An Afternoon With Mom

My mom passed away in 2004. When we cleaned out her house after she passed away, I got the contents of her sewing room. She sewed her whole adult life, and taught me to sew when I was about 12. I remember the first thing I made was a pair of shorts and a vest from some fabric she had on hand, an ugly green striped material, but hey ... it was the 60s, so I fit right in!! She started quilting later in life, after I took it up. She made lots of pillows and a quilt for my sister, and one for my brother. She made a beautiful quilt for herself that hung on a quilt rack on the wall in her sewing room, which went to another brother after she died. She stopped crafting when dementia started to take its toll, so her sewing room sat unused for several years. 

When we cleaned out her house, I brought all of her knitting needles, crochet hooks, bags of yarn, boxes of fabric, and a big blue plastic bin home to my house. I combined the knitting needles and crochet hooks with my own, sorted the yarn and gave some away for charity knitting projects and added the rest to my yarn stash and integrated her fabric with my own fabric stash. 

The blue bin got put in the basement. It moved with us in 2010 to our new home and has been sitting in the basement untouched since then. This week, as I was reorganizing my sewing space, I decided to see what was in there.

I found 2 unfinished quilt tops with all the fabric needed to finish them. There are maybe 2 more, or maybe they are just orphan pieces from quilts she did already did. They are a few pieced blocks and lots of matching fabric, so I'll have to try to figure those out. There were also two quilted blocks she probably intended to make pillows out of, and another quilt, a preprinted wedding ring fabric that she was hand quilting and never finished. 

The first one is a pierced star. I think it is king sized, but I haven't measured it yet. She had little notes pinned with the row numbers pinned to each row. Blue was her favorite color, and there was a LOT of blue fabric in her stash. The second one is a log cabin. In with the fabric was a note card she had made with the fabrics all numbered so she would remember what colors went where. 

The last photo is the table in my sewing space with all of her projects sorted. 

I spent the afternoon, ironing and sorting the pieces and figuring out which fabric went with which project.

It don't know why I didn't look in that bin until now. Maybe I just wasn't ready. Maybe it needed to wait for a time when spending an afternoon handling the fabric that she touched, examining the stitches that she made, seeing the notes that she wrote would be a comfort, instead of a reminder of how much I miss her every day. 

While I sorted and ironed and stacked and examined, I imagined us sitting together over coffee, talking about the projects we were working on, sharing ideas on techniques and design. I remembered sitting around kitchen tables in the quilting group we both belonged to in the 1980s, where a group of about 10 women got together once a week at each others' homes, each working on their own projects, sharing conversation and fellowship and a lot of laughter. As I ironed her blocks and pieces, the smell of the freshly pressed fabric wafted toward my nostrils and brought back even more memories, reminding me of her bent over her sewing machine, making clothes for herself, me and my sister, making curtains and draperies and pillows for the house ... and quilts. It was almost like spending the afternoon with her.

My plan is to finish the two quilts that are almost done and give the blue one to the brother (I have 3) who does not have one of her quilts, and keep the other one for myself. If the 2 I'm not sure about are, indeed, the pieces for more tops, I'll finish those and the wedding ring quilt and give one to each of my boys. 

My mom and I were very close. She wasn't just my mom, she was my best friend. She was lost to me for the last few years of her life, as the worsening dementia turned her into someone I didn't know. I missed my mom and grieved for her for years before she passed away. Since she's been gone, there has been a hole in my life that I have not seemed to be able to fill. As I work on these projects, I look forward to spending many more afternoons with Mom. I never imagined that blue bin, taking up space in my basement, contained such treasures. Or that I would rediscover it at a time in my life when being reminded of who she was, not who she became, would mean so much to me. What a treasure that blue bin has turned out to be!! 

Until next time ...

Terri 

Welcome Back!!

It's been a while. Sometimes life just gets in the way. 

My last couple of posts were about my husband's cancer. I am thrilled to say that he is 2 years out now, and remains cancer free. Every time he goes back to follow up with his surgeon he (the surgeon) says "You know, you should have died!"  Honey is truly a miracle, and we know now that every day is a gift, and we are determined not to squander it. 

So what's been happening in my life? We welcomed our second grandchild last January, a little brother for Miss T,  and he just turned 1 year old. He is the happiest baby, much like his dad was, although a little quieter and more laid back!! We enjoy them both immensely and spend as much time with them as we can. 

I spent the first part of last year laid up with pretty bad sciatica. I just woke up one day in January with this incredible pain that went all the way down my leg to my foot. I couldn't stand up straight, couldn't walk more than a few steps without feeling like I had an ice pick in my bum. And to make matters worse, our doctor of 40 years became ill and had to retire suddenly, so we had to find a new doctor in the middle of it all, which meant I had to start all over with conservative treatment before I could get an MRI approved. Pain meds didn't work. Physical therapy made it worse. Finally, in May, I had an MRI which showed a herniated disc and I got an appointment with a neurosurgeon ... in July! Strangely, while I was waiting for that appointment, after 5 months of no improvement at all, it started to slowly get better, and by a week before the appointment, my pain was completely gone and has been gone ever since!!  I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me, where I fool around trying to treat something by myself and when I finally decide to see a doctor, it goes away!  I'm not complaining though. No pain is good!! 

