Today, Tomorrow and Forever

Portland, Oregon,....Now it is just too much!!!  Chickens are inside the house on the sheep quilt  I made Aoife!!!!

Rope bowls from rehab!!!

Given to the nurses

And from my chicken crazy daughter....She has plans to hang with another friend who loves chickens..

OMG....Here they are enjoying the "drinking with chicken day".

I would not say that my girl is obsessed, would  you???

Someone asked me what was the most challenging sewing project I had ever done.

Well, in high school, I  took shop.  I re-upholstered the family car:  A Peugeot we had brought back from 
Europe when my father was restationed home.

And, above....The Irish dance dress I made for my girl for her competition  in the World's Irish Dance.

Today, I have another good behavior pass from re-hab to my apartment...So nice to be home.  Tomorrow the staples come out of my wound at the ortho...Wednesday, my quilters come to help me move my things from rehab, home to my apartment..I will have been in rehab for 3 and a half weeks....Thursday, I come home for good...............No pain at all...no pain meds either!!!

Lucky, lucky Grandma O'Quilts

Little Red Goes to Rehab

 

Grandma O'Quilts has survived her fifth joint replacement.  Guess what??? After 6 months of tortuous pain, I am  now pain free.  I still live at the rehab center as the staples have not been removed from the wound....But I am alive and well...It is now two and a half weeks post surgery!!  Whew.......Three days post total hip replacement, my daughter brought Little Red to the rehab center.

I had prepped these....eg cutting fabric and fusible fleece at home pre-surgery.  As I waited for the afters of the surgery to subside, I was able to make key fobs for the nice nurses and folks at the rehab center where I am staying.

They were very well recieved..  It is nice to be able to give back.

I was not able to blog from my Ipad...ignorance on my part...

Now, I am on a good behavior pass from the rehab jail...home for a few hours to finish up a few things.

Thank you all for all your support..

xoxoxoxo

Five Day Count Down

Today's surprise treat:  Linda M brought this totally thoughtful gift to my room this afternoon..A  yard of pristine feedsack from her family stash in Nebraska.. I just love it... Did I mention how much I love it...A perfect treat for me:

My dear daughter and her family has gone completely nuts about their new chickens.  Voila:  Bok Bok sitting on my girl's lap in the family living room...Dear me!!  A Barred Rock....

Em got hereself some chicken buttons!!!!

Aoife loving on Bok Bok

Mango here is a Buff Orpington.

Who would have known seven pet chickens would make dear Rosie, the dog jealous.

Our Aoife is quite the picture ham....

Now...five days until Monday ....Cinco de Mayo....my mother's birthday  AND my new hip operation.

I am nervous, but anticipating the eventual relief of this awful hip pain and maybe being able to lift my leg up into a car or into my bed without pain...  I am surrounded by love and encouragement.

PS:  OMG  Now there is a chicken in a quilt..

 

Small Things, Great Joy

 Honestly, stress reduction via potholders....totally works....no bad side effects

Keeping Pearl at bay, sewing works every time.

Our Aoife is almost 5...July...Here she is setting the table for Easter brunch..Good girl..

My grown and growing family on their beach vacation this year.  Good mommy on the left, then Evan 19, Lynsey 16, Dylan 15 and Ava 7

Wahoo does time fly!!

Cheery funky flowers from Trader Joe's

A lovely spring day, friends playing cards (Hand and Foot) must be an old person's game!!!'

A visit for dinner with my sister tonight brightened my mood.

So far my stats allow me to continue with my surgery on Cinco de Mayo...My mother's birthday...

I know she will be looking after me.

My girl is coming from Portland.

I seem to have lots of support around here...

Trying to turn my fear into faith..

Aftercare will be here at the rehab center where I live  TBTG

Life is not easy. but sometimes there are lovely twinkles.

A Total Mess

 
I have made a terrible/wonderful mess in my sewing room tonight.  I decided to make more key fobs...They are very well recieved around here...So I pulled the above fabric for that.  Then I thought I should work on potholders....cutting batting for those...ETC..Next came finishing the American flag in progress... Now I have fabric and projects all over the room with no energy to work on any of them.

Below are the two new chickens at my girl's house.  The family now has: 4 Silkies; 1 New Speckled Suxxex; 1 Bared Rock; and one Buff Orpington....Sigh... This is way over my head.  Chickens are evidently common in Portland, roosters not so much.

Aoife and her mommy made nest treats for the  neighbors.  They walked around Easter afternoon to deliver them..So adorable.

I wss so happy to see that my girl still had the easter eggs I had purchased from Germany 55 years ago.

I love blue bottles, as in my blue bottle tree to ward off the evil spirits.  A friend showed me her daughter's remodelling...Voila blue bottle light fixture

It seems like I have been blogging forever and ever.  It changed when Bloglovin went out of business..Somehow I lost my favorite blogs and never found them again... I am wondering if this old lady should stop blogging...Maybe  in the morning light I will feel differently

xo

Random Sewing , etc.

Bag presents for friends:

Potholders for sewing visitors:

Aoife visiting a friend's grown up chickens:

Happy butterflies for hope...a gift from Cherie

Adorable bunny from Anne.  Simple checkered tissue with a decorated big round bead, a bow and candy.

My latest venture using the 2 inch grid adhesive paper.

