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My desk on Tuesday night.

I have been continuing to work on my Infusions samples and the desk shows the end of the evening’s session. You can see the blank sheets on top of the toilet paper roll on the left, my bubble wrap stamp under the tape rack, and then two piles of completed samples. My Versamark pad and a piece of Cut-n-Dry foam, a failed sample, and at the front, a sample created by stamping with Versamark and then applying Infusions which are then lightly spritzed with water. There’s a small sheet of notes of ideas to try, and the usual detritus of a busy desk!

Here are the latest samples I’ve completed.

Ones of particular interest are the stamped ones at the front, for example:

and the ones using texture – firstly, textured gesso:

and then textured gel mediums, for instance glass bead gel medium.

I also tried the woodgrain technique, painting on the Infusions that have first been mixed with a little water.

This was quite an interesting one as it incorporates some Golden crackle paste which I had fun experimenting with.

I also created some interesting textures by pressing into Polyfilla and applying other materials:

You can read about all these by scrolling back through previous posts.

Dry Rot in the Kitchen

Last Thursday the damp expert came round (I mean, the expert in damp – he didn’t arrive in a rainstorm!) and had a look at our problem in the kitchen cupboard. He confirmed at first glance that we have dry rot. He explained what will need to be done, but cannot tell us the extent until he takes the floor up in the corner of the kitchen. Best case scenario is that it is confined to that corner only, but he will have to cut back the timbers well into the healthy part to make sure it won’t spread again, but it means the fitted double oven has got to be moved. Worst case scenario is that it has spread under the sitting room. I am not allowing myself to worry too much till we know what we are dealing with. He sent us his estimate which was more or less what he told us verbally, and today he rang to say he hopes to start the work a week on Thursday (6th April).

We are fortunate in that we have Mum’s kitchen to decamp into while this is going on, and her sitting room if he has to work in ours. Over the past few days I’ve gradually been clearing the old cupboard in the kitchen and moving stuff into Mum’s kitchen, so I won’t have to do it all at once and in a rush.

I’ve been doing some research into walk-in pantries and am quite excited now about what we might end up with! Hopefully the kitchen fitter will be able to start work as soon as the damp expert has finished.

Health Update

On Monday, Kermit, my stoma, celebrated his second birthday! I cannot believe that it is two whole years since I went into hospital for my bowel cancer surgery which left me minus my entire colon and with a permanent ileostomy. Unfortunately, having been so poorly recently and in hospital, I’ve had a lot of catching up to do since I’ve turned the corner with my recovery, and haven’t had time to do any baking, so this year he didn’t have a birthday cake or a party – last year the Allerton Three got together and pigged out on cake – we all met on Allerton Ward having our bowel cancer surgeries and have remained firm friends ever since.

Apart from the usual problems in the early days, and recent problems caused by the hernia (recently repaired, and requiring further surgery), I have had no problems with Kermit and am very happy to have him. Life is much better with an ileostomy than with miserable ulcerative colitis, I can tell you, and having him has saved my life into the bargain!

Phoebe

Last week I reported that the vet had said she thought Phoebe had bowel cancer. Over the following days she picked up and started eating again, and has seemed quite well again, so after the weekend my hubby took her back to the vet to see if she’d been wrong and it was a blockage that had got shifted by all the palpations she did, but she confirmed that there is still a mass there. She said that as long as she seems well and is managing to eat, we don’t need to worry, but obviously we are to keep an eye on her. If she doesn’t eat for a day or two, she does tend to lose weight rapidly. The vet weighed her again and she had regained some weight which is good news.

Beatrice is getting quite wobbly on her legs (at 16 1/2) and so we’ve put a stool under her radiator hammock to give her a bit of a leg-up! Her balance isn’t as good as it was and she’s got a lot less spring in her legs. I think she needs a granny frame. The trouble is she thinks she can still do all the things she did when she was young! Just like humans do…

Two sunbathing kitties.

Phoebe at the front, Beatrice at the back. They love the flat sitting room that gets all the sun.

Finally – we were in a rush to get to church on Sunday and when we arrived we could hear them singing, so we crept in, only to find they were singing the final hymn! Yes, you’ve guessed it… we BOTH completely forgot to change the clocks!! Duh. We arrived just in time for coffee!