Stuff And Frustration

What more can I say to that? I’m doing a lot of stuff these days and stuff is the only way to put it.

Well, I could have tried Frustrations after a day like this one, but I’m trying to overcome my frequent frustration when things don’t go the way I planned. Best solution is to stop planning, but then I wouldn’t know what to do next. Oh wait! I really don’t know what to do next most of the time. So, I just added the frustration part to the title.

Todays frustrating moments began during the night actually. The quilt block I was appliqueing got stuck under the presser foot of the sewing machine. I’ve had things stuck before, but this one was BIG TIME stuck. I think it took the better part of an hour to free things up and then I just shut the machine off and finished the book I was reading.

Later in the morning (at least 4 a.m.) I tried the machine out again and something seemed really wrong. Needle threader didn’t work, no where close to working, and when I tried sewing the clanking was loud enough to wake the dead. After an hour spent trying to figure out what was wrong I decided to change the needle! Brilliant idea! It didn’t look bent but the new needle didn’t make the noise and worked out. So I began appliqueing again. Did the leaf of a flower before really checking how it looked. Oops, I didn’t check to make sure there was thread in the bobbin. Replaced the bobbin and started sewing again…but didn’t notice the top thread had broken. By that time it was time for breakfast so I turned everything off and tried reading again.

Tried is the key word here. My Kindle, which holds all of my books began having several kinds of fits. Jumped around like, well, like a Mexican jumping bean! No way to read through that, so turned it off for a while. Fortunately I have the Kindle app on the laptop and my phone, so first I read from the laptop but that isn’t very good so switched to the phone. Happy to say it works, Now to wait out the fit the Kindle is having so I can reset it all again. Poor little device. I think I’ve overloaded it and used it too much and it is just very tired.

So, walking past the pin holder — straight pins and magnetic holder, I managed to hit the side of it and it hit the floor. It’s amazing how those little things can go when they bounce! Thankfully, I have a telescoping magnet that got them up — at least the ones I saw, but my eyes are old now and they don’t always see what I want them to see so I’ll probably be finding pins for a few days now.

And so far we are still talking about the morning hours. Big sigh! it was a bad morning. So to try to recover from the morning I sat out in the sun for a long time after lunch and let my bones thaw out a bit.

Now to see if I can find a few photos of some of the things I’ve done while I try to do another quilt block on the machine. Time will tell.

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Now, before you think the day was a total bust, it really wasn’t. My sewing machine works now, I’ve had two of the best meals of the week that are served only on Friday, I spent some time soaking up sunshine this afternoon and finally thawing the chill that was taking over, and just now, while looking for something else I think I might have found the password that could possibly hook my laptop to the printer. More later on that!

AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!

Once again I began a post, had to leave, hit the “save draft” and now am back and the draft is gone. Such a wonderful post it would have been, all about the fun of having MS along with some even more fun symptoms. But now I forget if I remember it or not.

To begin with, AGAIN, March is MS Awareness month, a detail I’ve, well, face it, I knew in the back of my mind about it but when it came time to sit down and write about it I got side tracked every time. That seems to happen more often lately. Not that I’m forgetful, of course (and if you believe that there’s a blue bridge across the Ohio River I’ll sell you), it’s just that there is too much going on in the world to remember a little thing like the fact that my MS is acting up at the moment.

Sure, as if I could forget that! I was doing some research, or if I call it like it is, snooping for something new on the ‘net this morning, and on Web MD I found some new to me symptoms of this fun disease. Oh, in case you are wondering, I’m not really having much fun with it but trying to put it in a new light that makes it easier to accept sometimes.

Anyhoo, I’ve been one complete itch lately. No rash, nothing to indicate a reason for the itching, just nerve wracking itching all over. Thought it was an allergic reaction to something, so switched laundry detergent with no better results, switched body wash, equally no change, clawed a few furrows in my skin with a lot of results but no answers except practice in creative bandaging.

This morning, on Web MD, I finally found my answer. Itching without a rash or any other kind of reason is a sign of MS activity. I think I forgot to see if there’s an antidote though. Phooooyyy! Oh well, at least now I know why I’m clawing the skin off. Now all I need is a body bandage, which, of course, I would also claw off as soon as it was in place.

