Accident Prone, Rubber Bumpers, and a PS

I have had a week of minor mishaps. So far I haven't broken anything, knock on wood. :)

Sunday night I started to bed and knocked the clock off the bedside table right onto the top of my big toe. Boy, did that hurt! And, yes, I said the S word. :) Not proud of it, but out it came.

I was holding my foot and dancing around in pain while hubby shouted from the living room, "What did you do?"

He got aggravated because I didn't answer him right away. I just had a throbbing toe and was getting nauseaus. Not easy to answer, dance, and try to keep from being sick at the same time. He finally came to see about me. By this time I was laying on the bed massaging my toe, which was turning black, and I was feeling sick.

He said I should be more careful and went back to watch TV. Like I would deliberately try to break my toe.

The next day, Monday, the toe hurt from top to bottom when I walked, and I wasn't sure I could stand a shoe on it, but I put on socks and my crocks to go outside and feed Sammi and the cats. It wasn't too bad.

I was walking amidst a group of cats and Sammi was being his usual hyper self. I had already petted him, which sends him into super hyper-activity. He was running wide open in circles around me as fast and hard as he could. Sammi is solid as a rock and sounds like a horse galloping when he runs.

All of a sudden he whipped across in front of me, right against the fronts of my legs. Down I went. Fell right over where he had been, onto my all fours. Hard! Luckily, I fell between the rocks we use as steps, but I'm a heavy weight and it jarred me good. The canister of cat/dog food dropped and most of the feed went on the ground.

Three of the cats were so concerned about me being down that Loopy came from behind and stood between my knees and began eating while I was trying to get my bearings. Tigger-Top was against my knee on the outside and Ringer was facing me, all eating like it was perfectly natural for me to be on my all-fours in the mud. Sammidog lay down a little piece away with a quizzical look on his face, trying to figure out what in the world I was doing.

I got up and scraped up most of the spilled feed and continued across the yard, with muddy knees and hands, and Sammidog jumping for joy beside me. I got them fed and came back inside the house. Jim was sitting on the couch waking up. I said,"Well, I'm okay from my fall."

Jim asks,"How did you fall."

"I fell over Sammidog," says I.

"I'll say to my time,"says he.

I was a little stiff and sore in my joints from the fall, but we went grocery shopping at Kroger's and did a lot of walking, which wears me out even when I'm not sore from a fall and have a sore, blue toe.

When we got home I was helping bring groceries in and started down the ramp. Sammidog was so excited to see us that he ran against me from the side, knocking me off balance. My feet got crossed up and I fell against the brick wall of our house. I was glad it was there though. Otherwise I would have hit the ground again. I got an armload of groceries, brought them into the house, and stayed. I let Jim bring the rest in and I put them away. My shoulder was a little wonky feeling though. I sat down on the couch and didn't move until bedtime.

I made the mistake of getting on the scales Tuesday morning. I had gained three and a half pounds, which depressed me and made me angry at myself for eating so much ice cream here lately. I'm already borderline diabetic, which scares me, but apparently not enough. I just keep eating.

One of my best friends came for a visit Wednesday evening, and as I walked her to her car, Sammidog, who was playing tag back and forth between us, jumped at my hand and I jammed my middle finger against the same brick wall. It hurt at the time, but no lasting damage.

This morning I came back in from feeding Sammi and the cats, and just as I was passing the kitchen counter Jim said something to me, and I warped the back of my hand on the corner of the counter top. More dancing and trying not to talk ugly. My hand went numb for a minute, then had a little dented scratch in a blue spot to decorate it. It now matches my toe.

So, as of this afternoon, my right big toe is blue and sore, my lower back, upper arm muscles, and thighs are still a little sore and stiff, my right shoulder is a little sore, my right middle finger knuckle is a little sore, the back of my right hand has a blue spot with a dent in it and is a little sore, and I'm getting fatter. Jim is threatening to put rubber bumpers on me to keep me safe.

I am so lucky that I didn't break something though. Hopefully, I won't. I am a little accident prone anyway, but I think Sammidog is out to get me. Just kidding. He is such a happy, excited puppy and he means no harm. He's just trying to play.

Jim took him on a long walk around the farm yesterday evening checking fences. He thought it would let Sammidog run some energy off. Jim came back pooped and Sammi was still going full speed ahead. He's a hoot. Just way too much energy for old retired folks. :)

Hopefully, I'll make it through the next few days without any more mishaps. Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Daddy! Miss You So Much!