Last summer, my firstborn and his wife moved back to Michigan from Florida after 11 years. They decided they wanted to be closer to family. They're glad to be back, but they are suffering through their first Michigan winter in many years ... and it hasn't even been that bad a winter yet!! It's nice to have them here though.

After being stuck in a chair for nearly 6 months, Honey and I decided that maybe it was time for us to take better care of ourselves, so we started trying to lose weight in late June. We don't call it a diet. We call it eating like we should have been for the last 50 years!! So far, Honey has lost about 94 pounds and I've lost 45. (I just hate it that men lose twice as fast as women, but that is the reality, and we just have to deal with it!) It really hasn't been that hard. We are basically eating fresh home prepared food, staying away from processed pre-packaged stuff, trying to make healthy choices and watch our portions and that has done the trick. There really isn't anything we can't eat and if there is something we really want, we have it and get back on our program afterward. We go out to eat occasionally, but we check the menu online ahead of time when we can and try to choose something that is healthy and not loaded with fat, sugar and calories. 

All of my clothes are too big and I look like some kind of a bag lady most of the time, but I'm not spending money on new clothes until I reach my goal. I've bought a few things at local thrift shops to get me through, and was able to alter a few of my things, but mostly, I just wear stuff baggy!! 

Now, the next step is to get some exercise. After years of being mostly sedentary, that's easier said than done. My kids keep telling us we should join a gym. They don't get that we need to work ourselves UP to a gym!! I'm trying to be more active around the house, now that I'm able to stand and walk a little more, but I really lost a lot of strength and endurance those months I was laid up, so it's slow going. I no longer groan and the prospect of having to run upstairs or downstairs, and I can stand up long enough to prepare a whole meal, so I'm doing some cooking again, but I'll tell you, it takes a lot longer to get it back than it does to lose it!! . I bought Honey a bike for his birthday, so come spring, we're going to try to do some bicycling. I expect we won't be able to do much more than ride around the parking lot at first, but hey, you have to start somewhere! 

I took up crochet a little more than a year ago. I took a class from our local community education department. I like it better than knitting and I've made amigurumi animals for Miss T, baby afghans, hats, scarves, slippers, dishcloths, table runners, baskets. I am accumulating quite a yarn stash, and even learned how to make T-shirt yarn to make baskets and rugs with. 

 

I've been trying to organize and set up my sewing space in the basement the last few weeks. While I was laid up, my sewing space got turned into the junk room ... the place where everything got dumped when we decided to "put it in the basement." I couldn't get down there very easily, so I didn't realize how bad it got, until I went down there to try to catch up on the laundry. It took me several weeks just to get to to where I could set up a sewing machine again. 

And then, of course, as soon as everyone figured out I was sewing, I got a slew of new and old mending to do!! While I was teaching my boys to cook and clean and grocery shop growing up, I should have taught them how to use a needle and thread too!! 

I got a serger for Christmas and a new sewing machine in January and I'm itching to get back into it. I'm taking an online serger class, but I had to put it on hold because while trying to make the first project, I the upper knife blade broke on my serger, so it's in for repair now. I also took in my 1971 Kenmore (my first love, and a real workhorse), and another Kenmore I got in the 1990s for tuning up. Soon I'll have 3 working sewing machines and a serger! I have so many things I want to do ... make doll clothes for Miss T, clothes for myself, curtains for the house, pillows, quilts, purses, In the meantime, I'm sorting through UFOs, and trying to get things organized. Oh, and I have managed to do a little quilting!! 

Honey and I semi-retired last year. We both still work part time and probably will as long as we are able, but we have more time to do the things we love, and spend time with the people we love, and life is good. 

So that brings me up to date. I'm hoping to do a better job of keeping this blog up. Not that anybody reads it any more. But it's fun, and who knows, maybe I still have a follower or two. 

Until next time ... 

Terri 

No, I'm Not Crazy

When Honey had his surgery, he had a large abdominal wound that was closed with staples.  Two days after he left the hospital, he developed a fever and the surgeon had to open about 6 inches of the wound to allow it to drain.  He told me, "You're going to think I'm crazy, but I want you to get this stuff."   It's an antimicrobial spray that they use on horses.  He said to spray the wound with it every dressing change, that he had patients who had used it before and it worked great in helping wounds to heal. 

He gave us directions to the vet's office and off we went.  It was located out in the country, but we did find it.  I went in the front door and there were two doors, one to the right and one to the left.  I entered the office, stood in line until it was my turn to talk to the receptionist. 

Receptionist:  Can I help you? 

Me:  Yes, my husband's surgeon told me to get this spray called PuriShield to use on his surgical wound. 

Receptionist:  Excuse me? 

Me:  I need to buy some PuriShield to use on my husband's wound. 

