Happy Valentine's Day! I'm Still Here and Finally I Have Written a Blog Post

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Wow! it's been quite a while since I made a blog post.  I can't believe so much time has gone by since my post on the Winter Solstice 2025.  I can't believe I only made 11 post in 2025 what happened to me. Well for one thing I was ill in the beginning of 2025 and didn't much feel like posting on March 13th I was diagnosed with Endometrial cancer and had a total hysterectomy on March 18th only to discover I also had Ovarian cancer. Both were in the early stages but the ovarian cancer was an aggressive type. Onto Chemo on May 1st which came a host of problems and by the second cycle of Chemo on July 15th. I wrote about it on my blog here https://deborahsbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2025/08/catching-up-while-recovering-from-chemo.html  so there is no point to rehash it all.  I did stop all the chemo I just felt I wouldn't survive 4 more cycles and so far there are no signs of more cancer.  

It has taken me months to recover from just those 2 cycles, not being in the best of health when I started didn't help I'm sure.  The A-Fib was already kicking my butt with lack of energy, but the side effects of the chemo especially the neuropathy in my hands and feet continue to plague me so it's been a battle.  I would say I probably have 25% of the energy I once had and I strive everyday to improve that.  

The cold weather has really grabbed my attention, gone are the days where I would toss on a sweatshirt and hit the walking trail the brisk cold air nipping at my steps was exhilarating. At work I wear a wooly hat, fingerless gloves and a hoodie all day when the temps are in the 20's and 30's here in Florida.  

Here is a photo of me at my son's warehouse where I work. My hair is growing back slowly but I feel the cold and the neuropathy makes the cold worse on my hands and feet. Without the medication I take for the neuropathy I imagine it would be worse.  The big drawback with the medication is weight gain and swelling which never seems to go away.  I just can't seem to get warm.  On days when it's warm enough I take short walks here in the warehouse parking lot and up and down the street where I now live.  I am determined to get my energy and activity levels back to where they once were. My hair slowly growing back this is me in Oct. 2025 and Feb. 2026.

 Can it be that nearly 2 months have passed and I had nothing to say? Not quite, I just didn't have the energy to sit and type a blog post.  I have more energy now so I hope to get back to at least making a weekly post on Sundays so I can once again take part in the Slow Stitching Sundays at Kathy's Quilts which I enjoyed doing in the past.  There are so many talented bloggers and spending time reading about the projects they are working on and what they are doing is such a nice way to connect and share.

I signed up for a few slow stitch challenges this year, though I have trouble with my hands and fingers I still manage to get some stitching in.  I'm taking part in Gone Rustic's 2026 Words SAL and K3nclothtales 2026 A-Z SAL

This is the Youtube link for the K3n channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc-bYDs2QXc&list=PLIvsY9XB9IaaIxZSDIybxj6Y84Umsd8Ek

This is for Gone Rustic channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drv6nIrrc1s   with the Gone Rustic channel Rita gives the new word on here weekly post, the start of the SAL starts at Week 82.

Both have Facebook groups where you can post your work if you wish.

I am also taking part in Sue Hiles Ruffle Swap, we are going to make a ruffle that can be used in either an art or junk journal, or some other project.  Sue explains it so much better and shows how simple the ruffle is to make, here is the link to her Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QInd02F48cE

I wanted to get a little practice in so I grabbed a few bits of fabrics, floss and stitched away. I may add the yo-yo and if I can find my floral buttons I'd like to add one. Once we have our swap partners I can ask if there is a preferred colorway.  

Making the ruffle reminded me of  my days of making skirts and dresses back in the day and gathering fabric to fit the skirt to the bodice or the waistband.  I just love the ease of making the ruffle which measure about 7 inches.

Another project I have been working on is my little goddess dolls which has become a little bit of an obsession for me.  These are the newest goddesses I made in 2026 the Joy goddess doll is my word of the year the other have been sent to Facebook friends from a group I am in.

I am currently working on a little pocket altar/shrine that I had been planning to make for a few weeks All of a sudden I see several of the Stitching YouTube Channels I watch making Pocket shrine/altars as well.  

