Good Things in the Middle

Hoping to get through my own breakfast, I poured Reuben a small pile of Cheerios. Sometimes he likes to crunch small bits with his 6 tiny teeth.

Nathan came by with a "Why do you put everything you see in your mouth, but not food?"
All of the Cheerios ended up here:Reuben was no longer happily distracted.
So I gave him a handful of Oh's.

They ended up here:Even he knows that Cheerios taste like cardboard*, while Honey Graham Oh's have Good Things in the Middle! (TM)

Cycle 3 went well. Reuben's heart tissue got a short break from doxorubicin, so we only pumped in one poison (ifosfamide), which was doubtless easier. He is already looking quite pale (see the dark circles?), enough so that we checked his hemoglobin levels just before leaving the hospital. I think I'll push for a cell counts and transfusion before that scheduled for the 10th. Did I tell you about his last transfusion? It was awesome: my heartachingly hollow-eyed baby was instantly ruddy and glowing. Makes you want to take your iron pills.


*though cardboard, too, goes straight in the mouth...but not real food that tastes like cardboard...?

so much...

Since Reuben felt pretty well last week, we spent a lot of time doing properly summery things. And the boring daily things. And the teensiest bit of unpacking. I took all sorts of blog-bound photos (including a quick crafty social, making these, which were so fun and turned out darling), but didn't quite squeeze in photo-editing and blog-writing time before our Philadelphia trip this week (which was partly good, because I spent my late nights projects instead, like pulling apart our futon cushion and stitching the padding back in place around the springs while I watched Friday Night Lights. I finally gave in to this series when Ira Glass praised it. Because I *heart* Ira Glass). The oncology rooms here are kindly outfitted with computers, but not the camera interfaces. So next week it is!


Medically: R's MRI yesterday looked pretty much the same as his initial one in early May. So I don't have delightful news to pass on to you, but we're feeling fine that the tumor hasn't increased in size or spread into his pretty pink lungs yet. And the "oh-no-I-can-see-this-thing-growing-every-day!" phase was between the two MRIs, so it seems that the stinker grew, then shrunk back. I try to self-analyze: Is my hopeful "surely this is smaller today!" self stronger than my devastated "surely this has grown overnight!" self? Paranoid both ways, so I'm deciding it's a wash and I can trust me: I know it is softer under-arm than it was. So it's two more cycles at least, then another MRI. Surgery when it looks like it isn't shrinking anymore. We've asked to have the surgeon come chat with us about how this sort of resection goes (answer: it varies. Still, surely he knows more than my imagination does).

old books

I'm working my way through a lovely old book, I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. I read the recommendation somewhere & reserved it at our library, serendipitously ordering a first edition.

The book is laugh out loud funny (which I can really use this morning; dark night last). While trying to find a photo of my particular printing (the above is the first British edition), I found this JK Rowling comment that I wholeheartedly agree with: "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met." I am entirely charmed. I do recommend it, only 90 pages in. But my recommendation is not the point of this post.

I am so loving the old book experience. The pages are so soft, the illustration sketches charming and, of course, the smell. Next week will find me browsing our library (it's in a converted old mansion on King Street), choosing reading material based entirely on age. 1948 was a perfect year.

locals? good wet fun & happy support

The Drew Michael Taylor foundation's Family Fun Night and Splash Party at Shippensburg Memorial Park is this Friday night from 6-9. The Taylors live 2 houses away from us and are crazy kind people. Marcie started the foundation in memory of her son Drew who was killed in a tragic accident 3 years ago this month, and it defines "good cause."

Plus, after this sunny week, next week is supposed to be weather-filled. So a bit of splashing on Friday is a very good idea. Come.

All the info here.

attempt #1: Indian textile stamps on linen

Marian and I had a special craft date while Audrey was at a birthday party on Saturday. Our main goal was to make Marian's American Girl doll a bed (she's posting a tutorial, making a sturdy cardboard bed from the doll's original box, on her blog soon) and Marian decided to try out my new antique Indian stamps with acrylic paint to decorate Josefina's bed. I wanted to try the stamps on fabric, and worked on a scrap of linen while she did her decorative painting (she got 100% of Mama for the rest of it, but the finishing detail work was just for her, so I sat across the table with my own paints).

Supplies gathered!

stamps
linen
textile ink (this jar is Jacquard brand, originally bought for freezer paper stencils)
soft rubber brayer (from a Speedball block printing starter kit)
a plastic spoon (I have a stack I keep with my textile inks for scooping that I clean & reuse)
a sheet of glass
well-used art board to protect the pretty table
and a pad for under my fabric (this felted wool potholder worked like a charm)

I think you could just use a foam brush to apply the ink to the stamp, especially a small one like this, but the brayer and ultra-flat glass make even application easy and quick. Particularly for larger stamps or blocks or repetitive stamping (like I have planned for my future bedding project), the good gear is highly recommended.

**I start by spreading a line of ink across the glass with the back of a spoon, then use perpendicular strokes of the brayer to get an even sheet of ink.
**Roll the inked brayer across the surface of the stamp a couple of times.
**Press your inked stamp into the fabric. I was worried that the hard wooden stamp wouldn't make a clear image; the "give" in a rubber stamp, added to that of the foam pad that is part of the mount, helps the uniformity of the impression. One tutorial I browsed suggestedusing a pad under the fabric, which somewhat contrasts, methinks, with suggestions to stretch the fabric taut on a frame, but I thought this felted pad worked marvelously. Marian's stamps, on corrugated cardboard that was slightly warped in some places from our manipulation and the paint, were not as clear, though the images improved when we decided to just let the stamp sit there a moment, allowing the paint to flow down.
I thought my little paisley looked lovely (though I do increasingly prefer the term Persian pickle--so homey!--after reading the Persian Pickle Club).
The second stamp I chose (one of Nathan's picks) was designed for a continuous border. It is damaged a bit at the edge, which (along with my inexpert handling) made it less continuous. Practice I will!
My big stamp is a botanical beauty, and I realized after stamping a couple of images that it is also designed to be part of a continuous swirling border.
Which I did line up better in take 2, this time on my fanciest paper towels (I prefer Bounty, exclusively in the choose-your-size tear pattern. I (infamous in several circles for always tearing wipes in 1/2) always choose the smallest, of course.
A word of caution: My stamps were totally black when I bought them, and when I washed the ink off during cleanup, a lot of paint came with it, which marred subsequent stampings. You can see the black blots on the paper towel above. I'm not sure if that is how they come from India or if the store I bought them from (which had decor rather than actual use in mind) painted them to polish 'em up a bit, but I recommend keeping the mess potential in mind. I did not have any troubles with black transfer during my initial work, so plan on assuming that a nice dry stamp will be fine for future work, too. I just cannot switch colors mid-project without getting out the hairdryer. I'll have to debate varnishing them...seems that it will interfere with the ink "grab"; perhaps varnish all, then wipe off the stamping surface?

Conclusion: get your own, friends (a good place to start may be here: hooray for one-woman businesses!). Next up: batik!

happy Father's day

matchy

tasty

I forgot to post another thing Reuben liked to eat during our hospital stay: embroidery floss.

I had bought some new colors and let him help while I wound them on their neat little cards. Butter yellow had to be snipped into 5 pieces before I could untangle it, and it is still a bit stiff with sweet baby drool.