Receptionist:  Ma'am, that is for animals.  I don't think we can sell it for human use. 

Me:  Well, my husband's surgeon said to get it and he said to get it here. 

Receptionist:  Let me ask someone about it (disappearing into the back of the office). 

Receptionist:  Ma'am, you need to go to the large animal side.  This is the small animal clinic. 

So I walk out the door and go in the door on the right this time. 

Receptionist:  Can I help you? 

Me:  Yes, I need to get some PuriShield spray to use on my husband's surgical wound. 

Receptionist:  From Dr. J, right?  Don't you just love him!! 

(Apparently he's a good customer!!). 

So we got our "horse spray" as we call it, after Honey had the surgeon reassure him that he would not want to whinny or run at Pimlico after using it.  

And it did work great!! 

Until next time ... 

Terri

Playing the Waiting Game

It's been 2-1/2 months since the diagnosis, and it's been pretty much of a waiting game.  Honey had to have CT scans of the lungs, abdomen, pelvis and whole body bone scan done.  He had to have a lot of blood tests done.  He had an appointment with the oncologist, who said that the CT scans showed an area on his right femur (thigh bone) with enhanced signal, so he wanted to get an MRI.  There was some inflammation in the lymph nodes in the groin that were "of concern" so he thought that Honey might need to have a lymph node dissection, which is removal of the lymph nodes in the pelvis and groin to see if there is cancer there.  That is a major surgery with a difficult and often complicated recovery period and can cause lifelong problems with swelling in the legs, so that was NOT good news.  However, after talking to the surgeon, who said there had been a lot of inflammation in the area of the surgery, they decided to put Honey on a course of antibiotics and repeat the scan in 6 weeks.  So we waited.  

It turns out that the increased signal intensity on his thigh bone is probably a bone cyst, which is not a concerning finding, and six weeks later, the lymph nodes had returned to normal, so no lymph node surgery was recommended. 

So the question remaining is what to do now?  There few studies on this cancer because it is rare in this country, and Honey's case is not typical.  Usually, chemotherapy and/or radiation is given first to shrink the tumor, then surgery is done, the cancer is removed, and if there is no spread, follow up is with CT scans every 6 months for 2 years to check for recurrence.  If the cancer has spread, it is generally fatal, but they can do chemotherapy to slow it down.  In Honey's case, the surgery had to be done immediately because of the size of the tumor and the incredible pain he was in.   

Now, the problem is that the oncologist isn't sure what to do in terms of radiation and chemo, since there are no precedents for doing chemotherapy after surgery when there is no spread to other organs.  So he is sending Honey to the University of Michigan to see an oncologist and radiation oncologist for their opinions.   That will probably happen the first week in May ... so we wait some more. 

In the meantime, Honey's wound is not completely healed yet, but it is getting close.  As of this week, I no longer have to pack the wound and he just needs a small dressing to cover the open area.  

The best part is, he says he feels better than he has in years, and in so many respects, it's been wonderful to have him back to his old self ... even with the chemo stuff still hanging over his head.  We've been able to do things together again, like go to a movie, or out to eat, or even just a drive or run errands together.  Things he couldn't do because the pain was too unbearable.  We've been taking advantage of that while we can before he starts chemo and will have to be careful about being in crowds for a while. 

I have to admit, I'm afraid of the chemo, though.  My dad had cancer and it wasn't the cancer that killed him, it was the chemo, which suppressed his immune system and allowed an infection in his leg to run rampant.  He started complaining of pain in his leg on a Sunday evening and 36 hours later died of septic shock because the infection spread so fast the antibiotics just couldn't get in front of it.  That scares me ... a lot.  

But I'm trying not to borrow trouble and not worry about it too much until I have to. 

I'm getting kind of good at that. 

Until next time ... 

Terri   

  

The C Word

A little over 2 weeks ago, we found out my husband has cancer.  

It's a rare cancer, with an occurrence rate of about 1 in 100,000 in the United States.   We knew when he saw the surgeon that he would be having surgery, but the cancer diagnosis was very unexpected.  

Since then, he's had major surgery, bone scans, CT scans, blood work, oncology appointments, followup appointments with the surgeon, and he potentially has more scans, more surgery with more biopsies ahead, possibly requiring us to travel to the University of Michigan, all before we'll know what treatment is recommended after the surgery. 

I've spent the last 2 weeks packing and dressing his wounds 3 times a day, caring for his catheter, helping him dress and bathe, all the while working my 4 to midnight full work-at-home job as a medical editor/transcriptionist.   

This cancer is so rare, that there are no studies with a large enough sample of patients to be able to even predict 5 year survival rates, recurrence rates and so on.   The statistics that are available are not very encouraging, with life expectancy of 7 months to 2 years after diagnosis for the more advanced stages. 

I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this.  We've been together for 43 years, since I was 18 years old.  We have worked together in the same home office for the last 18 years.  We're sort of joined at the hip.   When you grow old with someone, you expect that at some point, one of you will die.  Somehow, I always thought that if his time came before mine, that it would be a heart attack, or something quick like that, where he's here one day and the next day he's gone.  

