It's been awhile!

Hi everyone.

I thought since I haven't been quilting/sewing a lot that I wouldn't blog but then I realized there's nothing wrong with using the blog to keep in touch anyway.

Where to start?... Okay, I got it. I AM working on a quilt. I had a new great niece born on October 5. I bought a kit the beginning of November but have barely started it. I'm feeling like maybe getting back to it now.

I've been lacking the feeling of sewing for 2 reasons. First of all my dh wanted the downstairs to himself and insisted I move my stuff up into the office. It's very cramped in here... although there is a file cabinet that I think could go if I can find somewhere to put the two drawers full of actual files. The other two drawers are full of junk.

The second reason is because I was not well. I didn't know why but I just didn't feel right. Mid February I sent an email to my sister. It was 4 lines long and took me over 1/2 hour to compose. She called me as soon as she got it because it was gibberish. When she hung up from talking to me she called my daughter and told her there was something very wrong and to get me to the ER right away. It's funny to have someone 5000 miles away be the one to tell my family here what to do. But I am 11 years younger than her so I'm almost like one of her own kids. She basically raised me when I was little.

I don't remember much past going to the ER. I couldn't understand why they put me in a wheelchair when I was in triage. I remember them saying I had to go to a bigger hospital but I didn't know why. Turns out I had a subdural hematoma (my brain had been bleeding for 3 months). I don't remember a whole lot and maybe that's good. I do remember most of the stuff after my operation but very little while I was in the ER for 6 days waiting. The neurosurgeon finally blew a gasket apparently and insisted I needed to be operated on NOW.

Our hospital system here sucks. Sure we have universal medicare but not enough doctors and nurses so things get backed up. At this hospital they have patients in the hallways and janitor closets cause there aren't enough rooms and emergency patients get lined up too and more than once the hospital has closed down the Tim Hortons (like the US Starbucks) so that they can use that space for ER as well. My minister says if he ever needs to be in the ER he wants to be in Tim Hortons so they can just hook him up to a coffee IV *LOL* He loves his coffee... even brings his cup to the pulpit.

Anyway, I seem to be mostly back to myself. I still get tired and I get frustrated that I can't do more but they say it takes 6 months to recover. I also have to have another CT Scan this month to make sure that my body is absorbing any residual.

I've been reading a lot. I had been going through 3-4 books a week but now I'm down to about 2 most weeks. Plus on the side I'm reading the novel "London".  I'm finding it fascinating. I love history.

While this is going on my husband was told just before Christmas that he has Cirrhosis. I knew he did, he'd been getting worse for months, but he wouldn't listen to me. I was so glad to finally have a doctor tell him to his face. He's not really well I don't think but he is listening to what he has to do and he's doing it.

I better close for now. I'm looking forward to travelling around the blogs and seeing what everyone is up to.

Coming Back To Life

Hi again everyone. I just realized last night that I need to update my book blog so thought I'd drop in here first since it's linked from here. See along the left side where the cat is that says "What did I think of that book?" I'm listing all the books I've read and whether or not I liked them. I'm doing it mostly for myself cause I'm a voracious reader. I've read so many books from series that I forget which ones I've read so the blog helps me by listing them and reminds me what they were about. One thing I love about the Kindle is that if a book is available you can download a sample which is the first two chapters. So if the book is available on Kindle I can start to read it and I'll recognize it if I've read it before - usually. I've done so much reading in the last few months that I need to get at my blog again.

And why have you been reading so much Shirley? I was sick for 2 months. I've never been sick for 2 months before. I don't recommend it, it's the pits. I had a sinus infection which meant almost migraine like headaches - except with a sinus infection bright light doesn't bother you and you can jump up and down without it hurting more and reading doesn't make it worse. But my head hurt so much the last thing I wanted to do was jump up and down. It's impossible to get a doctor's appointment in the summer. So I went to the walk in clinic. The doctors there didn't give me anything that helped at all. I was taking 6 Advil a day. I eventually went to the ER and they gave me a CT scan which confirmed it was an infection and then I had to wait another week to get in to see my own doctor. Sheesh! At least she gave me antibiotics which got rid of the infection but the antibiotics also made me sick so it was another 2 weeks before I felt better. Boy it feels good to feel good. But I'm so far behind in absolutely everything now.

