Happy Friday! It’s been a slow but quiet week here. I’m still battered and bruised from being thrown out of the wheelchair at the bottom of the ramp at the dollar store earlier in the week. Nifty purple bruises and my left knee is still sensitive to the touch, so joy there. Brain fog has been a huge issue all week, and my speech has been a bit slurred. Enough so that we cut Science short today and booted some of it to tomorrow (Thursday to Friday), and rearranged math so we didn’t have to stress over not getting all of this week’s stuff done. Thankfully I have plenty of room in this year’s schedule to do that, even with taking a week off sometime in April.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Monday Crimson Quillfeather
Tuesday ejoanna
Wednesday Pam from Calif
Thursday art ah zen
Friday FloridaSNMOM
Saturday Gwennedd
Sunday loggersbrat
Also, today is my Mom’s birthday! I sent her an e-card because her present already arrived at her house, and she couldn’t wait to open it, so she opened it early LOL. But I wanted her to at least have a card today.
My mom has always been a crafty person. She has always knitted and crocheted and sewn.. my sisters’ barbies had whole wardrobes of clothing she made for them (I preferred hot wheels and clay to barbies so I didn’t benefit from that as much). She quilted, did embroidery , cross stitch, and she also did paint by number and arty things like that.
Lately though, she has developed carpal tunnel in her wrists, so knitting and crocheting aren’t as big a thing for her to do anymore, and her vision is going, so sewing tiny little doll clothes, and painting those tiny spaces on paint by numbers isn’t possible either. Also her apartment is *tiny* so she doesn’t have room for the quilting frame and large sewing machine she used to use, nor to store a lot of fabrics and such.
But one of her big complaints when she was here last is that she is so bored and lost over the weekends since my step-father died. She reads or watches TV, but everything reminds her of him and then she gets herself worked up. So Bit and I decided that she needed something to do, something new to keep her busy.
So we got her this:
And a box of 20 skeins of yarn to go with it. So she’s been looking up designs on pintrest and such and playing with it on the weekends. Having something to do with her hands, a new craft to focus on should help her deal with her grief and definitely end the boredom (and yes, this is my Occupational therapy training coming to bear here LOL). It’s small enough that it’s not a problem in her apartment, she can do it on the kitchen counter/pass through bar type counter, or on the coffee table. It’s small but not so small she can’t see what she’s doing, and the motions involved aren’t as hard on her wrists as knitting or crocheting.. or hand sewing would be.
So what do you think crafty people? Is this something you would have liked to receive in my mom’s situation? Is it something you would like to try now? I know Martha Stewart’s reputation isn’t what it used to be, and rightfully so, but this seemed like the best and most versatile option out there for weaving that was a) affordable, b) small enough to work in her apartment, and c) not made for kids.