The good news is that one month to the day after the last bike accident, I have had a followup CT scan which has cleared me to resume normal activities, including bike riding, as long as I "don't hit the head again" and " don't strain or do anything to put undue pressure on the brain." Some days this might include thinking so I am going to take the meaning of "don't strain" as being physical as in weight and resistance training.
So, since my head is as good as it is going to get, I have a new helmet, the bike is prepped, the ribs are no longer painful except for direct heavy pressure, my shoulder and neck have loosened up, the bruises are fading and the scar is still purple but starting to fade slightly in some parts, I am good to go as I will ever be.
There is a wedding pending in June. At some point around Christmas when the happy event was announced, I decided that it might be nice to make the happy couple a piece of bobbin lace in the form of a wedding handkerchief. However, in the past four years my focus has been on bike riding, getting in shape and losing weight for more bike riding, weaving in some formerly unpracticed hand weaving techniques and hand spinning. I have one long bobbin lace edging that I work on sporadically now and then and have been for the last 6-8 years, but it has definitely been on the back burner for at least the last 4 years .
In addition to all of that, there have been two four week periods during which I was pretty much cruising on pain killers and not managing to do much more than fumble through the days or staying upright more than an hour or two at a time. All sorts of things besides lace have gotten put on the back burner, or fallen off the grid entirely.
As is common, at least in this household, when things get put on the back burner, associated bits and pieces, tools, extra acoutrements and the like get put away in "safe" places where they won't get lost. Either these things immediately go walk about, or my brain figures that since they are in a "safe" place, it should forget where that "safe" place is for security reasons. Suffice it to say that a number of basic lace making supplies which I might need to start a new piece of bobbin lace have followed this path.
So after several days of burrowing in "the fiber closet" and various other hidey holes, I finnaly assembled the requisite bits and pieces, bobbins, threads, cover cloths , bobbin holders, etc. got the bobbins wound and got the piece started. And there it sits. The basic problem is that I bit off more than I can chew technique wise. If I had been working in Binche as much as formerly, it wouldn't be as bad and might even have sort of come back to me automatically. As it is I haven't been doing much lace at all, much less Binche Lace with 270 threads plus gimps. Add to that the fact that I am still being slow in my thinking and reasoning after the two recent accidents so realisticaly it isn't going to happen. I spent three weeks grappling with the lace and another week grappling with cutting it off and giving up or not and finally have cut it off. I had a thought that I might find an easier , smaller piece of Bucks and do that instead, but after another couple of days of reasoning with myself and smacking myself mentally(metaphorically) up side the head, realize that that is not going to happen either so......
The only consolation to all this is that in the process of rooting around in various bins, bags and boxes of lacemaking, fiber, weaving, cross stitch and craft supplies, a sort of spring cleaning has happened and things are a bit more organized or at least I think they are.
Many years ago my mother went on a French cooking phase and decided of all things, one time, to make "Pheasant Under Glass". Much "hoo ha " ensued and several days later, and many pots, pans and dishes later we sat down to savor it. I'll never forget my mother tasting, sighing, tasting again, slapping down her fork and declaring "well, if I had known this was all it was I could have made it in two pans in about three hours." I think my tendencies for one pan stews where you just throw everything in and hope for the best cooking dates from that experience. Suffice it to say that the other day I came across a recipe for a Moroccan Chicken Pie that looked interesting. I obviously skim read the directions the first time because when I sat down to make it, it turned into a two day, cook it, cool it overnight, mix it in with other ingredients, cook it and then put it in 10 layers of phyllo dough and then cook it again experience. It was delicious, but it was another "if I had known this is what it was, I could have done it in one pot in three hours" sort of experience. I guess it pays to read the directions all the way through, carefully, the first time, before tearing off and cooking it up. But then where's the fun in that?
The weather is gradually warming, I have done a couple of 30 -35 miles rides with the SAG guy and alone and am working out with the trainer again. It is a long, slow and in some cases painful experience but I am beginning to feel a bit better about things and am not having any problems on the bike with balance, coordination and or traffic situations so I might even be in shape enough to enjoy the upcoming Texas Hill Country Tour with my sister at the beginning of April.
Your church sign for today is "in life theball is in your court, after death it's Gods' turn", or "Rapture, the only way to fly."
So, since my head is as good as it is going to get, I have a new helmet, the bike is prepped, the ribs are no longer painful except for direct heavy pressure, my shoulder and neck have loosened up, the bruises are fading and the scar is still purple but starting to fade slightly in some parts, I am good to go as I will ever be.
