WOYWW 487–Boxes and Leaves

Where does the time go? Another Wednesday has rolled around in what feels like 24 hours, all ready for another desk fest, and we are now into October!

Here is my desk as of Tuesday evening.

I have made good progress on my two boxes this week. They are now assembled, and in the above photo, the lids are just laid on top. I have yet to make flaps for the lids, and hinges for them, and also I was awaiting the arrival of some metal embellishments that I’d bought on Ebay, which came on Monday.

I may not use the corners on these boxes because I’m not sure they will work with the lid design I’ve chosen, and the feet have their own corners on them. The handles are a little bit smaller than I’d hoped, and I may not use these either on this project, but the two clasps I bought are absolutely gorgeous and will definitely be used. The rest can be kept in reserve for other projects as they are always useful to have in. All these metal fittings came with numerous small screws or pins for attaching them, but using them on mounting board boxes, I shall attach them with brads instead, and also use some glue.

To see what else I’ve done, you can see my previous post here, and in the meantime, here’s a shot of the finished decoration on the insides of the boxes.

Crochet

I’ve made a few more leaves for embellishing my striped scarf.

These are a bit larger than the previous ones, from another lovely pattern on Youtube. You can’t see very clearly in this picture but the design incorporates some decorative holes. They are fun to do now I’ve stopped getting lost with the pattern and forgetting to turn the work, and ending up with something looking distinctly un-leaf-like! They are nice to do when I’m resting with my feet up.

Cooking

Not a lot of activity in the kitchen this week because I’ve been really tired, having been burning the candle at both ends recently and needing to step back a bit and rest. I made more sourdough at the weekend, though.

I’m getting generally consistent results these days and I’m quite pleased with my loaves, but I’d like them to rise a bit higher. Nice open crumb, though, and a lovely flavour and texture. The only trouble is, the loaf doesn’t last the week! Sourdough keeps much better than regular bread but we do get through it rather quickly! It is time consuming to make, not involving a great deal of work, but I have to be here to attend to it regularly throughout a whole day. I’m not set up for making larger quantities so I think I’m going to have to go back to making normal bread in between, so we don’t run out!

Kitties

Only pictures of Ruby this week – sitting comfortably on my hubby’s chair…

…until he decided he wanted to sit down, so he bundled her up in order to dump her on my lap!

Lily was upstairs on the bed. Earlier this evening, my hubby told me they had a bit of a spat, fighting and swearing at each other. It was apparently mostly Lily, and we have no idea what brought it on, but perhaps Ruby was doing something to irritate her sister? A bit of sibling rivalry, no doubt. Fortunately everything was soon quite all right again. They really love each other and are usually together. We are getting tremendous kitty choruses at feeding time now the weather is getting colder and they are getting very hungry!

Health Update

I cancelled two things on Sunday because I was so tired. My activity level has crept up quite a bit lately, which is good in a way because it does prove I’ve got a bit more energy these days (I put this down to my change of diet and especially the inclusion of the fermented foods) but I was getting to the stage when I was starting to feel a bit desperate because I was so busy. This also meant that for months I’ve hardly had any time to spend in the studio, and getting back to that again just recently has shown me just how much I was missing it, and how much I need to be making art. As a result I have decided to cut back on some of my activities in order to take the pressure off a bit.

Regarding my ongoing gut problems, I don’t think there’s any doubt now that my hernia has returned. It seems to have grown over the past week, and I can now see it and it’s quite large. This is reassuring from one standpoint, because at least it’s not as likely to cause an obstruction as a small one, according to my surgeon. On Monday I had a lot of trouble with my stoma as a result, having to change the bag twice because of leaks, but I think that may have been my fault. To provide a bit more support, I decided to wear two pairs of worn-out support pants instead of the one. They certainly did feel nice and supportive but perhaps they were exerting too much pressure and stopping things working properly. I’ve gone back to one pair again and so far, so good! Hopefully the first of the new set of pants will arrive soon, and if they fit OK, I can order the remaining two pairs straight away. If I get further problems in advance of my CT scan on 18th, I shall make an appointment to see the stoma nurse and ask her to sort something out for me and maybe arrange for me to see my surgeon asap. The last thing I want is further surgery. It’s all very disappointing because it means that I went through all that terrible experience in the spring for nothing.

Have a great week, everyone.