A Very Very Grateful Day....

Thanksgiving....the glorious November day in Charlotte.

Here they are...the darlings. 

Dylan is wearing the shirt I made his father when he was 6.

I love generational things.  I used fun food fabric..

Three darlings, but only one princess!!!

Voila..the Thanksgiving skirt.

Uncle Bri teaching Lynsey how to count the marshmallows on the tators..
He is so clever.

See how she learns!!!  L for Lynsey...the sweet potato way.

This year...an outside event.

My girl made it all so special!!
Tradition has us using our Christmas china at Thanksgiving.

The feastly complications...:

I was thrilled to have my brother here with his wife, not so much their 16 cats in their rented van.

We had a lovely time laughing and playing traditional canasta...

My brother's leg is awful.  If he continues to be homeless, his leg will not heal.

He will eventually have to lose his leg or his life thru sepsis.

They had agreed to look at a trailer park my DIL had seen before.

It was all set up.  Then SIL refused to go.  She preferred to live in the van.

There is nothing I can do.  They have left.

I am glad they came.

My girl has made Thanksgiving a real feast.

She and her man are outstanding cooks.

I did nothing. So happy....so grateful..so proud..
My girl brought the joy with her.
She and her man continued traditions that the grands will hold dear.

Even surrounded with such love, tears came.  There is an emptiness that can never be filled.
There is a feeling of desperation and despair...
This is not a mind thing, it is a gut thing born of loss.

They have left.  I am so grateful that they came.

There is joy in the coming and sadness in the leaving.

That is the way of life.

The Beginning of the Season!

School is out for five days...Today Lynsey asked Grandma where her Turkey outfit was for Thanksgiving??

Hmmmm....I did not know.  Who dresses for Thanksgiving in a turkey outfit??

Guess it was her cousin. Olivia. Hers was lovely.

Remembering the two turkey fabrics I had..she chose one.

 I have a lovely collection of colored elastic.  I have never made a quickie skirt like this.

Sewing the fabric onto the stretched elastic...It was so done in 20 minutes.

She is thrilled...TBTG for a fabric and elastic collection!!

Going to bed ...Stitch is the best comfort cat!!!

Starting now..on the eve of the eve of the beginning of the season.

This is the third year of this quilty Christmas process using random leftover blocks,

Just maybe it will be done this year.

First step...to put gold balls on the top of the trees...or maybe red.

We will see.

I am glad to see it up at least.

Company comes in late tomorrow night.
Hoping for peace at Thanksgiving.

That Soothing Potholder

Tonight....

Getting comfort from where ever I can.
This morning my son woke me with a phone call.
He was crying that he wanted to stop Heroin.
I offered to take him to detox if he could come to the shopping center on a bus.
Ok..He was grateful...I told him I loved  him.
He never showed up.
He is not ready.
The lowly potholder becomes a gift of love, transferring some of the pain into a sort of art.
The art of coming to peace that we are in control of nothing.
Nothing but the joy of a potholder.
My son is in God's hands.

 From Cathy Perlmutter @ Gefilte Quilts comes....Leonard Cohen and quilts

A very fun and clever post.  Thank you Cathy!

The Art of Working it...Striving for Balance

Glee!!  Top done.  It is bordered to keep the edges in line..I cannot wait to baste it.

Going to batt it with wool because I am keeping it...love

 No need to be lonely!!  Tigger..

 and...Boo...They comfort me.

 I am looking for this fabric.  I thought it was Anna Marie Horner..but I cannot find it.

Help needed please...Does anyone know the name of it??

 Saturday's adventure...I went to Lowe's to find old plants for a dollar..a bit of success.

 I think that the one above is Sedum.. I do not know.

The bottoms are Mums and pansies..I chopped off the bad and will plant them soon.

On the way home, I saw a garage sale.  I have not had the energy for that in forever.

Treasures galore:  She wanted only cash.

I only had $31.
 FUN!!!!  And, I made a new crafty friend.  She was moving into a retirement place.
The more we chatted the lower the price went!!

I love baskets!!

 A wooden box that had been in her family.

 An almost new coffee table I got for $15.

A hall tree

 a lamp shade.
All for $31... and a new friend to boot!!!

Saturday was so awesome...I just knew I was fixed.
Then Saturday night came...bam!! the tidal wave again.
I remember 3 months into a grief group, when a lady came in crying.
She was 18 months in and so much in grief.
I thought to myself..Jeeze what is wrong with her????
Still she is singing this song??
Well...now I know..because I am there...The second year is worse.
I managed to flip it into gratitude by sitting by the fake fire with a quilt and a cat.
Just so you know that the O'Quilts family is still somewhat in the normal range
in spite of all of this.
Voila one of my cute trinket boxes.
When I went to put it away...inside...
I found someone's dirty socks!!!!!!