I haven't sewn much, needless to say. I did make a bag for the car for holding trash. It's neat. It hooks around the headrest. I don't have a picture of it but the tutorial is here. I made it as a bazaar idea. I don't know what the concensus is for the bazaar but I'm going to make one for myself and one for DH cause I personally really like it. No more receipts (or in DH's case chocolate bar wrappers and cigarette packages) on the floor.

I have a ton of projects lined up that I want to make but our summer has just now arrived so I don't want to be stuck in the house sewing. One of my niece's is pregnant so I'm hoping to get a baby quilt done for her. I still have a Noah's Ark panel that I'm going to use.

DH and I are getting along better now. He bought a boat which I didn't have much interest in when I was sick but I really like it and I'm enjoying starting to work on it now. It needed a lot of mechanical stuff done, which I couldn't do of course so DH did that. It also needs a lot of cosmetic work. The last owner hired someone cheap to stain the teak and to paint it so there's a lot of scraping and touching up to do. He renamed it, which you're not supposed to do. Poseidon doesn't like it when you do that. As a result DH ended up falling off the dock with his Blackberry hooked on his belt. It would have been an expensive punishment except he has insurance on it so it was replaced within days. Whew! Anyway, here's Cinnamon Girl (named after the Neil Young's song).

It's 42' long which is a little frightening since the only other boat we've had was only 19' but it's gorgeous! It's a 1970's era Trawler. It's beautiful inside, all teak walls and floors. It has two bedrooms, two heads and a V-berth and the galley is huge compared to most boats.

We hope to get out on a few days trips in the next couple of weeks. Then next summer we'll start going places. We have great neighbours at the marina so hopefully our first few outings we can just follow their boat until we get used to depths especially.

Guess I better get to work on my books. Going to surf around to everyone's blogs for a visit over the next few days.

Where on Earth has Shirley Been?

The last 6 months have been a long haul and a roller coaster ride like I have never before been on. I never did like roller coasters and this one is a doozie. I guess how this started is that DH is going through Mid Life Crisis and Life Transition Crisis. He's had highs and lows, he's had a emotional affair - which may or may not be continuing via email and text, and is misuse of alcohol is completely out of control. Good news is some days, or during a short period of some days, he seems almost normal.


The good news for me is that while this has all been devastating and confusing, especially at first, it has driven me to look at my codependency issues. It has forced me to become independent and I am beginning to feel like the person I was before that fateful day I said "I do"


I have done some sewing now and then but I have been so immersed in trying to become emotionally healthy again it has taken a back seat to my own recovery.


Last month I started yet another Blog and am basing it on my reading of The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie. I am sharing what I learn and giving my own feelings on what the topics mean to me today. I hope anyone who is interested will take a look at http://codependentme.blogspot.com/


I am using a lot of her books. Presently I am also using the Workbook that goes with Co-dependent No More. I am also doing daily readings in the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach and learning from the book The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self Esteem by Sue Patton Thoele.


I bought myself a Kindle for my birthday and I absolutely love it. I do find it harder on the eyes at my age than print books, more like a computer screen, but it could just be that I'm reading so much each day that my eyes would get tired anyway. I highly recommend Kindle though.


Thanks for reading.

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! Things are still up and down in my life but it's getting better. You know when you hit bumps and rough spots in the road is when you have your greatest growth so even though it's been tough I'm grateful for my personal growth.

I've become much more social in my real life thanks to my church. I hate to see that most people are either my age or older. It's a sad commentary on the future of the church.

I haven't been doing much quilting/sewing for myself lately but I've been enjoying trying new things that can be sold at the bazaar. How many quilts do I need anyway? Most of what I've made are put away in those shrink bags anyway never to see the light of day.

