Dale's Surgery

Dale had back surgery Thursday. He's been out of work for a year & a quarter because he injured his back. It took this long for approval by the insurance company.

Here he is pretending to sleep right after he was brought to his hospital room. He stayed in overnight, and then came home. It should be an 8 week recovery process that includes a lot of walking. His doctor also said something about physical therapy. The goal is to return to work, of course.

It's been a long and painful journey for Dale, and hopefully he'll feel a whole lot better as he heals. Meanwhile, he's got our dogs and me cheering him on and trying not to be too obvious about taking care of him.

shibori dyeing

Saturday was dye day at Elaine's farm. We're preparing for the Puyallup Spring Fair and so I wanted to do some shibori dyeing. We dyed 2 yard pieces in my everlasting indigo pot. This indigo was mixed up last October. When the Fiber Fun Day in October was over, we just cooled it down and stored it. To get it going again, it just needed some lye solution & spectralyte solution and to be heated up to the right temp.

To make this first one, I folded the fabric lengthwise back and forth about 6 inches wide. Then scrunched the length and tied it tightly with fabric ties in about 6 places. The ties act as the resist and keep the dye out of part of the fabric.

For this second one, I folded the fabric like a flag, then used the sewing machine to sew triangle shaped mazes (one for each end of the fabric).

And this third one was done by wrapping the fabric around a PVC drain pipe, then scrunching it up into a donut shape and then chaining a linen yarn in one inch or so spaces to hold the donut tight.

In between dying, Sofie had a chance to do a tiny bit of sheep herding (ok, she just barked at them through the fence...we're still rehabbing her leg from the cruciate surgery), chase a cat, and admire chickens and cows in the rare sunshine.

Xolair

A couple months ago, I went to my allergist/asthma doc to find out if there was anything new on the asthma scene. I've had persistant asthma with frequent exacerbations with allergy and viral triggers. Working in a pediatric clinic exposes me to both, actually. And this has been a particularly rough year for the asthma. Could be the stress of losing my grandma & dad all in one year. But I really have had worse asthma this year, and have gotten sick a lot too.

Soooo, he suggested this shot-Xolair

My insurance actually approved the shot (it's really expensive). so we'll see if it makes my asthma a little easier to manage this summer.


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