Finding Joy as it Happens

In the mail today came my avocado friend here....from Melissa Quilts

Big thanks Melissa...a great treat on a stressful day. xoxo

My neice who suffers from Ovarian cancer...loves monkeys.

As a calming expression of love, I made monkey napkins for her.

A friend of mine has chosen an angel tree child for Christmas.

The child wants a doll buggy.  My friend asked me to make a quilt for the buggy..

Here it is, made with love.

Backed with one of my favorite bargains:

Tula Pink bunnies!!

My daughter is visiting here from Oregon.  We have had a lovely time.  She is off now to do errands for me.

My hip causes so much pain, I cannot lift it into the car...Jeeze Louize and more!!!

I need a Pfizer Covid shot delivered to me....Sigh, somehow I do not think that is on the delivery options.

Yesterday;s treat was a visit from my sister and my niece and nephew.  With my girl here...it felt so much like family.

I have craved that feeling lately as my grands are teenagers with their own lives...I think that they have forgotten that they still have a grandmother!!!!!My pain causes me to feel sad.

It was so great to see my sick niece and my dedicated sister.

I love them so.

The doctor ordered weight medication is out of stock...OMG. The entire country must need hip replacements!!!!

All I want is a Butterfinger candy bar.to calm my  nerves, sigh....

Doing Something

Keeping my mind calm; I did one of these!! 

I keep a star to be on my small design wall by my machine for a quilting quicky when I have the chance.

Looking to  gifting, I made two more Japanese knot bags....

The one below is made with corduroy scraps gifted to me years ago.

Something new for me here...Cord holders to keep mess down.

Cord Keeper patterns from Apple Green Cottage

The cord wrappers are a new experiment form.  I have put one on my long I-Pad cord by the sewiung machine.

The Green Apple Cottage has the templates ready to copy.

And so goes this Saturday.  The ortho guy told me to walk thru the pain...Big Ouch.  He also sent me to a weight reduction program where they are going to give me a shot in my stomach so I will lose 40 pounds...OMG>  Then I will probably stay in bed and wait for the promised nausea and dizzsiness.  I am supposed to lose 40 pounds in two months..Jeeze Louize..I do not know...New rules say...no low BMI, then no operation...even though 8 years ago I had 4 joint replacements in 12 months with a very similar BMI...now doctor and new rules..

 I am walking around in pain, I get depressed!!  I have been offered a riding cart, but physical therapy says I have to walk...so walk I do!!

 Goals:  losing weight enough for me to get a medical release. ANd so it goes.  I have not heard from my grands in forever. It is OK...I am concentrating on getting better..

Tonight's share is from John Roedel

                              *****

I wrote this poem a couple years ago to keep myself from falling off the edge.  I need these words today more than ever.

                              *****

oh my troubled lovely,

oh my weeping daisy,

oh my fading candle,

oh my broken beauty,

oh my crumbling stronghold,

stay with us

here on Earth

don’t rapture yourself;

~ we need you - we need you

- we need you - we need you

before you decide to leave,

sit with me here in your unmade self

at the edge of your unmade bed

and listen to me

tell you one last secret

oh my tearful songbird,

if you can find

a way to

survive long

enough

someday you’ll become

the answer to somebody

else’s most desperate prayer

by just being there in

the same room that they are in

~ as they gently fall apart

and in that moment

you won’t need to say anything

you’ll just need drape your hands

over theirs like a Good Friday altar cloth

until they believe in resurrection again

~ that’s why you can’t give up

your life will someday be the rainbow

at the end of someone else’s storm

if you aren’t still here

when they fall off

the bridge

then who will be there to catch them?

