The One Where Rebecca Performs an Emergency Rhinoplasty on a Stuffed Unicorn

Keeping Me Sane: My Husband (Bernie) and My Puppy (Sam)

Greetings, y'all.  Happy Sunday.  I wish I had something fabulous to share with you today, but I am not one of those people who is productive and thriving under the current circumstances.  I have not deep-cleaned my home, reorganized my closets, or remodeled any bathrooms.  I have not been sewing masks or other PPE for medical personnel.  I am not creating gourmet meals from scratch, nor is my family enjoying idyllic, Rockwellesque "family time" together as we play board games, engage in craft projects, or worship together online.  (Tried that last one this morning -- my husband refused to participate, and my sons were cracking jokes and talking and generally making fun of the whole idea of online worship to the extent that I could not even hear the prayers).  Both of my sons are supposed to be doing "online learning," one for his college courses and the other for his high school classes, so I'm stressed out about how all of that is going and how it will impact them academically, yet they are too old for me to really be "in the loop" and know what's going on, let alone for me to be creating schedules (that no one would follow anyway) or attempting to "home school" them.  In short, I am NOT the Martha Stewart of COVID-19.

I Am Not an Instagram Mom (photo from lindsaycz via Instagram)

From what I see on social media, it looks as though a lot of people are using the unexpected extra time on their hands to tackle home improvement projects or to be productive in their sewing rooms.  I'm personally feeling a lot of stress and anxiety that has sapped my motivation, making me feel like showering and putting on clean clothes is a huge accomplishment.  

Channeling My Inner Roseanne Barr Through the Coronavirus Pandemic

I've got nothing against those Instagram supermoms; it's just way more than I can muster right now.  And I know that everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, is experiencing stress, uncertainty  and disruptions in their lives right now, and I do appreciate that many people are going through much worse than what we're experiencing.  We don't have job loss, no one in my family is sick, and we have plenty of food and toilet paper.  Our biggest stressors are probably too much TV news and too much "together time."  Nevertheless, when I dragged my sorry self into my studio yesterday to mend a stuffed unicorn toy for my dog, it felt like a major victory against ennui and inertia.

Emergency Unicorn Rhinoplasty in Progress

This is one of Sam's favorite plush squeaky toys.  He likes to grab it, shake it, tug with it (when I'm holding the other end of it) and chase it around the kitchen when I toss it just out of his reach.  He had chewed the toy open at the front of its face and was pulling stuffing out through the nose when I took it away from him -- eating that stuffing is dangerous and could result in emergency veterinary surgery.

What the Unicorn's Face Looked Like Before He Met My Puppy

By the way, this particular unicorn is one of those toys that are advertised as being "virtually indestructible," and invariably there is a picture of a Rottweiler on the packaging to make shoppers think that this is a toy that a Rottweiler won't destroy.  

False Advertising!!!

Hahahaha...  Maybe that's why they call it the "Mighty Liar" Unicorn!

I considered sewing up the unicorn's face with the sewing machine, which would be a stronger seam than a hand stitched repair, but I decided against that because machine sewing would create a seam allowance ridge protruding on the outside of the unicorn like a scar.  I'm pretty sure that my dog would be attracted to that ridge and would deliberately chew the new line of stitching, so that's why I opted to hand sew the hole shut instead.  I used some heavy duty polyester upholstery thread and sewed the hole shut as tight as possible, with all of the loose fabric tucked inside of the plushie for a smooth seam on the outside of the toy.

Unicorn After Receiving Major Nose Job Surgery

So the unicorn looks pretty disfigured now, but puppy Sam was very happy to have him back again:

First Sam Batts the Unicorn With His Paw...

...and then, CHOMP!!!

Methinks the unicorn be not long for this world.

How are all of YOU coping with this pandemic situation that we all find ourselves living with?    Have you found something that helps to keep you sane or that helps you hold on to a little bit of normalcy in these bizarre times?  Anyone else, like me, feeling like their feet are stuck in cement and they just can't seem to put a plan into action lately?  I have GOT to get away from the news but my husband keeps checking the TV multiple times throughout the day, and even if I leave the room to get away from it, he has to report to me about how it's all getting WORSE AND WORSE by the minute...  This just feeds my anxiety because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it!

So I take a deep breath, and play with my dog.  My big sewing goal for this afternoon will be to cut the backing fabric for Spirit Song and seam the lengths together, maybe even get the backing loaded on the longarm.  Wish me luck!

-- Hey, by the way -- today is the 10th anniversary of my blog!  If you're interested, you can read that very first blog post, "Gardens of Deceipt," right here.

I'm linking up with

·       Slow Sunday Stitching at http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/  

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·       Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com