Getting Better. with a Little Help from my Friends....ox

 With encouraging words from friends; with the knowledge that all quilters make some kind of mess, I am feeling better.  
The grands came by  today to celebrate my sister's birthday.  They had said they would help with the mess.  They carried things to the car, folded quilts; all 9 of us ate lunch here at our Bistro.  All 8 of us were on our phones.  Please do not tell me I am out of touch at 75!!!!!! At least I got multiple hugs from them all.

My bowl cozies, finished tonight.

My sister helped put water and sodas in the fridge.  The kitchen is now respectable enough for the cleaning lady tomorrow!!!  Lucky me.  One day, post Covid, I slept in my recliner and she cleaned around me.  I woke up to a clean apartment....sooo spoiled am I.

One of the problems  here was that I had multiple projects , thus  multiple messes.  Tonight I finished my bowl cozy project....YES!!

I struggle with expectations of self.  (as in giving myself a break)  Really, I just sold the family home, I moved in here, I was in daily pain  until PT fixed me up, still full of grief!!!  I had Covid and post Covid  fatigue.....What do I think I am supposed to accomplish..??

Now, I say.....Grandma O'Quilts, you are an old lady, retired and you have no agenda...WOW

And, I have not heard from my son in 4 months.  I have no clue where he is.  He is close to 40 years old and can take care of  himself.  He is mad at me for selling the family  home.

Aoife gave in...not so good, but she did it...on her terms at 2 and a half.!!  That is saying something.

Happy Birthday sister!

My Dylan enjoying Santa's gift at his mother's house.

All five children received a cuddly blanket with their names on it.

How great is that??

That's it for tonight.  My heart beats quickly knowing the cleaning lady comes tomorrow.

When we are old, that is the best present ever....I have  been to Paris....now I only want a cleaning lady.

Told myself  I deserve it!!!!

I do not usually post Facebook jokes on my blog.  This one, however, made me laugh outloud and a good laugh is worth sharing with the world.

 I was in a store, using the restroom and just as I closed my stall door, a voice from the next stall said, "Hi, How are you?"Embarrassed,... I said, " I am alright!!"  The voice said, " So what are you up  to??" I said, "Ummm...Just trying to handle a little private business over here!!"  Then I hear, "Can I come over?" Annoyed....I said "Excuse me?!?!"  

Then the voice a sid, "Listen, I will have to call you back, there's an idiot in the next stall answering all my questions!!"

Grandma Brags Once More...

This Christmas, Aoife received her very first baby doll.  She had been looking at it in the store.  Santa listened.

She received her second sewing machine...Hello....this  is MY family.

My daughter made Aoife's dolly a new dress.  Aoife refused this morning to pose with the dolly and the DOLLY'S new sewing machine...So Rosie the dog did the favors.

This new sewing machine actually works...Surely hope this is a talented baby doll.

Check....Does this mean Aoife now has 3 sewing machines??  Just like her mother???

A wonderful world, old style Christmas tree, Emily spotted on her walk in Portland.  Bubble lights and old fashioned big ornaments...Sigh and love. xo

I know it is boring to watch other Grandma's show off their grands...

Thank you for looking.  Of course I am not done.  I have pictures of the other grands, but as a teenagers, they have a different cuteness about them:.like headphones...or video games...or make-up  OMG

 FYI Carly Simon is 75 years old.  She is worth $65 million dollars.

Grandma O'Quilts is 75  years old too....I think I must have missed something!!

I have had a serenity about me for a week now...It feels so  very good.

Woe is Me.....I Have a Mess Everywhere

Peace on my bookshelf with my dear man  watching. I so love that he is with me. A mess, he says....nothing new, he loved me anyway.

My Pakistani lamp made from the camel's stomach. Amaryllis in wax from my girl for my birthday.  I have never seen it like this before.  A Trader Joe's special.

And, now the truth...75 years old, but nothing changes.

MESS!!! 8 Bowl cozies not finished, potholder scraps all over, fabric cut for tissues, but not done; fabric snips on the floor, threads all over Grandma...I tried to get my family to come help me organize...but, oh, no...my sister has been here before and feels she is wasting her time. My daughter is in Portland, she is neater.  Only Lynsey, dear Lynsey said....Grandma, get me a fake license and a key to a car and I will come right over.  She has great organizing skills, but is only 13.