PS--Thursday night after I posted this, I tripped and fell as I started down the hall. Jim was laying in his recliner and I caught on his legs or I would have hit the floor on my all fours again. He just looked at me and shook his head.

Then this morning I was taking a shower and a tube of shampoo fell off the shower shelf and hit me on the toe on my other foot. The idea of a foam rubber outfit is beginning to sound appealing.

Am I jinxed or what? Some weeks are just like that I guess. Thank the Lord, I'm still not broken. I hate to think what might have happened if my guardian angel wasn't watching over me. :)

IMT Challenge-Lace/ Sara's Dress

This weeks challenge at Inspire Me Thursday is lace. I immediately thought of one of my favorite dolls in my collection and her dress. I'm posting Sara's photo on my Scribbles blog, because there is a story behind the dress, which I would like to share with you.


I rescued this hard plastic doll from the 50's at a flea market for very little money. She was dressed in a one-piece white satin underwear romper-type thing with lace around the arms and legs and had on nothing else. I just fell for her blue eyes, the tiny white teeth in the open mouth, and the long mohair wig that hangs below her derriere.

She got a new home and the other dolls got a new sister called Sara. They all loved her immediately, as I did. Sara had such a sweet personality, who wouldn't?

I didn't have anything at home for Sara to wear that was becoming to her and didn't get around to sewing her a new dress for the first several months she lived with us. She didn't complain though.

One Sunday at church one of the ladies, who knew that I collected dolls, handed me bag. She was grinning from ear to ear, as I pulled out one of those little "dress me" dolls, about 6" tall, that mama used to crochet outfits for in the 50's. She had a pattern book with storybook outfits to crochet for the dolls. She made several really pretty ones. I don't know what happened to them. Uh-oh, I'm off track. Sorry!

The little doll had on a really heavy, bulky white lace dress that she was just lost in. She looked so pitiful with the brown mohair locks glued to her head and the large brown eyes peering up at me; drowning in a sea of wadded lace and satin.

I expressed my gratitude to the lady, whom I love dearly. I was touched that she saw this little urchin at a yard sale and rescued her just for me. I brought her home, and after lunch took her out of the bag and pulled the wad of material off her. I found a cute little pink lace dress in my stash of extra clothes that just fit her and she loved it. It had a small gold heart button on the bodice, and she refused to take the dress off. I didn't argue with her. She looked so much better. She looked like a Flora to me, and since she couldn't remember her name, she agreed to answer to it.
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I introduced Flora to the others and left her to get acquainted as I picked up the wad of lace. It had a beautiful design pattern on it, and when I turned it inside out I found that the skirt and sleeves had been pulled up, folded, and tacked into place to cover the little doll. After all, it would have been indecent to have her in a yard sale in her birthday suit.

I took the tacking loose, letting the skirt and sleeves fall to their real length. It was a lace dress, with a satin lining, designed to fit a much, much larger doll and was in perfect condition, though old and kind of yellowed with age.

It fit 20" Sara perfectly, as you can see in the photo.

I couldn't believe it! I couldn't have found or sewn a dress more befitting for her. I added the aqua ribbon to the waist and found a tiny pendant necklace with an aqua stone in it. Sara was gorgeous as she was, but she didn't like being barefoot and shyly asked if she might have some boots with tiny pearl buttons.

I found those and a lace parasol just her size in a doll supply catalog. Sara looked like a princess in her new/old ensemble and her new siblings could not believe their eyes when she rejoined them. They insisted on having a tea party to celebrate, which lasted into the wee hours, leaving them all exhausted, but happy. Flora and Sara became the best of friends. After all, they shared a secret about a dress.

And that is how a dress that was forced to hang on a 6" doll, embarrassing her to no end, came to make a 20" doll look like a princess. What are the odds?



Sara insisted that I show you her pearl-buttoned boots. She loves them so. Flora sends her apologies that she wasn't available for the photograph. She is in the hospital awaiting new rubber band surgery. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Getting to the heART of it Blog Festival

This is a double page watercolor drawing in my Moleskine sketchbook in participation in the heART blog festival that Mother Henna is hosting on her blog on Valentine Day. You can click on the Exploring My heART badge on my sidebar to find out the details if you'd like to join in.



Like anyone else who has live long enough, my heart bears the scars of being cracked, broken, and shattered. It has also sung, danced, jumped for joy, swung on stars, and been so filled with love that I thought it would burst. I have been blessed to have loved and been loved by many wonderful people in my life. Whatever I attempt to create comes from the pain, the loss, the joy, and the love of life. I share it in the hope that what comes from my heart will touch yours, if only for a moment, and we will both be blessed.