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Struggling with blood sugar!

5/23/2019

19 Comments

 
I finally bit the bullet and gave in to the idea of prescription drugs to help with my blood sugar problem…..oh how I hate saying the word….diabetes.  Although I was doing a decent job keeping the scores down by watching what I eat and exercising, one evening over the Christmas holidays I had a bit too many dark’n stormies and starting eating snacks being offered and I elevated my blood sugar to scary levels.  The sugar alone in the ginger beer probably did me in, add in the rum,  potato chips and chocolate, sigh…my bad.

When I got home and tested myself I was over the limit of the machine capability so it didn’t even register a number….it said “HIGH”.  I was still tipsy but it sobered me up instantly and I started dancing and jumping around the kitchen until I knocked it down to 20.  Although still scary, at 2:00 in the morning that would have to do and I went to bed exhausted.  I must have damaged my pancreas beyond what was my normal because after that I could no longer keep the scores below 10.  It was very disappointing and made me review where I was headed if I couldn’t keep things under control.  Diabetes is nothing to fool with. The eyesight is effected, the heart, the kidneys and there could be toes and even limbs amputated. 

So I made an appointment with my doctor to get a prescription and walked out with Metformin.   I was on it for three weeks before I noticed any difference in my scores, but it was a nominal change.  Somehow I was under the impression it lowered them to a normal range, that being of a non-diabetic person, but found out with a subsequent trip to the doctor that they really only reduce the number by one.  The misconception I was under was very disappointing and I questioned how other people I know on this drug eat pasta, rice and potatoes, desserts with abandon and drink alcohol like it’s a cure for the disease.   I still had to work very hard to stay in check so I wondered why I even bothered with the drug, especially once the side effects hit like a Mack truck.

Not that I hoped to lay back and let the drug do the work and eat what I wanted, that was never my intention, but only having a slight bit of help didn’t seem worth what was to come when the debilitating side effects started to rear their ugly head three weeks into taking the pills.  At first it was subtle; an ache started in my thighs and then gradually spanned my entire legs, creeping into my hips like a slithering snake.  I might be 60, but I can honestly say that I’ve never had any aches in the morning, I’ve been able to bounce out of bed like a thirty year old.  Now I could barely get my legs over the side.  I tend to cross my ankles and feet in bed, something I learned to do after an injury to a knee that helped to stabilized it, but I tried to do that and couldn’t get my left leg to position over my right.  This is weird I thought.  I’d read all the information that came with the drug, a three page print out from the pharmacy and there was a list of potential side effects including muscle and joint pain.  These new developments couldn’t be a coincidence and seemed the only explanation for what was happening to me. 

Then the diarrhea hit. Another listed side effect.  I’ve been down that path a few times in my life, we all have the occasional illness or eat something nasty that causes the fiery trots, but this was a whole new caliber of the runs.  This was like a road side bombing, no warning and no time to get to a bathroom before the blast.   Three times this crippled me, oh the mess….and brought on fear to leave my home.    

But although I was struggling, I continued with the drug until  one night when I woke up at 3:00 am and bolted upright in bed with the most powerful urge to vomit I have ever experienced in my life and by golly I’ve had flues and morning sickness from hell to compare it too.  I swallowed like mad to keep it down as I struggled to get out of bed with my stiff and painful joints, hoping against hope that my hand would hold it all back, protecting the pups and the room from an explosion of stomach contents.   I remembered reading that nausea and vomiting were side effects and that if these symptoms start after being on the drug for a while it could be the result of developing  lactic acidosis, rare and life threatening, to stop the drug immediately as this would, not could, result in death. 

That was enough for me, I’d taken my last pill.

So another trip to the doctor and she gave me Januvia.  This came with a long list of side effects as well.  I waited three weeks until all the physical problems the first drug caused had all but disappeared and my legs once again were pain free.   I was only on the Metformin shy of two months and in that time I ruined my perfect bowels and could barely walk.  It seemed wrong on many levels.  It was like trading a witch for the devil. 

So this new one caused constipation, oh joy, and once again I pretty much ruined my perfect system that had been as regular as a clock on the wall.   The pain began in the third week, once again I could barely walk, with hips that refused to move, thighs that were painful to touch, the mere brushing of the fabric of my jeans sent me into spasms, the muscle screaming when I touched flesh against the bone.  I could barely lift my knees and I had pain in my back where my kidneys are.  One of the lovely side effects of this drug is kidney failure. When I mentioned it to the doctor she said that diabetes will destroy my kidneys all on its own so it’s a lose situation, but I feel this drug was probably speeding it up.  I feel doomed! 