My daughter had left a nice box wrapped on the counter for Christmas for me.

Today I opened it.  She had given me all the fabric she thought she would never use.  The box was overflowing..Where to put it????? All this lovely Denyse Schmidt....Oh, my heart.

She included my favorite chocolate:  Tony's with almond bits....from Portland.

Wednesday is my sister's bday, Thursday the cleaning lady comes, but she cannot organize. Friday, 3  friends in my tiny apt to sew....What to do?????  Eat chocolate, get fatter and drink wine.

At least I went to the pool today....My first day back since Covid!!!

Life is still good and I am still happy.....a freaking miracle if you ask me...

Celebrate Kindness: December 25, 2022

Dreams of Peace and Joy on Earth....Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve in my new little apartment. It is warming up in Charlotte, now 22 degrees F.

I have told my family not to come because this place is full of Covid and the power company has instituted sporadic black outs to save our electricity grids.  Today is another great day for me...Amazing Grace. I feel a little guilty to feel so good with the world in chaos.

A precious gift from quilting/artist friend, Linda Swanekamp. hand painted...so lovely.

The inside message, ...soo perfect.

Grateful for my daughter in Portland, Oregon.  With love, she keeps me in the loop.

Her window decorations:

Her darling Aoife: ( and vintage hand made ornaments from when Emily was growing up)

Aoife enjoying the winter storm:

A Christmas candle:

My girl continuing family traditions from Cork, Ireland.

Irish breakfast on Christmas Eve:

Even here:  My grandmother's candle and my  mother's santa mug.

They are making their own traditions in their own home this Christmas:  some from Emily's growing up and some from Brian's growing up....for their Aoife and family.

No wonder I feel joy this  Christmas Eve.

Grandma Enjoys Two Wonderful Days

Yesterday, I just was..very calm and relaxed,  Afternoon lunch was cinnamon toast, hot chocolate with peppermint peeps, a silly movie and a nap.  How sweet life is.

Today my friend Marie took me to lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant...In the pouring rain with my walker...jeeze louize...a  3 hour lunch with her saintly husband. I was so invigorated once home, that I enjoyed a light heart and was able to sew tonight.  She also  gifted me with this worldly fabric.

Pictures from Portland as Aoife enjoys her first Christmas in her own home. They are hoping for snow tonight. 

Emily made her daughter an advent calendar.  So much  to love about this picture.

And to love here as well:

A certain grandmother (3/4 of a century old) has been raising children most of her middle age/old life.  Self care has been preached to me by many.  Today it came in the form of a few Marcia Derse scraps that were on sale.at Etsy...in my mail box.

.. Self-gifting..to celebrate the winter solstice.

They are washed already and ready to sew.!!

Two years ago...a big Accuquilt sale had me buying this for myself.  Expensive, but sooo worth it.

This big cutter is electric.  My age and arthritis are delighted.  I never looked back..I really love it.

Tonight I cut out 8 soup bowl cozies. Using Zap and Wrap, I cut 11 inch squares of that and fabric. One package of Zap and Wrap makes 8 bowl cozies.

(https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pellon-Wrap-N-Zap-Quilting-Batting-off-White-45-x-36-Precut-Package/21976547?athbdg=L1600)

+

.See Bowl Cozy Accuquilt video instructions

So easily cut, notches and all...I am beyond delighted.  I  have met so many nice people at my new senior apartment complex, I am thrilled to have things on hand to gift.  My guess is that after Christmas sales will be great if anyone wants to get a machine or die.

With tonight's energy, I finished the rope bowl my girl started when here.

It is a bit funky, but I like that look

Will wait for a visitor to snip the many threads.

My post-Covid fatigue is improving.

I have a comfy place and lots of fabric to survive the cold weather on its way .

And, evidently I have friends, new and old...."One is silver and the other gold" (Girl Scouts).

So very grateful.

All About Aoife

Happy today with my emotional gas tank filled to the brim from my birthday visit.

This was a birthday present from Aoife.  In one of the many sunflower fields in Oregon.

Future sewist perusing my stash.

Sharing it with Monkey in  hopes  to influence  him too!!

Cheesecake decorated  by my daughter with sugared cranberries..

Birthday flowers from my daughter and DIL

Stunning...and of course my studio in all its glory.\

Saying goodbye..waiting for her Uber.