I know it’s not quite fair

~ but your life isn’t just yours

it also belongs to that person

who is going to need you

to be alive later

you are part of the community

of unintended angels

who has a sacred calling

of surviving your darkest night

so someday you can be the

sunrise for somebody else who

will need you to prove to them

that daybreak always returns

oh my clouding diamond,

oh my shaking sunflower,

oh my doubting saint,

oh my disappearing moon,

oh my quieting symphony

stay here

with us

on Earth

because if you do

you will save a dozen lives

by first saving your own

it’s the great pyramid scheme

of hope

you must persist

so they can watch how you persist

turn this riptide you

are drowning under

into a ripple

of hope

that stretches

through time

that you can ride until

you reach that one moment

in your life where you’ll find yourself

in a quiet room with somebody

who wants to become a shadow

and you’ll be able to say to them

with authority the same thing

I am saying to you right now:

“oh my troubled lovely,

oh my weeping daisy,

oh my fading candle,

oh my broken beauty,

oh my crumbling stronghold

stay with us

here on Earth

don’t rapture yourself

we need you...”

by john roedel

Bloom Where You are Planted, etc

 This election, pastors are asked to go to the voting sites to help keep the peace..

Dear me!!

My friend asked me to make her a shawl for the occasion.

Bringing together different cultures, this shawl is made from African fabric.  It is embellished with a Celtic cross.

I hope she likes it.

The giving tree:  Or plant...etc.

This time last year, I passed on to my neighbors, a Poinsettia plant that had been gifted to me.

It was small and lovely, but I do not keep plants anymore...simplifying my life.

They planted it in their garden.  Voila:  It came back in its loveliness to cheer us on.

As I have aged, I have worried about ways I could perish.  My vivid imagination never ever dreamed that it would be painful arthritis that would do me in.  Eight years ago, I had four joint replacements....two knees, a shoulder and a hip.

Now the other hip is killing me and I can barely walk.; the other shoulder hurts  and...This morning I awoke with it in my elbow...Jeeze Louize

Working now on resigning myself to my painful lot.  Seeing a surgeon on Thursday, taking meds that do not work.

If this is going to be how it is from now on.  I will try to "Bloom where I am Planted" and figure out what I can do. (instead of focusing on what I cannot do!!)

Continuing kindness is my first goal.  "Small things with great love", said Mother Teresa....

I am trying to have more realistic expectations of myself.

And, I am sewing small items to gift to folks...xoxo

Witches Three

 From Portland comes our Aoife...just loving Halloween

Age four is a great age!!!

Grandma proud!!

My Many Blessings

Here is  my brave and lovely niece with her new monkey family...Alexis is crazy about monkeys!!!

On the other side of our country is 4 year old Aoife with her Rosie.  Her dog came to help pick her up from preschool.

My girl and her girl made this cat pumpkin....very fun..

Experimentation in potholders...applique birds on a strip set.

Linda's special Halloween cookies... Lucky me!!

I ordered some yellow facecloths last month.  When they came, they were scratchy and poor quality.

I did not want to bother to return them, so I covered them with scrap fabric for kitchen/bathroom/ car, etc scrubbers.

Thanks to Sherry, my phone camera now works.  Taking off my nose bandage from my Moh's and plastic surgery on my nose, allowed my face recognition to again, let me access my phone...Here I am, grateful to be able to blog.

Grateful today for friendships....Before she left for Aldi, one friend came to ask me if I needed anyting,  Two friends fixed my bed and made it!!!  Like wow!!  A few quilters came today for lunch and laughter.  Dinner brought more laughter with 3 different friends...A friend showed up with my favorite candy bar, Butterfinger....as in Happy Halloween....My grandgirl called with teenage gossip, batting her eyes and telling me the adolescent news.  She also shared with me that she will do school work when she wants to, not when others tell her to...OK then..!!!!. 

She is always careful not to use cursewords with me...respect...makes me feel loved.

  I  just ordered a book for the bookclub in a few weeks...Had a spiritual chat and hug from housekeeper, Mary from the Congo...

Enjoying glimmers of joy...eg...sunshine and colored leaves...laughter and fabric mess....

 Thank God I moved here... I am indeed blessed!!!

