Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Wednesday lunchtime

It is truely a momentous day for me today, especially as I start typing it’s 12:25, about the time I was brought out of theatre exactly 3 months ago. I have to take stock and look at my journey through the last 13 weeks, I remember the fear and apprehension as I padded down to surgery in my oh so sexy foam slippers and backless gown. I remember lazily waking up all numb and spaced out only moments after I initially closed my eyes. I’m grateful that I didn’t live during the butchery years when they were exploring surgery, and anaesthetics hadn’t been invented. I look back over my few days in hospital, my tentative first steps and the numerous days of exercising, my progression from totally helpless patient to feeling really great, as I do today. Obviously my right leg is still weak, and will probably need another 9 months to get completely over it, as I have 15 years worth of weakness to overcome, but for the moment I think it’s about as good as it was before the op in terms of weakness, and pain free so that has to be good. And of course it’s so much better than before as I now have more movement in my hip than I’ve had for years, I can almost touch my right foot now, and can actually wiggle when I walk as a gal is supposed to. I don’t think I’ll ever have as much bootie as Shakira but maybe I could try?

Yesterday the man from Direct Mobility came and took away my recouperation appliances, so the house is also now looking less like an OAPs house and is back to normal, so hurrah for that. I really feel that from now on life should go back to normal and I’m going to try my hardest to get my leg strong so that I can ditch the walking stick completely. Rick has been an absolute rock, he’s cooked all the evening meals for the last 3 months, and last night gave me such a funny card to mark the 3 month milestone. Thank you Rick, you rock!

So tonight we’ll be cracking open the Champagne, well, sparkling Pinot Noir as I prefer this, and toast good health and medical science.

Wednesday afternoon

Wow I’ve been away from here a long time. So what’s been happening? Well it’s school holidays for a start, so life is upside down at the moment, but since we last spoke we’ve had Ardingly bead fair, a lovely day with lots of friendly faces coming to say hi and lots of bead shopping, yes me too! I couldn’t resist some amazing and simple boro beads from Purple Beech Designs, I bought some of the teardrops in various colours. Of course I had to rest for a few days after the exertion of preparing for this, then we went away to France for a week with Ricks family. There will be more about ‘The Great Downton Getaway’ in later posts. Now I’m trying to recover from the journey home and the last few days of our holiday which were very busy physically for me.

The good news is that I was 12 weeks post op yesterday, this being another milestone for me being allowed to do a few more things, but the last milestone is my 3 month date on 20th August, when I will be able to stop all my hip precautions and start to lead a completely normal life again (I hope). This is the date I’m really looking forward to. Also this week I have 2 days teaching, my first course until I resume working full time in September, obviously I can’t really teach many days in August due to my daughter being on holiday and family commitments on general.

My next event is the Stourbridge Bead Fair, formerly the GBUK Bead Fair. This is a 3 day bead fair at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge running over the Bank Holiday weekend and is again part of the International festival of Glass (IFG), an amazing and exciting celebration of all things glassy. Actually I’m only going for the Gaffers’ Ale and another hand blown and cut 1 pint beer glass (hee hee) to add to the other 3 in the cupboard.

I am also very pleased to be taking part in ‘The Tempest’ glass bead exhibition on the theme of Shakesperes’ play. This exhibition of handmade glass beads and small sculptures is in the Coffee shop at the Ruskin Glass Centre, details are on my events page together with details of the bead fair. There is a fab website to accompany the exhibition, follow this link for a sneaky peak at my bead (which looks even better in the flesh)! I may also have a couple of my prototype beads for sale in the coffee shop, if I decide to sell them there, if not then they’ll be available on my stall at the beadfair.

Tuesday morning

9 weeks today, and what can I say, things have been going extremely well, and I’m feeling more like I’m getting back to where I was before the op in terms of my range of movement (well, it’s better actually), apart from getting incredibly tired very easily. I had a few busy days last week and at the weekend and today it’s all caught up with me, I’m so tired, which is a real nuisance as I was planning to make beads today and tomorrow before the school holidays start on Thursday and for the bead fair at Ardingly this Sunday.

