October 2011 | Himiko No Sekkai

In all the upheaval one could be fooled into thinking that I did no sewing whatsoever.

But I did. Some very special sewing indeed. With a bit of story that goes with it.

You see, in May the best dog in the world -grans' dog- died. After almost 13 years she left quite a hole in our hearts and lives. And although there won't ever be a dog like her again, gran decided to get a new dog to have some life around the house again. My oldest who's an amazing animal friend is thrilled to bits. She'll more or less be the assisting owner of this dog as she will spend several afternoons over at our place while gran is off to work. Yihaa! Boy, oh boy, this is so exciting...

And this weekend we went to see the puppies for the first time. Aren't they the cutest thing ever?

puppies

Ten days old in this picture and cute as pie! Tibetan Terriers disguised as panda bears...

One of these two sisters will be our 'Alice'.

And to make sure Alice will be comfy around here, I made her some blankets. This is the quilted one:

dog blanket

quilt front

quilting lines

quilt

A little quilt made from all cotton fabrics and measuring about 110 cms square.

Cheerful dotted binding and a fun label to make sure nobody gets confused over ownership.

It's all quilted by hand following the seams of the pattern both on the inside and outside of the seam. Within the star shape patchwork centers I added an extra quilted double diamond figure... just to be a bit fancy. Cause let's face it... a dog with a pedigree that holds the name 'Klara-Alice du Comble de Bonheur' needs a bit of a fancy blanket n'est-ce pas?

So first things first. My daughter is back from hospital and is all better. Her hand is now looking much more like a child's hand rather than a big balloon. And now that she has finished the follow up antibiotics, she's no longer tired out.

As to what caused all the trouble.... she's giving the medical world a bit of a run for their money. At first they were convinced it was all due to a bacterial infection. Then they changed their minds and went for a total allergic reaction... only to conclude that most likely it was a combination of the two.

By now we've got the results of the testing back and the good news is that the allergic reaction was a local one. She won't go into shock when bitten by a mosquito. Great relief... cause from personal experience with shock, I don't wish that on anyone.

The tricky thing is however that at any given time she might react heavily to a bite again. And apparently when the allergic reaction is big enough -even if it's in a contained area- it can evoke a bacterial infection. That's what happened here. Fancy that... low odds but hey...

So apart from squashing every mosquito within sight, applying cortisone creme and taking a histaminic we just have to cross our fingers that it won't go all infected anyway.

I think it's safe to say that we're an odd household in every way possible. We don't mind though. Usually it doesn't hurt! :)

Woods and hospitals. Yes.

Two extremes on the spectrum you might think but don't be fooled into thinking the two aren't connected. We've learnt this lesson this past week.

It went something like this:

On what must have been the most glorious of autumn days we decided to take ourselves off to the woods for some healthy hiking. The sun was warm and golden, the woods were luscious...

woods

the mushrooms were plenty...

mushroom

and we all enjoyed the walk. Little legs took thousands of steps during hours while crossing from pine forests to meadows, moors and pond sides.

wood girls

So far, I assume, you're still with me. That night we all fell asleep without further ado.

Until about 6 in the morning.... when a young child started complaining that her hand hurt.

A bad case of a mosquito bite. Something for the itching and the swelling -yes, mosquito bites in our household usually turn out bad- and all was well again.

Until the oldest woke in the morning. The mosquitos had gotten to her as well. And a nasty red big bump was growing on the side of her hand. Something for the itching and swelling and off she went to school.

By the time school was out, the upper part of her hand had joined in the swelling and she was complaining about pain. Now, she's good with pain. To give you an idea of how good... last week the dermatologist froze up three warts on her foot and finger and she didn't even blink... So, with her complaining of pain we went to the pharmacy for something a bit stronger. It seemed to do the trick.

But then by 5 in the morning, she woke up crying. And no wonder. Her hand had swollen to three times the original size. The lower part of her fingers and wrist were joining in the fun. She could hardly bend her fingers, her hand was flaming red and hot and the skin so unbelievably tight. After a call to the doctor she was off the emergency department of hospital.

Were she still is. In hospital that is. No longer the emergency department but pedeatrics.On an iv with antibiotics.

It looks like her hand fell victim to a bacterial infection and most likely an allergic reaction as well.

She's getting better though. Fortunately. However, without the big sister and the husband who's staying over at hospital with her, the house is filled with the wrong kind of quiet and feels rather empty.

So woods and hospitals..... don't be fooled.

I for one am looking for some mosquito free woods. Any suggestions?

Just dropping by to give you a peek into what I'll be doing this week. It's going to be a hectic month. Many projects with deadlines, important birthday deadlines as well, and many dates with theaters, friends and get togethers.

As soon as I find a moment I'll share some of the stuff I managed to finish of last week but for now I'd better get moving with this little lot:

yarn and quilt

yarn

Madeline Tosh, sock, in color 'Winter weath'... ah...a knitter's life can hardly get any better!

And now for some sewing

Better!

Of woods and hospitals

What to do?