I’ve known MS has multiple symptoms for years, probably because I’ve had it for years. The headaches can be debilitating but I’m used to those. Overheating can really do a number on the MS prisoners symptoms, which can lead up to death if overheated for too long. Fortunately I’m cold natured so as long as I stay inside I bundle up in long sleeves and at times even my coat and hood to warm up. I discovered several other icky symptoms that I won’t relate here, even though they really run me ragged at times. When they aren’t sending me down to kiss the floor, that is. While I wouldn’t mind a short trip, that’s not the kind I prefer. At least my bones seem to be stronger now, thanks to the Vitamin D and the Folic Acid.

I’m beginning to wonder if my laptop has MS as well, since it sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. To say it’s acting up at the moment is putting it mildly. But then again, this is the third time I’ve opened it up in the past 2 hours. First time was to look for a photo, 2nd was to eat lunch (which was delicious) and now this time when it opened immediately and right to the correct page. We are getting used to each other after only 3 years of continued use.

This has been a pretty good week. On Tuesday I got a call from my sister who lives in Colorado asking me if I wanted a visitor. Of course I did, and wondered when she would be travelling to KY. She was coming in my door as I turned the phone off! I love surprises like that. She had spent a week with my older brother, helping to take care of him when he would let her. She brought me a couple of photos of him, looking better than anyone has a right to look with his little dog on his shoulder. HUH? He once made fun of his wife’s Maltese, although truth be told, he could often be seen cuddling that little mop! I’m not sure what breed Lacy is, but she is smaller than the Maltese, Sophie. Fits in the palm of his hand, but he does have large hands. He’s looking good in the photo. If I didn’t know he is dying of cancer I sure would never think it when I look at that photo. Meg was on her way back to Colorado but being tired she decided to stop by and see me first. We spent a very pleasant afternoon, going down the hall to visit our aunt as well.

Friday evening, late, my daughter popped in, bringing me some of my favorite Monterrey Spaghetti, a double batch this time. Her hubby was running in a marathon in Owensboro on Saturday and they were spending a couple of nights in town. He stayed at the hotel gearing up for the 13.3 mile race that began at 7:30 Saturday morning. Just looking at that number makes me tired but he runs them a lot. He finished at 10:25 and while the original plan was for them both to come for a longer visit he had to beg off to recover from the run. According to him, this race was better than than the ones he runs at home because we are mainly flat land while Frankfort is hills and valleys. I love the guy a lot but sometimes wonder about loose screws when he runs these races! All of my screws would fall out if I tried, but then I don’t have that many left to worry about. They are on their way back home now, where he will continue recovering from the run. I found a cartoon somewhere that describes my outlook on running: “If you ever see me running past your house, please come out and kill the huge animal that is chasing me”.

So, my daughter walked in just as I was putting the final stitch in her birthday quilt. Her birthday was March 7, but since she was coming in I didn’t get in a rush finishing the quilt. I’m going to attempt to post a photo of it — my 3rd time attempting that today, because I couldn’t remember what I used to take it. Found finally on the Kindle. So, here goes, I hope!

It worked! Of course not immediately, but after several failed attempts to bend it to my will. The Tulip Quilt is twin sized rather than the lap quilt I had intended it to be. Now I want to make another just like it for myself. Time will tell.

One Liner Wednesday on Thursday

I just read Lauren’s post on LSS — and I’ve forgotten the rest. Sorry Lauren. Brain freeze I think. Anyway, it was a story about ancestors and it broke my heart to see that she didn’t get to know most of hers. I grew up around family, so rather than use her formula I’ll just talk about that and what it’s like to be one person in a family of hundreds.

First of all I have four brothers, three of whom are still living. We lost Steve two years ago. There are also two sisters, both living. I have three living children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. My parents are deceased and the family is scattered but we are still close.

My mother was from a family of thirteen children. No, that’s not a typo, she had ten brothers and two sisters and one of my aunts still lives. She will be 93 on Monday and we will celebrate on Sunday.

