Fabulous Old Hutch

Since I am still on the road to recovery I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to blog about some projects that have been brought back to life that I have yet to share with you!  The first is a gorgeous old pine hutch that I was fortunate enough to buy from a friend's brother. It is a big awesome piece and very hard to let go of :)  Here is how it started out.

It was big and awesome, but it was rough! I hated the metal hanging strips holding the shelves so those were the first to go!

Already so much better :) It got a good sanding and thorough cleaning. I added wood pieces to hold the shelves. I then used a wood refinisher that softens the old finish and blends away all the old scratches and imperfections. The one that I used had a dark stain added to it so it just gave the hutch a beautiful patina.

Oh I love, love, love the finished product! I gave it a good coat of paste wax to protect its newly acquired beauty. This went to Market Antiques in Ottawa and I just got the call today that it sold :) Hope the new owners love it half as much as I do! Recovery is going well and I am feeling great! 3 1/2 more weeks and I will be off restrictions! See you soon ~Christy

Back From The Brink.........

Hey if anyone out there is still hanging around to see what is new at Accidentally Fabulous I would like to say "Thanks!!".  I am happy to be back and ready to enjoy life once again! Let me catch you up to speed on my journey to the brink over the last few months. If this is too much detail or makes you uncomfortable I apologize, but I am gonna put it all out there. Any female who has ever suffered "female" issues is going to know exactly where I am coming from. It started several years ago with really BAD cycles. BAD. Take my word for it that it was hideous. I was in my mid-to-late thirties and even though my Dr. suspected I had some endometriosis going on, we had to start with the least invasive methods to help with my symptoms. We decided the Mirena IUD was the way to go. I have to say in all honesty it really did help with a lot of my symptoms. I still dealt with a lot of pain every month, but I thought that was as good as it was going to get. Fast-forward 3 1/2 years later. Something was not right. In fact it was really wrong! I have had three kiddos so I am well versed in what uterine contractions feel like. Why was I contracting?! There was extreme pain involved and my cycles were coming every week and a half. Not good at all. My family Dr. referred me to an ob-gyn for evaluation. It was determined that a uterine ablation would be the route we should take. I was also having a tubal done sine the IUD was being removed. We were all hopeful that this would solve my problems and avoid what we knew would be coming next if it didn't. This was done in September 2012 and I really did feel some relief for a few weeks. I knew the Dr. had found several spots of endometriosis when he did the procedure and they were removed. When it was time for my first cycle post-ablation I knew I was in trouble. The terrible pain was back. I thought I should wait another month and see if things got any better. They did not. They got much, much worse. I was once again contracting and in pain, but now it was on a pretty much daily basis. I was done. I went back to the Dr. and told him I needed something done soon. My mental health was in almost as bad a shape as my physical health. He was very surprised that I was still in so much pain and told me he thought he could get me in for a hysterectomy before the end of the year. That didn't happen as I had hoped, but last week on the 8th I was finally able to have my surgery. No surgery is ever fun, and I was very nervous, scared, apprehensive. But, I was at the brink. I was at the point where I knew I couldn't go on any longer the way I was living. Fast-forward six days and here we are. I am sore from surgery. I am tired. I have been emotional some days. I am frequently suffering the wrath of my husband when I venture into the garage to peek at all my projects waiting for me. However......I am not in pain! I can't even begin to tell you how much better i feel. It is like a terrible, heavy, painful, bloated, angry mass has been removed. Oh wait! It has. It was my uterus!!!!! Which as it turns out was not only affected with more endometriosis, but full of fibroids as well. No wonder I felt so bad. So there you have it. The whole sordid mess. It has been bad for so long I can't wait to see how good it can be now :) I am back from the brink!! I am ready to bring some amazing furniture pieces back to life. I am ready to throw myself into creative ventures. I am ready to live life again, but first I must heal. I can't drive for another week. I can't lift anything right now. Honestly I would probably fall asleep in the middle of any project I tried to do. So hang in there with me while I rest and recuperate and I will be back at it in no time!
See you soon ~ Christy