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.  

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!