Feeling alive again!

 Let me be the first to tell you all; healing is NOT for wimpy kids! I thought I would have this surgery, breeze right through my recovery and be chomping at the bit to get back to my life. Obviously, that hasn't happened! The first couple of weeks were a total blur, although I did have several "good days" which turned out to be totally thanks to the drugs!

  For the first four weeks I had home healthcare ( thank you Blue Cross )! And only ventured further than my front porch twice. Once I started going to outpatient therapy, I made a few trips to the store with my poor, beleaguered hubby and at the two month mark he finally agreed to let me try driving. My surgery was on March 25 th and on Sunday, June 2nd, I made my first trip to town by myself! I'd like to tell you how wonderful it was, but it was actually exhausting!

  I have had some major events happen in my life while I was healing though! On May 11th, our oldest grandson B was married to our new granddaughter J2. It was a beautiful wedding and due to the fact that I have strong sons and grandsons, I was even able to dance!

The happy couple!

The groom and his sister,K1!

   Then on May 31st another grandson C1, graduated from high school, and will be leaving for the Air Force on June 25th.

  I have started sewing again finally and am doing a pattern for Peek-A-Boo Patterns right now! It's a sweet little sailor dress, very vintage. I remember having a similar dress when I was in grade school!

I will post pictures as soon as I get the go ahead! 

 Also, ( insert drum roll, please! ) I have the 100 dresses for the orphanage in South Africa packed and ready to send! My friend Stacy, who blogs at Stacy Sews and Schools  ( I can't get this link to be clickable, sorry Stacy ) sent some gorgeous dresses to include in the donation and hopefully I will be making some bags to help with her Bags of Hope and Love for kids new in the foster care system.

  But for right now, I am heading off to bed, because healing is still taking its toll on my stamina!

Night, Friends!

So many things.....

Well, it has been almost a week and I finally think I can stay awake long enough to draft a post! I had total joint replacement in my right knee last Monday. It has been painful and swollen, but when I think about the fact that in 6 days, I am already walking around with crutches or a walker and I went outside this afternoon,it blows me away!
I did a pattern test of the Submarine pullover from Shwin and !
( http://shwinandshwin.blogspot.com/ ) it is a great pattern and I can't wait to try more from her pattern store! Grandson D loved it and has already worn it several times so it must be special. : )

I'm praying that I feel well enough to sew soon because I found a cute tank style dress on clearance for $3 and I want to make one of those light weight jackets with the angled hemline to wear over it to the rehearsal dinner and possibly to Grandson C's graduation two weeks after the wedding!
If anyone has any pattern suggestions or new fabrics I might want to try, let me know here in comments or by private email! Right now I'm thinking a really lightweight knit in a pretty floral. The dress is white.
I'm doing this post from my bed, on the iPad and pictures are working strangely. There should be two pictures of D modeling the Submarine Pullover. If they don't show up I will try to add them to my next post!
Heading off to drug induced dreamland now, so everyone have a good Monday!

Wow! That weekend went fast!

 I had a great weekend! I hope you did as well.
 I started out by going to see Oz the Great and Powerful with daughter #2 and grandson X. I really enjoyed the movie and got to visit the newly reopened theatre in the nearest town. It has been really hard to see it closed down for the last year or so since it is the only theatre within 40 miles of us!

 I found a beautiful mother of the groom dress that had been donated to a thrift shop, new with its tags still intact, and it fits daughter #1 perfectly. It was only $20 and looks MUCH more expensive! She couldn't afford a nice dress for grandson B's wedding in May and now she will look like a (slighty aging) Princess.

 I also tried out the Washi Dress from Made-by-Rae and I made it in my own size! I haven't made anything for myself in years and this was a great pattern to pick for my return. It is an e-pattern which you download as a pdf file and then print off and tape together. It has 4 main pattern pieces and of course a facing. I made it on Saturday evening and wore it to a meeting on Sunday! It comes with sizes X-S through X-L included and there is a girls version called the Geranium Dress. It was really easy to sew (although I seem to have a taping deficiency), has great directions, and ran pretty true to size. I think I will try the Geranium Dress when I buy my next e-pattern!
 And finally I made some shorts for my 100 Dresses project. I am starting this project by making (with the help of my friends) 100 outfits for an orphanage in South Africa where my good friend Thelma has a ministry. I am a little over halfway there and when these are shipped of I will move on to another group that could use my help in obtaining 100 "dresses". I actually have a second group I am working on but it is so easy to do in my spare time that I sometimes forget it is there! I am making 100 bird toys for a fundraiser that our bird club is doing to benefit bird adoptions and wild bird studies.
  Thanks for reading my blog!!! Leave a comment and I will be sure to answer!

About me.......

Hi, I'm Pam! I live in Il (in a town probably about the size of your local Wal-Mart) with my husband and a house full of pets. We have four grown children and 11 grandchildren about whom I will talk incessantly!
I recently quit my job due to a medical problem so I will be sewing a lot more now! I hope, with the help of my friend and inspiration Stacy, of Stacy Sews and Schools to have a fun blog. And I will even post a link to her blog as soon as I figure out how!

Here are a few pictures to give you a peek at some of the things I hope to blog about!