

A plan and a tentative date...

Well I saw Mr ENT this afternoon and I was somewhat surprised that I was absolutely correct in my CT analysis.  Hmmm...Radiologists get paid heaps of money for what I did.  Makes me even more cross with the report on my previous scan.  How can someone mix up the index and middle finger???  Anyway...I digress...

The doc was really nice about my GA phobia and found a couple of anaesthetists who are REALLY nice.  The one I'm getting (if the date we picked goes ahead) actually has a special interest in regional anaesthetic as opposed to general.  I can't ask for much more than that.

Finding a suitable date is such a pain.  In theory I could be sliced and diced in less than a week but with DS starting back at school it's more practical to wait until just before the next school holidays.

I'm booked in on Wednesday 6 April which is in the last week of school.  It's a morning op so we have to BE THERE at 7am.  DH is going to love me *lol* 

So...as far as the gory bits go - he doesn't use packing (yay!) OR splints which surprised me.  Instead he uses "lots and lots" of industrial strength sutures which come out after 6 weeks.  I'm not sure I prefer that alternative!

DH wants me to have a sleep study BEFORE as well as after the op.  Doc and I both think it's pointless but he said he'd arrange one to keep DH quiet.

So I'm down for a septoplasty along with a FESS to trim down 3/4 of the offending turbinates and suck out the ball of goo from my sinus.  The 4th turb that I was worried about can be left well alone so no risk of getting poked in the brain by accident.

As gruesome as it all sounds and as fed up as I am of surgery, I'm really looking forward to breathing better.  The Doc is very optimistic and confident that I'll notice a big difference.

Not much craftiness to report.  It's toooo hot to even look at a quilt much less make one!  We don't have air con so I'm uncomfortable to say the least.  We spend little time at home!!!

Other than that we got DS some new uniforms for school and monday is the big day (again).  I really should be used to it by now but I'm not!!