Resetting

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what to can.”

~Arther Ashe.

As usual, the week went by rather quickly. It just seems to be the way things are lately, which is good and means that my days are full. I don’t really mind it that way, but I have so much that I want to accomplish and don’t want to come up short. I guess that is a good place to be for someone like me. I am very grateful.

The week began with a couple of early appointments in the towns of Digby and Annapolis Royal on Monday. The first appointment went as planned, but the Digby one was the re-check on my eye and the news could have been better. When the optometrist looked at my eye, she didn’t feel it was healing as much as she would have liked. So it was decided to continue the treatment for several more days and then return before the long Easter weekend to make sure things were better.

In a way, I didn’t mind that diagnosis, as it wasn’t feeling good as of yet. It still felt as if something was in my eye, and after nine days of that constant urge to rub it or ‘get it out’, I was at least happy that I felt that way for a reason. I wasn’t imagining it.

But it also meant that on Thursday another day would be shot, as we needed to take yet another hour-long ride each way to get it looked at. So that was a little deflating. But I trust her which is why I travel so far in the first place to see her. And it is worth the time.

I also was thinking how grateful I was to myself for taking the time to care for myself. There are times to be ‘stoic’ and other times when you need to ask for assistance. Apparently, whatever got in there really did a number on my eye, and had I waited much longer to have it looked at or ‘toughed it out’, I could have had permanent damage.

Again – I am grateful.

So the week was rather disjointed and I tried to get something done at least in the line of work. Business has been slow for me lately. I think that is the result of my recent indecisions regarding which direction I will be heading with my business. But I look at that as a good thing because if I was to be swamped with orders it would have made things a lot worse. (The term, “Everything happens for a reason.” comes to mind) I think that I was meant to slow down a bit and let things happen as they may. It was time for me to let go a little.

(Spoiler: The world is still spinning! Go figure! 😉 )

One of the things that I knew I needed to do was to unplug myself from the computer a bit more than I did the previous week. I have been speaking to you all about some new patterns that I have been working on – there are three – and while the prototypes were all painted, the adjusting of photos and writing and perfecting the line work that I needed to do to create the packets was tedious at best.

My eyes were just hurting.

It made it hard to concentrate and focus on the task, and what should have taken me three days at the most to accomplish bled over into probably nearly three weeks.

But so be it.

I did finish up the patterns in the middle of the week. On Wednesday I was able to post them to my private Facebook Group. Thursday was shot, as I mentioned and Friday and yesterday I just felt ‘meh.’ So far I have done little to promote them. But that will come soon.

The appointment on Thursday went better than on Monday. There was enough progress to go to Phase II of treatment: an antibiotic drop that contained a steroid that would help heal scarring. And I think yesterday (Saturday) was the first day in two weeks that I didn’t feel as if something was in my eye. So I am thrilled about that.

The new designs are what I call “Sweet Tweets”. They consist of three little songbirds set among sewing notions. There is a little Wren with a tomato pin cushion (SLDP329)

A Bluebird with a spool of twine (SLDP330):

And a little Chickadee with a glass jar of buttons (SLDP331):

All three patterns contain a unique lacework design for the frame. (NOTE: I have additional line work so you can adapt the lacework designs to circular, oval, or any size square frames if you choose!)

My samples are all painted on my Rounded Square Beveled Plaque surfaces, available on my website. But with the additional linework, they can be painted on anything – even for a card.

I thought they would be fun for spring and summer, and with the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday, they would make lovely little gifts.

For a limited time, I have put together a Pattern and Wood Combo which includes the set of three patterns as well as the three surfaces. That way you can make all three.

I hope it is something you all would enjoy to paint. Despite the rough go that I have had in the past couple of weeks, I thoroughly enjoyed painting it myself. I hope you do too.

Today is Easter Sunday. I really debated whether to write here at all, as I am still trying to do my best to rest my eyes and not be on the computer or doing much that requires ‘focus.’ I find they tire easily and seem rather dry. I think that is probably from the drops and I was given drops to take in between the antibiotic/steroid drops that are for keeping them lubricated. Then I apply an antibiotic gel at night.

It is a lot of care, but it reminds me how important something like our vision is. While I have worn glasses and/or contact my entire adult life, they have always done the job. I have never gone this long with impaired vision and I hope I don’t have to again any time soon.

If I am slower to answer you all on Social Media platforms, please forgive me. I am sure things will be back to normal soon. Once I see my eye doctor at the end of next week, I will hopefully get the green light to go back to normal, albeit without wearing my contacts for several more weeks. I can live with that.

Thank you all for reading if you are still here. It is difficult for me to not feel as if I let people down. My ‘work’ requires me to interact and be seen. But my health has to (rightfully) come first. Then I can get back to things. I just need a little resetting.

I have been thinking up lots of new ideas to work on and can’t wait to get to them. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these patterns. They are really fun and it made me happy to paint them. They make me smile.

Have a wonderful week ahead and enjoy whatever comes your way. We have had much more ‘springlike’ weather in my little corner of the world. It has been a bit warmer and quite wet. But the sun is shining today and it is calm and pretty. A beautiful day to all around. I wish that for you all as well.

Until Next Time. . .