Some fun stuff

Today's post will be a little one filled with some fun things that have been going on in my life recently. Given the situation with my leg at the moment (read: bent pins and stopping the turns) and the appointment with my surgeon tomorrow morning, I think the next few posts will be a bit heavier. Right now I could use some fun and cheering up.

My mum and I have been carrying out an experiment of sorts over the last few weeks. About a month ago we bought an incubator from a farm supply store and what we hoped were six fertilized eggs from a local quail breeder. We monitored the temperature and humidity of the incubator and turned the eggs over twice a day for sixteen days. We also had store bought eggs but didn't expect much of them as store bought eggs are refrigerated, which kills whatever is in the egg. Nothing came of those eggs in the end but... three of the eggs from the breeder hatched! It wasn't in time for Easter, but that doesn't matter. Baby quail are little balls of fluffy cuteness!

We have been told that they make very good house pets and are more than happy to sit beside you on the couch as you watch t.v. XD

My massive cross stitch project is coming along quite nicely. You know, the one I started after surgery in August and have mentioned countless times but always somehow forgotten to blog about. Yeah, that one. It is almost done. I have been keeping track of the amount of time I have worked on it - 480 hours so far, with another forty to fifty to go. Almost there! It is a blanker with twenty squares to fill in on it; I have filled each with a different design/image. It has been rather difficult material to work on because it is not even weave or Aida fabric. As a result, I have had to get a bit creative when it came to fractional and back stitches. Despite this, I am really happy with how it has turned out. Once it is complete, I wanted to get some nice fabric to back it with so that I can actually use it and won't end up looking at the underside of it or having anything get caught on the thread underneath (because we all know that even the neatest cross stitcher out their can't make the backside of a project as lovely as the front). I don't want to post pictures of the whole thing until it is done (I am currently adding a final touch to one square and then only have one more left to go!), but here is a sneak peak:

As always, I had physiotherapy this afternoon. We weren't really able to do anything because we don't know what exactly is going on in my leg just yet. On top of that, the bottom two pins are causing quite a bit of irritation because of how they have bent - putting more pressure around the muscles in my ankle and in general causing a lot of tenderness. Despite doing my regular exercises over the past week, I still cannot bend my toes and the stiffness in my ankle is increasing. My physiotherapist is as new to external fixators as I am - I'm her first patient who has one! She would rather we hold back on some things until we know exactly what is going on.

On a positive note, we did have a lovely conversation! I often find that physio is as much about getting out of the house and interacting with other people as it is about the exercises themselves. It helps me feel a bit connected to the rest of the world and gets me out of the house for a bit.

Speaking of which - my mum and I went out for about an hour after physio. We parked downtown close to a side street with lots of lovely shops. We went to the magazine store, a consignment shop I really like and a craft store. I got a lovely brown sweater (4$ I love spring sales!), some cute flower hair pins and a little book with instructions and patterns to make various crafts.

I finished off this evening by working some more on my blanket and snacking on some smarties. Now it is time to wash my hair and crawl into bed with a good book. I have to be up bright an early tomorrow morning for the appointment with my surgeon. The drive is actually quite lovely and we have done it some many times that it usually takes 40-45 minutes now instead of an hour. I am bracing my self for bad news as I have my own speculations about what is going on in my leg, but we won't know anything for sure until new x-rays are up. Keeping my fingers crossed!