Our House

I

Our home as it looked on May 23, 2011.

                                 Our house about 6pm on May 24, 2011

                    Our house today, please excuse the frost on the roof.

It has been a while since I have written, no excuses, just have not written. I have missed keeping a log of what is going on in my world. I won't write much today as I have cookies and peanut brittle to make.
We moved back home on September 11.  I have been unpacking boxes since then.  Some days I work like crazy and other days are just "blah".  I have been in a "blah" state all this week, but will get back to unpacking soon.  I have started yet another hobby...crochet.  I have completed nine snowflakes and attached them to a crochet garland, but alas, I have not found a spot to hang them without poking holes in something.  With all the remodeling that has been done, I really do not want to make holes anywhere.  I will post pictures of my garland when I hang them.  Our Christmas trees and decorations are all in the shop with so much stuff stacked in there I am unable to get to them without hurting myself.  So, don't know what I will do.  I made some of the best and very easy yeast rolls for Thanksgiving dinner.  They are called Lion House Rolls.  Recipe is on Pinterest.  I will go for now, and will post more later.

The Mice

Well, we were finally able to move back into our home on 9/11.  It was very nice to get back home, but a little sad that I do not get to see my daughter every day.  Everything that was crammed into our bedroom and living room except for the furniture had to be packed and and stored in the garage so the carpet could be put in.  Once they completed the den we began moving all the furniture from the bedroom into the den so we could paint the bedroom before they put in the carpet.  Once all the carpet was down, we could begin moving furniture to its proper place and begin unpacking all the stuff.  Have I ever mentioned how much stuff we have.  We have my stuff, his stuff, our stuff, grandparents stuff, aunts stuff, parents stuff and some stuff left over from the kids.  Of course all the stuff had to be cleaned before it could be put away.  Which brings me to the mice.  When we got home on the 11th, I began to unpack my clothes and put them in the dresser.  There I found the tell-tell signs of mice (little tiny turds).  I do not like mice.  They can put me on a table faster than a New York minute.  Anyway, I had to take all the clothes and wash them.  On one of my shirts there were two spots that looked like mice had given birth.  Mind you, when I first moved here, I actually found baby mice in my drawer and that sent me screaming out the front door.  I have not seen any further signs of them, but DD and I spent a half a day cleaning out the pantry because they had helped themselves to anything that was packaged.  It is good to be home and sleep in my own bed.  I can not thank DD enough for her generosity and hospitality while we stayed in her home.  She has earned a few stars for her crown.

Light at end of tunnel

We have been in a frenzy since my last post.  Carpenters putting the final touches on things, our bedroom has been painted, carpet is complete, blinds for living room and mom's room are on order, the siding people working and the ENDLESS cleaning we are doing.  Everything had to be taken out of the kitchen cabinets, the cabinets washed out, all the dishes had to be washed and dried, then all had to be put back.  The outside of the cabinets had to be cleaned and polished.  On the last day of my cleaning, "Wonder Boy and Roy" (our carpenters) showed up to blow insulation in the attic over the kitchen and den.  Needless to say, the dust from the insulation floated in and covered my freshly cleaned kitchen.  Anyone want to take a guess at just how mad I was?  Anyone who knows me, knows that cleaning is not on my top ten list of favorite things to do.  The remaining furniture is back in place just waiting for the new replacements to be purchased.  Have I mentioned that shopping is another thing that does not show up on my top ten list?  Gotta have mattress and box springs, chairs and sofa for the living room, sofa and recliner for the den.  Those are the big items, we have a long list of other personal items that were lost, but those are not needed as much as the furniture.  The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter every day.  Yea!!!!!!

Renegade Retreat 8-11

Yes, our Guru does make mistakes.

                                     This is what the block should look like.

            Completed tops ready for the quilting.  These are for the Canyon Camp, our retreat facility.


Nine ladies arrived at the Canyon on Thursday and we began constructing two twin and one queen size quilt tops as a donation to the camp.  Everyone participated in the sewing of blocks, sashings and borders.  I had a very good time, as always, with good friends and much good food.  We had some differing of opinions and some mis-ques on time, but all is well.  I always look forward to the Renegade retreats, but it is always good to go home - to rest.  It is amazing to me just how tired I can get just sitting and sewing.  I am already counting the days til the next retreat.

repair update

I am so excited, I went to the house this morning and the a/c people are there installing my new heat and air units.  This makes me really happy.  The brickers are back to work and the kitchen has most of the crown molding up.  There is still a bunch left to do, I am still not sure if the carpet has been ordered yet.  My new stove and freezer are to be delivered on the 26th and I really hope that I do not have to re-schedule the delivery again.
I am off to a quilting retreat this weekend with my wonderful friends.   We always have a lot of fun and we always have way too much good food to eat.  I will have my camera with me and will post pictures.

The first picture is the new living room window, second picture is the new bedroom window, third picture is the new den window and the forth picture is my naked house being dressed with new brick.  A lot of work has been done since my last post, however, it is still not happening as fast as I would like.

                                         The skeleton for the new Barn.

 

                                         Almost finished!
The barn is now complete, but I have not yet made pictures of the finished product.  I must say that the workers made fast work on the barn.  They started it on a Thursday and all was done on Monday with the exception of the overhead door and the roof vents.
The sheet rock has been replaced on the ceiling in the kitchen and den, painting has been done (about 3 times because they did such a poor job), the brick work is going very well, they have not yet done the inside repairs in the garage, so as yet we can not have the garage door installed.  The paneling on the beam in the kitchen still needs to be replaced and I am not sure if the carpet has been ordered.  Everything in the house has dust and tornado do-do everywhere. The kitchen has to be cleaned inside and out of every cabinet and all the dishes, silverware, utensils, etc.  Once we get all the stuff out of the bedroom that belongs in the den, DH and I will work on our bedroom - new paint, carpet and such.  That part will be on us, I think, as it was not damaged in the storm, but just messy from all the dust, insulation and things from the storm and repairs to the other part of the house.
I know that someday we will be back in our house, I just do not know when that day will be.  I am going on a quilting retreat next week and can hardly wait.  It is always so much fun with really good ladies that I am proud to call my friends.

