Family Gratitude

My two beautiful and good hearted children...9 years ago

Wednesday Thanksgiving prep.  Lynsey chopping the celery and onions for the stuffing 

Dylan scrubbing the sweet potatoes for boiling.

Lynsey enjoying the chopping of onions.????

Lynsey has big plans to open a bakery some day with her mother....and to be a writer. 

She is all on the holiday thing.  Dylan rather play Minecraft...

Mean Grandma gave him kitchen duty instead.

  I was going to pass on Thanksgiving dinner since it is 2020 but Lynsey insisted we do what we do every year and she and her daddy would do it. 

Update...Thanksgiving was all thanks to Lynsey.  She made the chocolate pudding pie, the corn casserole, the green bean casserole, the homemade cranberry relish from fresh berries, She helped me stuff the turkey and skewered closed the openings...Really I am amazed at that girl.  She is only 11.

It was nice enough weather to eat outside...Then we drove plates of dinner to my sister.

I am fretting about Christmas because of COVID.  Lynsey said, Grandma, this is 2020.  We are going to do the very same thing as we did for Thanksgiving...and soon there will be a new year.  

Thank God in heaven for that girl.

 Voila:  The other granddaughter!!

I could not choose..I love both of these...Such joy to my heart.

This is a lovely idea.: Gratitude Quilt by Diary of a Quilter

Tuesday  The visit was on the screened in porch, 6 feet apart, masks, long underwear, jackets and two heaters  Nothing can keep fabric lovers and quilters apart...brrrr.

Emily designed some labels for the homemade extract the kids and I made.

We have vanilla, mint, and lemon.

My son started the holiday decorations..

Cheer for these times at home.

No sewing, as you can see...

However, I am sewing in my head...maybe in action tomorrow.

I have appointments at the end of January for my cataract surgery...When I started to fret,

I realized that I cannot see without squinting. I have no choice...

AND. I just read this:

"Worry is a superpower; the illusion of control..."

How right on is that!!!

Never Did Like a Rollercoaster!!!!

 

Good reading for an uplifting moment.

Really Mrs. O'Quilts??

Today, I have finished the last 5 potholders...Now, in my stash I have 25 done!

Kids going nuts to keep this old tree.  Their memories, that first Christmas I had guardianship of them

The tree only halfway lights...bottom half...It is now yellow and not white. It stands in the middle of the living room forlorn, but well loved. There is no room for it due to Lynsey's school room, moved downstairs due to remote schooling 

I had to order another bargain online..

Tomorrow there will be tears as they cling to everything.

Even cleaning their rooms...they send a suitcase or two to their mother's house filled with things they cannot bear to give to the Goodwill.

In the corner where the tree goes, is Lynsey's table and school books.

However, that is not all..She has installed a dry erase board so she can practice teaching.

She dresses up, she has a school ID around her neck..... and teaches 6th grade English (her grade)

That is how she practices her learning...

Now, this room is no longer a living room...the effects of Covid and remote learning.

She said, no one is coming anyway...so be flexible. Grandma..!!

The Begonia lasting through the fall with trees bared of leaves.

It gives me strength to try and be like a begonia.

End of November, Covid and remote, crazy elections, country a mess.

And the beautiful red Begonia keeps on keeping on.

Tonight Ms. Lynsey asked me how I make my ganache...hmmm..Dear girl, Grandma has never made ganache....eye roll...She saw it on Tik Tok and surveyed our home ingredients. She started making the cake.  I heard her call her father to pick up the whipping cream on the way home from work.

Ganache, by Lynsey

 A present made by Drenna....to cheer the day...xo

And so it goes..that old rollercoaster of life!!

 

How my Heart Beats

Mr O'Quilts visiting his brother in France 2010,

My girl and her girl...Aoife, 4 months today.

And me so far away...love her so much.

It is hard to know what I did today.

Evan's masks with filters..

Evan is 15...He ordered these pineapple masks.

It must be the fashion for teenage boys to love pineapples???

This morning guilt got me out of bed for one hour of a two hour zoom with CQG.

I was glad I made the effort.

I went to the library.....They brought it out to my book out to my car.

I tried to read my book on the great pandemic....in the sun.  Alas, I live in the woods and there was no sun.  I did all my exercises. I puttered....Bye, bye...the day was gone.!!

Wondering if my darlings should have a ping pong table, horse shoes, corn hole???

Of course there is a difference in price...just wondering...

Guess almost one am again is too late to ponder anything...

