My sister has imagination!

Even if I don't have much of it.  I'm not sure if it was always that way or if things got even better in the humour and story making up department after the accident.   She was always more the gentle one for sure.... loved all animals always ...to the point of being dangerous to herself if she decided she had to touch one ..(one of anything) ....and used to love to draw animals...especially horses ... all her childhood....

Several years ago ... I'm not even sure exactly how many...perhaps 10 now... she fell, on some ice, while getting out of her car in the parking lot of the school where she worked at the time.  She awoke with a major concussion.  Bad enough to cause some brain damage.  There were many months to years of agony that ensued while she pretty much rescued and rehabilitated herself from the days and weeks of being almost catatonic on her couch.   The drugs they had her on in the beginning made her reckless and totally forget about consequences..and I worried for her.  Every. Single. Day.  

I am many hours drive from where she lives.  Accidents did happen... injuries did happen...and years went by... with no help and a lot of frustration.  But... she worked at getting back her lost self.. the brain injury association originally told her she had lost about 50% of herself.  She cried.  She was shocked.  She became totally depressed. I was shocked.  When she could read words on paper again without vomiting... ..she studied up on all of it. She had post-it notes on every available surface to remind her how to live..how to perform daily functions.. to manage to make it through her days.  When she could drive again... more than a year after it all happened.. and even then, without peripheral vision, ... she drove herself to all the hospital and doctor appointments.  We flew, together, to a special evaluation in a nearby big city that should have resulted in some compensation for job loss...she had been head secretary at a big school and could no longer manage that although she tried to go back a few times.  A very trying farce as it turned out...she got nothing...and had to fight in court for another few years for something...  and, on it went...several horrible years....in which she petted, groomed, looked after and in general just hung out with her horses ... crying into their warm bodies and keeping them company, and they became her best and only friends... when all others totally disappeared, save one....

A few years ago...she took herself off all the drugs the doctors had her on.  Against their advice.  Got fed up and just quit cold turkey.  Decided she wanted her old life and self back.  Wanted more than she had.  More energy.  More clarity.  More her.  As much of her as she could get back.  Man... has she worked at it.  And..if you didn't know she has residual brain damage... you would probably never guess.  Of course, there are a few things ..but if you didn't know.....   She seems to have an even better sense of humour ...and is very funny....and her stories and imagination ...  amazing.  

I still think she should be doing some motivational speaking for the brain injury society...or maybe just for the brain injured.  They could use an inspirational thing or two in their lives... and she would feel like she didn't lose nearly as much as she did.  Lost her job,  any benefits, her so-called friends, years of her life ....the list goes on and on, believe me ...... but, she discovered a lot in the process as well and she could pass on that knowledge .. and she sure knows she can hold her own in most situations now.  She's my hero. 

Anyway.... if I can't think of a name for any of my creations...I just show Vikki a photo and she comes up with not only a story,...but a great name too.... 

I showed her my goose in an email ....and she came back with what was happening with her and the little guys right away... here is an excerpt from her letter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I love the picture where they are all asking her where she has come from and where she got the great bling. It’s like she could have just had a very iffy landing and they came over to see. And she’s saying something like “Whew, made it…that was a close one in all that wind.” “Oh, this stuff...I come from a far off land where we all get “bling” before we make our maiden flight.” “It’s a birthright.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now what?

Totally new pages for composing posts??? ...arrgghhh!  I hate change.  I like constancy and the ease with which I am used to doing things. Give me my old stuff back blogger.  Including that little golden pencil so that I can click on it to edit old postings.  I'm not all modern like I pretend.

Gee, thanks so much everybody for your good wishes and the commiseration.... it felt pretty darn good.  I do think I am on the road to recovery now.... I managed to stay vertical all day yesterday ... didn't feel the need to get horizontal til bed time ..which I think is a good thing.  I even went along with Mr. BV to check out the cabinet shop ... we are trying to get organized for a pretty big renovation.  Yes I know ...  those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile will be groaning...  because you know that we have been renovating for oooh..... uh.... OMGoodness is it 25 years?! aacckkk!!.... ourselves and also with contractors ... so... this, hopefully, will be the last big push and it will be done.  Once and for all the rest of my time.  Please.
I absolutely love the names of paint colours... Willow, Silver  Moss, Grey Slate.  Eventually it may not be one of these ...but, perhaps something similar... or I may do cream and go with greenish walls.... who knows?  It's all still up in the air....

