I needed to make more sashing yesterday so that slowed things down, but now all 8 columns are together! Alex admired it when he came to dinner last night, and of course once I add the borders it will look even better.  After dinner we watched another episode of the Cardinals' documentary, and then I stayed up until almost midnight reading - when I finished The Other Einstein. 

With today's schedule I knew the borders were not likely to happen today (the gym in the morning, volunteering at school in the afternoon, and Bunco in the evening.)  However, my day did not go as planned  I managed to sleep in until about 7:30, and then, as I often do, I started my day with a soak in the hot tub. Which is where I was when Patti called with an SOS. Instead of coming to dinner again last night (the burritos made with the leftover chicken turned out delicious) she opted to go hiking with Carol after work - and fell and broke her ankle.  

Luckily there were several strong guys nearby who rose to the occasion and carried her down the mountain.  X-rays at Urgent Care confirmed a break, though she says she actually heard it snap.  Unfortunately it starting hurting, a lot, right away (unlike when she broke her wrist after a fall hiking 2015.) Gary, of course, is still out of town, and Patti got no sleep last night after a fall on her way to the bathroom during the night caused her excruciating pain (and possibly exacerbated everything?) 

Of course I immediately exited the hot tub and headed right over, helped her get dressed, and took her to her appointment with the orthopedic surgeon.  He showed us the x-rays taken at Urgent Care, which showed at least 2 broken bones, calling them "very bad breaks" which would definitely require surgery (plate and pins) in order for her to regain full use.  Additional x-rays there in his office proved that there are actually 4 broken bones, and he has ordered a CT scan to make sure there won't be any other surprises when he actually gets in there to fix everything. He was surprised at how badly swollen her foot and ankle are (hard to tell from the angle of my photo), which in turn surprised us since obviously he sees a lot of injuries that cause swelling.  Surgery can't take place until the swelling goes down, and that's pretty much a "wait and see" arrangement.  She'll know more when she sees him again on Wednesday to re-evaluate.  At the bottom of this post I have posted a pic I snapped with my cell phone.  It's not a pretty picture, so if you're squeamish you might want to skip it.

Despite the meds they sent home with her, Patti was still in a lot of pain last night even before she fell on her way to the bathroom. But after the doc put on much better support today (basically a "soft" cast up to her knee) she said that helped some. (Urgent Care had sent her home on crutches, which were set WAY too low for someone her height, with just an ace bandage wrapped around her ankle.) I tucked her into bed, and Gary (who has been out of town all week) could even be home from the airport now.

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PICTURE FOLLOWS

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Those blood blisters are quite 3D, though again it's difficult to tell from the pic.