It never occurred to me that I might have to watch him die.  

I don't know how to deal with that, so for right now, I'm hanging on to hope that when all the testing is done that there will be a treatment that can cure him, and if not, at least hold it at bay for a few years.   In other words, I'm holding on to hope until somebody tells me not to, and that day is not here.  . 

We all know someone who has been affected by cancer, but somehow, you never think it will hit this close to home ... until it does.  

Until next time, 

Terri 

You Can Call Me Grandma

The Big Guy and KT recently informed us that we're going to be grandparents!! We're thrilled!! We've actually known since shortly before Christmas, but the kids didn't want it made public until after the first trimester, after suffering a pregnancy loss last year. She's into her second trimester now and things seem to be just fine, so we're saying our prayers that things continue that way, and that we'll be welcoming a little one into our lives come summertime.

And yes, I'm already knitting booties. We won't know for a while if it's a boy or a girl, so my color choices are limited!! Yellow is pretty safe, I think.

I finally got around to hanging my mini quilts in the stairwell. As soon as I saw that stairs before we moved in here I thought it would be a great place to display these. Some I made myself, some were received in swaps. There's room to add a few more down the road too.

I haven't been sewing a whole lot, but I did finish a baby blanket I was knitting. I actually started this several months ago. I told the kids I was knitting in "on spec" since I figured someone would be having a baby one of these days!! Little did I know ....
It looks like 2011 is off to a great start for us. It's about time!! Life is good again.

Until next time.

Terri

I've Been a Busy Girl...

I have been a busy girl the last couple of days. I promised myself once I finished the gifts I made for Christmas, I would work on some of my UFOs before I started anything new.

The first project was to finish up some mug rugs I pieced before Christmas. I put them aside so I could finish gifts. I just kind of made them up as I went along. Now that I know what I'm doing, I think I'd like to make some more of these. They were fun and quick, and useful.




The next finish, is a baby quilt I started in 2008. A relative was expecting a baby, and I made a baby boy quilt and a baby girl quilt, since they didn't know ahead of time what they were having. This was one of my first attempts at free motion quilting. I had some problems with the tension on my sewing machine and while the top looked fine, the back was a gnarled mess of thread. I spent hours taking out the quilting I had done and by then was tired of looking at it, so I put it away. (The relative had a baby boy ... lucky for me!! I sent the baby boy quilt. He's 2 now!!)
I've done a lot more free motion quilting since then, mostly on small projects, but I seem to be getting the hang of it, so I thought I'd finish this up. I don't have anyone to give it to, but my boys are at that age where their friends are starting families, so somebody will have a baby girl one of these days!!

Next is a table runner I made for a fall giveaway in blog land in the fall of 2009. As I was quilting it, somehow I got a big wrinkle in the back, so once again, I put it away to be finished another time. Fortunately, I had made two of them, because I wanted one to keep. That one turned out fine and now resides in a home in New Zealand. (That still amazes me that something I made belongs to someone halfway around the world!!)
Anyhow, I finished it up and got the binding on and it's now at home on my coffee table. It's just what was needed there.


My last finish, isn't really a finish ... it's just progress, but I'm happy with it, so including it here. Last year sometime I bought a couple of charm packs of Cotton Blossom by Moda. I didn't have a plan for it, just wanted something new to sew on. I decided to do a disappearing 9 patch. I got the 9 patches made, and that is as far as I got. This week, I cut the blocks up and pieced it. This is a picture of the blocks laid out on my living room floor. I'd like to add a border or two and use it for a wall hanging or a lap quilt in my living room. I don't really have anything in my stash that will work, so I'm going to have to find some fabric to finish it.
While I had the camera out today, my baby girl, Peanut wanted to have her picture taken too.
Doesn't she look just like one of those Ewoks from the Star Wars movie? She's like having a live teddy bear!! Scooter wouldn't let me take his picture today. He's kind of camera shy, but Peanut is a ham ... always has been.

Until next time...

Terri

A New Year ... Looking Forward

There's something about starting a new year. A feeling of new beginnings, endless possibilities, washing away the old and embracing the new. 2010 wasn't one of our best years. In fact, the whole decade kind of stunk!! Beginning 2011 is like taking a breath of fresh air.

I have high hopes for 2011. I won't call them resolutions ... I'll call them goals, but I have big plans for this year!!

In September, I joined Weight Watchers. By Christmas, I'd lost 30 pounds. I still have a long way to go. I don't think of it as a diet, more as a change in lifestyle, a way of eating that is healthier. This time around, I'm learning to understand that I can lose weight and still eat the foods that I love, just in moderation. I'm learning to forgive myself when I slip up, and move on, and the weight will come off. I want to keep up the momentum!!