Happy Easter!!  Going to bed now.  I am planning on dreaming for the morning light.

Lots of Joy and More

 My angel grand-girl visited me today and was my shining star.

She helped me pick a border for this flimsy

She cooked dinner for Grandma...sauteing peppers from my fridge with garlic and onion

 She organized my mess and disheveled sewing table

She did the dishes and we played Canasta in the card room...Lots of fun and laughs.

We visited Betty and her stain glass studio

So  nice to be a grandma instead of a mother!!!!

Above:  I painted with green sharpie the boring strap on my band.

                                                       

I finished off jar openers for  presents.  I like to clip a treat on friends' doors when birthdays or a "thank you" needs to  happen.

Last but not least, my friends here; OMG, They think they are  Easter Bunnies...OMG

As a special treat my son called tonight...twice.  Each time Lynsey jumped up and down to talk to him...More joy spread through the phone. Both of them so delighted...

Happy people make a happy grandma!!

Today....a Good Day

Focusing on the good;

Lunch with old friends

Cards with  new friends

Chat with my son

Chat with my Lynsey

Chat with my girl in Portland

Visit with the Wellness center re: hip replacement post surgery care.

Sewing

Here is my accomplishment of the evening...It is thanks to the great organizational skills of Linda

and of course, her kind heart...Without Linda and Sherry and my group, I would be lost.

Lynsey is coming tomorrow.  Hopefully she witll  help me with my mess and help me cut the border fabric..

All this made with lost blocks from forever ago.

My DIL and SIL bought a new house....He said no cats in the house......

But, our beloved Stitch lives with them....my sewing machine cat; the childrens' favorite.

Lynsey demanded that Stitch come with them when I moved...

Here is my SIL with his changed  heart   TBTG  I am so grateful.

My truths have been revealed.  Everyone knew I was  neurotic and loved me anyway.

I had thought it a secret!!

I identify as thin....Oh, no...clearly I am fat....Dear me, the truth is elusive at times.

The best news of all is my visit yesterday to my orthopedic surgeon....I have lost 32 pounds and he was delighted.  Evidently I have four more pounds to go.  I must have a BMI of 40 and mine is 41.

The doc was so delighted that he scheduled my surgery noting that it should be no problem for me to lose those extra 4 pounds since I am taking the weight loss shots...So thrilled.  Surgery is supposed to be in 3 weeks, my mother's birthday for good luck.  May 5th ....Oh, my.

Also very grateful that I have had minimal side effects from these shots.

And so it goes, a good post on a rainy cold April day.

Once again, Looking for the Light

 

Voila...here is is...by the sewing machine!!  It is always at the sewing machine.

The light and the Joy!!

Keeping myself busy by making things for others...I gave away two potholders this week;  one to my will attorney and one to the 

therapist  who came up to rescue my wheelchair from my rug...Jeeze..

Here I add a new potholder to the basket by my door.

Today, after my OT and my attorney visit, I finished off the  Easter bunnies and flowers for my door.

I started cutting bowl cozies...I figure if I have them all cut, then they will all be ready for the next step without boredom..

Dinner and conversation with friends...ended the day.

Our lovely spring days have now turned to cold.  I think I willljust  lock Pearl outside and go to bed myself.

Bunnies and Buttons and Bakelite

Such a great day today.  After lunch with a friend, the button jars from the art room provided amazing joy.

Lucky me found Bakelite buttons amongst other vintage ones....I then finished my Easter scrap decor, adding the adorable buttons.

Bakelite was pattened in 1909..  

In Portland the sunny day brought out the fast growing darling chickens to play with Aoife.

Sunshine is her favorite as it is the most cuddly.

These chickens are growing fast.  by two months they will be checked for their gender.

It will be a sad day if any of them are roosters.  Roosters are not allowed in their city neighborhood.

My girl has now made her first chicken diaper.  She gave it to Aoife's pre-school teacher whose chickens are grown.

Aoife plans a sleep over with Sunshine when it is older....

My, what would my grandmother say.??

What would my dear man say??

Thus a cheery inside , rainy outside day in Charlotte.

Still Alive and Hanging in

My Portland family continues with its love for the new chix. 

Aoife with Sunbeam...

Lynsey spent the night last night.  She talked and shared and helped old grandma...Grateful me!! She slept in my new  hospital bed.  I cannot get into that either with my painful hip.

I have lost 32 pounds, but need more to go in order to qualify for the much needed hip replacement.  My OT thought the hospital bed would help me as it lowers and rises, but I can not lift the affected leg, thus must continue to sleep in my reclinder.

My buddy Steve is in the hospital.  His cats are being watched by his neighbors on his apt floor.

Cheered him with a potholder!! Of course...Doesn't a potholder cheer everyone??.

EJ planted a new clematis in my garden.  Spring has come to Charlotte, thus a bloom already!

Finally I have labeled Evan;s  quilt .  I still have it as they are moving to a new house.

Here, my North Carolina family shows their new home:

I am so proud and happy for my DIL

My latest adventure in sewing:  spring fabric scraps ironed on fusible fleece, quilted and ready to cut out bunnies on my Accuquilt cutter.

 Here are my darlings....Dylan 15, and Lynsey 16.

So that is it for today...My awful hip pain opens the door to Pearl as she is always lurking.

Grateful for friends  to lift me up.