Altogether I had close to 75 first cousins, most of us living with a one mile radius of each other. I am including both sides of the family here. My dad had one brother and five sisters, all deceased now, and one of his sisters married one of my mothers brothers. So among these cousins, five are double first cousins.

I grew up on Highway 81, a little known area with a well known name — Rome, KY. Well, Rome is a well known name and the reaction from people if we told them we grew up in Rome was priceless. Most of my cousins lived along that stretch of highway and they were my first friends and playmates. We went to school in a four room brick building — St. Martins School. It no longer exists but the church is still there and as far as I know it’s going strong with several of my cousins still in the congregation.

Our house was just across a pasture from my maternal grandparents and we were in and out of their house almost as much as our own. I can remember crossing that pasture, avoiding the cows and bull when possible, and spending summer afternoons with my grandmother, watching the soap operas on the only TV in the family for a long time but only after helping her with the dinner dishes. For us dinner was the noon meal and the evening one was supper. My grandmother was also a great cook and between my mother and her plus my paternal grandmother I learned to be a pretty good cook myself. We all canned vegetables and fruit in season and enjoyed opening those jars all winter long. Grandmother and Papa had a farm and in addition the cows they had chickens and pigs, all of which ended up on our tables. We also had fresh eggs every day, and after Dad got our first cow and pig and Mother got a house full of chickens we were pretty independent as far as groceries went. I can remember churning the cream into some of the best butter ever. During the autumn season we gathered black walnuts that fell from the tree at the end of our property and produced enough each year for most of the family. Mother sold the extra eggs and butter to the neighbors and used that money for Christmas gifts for all of us. Not much extra money those days but my parents made sure none of us knew it. Since everyone else was in the same financial boat we never knew we were dirt poor. We had what we needed and some of the things we wanted.

My paternal grandparents lived a couple of miles away and had a dairy farm. I loved going out to the milking barn with Mom and Pop, the name they were known as even to strangers. Pop would hook most of the cows up to the milking machines but Mom had almost a dozen that she had raised from newborn and she refused to hook them to a machine, preferring to hand milk them twice a day every day. Dairy farmers don’t get days off, or even a morning or afternoon off. Mom also raised geese and plucked them periodically to make the feather pillows she kept her entire family well stocked with. From her I not only learned to bake bread and fruit cobblers, but also how to save every scrap of fabric to make quilts. I’m still making quilts now even though my family are already well stocked. They each still love receiving new ones once in a while.

We have a treasure trove of stories and some of my personal ones are almost unbelievable these days. I learned to walk and talk by nine months of age and then proceeded to teach my older brother my wicked ways. He soon learned some tricks of his own though and I became the follower while he was my much adored leader. If he said do it I listened. He and a neighbor boy gave me my first haircut one night when Mother was shopping and Dad was “watching” us. Not sure how it happened but Dad didn’t catch the haircutting. We caught it though when Mother got home and saw the results.

After we moved from town out to the house on Highway 81, my brother had the job of burning the trash. I should add here that the land we lived on had been bought from one of my uncles, and he still had a barn full of hay behind our house. His plan was to leave the barn there until he had used all the hay and then tear it down, giving us more space for whatever Dad decided to do. He didn’t get the chance to tear the barn down or even to use up the hay though. My brother watched Dad demonstrate how the cinder blocks our house was being built of wouldn’t burn and brother was watching as Dad lit a match and placed it on a block watching until it burned itself out without burning the block. Brother decided to show me how safe our house was but he used a little bit of imagination there, stuffing the holes in the block with some of the loose hay before lighting the match he had kept after burning the morning trash. That barn full of dry hay went up fast and brother pulled me into the hen house to hide, while they had to pull Mother away from the barn when she couldn’t see us. She kept trying to run in and save us but one of the fire fighters kept her back while others went in to look. That was the worst trouble he ever got me into, but I still followed every place he went. Even after the rest of the siblings grew big enough to play with us, big brother remained just as today, my hero!

When he started to school I did homework with him, so when my turn came to go to the big red brick school and we were both in the same room I already knew the first grade material and again did my homework with him. Only one time did one of the teachers put me in the same class with him and she told me many years later that she wanted to see if I could beat his top scores in everything. I never tried to beat him. If I had I have no doubt to this day that he would have beat me in a much different way.