They are all now safely home for Christmas in Portland, awaiting a bit of a storm.

Nice to be home.

It seems that I am not the only one in my retirement apt building with Covid...Dear me.!! I see "No Visitor" signs up everywhere.

In the spirit of the holidays, I am attaching a travel tissue pkg within a pretty case to each door  with a Covid sign.

See...gotta bloom where you are planted for Christmas.

Now I am climbing into bed under quilts and my wool Guatemalan Blanket.

 

Welcome Mrs. O'Quilts to the 4th Quarter of a Century

 Grandma turns 75, surrounded by grands..a few extra thrown in for the love.

Left to right, Dylan,12, holding the cake; Evan 17 with his pony tail and smile; Tyler, 13, Ava's brother;  Lynsey 13. Front row:  Grandma, 75; Ava, 4; Aoife 2 1/2......

My cup runneth over.

Among other things, Emily paperpieced a sunflower for me.  It is already hanging on my door.

I hate to paperpiece.  She just learned it  and loves it...so relaxing she said, so addicting!!!  I get to be t he recipient....Lucky Me!!

Here Aoife enjoys the tree and feast at Grace O'Malley's Irish restaurant in Matthews

The fish was yummy, but the price was outrageous.  Too pricey for me...

Of course, with Aoife, I will go anywhere.

My girl, Emily hates to have her picture taken. I just came across one of us together from a few years back.  It does capture the moments, so I am including it here...My Italian daughter....or as Ancestry revealed.  With me, her Scandinavian  mother...40% Swedish and 20% Norwegian....life!!!!???

Mug rug from my sister.....our Arizona heritage.

English paper piecing tree from Emily a few years back.

My door at my new apartment depicting the holiday season.

Evidently I have been accepted by my new  neighbors.  I received at least 20 Birthday/Christmas cards..

And now....a big box of  tissues.  Today, my family leaves to go back home to Portland, Oregon.

Soo sad in the parting.

Nothing takes away the Joy of the visit.

Sew remembering past fabric sales between Christmas and New Year's.  I usually go to Hancock's of Paducah.  In the spirit of curtailing gluttony, I removed all the other sites.  This year, I want those sites back.....so if you have any insight  as to which sites might be enticing with their sales, pls send them to me!!!!!

She Rises

With a Covid isolation sign on my door and no wreath, my friends thought I was done for.  Alas, I tested negative for Covid on Friday.  My daughter and her family arrived on the red eye from Oregon Saturday...and we carry on with joy.  Post Covid issues for me are no appetite and extreme fatigue.  Doc said it should be better with time.  Vintage wreath from the 70s.  Made by Irene McLaren for my birthday back then.  I love it still....Now it graces my door once again.

Below, Aoife enjoys the matching, I spy quilt top I made for Samson.  So glad she approves.  Told my friend that her first grandchild's quilt would be on its way by the New Year.

Holidays are here when these yummy stars arrive on shelves at Trader Joe's.

Grandma is back at it with scrap  potholders.  Here we have metal doors.  I ordered tons of magnetic clips enjoying a surprise placement on the doors of folks I have come to love.

These snowflakes were Wonder-undered before I cut them out with my Accu-cutter.

My freemotion was too annoying to fiddle with so I did random straight line stitching to hold it together.

Fully expecting some fraying....We will see.

Throwing in a scrap purple. We never know who chooses what.

The city lights will shine next Saturday night.

So grateful ox

Cemetary Flags  (interesting)

The Changing of the Guard

 A short December post to share..the changing of the guard. 

My daughter in Portland carries on our family traditions.

Aoife plays with her Great-grandmother's ceramic Christmas tree.

Their family enjoys my vintage collection of holiday advent calendars.

One more wonderful family man, decorates with real foliage as it snows outside.

And, friendship...So grateful...Today, in the rain came Linda.  She put my favorite flowers and a Quiltmania magazine in a bag on my porch. Lifting me up with kindness!!!

Feeling tired, but great here.  Talked to  my doctor today.  I am on  Muscinex, Flonase and Prednisone to deflect from my asthma.  My only struggle is fatigue, but snuggling in bed on a rainy day is kind of nice. My doc said that the greatest risk factor with Covid is age.  I asked, according to the medical establishment, how old is old for Covid.   For Covid, she said 65 is considered old. 75 is considered very old...What a gal!!!!