I'm trying to be more active, which is saying a lot since it seems that the last few years, I've been so out of shape that getting dressed was a workout!! When we moved here, I couldn't stand long enough to prepare a meal without getting back pain. I had a hard time walking to our parking spot. The first few weeks after we moved, my knees hurt so bad, I was afraid I'd made a terrible mistake moving into a townhouse with three levels. But I got used to it. It's been slow progress, but I am making progress. The stairs don't bother me any more, I'm up and down them a dozen times a day. I walk my dogs every night after supper. Not real far yet, only about 10 to 15 minutes. And for the first time in 5 years, I did my grocery shopping without using an Amigo scooter. It doesn't seem like much, but it's a lot for me.

I finally got my sewing studio set up, just in time to make some Christmas gifts. I still need to do some organizing, but it's usable. I've been working on UFOs and I'll have some pictures to post of those, and some of the Christmas gifts I made tomorrow.

Living in less clutter means housekeeping is easier, and I'm finding some balance in my life again, with time to enjoy leisure activities. That had been sorely missing from my life for a long time. Now I have time to sew, to knit, to read. I'm baking our own bread again, and cooking fresh foods.

In 2011, I'm going to learn to knit socks.

I'm going to start playing the electronic keyboard again.

I'm going to finish at least one UFO a month.

I'm going to work up to walking 30 minutes a day.

I'm going to go to my youngest son's graduation from college and not have to worry about how far I'll have to walk to get to our seats.

I'm going to find some kind of volunteer work to do.

And if things go as planned ... I'm going to be a grandma.

Life is good!!

Until next time ...

Terri

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving weekend is all but over. It's Sunday evening, I've just finished up the last of my work for the day, and have a few minutes to reflect on our holiday.

Most of my work life has been in medical facilities, my mom was an R.N., and now my son is an EMT. All of these professions require working weekends and holidays, we have always worked around when we could get the family together. This year, the Big Guy had to work Thursday and Friday, so we had Thanksgiving dinner at his house on Saturday.

Thanksgiving day was spent quietly, with just the two of us, relaxing, reading, watching movies ... and football, of course. We did cook a turkey breast and had that for dinner, (and we wanted to have some leftovers.) It was a great day!!

I haven't been a black Friday shopper for years. There is not one thing on this earth I need or want enough to go out to the stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving!! So on Friday, I prepared some of the food for Saturday's feast, and didn't even leave the house all day. I think I might have even spent the day in my pajamas!!

Our feast on Saturday was a big success. We celebrate with the Big Guy, his wife KT, whatever family we have in town, and KT's family, and some friends. This year there were about 20 people there. My brother and sister came from up north. My 80 year old aunt was there. The Wonder Child came home from school for the weekend. KT's brothers from Washington D.C. and Chicago,

It's kind of a collaborative effort. KT's mom makes a turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, Big Guy usually deep fries a turkey or smokes turkey breast (this year he smoked 2 turkey breasts) and everybody brings something. We have a great time, and I look forward to it every year.

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. We always have great food, and great company. And this year, we are especially thankful for so many things.

Until next time ...

A Year In the Life

It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I last posted.

I have to say, it's been quite a year, and I've been rather overwhelmed by it all.

We found out in December we were going to be grandparents. A bright spot in our lives ... hope for the future in the midst of some very difficult times. Sadly, our hopes were dashed by a miscarriage last winter. It was heartbreaking. We still look forward to being grandparents, we'll just have to be patient for a while longer!!

We had to make some hard decisions about our business, and our living situation. We lost our home of 22 years, and moved into an apartment complex. Along with the move, came some serious purging. We were determined to bring to our new home, only the things we needed and loved. If there was no place to put it in the new place, it had to go.

Some of it was easy. I mean, how many sets of mixing bowls or casseroles does one household need? I didn't really need 10 cookie sheets, or 48 muffin tins.

A lot of it was hard. My doll collection, my collection of crystal serving pieces, my silver coffee service, my silver serving dishes, all went. Pieces that had belonged to my mother, my grandmother. It was hard to let them go. I offered my daughters in law anything they wanted and they didn't want any of it.

Life is a lot more casual these days and young people don't use those things anymore. So I let it all go, and hoped that it would go to someone who would treasure owning it as much as I had.

We sold all of our lawn and garden tools, the kitchen appliances, the snowblower. Big Guy came over and took what tools he wanted from the garage and we sold the rest. We sold our boat and our RV, and the truck, becoming a one car family again.

As hard as it was, in many ways it was a good thing. We often don't realize how bogged down we are by our things. Getting rid of a lot of it has given us a sort of freedom. We've pared down, streamlined, decluttered and simplified our lives. We've been humbled and have come to realize that it's all just "stuff" and that the things that really matter in life don't have anything to do with things. It's kind of a liberating experience!!

We've been in our new place a couple of months now ... and we're happy here. No more huge lawn to mow, no leaves to pick up in the fall. No snow to plow in the winter. It's clean and newly painted, with lots of light. We have a pair of cardinals that live just outside our back door, and a bunny who comes to visit every morning. I even have a little space I can plant some flowers in the spring.