July 4, 2011

              My baby girl, Abby, says "it is so hot, will the fan blow any faster?"

 New flowers for Timothy.

My man and his new grill, our first major purchase since the "Big Wind"

Hamburger fixin's, potato salad, broccoli salad and baked beans.

Our 4th of July was a very good day, very hot, but very good.  DD and I went to the cemetery early to beat the heat, but by the time we finished putting out the flowers and sunflower garland we were both swiping sweat.  Did I mention that it was hot.  We spent the rest of the morning, after showers of course, preparing food for our supper.  Hamburgers, broccoli salad, potato salad, baked beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and other condiments.  I put together some peach ice cream for the freezer.  All was good eatin' and the ice cream helped us to be just a little cooler.  Poor grand-puppy, Jasper, is terrified of storms and firecrackers.  What's a little guy to do on the "Firecracker day of all firecracker days"?  Bless his heart, he would just sit and shake.  DD gave him some benadryl to help calm him, but to no avail.  He was just a nervous wreck all evening.  I really felt sorry for him.  The other pups seemed to get used to the noise, at least they stopped barking at it.
I finally was able to take a picture of the finished quilt top that I was working on when the "Big Wind" came.  Here it is.

That is Charlie to the left of the quilt.  My guard dog!

Sewing Quarters

We have had the area ready for a few days now, however, it seems that I am unable to find time to sit and sew.  Today it happened.  I worked on the quilt that I was working on the day of the tornado.  I have added the inner border and have the outer piano key border ready to press and measure to sew on the quilt then it will be complete with the exception of the quilting.  I have no idea when the quilting will take place as I now have a boat, a beat up golf cart and tons of other items in my shop and no power to run the machine.  It was fun to sit and listen to the purr of the machine today, like music to my ears.  I have missed sewing.  I had a time when nothing I used to do was any fun anymore then as I slowly began to get back into my hobby...Kaboom, the tornado hit.  Things are slowly beginning to come back together, very slowly.  Anyway, wanted to post pics of my temporary sewing quarters.  Thanks to daughter for making room for me to sew.  Mom has her machine in her room and has been sewing almost since we moved in here.

tornado videos

I just found videos on the internet about our tornado back on 5/24/11.  I can only say that these storm chasers have some mighty big "kahunas" to get that close to these monsters with video equipment just so us "fraddie cats" down in the "hiddie hole" can see the thing that destroyed our homes.  All I can say is thanks to you brave folks, I enjoyed watching them and appreciate the cold chills they brought to me on this very hot day. 
I am beginning to see some progress on my house.  Seems like the more they repair, the more damage they are finding.  We are hoping that they got the decking on today so they will be able to put the shingles on soon, the work can also begin on the inside of the house, as well as the outside and barn. 
DH took the day "off" from working at the house and we played a round of golf.  Now mind you that my 1, 5 and 7 woods were bent in the storm as well as my 5 iron.  The way I played today I think the remainder of my clubs got the shooie scared out of them and they did not want to come out to play.  Anyway, it was fun.
DD just brought me a nice warm brownie topped with vanilla ice cream.  Guess I better go eat it.

June 17, 2011

My day began with taking the Schnauzers to the groomer.  We decided to give them summer cuts, keep the Schnauzer face but do away with the skirt and furnishings, besides, Abby looks like her sock has fallen down on one leg since they shaved a portion of her leg at the vet for IV.  They just get too hot with all that hair.  It will take us a little while to get used to the new look, and if we don't like it, heck, it is hair and it will grow back.
Went by the house while I was in that area and DH was way out back working on digging up tree stumps so he could get a fence row ready for our new fence.  He said he came upon a GREAT BIG SNAKE wrapped around a tree stump.  Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike snakes, they just send cold chills all over me, make my insides shiver and I can not get away from them fast enough.  I'm just glad it was not me finding the thing.
DH also said they were suppose to deliver our shingles today, he was not sure where they were going to put them since our yard seems to be full of all kinds of BIG containers for storage and trash and a 16' trailer loaded with wood for decking the roof.  It still looks like they are days away from being ready to roof the house.  But I guess once it is roofed the inside work will begin.
Mom is doing well.  She works on her quilt at times, then she will repair the dogs toys that have been sent to the dog toy hospital.  The dogs are really excited when they get a toy from the hospital, they think it is something new.  I brought one in from outside this morning that had a leg missing and Mom said that she had just repaired that one yesterday.  I am really proud of how well she is doing.  She seems to be getting more confidence every day.  She is washing dishes, making her bed, and getting her breakfast in the mornings.  She is still on the heart monitor, not sure how many more days of her 21 days that she has left.  Her heart rate still drops into the 40s at times, and I am not sure if it is a heart problem, or just her meds that need readjusting again.  We will see what the Doc thinks at her next appt in July.
I NEED to sew something, but can't find time or space to do so.  I have one quilt that I was working on before the Big Wind and my challenge for the Renegade retreat needs to be started.  It probably would help if I had an idea of what to do for the challenge.  Oh well, maybe next week I will set up a spot somewhere.   I did Bobbin Lace yesterday, but it does not look right, so I have not yet put the starch on it.  I need a refresher course on Bobbin Lace.

