Weekending w/The Girls

August 10, 2026 Vicki5 Comments

I ran across an event on Facebook last week called “Textile Arts Day” at Heritage Hill, a State Historical Park in Green Bay, and thought it would be a fun thing to do with the girls. The boys would have been welcome, too, but Junah had just returned from a week at camp (I saw him later that day and, wow, he still looked completely wiped out from a busy week) and I don’t think Davy would have had much patience. Plus, it’s been a long time since I had a girl date!

There were exhibits & demonstrations of weaving on a few types of looms, spinning, and embroidery, plus examples of knitting, crocheting, and sewing. Both girls had an opportunity to sit down at that adorable little loom and, between them, added a good few inches to the project.

We walked the whole park & stopped at every building on the property — church, blacksmith, print shop, lawyer’s office, hospital, kitchen, garden, barracks & residences, jail…

…and the Belgian house (and barn, at left, which had been relocated from the southern end of Door County & was charred on one end from the Peshtigo Fire). There were some adorable outbuildings, too.

I could have spent a little more time poking around in that house!

It’s a popular place for school field trips (Ginny’s already been), but it had been decades since I visited Heritage Hill!

The girls were each able to choose some fabric squares to eventually make into a quilt square. First, Nona will have to press & square up those blocks! Yikes, there wasn’t much care taken in cutting.

We went out for lunch after that, then to a thrift store, and the cookie shop for dessert… but that wasn’t enough!

I’d also read about the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass “Festival of Glass” which had been relocated to Appleton from Neenah because of the recent tornado & the ongoing recovery effort.

It was fun to see so many different types of art glass from all over (including an artist from Scotland), and the girls each chose beads to make a necklace. Too bad it couldn’t have been outdoors, as originally planned, because it was such a gorgeous day, but it was nice. We also sat down at the kid activity area & made some pinwheels.

It was nice to sit down! Wow, that was a day for me — almost 7,000 steps! I had some ice packs in a cooler in the car, and used those while we drove from place-to-place.

Needless to say, I took it pretty easy yesterday. It rained much of the day, but I went to the store with Kate so I could walk around a bit, because I knew I’d get a “restless leg” feeling as I tried to fall asleep last night if I didn’t.

Right Now...

Right Now…

August 3, 2026 Vicki8 Comments

Anticipating… a busy rest of the summer/early fall. And it’s good!

Celebrating… my longest walk since surgery! I tagged along with Kate & Kai yesterday as they headed to High Cliff State Park to walk the short loop around The Butterfly Pond, where the paths are all paved. It was probably around 2000 steps. I had my foldable cane, but did not need to use it. I’ve been getting around without my cane for several days.

And, as if Saturday morning, all of the borrowed medical equipment has been returned! That feels like a big milestone. The only thing I considered keeping longer was the “Step 2 Bed,” but it took up so much room! I bought a little foldable step stool, instead.

Drinking… because of medications, I haven’t been drinking alcohol for over a month, so my main go-to beverage (other than water) is made with Ritual Non-Alcoholic Aperitif Alternative, juice of half a lime, and sparkling water — in a tall glass, over ice. So refreshing!

Embracing… the process.

Enjoying… being back behind the wheel. I missed driving! Also, I want the record to reflect that I survived being chauffeured by husband several times a week for nearly a month… more accurately, he survived. OMG. Given a choice, I always drive… for many very good reasons. A few of them were demonstrated over the past month, but I maintained my cool… mostly. Anyway, I’m back.

Excited about… Maddy’s upcoming visit in September! It’ll be another quick one, but we’re already making plans to maximize the days — including a family trip up north.

Feeling good about… PT & progress. I have an appointment this afternoon, and I’m looking forward to it.

~~Knitting~~ Crocheting… I’m working through my Felted Tweed leftovers & churning out a granny square or two every evening. I’m enjoying the process.

Laughing… and eating ice cream with this group. The girls are missing because they were at camp all last week… Junah’s there this week!

Looking forward to… a trip to Nashville at the end of the month. That’s been my carrot! Originally, I was going to wait to have surgery until after the trip to Nashville, but the stars aligned & timing worked out to do it before…. thank god. I don’t know if I’d have made it, otherwise. Kate, Ann & I are going to see Brandi Carlisle with special guest Gregory Alan Isakov at the Bridgestone Arena. We have plans to visit MDK HQ & Parnassus Books, for sure, and some great restaurants, probably some museums, and for sure some honky tonks!

Needing… to carry on… I’ve been doing some cleaning up & cleaning out! There’s some breathing room in The Little Working Museum — empty totes & boxes, even — and it feels really good. I need to make/reclaim some space in order to get back to the quilting.

Noticing… changes. Ann & Brian removed a large, terribly placed barberry bush a couple of months ago, so the hibiscus has come out from the shadow, and some Japanese lantern (an orange “lantern” is peeking out at the lower left) has appeared… or reappeared. The bee balm is going crazy!

Planning… besides Nashville, Ann & I are going to NYC in November to see Lincoln in the Bardo at The Met! (I told ya I’d go.) So far, I only have tickets for the show, so we still have to figure out travel/lodging. It’s my birthday weekend, and I’m really looking forward to that. AND, Kate & I are going to AUSTRALIA early next year! Airline tickets have been acquired, and the real planning will get underway when Maddy is here! I was originally going to wait until after I retired to make that trip… but I’m not waiting.