I've commandeered a corner of the basement laundry room and I'm working on putting together my sewing room/studio and anxious to get back to being creative. I've missed that. In the move, I found three quilts that my mother had started before she passed away, and I want to finish them this winter, along with some other unfinished projects.

So life goes on, and we continue to reinvent ourselves. The business is still on shaky ground, and we don't know what the future holds ... but we welcome whatever comes. and trust in the Lord to see us through whatever lies ahead.

Someone once told me ..,. if you're going to worry, why pray ... and if you're going to pray ... why worry?

Whenever I find myself feeling anxious about things, I remember that. Praying is so much easier than worrying!!

Until next time ...


Terri

While I Was Sleeping....

Well, I wasn't actually sleeping ... not the whole time anyway!! But while I wasn't looking, our cooler than usually summer has ended and given way to a quite spectacular fall color display. And I almost missed it!!

Honey and I have been so busy these last few months, struggling to keep our business afloat during these tough times, it seems all we do is work and eat and sleep, and outside our little bubble, the world goes on, the seasons change, and time passes and we hardly notice.

Believe me, that's no way to live!!

Since I last posted, my youngest brother turned 49.

Big Guy and KT celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary.

Honey and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary.

The Wonder Child went back to school, is writing a weekly opinion column in the campus newspaper (he's a journalism major) and turned 24.

The Poet had an accident and wrecked his car. No injuries thankfully!!

I finally got our taxes done. We had applied for an extension until October 15. (If you remember, my computer crashed in March and I lost a 9 months worth of financial data for the business). So I finally got those done .. and guess what? When you don't make any money, you don't have to pay any taxes!!! We're getting a refund for maybe the 3rd or 4th time ever!!

I was looking for an appropriate picture to post (because I know it's more fun to look at posts wtih pictures in them), but I can't find my picture files at the moment. I probably lost a lot of those in the crash too!! So I'll just have to take some new pictures!!

Soon ... I'm making a vow to look up more often .... lest my life pass me right by!!

Running in Circles

I need to get my driver's license renewed. Because of budget cuts, two of the three Secretary of State offices in our town have been closed leaving only one open, that usually involves a very long wait. Last week Big Guy told me that he had his license renewed in a little town about 20 minutes away that has a SOS office and there is never any wait and he offered to take me there.

It was a beautiful day, so the drive was enjoyable, and when I walked in, indeed, there was NO ONE else there. I handed over my paperwork, had a quick eye exam, and then the clerk asked me what my Social Security number was. Apparently, the Federal Government is now linking driver's licenses with SS numbers and tax returns ... some Homeland Security thing, I think.

It turns out, somewhere along the line, probably when switching computer systems or something. Social Security dropped my married name and had all my information under my maiden name. The names had to match exactly, so they couldn't renew my driver's license until I had the Social Security thing corrected.

So, okay, it was a nice day, we'll go back to our town, downtown to the Social Security Office and see what's up. We lucked out and there was no wait there either ... except, that even though I've been married for almost 36 years, and even though I have Social Security card in my possession with my married name on it, they need to see my marriage license as proof that I am, indeed, married.

We gave up and went home!!

Then next day, I went back to the Social Security office with my marriage license, my birth certificate, my driver's license, my Social Security card, and I think I took along my baptism certificate just in case!!

And I got a new Social Security card.

I still don't have my driver's license renewed. All state offices are only open four days a week lately ... also because of budget cuts.

That's going to be a trip for another day!!

The Fruits of Summer

Honey and I went to the Downtown Farmer's Market this past weekend. They've had this market for years, but it was only a couple of mornings a few days a week, not a good time for us to get away. This year, they've expanded their hours so we were able to go for the first time.

We will most definitely be going again. We bought fresh green beans and wax beans, the juiciest peaches I've found this year, corn on the cob, tomatoes, a huge bunch of basil and some Tuscan bread.

I'm in heaven this time of year with natures bounty!!! These days, you can get most anything year round, but there is nothing better than locally grown. Nothing compares to eating an ear of corn that was just picked this morning, or fresh picked green beans, steamed with butter, salt and pepper.

We've been enjoying pancakes with fresh blueberries and locally produced maple syrup. Pizza with homemade crust, fresh peppers, onions, mushrooms and just picked basil leaves.

I can't wait to see what new things they have this weekend!! It was so much fun ... and we spent less than $10.00. Pretty cheap for so much fun, don't you think??

I haven't been doing any sewing at all, and probably won't until the end of the month when the Wonder Child goes back to school and moves out of my sewing room!! But there are so many other things to do in the summer, I'm just not going to worry about it!!

A Wedding and other stuff

I haven't died and gone to heaven (or that other place either). I've been so busy lately, I've been living life on automatic pilot. Work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep. That's been my life for the last couple of months. Living like that doesn't make me very happy, and as our mothers always told us ... if you can't say anything nice ..... you get the idea.