Just for Today

My  new phone is not working properly...It tells me that my passwords are incorrect.  It will not forward pictures and I cannot recieve emails.... So, no posting here, no calmness for me.....Here are two of my latest iron on Halloween squares...I still have to applique them with the machine.  I am getting tired of Halloween and it is not even here yet...Time is going so very fast.. Guess I had better make some Thanksgiving items.....Slowly I am making new friends to replace (not really possible) lost family and lost friends due to COVID. Political stress abounds...

I now have four of these spider blocks.. I will applique them, then leave them for next year..

Above, the first of my fall potholders..

Below, jar openers for presents these holidays..

Seems I cannot get away from stress....Terminal cancer is visiting our family...scary as all get out.

I am dealing with it by sewing mindlessly and munching on the $5 chocolate bar from Trader Joe's.

Voila, washcloths

I bought new facecloths for my bathroom, but they came all cheap and scratchy.  Not wanting to dump them nor return them, I covered them with pretty for cleaning things.  All done tonight....so relaxing!!

No pictures because of my disabled phone.

The bandage on my nose comes off this upcoming Tuesday...I will so be grateful.  Also graterful that the MOHs surgery and the plastic surgery are over...and successful.

With a heavy heart, I am trying to de-stash in small ways....a fabric piece here and there...

Very, very grateful me has wonderful Sherry coming by tomorrow to check on my phone..

I am kind of out there since my sister is so busy now with her family...

Me, the former  matriarch of our family, is now trying to concentrate of her own mental and physical health and what I can control.  What I can control is so very little. I am glad I live in my apartment without the worry of a house.  I am grateful that friends still gather round with love and support.

Happy to still be alive.

 

Calming Myself

It is always sewing that calms my soul...keeps my anxiety at bay

I have made 38 of these and already given away 10 to 

friends and staff here with kind hearts.

They are not only well recieved, but I have loved making them...

Yesterday's  trip to the ortho doctor was a total waste of time and a big disappointment.

I only saw the PA.  Neither doctor nor administrator were there.

PA refused to schedule any surgery because my BMI was over 40.

Guess the doctor allows his PA to make his surgical decisions.  All this despite my record of having had 4 successful joint replacements 8 years ago at the same BMI with a  signed waiver.  (that surgeon has retired) So here I am, still in pain with no recourse in sight...My PCP is thinking on it.  Meantime I am advocating again for myself on the Orthocarolina portal....again with no success, but advocating for myself helps me feel better.

No wonder I need to make key fobs...

Still it is a lovely crisp day...all Carolina blue and fun friends for dinner.

Stay tuned.

PS I voted yesterday!!!!!

Today's News

 Family News:

Aoife is no longer an only child!!!

After two  years of dirt biking in the country on  the bike he bought with his own working money.....

At last, a crash...MRI next week...Stay tuned...Dylan is now 14.5

Sewing fun:  Enjoying Spider process:

Making key fobs for the holidays....There are tons of online U-Tube tutes:

Hardware bought on Amazon Prime.

There are no good posts without a potholder, or two:

And so it goes as I try to stay in the day, appreciating each moment

Reading on the porch, enjoying the beautiful sky...Carolina Blue.  Lunching here with friends;

Trying to organize, one step at a time.

My hip is so painful that I can  hardly walk, even with a  walker.  My ortho appointmet...6 weeks out.

Finally, fed up,  Thursday night I typed a message into the Ortho portal.

It said, " My retired ortho surgeon would be so disappointed to see that I do not seem to be able to get an earlier appointment, even in so much pain"!!!!

The next morning at 8:30 am, I recieved a phone call offering me an appointment this upcoming Thursday.

I am so grateful.  And grateful my sister is available to drive me and keep me company.

Today I celebrated the good things, albeit in pain.

Grateful I am here safe and sound in my adult living community.  Especially since going out is not feasible...No strength left in my left leg.

