For the first time I had major bone surgery to replace the failing moving parts of my arthritic right knee. I refused the spinal block so they had to use the "deep" anesthesia, and that takes a while to get over, but the outcome otherwise has been remarkable. Walking, sleeping, and moving without pain is a gift.

This is my first xmas all by myself and it's not only damned strange it is incredibly difficult to get motivated to ship it all to distant parts of the country. I've made progress and I did get most of my seasonal cards mailed with a postmark before xmas. We always do the family gathering after the 25th because of family member schedules, this year that delayed date will involve a virtual meeting.

On the other hand, this year I have revived my sewing activity to a level I have never had it at before. In previous years I sewed at the kitchen table or a sewing table in a room that had many other uses, but this year I cleared out a lot of stuff that was in the way in my daughter's former bedroom and now it really is my craft and sewing room. Nominally designated as a guest room there is a bed tucked into the far corner of the room, and a dresser against the back wall, but the rest of it is set up for my sewing including two sewing machine tables, a large table set up with rotary mats just for cutting and piecing, the ironing board is always up, a dresser for storing sewing related materials, and the big cabinet I built for my daughter to store all of her stuff in as a teen has only my craft and sewing materials. I spend evenings sewing (masks, mostly, this year) and have a radio and TV in there for news and entertainment while I work.