Step One

I met with the contractor today and was instructed to go (I chose Lowes) to pick paint colors and a new gas stove.  I realize that there are a million things for them to do first and this will be way down the list, but at least I feel like they are beginning to do something to the house.  We have discussed ceiling fans, canned lights, windows, brick, siding and the roof, but no moves have been made to replace or rebuild the wall on the south side of the house so they can rebuild the roof.  That has to be done before anything can be done on the inside.  We will not have the gable on the garage, the one that was there is now "Gone with the Wind".  DH had the "tree people" come today to remove our two beautiful pine trees from the front yard.  They have survived 25 years, numerous neighborhood boys (jumping over them when they were first planted) and two ice storms, but the Big Wind has brought them to their knees, so to speak.  There is just too much damage to save them this time.  I think I might replace them with a Bradford Pear or something like that.

25th Anniversary

Yesterday, DH and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.  We are not much on big shindigs, much to our children's dismay, so we enjoyed Chinese food with our immediate family and spent a very relaxing day at home.  I took a nap, which I rarely do, and was enjoying it until the dogs began to bark.  One barks to sound the alarm and the remainder of the pack are off to help.  This particular bark, from our precious Abby, is very shrill and makes it's way to the bad part of the brain.  When she barks this way, it means "I need help and I need it right now".  Well, Mister Frog from King Manor had made an appearance in the afternoon, normally it is after dark before he shows up.  I look out to see Abby and Lucy batting this poor frog back and forth between them like they were playing ping pong.  I watch Lucy pick him up by the leg and give him a fling and when he lands Abby will hold him down with her nose.  I call the dogs in the house in hopes that the frog will find his way back home.  He went somewhere because the "girls" could not find him when they went back out.
Today, I will do some rearranging in Mom's room so I can get her back to her sewing.  She keeps hinting about it, but I just have not taken the time to get it done yet.  I made some copies of patterns for my Bobbin Lace, so hopefully I will get to do that before I forget how.  I may need to call my friends for help, good thing I have them on speed dial.

After the Big Wind

It has been 2 weeks and 3 days since the tornado.  We have been very busy with clean up and establishing a new "residence".  There have been so many friends coming over to help pick up trash from the yard, helping me go through clothes, giving words of encouragement and prayers.  Our friends are truly friends and I love each and every one of them and already miss them.  Although our new residence is only 12.9 miles from our house it seems like it is hours away.  I have made countless trips to the house to get those things we just "can not live without", I think we may have to rent a U-Haul to get it all back home when it is livable again.  I did notice yesterday that the trash people have been by to pick up the stuff we had piled by the road, however the tree people have not been by to shred the trees.  Seems that the tree people work for OEC and they were only clearing and shredding the trees that were in the way of the power lines.  Wonder who is going to take care of the trees now.  Our gracious town of Newcastle is charging a $1000.00 contractor fee.  So anyone in need of construction on their homes due to the tornado has to pay said $1000.00 for a permit to have repairs done.  IMHO tornado damage should be exempt from this $1000.00 permit, it is not like we just decided to re-model.  

Big Wind

May 24, 2011 is when the Big Wind came through Newcastle, OK...Let's back up a few hours.  The Renegades arrived about 10am for sew day at my house.  V was talking about how she had packed all her important things in just in case she had to go to the cellar.  She said they were predicting bad weather with "Super Cells" beginning at 3pm.  We had a good sew and lunch and the girls gathered their things and left at 3pm (before the Super Cells arrived).  I finished my top and pressed it when my DH came in and said "Let's go get the car".  I left the quilt top draped over the ironing board and off we went to Norman.   The car had been in the shop for 11 days due to a shimmy in the steering wheel.  I put Mom in her room with all the things she needed until we got back.  DH had picked up our daughter's pups earlier in the afternoon so they would not be home alone when the storms came.  When we got back with the car, I put it in the garage and DH put the truck in the garage also.  When daughter arrived we watched the weather and decided we better eat a bite and gather things in case we needed to go to the "Hidie Hole" (our bedroom closet).  I told daughter she either needed to go home now or prepare to stay with us.  She said she really did not have any place to go at her house if the storms did come and she would just stay with us.  I said to her "you should put your car in the barn so it won't get any hail damage", so we did.  Just about the time we got back in the house DH said that we were going to the community shelter and I told him to take Mom to the shelter and daughter and I would go to the cellar across the street and take the dogs with us.  When we got there, there were two people outside and three people and 4 dogs inside the cellar.  Add daughter, myself and our 5 dogs to the mix.  Within 5 minutes 2 more neighbors arrive and finally the 2 that were outside came in and closed the door.  9 people and 9 dogs all together in a very tiny closed in space with no air movement and no room to wiggle.  The dogs were extremely well behaved.  We did not have long to wait until the rain came and the hail began to fall,  it sounded like the hail was about the size of softballs.  Then all of a sudden it got really cool in the cellar and the pressure change was such that my ears were popping much like being in an airplane.  The noise was quite loud and the there was a big bang on the cellar door, then as soon as it came it was gone.  We sat very still and quiet for a bit then decided that it was over.  One man attempted to open the door, but it was not to be and was soon joined by another man to help, but still it was not to be, we were trapped in this very hot, tiny, underground space with no air movement what so ever.  It seemed like hours, but I am sure it was only about 5 to 10 minutes when a neighbor came to the vent to see if we were ok.  We told him yes, but the door was jammed and we could not get out.  He said the back wall of the house was on the door and he would get help to get it off, to not go anywhere that he would be right back.  One neighbor asked about her house and he said it was fine, I asked about mine and he said it too was fine, but the house where the cellar was was gone.  I am guessing that it was about 45 minutes before there were enough folks to get the wall off the door so we could get out.  At last we were out of the very hot, tiny, underground space with no air movement into the fresh air that was cool, at least for a moment.  As we walked out, it looked like a war zone, but I am thinking that my house is fine cause the man said so...not so much.  Half of the barn is demolished, I walk toward my back door and hear a hissing sound and smell gas, so I turn around thinking that at any moment my house is going to blow up.  I meet up with daughter in the street along with the 5 dogs and 2 that are running loose only to see trees, limbs, fence, and debris all over the place.  I see my kitchen window curtains flapping in the breeze and my garage roof and door crashed in on my new car that we just got out of the shop less than 2 hours ago.  Daughter's car and our Tahoe are in the barn, the half that is no longer there, and both are smushed really bad, but there is no hail damage on either.  I begin to walk toward the community shelter where DH and Mom are when I meet them driving down the street.  I tell them what I have seen and that there is no way he can drive down the street because of the trees that he should turn around and try another street and come in the other way.  Cell phones would work at times and not at other times.  We decided that Mom and I would go to my brother's house to stay the night and DH stayed at the house.  We gave daughter the little truck to drive and the guys managed to get our car out of the garage, and to my surprise, it had very little damage to it. We gathered a few things to stay the night and off we went.  I felt like a burglar breaking into my brothers house even though I had a key.  I had to turn the water on because brother had turned it off before they left for their trip.  Here I am with the water meter key and a flash light out in the front yard looking for the water meter.  After about 15 minutes of this, I finally gave up and called him in Colorado for directions to the meter.  Finally we had water, but my arms were not long enough to reach around the big water heater to turn it on so we could have hot water, so we did without that.  Mom did not have any problem sleeping, but I did not sleep well at all.  More later about the clean-up.