We had family reunions each summer even though we lived in each others pockets all year. But to get that many people together for barbecue chicken and all the trimings was a treat in itself. Home made ice cream for dessert was the food of the gods.

Lauren mentioned going through Ancestry.com to find her family and one of my sisters did that as well. What she found was probably a lot of fairy tales, but according to that we are descended from royalty on both sides of the family. Henry VIII on Mother’s side, and Attila on Dad’s. Not too sure if I should even say that since neither of them had a claim for doing good deeds.

So many memories are coming to me now, but it would take the rest of the week to write them all down. I have been writing some of them down for my daughter since Christmas, one chapter a week and will continue doing so until I run out of life or memory, whichever comes first. My daughter used to sit at my Grandmother’s feet and listen to her stories, my granddaughter sat at my Mother’s side and did the same. I am writing my stories down in journals and online as a way to keep them alive for anyone who wants to read about their past and the wonderful people they are descended from. And I am aware that my grammar is all bad now, but it’s easier for me this way. After all, I’m closing in on 80 years and don’t have the time to worry about grammar now. I still have some quilts to finish

Monday Morning Two Weeks Later

Today marks the beginning of my second — or is it third? week in my new place. It really feels like home now since I have my TV and sewing machine. And I’ve found another quilter here as well! We do have a way to find each other!

One of the nurses, kinda hard to get along with at first asked me what I was making and I told her it was a doll dress. Then she asked if that was the only thing I make and when I told her I also make quilts she was excited, telling me she was a quilter too. She came back several times during the day to talk quilts, telling me we are the only ones here who quilt. We are going to try to get some others interested enough to take a class we want to start!

I spent some time in the gazebo watching a barge go by on its way to the Mississippi river and all of the possible points of call on that way South. Took a few photos so let’s see if I can put one in here.

Nope! Using my phone and it just isn’t happening! It’s possible none of this will happen because I’m not having a lot of success answering comments without the laptop. WP keeps asking me if I am Angela. They just won’t let me in to some people but give no objections to others. Kinda makes me wonder what is going on!

Ohio River from my backyard

Yay! I figured it out! . And found a photo with the barge in it! This is gonna be a good day!

Musings

I’ve spent a lot of time lately musing about a lot of things.  Like right now I’m wondering what happened to the first draft of this post?  It was finished and ready to hit “publish” when I hit something else and made it disappear.  I felt like a magician for a minute — right up til I looked for my missing draft and didn’t find anything at all but a blank screen staring back at me.  That seems like a bad way to start something on a cloudy, frigid day.

For some time now I’ve been thinking that someone should have given me an IQ test before allowing me to begin using the “smart” phones.  It’s kinda sad when the phone is smarter than the person trying to use it but that seems to be the case with me.  My cell phone is proving to be my downfall and leading to my turning the atmosphere around me rather blue st times.  For example, this morning I attempted to place a call to one of my siblings.  Simple enough thing, right?  Nope!  It rang two times and then nothing was happening.  I pulled it away from my face to see if it could tell me anything about what was wrong and discovered I had him on hold along with two other people who are in my phone book.  Have no idea how this happened and not sure I ever want to know but I think the poltergeist who lives in my apartment is hard at work again.

Speaking of my poltergeist, he/she has taken my remote again.  It was in my pocket where I could find it and now it’s not.  I’ve written about my ongoing problems keeping up with my remotes before but this is getting ridiculous!  How on earth and in the universe could a remote control to my television jump out of the pocket it was in?  And just where in this building did it take that big jump?  Oh, it will turn up some day and I certainly know how to walk over and flip a switch to turn the tube on and off it it becomes necessary, but I’m spoiled by some of this modern technology.  Go ahead and laugh folks, it doesn’t bother me.  I’ll probably laugh harder than any one else could if I find it hiding in the fridge or sitting somewhere in plain view yet constantly overlooked by me.  Life can be amusing in these so called golden years.  Maybe I should have said frustrating since at times it is, but mostly just funny.  Come to think of it, these things were a lot funnier when they were happening to my parents and grandparents.  There is a warped sense of humor working here so I’ll slap my own hand and move on.