My stomach area was so sore that I couldn’t lean up against the kitchen sink to wash dishes.   I had gas so badly that it felt like a knife was rammed between my ribs slicking my lungs.  If I turn too quickly the pain ripped across my torso so that I almost passed out. 

I’ve never taken drugs, mostly because I’m in good health, but I knew that every drug has side effects and my concerns were confirmed.  I am very aware when it comes to my body, I notice every subtle change.  Maybe some don’t equate aches and pains to drugs but my body went from day to night for me, there was no disputing the drugs were the blame.  I know there are many different medications for blood sugar problems on the market but quite frankly I don’t want to try anymore, I’ll have to find something else to help with this disease.

There are herbal remedies I am going to try and also it’s been suggested I make an appointment with a Dr. Wu to see if there is anything that can help to stimulate my pancreas into working properly.  I’m willing to try anything.   I’m open minded about acupuncture, it gave me my life back when I was stricken with environmental problems in the past.  In the meantime I’m eating very carefully and waving my arms up and down, one of the most effective ways of lowering my numbers, and as soon as my legs stop hurting I’ll be jumping up and down on the trampoline and walking up and down the driveway, perhaps even while I eat my meals.  Whatever I have to do I will do and keep things in check for as long as I can.  Maybe once I get older and joint and muscle pain is prevalent I won’t notice the extra struggles and go back on the pills.  We will see how this evolves.   If any of you have had success with alternatives for diabetes I would appreciate your sharing!   

19 Comments

How copying a pattern hurts a business.....

5/6/2019

17 Comments

 
I haven’t ranted for a while so I guess this is due….I have a reputation for telling it like it is so here goes. 

Every designer of patterns hopes that the occasional lecture about copyright will inform and educate, but there is another side to this topic that isn’t mentioned often and that’s how copying hurts a business, especially a craft businesses that has little mark-up on product and depends on every dollar to survive. 
  
It was brought to my attention recently that yet another one of my designs had been copied and hooked.  I have a photo of this rug to prove it but I won’t post it. It isn’t my intention to humiliate this person, and after the last egg on my face for being too quick to judge, I’m just going to put this out into the universe and if I touch and educate on more person I’ll be happy. 

Don’t worry, I’m not going to rant about copyright infringement again today, once a year will be enough and 2019 is already covered.  What I am going to chat about is an old saying that used to float around, I’ve even said it a few times as a lay person, but now that I’m a professional hooker with a studio, it has ramifications.

CHARLES CALEB COLTON said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.  I beg to differ. Is it flattery when someone has an original thought and everyone else jumps on the accolade trail?  Is it a compliment to copy someone’s work or style to claim it as your own, because the message you relay is, “Look what I did!”   

On the flip side, it’s an incredible rush when a customer buys one of my designs and hooks it.  Now that’s tenfold, mega dose, flattery!  My chest pumps out, my mouth forms a toothy smile and that in a nutshell is the reason why I do this!  Why I spend hours and sometimes days penciling out a design, with you, my valued customers in mind!  Hell yes I’m flattered, I almost choke over the lump that forms in my throat and turn my head to hide my leaking eyes.  You talented rug hookers make my day, week, month and year!!   And after a purchase of a pattern, I have income to forge ahead and make more designs and offer more products for you to peruse and incorporate into your precious rugs; that’s how business works.   

There are cases where flattery is legitimate and wanted.   The clothing industry for instance.  If someone is sporting a gorgeous scarf that’s a ‘must have’ you go out and purchase one exactly like it, the original wearer may or may not be flattered, but the designer would be most gracious to have another sale.  Of course in this scenario copying a style is wanted and expected, so the designer and the middle man can make money, support their families and pay their mortgage.  If someone wishes to own that beautiful scarf they don’t try to create one like it or go to the store and steal a copy (well, some do but for this scenario we’re concentrating on the honest folks), they go out and pay for one.  It’s a rule, it’s a no brainer, it’s the way of the world, it’s proper and expected.   So why should rug hooking be any different?   

So some believe that people who copy patterns don’t really understand what they  are doing and I say bullshite to that.  We are supposed to be civilized; we walk erect and have an evolved, modern day brain so we have no excuse taking something that doesn’t belong to us!  Period!  I’m told all the time that it’s okay to do one copy for personal use, and if you change the title, or alter the design say 10%, by taking something out or adding something in, it’s acceptable.  NO IT’S NOT, but I do digress. This rant isn’t about copyright rules, this is about the ramifications of copying and how it affects a shop owner/designer.

