Thursday 3 February 2011

Ironic

It's not Alanis Morrissette's song I'm referring to, but the fact that I decided to go into Ottawa a day early for an appointment and stay overnight to avoid the hazardous drive during the next day's impending snowstorm only to find myself getting rear ended on dry roads!! Yup, I think I must have a permanent target sign on any car I drive. This time I was heading to my Tuesday night SAL after which I would join my DH and spend the night with him in Ottawa. I had an early morning medical appointment which I didn't want to cancel and snowmaggedon was slated to make an appearance in the early morning hours on Wednesday. I was driving through rush hour traffic and had just come to a stop behind a long line of cars when BANG!!
I found myself being thrown forward and then back, my seat even flying back and dropping on its rails, as I was pushed into the car in front of me. So naturally, damage to the car front and rear. The man who hit me was from out of town and driving a rental. He hadn't seen me stop early enough and when he slammed on the brakes they locked and he ran right into me.

I immediately felt the impact in my back and the next day my DH convinced me to pay a visit to the emergency department at our local hospital when I'd returned home. Six hours later I was told that I had some whiplash, given some pain killers and sent home to rest from work for a couple of days. I always thought that whiplash resulted in pain only in the neck but apparently not since most of my pain is concentrated in my upper back. So here I sit, on an absolutely beautiful day post snowstorm, feeling sorry for myself.


I'm watching our neighbour's tree, shown in the picture above, where these little fellows reside. The chickadees have all been stopping by our feeder to stuff themselves after hunkering down all night during the storm. We received a little more out here than the Ottawa area did. I believe it was between 20 and 25 cm which is 8-10 inches for you non-metric bloggers. I just happened to glance out our back door and spotted the snow covering the old BBQ sitting on the deck.


It's shaped into the most perfect mound! I hate to see it get disturbed.












I'm trying to get some qualtiy stitching time in since I'm home but I can't sit for very long before the back signals me it's time to get up and move again.
Either that or the pain killers make me drowsy and I drift off into LaLa Land.


My progress on Tuesday night at our SAL was understandably meagre. I just couldn't concentrate so I chatted with the others and walked around the table, checking on what designs they were stitching. There wasn't the usual crowd out. I assume that some were expecting the snow to arrive that evening and didn't want to get caught.

I've spent most of my time this past week concentrating on Fair, Kind, True. I would love to have it done in time for Valentine Day even if the finishing isn't complete. Sorry, the picture is a little cockeyed.

I finally pulled out North Wind this past weekend and gave it some of my attention. It's coming along nicely. It won't be long before all I have left is the border. Gotta get that robin in there first though!

The week before last at our Tuesday night group we had a real treat. Maria and Louise from our group used to run Crafty Ladies, our retreat blog and they organized our fall and spring retreats. They have found it time consuming and wanted to devote more time to other pursuits so Laura, of Enchanting Lair fame, has taken over. She sent down a box of some of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics for us to look at, drool over, fondle and oh yeah .... buy!! There were so many that I would have loved to go home with but I limited myself to these three. All are 32 ct, two are evenweaves and one is a linen.

The one on the right is the linen and its a one of a kind colour. It's really gorgeous and I can't wait to find something to stitch on it!



OMG, I can't believe it! I just glanced out the window and spotted this fellow sitting in my tree. I believe it's a small hawk and usually I only see them in the country, not sitting on a branch in our neighbourhood!
Fortunately I had the camera sitting right beside me on the table, grabbed it, and got this shot. As soon as I stood up to get a better picture, he flew away. If you look closely at the photo you'll see his head was actually turned and he was looking my way!
I hope that those of you living in the US and Canada in the path of the recent snow have managed to make it through with no major problems. Apparently the storm hit 1/3 of the US! It has moved on now and is battering the eastern coast of Canada. I must say we've been lucky here so far this winter. This was our first major snowfall which is really unusual.
I'll leave you with a picture of Clarisse. I think it was Judy who recently asked if I had any recent pics of my sidekick. This one was taken as she sat at my feet watching me stitch. I've been trying to get one to show you just how beautiful her blue eyes really are and this one is it.

Keep on stitching!



25 comments:

  1. I am so sorry about your whiplash. I too was rear ended (in 1987) in such a way that only my upper back - just below the shoulder blades was sore, but not the neck. Not fun. I hope it gets better soon. Great bird pictures, and so lucky to get the hawk.

    Clarisse's eyes are the most amazing blue. Almost look like contacts! Thanks for sharing and stay warm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous pictures .
    Hope your back is better soon . x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Lynn, why, oh why? So sorry to read of your accident. I have to wonder if the buddy in the rental was also on his cell phone. I sure hope your back co-operates with the pain killers and that you find comfort quickly.
    Be always in stitches.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pretty kitty!!!

    So sorry to hear about your accident. I wouldn't be surprised if he was distracted by a cellphone or whatever, but people can also get nervous driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar place. Hope you're feeling better soon though!!!!