Sewing

Well, we finally got all the cutting done and Mom started sewing today.  It was a bit of a slow start, it has been a long time since she has done any sewing, but she got the hang of it and off she went.  She is doing a pretty good job too.  I did the cutting of fabric for one of two "Hanky Panky" quilts I am making for two precious little girls.  The "Renegades" are coming over on Tuesday and I will start making the blocks then.

Figs

Mom has almost made it trough the last BIG bag of scraps.  I finally got caught up on my cutting so I went outside to work on my fig trees.  There was a lot of dead limbs in the trees and both were coming back from root.  Here I go, armed with a limb nippers, not sure what their real name is, and an electric chain saw.  I still have all my fingers, arms, legs and toes, so no worries there.  I worked for about 4 hours.  Now mind you, I am really out of shape, so every muscle and bone in my body was talking to me really loud last evening and are still crying this morning.  It is really hard for this old body to get around today.  I really hope the figs make it,  not sure I will have figs this year, but at least there is green growth, so I will keep my fingers crossed.  Mom and I should be able to start sewing sometime this week.

Lucy

I took Lucy to the vet this morning to check her eye, she had a puncture wound in her left eye from last week that we were doing a follow-up on today.  All is healed and there is no need to continue the meds.
We are getting much needed rain at the moment and there are currently no warnings for tornados. That is so unusual for our state, they usually go hand in hand.  DH is thinking about filing a claim with the govt if the rain washes away his crops.  He has been working so hard on his garden, would be a shame to lose it.
Mom and I are still working on scraps.  She is so far ahead of me with her pressing, I think I am going to have to hide her iron until I get caught up with my cutting.  I got my daughter's quilt loaded on the machine yesterday and will start working on it soon.  I will move Mom to the shop to start sewing while I work on it.

Kentucky Derby Day

Although I missed the Derby, I am sure all in attendance and those watching had a really good time.  Wish I could have been there to see all the ladies in their hats. 
This has been a very good day, this is the day the air conditioner came on.  Yep, it reached the magic number of 90 degrees.  The only thing better would be sipping Laura's Wine Tea while enjoying the cool air.  I will probably make some wine tea tomorrow, after all, it will be Mother's Day and I should enjoy it, Right?  My daughter should be here to help me drink it, heck, I may see if Mom wants a glass, then again, maybe not.
I cleaned the shop today so I could get my daughter's quilt marked and loaded on the machine, however, DH needed to use the shop to "modify the boat cover", so I let him have the shop for the afternoon and I will work on the quilt another time, maybe on Monday.
Mom and I continue to press and cut strips for our Stripy Quilt.  I will be getting my strips out soon to cut them to size for my Log Cabin Quilt.  I have been saving strips for quite some time, so I should have plenty, if not I will just borrow some from those Mom and I have been working on.  I need to decide  how big I want to make it, and what pattern I want to use.  It will be a curved log cabin and the dark will be all scraps and the light will be a consistent color.  I can hardly wait to get it started.

May 6, 2011

Since I have been back from Paducah I have been so busy I have barely had time to sit down.  Mom and I have been working on Scraps, she ironing and me cutting into 2 1/2" strips.  Yesterday we spent half of the day shopping for a new chair for Mom.  She decided she needed a recliner so she could prop up her legs and feet while she watches tv in the evenings.  Well, she no longer got stretched out in her new chair than I began to hear snoring.  I knew that was going to happen, but she always says, "I'm not asleep, I just had my eyes closed.  DH and I went to the Base this morning to get meds and go to the commissary and Mom stayed home to work on scraps.  She has been resting since about 1:30 and I just saw her coming into the den.  Guess she is ready to work on scraps again.  We really need to get her hair cut, a shower and cut her toe nails(boy am I looking forward to that).

Afternoon with Mathew

Today I spent the day with Mathew.  He is a very active little boy.  He is obsessed with climbing trees, the only problem is he wants to climb my fig trees which are not the sort of trees to climb.  All he managed to do was stomp around on the new growth that was coming back from root.  I hope they make it.  We did manage to get him into a tree so he could "see the whole world" as he said.  We made "octodogs" for lunch and he ate two, we played cornhole, he played with old toys from the attic and we watched Lady and the Tramp.  He seemed to have a good time and we talked about him coming back when we can go to the lake and go fishing, and he said he would like to go fishing with us.  All in all it was a good day getting to know my grandson.