I haven't been in the sewing room in a couple of months, except to do some mending. My pile of unfinished projects is still sitting there -- unfinished, waiting patiently for me to have time to pay attention to sewing again. There are so many distractions this time of year!! First there was the yard clean up from the winter debris, trimming the shrubs, pruning the trees. I even mowed the lawn this spring ... for the first time ever!! I grew up with three brothers, and raised three sons, so I've never needed to mow the lawn before. But with the kids all gone, the yard work is too much for Honey to do by himself. Now, understand, we have a riding lawn mower, so it's not like I pushed a mower over our half acre lawn ... but still. It was an accomplishment!!

The biggest news lately is that my oldest son, the Poet, got married on Saturday. He and his new wife live in Florida, but the wedding was here in their hometown. It was absolutely lovely!! Everything went off without a hitch, down to the smallest detail. If I ever need a big event planned, I'm going to call my new daughter -in-law, because she did a wonderful job ... especially considering it was all done long distance!!!

I didn't get any good pictures at the wedding, the lighting in the chapel wasn't ideal from our seats, so this is the best picture I have, but I'll post more when we get the professionally done photos.


We haven't had a chance to get to know Katie very well, but we love her already because she makes Ben so happy!! He's like a different person!!

Today is my birthday. I'm 39 years old for the 18th time!!. Honey is cooking steaks on the grill, and making strawberry shortcake, so I'm going to go have a glass of wine with him and celebrate!!

I won't wait 2 1/2 months to post again!!


Terri
Terri

Easter Revisited and Other Stuff

The roast leg of lamb for Easter dinner was a huge success!! It turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself. I will definitely do it again. I used the leftovers to make lamb stew, which reminded me of my grandmother. She made the best vegetable soup, but it became a family joke that if she made soup with beef it in, it was vegetable beef soup, and if she made soup with lamb in it, it was lamb stew ... but it was the same soup!! Mine was a real lamb stew and we thoroughly enjoyed it for dinner the next day.

The piece de resistance was this cake. It's a lemon Jello poke cake and it's really easy to make, looks terrific, and is a light refreshing dessert after a big meal.


In other news, I have a new great niece, (number 20 for us - we both come from large families), born on Monday. Her name is Cleo Savannah. I don't have any pictures of her yet, but her mom is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sure she is too! I did finish the rag quilt I was making for her, so I'll have to get that in the mail soon.

I have something very exciting going on in my life that I can't talk about just yet. Don't want to jinx myself, but if it works out, it's an answer to my prayers!!

And speaking of prayers, I'll be taking off Friday morning for a Christian women's retreat in Sault St. Marie in the upper peninsula. My sister has been going for years. She talked me into going with her one year, and I've been back every year since. This will be my 5th one, I think. Sis is now on the board for the group so she's also roped me in to being a group leader. I feel woefully inadequate to lead a group, but somehow, it always works out!! My husband calls it my weekend "galavanting with God". It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive, and across the Mackinaw Bridge. Every year, the last couple days before I just really don't feel like I want to go ... but I'm always glad I did. I've met some amazing women there, and I come home all recharged and full of faith and hope for the future. It does my soul good ... so I'm going!! I hope to get some good pictures to share next week!!

Terri

Spring Visitors

Our backyard used to flood every time we had a lot of rain. Sometimes if it happened in the fall, we'd get a cold snap and it would freeze and the kids would have an impromptu skating rink. We put some drain tiles in to help deal with the water, but still, in the spring when the snow melts, and it rains a lot before the ground is thawed, the back of our yard gets flooded. It doesn't usually stick around long these days. This year, for the first time, it provided a resting place for a couple of days for a mated pair of migrating ducks. .

The dogs and cats were in a frenzy, but these were savvy ducks, and they soon realized that the animals were not in love with the idea of getting wet, so as long as they stayed in the middle of the pond, they were safe!

They're gone now ... but we sure had a good time watching them for a couple of days!!

Terri

Singing the Blues

In case you were wondering, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I've just been in kind of a blue funk the last couple of weeks, and not in much of a mood to do anything creative. The early spring is full of bittersweet memories for me. We lost my dad on April 1, 2003, rather unexpectedly, and that was the start of a few very difficult years for me, when it seemed like life just ran me over like a steamroller and I was lost for quite a while. It was a long road back.

Many thanks to all of you who offered your messages of sympathy and prayers for my uncle. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 26, less than 12 hours after being admitted to the Hospice Center. My aunt was discharged from the hospital the same day, and although her activities were very limited, she was able to direct the funeral preparations. The days since then have been a blur of funeral arrangements, family arriving and departing, making sure Aunt is managing okay after her surgery, and trying to keep up with work.

Now Easter is upon us, which is a reminder of hope and salvation, and time to be renewed and refreshed. That is my plan.

I'm hosting Easter dinner this year at our house and cooking my first leg of lamb ever!! Honey doesn't much care for lamb, so he's having steak, but my Aunt loves it, I love it, and the Big Guy and KT said they would try it. So lamb it is, complete with mint jelly, mashed potatoes and English peas!! Wish me luck. It seems like it would be hard to ruin a roast leg of lamb. I guess we'll see, won't we!!