Reading: Pages/Audio… I’ve been reading some of the QuiltFolk publications that I’ve acquired. I don’t really have a book of any kind going right now.

Watching… we are currently watching The Bombing of Pan Am 103 on Netflix.

Wearing… comfy, stretchy, knit pants & t-shirts whenever I can. haha.

Wondering… what’s up with you??

Uncategorized

Fortunate

July 28, 2026 Vicki8 Comments

A crazy storm ripped through our area yesterday. We are all safe!!

This is looking north from outside my office, just before noon. The sky was even darker in real life — I’ve never seen it so dark! Just a few minutes later, wind & rain ripped through & visibility was zip. Then our phones started lighting up with alerts, sirens started blaring, and torrential rain was slamming into our east-facing windows… “winds from the east” is never good. I am lucky to have a basement at work — and I’m able to navigate stairs (I didn’t even bring my cane with me), so I was down there for a little while. The power was out all afternoon, but we’re also lucky to have a generator so crucial power stayed on… lights, computers, fridge. Not the microwave, though, and I had brought quiche for lunch; I’ll eat almost any leftovers cold, but draw the line at quiche! I always keep a can of tuna and/or sardines in my desk drawer, so that’s what saved me yesterday. Phone & internet were spotty all afternoon. I work for an electrical contractor, so I was inevitably fielding storm-related service calls.

The cities of Neenah & Menasha were very hard hit by a confirmed tornado of TBD strength — about five miles +/- south of work. Menasha was “closed” yesterday, as was a big section of highway — I saw footage of vehicles actually wrapped up in huge pieces of sheet metal that had flown off of nearby buildings. There is a LOT of damage and it’s going to take a LONG time to clean up & recover. We experienced an F2 tornado a few years ago that destroyed several homes in our city — one of which was only two blocks from home. That one seemed to “bounce” whereas yesterday’s was on the ground for a while, devastating a mile-wide path.

Anyway, it’s heartwarming to see our communities come together to offer help, from restaurants serving free meals to individuals making room in their storage units.

Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

Unraveled Wednesday

July 22, 2026July 22, 2026 Vicki7 Comments

I’m jumping back in, joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

I haven’t done any knitting in weeks, except for the “knitting together” of tissue & bone that constitutes healing from hip replacement surgery! It’s been both easier & harder than imagined… it’s my first major surgery of any kind, so all new territory.

The quick & dirty facts on that:

July 7th: Surgery & home the same day
July 9th: First PT (whoa)
July 13th: Second PT – kicked the walker to the curb
July 15th: Third PT
July 17th: Fourth PT (seems like so many more)
July 20th: Has it only been two weeks?? And also feels like six months?? Follow-up w/surgeon – dressing removed, incision looks good (even though it feels really weird). I’m a “fast healer” & ahead of schedule on all fronts (YAY)!

I have PT scheduled out through August, and I’m cleared to start slowly easing back to work. I can drive as soon as I’m finished with the narcotics (I only have three left & only take one an hour before PT… so that means early next week). I can navigate a flight of stairs (carefully), and have wheeled the grocery cart around the store a few times — one can only take so many turns around the house, y’know?

I’m still sleeping on the couch (upgrade from the recliner), using the “ice machine” all night w/only occasional ice during the day as needed. I think I’ll be finished with that soon, and then I’ll try sleeping in bed again (my back is starting a little revolt against the couch). I’ve been pretty diligent about PT exercises at home + walking (with a cane, though I’ve been known to misplace it… so doing OK, I guess).

CROCHET:

As established, there’s been no knitting… there’s been not much of anything until just the past few days. It seems easier to wield a hook & work on something small, so after days of thinking about doing it, I finally pulled out a crochet hook & all my Felted Tweed — just the leftovers for now — to make some granny squares.

This was the start… it wasn’t quite the size I’m after for the project that this might become. It’s a very loose plan at the moment… barely even “a plan,” really.

So, I made it bigger, then made a second, and a third is underway. I’m pulling random yarn balls from a basket & depositing them into another when finished, so there aren’t any repeat colors (yet). They’re all from either the Temp Blanket project, or from the Brandon Mably workshop that I did in Nashville last fall.

READING:

I read a couple of books! I’d finished John of John just before surgery, then didn’t read much for a couple of days, but I had The Giver of Stars handy. Ali had given me the book at Christmas, and it seemed like it might be the perfect “recovery read.” And it was!

I’m woefully behind on blog reading, but hope to start catching up soon!! I miss you!

Weekending

Weekending On Ice

July 6, 2026 Vicki8 Comments

As part of the kids’ Christmas present last year, I gave them some shirts & dye & a promise for a future ice-dyeing date. Well, I decided that it had to happen now!

The kids each brought at least one other item to dye. The items all had a good soak in soda ash fixer while Junah & I ran for ice.

I already had a few sifting/sprinkling devices — everyone’s favorite were some swivel spoons meant for powdered sugar, I think — and found a few more while out thrifting. Turns out, I had WAY more fiber reactive dyes than I realized… which all added up to lots of colorful fun!

Rusty, Kate & I each dyed an item, too.