Happy Winter Solstice

 

Life with a Kitten

 Well Simon Moonshadow has been with me for 25 days, he has had two visits to the Vet for his initial shots, and bloodwork for his Neuter surgery on December 13th, where he will also be chipped so if he ever gets out I can be located.  The Vet is very happy with his progress and his bloodwork was all good, no signs of  infections or diabetes, he gained about 1.5 lbs. and has a lovely disposition.

In the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to get him a collar with a tag adding my phone number along with his name, but it seems my little escape artist has removed his collar 3 times in 24 hours.  Perhaps I should have named him Houdini.

I went off to PetSmart early this morning to get a new collar, one that is still breakaway but hopefully nothing he can get out of on a whim.  This was my first trip into PetSmart and Oh my goddess I was overjoyed by all the toys they had, yesterday I was at a Pet Supermarket and they didn't have much to offer for Cats. Though I did get a second litter box which I like better and some food flavors not available at my local supermarket.  Now if I can stay off Chewy.com.  

Not much stitching has been getting done, with the holiday season upon us the online shops keep me busy and all my spare time is spent kitten proofing the house, I feel like I have toddler in the house. 

My daughter in law's cat age 19 has lost her battle fighting an illness and went across the Rainbow Bridge on Nov. 30th.  She and my son are heart broken to say the least, yesterday they came to cuddle with Simon for awhile.

His favorite napping position, one part of his body always has to be touching mine.  

And when I think he won't notice those lovely eyes of his open.

I am on my second month taking Repatha to lower my Cholesterol, self injection isn't too bad though I did feel it this time.  I have noticed the daily nausea I had when taking the Statin drugs is gone, I do get headaches a few times and horrendous hot flashes, I have noticed an increase of pain in my lower back and hips, especially the right hip I hope its not a side effect.  In the new year I will have the doctor do bloodwork so that I can see if there is a significant drop in the Cholesterol as the manufacturer claims, if not I will have to rethink taking it, especially if the pain persist, I was having such pain on the Statins I was hoping not to be experiencing it on the Repatha.  

Happy Thanksgiving

 

A new month and a new member in the household.

 Meet Simon Moon Shadow, after the workmen finished picking up the tree debris he was following them out and I asked if he was their cat, I went to the back and he followed me asking the neighbor behind me if he was one of theirs, he wasn't, he didn't belong to any of my surrounding neighbors. I ran some errands and he was waiting for me by my door when I returned. I scooped him up fed him with the food I just bought, I searched the few shelter sites and neighborhood sites, he wasn't posted on any. Wednesday he had his first visit to the Vet, first to see if he was chipped, since he wasn't he had his first vaccines, he is scheduled to be neutered in a few weeks. He is the most affectionate cat, he has 6 toes on both front feet which makes him extra special. He showed up on the full moon with an eclipse and his coloring looks like he has moon phases. The night of the 8th I kept dreaming cats and the Cat Stevens song Moonshadow kept playing in my dream. It's been more than 20 years since I've had the desire for another pet, I believe the Goddess sent him and he chose me.

Tomorrow Simon will be with me a week, his bloodwork came back negative for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus), FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus), he began treatment for fleas and heartworm and he has a hearty appetite. I can't believe how quickly this little guy stole my heart.

Happy Halloween

 

Tonight as the barrier

Between the two realms grows thin,

Spirits walk amongst us, once again.

They be family, friends, and foes,

Pets and wildlife, fishes and crows.

But be we still mindful of the Wee Folk at play,

Elves, Fey, Brownies, and Sidhe.

Some to trick, some to treat,

Some to purposely misguide our feet.

Stay we on the paths we know

As planting apples we go.

This Feast I shall leave on my doorstep all night.

In my window, one candle shall burn bright

To help my loved ones find their way

As they travel this eve, and this night, until day.

Bless my offering, both Lady and Lord,

Of breads and fruits, greens and gourds.

Sunday Slow Stitching and a Few Good Books

 October is moving so quickly I can barely keep up.  Lately it seems harder to carve out some me time to sit and stitch or read a book.  This time of the year keeps me busy with the online shops and as the weeks go by I will have less time for me until the New Year, which is what I signed on to when I decided to leave corporate America and do my own thing.  Mostly I have no regrets but as I get older I often wonder how long will I be able to keep up the pace.

A few weeks ago I attended a Broom Making workshop at the Ft. King National Historic Landmark Park, here is the broom I made.

After Hurricane Ian passed through we lost another tree so while my son was cutting up the tree I grabbed a piece of branch that will make either a great broom stick or a walking staff, right now it's in the garage curing for 6 months.  I enjoyed the workshop so much I just want to make another. 

Today is Sunday, the air was crisp and cool for my walk and after I post this and read a few blogs I'm going to enjoy some slow stitching on my greenman piece, I left off with my needle poking through a few days ago.

I haven't made very much progress since my last post of him but I did complete the Moon Crystals stitch along piece. I made a few changes to the moth, I didn't add the sequins and didn't do the Turkey stitch.  I'm not really a sequins in my embroidery person and I didn't much care for the Turkey stitch. This is no reflection on the designer, her work is beautiful but I have to go with what I like so I used the satin stitch in place of the turkey stitch, in the photo its the pink floss below the head and the sequins.

I did use the beads in the moth and the crescent moon, the large pink space should have been sequins. 

Here is the finished piece which need the stitch and wash product washed off which I will do later today. Overall I love how it turned out and I discovered I love doing the whipped backstitch and the chain stitch. Now to decide to put it in a hoop or make a pillow.