So lately I've made a few fun things. First of all aprons. These are really cute. They are patterns from Four Corners. They are meant to be made with a lining but seeing as we work with donated fabric it seemed a shame to put a lining on them when they don't really need one. It took some modification but I like them. I made mother daughter ones

I also had enough to make one with a sort of african fabric. Love it but I'm not really a sewer so the contrast fabric (which was a knit) kind of stretched on me. But it's still nice. 

I was trying to think of something new to offer and came up with the idea of iPad covers. I don't know how well they'll sell since iPad comes with it's own cover but you never know. I made two of these 

There are patterns on the Moda Bake Shop site but I used this one from - darn, can't find the URL and there are so many new tutorials popping up out there. Anyway, I think they're nice. 

I also made a small (10" x 5" approximately) heat in the microwave bag with a cover. Since we have a lot of older people in our congregation I thought it would be useful for those who have arthritis or something that need heat only in a small area. I've only made one to see if it is a seller. 

My goodness. I went to post this this morning and the Internet went down. So I went shopping and got stuff to make the adult bibs. 

I also bought 2 pair of pants and a sweater. Because of all the stress I've gone from a size 14 to a size 10 and I'm just not gaining anything back. Good excuse to buy new clothes but darned expensive. 

Hospital Bed Tote

I'm not sure quite what to call this. Remember I made those shoe bags for the Fall Bazaar? Well, the larger ones sold but we still had 4 smaller ones left. We were trying to think of what the craft group could make aside from bazaar stuff. We decided perhaps little embroidered bags with a pen, etc to be taken on hospital visits.

Then we saw the shoe bags and thought they would make perfect totes to hang on the side of a hospital bed for holding a magazine, book, glasses, etc. to make it easier for people to reach. And it won't cost anything aside from the cost of the velcro cause I just want to get rid of this fabric so have donated it. So I added straps that can be attached to the rail. I put a piece of velcro on the end of each strap and the opposite piece on the inside top of the bag to fit the straps over the rail. I also added another strap extending from the back of the back onto the front for keeping it closed. It's experimental. I need to get one of our hospital or extended care visitors to take one and try it out to see if I got the straps the right length for the rail. But I really like the idea.

It was a rather tense day yesterday so I didn't get much else done. I think I'm fighting a stomach bug so didn't do much aside from knitting on the prayer shawl I'm making.

Scrubbies

Haven't been around for awhile. Life is up and down but things seem to be going in the right direction anyway.

Now it's time to prepare for our Spring Bazaar. It's so hard to know what to make but this cloth scrubby pattern was suggested by one of our members so I decided to try one. Not too straight but what the heck, it's only my first try:

You can find the pattern for the corner scrubby here

Then I saw some that look  like flowers. These are kind of neat but I have to warn you the daisy scrubby is a lot of work and takes almost a whole ball of crafters cotton. It will be a "one of" unless someone else is interested in making them. Of course I'm about the only one who even comes close to knowing how to knit or crochet so it's a pretty sure thing it will be a one of.

The patterns for the flower scrubbies can be found here

Guess that's it for today. I'm working on a few things right now so will show things as I finish.

Lest We Forget

In school we had to learn In Flanders Field every November. I knew it was written by John McRae but I never knew the story behind the poem. I did a Net search this morning and found it here. I'd would like to share it.

John McRae

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915

during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

On May 2, 1915, John McCrae’s close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell. That evening, in the absence of a Chaplain, John McCrae recited from memory a few passages from the Church of England’s “Order of the Burial of the Dead”. For security reasons Helmer’s burial in Essex Farm Cemetery was performed in complete darkness.

The next day, May 3, 1915, Sergeant-Major Cyril Allinson was delivering mail. McCrae was sitting at the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the YserCanal, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, Belgium.

As John McCrae was writing his In Flanders Fields poem, Allinson silently watched and later recalled, “His face was very tired but calm as he wrote. He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."

Within moments, John McCrae had completed the “In Flanders Fields” poem and when he was done, without a word, McCrae took his mail and handed the poem to Allinson.

Allinson was deeply moved:

“The (Flanders Fields) poem was an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.