At the store today, Edy's holiday special peppermint ice cream.appeared..
Just appeared..
I got the last box and it is still November!!
I hear it shouting from the freezer...taste me, taste me..
Then off to bed I will go...those school busses come early!
xxoo

The only thing sad today is that I cannot find the children's Halloween Candy!!!

Here we go...Ms Lynsey practicing and singing for her part in the school Veteran's Day show.
She came home a success.
She saw a veteran there who looked so much like Granddaddy that she almost cried...sigh!!

 Top finished, auditioning borders..if any..
Quilt pattern from the wonderful, Sujata Shah at the Root Connection

 
My father died 19 years ago. My sister and I waited the week in the hospital with our mother.
The life support had been disconnected.  The wait was awful.
Our mother gave us each $200 to go to fabric stores.  She said that we needed a break.
At that time there were a lot of fabric stores in Phoenix...now, not so many.
We would be in the hospital, go to fabric store, come back...etc..
I will never forget that time, nor the fabric I bought back then.
This piece was one of them.  I am going to use it to back this quilt.
The fabric has been saved and loved for 19 years in memory.

Addiction:

In the past few years science has found that indeed addiction is a disease.
..a chronic relapse brain disease.
Many people still shame addicts as folks with a weakness and moral problems.
Shaming someone with a disease is unkind.
My son is so sick. He forgot to set up visitation last week.  I called him yesterday to say I loved him and he was too high to talk.  He never called back.  I try never to lecture or shame him...just I love him and hope he chooses recovery.  His birth parents were addicts.
No one knew back then that it was an inherited relapse disease...A knife in my heart.
The surgeon general made this public today.
 Hopefully education will change perception.
Money for treatment can then be freed up...Praying...
Addiction as a Disease

A few days ago, I went to my doctor.  I went on and on telling him my story and how it was affecting me now...at 19 months.  After listening patiently and with great kindness, he told me that ....
My antidepressant was no longer working.  HA!!!!
Two pills later and I am already feeling much much better.
We now have a great big family bottle of Cymbalta...Just joking...
Stasi...Stephanie and now....me.
The last few years have taken quite a toll on all of us.

Things to look forward to:
Thanksgiving with my girl and her man.
My brother and his wife.
Evan perfecting his canasta game.
The grands doing so wonderfully.
They are happy, safe, well loved and well cared for.
TBTG
Sooo Grateful!!

The Light and the Dark

Look what I found..all put together...After at least one year of hiding under my mess!

 Found these too in another spot...to finish it up

Lynsey is loving to iron...so much that she is willing to do some of her hated math on X-Math on her Ipad.

This is how it goes..: math, ironing, math, ironing...we are coming along.

There is some good news to mediate my gloom:

Car fixed...Thank you...Sir Michael.

Dermatology appointment results:  A+

Dental cleaning done..no cavities.

Special, no hormone Turkey purchased at Trader Joe's

It was ordered by the healthy cook...my girl.

It cost me a million dollars, but she and her man are going to cook it,

sooooo, I follow orders!!

A big shout out to my friends who have and are doing this for me:

Folks seem to have a hard time with grief...Find gratitude!!  Get over it!!  Are you not finished with your grief yet???  They step away, afraid grief and death are contagious...

No one knows what to say, so they say nothing..In hushed tones they say,
Maybe you should see someone.....OMG

By 19 months most people have way forgotten me...as it should be..life does go on.

And on and on it goes...

I see my dear man everywhere.all the time.

I carry on with a stone in my heart.and a tear in my eye, most days.

Here we are loving the Halloween fabric.

Dylan, age six, is sorting for me...He is moving the fabric to a purple bin.

I love how he stops to adore  it...lol.  Grandma's little fabric lover!!

Below is my sister's Bento Box...she is making for a friend with cancer.
Just look how my clever sister put button fabric as corner stones!!

Celebrating my love's birthday with his roses in his handicapped bathroom

xxooxxoo  My love, I miss you so!

Happy Birthday, My Love....November 7th.. and Quilty Stuff

Well the sad day was sadder with the broken internet and television.  It was repaired late in the afternoon.  Evidently the bonus room television was sending errant signals to the neighborhood...so a Time Warner tech clipped service to our entire house and did not tell us...Really???

Two years ago. We all love and miss you so.

The ALS beginning...

"I wanted to spend the rest

of my life with you, but instead,

I am deeply honored knowing that you

spent the rest of your life with me."

                              --Camille Marcotte

But, life goes on and friends make it so..
Marie Coop's video of our sit and sew
We had a great time on his birthday ..laughing and sewing.