Instead I will be trawling through my many bead boxes putting sets together from my oversize stash to bring you as yet unseen beads, some which I made with the purpose of using in my jewellery designs but haven’t and also more of my older beads that I never put into sets. I’m also sorting out some more bargain beads for my bargain pots and reducing some focals and bead sets. I suppose you could say I’m having a summer clearance but it’s not really that fancy or grand. I’m determined that I’ll be ready in good time the day before and I’m doing my best to get megga organised, famous last words. It’s always those little bits that take the time, they’re unseen but make a difference to presentation.

So what else will be new? My daughter told me to make my favourite animal, so I’ve designed a panda bead and have made a few for Sunday, also I will have a few more fish beads in new designs, maybe more if I have enough energy to make some tomorrow, but I’m not going to moan about it.

Saturday evening

The last day of Open Houses and studios is tomorrow, Sunday. Several venues will be open during the afternoon so do have a trek around and see some individual pieces of art. Today I woke up feeling so chirpy that I decided last minute to pack up my studio and take it down to Ediths to demonstrate making handmade glass beads. I was in the same place as last year, in a cosy little outbuilding facing out to the garden, although it was rather chilly in the shade there today. This was only my second attempt at making beads since my surgery, and I started getting back into the groove after a dodgy start last Thursday. It’s so good to be getting back to normality, and even though I had a rainbow of colours available to use today I decided to concentrate on making black and white beads with clear, to make a necklace for my mums birthday. It’s amazing how many different styles you can come up with even with such a limited palette, oh I had great fun, and even Rick joined in with a bumpy black and white creation just before we packed up.

Talking about new things, my recovery has progressed enough to allow me to drive again, amazing how fast all this is, so on Tuesday (seven weeks after) I attempted to get in the driving seat and had an enjoyable little tootle around the block, yay! This is really good news for me as it now means I have some independence and can actually leave the house on short errands or just to treat myself to a coffee in town, because I can. I can also start walking up and down a few of the stairs at home normally (instead of one step at a time with the same foot leading each step). I tend to walk around the house without a stick now, much better for carrying trays and mugs of tea, and even managed to wash my own hair this week. Now I’m guessing that for most of this you’ll be thinking ‘So what?’ but for a 45 year old it’s really annoying having to depend on someone else to do all this, and every new achievement is another step back to normality and independence. I’m hoping to conquer the shower this week, as up until now I’ve needed help to get in and out of the bath.

I hope that this little log of my progress will encourage anyone who’se reading and needing some sort of replacement, to feel encouraged by my experience and take the plunge to get help.

Monday lunchtime (but posted Tuesday teatime, we had techie problems!)

Thank goodness that’s all over, all the preparation for Open Houses is done, and the first weekend has passed. I managed to get my displays done, somewhat later than I would have liked, and when asked by my friend why I was so unprepared I wasn’t sure, but then it hit me, oh yes, my hip replacement was scheduled very unexpectedly with short notice and messed my planned schedule for the year, I had set aside May and June for preparation but of course my priorities changed. Still, I managed it with half an hour to go, lol and even managed to make some new pieces, different variations on my current range.

Now that’s done I’ve masses of other jobs to do, but today I’m taking it easy. I got up at 11 this morning, lovely, having been lounging around drinking tea and reading a book by Alan Bennett, not my usual read but entertaining. All the effort last week has caught-up with me and I plan to continue having a leisurely day, as I’m supposed to anyway still being on stick leave and all. It’s been fun watching a bit of daytime TV, yes I know, very naff, but I’m really getting into House at the moment. Up to recently we couldn’t get Five but now they’re cranking up the signal we’ve had more viewing choice. This brings me to walking sticks and disabilities in dramas.

