Sunday Evening

Lost ten pounds this week due to a hard hitting case of the flu. My gentleman friend dropped off groceries to me on Friday, and within hours, was also ill. Today is the first day I've kept down anything more substantial than broth, but I'm being cautious. Will be delighted when it's over. I'll be ecstatic once I can be more than thirty feet from the bathroom.

Funny, I've spent so much time in the bathroom this week that I'm thoroughly sick of being in there being sick. Yes, I meant to word that last sentence exactly that way. Truly, I'm ready to redecorate it after countless hours spent in there holding tightly to my throw up bowl.

I'm ready to be out in the yard. Twigs and branches need picking up, the patio cleared of leaves. My hanging plants need to be disposed of when the nests inside are finally abandoned by the finch families who set up housekeeping in them. Just the usual things you do when you have a yard and do a bit of gardening.

The weather is lovely right now. More like summers in Indiana than in Oklahoma. It's usually in the nineties and hundreds here, but lately we're enjoying eighties. It's so pleasant, and I want to be out in it. 

My poor Beastie's allergies are wreaking havoc on her. No fleas or tics. It's cut grass that has her covered in rash. Her allergy meds just aren't working anymore, so they need switching. I need to give her another oatmeal bath to sooth her skin.

She has more friends, a few German Shepherds, a Pitt Bull, a Chihuahua, and believe it or not, a cat. Poor girl, she was laying down, minding her own business, when a young cat jumped on her and promptly fell asleep. It was so funny. She had no idea what to do about it. Actually, she truly wasn't given a choice. The cat decided that they were going to be friends, and that's how it happened. Now, when we go to my friend's home, my Beastie knows that she and her little pal will be napping together.

The backgammon boards are a hobby that I should have taken up years ago. I'm having such fun making them. I've given half a dozen as gifts. My techniques are rapidly improving, and I'm exploring different mediums and patterns in making them. No two alike, and that's exactly my intention. All unique, and most are designed from images of boards in museums from the first through the eighteenth centuries.

I designed a label to put on them today. The background is a photo I took of one of my Stargazer Lillies which bloomed recently. The text reads "Delightful Ambiguities by Suzanne". They printed up nicely onto fabric, and are ready to cut out and attach to the boards.

I'd love to get good enough at making them to sell them. It will take more eyesight than I have in order to make them that well. For now, I'm pleased to make them as gifts.

Speaking of sight... The reds are finally starting to go. It was one of the last colors that I had remaining. Heartbreaking, I've been clinging tightly to those colors as the others diminished and faded. Also, the lights are left on 24/7 now. Everything either whites out or goes black beyond a narrow range of lighting. Just walking through the house is a challenge of sight blinking in and out constantly. I'm not adjusting well to it all.

Enough for now...