Grandson

The youngest of my 4 grandsons came to visit on Monday.  This is only the 2nd time I have seen him and he is now 4 years old, the first time was at my son's funeral service.  Today, he will come to visit without his mother.  She will bring him by about 11:30 and drop him off for the afternoon.  I plan to take him to the Tiger Safari in Tuttle and then stop at Braums for an ice cream cone.   Since all of my grandsons live in other states, I do not have any toys, so it is to the backyard with one tree to climb, dirt hill to dig (or today it will be muddy for mud pies), or sticks.  He will need to be creative to have toys, like we were when we were kids.  Anyway, I hope he has a good time and will want to come back and spend a week with us in the summer time.  Wish me luck.

Back Home

We arrived home from our trip to AQS in Paducah last evening about 6pm.  I managed to stay up til 9pm then I showered and went to bed.  I got up this morning and Mom wanted to work on scraps.  She had gone through and sorted two BIG bags of scraps and now we needed to press them and cut them into 2 1/2" strips for the strip quilts we plan to make.  She did the pressing and I did the cutting, she worked my butt off today.  The scraps that will not measure up to the 2 1/2" size will be saved and cut a bit smaller so we can use all that we have.  We will continue tomorrow and every day until we get them done, then begin the sewing.

AQS

This was day 2 of the actual quilt show.  Again, our day began really early as Vickie had a class at 0830.  The three of us headed for the show and vendors again and took Carol to the Bobbinlace workshop at the church.  She had a good time and got her bracelet made, so we all have our handmade Bobbinlace bracelets.  We picked Vickie up about 4 and headed back to the Hideaway.  We have decided to go south through Memphis and west on I40 to get home.  It may take a little longer, but at least we will not have to go through flood waters.  I have had such a good time on this trip.  Our EQ7 class is in the morning at 0830 and hopefully they will let Vickie sit in on it.  She purchased the program here so she did not pre-register and they show that the class is full.  I purchased fabric today to make 2 Hanky Panky quilts for 2 sweet little girls, I can hardly wait to get started on them.

The Quilt Show

Today began very early as Carol had a class that started at 8:30 and we are 45 minutes away.  We dropped Carol at the church and made a quick trip to Wal Mart for extension cords for our class on Friday.  We went to the Pavilion first, but there were no parking spots at all, so we decided to go back to the church and view the wall hangings, some very beautiful quilts there.  We went to the next place and it was a vendor area that was jam packed full of folks.  I did not feel comfortable with all these strangers being so close to me, but I managed to make it through all the miniature quilts and most of the vendors.  The next stop was not so crowded, but still had lots of folks there with more vendors and the Lancaster 2011 winners.  From there we went back to the church because I had left my orange notebook on a chair there and had to get it back, good news is that someone had turned it in and I have it back.  We ate lunch in the parking lot, then it was back to the Pavilion where the show winning quilts were on display - they are just beautiful - and there were more vendors.  From there we went to the Grace Episcopal Church where we learned how to do Bobbin Lace.  I really enjoyed the lesson and we made bracelets.  By the time we finished with our bracelet it was time to get Carol and head back to the Hideaway.  I am very tired tonight, so I am off to shower and go to bed because our day will start at 0530. 

Paducah, day 2

We slept in today, all the way to 7am.  I finally had a good nights sleep last night.  Thanks to Vickie, I did not sleep well in Poplar Bluff, MO because she was looking all over her bed for bedbugs, so of course, I felt them crawling on me all night.  So with the help of Laura's Wine Tea and a good ole Tylenol PM, I slept through a big storm and power outage last night.  We are currently in a Tornado Watch here in Marshall county.  Gary England they are not, but they are taking up the prime time tv just as the OKC folks do.
We finally met up with the other four from our quilt guild this morning at Hancocks of Paducah.  We were really worried about them because Poplar Bluff was being evacuated because of floods and they were to drive through that town on the way to Sikesville where they were going to stay the night.  Tina said they were re-routed north of Poplar Bluff and then back down to Sikesville, but they did not call to let us know that they were OK.
We shopped at Hancocks then went to the Rotary Club Quilt Show and they had antique quilts on display.  After that, we went to the Eleanor Burns Tents again and ate our lunch in the park before shopping.  While we were eating lunch DH called to say they had taken Mom to the ER.  She had told her PT that her face and right arm felt a little numb and her right leg was not wanting to hold her up.  They did a CT scan and did not find anything and were going to do a MRI and monitor her probably overnight.  I told DH to get her out of there as soon as possible before something else happened.  He said he would.  I spoke with him about 3pm and he said he had no news, so I will call about 7 to see what has transpired today.
Carol prepared a very nice meal tonight and we are sipping our evening Wine Tea and playing on the computer.  Hope I sleep good again tonight.

Paducah, Kentucky

We arrived this morning a little before 9am.  The first stop was Hancocks of Paducah, and as usual it was packed with people and fabric.  Next stop was Eleanor Burns' tents at the park, one of them was demolished in the storms on Friday and Saturday.  They were working really hard to get things moved and get a new tent up for Eleanor's show.  Next stop was lunch at Arby's, after lunch we went to the National Quilt Museum.  The quilts are beautiful, but I did not enjoy these as much as I did when I was here in 08.  After that we went to a shop with hundreds of bolts of fabric beginning at $3.00 per yard, then we went to the downtown store of Eleanor Burns.  We went to Wal Mart to buy our food for the week then to Carol's Hideaway where we will spend the week.

Garage Sale

Yesterday was day 1 of the garage sale and, all in all, I would say we did pretty well.  Of course, the best stuff went first and I think we made about $300.  I am quite sure that we will not get that much today but we will give 'er a go.  I will check with the place associated with our church to see exactly what they need in donations and take that stuff to them.  A fella stopped by and left information on another place that takes donations of stuff and I will call them with the remainder of the items.
Mom did very well yesterday.  She started cutting the coupons from the paper then had PT at 9:00.  After PT she finished the coupons then started sorting the fabric scraps.  She worked on them until 9:00pm and got through one bag.  As she was going through the sewing room on her way to bed she stopped and counted the bags that were left to sort (3) and said "I still have a lot of work to do".
I have a lot of work yet to do today also.  Most of my packing is done, just the last minute stuff that I will use in the morning is left to pack.  I have laundry to do, day 2 of the garage sale, clean up after the garage sale, hose Mama down, and get myself hosed down and hopefully get a good nights sleep then get up at 5am and be ready to leave for Paducah at 6:30am.  I have my list of items I will be specifically looking for and of course all the gadgets that I simply must have.  It is going to be a fun time with good friends.