What is it about stick users on TV? why do they always get it wrong? Lots of people who meet me think my left leg is the problem because that’s the side I use my stick. Unfortunately many people who buy themselves a stick don’t use them in the best way, as they haven’t been shown and then they copy what they’ve seen on TV. Even Rick thought I was doing it wrong, tchhh. However I almost always see people using sticks in the wrong hand on telly dramas and in films, very amusing especially when Doctors do it in Hospital dramas! I’m guessing that if a stick was used properly it would have less of a dramatic impact, and I’m also thinking that Hugh Laurie aches like mad after filming! Serves him right. Ha.

Wednesday morning

I have a zillion and one things to do today, OK not really, but I do have lots to do and I shouldn’t really be here talking to you but I am so there. Yesterday was my 6 week from hip hop day, and it was a good one. No more blood thinning jabs in my belly and I got rid of my sexy white compression pop socks just in time for the hotest day so far this year and spent the day sporting a cool pair of shorts. I even managed to get a steaming hot mug of tea down the steps into our garden so I could sit and slurp on my favourite bench. I also haven’t had any painkillers since Sunday night, how cool is that? I have to admit having a moment at 12 noon yesterday, as that was when they woke me up in recovery and I felt so chilled. This whole experience so far has been completely different from my last surgery, where I was still on crutches and using a wheelchair after 6 months, but here we are, 6 weeks on and I practice walking in the house without sticks when I feel up to it, although I do still need my crutches. Chalk and cheese.

Half way through my recommended recovery period and I think it’s going really well, now all I have to do is pluck up the courage to try making beads again. My brain has been and is still so ditzy and slow that I haven’t dared approach the flame for fear of doing something stupid and burning myself, also my mobility and flexibility constraints have made me wary of trying to sit for any length of time in my studio or reaching to get things and forgetting my hip precautions. Add to this my tiredness after short times of activity and you don’t really have the best of situations. So I’ve decided to leave well alone until I feel I can enjoy making glass beads in safety.

I do have lots to do to get ready for Open Houses this weekend. I’m setting up my first display at the 2×4 Studios in Horsham today and have several jobs that I must do for that, including fitting out my flat display cabinets, deciding exactly what I want in them and how I’m going to arrange and display them. I also have to get all the ’stuff’ together to make my sales, for example packaging, a sign to explain what I do, a mirror etc…..phew. See you later.

Wednesday afternoon

5 weeks on from my hip hop yesterday. Progress is good, I’ve moved to using one stick or crutch around the house (the crutch is turned around so my arm is not inside the arm hole) and I try to walk without it several times a day, to get me used to being fully weight bearing on my new joint. Next week will be a milestone week as I can finally ditch the gorgeous white compression pop socks, the latest in fashion statements, not, and I can stop having blood thinning injections. Also I will have my 6 week checkup where I will find out when I can start driving again, if I can abandon my hip precautions and generally start getting back to a more normal lifestyle.

Further news on our very own Squirrel Loftkin saw that little blighter in our loft the day after he arrived, but Rick kept banging the soffits and scaring him off. He also installed a noise scarer thingy that will annoy him and hopefully any other small furries that contemplate taking up residence at the top of the house. We also have Everest coming first thing tomorrow to block up the hole he made so hopefully that will keep him well and truely out. I have to admit though, that he looked so cute peering out of the hole and blinking away, but looks far cuter doing it in a tree.

Friday tea time

The end of another working (well, not for me) week. I’m feeling so tired after I’ve done my numerous exercise sessions, walks outside, trips up and down the stairs, getting my lunch and all those mugs of tea, that I’ve decided I’m not going to do any work for another week or so. Hah. So there. My goal now is to actually finish reading the last Terry Prachett book that I started over 2 years ago, and somehow didn’t manage to finish quickly like I normally do. I think it may have had something to do with the final Harry Potter book which came out last summer in time for our family holiday as I normally only seem to get time to read on holiday.

Of course this not working malarky might be a bit of a risk as I have Open Houses coming up, both in the 2×4 Artists communal room in Horsham and at my friend Edith’s in Plummers Plain. Also I’m considering not doing the fair at Winchester Cathedral, I just don’t think I can take the pressure at the moment, and I’m finding that if I want to be awake enough to work then I don’t do as much exercising as I should be doing if I want to get better quickly and maximise my hip’s potential, which after all is what this voluntary stick leave (Rick coined that one) is all about. So there we are, nearly at the end of another weeks recuperation at home.

