Andrine and Howard Save the Day

We had the sewing party today and Nadine was the only non-Willow Cottager to participate. She and I repaired to the kitchen to make lunch and had fun doing that. But Howard and Andrine spent the whole day making costumes for the Stage Left show at Country Fair, fifteen and all. Well, Petra made one of them. Howard did all the cutting, Andrine did all the sewing. It was a huge effort. I was fairly useless, except for the cooking part. Oh, and Nadine and I picked up Howard’s car from the shop so he could concentrate on cutting out costumes. About 4 o'clock I had to go upstairs and take a nap. When I came down an hour and a half later, Andrine and Howard were cleaning up the dining room where they had been working and everything was done. I was so astonished. I called Peggy to let her know that she didn't have to knock herself out to come down here early to finish them up.

Jasper is in charge of the show this year. Normally, we have a sewing party in April, so this was really left until the last moment, despite the fact that I’ve been prodding him since March to supply us with the needed elements (design, patterns, materials) to sew. We got the materials the weekend before the fair. I was in despair because I had no energy to do the physical labor. But Howard and Andrine stepped into the breach and pulled it off.

I’m wildly impatient to get my energy back. I had so little right now. I’m three weeks out from surgery now and I know that I’m right on target in my recovery. After my mastectomy, I was still in pretty rough shape at three weeks out and this last surgery was much more complex, lengthy, and painful. But it annoys me to feel so useless.

Despite my best intentions, I’ve been applying for jobs. I applied for two last week. I’m still in no shape to interview for them, let alone start working, but interesting things are coming my way. And then Roberta called today wanting to start a treatment center out in Clackamas, which would be really fascinating. It’s a commute, of course. That’s the big drawback, but it would be so great to work with her and Akhri out there. I’d love to reassemble the people from our Clackamas RAP group and start a treatment agency, with yoga, gardening, job training, combining all sorts of passions in a big synthesis. Roberta has lots of contacts, irons in the fire, and a line on possible grants. I feel between the three of us, Akhri, Roberta, and myself, we would have a fighting chance to get this thing off the ground. Now if I could only convince my dear friend Dawn to come back from England and join us, that would be an unbeatable combination.

We’re gearing up for the fair here. I didn’t think that I’d be able to go, but Mark found me a camping pass. I’ll come late (Saturday morning) and leave early (Sunday night). I’ll most likely not seem much of the fair, because I don’t have a lot of energy, but at least I can hang around at Stage Left and visit with people. David will take the giant tent so he has a place to put his tuba, and there will be plenty of room for me. Anyway, I’m excited that I’ll be able to do this.

This will be the year that us old farts will make way for the next generation. That's why Jasper is in charge of the show. I'm intrigued to find out what he has come up with. It's not like there's been a lot of information from that quarter.