Kids coming home tomorrow afternoon for just two days before Thanksgiving break.

I hope I have the energy for games and other learning away from technology.

 

The New Zoom Life

 

The unpaper towel above, to save the earth and money and sanity...maybe.

There are tons of tutes...so easy.  I did not put mine on a roll as that would not suit my busy family, However, I think it is a great idea.  

Below is Lynsey picking out the fabric for ours.

We used terry cloth (torn towels will do) backed with fabric scraps.

This Covid thing is not a good thing...

They said on the local news today, to uninvite your guests for

Thanksgiving....It is not worth the risk.  I made myself some new masks today that take filters which I ordered online...shipping from USA.  I got them already.

Lynsey is writing her autobiography.  Dylan is helping her with the tech part.  They are so close

Fighting yes, but loving too.

Today, from noon to  8pm, I had a Zoom Sit-and-Sew with my Good Vibes quilters.

We are in Charlotte, Minnesota, Oregon.  It was great fun.  I finished the above masks, The extra protection of filters in masks and how to care for them.

finished off potholders, so I now have 20...5 more to go for my goal. I made 8 non-paper towels,

Laughed and chatted with friends...even took a break to ride my stationary bike and do my bicep curls.

Tomorrow morning is a two hour Zoom Sit and Sew with the Charlotte Guild.  Tomorrow night is my Naranon Zoom....wow.. the new Zoom life.

After today's fun, my sewing room is in the worse mess ever.

Honestly, I think the mess fairy comes and does a number in this room!!

I love to stay up all night and sew...but then I get up at noon and miss a lot of fun and sun..

Kids are with their mother, My son is putting out Christmas lights to cheer us on..

Hoping that that mess fairy comes back tonight while I am sleeping to put this room in order.

So, This is the Life

Sometime a quick fix of fabric can cheer your day. 

Taking advantage of Spoonflower's 50% off sale..so much fun.

Now that the sale is over, their rates have gone up to $12 for a fat quarter...OMG

The sale was $6.!!! I would never pay that big price...Will wait till next year..not that I need anything.

Below is one fat quarter...I LOVE it...just what we should be doing in these sad and trying times..

But, so not 2020.

All the band aids in the world...even Spoonflower ones, will not heal the wounds of 2020/

Spoonflower candles for our country and the world in Covid.

We are the World

Celebrating diversity..

People are people are people

Tissues and tea....See the creative use of my quilters clip to hold the tea bag!!

And my awesome tissue box handmade in wood...prize I won two years ago.

Aoife Rose playing in her basket.

The very best of 2020

Turn, Turn , Turn

Finding Joy

Autumn in all its glory...with our smiley dimpled Aoife.

3/4 of this quilt top done...Hoping to finish the entire top during sit and sew with my Good Vibes quilt group on Friday

My son cut back some of his father's roses.  I had thought it said, cut just before the first frost.

But, it said, just after the last frost.  Lisa said it was OK but since they were Granddaddy's we are nervous.

Eamon saved a bouquet!!

Making some potholder tops to finish during the Sit and Sew.

I like to have 25 done and on hand during the holidays and I only had 5.

Evan cut his mother's grass yesterday....Yeah Evan!!!

Tonight wonderful zoom with the CMQG...We are now up to 50 members, but only about 15 showed tonight.

Bribed Lynsey to do another piece on her project by offering to do her kitchen duty tonight.

Motivated by a porch visit with coats and masks...one person at a time.

Look how she folds...unbelievable...so not in my skillset!!

I might just put this organizational pix on my wall..

Oh, well, at my age, I had just better accept my skills and the not skills.

She helped me unpick all my mistakes...now that is a friend.

The Covid thing is going crazy everywhere.  I am old and impaired with asthma and other things...

Very nervous...not ready to go yet!!

As the virus amps up, I got my toilet paper and paper towels at Walmart...no limit.

And tonight, I ordered online a package of mask filters.

My awesome PT said that the mask protects others, but the filter inside helps to protect you.

Now I am working on masks that take filters...They are a pain...but.....

I do not want to be left out of more panic buying.

I might make some more cloth napkins and some fabric "paper towels", the old fashion way of cleaning up.  I think I would rather buy new towels and use the old for kitchen towels, than buy paper towels..

Since my healthy athlete of a man got ALS seven years ago...I am now scared of everything.  Always waiting for the next shoe to drop.  I am going Thursday to the eye doctor for eval for cataracts.  And, I am scared of having my eyes dilated and driving home...Such a neurotic old lady I have become.