Of course I cannot end without the whine!!!! Why else would I have this  blog???
My shoulder...ugh..needs replacement...now my left knee soon needs replacement...ugh...despair...ugh...
My love's recent birthday...In 4 days...19 months a widow...ugh...
Thanks to the blog...My Go Go Life.This is how I survive!!

The New Deal and the Old Deal

Tonight, three of us got together at my house for Sheila's birthday.
Sometimes it is nice not to have to explain the inexplicable pain of loss.
The new deal for me was not to bake a cake, rather to buy cupcakes.

 I used one of my grandmother's cloths.  It rarely has been used because she put so much work into making it.  Both my mother and grandmother saved it.
Really, I will be darned if I will have it sold at an estate sale for $5 bucks.
I am loving it right now!!

 Gave Sheila one of my potluck bowl covers.
They are so pretty to use, transporting dishes to someone's house.
I bought a few plastic bowls at the dollar store to showcase them properly!!

Somehow, I got the energy last night to sew batting pieces together...all of course to be frugal.

I finished enough for 7 lap/child quilts.  The rest will be potholder inners.

During those crazy widow hours between 10 and midnight,
I decided that I was all alone in life with my itsy bitsy family,
 and no one to call in the middle of the night.
Poor me, last man standing!!

Then I remembered my friend, Hancock of Paducah...I paid them ahead of time..for some solace.

Muggs is back in town...TBTG
My Wednesday night group is having a Sit-and-Sew on Monday..
.Monday is my dear man's birthday, November 7th. 

 This will be the second annual Fintan Muldoon, Birthday-- Sew-in..Ha ha..

Wouldn't he get a kick out of that!!..lol...TBTG for my good friends who lift me up.

My only brother is in a New Jersey hospital with infectious cellulitis.
 He has been on an antibiotic IV drip.

Yesterday he was told that the antibiotics were doubled and he had to stay in the hospital until Monday to be re-evaluated.  He is homeless, so when he is discharged, he has no where to go but back to his van.

I hope he will still be able to work his two jobs, none of which pay enough for an apartment.

Like the rest of my family, my brother and his wife love to eat sweets. Today at the grocery store, there was a sweet special of Edy's ice cream.
Of course, I bought much more than the normal family needs..

.I told myself it was for my brother at Thanksgiving..I know he believes in sharing!!

My daughter is coming for the  holiday and she and her man are cooking.
I have strict instructions on the kind of organic turkey to get at Trader Joe's

Me thinks that the ice cream is organic too and gluten free and sugar free and fat free.

And  I just love a good story..

Christmas is coming...the 11 year old wants some Xbox thing that cost $350. 

 These are the lessons in resiliency....

Sorry, Darling...old grandma was raised on Canasta and we already have the cards and you already know how to play.  I am going to teach your friends...And we will do the Saturday night special..cards and popcorn..Grandma O'Quilts is on a fixed income.

 Every year, I make little presents to give to friends..etc..tissue holders, potholders...

This year nothing.  I have been sleeping..

I feel badly, but I cannot help it. 

 I will just give out Christmas hugs and maybe can do better next year.
XXOO

A Day of Gladness

Just who makes us happy every single day??  Our dear Boo!!

 Marie Hartman saves the day.!!  All the way from Florida came very cool presents..

Finally, had time to gather the crowd for the fun.

 My treats were pretty clear!

The children's treats are already joyfully in their rooms

 Thank you so so so so much Marie...I do not know how you knew that we loved cats.

I cannot wait to play with this fabric!

  

 And dogs!!  Zoe has felt a bit left out...with Stitch and Boo closing the deal..

My dear friend Sheila who had both eyes operated on.....

 forgives me for opening and eating the candy I got her for her surgery.

She likes me anyway.  Looks like I will be forever wide of girth and substantial like my mother and grandmother before me.

 I took myself to lunch today at my favorite Mexican restaurant'

Then,  a wonderful therapeutic time at Target with their 70% off Halloween sale.

For an hour or so, I got great relaxation...30 cent socks...etc..you get the idea...

Washi tape for 60 cents ..all sparkly and ready for any holiday.

 A meeting tonight topped off the fine day.

FYI..says the proud grandmother...Evan got a great report card

Two B's and the rest A's...

We celebrated at Kabuto with a few of his favorite folks!!

His mother, Ms Katie and his dear old Grandma.

 My dear Evan...you have done all the school work yourself..with no adult prodding..
Amazing. You are just so grown up!! and at South Charlotte.Middle School.
A prize winning school!!
To think that the teacher wanted to hold you back in second grade....Terrible..

Even though my brother in New Jersey has been hospitalized with cellulitis, he is still coming for Thanksgiving....Emily is coming home too..

A great day for Grandma O'Quilts

It is very nice to be able to share that, for sure!!