Seeing my pattern copied and changed slightly, I didn’t feel flattered at all.  Angry, sad and violated was the bag of emotions than ran rampant through my mind.   To me the rug represented money lost that could have paid one of my employees for the day, helped buy supplies, kept the lights on and cover some of that expensive overhead a legitimate, registered business creates.  This loss came directly out of MY pocket because I have to make it up.

Through the disappointment of seeing this rug, my dark sense of humour brought forth a cynical laugh.  Although 99% of it was an exact duplicate, the copier added a few bits and bobs.   An improvement?  I think not. This particular design was one of my more clever ones and was a great source of pride for me, so it came off as a lame attempt to make it their own and in my opinion they ruined the entire balance of the pattern.  I’ve got this steel trap of a brain that forgets nothing and now every time I look at that design I will see their rendition and it’s going to feel tainted.       

Ignorance is no defense.  If you drink and drive and hit someone, is it the fault of the alcohol or the willingness to drink and get behind the wheel?  I didn’t know what I was doing is no longer acceptable.  When copying a pattern, somewhere there has to be a little niggling in the pit of your stomach telling you this is wrong and Sista, it’s not gas, it’s guilt causing that flutter!  And if for some reason you truly didn’t know, once you read this that excuse is out the window, and if you continue to offend that makes you an out’n out thief, no different than if you walked into my shop and stuffed a pattern in your purse.  In this day and age when social media screams about Copyright infringement, magazines write about it, the Guild advocates for it and it’s a regular conversation between rug hookers, we can no longer claim that we live in a cocoon.   

So the person that prompted this rant and anyone else that has done it in the past and seemingly gotten away with it, you are the kinds of people that help cause the demise of shops.  Every pattern stolen is money out of the owner’s pocket that is needed to buy supplies and produce more beautiful things for you to purchase.  Bank accounts don’t fund themselves, its money in for money out.   My shop in particular is large and has a lot of overhead and most of the time we struggle to keep our heads above water.  Perhaps if I let Shane and Deborah go and do all the work myself or sell under the table and cheat the government by not reporting actual income like some, I could reap a bit of financial reward from my hard work, but most of the time, especially now with our dollar so poor and the US exchange being so high we lose close to 40% right off the top so there is little or no profit left.  We can never afford to be copied but in this economy it is even worse!  You can’t take flattery to the bank, so no, Mr. Colton, imitation is not a form of flattery….sincerely!   

17 Comments

Rug Show in Japan

5/1/2019

4 Comments

 
I am so very proud to share photos of an amazing gallery of hooked rugs from Tokyo, Japan. Supported by the Pearl K. McGown Guild, this display of beautiful rugs would have been spectacular to be viewed in person, but thanks to Chizuko Hayami for transporting us there through the magic of digital technology. 

She photographed rugs of the designs that originated from our studio. Both she and her students have been wonderful supporters of our patterns and I am always thrilled to see these skilled rug hookers bring each pattern to life.  I am honoured to see our combined efforts creating international eye-candy. 

I even spotted a few other rugs that had been hooked in previous years that Chizuko has shared with me.  Thanks so much for making my day and I know you all must be so very pleased with your efforts. Thank you all for loving rug hooking and sharing with the rest of the world!     
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This view would really invite you in!  
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How Much Is That Doggie.. Bell Pull
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Our Happy Hooters Bell Pull - Daytime.   
​The same pattern but so very different colour plans.  Lovely!
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Mahone Bay Three Churches Framed
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Designed by Charlene Scott, a whimsical Mahone Bay's Three Churches beautifully hooked. 
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Both of these iconic patterns are called Historic Lunenburg. 
​Two very different styles, both beautiful! 
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All Gulls, No Buoys, Sue Cunningham Design
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Designed and hooked by Yoshiho Nara, she has graciously offered this pattern to the studio.   
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No Crib For His Bed
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This William Morris Orange Tree looks like a sculpted Persian rug, I can imagine running my hand across its velvety surface.  Excellent!  Beautiful colour plan.  

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This pattern is SHIRLEY, a whimsical Jacobean design from our collection.  It was expertly hooked by KYOKO OKAMURA as a stitch sampler.  Everything about it is truly amazing, from the special techniques in the Jacobean flowers, stems and leaves, to the hooked plaid border.  Zoom in on some of these flowers to see the clever detailing.  I really like the bit of hounds-tooth patterning in the flower in the upper left corner of the center design.  She has done a basket weave for the center design background.  Every square inch of this rug has been lovingly brought to life. Beautifully done Kyoho.  
4 Comments
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    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

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    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
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