    And yes, we got some nasty ice here. I forced my husband to go into work late on Wednesday morning just to give the road crews a chance to clean things up. No sense in wrecking the car or worse when you can wait a bit and have safer roads to travel

    ReplyDelete
  5. So sorry you had the car accident - I hope you are feeling better soon - The North wind is a beautiful pattern - Enjoy your stitching :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really sorry to hear about your car accident! My daughter was in one last week. We're waiting to hear from the insurance company whether the car is being written off or not.

    I really love both of your WIPs. The view from you seat is beautiful. I'd love to sit and watch the birds. :)

    Feel better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh Lynn I am so sorry about your accident. I hope you get well very fast.
    Love your latest works.
    Take care of yourself girlfriend!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your car accident, Lynn. Hope the resting you're doing now helps the whiplash go away very soon.

    How beautiful Clarisse is! Amazing blue eyes--I love her!

    Your bird pictures are wonderful...Can I ask what type of camera you use? The detail in them is so nice.

    Love your WIPS and new linen. Take care now...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lynn, that is just so ironic and not surprising that you got hit on dry roads! GRRR...I do hope you feel better soon from the whiplash, I've been rear ended once and ever since check my mirrors when stopping to make sure the cars behind me are stopping too! It's awful but it will go away.

    I cancelled my medical appt because I didn't even want to venture out and then it turned out to be not so bad for us here, you can see snow pic on my blog :)

    Love both of your projects, especially the north wind one.

    Clarisse is one beautiful gal!

    ReplyDelete
  10. So sorry about your accident and injury! I hope you heal quickly!

    I have thoroughly enjoyed your pictures today! They are fabulous! And your kitty is absolutely gorgeous! Such a sweetie!

    I hope you are able to stitch more as you heal. Your stitching is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you feel better soon.

    Love your progress on North Wind. How appropriate for this time of year.

    Your Valentine piece is looking good too:))

    Have a good weekend and stay warm.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hope you are feeling better soon!!! I just love the picture of Clarisse. What lovely blue eyes.
    Judie

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am so sorry to hear about your accident. What a bummer. I do understand your pain though, I have pain in my upper back regularly because of COPD.

    Your stitching is gorgeous, and I can't wait to see the finish.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lynn I am so sorry to hear of your accident. I do hope you feel better soon.
    Love your birdie photographs.
    Your stitching pieces are so beautiful.
    Thank you so much for the lovely message you sent me, take care.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh no! I'm sorry you were in an accident and I hope you recover soon!

    Love your beautiful snowy pictures.

    Looked down at your TUSAL post and it's going good! I hope you heal up so you can stitch some more.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am so sorry to hear that you have had an accident and are in pain. I live with chronic back and pelvic pain so I understand how disabling back pain can be. I do hope you feel better quickly!

    Your stitching looks great and those fabrics are wonderful!

    Your cat's blue eyes..wow! They are mesmerizing and just gorgeous! Thank you for sharing such a beautiful picture!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh no! Im so sorry to hear about your car accident. I hope you are ok and the whiplash subsides. {{hugs}}

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lynn as you know from Tuesday stitching I couldn't beleive you've gotten into a 3rd accident that's not your fault! I'm really sorry to hear you have whiplash and can't sit and stitch for long!

    Clarisee is gorgeous as usual.

    I hope you can stitch from time to time as your back gets better!

    ReplyDelete
  19. So sorry to hear about your car accident. I've had whiplash and can relate to the pain and discomfort. Hopefully you will be feeling up to par again very soon! Your North Wind piece looks fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Gosh Lynn, I hope you're ok after that accident and here's hoping that you're back to normal soon :) You're right, those are gorgeous fabrics and you were very good only picking three LOL Love the progress on North Wind and Clarisse is as beautiful as ever :)
    Happy stitching!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh no! Poor Lynn! I hope you feel better very soon.

    Oh my, Clarisse is so beautiful! Those blue eyes sure are striking!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lynn, sorry to hear about the accident. I do hope that with time and rest you will be feeling 100% better.

    Your stitching looks great and you have some pretty new fabrics for your stash!

    Clarisse is beautiful!

    Stay warm and hope all that white stuff melts soon!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ack! I'm sorry to hear about your whiplash. I hope you are feeling better soon.

    Beautiful stitching! I love your wildlife pics--Clarisse included. ;) What an adorable kitty!

    ReplyDelete
  24. So sorry about the accident- hopefully your pain will ease in the next few days. I love the fabric- hand dyed is just so pretty, I am sure you will find something great to stitch on them.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I hope that your back gets better quickly. Our weather has all been topsy-turvey lately. We have had some towns in the state where I live go through three or four bouts of floods since about September las year.
    Your wips are looking great. I love the photo of Clarisse, her eyes are striking. I need to post an up-dated photo of Puddles, his fur is getting alot darker as he gets older. He was one in November.

    ReplyDelete

Labels