Tim started his irrigation this morning – I’m sitting in the porch watching it slowly move across the field in my direction. It’s cool sitting in the porch this morning – a welcome bit of relief before it heats up this afternoon.
I appliqued basket handles most of the day yesterday and today my hands are aching! Fingertips are also cracked and scaly – dermatologist said the only fix is to simply not use them – well, that’s not gonna happen so I will continue to wear gloves to bed and take as many precautions as I can – one is to not wash them!! Hard to do.
Gonna start packing the car for our trip to Kansas City. I promise to take lots of pictures so you can enjoy the show, too! The last time we were at the convention center in KC my new van got broken into and our suitcases were all stolen! Not a good memory of Kansas City.
Hope your trip is only eventful for finding wonderful unusual fabrics. Don’t forget to get barbecue while you are there. Some of the best !!!!
Have a safe trip and we will be waiting for your pictures
Hey Mary, when I worked as a florist are fingers would get so cracked! So we would put Neosporin heavly on our hands and wear gloves to bed. It seem to help. Maybe it would give you some relief.
Deb Smith – yes, I have several different creams, some prescription, that I use heavily first and then the gloves.
Chapstick is wonderful. A pharmacist in Grandby, Colorado, told me about that many, many years ago. Just before bed apply a very generous coating and you will be very surprised in the morning. It is great for extremely rough skin. Try it, you might like it!
Betty in Rapid City
Hope you have better luck in KC this trip. We lived there in the 80’s and never had anything like that happen. I hope things haven’t changed for the worse. We are in Bismarck, ND today where it is also SO dry. I feel sorry for the farmers struggling with this. Glad Tim has irrigation as I’m not seeing any of that here. Looking forward to your pictures from KC!
It’s been raining here for the last 2 days. Oh dear not a good memory of Kansas City having your suitcases stolen. My daughter is a hairdresser & has a lot of trouble with dry hands, I’ll ask what she uses. Have a safe trip.
Maybe find some trendy gloves to wear as your out and about. Have fun and enjoy the outing.
Picked Mulberries this morning and cleaning up the vegetable gardens.
Spent a wonderful week with the family, in Minnesota, at a resort. Very relaxing but a little warm.
It’s summer after all.
Good morning, Mary! Sitting on my porch at the moment too, having a cup of tea. A quiet morning, cooled off from rain we got last night and am enjoying the hummers at the feeder before it heats up. I know you and Connie will have a great time! Quite a few years ago my daughter, granddaughters and I went to FL to see a niece on the east coast and then on to see my mom on the west coast. The niece said not to unload the car totally at her place as the community was very safe. All was well for us but the next week after we were there, her car was broken into. No matter how big a pain it is we always unload everything now. Seems nowhere is totally safe. If they steal my car they will only get the car not a quilt or fabric! Have a safe and fun trip!
So sorry to hear that you have sore fingers from sewing but nothing stops us quilters from sewing—right!!!??? Hope they will heal soon.
Anxious to see pictures of the quilt show. Have a wonderful time and safe trip. Hope nothing happens to your car or contents this time at the show. Hopefully it will be pleasurable and uneventful.
Very dry here in Arizona too. Many fires here and we need rain so badly.
Hello Mary,
I have your book Rugs From Rags and I have never twined before but, would bath towels be acceptable material for the weft of a rug?
Have fun on your trip.
Debbie
Debbie – yes, you could cut strips of bath towels – don’t cut them too wide however – maybe 1”-1-1/2” wide
Thank you Mary.
Debbie
When the skin on my fingertips gets thick and splits I use an emery board on them before I put on the cream. You would be surprised how well it works. You will have to do it several nights but it’s worth a try.
Have a safe and fun trip.
Do you use a lotion at night with the gloves?
I found Corona from the ranch supply store a great one to use for broken and chapped skin to say nothing of open wounds stuff
Becky Turner – now that’s one I have not tried!
Corona works wonders. Be cautious. I was warned that some can develop lanolin allergy using it too much.
Mary, I’m going to suggest the CeraVe ointment in the blue tub, it’s good stuff. Wal Mart and WalGreens always have it. CeraVe lotion is the only hand lotion I use, Very effective products for me.
Hope you have a great time in KC! Don’t forget to eat the fried ravioli!
Mary have you tried Lolo bar for your hands? Becky Goldsmith recommends it. My hands were a dried out mess from working on a wool appliqué project I saw her post on Lolo bar and tried it and it worked. I had tried all the major creams and lotions including the top 2 recommended by dermatologist, web site is lolobar.com
Please try Aqua For, I think that is the way it is spelled. It is the best I have found for dry, cracked, split skin. I put it on my hands and feet day and night. Seems to do the trick. Good luck.
Pamj – I have it.
Aquaphor – My daughter used it a lot when the kids were babies.
Safe travels to Kansas City!! Hope you have a memorable trip and can’t wait to see your pictures!!!