I started out making my base, then layered my fabric scraps how I wanted them, pinned them down and started stitching them down using the running stitch.

I made a few hand embroidered pieces to add to my pocket altar, the little pocket is one of my favorite pieces

It took me 3 hours to make this little pocket because I had to keep putting it aside to let my fingers rest a bit.  The pain from the neuropathy can be quite intense, it's like getting 1000 paper cuts all at once when I touch something or hold my needle.

This little hand took about 40 minutes.  Ignore the little black line I thought I had used a heat erasable pen to draw the hand.

I will probably add a hand drawn spiral as a pocket, I love a good spiral or perhaps a labyrinth.

Here is the piece I made for the word Noble for the Gone Rustic SAL  

I chose the Noble Heart. I used royal blue floss to stitch the heart spiral to pick up the blues in the scrap pieces. The words Kindness, Courage, Compassion and Strength are veiled behind the scrap of lace. I decided to have the words hidden because one of the attributes of Noble is Selfless which I see as quietly hidden.

This is my piece for the K3n clothtales A-Z of Slow Stitch 2026 SAL. The first weeks word: Applique. My piece is a Compass. I embroidered the compass before I appliqued it to my slow stitched square. Then for a little added fun I embroidered a tiny scroll which you can see it unfurled in the 2nd photo. 

So little by little, stitch by stitch I am beginning to feel like myself once again.  I may not be able to stitch without pain or walk my daily walk but each day I keep moving forward.  

Update here: I'm linking my post over at Kathy's Quilts today, Kathy has been stitching along while watching the Olympics, playing a game where she stitches are certain number of stitches for medals won by Canada. Great idea don't you think. Check out her link here to see what she is stitching today. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2026/02/slow-sunday-stitching_02067335907.html

This month I joined the American Cancer Society's Read Every Day Challenge my page is here 

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1377306576997230/

Today I am reading Vagabond and yesterday I started Wyrd Sisters

These are the books I have completed this month so far

You don't have to read a certain number of books or pages, just read every day.  When my fingers are too sore I get quite a bit of reading done.  

Once again Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Winter Solstice! And a Little Stitched JOY!

 Another year flying by, it's hard to believe its the first day of winter.

The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere arrived on Sunday, December 21, 2025, at 10:03 A.M. (EST).

Although the winter solstice means the start of winter, it also means the return of light, the days begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice.

For those that are not lovers of winter it only gets brighter from here! The Duration is only 88 days, 23 hours, 42 minutes.

Here in Florida we are expecting 80 degrees and sunshine so while it doesn't look or feel like the winter of my youth I can live with it. 

Happy Winter Solstice!

  I have managed to get some stitching done mostly on the weekends. Currently I am making a little Spirit doll for my Word of the Year, which is Joy.

It came to me recently somewhere between March 2020, when I was plagued with that mysterious illness lasting 2 years and Now dealing with Cancer  I lost my sense of JOY. Not just the oh gosh I feel good kind of Joy, but deep in the bones Joy you get from nature, living and those simple things that us Joy.

So for 2026 I am on the journey to not only reclaim Joy I want to build an entire adventure to once again feel the deep in your bones JOY. 

Here is the fabric and the traced line body for the Goddess doll

After the body was stitched I made a little patch with my word JOY, pinned it in place before stitching it on.

The patch is stitched on, I left the top unstitched to create a little pocket, embroidered the face and pinned the head on.

I stitched the head in place and she is ready for the back of the body to be added. I slipped a little piece of paper into the pocket.

My fingers were too sore to continue stitching so I hope to add the back and have her done later today.

It's been a while since I did much stitching however I am linking my post to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2025/12/slow-sunday-stitching_01479291710.html

Wishing Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Autumn!

 

The autumn equinox arrived with a blanket of fog over the neighborhood. I have always loved the fog it shrouds everything in a sort of mystery only to reveal its secrets as it evaporates from view. Fog also reminds me of the thinning of the veil as we move closer into the dark half of the year. Blessing for a Happy Autumn Equinox!

