Down But Not Out

 Well, hello.

I'm back. I'm tired and feel out of touch. But I'm here.

A short run down of what's been happening:

Saturday I was present when my sister, Leslie, won a major award for her service to our community.

The Ball-Sholty Award is given for meaningful service to the historical preservation of our community.

Even more meaningful, to her and to me, was that our mother, Fern Martin, received this award in 2012. 

Things went downhill after that.

Late Saturday night I suddenly became very ill with a bug that kept me up all night and through Sunday. It's Wednesday and I am still nauseated and weak, but I am better.

Our internet went down Monday just after I'd posted here that I was ill. Craig can usually figure tech things out, but this was bigger than his knowledge and so we had to schedule an appointment for service to come out and get us back online. Their earliest appointment? Wednesday afternoon. (Thank you to Nancy Kelly for posting a note in the comments as to why I was not writing!)

But wait! There's more! (As the old commercial used to cry.)

Our hot water heater (just purchased in November) suddenly stopped producing hot water. You don't realize how much you use it until you don't have it - no dishwasher, no showers, no laundry. We settled in for a wait on a repair to that, too.

Feeling a little better, on Tuesday I finished the work on a men's 18th century shirt I was making for Kalamazoo. This fabric is so cool - can you see its motif of elephants?

It was while I was doing a final ironing of the shirt that my iron gave up the ghost. The heat control dial has a plastic piece that allows you to turn the dial to adjust the iron's temperature. That piece, heavily used for years, broke and could not be repaired.

I use my iron near-daily. It gets lots of use and as such, is made for that. Which means, I can't just run to Target and get another iron. Stores like Target, Walmart, and JoAnn's don't carry this kind of iron. So, I had to order a new one. Which meant another wait.

Our run of "what could happen next?" still wasn't over. Craig came down with the same thing I'd had. Like it did with me, it came on suddenly and it came on hard. He is not one to get sick and the rare times he does, bounces back quickly. This illness knocked him flat. I think it is the sickest I have ever seen him. He's a little more alert this morning but he is very weak and still not able to eat. I'm keeping a close eye on him.

Finally, remember that fall I had over a week ago when I was cleaning my collection? 

While the scrapes are healing and the bruising is fading, there is a hard lump on my shin that hurts constantly. I am going to call my doctor and run this past her as I am wondering if I have a bone bruise or even a crack in the bone.

I did that once before - I fell (imagine that!), but waited a month to see a doctor. It turned out that I'd cracked the bone and had to be in a walking cast for six weeks. It has crossed my mind that it's possible I may have done that again. 

January was a tough month for us, and looks like February may be more of the same. We're both a bit down, but we're not out. At least, not yet. (And we do have hot water and the internet!)

More tomorrow on the Give Away and other horsey things.

Stay 'tooned!