After grinding through the cement that formed the tabletop, I could clean most of the house except the scatter cushion covers, the cushions on the dining room chairs, and the ceiling fans.  Hubby will still plaster the wall before painting, and that will also create dust.  I will wait until this is done before cleaning thoroughly.  The gap for the anthracite stove has been created, and progress has been made.

This quilt maker is fortunate; she has a friend with a beach house who allows her to use it.  She then decided to make him a table runner and wanted a motif resembling fish hooks, waves or shells.  I think the closed curl is the perfect match for all of these.

Indian print quilt

We survived hubby’s first week after surgery, and for the first couple of days, he mostly slept.  I am not sure whether he was all that tired or if it simply hurt too much to move.  I figured out how to be the perfect nurse.  With my gin in tow, I’d sit on the deck under the thatch roof where I had a good look at the main bedroom window, exactly on his position on the bed.  He complained about the hospital noises and the nurses, doing their jobs, shame, bothering him.  I vowed not to go into the room, and from this lovely spot, I could see any movement he made or whether he was awake and trying to get up.

Our dogs loved every moment he stayed in bed and did what they do best.

The moment he started moving, all hell broke loose.  The man went back to gardening as if nothing happened.  I warned, fought and pleaded.  Eventually I decided to agree with my friend, Karin, "I am not his mother", and stopped lecturing him.

Our son suggested a couple of series for us to watch to keep him still. For days, while he tried to fix everything he thought got neglected during his illness, we watched For All Mankind and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was several seasons with long episodes, which took a while to finish.

Next on our list was See. Although I am not a fan of fantasy, the storyline kept me intrigued.

We went freezer shopping as my one upright freezer quit just before we moved to the new place.  I struggled, as I am used to having four freezers.  I dislike shopping daily but also hate not having the ingredients when I want to make a recipe.  So I keep my freezers and grocery cupboard stocked.

Once again, my almost-always-tidy house is one big mess.  I dare not give hubby too much leisure time, or he will find something to change, fix, or demolish.  This time, he removed 2 cupboards in the living area.  One at the top and the other at the bottom to make room for an anthracite stove.  We can make a wood fire in the fireplace, but it means hubby has to walk in and out fetching wood regularly, which is no fun, especially in winter.  It will take me days to get rid of all the cement dust after the grinding to remove the tiled surface between the two cupboards.

Luckily. I received this Indian print quilt, so I had a good excuse to avoid the dust and noise and could retreat to my frame room.

The quilter only asked for straight-line horizontal stitching four inches apart.  She is now on vacation, but when she returns, she'll take a look and decide whether she needs vertical stitching as well.

Heart panel

A while ago, the urologist picked up a groin hernia on hubby and referred him to a surgeon.  He noticed another one on the other side.  The surgeon booked a theatre and gave hubby the choice of which of two dates he wanted it done.  Preferring to do it ASAP, he chose to have this done next Tuesday.  He will have to stay over in hospital for one night and then, for 6 weeks afterwards, no heavy lifting.  The latter part will be a nightmare for both of us.

Hubby is extremely active and constantly busy with something.  If not gardening, he’ll repair, build, maintain or clean something outside.  I appreciate this.  On rainy days, when he can't go outside, I am miserable.  He stays inside, and I suppose he feels he has to help me, and I really, really dislike this.  For years, with him working 6am to 6pm, the house was my territory and mine alone.  I had no help cleaning or cooking, and suddenly having a second body around feels more like a burden than help. Oh, yes, I would love him taking over the cooking, but then he should clean up afterwards, and his idea of clean and mine are not compatible.

I am looking forward to Tuesday when he gets admitted.  The hospital has a restaurant on the ground floor, and I have every intention to eat there and not cook for myself.  I am not a big eater, and having to constantly make something for a three-meals-a-day eater gets to me.  Not as much making the food, but the thought of what to make for the next meal.

Usually when I think I’ve planned something to perfection, it never works out, so I might just end up making a sandwich for myself.  Then, I can’t see at night.  With it being winter in South Africa, it becomes dark early, and I will have to visit him in the evening.  Hopefully I’ll be able to at least see my way home.  Luckily, the hospital is really close.

This pretty panel quilt was the last of 4 received from an out-of-town quilter. Not having opened the bag containing this one beforehand, I was so pleased; even though tired of quilting most every day, I looked forward to doing this.

I am up to date with all the quilts I had, with one booked towards the end of August and another somewhere in November.  I can now use this extra time to continue cleaning out cupboards.  I have a new way of thinking.  When opening a cupboard, I ask myself whether I would like to take the contents with me should I ever move again.  Those things I don’t want to pack and take along get thrown out.

Autumn bricks

I didn’t plan to quilt on Sunday as I invited the kids for supper.  I made lamb liver cakes (similar to fish cakes but with ground liver) served with mashed potatoes and caramelised onions. My kids still enjoy traditional South African dishes, and I love making them for them, as very few youngsters nowadays grow up with or appreciate them.  Not as if my kids are ‘youngsters’ anymore. Occasionally, when they have birthdays, and I realise their age, I actually feel sorry for them for being that old.

On Monday, National Women’s Day, as I started gathering ingredients for supper, hubby said I should not cook, as we have several plates of leftover food in the fridge and we should finish that first.  Music to my ears!

The weather bureau warned about a sudden severe cold front from Monday with wind, rain, hail and snow, but when we got up, apart from being cloudy, nothing much of the forecast was seen.  I just finished cleaning the house when it started to rain.  By then, the wind had also gathered speed; soon afterwards the hail started.  It was bitterly cold!

Not able to work outside on the paving, hubby brought in wood and started an indoor fire in what is supposed to be the indoor barbecue.  He, however, is not much of a barbecue man, so it mostly serves as a fireplace.  Many moons ago, he promised to start cooking once retired, but 5 years in, I had no such luck.

With the ambience from the fire, I didn’t feel like doing anything chore-related, and we settled by the TV and watched no less than 2 movies.  I took a mean afternoon nap under a thick, warm blanket, and for once I enjoyed National Women’s Day.

With me having plenty of R&R on Monday, it was back to normal yesterday.  I got to finish this one.

Not all quilters name or label their quilts, and then I try to come up with a name, just not to start every post with “another quilt”.  This is exactly what happened here.

Second owl quilt

 I got this loaded right after I finished the first but had some grocery shopping to do and only started the actual quilting later in the day.  Being for one of a twin, the same edge-to-edge motif was used.

When I opened this and saw the blue background, I wondered if I had the sexes right.  I initially believed the red was for the boy and the other one (whilst still in the package) would be for the girl.  Now I am not that sure anymore.  It is, however, nice to see how different the same main fabric turns out when used with different colours.

I managed to finish this one too.  

I made hake with a creamed mushroom sauce for supper yesterday, and the smell had me hungry from the time I finished cooking.  I always had a soft spot for any fish dish.