My recovery from Chemotherapy is going slowly but I am making progress.  Each week I feel a little stronger and my walks to the corner have extended to the further corner going to the right  of my driveway. It may not seem far to you but to me it's like walking an entire mile there and back.

I have decided not to continue with the Chemo because my quality of life disappears completely for weeks at a time so 2 cycles is enough for me.  I just don't think my body could take another round, the last one on July 15th I felt as if I was dying inside and it took much longer to regain my strength even though the dose was lowered.

The neuropathy in my hands was so bad I had trouble doing much with my hands without pain, it was as if I had 100 paper cuts in each finger and nothing would relieve the pain.  I am now on a higher dose of medication for it but so far it hasn't done much.  I see the oncologist on Wednesday and I hope she will increase the dose.  If not I will give it a few more weeks and if nothing changes I will stop the medication with the thought if if it isn't helping why swallow a pill that isn't helping.

Anyway, autumn's arrival here in Florida is always slow but it does happening, the last week the mornings have been cool and pleasant with fog rolling in today. as the days pass some of the leaves on the trees will fade to a dull green, the sycamore trees will begin to lose there leaves as they turn brown and fall with each passing day until the trees are bare which happens right around the winter solstice, though some years its before and others its after.

I was thinking the other night how I had my hysterectomy on March 18th right before the Spring equinox and its taken two full seasons to feel almost myself again.  I tire so easily after simple task as doing laundry or sweeping the floor.  I lose half a day when I grocery shop, it's not as bad as it first was when I needed a nap after those simple task, now most of the time I just need to sit and rest.  I try to take longer walks at least once a week an now that the weather is cooling in the morning I would like to increase the longer walks to at least 3 times a weak.

I bought a rosemary plant about 2 weeks ago and found a pot to transplant her in not too big but enough room for growth. I transplanted it this morning, unfortunately I lost one of the 2 shown in the photo. I do have 2 small pieces in water hoping they will take root.

While I am too weak to do any gardening at this time I had to have a live plant near me. In the meantime I think a nice pot of mums on the porch would be nice.

My hands are still to uncomfortable for me to stitch much but I have been crocheting a few rows here and there.  I will post a photo soon.

Well I'm tired so I will post this with all good wishes for a wonderful autumn and I'll try to post more often going forward.

Catching Up While Recovering from Chemo

It's been quite a while since I have posted, the Chemotherapy has been kicking my butt big time.  After my 1st cycle on May 1st I wound up in the hospital on Mother's day with some type of infection that had me on 4 antibiotics running round the clock via IV.  The second cycle my doctor lowered the dose but still I had 2 weeks of laying on my back.

This is what the after effects of a round of chemotherapy looks like on this 70 year old woman. I have been laying on my back for over 2 weeks with little or no energy to do anything more. I force myself to drink water that taste metallic all day and do the same when I eat. Today is day 21 after my second round of chemo and I am finally able to sit up and food and water is beginning to taste pleasant again. After struggling with the first round of chemo and not doing much better with the 2nd. I have decided not to continue with the other 4 rounds. I don't think my body can take it. I wasn't in the best of health when I began the chemo and there is not much quality of life during the 2 cycles I had. I want to regain as much of my health as I can so I can enjoy the rest of my life no matter what it will be. There is no guarantee the chemo will keep the cancer from coming back. So I am trusting my instincts, listening to my body and will continue living my life on my own terms.

Things are looking up I have been able to sit up at my desk for an hour today and finally making a post to this blog.  It's refreshing to be sitting up.

Eventually the mess behind me will be organized once my energy levels increase. I moved in on May 6th and most of my things are still in boxes. This is my office/craft room.

Due to the neuropathy in my hands and not being able to sit up for weeks I haven't done much stitching. I have managed to get in some crocheting but not much.  Now that I'm feeling stronger and sitting up I hope to get to some stitching soon, I have several autumn projects I'd like to begin.  The last thing I made were the tribe of little goddess dolls that made their way onto the world to friends in a goddess Face Book group I'm in.

Well that's all for today I'm getting tired so it's time to get off the computer and take a rest.