I have managed to find some gold on that dirt path I travel though.  It can be found all around if you open your eyes and look up from the dirt.  In fact, I looked up while attempting to walk in the hall outside my apartment door and then by focusing on something higher up managed to walk the entire distance of the hall!   Not bad for an old lady who has fallen as many times as I have lately.  I may not ever win a marathon but I can now walk the length of this hall and back now.  Sure, I fall into my chair as soon as the door closes behind me but the biggie here is that I walk!

I’ve put these photos up before but now seems like a good time to share some of my gold.  Here goes!

And here are some of the quilts that keep me occupied lately.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

Where Oh Where Has The Time Gone?

It was springtime only yesterday and now I will be attending one of the last Fall Festivals in the area later this morning.  And from there it will be countdown to Christmas.  But whatever happened to Thanksgiving?  That one seems to be a forgotten holiday now, along with Columbus Day, once a nice Federal holiday.

It hasn’t been that long since the hill on the farm was covered with daffodils, and now they await next spring.  The Autumn photos were taken a few years ago because I just haven’t been out riding around enough to see anything worth photographing this year.  My health has not been of the best and most of my time, with the exception of a weekly visit with my only living Aunt, is spent here at home, mostly working on quilts that I’m making for my family and friends.  I have about 18 quilt tops sewn  together, a dozen of them pinned to the backing and ready to quit or in various stages of being quilted, while I just finished binding the sixth one for the year.  Don’t be too impressed — most of them are lap sized with the largest was a twin size.  But so much fun to do again, taking me back several years to a time when I made king sized ones.

I should explain that I am working on so many at the same time because what I am able to do depends on which joints and muscles are working at the time.  Each action requires a different set of muscles, so like everyone else, I do what I can as I can and pray that I will get more of them finished before my time to leave this realm comes.  At least they all keep me off the street corners at night.

These are just a few of the quilts I’m working on at the moment and they are all my favorites.  But I guess if I had to choose the ones I love the most it would be the two family memory quilts, one using a cousin’s family photos and UK Wildcats fabric for sashing and the other with my own family black and white photos on a red background and black and white sashing around each photo.  I have a dozen or more of those quilts planned, mainly because I’m from a large family and want to use every photo I have on enough quilts to cover the entire family.  Who knows?  Given enough time anything is possible!

FOTOS

TODAY I’LL BEGIN TO POST PHOTOS OF SOME OF MY CHRISTMAS PROJECTS.  YEAH, I KNOW CHRISTMAS IS OVER FOR THIS YEAR,  BUT I’M STILL WORKING ON SOME OF THE QUILTS FOR THE KIDS.  I MIGHT HAVE TO JUST CONSIDER IT ALL AS BEING AHEAD FOR NEXT YEAR!  SOUNDS GOOD TO ME.

OKAY, HERE ARE A FEW OF THE THINGS I’VE BEEN MAKING, BEGINNING WITH THE ONE THAT GOT ME STARTED LAST SUMMER.  MY COUSIN, GREG, ASKED ME IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A QUILT FOR HIS NIECE THAT WOULD BE HALF UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY– HER ALMA MATER, AND HALF FLORIDA STATE–HER HUBBY’S.  I KNEW IT WAS POSSIBLE EVEN THOUGH I HAD NEVER MADE ONE BEFORE,BUT IT PIQUED MY INTEREST AND I STARTED LOOKING FOR A WAY TO DO IT.  MY SOLUTION WAS THIS ONE:

 

SO NATURALLY, BEING ME, I JUMPED HEAD FIRST INTO THE FUN AND PLEASURE OF QUILTING AGAIN.  MOSTLY I MADE PILLOWS FOR EVERYONE, BUT DISCOVERED THE FUN OF ALSO MAKING TOTE BAGS.  SO HERE WE GO!

personal photos were all taken by me.  UK and Fl. Seminole logos are from the collegiate web pages.  All others from Pinterest.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a merry, Merry and Blessed Christmas.  It is now 15 minutes after midnight in my part of Kentucky and the roads are covered with black ice.  Fortunately, Santa travels by sleigh rather than automobile, so he is safe.  I hope everyone else drives safely so they can arrive at their destinations without incident.