I have a few projects that need to be transferred to fabric so I can get started on them, for now I just want to stitch.  I am linking my post to Kathy's Quilts here, check out what other talented bloggers are slow stitching  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2022/10/slow-sunday-stitching_01031266711.html

I picked up two books from the library yesterday while out running errands, I also returned 3 books. I will start reading The Girl Who Wrote in Silk this evening when my fingers are too sore to stitch any longer.

I started to read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches last night, As Silly as it sounds while I am 

reading the book its as though someone is narrating it as I read, almost like the narration of the Queens of Mystery series, I can practically hear the voice in my head as I read. 

As I mentioned this week has been fairly busy with the online shops, especially after an Instagram influencer posted about one of out most popular products and sales went through the roof, at Amazon we sold more than 200 in an hour and from the home shop 75 one day and 70 the next and sales just keep coming. It's exhausting having so much to pack so early in the holiday season.

This is the object I am talking about, an embossed faux leather coffin shaped wallet, we sell them year round but at Halloween time we can barely keep them in stock.  

We are grateful to all our customers that have kept us in business all of these years it's nice to know the products we carry have a wide following. I'm just happy it's the wallet that's selling so fast and not the matching purse.

In closing I will leave you with a few autumn poems

I dream of colorful autumn leaves filling the branches of trees.

Wellness Wednesday

Wellness Wednesday is going to be an ongoing part of my blog while I work to regain my health and wellbeing after my last adventure in the hospital at the end of August.  After a few weeks of being angry with my former cardiologist for dropping the ball and angry with myself for not being more aggressive where my health was concerned and slipping into a mild depression, I made a few positive changes.  

The first thing I did was to stop taking the Statin drugs that were making me sick and causing so much leg pain there were days when I couldn't get off a chair without my legs going out from under me.  The Statin medication was to lower my cholesterol, that nasty stuff that has clogged quite a few arteries in my body. But my quality of life was disappearing rapidly and I was to the point where I just didn't care any more.  Luckily those feelings passed after about 2 weeks.

The next thing I did was begin walking, not too far but daily or nearly everyday, the surgery on the carotid artery took a toll on my energy then about 2 weeks after the surgery I felt well enough to walk.  I went from my front door to the corner and back, some days I made it up and back twice. Little by little I increased the length of my walks at the local park, a few days a week.  

I had a flu shot in September and the Pneumonia shot last week at the urging of my Primary Doctor,  I was ambivalent about the Pneumonia shot but since I get bronchitis several times and year I decided to go for it cause I'm getting older and my body seems like it just wants to fight me whenever I gain back a bit of my health.

I have a new cardiologist, that agreed stopping the Statins was smart because the side effects I was having could have long term effects.  I know I need something so we discussed a non statin medication and said he would put in a request for approval for Repatha. It's a self injectable medication I will take twice a month using a device similar to an Epipen.  

I told the doctor my former cardiologist once mentioned it then when I asked for it because the statin was making me sick and causing pain he shut me down, explaining the cost is quite high.  I told him that didn't matter when I had my heart attack in 2011 Plavix cost me $872.12 each  month and I paid it out of pocket for the year I needed to be on it.  He kind of ignored me and that is one of the reasons I found a new cardiologist, that and the fact that because his office didn't follow though on the surgeon a year ago about the carotid artery and the 3 times I questioned him what was the plan and no results until August 29th when I found my self in the ER under STROKE ALERT. 

I saw the new cardiologist on Monday, on Tuesday the pharmacy called and told me the Repatha would cost me $545.00  did I want them to fill it.  I said yes. (I was shocked at how fast the doctor worked to get the approval) today with coupon from GoodRx I came home with my first 2 doses. I was able to use the coupon so this is what $519.00 gets you:

Anyway I am really hoping there are too many side effects to deal with, I have research and some people have none, some have a few and others have some nasty side effects.  What I have learned over the years is most medications have side effects often worse then the actual ailment they treat.

The weather here has changed, today in fact it was quite cool with the lows tonight dropping to 39 possibly.  I don't mind the cooler weather it makes my walks all the more pleasant.

After my release from the hospital I did a revamp of my diet moving from low-fat to nearly no fat.  I am scrutinizing labels and putting things back on the shelf when I think do I need that much sodium, carbs, fiber etc.  I go to the grocery store 3 or 4 times a week for fruits and vegetables, I eat fresh and I don't like to buy it all at once because with the stomach issues I have I may be in the mood for the fruit or veg when I buy it but a few days later I still haven't touched it and often I wind up giving it to my daughter in law before it turns to a rotted mess.  So now I will buy 2 apples or 2 pears, some berries or grapes and once they are gone I go out and buy more. So far this is working well and once my tolerance for food improves maybe I will be able to shop weekly once again or I will stick with shopping 3-4 times a week.

When I saw the doctor on Monday I was pleased to learn I lost 12 pounds since I left the hospital on August 30th. This Friday I'm having bloodwork done for my primary doctor, this will give me the numbers I need to see how well or not so well things are going.  Plus I can set my goals to address what needs to change.  I had to reschedule my bloodwork several times because I was ill and once because hurricane Ian blew through. 

I'm monitoring my blood pressure twice a day this month since I noticed it's been spiking a few days each week.  I can feel it in my ears some days it makes me so tired and I have been getting  headaches often since my last hospital adventure which makes me worry about the piece of plaque in the M1 section of my brain and hope it won't cause a stroke or worse.  It can't be removed so I live with the knowledge that it's a real possibility it may kill me one day.   So Wednesday's will be Wellness days where I post on how I am doing in body, mind and spirit and my new adventure or journey on the road to wellness with Repatha.