What Diane has been up to!

 While recuperating from her knee surgery, the scene in our living room looked like this a lot of the time: Diane had her knee/leg propped up, surrounded by jewelry-making supplies (or embroidery or crocheting), and HoneyBear was close by to protect, comfort, and entertain.  Can you believe that HoneyBear never once jostled the supplies on that tray?!!!

 This is the latest jewelry technique that Diane learned.  It is a bracelet made with the flat spiral stitch.  Feels so nice---kind of silky/slinky, and the crystals really capture the light and reflect it beautifully.  The crystals are part of a Christmas gift from Melina, and there are enough to make more of these, too.  We are seriously contemplating starting a small business selling some of the jewelry she makes.

Once in a while, she cooked something fun for Bill, like this caramel/blueberry cheesecake pie for Valentine's Day, or oatmeal cookies.  It would take a lot of working a few minutes in the kitchen, then rest, off & on, but it worked out.  She is starting to be able to do more cooking lately, woo-hoo!

When she got the OK from the dr. to start exercising, Diane kept overdoing her activities, being so glad to do things like vacuum!!!  It took a while to find out how much was the right amount.  But the exercises really helped, and she now walks without crutches or braces, and has even driven a few times for errands around town.  She pulled a muscle in her back and couldn't exercise for about 5 days, so tomorrow starts the knee exercises over again---hopefully not too much ground has been lost.

She has been dealing with other issues, too, like the ulcers flaring up again when regular foods were introduced, a horrid, slow-healing rash in response to the surgery, and some other allergic reactions.  But she is accomplishing what she can, and making progress.  It is expected that she will be cleared to start looking for work by the end of April.  So, on the mend, and as busy as can be---that's our motto around here!