😧your poor hands. I hope your prescription works. My neighbor is a letter carrier and he got a prescription for his cracked, dry hands, it worked wonders.
I’ve heard rest and ice cold beer is good for overused fingers that have been appliqué too much. You might try that 😉.
KC sounds like a wonderful excursion. Stay safe and have a blast.
I had friends who went to a cash and carry kitchen show in Chicago. On the last day someone stole the van and all the merchandise. They found the van burnt up a couple days later. No merchandise. Do you suppose the theives were the laughing stock of their friends trying to hawk kitchen utensils? Have a great time in Kansas City!
Coconut Oil. It absorbs very fast, it feels wonderful and it is so good for dry hands. I use coconut oil for cooking and then I will rub it into my hands right there in the kitchen. They do not feel greasy at all.
Have a wonderful trip, Mary. Take lots of photos.
I did a horrible thing this morning. I made coffee and then sat down at my computer. When I went to get my coffee, it was all over the floor because I had forgotten to put the pot on the plate. Ugh!
Sue in Oregon – oh no! What a mess to clean up! Well, now your floor is clean!
Cracked skin and fingertips. I think mine is a nickel sensitivity. Found a bit of relief, not with finger cots, which are latex (a whole other story). I found a vinyl product that alllows me to grab the needle as well.
I forgot to add that I have seen platinum needles for sale. I remember buying a couple once, but who can find them in my nest of sewing stuff. It’s been so long I am not sure if it helped or not. The sensitivity wasn’t as bad back then.
It would be awesome to see you again at the KC quilt show. I plan to be there Thursday. Do you have a booth space reserved?
Gayle Lacey – no, we’re attending for fun like everybody else!
For my arthritic hands and skin cracked by my nails, I have one of those hand wax devices like at salons. It’s the home type version so easy for me to use , leave on a counter and plug in till the wax melts, then I put my hand in briefly which feels so good and then wrap in a warm towel if I can’t get the plastic gloves on first. I sit down and rest and it gives my hands such relief now that they bother me more than they use to. I feel for you as it’s annoying when we want to get things done.
Kathy in western NY – I have one, too, and use it a lot!!
Wishing you girls a safe and happy trip my quilt friends and I used to go to the quilt show in the Chicago area but they stopped having it It was always such fun and left me with good memories hope get a little relief for your hands I know you will have fun
My dad used to work with plywood, and his poor fingers were cracked and bleeding all the time. His doctor finally told him to get over the counter vitamin E cream, the thick kind in a tub, and cover his fingers with it every day while he sat and watched TV in the evening (he wouldn’t wear gloves at night, and Mom didn’t appreciate it all over the bed). It worked like a charm, after all the prescription stuff didn’t work for him. Might give it a try if nothing else fixes things.
I’ve always been afraid of losing the use of my hands and/or my eyes. I just enjoy sewing so much and it would be hard to give it up.
The rain has finally stopped but now the heat has hit! We are so humid right now it’s miserable. And then the stupid power grid issues have hit. They want us to sleep with our AC set at 82! No way I could sleep with it that hot!
Have fun at the quilt show! It sounds like so much fun
Susan K – it’s pretty hot in North Iowa, too. Thursday is going to be the worst – I hate to be gone! My plants need me!
Our son in the Davenport area says they’ve been hot too. And dry. Plants just dry out so fast when it’s so hot! Maybe your plants will get a nice rain shower while you’re gone.
Susan, I live in the Phoenix area and, if my ac is set at any lower than 82, I have to put a sweater on! It’s 108 outside at 10:25 and 83 inside …quite comfortable.
Mary, try udder cream on those dry, cracked fingers and hands. Works wonders.
Brenda – We keep the AC at 77-78 all summer. My friends keep theirs much cooler. We also have ceiling fans which helps keep the air moving. I’ve been to Phoenix when it was 114 degrees. The dry heat makes a big difference (it feels like an oven) and right now we’re fighting humidity. After a cooler than normal spring, summer has hit hard.
The house I grew up in didn’t have AC until I was 14. I remember sitting in front of the swamp cooler on really bad days. Almost no places had AC so everyone was more adapted to the heat. Now we’ve become so used to AC that we have a hard time dealing with the heat.
Hi Mary…my sister is a nurse and her hands took a beating with all the hand sanitizer she had to use at work. When she came to visit, her fingertips were cracked and so very sore. She had tried everything possible to heal her fingers….She tried Bees Wax..the kind my hubby uses on his work boots. By the time she went home, her fingers were healed. You can find bees wax in the shoe department at Norby’s or Blain’s.
Julie B – beeswax, huh? Neither of those stores are familiar – maybe online.
The Blain’s I’m familiar is a farm store, similar to Mill’s Farm and Fleet. I don’t know if that is the same Blain’s Julie is referring to or not.