Terri

Saying Goodbye to Uncle Bill

I've been blessed in my life to have an aunt and uncle who have been like a second set of parents to me and brothers and sister. My aunt is my mother's only sibling, and she married an only child. They had one son, and then lost two more from birth defects. They never had any more children after that, and sort of adoped us. My only cousin on my mom's side of the family is more like a brother to me and in many ways I'm closer to him than to my own brothers, because we both stayed in our hometown, and the others all moved away.

An avid fly fisherman, he realized a lifelong dream and owned a cottage on one of Michigan's most famous trout streams for 30 years. His own son didn't inherit his interest in fishing, but Bill patiently taught the art of fly fishing to my youngest brother, and my own three sons, and was always as excited as they were when they made a big catch. My oldest son in particular became an avid fisherman and will drop a line in just about any body of water that might have a fish in it. He lives in Florida now, and fishes the ocean, but he fondly remembers those early mornings drifting down the AuSable waiting for a trout to hit.

Bill, has always been just a genuinely nice guy, and you can't help but like him.

In December, he had to have his left leg amputated. At the time, we thought he would spend a few weeks in rehab and be home with a prosthesis in a month or two. But the trauma of losing a leg seemed to start a decline in his mental status and his general health. Four months later, he is confused and largely unresponsive, and after several surgeries over the last few weeks to try to restore circulation to his right leg, it is beyond salvage.

To complicate matters further, his wife of 60 years was admitted to the hospital and had emergency surgery on Sunday for a bowel obstruction. She is doing well after her surgery, but has had to make some tough decisions from her hospital bed.

Today, she made the decision not to put him through any more, and to provide comfort measures only. He will be transferred to a Hospice Center tomorrow, and they will control his pain and keep him comfortable for whatever time he has left. She was taken to his room today in a wheelchair, and was able to hold his hand, and kiss him (she said he kissed her back), and tell him she loves him, and that it was time to stop. I asked him if that was okay with him. He seemed more lucid than he has been for several days, and he answered, "Yah .... yah."

Then the nurse gave him some medication for pain, and told us he will probably be pretty sedated from here on and he drifted off to sleep.

Bye, Bill. I love you.

St. Paddy's Day Memories

My married name is German, but my heritage is Irish on my dad's side. My maiden name was Frawley and my dad and his brothers were the 3rd generation of our branch of the Frawleys in America. They were of that Irish stock with dark, dark hair, blue eyes and fair skin. Then there was my Uncle Jimmy, red-haired and freckle-faced!! Each of the Frawley boys had at least one red-headed child. I was my Dad's, although I was never really a carrot top red like some of the others, but more of a dark auburn brown. I did have the blue/green eyes and freckles though!!

Looking back in our family tree, almost every male bore some combination of the names John, James, Edward, Patrick, Michael, Joseph or Richard. My dad was John Edward. My uncle was James Patrick. My brother is Patrick John, and so on.

St. Patricks Day was celebrated at our house with the wearin' of the green, corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and green beer (Kool-Aid for the children). The passing of a family member was always marked with a wake, where the men would share stories of the dear departed between shots of Old Bushmill, often at the gravesite, where for each shot imbibed, one was dumped on the ground for the deceased.

Today, I will make corned beef and cabbage. Honey won't eat it. Neither will any of my kids. My daughter-in-law has never had it, and said she would like to try some. So I'll have it for my dinner, and probably lunch for the next couple of days!! But I can't let the day pass without honoring that part of my heritage. Some things you just never let go.

And later tonight, I'll call my brother Pat, who lives in South Carolina and wish him a Happy St. Paddy's Day. And an Irish Blessing to all of you.

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

Terri

Fabric Finds and a WIP

Since I'm quilting on a budget these days, I've taken to scouring remnant bins whenever I'm near or in somewhere that sells fabric. Sometimes I come away empty handed. Sometimes I hit the jackpot. I've had a couple of good finds lately. I love this floral fabric. It looks kind of vintage to me. I got 3/4 yard for $2.00
This was my score for the day. Some 1/4 yard solid remnants for under $1.00 each, a little less than a quarter of the yellow polka dots for about $0.50, and the peach fabric for $1.00 a yard. I bought what was left on the bolt which came to just under 5 yards.

Then yesterday, I came across this fat quarter bundle for $8.00. It looks kind of springy, doesn't it?

This is the rag quilt I've been working on. I wasn't sure where I was going with this, and decided it needed to be a bit larger, so I'm going to add three more rows before I finish it off. I used warm and natural quilt batting between the flannel squares, and it's really very heavy. It probably would have been fine without the batting, but this way it's extra cuddly!! Pretty traditional fabrics for a baby girl. I have a hard time stepping outside that box. I'm going to have to really work on that!! I like a lot of the modern fabrics and patterns I see, but it seems like when I'm choosing fabric and design for a quilt to make, I gravitate towards traditional patterns and fabrics. I don't want to ... it just happens!!

Have a great day!!

Terri