Sewing in the Foothills...among other things

Hello from the foothills where we had very mild weather around the new year so that the daffodils  tried to bloom this month, but our recent cold wave only allowed one to bloom.  It froze in place for a few days then wilted.   Ah well.

On the other hand my new Christmas Cactus made a fair show for us.

I've been experiencing a bit of crafty deja vu.  Back in the 80s I made some macrame handbags and a few other things that were in vogue at the time, but I'd never made a plant hanger so I gave that a whirl since we last visited.  In the 80s macrame was just macrame - now it's Boho style.  

I'm now thinking about making a hanging chair, lol.  I'll let you know if that works out.

I've since been sewing with the fabric beneath my mug of Chai tea, but first the tea.  Did you know that adding a couple of star anise pods to your tea gives you a small,.natural dose of shikimic acid which is the precursor to the pharmeceutical anti-flu drug contained in Tamiflu?  Cheers!

I made a Toaster Sweater by Sew House Seven.  It's a comfy little top that is fairly easy to sew.  Mine is the dropped shoulder version on the right.  The pattern is super easy to make with only three pieces to sew.

Here it is all finished.  I'm still debating if I want a matching skirt.

I've sewn for years, but only last year did I buy a serger.   I got the Brother 1034D, and my only regret is that I didn't get it sooner.   Over-locked seams are a real time saver.

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Don't Ever Have A Heart Attack on Medicare....
That's a little something to remember in case you may start to have a coronary episode when you're older and on Medicare.  I hear that if you have other insurance not connected to Medicare you'll be okay to proceed with the attack and be treated well at a hospital, otherwise you may regret the whole business. Here's why I've drawn this conclusion:

True $tory
A former elementary school teacher had a heart attack just two years ago and found herself in the hospital.  She'd had trouble breathing and was experiencing chest pain so her sons took her to the ER.  She was examined and sure enough had had a heart attack.  She was admitted and taken to a room where the air-conditioning wasn't working.  This was in the South in the middle of the summer.  It gets really hot here y'all.  The sons demanded a fan and one was brought to her room.  The next day someone came to get the fan to take it to another room, but the sons told them the fan was staying where it was.  The former school teacher is diabetic, but the food that was brought to her room were things she couldn't eat, very high in carbohydrates.  When she told the nurse she couldn't eat the food she was told to go ahead and they'd give her a round of fast-acting insulin.  I won't go into all the sordid details of the actual medical care, but that part is not a happy story, either.  The former teacher had dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's when she signed up for Medicare Part A and makes monthly payments for Part B to cover everything Part A doesn't cover.  I'm as baffled as everyone else, but it seems to me that times have changed drastically in the past 15 years.  Where the elderly were once cared for in the hospital, they don't seem to be important patients unless they have additional insurance that charges can be submitted to.
Eat healthy y'all.

Gluten free Mediterranean omlette

It's a high-dollar world out there that you may not want to have to deal with.