Grateful for my wonderful DIL doing a grocery run for me.

I have been blessed with a lovely life.

Safe Me, in a Crazy World

Beautiful North Carolina has been destroyed by a hurricane...OMG!!  Life as we know it can change in a second.

We are safe, here in Charlotte...only rain, trees down, etc...but 30 minutes north...OMG OMG

Above, Aoife, still in Cork, Ireland, just visiting with the cows.

Below, calming my soul by making potholders....meditation at its best!!

Here using random strips....

A little experimentation with my Accucutter Leaf die...

More experimentation.....: cutting and applying Wonderunder to vintage quilt blocks from a very damaged quilt top.

Today another doctor appointment...dear me...aging quickly.  This one was a yearly physical...also some talk about my poor and painful hip.  I can no longer walk without a walker  because the hip pain is so great.  In six weeks I have an appointment with a new surgeon...Meantime more and more physical therapy....I can barely stand it.   So 8 years ago, I had 4 joint replacements....Two major joints left and xrays show that both my hip and shoulder are without cartiledge...Enough already!!!

As I try to relax during all this world stress...I am grateful for sewing and sewing friends and blogging friends...

Life is still good...of course as long as one has a sewing machine!!!

 

Cover Me With Sunshine

Above I have my first picture this trip, of Aoife in Ireland visiting with her cousin, 

In spite of my pain, and the disappointment of the cortizone shot in my groin not working, I am playing a lovely tune by Pink,

Cover Me With Sunshine

I am so thrilled that my girl keeps me informed with pictures of  her adventures so Grandma here does not feel so left out.

Distracting myself making quilty projects for the holidays.  Below:  Pattern weights made from washers:

Sherry found the weights at the store;  Margaret got the superglue..lots of friendly support.

I glued two washers together..grateful that I  used gloves and a ratty cloth underneath.

From a supply of batik charms and scraps, I dabbed a bit of  glue stik on the fabric to stick it to the washer.  I covered the washers  using a zipper foot, a very slow stitch motion and curve.

Then I pinked the edges.  There are tons of tutes on the web for sewing weights,  I have posted this before  but could not find the tute.again.  Batik is perfect as it does not fray.

Voila, 24 finished  fabric weights to hold patterns or flyaway objects or be paperweights, etc.  

I figure that 6 per package for a present would be enough.

The friend across the hall from me is a competitive swimmer

This weekend she drove to our state capital for the state senior swim championships.   On her door this morning, I saw 3 medals.  She won first place in all her swimming events.  To celebrate with her, I  made a jar opener using plastic drawer liner and tracing a bowl for the pattern....so easy.  I stuck it on her door with a note of pride.and encouragement. She is 87 years old.

Inspite of it all....today was very good.   Visiting with friends, spending time in the arts room, reading outside,

making a few gifts . My sister even took my car in for inspection and examination.

.  It has been quite hard giving myself this attitude adjustment.

Today I was able to do it.!!

A Quick Post...Way Past Midnight...

Somehow I do not think that Maria Schell would be proud of me in the way I have used her workshop.

This is Potholder #2 using the stripsets she requested.  I cut them up and put some of my selvedge collection in-between.

I had such fun creating, still one more potholder for a friend.

 Today is the day that our Aoife, age 4 took off on a jet plane to Ireland for three weeks to visit family. She has dual citizenship, as I do.

Her mommy made her a fanny pack for her goodies and a lovely new pillowcase for the plane...Before my girl lost signal, she sent me this pix with Aoife already plugged in.

They will be travelling to Amsterdam and switching planes to Cork, Ireland...Her man is from there.  My man was from Galway.  I still miss him so much.

\

I wish them an awesome vacation of family and fun and laughter.

Meantime, Grandma here is slowly healing from her shot...I may try the pool tomorrow, but I do not want to do too much as I have done nothing...being in pain for a month.  I am still wobbly on the walker.

However, now I have hope