My own preparations have been ongoing for several months and I’m not sure at this time if I’m behind for this Christmas or ahead for next year. I’ve attached several of the pillows, tote bags and the top left is a small quilt for my grandson,  Noah.  The photos that are not my own are all downloaded from Pinterest.

Again, I wish for each of you a Merry Happy and Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Just A Few Words

In case you haven’t noticed I’ve been on hiatus for several weeks.  The early winter weather has been playing havoc with my health so I’ve been taking things easy up to a certain point.

I have re-discovered the joy of quilting, especially making memory quilts, pillows and tote bags for my family.  At the moment I’m finishing up a pieced quilt and just might get up enough energy to take a quick photo of it to post.  Don’t hold your breath though, I just sat down and got comfortable after a long night of doing everything except sleeping.   Yep, that pesky insomnia is still with me and going strong.  And my computer woes are still an ongoing issue for me.  And did I ever mention the day my phones were missing in action?  Almost an incentive to no more cleaning while I have work in progress out. I was clearing a table off after cutting some fabrics and the phones, cell and home phones both, managed to get swept off the table and into the trash container.  Normally I check that particular container before emptying it because it is kept so close to my work area, but this particular day I just wanted to get the trash out, so it was already in the compacter before I noticed my phones hadn’t been ringing.  Never a good sign around here where they usually ring obnoxiously at all the worst times.  I enjoyed the quiet for a little bit, then had to go out and replace the cell phone so I could buzz people in when they visited me.  The home phone still remains MIA and might never be replaced — or maybe I’ll wait and enjoy the peace just a little bit longer.

So, here I am at 6 a.m., having been up all night and beginning to wonder what’s for breakfast, as if I didn’t know it will be whatever I make when my naval shakes hands with my spine and I have to eat something in a hurry before my sugar crashes.  I also just moved a little bit in my chair and about 25 quilt blocks that are pinned together until I get the sewing machine out again are now in a pile on the floor.  I do tend to burrow in when working and comfortable.  I suppose it could be much worse but looking at them makes me wonder how.  Now I’m going to finish this post up and get down to floor level and pick up the nights supply of work, find a good place to store them until Christmas, try to remember where that good place is a few minutes after putting the top on it …..

Have a great December!

More Movies

But definitely never another attempt to review one!  I have searched for some time for a movie I saw when I was 19, and that was a few years back down the road, believe me!  I guess it was never very popular, “Marjorie Morningstar”, with Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, but the theme song has stuck in the corner of my memory all these years.

“A very special love is what you are to me, A stairway to a star a night in Shangri-la of ecstasy” — those were words guaranteed to move the heart and mind of a 19 year old back in 1960.  Come to think of it, I guess they could move me even today.  After all, I just bought the movie, didn’t I?  If memory serves correctly Marjorie Morningstar was the very first adult movie I ever say.  I would imagine it this world today it would be considered a “G” rating, but as I remember it, in those days it was slightly naughty.  Later tonight some friends are coming by and I’ll play that one rather than check out the latest on the Fire Stick.

This has been a week!  My kids last remaining great-aunt on their dad’s side passed away on Saturday, just a few days after my own last visit with her.  The lady was a sweetheart, a master quilter with a boat load of awards in her corner.  Having learned that art many years ago from watching the ladies around me I can say she was legendary in my mind.  I could watch her for hours, although these last few years Alzheimer’s disease had robbed her of some parts of her memory.  With her lovely smile and cheerful face each time I dropped by though, you would never know how much she missed being able to remember the past.  It was only when she sat for a few minutes and reflected on how bad her memory was that the pain peeped thru.  Aunt Betty, forever my love and forever my hat’s off to you.  You have left a rich legacy in your quilts and a lot of memories of the better days, beginning to fade from my memory now as well.

So here we are again.  A lot of things have changed in the WP format — at least on my computer, so I’ll have to spend some time now trying to figure it all out and learn the ropes again.  Have a great week!