A Cautionary Tale

I was just visiting The Yarn Harlot's blog post about procrastinating.  People commented to sympathize and encourage, and at least two people suggested she start the laundry and then go for a bike ride.  

Red Flag!

PLEASE do not ever start your washer, dryer, dishwasher, or other appliance and then leave the house.  One day I just ran across the street for five minutes to deliver dinner to a neighbor, and came home to a house full of smoke.  Our dryer malfunctioned, and if I'd been another five minutes the dryer would have been in flames. 

I know people who haven't been as fortunate, and lost their homes (at least temporarily) to a fire started by an untended appliance.   Yes, it is tempting to just let the laundry do itself while  you run some errands,  but I promise you it is not a good idea. 

Mother's Day

                                                       Visiting Mom


Mama sits in her chair with her eyes far away
Resting there, waiting there day after day.
The stranger comes in and says, "Hi, Mom it's me."
The voice sounds familiar, but who can it be?


A day of talking and reading and let's go outside,
See the birds and the trees and the great big blue sky.
With the wheelchair it's easy to tour the grounds.
The flowers are lovely, they grow in great mounds.


Mama remembers the hymns of her youth
her soft voice is sharing the safe words of truth
Her once brilliant mind is reduced now to wisps
of things she once knew; we sigh as she slips


Into the tired old woman who wants to go home.
She doesn't remember the way to her room,
doesn't know that she lives here in 184.
With her very own lighthouse attached to the door.


Goodbye, Mom, we'll see you the next time we come,
Again bringing chocolate that makes you say, "Yum!"
This disease that is cruel has one kindness left
It lets you remember the food you like best!

Hey!

I finally finished Daniel's quilt! It took me a whole month, but we've been busy. We are probably going to combine households with Larry's mom, and our brains are a swirl of all the different houses we've looked at.

We've lived here for 32 years, and as you can imagine, moving ourselves and all of our necessities - you know, fabric and such - will be a daunting task.

Every conversation begins something like this: " . . . yes, but remember the one with the lovely back yard? Well, yes, a three car garage would be nice, but the other one had such a nice sun porch." It turns out that a house that has every single appealing feature the five people involved find attractive is way beyond our means. Imagine that! Compromise is going to be involved.

Summer came early!

We are having so much fun! Summer has arrived three months early this year. Sunshine and sandals - nice! All the spring flowers have burst forth at once, a month or more ahead of schedule.

I have wanted to make this "Charming Fractions" quilt for a long time. The cat helped me select the layout. I'll show you the finished project soon, I hope.

In other news, the Martin family is planning the most amazing change. We have lived in our cozy nest for 32 years, and have almost decided to move. What a lot to think about!

So much goodness!

Just recently I was admiring this very same box on Suzanne's blog. She made it herself out of paper and lace. When I saw it on her blog in Australia, I had no idea I would be admiring it in my own house here in Ohio a week later!

It is not an empty box! It is filled with the most charming hand made cards you have ever seen. Suzanne made them herself! She has a nifty new device she uses to create beautiful things from paper.





I love them all! Isn't this butterfly card beautiful?

Don't you love this darling monster?

Each card has its own special envelope, also made by Suzanne.

What a wonderful gift this is. Thank you, Suzanne!
Another nice gift I got this week - yummy Plum Sweets! My co-worker, Linda, and my brother, Peter, both had the same idea for my birthday. You can never have too many Plum Sweets!
A friendly blog reader asked recently how my weight loss is going - well may she ask! Another co-worker gave me a box of Panera cookies, as did my son, David. We ate them up before I got to take their photos.

I posted a while ago that I had lost 48 pounds, and have to be ever vigilant to keep it off. My secret, especially with all these tempting goodies around, is to eat very low calorie meals, saving lots of calories for the good stuff! For dinner tonight I had a big plate of fresh spinach with a tiny bit of rice and a chicken tenderloin. Some crunchy carrots on the side finished up the meal. Good thing, too, since earlier in the day I ate a WHOLE BAG of Plum Sweets. Not in one sitting, mind you, and there is only one cup in the bag, but it does amount to 760 calories.

Birthdays

A few years ago Larry gave me this charming painted coconut for my birthday. It is a happy reminder of the place we hope to go someday (Hawaii). I get it out for a day or two every year in March. Facebook makes having a birthday so much fun! Thanks to all who left me friendly greetings.We went to Lake Farm Park to see the quilt show again this year. We got to witness the birth of this little lamb. It was a single birth, and the baby is about twice the size of multiple birth lambs. The mama needed a little help from two charming young girls there to assist her. It took her about 30 seconds to recover from the experience, and then she carefully washed her baby off. Within twenty minutes the baby was on his (or her) feet ready to check out his new surroundings.
I understand that quilt etiquette dictates that we not publish photos of peoples' quilts without their permission ( learning that took a lot of the fun out of blogging for me) but I thought maybe one little portion would be okay. I love these colors and this skillful work
I was feeling nostalgic on my birthday this year, and remembered some birthdays past. When I was six my mom and dad gave me a Barbie doll with a case and lots of clothes and accessories. Barbie was new back then, and my friends and I had lots of fun playing Barbies.

When I was sixteen my parents gave me my own sewing machine! That was a wonderful gift because it meant I could sew whenever I had time, without having to consider if someone else (such as the rightful owner, my mom) might want to use the sewing machine.

Do you have special memories of birthdays past? I hope you'll tell us about them.

Life happens

It's been an emotional week for our family. Larry's dad died last Saturday. We're thankful that he's no longer distressed and in pain, but we miss his smile and humorous ways.The memorial service was comforting and very nice.
Larry's mom had her hip operated on yesterday, for the third time in four years. We're hoping this will be the charm that allows her to walk without pain.

She is at the Cleveland Clinic's main campus, which is a most remarkable place. I had never been there before yesterday, and was astonished by the massive size of one building covering several city blocks. They actually refer to it as many buildings (A through at least P) but since they're all under one roof I think of it as one really really big building.

Larry and I were amused by the signs: "Free exercise equipment - use the stairs." We walked up numerous flights to get to the rooftop pavilion where a yoga class was offered. When we finally made it to the top, the door was locked, so we walked down the stairs, and took the elevator back up. LOL!

We sat with Betty from our arrival time at 8:00 A.M. until she was finally taken the the operating room at 5:00 P.M. Let me tell you, I was glad to have my knitting!

She is doing well, and will go to the same place where my mom lives for her rehabilitation. She hopes to be able to go back home in a few weeks, once the bone graft becomes a nice sturdy part of the joint.

Wishing the best to you.