Well, well well. Here it is Memorial Day weekend and I have the chicken pox! I thought at my age it might be something else, but one of the girls got them too. Counting back two weeks (the incubation time), we were at a birthday party with lots of little ones around, so it's possible we got exposed then. The illness is much less severe than I remember having when I was eleven, but still quite miserable. I'm trying not to scratch. No oatmeal baths or calamine lotion this time though, instead I'm trying Aloe Vera on the blisters and taking Lysine as an immunity booster. Seems to be working--no new outbreaks since yesterday. Thank goodness. So..I guess that means no heavy lifting this weekend--the garden will just have to wait. Gee, I'm going to miss doing all that work. *wink*wink*
Before I head back to my nest with my books and magazines and my basket of sewing and some fun embroidery (might as well look like I'm getting something done--while I doze), I'll leave you with the next state flower quilt block--just in case you find yourself homebound for some reason with some time on your hands...and hopefully not because you have the chicken pox.
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This lovely flower belongs to the figwort family! It's also called the 'desert paintbrush' and 'prairie fire' and is a native plant in Wyoming, making it a perfect selection for the state flower. The Indian Paintbrush (castilleja linariaefolia) was thus adopted on January 31, 1917. This is one of those rare plants that can be both an annual or perennial depending on the climate. Various Indian tribes throughout the region used it as medicine and also as a rinse to make their hair glossy. (So that's their secret!)
COLORS: upper petals--bright red #349; mid petals--orange #721; lower petals--yellow green #734; stems/leaves--olive green #730; letters--smoke gray #645.
I chose bright colors for this block and filled in most of the areas with lots of satin stitching. Love how it turned out.
Have a great weekend everyone!