With this moaning...I am going to finish with a picture I got this morning from Portland.

The caption was:

"Good Morning," Aoife from the kitchen!!!

 

Change is Good , You Go First!!

Aoife Rose at her four month check up.

Waiting for her shots.  Evidently she smiled for the doctor...Poor baby had not a clue.

Dylan has a wonderful teacher this year.

She knows he struggles with reading and she knows he wants to be a car mechanic like his Dad.

She gave him a car magazine to inspire him...At first he resisted...and then....

When Dylan got home from school , he went into the kitchen and made himself four scrambled eggs!!!!  Yeah Dylan....Of course, dear Lynsey was already in the kitchen making spaghetti squash to bring to her mother's house...TBTG  There was enough room for two: No fighting!.

I am waiting for these two to love sewing as much as cooking...Oh, well, they are only 10 and 11..

There is still hope!!

An evening visit from a fellow traveler, a friend of 20 years....

a little vino, a little laughter, so saved the hard day.

On the front porch with candles, masks and 8 feet apart!!!

Linda from the Queen Bee and the Good Vibes Quilters.

finished her geese top...so nice.

Thanksgiving Cacti...I fertilized them last week while they were still outside under the bench.

Under advice from our Wanda, the next day, I just brought them in..voila!!!

Because I am a scaredy cat watching news non-stop, I sent a note to my doctor to see what she says about my desire for a trip or two to Aldi or Target.  Her answer was the same as last time:

Wear a mask, social distance, wipe down your cart, sanitize your hands when you leave and wash them good when you get home.  Also, try to go at off hours.

Kathylynn treated her self to a precious present...: Her name is Saoirse (Sur-sha)  Irish of course!!

Now, she is 10 weeks old.  Congrats Kathylynn...

Outside reading...so relaxed. The stunning weather reminds me of  winter, growing up in Phoenix, Arizona. Of course cacti instead of leaves, but still.  I wanted to capture the moment of peace, the merry little breezes, the crisp and welcome feeling of the moment...I wanted to put it in a jar for the sad times...Alas, the sky changed.  The greys changed color, the clouds moved more rapidly.  The day dimmed with a colder gust and a darker hue..

The former feeling does not stay.  The memory does.  It is not the same. Everything changes...all the time.  Now I am inside.  Looking through the window, I see a soft pink between the blues in the sky, surrounded with lovely greys. Quite cold now.  I welcome winter...the change...

 Yesterday was the day that I signed guardianship of my 15 1/2  year old grandson back to his parents. I have raised him for 8 years.  He is living with his mother for now. She is doing a good job during this difficult Covid time and remote learning , caring for him  This change was difficult for me. 

This change is the right thing. It was time and Evan is thrilled.

Change is everywhere!  As in a no sewing weekend  OMG.

It is Something We Get Through

Aoife in her daddy's arms...

Guess what I did last night??I renewed my driver's license online.  It is good for 5 years...Wahoo...not the federal one, butI figure that I can do that when it is safer.. My birthday is in December, so one less thing to worry about.

Covid, etc, asked me to post this song:

You'll Never Walk Alone

I am so trying to stay sane..We had awful tropical storm rains and flooding today.

Another is on its way..30 hurricanes in one year?? Oh, it is 2020.

Kaffe is good at giving cheer.  I found this box of scraps and decided to use them.

Someone told me that life is short.  Real short..

Now, I am looking for a fun and easy pattern.

Touching and loving fabric is soooo therapeutic!!

When Aoife is happy, we are all happy.

Here is our Willie Nelson....helping us along as usual

It is Something We Get Through

 Grief...again as always.

Here's what I most want you to know: this really is as bad as you think.

No matter what anyone else says, this sucks. What has happened cannot be made right. What is lost cannot be restored. There is no beauty here, inside this central fact.

Acknowledgement is everything.

You're in pain. It can't be made better.

The reality of grief is far different from what others see from the outside. There is pain in this world that you can't be cheered out of.

You don't need solutions. You don't need to move on from your grief. You need someone to see your grief, to acknowledge it. You need someone to hold your hand while you stand there in blinking horror, staring at the hole that was your life.

Some things cannot be fixed. They can only be carried.

—Megan Devine, from the first page of "It's OK that You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture that Doesn't Understand" (https://refugeingrief.com/book/)

( I do not know how to get rid of this white...so I will post and then sew)