There is a wedding pending in June. At some point around Christmas when the happy event was announced, I decided that it might be nice to make the happy couple a piece of bobbin lace in the form of a wedding handkerchief. However, in the past four years my focus has been on bike riding, getting in shape and losing weight for more bike riding, weaving in some formerly unpracticed hand weaving techniques and hand spinning. I have one long bobbin lace edging that I work on sporadically now and then and have been for the last 6-8 years, but it has definitely been on the back burner for at least the last 4 years .
In addition to all of that, there have been two four week periods during which I was pretty much cruising on pain killers and not managing to do much more than fumble through the days or staying upright more than an hour or two at a time. All sorts of things besides lace have gotten put on the back burner, or fallen off the grid entirely.
As is common, at least in this household, when things get put on the back burner, associated bits and pieces, tools, extra acoutrements and the like get put away in "safe" places where they won't get lost. Either these things immediately go walk about, or my brain figures that since they are in a "safe" place, it should forget where that "safe" place is for security reasons. Suffice it to say that a number of basic lace making supplies which I might need to start a new piece of bobbin lace have followed this path.
So after several days of burrowing in "the fiber closet" and various other hidey holes, I finnaly assembled the requisite bits and pieces, bobbins, threads, cover cloths , bobbin holders, etc. got the bobbins wound and got the piece started. And there it sits. The basic problem is that I bit off more than I can chew technique wise. If I had been working in Binche as much as formerly, it wouldn't be as bad and might even have sort of come back to me automatically. As it is I haven't been doing much lace at all, much less Binche Lace with 270 threads plus gimps. Add to that the fact that I am still being slow in my thinking and reasoning after the two recent accidents so realisticaly it isn't going to happen. I spent three weeks grappling with the lace and another week grappling with cutting it off and giving up or not and finally have cut it off. I had a thought that I might find an easier , smaller piece of Bucks and do that instead, but after another couple of days of reasoning with myself and smacking myself mentally(metaphorically) up side the head, realize that that is not going to happen either so......
The only consolation to all this is that in the process of rooting around in various bins, bags and boxes of lacemaking, fiber, weaving, cross stitch and craft supplies, a sort of spring cleaning has happened and things are a bit more organized or at least I think they are.
Many years ago my mother went on a French cooking phase and decided of all things, one time, to make "Pheasant Under Glass". Much "hoo ha " ensued and several days later, and many pots, pans and dishes later we sat down to savor it. I'll never forget my mother tasting, sighing, tasting again, slapping down her fork and declaring "well, if I had known this was all it was I could have made it in two pans in about three hours." I think my tendencies for one pan stews where you just throw everything in and hope for the best cooking dates from that experience. Suffice it to say that the other day I came across a recipe for a Moroccan Chicken Pie that looked interesting. I obviously skim read the directions the first time because when I sat down to make it, it turned into a two day, cook it, cool it overnight, mix it in with other ingredients, cook it and then put it in 10 layers of phyllo dough and then cook it again experience. It was delicious, but it was another "if I had known this is what it was, I could have done it in one pot in three hours" sort of experience. I guess it pays to read the directions all the way through, carefully, the first time, before tearing off and cooking it up. But then where's the fun in that?
The weather is gradually warming, I have done a couple of 30 -35 miles rides with the SAG guy and alone and am working out with the trainer again. It is a long, slow and in some cases painful experience but I am beginning to feel a bit better about things and am not having any problems on the bike with balance, coordination and or traffic situations so I might even be in shape enough to enjoy the upcoming Texas Hill Country Tour with my sister at the beginning of April.
Your church sign for today is "in life theball is in your court, after death it's Gods' turn", or "Rapture, the only way to fly."
3 comments:
Glad to hear that you are riding again but please, please be careful out there!!!
Sorry to read the bobbin lace beat you. I'm spending far too much time on the lace - it can be addictive once you get the hang of it.
But if it doesn't work out well, we also make 'knipkant'!
Could I help with technical problems?
Annie, thanks so much for the offer to help. It's not technical problems as much as it is disinclination to sit down and trudge away at it. If I had been working steadily in Vlanderse and Binche lace for the last year or so it would go easily but as it is I don't have time to get the flow of it back so it comes automatically without having to stop and think or count. And now that weather is finally turning decent, I feel even less inclined to sit indoors for hours at a lace pillow.
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