Abby

My Miniature Schnauzer, Abby, came in yesterday and pawed my arm then pawed at her eye and I just petted her.  I did not think anything about it at the time, but a couple of hours later I noticed that her eye was very watery.  Upon closer examination we determined that something was definitely wrong, but of course it was after hours for the vet.  DH called first thing this morning and was able to get her in at 10am.  She has a severe corneal tear over 1/2 of her eye.  We are using an ointment 3 times a day and will pick up two other medications tomorrow to use and will take her back in one week for follow-up.  Sometimes these tears will heal and sometimes they require surgery to make a flap.  She may or may not lose some or all of her vision, it all depends on how well it heals.  To say the least, I have been on the verge of crying all day. 
Mom has had a good day today, she has felt better and has done some reading and actually did a little sewing for me.  She has been my "binding sewer downer" and has done several of the bindings on my quilts.  She does a really good job.  Gotta find some orange thread so she can work on my pumpkin quilt next week, that is if she needs something to do.  Here it is 8:36 pm and Mom is still up reading, she usually goes to bed about 8:00.

Whirlwind Day

The day began with a 10:20 appointment with my neurosurgeon.  Results of my one year post-op MRI showed NO sign of recurrence of tumor.  The void left after removal of the tumor has filled in nicely with fluid (maybe that is why I can be wishy washy at times) and there are no signs of any new tumors anywhere. All I can say is Thank You, God, you are awesome in you healing powers. I will have my next MRI in 2 years, follow up PRN if any problems.  After lunch I took Mom to the Medical facility where she had her urinalysis done on the 7th for her follow-up UA after completing her antibiotics.  This is where the whirlwind began.  We checked in and they took her vital signs, as is their policy.  We went to the restroom where the nurse has placed the "nun's cap" on the toilet, Mom peed and missed the nun's cap, so there was no sample.  She tried again and got maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon worth.  There was enough for them to dip the stick and know something was still going on, but not enough for a C/S.  We went to the exam room and the PA came in only to tell us that Mom's blood pressure was low and her heart rate was 45 and that they were not equipped to handle emergency problems like this and we should go to the ER.  I told her I did not want to go to the ER could she call Dr. A (Mom's cardiologist) to see if she could be seen, she did but he was not in clinic, so she suggested that we go to the Heart Hospital ER.  She sent us with papers to help us with information they would need.  It was like a beehive with all the folks scurrying around doing important things, IV, EKG, Blood, Chest X-ray, hooked up to monitors, etc.  We answered questions and the doctor finally came in and we answered more questions.  He did an exam and said he would go out and pull up her chart from Dr. A and be back shortly.  He spoke with Dr. A and they decided that they would make no changes in the meds at this time.  We are to monitor her BP before we give meds and if it is below 100 we are to hold her medication at that time and to monitor her pulse.  We are to keep a record of the readings and follow up with Dr A on May 17.  They said there were no problems with her heart that all looked very good.  Tears of joy and thanks to God and we were out of there.  I called the Medical facility to let them know what we were told and let them know that I would bring Mom in the next day to get the sample for the UA.  I was told that the same thing (as in the BP & HR) would probably happen again and that I should probably see her primary card doctor instead.  I said I didn't want to do that and I would bring her in tomorrow.  Well, about 15 minutes later she, the nurse, called me back to tell me that she had scheduled an appt with Dr. M for Tuesday @ 3:45 and I told her I wished she hadn't done that and that I would call and cancel the appt that Mom already had an appt with her PT at that time.  I called and there was no appt so I said OK and we went on to the facility to give the specimen instead of waiting.  There is something going on in the urine so we were given another Rx for antibiotics and I will call to schedule an appt with Dr. B.M. for when I return from my trip.  What a day it was just to collect a bit of Pee.  I have 5 days to get all my things gathered and packed for my trip to Paducah.  I had such a good time in 2008 when I went before and I am sure this trip will be just as much fun.

The baseball bat

While gathering the last of the things from my Mom's house I picked up the baseball bat that she had standing in the corner behind the front door.  My mind congered up this image of the Indiana Jones movie where the Knight was guarding the Holy Grail and he was so old and feeble that when he lifted his sword up over his head he stumbled backward.  I could just see Mom doing that with the baseball bat should she have encountered an intruder in her home.  Just made me giggle to myself.  There are very few items left at the house, most have been taken by family members and the rest are in our garage ready for the garage sale.  All in all I think Mom is doing better.  Yesterday was not a good day for her, her belly bothered her most of the day, but around 4:30-5:00 she came to the den and stayed up til about 7:30.  She finished reading her book and was happy about that.  By the way, I found a total of 3 baseball bats in her house, can we call it her arsenal?

Tax Day

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck,  I hate tax day.  The current tax system is just so unfair, why can't we just have the "fair tax".  Enough Said.

Waskaley Wabbits

I was up very early yesterday morning and when the sun finally began to rise, I looked out my window to check on my iris bed to see if they were blooming, sure enough they were.  Something moved in the yard and lo and behold there they were, two waskaley wabbits.  I watched them for a little while, then decided to get my camera.  I stepped out on the veranda and managed to get two shots of them before they scattered.  I took some iris photos also and will post both later, that is if the shots were any good of the furry little cottontail critters.  I think they were looking for our veggies, however, it is too early and they are not planted yet.  Which is a reminder to me, gotta get that done.  I will put that on my to-do list, with all the other things I need to do.