On another note, Congratulations to Peter Westwood (Rick’s work mate and one of the lead developers of Wordpress - I use this for my blog and various pages of my site) and his Bride-to-be Sam who are due to tie the knot tomorrow. I hope you both have a lovely day and wish you all the best for your new life together. I probably won’t be at your evening party, but I do hope you have a great time.

Tuesday afternoon

4 weeks on today. The sun is shinning and I’m kinda housebound. Rick went back to work yesterday so I’m home alone for the daytime now, oh well, I’m a growed up girlie so I should be able to cope. I still can’t get over how fast the days go at the moment, especially as I don’t seem to be having as much fun as I thought I would, mainly due to my brain still being on a go slow, and I want to do stuff but can’t be bothered. How bad does that sound? Still, if I was not self employed I wouldn’t be expected to return to work for at least another 2 weeks, if not 8 weeks from now. I think I should take my own advice and not be so hard on myself.

Today’s excitement was lots of very loud scratching and noise that emanated from the roof and could be heard all over the house and outside in the back and front garden. I hobbled outside to the back, looked up and saw a squirrel peeking out from under one of our roof tiles, very cute but immensely annoying as the racket continued for about 2 hours then stopped. I hate to think what the damage is like in our loft. We suspect the poor thing went in then got stuck and was trying to get free, at least we hope it hasn’t set up a nest. I guess we won’t know for a few days.

Friday evening

Hi there again. I’ve been putting off posting today as I can’t seem to be light hearted, I’d remembered but also forgotten how hard it can be getting over hip surgery, one day you’re really up there, make lots of progress and feel really happy, and the next you can be in the doldrums, and soooooo tired. Today is one of the later, I’m tired of seeing the same view and really annoyed that I can’t find the 2 projects that I was planning to do while recuperating. I started a Kaffe Fassett tapestry 14 years ago, the last time I had surgery, and haven’t had time to finish it, and now that I have, can I find it anywhere? can I heck. It’s the perfect piece of art to pick up and put down as I feel, but it just ain’t in any of the places I thought it was, and I’m too immobile  to wriggle around in cupboards to look for it. Nnnnrrrrrggggggg.

OK rant over. Guess what I did yesterday? I walked all the way around the block, which is apparently 1 km, yay! also I’ve been practising using one crutch and putting more weight through my hip so I can be more independent, and now use only one for most of the day excepting for my daily walks. I have no idea if I’m on track with my improvements but hey we’re all different, and I am getting there, one day at a time. I’ve also done a little work……some of you will have had some email replies, but I haven’t managed all of them yet, please bear with me, I’m still on sick leave (with a bit of tinkering)!

Wednesday tea time

I missed a great blog title last time, so I thought I’d use it today, especially since just over 2 weeks ago I was clamped to the surgeons table. The last couple of weeks have flown by, Monday I had a really good day of new achievements and felt so much stronger, but yesterday was so pooped after all the excitement that I started this post and gave up, all of which is completely normal for this type of thing. At least the heatwave I predicted will be with us by the time I’m able to cope with the steps out to the back garden (I hope).

So what have I been doing? Not a lot really, just sitting resting, watching telly, doing the occasional sudoku and being waited on hand and foot. Of course I have my exercises that I have to do several times a day, and my daily walk outside that I try to increase the distance of each time, and I do make the occasional pot of tea. I even managed to do lunch on Monday with my daughter, but shhhh, don’t tell Rick (he does know really). And I have to scale the giddy heights of our stairs every time I want the loo, which in itself takes more time and energy than when you’re fit and well. So time is passing really fast, I’d forgotten just how much longer everything takes to do when you’re on crutches and limited in how you can move. Even the simplest of tasks like carrying a mug of tea (remember I have both hands on crutches) and putting it down takes a lot of planning and thought. It really does help give one an appreciation for what it’s like to be badly disabled.

Roll on 4 weeks from now………….