We've had lovely snow white cabinets (for 15 years now) that we built ourselves...well, Mr. BV did most of it...I was the gopher, second pair of hands, hold this, hand me that  ..etc... hey sounds like more assisting ..hahah...always handy to have an ex dental assistant around the house.  So, this time we are going for some colour on them.  Then, more colour decisions...walls..... and if we change the kitchen...what about the rest of the house? ...see how it goes?  No such thing as a simple reno.  There just isn't.

Hey they still look great in a photo...ignore the backsplash... no tiles and crappy glue all over the drywall... but, it's time for a change for a few reasons.

So, with real interfering from various angles ... there was not much time to work on any stabbing of fluff for my "goosie" ...but, I did decide after stab number 4,952...that the beak just wasn't going to get any smaller ...and that it was about 2 sizes too large for her dainty little head.  So... back to grabbing some more beak fluff...a smaller hunk this time... don'tcha just love the scientific terminology? ... sounds like the old days at the dental office...   "Hand me a little blob of cement will ya Veronica?"  .... and now I have a beak that I think is a better size.  We'll see when I finish working on the end of the head where the beak will attach.  Want to get it just right.

And...I did stab a bit of the dark green stuff in order to get a collar started.  Actually just stabbed a bit to see if I could get a long flat thin bit sort of made up... then I guess I will attach it to the neck and try to figure out how Gretel makes it look like it is not actually attached... but, just put on like a collar would attach.  She has a great knack... have you checked out her felting?  Get over there and do so.  Immediately.   Oh, and...prepare to be blown away.

WOYWW

I'm just barely getting back to the land of the living... after weeks of bronchitis and serious sinus infection and coughing so hard I've damaged tissue in the breast and rib areas.  I feel hard done by (what a whine hey?) as I never even usually get colds....ever !!..... but, finally I've given up fighting it on my own and am taking antibiotics on the insistence of my doctor.

Two days of that and my gut hates it... nausea....but, I persevere ... as I must.  A big sinus infection has lodged itself and won't be shaken without them it seems.

Today ...I am trying to also get back to WOYWW...(check it out here) and this is the bit of fluff that I did some half hearted playing with yesterday and today.

I began the actual shape weeks ago...before we went off to Portugal....but, am refining it and almost have it where I want it now.  (I hope to get some more Portugal photos on here soon too....) I'm trying to only play for a short time each day to ease my wonky elbow back into things.  Man, what a wreck I am for somebody who bragged how healthy she was and who seemed to think she was pretty amazing....sigh ..... right now I feel crappy.  Yep...that's all I can say about all of it.

Anyway... back to fun and fluff ....

My attempt to make a Gretel Goosie.... with fluff that she actually sent me so that I would have the real stuff instead of the rather stiff and fuzzy stuff I was trying to use.  It just wasn't going to make the same goose at all! This wool is soooo soft.  Thanks again Gretel... hope I can do a good one and make you proud.  I know at the moment it looks a bit more like the Lochness Monster...but, trust me...it'll be better later...... honest......

This is more the size of tiny guys I am used to making ...  hahha... only as big as a beak..... and how do I get that beak smaller...?  I'm stabbing away and it isn't happening... maybe I'll have to try again with a smaller piece of fluff.  Or, maybe I'll try squeezing it a bit and stabbing more and even some on the long angle of the thing...yeh...maybe that'll work.

I've only ever tried tiny bears, hippos and one mouse and erm....what else..? ...... well, that's it really.  Kind of got stuck on bears I guess.  It seems because I am used to making them of fabric...I can get a pretty good little face on a needle felted one too.  Well, I think that's the reason.  I can actually almost 'see' a little head shape taking form before I get too far along at all with the stabbing of the wool puffs.... and I like how they turn out for me.   This is Scruffy.  He actually won an award at a pretty big local fair .... at our Stampede...which is world famous...

They all begin the same though....huge puffs of varying types of wools.... stabbed thousands of times with a barbed needle til they become the desired shapes.  My pen tool will hold up to 3 needles ...or as few as one.... and gives something better than the skinny tip of the needle to hold onto while working on a piece.

If you'd like to try your hand at needle felting, there is lots of stuff online to check out.. and if you'd like to play WOYWW ... come on... do it.