The Whistle

There is nothing quite like being awakened at 0428 by three toots on a whistle.  We attached a whistle to the walker in case of emergency and Mama knows how to use it.  She somehow managed to find the floor this morning, so far, I think all that was hurt was her pride.  She did tell me she hit her head, no blood, but there may be a bruise.  She fell yesterday also.  She was working on getting her makeup stuff sorted out and was at the kitchen table, I was out the front door working in the flower bed.  I finally got the mimosa stump out of the ground and came in to get a drink, Mama had packed all her things she had been working on and was not in the kitchen or in the den.  I heard this faint call out and went to her room to find her on the floor.  I said "Whatcha doing down there?"  We managed to get her turned around and on her knees and were able to get her up so she could sit on the bed.  Clothes had to be changed in both cases as she had been in the process of using the bedside commode when both falls happened.  Not sure if she lost her balance on the way up or down, but both times we had pee to clean up.  I am thinking a carpet steam cleaner should be put at the top of my shopping list.  To say the least, I am wide awake a this point and will be going to make coffee shortly.

Today has been a very good day, Mom had her PT early and appt with Dr M this afternoon and she did very well with both.  We spoke about reducing some of her meds and will give that a go and see how she does.  She has never been diabetic but yet she is on medication for diabetes, so we will stop those pills and monitor her blood sugar.  Will use the allpurinol every other day and only use the remeron as needed for sleep.  That is a really big step to getting her meds reduced.
Mom and I talked about getting the fabric ready to cut so we can begin strip piecing this beautiful quilt that one of my friends shared her pattern for.  I can hardly wait til she is able to start sewing again.  I have this pumpkin quilt that still needs to have the binding sewn, and all this fabric that needs to be pressed.

Home from Retreat

I got home about noon, a bit weary but the retreat was such fun and I finished piecing the top.  If I can figure out how to post a picture I will do that here.  My mom is not feeling well today, c/o her side aching.  The only thing I can think of maybe she is trying to pass a kidney stone.  She does have the UTI and is on meds for that, so not sure what is going on.  I just gave her Rx strength tylenol, hopefully that will help.  We see Dr. M tomorrow, maybe he will have some input.  It is just amazing how tired one can get from sitting and sewing for 3 1/2 days, course it could be not sleeping well any of the nights were there, but I will be the first to sign up for the next one. Gotta go do laundry.

I woke at 0430 and stayed in bed until 0600 when I decided to get up and start piecing the blocks for Tami's quilt.  I finished piecing all the blocks just before supper.  After we ate, I started placing the pieces on the design wall, so I could get myself organized for setting the blocks together.  It is gonna be so beautiful and Tami should be very please.  I'm tired, going to bed and will hit it again in the morning.  Good night all.

Canyon Camp

Here I am at Canyon Camp with the Quilt Guild Retreat, having a great time.  I have been doing all the "dirty work" all day just getting the parts ready to assemble the blocks.  I have one block completed and it looks nice.  I tried to post it on FB for my daughter to see, but alas and alack it was not to be.  I am not very computer savvy so I will try again in the am after a good nights sleep.
My DH took Mom to the doctor today to find out if she has a bladder infection.  They said she had something going on, took a urine sample for testing, did a CBC, started her on antibiotics and will call us with the results.  Hope she is feeling better.  Going now to square up my 9 patch blocks.

Missed Posting

Well, I missed posting for two evenings now, so I thought I would catch up on this very early morning.  Monday was not a good day for Mom.  She seemed weak, her legs wanted to go out from under her and she had a hard time getting out of the chairs.  All she wanted to do was "rest".  PT came about 4pm and worked with her and gave us tips on how to get out of the chair.  The only chair that we have that sits high enough for her to get out of is a swivel/rocker, so I am thinking a new chair for Mothers Day, maybe a little early.  Tuesday was a better day, walking and standing seemed easier for her.  We worked on her stuff to see what she wanted to keep, discard or send to the garage sale.  Home health nurse came by to evaluate her and OT came by, evaluated her and announced that he did not see anything that she needed his help on, she was doing great as far a OT was concerned, so we will not be seeing him.  Whoo Hoo!! one less appointment.
I have a bunch to do today as I am leaving in the morning with my SIL to go to the NNNQG quilt retreat.  It has been an annual event for the last few years and it is so much fun.  I need to cut one more piece of fabric and it is a huge square then sub-cut on the diagonal.  I just do not want to tote my big square ruler, so I will cut here and tote the fabric.  I will be piecing a quilt for my daughter.  She actually purchased the quilt kit at the OKC Winter Quilt Show in 2008 and just has not been able to get it pieced.  So I asked her if she would like for me to do it for her, and after a short ponder on her part she said yes.  It is PINK, not my favorite color, but as she says, with a great southern drawl..."it's my signature color", I just love the movie Steel Magnolias.  I am off for my morning shower.  Will post again when I can.

April Fools Day plus

This was no day for joking, this was the day Mom had been waiting for, the day of the "jail break" so to speak, the day of freedom.  We arrived at the nursing facility about 10am and Mom had the remainder of her things packed (we had taken most of the things home the day before) and she was resting in her bed on top of the covers.  We had to wait for the mediation nurse to finish giving the other residents their medications before she could package Mom's "to go" meds.  One by one the staff would come by, say their goodbyes and give hugs and well wishes.  My DH took the remainder of her things to the car and then drove to the front door.  I rolled Mom to the front door and parked her there while I stepped around to say goodbye to a very sweet lady that I had become very fond of while Mom was there.  She was a "table mate" of Mom's, meaning they ate their meals together.  When Mom first arrived there, she shared a table with this lady, a man, and another lady who has since passed away.  Anyway, I got a little misty with my goodbye to her and I wished her well.  She has been in the facility for several years, knows most all of the residents and knows all the ropes.
We loaded Mom in the car and headed for home.  She walked into the house with the aid of her walker, I was so proud to see that happen.  Day one was just figuring out what would work and what would not work as far as her getting around the house.  I still want her to let me or DH be with her when she is getting up or walking around, because she is still a bit unsteady on her feet.  We (by we, I mean me with direction from Mom) rearranged my living room with her furniture from her living room to make it her home.  It looks very nice and I think she is very pleased with it.  Day two was spent at her old house moving things out.  She would tell us what she wanted to keep,  what needed to go to the trash, things she wanted certain folks to have and things for the garage sale.  Day three was spent rearranging things at my house to accommodate all those things we had brought home. 
This brings us up to date.  Believe it or not, this is the "short" version.  I will try to post every evening on the days events, more as a diary for myself and hopefully they will not be so "wordy".

