I'm Still Here, Stitch Crafting, Reading a Few Good Books and Watering a Plant or Two.

Wow! it's been quite a while since I made a blog post.  I can't believe so much time has gone by since my post on Novemv2025.  I can't believe I only made 10 post in 2025 what happened to me? Well for one thing I was ill in the beginning of 2025 and didn't much feel like posting on March 13th I was diagnosed with Endometrial cancer and had a total hysterectomy on March 18th only to discover I also had Ovarian cancer. Both were in the early stages but the ovarian cancer was an aggressive type. Onto Chemo on May 1st which came a host of problems and a week long hospital stay beginning on Mother’s Day. By the second cycle of Chemo on July 15^th I was so weak and ill I barely sat up for 3 weeks. I made the decision to stop all the chemo I just felt I wouldn't survive 4 more cycles and so far there are no signs of more cancer.  

It has taken me months to recover from just those 2 cycles, not being in the best of health when I started didn't help I'm sure, The A-Fib was already kicking my butt with lack of energy, but the side effects of the chemo especially the neuropathy in my hands and feet continue to plague me so it's been a battle.  I would say I probably have 25% of the energy I once had and I strive everyday to improve that.  

The cold weather has really grabbed my attention, gone are the days where I would toss on a sweatshirt and hit the walking trail the brisk cold air nipping at my steps was exhilarating. At work I wear a wooly hat, fingerless gloves and a hoodie all day when the temps are in the 20's and 30's here in Florida.  

Here is a photo of me at my son's warehouse where I work. My hair is growing back slowly but I feel the cold and the neuropathy makes the cold worse on my hands and feet. Without the medication I take for the neuropathy I imagine it would be worse.  The big drawback with the medication is weight gain and swelling which never seems to go away.  I just can't seem to get warm.  On days when it's warm enough I take short walks here in the warehouse parking lot and up and down the street where I now live.  I am determined to get my energy and activity levels back to where they once were. My hair slowly growing back this is me in Oct. 2025 and Feb. 2026.

 Can it be that more than 3 months have passed and I had nothing to say? Not quite, I just didn't have the energy to sit and type a blog post. I barely had energy to make my bed and any extra energy I did have I made time to stitch, stitching by hand brings me a calm and joy I don't find anywhere else except when I garden which isn't an option at this time.  I have more energy now so I hope to get back to post more often.

One of my Stitch-craft projects I have been working on is my little goddess dolls which has become a little bit of an obsession for me.  These are the newest goddesses I made in 2026. The Joy goddess doll I made for my word of the year the others have been sent to Facebook friends from a group I am in. 

I am currently working on a little pocket altar/shrine that I had been planning to make for a few weeks All of a sudden I see several of the Stitching YouTube Channels I watch making Pocket shrine/altars as well.

I started out making my base, then layered my fabric scraps how I wanted them, pinned them down and started stitching them down using the running stitch.

I made a few hand embroidered pieces to add to my pocket altar, the little pocket is one of my favorite pieces

It took me 3 hours to make this little pocket because I had to keep putting it aside to let my fingers rest a bit.  The pain from the neuropathy can be quite intense, it's like getting 1000 paper cuts all at once when I touch something or hold my needle.

This little hand took about 40 minutes, the Witch knot a little longer.  Ignore the little black line I thought I had used a heat erasable pen to draw the hand but I didn't.

I will probably add a hand drawn spiral as a pocket, I love a good spiral or perhaps a labyrinth.

Here is the piece I made for the word Noble for the Gone Rustic Words 2026 SAL.

I chose the Noble Heart. I used royal blue floss to stitch the heart spiral to pick up the blues in the scrap pieces. The words Kindness, Courage, Compassion and Strength are veiled behind the scrap of lace. I decided to have the words hidden because one of the attributes of Noble is Selfless which I see as quietly hidden.

This is my piece for the K3n clothtales A-Z of Slow Stitch 2026 SAL. The first weeks word: Applique. My piece is a Compass. I embroidered the compass before I appliqued it to my slow stitched square. Then for a little added fun I embroidered a tiny scroll which you can see it unfurled in the 2nd photo.  It says May you never lose your way.

 Last month I joined the American Cancer Society's Read Every Day Challenge on Facebook, I read these books during the month of February. 

I’m still reading the Apothecary of Belonging I read the 1^st section now I'm waiting for the Spring Equinox to begin the Spring section.

I love the illustrations in the book and those lovely floral end pages, I love a pretty end paper don't you?

Yesterday began the round of cardiac testing to see why I have been short of breath these past few weeks. I don’t know if the horrendous swelling in my legs, feet and hands (a side effect of the Lyrica I take for the neuropathy which is a side effect of the Chemo). Or the weight gain another side effect of the above mentioned medication. Or maybe the A-Fib is getting worse. The Stress Test and Cat scan was done yesterday, in April I have the Echocardiogram and bilateral Lower Extremity Arterial test. I had hoped 2026 would be a year without doctors and medical test except for my quarterly Oncologist visit.  

On February 14^th it was finally such a wonderful warm day instead of walking up and down my street for my daily walk I headed to Bob Wines Camellia Gardens & Nursery. It was so nice to be among the plants and flowers, there were some very active bees among the marigolds and pansies unfortunately I couldn't snap a photo because the ground is uneven and I have to watch my footing. Illness and recovery kept me from having any real garden last year and the few plants I had died away while I was in the hospital last Spring. This year I'm still in the recovery stage but decided I would like to have a few potted plants so today I bought a new Rosemary plant. 

She is lush, green and smells amazing. I'm going to transplant her into a larger pot once Spring arrives. I bought 2 small Terracotta pots and a Catnip plant for my cat. I have a weakness for terracotta flower pots even though they tend to suck water from the soil.

The Rosemary pot is actually plastic she is doing quite well and I remembered to put her in the garage for several days when the temps dropped to 20 again here in Florida last month, this week we hit the high 80’s so on the porch she gets morning sun and afternoon shade. I’m debating planting her in the ground or just a larger pot. I have 2 faux whiskey barrels I’d like to plant up with a few flowers and herbs just to keep my hands in the soil. I still have time to sort that out.

So little by little, step by step, stitch by stitch and page by page I am beginning to feel like myself again or maybe just a watered down version of myself.  I may not be able to stitch without pain or walk my daily walk but each day I take a deep breath and keep moving forward.