Off to Rehab

She was moved from ICU to 5th floor, I think, and spent 4 1/2 days there, then was transported via Medride to Jim Thorpe Rehab.  She was making great progress, regaining strength, learning to walk again, to feed herself, to dress herself and do the activities of daily living.  She got a UTI and I believe this is where she contracted a Staph infection.  She was on a mega dose of Cipro for the UTI which caused her to have diarrhea.  To say the least, her diarrhea caused her rehab to go down the toilet, no pun intended.  She stayed in rehab until the Friday after Thanksgiving, I think it was the 4th of December and was transferred to Meadowlake Estates which is a skilled nursing facility.  She was there until the 11th of December.  I got a call about 6am to tell me they were transporting her to the ER by ambulance because her oxygen level was low.  We got to the ER and they diagnosed her with pneumonia and a UTI.  They started her on antibiotics for the pneumonia and antiobiotics for the UTI.  They did blood cultures, broncoscopy, urine tests, stool cultures, more blood cultures and found that she had Staph which meant more antiobiotics, all by IV.  Day after day after day she got worse and worse and weaker and weaker, she could not roll over, sit up, feed herself, she was seeing things and telling some really wild stories.  My brother, husband and myself were staying round the clock with her taking 8 hour shifts.  I really thought she was going to die.  One night while my husband was with her they moved her to CCU because her heart rate jumped to around 200 then would drop down to 40.  They were scrambling to get her heart rate to stabilize and the stool cultures came back and showed C-diff which meant that now we had to gown and glove to go into her room.  I keep thinking, what else can go wrong.  After 2 1/2 days in CCU she was moved to another room.  We still had to glove and gown to go in and just before Christmas the doctor said they would be moving her to another facility.  I was livid.  Here we are with a big bad infection that we have to gown and glove up for and they are wanting to move her out of the hospital to another facility, I looked that doctor right in the eye and told him I was not the least bit happy about this move.  The move happened the next day and it made no difference if I was happy or not.  The new facility was able to do all that was done in the "real" hospital, doctors, nurses, rehab, etc and this is where the "not so nice mama came to be".  To be honest, she was downright mean and nasty at times.  She was so ugly to one of the therapists that I felt the need to apologize to her on a regular basis and try to explain to her that this really is not like my mama.
We stayed in this facility until the 17th of January and was moved back to Meadowlake Estates.  Again, she was diagnosed with a UTI.  They put her on Cipro again and I thought "oh boy, here we go again".  Once we finally got all the infections cleared up and the heart rate back to normal she began to feel better, but was still so very weak that they had to use a lift to get her in and out of bed and this scared the waddin' out of her.  She began to work really really hard in therapy.  The therapists call her their "miracle patient".  She planned to leave there and move to our house the 1st of May, but decided that she did not want to stay there any longer and changed the date to April 1.
Somewhere along the way she decided that she would no longer be able to live at home and care for herself or her husband and told us that she thought it was time to sell her house.  I think that when she made that decision is when her mental attitude changed and she made such great strides in her therapy.
More about what has happened since she moved in later.

The Quilting Caregiver

     I have been quilting since 1999 and have loved every minute of it.  I have done longarm quilting as a small business from 2000 to 2009 when my world as I knew it fell apart when our youngest son took his own life.  My journey to get back to a "normal" life is still a work in progress.
     My Mom has been needing more and more of my time since I retired from nursing in 2001, but my really big adventure with her started on October 23, 2010.  At the age of 82, my mama took care of her husband, who has a brain injury from a stroke, her very much loved and spoiled Boston Terrier, her home of over 40 years, worked her rose garden, did light housekeeping, and, at times, would venture out with me to shop for fabric.
     We have a small place at the lake and Mama had been wanting to go ever since we got it.  So on October 22, 2010 off we went, my husband, myself, mama, my step-dad and 3 dogs.  We got to the lake and unloaded the car and it was such a wonderful afternoon we decided to take them fishing.  Everything was great and only one dog escaped while loading the parents onto the boat.  Fish were caught, no one fell overboard and all is well.  That evening we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, the next day we played "cornhole" and my Mama scored the winning point.
      That evening after everyone was in bed Mama decided that she needed to get her dog and put her in bed with them.  I asked if she needed any help and she said she was OK.  Next thing I heard was a big THUD and my DH said "That did not sound good".  I got up and she was flat on her back and out cold.  I wanted her to wake up, but was afraid if she did that she would move around and possibly do more damage if she had injured herself.  Ambulance was called, she was transported to the local small town hospital, CT scan was done and there was a bleed in her head.  She was transported to OKC by helicopter.  Our daughter was called to meet her at the hospital as we had to gather some things, drive and hour and a half and deliver my step-dad to his son before we could get to the hospital.  More CT scans were done and it was determined that there were two bleeds, sub-dural and sub-arachnoid, but that it did not look like any surgery would be needed.  Thank God for those prayers answered.
      I will stop here for now and continue the "bring you up to date" later.  I don't want to make the first post too long.  Bye for now.